Friday afternoons in academia (Rousse)

Posted on July 30, 2013 by Dreamaticus

If the funding councils knew how we spent our Friday afternoons, they would probably close us down immediately.

A selection of my favourite colleagues – including MR, AM (normally resident at another university), JLW (not an academic) and an American lady with a penchant for long, sleeveless cashmere cardigans in beige – sat at a table watching the American lady’s pal Noelle open several enormous pink paper wrapped boxes of birthday presents.

Meanwhile I rooted through a box of shoes and pulled out four pairs of my own to take back to my office.

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Sir Winston Churchill’s Westminster memorial statue signer (Rousse)

Posted on July 29, 2013 by Dreamaticus

When they started arguing over a new name for the professional body, I knew it was time to leave.

I headed straight to Westminster Abbey where a memorial service for Sir Winston Churchill was underway. I was shocked that so few people were in attendance, and that some were speaking loudly to one another as the minister gave the eulogy.

Perhaps this was why they needed someone signing at the front, standing on top of the tomb dressed as a living sandstone statue of the deceased war hero and prime minister?

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Family fun outdoors (Rousse)

Posted on July 29, 2013 by Dreamaticus

I rode with my family in an open train carriage across the wide salmon river. It had been an eventful day:

  • my middle sister had taken my little sister to the hospital for an operation that she claimed to have “enjoyed”;
  • I’d been out playing in a silver taffeta full-length split skirt and stay-up stockings;
  • Granny H had died – coincidentally just a day before Auntie S’s funeral.

Now we were on our way to a canyon into which my mother and little sister leapt – without first checking the water level.

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Manners maketh man (Rousse)

Posted on July 28, 2013 by Dreamaticus

I grabbed the child. If her mother was not going to teach her any manners, I would. She answered back “You sound just like FM. I’m not going to change.” “In that case you’ll end up an obnoxious, uncouth lump – just like your mother” I said (silently, to myself).

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Cat run (Rousse)

Posted on July 27, 2013 by Dreamaticus

The new running route had been devised by a bunch of cats. MSB and I agreed to investigate.

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Tigers disrupt domestic routine (Rousse)

Posted on July 26, 2013 by Dreamaticus

Twice in two days I popped out of the house, across the road, through the field, and down to the wood to fetch a couple of empty suitcases.

The first time I scattered a crowd of rabbits ahead of me, spied three foxes dancing in the distance, and ran into a couple of deer in the shadow of the trees.

The second time two enormous tigers ambushed me before I reached the suitcases, then chased me all the way back home again.

“We really must do something about the wildlife in our garden”, I commented to TPR.

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A toxic table guest (Rousse)

Posted on July 26, 2013 by Dreamaticus

Not only was the SEB back in town, but had negotiated an introduction to EH and found a spare seat at our table. I had no way of communicating to EH who this seemingly charming individual really was. Instead I was forced to listen to the SEB make unkind remarks about my real friends. They were now giving me a wide berth, aghast that it appeared that I had welcomed this appalling person back into our midst. It was essential that I remove EH from this toxic environment and explain to her just who this supposed “good friend” really was.

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New Zealand miracle hair regrowth (Rousse)

Posted on July 25, 2013 by Dreamaticus

While TPR tried on a pair of pink and orange flip-flops, the rest of us admired my cousin S’s red pigtails. How astonishing that S’s hair grew back the moment that he and fiancée L opened up a shoe shop in New Zealand.

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Hot pants hottie goes cruising (Belle)

Posted on July 23, 2013 by Dreamaticus

After what seemed an interminable bus journey (Croydon via Merseyside was quite a diversion), I eventually arrived port-side.  My handsome and mysterious companion took my hand and we went up the gangplank.

We went further down into the ship.  Everyone around us was wearing whites – these were the staff quarters and I was here to work my way around the world. 

I was nervous, but excited.  How would I ever find my way around this enormous space?  But I had no time to worry.  Catching a glimpse of myself in a full-length mirror, I stopped.  I looked completely amazing. 

Teeny-tiny pink gingham hot pants and a pair of Dr Martens had never looked so good on anyone.  

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Tossed stone is cause of Aberdeen train tragedy (Rousse)

Posted on July 23, 2013 by Dreamaticus

It was a very long walk to Aberdeen, and well after 4pm when we reached the city centre.

Our first stop was the railway station. The people waiting on the platform watched a bunch of workers busily repairing the track. A bored child tossed a stone on to the line.

Moments later a train pulled into the station. The workers jumped clear, but the stone still lay in the train’s path. The train hit the stone, swerved violently, then fell sideways onto the crowded platform with an enormous crash.

Many were killed in the crush. One woman – a tall blonde doctor in her thirties who was at the scene at the time of the accident – lost three of her four children. Only her toddler survived.

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