Warming Up

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Feel like my daughter might be cheating at scrabble. That third C is very suspect.

Phoebe is getting into Scrabble and is pretty good at it. She just played "vomited" as her opening word, with a 50 point bonus, which is impressive on so many levels. Now 10 years and all the financial and emotional investment that goes into having a child is a lot, but if I get someone who will play me at Scrabble out of it (and can also give me a decent game) then it's all been worth while. I told her I would train her up to be a grand master and that she could make hundreds of pounds a year. She seemed disappointed with this renumeration, but it's sadly realistic. Is it worth her giving up her life to learn the entire dictionary like the other Scrabble champion nerds? Maybe not. But if I can pass on my own Scrabble wisdom and get her to at least learn the two letter words and understand how to balance her rack to make bingos more likely then I think she can beat most players. Even me? Don't be silly.

If you are a regular reader you will know that 26 Richard Herrings were placed on this earth by some mysterious force, each with a different middle initial https://www.richardherring.com/warmingup/25/4/2023/index.html . Richard J Herring is a noted economist, Richard K Herring is the greatest comedian that has ever lived.

But some anti Richard Herring entity is trying to wipe us all out and this week it was the turn of Richard B Herring. Richard Herring is not a common name so for one of us to go every couple of years can't just be a coincidence. They nearly got me four years ago, but I was too strong for them, but they got a little chunk of me.

I am always sad to see one of my brothers in Richard Herring go. And wish I'd been given a cool nickname like "Butch" rather than just being Keith. RIP Richard B. Those of us that remain shall carry on our vital work of trying to work out what money is and making people laugh and whatever the rest of those pricks are up to.

If you're a Richard Herring, please take care of yourself. We can't lose any more. And keep waiting for the call for us to assemble to save the world or for some morbid Dave Gorman style TV show. We must have been put here for a reason.

I've been reading my wife's fab new book Cafe Chaos. It's very funny, but also has a real understanding of the bullying and cliques that go on at school. It's a great gift for any youngster in your life and you can get 25% if you preorder from Waterstones this weekend.

Please make her the next JK Rowling (in terms of sales) and buy the book NOW! Then I can retire and a million trolls can relax.