A spiked drink victim (Rousse)

TPR was very unhappy with our new life in London. I tried to sell it to him by showing him the sights at weekends, but he was not to be converted.

Walking through Kensington one day, TPR quickened his pace. I could no longer keep up with him, and the physical distance that grew between us mirrored the state of our relationship. When I was further delayed by the need to find a bin in which to deposit an empty Coke bottle, we lost sight of one another. I sat on the steps of the Albert Hall and wept.

A small woman approached me and forced a clear plastic cup of luminous blue liquid into my hand. ‘Drink this’, she said. ‘It will make you feel better’.

There was no way that I would take a spiked drink from a stranger. However, when the woman told me that consumption of the cup’s contents would restore my fitness and win me a new gym membership, I was persuaded to change my mind.

The first drink went down well. Feeling much happier, I stood up and set off to find TPR again.

Then I drank a second cup of liquid. This was a terrible mistake. I was transported to a long, narrow, enclosed corridor. I ran along it as fast as I could, pushing open fire-doors along the way. I called out TPR’s name in a desperate plea for rescue, but to no avail. I was stuck here, forever, on my own.

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Time travelling drones (Belle)

Now that drones and time travel were so cheap, TV programming had been revolutionised.  The latest BBC hit was a programme in which a drone had been attached to a Victorian parlour-maid’s apron and the nation was transfixed by first hand experience of non-stop drudgery.

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Best tutor regrets election result (Rousse)

Lucky me! The second year students had voted me ‘best tutor’ so now I was obliged to see them every Tuesday. Someone had even posted the voting papers to my office door (back on the D corridor) just in case anybody doubted the outcome of the ballot.

Coming first in a popularity contest was the last thing I needed, especially since this generated even more work. I still had 400 emails to plough through before I could settle down to any worthwhile tasks.

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A perfect Hobbit home (Rousse)

So much for AG living in India! We found him happily ensconced in a Hobbit-home constructed of bare stone held up by wooden beams. It was beautiful, but there was only room for one person here. Where would SG stay when she came to visit her husband?

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Rogue primary school teacher gives up ‘research fellow’ disguise (Rousse)

My immediate thought on waking in my office was whether or not I had any clothes to change into from my red fleece pyjamas. What I thought was a pair of black and white spotted knickers on a bookshelf turned out to be an old pair of navy blue leggings. Once I had managed to squeeze into them, it felt ‘safe’ to go out into the corridor to find out what my colleagues were up to.

All was as one might expect: RK was wandering up and down chatting to his buddies; ED had taken roost in BB’s room where she was marking up the draft of a PhD thesis; and a younger, smaller OP popped into a colleague’s room for a tutorial.

The only surprise was to find a primary school teacher sitting at a desk in the PhD students’ room. Since when had she been working in my group? As I approached her she announced that she had something to tell me in private. This was true. She had some explaining to do.

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Saved by the South Uist Sheepdog Trials (Rousse)

We were honoured to be allowed to observe the archaeological dig. Afterwards the young man in charge asked if he could commandeer our tandem to ride a little further north to another site. We said that this would be fine, and that I would accompany him.

I found it very difficult to cycle with a complete tandem novice. At one point we travelled backwards along the single track road, then crashed into a swarm of lycra-clad Sunday racers.

I was relieved when my companion spotted activity in a nearby field. The day would be saved by the South Uist Sheepdog Trials.

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The price of popularity at Newcastle University (Rousse)

I held offers from both Durham and Newcastle Universities. I went for Newcastle in the end. The academic staff at Durham were just a little too stuffy for my liking.

Many other students also preferred Newcastle – so much so that there was an accommodation crisis. One night in my first week I left my hall of residence room empty. Overnight an enterprising young undergraduate moved in. It took some effort to eject him from my bed the following morning.

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Notes on a G-string (Rousse)

While my father fretted over whether or not soup would be served at the pre-wedding breakfast the night before my cousin’s wedding in Somerset, I hunted in desperation for clean underwear.

My sister and HJ unearthed an over-complicated G-string. Aghast at the confusing mesh of pink straps and ribbons, it felt like they had asked me to try on an octopus.

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A disappointing trip to Africa with Thomson (Rousse)

A Thomson Holidays trip to North Africa was as miserable as I feared. The hotel dining room was the biggest disappointment. It was as drab as a student refectory, and at mealtimes you were obliged to share your dinner table with complete strangers. I would be having words with TPR about our ‘reduced circumstances’.

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Finns support childcare specialist spread the news in Northumberland (Rousse)

KA passed around a set of printed cards. ‘I very much hope you can come along to my talk on childcare at the Queen’s Hall, Hexham’ she said. ‘It’s sponsored by the University of Kent and Åbo Akademi, Finland’.

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