current music - 'Exodus' by Bob Marley & The Wailers
current mood - chuffed (internet been back for 8 hours!)
Just thought I'd let you see it here first - my new groovy hair do - or lack of it.
Sunday, November 12, 2006
#92 on how many bottles do you take to the shower
current music - 'Exodus' by Bob Marley & The Wailers
current mood - chuffed (internet been back for 8 hours!)
Just thought I'd let you see it here first - my new groovy hair do - or lack of it.
#91 on where the hell I've been
current music - 'Exodus' by Bob Marley & The Wailers
current mood - relief (for I have finally got an internet connection at home)
Now the more observant of you, my dear bloglings, will have noticed that I have note blogged since the last day of August; on that day I reported losing my internet connection and it is only today, the 12 November FFS, that I have finally be reconnected.
So expect many a post in the days ahead where the pointless banality of suburban life will be exposed for all it is and celebrated for all it is.
I've missed blogging and watching your blogs. I'll be in touch soon.
current mood - relief (for I have finally got an internet connection at home)
Now the more observant of you, my dear bloglings, will have noticed that I have note blogged since the last day of August; on that day I reported losing my internet connection and it is only today, the 12 November FFS, that I have finally be reconnected.
So expect many a post in the days ahead where the pointless banality of suburban life will be exposed for all it is and celebrated for all it is.
I've missed blogging and watching your blogs. I'll be in touch soon.
Thursday, August 31, 2006
#90 on wanting to blog
Current mood - nervous excitement
Current music - none
Am currently sitting in the staffroom of my new school typing this entry as I have no internet connection at home. It would appear as though my ISP have entered into a dispute with BT leaving the bills unpaid and me (and my mum and aunt who went with the same company on my recommendation) without internet access.
Never mind.
So I'm just about recovered from Greenbelt - my tummy is still a little churny but I've caught up with my sleep and have the fond memories to keep me company when I'm daydreaming. Among the most fond are hearing A sing with the sublime Steve as part of a beautiful triple bill with Julie McKee and Juliet Turner. A master stroke of planning and organisation in my opinion.
It was also fantastic to introduce Jude Simpson who, quite frankly, was on possibly the best form I have ever seen. Her poetry was delivered with exquisite timing and the in between banter played to the crowd magically. A treat to have been there.
I didn't catch much of the music programme but Weapons of Sound stand out as my most enjoyable musical experience. Being able to get right to the front of mainstage with two small children in complete safety was magic. I'm going to try and book a workshop for school.
I'm also going to try and get the mobile farm to come to school as well. That'll be a hoot.
So I sit here in anticipation waiting for my new job to kick in first with staff on Monday and then with kiddiwinks on Tuesday. I can't help but feeling homesick for my old job and I know there are friends who'll be going back there who'll miss me - heaven knows I'm going to miss them too but I have to say that there were some things about the way that school was being managed that made it impossible for me to stay and advance my career. I'm sad but not bitter. Put bluntly I'm putting more energy into the new challenges ahead of me than on the frustrations of the past.
So don't expect too many posts for the time being. i'll do what I can and let you know of prgress. By the way if Euro1net do fold, who would make a good replacement?
Current music - none
Am currently sitting in the staffroom of my new school typing this entry as I have no internet connection at home. It would appear as though my ISP have entered into a dispute with BT leaving the bills unpaid and me (and my mum and aunt who went with the same company on my recommendation) without internet access.
Never mind.
So I'm just about recovered from Greenbelt - my tummy is still a little churny but I've caught up with my sleep and have the fond memories to keep me company when I'm daydreaming. Among the most fond are hearing A sing with the sublime Steve as part of a beautiful triple bill with Julie McKee and Juliet Turner. A master stroke of planning and organisation in my opinion.
It was also fantastic to introduce Jude Simpson who, quite frankly, was on possibly the best form I have ever seen. Her poetry was delivered with exquisite timing and the in between banter played to the crowd magically. A treat to have been there.
I didn't catch much of the music programme but Weapons of Sound stand out as my most enjoyable musical experience. Being able to get right to the front of mainstage with two small children in complete safety was magic. I'm going to try and book a workshop for school.
I'm also going to try and get the mobile farm to come to school as well. That'll be a hoot.
So I sit here in anticipation waiting for my new job to kick in first with staff on Monday and then with kiddiwinks on Tuesday. I can't help but feeling homesick for my old job and I know there are friends who'll be going back there who'll miss me - heaven knows I'm going to miss them too but I have to say that there were some things about the way that school was being managed that made it impossible for me to stay and advance my career. I'm sad but not bitter. Put bluntly I'm putting more energy into the new challenges ahead of me than on the frustrations of the past.
So don't expect too many posts for the time being. i'll do what I can and let you know of prgress. By the way if Euro1net do fold, who would make a good replacement?
Friday, August 18, 2006
#89 on a fiendish and addictive game
current music - none (been listening to Big Brother in the other room)
current mood - frustrated (read on...)
So i get to the end of a successful day. Met an old friend and all our kids played together well. Wrote a whole bunch of Greenbelt emails that should hopefully wrap things up. (Like that's going to happen). The current toal of emails in my Greenbelt box is 879, more than last year. Phew.
So anyway, i've finished my emails. I've seen Pete win Big Brother. (I feel quite good about that and I'm looking to see how the mass media try to put a handle on him.) And now i sit down do play my current time waster - Hapland! Now let's be clear - this game is a bastard and what makes it worse is I know there are walkthrough guides available that will show me how to rescue those little stick men.
So why not click the link and give it a go. I guarantee that once started you will not be able to leave it alone.
current mood - frustrated (read on...)
So i get to the end of a successful day. Met an old friend and all our kids played together well. Wrote a whole bunch of Greenbelt emails that should hopefully wrap things up. (Like that's going to happen). The current toal of emails in my Greenbelt box is 879, more than last year. Phew.
So anyway, i've finished my emails. I've seen Pete win Big Brother. (I feel quite good about that and I'm looking to see how the mass media try to put a handle on him.) And now i sit down do play my current time waster - Hapland! Now let's be clear - this game is a bastard and what makes it worse is I know there are walkthrough guides available that will show me how to rescue those little stick men.
So why not click the link and give it a go. I guarantee that once started you will not be able to leave it alone.
Thursday, August 17, 2006
#88 on A level results and electricians
current music - 'Tubular Bells' by Mike Oldfield
current mood - frustrated (I am really getting into Linux but by golly it's a bugger to configure)
So we are greeted with the news today that most of the kids who stayed on for A levels have passed them and yet again the same old same old debate kicks off again - are they getting easier or are the kids getting smarter etc.
Rant number one is at non-lives who ring into radio chat shows and say 'well i did my A levels in 1962 and they were bloody hard then and only 3 people in the country who passed and we lived in a cardboard box and we had to lick it clean every morining and then work 25 hours a day down pit...' and so on and so on. Yeah A levels have changed and rightfully so in my view. Quite frankly anyone who, in my day, could cram two years work into their head and come up with the answers for a three hour exam was either lucky or slightly freakish.
Having said that I think the pendulum has swung a bit too far. Didn't the examining boards suspect that by allowing the pupils to do coursework at home, some over anxious parents might help (FFS). And I'm not talking about getting mum to colour in the bars on the graphs. In this age of communication when one pupil has worked it out (or got their uncle with a degree in physics to work it out) all the pupils are going to know about it.
