Sleep, dreams, reality, and online banking

This morning is unusual in that I noticed something from the real world affecting my dream. I dreamed that I was somewhere around Boston, using Google Maps on my cellphone to navigate a fictional instance of the rail network, when my real cellphone alarm went off and, for a moment, I thought that the alarm was on the dream-cellphone.

I set a 6h alarm even for Sunday because the consistency makes the Monday alarm far more palatable when it comes. Annoyingly, this morning was one upon which I awoke prematurely then did not easily fall back to sleep although, in the end, I must have, given that I was caught dreaming.

Incidentally, thinking of cellphones: I shall soon close my account with Virgin Money. Apparently, online banking is not an option, and I trust mobile operating system security so little that I do not want to use a personal banking app. I had already closed an account with Clydesdale Bank for similar reasons. With luck, this isn't a trend. I would consider a two-factor-only or read-only app but not a general banking app.

A small nutritional deficiency

I had been relying partly on retort pouches of Indian vegetarian dishes for some nutritional variety, including palak dishes as a source of spinach. Since cutting my typical daily calories somewhat, I have averaged maybe only one of these dishes per week, as one brand is typically over 200kcal per pouch and the other can be up to 400kcal. Such infrequency brings little variety and even less spinach. I needn't address this issue immediately but it bears thought nonetheless.