Commencing the eighth week of 2024 means there are only 44 weeks left of this year. Time flies like an arrow, and fruit flies like a banana. Never in a million years would I have suspected how much my perception of time would change over the years. But it did, and I still need to figure out how. When I was a teenager sitting on those uncomfortable wooden benches at grammar school, I always thought time stood still on several occasions during the day. Interestingly, I wasn't alone with this impression, as my peers had similar experiences, especially during those terrifyingly boring subjects whose teachers were so annoyed by teaching us that their disgust was written all over their faces. I remember looking at my watch, and the second hand wouldn't move. It quivered and shook as it tried to continue its dull routine. It stood over one of the notches and wouldn't go any further. I silently screamed at those occasions when an hour seemed like a whole year. Contrary to these ear...