CABG surgery plus 11 days

This morning, in bed, I had another run of AF – the second since my hospital discharge. Like yesterday’s, today’s was not severe or long. And it responded quickly to Sotalol. As soon as my heart rhythm reverted to slow and regular (i.e. sinus rhythm) I had a shower. My first since being home. And I was strong enough to shower standing up. (In the hospital post-operatively I’d had two showers – both sitting in a shower chair because I didn’t have nearly enough endurance to shower standing up.) Minor progress – but progress nonetheless. Today Sweeetheart Vivienne, darling Meg and I went to a nearby café: Rue Bebelons [1]. Only 150 metres from our Melbourne home, but my first outing since hospital. It felt so good to sit there and drink coffee like a person who’s normal, i.e. not one who’s 11 days after CABG surgery. Otherwise my daily exercise and walking programmes continued. Late arvo darling Meg left us to travel home to Daylesford by train. Her 1½ day visit was a gem. As she is.

CABG surgery plus 10 days

Late yesterday afternoon I had a run of irregular heart rhythm due to AF – the first since my hospital discharge. I felt it in my chest. It was nowhere as severe or long as previous runs. And it responded in 10-15 minutes to a Sotalol tablet [1]. I wondered if a walk around the Melbourne Central shopping centre [2] a couple of hours earlier, had been too much. Especially as yesterday was a very emotional day for me. Anyway how wonderful to sleep in my own bed. With Sweetheart Vivienne beside me. And none of those mysterious nocturnal hospital noises. I slept through until 6 a.m. Then sporadically. The rest of today was a quiet day. I did my rehabilitation exercises. And I did my required daily 30 minutes of walking by gently treading the 35-metre corridor outside our Melbourne apartment – in two 15-minute stints, whilst simultaneously shortening my list of unlistened-to podcasts. Late morning darling Meg, laden with fresh produce, arrived to spend a couple of days with Sweetheart Vivienne and me. What joy for her dad. After dinner we watched a DVD movie called Bandidas, and then an episode from the third series of In Treatment. I can’t imagine a more enjoyable rehabilitation programme than this one.

The last post

Dear Farmdoc’s Blog followers and readers

The first post on this blog was way back on 21 April 2008 [1]. Three years ago tomorrow. Since then I’ve put up one new post each day. So today’s post is number 1,095. And for the time being at least, and maybe forever, the last post. There are three main reasons for this:

1. A post a day’s a big undertaking. For me anyway. I’ve enjoyed doing it. But in recent months it’s become more arduous. And less fun.

2. Last week I received some not-so-good health news. Currently I don’t know its full import. But whatever it turns out to be, I have much thinking to do. And I know I’ll think better without the pressure of a daily Farmdoc’s Blog post weighing on my mind.

3. Because of that news, Sweetheart Vivienne and I have decided to sell our Mole Creek property as soon as we reasonably can, and then move to Victoria near our darling ones. So we’re starting work on a new blog – as yet untitled – aiming to attract a purchaser. And most definitely I can’t maintain two blogs simultaneously.

In that first post I wrote that writing Farmdoc’s Blog would help me find out about myself ‘And if it also helps others, in however small a way, then that can only be a good thing’. I know I’ve achieved that first aim. The second one I don’t know about.

On 27 September 2009 I wrote a post about the Last Post. In a comment on it, darling Meg wrote ‘FD you gave me the fright of my life! I saw the words last post and I thought that you were henceforth taking leave from your blog’ [2].

Friends, the time’s come for me to take leave from this blog. I plan to put up one more Farmdoc’s Blog post in the next couple of months – when our new blog goes live. After then, who knows?

So there you have it.

Thank you for accompanying me on my journey.

Farmdoc.

P.S. I remain contactable at the email address in my Blogger profile.

Four hours: not a long time, but not short either

There’s no compendium today: I’m in Daylesford – with Sweetheart Vivienne and darlings Kate and Meg and their families.

