London to Banjul via Barcelona on Vueling Airways

My recent journey to sunny and wet Gambia was via Barcelona. It was a Vueling flight, chosen, as always because it was the cheapest flight I could find.
The downsides to the journey were a longish (8 hour) transfer in Spain, and an awfully early departure from Gatwick.
Actually, 8 am is not that early, but getting to the airport two hours early from the Midlands is not easy at that time.

Gatwick North Terminal is fine, except for this stupid rule about not smoking.
Why is it only the UK which literally and overly enforces this rule?
Is it not my choice to slowly kill myself with cigarettes?
Can someone not bring an action against Gatwick Airport for infringing Human Rights?

The only slightly delayed flight to Barcelona was uneventful.
No frills at all.
The flight was cheap.
Arriving at Barcelona because i had many hours to kill I left out of the airport and went into town. The shuttlebus cost 10.20 Euro (That would be Twenty pounds in London No Doubt) for the return journey, and it takes about twenty minutes to deliver you to the centre of town.
Right outside what appears to be The Albert Hall.

The weather was nice and I walked for several hours. Not once was I disturbed by anyone wanting to bum a cigarette, borrow cash for the bus fare home, or offer me a nice time.
In this respect Barcelona is Very Civilised.





A couple of beers were not expensive, and cigarettes cost about half of the UK price. Obviously the EU that Britain is in is not the same as the EU Spain uses.

Aerobus - Frequent and not expensive.

Back to the airport with hours to spare, so I checked into one of the lounges. It cost 25 Euro.
If you are passing through Barcelona airport and are considering pre booking a lounge – Don’t bother. The ones I found online were all offering access for £25, as of today’s date 25UKP will get you almost 30EURO, so save your money and pay on arrival.

Barcelona Airport Lounge Report:
All drinks are included and unlimited – the beer was not premium but was cold (and canned). They even have some decent top shelf products. Yummy.
Sadly, no hot food but the cold snacks, pasta, salads, sandwiches and picky things were plentiful, fresh and all quite nice.
The ‘free broadband’ only lasts 20 minutes, if you want more they want money. The lounge is No-Smoking but it’s not far to nip out to an enourmous outside ‘Smoking-Allowed’ area. Seats were comfy, clean, and plenty, and the place only started to get busy at about 5:30pm . Marks out of ten= 7.
The Vueling flight left pretty much on time, another slightly boring but functioning A320. No frills again and no in flight entertainment (IFE) either. Oh well think positive: less drain on the aircraft’s generators and something less to go wrong. As soon as the flight gets airborne the curtain at the front is closed and the crew start noshing. I think the cabin crew on some medium haul - no frills flights, have a very cushy job.
Without a doubt the girls (and boys) on Ryanair and EasyJet short haul have a Very Tiring Job, and are probably the most poorly paid. If you believe reports, if they don’t sell at least 50 Ryanair lottery tickets per flight they go home hungry.
This flight was maybe 55% full, with these load factors this route cannot be profitable but I was just happy to have two empty seats next to me and the six seats in front were unoccupied too.
The Vueling cabin does not  have any ‘First Class’ seats.
The only thing to disturb me was the two, or maybe three toddlers across the isle with their mother.
They were hyperactive, inquisitive and Very Noisy.
Children on flights is a Hot Potato (current topic) right now, and it needs to be addressed.
My views would be – put them all together in a ‘noisy area’ maybe at the back of the plane. The hold would be ideal, but maybe that would not be practical; lack of access from the main passenger cabin.
Of course these days it wouldn't  be considered politically correct to restrain them with cuffs and ropes.
 But would it not be possible to give them a gentle sedative?
Anyway at least the woman with them had to decency to put them to her breast for some dinner and that quietened them down for a short while.
I still think Temazepam (Diazepam) in moderation, is the answer.

Holed up at Hunstanton

I don't know whether you know .... but when they think no-one is home, the GRASS is a CAR-PARK !
and the ducks visited once, but obviously don't like warburtons bread very much. They never returned.

