At the very last minute, just as the delegates were arriving, SW suggested that I check the set-up of the computers for my opening presentation. We quickly worked out that to get onto Thomson Reuters for a company search you first needed to press the blue button, then the red. We assumed that all was fine.

However, when one of the first delegates through the door announced that the majority of people attending had decided to come along to this event instead of an important local authority conference, we were suddenly forced to change venue.

BC’s wife B offered to drive me straight there. This was very kind of her, but then I noticed that I was wearing odd brown boots. I wanted to return home first to sort out my footwear before taking the stage. B retracted her offer of a lift, and I knew then that the day was doomed.