John, that is brilliant! I have long suspected that cars get to know when one starts to think about a new one.

I forgot to mention the camera tripod that packed up on Blackheath when we went there to try and photograph the asteroid. (Both the camera battery went flat, and the computer ditto when I tried to ahow someone the Stellarium software.)

The last run was about four years ago when I was in the process of moving, and the washing machine and the fridge went in the old place and I had to buy to fit that kitchen, not knowing the sizes for the new one.

Subsequently, tradespeople engaged to do work on the old place suffered illness and accident (one was a rogue who ran off with money). and the builders who bought the place ripped out the thousands of pounds worth of work I had had done. And the house value dropped.

But this is not like the runs which have affected people I have known where whole families have had illness and death all at once. I know my things are trivial. But there are rather a lot of them. I expect a run, either of good or bad, to be between three and five, possibly six. Probability suggests longer to be rarer.

Penny