Resolutions update

Just nine days into the New Year, and unfortunately I’ve broken most of my resolutions already. It started so well, but the past couple of days I’ve been rationalising my way out of decisions, and from then on it was a slippery slope. This seems to happen most years, so even though I’m disappointed, it’s not really very surprising.

Last night, however, I was idly surfing and came across Christine Kane’s website. She’s a singer-songwriter who keeps a blog called ‘Conscious Living’, and in one post she describes a new approach to the New Year. Instead of making resolutions, she recommends
“Pick[ing] a word for the year. Just one word. That’s all. Then, hold[ing] that word in your mind throughout the year, and let your word guide you to take action.”
In other words, that word becomes your focus and reminds you what you want to accomplish. It sounds like a really good idea, and judging from the feedback to the blog, seems to work for lots of people. So here’s my word for 2007:

Persistence.

Wish me luck. Thank you.

New Year’s Resolutions: Kaizen

So 2006 is over. Have you recovered from the excesses and sleep deprivation of the New Year’s Eve celebrations? Like lots of people, around this time I always think about all the possibilities the New Year offers, and all the things I hope to achieve through continuous and incremental self-improvement. I think this is what’s known as the Japanese concept of Kaizen, and this year I’ve again made a number of resolutions. Most of them are geared towards trying not to waste time, so that I can do things I’ve always promised myself to do (like spend more time with friends, learn to speak Spanish and write a review article). Lately, I’ve been spending more and more time in the lab, and recently even brought my sleeping bag into the office. I’m a bit worried that I’m losing touch with other things and people, and hopefully I can try to address this by getting back the odd few minutes here and there.

I’m putting the resolutions down here not because I think you’ll be interested, but since many I’ve made in the past have failed. Perhaps this was because I didn’t actually want to do whatever it was or because it was just too hard to do, but I hope this entry be a reminder and source of encouragement. Sending you vibes and wishing you all the best with any resolutions you make.

1. I’ll make a rough plan of my week every Sunday.
2. I’ll appreciate friends more and set aside time every week to call and meet up in person.
3. I’ll get my clothes and bag ready for the next day the night beforehand.
4. I’ll wake up soon as my alarm clock goes off in the morning, and use that time to clean my room.
5. I’ll reply to emails as soon as I get them.
6. I’ll learn how to floss.
7. I’ll cook for the family once a week.
8. I’ll send an update of my work to my supervisor every Friday.
9. I’ll try and update the blog more regularly (whenever I have something to say), and contribute to friends’ blogs more.
10. I’ll become a dude.

Happy New Year

How did you spend New Year’s Eve? This year, I went out to Central London with a unit of the St John Ambulance and paramedics from the LAS. In groups of three, we walked around Piccadilly Circus and Soho, responding on foot to 999 calls. As expected, it was quite a busy night and we did lots of walking, but fortunately we weren’t called to deal with any life-threatening injuries. There were lots of drunk women who had reduced consciousness or who had tripped over their high heels and hurt their ankles, but before 11.30pm we didn’t have much to do. Ten minutes before the bells struck for midnight, we were called to a house in a side street for a suspected collapse. Turned out to be a false alarm, but we didn’t make it back to a thoroughfare in time for the celebrations and fireworks, so it was quite a subdued start to the New Year.

Over the next few hours we had a variety to calls to minor injuries, before we were stopped by a man with a suspected ankle fracture, who’d been waiting for an ambulance for “decades”. Just as we were starting to treat him, another guy came running up to us, asking for help for his friend across the road, who’d sustained a head injury. My two colleagues went to investigate, so I was left with the first man, who was getting cold and increasingly angry. The second guy’s injuries were more serious, so when the ambulance arrived, it was diverted to take him to hospital instead which made the guy with the ankle injury furious. He was pretty abusive, and it was only after we told him it wouldn’t be tolerated and that if he continued we would leave that he calmed down. Not a nice experience. Fortunately, another ambulance arrived within fifteen minutes and he was on his way. We carried on working till 5am, and by the time I got back home at 7.00am was well and truly knackered.

Happy New Year!

Groan

Seasons greetings.

Last night I had a end-of-year dinner with some friends. In between the food, drink and speeches, there was time to open a few Christmas crackers and groan at the jokes. Here are some of the gems

Q: What is big, hairy and flies?
A: King Concorde

Q: How do you make an apple puff?
A: Chase it round the garden a few times

Q: Why did the apple turn over?
A: Because it saw the jam roll

Q: Which athlete is warmest in winter?
A: The long jumper

Q: What did the fish say when it ran into a wall?
A: Dam

and finally...
Q: Why won't we have calenders in the future?
A: Because their days are numbered

My wheels

My bike was in need of a bit of maintenance this morning, so getting up a bit early, I set about pumping up the tyres, checking the brakes and readjusting the seat. The whole process took only a few minutes, but reminded me of the first time I tried to do some upkeep on my wheels, when I did something quite spectacularly stupid. No laughing or rude comments, please (unless they are behind my back)...

I was ten years old and had recently got my first bike. I’d spent the whole summer riding falling on the mean streets of Kilburn, and the chain now needed to be cleaned and re-oiled before I could get back out there. Better get to work, I thought. Nobody else in the family used a bicycle, though, and being unprepared, I hadn’t thought of buying some bicycle chain oil before I started cleaning. Hmmm. After much (serious!) consideration, I decided against using cooking oil, and instead decided to have a rummage in my dad’s motorcycle kit; surely he’d have something appropriate. I couldn’t find anything for ages though, and was just beginning to give up hope when I spotted some Duckham’s heavy duty lubricating oil. Bingo! This should work I thought, and scooping some out, began generously applying it to the chain. Ten minutes later I was done, and had a quick cycle around the block to test the ‘improvement’ out. The ride felt okay, but now what to do about the ugly big grease patch along the inside right leg of my jeans? Never mind, I though. I’ll just wipe the excess off the chain, and let my mum worry about the stain.

It was only two days later and once I’d soiled four more pairs of trousers that I decided to ask for some advice, and realised the error of my ways. It took me two hours of fun with soap and water before I finally managed to remove all the grease on the chain, and I ended up spending the next six months walking around with conspicuous grease stains on all my jeans.

(Biscuit) breaking news

Research from the University of Loughborough has suggested why so many cookies in packages are in bits before they are eaten. Using a technique called digital speckle pattern interferometry, the team found that as biscuits cool down once they are removed from the oven, they gain moisture around the rim, which causes them to expand. Simultaneously, water in the centre causes the biscuit to contract, leading to the development of 'fault lines'. These weaken cookies so that they easily break apart when they are handled or transported. Check this out for more details.

The researchers hope that their work will help biscuit manufacturers alter their cooling processes so that perfect biscuits are produced evey time.

So now you know!

Unusual

On my way to the hospital this morning, I heard a lady in a niqab swear!

She was crossing the road with her school age daughter, and didn’t realise a car coming rapidly towards her. Fortunately no one was hurt.