Walking briskly home from work last week I gained on two people ahead of me on the pavement. The person on the outside, a young man, had a cigarette in his right hand. I stepped out into the road to overtake, having checked behind to make sure that I wasn't going to be flattened by a passing vehicle, and gave the man a wide berth in case he waved his hand with the cigarette. I was glad that I did because just before I drew level with him he turned his head and spat into the road! Yuk. A large, solitary gob of glistening spit landed just ahead of my feet. At that point he saw me and, looking embarrassed, said "Sorry". Feeling relieved that the spit had missed my new boots, I laughed and said "I'm glad I wasn't there" and strode off down the pavement.

I'm wary of pedestrians when I'm cycling. Seems I have to be just as wary when I'm walking.

The police want to interview all serial killers in the hope that they'll be able to prevent future serial killers from starting. This will save lives. (How many murders makes one a serial killer?) Considering the daily death toll on the roads is about ten, I would think the police's time would be better spent looking at people's driving. I bet more die on the roads each year than are killed by all the serial killers.

A man on 'Talking Politics' on Radio 4 yesterday said that the USA spends more on health than we do, yet Americans, judging by his recent visit there, are unhealthy; they are so fat. This was an argument against spending more on the NHS. Oh dear. The NHS doesn't set out to make people healthy. I doubt the US health system does either. People have to do that themselves. The NHS treats people only when they're ill.