An award-winning Australian and pelicans (Rousse)

Posted on January 15, 2023 by Dreamaticus

On the bus back to the airport at the end of the conference, the organisers informed us that there would be an award for the most friendly delegate. From the looks on their faces, I guessed that everyone felt the same as me: (1) had we known that such a prize was on offer, we would have made more of an effort; (2) Australian academic MO was bound to win it.

In consolation, I gazed out of the bus window at beautiful low coastline of white sandy beaches and turquoise sea. The pelicans provided amusement as they dipped in and out of the water.

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Online games in bed (Rousse)

Posted on January 12, 2023 by Dreamaticus

My depiction of Iceland in our game on online charades was a hopeless failure. I had hoped that the others might have realised that my shuddering body represented a cold country.

I would have had more success if (a) my laptop camera were better positioned; (b) I didn’t play the game with the covers pulled tight over me in bed; and (c) I played ‘live’ rather than simply submitted screenshots of my performance.

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Stirrup hairdressing (Rousse)

Posted on January 11, 2023 by Dreamaticus

I sat at a make-shift hairdresser’s chair with my feet fixed in stirrups. A man attended to my hair, then a woman demanded £60 – for a simple dry trim. What a waste of money.

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Dealing with an extra last minute dinner guest (Rousse)

Posted on January 11, 2023 by Dreamaticus

We struggled to find L and EC’s bungalow as TPR led us in circles around the small estate. We were about to give up on our lunch date when we saw EC in the street hunting for us.

EC’s face dropped when she saw three of us. We had told a third party that OC was coming too, but this information had not been passed on.

‘I know that four ramekins are not easily split into five, but I have a small appetite’, I offered. EC smiled in acknowledgement. Everything would be alright.

As things turned out, there were seven of us at the dinner table. DJ and FB were the other two guests.

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Solo bikes, tandems, and trandems shelter from heavy Hebridean traffic (Rousse)

Posted on January 10, 2023 by Dreamaticus

The Isle of Harris was now such a popular holiday destination that hundreds of cars and camper vans surged through Tarbert and up into the hills whenever the CalMac ferry docked. The traffic was so heavy that all cyclists knew to step off the road and wait in the ditch whenever a new wave of vehicles hit the single track road.

On this occasion, I was at the top of the Clisham where many other cyclists had gathered. This gave me an opportunity to ask the age of a pair of elderly tandem riders, and admire a yellow, electric, trandem.

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Prince Harry’s sobs (Rousse)

Posted on January 9, 2023 by Dreamaticus

With hands held tight and fingers inter-meshed, the three of us hugged one another close so that Prince Harry could sob safely into our coats.

I started to pull away. ‘We’re almost at the Balmoral gate’, I whispered. ‘The press will be there. You’ll need to stop crying now.’

I felt ever so sorry for my princely friend.

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Secrets of a summer cycling trip (Rousse)

Posted on January 7, 2023 by Dreamaticus

A week in a dormitory on the converted Queen Margaret University campus was a very modest holiday for us, but fit the remit. Best of all, XX was there.

Although her ex-husband and two children were with her, XX was still up for telling us all about her summer cycling trip with her special ‘friend’.

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Lunch in Corbridge (Rousse)

Posted on January 5, 2023 by Dreamaticus

I set off to collect my cousin FA from the exam hall. I should have known that he would have left his desk long before the end of the allocated time to complete the paper. It took a while to work out where to find him and take him to my grandmother’s house in Corbridge.

On arrival, we headed directly upstairs. In her own bedroom, my grandmother was hosting a meeting with her three children: my mother, my aunt, and my uncle. Across the landing, my sister JMH was hosting a lunch party in one of the other bedrooms.

FA and I joined the lunch party. This turned out to be a terrible disappointment because (a) there was hardly enough bread to go around and (b) apart from the recently restored dining table, all the furniture in the room was extremely tatty.

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An unsupportive father (Rousse)

Posted on December 31, 2022 by Dreamaticus

My father’s joke that he and my mother were separating was in very bad taste given that TPR had just left me.

Perhaps he thought I had a chance of winning TPR back with the lumps of chocolate that I had left scattered about the house? When even JC resisted them, this seemed unlikely.

Then, after climbing the ladder to the upper floor, I found TPR lying in a makeshift bed next to my youngest sister. This dashed all my hopes for a reconciliation.

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A sticky PhD problem with orange Blu-Tack (Rousse)

Posted on December 29, 2022 by Dreamaticus

MS had obviously not considered the existing provision for PhD student training when he created his ‘new’ programme. He stuttered unconvincing excuses when I reminded him that we were only accredited for the programme that we delivered in 2020.

As I pulled open my desk drawer to extract the large sheet of flipchart paper that listed all the previous sessions inked out in green marker pen, he suggested that I take my ideas to DB and the others at the meeting across campus, starting now.

It took me 30 minutes to find the meeting room, by which time the others had left. I did, however, enjoy playing with a ball of bright orange Blu-Tack en route, and catching a glimpse of SC and TMcE in the café.

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