Breaking news from the sofa in front of me: Lisa has just described the latest footage of the Elk City tornado in Oklahoma as "a bit of old cloud". She followed that up by reaching for the remote control and adding "If I want to see grainy footage, I'll put on Channel Five". She's now watching a recording of 'House Guest in the Sun', which is a lot like a natural disaster, only more tragic.

And on the subject of tragedies, the first thing I saw when I left for work just after 8am this morning was an ambulance parked twenty yards from my front door, and a smashed up motorbike lying in the junction between Eastern Road and College Place. I don't know if the rider was in a similar condition or not, but let's hope the Yamaha was the only organ he damaged. Either way, it made me glad that I never leave for work on time. Five minutes earlier and I could have had Evel Knievel bouncing off my bonnet.

Ironically, having driven past the final scene from Easy Rider, I found myself following a white commercial van with a sign on the back which featured a bicycle in a red triangle, and the words "Warning: this vehicle turns left". I was tempted to bemoan the state of modern Britain, where it's apparently necessary to avoid litigation by warning cyclists that you might occasionally go round a corner, but having just seen a two-wheeled pile of wreckage at the junction of a left turn, it actually seemed quite sensible.

In other news, I was listening to the war stories of an elderly lady today (and I don't mean Lisa), and having told me about the time her husband was sunk by a U-boat, she happened to mention that she used to live in the Norfolk town of Sheringham. I told her that I have an internet stalker good friend who used to live there too, so she asked me his name.

Despite having just heard that careless talk costs lives, I immediately gave her the information she requested, and lo and behold, she said she knows him. "Not personally", she was quick to point out, but she was familiar with his work. Apparently he takes a good funeral. So I said I'd pass on her comments and try to get her a freebie.