SAD Times

Here's something because the clocks are going to be put back by an hour this weekend. British Summer Time (BST) comes to an end; dull old Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) begins, again.

I used to be affected by seasonal affective disorder (SAD). It's not so much of a problem these days. However, when I was working just outside Vienna a few years ago, I did feel that the sun went down a bit earlier during the summer than I would have preferred. I was then on Central European Summer Time - although I didn't know that that was what they called it at the time. The European time zone stretches a considerable distance. When the sun is going down in Vienna, it's still up in Vigo although there, it's the same time as in Vienna. What is more, Vigo is further west than London which is an hour behind.

A friend's husband is badly affected by SAD. The moment the clocks go back (to GMT), he goes into a form of depression which lasts until the moment they go forward again (to BST).

Rubik's Cube - Variations Upon

There is an enduring fascination with Rubik's cube. Invented by Ernő Rubik in 1974, I first saw it in Macy's department store in New York in 1980 when its popularity was beginning to take off. It is still popular over thirty years later.
As if it wasn't seemingly hard enough already, versions with different shapes within the cube format have been appearing in recent years. I say 'seemingly hard enough'; it has now been established that any combination of the cube's facets can be solved in 20 turns or fewer.

Slippers

This picture, of some rather dainty slippers that some child must have awoken that Sunday morning to find missing, was taken at the westbound bus stop in Altenberg on the same day (1st May 2005) that I took the picture of 'Danude' Fish - about which I blogged in August. The previous evening there had been a street party in Donaustraße to celebrate May day.