2) Is there anything more annoying on a flight than when the person in front reclines his/her seat? Why don't airlines just remove the ability to do this?

3) I landed at 0605, and was in the arrival hall by 0635. I think this could be a bit of a record. Still doesn't change my view that LHR is the world's worst airport. I was through so quickly that CGF wasn't at the exit to meet me. Having seen the time the plane landed, she thought she had time to go for breakfast!

4) Here's what could be the most amazing event of the journey. When I reached the baggage carousel my bag was just passing round the corner in front of me. I am pretty certain that this has never ever happened before in the history of air travel.

5) Took me a few days to get over jetlag. Strangely, I didn't notice it at all in NZ. Some people say it depends which direction you fly, but seeing as the time difference was exactly twelve hours, I'm not sure it would have mattered which way I went. The departure and/or arrival time may be factors. On the way out I arrived early afternoon, hence may have had a feeling of "I've had only four hours sleep but I have had a long lie in". On the way back I arrived early morning ("I've had only four hours sleep and now I have to get up"). There could also be a psychological factor in being on holiday vs. being at home. On holiday you can relax so don't notice the fact that you are tired. At home there's a list of things that need to be done (normal life to lead) and the fact that you are too tired to do this exacerbates the feeling of jet lag.

6) Here's something for people who laugh at my dumb-phone and tell me that I should get something smarter. I CAN GET THE INTERNET ON MY PHONE!! So put that in your pipe and smoke it. The fact that it's taken me several years to discover this probably suggests how important I deem internet access while I am out and about.

7) We had some friends over for dinner on Saturday night. What posh people call a dinner party. I experimented and adapted one of my signature dishes desserts to make a non-alcohol version so children could eat it. It went down very well - but desserts that include lots of chocolate and cream generally do go down very well.

8) I've been for my annual eye test. Well, it's supposed to be annual but this is the first one for about three years. When I said that my mother had been diagnosed with glaucoma and that her father had had it before, the optician put a note on her paperwork and said that I never have to pay for eye tests again, which was nice.

9) I don't think much of the optician's data protection though. Particularly as regards Principle 4 ("Personal data shall be accurate and, where necessary, kept up to date"). I used the optician in Eastleigh that I've used for over twenty years*. When I went to book my appointment they had two addresses for me - my second and fourth Eastleigh addresses. I pointed out that neither was correct and that they must have my current address as they've been sending me reminders for the last two years. But when I ordered my glasses the system was still showing my second Eastleigh address. Then in the eye test the optician said "this is the first time you've been here since 1991". No, I am pretty certain I have been a few times since then. If I were a cantankerous curmudgeon I would write a stiff letter of complaint. But as I am trying to prove that I am not like my father, I won't.

*why Eastleigh? So CGF could choose my new glasses, of course:
"Do you want to come back later with your gf to choose?"
"No, my gf wants to come back later with me to choose".
And she is better at choosing than I am. Probably the first pair of glasses I have had for many years that don/t look pretty much the same as my previous pair. In fact, once my old and new pairs were so similar I wore my old pair for several weeks without realising.