These days, the first one of a couple to retire may well find themselves in a different dynamic. No chance of having the house to oneself, of sitting in the study alone surrounded by books – the office space is shared. Music not-of-choice scratches from The Worker’s laptop. No chance of practicing the piano during work hours – that would be too noisy for The Worker in the next room. So would cranking up the stereo to play the Rolling Stones at adequate volume. Now, the retiree does whatever he can to free up the house, or to get The Worker back to the office.

First World problems, as they say. Be grateful etc etc. Sure, okay.

But there’s a bigger, more intractable problem at hand. The ‘What are you going to do today?” question, innocently posed over breakfast.