I have ten years on you - it's my 'Beatle Birthday' this year - and I know what you mean!

OK, so there was a time when snap, crackle and pop was the sound of my cereal in the morning, not my joints. There was never a time when I envisioned arguing with grandchildren about the head of my walking stick. But when I was a kid, there were no video games, and despite SWMBOs' occasional lectures, I do NOT think I'm too old to play them! Dammit, I've completed the whole 'Mass Effect' trilogy and all of the 'Devil May Cry' games! Not bad for an old fart!

But it's been the pace of change during my lifetime that's done my head in! When I compare the kit in the kitchen my parents had to what Anne and I have today. When I recall my grandparents' TV, with it's wooden cabinet, doors, 8" black and white acreen and the five minutes it took to 'warm up' , then look at our current 'Smart TV' with it's multiple settings 'cinema' sound and High-Definition LCD screen, I think, 'How did that happen so quickly?" While simultaneously noting that, whether in murky monochrome or Hi-Def full colour, the Daleks are still the scariest aliens going! Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose!

But we do differ on what might happen to us when we shuffle off this mortal coil. I sincerely hope that there isn't an afterlife. Frankly, I need the peace and quiet!

That said, my son remarked yesterday: "Dad, you're the kind of guy who'd visit a haunted house and come out with a job application!" To which my daughter promptly responded "Just don't say his name three times!"

Our fault - we fed them after midnight!