I just got back from visiting Esther in Crewe. I’m currently in Cheshire, visiting my parents. I’ve been here since Tuesday and return to the capital tomorrow. It’s lovely to see the old family house again, and sleep in my old childhood bedroom. Life in a sprawling, thriving metropolis is all well and good, but every so often you feel the need to return to your roots, eat your mums cooking and visit the people without whom you could never have got as far as you have. Esther is fine, I’m glad to say. Chatting to her this afternoon I could barely believe it is now almost ten years since she and I were stomping around university together. She’s still one of my best friends,though; I should definitely visit her more,, and i think it’s also high time she came to visit me in Charlton.