I still have an awful cold and a cough that could easily convince people that I am somewhat tubercular, so I took the day off and spent it kind of off my face on apricot-flavoured cough medicine. Smithers emailed me thusly: “One of your compassionate and caring colleagues compared you to Typhoid Mary and an “awfully noisy distraction””. I was planning to return tomorrow, but still feel rather like death, so will see how it goes in the morning.

The Independent Woman (aka Dfkan) came over for dinner tonight (and to do her washing and watch project runway). The evening was very civilised and pleasant, with no bickering at all (which is quite unusual for our relationship up to this point, but hopefully the way of the future now that we aren’t constantly under each other’s feet and I am not constantly asking her to clean her room).