I’ll never forget old wotsisname

Does dullness slump its way into every corner of your life? Is it all a bit too grey? Are you fed up to the back teeth? (No, I don’t know why it's back teeth). Are you, as I am, nursing a micro-hangover, which is just taking the edge off your keen enjoyment of existence?

If so, I’ve got a great wheeze – well, I think it’s great – and it’s all down to a bloke I used to know who died umpteen years ago. I can’t be bothered to look it up, hence the umpteen. This wheeze is based on the thing that some Christians do called What Would Jesus Do? Now, no disrespect intended to such Christians, but I have unashamedly hijacked the principle for my own purposes and the result is: What Would Buck Do? I have read that some people have also come up with What Would Obama Do? but such a lofty approach is not what I’m aiming at.

What Would Buck Do? considers the approach to life of former Barnstaple councillor, printer and general irritant Buck Taylor. I was fortunate enough, and I do consider it good fortune, to have known Buck for a fair few years and it’s only in light of today’s rather dreary approach to life that I realise what a truly mischievous old bugger he was. Who else would have come up with the idea of celebrating Luxembourg Day so we could get round the rather strict licensing laws that were in force in North Devon in those days? This even involved making an application (successfully) to magistrates for an extension to a pub licence. He and I also kicked around the idea of a campaign of writing bogus letters to newspapers so we could get snigger-inducing references in them. We never went ahead with it, but even just considering the idea cheered us up.

WWBD? aims to achieve a general level of personal satisfaction by minor acts of foolishness that will often only please me. Let the naughtiness begin. In fact, I already did one thing this morning which resulted in a sub-Viz-ian reference to a solitary vice appearing on a website. Tee hee! Fnaar fnaar! It might be a bit sad, but I suspect that Buck would find it quite jolly.