Andrew

It was just when I was coming off it, but it was every night for about a month

The thing I remember most about that was hideous night sweats. I was on it for a couple of years just to get my emotions under control after my stroke, because they were all over the place. It definitely helped, but I didn't want to be on it in the long term

It's that thing of something being of general benefit but it being easy to convince people not to like it because of the idea that someone might get something for nothing, a bit like with the NHS

The way they fasten reminds me of those neoprene slippers from the Innovations catalogue

I went down a rabbit-hole of curling shoe design earlier in the week. They look hideous, but the combination of one grippy and one slippy shoe fascinated me

Some weight added to this theory today, as his successor is both younger and balder

I also don't like the way they've played it live in recent decades - it will always hold up as a good song, but the original has so much more energy

Turnouts are often quite low for by-elections though, aren't they? They might only need 10-12% of the eligible people to vote for them

That ticks most of those boxes though, surely? Do you have a quality wine to accompany it?

I was sensible enough to work a 1-day week last Friday

Sir Near, yet Sir Far

I once almost reversed my car into Bill Bailey outside a rehearsal studio in Shepherd's Bush. Thankfully my car passenger was outside directing me and banged on the window in time

What does it mean? I understand the term "parking lot"...

Maybe the time 36:05 is a clue of some kind

If you park in one of the EV charging bays, the walk described below really is insanely long

I actually repaired my last Walkman (from about 1999) a couple of years ago, and I've been listening to old tapes of stuff I never bought on CD or vinyl, or compilations other people made for me, so that's been nice, but I was reminded of all the sound flaws too

I like the thought of "hope taping" - makes me think of Sunday teatimes hoping I managed to catch the start of the song but missed as much of the presenter as possible

I went to see them on the Vanishing Point tour and remember that not only was he playing solidly throughout, but he was the only person who played on every song in the set - the main man even though he'd joined less than a year before

Also, you can still deduce that a biathlon includes two disciplines and a pentathlon includes 5

Amazon shoved something through our side gate yesterday and wrote on their system that it had been received and signed for by our neighbour "Sarah Wheel-Bin"

I've been calling him that since 2019

The "testicular pie chart". A lost art.
on.ft.com/4gHlvS8

All I remember of it is Mac singing that line. I'm guessing Mel C would have been wearing England kit, but I've forgotten the rest of the song entirely

Was this a football song? How does it feel to be on top of the world?

The Cure matched that, but didn't surpass it

And then on the night after the funeral two men smashed through my front door and threatened to kneecap me and my temporary housemates, but I guess most people don't have that memory

That's one of my main memories too, Radio 1 not playing any pop songs for the rest of the day. Then when they did it was "Everybody Hurts" at least twice an hour

I had to start wearing reading glasses about 9 years ago, then switched to full-time about 2 years ago when my distance vision started to go the same way. Now I don't have to keep putting them on then taking them off again, which is great

Are they full-time or just for reading?

Possibly only me (I get all the references, anyway)