The big topic in London and most of Europe has been the volcanic eruption in Iceland that has disrupted air travel since last Thursday, wreaking havoc for thousands of travelers and costing hundreds of millions of dollars in lost productivity.  As many of you know, I travel frequently and was lucky to have been in London when it happened.  Yes, my weekend travel had to be postponed but no big deal all things considered.  I can't imagine how miserable it must be for 'volcano refugees' as they're calling themselves, and hope they're finding places to stay and keeping their spirits up.  The experience reminds me a bit of the 2003 Blackout in NYC, which was completely surreal in a post-apocalyptic way. 

Still, all of this has shown another side of globalization: we so take air travel and its attendant benefits (package delivery, imported items) for granted and having that taken away shows just how much we rely on it.