Category Archives: Uncategorized

Bose headphones rescued in Montreal (Rousse)

Posted on January 14, 2012 by Dreamaticus

All eyes turned on me as I followed my Canadian cousin TT up to the back of the lecture hall. They must have all been wondering what he was doing in class with an old fogey like me. He was, … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged attack, attacked, attacker, bodyguard, Bose, Canada, Canadian, class, cousin, fogey, hall, headphone, headphones, lecture, lectures, Montreal, muscles, muscular, old, plan, podium, rescue, rucksack, street, tall, theatre, tramp, visit | Leave a comment

An alternative use for Stilton cheese (Rousse)

Posted on January 14, 2012 by Dreamaticus

Obedient as ever, I packed some blue-veined cheese to take on holiday. This was at the request of the young hotel proprietor. I assumed that local supplies of Stilton had run out and that my purchase would revive the cheeseboard … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged alternative, authentic, blue veined, blue-vein, board, business, cheese, cheeseboard, corpse, corpses, dead, death, dinner, diversification, funeral, holiday, lump, lumps, parlour, proposition, proprietor, rot, rotten, services, smell, strategy, supplies, supply, use, uses | Leave a comment

An intruder, a storm, and the terrible after-effects of tree resin rain (Rousse)

Posted on January 13, 2012 by Dreamaticus

There’d been a number of break-ins at our flat over recent weeks, none of which had triggered our burglar alarm. We were sure, however, that it was just matter of time before we would walk in on the culprit(s). When … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged acoustic, after-effects, alarm, alternative, arrest, bell, black, bouquet, box, boxes, break-in, burglar, caramel, celebrate, celebration, chocolate, chocolates, coffee, conversation, culprit, cushion, cushions, damage, door, flat, flower, flowers, fly, flying, friend, friendship, garden, gardens, ground, guitar, gym, hall, headlice, house, houses, identity, intruder, kettle, kitchen, lice, lifestyle, loss, memory, mother-in-law, mystery, neighbour, neighbours, paralysed, paralysis, peanut, peanuts, police, policeman, prison, rescue, resin, Russian, sitting room, sky, sofa, stiff, storm, stranger, tea, TPR, training, tree, weather, wind, windy, woman, work | Leave a comment

Rousse’s accidental art and antiquarian book investments

Posted on January 12, 2012 by Dreamaticus

Now that we’d had the charcoal drawing framed it was time to get it valued. We also wondered if the two shabby books that the artist had given us were worth anything. While we waited our turn to be served … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged accident, accidental, antiquarian, antique, antiques, art, artist, auction, book, books, canvas, charcoal, collection, drawing, dumpy, fine, frame, framed, gift, invest, investment, masterpiece, masterpieces, picture, present, rare, room, show, showroom, trip, valuable, valuation, value, valued, wall, walls | Leave a comment

Deadly and expensive, but ever so cool: Rousse debates smoking with an addict

Posted on January 11, 2012 by Dreamaticus

I didn’t believe JG when he said that he would give up smoking for our Caribbean holiday. A victim of peer pressure in Strasbourg (so it appeared to me, at least), he’d been addicted to the deadly habit since 1984. … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged 1984, Caribbean, cigarette, cigarettes, cool, cost, dead, deadly, death, expense, expensive, health, holiday, kill, peer, peer pressure, pressure, smoking, Strasbourg | Leave a comment

Ambridge sensation: Pat Archer is “happy” (Rousse)

Posted on January 11, 2012 by Dreamaticus

The months of misery were over and my friend Pat Archer was finally smiling again. “It’s only been on the market for a week, and with the Christmas holiday coming up I knew it wouldn’t sell straightaway, but I’m optimistic … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Ambridge, Archers, bridge, Bridge Farm, Christmas, farm, happy, holiday, house, husband, market, misery, Pat Archer, sale, selling, Tony Archer | Leave a comment

Rousse bakes mini lemon meringue pies while her husband holds court in the bath

Posted on January 10, 2012 by Dreamaticus

My first problem was that I had to choose between three competing commitments all taking place on the same night. My second was that I had promised my boss that I would attend one of them. However, I now had … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged bath, boss, colleague, colleagues, commitment, commitments, computing, dead, death, dinner, Edinburgh, elite, flat, fridge, industry, kill, lemon, meringue, network, pie, pies, priority, Scotland, Scottish, TPR, visitors, work | Leave a comment

The world’s most expensive lump of yeast (Rousse)

Posted on January 10, 2012 by Dreamaticus

Belle and I had a desperate need for live yeast. Convinced that we’d find some in one of the breweries off Dalry Road, we set off from my flat in two separate taxis. I climbed into the one that had … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged agent, airport, allergies, allergy, apron, bag, bankruptcy, biscuit, BM256, boy, boyfriend, breadmaker, break, break maker, breweries, brewery, business, cake, car, chocolate, Dalry Road, digestive, display, driving, Edinburgh, expensive, flat, food, grey-haired, handbag, Kenwood, leavening, Leith, live, loaf, make, making, man, mobile, paper, phone, recipe, rice, rice cake, shy, taxi, taxis, telephone, TPR, trip, US, wheel, wholemeal, yeast | Leave a comment

Britpop and a transvestite boyfriend (Belle)

Posted on January 9, 2012 by Dreamaticus

In the middle of a power cut, in which south east London was plunged into total darkness, I played chicken with the local girl gangs. No matter how many times I ran up to them and tweaked their noses, they … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged bathroom, Blur, boyfriend, Britpop, cheerleader, girl gang, mini-skirt, Oasis, power cut, transvestite | Leave a comment

How to improve your REF 2014 ranking (Rousse)

Posted on January 9, 2012 by Dreamaticus

Once again, at the airport I bumped into someone I hadn’t seen for ages. This time it was MH. Our last encounter had been over quarter of a century ago on the campus of the University of Birmingham. We spent … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged airport, Birmingham, Birmingham University, Blackberry, broken, cell, degree, degrees, documentation, friend, inoperable, iPhone, Isle of Man, Masters, meeting, mobile, phone, ranking, rating, REF, REF 2014, school, student, students, submission, submissions, teacher, teachers, undergraduate, undergraduates, university, University of Birmingham | Leave a comment