1 EAGLETON NOTES: I am Puzzled.

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Sunday 22 September 2019

I am Puzzled.

I am puzzled by many things in life and the list grows longer as I grow older.

Why do people (now) clap themselves when they achieve anything ie getting a question correct on a TV game show?

Why does no one mention that all the wars and military action being taken across the world are a major contributor to the world's greenhouse gas problem?

Why does anyone gives a monkey about who "celebrities" sleep with (apart, presumably, from the celebrities)? Of course I exclude celebrities in a position of trust such as politicians because, unfortunately, I've got to the stage that I just assume most of them are lying anyway.

Which way round do currency conversions go. I started off my (proper) working life as a trainee accountant. I abandoned it very quickly for lots of reasons: one being that I could not understand double-entry book-keeping. It wasn't until I had my own business that I really came to grips with it. Strange because it is absolutely logical and I had taken, and enjoyed, a course of logic many years ago. I lived in New Zealand with the need to be aware of the fast diminishing value of my UK £ income when converted into NZ$s. I still got/get confused. Please don't tell me it's simple. I KNOW it's simple. That just makes it worse.

Why did my maternal Uncle have a photographic memory even when he was in his 90s and yet I am, infamously, the man who, when introducing his wife to someone, forgot his wife's name?

Why do people crack their knuckles? It's not good for them (it's not harmful either) and it's unpleasant for those around them.

Why do so many women (sic) I know say they can't reverse parallel park? Most of them are excellent drivers but seem to think that that particular affliction is an expected virtue in women.

I am even more puzzled as to why I should think anyone might think this post interesting. Perhaps you don't!

51 comments:

  1. I do! (Think that this post is interesting.)
    It fascinates me what puzzles other people when for me it is perfectly clear, or the other way round. In your case, I am totally with you on several of your puzzlements, such as the celebrities one, while I have never thought about others, such as the one about people cracking their knuckles. Personally, I can crack almost any joint (except for my knuckles!), and sometimes I do it deliberately because it gives me a bit of relief when I am physically tense, such as after a long session at the computer - nothing better than cracking my shoulders and arms then!
    As for the women and parking, I find it strange that many (often young-ish) women seem to think it cute if they coquettishly say they can not cook.

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    1. Meike, I didn't realise that one can pop other joints. I know that if I get tense my shoulders and neck are the fist place that it shows and a good cracking of the muscles was a way of loosening up before an important croquet match.

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  2. I believe the genes are shared in all living beings. Clapping is our seal moment, achievements feed the soul thing.
    I don't care who celebrities sleep with. I care about what they wear.
    Biting fingernails is worse than cracking knuckles. For both, it will not surprise me to learn somebody made a fortune writing a book about them.

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    1. Maywyn, perhaps it's a 'Brit' thing but clapping oneself or public self congratulation were just 'not done'. Biting one's nails is a horrible habit for other people to have to watch. People can write a book about absolutely anything.

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  3. I can parallel park without problem. I am puzzled by many things and one of which is why the over use of the words "well done" and when did it start? Mere everyday things are greeted with "well done" or "well done you". It was only used when I was a child for greater things like passing exams or something extraordinary requiring exclamation and greater recognition; it now seems to be used for everything from saying what job you do to saying you just fed the chickens. Its usage seems to have changed.

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    1. Rachel, I agree with you over the use of "well done". We have got to the stage where if one wants to congratulate significant achievement then one has to find stronger and stronger words to convey it.

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  4. An interesting post. Self congratulation seems to be just another manifestation of society's current obsession with image and self promotion. That also probably ties in with the celebrity thing too, although these days I never seem to know the *celebrities* that are mentioned in the press ( I don't watch much TV).
    I have to admit to finding it difficult to parallel park. I think it may be connected to my sight and problems with my depth of vision. I was told that is why I am useless at tennis!

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    1. JayCee, I appreciate that some people, men and women, have difficulty parallel parking. It's just that I know so many women who say they can't and very few men. I could put it down to men being reticent to say admit it but some women I know seem almost to regard it as a virtue.

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    2. PS I'm useless at tennis too. I only have one usable eye so I can't play any game that involves locating the position of a fast-moving ball.

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  5. I think this post is interesting because I find you, dear sir, interesting, unphotographic memory and all. I am given to understand that the cracking sound in the knuckles is nitrogen bubble bursting, which is, as you mentioned, harmless. I fed chickens for years when I was a lad and no one ever told me "well done" -- it probably accounts for what's wrong with me today. I must hurriedly bring this comment to a close as I just learned that people can write a book about absolutely anything, and I must get started as I'm almost 79 and who knows how long my photographic memory will last? I'm not your maternal uncle, you know.

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    1. Thank you for the complement, Bob (I'm fed up of calling you RWP and I feel Mr Brague and Mr Edwards is a bit too formal). I'm sad to say that with my attention span I'm just glad that I can still write all the letters I write: a book would be quite beyond me. I'd have forgotten the first page by the time I was half way down the second.

