Tag Archives: defence

In defence of the ‘Nonsense Norwegian’ (Rousse)

The residential staff retreat was a dreary affair. As I stood in a queue waiting for my turn to take part in the next ‘exciting’ activity – charity shop shopping – my mother-in-law lifted my woollen jumper to check that … Continue reading

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Queen’s safety comprised by ‘sleepover break-in’ at Grey Gables (Rousse)

We were all invited to Grey Gables for New Year’s Eve so I didn’t think it would make much difference if we arrived a day early. Surely Peggy Woolley wouldn’t mind? We walked past the gardeners who were planting up … Continue reading

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A poor choice of PhD examiner (Rousse)

The second external examiner was a tall, blonde, bitchy New Zealander who arrived very late and immediately laid into the bewildered candidate. This was not going to be an easy PhD viva.

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Dressing up for the doctoral defence (Rousse)

Each time that I attended a doctoral defence in a Nordic country I was impressed by the trouble that my hosts took to look their best on a student’s big day. On this occasion GW wore a spangled cream and … Continue reading

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Graffiti vandal cites Linnaeus’ Species Plantarum (1753) as defence (Rousse)

The back hallway looked so much smarter after TPR painted the walls pale green. A further improvement was the list of garden tasks that I wrote up in blue felt pen on a patch of wall to the right of … Continue reading

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