h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

"The watched pot never boils" - i.e., there is a direct correlation between the time something takes and your anticipation of it. This holds particularly true for events that concern food. The toaster will not pop up until you have turned your back. The ringer will not go off on the alarm until you look away. Hot water will not boil until you stop thinking about it (even for a milisecond). This phenomena increases exponentially in the inverse of your anticipation. (The more you want a cup of tea, the longer your subjective time and attention is spent watching the pot the water is in.) This too is used by mothers, to encourage a child to have patience.

tah,

wsfn

This is definitely true of tube trains on the London Underground - waiting for them rather than boiling them.
Although some days boiling would be more appropriate.

Its a damn sight cheaper to boil water than to boil on the underground. One up for the electricity companies I reacon.

Look - I just put some water in a pot, applied the heat (back burner of course), and lo and behold: it boiled! Thus many years of aimless wandering, having unfulfilled goals, lack of self-esteem, zero self-respect and the undying need for self-actualisation were instantly nullified.

The trick - making a cheese and pickle sandwich whilst watching the pot boil helps to burn the time spent waiting. Okay, occasionally you have to avert your gaze from the pot, but the focus is on pot-watching, so I think this counts. You may venture into eating said sandwich if the water still looks placid, or consider putting it under the grill - but then you fall into double-jeapordy trap of both watching a pot boil *and* watching the bread go brown..."a watched sandwich never toasts"..."an ignored sandwich sets on fire, resulting in a) the loss of a decent sandwich to eat with your lonely coffee, but b) a not unpleasant aroma of burnt bread and toasted cheese, which just makes you hungry again".