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  6. Like you I am puzzled about many things. How does the exposure to sunlight increase the Vitamin D in a person's body? What is the difference between "correct" and "exactly correct"? If an answer is "correct", is it more of an answer if it is "exactly correct"? Same with "right" and "exactly right".

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    1. Born and Bred, I have absolutely no idea what vitamin D does (although I know some of the things it is good for) but, oddly, I do know that it's not a vitamin! Vitamins cannot be created by the body but 'vitamin' D can be created by the body by synthesis. I know that only because my dietitian suggested that I should take vitamin D tablets in the winter given that we have around 6 hours of daylight with possible sun in midwinter. So I am puzzled as to why it's called a vitamin.

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  7. I'm sure that the clapping business dates back to Kruschev, who was always to be seen clapping himself on Russian TV. It has continued to Kim Jong un, and now the rest of the world.

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    1. Now you mention it, Cro, you probably have removed my puzzlement. I remember Kruschev doing that. Kim Jong Un obviously being of the old Kruschev school of communism decided to carry on the tradition.

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  8. I can't recall having noticed the clapping oneself thing. Now I'm wondering why!
    As for wars contributing to the environment problems, I'm totally with you... (I'm also wondering why we seem to think it okay to keep polluting Space, as if it would really be the best solution to give up Earth and go and start over on another planet.)

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    1. Monica, we didn't know what the effect of the industrial revolution would be but we can foresee that polluting space with debris is something we should be treating seriously.

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  9. I could almost have written this post myself! Definitely with you on the clapping and the politicians and I certainly agree with you on the excellence of women drivers - but then I would, wouldn't I? ;)

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  10. You get us thinking in this post. Many people try a couple of career choices. It's a good thing they do try some different things.

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    1. Red, occasionally thinking is good for one..... I think.

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  11. Wars could be considered beneficial depending how much fuel was used per person shot. Socialism is better, Mao et al did no end of good.

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    1. I thought, Adrian, that you would have an unusual take on the subject. I am not disappointed.

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    2. I consider it my duty to make myself and folk consider things, ponder that maybe our species is to blame and mostly those with an IQ of less than seventy. Bloody Oxfam and Save the Children are weird. Seventy years and the job is getting worse. I forget they are working for profit, their own profit. If third world countries have a population that can't feed themselves then so be it.
      We don't have the detritus of the world queuing at Dover to invade the wonderful EU.

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  12. Interesting? Yes! and the views of the others. I'm not too bothered by the clapping, it's the answers to questions that now start with 'So' and have far too many 'I means'. However, we all have our Black Beasts. Mine would fill a slim volume.

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  13. Why is "Pringles" packaging still allowed when everybody knows that those cylinders, made from different materials, are almost impossible to recycle?

    Why do governments and phone companies still allow scam calls to happen - calls that cheat, upset and anger millions of people?

    Why does anybody admire the presenting duo Ant and Dec and why have they won so many awards?

    Why is David Cameron not in prison?

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    1. Why, indeed, YP. However on the last one I would make the point that there are many politicians of whom the same could be asked.

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    2. Politicians, teachers and social workers are a protected section of our society. Non are strictly necessary, few do any good. Cameron wants castigating for being a spoon faced twat. It would be a sad and uninteresting day if politicians were banned for being a bit thick but never give them credence. I would have thought Neil would have learned after voting for the Spectrum Thing.

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  14. Since I am Bob now, maybe I am your uncle.

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    1. Bob who knows you maybe. Fathers day in both Tideswell and Auchtermuchty was and still is a bit of a poser for both children and fathers. It's a wise child that knows it's father.

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    2. He may be your Uncle, but who is your Aunt?

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  15. I absolutely love that you forgot your wife's name.
    I forgot my own name - or rather, I forgot how to spell my own name. It was an inopportune moment to forget - back then during that first degree you were still required to put your name on the degree exam booklet... :-D
    I am as bewildered as you Graham. Life is very befuddling now. I hope you are well.

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    1. Sansserif, with your very considerable abilities your admission made me laugh out loud. If I had a cat it would have looked at me in dismay.I suspect, though, that your bewilderment arises out of a very much greater appreciation of the social politics of life and that my bewilderment is much more superficial.

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  16. I am puzzled by many things, attitudes, etc., etc. in this world of ours...and as each day passes I become more and more puzzled...and more and more reclusive. There is much I just can not be bothered wasting my time or thought on because many things (and people) are becoming sillier by the day.

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    1. Lee, I think that attitudes and the way we treat each other is beyond my comprehension.

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  17. Your first question, yes I've wondered the same over the years, the one about the knuckles, that sound gives me the creeps it's a bit like when someone scrapes their nails down a blackboard. Shudder!

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  18. Why can I think of similarly quirky little things but they won't stay in my head long enough to write a post about them?
    Why can I sometimes parallel park beautifully first go and other times I have to try six times and eventually give up?
    Currency conversions confuse me, too. And I never thought of military actions as a part of the climate change issue. I guess the powers that be would rather we were blind to that particular cause

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    1. Kylie, I suspect that you have the same problem that I have: concentration or rather lack of it - trying to think of too many things at the same time.

