Today’s toys that #1 took to nursery today.
A Lego C3PO, R2D2 and police bike.
4 Minute Warning
While out running the other day I was pondering the end of the world. I was listening to After The War, an album by Gary Moore [the Gary Moore concert at Wembley Arena is another tale]. The songs made me think of all the times as a youngster I worried about nuclear war. I reached self awareness towards the end of the 1970s and with that came the realisation that I lived on a tiny planet orbiting in the middle of nowhere.
The news used to be full with suspicion of the Russians and what naughty things they might be up to. Russian invasion seemed inevitable and so did the possibility of mutually assured destruction. Spies and diplomats were being expelled from various countries in tit-for-tat manoeuvres. We regularly took part in war games as did the Russians.
I clearly remember talking with friends about what we would do if the 4 minute warning was sounded. Who would we try to see or spend our last minutes with. I grew up close enough to London to know that the blast wave might not get me but the radiation and collapse of society probably would. What plans could I make to ensure that like in the movies I ended up one of the survivors.
There was a film on TV in the mid-80s which started with a nuclear bomb exploding above Sheffield. This affected me. I don’t think I watched past the first few minutes but I was always bothered with the vision of a mushroom cloud rising above the city. My dad said probably the best thing ever to me, although he might have been lying. I asked him if there would be a nuclear war and he responded:
If I thought there was going to be a nuclear war I wouldn’t have brought you into the world.
I found this remarkably calming. Looking back I think the threat of war caused immense stress. However, I do wonder what adults thought about the threat of war. Was it as high as I imagined or was I too sensitive. I liken it to the threat of terrorism now. The public perceived threat is far greater than the threat of real events occurring.
Latest iPhone Backgrounds
My latest home screen:
My latest lock screen:
Special Sister Parish
I’ve had to write this communication because some of my pupils at work have told me to. Very kindly they got me a card for being their form tutor. It contains some nice words but is titled:
For a special sister [parish]
Miss Diamond Dame, if it doesn’t sparkle, quite simply, it’s lame
The also got me a poster for my room. It’s cool.
Thanks very much, Andy and Harrison.
Keeping Watch
Here’s the dog keeping watch over my sons playing in the garden.
Clematis
Here’s a picture of our clematis. Looks lovely. Also, given the dog ate all but one of the main stalks three years ago I’m surprised in got this far.
One or Two Fingers?
Recently the WW and I have been on a bit of a health regime. This requires us to not worry about supplements (mostly rubbish) and just keep track of food and exercise. It’s been a while since I have felt physically fit and at a healthy weight. There have been a number of times when my mass has been measured by a health professional and they’ve said that I was a bit over-weight. Yes, that was true, but I was also quite aware of it.
So over Christmas I decided to copy the WW and I installed an app on the iPhone that tracks my calorie intake. I can scan the bar code on foods and select the correct amount and then try to keep to a particular daily calorific maximum. This I have done reasonably successfully and have now reached a healthy mass of 82Kg (if you want my weight then just multiply by your local value of g).
More recently because of the change of official time to British Summer Time (something I am not convinced has any particular basis) I can also take advantage of the light evenings and go running. I should point out that my version of running is really just a jog. The biggest problem with this is that I also take the dog. He doesn’t really understand that I just want to go at a steady pace for 30 minutes or so and he runs off to sniff other dogs or just plain gets under my feet. Anyway, the upshot of the last month of running is that I can comfortably run about 5km in just under 30 minutes and am doing this about 4 times a week. A secondary bonus is that the dog has lost a little bit of his winter fat and is now also looking much healthier. See this Fooyah communication for the route I tend to run.
And so to the crux of this Fooyah communication. If you are calorie counting you need to decide whether certain foods are worth it. For me, cake is plainly not worth the calories. My enjoyment of cake per calorie is particularly low. To give me a sense of “is it worth it” I use the international SI unit of food expectation/enjoyment which is a finger of Cadbury’s Twirl. One standard Twirl finger is 115 kCal. Now whenever I am faced with a choice of snacks or foods to eat I balance it with the Twirl. Is the energy content I am about to eat greater in enjoyment to the Twirl or less. If the answer is less then there is a lower chance of me actually eating that particular food. For example: a small iced sponge cake from Tesco is 150kCal. Compared to the equivalent in Twirls the enjoyment is much much lower and so the cake should not be eaten. A banana is about 80 kCal and so although not really tasty is quite cheap in terms of calories and so worth eating. One teaspoon of Nutella is 81 kCal and so not really worth it but is a nice treat if I feel like it.
The rest of my life is probably going to be a calorie counting feast of Twirl decisions but I can live with that if it keeps me on the right side of healthy.
The app on the iPhone is called: MyFitnessPal.
Veg Patch 2012
This year’s vegetable patch. We’ve carrots, maize and cabbage.
Thank You!
I know I am a grumpy git. I know that I am now old fashioned. I know that I moan about too many things and should probably just accept the state of things as they are and move on.
However – It doesn’t take much energy to say thank you when you cut me up on the roads and pull in front of me.
I don’t mind how you say it:
- you can flash your hazard lights
- you can wave out the back window
- you can wave of your side window
- you can hack into the DVLA database and find my address and send me a gift voucher
Just say “THANK YOU”.
Most of the time you have pulled in front of my car while I’m travelling at more than 50mph and I’m trying to leave a safe distance between me and the car in front because I am normally carrying the most precious cargo possible. You have deemed this a suitable place into which to drive and not worry about a conscientious driver trying to be safe – acknowledge your arseholeness.
Thank God For BMW
About six years ago I found myself perplexed! I would see a car out of the corner of my eye and think “ooh, there’s a nice looking car”. It would only hit me when I looked properly that it was a BMW. I hadn’t liked any BMWs until this time and I found it distressing that they had changed their general style and were now good looking.
Finally this balance has been redressed. The latest BMWs that I have seen on the roads are back to ugly. I think they look stupid. All is well with the world again and everything is correct.
An Aside
The Range Rover Evoke is a horrible looking car. The designers are genius because it seems to be the latest fashion accessory. Ugly but selling, perhaps they should be pink as well? If I had designed it I would be crying with laughter all the time. The BMW X6 is just as bad.