The media informs us of new world records with reliable frequency. Such records involve someone breaking someone else's record set just yesterday, and we already know that their joy will not be long-lived: an even newer record will soon follow. The plans for a new skyscraper ten floors higher than the world's highest building are just made public, and a decision is made about increasing daily crude oil output; meanwhile, I receive a text message. It's a friend of mine, asking me to help tug up that old sofa we kept down in the basement until the general clear-out. I can't say no: he won't be able to do it without my help. I don't mind, because we love each other, and he has helped me a lot before. But this isn't really the right time. I wanted to be alone today. I wanted to go for a stroll, to explore the new public pool, I wanted to practice a little, and I've been rescheduling the hairdresser for ages. I wanted to finally organise my books today, and I've been postponing the mounting of the clothes drying rack for months. If it wasn't for this damned sofa, I might even have redeemed the world today. Or at least myself. But the sofa has to be brought upstairs. I cannot say no, though my scrapbook is also loaded with long delayed tasks. But this sofa business must fit in. I hate the whole matter, but I'll stick it out. One more sofa, but it might as well be a freezer or a cubic metre of some nonsense material. Or fifty more pages from the exercise book, or a few more kilos on top of the bag. If I could lift fifty kilos last time, I'll be able to lift fifty-and-a-half too; in the worst case I'll clench my teeth a bit stronger. There are no bounds anyway, no bounds that could be measured.

Are there really no bounds? Are there really no bounds to human capacity? Will there be a point when something is too much? Is there a bag heavy enough for the handle to rip off under the load of one more box of matches? Is there a house of cards that can't hold one more ace? Is there a period of wakefulness long enough to make warding off sleep impossible for a minute longer? Is there a point after which different rules apply than before?