My favoured option mirrors some (and looking back on it, not enough) of the courses I read at university. There we had 18 week semesters broken into study, revision and then exam phases. One essay mid way through the course to check we were on the ball and one exam at the end - three hours, three questions bosh. Harsh but fair. It made you revise but you knew you only had fifteen weeks to revise, not two years. And if you buggered up the exam your essay score would usually bump the average and if you buggered up the essay as well, well you probably deserved the fail. Harsh but fair. You are there to learn after all. Now if they applied that to A levels, maybe examiners would get a more satisfactory picture. A terms work and then an exam. Bosh. First year results to give a grade average and away you go on the second year. Bugger it up you have to repeat the year.
Actually my really favoured option is to do what we have been doing in Key Stage One for ages now. Just hand in the teacher assessment and forget about stupid bleedin' exams. Ask any teacher worth their salt and they will be able to tell you within a gnat's crotchet what level any pupil is on and what that pupil needs to do next to move on to the next level. That's what we do. That's why we are shit hot at our job. That's why we get paid so much?!
Broadly speaking I think the kids are getting smarter. For several reasons. Firstly we do get brighter as a nation as time goes by (academically that is, not morally). How long ago was it that most of the country was illiterate? When I went to school we did electric circuits with bulbs, batteries and wires in High Shcool. Now we teach it in Year 2. We are teaching more stuff in better ways to younger kids becausethey are ready to learn it. No wonder they can pass the top tier exams.
Secondly, the A level curriculum has changed very little over the past few years. Now this is a key point. When governments stop interfering in schools, teachers get on with what they are good at getting on with - teaching. Even if the system is a bit crap, they can still make it work. I tell you, when the goal posts have wheels on to make it easier to move them, when the only consistent thing is the amount of change, when the secretary of state states, 'change is here to stay', our jobs become very difficult, almost to the point of imposibility. That's what pisses teachers off. More than the money.
And thirdly, kids have wised up to the fact that if they want to get on in the world they need a degree. And the route to University is through A levels.
Well I say bollocks to that.
I failed all my A levels. I was immature and very unhappy. There was no pastoral support at school. Home was a mess and I wanted to be there less than I wanted to be at school. The teaching was pretty crap as I recall and looking back on it it was the biggest mistake of my life to date, especially as I already had a job in th bag which I backed out of to stay on at the advice of the careers teacher. I'm not trying to pass the buck - I deserved what I got and my only regret looking back was that no one, including me, had the balls to say this isn't working sooner, and let me sit through those awful exams knowing already what the outcome was.
To continue the autobiography, I went to wrok and eight years later, with a BTEC A level equivalent from night school under my belt, I went to university to study for my BEd in which I got a first, thus proving (to myself) that I wasn't thick because I couldn't get an A level.
Now University was great for me and so has been my career as a teacher since. Why? Because I had eight years from the University of Life to help me do my job. So many of the kids I studied with had never left school. And don't start talking to me about gap years. FFS. Back packing to Burma for a couple of months does not prepare you for the real world. One year is not enough.
Now my mate D is an electrician. I honestly don't know what his educational qualifications are but I tell you what, he is never out of work. Come to think of it have you ever met a sparks or a plumber or a tiler who is short of work or cash? Yes, they need a level of academic achievement, of course they do, but the middle class, so called, intelligensia peer down their noses at those who don't have letters after their name as if their job is menial and pointless whilst clapping our hands with joy because Johnny has got three A's which means he can go to the University of Nowhere to study Balderdash and Frisbee.
It seems to me that kids who study really hard for A levels and then go on to University believing they are guaranteed their passport to the real world are putting their ladders up against the wrong wall.
The debate should not be about how hard A levels are. It should be about what is the point of A levels. Should they simply be a route to University or should they be a means of preparing brighter pupils for a successful place among the workforce.
current mood - frustrated (I am really getting into Linux but by golly it's a bugger to configure)
So we are greeted with the news today that most of the kids who stayed on for A levels have passed them and yet again the same old same old debate kicks off again - are they getting easier or are the kids getting smarter etc.
Rant number one is at non-lives who ring into radio chat shows and say 'well i did my A levels in 1962 and they were bloody hard then and only 3 people in the country who passed and we lived in a cardboard box and we had to lick it clean every morining and then work 25 hours a day down pit...' and so on and so on. Yeah A levels have changed and rightfully so in my view. Quite frankly anyone who, in my day, could cram two years work into their head and come up with the answers for a three hour exam was either lucky or slightly freakish.
Having said that I think the pendulum has swung a bit too far. Didn't the examining boards suspect that by allowing the pupils to do coursework at home, some over anxious parents might help (FFS). And I'm not talking about getting mum to colour in the bars on the graphs. In this age of communication when one pupil has worked it out (or got their uncle with a degree in physics to work it out) all the pupils are going to know about it.
My favoured option mirrors some (and looking back on it, not enough) of the courses I read at university. There we had 18 week semesters broken into study, revision and then exam phases. One essay mid way through the course to check we were on the ball and one exam at the end - three hours, three questions bosh. Harsh but fair. It made you revise but you knew you only had fifteen weeks to revise, not two years. And if you buggered up the exam your essay score would usually bump the average and if you buggered up the essay as well, well you probably deserved the fail. Harsh but fair. You are there to learn after all. Now if they applied that to A levels, maybe examiners would get a more satisfactory picture. A terms work and then an exam. Bosh. First year results to give a grade average and away you go on the second year. Bugger it up you have to repeat the year.
Actually my really favoured option is to do what we have been doing in Key Stage One for ages now. Just hand in the teacher assessment and forget about stupid bleedin' exams. Ask any teacher worth their salt and they will be able to tell you within a gnat's crotchet what level any pupil is on and what that pupil needs to do next to move on to the next level. That's what we do. That's why we are shit hot at our job. That's why we get paid so much?!
Broadly speaking I think the kids are getting smarter. For several reasons. Firstly we do get brighter as a nation as time goes by (academically that is, not morally). How long ago was it that most of the country was illiterate? When I went to school we did electric circuits with bulbs, batteries and wires in High Shcool. Now we teach it in Year 2. We are teaching more stuff in better ways to younger kids becausethey are ready to learn it. No wonder they can pass the top tier exams.
Secondly, the A level curriculum has changed very little over the past few years. Now this is a key point. When governments stop interfering in schools, teachers get on with what they are good at getting on with - teaching. Even if the system is a bit crap, they can still make it work. I tell you, when the goal posts have wheels on to make it easier to move them, when the only consistent thing is the amount of change, when the secretary of state states, 'change is here to stay', our jobs become very difficult, almost to the point of imposibility. That's what pisses teachers off. More than the money.
And thirdly, kids have wised up to the fact that if they want to get on in the world they need a degree. And the route to University is through A levels.
Well I say bollocks to that.
I failed all my A levels. I was immature and very unhappy. There was no pastoral support at school. Home was a mess and I wanted to be there less than I wanted to be at school. The teaching was pretty crap as I recall and looking back on it it was the biggest mistake of my life to date, especially as I already had a job in th bag which I backed out of to stay on at the advice of the careers teacher. I'm not trying to pass the buck - I deserved what I got and my only regret looking back was that no one, including me, had the balls to say this isn't working sooner, and let me sit through those awful exams knowing already what the outcome was.
