Shadow Shot Sunday Potato Heads

Some Potato Head People pose for this Shadow Shot, courtesy of my daughter who decorated them...

Dog's Smell

I heard on the radio that a dog's sense of smell is about a million times more sensitive than a human's. If that's true, why does my dog shove his snout into my crotch in order to sniff it? Or hover right over a steaming pile of poop with his snout only a fraction of an inch away to sniff that? I can smell it just fine from way up here, pal.

Computer-Controlled Cars are not for Wimps

The fix for Toyota Prius braking delay is reported to be a 10-minute software change.

I think we're on the verge of a computer crash causing a commuter crash!

Wednesday Weigh-In 20100210

I started eating oat bran for breakfast several months ago in order to get my LDL cholesterol lower. But the 1/2 cup per day didn't make a bit of difference.

I just bought Cardiovascular Disease: Fight it with the Blood Type Diet and found out that for Type O, oat bran (and most other grains) should be avoided. Instead, lean meat, cold water fish and lots of vegetables are recommended. I wonder if oat bran is responsible for the sugar cravings I've been having?

Waist = 37.75"
Height = 5' 9"

References:

1. Wikipedia BMI page
2. Tanita Scale with Body Fat monitor
3. Javascript must be enabled to view the data.

Shadow Shot Sunday Two Cats in the Sun

Here are two of the three cats waiting for me to go to work one morning so they can run amok:

Wednesday Weigh-In 20100204

Another Thursday weigh-in, and I actually started to get dressed before remembering!

It looks like I'm spiraling out-of-control, but I had pizza, soda and ice cream the night before. It's not fat; it's inflammation! How else can you explain 1/2 inch of growth in the waist measurement over just a seven-day period?

Waist = 38.25"
Height = 5' 9"

References:

1. Wikipedia BMI page
2. Tanita Scale with Body Fat monitor
3. Javascript must be enabled to view the data.

Time Flies When You're Getting Old

It seems time passes more quickly the older I get. I developed a theory for that. Each year of life that we experience is a smaller and smaller portion of the time we've already lived. For example, the amount of time between my 50th and 51st birthday will be only 0.02 (1/50) or 2% of my life. But way back when I was ten, it took 10% of my life for me to reach my eleventh birthday.

What I experience each year is not 12 months that pass. Instead, I perceive a period of time that's relative to my life. And my life seems to be going by nearly five times faster now as compared to when I was a pre-teen.

But lately, I've decided that the real issue has to do with mindfulness. Time seems to pass more quickly now because we pay less attention to life compared to when we were young. In my own personal experiment, I decided to start meditating in order to strengthen my ability to stay mindful during the course of a day. Sure enough, I had the distinct feeling that I had more time in my day, or rather that I seemed to run out of less time.

So I was intrigued by yesterday's program on All Things Considered called Why Does Time Fly By As You Get Older? "My First Theory" is indeed mentioned in that program, although it is called "Proportional Theory." They don't specifically mention mindfulness on the program (unless I wasn't paying attention) but they did bring up the idea that novelty can make it seem like time runs slower. But they claim that the perception we have of time going slowly when we're young comes about because we have more to remember about those times.

That's rubbish. I distinctly remember days from my youth that seemed to take years to pass by, particularly the days before Christmas and my birthday. In that case, anticipation of a desired event can make time slow down. We have fewer desired events to look forward to. The flip side is truer -- we have more undesired events that we experience with apprehension. In which case it's our attitude that bends time.

What do you think? Listen yourself to hear how scientists explain why time flies as you get old.