Part of the entertainment this job provides is finding all kinds of random airlines to travel with and yesterday was no exception...Global.

The fun and games starts at Baghdad airport where the check-in desk is not opened until the last possible moment and naturally locals are seen to first so I end up allocated literally & metaphorically the last seat on the aircraft (the safest I'm reliably informed). I head through to the departure lounge and, as usual, am the only western female so subject to much scrutiny.

On board I am accosted by the Colombian purser who demands to know what I've been doing in Iraq and strikes up quite a conversation resulting in him explaining to me he has a business he runs as a side-line specialising in the import of Colombian goods into Dubai and he's sure he could help my company...I dread to think what this might include. So there I am trapped on this aircraft with a mad smuggler and due to extreme turbulence feeling highly likely to throw up. Furthermore half an hour after I check into the hotel I'm interviewing a prospective Director....Some days they simply don't pay me enough!

Goodbye my trusty companions

until the next time...

Today's been eventful...started like something out of a sitcom as I managed to lock myself out of my bedroom wearing only my PJs! I was rescued by a young, 6'2" ex Marine wielding a screwdriver! It's been quite some time since a chap's tried to break into my bedroom!!!

That was shortly followed by the experience of interviewing a prospective H.R Director close to an Iraqi check point wearing a flack jacket. Yet another first!

The night has ended on a high as the guys made me a fab lasagne with salad and fresh bread before ensconcing me in a villa in the Green Zone complete with en suite...pure luxury in comparison with the norm accommodation here.

Relocated from the boudoir due to the fact that there's a bleedin' great plate glass window which was highlighted as a risk factor should any 'devices' be activated! New room slight more sedate but bed not the most comfortable, plus every time the power goes off (pretty regular occurrence), the system bleeps loudly before the generator kicks in, and to cap the maximum sleep deprivation, I was woken by call to prayer from the local Mosque at some unearthly hour :o/

Someone's looking out for me

I got upgraded to Business without asking...talk about customer service! I love Emirates :o)

I had a couple of hours in Dubai but although the company had provided a hotel room, and I physically got into bed, I didn't manage to drop off. I think it was a case of worrying I wouldn’t wake up for the second leg. So wish I could master the art of power napping!

T2 Dubai was as mad as ever. Total and utter chaos. They didn’t call or advertise my flight so I was sat waiting like a lemon until they tannoyed me. Didn’t make any difference as the flight was 50 mins late taking off anyway...bit of a different kettle of fish to the first journey. Anyway I can add to my list of carriers I've flown with - Jupiter airways...no I hadn't heard of them either...hardly instills confidence.

A PSD team collected me from the airport and kitted me out with flack jacket and helmet before whisking me away to our villa in Al Mansur where they have given me the most hideously kitsch bedroom you've ever seen...enough to give you nightmares. In the upside they have provided a fabulous fruit bowl and lunch has just arrived...toasties made with last night's chili...like living in a student abode all over again ;o)

Barmy/balmy Baghdad here I come

Packed (congratulating oneself at how one's packing skills have improved - you'd be amazed at how much I can cram into a carry on case!), passport, visa & tickets checked, ipod re-stocked, $ and AED at the ready.

House spic & span, bills paid and bank account balanced.

The Sproglets have been given strict instructions to be good for their father, and warned that if anything happens to me they need to do their best in life or I'll haunt them ;o)

Right...I'm off again; BHX -> DXB, DXB -> BGW...glad I opted against the travel dept's advice to transit Jordan on the way out...

Spent last night in the company of the first male permitted into my bedroom and on whose dulcet tones I've always hung.

Ever since I first heard 'Virginia Plain' donkeys years ago I've been a confirmed 'Roxy' girl. Bryan and the boys are part of my staple listening and had a major influence on my dress sense. I loved the whole 'glam rock/art house look' as Frosty photo albums will attest.

So last night I abandoned the sproglets and mutt to spend a couple of hours mesmerised by a 60+ year old lounge lizard and his crew at Birmingham's LP Arena. They performed loads of their back catalogue bringing back memories places I'd been, friends of old, young romance etc...really evocative stuff... Spot on in terms of musical performance, and smooth, suave and sophisticated as ever....simply brilliant :o)