Man in the Middle is the fictional diary of a Boomer coping with the demands of an ageing mother with dementia, his millennial children and his own impending obsolescence. Bowed down by Brexit, Covid and self-pity, all he wants is more ‘me time’. Will he succeed? Or is he destined to be stuck forever in No Man’s Land in the war between the generations? If you’d like to begin at the beginning, you can read No. 1: The Letter here No 90: The Repair Cafe A friend is about to open a Repair Café. This is a place where you take along your broken memorabilia and while sipping a spiced persimmon smoothie or almond milk cortado watch you

Man in the Middle is the fictional diary of a Boomer coping with the demands of an ageing mother with dementia, his millennial children and his own impending obsolescence. Bowed down by Brexit, Covid and self-pity, all he wants is more ‘me time’. Will he succeed? Or is he destined to be stuck forever in No Man’s Land in the war between the generations? If you’d like to begin at the beginning, you can read No. 1: The Letter here No 88: An Offaly nice idea I walk into the kitchen hoping for a quiet Sunday breakfast to discover that overnight Netflix have converted my kitchen into the film set for a new version of George Orwell’s

Man in the Middle is the fictional diary of a Boomer coping with the demands of an ageing mother with dementia, his millennial children and his own impending obsolescence. Bowed down by Brexit, Covid and self-pity, all he wants is more ‘me time’. Will he succeed? Or is he destined to be stuck forever in No Man’s Land in the war between the generations? If you’d like to begin at the beginning, you can read No. 1: The Letter here No 86: Do I owe you anything? It’s Easter Sunday. The sun has a smile on its face wider than Jurgen Klopp’s after his FA Cup semi-final win yesterday against Manchester City. Mr Bl

Man in the Middle is the fictional diary of a Boomer coping with the demands of an ageing mother with dementia, his millennial children and his own impending obsolescence. Bowed down by Brexit, Covid and self-pity, all he wants is more ‘me time’. Will he succeed? Or is he destined to be stuck forever in No Man’s Land in the war between the generations? If you’d like to begin at the beginning, you can read No. 1: The Letter here No 84: A month of birthdays In our garden is an English hawthorn. Its branches are twisted and its bark is cracked and flaked. For most of the year, it looks like an old person wracked with arthritis and

Man in the Middle is the fictional diary of a Boomer coping with the demands of an ageing mother with dementia, his millennial children and his own impending obsolescence. Bowed down by Brexit, Covid and self-pity, all he wants is more ‘me time’. Will he succeed? Or is he destined to be stuck forever in No Man’s Land in the war between the generations? If you’d like to begin at the beginning and missed the first instalment, you can read No. 1: The Letter here No 82: The cost of fixing kitty Our cat has been bitten by a fox. The wounds on his leg are weeping yellow pus and the skin around the teeth marks are receding like a snee

Man in the Middle is the fictional diary of a Boomer coping with the demands of an ageing mother with dementia, his millennial children and his own impending obsolescence. Bowed down by Brexit, Covid and self-pity, all he wants is more ‘me time’. Will he succeed? Or is he destined to be stuck forever in No Man’s Land in the war between the generations? If you’d like to begin at the beginning and missed the first instalment, you can read No. 1: The Letter here No 80: New Year Dreams My dead father visits me now and again. And always at Christmas. He stands at the side of my bed and whispers ‘I forgive you.’ Just that. Then he vanish

Man in the Middle is the fictional diary of a Boomer coping with the demands of an ageing mother with dementia, his millennial children and his own impending obsolescence. Bowed down by Brexit, Covid and self-pity, all he wants is more ‘me time’. Will he succeed? Or is he destined to be stuck forever in No Man’s Land in the war between the generations? If you’d like to begin at the beginning and missed the first instalment, you can read No. 1: The Letter here No 78: Becoming a detectorist Morning 10.30 am Mother is asleep on her bed, a biscuit clenched in her right hand. Her right hand lies on her heart. She looks like

