Category Archives: Uncategorized

Retirement home regrets (Rousse)

We swapped our lovely, convenient city centre flat for a narrow terraced house in a former fishing village. The tiny settlement was squeezed onto a rocky outcrop facing directly west into waves of the Atlantic. Surrounded by holiday rentals crammed … Continue reading

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Boris Johnson’s card reader (Belle)

The gang and I were stuck in a traffic jam at an underpass. We all tumbled out of the van and I was astonished to see Boris Johnson had been hiding in the back. As we all stood on the … Continue reading

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Good times in a Toyota Yaris with Judi Dench (Belle)

It was a lovely evening and the park was illuminated by a bright moon. Dame Judi Dench entered the scene, acting as a Greek chorus. Embarrassingly she was announcing to anyone who would listen that I had just had sexy … Continue reading

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A £5 reward for a £50 hand-in (Rousse)

I saw the end of a red £50 note peeping out from beneath the cubicle door in the gym at Edinburgh’s Omni Centre. When I called to the person inside that she must have dropped it, she replied that it … Continue reading

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Boredom relieved by bore (Rousse)

My summer project was to swim all the rivers of Scotland from the sea to source. On a very hot day, I started with the River Forth. Other than a minor tidal bore which surged up the stream mid-afternoon, this … Continue reading

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A pantyless proposal review (Rousse)

XX’s research abysmal research proposal needed a lot of work. He hadn’t even articulated a research question. Instead, all he conveyed in the text was a broad interest in information behaviour and online shopping. I had dozens of questions. Whose … Continue reading

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Dinner, Duns, and editing dissertations (Rousse)

Four years later than anticipated, finally I was the guest of honour at a dinner to mark my retirement. Former colleagues and long-term friends joined the celebrations. The locals included MS and IH from work. From further afield came university … Continue reading

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Looking for LP Hartley’s house (Rousse)

TPR and my sister’s boyfriend CM managed to lift the shopping trolley over the back yard wall. I couldn’t scale it myself, so I went round to the front of the red-bricked terraced house in the hope that the owners … Continue reading

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In the deep end with Tony Soprano (Belle)

I was ‘swimming’ (hanging on to the side of a swimming pool) when I spotted a bathrobe-clad Tony Soprano walking towards me. He jumped in the pool and threatened me angrily, although I couldn’t understand what he was shouting. Later, … Continue reading

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Silent Sting spot in Scottish capital city (Rousse)

Elsewhere fans would have chased him for an autograph or selfie. Only here in Edinburgh could international celebrity Sting emerge from a modest basement restaurant dressed in jeans and a plain brown long-sleeved shirt, a child in each hand, in … Continue reading

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