I begged the train manager to take heed of my plea, even though he was about to go off his shift for the day. In my hurry to pull up my white jeans before boarding the train to the town where I was due to deliver my presentation, I’d left two of TPR’s speakers on the station platform.

Would it please be possible for him to contact the staff at the railway station that we had just left to ask if the speakers could be kept safe until someone – perhaps my brother-in-law MCF – could collect them for me?

Otherwise I would have to give my talk without amplification.