To continue the autobiography, I went to wrok and eight years later, with a BTEC A level equivalent from night school under my belt, I went to university to study for my BEd in which I got a first, thus proving (to myself) that I wasn't thick because I couldn't get an A level.
Now University was great for me and so has been my career as a teacher since. Why? Because I had eight years from the University of Life to help me do my job. So many of the kids I studied with had never left school. And don't start talking to me about gap years. FFS. Back packing to Burma for a couple of months does not prepare you for the real world. One year is not enough.
Now my mate D is an electrician. I honestly don't know what his educational qualifications are but I tell you what, he is never out of work. Come to think of it have you ever met a sparks or a plumber or a tiler who is short of work or cash? Yes, they need a level of academic achievement, of course they do, but the middle class, so called, intelligensia peer down their noses at those who don't have letters after their name as if their job is menial and pointless whilst clapping our hands with joy because Johnny has got three A's which means he can go to the University of Nowhere to study Balderdash and Frisbee.
It seems to me that kids who study really hard for A levels and then go on to University believing they are guaranteed their passport to the real world are putting their ladders up against the wrong wall.
The debate should not be about how hard A levels are. It should be about what is the point of A levels. Should they simply be a route to University or should they be a means of preparing brighter pupils for a successful place among the workforce.
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
#87 on checklists, wu wei and getting things done
current music - none (no reason just haven't configured amaroK properly yet)
current mood - resolute (determined to get to the bottom of my to do list before Greenbelt)
I sat in the bath today and tried to think through how I can stroll through this rainstorm called life avoiding the raindrops and yet manage to get all the things done that I need to get done without a nervous breakdown. My prcess of thought went roughly along the lines of ditching the unnecessary, doing the necessary a little and often, revere each minute and make space to relax.
Today was successful. Tomorrow is another day.
So now in my mind I have a checklist of all the things I ought to do each day. If I lived in the 100 Aker Wood, Rabbit would have got Christopher Robin to draw up a chart, Owl would have made crammed too many items in it and eeyore would tell me it's pointless and not to even bother. I'm going to emulate my good Pooh and just let all of the things take care of themselves.
Like blogging a bit more often.
current mood - resolute (determined to get to the bottom of my to do list before Greenbelt)
I sat in the bath today and tried to think through how I can stroll through this rainstorm called life avoiding the raindrops and yet manage to get all the things done that I need to get done without a nervous breakdown. My prcess of thought went roughly along the lines of ditching the unnecessary, doing the necessary a little and often, revere each minute and make space to relax.
Today was successful. Tomorrow is another day.
So now in my mind I have a checklist of all the things I ought to do each day. If I lived in the 100 Aker Wood, Rabbit would have got Christopher Robin to draw up a chart, Owl would have made crammed too many items in it and eeyore would tell me it's pointless and not to even bother. I'm going to emulate my good Pooh and just let all of the things take care of themselves.
Like blogging a bit more often.
Wednesday, August 09, 2006
#86 on getting ready for greenbelt
Current mood - excited
Current music - 'Praise You' by Fat Boy Slim
Many of prepare for Greenbelt in different ways. Of that I am sure. Back in the Castle Ashby days I remember one mate decided to join us at the last minute and turned up in his cortina estate with a box of apples and no tent. He slept in the back of his car and swapped apples for bread etc. We have a fantastic photo of him standing in front of car one morning bedecked in his stripy dressing gown. He's a Salvation Army Officer now. Oh well.
As for me I am in the beautiful place between getting all my emails sent and replied to (well mostly) and actually pitching up at that beautiful thin place where you can stand on the ground and touch heaven.
So, having borrowed my sister's tent and pitched it in the garden to check that it is all there, me and the boys decided to eat our tea and then go to bed in the back garden.
It's a father to son thing.
So I am currently typing by torchlight (no backlit keyboard for me you smug macbook users) listening to ipod - one year they played 'praise you' incessantly between acts on the mainstage and it's sort of stuck with me now as my greenbelt song.
And now I am officially excited.
Current music - 'Praise You' by Fat Boy Slim
Many of prepare for Greenbelt in different ways. Of that I am sure. Back in the Castle Ashby days I remember one mate decided to join us at the last minute and turned up in his cortina estate with a box of apples and no tent. He slept in the back of his car and swapped apples for bread etc. We have a fantastic photo of him standing in front of car one morning bedecked in his stripy dressing gown. He's a Salvation Army Officer now. Oh well.
As for me I am in the beautiful place between getting all my emails sent and replied to (well mostly) and actually pitching up at that beautiful thin place where you can stand on the ground and touch heaven.
So, having borrowed my sister's tent and pitched it in the garden to check that it is all there, me and the boys decided to eat our tea and then go to bed in the back garden.
It's a father to son thing.
So I am currently typing by torchlight (no backlit keyboard for me you smug macbook users) listening to ipod - one year they played 'praise you' incessantly between acts on the mainstage and it's sort of stuck with me now as my greenbelt song.
And now I am officially excited.
Friday, August 04, 2006
#85 on perseverance
Current mood - tired but satisfied
Current music - none (everyone's gone off to bed leaving me all alone)
So I'm at my mum and aunt's house right now typing this entry on their rather posh, it must be said, laptop that they invested in a few months ago. They also splashed out on a rather posh printer cum scanner and a digital camera. Their aim - to scan the zillions of old family photos that currently fill their spare room plus to photograph pretty much all they do as they share their well earned retirement in Suffolk and beyond.
The last time I was here I showed my aunt how to use the scanner and the lesson this time was transferring images from the digital camera. It took some time but my aunt showed great perseverance to get her head around not only the concept of transferring images but also how to store them too. I kept it simple and I think she understands fairly well. I'll type some instructions and we'll see how she gets in in the future.
It could have been so easy to type a patronising entry about how crap she is at all this technology stuff but I tell you what if I'm as open minded and patient as she is when I'm her age I will be very proud indeed.
So this entry is dedicated to your dear aunt. Now don't bugger it up.
Current music - none (everyone's gone off to bed leaving me all alone)
So I'm at my mum and aunt's house right now typing this entry on their rather posh, it must be said, laptop that they invested in a few months ago. They also splashed out on a rather posh printer cum scanner and a digital camera. Their aim - to scan the zillions of old family photos that currently fill their spare room plus to photograph pretty much all they do as they share their well earned retirement in Suffolk and beyond.
The last time I was here I showed my aunt how to use the scanner and the lesson this time was transferring images from the digital camera. It took some time but my aunt showed great perseverance to get her head around not only the concept of transferring images but also how to store them too. I kept it simple and I think she understands fairly well. I'll type some instructions and we'll see how she gets in in the future.
It could have been so easy to type a patronising entry about how crap she is at all this technology stuff but I tell you what if I'm as open minded and patient as she is when I'm her age I will be very proud indeed.
So this entry is dedicated to your dear aunt. Now don't bugger it up.
Thursday, August 03, 2006
#84 on cars
Current mood - relaxed
current music - Saturn from The Planets Suite by Holst
Well last night's post didn't quite make it to blogger. Don't quite know why and stupidly I didn't save it elsewhere so we'll just put it down to experience. It was some self indulgent twaddle about having a bit more time to do stuff I should/need/want to do etc. And as if to prove a point, tonight's thought download refers to a trip to the cinema with A, S and N today to see Pixar/Disney new offering 'Cars'.
