I am explaining the joys of Ladbrokes to Penny.

"Because the odds on the Irish lottery are so much better. See, just two balls matching gets you £53.. None of that three balls gets you £10 here. And they were having an open day in there, all very sociable".

"Could be a good place to meet men"...

Who? Wha? huh?? This woman never fails to amaze. Last time I checked she was a 50 year old Senior Accountant, happily married with two teenage kids and an obsession with standardising typefaces across all the Institute's correspondence.

I'm going to give her the benefit of the doubt, and assume she's worrying on my behalf, not her own....

Yeah erm, yeah there were lots of men there ...
More than your bereavement group?

Ah! So unless there is Something She Hasn't Told Me about Mr P, this line of thought is headed straight in my direction.

Mmm, well you know anyone I'm going to meet there is going to have their own set of problems....

And only one of my numbers came up...