Tag Archives: council

Bare-chested business (Rousse)

Posted on January 20, 2016 by Dreamaticus

I’d dressed in such a rush that I had accidentally ended up in a shirt that did not match the rest of my outfit. I’d also forgotten to put on my bra. I could not possibly make an appearance in … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged bare, bra, business, clothing, code, colleague, council, department, dress, escalstor, lost, lunch, Marks and Spencer, match, meeting, naked, navigate, network, nude, outdoor, polite, research, semi-naked, shirt, shoe, shoes, shop, store | Leave a comment

Toronto school reunion disco (Rousse)

Posted on July 24, 2015 by Dreamaticus

Toronto was not the obvious place for a school reunion, and the mix of people at the party was most peculiar. I saw JD, but where was JT, for example? And what were AB and HS doing there? NP was … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged cellar. cellars, children, cities, clientele, council, dance, dancefoor, deprived, disco, gym, inner, music, party, reunion, school, tempt, Toronto, worker | Leave a comment

Tibetan monks in icy ponds, packs of dogs on snowfields, and a wrong turn to the Blairgowrie 10k (Rousse)

Posted on November 8, 2014 by Dreamaticus

NP, DT, WB and I were all running in the Blairgowrie 10K. We were supported by TPR, JM, SF, my parents and C the cocker spaniel. We drove up the A9 in separate cars. I was in the back seat … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged 10k, admit, BBC, Blairgowrie, broadcast, car, cocker, council, destination, dogs, drive, estate, highland, ice, journey, line, lost, mistake, monks, mountains, outskirts, packs, parents, participate, play, ponds, race, Radio 4, run, seat, signal, snow, snowfields, spaniel, starting, Stilo, Tibetan, turn, turning, visit, wrong | Leave a comment

Strathpeffer: highland holiday destination (Rousse)

Posted on November 1, 2014 by Dreamaticus

My mission was to restore Strathpeffer to the glory of its Victorian status of sought-after spa town and top holiday resort. Braving the midges I set off along the river to the ornate former railway station, which I heard had … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged activity, buidling. bodies, chairs, council, destination, dining, disabled, drown, food, glory, highland, holiday, lukewarm, midges, ornate, railway, restaurant, river, riverside, room, signage, silence, spa, station, Strathpeffer, swimmers, therapy, town, Victorian, walk, walks, water, worker | Leave a comment

A research council prawn and shrimp feast in Hawaii (Rousse)

Posted on April 28, 2014 by Dreamaticus

Were the UK research councils awash with money? All the evidence pointed to this: how else could they afford to host a conference in Hawaii? I just wished that there was more time between sessions to change into my gown … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged colleagues, conference, council, dinner, evidence, feast, gown, Hawaii, menu, money, prawn, programme, research, shrimp | Leave a comment

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 … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged afternoon, afternoons, American, beige, birthday, box, cardigan, cashmere, close, colleague, colleagues, council, councils, Friday, funding, lady, office, pairs, pink, present, presents, shoes, sleeveless, university | Leave a comment

Rousse hunts for food after a cold night in the research council committee car

Posted on September 21, 2012 by Dreamaticus

The venue for the research council meeting was a tiny battered car on Annandale Street. I was squashed in behind the front passenger’s seat listening to academics pontificating about anything but research. For example, one shared his obsession for staging … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged academics, Annandale Street, bathroom, bathrooms, boy, car, castle, clothes, cold, colleague, committee, council, dressing gown, drive, driving, esplanade, food, German, grey-haired, hungry, husband, laundered, laundress, laundry, Leith Walk, meeting, pain au chocolat, pantomime, passenger, research, seat, servant, shop, shopping, shops, sleep, toiletries, venue, woman | Leave a comment

Man falls to death from medieval tower: “lost” handbag takes the blame (Rousse)

Posted on December 29, 2011 by Dreamaticus

I found my new Joey D handbag again where I’d left it: sitting in the corner of the lift. It must have been travelling up and down the floors for hours, yet it appeared untouched. I pulled the zip to … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged apron, art, babies, baby, bank, batter, birth control, Blackberry, busker, candle, candles, card, cards, cash, cashpoint, children, church, city, contraception, cooking, Corstorphine, council, death, die, drop, dying, Edinburgh, fiver, fivers, friend, gym, handbag, Indian, installation, iPhone, Joey D, kids, kitchen, lift, lost, mat., mats, medieval, money, Murrayfield, Newcastle, niece, Omni Centre, phone, prawn, prawns, purse, recipe, riot, sling, staircase, step, steps, stranger, tenner, tenners, tower, train, trains, Virgin Active, visit, wasteland, wax, weekend, wick, wicks, wife, window, wreckage, zip | Leave a comment

Rousse’s mistaken hot property purchase

Posted on December 9, 2011 by Dreamaticus

I was looking forward to moving house. We were going back to the north east of England to be within a one hour drive of my parents. It would be wonderful to be surrounded by friendly northerners again. TPR left … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged bar, beating, buckle, children, council, door, fields, flat, floor, floors, friend, friendly, garden, hospital, house, job, kids, lady mad, mistake, neighbour, neighbours, north east, northerner, northerners, parent, parents, patent leather, playing field, property, purchase, real estate, rota, running, school, shoe, smoker, smokers, smoking, student, students, TPR, York | Leave a comment

Elizabeth Taylor’s multiple husbands not unique (Rousse)

Posted on March 24, 2011 by Dreamaticus

Counting Richard Burton twice, Elizabeth Taylor had eight husbands – and so did I! By some miracle there were eight TPRs in the house. This was extremely handy, albeit a bit of a squash at bedtime. One day as I … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged bin, booties, clutter, council, Edinburgh, Edinburgh City Council, Elizabeth Taylor, Leith Street, mice, mouse, North Bridge, rescue, Richard Burton, toddler, TPR, Tupperware | Leave a comment