Wednesday 28 November 2007

Reasons technology sucks

Based on the events of the last few days...

1. It makes your students think you are available to answer their questions 24/7. They then email you again to check you got their first email if you don't reply within one working day. This is always at their convenience – they can ask me questions without leaving their houses, but expect me to always be at my office desk.

2. It means we don’t get as much personal, hand written mail as we might otherwise (thank you to Italian Speaker for the card)

3. It lets you stay up until the early hours of the morning (we’re talking well into ‘tomorrow’) to finish a lecture, and then, when you’re onto the final section, and you’re quite pleased with what you’ve got and you (as you’ve been doing all night) go to hit save, it not only does not save, but corrupts your file. You possibly lose 5500words of lecture (3000 of them written during the night), and in its place you get a series of boxes and oriental characters. This would not have happened with a pen and paper. Although coffee accidents are always a potential hazard in that medium.

4. It tells you there is a problem with the save. You breathe a sigh of relief, and hurriedly tell it to save this as something else so that the previous save will still exist, and you’ll only lose a small amount of work. It lets you think you’ve been clever to do this. Then it denies all knowledge of there ever being a file by the previous name. You then have no sleep and no shiny lecture to show for it. I don’t mind being sleepless when there’s a point to it, but …

Monday 19 November 2007

Key Rings

My students were discussing The Merchant of Venice today, and the symbolic or material value of the rings given by brides to husbands (or husbands to be) in the play. One group was very amused by the bawdy joke about rings at the end of the play, one student felt that for Shylock there was only monetary value to the ring Leah gave him, whilst other students (and I) disagreed.

But, all this talk of rings reminded me - I got my office keyring stuck on my left hand ring finger the other day.

Do you think someone somewhere is trying to tell me something?

Wednesday 14 November 2007

SuperMum

Yesterday was SuperMum's birthday. I did say there would be a separate post for this and, a little belatedly, here it is!

I thought that around her birthday it would be nice to give you some idea of why she's SuperMum. I can't list all the reasons, but here are just a few of them:

1. Love. SuperMum has endless amounts of it. For me, for my Sister, for all our extended family, and various pets. And it extends and extends. I can't count, or even remember, how many of my friends she has 'adopted', and continued to support emotionally (and financially). I met one of them yesterday, who says he hasn't been around many other people near whom he's felt so able to just be himself.

2. Generosity. Emotionally and financially, if she has it she will give it to you. Even at significant cost to herself. This also applies to her time. No matter how busy she is, she will make time for you. This generosity is both a wonderful and a terrible thing. Don't forget to show yourself the same generosity sometimes, SuperMum!

3. Patience. I don't suppose after 1 & 2 it will surprise you that she is in a caring profession, but both in a professional and private capacity, she always has more patience than anyone could reasonably ask of her. And, often, more than we unreasonably ask of her.

4. Professionalism. SuperMum's job requires her to deal with people who behave badly, and in a professional way. And some professionals who are unprofessional. And no matter how much she wants to do otherwise, she deals with them reasonably, calmly, with patience and above all with professionalism.

5. Strength. No matter what is thrown at her - and she's had more than her share of difficulties, professional and personal - she keeps going. And she does it with an abundance of 1, 2, 3 & 4 above. I don't know how, but she does.

I hope I show some of these qualities too, and if I do, then it's down to her.

Thank you for being a wonderful Mum.

Happy Birthday.

Wednesday 7 November 2007

Birthday wishes

Just a quick post today to say:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

to my friends - Amy, whose birthday is today, BF and KP, whose birthdays are also this week, and September Blue's dad, Emily H, and Tomorrow's Doctor whose birthdays are next week. (Don't worry Mum, I haven't forgotten you - you get a post of your own later!)

Have a wonderful time. I'm sure BF will make cake for those of you in Beautiful Scottish City That I Miss. Eat some for me.

Monday 5 November 2007

Update 2: Good news

Good news! Papers signed on the new flat. Should have keys by the end of the week. Hurrah!(Thank you, SuperMum.)


Will keep you upto date with developments. I now have to think about buying furniture. Is it strange that that's an exciting prospect?

Karma?

Well, I'm still not moved into my new flat, although everyone is doing their very, very best to speed up the process. Shouldn't be long now!

Meanwhile, I've been staying in a B&B during the week, and a hotel when the B&B was full. The hotel was more convenient in many ways - a place to get food in the evening, a desk in the bedroom (have you ever tried to read a Norton Anthology of any kind without an armchair, or a table?), a bigger bathroom, and a wider breakfast choice - and although it wasn't as friendly as the B&B, I decided to stay there again this week. I booked through the same website as last time, although I seem to have been charged very slightly more this time (and it is more than the B&B either way), but for all of the conveniences list above, I didn't mind that too much. Until I got there.

The room was of a much poorer quality this time - much smaller, darker, noisier, tiny, tiny bathroom (see point above about previous bathroom convenience) with peeling wallpaper. Nice. That's several of the reasons to choose this over the friendly B&B blown, isn't it?

That will teach me.

My SuperMum - who very kindly brought me over here - asked at reception if they would change the room. After a little debate they did, and the one I have been moved to is better. Nowhere near as good as last time, but better.

I wonder if they do this to all guests. Draw them in with shiny rooms with big bathrooms (with doors that close, and showers over baths rather than little cubicles), make them think it's value for money, and then, when they've recommended it to others and re-booked, put them in the tiny room with peeling wallpaper and the TV with the dodgy aerial that can only show one channel at a time.

Well, the replacement is not quite so yucky. TV works, and there is an overhead light, and more than a foot square to turn around in. And if it weren't worse than the last room they gave me, more expensive than the very nice B&B, and more expensive than the last time I stayed here, I guess I wouldn't mind it so much. Still, I won't be booking in to this hotel again unless it's an emergency, I won't be ticking the value for money back on the feedback sheet and I certainly won't be recommending it anymore. It's a small stand, but I'm taking it.

That will teach them.