Monthly Archives: May 2011

Mention of Elton John and exotic work trips sets off swoon (Rousse)

Posted on May 31, 2011 by Dreamaticus

When the policeman searched my Birmingham hotel room for weapons he found the bicycle chain slotted down the side of the bed. Surprisingly my claim of possible self-defence was accepted. The next day I set off for my meeting at … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Australia, bed, bicycle, bike, Birmingham, Boca Raton, chain, conference, Elton John, Florida, Hawaii, Hong Kong, hotel, meeting, Paris, Perry Barr, police, policeman, Rome, Singapore, suitcase, Sydney, Vienna | Leave a comment

Beware iPhone e-mail reconnection charges and approaching traffic (Rousse)

Posted on May 30, 2011 by Dreamaticus

Although I was on holiday I couldn’t resist checking in on campus. Here I found a few close colleagues (DB, EH) taking a group of foreign staff and students out for lunch. Some walked to the restaurant, and others cycled. … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged campus, cycling, driving, foreign, holiday, iPhone, lunch, pay-as-you-go, reconnection, staff, students, telecom, trandems, walking | Leave a comment

Rousse runs and battles nepotism at the BBC

Posted on May 29, 2011 by Dreamaticus

I ran past the Scottish Parliament with old-timers EJ and LG even though neither was a current member of the running club. One no longer lived in Edinburgh and the other was heavily pregnant. ‘Why are you here?” I asked. … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged BBC, career, coffee, job, nepotism, pregnancy, pregnant, running, Scottish parliament, sister, staircase | Leave a comment

Diet Coke special delivery and explanations of evidence based practice (Rousse)

Posted on May 28, 2011 by Dreamaticus

I took a last minute decision to call into Tesco to stock up on supplies for my office. By the time I reached the till I had bought far more than I could carry, largely due to the purchase of … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged admin, audience, cashier, checkout, conference, customer, Diet Coke, dress, evidence based practice, female, lawyers, medicine, office multipack, paralegal computing, Tesco, till | Leave a comment

Postcards to Prince William, a rat in the office, and in-flight washing facilities (Rousse)

Posted on May 27, 2011 by Dreamaticus

When I said that I would join them just as soon as I finished addressing my postcards to the Palace most of the party shot me dirty looks. I didn’t care. They were just jealous that they – unlike me … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged airport, brother-in-law, Buckingham Palace, Edinburgh, filth, flight, flying, hair, London, meeting, office, palace, Prince William, rat, stewardess, wash, work | Leave a comment

Monkey on drugs (Belle)

Posted on May 27, 2011 by Dreamaticus

Now that the monkey had moved into my childhood home, I realised just how easily I had been tricked. Far from liking me, it became obvious that it was simply looking for somewhere comfortable to take heroin.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged drugs, heroin, monkey | Leave a comment

Jonathan Ross’ theatre date and a threat of war in Edinburgh (Rousse)

Posted on May 26, 2011 by Dreamaticus

Every time that we stopped to take a photo on our walk along the headland the gap between us and Jonathan Ross narrowed. Eventually he was so close behind us that we could hear every word he shared with his … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged bin, bins, bomber, bombers, bread, date, daughter, deliver, deliveries, delivery, Edinburgh, estate, foyer, freezer, headland, Jonathan Ross, Omni Centre, photo, photograph, photographs, photography, photos, theatre, university, VIP, VIPs, workaholism | Leave a comment

The forgotten poet (Belle)

Posted on May 26, 2011 by Dreamaticus

Rousse had set the pub quiz question feeling confident that I would know the answer. It was true, I did remember the poet’s brief musical career, his reworking of Gawain and the Green Knight and his northerness. But I just … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged poet, pub quiz, Rousse, Simon Armitage, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Yorkshire | Leave a comment

The first Apple iPad3 hits Britain as an unexpected pregnancy is revealed (Rousse)

Posted on May 25, 2011 by Dreamaticus

I was so impressed with myself as the owner of an iPad3. Nobody else had one: only me. TPR, however, was throughly sick of my obsession with Apple products. As far as he was concerned, the iPad3 looked very much … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged apple, British Library, dinghy, Edinburgh, Euston Road, garage, husband, iPad, iPad3, iPod, pregnant, shed, Sinclair C5, TPR | Leave a comment

David Cameron’s seven-pack centrefold – plus numerous other adventures, including one at Buckingham Palace (Rousse)

Posted on May 24, 2011 by Dreamaticus

At first I was thrilled to be resident at Buckingham Palace. However, I hadn’t understood that once welcomed in, there was little prospect of getting out. I begged the security staff to show me the exit, explaining how much I … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged art, bed, bikes, Buckingham Palace, car, cars, centre-fold, cigarette, cycling, Daily Mail, David Cameron, dormitory, Dorset, dream, ferry, Harris, holiday, Holy Island, installation, Isle of Skye, Lindisfarne, Lindisfarne Castle, magazine, meeting, Nancy Cameron, politics, prime minister, royal family, running, security, seven-pack, six-pack, smoking, torso, TPR, Uig, video | 1 Comment