Every day on his bicycle Matt passes an older man walking a dog, as discussed in February. This morning the man asked, 'Where are you from?', because it is polite to ask this question of people with foreign accents. Matt answered, 'California. And how about you - are you from north London?'

Naturally, the man showed complete disgust over Matt's rudeness. It was as though Matt had questioned the moral integrity of the man's family, or their ability to walk upright. The appropriate response, of course, would have been to wait for the man's inevitable query about the weather in California.

Now perhaps another week will pass in silence before the two men speak again of the wind and rain.