Much like my own car it took some time to get going; a long preface led our main caracter (sorry for the pun) into a small town on Route 66 of the main I-State where he has to pay penance for being brash and proud and self serving. So we get our tale of learning new values and friendship and, well you know pixar's style by now and it all turns out ok in the end. It reminded me somewhat of 'Doc Hollywood' where Michael J Fox gets stuck in small town America and has to work his punishment for some misdemenour and so on and so on.
On the up side the technical wizardry made the production completely believable. Pixar's reliance on non human characters means that we don't object to seeing solid and inanimate objects actually moving. A couple of set pieces were really enjoyable too - the scene in the field of tractors is very funny and the ending credits sequence where the cars go to a drive in to watch other Pixar movies with cars playing characters like Woody and Buzz and James P Sullivan, were inspired.
On the down side - and this frankly has been the problem with every single animated tale since Monsters Inc. - the story just wasn't inventive enough to capture the imagination of the kids, let alone the adults. It doesn't matter seamless the production is, if the story isn't good enough, the movie isn't good enough. Also my eco-alarm rang as I witnessed scenes of car racing with literally thousands of American cars in the spectator galleries and scenes of roads with literally thousands of American cars on them. The American (and ergo British) love affair with greenhouse emissions is really reinforced in this movie as cars are turned into cute creatures with feelings too.
Come to think of it I don't recall seeing any exhaust fumes at all.
current music - Saturn from The Planets Suite by Holst
Well last night's post didn't quite make it to blogger. Don't quite know why and stupidly I didn't save it elsewhere so we'll just put it down to experience. It was some self indulgent twaddle about having a bit more time to do stuff I should/need/want to do etc. And as if to prove a point, tonight's thought download refers to a trip to the cinema with A, S and N today to see Pixar/Disney new offering 'Cars'.
Much like my own car it took some time to get going; a long preface led our main caracter (sorry for the pun) into a small town on Route 66 of the main I-State where he has to pay penance for being brash and proud and self serving. So we get our tale of learning new values and friendship and, well you know pixar's style by now and it all turns out ok in the end. It reminded me somewhat of 'Doc Hollywood' where Michael J Fox gets stuck in small town America and has to work his punishment for some misdemenour and so on and so on.
On the up side the technical wizardry made the production completely believable. Pixar's reliance on non human characters means that we don't object to seeing solid and inanimate objects actually moving. A couple of set pieces were really enjoyable too - the scene in the field of tractors is very funny and the ending credits sequence where the cars go to a drive in to watch other Pixar movies with cars playing characters like Woody and Buzz and James P Sullivan, were inspired.
On the down side - and this frankly has been the problem with every single animated tale since Monsters Inc. - the story just wasn't inventive enough to capture the imagination of the kids, let alone the adults. It doesn't matter seamless the production is, if the story isn't good enough, the movie isn't good enough. Also my eco-alarm rang as I witnessed scenes of car racing with literally thousands of American cars in the spectator galleries and scenes of roads with literally thousands of American cars on them. The American (and ergo British) love affair with greenhouse emissions is really reinforced in this movie as cars are turned into cute creatures with feelings too.
Come to think of it I don't recall seeing any exhaust fumes at all.
Friday, July 21, 2006
#83 on the light at the end of the tunnel
current mood: stressed (so much to do so little time to do it in)
current music: none
Firstly may I welcome my new bloglings aboard the good ship mediocrity. At school today I dropped my blog title to the pupils so that they could keep in touch as both they and I head for pastures new. Some have already posted and others may choose to do so yet.
What a week. No time for details suffice it to say that the heady cocktail of meetings, parties, graduations, deadlines and heat that saps one of both mental and physical energy has left me an empty shell. A has just got in from work and I can barely cope with being in the same room with her. It's not her - I love A and cannot wait for her to get home each night. It's me and my inability to cope with just about anything at the moment - that's the problem.
But, as the title of tonight's download suggests, there could be some light peeping through at the end of the tunnel. School is done. Isle of Wight beckons. Greenbelt deadlines just about stuck to.
Now i just need to go and make my peace with A.
current music: none
Firstly may I welcome my new bloglings aboard the good ship mediocrity. At school today I dropped my blog title to the pupils so that they could keep in touch as both they and I head for pastures new. Some have already posted and others may choose to do so yet.
What a week. No time for details suffice it to say that the heady cocktail of meetings, parties, graduations, deadlines and heat that saps one of both mental and physical energy has left me an empty shell. A has just got in from work and I can barely cope with being in the same room with her. It's not her - I love A and cannot wait for her to get home each night. It's me and my inability to cope with just about anything at the moment - that's the problem.
But, as the title of tonight's download suggests, there could be some light peeping through at the end of the tunnel. School is done. Isle of Wight beckons. Greenbelt deadlines just about stuck to.
Now i just need to go and make my peace with A.
Thursday, July 06, 2006
#82 on cowardice
Current mood – bemused
Current music – ‘Die Another Day’ by Madonna
So I get to work and check my pigeon hole for paper work etc. only to find a page from my blog printed out – the last entry ‘#80 on meetings’ to be precise – and the words ‘YOU ARE SO OUT OF ORDER’ scratched across the top in biro. It’s the first page of seven in the print out and so I can only assume that someone has printed out my blog and decided to comment upon it in a not so hi-tech fashion as posting a comment on line.
Now I’m a glass half full guy. In fact I would say that the glass is twice the size it should be. I trawled around my friends on the staff who read my blog and none of them said they wrote it – not as an ironic comment nor as a serious criticism of my actions in bringing alleged misleading declarations by the head teacher to the attention of the Chair of Governors. So whoever it was – friend or foe – someone was trying o tell me something.
So my response takes two forms to cover all the bases…
(A) If you wrote the note and you were having a laugh (and I must confess my initial reaction was to laugh) then please let me know who you are and we can share the joke.
(B) If you were making a genuine comment please have the balls to post your comment publicly in the same way that I post my comments publicly to allow free and open debate. This, of course, assumes that this was your intention. Some of my friends think it is bullying and harassment.
I am not ‘so out of order’. Firstly, I did not betray any confidences in bringing to light the information that I did. Everything I told the Chair of Governors was information in the public domain; not a single jot of it was confidential. Secondly, I have not done anything illegal. I have not incriminated myself in this plot and claimed ‘I was only following orders.’ I had nothing to do with the Head Teacher’s actions. Thirdly, I had a moral and ethical duty to advise the Chair of Governors of what I did. Is it right that allegedly false declarations of interest are made for me to turn a blind eye if I happen to chance upon the information? And fourthly, I may even have had a legal responsibility to report what I did. I’m no lawyer but if you think something illegal has occurred am I not bound by the law to report it?
I have acted properly throughout the whole of this sorry business. I have no personal agenda, no axe to grind – I’ll not even be working for the school or the local authority beyond August 31.
All I want to see is a proper investigation carried out, the findings made public for the whole school community to see and the appropriate course of action taken so that the school is seen by the whole community to be publicly preserving it’s integrity. And if by my taking up this little piece of cyberspace I have made more people aware of the alleged wrongdoing at my workplace then so much the better. I do not force anyone to read this blog, and I certainly don’t demand that anyone believes a word of it. Free thinking people in a liberal society have the right to make that decision for themselves, they don’t have to scratch a comment on a print out and stuff it in a pigeon hole.
