Tag Archives: Volvo

Curry versus keynote (Rousse)

There was barely half an hour before the opening keynote speech and I still hadn’t finished preparing the chicken curry that I had promised for dinner for day 2 of the conference. As soon as the sessions started, I would … Continue reading

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Highlights of the north east coast of the Isle of Skye (Rousse)

My mother’s Volvo was not a self-driving car, yet when the whole the family was crammed into the back seat, we treated it as such. I was terrified as we sped through the countryside at top speeds, praying that the … Continue reading

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Front half Volvo dumping (Rousse)

We shouldn’t have invited our posh friends round for drinks in our yard when pandemic restrictions were still in force. Ignoring all the rules, they decided to stay overnight inside our flat afterwards. In the morning I found a bunch … Continue reading

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The draw of Guatemala (Rousse)

The garden of my great-grandparents’ house was crammed with people I knew, from TPR’s sunbathing ex-colleagues to my board gaming PhD students. The latter group was my target. I promised them the full experience of the mess and quirkiness of … Continue reading

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Volvo shame (Rousse)

The silver Volvo was now our responsibility. TPR parked it haphazardly at the other end of our Edinburgh street, even though there were plenty of parking spaces right outside our flat. Was he ashamed of our vehicle, I wondered? I … Continue reading

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A flying dog and flat tyres (Rousse)

A small, yet overweight, black dog came flying through the air and knocked me to the ground. The dog’s owner looked up briefly in concern. However, of more interest to her was her silver Volvo. The car had just collapsed … Continue reading

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Driver and passenger walk free from overturned Volvo (Rousse)

Having successfully negotiated the main section of the journey to Edinburgh with my maternal grandmother in the smaller of my mother’s two silver Volvos, I lost concentration on a road that had been partially cordoned off, slammed into a traffic … Continue reading

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Motoring misdemeanours in a silver Volvo automatic (Rousse)

When I awoke I found myself at the wheel of my mother’s silver Volvo automatic heading downhill at top speed along a high-hedged, narrow country lane. I bounced across the roundabout at the bottom, lost a wheel, and landed the … Continue reading

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Breaking bad in Edinburgh (Rousse)

I finally gave into Jesse Pinkman’s pleading, picked up the silver automatic Volvo at Picardy Place, and accepted the stolen mobile phone. We would cook with Badger in an empty house off Pilrig Street. For the time being it was … Continue reading

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Jo Jo the poison pen email writer pushes stressed academic over the edge (Rousse)

I was in the habit of commuting by train to the headquarters of the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals in London. There I worked in the basement on an unending series of grant applications. From time to time … Continue reading

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