I am pulling out of the Genome Campus when I notice the car in front of me has a registration which is just a couple of characters away from spelling out “deontic”. First I think, “A near miss like that’s a bit of a shame.” Then I think, “Yeah, but what is the size of the intersection between the set of people prepared to pay a premium for a registration number that almost spells a word and the set of people who know what deontology is?”. Then I think, “God, you’re a snob, Counsell.” Then I think, “Shit, shit! Brake, you idiot! That car in front’s been stationary for four seconds!”

All US movie telephone numbers contain the digits 555. My local mobile phone shop’s number contains the digits 555.

This week I read two fascinating biographies of eccentric outsiders. One, Peter Mitchell won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1974. The other, John P. Ennis, aka “Sollog” is one condom short of a pack of three.