If I’m ‘so out of order’ you might want to reconsider your own motives for scrawling the note. What are you scared of? That the truth might actually come out? That people should be held to the highest professional standards of conduct especially when the education of children is at stake?
Post a reply if you dare or care. Or else shut the fuck up and go and look up integrity in a dictionary.
Current music – ‘Die Another Day’ by Madonna
So I get to work and check my pigeon hole for paper work etc. only to find a page from my blog printed out – the last entry ‘#80 on meetings’ to be precise – and the words ‘YOU ARE SO OUT OF ORDER’ scratched across the top in biro. It’s the first page of seven in the print out and so I can only assume that someone has printed out my blog and decided to comment upon it in a not so hi-tech fashion as posting a comment on line.
Now I’m a glass half full guy. In fact I would say that the glass is twice the size it should be. I trawled around my friends on the staff who read my blog and none of them said they wrote it – not as an ironic comment nor as a serious criticism of my actions in bringing alleged misleading declarations by the head teacher to the attention of the Chair of Governors. So whoever it was – friend or foe – someone was trying o tell me something.
So my response takes two forms to cover all the bases…
(A) If you wrote the note and you were having a laugh (and I must confess my initial reaction was to laugh) then please let me know who you are and we can share the joke.
(B) If you were making a genuine comment please have the balls to post your comment publicly in the same way that I post my comments publicly to allow free and open debate. This, of course, assumes that this was your intention. Some of my friends think it is bullying and harassment.
I am not ‘so out of order’. Firstly, I did not betray any confidences in bringing to light the information that I did. Everything I told the Chair of Governors was information in the public domain; not a single jot of it was confidential. Secondly, I have not done anything illegal. I have not incriminated myself in this plot and claimed ‘I was only following orders.’ I had nothing to do with the Head Teacher’s actions. Thirdly, I had a moral and ethical duty to advise the Chair of Governors of what I did. Is it right that allegedly false declarations of interest are made for me to turn a blind eye if I happen to chance upon the information? And fourthly, I may even have had a legal responsibility to report what I did. I’m no lawyer but if you think something illegal has occurred am I not bound by the law to report it?
I have acted properly throughout the whole of this sorry business. I have no personal agenda, no axe to grind – I’ll not even be working for the school or the local authority beyond August 31.
All I want to see is a proper investigation carried out, the findings made public for the whole school community to see and the appropriate course of action taken so that the school is seen by the whole community to be publicly preserving it’s integrity. And if by my taking up this little piece of cyberspace I have made more people aware of the alleged wrongdoing at my workplace then so much the better. I do not force anyone to read this blog, and I certainly don’t demand that anyone believes a word of it. Free thinking people in a liberal society have the right to make that decision for themselves, they don’t have to scratch a comment on a print out and stuff it in a pigeon hole.
If I’m ‘so out of order’ you might want to reconsider your own motives for scrawling the note. What are you scared of? That the truth might actually come out? That people should be held to the highest professional standards of conduct especially when the education of children is at stake?
Post a reply if you dare or care. Or else shut the fuck up and go and look up integrity in a dictionary.
Sunday, July 02, 2006
#81 on meetings
Current mood – hot and tired
Current music – ‘Bird Land’ by Man Tran
I’ve had several meetings this week, some planned, some unplanned, some enjoyable and others not so. Here’s a digest of some of those comings together…
Readers of my spilling the beans on the Head Teacher at school and her alleged misleading of the Governors (I say ‘alleged’ because that’s what they say on Have I Got News For You to avoid legal actions in spite of what they may actually think) will be pleased to know I had an informal meeting with the Chair of Governors who told me it was all an administrative thing, not too worry, it’s all sorted now, don’t worry about, bullshit, bullshit, etcetera, etcetera. I’m still waiting for it all in writing and will let you know in due course dear readers. Later on a glance through the school diary to pick up some dates showed a meeting between the Head Teacher and Director of Children’s Services for tomorrow (Monday). I don’t know what it’s about but I can put 2 and 2 together.
I met with my new Head Teacher to sort out how my new job is going to work out. She seems like a lovely person (listens with fingers out of ears) and I’m so looking forward to starting in September.
A phone call from my big brother to say he was in town and wanted to stay over led to a nice meeting that included curry and wine and DVD’s and chat and more chat. It was a wonderful surprise and just what I needed after a shitty couple of days. Since then I’ve gone back to carry on repairing the fabric of my psyche as far as my Dad goes culminating in a very strange dream last night that started with my Dad taking me to football (something we only did a few times) through to me taking my sick uncle (now passed on) to football. Circe of life stuff. Sad but uplifting.
Saturday saw me meeting with the Greenbelt Programming group at Cheltenham that also included the wonderful Site Operations Group. It’s always exciting attending what will probably be the last programming group meeting before the big event itself and meeting with the site ops mob is always a special, if slightly odd experience. Given that most of my readers including one of people who inspired me to concoct this daily download of drivel are part of that very team, I should point out that by odd, I mean quirky in the most beautiful ‘northern exposuresque’ sense of the word. To be embraced by a group with such a close nit identity is strangely powerful. I’ve even learnt several nicknames.
Today I met with my church congregation to lead the service. It was hot, too hot and although I kept the service short and the liturgy simple, I also think (and this was the best meeting of all) that Jesus met with us too.
Current music – ‘Bird Land’ by Man Tran
I’ve had several meetings this week, some planned, some unplanned, some enjoyable and others not so. Here’s a digest of some of those comings together…
Readers of my spilling the beans on the Head Teacher at school and her alleged misleading of the Governors (I say ‘alleged’ because that’s what they say on Have I Got News For You to avoid legal actions in spite of what they may actually think) will be pleased to know I had an informal meeting with the Chair of Governors who told me it was all an administrative thing, not too worry, it’s all sorted now, don’t worry about, bullshit, bullshit, etcetera, etcetera. I’m still waiting for it all in writing and will let you know in due course dear readers. Later on a glance through the school diary to pick up some dates showed a meeting between the Head Teacher and Director of Children’s Services for tomorrow (Monday). I don’t know what it’s about but I can put 2 and 2 together.
I met with my new Head Teacher to sort out how my new job is going to work out. She seems like a lovely person (listens with fingers out of ears) and I’m so looking forward to starting in September.
A phone call from my big brother to say he was in town and wanted to stay over led to a nice meeting that included curry and wine and DVD’s and chat and more chat. It was a wonderful surprise and just what I needed after a shitty couple of days. Since then I’ve gone back to carry on repairing the fabric of my psyche as far as my Dad goes culminating in a very strange dream last night that started with my Dad taking me to football (something we only did a few times) through to me taking my sick uncle (now passed on) to football. Circe of life stuff. Sad but uplifting.
Saturday saw me meeting with the Greenbelt Programming group at Cheltenham that also included the wonderful Site Operations Group. It’s always exciting attending what will probably be the last programming group meeting before the big event itself and meeting with the site ops mob is always a special, if slightly odd experience. Given that most of my readers including one of people who inspired me to concoct this daily download of drivel are part of that very team, I should point out that by odd, I mean quirky in the most beautiful ‘northern exposuresque’ sense of the word. To be embraced by a group with such a close nit identity is strangely powerful. I’ve even learnt several nicknames.
