News Editorial

Every Wednesday, when I look at the great clock in Bern, I am reminded of the part it played in Einstein’s early musings on relativity. He formed the notion that for a photon of light leaving the big hand at 12 o’clock, it would be, forever, 12 o’clock. Time slows down the faster you go. And it stops altogether when you reach the speed of light.

But our lives aren’t like that, are they? They’re the other way round. The faster we go, the faster time goes. There’s always something to do. Then when you’ve done that, there’s something else to be done. And, before you know it, the day, the week, the year’s gone. On the other hand, for my Dad, who’s 92, life passes him by very slowly. All his friends are dead and it’s only going down his local pub every night, for a couple of pints of Guinness to guard against anaemia, that keeps him going.

So, I have developed a strategy to find an equilibrium between these two extremes. This Editorial is being written on the anniversary of my birth. But it’s not a birthday. In 2003 I stopped having birthdays.

Stopped, that is, until 2018. That’s when my wife will have caught me up. Then we’ll be the same age, our lives will be in sync and I can start having birthdays again. But, in the meantime, in this state of suspended animation, I can be busy and still have plenty of time. Makes perfect sense, doesn’t it? Doesn’t it?

Well, it’s certainly been useful this year. Straight after the AGM, there was the SIG Day Programme to sort out. That’s for the ETAS SIG Day 2010, 11th September 2010, Kantonsschule Zürcher Oberland, Bühlstrasse 36, Postfach 1265, 8620 Wetzikon. Don’t forget.

Then, straight after that, there was this, the Summer Journal, to pull together. But that’s ETAS – always something going on.

And it’s always such a pleasure and good fun. Life, after all, whether in a state of suspended animation or not, is far too short to be taken seriously.

So, many thanks to Alison Wiebalck, Sue Wood and all the contributors to the ESP Special Supplement. Indeed, as ever, many thanks to all the other valued
contributors, supporters, sponsors and advertisers, without whom none of this would be possible.

John Raggett