Would that today were Douglas Adams's answer to Life, The Universe and Everything.

Had an unexpected call from an ex-colleague (we still meet -when we can - on occasion, text and email fairly regularly but call less frequently) during a pretty pleasant work dial-in, so I had to decline but texted him to tell him I'd ring back in ten minutes or so when I'd be done. He'd left a message and sounded a bit ominous.

Rang him back expecting bad news, that an ex-colleague...