MONDAY 23 MAY 2005
Posted: 27 Apr 2026, 01:20
MONDAY 23 MAY 2005
23 May 2005
I don’t suppose anyone is ever fully aware of the fact that they are slowing down a bit due to old age, it goes with the country as you might say. However, occasionally you are confronted with a situation that is completely baffling. This happened to me this morning and I was forced to wonder whether I was going doolally or whether even a younger and more alert person would be confused. I came to the conclusion eventually that the latter is the case but the recovery time would probably have been quicker.
I slept heavily last night due to another day of DIY kitchen refurbishment after the small but incredibly damaging fire on Friday. I am happy to report that all is going well and could even be said to be an improvement in my domestic arrangements as even though I lost an extractor unit I gained a cupboard. I think the arrival of an extra cupboard in a kitchen is probably one of life’s greatest boons.
So, at about 07:15 I wandered downstairs, greeted Jack, put the kettle on, took my aspirin and a vitamin pill and had a drink of single malt. So far so good. Then I switched the wireless on and entered the twilight zone. What I should have been listening to was the mellifluous tones of John Humphries bringing us all the bad news on the Today programme on Radio 4, what I got was Adam Hart-Davis describing the engineering works connected with the new Terminal 5 at Heathrow!
Into the check-list: It had to be Monday because yesterday’s Observer was sitting there waiting to be read (I was too busy yesterday). I checked the calendar and it wasn’t a Bank Holiday. I checked to make sure I was on the right station, tuned to R4, I was. So I did the only sensible thing I could do, I finished brewing the tea, lit my pipe and sat down to work it all out.
By this time it was 07:30 and the announcer came on to tell us that the next programme was ‘Just a Minute’ with Nicholas Parsons so I switched to R3 in time to hear the news summary which reminded us all that there was a 24 hour strike of news journalists in protest against the 4,000 job cuts proposed at the BBC.
The universe slipped back into place, the planets were still in their appointed orbits, do not adjust your brain Stanley, society is at fault. I was quite relieved but then immediately started to think about the mechanism of disruption of routine and how we cope with it. This had been a minor occurrence but for a while I was seriously disorientated. I then did a comparison with my reaction on finding the kitchen in flames and pondered on the fact I had not been disorientated by that, simply spurred into action. It seems to me that the difference was the fact that whilst the fire was easily and immediately identified, the cause of the disruption of my routine this morning wasn’t clear and therefore I had no base from which to start.
So, out of these two small domestic incidents a truth emerges, given two circumstances, the one which is most difficult to resolve is the one which has no apparent cause, indeed, the difficulty itself cannot be identified. Allied to this is a better understanding of why certain people like myself are creatures of routine, it sets rules for our lives which aid us to function. The same thing applies to institutions, management structures and timetables. Don’t worry, I am not going to go off into a flight of fancy on those subjects.
The really fascinating thing about this to me is that once I had realised what was causing the disruption my world fell into place and my brain started to analyse what had been happening. I realise that this speaks volumes about how I think and to tell you the truth I am quite pleased with the result.
I was driving up to Letcliffe Park last week and saw an elderly man in a smart business suit walking down the road with his white underpants on outside his trousers. I found this incredibly shocking and sad because it was evidently some malfunction of his mind due to old age. In my seventieth year I often wonder whether I might fall prey to this. What’s this got to do with the journalist’s strike? Perhaps having the sort of mind that analyses this morning’s events is the best insurance against such deterioration. I hope so. (In case you're wondering, I decided not to intervene in the matter of the external underpants, I could have done no good and the man wasn't in any danger.)
23 May 2005
23 May 2005
I don’t suppose anyone is ever fully aware of the fact that they are slowing down a bit due to old age, it goes with the country as you might say. However, occasionally you are confronted with a situation that is completely baffling. This happened to me this morning and I was forced to wonder whether I was going doolally or whether even a younger and more alert person would be confused. I came to the conclusion eventually that the latter is the case but the recovery time would probably have been quicker.
I slept heavily last night due to another day of DIY kitchen refurbishment after the small but incredibly damaging fire on Friday. I am happy to report that all is going well and could even be said to be an improvement in my domestic arrangements as even though I lost an extractor unit I gained a cupboard. I think the arrival of an extra cupboard in a kitchen is probably one of life’s greatest boons.
So, at about 07:15 I wandered downstairs, greeted Jack, put the kettle on, took my aspirin and a vitamin pill and had a drink of single malt. So far so good. Then I switched the wireless on and entered the twilight zone. What I should have been listening to was the mellifluous tones of John Humphries bringing us all the bad news on the Today programme on Radio 4, what I got was Adam Hart-Davis describing the engineering works connected with the new Terminal 5 at Heathrow!
Into the check-list: It had to be Monday because yesterday’s Observer was sitting there waiting to be read (I was too busy yesterday). I checked the calendar and it wasn’t a Bank Holiday. I checked to make sure I was on the right station, tuned to R4, I was. So I did the only sensible thing I could do, I finished brewing the tea, lit my pipe and sat down to work it all out.
By this time it was 07:30 and the announcer came on to tell us that the next programme was ‘Just a Minute’ with Nicholas Parsons so I switched to R3 in time to hear the news summary which reminded us all that there was a 24 hour strike of news journalists in protest against the 4,000 job cuts proposed at the BBC.
The universe slipped back into place, the planets were still in their appointed orbits, do not adjust your brain Stanley, society is at fault. I was quite relieved but then immediately started to think about the mechanism of disruption of routine and how we cope with it. This had been a minor occurrence but for a while I was seriously disorientated. I then did a comparison with my reaction on finding the kitchen in flames and pondered on the fact I had not been disorientated by that, simply spurred into action. It seems to me that the difference was the fact that whilst the fire was easily and immediately identified, the cause of the disruption of my routine this morning wasn’t clear and therefore I had no base from which to start.
So, out of these two small domestic incidents a truth emerges, given two circumstances, the one which is most difficult to resolve is the one which has no apparent cause, indeed, the difficulty itself cannot be identified. Allied to this is a better understanding of why certain people like myself are creatures of routine, it sets rules for our lives which aid us to function. The same thing applies to institutions, management structures and timetables. Don’t worry, I am not going to go off into a flight of fancy on those subjects.
The really fascinating thing about this to me is that once I had realised what was causing the disruption my world fell into place and my brain started to analyse what had been happening. I realise that this speaks volumes about how I think and to tell you the truth I am quite pleased with the result.
I was driving up to Letcliffe Park last week and saw an elderly man in a smart business suit walking down the road with his white underpants on outside his trousers. I found this incredibly shocking and sad because it was evidently some malfunction of his mind due to old age. In my seventieth year I often wonder whether I might fall prey to this. What’s this got to do with the journalist’s strike? Perhaps having the sort of mind that analyses this morning’s events is the best insurance against such deterioration. I hope so. (In case you're wondering, I decided not to intervene in the matter of the external underpants, I could have done no good and the man wasn't in any danger.)
23 May 2005