Editor's Notebook June 2023

Craig Mongeau - Editor in Chief - June 2023

Time flies when you're having fun … we've all heard that expression before. But time seems to fly by when you get older, too. For me, it seems to be passing by more quickly, and I've heard other people say they feel this way, as well. Remember summer vacation from school? It was like three months long, but it felt so much longer than that same span of time feels now.

So, I got curious about this time perception deal and decided to look it up … on the Internet … not the library, which would have actually taken a real long time even if I remembered how the Dewey Decimal System worked.

Apparently, the whole time-goes-faster-as-you-get-older is a real thing. According to a Harvard University professor (might as well use a good source, right?), "the size and complexity of the networks of neurons in our brains increases — electrical signals must traverse greater distances and thus signal processing takes more time." Moreover, the professor argued, aging causes our nerves to accumulate damage that provides resistance to the flow of electric signals, further slowing processing time and thus alters our perception of time.

Now, I don't completely understand what that means, but it sounds good and logical. Basically, it's another example of how things aren't working as well as they once did for me. Wonderful … I knew that already. I'll lump this time passage issue with the myriad other age-related problems, like waking up with a sleep-related injury somehow.

I thought of all this because we're already in June and seriously, it didn't feel that long ago when we were planning for last year's N.Y.S. Highway & Public Works Expo. Well, we're planning for this year's show now and here's an important reminder about exhibiting. Spaces have already begun to fill, so please reach out to our trade show manager, Teddy McKeon at 215/885-2900 or tmckeonjr@cegltd.com to discuss reserving space. Please don't delay because if you're anything like me, October will be here next month. P