Q. I run a busy company with a workforce of 150, where I need to have short, to-the-point discussions with staff. In order to move along quickly, I set my mobile timer to ring on repeat every seven minutes. This means I have the perfect excuse for cutting short an overrunning conversation. But I cannot use this in a social setting, where I am aware it’s not OK to keep looking at one’s watch or have an alarm ring on a mobile. What should I do instead?

— L.H., London SW1

A. It is, however, OK to look at a ring watch. They are available for as little as £11 and onlookers confuse them for blingy or bad-taste jewellery and do not realise that you are checking the time.

Q. At the age of 65 I am surprised to find myself seeing someone. It’s going remarkably well – not least because we share a sense of humour. Yet even though the details of our relationship are none of anyone else’s business, I find myself fending off enquiries of a frankly intrusive nature. My question is, what do I call him? None of the potential words – boyfriend, partner, lover, new friend – is at all suitable. For various reasons we are unlikely to marry. It would help if I could define him in some way. Any suggestions?

— L.R., London NW1

A. You should just refer to him as ‘my admirer’. It’s a perfectly adequate term. Give a basilisk stare if interlocutors press for more graphic details.

Q. I was quite thrown the other day when my son turned up with a friend from university without telling me that she was vegan. I had organised shepherd’s pie and, of course, she could not even touch the potato topping as it had been ‘contaminated’. My son was apologetic, as was she, but it was awkward for her sitting there pretending she was not hungry and just eating an apple. What should I have done?

— L.E., Aberystwyth

A. People don’t realise how many items comply with vegan diktats. Most kitchen cupboards have tins of tomatoes, onions, chilli flakes and pasta/rice. It takes no time to fry up a tasty sauce and serve with the pasta or rice without causing too much disruption.

Q. When my husband yawns he sometimes finishes up with a high-pitched woman’s scream. I tend to be irritable in the morning and I find this rather spoils my day, but my husband insists that he can’t help it. What do you suggest?

— M.W., Pewsey, Wiltshire

A. He may learn to help it if you train yourself to issue a low-pitched masculine growl in immediate response to his woman’s scream. This will have the Pavlovian effect of shocking him into correcting the habit.