After the dog sitting.

Well, my dog-minding and grandparental duties are over for the time being. Yesterday I caught up with things I needed to do at my house, as opposed to at my daughter's house. Today I went to Manchester, armed with a list of stuff I needed to buy. 

The Indian summer continues and Manchester was full of people out and about - girls in their summer clothes (Springsteen fans, recognise the borrowed line?) and blokes in suits carrying their jackets. The centre of Manchester is very pleasant In the sunshine. In Saint Ann's square they have set up a kind of artisan market, selling jewellery and odd-looking clothes, as well as some very nice food stalls. I bought some very good bread and Eccles cakes. 

However, I am not entirely sure about this tendency to fill the square up with stalls so frequently. In June they have French markets, where you can buy excellent tarte aux pommes (French apple pie) and as we get close to Christmas there will be Christmas markets. But the square itself is one of the nicest places in central Manchester and should be shown off for itself once in a while. 

With the Scottish independence referendum coming up on Thursday, someone posted on Facebook a mini- article suggesting that Greater Manchester should make a bid for devolution as well. After all, it has a bigger population that Northern Ireland and a larger economy than Wales. Here's a bit of the rationale offered: "What’s the point of it? It is hoped that a devolved Greater Manchester combined authority, with an elected mayor and control over taxes and spending, would be able to turn the city’s fortunes around." 

Long ago when we were students we used to joke about demanding free rule for Lancashire. That was when Manchester was still part of Lancashire. So maybe we should support any bid for A Free and Independent Greater Manchester. Hmmm!!! 

So I have been doing a lot of walking around today, which I have been reading is better for you than sitting down. Experts say that we spend half our lives sitting down – and studies show it increases our risk of dying from practically any disease you can think of. 

It all gets quite scientific, as usual. Those who know these things tell us that reducing sitting time increases the length of your telomeres. So, what are telomeres? You may well ask! "They are the protective caps made of DNA and protein that sit on the end of chromosomes and try to stop damage during cell division. They affect how long cells live, with shorter telomeres being linked to diseases related to ageing, such as heart disease, many cancers, diabetes, obesity and strokes." The more we stand up, the better it is for our telomeres. 

And it's no good expecting that going to the gym once a week will make up for sitting around the rest of the time. This is not the case. We need to be on our feet more. So it's a good job I was always one of those teachers who moved around the classroom all the time and rarely sat behind the teacher's desk. I was doing myself a favour and didn't even know it. 

One study concluded by saying that an adult who watches an average of six hours of television a day over his or her lifetime can expect to live 4.8 years less than someone who does not watch television. 

Is it even possible to find enough stuff to watch on TV so that you can spend six hours a day sitting in front of the set? 

Enough of that. 

I have been trying to organise a walk around our rather fine bit of the UK (or possible future Independent Greater Manchester) with a friend. Consequently I have been looking at weather forecasts online. I have come across several different summaries for the next few days but all of them are really saying the same thing. 

What is the difference between "times of clouds and sun", "periods of clouds and sun" and "partly sunny"? 

 I would appreciate any sensible suggestions.