Today I met with my church congregation to lead the service. It was hot, too hot and although I kept the service short and the liturgy simple, I also think (and this was the best meeting of all) that Jesus met with us too.
Monday, June 19, 2006
#80 on making poetry interesting for 12 year olds
current mood - weary but satisfied
current music - Sorge Infausta Una Procella by Georg Friedrich Händel sung by Bryn Terfel
so how does one improve the educational experience of the average year 7 pupil. well I certainly don't have the monopoly on wisdom here but I'm rather pleased with today's offering. I found this haiku based on the opening sequence of The Matrix. So armed with my DVD, a mute button (the children are not allowed to hear the words 'arse', 'dick' (as in juris-my-dick-tion) and 'shit' FFS) and a copy of the haiku, we all watched the opening sequence and compared it to the haiku.
Then the master stroke.
Hoping that the children would mention it (and they did) Trinity's kick to put one of the policemen's lights out is reprised in 'Shrek' by Fiona when she singlehandedly kicks the shit out Robin Hood and his Merry Men. Quick as a flash I pushed my copy of 'Shrek' into the drive and played the opening sequence for them to discuss and then put into haiku form.
We've not finished yet. (You know it's gone well when the children don't realise that home time has caught up with them and they don't want to go home.) But when we have I'll post some of their efforts. What I've read so far is pant wettingly funny.
current music - Sorge Infausta Una Procella by Georg Friedrich Händel sung by Bryn Terfel
so how does one improve the educational experience of the average year 7 pupil. well I certainly don't have the monopoly on wisdom here but I'm rather pleased with today's offering. I found this haiku based on the opening sequence of The Matrix. So armed with my DVD, a mute button (the children are not allowed to hear the words 'arse', 'dick' (as in juris-my-dick-tion) and 'shit' FFS) and a copy of the haiku, we all watched the opening sequence and compared it to the haiku.
Then the master stroke.
Hoping that the children would mention it (and they did) Trinity's kick to put one of the policemen's lights out is reprised in 'Shrek' by Fiona when she singlehandedly kicks the shit out Robin Hood and his Merry Men. Quick as a flash I pushed my copy of 'Shrek' into the drive and played the opening sequence for them to discuss and then put into haiku form.
We've not finished yet. (You know it's gone well when the children don't realise that home time has caught up with them and they don't want to go home.) But when we have I'll post some of their efforts. What I've read so far is pant wettingly funny.
Sunday, June 18, 2006
#79 on the verb to be
current mood - relaxed
current music - 'I am a Man of Constant Sorrow' by The Soggy Bottom Boys
I didn't choose this music so much as it chose me. I am currently connected to Last.fm. I put 'soundtrack' into the search box and have been played all sorts of film music that I have never heard of apart from 'AxelF' from Beverly Hills Cop (a classic) and 'May It Be' by Enya from Lord of the Rings. But there you go, as soon as I start typing, those good ol' Soggy Bottom Boys strike up the band, the countrified version - do they sing this version at the town hall meeting near the end of the film?
And I heard a rumour there's going to be a sing-a-long-a-O Brother Where Art Thou? at Greenbelt this year. I hope I haven't spoken out of turn here but if the event does go ahead I'll be there for one of the best films I've ever seen. Can the Coen brothers do anything bad?
Anyway, to the subject of tonight's confused rambling.
My friend John spoke movingly and powerfully today about relying on our own strength (see Judges 6:11-18) given that God is with us. And it got me thinking. So next week, when I preach I shall build on those ideas and somehow dovetail in my own personal fascination with toaism. Like water finding it's way around stones, let's not get too worked up.
So dear bloglings who may chance upon this post at the beginning of this week...
Don't be ll things to all people. Don't be your own worst enemy. In fact, just... be.
current music - 'I am a Man of Constant Sorrow' by The Soggy Bottom Boys
I didn't choose this music so much as it chose me. I am currently connected to Last.fm. I put 'soundtrack' into the search box and have been played all sorts of film music that I have never heard of apart from 'AxelF' from Beverly Hills Cop (a classic) and 'May It Be' by Enya from Lord of the Rings. But there you go, as soon as I start typing, those good ol' Soggy Bottom Boys strike up the band, the countrified version - do they sing this version at the town hall meeting near the end of the film?
And I heard a rumour there's going to be a sing-a-long-a-O Brother Where Art Thou? at Greenbelt this year. I hope I haven't spoken out of turn here but if the event does go ahead I'll be there for one of the best films I've ever seen. Can the Coen brothers do anything bad?
Anyway, to the subject of tonight's confused rambling.
My friend John spoke movingly and powerfully today about relying on our own strength (see Judges 6:11-18) given that God is with us. And it got me thinking. So next week, when I preach I shall build on those ideas and somehow dovetail in my own personal fascination with toaism. Like water finding it's way around stones, let's not get too worked up.
So dear bloglings who may chance upon this post at the beginning of this week...
Don't be ll things to all people. Don't be your own worst enemy. In fact, just... be.
Saturday, June 17, 2006
#78 on who you should cheer for
Current mood – distracted
Current music – radio 5 live phone in on why kids need dads
I’m really enjoying the world cup it has to be said. Even the matches that, under normal circumstances, I should have no interest in whatsoever find me glued to the screen when there are a million far more important things to be done.
To increase the excitement I have undertaken a couple of diversions. Firstly, I have instituted a score predictor game in class. Me and about fifteen of the children in the class predict the scores for the games coming up that day. You score 3 points for getting the score correct and a single point if you correctly guess a win, lose or draw. Currently I am languishing just above the relegation zone. In fact if you exclude the children who have been away this week I think I am probably the worst in the class! Still there’s 9 matches up for grabs this weekend and 27 points on offer. I’ll post the league table soon.
The second diversion is a way of deciding who to cheer for in the matches that have no significance. For this task I have turned to an excellent application from the World Development Agency.
It does put things in perspective a bit more.
Come on Ghana.
Current music – radio 5 live phone in on why kids need dads
I’m really enjoying the world cup it has to be said. Even the matches that, under normal circumstances, I should have no interest in whatsoever find me glued to the screen when there are a million far more important things to be done.
To increase the excitement I have undertaken a couple of diversions. Firstly, I have instituted a score predictor game in class. Me and about fifteen of the children in the class predict the scores for the games coming up that day. You score 3 points for getting the score correct and a single point if you correctly guess a win, lose or draw. Currently I am languishing just above the relegation zone. In fact if you exclude the children who have been away this week I think I am probably the worst in the class! Still there’s 9 matches up for grabs this weekend and 27 points on offer. I’ll post the league table soon.
The second diversion is a way of deciding who to cheer for in the matches that have no significance. For this task I have turned to an excellent application from the World Development Agency.
It does put things in perspective a bit more.
Come on Ghana.
Friday, June 16, 2006
#77 on whistle blowing
Current mood – apprehensive
Current music – ‘L’Exécution’ by Angelo Badalamenti
I think the strict definition of whistle blowing involves one incriminating oneself in the act of exposing the wrongdoings of one’s management. Or having to have done something covert or underhand to expose that wrongdoing.
Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on your point of view, I have done none of those things. It appears as though my boss has made a factually incorrect declaration of interest to the Governing Body. All I have done is brought to light publicly available information (including her own website FFS) which contradicts the statement she has made.
Worse are the implications of her actions. We could be looking at something ranging from stupidity to incompetence right through to misappropriation of funds to fraud. And that’s a sackable offence, even criminal. Now I won’t be leading on any investigation. I have passed that responsibility to others. I can now let events take their course and allow my emotional roller coaster come to a halt and let me off.
But nevertheless it still all feels a bit weird. I’ve been rehearsing answers to questions for when I am carpeted on Monday morning as I expect to be. I have rerun the events of the past few months over and over in my head and I keep coming back to the same place – I didn’t make her do what she did, people need to be held accountable for what they have done, I have no personal axe to grind here (I’ve resigned from the school) and how would I have felt if had done nothing at all. What’s more, my child and my friend’s children attend the school and deserve the best possible school leadership.
So you toss that lot together and you can begin to understand how my emotions are a bit of a salad tonight.
Current music – ‘L’Exécution’ by Angelo Badalamenti
I think the strict definition of whistle blowing involves one incriminating oneself in the act of exposing the wrongdoings of one’s management. Or having to have done something covert or underhand to expose that wrongdoing.
Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on your point of view, I have done none of those things. It appears as though my boss has made a factually incorrect declaration of interest to the Governing Body. All I have done is brought to light publicly available information (including her own website FFS) which contradicts the statement she has made.
Worse are the implications of her actions. We could be looking at something ranging from stupidity to incompetence right through to misappropriation of funds to fraud. And that’s a sackable offence, even criminal. Now I won’t be leading on any investigation. I have passed that responsibility to others. I can now let events take their course and allow my emotional roller coaster come to a halt and let me off.
But nevertheless it still all feels a bit weird. I’ve been rehearsing answers to questions for when I am carpeted on Monday morning as I expect to be. I have rerun the events of the past few months over and over in my head and I keep coming back to the same place – I didn’t make her do what she did, people need to be held accountable for what they have done, I have no personal axe to grind here (I’ve resigned from the school) and how would I have felt if had done nothing at all. What’s more, my child and my friend’s children attend the school and deserve the best possible school leadership.
So you toss that lot together and you can begin to understand how my emotions are a bit of a salad tonight.
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
#76 on the mystery of youth
Current mood: bedazzled and short of head space
Current music: ‘Maroon’ – Barenecked Ladies
You know you’re getting old when…
You think you can easily replace the hard drive in your laptop only to waste the whole evening being unable to get the thing apart having removed every screw you can find and then when you finally give up and put the screws back in, you have about 6 left over and just cannot be arsed to put them back in.
And, you talk the computer techie at work to do the job for you only to find out that he hasn’t seen ‘Back to the Future’ (the DVD hastily removed from the drive as you hand it over) because, wait for it, he wasn’t even born when it came out.
My mid life crisis is predicated on the notion that a whole new generation knows nothing of the cultural values that I (and I hopefully speak for my generation) have used to construct my understanding of the world. It’s not so much a case of ‘youngsters today know nothing’, it’s more case of ‘youngsters today know loads of things that I don’t.’ No wonder I seem barely able to tiptoe through modern life and they seem to stride across it without even noticing.
I’m not too upset though. I’ve got the ‘Back to the Future’ box set to keep me happy .
Current music: ‘Maroon’ – Barenecked Ladies
You know you’re getting old when…
You think you can easily replace the hard drive in your laptop only to waste the whole evening being unable to get the thing apart having removed every screw you can find and then when you finally give up and put the screws back in, you have about 6 left over and just cannot be arsed to put them back in.
And, you talk the computer techie at work to do the job for you only to find out that he hasn’t seen ‘Back to the Future’ (the DVD hastily removed from the drive as you hand it over) because, wait for it, he wasn’t even born when it came out.
My mid life crisis is predicated on the notion that a whole new generation knows nothing of the cultural values that I (and I hopefully speak for my generation) have used to construct my understanding of the world. It’s not so much a case of ‘youngsters today know nothing’, it’s more case of ‘youngsters today know loads of things that I don’t.’ No wonder I seem barely able to tiptoe through modern life and they seem to stride across it without even noticing.
I’m not too upset though. I’ve got the ‘Back to the Future’ box set to keep me happy .
Monday, June 05, 2006
#75 on the continuing Linux journey
current mood - confused (being in between jobs is a curious sensation. The loyalty to my current class is mixed with the excitement of developing a new agenda at my new school and the cocktail of emotions is a heady mixture)
current music - Project Pitchfork - 'Steelrose'
I had an interesting conversation with a friend. He, like I, is a bit of a an amateur computer geek knowing a little about a lot of things. When I told him of my transition to Linux he was quite interested and asked the usual questions about ease of use and compatibility. He seemed fairly unimpressed because Linux would not run all the applications that Windows can.
Fair point.
But actually I'm feeling quite released from the Micro$oft shackles. I don't need these applications and life is a whole lot less complicated when you use the computer for what you need to do rather than complicating life by trying to do all manner of things you don't really need to do but try any way because you can.
I'm enjoying Linux. It has it's ups and downs. But each challenge is overcome with a bit of ingenuity, the warm embrace off the Linux using community and sometimes the recognition that doing the easy way (if longer) way is a good thing. For example, I am typing this entry directly into blogger because I have not yet installed the plugin for Word. So blogger does not correct my spelling as I go along and does not auto correct my failure to put in capital letters, I can cope with being a more accurate typist.
Windows makes you lazy and dependent - a metaphor for wider society. Linux has put me back in charge of the computer and not the other way round.
current music - Project Pitchfork - 'Steelrose'
I had an interesting conversation with a friend. He, like I, is a bit of a an amateur computer geek knowing a little about a lot of things. When I told him of my transition to Linux he was quite interested and asked the usual questions about ease of use and compatibility. He seemed fairly unimpressed because Linux would not run all the applications that Windows can.
Fair point.
But actually I'm feeling quite released from the Micro$oft shackles. I don't need these applications and life is a whole lot less complicated when you use the computer for what you need to do rather than complicating life by trying to do all manner of things you don't really need to do but try any way because you can.
I'm enjoying Linux. It has it's ups and downs. But each challenge is overcome with a bit of ingenuity, the warm embrace off the Linux using community and sometimes the recognition that doing the easy way (if longer) way is a good thing. For example, I am typing this entry directly into blogger because I have not yet installed the plugin for Word. So blogger does not correct my spelling as I go along and does not auto correct my failure to put in capital letters, I can cope with being a more accurate typist.
Windows makes you lazy and dependent - a metaphor for wider society. Linux has put me back in charge of the computer and not the other way round.
Wednesday, May 31, 2006
#74 on missing deadlines
Current mood – hassled (I hate letting people down)
Current music – ‘blue light’ by David Gilmour
I had it al planned – how I was going to have all my greenbelt programme booked up in good time for the 31 May deadline. And then the finding a new job stuff intervened and pushed it all back. And then I put some time aside this week and that got taken over by other work stuff including the dentist – I’ve got to have a filling – bugger. And then I still had time tonight until I remembered I had agreed to baby-sit for some friends.
So I got home at 11:45 to send off a ¾ complete programme topped up with apologies.
