fear of flying, allegedly

This morning a young man comes requesting diazepam to cover him for his upcoming trip to Goa. His reason? "fear of flying"
"Can't be that bad", I put to him.
"How so?", he enquires.
"I mean you take 3 or 4 long haul flights every year, usually to India or Thailand"
Oh, but it is that bad, he protests. He spends half the flight looking out of the windows to check the wings haven't fallen off, the rest of the time just quaking in his seat, apparently. Or does he? Might he not just find the whole process a bit of a drag, like the rest of us? I give him 2mg for the flight out, and the same for the return. Both he and I know that won't be enough, but other partners have expressed the same reservations about doing this for him 3 or 4 times each year, and today I put an entry in his notes suggesting we might perhaps end our practice of helping him out in this way. I did point out to him that if he was so afraid of flying he might want to plan a different sort of holiday, but he didn't seem very enthusiastic about that idea.

GOLDEN NIGHT FOR TELLY

In the old days it seemed there were often nights when there was an embarrassment of riches to be found on the box, and I can go far enough back to remember when hard, sometimes painful decisions had to be made about what would be watched, and what had to be missed. It is true I watch a lot of TV; indeed, I would echo Bart Simpson's reply when asked how much TV he watched:
"Oh, about 6 hours a day. More if there's something good on"
But tonight there are lots of good things on:
1. Modern Family (Sky 1, 8 pm) Really rather good American sitcom which is shot documentary-style, a la the Office.
2. Have I Got News for You (BBC1, 9 pm) The now venerable programme, never quite the same since the demise of Angus Deayton, but remains eminently watchable.
3. An Idiot Abroad (Sky 1, 9 pm) Surprisingly entertaining series where the calculatedly hapless Carl Pilkington is sent round the world taking in the great sights, the pyramids, Petra, Rio etc, (that one's tonight) while Ricky Gervaise lurks ominously in the background to ensure he has a difficult time, booking him into bum hotels, making him ride camels, and so on. Try it.
4.Reggie Perrin (BBC

1, 9.30 pm) Obviously, no one could replace Leonard Rossiter in one of his most celebrated roles, but Martin Clunes has made it his own and brought it into the millennium- rollicking good stuff, well written and very funny.
5. Russell Howard's Good News (BBC3, 10.45 pm) Russell Howard drew enough support from his work on "Mock the Week" to give him his own series, and he has filled the role well, with his amusing, quirky (if not enormously subversive) take on the week's news. Go for it, Russell!