Salt

Although I convey the impression that I sit here in Canada spooning Marmite into myself, the truth is otherwise. Which is why I was surprised to read on today's NetDoctor that average daily salt consumption has fallen from 9.5g in 2001 to 9g today. The surprise isn't that it has fallen, but that we take in 9 grams of the stuff every day. I mean, I can picture 9 grams, it seems such a lot somehow, but I suppose that as we are always told, it's hidden in many of our foods. I know that it's something I crave from time to time, which probably means I need it. I also know that lack of it can cause muscle cramps.

At school, when we had to translate Caesar's Gallic Wars, we learnt that one effective way to disrupt the smooth running of the Roman Army was to interrupt the salt supply. The corn supply was in there too, but the men were given a daily allowance of salt and if they didn't get it, things went exceedingly pear-shaped very quickly.

It's raining out again and this for me is a good thing because it means the temperature is slightly higher than if it were clear and sunny. I'm not a fan of hot weather but I have just put my tomato seedlings out in their little plastic tent so right now I'd rather it didn't get too cold. They made it through last night ok.

I understand from Austen that Canada were playing England at cricket yesterday. This surprises me in some ways, less so in others. In the park across the road, teenage boys can be seen playing cricket all through the year, so it certainly does go on here, but these boys are Indian or Pakistani boys. Now when I was in Portsmouth, the only kids I ever saw playing cricket in the summer in recent years were Indian and Pakistani boys, so you might think that the England team would be full of them, but Austen tells me not, so presumably these are the youngsters who end up playing for the Indian or Pakistani teams. The Canadian team however, seemed to have a fair number of Indian and Pakistani names. Another surprise seemed to be the Irish and Scots putting up teams, and in the case of Ireland, on St. Patrick's day, actually winning.
Ah well, I suppose it's all an unexpected result of global warming.

I was just horrified at the story about people being kept on board planes overnight at JFK airport in New York because of weather conditions. What in the name of all that is holy gives airlines the idea it's ok to keep people shut on a plane for nine and a half hours? Unbelievable. What not just allow them off the plane? I was stuck on the tarmac for three hours in Toronto once and it was bloody awful. And guess what? Does the aircraft have enough supplies to keep people fed and watered for an extra 9½ hours? Of course bloody not. In this case, I hope there are some flaming class action law suits go on.