How is it that 7 days at home, 5 of which are working days, always seem like a long time, yet 7 days on holiday wherever one may be invariably seem to expire in a blink of an eye? As you may have guessed, I have just returned home from my holiday in New York.  Manhattan is always so beautiful at this time of year with painted blue skies running away with an horizon of glass, streets and fetching bricks in every direction. A couple of showers spoilt it last Monday, but nothing to seriously bother us, with subsequent temperatures consistently below freezing.  It will take me a few days, if not even weeks, to get back to the ever so slightly depressing rut of waking up at home to go to work as opposed to waking up in the Waldorf=Astoria to head down to Oscar’s for the buffet breakfast or indeed to any other number of hotels or cafés that took our fancy.  The only touristy bits we have done this time have been visiting Liberty Island and the observatory at the Rockerfeller Center.  Unfortunately, the inside of Liberty is still off limits due to security concerns.  Security checks over here really are something.  We went to St Pat’s even there they were checking backpacks and such like.  I suppose there is a lot to be worried about over here.  During our stay, yet another gunman went on the rampage upon the classic backdrop of a university, killing 6 (at my last check) and injuring over 20 before calling it a day on himself.  The news commented on how they should introduce security checks at universities and while this would be fair in principle, I just do not think it can be practically managed. I am looking forward to our next trip to New York and it pays to forward-think; I’ve already checked fares and rates for next February (looks good right now) and I have only just returned!