<p><em>Metrognomic Tales</em> - a collection of nineteen short humorous essays - has nothing to do with metronomes. The metro refers to the omnibus system in Hobart. The gnome refers to my lack of height. It is also a literary term which is nice to know. My literary friends will know of course that it is a 'short pithy statement of a general truth - thus a maxim or aphorism' (<em>J.A. Cuddon A Dictionary of Literary Terms</em>).</p><p><br></p>