"If they start talking about their wife or their troubles at work, I just change the subject," says Mandy.
Hofmeester's background is sketched in — his marriage, his painstakingly accumulated savings, his secret troubles at work — but these sections aren't Proustian trapdoors to the past.
Injecting a little emotion into the proceedings may help, too, though threats will probably not be constructive, especially given what happened at ABB. (The gunman there left no note, though he had told friends of troubles at work).
In a plot twist so tidy that Judith might have invented it, he is a laborer embroiled in a factory strike, and his troubles at work parallel Judith's at school.
'It has been a tough year with plenty of ups and downs - being ripped off by a rogue trader, troubles at work - and a real holiday escape would set us all up for an exciting 2008 with regenerated optimism.
The symptoms of AR had a significant impact on the quality of life (discomfort: 87.9% of patients, sleep disorder: 56.8%, disruption of daily activities: 61.4% or troubles at work or school: 46.5%).
