I knew he had died. I am still, just, in touch with Francis Reynolds, now 93, still contributing to journals, etc. Reynolds was my tutor, and because of him, I pursued a career in shipping law! He also taught in Singapore, I had dinner there with him once!
Mac does have access to a car, He has a friend who has a taxi, which Mac uses. I have used him, and the car, to go to Ayutthaya, Kanchanburi, and the town where the train goes through the market.
Mac is good, and has a friend with a car. However, I agree that he can be unreliable at short notice. I have stuck with him, over the years, and he has been better, at least for me. There is no doubt that he has issues. He does know his stuff, if all goes well. He is a nice guy, and never overcharges.
I was going to buy a red cashmere sweater, in a sale, but the queue (line) was too long, so I gave up. When I got home, and looked in my wardrobe, I already had two!
I was a good boy then. Mind you my tutor said only 6 lectures a week were essential, out of 28. Plus Professor Daube on Roman law, as he was very funny! So, of course, we went, and he was!
Like is used farbto frequently in the UK, by the younger generation, sometimes twice or more in the same sentence. It sloppy thinking, often combined with 'you know', as in, 'like, you know'.
There is the famous quote, probably apocryphal, about Princess Margaret asking a guest at a dinner party, "and what do you do?", to which the answer was, "I'm still the Archbishop of Canterbury ".
I read that with an hour, a fake AI produced news item, said that it was a white guy who intervened, and this got millions of likes etc. Just shows what is happening.