Four hours. Not a long time. But not short either. I couldn’t stand on one leg for four hours. Maybe not even on two legs. Four hours. That’s the time my 9:45 a.m. flight from Launceston to Melbourne last Thursday was delayed. At 8 a.m. before I left home I checked the airline’s website. It showed an on-time departure. But when entering the terminal I saw it’d been delayed. By 75 minutes. The check-in man said the plane was still in Melbourne, With a technical problem. Drat. I hunkered down in the Qantas Club. To wait. I phoned Sweetheart Vivienne. I attended to emails. I reduced my podcast backlog. I wrote blog posts. Time passed. Then another announcement: a further delay. Due to a Melbourne airport security breach [1]. The airline offered lunch vouchers. Thanks for that. My iPod battery drained. I finished the New Yorker issue I’d brought. Time slowed. As if the plane would never arrive. Or leave. But it did. Both. Four hours late. What’s four hours? Not a long time. Better to be delayed by a fixed technical problem than on time with an unfixed one. And better to be delayed by a detected security breach than on time with an undetected one. Oh the delight of commercial air travel. The sheer joy of it. Ho hum.

Finally, I wish you, dear Farmdoc’s Blog readers, a wonderful week.

List: Libraries in Japan after the earthquake

Today’s ‘List Friday’. Last Wednesday I visited the Deloraine branch of the State Library of Tasmania, to collect books I’d ordered. The duty librarian was Russell. He’s a terrific bloke: softly- spoken, courteous, affable, knowledgeable, thoughtful. We fell, as usual, into conversation. This time about how the Tasmanian Library service will deal with the e-book issue. For example if it’ll loan out e-readers with e-books preloaded. Or if you’ll download e-books from a library server to your own e-reader. Time will tell. Libraries are more than book repositories. Much more. Arguably they’re community hubs. And when hubs break, wheels fall off. In the week – yes, only a week – since the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, we media consumers’ve been bombarded with statistics about it: The equal fourth most severe quake in history [1], a quake that changed the angle of Earth’s rotation and thus shortened each day by a millionth of a second [2]. Et cetera. The official toll of dead and missing’s over 13,000 – and still climbing [3]. These raw numbers obscure the enormity of the human tragedy. But today’s list sheets it home. Back to libraries. Last Monday darling Meg sent me this email: ‘Would you consider including a pictorial list on a Friday? Mobile phone photos of Japanese libraries after the earthquake. All of them quite eerie, I think’. Here it is [4]. Not a conventional list, but a reminder of what people in Japan are facing. ‘When hubs break…’

H/t darling Meg. xxx

List: '10 Fascinating YouTube Facts That May Surprise You'

Today’s ‘List Friday’. Ever customer (or reader) responsive, I’m happy to oblige whenever someone alerts me to a list for List Friday. Last Monday darling Meg sent me a beauty: ‘10 Fascinating YouTube Facts That May Surprise You’ [1]. The preamble calls YouTube humongous. Funny, I’ve always spelt it humungous. Or, on a bad day, humungus. I think all three spellings are okay. But to avoid orthographical error, I’ll call YouTube gargantuan, behemothic, hippopotamic. Or just plain colossal. This is a list whose blurb’s as interesting as the list items: More video content’s uploaded to YouTube in 60 days than the three major US TV networks have created in 60 years. And the average YouTube user spends 15-25 minutes a day on the site. Also it links to many more astounding stats on this YouTube Statistics page [2]. As to the list itself, I’m a YouTube ignoramus (or at least newbie) so I didn’t know any of the ‘10 Fascinating Facts’. None. And especially I didn’t know what a Rickroll [3] is. So they all surprised me. How many of the 10 list facts did you know? Finally, if your YouTube appetite’s whetted by today’s list, the YouTube Wikipedia page [4] will feed you more goodies.
H/t darling Meg for sending me the link to today’s list.

Review Tuesday: 'The Box'

Today’s ‘Review Tuesday’. Darling Meg wrote some blog posts that began with ‘I’m sorry…but I cannot finish your book [1, 2, 3]. Well I’m sorry, director Richard Kelly and actors and crew of the 2009 film The Box [4, 5], but I couldn’t finish your movie. The film’s premise is intriguing: A box with a button on top is left on a married couple’s doorstep. They learn that if they ignore the button, nothing will happen. Though if they press the button, they’ll receive US$1M, but someone they don’t know will die. Obviously they press the button. And soon after, weird things start to happen. Stupid things. Like blood dripping from people’s noses. Sweetheart Vivienne told me she’d gone with darling Emily to see The Box in a cinema. And they both walked out well before it ended. As I’ve written [6], once I start something I almost always finish it. No matter what. But The Box was over the line. Beyond my tolerance. Plus there was a vastly superior alternative: Courtesy of darling Emily, Sweetheart Vivienne and I are well into the HBO TV series In Treatment [7]. It’s an Americanised version of an Israeli series about a psychotherapist and five of his patients. It’s absorbing, stimulating and entertaining. So instead of The Box nonsense, we watched episodes 16 and 17 of In Treatment. I’m sorry, Mr Kelly, but your film’s worth only one star.

