My dad turned 100. I had four vaccinations and played six gigs. One cat died and we acquired another

Last New Year’s Day I found myself in the mildly paradoxical state of being relieved 2020 was finally over while still dreading the prospect of 2021. Twelve months on, I’m in the exact same position: the only thing preventing me from being glad to see the back of last year is the distinct possibility that 2022 will be worse still.

A lot of this is, of course, subjective. The only way to accurately assess the goodness or badness of one particular year in relation to another is through the prism of cold, hard numbers. Here, then, is my personal statistical index for the year 2021, using the latest available figures:

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