ABSTRACT
Like everybody else I have always been convinced that I have good days on which my ideas flow rapidly, my questions are unusually sensible and my answers sometimes to the point. Also bad days on which body and mind are sluggish and even routine tasks get done badly, if at all. Now, in old age, good days seem rarer and when they happen no longer make everything magically easy. Is this just the lethargy of an under-exercised academic no longer paced by brilliant and energetic students and colleagues or just another sign of aging of my mind?