P.S. In Treatment will be the topic of a future ‘Review Tuesday’ post. Stay tuned.

P.P.S. Happy birthday, darling Meg.

List: '‘20 Awesomely Untranslatable Words from Around the World’

Today’s ‘List Friday’. In Hebrew, the word for ‘Hebrew’ is Ivrit and the word for ‘easy’ (or ‘light’) is kal. In Hebrew the adjective follows the noun. So ‘easy Hebrew’ is Ivrit kala. Which is my standard of Hebrew. And this, with English and a smattering of Latin [1] is, dear readers, the full extent of my meagre linguistic expertise. I envy people who are fluent in two languages. And the more languages they’re fluent in, the greener my envy is. But for practical purposes I’m stuck with English. It could be worse. My only fluent language could be Yagán – which is spoken by only one person on Earth [2]. (I’d be the second one. What conversations I’d have with my buddy.) English’s the language with the third-highest number of first-language speakers [3]. But even so, it has its limitations. English doesn’t have a single word for some concepts or situations, yet other languages do. Today’s list, from matadornetwork.com, is titled ‘20 Awesomely Untranslatable Words from Around the World’ [4]. The list’s fascinating. And so is its preamble: ‘There are at least 250,000 words in the English language. However, to think that English – or any language – could hold enough expression to convey the entirety of the human experience is as arrogant of an assumption as it is naïve’. Actually it can. And as the list’s explanations show, it does. But just not with a single word. Ho hum.
H/t darling Meg for sending me today’s list.

About outing sprouts

There’s great rivalry between Tasmania’s south and its north. Each has its own big city (well, big for Tasmania), its own beer brand, and its own football competition. Likewise Melbourne and Sydney are rivals. And, I suspect, a similar process explains why Canadians decry being mistaken for Americans. Me? The only ways I can tell them apart is by looking for an explanatory flag or maple leaf; and by the pronunciation of out words, e.g. out, about. And sprout. Segueing along, I’m into sprouting. Darling Meg started me off when she was here in October. It’s really easy [1, 2]. And it’s fun to watch the sprouts sprout; and then lengthen day-by-day to become a delicious tangle. I use a jar that contained olives in its previous life; and I cover the jar’s opening with a square of muslin held on by a rubber band. I started by sprouting mung beans. Then Sweetheart Vivienne bought me a sprouting mix of various beans and seeds – for a dollar. Meg says that each day’s liquid runoff’s highly nutritious. So far I haven’t been courageous enough to drink even a drop of it. Rather I pour it on the herb garden. Also, sprouting can be done all year round. So what’s not to like? It’s easy, it’s fun, it’s nutritious, it’s perennial, and it’s inexpensive. Give it a try. You won’t regret it. And if you’re a Canadian, telling people about it will ensure you’re not mistaken for an American.

Review Tuesday: 'The Invention of Lying'

Today’s ‘Review Tuesday’. I’m Jewish, so the New Testament’s not my book. But the Old Testament is. Apparently the Authorised King James Version is the Church of England’s 17th century translation of both testaments [1]. And apparently it contains the phrase ‘And it came to pass’ 452 times in its 31,102 verses (i.e. 1.45%) [2]. In darling Meg’s Spoiler Alert comment [3] on my 19 October ‘Review Tuesday’ review of Ghost Town starring Ricky Gervais [4], she confirmed my prediction that Gervais plays a similar role in his subsequent film: the 2009 comedy The Invention of Lying [TIOL] – which he co-wrote and co-directed . Last Friday evening Sweetheart Vivienne, Dieter and I watch TIOL [5, 6] – and darling Meg was correct: ‘It came to pass’. TIOL’s a US romantic comedy with a paranormal bent. It’s set in a modern US town where everyone’s 100% truthful because lies are unknown. Then Mark (Gervais’s character) begins lying, which causes his life to take a dramatic upturn. And he even gets the girl Anna (Jennifer Garner) even though Mark’s a short fat guy likely to sire short fat kids. TIOL features the ever predictable and entertaining Gervais; also several fine actors in minor roles – including Rob Lowe, Tina Fey, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Jeffrey Tambor [7]. It’s good fun with a serious subtext. But I can’t tell you a lie: it’s only worth three stars. However it sure beats reading the King James Version. For me anyway. Ho hum.

