Days +79 to +82: ‘A matter of life or death’?

For a coffee-lover and football supporter, what could be better than marrying an Italian? There are plenty of other reasons why I hit the jackpot with Mariacristina, but in the early days of our relationship, I assumed that fantastic coffee and long arguments about the relative tactical merits of the 'false 9' and the trequartista … Continue reading Days +79 to +82: ‘A matter of life or death’?

Days +60 to +63: The benefits of remembering the tougher times

According to the Department of Work and Pensions' preliminary estimates for 2013/14 (bear with me here), around £1.1bn was paid out to fraudulent benefits claims, representing around 0.7% of the total benefits bill. Clearly there are a lot of people persuaded towards dishonesty by the promise of 'free money' in return for false claims that might never be found … Continue reading Days +60 to +63: The benefits of remembering the tougher times

Days +56 to +59: Feel free to graffiti our house

I'm pretty certain that before my leukaemia relapse, if Mariacristina had used a paint sampler – intended to check colour suitability – to vandalise the walls of our downstairs loo, albeit with friendly graffiti, I'd have shaken my head, sighed and looked reprovingly at her while saying 'Cuoooore...". After all, the chances were that the graffiti would be … Continue reading Days +56 to +59: Feel free to graffiti our house