EARLIER this year I was feeling a bit tired and run-down, with a persistent shoulder injury that I was just about keeping on top of with a shoulder brace and strong painkillers. It occurred to me that I had not actually taken a holiday since a four-day mini-break in the summer of 2019. I worked all through the Covid pandemic and have been working six days most weeks ever since. I usually treat public holidays as an opportunity to do one of the more mechanically complex jobs (such as engine or gearbox assembly) without being disturbed by the telephone.
I am not complaining: I love my job. But the human body can only take so much, and so my wife and I
