SY and I were more adventurous than the others during our holiday. While NY, AH, CS and TPR stayed indoors at the cottage, SY and I drove all the way along the coast and then inland as far as Exeter.

Here we discovered a pub that offered the attraction of a ‘drop’. The idea was that you threw yourself down a small opening down a 100 foot shaft, for fun. There was supposedly no chance of ever injuring yourself because there was a mattress at the very bottom ready to catch your landing.

SY was braver than me and (literally) jumped at the chance of such a thrill. I resisted the temptation, mainly because the launch pad, shaft, and mattress were not properly lined up. I was not prepared to risk serious injury for a few seconds of exhilaration.

Later TPR and AH drove up to Exeter to find us and take us back to the cottage. (I could no longer drive because I had been drinking.) They were both rather annoyed with us for breaking up the party. As ‘punishment’, the other four had set up a consulting firm, but excluded us from it. I couldn’t care less. ‘ECADOC’ was such a silly name for their new company.