Sideswipe: October 23: Where did they all go?

Mind won't shrink in wash

High levels of the stress hormone cortisol impair memory in middle age but may even cause the brain to shrink. According to Mental Floss, one of the ways to reduce stress and therefore shrinkage of your grey matter, is by taking a "mindful" approach to tasks such as dishwashing. "A sample of 51 college students engaged in either a mindful or control dishwashing practice before completing measures of mindfulness, affect, and experience recall," the 2014 study in the journal Mindfulness states. "Mindful dishwashers evidenced ... increases in elements of positive affect (i.e., inspiration) [and] decreases in elements of negative affect (i.e., nervousness)." In other words, with the right mindset, zoning out in front of a sudsy sink is basically nirvana.

What a difference 20 years makes

In your 20s: "I only had four hours' sleep because I went clubbing. Bit tired but I'll have a coffee and I'll be wide awake and fighting fit."

In your 40s: "I only had four hours' sleep because I couldn't stop thinking about the time I replied 'You too' to a waiter when he said to me to enjoy my meal. My eyes feel like they're full of broken glass and I'm so tired I want to just collapse and sob. I think I'll die of sleep deprivation".

Inscriptions on 17th-century English wedding rings

I love and like my choyse
I chuse not to change
Let reason rule affection
A token of good-will
As I expect so let me find, A faithfull and constant mind
Time lesseneth not my love
In loving wife spend all thy life
A diamond ring bore the inscription "This sparke will grow".
(Via Futility Closet)

Incredible luck

Lesley writes: "We were moved by the plight of the gentleman desperate to complete his collection of Disney character tiles. We two octogenarians have enjoyed using our one or two from each shopping trip to make interconnecting words on the kitchen bench, constantly changing with each addition, not even glancing at the other side! Thus challenged we turned ours over and found TWO Mr Incredibles among our 34 tiles! He's welcome to one!"

Baby's wails down to weta nappy

The story about a weta in the washing reminded Ingrid Memelink of her own early encounter with the creepy crawly. "My mother who emigrated from the Netherlands in the 60s often told the story of how she went to change my nappy one day after I had cried loudly and incessantly, to discover a weta in my nappy still alive and kicking!"