First let’s have two minutes silence for a long-time reader of this blog, Mr Adrain Phelps of Wetknee, Oxon who was unfortunately eaten by a bear while commenting on a post late last night. Mr Fullups leaves a wife and young daughter relieved that they paid for the additional “bear clause” (clause, claws…geddit?) in his life insurance.

Thankyou, but now to weightier things. Oh, what a link! Because today’s fact is: I weighed myself this morning and I was 15st 3lb – 213lbs for Americans without a calculator. So there Rosie, there’s a fact, a real indisputable fact and it’s about me, is that any better?

I’ve been heavier – indeed at one stage I was more than the 20st that my scales would show, which put simply is “too fat” just in case there was any doubt. My BMI is now 28.9 which is still overweight, but I am not quite “obese” by this awful measure.

The lightest I have been as an adult is about 13st which is the top end of “normal” for my height. I consider myself to have been painfully thin at that stage. If that’s normal, I want to be different. The picture here shows a costume made for me at the time. But I’ve just measured the trousers and they have a 36″ waist. I’m also wearing 36″ jeans today so either the trousers were more comfy than these jeans or else I’m carrying a couple of stone extra somewhere other than my waist. My brain.. it’ll probably be my brain. I’m sad to say that no photos exist in my collection of the pair of apple-green dungarees that I was also fond of wearing at the time. Very Rod, Jane & Freddy. I can’t decide what was sadder, wearing dungarees or the fact that I dyed them apple-green.