Pope Francis - Pope Lite ?

”If a person is gay and seeks god and has good will, who am I to judge them ?”
Well Hello! If not you, who ?
Are you not The Pope? - God’s man on the spot.
“If a person is sensible and uses a condom to prevent babies, and seeks God and has good will, who am I to judge them ?”
Maybe that will be the next little nugget.
But surely the Bible is pretty clear on this, in Leviticus 18:22:
"Do not lie with a male as one lies with a woman; it is an abomination"
But where in the Bible does it say ‘Thou shall not use a Rubber Johnny’?
So now we get Pope-Lite;
The morals upheld by the Catholic Church weren't decided by popular vote,
but it looks a bit like the newest Pope has a slightly more flexible interpretation.

Bathtime

Bathtime for African Finch. "Wot you lookin at ?" (spoken to sparrow).
This is just published to let Big G know that the blog is not dormant - with the resulting demotion.

Welcome To Britain, Now Get in the Que.

UK Border Force:- "We Welcome Your Feedback"
A Hapless Immigration Officer, is now looking for his lost notes
(which are in my hand luggage)

I am, not for the first time, ashamed and embarrassed to be British; I just arrived at Birmingham Airport (BHX) from Dubai (DXB) on an uneventful Emirates Boeing 777 300 (ER) flight.
So then the normal wait to deplane, nothing wrong with that, it takes a little while to get the jetway to the doors, but what there is something Very Wrong with, is the wait to pass through the illustrious UK Border.
This is the middle of the morning, not a particularly busy time for airport arrivals, and the 777 was not full, less than 300 passengers,
What a depressing sight, the entire passenger complement being held waiting, for what?
The Passport Police to finish there coffee break ?
It's like this every time!

They are Never ready ! It's as if they never expect An Aeroplane to land, with loads of people on board.
Considerately, the down escalator have been switched off - To Avoid Congestion (so the sign said), the Border Force Trainee stood at the top of the stairs trying to limit queuing on the stairs.
And then the most appalling thing was - after my passport had been inspected and I had been allowed past, I asked the officer for one of his Feedback Forms
("You Know Why" - I said, and he just looked uncomfortable, as well he should ) and he gave me a form.
So on the shuttle to the railway station I took a look at the form, and was amazed to find it was already written on, but not with another discontent traveller's comments, but by an immigration officer who had used it to make notes about another passenger!
I was looking at the name, in fact the names of several  people (what-suspects ?) along with dates and what look like passport numbers and dates of birth (PPT 50837991x - sounds like a passport number)
What happened to the Data Protection Act? What happened to Due Diligence? How educated are these officers that they can give out Highly Confidential Information, to any passing tourist ?
The times I have heard "Can't reveal that due to the Data Protection Act...." and here are these numbskulls handing out passport numbers, dates and names of what - Persons Of Interest ?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/immigration/9426914/Relax-checks-to-cut-unacceptable-three-hour-airport-queues-say-MPs.html

Gambia Bird, Gambia Birdstrike.

On 12th June I arrived at Gatwick (Useless Bl00dy) Airport after an uneventful, but expensive rail journey.
Let me learn !  If I book on the day of travel I get Stung.
and was handed this bit of paper :

Gambia Bird, 12th June 2013 flight 3G2311 Gatwick/Freetown/BanjulIt is with regret that due to a bird strike yesterday in Banjul, the above flight is delayed.

The damage to the engine fan blades has meant that we have had to despatch replacement blades from Germany to Banjul in order for the engineers to replace them.
                                                                                    .... it continues but gets boring after that.
Anyway they compensated me with a food voucher for £7.50
But I would have given that up for a Smoking Room. (see earlier rant).

It's a bit of a surprise that West Africa gets so many bird strikes as it's not the sort of place you see thousands of starlings (feathered bullets) flocking like North Africa and Mediteranean countries, but many of the birds are pretty big and appear to fligh quite high.

