They’ve stolen an hour from us today. I had completely forgotten that we were supposed to put the clocks forward overnight. My various electricals - phone, iPad, Fitbit - do it automatically and so when my alarm rang this morning at 8.00, I thought nothing of it and got up, although I did wonder why I seemed so weary. Quite simple! Not enough sleep! What a difference an hour makes. I read something reminding us to put the clocks forward but it was unclear when it said “today”: did it mean overnight Saturday to Sunday, which is what usually happens or did it mean tonight? I was further confused because the clock in the living room told the same time as my phone and that clock is not electrically controlled. Phil must have altered it before he went to bed last night. Fortunately he had not clambered up to reach the wall clock in the kitchen. That is still telling then old time or, as some insist on saying, “the real time”.
So I set off for my run and even though I had by now ascertained that it was an (old system) hour earlier than when I ran yesterday, it didn’t feel significantly earlier. During my runaround one of my crowned teeth fell out, a most disconcerting event. Over the last couple of days it had felt a little odd, not wobbly as such but sort of clicking. I was rather ignoring it, thinking that I could hang on until I have a check-up appointment with the dentist in a couple of weeks’ time. This was not to be. I managed to find the errant tooth and it is now in a safe place. I suppose I was lucky that it had not fallen into a muddy puddle! And now I will have to phone my dentist tomorrow morning to try to get an emergency appointment. Again, I suppose I should consider myself fortunate: at least I have a dentist to contact.
I came across another new (to me) word yesterday: nooch. It must have been in some article or other about food preferences as it seems “nooch” is “nutritional yeast”. Sold in yellow flakes or granules it is apparently popular with vegetarians and vegans and can be used as a seasoning. In Australia, it is sometimes sold as "savoury yeast flakes". In New Zealand, it has long been known as Brufax. There you go, another food product from the other end of the world, like Vegemite! Because its flavour is sometimes described as “nutty or cheesy”, some vegans use it as a cheese substitute. It might be one of those things I will abstain from sampling!
While I am on the subject of food, here’s a link to an article about breakfast cereals. More specifically it’s an article about the toys that used to appear in packets of cereals. The writer was bemoaning the fact that they are no longer given away. Some people still have collections of Rugrats pencil-toppers and other such useless stuff. Apparently a company called Logistix was founded in Marlow in 1989 and first began designing toys for Kellogg’s in the early 90s. “We had a qualitative and quantitative research team, a dedicated quality-control team,” says Rodrigues. Madeley elaborates on the depth of their research. “We created various kid-tracking studies… We were collecting data on how much pocket money they got, how many kids had tellies in their rooms.” The science of give-away toys!
Maybe they’ve disappeared because parents are too busy to sit down at the breakfast table with their children and chat over cereal. That means that children have also lost the learning aid of practising reading the cereal packets. Other things that appear to have disappeared are the informative cards that used to be tucked into packets of tea. You could send for themed albums to stick the cards in and children would swop “doubles” with their school mates. Happy days! Kinder eggs are still around with the same mind of useless tat inside - toys, if they can be described as such, which keep children entertained for about as long as it takes to eat the chocolate egg.
Granddaughter Number Four, by the way, has given up chocolate for Lent, presumably under the influence of the church school she attends. I must say I have been impressed by how well the six year old has stuck to it. The other day I had bought a Kinder egg for her small brother, who insisted I should also buy one for his sister - impressive sibling thoughtfulness! When Granddaughter Number Four arrived and was offered her egg, she reminded me of her abstinence promise. I suggested putting the egg away until Lent was over. There was no need, she assured me. She would have the toy and Mummy would eat the chocolate! Problem solved.
As regards toys in cereal packets, I was rather disappointed the article made no mention of the small plastic model racing or sports cars that used to be hidden in cereal packets in the 1950s. Occasionally I see a “Big Boy’s Toy” - two-seater car driven by an aging malex and I am reminded of those models. Ah! Nostalgia!
Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!
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