Back

Well, I'm back. Back in the UK, back in London, back at my desk, back in the game. Apparently I am "disgustingly brown" - I can't decide how I feel about that. Probably good, on balance. The most amazing thing that has happened since my return is that I received an email from Transport for London saying that someone had actually handed in the items I'd left on the tube like a dick last month. They'd been given to a tube worker at High Street Kensington, and I'd left them when I'd got off at Paddington on a Circle Line train bound for the City, so they went almost the entire way around the loop on their own, with no one nicking the brand new flip-flops and brand new Zara dress. Maybe they're disgusting. Either way, it really is absolutely extraordinary and very very wonderful that a) someone was nice enough to do that and that b) the TfL system managed to match up the bag with my description of it on their website. The efficiency alone makes me very happy. It wouldn't happen in Egypt, I can tell you. I toddled over to Baker Street yesterday, showed them my ID, described the items and hey presto, a couple of minutes later, we were reuninted. Marvellous.

A request to the Dream Fairy: please can I stop dreaming about shopping? For the last four or five nights, I've had the most wonderful consumerist dreams, where I've purchased quirky items for my flat and/or beautiful vintage dresses and then woken up and found I own them not. It is a very disappointing way to start my day.

Now I am counting down to Glastonbury and wondering when, if ever, I am going to notice a subsidence in my appetite. Coming back to work has been odd and my focus has been better on other days, I must admit, but my boss has missed me which was lovely, and I am largely happy. Plus, there's nothing like hearing about others' love problems to make you glad to not be going through sagas, isn't there? To all you whose hearts are aching at present, have strength: this too really shall pass, time really does heal all wounds and there really are plenty more fish in the sea - so many it's easy sometimes to get a bit lost en route. Stay strong, mes amis.