fitness, drugs and the universe

Pedo for yesterday at last up to five figures, 10259, taking my average over 6 days to over 7000 which isn’t bad, but the unreliability of this little counter’s a bit of a joke. Today, hurray back in Devon Park/Prospect, I walked up the Prospect hill, doing only about 400 steps in ten minutes, about a third of what I achieved when I measured it in Edwardstown. Then later in the day the counter seemed to be recording every breath I took as a step. Anyway, whatever happens, by hook or by crook I’m going to get that counter up to 10000 every day from now on, as a first step so to speak.

Since returning I’ve been slack and self-indulgent, though at least I’ve progressed with some spring-cleaning, and of course the pedo stuff is positive. Haven’t yet been to the vet re the lame kitten, who’s moving more freely than ever now. I’ve also agreed to take on Poppy, Sarah’s dumb little mini fox terrier Jack Russell cross, so now that’s three cats and a dog. I actually felt some relief at not having pets at Edwardstown, they get so much in the way, break up reading concentration and the like with their demands. Bête, the kitten’s mum, is yowlier and it seems scrawnier than ever, probably stress-induced.

I’ve read the November 13 edition of the weekly New Scientist from cover to cover, and hope to do that every week from now on, in the hope that something will sink in. Nothing on global warming in that issue. Perhaps because it was easiest to understand, the most memorable topic covered was the headline topic, mind-altering drugs. The mag takes a liberal stance on drug use, criticising the prohibitionist position of recent political administrations, particularly in America. So I should take their lead and try something illicit, in a sensible manner. And since sex, and superspecimenhood, are the current themes of my life and journal, MDMA’s the preferred option. MDMA (the full name’s 3,4 methylenedioxy-N-methylamphetamine) is an amphetamine derivative. Its street name is ecstacy, though what is sold as such often contains no MDMA. Not known to be toxic, though there are dangers of overheating, dehydration and a build up of fluid in tissues, due to the drug’s inhibiting of the production of urine. The positive effects, worrying and exciting, include a sense of energy and euphoria, as well as empathy (this was an earlier name for the drug, and it is known as an ‘empathogen’), and a desire for physical contact. Worrying, as this desire is already pretty well unbearable for me, but it might break down a few British barriers.

Nothing in NS about global warming, unfortunately, but an interesting piece on the age of the universe. I read some time ago that they’d accurately calculated the birth of the universe as having occurred some 13 odd billion years ago, but that was based inter alia on a particular figure for the Hubble constant, a measure for the universe’s expansion rate. Recent studies of cosmic gravitational lenses have led some researchers and theorists to question this measure. They argue that the Hubble constant should be adjusted downwards, which would mean a substantially greater age being attributed to the universe. What would Bishop Ussher say?