Money madness!

We have always been told that your health is your wealth – and the older you get the more you realise that it’s true – but sometimes something will catch your eye that makes you wonder what it must be like to be really wealthy.

For some reason it seems to me Russia has a lot of the wealthiest people on the planet. Long before he decided he wanted to take over Ukraine, there was a rumour over in Cabo Roig in Spain (which we sometimes manage to get to) that Putin himself owned a mansion overlooking the marina.

It goes without saying that the mansion is safe from the prying eyes of a curious Irishman (and everyone else), but local rumour has it that it can only be described as palatial, and that no expense was spared on its refurbishment.

Anyway, as I looked out on my newly-updated 131 Passat (only because my 08 one took a terminal illness) I thought of the most expensive private jet in the world, owned by one of Putin’s best mates, Alisher Burkhanovich Usmanov (I won’t be writing that again, so you’d better remember it now). I wondered how one man could have so much wealth. His Airbus A340-300 cost him €228 million. He then spent a mouthwatering €160 million doing up the interior. Apparently he did up a few bedrooms and put in a 20-seater dining table! relieved to see that it wasn’t overcrowded. I said to myself that maybe it wouldn’t be too bad today – I was of course completely wrong. Before too long the place was packed as tightly as sardines in a tin. There were people everywhere – some even waiting outside – but as always, the staff were perfectly courteous and professional, and did their utmost best under the most extreme pressure.

The thought crossed my mind that if he had called me during my furniture days, I could probably have done him a better deal (at least on the table, that’s if he didn’t mind a bit of woodworm)! However, now that I’m fully retired, I suppose there’s no use thinking about such things.

All I can think about is the sad fact that with millions of people starving around the world, and as Putin continues to inflict untold hardship and misery on the Ukrainian population, his mate can be flying round the place in his almost €400 million jet. It’s a strange world!

My family member got seen fairly quickly and, being in severe pain, we hoped that maybe a trolley would be made available to try to provide them with some comfort. Sadly, there was nothing available, so it was a case of sitting on one of the hard chairs until something could be found. Thankfully, at about 12 midnight, after 14 hours of sitting on the chair, a bed (remarkably) came available. As I write this on Monday