Tag Archives: Christmas

Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell and the strange shoe switch (Rousse)

TPR and I were staying temporarily in a small rented apartment along with DTJ and her toddler son JJ, who slept in a curtained off area at the far end of the sitting room. On a day when I should … Continue reading

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Just another divorce day casualty (Rousse)

TPR spent Christmas in the far north of the Shetland Islands, miles away from me and the rest of the family. The evidence was there a parish magazine: a photograph of TPR seated next to a vicar at Christmas dinner … Continue reading

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A white Christmas in Edinburgh (Rousse)

We spent the afternoon watching old films on television in the sitting room. Fortunately nobody sat on the green-threaded needles that KT found at my end of the sofa. Then, when we saw that snow had fallen late in the … Continue reading

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University cuts pay bill by cutting academic hours by a third (Rousse)

When JK hacked into RK’s email account he found over 5000 confidential messages exchanged between university admin staff on the subject of academic pay. The Principal had had a hard choice to make in respect of financial savings. To avoid … Continue reading

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A Christmas party and a visit to Dream (Rousse)

The cost of signing up for the departmental Christmas party was so great that only twelve people turned up for the celebration. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the company of JB, BD and FR at my table – even though BD made … Continue reading

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Why bother with home-made Christmas cards? (Rousse)

EH sat at the far end of the sofa, watching me as I cut out shapes from unused Christmas cards to make some cards of my own. ‘What is the point of doing that?’ she asked. ‘I like to make … Continue reading

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Malnourished student rescued from cold classroom (Rousse)

I found D naked on all fours in the cold classroom where he he had taken refuge before Christmas. He looked terrible. His long hair had matted into dreadlocks, and he was dangerously thin having not eaten for about six … Continue reading

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Christmas cake complications (Rousse)

It was meant to be a simple lunch at my parents’ house, but the complications began as soon as I invited the others to the table. First I noticed that my former colleague AT failed to turn up. Then the … Continue reading

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Christmas present opening preparations (Rousse)

PB was teaching me how to use the Internet effectively when a message box popped up on the screen to announce that my sister was online. ‘But it’s only 08:30am!’ I protested. ‘Why is she awake so early?’ When I … Continue reading

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Christmas travel arrangements (Rousse)

Homeless, we were shackled up at my parents’ house for Christmas. One bonus, however, was that we did rather well for Christmas presents. Amongst my haul were two new sets of pyjamas, one of which was red and fleecy and … Continue reading

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