It was probably just as well that I was leaving town. The last few meals with NP, GB and JLW had been rather awkward. Somehow I kept saying the wrong thing. The last straw came when one of the others started talking enthusiastically about a school friend called Brooke. I was sure that I had taught this woman in my last job. My assessment of her did not match with this glowing report, but it would have been impolite to say so.

The problem with my departure, however, was that (once again) I had lost the suitcase that I had purchased with my Tesco vouchers. This time I left it on the train at Haymarket Station.

TPR eventually came to the rescue. As well as finding my suitcase, he brought the pair of black trousers that I had forgotten to pack. It was a pity that he hadn’t also had time to create the PowerPoint file I needed for the conference the next day. Although I had the full presentation written out in long-hand, I had no slides. I just hoped that my slot would be programmed late enough in the day so that I would have time to create some slides before I was due on stage.