"I been away a long time"

... as the taciturn Native American says at the end of One flew over the cuckoo's nest.

Yes indeed. I've been institutionalised in the madhouse of modern-day consumerism, too mentally deranged by it all to summon up the will to blog.

As WB Yeats put it, "the best lack all conviction while the worst are full of passionate intensity." How conceited to assume I am one of the "best". But plenty of "passionate intensity" coming from those call centres and their affronted, can't-do staff.

Anyway, I really don't know where to begin to capture the raging torrent of customer nightmares (and a few glimmers of light amidst the darkness) that have passed under this particular bridge since I last blogged here.

I'll take a deep breath and get back to you.