And after that, this...

[smokingboot]

Having received some very sad news, my relatives shot across to Spain to be with family, only to find that the matriarch has Covid and all are isolating! My dear Aunt Fatima is in her 70s, and therefore considered vulnerable but has had both jabs and a booster, and is currently asymptomatic. She always has been as healthy as a horse, so I am hoping this will trouble her little or none. The lady is strong.

In the weirdness that is Post Brexit UK, my cousin and his wife had decided to return to Spain this January. C is a highly intelligent sensitive person not really suited to dealing with the empty brain pans of Brexit, but her husband, my cousin, is of more sanguine temperament; while people misbehaving doesn't escape him, it doesn't overly trouble him either. Even he had had enough. He handed in his notice, only to be offered a surprise promotion and salary rise, so as the money is good, they are giving it another go.

Bit of a tickler considering all the shouting about foreigners and jobs. Reality bites: we need stuff done by people who can do it and want to do it. I'm pleased for him, though even with this, I don't know how long they will stay.

Still, let's start by taking the good where we can.

OK 2022, let's get this show on the road...