So there I was, tapping away at the computer, and it just went dead. Kaput. Bye-bye. In our household, I know not how to deal with these things, but Fiona does and she has now got someone in who is sorting it, but in the meantime I thought well maybe it’s someone or something telling me to chill out a bit.

Then the next day, my body conked out almost as instantly as the computer did … one minute I felt fine, the next I had a dire headache, five minutes later I was throwing up, an involuntary act which continued on and off through Thursday  night until yesterday I felt not bad. (Full marks to Resolve Extra btw)

Hence the blog-free zone that the last few days have been. I see that my occasional tweets sent from my mobile have not appeared on my twitterfeed, so clearly in mind, body and technology I am just going through one of those phases.

I did manage a run this morning, round the streets and down the canalside in Norwich. Lovely place. I did a q and a at the football club last night to help raise a few bob for Delia to help her keep her players in the manner to which they are accustomed.

It was interesting to hear how many people seemed disappointed – and surprised – that Charles Clarke was no longer their MP. One of the questions I got was ‘how would you feel if you were one of those people who voted Lib Dem because of their pledge on tuition fees?’

It is what we call a bit of a free hit. I think you probably know the answer. There is not a single Lib Dem MP who did not campaign hard on tuition fees, nor who was photographed with their ‘I pledge not to raise tuition fees’ posters and they will definitely pay a price. Indeed in the short term, as the cuts really start to bite, I think the Lib Dems are set to cop more than their fair share of the coalition’s political fallout.

Henry Sutton, writer and academic and Mirror books editor, also  pointed out that what did it for Charles Clarke was the fact that the Greens took several thousand votes too. They too may be regretting losing a good MP and a big hitter for someone whose name few people seemed able to remember, (Simon Wright btw) but who is now fully engaged in doing George Osborne’s work for him.

Just caught an item on the news about planned cuts in Stoke on Trent. It was a very long list, and that situation is being repeated all around the country. What is becoming clearer and clearer to people is that virtually no public service will be unaffected, and that real people are going to face real pressures as a result of the planned cuts.

Meanwhile, a quick word on the US mid-term elections, albeit a few days late. I still think Barack Obama will be re-elected. There may be a lot of disappointment around but as both Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton showed, it is possible to turn that around. Also, God help the Republican candidate who tries to channel all the different bits and pieces of the right wing in the US into  one coherent and concerted movement. At the moment, the Tea Party mob may be proving to  be a bit of a nightmare for Obama. Watch how they become a nightmare for his opponent, once said opponent emerges.

Off for lunch with Delia shortly then, hopefully, Burnley’s first away win of the season.

Ps to the media organisations calling asking for interviews re Andy Coulson being interviewed by the police. No ta. I always felt Bernard Ingham made a total prat of himself trying to make my life more difficult than it needed to be, whenever I was under the cosh, and unless and until there is anything substantially new to say about the phone-hacking situation, I’ll stick to the football.