Category Archives: Uncategorized

How not to stalk stoat (Rousse)

I was stalking stoat in the long grass until an idiotic woman chased my prey away by opening a cupboard loudly.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A low-level flight over Lindisfarne and the Hebrides (Rousse)

In a tiny plane the seven of us flew over the island of Lindisfarne, then the white sand beaches of a deserted isle of the Inner Hebrides. Our pilot took great pleasure in skimming the waves with the aircraft’s wheels. … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Belle the librarian serves Rousse the criminal (Rousse)

It was a tough route up the concrete staircase in the cold to the main library of Birmingham City University, but so worth the struggle to be greeted by squeals of joy from Belle, on duty at the main enquiry … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Human horse travels uncomfortably across the Atlantic (Rousse)

Normally a seat in the second row on a transatlantic flight would mean plenty of leg room – perhaps even a bed – but not on this service. I was sitting directly behind a mother and a baby, both of … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Anti-terrorism procedures at the Shard (Rousse)

The restaurant at the top of the Shard was the venue for the wee reunion of some of my best friends from University: SPC (looking great and talking about her recent encounter with David Lodge), HW, JG and RA. CP … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

An unreasonable demand for £250,000 (Rousse)

BEX was at it again. This time he was threatening the Director of Finance with leaking stories to the press unless he handed over the £250,000 that ‘belonged’ to him.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

How to progress your career (Rousse)

It was the Professional Development Review season at work. My reviewer was PN, an ancient octogenarian former librarian who was still drawing her salary. I wasn’t terribly impressed with my reviewer’s performance. Her only advice to me in respect of … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A winning sausage conference submission, with citation indexes (Rousse)

EH and I felt obliged to attend the University research conference, even though much of the content was of little interest to us. On our arrival we could tell that many of our colleagues had ignored the event. This was … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The PhD cheat (Rousse)

‘Why have you recently made so much progress on writing up your PhD?’ barked the professor at the cowering student, as if this was a terrible crime. The student looked at me from across the table, and I turned to … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Rousse supports Manchester City (Belle)

I was on a coach trip to the Manchester football derby. There were impressive fan facilities and a jumble sale. My friend found a lovely cream and orange sweater on a stall and ran over to me. I was amazed … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment