3 December 2009 (Thursday) - Intimations of Mortality

I suppose today is something of a landmark date. “Daddies Little Angel ^TM ” is twenty and a half, and if the Internet is right, barring accidents (or intentionals) I have twenty six years left on this earth. It would seem I croak on Monday 3 December, 2035. The Death Clock is a wonderful thing. You type in your height and weight and birthday, and it tells you when your number will be up. In my calculations I’ve taken the “normal” mode. There is an “optimistic” mode, which gives me until 2061. I’d like that, if for no better reason than to see the eventual manned missions to Mars (which should have happened by then!). There’s a “pessimistic” setting, which gives me just under six years left. Given the choice, I’d like a little longer than that. Interestingly, if I got all out on this diet and lose a further four stone, I don’t seem to gain an awful lot more time. One year, to be exact.

Sticking with the average result, it would seem I have a further 9,495 blog entries left to write, assuming I don’t get time to do one on the last day. There are those who would think this a somewhat morbid train of thought. I don’t. There’s only one thing definite about this life, and that is that sooner or later it comes to an end. I’ve got another twenty six years left. I just hope I can make the most of that time.

One of the chaps at work was telling of how he’s planning to fly to Atlanta in a couple of weeks time. Over the course of a week he plans to drive up to New York. And then fly home again. I’d like to do that. Bearing in mind both my intimations of mortality, and also the “things to do before..” lists that various friends are compiling, I wonder if I could do with a list of “things to do before I croak”. Certainly a road trip in America would be on that list. What else? I’d like to go back to Sooke and Victoria in British Columbia. I’d also like to go back to the kite festivals in Lunen and in Dieppe, and see the Milwaukee one too (!). There are a couple of pubs I’d like to visit (in Dartford and in Essex). I wouldn’t mind visiting Euro-Disney again. I can’t think of much else I want to do that I haven’t already done – I might come back to this list, but I wouldn’t be surprised if I don’t.

Back to the coast to continue helping with decorating a friend’s house. Whilst the cat’s servant filled cracks and holes, I got on with my current project. The bathroom has now had three coats of magnolia (yuk!). The shower curtain rail needs to be fixed, and the ceiling could do with a once-over. The walls look OK, but realistically choices have to be made, as the walls are a tad uneven. The easiest option is that we could put up lining paper and paint over that. Trouble is, this has already been done. There is a limit to how many times one can paint over lining paper.

Another option is to tile the bathroom. I don’t know how to tile, and it wouldn’t be cheap. My preferred option would be to re-plaster the walls. Whilst I am a Grand Master at getting plastered, I don’t actually know much about plastering. Maybe this is something in which I might take evening classes….

Meanwhile “Ginge” has got a snow-mobile. I wonder what he’s going to do with that?