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Something is going down. The word in the undergrowth is that it's going to be big and there's only one name in town.  The King of the Gastropods is back.  He’s rarely seen.  He only comes out at night when the grass is moist and the air is damp and cool but you can tell … Continue reading Snails

What an amorphous concept value for money is.  I wish someone would explain it to me. People say that they want to get value for money or VFM but that is the purpose of money isn't it?  You exchange it for goods up to a certain value.  I promise to pay the bearer and all … Continue reading Value for money

Oh dear!  I’m hearing that phrase a lot more these days, ‘the politics of envy’, an expression used whenever someone dares to question the distribution of wealth and why a small percentage of the population does relatively well and a much larger proportion does relatively less well, or even badly.  The expression is often said … Continue reading The politics of envy

A bitten lip, a slip, a mistake, a sharp pain as teeth cut into flesh.  An anger that rises, wells up and looks for an outlet, a desire to throw and hit out and slam a fist.  The metallic taste of blood is on the tongue between the teeth.  A curled lip in the mirror … Continue reading Ulcer

David didn’t want to sleep in the top bunk anymore as he’d found an earwig on the top of the sheets.  They would come into the van when it was damp and hide in the nooks and crannies of which there were plenty.  Dad had a good look though under the mattress, shaking out the … Continue reading Caravan

How’s the consultation going? – Not too bad thanks.  We’ve met with the residents’ group and they seem happy, we’re getting some good engagement. – That’s great, it’s going to prove very useful for this peer challenge we’ve got coming up next week. – Yes, I heard about that.  Are you involved much? – Involved?  … Continue reading In another office

Ah, the Olympics, not long now until the greatest of international sporting events gets underway in the revitalised and reinvigorated east end of London. In all of the build up I have read with interest that they have allowed athletes to compete who had previously been kicked out of the competition, indeed all competitions for … Continue reading Drug cheats

The weather has been awful lately, I’ve never seen so much rain in summer (or in winter for that matter).  It’s all gone to hell.  It might be something to do with climate change or global warming, I can’t be sure but things certainly seem to have changed and the weather certainly seems to be … Continue reading What awful weather

She was a woman sitting on the train between Durham and Newcastle and she was whispering to her self.  I didn’t notice her when I got on, she may have been there already.  She must have been in her early thirties, perhaps a bit older but her already greying hair was scraped back into a … Continue reading A woman on the train