There it was in print: my first co-authored paper with BC. Best of all, when BC read it out loud to me from the pages of the journal it was the sweetest bedtime story ever. Granted it was only a short piece – a three page editorial – but I was delighted with this achievement.

The next time I met BC I agreed to see him at 91 Hillside Road. I knew that this would take me away from my family on a Sunday afternoon, but I had just spent a full three week stint in their company and I could do with a break from them all.

Before I set off to join BC I first had to tidy my office. All my belongings were now in a room on the other side of the C corridor at work, two doors away from C’s new room. My office was such as tip and there was hardly any time to deal with it before teaching started again in the autumn term.

I spent the first few weeks of the new academic year forgetting to turn up to my classes. Even when I did appear in the right room at the appointed time, I was totally unprepared. I blamed my colleagues for lumbering me with three modules to teach.