Life is a coincidence... as in Sliding Doors and all that. In Mull last week for hols, staying in Tobermory (of Balamory CBBC fame), and strolling to the Bar for a pint (it was called the Bar, which is a great name for a pub). Anyway, there I was, 400 miles from where I live, and a voice pipes up: "How are you doing, Steve." And blow me if it wasn't Alan Sims, the deputy editor of the Evening Gazette in Middlesbrough (also a good 300+ miles away) with whom I worked closely for three years when editing that paper a few years back. Small world. Later last week, decided to pop in for a pint at another hostelry on the island in Dervaig, along with boys. "Do you serve kids' portions," asks I. "We do for kids who support the right team," says Nick, the landlord, a Villa fan from Sutton Coldfield who'd spotted the claret and blue shirts on my boys' backs!