Odd Speculations on the Nature of Time

Signs, Notices and Sayings in New Zealand:

The Inner Meaning of Things and Time

At the end of the day: usually “after all is said and done,” when an action has had time to run its course, and sometimes as “the bottom line”.  Sometimes in the sense of “No use crying over spilled milk” or at other times: “Just get over it and go back to work.”  Hardly ever meaning” “When you have had time to reflect on what happened, you will be able to reco0ncile yourself to it”. Cp “Early days”.

Box of birds.  When things are going right, as they ought to be, and the situation shows no signs of turning bad, then it is a box of birds.  Troubles are contained, chatter is just at the proper level, and you know just where to go when it is time to pick up newly-laid eggs before the predators get in.

Early days yet: Don’t get yourself into a bother until you find out what is going on, why it has been happening and what the consequences will be.  Or “If you think this is bad, wait until you see what happens tomorrow or next week.” 

Easy-peasy: Similar to “piece of cake” but usually with a more sentimental and domestic tinge to its saying, and more prone to ironic implications; often a put down for someone who finds the job onerous and complains a lot.

No Parking At All Times: In America, the street signs say “No Parking At Any Time”.  The difference is more complicated than one assumes: it is not just a matter of when during the week, how often during the day and with what duration you may leav e your vehicle, locked and unattended on the street—since stopping is a different matter, that suggesting that the motor is still running and the driver still in place ready to elave assoon as the situation requires.  In the New Zealand sign what is indicated is that the rules of no parking are operative throughout the week, the day, and with no exceptions, whereas the American regulation seems to stipulate that while parking is generally forbidden the serious infraction happens when a specific evenis in progress, something that could happen not regularly or in a scheduled way, but any time when a ;olice officer deems it appropriate.  For a more metaphysical discussion of how New Zealand laws operate in greater absilutes see the section on “Take one pill three times daily.” 

Not To Be Taken: On bottles of cleaning fluid, where there were once notice such as “Poisonous” or “Not to be Swallowed” or indicated by a skull and cross-bones. What is understood in this warning usually printed on bottles of cleaning fluid or other caustic liquid is “internally.”  Some people might, however, misread the label as cautioning against easy, frivolous and overly frequent usage of the substance, which then would be “abused”.  It hardly be need said that any criminals wandering up and down the aisles in a supermarket in search of things to lift without payment at the pay counter would not need to take the signage as implying that a product should be left on its shelf until such time as payment might be proffered in an appropriate manner to a cashier of the establishment. A more aesthetically-minded customer, of course, might read the waring as pointing out that the item so labelled was there merely for the enjoyment of looking at it, not to be purchased and taken home at all.

Panel-Beater: car repair shop. My father-in-law really liked this when he visited us back in the early 1970s.  It is an old-fashioned designation for a traditional craft before its need was overtaken by electronic and digital instruments. 

Piece of Cake.  Something easy (cf. “easy-peasy’) to do or understand: a sure thing. It may seem to be difficult, complicated and of uncertain outcome, the reality is, if you just cut through the bull and get at it, the results will turn out better than expected and require as little worrying about as effort expended, and yet the person speaking is not to be trusted as a deep-thinker or well-read adviser.

Take One Pill Three Times Daily: Is this the same tablet you have to spit out, dry on the sink, and then put in your mouth again twice later?  This highly metaphysical conundrum baffles the best of chemists and nurses: they mean only take three pills during the day, one at a time at regular intervals of time.  Another similarly abstruse questions springs to mind these days when electrical lights are so easy and inexpensive to use, as to whether “day” includes the night as well; and though the rabbis have grappled with similar questions for ages, not least because in Jewish tradition the day begins at sunset and runs to the late afternoon of the following day-lit period, since I have found it often easiest to keep to strict instructions as to how many hours should intervene between one pill and another and what to do about the suggestion that one should ingest the capsule or tablet two hours before or three hours after eating by taking one of the pills just before bed time (which is usually three hours after a leisurely evening meal) and then at daybreak, upon awakening, allowing plenty of time to go to the gym, come home, dress and prepare for breakfast.  Meanwhile for those with insomnia, it may be best to space out the taking of pills through the night as giving one something to do and think about during those long hours of sleeplessness and thus not having to worry during normal daytime hours when one must work, engage with the family and perform other necessary domestic chores.