Whisper it quietly but I have to say I quite enjoyed the weeks of Covid lockdown earlier this year. No cars, deserted streets, nobody in the parks. It was blissfully quiet. Then the lockdown ended and everything went back to normal, including the noise.

If this year has helped me realise anything it’s that I’m not as good at processing noise as other people, which I see now has shaped how I live my life in many ways.

I’ve never enjoyed going to noisy pubs and nightclubs, parties or mass gatherings – apart from sports events where you can focus your attention on a specific thing. The sensory overload gets overwhelming and induces a feeling of panic, needing to get away to somewhere quieter.

It also helps to explain why I’ve plugged myself into a Sony Walkman / CD Player / iPod / mobile phone when out and about. Curating the soundtrack to my life gives me some control back and filter out the noise.

The increased stress levels brought on by the joys of 2020 have served to heighten my sensitivity to noise, especially the car exhausts as they accelerate up the hill next to our house, and the neighbour’s frequent “garage parties” that go on to the early hours.

The good news is that we’ve ordered some retrofit double glazing – replacing the single panes in the existing frames with double glazed panes – for the rooms facing the road/party house, including my bedroom. We’ve just had an installation date of 5th October, and providing it’s effective I’m looking forward to hearing less in the near future…

Last weekend would have been the 100th birthday of one of the loveliest people I’ve ever met. Her name was Lena Bodecott, but to be she was Nanna.

My childhood was much richer (and my waist much rounder) for her wonderful roast dinners, steamed puddings and baking.

She could drink most people under the table, laughed regularly and heartily and always saw the best in a situation. One thing she said to be in my teens has always stayed with me :-

“Life is too short to be unhappy”

I’ve tried to live by that and hope she would approve of what I’ve done.

She also believed I wouldn’t settle down with a Hull girl, and thought I’d end up with a foreign lass. Well, Leeds seemed a long way off back then! I know she would have gotten on like a house on fire with The Duchess, just a shame they never got chance to meet.

Happy Birthday Nanna. XXX

Fascinating true crime tale about an audacious casino heist, bound to be turned into a film at some point. Pour yourself a drink, take the phone off the hook and enjoy a half hour of interesting on me. You’re welcome.

The Duchess has long had a habit of giving me unsolicited advice by starting sentences with “I think you’ll find… ‘ followed by something I should be doing or doing differently.

This week she’s shaken things up and I am now also getting “Just a little tip for you”, which is nice.

Always up for some self-improvement, even if I am yet to master putting lids back on things (though that could be my subconscious rebelling)

What a World we live in today.

So Covid has snuck back into New Zealand and we are scrambling back up the lockdown levels to try getting ahead of it.

Perhaps it’s the fact the novelty factor isn’t there but I am more pissed off and fed up today than I was during the first lockdown.

Having a big old fry up to try cheering myself up. If that doesn’t work I am going back to bed until things clear up.

I’m not sure why but for the past couple of weeks I’ve had a hankering to buy a ukulele. Yesterday I gave in and headed down to the local music shop and got myself one of these, a Mini Me version of my poor neglected acoustic guitar.

Naturally as a Northern type I need to be wary of the spectre of George Formby (eee turned out nice again missis) so the first three songs on my study list are

• “Nothing Else Matters” by Metallica
• “Creep” by Radiohead
• “Wonderwall” by Oasis (I suspect it’s a legal requirement)

No doubt in a month I’ll have given up on them and have switched to “Leaning on a Lamp Post” wearing a trilby at a jaunty angle.