Instead of moaning about trivial marital disputes over cheque books, it’s time to celebrate some good news ! David celebrates a new arrival. As in a new baby not an Amazon delivery. Richard celebrates a significant anniversary during these unprecedented times with freshly brewed coffee, craft beers and cake. I have known David and Richard for many years, back from identi.ca days. They remain two of very few people (from social media circles) I have actually met in real-life. They are both just as entertaining, intelligent, amusing and interesting company as you would expect. ...

After six weeks of lockdown, I finally lost it and had a blazing row with the missus over a trivial issue. ‘Have you got a cheque book handy ?’ ‘No.’ ‘What - you don’t have a cheque book ?’ ‘I have a cheque book somewhere but I haven’t used it in years so it isn’t handy, no’ ‘Hmm OK. Well, I can’t find mine and I need to write a cheque for the man from the allotment’. ...

I work in IT and am vaguely technical. I use Linux and vaguely know how to program in C, Python, PL/SQL and install, configure and tune a variety of databases. However, apart from the odd gratuitous post detailing my Linux desktop setup, I generally don’t post technical content and never have done. I am slightly conflicted and feel guilty about this as I feel that I have learned so much from other people’s blog posts and, increasingly, videos that I should really try to reciprocate and offer something back to the community. ...

‘Nice weekend, Barry ?’ ‘Yeah, very busy though, Dave. Very busy’ ‘What did you get up to ?’ ‘Saturday morning, Sandra and me went down Tesco. Bloody great queue as normal. Full of idiots with nothing better to do. It was 25 minutes before we even got into the store’. ‘What did you go for ?’ ‘Nothing much. Just laughing at people asking staff for that fancy wholemeal, gluten-free flour when there’s bread on the shelves. Plus we had to get jelly and a cake for Harry’s birthday’. ...

Saturday 2 May Six days thou shalt do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shalt rest: that thine ox and thine ass may rest, and the son of thy handmaid, and the stranger, may be refreshed.