Mike's musings

And back home

The flight was really full. Lots of of people of all ages, and it was horrid. The last straw, on getting sat down, was to discover that Qantas still use the ridiculous two-jack headphone sockets, which meant that (as I didn't have an adapter) I couldn't use my noise reduction ones. Got grumpy - very grumpy - and had a sleep.

Although I'd been feeling a bit better yesterday, I started feeling dodgy again on the plane. Nowhere near as ill as before - no throwing up, fewer (and less, um, interesting) trips to the loo, etc. - but really not great. Although I got a fair amount of sleep, it was fitful and uncomfortable, and the experience in general was pretty terrible. I'd rate BA well above Qantas for economy long-haul (although I don't intend to try either again in the near future, if ever) on most, if not all, criteria: food, staff, service, toilets, seats, entertainment...

We got in, thankfully, on time. Baggage took a while, but then I found the driver, and he whisked me home (I slept most of the way). Jo and Moo were both pleased to see me, and I fell into bed for another 3 or 4 hours.

I've done some work this afternoon - just stuff that needed doing and couldn't really wait - and I'm looking forward to bed soon, although it's only 1600 or so.

Two good pieces of news:

• Polly was very pleased with her birthday present: a 512MB flash MP3 player
• Carolyn's back next week, for which we thank God.

I know that the past few posts haven't been very positive, as I've been ill, but I'm just glad to be home, now. The experience yesterday of just sitting down in a prayer room and letting it all out for God to deal with gave me the strength I needed to carry on, and I'm very glad that I did it. It was, bizarrely, a very good and formative experience, and something I need to cherish: it shows how even a little blip in an otherwise terrible time can really help you cope.