I know that many people claim that chickens are stupid. I dispute that having shared my life with them for about the last 20 years. They can and do make their feelings known and are great at getting what they want.

Sheep though? Now although I don’t have a relationship with any sheep that’s as close as my relationship with my chooks, I don’t see much evidence of them having any common sense or intelligence. What is the first thing they do when they get frightened? Pee. When one gets separated from the rest of its friends, what does it do? Launches itself at the group, whether or not there is a hazard in the way. What does it do when it sees something that takes its fancy on the other side of the road? It just steps out with no second thought. Where does it think the best place to sleep is on a cold night? On the road. I think it’s fair to say they don’t really think a great deal – they just do what their mates do.

I’m trying to make good decisions. While I was having lunch the other day, my boss was sat opposite me at the table and he used a phrase that has stuck with me. He said “life’s a game and you have to stack the odds in your favour”. He’s been spectacularly successful at that. Me? I’ve made bad decision after bad decision over the last 5-10 years (accepting David’s proposal and accepting the offer of this job are the exceptions to that rule). It’s time for me to start stacking the odds in my favour and to make some good decisions. The first one was to take the job I’m doing, now I have to sort out some other bad stuff…I may be up against sheep but I’m going to break free from the flock and instead of thinking the road’s a great place to sleep, I’m going to go off on my own and find somewhere more favourable.