Earth

It's a strange planet we inhabit and it seems we humans are the biggest pest on it. The perfect example of where, being the supposed most intelligent beings is no guarantee of doing what is best. I am not a environmentalist, I care what we do but only in the average everyday way that most people do. Recycle, try not to litter, be considerate, as to how we interact with nature and generally try to take care. Destroying vast tracts of the Earth and being environmentally friendly is not just a modern phenomenon, it has been going on since humans started cultivating the land.
At the end of the 19th century and through to the present, industrialisation and the pumping for oil has vastly accelerated the damage. Modern machinery make it easy and quick to clear land, whether for profit or for building or  farming, or for all three and many other reasons.
Our technological advances are impressive and much of it improves our lives but like all advances It is a double edged sword, bringing good but also so much destruction and death!
It's a massive subject and one in which I do not have enough knowledge to fully explore but this I know if you don't look after where you live you will inevitably regret it!

Human Condition

A friend asked me if I was still writing my blog, well as you can read I am.
Those few who scan my page are used to my rants and grumbles about, well anything! Today is an exception for although as always, I have much to rant about, I have chosen to be calm. There is a huge amount of turmoil happening around the globe, uncertainty, nervous economics, inevitable war and human tragedy of every variety. Whilst this is all very disturbing and uncomfortable, one has to ask if it really impinges on our everyday existence in the UK ? Naturally there are people who are directly or indirectly affected by world events but the vast majority of the country are largely immune. We sit at the breakfast table and tut at the news, some of which will actually get us excited or exasperated at the pure injustice of it all. Does it have an effect on us as individuals or as a family, I would advocate that the answer is no. We leave to carry out our daily lives, without giving most of it a second thought or maybe a bewildered shake of the head as to the pointless nature of much of  what we have read or heard! There always be stories and reports that will enter our collective conscious, much of which will not be forgotten and will live on for many years, we all remember the more momentous events. 
We have our own problems, however big or small they maybe. We have our excitements, highs and lows, this is the human condition. We have myriad moods, laugh, cry, sad, happy, serious, angry, complaining ( oh are we in the UK world class at that!) and all the shades in between! 
With advent of social media we have all become microscopic celebrities, who spout to the ether about anything and everything (no exception here!) Much of intellectual discussion and debate has been replaced by snap comments and limited characters suffixed by  #!
Comment threads go interminably on and on and are almost inevitably taken out of context bereft as they are of real human emotion or nuance.
Well I almost got through this essay without moaning too much but the complaining thread pulled at me and I was powerless to resist, such is my world!

Mr Towel Head Super Hero!

Facebook

I have been on Facebook for some years, nothing special about that, I am one of millions. Social media is no longer fresh, it is mature and an everyday thing. It has made Mark Zuckerberg a very, very wealthy man and wouldn't we all liked to have prospered from an idea like that? A small idea to keep people in touch mushroomed into the biggest network of "friends" on the globe. Now I must declare that some of the utter nonsense and trivia posted is .........well that, nonsense, trivial, pathetic but I understand that it is part of its purpose. It has proved useful over the years for communicating when other mediums are unavailable. Information is shared, some information is too personnel and frankly I do want to see it but of course one skims much of what is posted.
When Facebook was young there seemed to be a predilection for collecting as many "friends" as possible, maturity of the medium has made most grow out this stupidity. It can be used for nefarious purposes and vulnerable people can be drawn into contact, that is at best highly suspicious and at worse deeply perverted.
In the last few years many adverts have appeared and algorithms analysis and target you with those that it believes will appeal! Revenue, it is all about revenue. Do you know any business, now that does not want you "to like us on Facebook" , it has become ubiquitous.
It will be interesting to watch how development continues as it surly will. It will become more interactive and who knows perhaps virtual reality will become the norm?
So love it or not, Facebook is here to stay and it's millions of users will continue to post.

Ministers

Being the old retired diplomat, I have met my fair share of Government Ministers over the years, from  different governments, in different countries. Many are well meaning, caring people who simply want to do the best they can. Too many are self-serving, egotistical, ambitious men ( and it is usually men) whose power is often abused and have little idea of real people or what they want.
Now I do not impugn their intelligence or education, indeed it is usually what has propelled them up the political ladder, plus ambition, luck and healthy dose of who you support! I am however constantly shocked at the lack of empathy, separation from the real issues of their constituents and a unrealistic belief that they are right!
Now take the current UK cabinet, please! Is there a single one whom you feel you could trust? May, Gove, Davies, Johnson, can you really believe a word they say? They are so full of double talk and confusion, it is almost impossible to believe any statements made. I would rather they were demonstrably single minded and and intransigent in their pronouncements, at least you would know where they stood. You might say we complain that ministers are too  inflexible and don't listen to the public and when they do they get castigated, well okay but this lot flip flop like a freshly caught halibut! How can you ever believe any one of them. Regrettably over and above that, they often appear as stupid buffoons, so removed from reality that you wonder if life has ever impinged itself on them!
The headlong determination to follow the Brexit policy, is surely the greatest example of a regime who are unable to recognise all the evidence that has emerged, as to what a monumental mistake it will be!
We get the ministers we deserve but surly even the British public who sadly voted for May, don't deserve this lot!

Travel

The good lady and I have finally returned to Thorn towers. The break was, as always, was very enjoyable. Our good friends Kostos and Thalia became first time grandparents, congratulations to Marina and Claudio and welcome to the human race, baby Olga. 

We had a heat wave and at times the temperature was in the 40's centigrade! We eat, drank and spent time with all the people we love.

So on Wednesday we took our taxi to the airport to arrive at the appointed two hours before for check in, flight time 11.30pm. Plane lands and we are called to board, so far so good, we wait on the steps, not unusual at Heraklion, eventually we board the bus. Now we expect a little waiting time, this is Greece! Waiting became delay and suspicions started to grow that all was not right? Eventually we were called back into the terminal and so began hours of waiting and travelling! A member of the crew had become ill and the flight had to be cancelled. We found out later that the second officer had eaten sushi in a hot cabin and ended up with food poisoning! He had been warned by his crew but ignored them. 

Imagine a the full passenger load of an airbus in a small terminal, babies, children, disabled all pissed off, waiting to find out what will happen and where they will spend the night? Gone midnight, hot and stuffy, they crowd round staff who are being feed information slowly. Rumour and false information abound, this will happen, that will happen. As always, opinions range from the truly ridiculous to the vaguely logical but there was an abundance of humour as well. In these situations it is best to remain calm and resist the temptation to get excited. At 3pm we left the airport and were shuffled onto buses and taken to several hotels. Room was okay but little sleep as the tension of the night and the now very late hour was not conjuicive to much sleep! Breakfast in an all inclusive hotel,   I can only describe as unbelievable and food of a standard I would throw out! Ungrateful, perhaps, snobby, certainly but really people pay for that? 

To cut a long story short we eventually landed at Gatwick at 6pm UK time and then had the misery of the M25, arriving home at 9.30pm, 28 hours after we first started the journey.!

Now the observant will have noticed that I have not mentioned the airline in question, EasyJet take a bow, your communication was poor your apology perfunctory, free drink and small confectionary not enough! Well done airport staff who organised buses and accommodation in two hours, no mean feat at that time of night.

We are home at last!