Tailfins

We finally secured approval this week for an immunised deal with our alliance partners American Airlines and Iberia. It has been a long time coming. The final step was to secure approval from the US Department of Transport, which was granted last Tuesday evening, fourteen years after we first attempted to get a deal approved with American.

Better late than never.

BA Iberia merger

Last week was a busy one. On Sunday, I flew out to Mexico for a oneworld meeting and to welcome Mexicana into the alliance. I flew back via Madrid and arrived back in London just as the merger agreement between BA and Iberia was announced.

It’s taken a long time to get there, but fantastic news. Time to start learning Spanish!

Red Arrows

The family went to Silverstone last Sunday to see what could be the final Formula One Grand Prix there, if Donnington can get its act together by next year. Sadly, unlike our first visit last year, we didn’t get to see a British win, despite Jenson’s dominant form this season. On a brighter note, last year’s rain and mud were replaced by sunshine. Last year, the low cloud cover caused the Red Arrows to cancel their display. This year, they delivered a stunning show in clear skies and sunshine. The parking and traffic control were also significantly improved and as a result our journey home was much faster. We are certainly hoping that Silverstone will get a reprieve, as we really don’t fancy the extra miles that Donnington would involve. Fingers crossed.

Floor!

Amazing… we finally have a floor. Well, at least the kitchen area is finished. The family room is still to do. Work resumes on Monday.

The final phase...

Day 131… and works have finally resumed! Floor over the next few days, painting next week.

All Saints Church, Binfield

We’ve decided we need to get out more. It’s not that we haven’t been busy. We’ve actually been very good lately at getting out to concerts, sporting events and dinner with friends. But we concluded we should do more “going for walks as a family”. So for the last two weekends, we’ve been heading off for a 3 mile walk each Sunday.

For walk one, we were lucky in almost every way. The weather was gorgeous and the walk a scenic one. The only problem was the shoes I had stupidly picked to wear. Within a couple of hundred yards, I already had blisters on my heels and could only complete the rest of the walk by squashing down the back of the shoes and creating a pair of ‘improvised mules’. Which made the whole thing more of a shuffle than a walk.

For walk two, my blisters had mostly recovered and I had chosen my footwear more wisely. I was looking forward to enjoying a nice Sunday stroll. The sun was shining as we finished our pre-walk pub lunch and headed off. Twenty minutes later, the rain was setting in. By the time we reached the half way point, we were in the middle of a gale being lashed by torrential rain. Cold and drenched we arrived back at the car, just as the rain stopped and the sun came out again. Third time lucky next weekend?