We interrupt this program...

I know I'm supposed to write about the kindness of the younger generation in my neighbourhood. And I shall indeed, in a few days. But I must share with the world the wonder that is Zombies vs. Ambulances. Even the title of this game is frightening in its awesome-ness. But do not fear! Go check out the preview and indulge that teenager inside you.

The kindness of neighbours

Now that I walk to work, I'm actually meeting people who live along my street. Of course, these are people that I've seen and greeted before, but now that I see them somewhat regularly, there's more of a "neighbour" feel and less "acquaintance" feel.

Anyway, for the past month or so, someone's been bringing in my empty garbage can every Tuesday. Before, I would come home to my emptied garbage can sprawled on the driveway/front lawn/side of street, and if there was rain, I would have the non-fun of pouring out rain water from the non-clean garbage can (this was actually quite a task, since there's no good way to turn a wet, muddy garbage can upside down without getting yourself all dirtied, and then there's the challenge of keeping a good grip on the slippery plastic while holding it out at arm's length and making sure nothing splashed on yourself). Most likely, whoever is wheeling the garbage can back to my garage on Tuesdays is just keeping it from rolling out into the street and being a hazard. But still, I wish I knew who it was so I could thank him/her. And it seems kinda weird to put a thank you note on a garbage can...

Another neighbour waved me over on my way to work one morning and explained that her son was the mailman. So, she explained, if I wanted, I could have packages left at her house for easy pickup, rather than having to go all the way to the local post station. I would simply leave a note on my mailbox and drop at her place when I got home from work. I probably won't do so, since I don't get many packages anyway, but it's a nice gesture.

And there's the man who takes morning walks practically everyday. Well, actually, he bikes in the summer. He said that he likes me because I very health-ily walk to the station and because I very diligently bring out the garbage every week (what else would I be expected to do with the garbage?).

Well, those are the neighbours of the older generation. Next time, perhaps we shall discuss the younger folks :) Oh, and for the sake of visualization, let's pretend my neighbourhood looks like this:

Oh, the cruelties of aging

Can't stay up late more than 2 nights in a rwo.
Can't fully from paper cuts within 1 week.
Can't withstand repeated wipeouts on snowboard.
Can't reach level 13 on Tetris.
Can't skip using mosturizers and chapsticks.
Can't fall asleep in less than 10 minutes.
Can't wake up early on Saturday just for cartoons.
Can't play Nintendo for 6 hours without resting eyes.
Can't remember what I had for dinner last night.
Can't sleep in until 2pm.

But still very keen on knowing what life will be like, say, 10 yrs from now. I mean, I can't go backwards, so might as well be happy looking forwards.

On a totally unrelated note, an interesting idea for a game. Let me know how many tries it took you to win.

Time flies

Now, I'm not sure if this is even marginally true or whether there's at all any scientific reasoning behind it, but apparently if you're happy, the days should go by quickly and months go by slowly. I admit that I have a very very poor concept of time. Ridiculously poor. Personally, the only days that go by quickly are the weekends. As for months, it's not so much they go quickly or slowly, more like "has it only been a month since I've had a day off?" or "is it really a whole month before I can hope for spring?"

In other words, my concept of time is entirely formed by self-created target dates, which I'm guessing is the case for most people. What I mean is, no one really thinks in terms of units like "week" or "month" but in terms of personal dates like "weekly yoga class" or "anniversay." For example, I have no concept of how far apart my credit card bills arrive, since I never spend enough on them for the bills to be a concern for me. Just on the odd day, I'll worry whether I've missed a bill payment, then realize that it's only been 2 weeks since my last bill. On the other hand, people with credit problems may feel each day very acutely.

I think these personal units of time also depend on how routine the associated thing is. Something that comes up every day would quickly cease to be a measurement of time (how many people can remember what they had for dinner 2 or 3 days ago?). For myself, piano lessons mark my Tuesdays, but it's become routine so that I can't feel that it's "a week until the next lesson" or "only 2 days left to practice for the next lesson." Or at least not the way I might have when I first started.

This whole post really is an excuse for why I haven't updated in a while compared with my initial efforts :) But I think I might a bit of a point here. I mean, what's your concept of time?