Just how dangerous are 10-foot tall herbivores? This elephant seemed pretty tame. He almost chuckled as I tickled his tummy, and definitely purred while I massaged his feet. Then suddenly his mood changed. He roared hungrily, baring his teeth with his eyes fixed on me as prey. Other than myself, all I had to offer was a Granny Smith apple. In a hopeless gesture I chucked it into his wide open mouth. Miraculously the elephant then shrank to the size of a lap dog. He munched happily on the apple, and completely ignored my presence.

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We were only a couple of hours into a three week holiday in the remote far north of Scotland and I already regretted leaving the packing to TPR. Just as we approached his parents’ house near Oban, he confessed that he’d forgotten to bring my hat and sunglasses. Still, I was happy enough to be on holiday, and enjoyed the marvellous sunset from the house with my 6-year old sister-in-law SB and her teenage step-brother. It was a pity that my mother-in-law complained all night that she hated living in Scotland. I couldn’t follow her argument, and told her that I would swap my flat in Edinburgh for her Highland home any day.

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Back to my usual work routine, I sat in second class on an East Coast train on my way to a conference in York. Just after Darlington the train slowed to walking pace. The tannoy announcement asked all passengers to disembark quickly at Northallerton as soon as we reached the station. There was a specific instruction to leave all suitcases on the train. My presentation was in my small suitcase and there was no way that I was abandoning it. MD tried to stop me, but I grabbed it from the rack and jumped out on to the platform triumphant.