The Time Bubble

I've been doing a lot of contemplating on the subject of life in general over the past few weeks. I seem to have found myself in a rather reflective and at times melancholy frame of mind. I wonder if it's normal and healthy for us as people to spend time reminiscing about the past, "the good old days" as we often refer to them, or whether we should be always looking forward. The fact is, I think I've been using the phrase "the good old days" since my mid-twenties which means either my life has gone progressively downhill since then or I'm just looking through rose-tinted spectacles at a golden era that probably wasn't as great as I remember it. Perhaps our minds subconsciously choose to remember the good bits and tune out the bad ones. Let's look at a couple of examples. Firstly, work. Last week, on Facebook, one of my old colleagues from Nielsen started a thread which quickly turned into a nostalgia fest. Over a few days, I had plenty ...

There's not getting away from it, I love food. Isn't it just one of the best things ever? I love eating. Now there's a shock for you! I just love food and consequently eat a lot. All the time. "How do you keep that svelte figure, Jason?" I hear you cry...well it's not easy, must be my metabolism or something. During my miserable years at Nielsen - most days, unless by some stroke of luck Dogger and Dave were both out of the office on the same day, I frequently sought solace in the canteen. When that was shut, the vending machines. Somehow the unbearable mind-numbing tedium of it all could be made just that little bit bearable with a packet of Brannigan's Roast Beef and Mustard crisps - whatever happened to them? In fact what happened to a lot of old crisp brands? - swallowed up and altered by the Walkers Machine, slowly conquering the Crisps & Snacks market by stealth. There were loads of brands of crisps around when I was a kid - hedgehog, Tud...