Son to son

I'm a bit chuffed to see step son and son speaking to each other via the auspices of the Financial Times. Step son shines at economics, and son, having just finished his degree requires a reference, so of course the elder can advise the younger here.

Volcanic sticking

The Icelandic volcano ash has affected British based people who travel by plane:

• Step son is stuck in Finland. Fortunately his wife and children are happily holidaying in the lakes with her parents
  
• Colleague's husband is stuck in Serbia, which means she can't go out this weekend because she has to mind their two boys.
• Our French lodger booked a return plane flight.
  

Fortunately, step daughter #1 is home, having travelled to Italy by car and ferry - how wise!

A web site "Watch Air Traffic" that shows you air traffic in Europe shows very little movement today. It also says "Users on line: too many"

LOL

New Zealand contacts

I've got a few friends in New Zealand, and someone from there has sent me an anonymous letter!

A hand addressed envelope arrived today with a full page spread from the Dominion Post newspaper on step-son's latest book. The envelope was post marked New Zealand, but no city, no covering note inside and I'm not sure whose the handwriting is.

Thank you, friend!

Proud of step son

Step son is away on a tour of the states to promote his new book, The Logic of Life. He gave a copy to his father for Christmas (it's not published in the UK until February), and to my somewhat biased mind, it's good. My initial reaction was from the experience of having read an awful lot of research literature in the last year, so I thought I could see that he had researched his field (economics) and could provide the academic proof and references if required. It is a solid piece of work, written for the serious but inexpert reader. It is easy to read, fun to read, enjoyable even on holiday. I've ordered a couple of copies for people I thought would enjoy it too.

The critics are already at work, here for example, commenting on son's remark about Adam Smith never visiting a pin factory. But the comments just make me realise how interesting it is and how it's worth reading to see what the critics are commenting about.