Monthly Archives: April 2025

How not to start a start-up (Rousse)

Posted on April 28, 2025 by Dreamaticus

Following a week of unpaid training, I felt able to offer JS £200 per day to work in my consulting firm. The only problem was that I added to her payroll before we had any clients. In fact, we didn’t … Continue reading →

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Begging Martin Jarvis (Rousse)

Posted on April 28, 2025 by Dreamaticus

When Martin Jarvis was working on the counter of the public library, I wasn’t the only one desperate for him to put down his stamp and read stories to us instead. ‘Just half an hour, please!’ I begged.

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A doomed trip to Orkney (Rousse)

Posted on April 27, 2025 by Dreamaticus

There was quite a crowd of us on holiday together in the north of Scotland. This made it difficult to enjoy time on my own with my Canadian cousins NT and DT, who had crossed the Atlantic to spend a … Continue reading →

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Driving a wooden train and a bonus human pyramid (Belle)

Posted on April 23, 2025 by Dreamaticus

My new job was driving a red wooden train in a New York department store. The best part of the job was tooting the horn and aggressively waving at shoppers, insisting they move to the side of the aisles so … Continue reading →

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In defence of the ‘Nonsense Norwegian’ (Rousse)

Posted on April 20, 2025 by Dreamaticus

The residential staff retreat was a dreary affair. As I stood in a queue waiting for my turn to take part in the next ‘exciting’ activity – charity shop shopping – my mother-in-law lifted my woollen jumper to check that … Continue reading →

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Boss cuddles naughty magician (Rousse)

Posted on April 19, 2025 by Dreamaticus

A former PhD student of mine asked if I would support her over a difficult issue at work. I gladly agreed to help her avoid the sack, but without realising the extent of her problem. She just couldn’t behave politely … Continue reading →

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Wrinkly faces and a Fiat 500 (Rousse)

Posted on April 19, 2025 by Dreamaticus

JB was alive and well in Birmingham. I admired her Fiat 500 and the way that the family had stuck four large cardboard head portraits of themselves across the car’s dashboard. JB complained that she looked very wrinkled in her … Continue reading →

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Rousse and Belle join the ‘Read an article a day’ (Rousse)

Posted on April 15, 2025 by Dreamaticus

I signed up for a scheme entitled ‘Read an article a day’. Under sufferance, Belle agreed to ensure that I kept to the regime.

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A trinkets ban and a secret smoker (Rousse)

Posted on April 8, 2025 by Dreamaticus

Before I saw the table setting, I had already decided the colours of my mother-in-law’s bouquet: pale greens and yellows, with a splash of white. What a coincidence that SLHG had laid out green grapes on pale green Lalique glass … Continue reading →

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Cycling in the Pentland Hills (Rousse)

Posted on April 7, 2025 by Dreamaticus

I had stripped down to my underwear in the charity shop, but the staff couldn’t care less – presumably because I was their best customer. However, it was getting late, and at 9pm TPR was anxious that we might miss … Continue reading →

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