So after the ten hour delay, we boarded one of 3G's two Airbus A319s for the medium haul to Freetown.
Food was not nice, but it was free.
Drink selection was very poor too; no gin and tonic, no whisky, in fact it was just beer or wine as far as alcohol was concerned and the wine ran out halfway over Mali.
The crew were surly, and the the flight deck did not make a single announcement to the passengers, which I found strange, I like to hear a voice at least once from the pointed end, if only to prove they are not sleeping.
Maybe their English is not so good.
The Gambian stewardess was decorative though.
So the flight was uneventful, and maybe slightly longer than usual, the french ATC being On-Strike meant we had to fly west initially to avoid french airspace.

Anyway would I recommend Gambia Bird ? Yes No Doubt.
Because the price was very low.
And to get the low price you have to have the patience of Jobe.
Their website will not recognise debit cards. The booking agent in London cannot match the website price and they will NEVER answer the phone in head office Karaiba Avenue.
maybe if they did the, plane would have been more than half full.
So think about it Gambia Bird: there's no point in having nice posters everywhere, if you have no one who wants to Take The Money!

Gatwick Airport. Not fit for Humans.

I Love this soapbox.

So Gatwick Airport. You are the most useless, customer irresponsive, waste of space.
Yes, it is a real word - Irresponsive
You are staffed, largely in part, a significant part anyway,  by Liars, who really just want to enjoy the cache of working for Britain's second busiest airport, and not provide any real service to the poor pathetic cattle who have the misfortune to be travelling from here.

Feck the Customers - Let's Party.

They even rejoice in the fact that 'sorry we have no information at the present....'- and I swear, that's the only time they grin.
Ok, so what's behind this rant? Maybe, is the complete lack of consideration for Smokers: After foolishly checking in for my (delayed) Gambia Bird flight to Freetown, I find myself  'Out of The Country' as the useless staff like to tell me.
Now I've been thinking about this, and it occurs to me if I light a cigarette while I'm 'Out of The Country' who can prosecute me? So, the 'Official Procedure' is this: The useless airline desk CAN take any smokers back Into the Country if they feel like it, but they have to get the permission of Immigration, who can approve, or not approve of this action.
Also they have to be ars3d to do it , and as they have a busy day of chatting with each other about TV programs they have watched and the price of bread, and dissappearing - all six of them, at the same time to their staff room, (where no doubt, they Can Smoke), they are not inclined to try to get permission for just one slightly bolshy smoker.
Did I mention that my delay was initially Five Hours before a revised departure time would be released, and it ended up being an Eight Hour Delay. (see next post about Gambia Bird)
And the lies ? Well one of the Airline Desks woman had the nerve to tell me - down the phone, not to my face - that everyone had been told that if they check in early, they will not be able to smoke.
Total complete utter LIE. I definately was not given that information.
Why does Gatwick Airport have to be (almost) the only airport in the World where no consideration is given for smokers ?
I don't care if they give me a small smelly room with an ashtray - just give me somewhere so I don't have to break your rules and inconvenience others.

Extreme Eye Rolling

Quote for the day :

                       If you can't be kind, at least have the decency to be vague..

Me, I am a big believer in the Rolling Of Eyes. (Unlike Christian Grey)
but this girl just takes it to a scarey level....

 They actually disappear completely.
Anyway, she's not a bad looking girl - when she puts them back.
Hi Binta !http://www.facebook.com/binta.jammeh.37

Small Black Cat - Stuck Fast

So the kitten is not as small as she was;  hand-palm size.
And I guess she does not yet know she should use her whiskers to judge the size of gaps, so here we found her, stuck (though she would never admit to it) in the gap between the kitchen window and the bars outside.

Look at this filthy window.

I Say! Anyone about ?

I'd rather not step here, it stinks of bleach.

I Was Not Stuck.

Problem Uploading Pictures to Google Blogger (Blogspot) ?

Here's a Picture I Renamed and Successfully Uploaded.

