I’M quietly pleased with how mellow I’m becoming as dotage beckons.

In fact, I can’t remember the last time I had an argument with anyone.

Disagreements yes; maybe even an odd heated debate about an annoying issue (such as car parking charges).

But I have, as far as I’m aware, not become involved in any full-blown rows of late.

The last time I lost my rag was in Hawes back in 2006 when some inconsiderate bod blocked my little car with his domineering 4x4.

When he finally returned to his motor, the guy just stood there and took the blast, hands on hips and obviously trying to stifle a laugh as I blustered comically with rage.

I confess I used the F word several times. And maybe even an odd B word.

I expected the man to swear back but he didn’t, which completely took the wind out of my over-indignant sails.

“What’s the big deal?” he asked me with a disarming smile.

“I was only in the shop across the road. Just nipped in for a minute.”

Of course, in my new mellowness I can see his parking misdemeanour was, indeed, not a big deal. I should have happily patted the guy’s car bonnet and gone off for a walk or a beer or something.

Maybe I should have bought a lottery ticket at the shop across the street.

I could have won millions. Of course, one can never know for certain but demonstrating a generosity of spirit could have made me a millionaire several times over.

Which probably begs the following moral: anger leaves us all poorer - if not in cash terms, certainly in humanitarian ones.

But these days I’m a reformed character: as mellow as a fellow could possibly be.

However, that doesn’t mean I have lost my propensity for intolerance.

A reluctance to argue provides no evidence that Tunners is not exasperated with the world or that the world is not exasperated with Tunners.