There is a Japanese saying*:

If the wind blows strongly then (finally) bath tubs sell well.

The reasoning is the following: ( 1) If the wind blows strongly, the number of blind people increases due to the dust entering in their eyes. (2) If so, they try to earn money by playing a ‘shamisen’ (a traditional Japanese musical instrument made of cat’s skin). (3) If so, the demand for ‘shamisen’ increases. (4) If so, cats are hunted recklessly. (5) If so, cats extremely decrease in population. (6 ) If so, mice increase in population. (7 ) If so, (wooden) tubs are gnawed by mice. (8) If so, tubs are sold well.

There's a point to this Japanese saying - cause and effect. Each of these terms seem fairly unrelated - you don't normally attribute an increase in blind people to high winds for instance. The saying is about how very minor relationships can cause very odd results and of course this has happened to me.

The chain of events set off by me taking part in that experiment on Wednesday is still in effect.

I was supposed to be working until late tonight, but was really ill. I hadn't slept for a few days due to my neck injury and had developed some other symptoms - aching muscles, really bad stomach cramps and a blinding headache. I was also somewhat irritable.

I had to contact work and tell them I couldn't come in. This led to a further chain of events where somebody (thanks Piotr) had to stand in for me, meaning he was working 5-6 on a Friday, instead of me. There will be further consequences, but I don't know what they are yet. Possibly I'll get the sack - I can always dream.

So as I was ill, I couldn't really cook. Luckily I had some excellent Bolognese sauce in the freezer from the last time I made cannelloni. We had this with some farfale and garlic bread. I didn't eat a lot as I was still feeling bad. I went to bed at about half eight, just after the kids got to bed. It was another bad night's sleep and I got up early as I couldn't stay in bed any longer. That's when I started writing today's blog.

Still not feeling great - at least it's the weekend.

Kaneko and Tsuda - Physica D 1994 (1-10)