Thinking Out Loud
Our household has a newspaper delivered once a week on a Saturday. It is specifically for Mrs P who still likes to sit down at the weekend and catch up with the recent events via print media rather than the 24/7 rolling coverage on TV. There was a time, back in the seventies and eighties, when this delivery service was the province of children trying to earn some money. Nowadays it tends to be adults that undertake this work. Our local newsagents were bought out by a bigger chain a few years back. They in turn were acquired by Morrisons supermarket. A month ago they sacked 1700 “paper boys” nationwide and contracted the newspaper delivery service out to a specialist company, Newsteam. Today at 04:00 a large vehicle pulled up on our drive and noisily rammed a newspaper through the letterbox. This is apparently “progress”.
This post is a collection of random thoughts and eclectic ideas. Hopefully they are succinctly expressed as well as short and to the point. A few words about the various things that have crossed my mind in recent weeks. They may also be ephemeral talking points from the never-ending news cycle, or even those obscure thoughts you experience while laying awake in your bed. Either way, they are not the sort of material that requires a full blog post and in-depth analysis. A paragraph or two is usually sufficient to make a point for your consideration. All of which is collectively gathered under the title “Thinking Out Loud”, which has become a recurring blog post. Feel free to comment and offer your perspective on any point raised that takes your fancy.
Newspaper Delivery
Our household has a newspaper delivered once a week on a Saturday. It is specifically for Mrs P who still likes to sit down at the weekend and catch up with the recent events via print media rather than the 24/7 rolling coverage on TV. There was a time, back in the seventies and eighties, when this delivery service was the province of children trying to earn some money. Nowadays it tends to be adults that undertake this work. Our local newsagents were bought out by a bigger chain a few years back. They in turn were acquired by Morrisons supermarket. A month ago they sacked 1700 “paper boys” nationwide and contracted the newspaper delivery service out to a specialist company, Newsteam. Today at 04:00 a large vehicle pulled up on our drive and noisily rammed a newspaper through the letterbox. This is apparently “progress”.
Christmas Cards
December is fast approaching. Fortunately, our household has bought all the necessary Christmas gifts and cards already. Naturally, this is all Mrs P’s doing. Not mine. Now I am not a mean person, nor do I consider myself cheap. However, good quality Christmas cards, especially personal ones with fancy messages inside, are expensive. As is postage. A 1st class stamp costs £1.70 and a 2nd class is £0.87 at present in the UK. It is likely that we could spend £100 on 50 cards and their associated postage. By my estimation, I’ll send about 10 cards altogether to friends and my immediate family. Which begs the question, who the hell are all these other people that get sent cards? I asked Mrs P and she quoted several names but none of them rang any bells. Mind you exactly the same thing happens when we start receiving cards. I’ll look at a selection and wonder who the hell are you?
Anthropromorphism
Humans have a propensity for anthropomorphism. IE the attribution of human traits, emotions and behaviours to non-human entities. This can be animals, objects, or natural phenomena. It’s a common concept in storytelling, mythology and everyday life. We give human characteristics, such as speech or feelings, to things that are not human. Pets are the most obvious example. Please see “the internet” for further examples. Bearing all this in mind, please see the above picture which I am currently using as desktop wallpaper on one of my monitors. Is it me or does this Cheetah look mournful? Like some terrible injustice has been perpetrated upon them. Perhaps he went to pour himself a bowl of Coco Pops and there was no milk left in the fridge, so he had to have them dry. What do you think? Oh, so it’s not just me then.
Reaching the Limits of Your Understanding
Learning takes longer as you get older. Especially with complex subjects. If I am reading textbooks then I have to do it several times before things stick. Hence I listen to a lot of non-fiction audiobooks because the slower pace of the narration allows me time to absorb information. I can also rewind and listen again to difficult concepts. Philosophical subjects are becoming a struggle to learn as I find some too abstract. Similarly I find a lot of theoretical physics very hard to conceptualise. I find that these subjects often take me to the limits of my understanding. I am aware that Carl Sagan argued that all ideas and concepts should be able to be explained to the wider public. Yet I think that some subjects that exist primarily as abstractions to begin with are hard to convey as a metaphor or any of the other semantic devices we commonly use to convey complex things.
UK Licensing Law
I went to a local restaurant on Friday for breakfast. It was a social gathering from Mrs P’s church. The establishment in question is contemporary and informal and you go to the counter to order your food, which is then brought to the table. It was 10:30 AM and I fancied a pint of cider. However, I was politely told that due to the terms of their license to sell alcohol, I could not be served until 11:00 AM. It wasn’t a big deal so I had my Full English breakfast, sans alcohol but it did get me thinking. So I did some research. The UK Licensing Act of 2003 regulates the sale of alcohol, entertainment and late-night food and drink within England and Wales. Businesses need a premises licence to be able to provide these services. The actual hours during which a licensee can do this are negotiable. However, the standard hours tend to be 11:00 to 23:00 and this remains broadly the norm.
