I always travel light. For most
trips I usually take nothing more than my trusty back pack. I have long ago
mastered the knack of being able to pack fresh clothes, including a daily
change of underwear, the necessary toiletries, laptop and the other essential
items needed for brief trips into my back pack. I try not to take anything more than I need. Last
week I was travelling to Abu Dhabi, and although it was a brief trip, I wanted
to take some suits to wear at the meetings I was attending. So I left my back
pack at home and took along a small suitcase.
Stupidly, thinking I had more
room than normal, I took a new toilet bag full of pockets, zips and space. I
gleefully filled this with everything I thought I would need and packed in my
suitcase ready to check it in. Out of the wardrobe came my new black leather
briefcase for the laptop, iPad and business papers and off I went to the
airport. I was flying with
Etihad, and as the plane was late arriving into
Manchester there was a long delay before passengers could board. 5 hours after getting out of bed I was still in
Manchester. Eventually
we took off and my attention turned to lunch. Whilst the
New Zealand Sauvignon
Blanc was chilled, so was the watercress soup – (it was insipid and unseasoned
too). To top it all they ran out of cheese.
So some 8 hours after climbing
out bed that morning and flying somewhere over Istanbul, the dull ache that had
been growing steadily blossomed into a pounding, splitting headache. I reached
for my bag for some paracetamol, only to realise it wasn't my faithful back
pack, and the paracetamol was in my bag in the hold. Thankfully, whilst there
was no cheese to be had, one of the cabin crew did have some paracetamol and shortly
thereafter, the headache started to recede. And after a couple of glasses of
Glenlivet it had gone completely.
I knew that whilst paracetamol is an effective analgesic (pain reliever) it was a fairly safe drug (although over dosing can cause liver damage and death). A new
study published last week in
Psychological Science by Geoffrey Durso of the
Ohio
State University (US) has revealed that paracetamol can also leave people
feeling emotionally numb as well. The research which recorded people's
responses to photos that were pleasant, neutral or very unpleasant after being
given paracetamol, showed the people didn't feel the same degree of emotional
response as did the people who took placebos.
The paper suggested that paracetamol
might tap into the sensitivity that makes some people react differently
to both positive and negative life events. I am not this was the case with me,
I think it was just Etihad's poor service that was the cause. And in a week which
saw reports of record numbers of GPs wishing to leave the
UK, it seems that the
NHS might not be getting a very good service from some of our GPs. Collectively, they issued
some 22 million prescriptions last year at a cost of £3.67 per prescription)
which costs the NHS over £80 million (or in run up to the election - 3200 more
nurses) a year for drugs that cost as little as 19p in most supermarkets
(perhaps 23p for
Tesco’s Finest J ).
Abu Dhabi was its usual hot self.
I’m sure it gets greener every time I go there. I was there attending the
Al
Mafraq Juvenile Rehabilitation Project Board meeting. The meeting was a long one. The Brigadiers
were in feisty mood and the issues we faced were challenging and difficult. As
always, the Emirati hospitality was wonderful, and after many cups of very,
very sweet tea, much discussion the somewhat rhetorical and transactional
nature of the business of the meeting was concluded. The rather more informal
'unofficial' meeting followed and I felt real progress was being made. The
project is already making a difference to the lives of the young people
involved. The next stage, the production of a range of high quality and
culturally sensitive learning programmes was already well under way.
I was really pleased and a little
proud as I sat with our team in the hotel grounds later on in the day. They had
dealt brilliantly with the heat, the cultural issues, the work of the project
and it was wonderful to spend some time with them relaxing and sharing stories
late into the night. We sat outside in the hotel gardens and I have to confess
I don’t know whether it was the heat, or that small glass of beer I had that
led to my headache the following morning. Thankfully I had access to my
paracetamol and by the time I settled myself into my seat for the flight home
later that morning, the headache was already a thing of the past. Finally, for
those who are interested in such things, I was told that the word Etihad (who are the main sponsors
of
Manchester City football club) is
Arabic for
United…
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