On what is, ironically, an absolutely lovely sunny day in Leeds, what really irks is that my long-laid travel plans have actually been scuppered by a smouldering mountain with a name that's halfway between a great hand at Scrablle and a particularly bad Bjork lyric ( Eyjafjallajoekull - say it fast three times).

Yes, as some of you know I'm supposed to be flying off to the US early next week - however that's all in flux at the moment due to... and I can't believe I'm actually typing this... a volcano.  Yes, Iceland is getting its own back for the financial crisis by billowing tons of smoke and ash into the atmosphere. Apparently there's more hot air hitting the northern hemisphere than a Glenn Beck love-in. And there's another image I could live without.

The annoying thing is that at the moment I have a ton of writing work to get out of the way and simultaneously there's no way to assess what the next few days will bring with regards to the travel situation  changing and what the actual obligations of the airline to my travel thereafter will be. I preume if the actual flight is cancelled they are obliged under terms to put me on another flight, however with an extensive back-log to deal with I'm not sure quite how much this could impact how long I'm away. Right now the air restructions are at least in palce until tomorrow and all phone lines are either down or busy, so there's no real information except what comes through the TV.