claytoncast

At this time of year my mind always drifts back to school. New satchel, polished shoes, the faint smell of pencil shavings. And it’s been rather like that this past month — a busy time, conferences everywhere, me scurrying round with my homework in hand. Portugal was the big one. My biggest every year. And, in the end, it was rather marvellous. Everyone acquitted themselves, as my old headmaster used to say, and there were some brilliant touches. Chief among them, an interview with the racing driver Billy Munger. Inspiring, honest, authentic — and truly moving. The sort of lad who makes you feel you could climb Everest before breakfast, or at least manage the hill up to Marks & Spencer without wheezing. Back home I landed on the rarest of rare things — an on-time British Airways flight. Almost a miracle. I was still savouring that when the phone went at baggage claim. Lexus. Always Lexus. The part they’d promised to fit on Tuesday has been “back-ordered”. Which, near as I can t...