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Lee gets back from a holiday in Lisbon – computerless, app-deleted, and topped up with regular visits to a masseur who is also, confusingly, named Simon – while back home Simon is locked in a slow-motion battle with a magpie raiding his bird feeder. The conversation moves from what counts as a real holiday (a "leaky bucket list" versus a hammock and an endless cycle of naps and swims) into a nostalgic detour through the Walkman, suitcase-sized mobile phones, and post restante, tracing how mobile data quietly took over the time email used to take to find you.

Mentioned

• The Omen (1976 film) – referenced for its scene of a journalist's eyes being pecked out by crows, raised during a riff on how clever and vindictive crows can be
• Jeff Bezos – invoked in a bit imagining him ("Jeff Birdsos") running a conspiracy to push magpies onto bird feeders so seed prices rise
• Steve Jobs – cited as the figure behind the iPhone's "revolution product" (2007), framed as less transformative for holiday habits than the later rise of cheap mobile data
• Poste restante – historical postal system letting travellers collect mail abroad; recalled fondly as the highlight of pre-internet travel at 22
• Sony Walkman – portable cassette player; held up as the single device that changed everything more than the smartphone ever did, prompting a dive into how many models and headphone setups were used over the years
• Get Smart (TV show) – referenced via its shoe-phone gadget, recalled alongside memories of a family friend's brick-sized suitcase mobile phone in the 1980s

Get in touch with Lee and Simon at info@midlifing.net.

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The Midlifing logo is adapted from an original image by H.L.I.T: https://www.flickr.com/photos/29311691@N05/8571921679 (CC BY 2.0)