The World Cup 2010 is upon us. It seems like 5 minutes since the announcement that South Africa had won the right to hold the event and it’s taking place already. Now we can dare to hope that the (now) 44 years of hurt can be ended, the false profits and the bad pundits will be rolled out and we will yet again be lamenting the fact that England can’t get beyond the quarter finals of a major competition. (more…)

Actuaries are a conservative bunch. It’s said that they’re the ones that found accounting and insurance a little too exciting. They spend their days among tables and charts that they use to calculate the risk of you and me falling under a bus before giving us life insurance. They spend their lives calculating whether that risk is worth taking. They’re the ones, like the man in the Treasury that holds the purse strings, that have to say “no”. They must have (more…)

After weeks of disruption and chaos, it seems that finally the Icelandic volcano is calming down. Although scientists can’t yet say that the eruption is over, there seems to be little activity in the thing that no-one can pronounce, Eyjafjallajökull. (more…)

If you’ve travelled recently, are travelling or are planning to travel, you could be forgiven for being a little confused.

The ash has been coming back in the last couple of weeks but only to the edge of Europe. Frustrating if you live in Belfast, Dublin or Gran Canaria, but it didn’t cause the same major problems as it did across the whole of Europe a month or so ago (and hey, if it means me staying a few more days in Gran Canaria, where’s the factor 50!). (more…)

The recent announcement that travel insurance is now compulsory if you’re travelling to Cuba or if you’re a Cuban national going back home makes another tip to addto the list of things to think of when you’re travelling to such a great destination.  This list is of course just a selection. Do you have any more to add to it?

1. Learn Spanish (or go with someone who can speak Spanish) – even with some basic language skills you’ll appreciate the trip even more. And Cubans will appreciate you making the effort. (more…)

Cuba’s one of those places I’ve always wanted to go to. During the years of continued support from the Soviet Union and other Eastern Block countries and the US trade embargo, tourism was a largely ignored and underdeveloped sector. With the fall of the Berlin Wall in the last ten years or so, it has expanded exponentially. (more…)

It seems like British Airways’ long-running dispute with its cabin crew is some way from being resolved. A series of strikes was announced by the Unite union to begin on 18th May until 24th May. Legal action by BA on 18th May cancelled them on the basis that the union had not informed its members that 11 votes had been spoiled.  The union appealed and 2 days later the strikes were back on. As things now stand, further strikes will be held on 24th – 28th May, 30th May – 3rd June and 5th – 9th June. The union also said it would hold a further ballot for industrial action over the company’s conduct during the dispute. (more…)

I seem to have done nothing but write about volcanic ash recently. It caused unprecedented problems 3 weeks ago shutting airports in Northern Europe. People were stranded across the world unable to get back home and to work. International sports events were disrupted and the world’s leaders had to cancel plans to attend the recent funerals of the Polish presidential couple killed in an air crash in Russia. (more…)