This poor little dead thing is my optical mouse. The thing that has become one of my heroes this year. It has saved me from the thing I hate above all else – shopping. It’s not really dead, that’s just my warped mind’s symbolism for the mouse’s over-use this year.

This year, I think I’ve only been into a high street (well, except for Epsom where I work and Liskeard where I play) on a small handful of occasions. The reason for this giant leap forward in my life is the huge increase in on-line shopping available to us now.

Oh how I love clicking my way around ‘Sainsbury’s to You’ instead of doing battle in the store. Oh how I adore clicking around ‘Virgin Wines’ to save me from Threshers. Oh how I applaud CD-WOW for beating off the threat of the big record labels who tried to close them down this year and enabling me to buy my music (with covers you can smell, Jeanne) on-line.

Everything I can possibly do on-line these days, I do. My banking, my credit cards, my bills, my Christmas shopping – it’s such a pleasure and gives me back some of my precious time.

Still the ‘real-life’ shoppers impede my daily progress though, last night’s journey home was elongated by thronging masses going to off-load some of their folding stuff in Marks and Spencer. I spent 20 minutes queuing just to get past the store to come home. Pah. Haven’t they got homes to go to? Couldn’t they see that through their desperation to shop and their sitting blocking roundabouts and traffic lights that they wouldn’t get there any quicker and they were stopping ordinary folks from going about their business?

If only it was possible to guarantee sizes of clothes……I could even do my clothes shopping online then and maybe I’d never have to go into a grim clothes shop’s changing room ever again. Oh how I wish that one could get sorted and I’d truly be the happiest of bunnies around.