In the ensuing wrangle my wife took my son’s side my wife is an incredibly annoying seen-and-done-it-all 40-year-old – you know the

In the ensuing wrangle, my wife took my son’s side (my wife is an incredibly annoying seen-and-done-it-all 40-year-old – you know the type), and I got so stressed that I jumped out and left them to it.”We would have done better to have got a mini-cab than trust to his direction-finding!” I told them.”Well, get a mini-cab, then!” said my wife, and to my surprise she got into the driving seat and drove off.Mini-cabs are few and far between in Gravesend, but finally I located a small office from a card in a phone-box and phoned the firm, which was in an adjacent borough. I was picked up 10 minutes later by the female proprietor of the mini-cab firm, who said that she didn’t normally drive a cab herself, but that at that time of the morning no one else was available.”Where to?” she said.”The Dome,” I said.”You don’t want to go there,” she said.”Why not?” I said.”It’s such a debilitating experience,” she said “I’ve been and I should know The whole attitude of the place is patronising. The Dome is the sort of place that a kindergarten teacher who was given two billion pounds and an empty space to fill might come up with. And what I always say is that being talked down to for any length of time gives you bad posture problems Man wasn’t made to grovel for long.”I looked at her again. It wasn’t the sort of chat you expect from a mini-cab driver She was quite young, with a twinkle in her eye.

It suddenly occurred to me that if I did go to the Dome, I would only have to link up with my disagreeable family again, so I hesitated.”Well, not the Dome, then,” I said.”Where, then?” she said.”Where do you recommend?” I said.She laughed. She told me later that I wasn’t the kind of passenger she normally encountered, either, not in Gravesend anyway. To cut a long story short, we drove out into the country and had lunch together, and we fell in love and now I am co-owner of a mini-cab firm in a borough not far from Gravesend, and I am blissfully happy, and I owe it all to the Dome. So you can see what I mean when I say that the Dome is not without its defenders, and that it can change people’s lives.I should stress that I am still living with my wife and family, who know nothing about my new life, so this letter is purely for your information and must on no account be shown to anyone else.Yours sincerely, Graham HoppendenWell, Mr Hoppenden, if I had read to the end of your letter before printing it, I might have been able to obey your wishes, but I am afraid it is too late now.
More from Miles Kington.

Francesco Casagrande took the overall lead in the Giro d’Italia yesterday with a runaway win in the first mountain stage of the gruelling three-week race. Looking strong throughout, the Italian completed the ninth stage – a 138km (85.5 mile) test of climbing skills – in just under four hours and 23 minutes. Francesco Casagrande took the overall lead in the Giro d’Italia yesterday with a runaway win in the first mountain stage of the gruelling three-week race. Looking strong throughout, the Italian completed the ninth stage – a 138km (85.5 mile) test of climbing skills – in just under four hours and 23 minutes.
A group of eight cyclists finished 1min 39sec behind Casagrande, who pulled away near the 100km mark, on the final phase of the steep ascent up the San Pelligrino pass along the border of the Tuscany and Emilia-Romagna regions to outclass a quality line-up of climbers including the defending champion, Ivan Gotti, and Pavel Tonkov.Casagrande, riding for the Vini Caldirola team, takes over the pink jersey as race leader from the Spaniard Jose Gutierrez, of Kelme.The Italian Cristian Moreni, of the Liquigas team, who occupied fifth place going into yesterday’s stage, was one of several to crash in the downhill stretch down the backside of the San Pelligrino pass.GIRO D’ITALIA (Ninth Stage, 138km, Prato to Abetone): 1 F Casagrande (It) Vini Caldirola 4hr 22min 58sec; 2 S Garzelli (It) Mercatone Uno +1min 39sec; 3 D Frigo (It) Fassa Bortolo; 4 G Simoni (It) Lampre; 5 D di Luca (It) Cantina Tollo; 6 I Gotti (It) Polti all same time; 7 P Tonkov (Russia) Mapei 1:41; 8 W Belli (It) Fassa Bortolo same time; 9 A Noe (It) Mapei 1:50; 10 L Piepoli (It) Banesto 1:53.. “Once is fortune; twice will make them think,” were the words of the Great Britain coach, Jon Royce, following his team’s second successive victory, this time 3-2, over the Olympic and world champions, Australia, here last night. “Once is fortune; twice will make them think,” were the words of the Great Britain coach, Jon Royce, following his team’s second successive victory, this time 3-2, over the Olympic and world champions, Australia, here last night.
Britain followed up Sunday’s 3-1 win with a strong performance, once again resting three leading strikers, Jane Sixsmith, Tina Cullen and Lucilla Wright.After an entertaining but goalless first half, Britain struck first, two minutes after the interval at a penalty corner through Mel Clewlow. Australia were on terms within a minute through Alyson Annan.Six minutes later Sarah Blanks restored Britain’s advantage, but Karen Smith eventually got the ball past Carolyn Reid for Australia’s equaliser after the keeper had made three successive saves.The hosts survived tremendous pressure before a quick ball found Anna Bennett and she beat Rachel Imison from the narrowest of angles.GREAT BRITAIN: C Reid (Hightown); J Jack (Grange Edinburgh), K Johnson (Bury St Edmunds), M Clewlow (Canterbury), K Walsh (Hightown); K Bowden (Fyffes Leicester), S Chandler (capt, Slough), D Marston-Smith (Clifton); A Bennett (Canterbury), M Nicholson (Slough), L King (Ipswich).