This week's compendium

Here’s this week’s compendium – again with a strong health/medical slant. This week…

1. more evidence confirmed the major health benefits of walking [1a, 1b]. Walking less increases obesity. Big time. And thus diabetes.

2. speaking of diabetes, its control was improved when unstable diabetics were buddied up with other unstable diabetics [2]. Doesn’t surprise me. Humans are herd animals.

3. treehugger ran a piece about seed sprouting; and sprouters [3]. It’s good the two spruiked sprouters are glass and not plastic, eh darling Meg.

4. in the USA, the FDA approved Botox to prevent frequent migraine [4a, 4b]. Those treated will feel better. And they’ll look better too – or not.

5. JAMA reported a randomised controlled trial of 17,000 postmenopausal women showing those taking hormone replacement therapy had 25% higher breast cancer incidence and 300% higher breast cancer mortality than those taking placebo [5]. Hippocrates said: ‘Primum non nocere’, i.e. first, do no harm.

6. the Herald Sun revealed Victoria has about 800 publicly-paid spin doctors, i.e. more than the total number of MICA paramedics, orthopaedic surgeons and forensic police [6]. Ho hum.

7. Grammar Girl explained that as a noun, it’s blonde for women and blond for men. But adjectivally, it’s blond for women and men [7]. I didn’t know this – until now.

8. on our farm, the baby lambs and kids have started arriving [8]. So far, including two sets of triplets – one of lambs, one of kids.

Finally, I wish you, dear Farmdoc’s Blog readers, a wonderful week.

This week's compendium

Here’s this week’s compendium. This week…

1. the WSJ reported on a disused oilrig that’s been converted into a dive resort hotel [1]. That’s progress.

2. Lancet published research showing chromosome abnormalities are much more frequent in ADHD children than controls, and so ADHD’s not purely a social construct [2]. Fascinating stuff.

3. Modern Manners Guy listed five Facebook faux pas to be avoided [3]. I’m not a Facebook person so they mean nothing to me. But they may mean something to you.

4. a Sydney study in the BMJ showed that in older people, perceived risk and physiological risk are independent risk factors for falls [4]. Thus clinicians need to take fear of falling seriously even in physically well patients.

5. Australia now has a nationally uniform Disability Parking Scheme [5]. In theory, it’s an improvement over the many existing schemes. In practice…we’ll see.

6. a new state-of-the-art computer matching service linking volunteers with organisations needing their skills or time was launched in Victoria [6]. Seems a good thing.

7. salon.com published a list of 2010’s movies ranked in order from best to worst [7]. It’ll be updated weekly. I haven’t seen any of the top 100. (I gave up looking after that.)

8. the inaugural Daylesford Critical Mass [8a] was a big success [8b]. Good on you, darling Meg.
Finally, I wish you, dear Farmdoc’s Blog readers, a wonderful week.

‘Jewish Cooking for Beginners’. Oh what fun.

Some months ago, darling Meg asked Sweetheart Vivienne and me to run a 4-hour session on ‘Jewish Cooking for Beginners’ at the Daylesford Neighbourhood Centre [1]. Though we’d never taught cooking before, we agreed to do it. The DNC’s facilities accommodated eight participants. Our session booked out soon after bookings opened. Amazing. Over subsequent weeks we discussed what we’d do. A plan gradually emerged: four dishes, i.e. challah [2], chicken soup, matzo balls [3], and honey cake. Me being me, I drew up a running sheet, and ingredients and equipment checklists. The session was last Sunday. Darling Meg and darling Indigo came to help. Bottom line: it went well. Better than I expected. The atmosphere was relaxed. The food all turned out nicely. There were coffee breaks for socialising. There was ample time for questions and discussion. And despite all this, we ran 20-25 minutes ahead of plan. For the final 45 minutes, to the accompaniment of klezmer music [4], the 12 of us sat around a big table covered with a white tablecloth, and partook in a delicious meal we’d all contributed to. I hope our ‘students’ enjoyed the session, felt they received their money’s worth, and thought the return on their 4-hour time investment was reasonable. Sweetheart Vivienne and me? We had a great time. So we’re already discussing next year’s session.
P.S. Grateful thanks to darling Meg and darling Indigo. It wouldn’t have been anywhere near as good without your help.

