2014 — 14 September: Sunday

I'm left pondering two things this morning1(a) what on earth did I eat yesterday that had such a diabolical effect, and (b) how very effective a gastric disturbance is on focusing thoughts of frailty and mortality (as opposed to thoughts of Intelligent Design, or whatever our Creationist chums are calling their weird doctrine these days).

I shall send down...

... a cuppa on a 'search and destroy' mission. And quite possibly retreat to my bed.

[Short, but significant, pause to give those of a sensitive disposition a chance to skip the small print in the next paragraph]

Three small sips of tea were all that was needed to prompt the, erm, expulsion of quite a lot of whatever was sloshing unhappily around in the 'tum' section of the alimentary canal. I doubt if that's an end of it, but I certainly feel a lot better right now. And I suspect the rest of the crockpot will have to be discarded. (The onion was quite old.)

KBO

The heart may well want what the heart wants, but the stomach can be just as clear in acting on its likes and dislikes. Intelligent Design? Don't make me sick! :-)

There's a thoughtful...

... open letter to Scotland from its Canadian cousins. (Canada has nearly five million folk who identify their ethnic origin as entirely or partly Scottish.) Source and snippet:

You made us — and as a gesture of thanks, we'd like to offer some advice on how to avoid unmaking yourself. This bit of history you are living right now? This referendum thing? We've already been through that. We may be a young nation but we have far more experience than you on this issue. We nearly tore our country apart. Twice.

Editorial in Globe and Mail


I have no ax to grind, being devoid of Scottish roots. But I doubt the UK would improve with the loss of Scotland. Whether Scotland would is another matter.

Another horrid acronym: 'Endies' — Employed but with No Disposable Income or Savings.

It's approaching...

... time for the one o'clock news as I wake from a brief nap on the sofa. I've yet to bother to eat anything, or even finish that initial cuppa. No point adding fuel, as it were, to the fire. But I think things are slowly improving.

One of those TED talks...

... on NPR right now has just made me roar with laughter. Check out the Adam Savage section asking how do simple questions lead to big discoveries. It seems (for example) when you get a drunk driver sitting in the back seat to give detailed verbal instructions to a totally blind driver (stay with me here) the resulting progress along the road makes it obvious to any observer that the car is effectively under the control of someone who is drunk. This was not an expected result :-)

I'm now nearing...

... the end of my third mug of tea (I re-zap them in the microwave at regular intervals) spread fairly evenly through the afternoon. Nothing worse than a few gurgles, but I think I shall stay off food until tomorrow just to be on the safe side. Does chewing gum count?

  

Footnote

1  After a fretful night clutching a precautionary bowl...