If you want to go for a swim or just for a walk on Killiney Beach tomorrow, getting some exercise, check out Leinster Open Sea Swimming who are organising a Swim for Pádraig with the men’s race starting at 1pm and the ladies race starting at 1.45pm.

It was another ‘schön’ day in Hamburg: the sun was out, it was warm, and Pádraig’s really nice music therapist agreed to go out with us for a walk. You could see and feel how much Pádraig enjoyed that walk. The movement of the wheelchair itself on slightly uneven surfaces must have been a great ‘wow’ experience, some great exercise. On top of that the sound of birds, the voices of loads of different people, including children… I’m sure he’d like to do this more often.

I was thinking the other day that we should try out some different kinds of exercises, just for the feeling, to get a better understanding.

So here is it, exercise no. 1: Go to your bedroom and lie down on your bed.

Make yourself comfortable. Really comfortable. Easy? – Easy! Now here comes the difficult part: you are not allowed to move any part of your body for 30 minutes. Ignore the pain, ignore the itching, just don’t move. Hard? – Hard! Very hard, I think. Now imagine not being able to move for an hour, a day, a month, a year. To be honest, I cannot imagine what that would feel like. At all, at all. – And then think about health services saying that there is no money to provide people with severe brain injuries to receive the therapies they require – because their cases represent a bad investment.

Makes you wonder, doesn’t it?

Today’s German Music Tip
Falco, Der Kommissar. This is a real brilliant classic, great song for dancing, great lyrics, hard to understand that it took me so long to dig this one out. “Alles klar, Herr Kommissar?” (at 3:40m). 
What’s hot
Exercise
What’s cold
Health Services seen as an investment – does every spend has to provide a return?
The German word/phrase/verse of the day
“Keine Asche inne Tasche, keine Butter füa dat Futta” – what you’d say in the Ruhrgebiet at the end of the month when you’ve run out of money: no money in your pocket, no butter on the table (to eat).