Critical Mass comes to Daylesford

Critical Mass. It’s a bicycling event, typically held on the last Friday of every month in over 300 cities around the world [1]. CM originated in 1992 in San Francisco aiming to show that SanFran wasn’t bike and cyclist friendly. Cyclists gather at a regular place and time – usually during the afternoon rush hour. They then ride as a bunch, i.e. a mass, to a destination, or back to the starting point. If it happens to delay people in vehicles powered by infernal combustion engines, so be it. CM’s been called a dis-organisation. Also an organised coincidence. It’s a touch anarchic. It’s not a race. It’s a mix of fun and serious activism. Me? I’ve only ever ridden in Melbourne’s CM [2]. And that was back in the middle and late 1990s. But it sure felt good: edgy, cheeky, powerful. For an hour a month, it makes cyclists feel respectable, and respected, road users. CM’s Australian website lists 13 Australian CM locations [3]. Guess what? Tomorrow’s the last Friday in September. And it’s the day when CM comes to Daylesford [4]. The details are on the poster (click to enlarge). The initiator? Darling Meg. Of course. She says it’s to increase bike awareness in Daylesford. And she’s been ‘busting to do it– just waiting for the warmer weather’. Also that she looks forward to riding with me; and may this be the first CM of many. Amen to both. Good on you, darling Meg. And good on you, CM.

farmdoc's blog post number 684

Today’s ‘List Friday’. Twelve days ago I published this post. Though I didn’t use the word ‘conformity’, that was clearly its theme. In darling Meg’s comment on that post, she included a link to this list. It’s titled ‘Conformity: Ten Timeless Influencers’. The introduction says: ‘The pressure to conform affects everyone. Conformity is such a strong influence in society that it’s impossible to understand human behaviour without it’. I think those in power encourage, and often mandate, conformity in those they have power over – since non-conformity makes it harder for power to be effectively and efficiently wielded. (Have you ever had an enquiry to a call centre or helpline successfully dealt with after you refused to answer those inane ‘privacy’ questions they ask you?) That’s why the pressure to conform is so strong. To me the list’s preamble and postamble ascribe some negativity to conformity, despite stating ‘Conformity is not in itself a good or a bad thing’. (Is this merely classic psychologists’ non-judgementalism?) So maybe nonconformity’s okay – provided it’s not too deviant. In terms of the 10 items in the list, most are reasonably predictable and intuitively sensible. The first item caught my attention: maximum conformity’s seen in groups of 3-5 people. Reflexively I can’t think of any sports with 3-5 people in a team. Can you?

P.S. Thanks for the link, darling Meg.

farmdoc's blog post number 643

Here’s this week’s compendium. This week…

1. the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs issued a list showing as at 20.1.10 – eight days after the Haiti earthquake – the Saudi Arabian and Iranian governments hadn’t contributed even a brass razoo to the relief effort [1]. No comment needed.

2. I saw, and appreciated, this item which points out that the international agencies who condemn Israel for its ‘disproportionate response’ when it’s attacked are not mentioning Israel's disproportionate response to the human suffering in Haiti [2]. Ho hum.

3. A week ago, the BMJ reported that angiotensin receptor blocking drugs are associated with a significant reduction in both the incidence and progression of Alzheimer’s disease and dementia [3]. That’s welcome news indeed.

4. Grammar Girl explained the origin of ‘brouhaha’ [4] What a super word.

5. I saw on the UK Real Bread Campaign’s website a page about ‘Community Supported Baking’ [5]. I’d love to get involved in CSB. Maybe when I stop working.

6. Australia’s main domestic airlines announced they won’t force obese people to pay for two seats despite the adoption of that policy by Air France-KLM [6]. I don’t know it that’s a good or bad thing. Maybe neither.

7. my weekly ‘ostrich award’ goes to General Motors senior executive Bob Lutz who slammed scientists and environmentalists, saying global warming has little to do with humans and more to do with solar flares and sunspots [7]. Self-interest rears its ugly head. Shame on you, sir.

8. family-wise darling Meg celebrated her birthday, and darling Indi joined the blogosphere. Also last weekend Alzheimer’s: a Love Story was reviewed in the Hobart Mercury, and today it’s reviewed in the Age.

