Dockyard she had to hop on a plane out of here to calm down! After a little snow skiing and fireside chitchat with friends at a tiny Vermont resort, Hester was refreshed and ready to return to the grind.

Alas, on a US flight back to the Island, she was jolted back to the reality of all that is Bermuda. Hers and quite a few other local eyes on board the flight popped out at the spectacle unfolding in the upper class cabin. There sat our Premier Jennifer Smith , and The Colonel -- in the midst of a deed that one can only assume is part of his, er, duties, though it seemed to Hester it went far and beyond. Apparently, no sooner had Ms Smith moaned of her aching bunions, than The Colonel swept the First Feet out of their stilettos and into his lap, and began dutifully massaging them. To the amazement of passengers his first class foot rub lasted the entire flight...and who said American airlines are no-frills these days? On the subject of political travel perks, in her recent travels Hester came across an interesting dispatch in the Boston Logan Airport Journal intriguingly titled `Upgrade Denied But Compromise Offered'. You may recall not so long ago Hester revealed Government's plans to reclaim an airline's Airport lounge as its own VIP hangout. And of course we all remember Transport Minister Ewart Brown's unashamed bid to get routine first class upgrades out of the airlines when Cabinet Ministers travel.

Well it appears that following a front page story in The Boston Globe, the practice of Massachusetts politicians getting first class upgrades has been abruptly halted by Logan bosses who felt the unofficial policy wasn't in the best interests of anyone.

But they suggested this tongue-in-cheek compromise which Hester thinks might go down rather well here: Politicians "would continue to get preferential treatment from the airlines being assigned the exit row in coach with so much more leg room with the secretary/civil servant on the aisle and the `VIP' in the window seat. The name of the `VIP' would be warmly welcomed by the flight attendant over the PA system and a Massachusetts citizen (preferably the loudest mouthed) would occupy the middle seat to express all their concerns about current issues''. Sort of like Doc Brown in the window, Kenny Bascome in the middle and Leo Mills on the aisle. Now that's a nice happy family! With the Orbis World Bridge Championships attracting praise from many corners, there was one slight hiccup this week with the departure of famed player and actor, the dapper Omar Sharif . According to one fly on the wall in the hushed and rarified atmosphere of the Fairmont Southampton Princess, the renowned Eygptian arrived on Thursday and left suddenly on Tuesday after reportedly having a tiff with his playing partner. Competing in a Trans-National contest, which comprises of teams of mixed nationalities, the dashing Dr. Zhivago simply decided he didn't want to play and jetted out before he could twitch his famous moustache. Apparently, Hester is told, such conduct occurs quite often amongst these highly strung bridge aficionados. However, Hester wonders if such conduct could possibly be attributed to the lid put on the number of cups of coffee players can drink.

With the Bermuda event being the first held as an officially recognised Olympic sport, this meant, oddly -- because of the sedate nature of the game, that the 240 mostly well-heeled contestants had to undergo drug testing during the three weeks of play. Unfortunately caffeine was one of the drugs included on the list. Players were forewarned a maximum of ten cups in three hours was the limit. We cannot confirm whether our Omar has a penchant for more than a few cups of java a day.

While the Government is on about replacing its cars with newer, sportier models, Hester thinks that perhaps it should look at the fleet of Works & Engineering trucks first. If you were among the crowd who watched the start of Saturday's international 10K on Montpelier Road, you may have noticed the fully loaded press truck got left in the dust. The crew of reporters, photographers and cameramen were all in position in the flatbed at the head of the pack to film the start and roll right on through to the end of the exciting race.

The gun went off but as the poor driver attempted to set off, of all things, he couldn't get his hand-brake to release. As he tried in vain to move, annoyed participants had to resort to running around the press truck. When the flustered chap finally got it to move, he cleverly doubled back and took a few shortcuts to meet up with them again as they approached Flatts. Apparently it was the oldest truck in the fleet.

Speaking of veterans, much-travelled VSB news director Bryan Darby shed some light on his swashbuckling style of reporting recently.

A SUNshine tabloid reporter asked the VSB news boss: "Is there anything wrong with putting a bit of spin on a story to make it more entertaining?'' Darby: "I don't think so.'' And by the way, if he gets a dubious tip, he doesn't think there's anything wrong with "telling the story anyhow''. Hmm.