stuartcw

 When people ask me where are you from, I say "Kurihama". If they press me about "Which country are you from?". I say, "1980s UK". More and more I rely on Wikipedia to explain UK (pop) cultural references. More than once I have looked up something to find that it is a reference to a TV programme that has been running for 10 years or so. Though as a result of my memories not being overwritten, I probably have an encyclopaedic knowledge of UK TV & Music of 1985. I watched less after 1985 so I'm still discovering gems from 1985~1988 on YouTube.

 vcukjfc57 Technorati...

kthxbai

Watching Zen on the airplane determinedly spinning round in his seat, arranging and changing the position of the pillow, blanket, neck pillow and seat belt strap, over and over again in an attempt to get comfortable reminded me of a dog making it's bed. It then occurred to me that this must be a mammalian bed making trait, a presleep burst of activity to get comfortable for the night.

This prebedtime hyperactivity has puzzled me for a long time as he can be literally fast asleep within 30 seconds of being hyperactive if the right bed time ritual is carried out.

I had also recognized this trait in myself, but for me it usually involves installing something or upgrading something as a last activity, late at night. Not the best time to mess up your computer but consistent with the feeling that you need to get things in order before sleeping with that final burst of energy.

If you want to be at the front of the queue for the 7:42 Express to Shinagawa which starts at Kurihama you have to be on the platform at 7:25. You need to know that it will come in on platform 3 not 4 as it won't be on the sign board yet. You also need to know it will be labeled as going to Kanazawa-Bunko rather than Shinagawa. You also need to know that the Yokosuka line will come an reverse into the siding at 7:19 blocking the road to the station for a few minutes.

I was having a dream last night where I remember thinking, "this dream would make a fantastic science fiction story", but when I woke and remembered it ,it was laughably bad. I was dreaming that people were somehow getting getting trapped in their VMWare virtual OS images..

I went to doctors on Saturday for my monthly appointment and mentioned that I had a cough and sore throat and he looked up my nose, dabbed my throat with Iodine and sent me away with 5 more different tablets to take. I wasn't feeling so bad when I went there but, actually, after taking the antibiotics and the mucus thinner; excuse the gory details, I feel a lot better than I did. I guess you can get used to feeling run down.

While I was in the shower this morning I noticed a really weird smell, I couldn't locate it but when I got out, I found that Chizu was cooking Brocolli in the kitchen. If you loose your sense of smell gradually, you don't notice it in the same way you would if you lost your sight, sense of touch or hearing. But when your sense of smell comes back you get affronted by all sorts of smells. Tonight I noticed the smell of strawberries in the refridgerator and it was quite overpowering.

Zen's sense of smell is amazing. He detected Chizu was secretly eating a sweet in the kitchen several meters away and went in to demand one.

c.f How Can I Accurately Test a Patient for Loss of Ability to Smell?

I told Zen this morning the plot behind a time-travel movie. At first he didn't get it but suddenly his eyes lit up and he shuddered when he understood what I meant. He decided that he didn't want to meet himself in the past.

Later in the conversation he asked, "Where is it that we are seeing when we are dreaming?", which kind of says to me that up and until then he thought he was seeing a different physical place to the real world in his dreams ala L.P.Lovecraft's "Dreamlands"..

I found my paternal Grandmother and Great-Grandfather on this site from 1891 census:

Warwickshire Ancestors Project

1891 Civil Parish of Long Itchington, Eccl. Parish of Long Itchington

4,New Fields,1,Charles Long,Head,M,46,,Shepherd,Employed,Launton Oxfordshire,,
,,,Hannah Long,Wife,M,,45,,,Mollington Warwickshire,,
,,,Elizabeth Long,Dau,S,,16,Domestic Servt General,,Launton Oxfordshire,,
,,,Alice Long,Dau,,,13,Scholar,,Launton Oxfordshire,,
,,,Fanny Long,Dau,,,10,Scholar,,Launton Oxfordshire,,
,,,John Long,Son,,8,,Scholar,,Launton Oxfordshire,,
,,,Elsie Long,Dau,,,3,,,Launton Oxfordshire,,

I heard that my Father's mother was called Fanny and her father was "Shepherd Long". We had a part of rusted sheep sheers, probably belonging to Shepherd Long but I think they were thrown out when we moved from Southway.

The new Calbee Potato Chips - Okinawa Spice flavour are just plain spicy. My mouth is burning!