Have you heard about...?

Well, we all knew that didn't we? Nothing like a good grumble to make you feel better.

So the next time the boss hears a sudden silence as he approaches the photocopier or water cooler, he should be relieved - by letting himself be grumbled about he's saving the company a fortune in sick pay.

Gossip is a way of keeping people in touch, showing that you care, bringing people into a circle. A good gossip spots problems even before they've developed - which means they're half way to solving them.

And yes, actually, gossips are mainly female

Men have a dignity clause so they call a good gossip "networking". But it's all the same thing.

Now have you heard about...

Got a teenager in the family? Then it's time to take maternity leave. Not as daft as it sounds. More and more American mothers, having successfully juggled their working lives through babies, toddlers and primary school children, finally give up and throw in the towel when their children hit their teens. Because - though they'd die rather than admit it - teenagers need their mums. Or dads.

Just because they know not to put their fingers in the plugs and can work the microwave, doesn't mean teenagers are safe to be left on their own. Quite the opposite.

There's a whole lot going on in their heads and the best chance to help them sort it out is when they come in from school and you're there with the tea pot and the packet of biscuits and, above all, time.

Nine days out of ten, of course, they will just grunt and walk past you. But the tenth time...

Just by being there and expecting them to check in, too, is a help. American studies have shown that the hours between the end of school and 6pm is when teenagers are most likely to use drugs, have sex or go shoplifting. Tricky to turn the house into a crack den if your mum's there watching Richard and Judy.

The Government has all sorts of plans for extending parental leave. If it were really adventurous, it would subsidise a large chunk of it to cover adolescence. It could end up saving the state a fortune. After all, compared to a toddler, a teenager's scope for disaster is virtually limitless.

Black Watch pride

When it was announced that the Black Watch was to move up into the more dangerous zone near Baghdad, television and radio reporters immediately started questioning soldiers, their wives and families, expecting them to be horrified at the move.

Not at all.

The soldiers were brilliant. They had a job to do they said and, basically, they were keen to do it.

And the women were wonderful. Most of them were saying that yes, of course, they wanted their husbands safe at home, but they were soldiers, this was exactly what they had joined up to do and they were going to do it. It was the wives' job to wait for them and look after the families at home and they would get on with doing that and try not to add to their husbands' worries by being clingy and complaining.

While the rest of society seems increasingly self absorbed, actively looking for things to complain about, to sue over, to seek compensation for, the reaction of the soldiers and their families is humbling.

We should be proud of them.

Spent Saturday yomping through the heather and falling into streams high up on Barningham Moor on the Durham/North Yorkshire border in a field trip under the guidance of Weardale archaeologists Tom Gledhill and Ros Nichol and their daft dog Mutt.

A dozen of us from a WEA class saw stone circles, carved rocks, burial cairns, and sat and ate our lunch in the middle of the remains of a Romano/British settlement with stunning views. It was utterly fascinating and, even with squelchy feet, it was a privilege to be there.

For years I have thundered along the A66 and looked across at Barningham Moor and haven't had a clue of the treasures it held.

Sometimes, whole new worlds really are just on your doorstep - if you know how to find them.

Snap Harry

No, of course Prince Harry shouldn't have taken a pop at one of the dozen photographers waiting for him outside a nightclub at three in the morning.

But gosh, don't you understand why he did?

It's a great idea that he's going into the Army. But instead of going to Sandhurst and taking the officer route, wouldn't it have been much more interesting if he'd signed up as a squaddie?

Could have been the making of him.

The move to make gambling easier and casinos more accessible is utter madness, mind boggling. Big business will make more money out of the weak and vulnerable, which is morally indefensible. And this from a Labour government.

And apart from that, casinos are such miserable places.

Years ago, in another life, I used to go to one occasionally. My abiding memory is of lots of off-duty Chinese waiters looking glum, and raddled women, grim-faced, pouring more money into machines.

The surroundings, meant to be glamorous, were little more than tawdry.

And no, I never won anything - the surroundings were so tacky I was never even tempted to try.

Bill Nicholson, former manager of Spurs, who died at the weekend, dedicated his life to football. He often spent seven days a week at the office and his team had the trophies to prove it.

But on the day of the wedding of one of his daughters, his wife found him in tears.

"I never saw her growing up," he said.

Just a thought, all you workaholics, just a thought...

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