We moved into our house about four years ago. When we first unpacked, my bottle of nice brandy (fittingly) ended up on the top shelf in the kitchen pantry.

In our previous house it had been in the china cabinet in the dining room. And every couple of weeks I’d have a little nip.

But since we moved, it hasn’t been touched. Now to get to it I’d need to drag over a chair, step on the chair and reach up to bring it down.

I got a cheque in the mail from the ANZ a little while back. It’s been quite a while since the last time I got a paper cheque, so it was quite exciting.

The letter that came with it said:

Dear Sir/Madam,

We’re writing to let you know that we’ve identified that we may not have correctly applied credit interest to the above amount. We apologise for any inconvenience caused.

When we go to a footy match (especially if our team is playing) we pretend it really matters. It’s much more enjoyable when there is something at stake. And then at the end of the game (for some people anyway) we remember that it's not actually that important.

Likewise at the cinema, we suspend disbelief. We pretend it's real.

Jack Reacher is one of my favourite book characters.

He is the ultimate minimalist. He travels around America with an expired passport and a folding toothbrush. And nothing else. Every few days he buys a new set of clothes and continues on his way.

A few years back a co-author I was writing a book with sent me a scathing email about our editor. He was clearly frustrated when he wrote it … and while I agreed with some of it, I didn’t think it was entirely fair.

He was also clearly tired when he wrote it, because he accidentally sent the email to the editor as well as to me.