No 1 Son came round yesterday with No 1 Grand-daughter, who certainly has a good set of lungs, on the evidence. She was apparently wearing her latest “Christmas outfit”, I’ve seen whole Third World relief appeals with less kit than this child .....

Cleared my desk at Vossloh Kiepe, having run out of budget and headcount. Ho hum. I’ve been to a couple of interviews but the recruitment process these days seems hopelessly dysfunctional, no results yet. There seems to be a general crisis in progress, companies have cut rates and training to the point that they can neither recruit required skills, nor retain the people they do recruit... all very reminiscent of the late 70s/early 80s recession. Looks as though I’ll be drifting into semi-retirement in the foreseeable future.