"Stand back"

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2009 has well and truly arrived, a point hammered home by the number of times I had to type the date on letters at work today. January is traditionally the busiest month where I work, and there was a huge pile of papers sitting in the "in" tray this morning. Fortunately, it would seem that most of our clients decided to take the day off, because the phone barely rung all day.

I hope everyone had an enjoyable Christmas and New Year's Eve. We were out in a surprisingly quiet Sheffield city centre for the first few hours of the latter, gradually working our way towards the Cavendish on West Street via the marvellous new Players bar (barmaids in cheerleading costumes + great music + Sky Sports News = marvellous) and 'Spoons.

The plan was to move on to my friends' flat down by the riverside to see in the new year itself, but there was a bit of a snag. The lock on their front door failed, despite numerous attempts, to actually unlock the door. Faced with the prospect of calling a locksmith at twenty-minutes-to-2009 or kicking the thing down, we plumped for the most sensible solution...

And once we'd tidied up the splintered wood and bashed most of the frame back into place, we could finally crack open some beers and see out 2008 in style.

Because I never keep them, I'm not going to set any specific resolutions this year, except possibly to try to eat more fruit and veg. I suppose it just remains for me to say Happy New Year; may it bring you prosperity, happiness, and five portions a day.

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