Time etc.

No. 11    Tuesday 2 August 2011

Time is funny stuff.  I don't mean actual time, which is regular, but "perceived time" which seems to stretch or shrink.  For example during a day my idea of time varies considerably and some things seem to have happened quickly once they are past but seem to drag while they are under way.  When I go shopping it seems to take a while getting to the supermarket, making my purchases and travelling home, certainly longer than the hour which it usually takes.  However, looking back on it in the evening it seems that the whole episode was over in minutes.  Similarly when I am expecting something to happen in the future it appears to take much longer than its calendar time, but once it is past it seems that the happening was only days before - when it might, actually, have been weeks.  There must be an explanation for this - perhaps it is something to do with ageing.

I really must try harder to get my weight down nearer to what it should be - it has been consistently about 2kg above my target which is, in  turn, about 2kg above what the medics say is the ideal for my height/build/age.  Being (mostly) wheelchair bound exercise is close to impossible so I have to control my weight by what I eat i.e. watching the calories - of which, being relatively inactive, I need fewer than normal.  A  panic reduction would probably not be good for my health so I am trying a very gradual reduction, in steps, in my calorie intake over quite a long time.  Perhaps I will start seeing results in the not-too-distant future !!

During the last couple of days people I have spoken to have complained about the heat.  I am finding that, at last, it is comfortable for me.  The probable reason for this is that, having spent the best part of 33 years in hot countries, I have acclimatised to higher than normal temperatures.  This is despite the 12+ years that I have been home.  This, oddly, has had another effect in that I still have difficulty getting used to the UK public holidays.  Of course every country has its public holidays but very few seem to co-incide or even have similar names.  Which leads me onto an occasion when I firmly "put my foot in it" - deliberately.  In Tehran my wife worked for an American company so they invited us to a Thanksgiving party (Thanksgiving is in November).  During the party, when most of us had reached the "happy" stage, one of our hosts commented that we didn't celebrate Thanksgiving in England.  The rest of the conversation went thus:
Me "Yes we do"
Him "Oh, when is it?"
Me "The fourth of July"
Him "Gee, that's our Independence Day"
Me "That's why we give thanks!"
Fortunately they didn't throw me out, and even saw the funny side of it !!

Mike