Tag Archives: father

An unplanned journey to the Hebrides (Rousse)

Posted on March 13, 2012 by Dreamaticus

My father paid £19 each for all five of us to visit the castle and within minutes I had ruined everyone’s day. How was I to know that the bus was not a shuttle around the estate, but instead a … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged bathing costume, beach, beaches, bus, castle, coach, Dane, dressing gown, father, foreigners, Harris, Hebrides, house, houses, journey, Kyle of Lochalsh, Lewis, mobile, mother, phone, separation, shuttle, sister, sisters, swimming costume, swimsuit, tartan, tourist, tourists, towelling, worry | Leave a comment

Farmyard noises trump smoking as acceptable behaviour in public (Rousse)

Posted on February 8, 2012 by Dreamaticus

It was the day of my big performance. It didn’t go quite as anticipated. Granted, my father kept his promise not to heckle me. Instead he did much worse by interrupting the vote of thanks with farmyard noises. The speaker … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged behaviour, farm, farmyard, father, heckle, heckling, inaugural, lecture, noise, noises, performance, professorial, smoking, speaker, university, yard | 1 Comment

John Lewis suitcase switch and Tiffany diamond haul (Rousse)

Posted on December 3, 2011 by Dreamaticus

In a flashback to the heady days of dot.com boom TPR and I flew to South Africa for an all-expenses paid incentive holiday in Pretoria. I was looking forward to comparing the twenty-first century experience of corporate excess with that … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged 5 star, African, animals, baggage, cache, carry-on, cluprits, coach, computing, crown, culprit, diamond, documentation, dot.com, Facebook, family, father, fly, flying, forms, haul, head, holiday, hotel, immigration, incentive, iPad, iPhone, jewellery, John Lewis, Kindle airport, MacAir, medieval, Mills and Boon, PhD, resort, ring, rings, silver, South Africa, steal, stolen, suitcase, thieves, Tiffany, TPR, treasure, trove, Twitter, wildlife | Leave a comment

How to get to Paris by car (Rousse)

Posted on November 26, 2011 by Dreamaticus

I dyed my hair dark grey for KM’s parents’ golden wedding anniversary party. From a distance it looked like my head was armoured in a heavy steel helmet. Regretting my mistake, I couldn’t decide whether I should wait for this … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged anniversary, border, car, charm, death, documents, driving, dye, father, France, French, golden, haor, helmet, immigration, lane, lanes, officer, Paris, party, shipping, skinhead, tanker, tankers, TPR, wedding | Leave a comment

Macdonald clan secrets (Rousse)

Posted on September 13, 2011 by Dreamaticus

The Right Honourable Godfrey James Macdonald of Macdonald, 8th Lord Macdonald, Chief of the Name and Arms of Macdonald, High Chief of Clan Donald and 34th hereditary Chief of Clan Donald popped out to post a letter. Just ahead of … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Black Monday, brown, California, city, clan, crash, disguise, dye, father, genealogy, hair, hair dye, Hebrides, holiday, holidays, hotel, incognito, Isle of Skye, kid, KInloch Lodge, Lady Claire Macdonald, Lady Macdonald, Lancashire, leather, letter, lie, Lord Macdonald, lying, Macdonald, notebook, pink, post, Post Office, queue, Skye, stockbroker | Leave a comment

Compensation for lost luggage (Rousse)

Posted on September 4, 2011 by Dreamaticus

The first bag to go missing was a carry-on sized hard-shelled suitcase (metallic grey with purple trim). I’d left it in the care of the bus driver after he had dropped me off just outside the new premises of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged academic library, articles, bag, baggage, Barbour, bus, campus, carry-on, clothing, coat, company, compensation, consulting, contact lenses, drive, driver, Edinburgh, exam, exam paper, family, father, film, firm, glasses, grandfather, grandmother, grandpa, granny, humour, jacket, journal, library, London, lost, luggage, National Library of Scotland, pub, public library, rescue, rucksack, shelves, sleeves, stranger, suitcase, sympathy, tall, video | Leave a comment

Jordan heart attack scare (Rousse)

Posted on August 22, 2011 by Dreamaticus

Katie Price (aka Jordan) worked as a member of my house clearance swat team. On this day we faced our biggest challenge yet: a secret mission to my parents’ house where we would sort out all their belongings. The actual … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged declutter, decluttering, father, heart attack, house clearance, Jordan, Katie Price, mission, swat | Leave a comment

Boy racing and GCSE results (Rousse)

Posted on August 3, 2011 by Dreamaticus

It difficult to tell what was the more shocking: (a) my colleague PC terrifying my Volvo-driving parents by goading my father to race his souped-up Subaru around a supermarket car park in Peebles, or (b) my nephew’s one and only … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged car, car park, colleague, driving, father, GCSE, maths, nephew, parents, Peebles, result, sister, subaru, Volvo | Leave a comment

A late resolution to train for the Olympics at London 2012 (Rousse)

Posted on March 29, 2011 by Dreamaticus

It felt like a University of Birmingham reunion. In reality we were gathered together to celebrate the birthday of the youngest person in our year. HW (now HJ) was finally 40. Everyone was there for the party: Spotted for the … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged 40th birthday, birthday, blonde, boat, brunette, car, claim forms, clothes, expenses, father, forms, London, London 2012, mice, money, mouse, narrow boat, office, Olympics, party, poison, rat, rats, shoes, steal, stolen, suitcase, thief, TPR, University of Birmingham, workmen | Leave a comment

From Joan Armatrading discussions in Windermere to abandoned babies (Rousse)

Posted on March 13, 2011 by Dreamaticus

Funny fragments: Travelling in the back of the car along the shores of Lake Windermere listening to the two butch women in the front arguing about Joan Armatrading, and working out how to persuade them to get back onto the … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged adoption, babies, car, driving, Eaglescliffe, Edinburgh, father, Hartburn, Joan Armatrading, Lake District, Lake Windermere, M6, mother, sister, Teesside High School | Leave a comment