Man in the Middle is the fictional diary of a Boomer coping with the demands of an ageing mother with dementia, his millennial children and his own impending obsolescence. Bowed down by Brexit, Covid and self-pity, all he wants is more ‘me time’. Will he succeed? Or is he destined to be stuck forever in No Man’s Land in the war between the generations? If you’d like to begin at the beginning and missed the first instalment, you can read No. 1: The Letter here No 76: The Ear of Dionysus I’m on my hands and knees trying to escape from the men’s urinal at the Neapolis Archaeological Park in Sicily by squeezing myself underneath the metal

Man in the Middle is the fictional diary of a Boomer coping with the demands of an ageing mother with dementia, his millennial children and his own impending obsolescence. Bowed down by Brexit, Covid and self-pity, all he wants is more ‘me time’.  Will he succeed? Or is he destined to be stuck forever in No Man’s Land in the war between the generations? If you’d like to begin at the beginning and missed the first instalment, you can read No. 1: The Letter here No 74: Pig in the Park I’m at a festival called Pig in the Park. Or something similar. It’s one of those faux festivals, where there’s no sex or drugs or rock ‘n’ roll, j

Man in the Middle is the fictional diary of a Boomer coping with the demands of an ageing mother with dementia, his millennial children and his own impending obsolescence. Bowed down by Brexit, Covid and self-pity, all he wants is more ‘me time’.  Will he succeed? Or is he destined to be stuck forever in No Man’s Land in the war between the generations? If you’d like to begin at the beginning and missed the first instalment, you can read No. 1: The Letter here No 72: The right to make eccentric decisions My wife has finished painting the garden furniture pink. The paint has a fancy name like Boris’ Bubblegum or Flirty Flamingo and I’

Man in the Middle is the fictional diary of a Boomer coping with the demands of an ageing mother with dementia, his millennial children and his own impending obsolescence. Bowed down by Brexit, Covid and self-pity, all he wants is more ‘me time’.  Will he succeed? Or is he destined to be stuck forever in No Man’s Land in the war between the generations? If you’d like to begin at the beginning and missed the first instalment, you can read No. 1: The Letter here No 70: Father's Day Father’s Day was a flop again this year. It took seven hours to drive down the creepy crawly M4 and M5 to celebrate the great day with my children, who had be

Man in the Middle is the fictional diary of a Boomer coping with the demands of an ageing mother with dementia, his millennial children and his own impending obsolence. Bowed down by Brexit, Covid and self-pity, all he wants is more ‘me time’.  Will he succeed? Or is he destined to be stuck forever in No Man’s Land in the war between the generations? If you’d like to begin at the beginning and missed the first instalment, you can read No. 1: The Letter here No 68: Escape to the country? As a child, I hated watching ‘Last of the Summer’s Wine’, the BBC sitcom about old men with nothing much to do with their lives but fool around. No

A middle aged man realises his elderly mother can no longer cope alone, so she moves in with them. Squeezed by the demands of the demographic time bomb and the requirements of the rest of the family, the Man in the Middle is bemused that life has become a hi-wire act, just when he thought it should start getting easier. How can he keep everyone happy and survive with his sanity intact? If you’d like to begin at the beginning and missed the first instalment, you can read No. 1: The Letter here No 66: I’ve made a terrible mistake and gone for a walk in the country My body crumples onto the grass, exhausted. I lay my head down on the damp hillsi

A middle aged man realises his elderly mother can no longer cope alone, so she moves in with them. Squeezed by the demands of the demographic time bomb and the requirements of the rest of the family, the Man in the Middle is bemused that life has become a hi-wire act, just when he thought it should start getting easier. How can he keep everyone happy and survive with his sanity intact? If you’d like to begin at the beginning and missed the first instalment, you can read No. 1: The Letter here No 64: Should men wear Alice bands? My wife looks up and sniggers. The children turn around, exchange a shrug of their eyebrows and then swivel back to