A few things I’ve been thinking about this week. The forty-first post of a series.

One of the sillier apps I have on my phone is Conqueror Virtual Challenges, which takes the distance I walk and plots it along a given “challenge” route. This is qualitatively absurd: schlepping from the sofa to the fridge for more chocolate is not sensibly comparable to trekking a few metres further up a mountain.

It therefore feels mildly fraudulent (but also a little bit lovely) to have received this medal this week. It commemorates having walked the length of Route 66, a total of 2280.5 miles, since September last year. I’ll happily confess that I’ve made no special effort, it’s just my normal, everyday steps.

I think I’ve only bought two of the top 20 biggest-selling debut albums in UK history, both on CD, though there are another two that I might have bought. I can’t remember for certain, and I’ve no idea where any of them are now.

I shop at IKEA more than most people. I tend to consider it to be an easy place to shop. It’s painless to check stock before visiting, it’s easy to pop in and pick up the needful, and if you want to view something before purchase, the layout is logical and well-signposted. They’re far from perfect, but they are at least thoughtful about their impact on the environment. I pop in just to use the restaurant occasionally.

I’m therefore always tickled by articles about it being a labyrinth. These often seem to be based on the more common experience of wandering the entire store at the busiest time of the week, trying to make stressful decisions about large furniture purchases, all in a novel and unfamiliar environment. The articles are frequently very funny tales or analyses of stressful experiences—but not at all like my experience of IKEA.

Tory MPs are telling us again that they are ruthless about getting rid of leaders, less than six weeks after they finally dispatched Boris Johnson following a psychodrama that dragged on and on and on for years. Facts needn’t hinder party mythology.

The thirteenth Chancellor of the Exchequer of my lifetime was appointed this week. The first six served for my first 25 years on the planet. Jeremy Hunt must serve thirteen years if the second seven are to draw level that record. This seems unlikely.