For six years I worked at the Western Isles Hospital as a porter. I would provide cover whenever I was home from university and I’d generally work full time most weeks on either morning, evening or night shift. 

Night shift was the best and worst. It was the best because I was paid time and half, and if it was the weekend I’d get another half for working a Saturday and another half again for working Sunday. (And if it was a public holiday like Christmas then it would double again – jackpot!).

But there was one night I hated working – the night the clocks went back an hour. At 2am, when the clocks changed, I’d walk round the hospital and move all the clock hands back by one hour to 1pm. And then I’d have to work that hour again… without pay. 

That might sound harsh but, when the clocks jumped forward and 2am became 3am, I would work one hour less and still get paid for an eight hour shift. So, I would try really hard to be available to work at the end of March but to be away at the end of October. 

For that reason, I’ve always like when the clocks go forward. It reminds me of getting paid for doing nothing.

This year, as I’ve worked more from the office than from home, it’s great to get the extra hour of light in the evening so I can run or cycle home without having to wear more lights than a Christmas tree. It’s good to feel the sun on my skin and to start to wear t-shirts rather than a running jacket, hat, gloves and, in Glasgow, oilskins for the days it’s really wet. 

I do however miss the pleasures of night-time running – which mostly involve people leaving their curtains open and getting a good gawk in their living room. But also, the pleasure of running and not seeing where you are going. Night-time running reduces distances as you tend to focus on the light pool around you rather than looking to the end of a street in daylight and seeing everything before you clearly.  (It’s for the same reason muggers hate the clocks going forward, people can now see them.)

The good thing about living in Glasgow though is that the clocks going forward is not a guarantee of daylight – in Scotland it can just as dark at 3pm as midnight when the rain clouds gather so while it’s good to see the change of the seasons, it’s also good to know that we don’t lose nighttime running even in June. 

Either you will instantly recognise the image above and be glad you don’t have the umbrella, or it will mean nothing at all. The only difference is whether you’ve watched Squid Game on Netflix. If you have, then you know exactly what happens when you have 10 minutes to to carve out the triangle with nothing but a needle – a challenge known as Dalgona in South Korea.

The triangle itself if made from melted sugar and baking soda. You melt the two together in a frying pan and then pour the mixture into small discs. You then press a cookie cutter lightly into the surface to create the shape to be cut out by the player.

The player’s challenge is to then cut it out without snapping the shape.

However, if you want a real challenge, don’t just try and cut the shape out of the cookie – you need to eat it too.

WOOOOOAHH!!!!

Sugar RUSH!!!!

I have never taken class A narcotics but I can’t imagine that crack cocaine could be as good as pure sugar mixed with baking powder. A combination that requires a dentist on hand before you even take a bite.

BLIMEY!

It tasted good.

If you want to try it yourself then I found this video really helpful with tips on how to make it.

And if you want to recreate Squid Game then I’m afraid you’re going to have to find your own guard with a gun to stand over you – sorry, I can’t help you with that one!

Four years have passed since the last time I ran the Allow Half Marathon. You can read (linked below) about my previous attempt to run it…and my attempt try and find anything interesting to say about Alloa.

The course had a new start and end point. So unlike previous years it did not finish next to a supermarket. Which meant I did not get my shopping done afterwards. But other than that, the change meant there was more of a start village and a better finish line.

To get to the start I used one of the provided shuttle busses. There is lots of parking in Alloa and the bus only took 10 minutes to get to the start.

Once at the start there was the usual long toilet queue. Please, will race organizers actually figure out how to manage a toilet queue! Its not difficult, just have a couple of folk who know where the toilets are and point everyone at them. In this case the long queue was because no-one in the queue knew there was actually a number of different toilets in the venue so everyone was queuing for just one.

This meant I was still in the loo at 0859. The race started at 0900. I managed to get to the start in plenty of time which means my watch must be telling the wrong time!

The route had changed slightly but nothing major. Starting out of town was quite nice as it got some of the boring road section out of the way early.

I had done al ot of training during the week and I had an injury. So I wasn’t expecting a great time. My hope was sub 1hr 50min but I’d have accepted anything up to 1hr 55min.

I felt fresher than I thought I would be and I ended up completing my run in sub 1hr 45min…just. 1 hr 44min 55 seconds.

Andrew beat me by 30s but he had rested before the race. That’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it.

The finishers goodie bag contained a t shirt, a medal and a covid test kit! I’d have preferred a Mars bar.

Overall, its an enjoyable race that is always a good test of Spring fitness.

My eyesight isn’t very good. It’s not as bad as Al Pacino’s vision in Scent Of a Woman but it is getting towards a Mr Magoo level of poorness. Thankfully I’ve not crashed my car… yet!

I suspect anyone reading this who understands either of these references is also old enough to be experiencing similar vision related problems.

My vision has deteriorated to the point where I am unable to read a book at night. As the low light means I struggle to get the letters on the page to focus.

I tried every fix I could think of – turning on all the lights, using a Kindle, reading whilst wearing a head-torch.

None of them helped. After a few minutes the words would go out of focus and I’d have to stop reading.

So I threw money at the problem! I decided to spend more money on one lamp than I have spent on all the lamps I have ever bought in my life. I bought a serious reader lamp – https://www.seriousreaders.com/

And all I can say is that is worth every penny I paid for it because for the first time in years I can now read in the evening. I can read for hours without any eye strain or issues. It is life changing. Since getting it at Xmas, I have read four books. That compares to the zero books I read before Xmas.

This review is not sponsored by Seriousreader but if they want to send me a free lamp then please get in touch!

PS – Once you buy the lamp I recommend you try it out with the excellent book Twinbikerun by Twinbikerun https://www.amazon.co.uk/Twinbikerun-Norseman-brothers-attempted-triathlon/dp/B09T61XGMK