Politicians are funny creatures. The majority crave nothing more than the oxygen of publicity, particularly when in opposition and hoping to win the hearts and minds of the electorate in the not too distant future.

Hector finds most are happy to dish out sound bites like candy if it?ll guarantee them a few column inches ? but not so the new(ish) leader of the United Bermuda Party. For the past few weeks, one could have been forgiven for thinking that Wayne Furbert was avoiding the journalists at Numerous messages were left on his cell phone for comments on issues of the day; none of the calls were returned.

Hector?s hack pals got to wondering if Mr. Furbert was a little, erm, hacked off with them for some perceived slight or unflattering piece in the paper. Even so, surely as the potential leader of the Country he must have wanted to speak out on such hot topics as pay rises for politicians and independence? It seemed not; Mr. Furbert appeared to have gone to ground. A sigh of exasperation escaped the hack?s mouth when it turned out that Mr. Furbert had simply changed his cell phone number without passing it on to the majority of reporters on the island?s only daily paper ? or even leaving a message on his old phone.

An unusual tactic, admittedly, for a man presumably hoping to up his profile considerably in the coming months but the minds of parliamentarians are difficult to fathom.

Hector got hold of the new number and decided to give Mr. Furbert a call, if only to welcome him back into the world of the reachable.

The cell phone went straight to answer phone and a voice informed Hector that Mr. Furbert?s mailbox was full and could not take any more messages.

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Hector was also left more than a little confused on the communications front when he received a missive from the Progressive Labour Party?s HQ this week. It breathlessly announced the attendance of none other than ?Minister Paul A. Cox? at an event to mark the memory of late leader Freddy Wade. Hector wondered if all the mutterings from PLP backbencher Ren?e Webb about perceived sexism in the House have been taken so seriously by Finance Minister Paula Cox that she?s decided on a name change?

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With many on the Island more than a little perturbed about recent violent events ? Hector included ? he was puzzled at the curious choice of sign-off from the usually cheery presenter of Wednesday evening?s VSB radio news.

?Watch your backs and stay safe,? warned the newsreader after what had seemed a fairly mundane day on the news front featuring nothing more alarming than a spat over GPS in taxis. What would have been wrong with a nice uplifting ?good evening??

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With that preying on his mind, Hector was cheered up when he heard of an amusing encounter that one female RG scribe had with a cab driver. It seems that not only are the Island?s taxi drivers great at negotiating the back streets while coping with confused tourists and traffic jams. Now, one of them seems to have set himself up as a dating agency on wheels.

The bemused reporter could hardly stifle her giggles when her driver began singing the praises of a fellow reporter. The driver described the young man as ?quite a catch? and promised that he would be ?an attentive boyfriend? before regaling her with tales of his sporting prowess.

Our female hack ? who was unconvinced ? took great glee in reporting back to her colleague that he was not just writing the news but making it.

But Hector wonders whether the romantically minded cabby might expand his dating service by logging the names and numbers of all the eligible single men he?s ferried about? With Bermuda famed recently as the top place to meet Mr. Wonderful, the idea would surely catch on?