Time is crazy

    I've wanted to post for at least a year about how long a time a second is, but haven't because I feel like an idiot every time I think about doing so. But really, it is. I notice this every day when I'm cooking and watching the timer on the stove count down. A second is long enough to turn off two burners. It's a distinct, discrete period of time. Obviously, not a huge one, but long enough to do something; long enough to be noticed.
    On the other hand, 50 years, one hell of a lot of seconds, has not seemed like a long time. An hour must not be a very long time; I've certainly wasted enough of them. Minutes, hours, days, weeks; none of them seem long unless you're waiting. Or anyway unless I am. This is why I carry a book anywhere I'm likely to be made to wait. Patience is not one of my virtues.
    So there you have it: a second is a long time; a half a century isn't, unless you spend it waiting. Clearly, this is what Einstein was talking about.