I want to apologize for my whiny remarks about not being able to go on vacation in the Keys because of the hurricane. Hurricane Charley wound up being the worst hurricane since the devastating Andrew in 1992, and according to the New York Times (login:wrreaders), it was the worst to hit southwest Florida in a century. It spared the Keys, but throughout the rest of Florida there was tremendous destruction, and that’s not funny in any way whatsoever (for an interesting little interactive graphic on how much havoc a category 4 hurricane can wreak, check out this BBC article and click on the animated guide to what causes a hurricane). So, no more flippant hurricane talk from me.

I suppose now I can turn my attention to the new threat hanging over my vacation: British Airways staff have voted to go on strike…