There are few official-looking envelopes capable of ruining your afternoon quite like the reminder that your car is due its MOT.

You can be having a perfectly pleasant day until suddenly you’re calculating the cost of a service and wondering whether that noise you’ve been ignoring is about to become a financial event.

The test itself generally isn’t all that bad. It’s the preparation.

Booking the test is the first challenge. Your requirements begin reasonably enough: an appointment at a socially acceptable hour, somewhere you can get to without extensive provisions and, ideally, before your current certificate expires.

Accept there is no going back over contentious parading - The Irish News view

Chris Donnelly: Drumcree exposes the BBC’s unresolved problem with impartiality

There’s a particular indignity in repeatedly refreshing a booking system for something you don’t especially want to attend.

Concert tickets, I understand. A reasonably priced holiday, absolutely.........

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