Tag Archives: maths

Maths for engineers (Rousse)

Although I considered it a complete waste of time, I politely ploughed my way through CT’s Maths for engineers workbook. I told her that my favourite problem concerned household energy efficiency, the solution to which was to close the nursery.

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Cool accommodation in Edinburgh (Rousse)

Our student accommodation was the best in Edinburgh. SL, ED and I shared a cool open-plan penthouse of pale wood and glass, with its own eight-person indoor jacuzzi bath. Everyone wanted to come and stay with us, including TPR and … Continue reading

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The Desert Island Discs theory of mathematics (Rousse)

For once ST seemed just as excited as me that we were meeting in my dreams again. As soon as JC dismissed herself from a three-way conversation about A level maths test results (she scored a mere 40%), I got … Continue reading

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Sympathy and ping pong (Rousse)

When XY broke down in tears in my room I realised that the only way to comfort him would be to invite him into my bed. Between sobs he listed many injustices others waged against his research projects, using this … Continue reading

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Quadratic equations fox faculty and first years (Rousse)

The bed creaked as the enormous dark-haired woman clambered over to my side. “Get off!” I demanded. “When TPR and I bought this big bed it was just for the two of us. You’re not welcome. I want to read … Continue reading

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Another Sunday in academia – with a hedgehog (Rousse)

If you have ever wondered how the typical academic spends a Sunday, the answer is straightforward: either at work, or thinking about work. This Sunday was no different from most others. TPR was entertaining himself elsewhere when I set off … Continue reading

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Gothic novel dramatisation set to be one of the best films of 2011 (Rousse)

The elder of the two middle-aged sisters stirred in the cramped brass bed then stuck her left foot out from under the flowered eiderdown with a groan. She awoke with a loud complaint about the state of spinsterhood in Victorian … Continue reading

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Boy racing and GCSE results (Rousse)

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

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Mastercard seagull scam, logarithms and triplets (Rousse)

The seagull swooped over our heads displaying its booty. I couldn’t believe it. How had the sandwich scavanger managed to steal someone’s Mastercard? At closer range I saw that the card was an A4 replica. It was just a fake … Continue reading

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Just an ordinary day walking the dog and calling in at the pub (Belle)

I was walking Norman Wisdom’s dogs. The local pub ran lunch-time sessions where you could sit maths tests at school desks and eat cheese.

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