As someone who's  just bought my first ever set of bathroom scales in the sales (not just any old scales, but a digital set that analyses the amount of fat, muscle and water I'm carrying!) it was interesting to see that sales of these items are rocketing - see the report in this week's news, below.

I'm clearly not the only one to be saying, "Enough"!

That I was able to buy a British set (maximum weight 125Kg) as opposed to a US set, which can handle the real heavyweights (up to 180Kg) was of some comfort, but then perhaps if I hadn't bought them when I did, I might at some stage have needed the more substantial version. Here's hoping it never comes to that.

But where to put them? I daresay it won't be long before some clever manufacturer finds a way to integrate bathroom scales into the bathroom furniture itself, nicely hidden but ready to be revealed at the touch of a button or a voice command... Of course this will be particularly useful for those that need the higher capacity scales, as they won't have to share their naughty secret with other bathroom users...

I'm back on my favourite subject of innovation again, aren't I? Indeed it wasn't long after I'd finished writing about it in last week's leader, which had got me thinking about some of the incredible innovation I've come across during my short time in this industry, that I discovered that my microwave has broken.

Lack of time has meant that I've not been able to go and buy a new one and my goodness - have we suffered!

I've never owned a dishwasher and actually rather enjoy 'doing the dishes' (it allows me time to think) and I've also gone without a fridge freezer and an oven for a while in the past - on more than one occasion. I even managed for many weeks without a kitchen as the manufacturer had sold part of it and I had to wait for more units to be made, only then to be let down by the installer. Of course once the installer had cleared his backlog of work, we discovered that further units had been sold from the collection I'd already paid for so once again I had to wait for more to be made.

But the microwave... I knew it was useful but I had no idea just how much we've come to rely on it. How on earth did I cope before I had my first one, back in December 1986?

Yes - it might seem 'old hat' to many of those in this industry but having had to be without one for a week I've decided that the humble microwave - even in its most basic form - gets my vote for being the kitchen innovation of my lifetime.

Guess where I'm going at the weekend?

Yours,