Messing About With Time

Here it is Thursday, and I still haven't got the hang of the clocks 'going forward' last weekend. I'm sleeping through the morning alarm, and can't sleep at night. I feel like tantruming like a child and demanding my hour back!

I don't mind the autumnal 'gain an extra hour'. I think that's something we can all find useful - whether we just grab an extra hour's sleep or get up and do something with the time.

But I've always resented losing an hour of sleep to the Spring 'leap forward' but I suspect the younger you are, the easier it is to cope with, even if you are more likely to have a set timetable to keep. In fact, it's probably that lack of structure to my day that's causing my problems. Providing the teen is up and out to work on time, I can laze around as much as I like, eat lunch when I feel hungry, and let dinner stray late into the evening - Monday's wasn't till 9!


I often wonder why we need to go to all this clock-changing fuss anyway. Yes, the longer evenings of summer are nice. No, we wouldn't want darker mornings in winter (they're bad enough as it is). But how would the 'middle-way' work out? Instead of leaping forward a whole hour in Spring, why not just move by thirty minutes, and then leave the clocks alone in Autumn? Would it be so bad to never run on 'real' Greenwich time?

Mother's Day Presents - a rant

Wherever I go, whatever I do, at the moment I seem to be bombarded with suggestions for Mother's Day presents - from supermarkets, beauty retailers, and garden centres. There's no escape at home either, with TV and social media ads, and an e-mail in-box clogged with ideas purporting to be  'what Mum really wants'. 

Flowers and chocolate. Fizz and beauty products. 

That seems to be it, unless mum would like a cuddly toy. Cuddly toy? Really? 

I'll forgive the cuddly toy gift if it's bought by a small child who would probably really like it for them-self. But from anyone older? No way!

Cuddly puppy? No thanks

I'm not sure whether these ideas are sexist or just unimaginative.

Whichever, are these honestly the things 'mum' wants for Mother's Day?

I like chocolates, perfume or a huge bouquet of flowers as much as the next person, but why not think a little 'out of the box'?

A  horror box-set (plenty of women watch The Walking Dead) or psychological thriller (they watch Nordic Noir, too)

Heavy metal cd (again lots of female rock fans)

If you're tempted by the range of 'experiences' on offer, why not consider something beyond the obvious spa day or afternoon tea? 

Hot-air ballooning?  Zorbing? Single-seater racing? Quad-biking?

A family day out paintballing or swinging through trees?

You'll see them all advertised when it's Father's Day, but I'm sure a lot of mums would enjoy them too.

If I were younger and fitter I'd said yes to any of them (well, not the ballooning, I'm too scared of heights)

 In her youth my mother (she's now 96) would have loved a few fast laps of a race track as pillion-passenger on a race-bike. 

Oddly, while I've been ranting over this to anyone who'd listen, my husband spotted a sensible, mature suggestion for a Mother's Day present - a subscription to New Scientist.

- at least someone is thinking outside the box!

So, mums out there, what would YOU pick?

Who decides if you're too old?

A couple of weeks back, I'd planned in a vague way to go to a local gig, to catch a young punk/folk Billy Bragg style singer playing support on a tour, but then I began to worry because I thought at my age, and at that venue, I'd stick out like a sore thumb!

I'm comfortable enough to go to open mic nights and small gigs in pubs, because generally they attract a wide age-group, both performers and audience.
Although I've not been to any, I'd imagine I'd be comfortable with the anonymity of a large stadium-size gig. For that matter, I've seen photos shared on social media from theatre-style venues, generally featuring a come-back artist on tour, where the audience members have looked FAR older than I am, and if I'd been able to afford to see Bruce Springsteen some time this last week or so, I think I'd have had plenty of company of my own age.
But it's the thought of that in-between size venue putting on up-and-coming artists, themselves often in their early 20s, and attracting an audience in the same age range, that makes me feel uncomfortable.
At the younger end of the age scale, it's easy to know if teens are allowed - there'll be an age limit clearly signed - but who should decide if you're too old? Imagine though that you walk into a club and everyone else there is half your age ... Will they think you've taken a wrong turn? that you're delusional about your age? or that you're only along because you're a relative of someone in the band? This is something after all that seems to apply (in my head at least) only to music venues. The other sorts of places I go - theatres, cinemas, book events - don't feel like they have this unstated age limit.

Long story short, I chickened out.


Then a couple of days afterwards, I saw this article  from the Independent - one of many being shared round the web telling a story about an elderly Polish couple who visited London and headed out to a nightclub. At first people assumed they were lost, but, no, it turned out they'd heard good reviews of the place and bought tickets before their trip!
Well, I've decided that if they can go out, mix with the youngsters, and have fun, then so can I! I shan't be off out clubbing - it's not my scene at all - but in future I shan't let my age stand in the way of listening to a band I want to hear.