YES, I know some of you may have been on holiday.
You, for example, hunched over that keyboard which hasn’t been cleaned for weeks.
There is a reason why they say not to eat pain aux chocolate over your desk, you know.
Anyway, I’ve been sat here for the duration of Easter and beyond so that you didn’t have to.
Not that I’m jealous of your fresh-faced complexion.
Or lack of a twitch in your right eye.
My half day off on Christmas Day will be reward enough.
Only 250 shopping days left now.
So if you’ve just wandered back into the blogosphere from the real world, here’s some of what’s been happening around these parts in the last week.

IT was 20 years ago today.

I was at Highbury supporting my team Newcastle at Arsenal.

But football paled into total insignificance when the news broke over the radio.

A strange hush enveloped the crowd as word spread around the terraces of what was happening in Sheffield.

As we watched the first half of a now meaningless game, people who had also gone to watch a football match that afternoon were dying or already dead.

Several years later I met some of the bereaved families at the press launch for one of the most powerful TV dramas I have ever seen.

PIERS Morgan described it as “the biggest surprise I have had in three years on this show”.
Sometimes TV can just stop you in your tracks.
There were a few moments like that at yesterday’s press launch for the new series of Britain’s Got Talent.
Do not miss the opening show on ITV1 at 7.45pm tomorrow (Saturday).
For my money, it’s one of the best first programmes I’ve ever seen.
And that includes previous series of both this show and the likes of The X Factor, Pop Idol etc.
Susan Boyle (pictured) is one of the acts to look out for.
We’d had the security consultant blowing up a hot water bottle, then pulling a small van with his right ear.

MOST people remember the day she was driven away from Downing Street for the last time with tears in her eyes.
They forget just what a huge shock it was when Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher resigned.
The decision was so unexpected that there were only 14 journalists standing outside No 10 at the time.
One of them was me.
I can still picture her press officer walking out of the front door of No 10, holding a pile of A4 paper.
Striding towards us to hand out a Press Notice with a quote from Mrs Thatcher announcing her decision to step down.
It took a few seconds for the words to sink in.
Then all hell broke loose as we scrambled to convey the news to the outside world.

THE menu was full at yesterday’s launch of Hell’s Kitchen 2009.
Small round table interviews with new presenter Claudia Winkleman.
Plus seven of the eight celebrities going into the heat of Marco Pierre White’s ITV1 kitchen.
Except some of them disputed the term “celebrity”.
Including former Shameless star Jody Latham.
He sensibly doesn’t want to win the series.
Instead, he’s using it as a platform to promote his real work as an actor – while learning how to cook.
Sounds fair enough to me.
While predicting that fellow trainee chef Bruce Grobbelaar will punch his weight in the kitchen.

THERE were two big winners at Aintree yesterday.
One was 100-1 shot Mon Mome, ridden by the near toothless Liam Treadwell.
The other was BBC Sport presenter Clare Balding.
Fronting the Grand National coverage, Clare proved once again just what a superb broadcaster she is.
Totally at ease in the middle of the frantic racing action – her home turf.
Able to find, recognise and talk to dozens of characters around the racecourse, with an instant recall of facts about them.
She interviewed Mon Mome’s trainer Venetia Williams as the horses prepared to leave the parade ring.
And got full value from both her and all the connections in the middle of the post-race celebrations.

DID you watch it last night?
All The Small Things attracted a respectable 4.6m viewers in BBC1’s 9pm slot, the most watched show on TV at that time.
The cast included the busiest man on television this week.
Bryan Dick plays the mysterious curate Jake in Debbie Horsfield’s latest drama.
He also appeared as Phil Beaumont in Lewis on Sunday night.
And – as a very young man – in an ITV3 repeat of Clocking Off on Monday.
Making it three nights in a row on Tuesday with Jake…a man who looks to have an unholy past.