You know - there are few things in life that you can truly mark as turning points in your life. There are fewer still that were obtained through the the spending of a small amount money. Small that is - compared to the enormity of the lifestyle change that came about as a result of spending that amount of money. These are the things that have an enormouse value-to-money ratio - or enormous value-for-money. I have a theory: the point at which money breaks into enormous value is at around the £200 pound mark ...

My all-time-best 200 pounds ever spent was on replacing the lead water main pipe with a plastic one. The change to my lifestyle was dramatic! Just seeing and feeling the pounding jet of water coming out of the cold tap on the kitchen sink is thrilling. Being able to fill up a tall glass of water in 2 seconds - and having to do it ...

ever-so-c a r e f u l l y .....

... so that the turbulence doesn't create a vortex that floods the rest of the kitchen - this is always an exciting moment!

Being able to take a shower without having to negotiate a suitable time with the rest of the family and no longer having to remind them not to open any other taps in the house - or not to flush the water etc. is just so liberating!

But most exhilerating of all is the shower. That 200 pounds has turned the shower into one that rivals even the best of the ones that you get in American hotels.

And finally - the removal of lead from the system has probably made me less prone to going mad.