There are some things that come along in life to remind me just how time is ticking by. Here I am exactly one month away from my 70th birthday and I have been asked to help with a mission. The mission is to take eldest grandaughter Sarah (17) around various Universities so she can check them out before making up her mind where she might like to spend a few years of `study.`

As Sarah`s Dad - our eldest son - can`t get away from work to fit in with all her visits, I`ve been asked to do one or two and tomorrow we are off to Reading to see what we make of their university. Next Tuesday, it`s Exeter, which involves a full day with an early start, a late finish and a 420 miles round trip, despite all of which I am really looking forward to the days out with Sarah and to seeing what are the competing attractions of Reading and Exeter.

David gets to go to some other places with Sarah - Southampton, Norwich and some others I have forgotten, but the whole experience will be interesting on all sorts of levels, not least the reminder that although I kid myself that I have the body of a 39-year old and the mind and attitude to life of someone aged about twelve, time actually is slipping by. Too quickly.

More on that story in our next bulletin.