So I had this problem - and Google's support page said 'They are working on a fix'- actually not a lot of use if you want to post an image Right Now.

Anyway, What I did, and still do, is rename the image file (and I've only used jpg files myself) removing any spaces, dashes, hyphens in fact anything that was not alpha-numeric, and then they successfully upload from the browser to the post page everytime.

Of course maybe Google have resolved the issue and it's just a coincidence that it's working now. Maybe.

Black Headed Heron

So yesterday I spent an entertaining hour watching this
Black Headed Heron which was giving a fishing demonstration  in Kotu Stream, just where the stream meets the Atlantic Ocean.

Butterfish are, in my opinion, the best fish for eating.
They are very unattractive fish, and they have Big and Sharp Teeth.
But they have almost no tiny bones to worry about.


One Cool Butterfish.




Sometimes I like to take (strange) Pictures with My Canon Power Shot.
£70 from Argos, the best 70 quid I ever spent.
OK slightly more when you add some storage media - it comes with NONE.
Very mean.


Fish smoking Marlboro - or should that be Marboro smoking Fish ?

Anyway, at least he's getting some greens.

Happy Bob Marley Day.

So, Yesterday after going to Brufut to exchange some paperbacks, on the way home I stopped at The Bar. It was more lively and more noisy than usual, and some one reminded me it was Bob Marley Night.
Bob Marly died on 11th May 1981. (but everyone here still calls it Bob Marley's Birthday - he was, of course, born on 6th February 1945).
So an excuse - if one was needed - for more beer.

If you can't upload images to your Google blog, try renaming the image file with a simple name, no underscores or non-alphanumeric characters, which seem to confuse Google's image uploader.
Works for me anyway.

So . Another week in sunny and warm purgatory.
One chicken is sitting on a about 11 eggs.

In another 7 or so  days I should have some little chicks. Incha’la.
Don’t know what the small kitten will think of them.  She has a healthy relationship with the hens, but when the hens are hungry they are inclined to grab the cat’s food and scarper with it.
Duey says the (very noisy) rooster is going to be swapped for another female.

Currently he is shuffling round  the compound, legs tied together with a piece of string.
I don’t know why, doesn’t mute it in any way. (that’s the cockerel, not Duey, tied up).
 
I had an acquaintance in Bakau.
He called himself Mustapha , but his original name was more like Peter Baxter. (Or something similar), an English man, very softly spoken and polite.
He was a struck off NHS dental surgeon who came to this country and worked as a saw bones for The Methodists.
Always told me he didn’t enjoy working for them too much due to the regular, compulsory Prayer meetings.
I really liked this man: He didn’t repeat himself when he was drunken and had many fasscinating stories to tell.
He wore local clothes and carried an interesting stick. (Which he used on at least one occasion on an abusive  taxi driver)
He can only have been slightly more old than me.
Anyway, he is dead.
It was a big surprise to me when I heard, a couple of days ago on a rare visit to the Bakau area.
He always appeared fairly healthy and was always supported by his latest entourage of pretty local girls.
He had a compound where he kept one wife and had several other smaller properties, which he used. I don’t know what for.
He wanted me to buy some cases of wine he and his girls had imported from Guinea Bissau. We enjoyed a couple of bottles together occasionally.
Anyway, there you go.
Even though I haven’t seen him for several months (since deserting Bakau), I’m sorry to hear this news.
Cause of death (apparently) Drink.

Last Saturday I was at a party at a local Liberian  bar, celebrating  Sierra Leone’s independence. 52 years. I was at a bar all afternoon and had a nice time.



The b*gger of the week for me : while eating a cheese and onion sandwich I cracked a tooth. Actually not as bad as it could have been, but bad enough.
Heavily filled molar, still heavily filled, just less tooth now. Dontcha just love the dentistry of the 70’s ?

Anyway. That’s the latest from me. As you can see no excitement here.

Gambian Dragonfly

OK so  now I can think of nothing to say.
But this picture is one reason I love my Canon SureShot.