Dom, The Gas Lamp, and the Mark Addy

Earlier this year, on one of the Thursday mornings when we'd meet for coffee at Mancoco, Izzy mentioned to me how - based on something she'd read or heard - she didn't look at her phone when she first woke up. And that's what I do, too, now; I get up, make a coffee, feed Tux and Flea, and go back to bed, and only then do I check my phone.

This discipline extends patchily into the day. For example, if I drive somewhere, usually the first thing I do upon arriving is check my phone. But after swimming, I'll now wait until I'm showered and dressed before reaching for my phone.

And so it was, today, as I was walking out of the sports centre at the university, which is when I first saw a text from Dom saying that he was in Manchester and did I fancy a drink?

As ever, the Minx was happy to facilitate so after we'd driven to Deansgate to pick up the cake for the miniMinx's party, tomorrow, she returned home and I walked down to The Gas Lamp on Bridge Street.

In reality, this self-styled "Subterranean drinking den" (see Extra) is less claustrophobic than it is in my head, and Dom and I spent a pleasant hour or so enjoying a bottle of wine before I crossed back into Salford to meet the Minx and miniMinx for dinner.

Walking over the bridge, one gets a good view of the Mark Addy, the riverside pub that was damaged in 2015 when the Irwell flooded and never reopened. Although, that is a shame, of course, I must say that I love the aesthetics of its gradual decay, not least in contrast to the modern buildings above it.