Small Beds and Large Bears

To the editor of Cycle, the CTC magazine:
Sir,
It’s always a shame to see factions of CTC cyclists still arguing with each other over whether one “ought” to either wear, or be forced to wear, a helmet. The argument last in a recent couple of letters pages rears its head so often that the editor might [...]

Whenever I want to write about Dan—apart from maybe the one obligatory and valedictory post—I worry that I’m leaving myself open to charges of solipsism, or at any rate a slight self-obsession and wallowing in it all. It’s all too easy to turn someone else’s minor misfortune into a story about yourself, but the problem [...]

We’re back from what could now start being described as our “yearly vacation in Brittany,” seeing as we’ve done it two years in a row now. K’s parents own a one-time nightmare property which, in its fifteenth or so year of decorating and wrangling-with, has gradually been turned into an idyllic little retreat in the [...]

My country has no flag. Its has no national anthem, although some of its citizens are partial to folk music and Morris dancing. No seething, populous crowds cheer my country on, with loud or incoherent cries in the street. Its citizens do not rally round meaningless symbols and engineer fake outrage at nonexistent bans, nor [...]

Our garden share has fallen through, unfortunately. The circumstances are quite complicated to relate, but a précis would go something like this. Our sharer—the elderly woman with a garden—turned out to be simultaneously unwilling to keep in touch and also very demanding, a headily passive-aggressive mix. Last time we spoke a few weeks ago everyting [...]

Our shed needs fixing. I’ve done the easy bit: I’ve bought ten square metres of felt and some things called clout nails which sound terribly exciting. I’ve even got felt glue, or maybe it’s felt sealant. Whatever: it goes between the two metre-wide strips I’ll need to cut, like the filthy filling in a disgusting [...]

I was going to publish this article here, but he deserves more than mere pseudonymity. It should explain some of what I’ve been up to recently, anyway.

I’m off to a conference tomorrow for a day or two tomorrow. It’s possibly the greatest opportunity I’ve ever had to better myself in my career and in a community I respect, and a great responsibility for me to help my employer and co-workers through presentation of a good corporate face to others and intensive [...]

Over on Sick Days, alantru complains about sponsorship blagging at work. I do feel his pain, rather. I was full of flu the last time that the Meander for Life was taking place, and was fuzzyheadedly watching people run round the University parks. When I had staggered from our picnic spot to the toilets and [...]

It was a beautifully seasonal day, crisp, with an all-day frost giving way to snow later on. The bride looked radiant and arresting; the groom charming and debonair. The ceremony was full of emotion and the venue warmed by the good wishes of their friends and family. The newlywed couple managed to hide their nerves, [...]