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  19. Hello GB! Back from a jaunt down south to a family reunion, and your post is quite a refreshing return to "normal". Let's see what I can comment on...

    1. Knuckles. For me, cracking anything (knuckles, hips, shoulders, etc.) is a sheer relief. I get discomfort (too weird to be called "pain", exactly... just a feeling something needs to be cracked) in said joints, and the only thing that will relieve the feeling is cracking it. I wake up several times a night and crack my left hip joint. If I don't, I can't sleep. I used to crack my knuckles quite often when younger, but as I've aged that particular set of firecrackers has gotten quieter. I assume that there are individuals (probably the same ones who jingle their pocket change in queues) who crack their knuckles in public to attract attention. Handily, it also announces that they are bell ends, in case anyone was not aware.

    2. I think everyone knows that clapping for one's self is not "the done thing"... but I think that when regular people suddenly find themselves on television, or any other stage they are unaccustomed to, the sound of everyone around them clapping makes them jump to join in. I've noticed some self-clappers suddenly realise they're doing it, and stop awkwardly. I think it's a nervous reaction to the sudden clamour. I don't think most self-clappers are really congratulating themselves, they're doing the lemming thing.

    3. As for who celebrities sleep with, I'm fairly sure no one (except the celebrity in question, and their partner) cares really, it's just a titillating bit of fodder for the paparrazzi to tack on to their photo ops. It's not enough that every hair out of place, every wardrobe malfunction (accidental or otherwise), every mis-spoken word, every costume change, and every bite eaten (or not eaten) is reported as news... they must also endure their every private relationship being exposed (accurately or otherwise). I know celebrities make a lot of money, but honestly sometimes I think it's really not worth the lack of privacy.

    4. You ask why no one points out the ecological harm done by war. I say when a country full of supposedly sane people elect an ignorant orange butt plug as their president, I can not expect anything meaningful from them thereafter. Nothing horrific surprises me any more.

    5. The reason women can't parallel park is because they are not married to my husband. Not only can he parallel park perfectly, he can also teach other people how to.

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    1. Marcheline, I must first thank you for such a great comment. "..it also announces that they are bell ends...". What, pray, are "bell ends"? (Apart from a Sixties trouser fashion or sailors' trousers). Self-clappers 'doing the lemming thing' has a certain appeal as an explanation and one of which I would not have thought. I never, for one minute, doubted that you'd be able to parallel park. I've taught a few people in my time too. Now I have a car which will parallel park for me if I so wish. I tried it once to see if it does and it did. I still prefer to park myself!

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    2. Graham. A bellend is the End of a willy. American men suffer genital mutilation. We normal folk have a foreskin which conceals the bellend to all but our nearest and dearest and is also the bit of sentient skin attached to a male.
      Marcheline, how many Americans has Trump sacrificed? He builds an army so he doesn't need to use it. He has the best interests of you at heart. Doesn't even bother that he is too old to benefit from a so called Charity and works for free. Find me a socialist or lefty that does that.

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  20. Graham, lack of parallel parking skill is not a matter of the sexes. It's only a knack. Knacks are things that the dumb lefties think beneath them. I can reverse a ship, a low loader trailer and can teach nineteen year old lasses to park a horse box. It's a knack.
    Use the bloody mirrors...Get used to seeing stuff in them. That's how I tell them. I only do the forward bit and then we swap seats, they spend an hour reversing the rig and swapping seats after I've done the forward bit. They always pass the trailer test.....Well two have. I'm expecting a lusting charge from the third. I suspect I'll have to plead guilty to admiring totty and making her feel uncomfortable for having no spacial awareness and drop dead gorgeous legs or some such social lefty nonsense.
    No worries.

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    1. Adrian, only you could link knacks to political persuasion.

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    2. "and can teach nineteen year old lasses to park a horse box"... NAUGHTY!

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  21. A thought provoking post. I am puzzled about what to write here except Adrian offended me by saying teachers are not necessary. Although they may not be necessary in the future due to learning from computers/robots I think I helped develop many kids over the 30 years that I was teaching

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    1. Gosh, Diane, I'm not quite sure why I've only just found all your comments. I'd not seen them in my in-box and found them when checking my comments in the dashboard after being away for a couple of weeks. As for Adrian, Diane, he loves to be controversial but he's really a very clever person and can be lovely too - just slightly flawed!

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  22. I don't think it charmingly feminine that I can't parallel park well. I hate it! And I am quite puzzled that I used to be able to park in the smallest space quite beautifully, but as soon as we changed our car that suddenly became impossible. Something about the car, I assume - I am misinterpreting the shape of it in some way, I think. Does puzzle me, though! I obviously need to spend a few hours practising.

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    1. Sorry about the delay in responding, Jenny. I've just found a little cache of un-moderated comments. I've been trying to see who suggested that it might be "charmingly feminine" not to be able to parallel park. It will, I'm sure, be something quite simple. You just have to diagnose the cause. Sounds simple doesn't it?

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Comment moderation is activated 14 days after the post to minimise unwanted comments and, hopefully, make sure that I see and reply to wanted comments.