Monthly Archives: December 2013

From Harry Potter’s Chamber of Secrets to Coronation Street (Rousse)

I jumped into the back seat of the passing car and made my demand: “Take me to the supermarket. I’m going to watch the second Harry Potter film in French with my husband at Tesco!” I obviously gave the impression … Continue reading

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The best accommodation in Pitlochry (Rousse)

Pitlochry was a town of miracles. First I succeeded in parallel parking a chained row of six vehicles. Then I met two 200 year-old residents. This was all the evidence I needed to persuade TPR that we should move to … Continue reading

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The schoolgirl cross country champion of Surrey (Rousse)

HW was keeping a big secret, but I saw the evidence pinned to her kitchen noticeboard. Her daughter was the schoolgirl cross country champion of Surrey.

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Back to Online 1997 (Rousse)

As I wandered around London Olympia I tried to work out what year it was. The dolly birds in hot-pants who rode around the exhibition on roller-skates handing out freebies provided the clue that it was dot com boom time. … Continue reading

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A dodgy flight to Dublin (Rousse)

My route home from the funeral in Northern Ireland comprised a flight to Dublin, then a coach ride to the coast, followed by a trip in the QE2 at four miles an hour back across the Irish Sea. The latter … Continue reading

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PhD interview disaster (Rousse)

The printed schedule for interviewing the PhD candidates was littered with typos. Then one of my colleagues invited the first applicant to sit in the interview of the second, which was now running 30 minutes late. This was completely out … Continue reading

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Running clothes for women (Rousse)

BF turned up at the house in a stretchy brown crocheted dress. She’d last worn this garment when delivering a presidential address to a professional body in 2010. Today she thought it was suitable attire for a 06:00am run.

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Coping with Canadian weather and dangerous dogs (Rousse)

We learnt about the extremes of Canadian weather during our family touring holiday. One moment we were watching entire islands being swept along an immense broad valley in meltwater floods. The next we were struggling to drive over roads sealed … Continue reading

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A failed attempt to win over the Winklevoss twins (Rousse)

I left a half-eaten Snickers bar on the front seat of the gleaming black Range Rover that belonged to the Winklevoss twins. This, I hoped, would give me an excuse to meet them for a second time when I went … Continue reading

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Government treats UK rail infrastructure “like toy train set” (Rousse)

No wonder the railway system was in such disarray. Every time that a train needed to switch tracks, a team of men was called to lift the long lumps of metal into place by hand. The government was treating its … Continue reading

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