And tomorrow more stuff is happening including an option to appear like a father. But I’ll find some time and O and S at the greenbelt office are way too forgiving plus they are on holiday and (please don’t take this as a lackadaisical attitude on my part) I’m sure it’ll turn out ok in the end.
I need to go to bed now if I’m to get behind all this in the morning. This nearly 40 year old frame can’t sustain a late finish and an early start.
Current music – ‘blue light’ by David Gilmour
I had it al planned – how I was going to have all my greenbelt programme booked up in good time for the 31 May deadline. And then the finding a new job stuff intervened and pushed it all back. And then I put some time aside this week and that got taken over by other work stuff including the dentist – I’ve got to have a filling – bugger. And then I still had time tonight until I remembered I had agreed to baby-sit for some friends.
So I got home at 11:45 to send off a ¾ complete programme topped up with apologies.
And tomorrow more stuff is happening including an option to appear like a father. But I’ll find some time and O and S at the greenbelt office are way too forgiving plus they are on holiday and (please don’t take this as a lackadaisical attitude on my part) I’m sure it’ll turn out ok in the end.
I need to go to bed now if I’m to get behind all this in the morning. This nearly 40 year old frame can’t sustain a late finish and an early start.
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
#73 on why we don't need Gates if there are no boundaries
Current mood: extreme pleasure
current mood: 'Flight of the Bumblebee' orig. Rimsykorsakov arr. Wynton Marsalis
For all of you who have been having good thoughts for me may I offer my thanks, for I am now the holder of a brand new position of work. In September I shall be Assistant Headteacher (Asshead for short) at Chalkhill Primary School in Wembley. I am over the moon about it all and just want you all to know (a) how happy I am to be starting there and (b) how happy I am to be leaving Marlborough. What started out as an exercise in 'keeping one's options box topped up' ended up becoming a realisation that however much I may have invested in an institution and however much loyalty I may have shown, there's not a lot of point in continuing to be treated like shit when there's other bosses out there who'll give you a chance.
And there's also the 10k salary increase too.
Second bit of news with a liberation motif concerns my fast sagging computer. Difford and Tilbrook wrote, 'my assets froze, while yours have dropped' and I think that pretty much sums up my PC. If I was this age in the 70's I'd have probably had my head under the bonnet of my Ford Cortina every weekend but for me it's the bonnet of my PC. But the truth is I'm too old and too grumpy to care that much anymore and what was once (though I say so myself) a damn good set up is now slowly falling into dishevellment and disrepair.
First my hard drive packed up. Not a big deal in itself the only thing not backed up was the tonnes of music from Napster that I couldn't burn to disc or play unless I resubscribed to Napster or wait for the hack to arrive that would let me burn it. 160 gigs down the pan. Bugger.
And then Microsoft had the brainwave to tell me that my copy of Windows might not be genuiine. Nice one Bill - like you are. So now I have to wait 5 seconds to start Windows and endure constant messages about how I can pay £95 to make the piece of shit aka Windows XP work.
Time for a change methinks. Now I have been thinking about a laptop lately. A sort of 'well done on fooling another head teacher into employing you' present to myself and the new Macbook Pro looks very inviting. But I still need a machine at home for the kids and A to hammer so some creative thinking was required. And then it hit me! Duh! After all these years of avoiding the brown rice and sandals of the OS worldIi suddenly brought Linux to mind. It's free (well mostly) andIi might be able to talk my remaining hard drive into becoming a dual boot system just to try it out.
So today has been spent finding out that the good idea of converting my drives to dynamic drives was a bad idea, finding an old 10gig bad boy in the attic that had some stuff onI'dd thought I'd lost to repartition, coming across Xandros which I installed before typing this very blog entry happilyy enveloped in the warm embrace of an Operating System that is neither Micro$oft nor paid for. Smiling.
I'm still working what it can do (most things) and what it can't (some things). I'm going to have to revert to an older version of Office and then pay for the right to modify those MSdocumentss in OpenOffice.Org but the cost is bundled up in upgrading the version of Xandros to include DVD burning and some other bits and bobs including, wait for it, anti virus software! I mean who the hell would want to clobber me and the other half a dozen Linux users in the world. But I'm not complaining. I wouldn't be surprised if some of the trojans and shit that are flying around a the moment are very discriminating about the OS they attack.
So here's to my new job, my new OS and my new improved outlook on life.
current mood: 'Flight of the Bumblebee' orig. Rimsykorsakov arr. Wynton Marsalis
For all of you who have been having good thoughts for me may I offer my thanks, for I am now the holder of a brand new position of work. In September I shall be Assistant Headteacher (Asshead for short) at Chalkhill Primary School in Wembley. I am over the moon about it all and just want you all to know (a) how happy I am to be starting there and (b) how happy I am to be leaving Marlborough. What started out as an exercise in 'keeping one's options box topped up' ended up becoming a realisation that however much I may have invested in an institution and however much loyalty I may have shown, there's not a lot of point in continuing to be treated like shit when there's other bosses out there who'll give you a chance.
And there's also the 10k salary increase too.
Second bit of news with a liberation motif concerns my fast sagging computer. Difford and Tilbrook wrote, 'my assets froze, while yours have dropped' and I think that pretty much sums up my PC. If I was this age in the 70's I'd have probably had my head under the bonnet of my Ford Cortina every weekend but for me it's the bonnet of my PC. But the truth is I'm too old and too grumpy to care that much anymore and what was once (though I say so myself) a damn good set up is now slowly falling into dishevellment and disrepair.
First my hard drive packed up. Not a big deal in itself the only thing not backed up was the tonnes of music from Napster that I couldn't burn to disc or play unless I resubscribed to Napster or wait for the hack to arrive that would let me burn it. 160 gigs down the pan. Bugger.
And then Microsoft had the brainwave to tell me that my copy of Windows might not be genuiine. Nice one Bill - like you are. So now I have to wait 5 seconds to start Windows and endure constant messages about how I can pay £95 to make the piece of shit aka Windows XP work.
Time for a change methinks. Now I have been thinking about a laptop lately. A sort of 'well done on fooling another head teacher into employing you' present to myself and the new Macbook Pro looks very inviting. But I still need a machine at home for the kids and A to hammer so some creative thinking was required. And then it hit me! Duh! After all these years of avoiding the brown rice and sandals of the OS worldIi suddenly brought Linux to mind. It's free (well mostly) andIi might be able to talk my remaining hard drive into becoming a dual boot system just to try it out.
So today has been spent finding out that the good idea of converting my drives to dynamic drives was a bad idea, finding an old 10gig bad boy in the attic that had some stuff onI'dd thought I'd lost to repartition, coming across Xandros which I installed before typing this very blog entry happilyy enveloped in the warm embrace of an Operating System that is neither Micro$oft nor paid for. Smiling.
I'm still working what it can do (most things) and what it can't (some things). I'm going to have to revert to an older version of Office and then pay for the right to modify those MSdocumentss in OpenOffice.Org but the cost is bundled up in upgrading the version of Xandros to include DVD burning and some other bits and bobs including, wait for it, anti virus software! I mean who the hell would want to clobber me and the other half a dozen Linux users in the world. But I'm not complaining. I wouldn't be surprised if some of the trojans and shit that are flying around a the moment are very discriminating about the OS they attack.
So here's to my new job, my new OS and my new improved outlook on life.
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