Finally, I wish you, dear Farmdoc’s Blog readers, a wonderful week.

farmdoc's blog post number 589

This is the story of Andrew. In the last two years he’s hung over 85 red swings in various countries around the world. Because he hangs them in public places, he does it at night. Preferring not to reveal his surname, Andrew founded the Red Swing Project in 2007. His, and its, mission statement is to bring playfulness back into the world. What began as a university design assignment exploring urban intervention, has evolved into an international project that’s seen red swings ‘miraculously’ appear on four continents. Andrew places each swing as a ‘magical thing appearing overnight. He’s fascinated that in some places the swings are received as joyous gifts whilst in other places they’re seen as vandalism and cut down, one in as quickly as five minutes. Of the more than 85 he’s hung, only around 25% remain – in their original locations, because maybe people take them and hang them at home. As to the future, he says ‘all I want to do is hang swings’. It seems so, because the Red Swing Project’s website is currently down and its blog is rudimentary. But here is the video. And here is info about the first 35 swings. Good on you, Andrew. I love your work. As I love that of Luke Jerram and darling Meg of whom I wrote here.

farmdoc's blog post number 579

Today’s ‘List Friday’. Regarding lists, a strange thing happened this week. Actually two strange things happened. On Saturday, I received an email from my friend Mark in Canada: ‘Just came across this and immediately thought of you’, followed by a link. Then yesterday darling Meg put a comment on this Farmdoc’s Blog post: ‘An interesting take on lists here’. Clicking on Meg’s link brought up the same webpage as Mark’s link did. Of the billions of web pages out there, Mark and Meg sent me the link to the same one. Amazing. Weird. What a profound interview with Umberto Eco (pictured). He’s given me a new take on lists. And it rings true with me: creating order, toying with anarchy, creating culture, interacting with an irresistible magic, and making infinity comprehensible. I especially like his statement that ‘We like lists because we don’t want to die’. I haven’t read any of Eco’s work, but I’ve added The Vertigo of Lists to my reading list. Thank you, Mark and Meg.
So you won’t accuse me of philosophising about lists whilst not sharing any with you, here are three for this week: The Top 10 Best Ever Celebrity Viral Ads [1], CNET TV’s Best Five Free Software Downloads [2] and People magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive 2009 list [3]. I don’t know why Umberto Eco – who’s been one of the world’s great scholars – isn’t on the Sexiest Man Alive list. Ho hum.

farmdoc's blog post number 571

How did you go with yesterday’s six quiz questions? Well, I hope. I’m counting on you to score highly. But sorry, I’m not open to bribes. That didn’t stop Sweetheart Vivienne trying, however. She took darling Meg’s advice and offered me her Launch Cookies. I ate two. And they were scrumptious, believe me (as you’ll find out at The Launch tonight). But no go, my dear Beloved. Cookies? Yes. Answers? Nope. So on to today’s second part of the Weight Management – Facts and fallacies quiz. Here are six statements concerning exercise and weight loss. You need to mark each as true or false. Ready, set, go!

(7) Exercise is better than dieting for weight loss.

(8) Swimming is better than walking for weight loss.

(9) Weight lifting is good for fat loss.

(10) The best measure of body fat is body mass index.

(11) You lose more weight doing exercise you are good at.

(12) An obese person can be fit and healthy.

Good luck to you. Though if you have the knowledge and skill, you won’t need luck. Tomorrow I’ll give you the twelve correct answers – six from yesterday and six from today.

farmdoc's blog post number 565

Today’s ‘List Friday’. I found today’s list on the Age website on 29 October. It’s the Top 20 most annoying things about flying. I continue to fly. Living as I do over the water from my daughters and their families, and intermittently Sweetheart Vivienne too, I must travel to see them, and realistically I must do so on transport powered by fossil fuel. I admit I’m not as idealistic as darling Meg and PJ whom I admire for their decision. Rightly or wrongly, I can explain (i.e. rationalise) my patronage of airlines. For example I own thousands of trees which I’m sure make me a net user – and not a net producer – of CO2. I acknowledge that overall flying’s environmentally destructive. And, to me anyway, it’s soul destroying too. I’m referring to airline flying – which is the subject of today’s list. I don’t know where the 20 items on this list came from, e.g. a survey, or the writer’s experience. It matters not, since I accept that all 20 exist and that they’re ‘most annoying’. Of the 20, I’ve personally experienced all but numbers 16 (mobile phones), 19 (lost luggage) and 20 (wrong destination). I can’t hazard a guess as to which I find the most annoying of the 20. But that’s unimportant. The bottom line is that I continue to fly despite this list. Because for me the advantages outweigh the disadvantages – myriad and profound though they be. But when I eventually live on the mainland…