Exactly the other way round, Genie!

What a most interesting lesson I learned yesterday in time for my birthday - being short of work, I took the offer of a few days' casual work in a local cake, muffin, and flapjack factory. I have never worked on a production line before, and by the end of the first hour was astonished at the amount of boredom the human brain can accept. By the end of the second hour, with seven to go, I had already worn out the attraction of mental arithmetic, counting the flapjacks I had unloaded and passed on (48 to a tray, 20 trays to a trolley, three trolleys waiting to be done...!). And I spent the last three hours standing in one spot, acting as 'cupcake flattener' (honest!), now hallucinating with boredom as cakes whizzed passed on a conveyor belt. I am not returning for a second day!

My respects to those who do this every day for a lifetime, but I learned a great lesson - that my time, my brain and my body are far too valuable to waste watching cakes go by, and that from now on I do not waste my time! And that how lucky we people here are to have music in our lives to brighten things up.

Happy day, everyone in Mudcatland.

- Ian