Waiting patiently at work for someone else to do something so I can get on with what I need to do and the phone rings. A friend I haven't seen for years, only half an hour from Oxford, should she do a detour? You bet! Abandon work and get home just before she arrives.

I thought we'd known each other since we were five. She corrected me. We were seven. We both decided we still looked exactly the same as last time we met. When we both looked the same as the previous time we'd met. When we both looked the same as...