The Irresistible Force Meets The Immovable Object

Carlos was not in a mood to interrupt his morning smoke for anybody. Alfonso was a man possessed once he had a broom in his hand. This was about to get messy!


I experienced one of those classic queueing frustrations today which recalled this wonderful cartoon called "Stay In Queue". It actually did me no favours because having seen this I've never again hopped from one queue to another. I wish I had today. There were two lines for the Ryanair bag drop. I chose the one which seemed to have the least people, although they were so straggly that it was hard to tell. My queue was stagnating while the other was moving quickly. New arrivals joined the other queue. I stayed put. I reasoned that all the time they were the same length there was no logical reason to swap. Again and again, the person being dealt with at the head of my queue had a problem which involved a phone call and a wait. How complicated can it be to check in a bag?

I stubbornly stayed put, the images from that cartoon firmly in my mind. I lost track of time but eventually I got to the head of the queue, at which point there was an alert because they were being so slow. They asked for all those on a flight that was earlier than mine to come to the front. Nearly everyone was. They were in a mild state of panic so I duly obliged and let them go ahead. I found myself at the back of the queue again. Fortunately, this time, it moved a little more quickly. When it finally came time for me to drop my bag off it could have taken no more than twenty seconds. I still have no idea why it took everyone else so long.


It was a strange experience to leave Malaga in the rain and arrive in Manchester in sunshine. England looked beautiful from the air this afternoon. I was a little out of it when I got home, the cold that I held at bay yesterday finally taking hold. It turned out, of course, to be another very special day indeed. I've not been able to contribute much recently so a huge thank you from me to Ian, Graham and Annie for their amazing efforts. Well done guys. And well done to every single person who has contributed to the campaign. It's an amazing achievement.