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    Welcome to my Blog!

    Writing is how I relax from everyday stresses and pressures of life. I find it very therapeutic and energising. Very often, the value of the writing activity is the activity itself, rather than the output. Most of what I write therefore, gets quietly pushed aside, buried under a mound of paper, filed in an electronic folder forever...
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    Shorties

    Strong Arm of the Law

    So, what are the minimum requirements for an average police person  or security person in a sensitive area such as an Airport Departure Lounge?  Fitness / strength? Alertness? Sharp shooting?  Maybe. At an airport in a major North African city,…

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    Travel

    Calling Ashraf

    I cross the border between Jordan and Israel about twice a year for business purposes; I have done this for the last 5 years.  Being a keen mathematician, by my reckoning, this makes roughly 10 crossings one way and 10…

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    Shorties

    Nuisance Second Law of Travel

    Nuisance Second Law of Travel: Your suitcase will emerge on the belt immediately after 7 other over-sized suitcases are claimed by their feeble owners on either side of you thus, preventing you from retrieving it until the conveyor belt has…

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    Shorties

    Nuisance Third Law of Travel

    Nuisance Third Law of Travel: No matter how long or short the Immigration Line you choose to join, you always end up with the passenger immediately in front of you who is in the wrong queue, has a forged passport,…

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    Travel

    Wrong Boarding Pass

    Cairo: I once had to travel from Jordan to Algeria but, the only available route that day was a connection via Cairo Airport.  The travel agent in Jordan helpfully checked me on line and issued two boarding passes: Amman to…

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    Travel

    Virgin Flyer

    Jerusalem: My very first ever air travel was pre 1967 when half of Jerusalem was part of Jordan and it had its own little international airport.  I was a thin and lanky teenager whose idea of travel did not extend…

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    Travel

    Mouthful of Tennis Balls

    Yemen: When you land in a country for the first time, you have no reference point to fall back on, everything is unfamiliar and your brain requires time to adjust to the new surroundings. Arriving at Yemen’s Sana’a Airport on…

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    Travel

    Stay Out, Unless You Are In

    Officer: What is the purpose of your visit? Me: I live and work in London Officer: What were you doing outside the UK? Me: I was on holiday Officer: As an “alien”, you are not allowed to enter the country…

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    Shorties

    Harpoon Dad

    Weary Wisdom: Although nature sometimes saddles us with less than perfect relatives, it makes up for it by gifting us with the wisdom to make the right decisions.  A short conversation overheard in a marine equipment shop in Southern Spain: Very…

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