I realise I never actually mentioned I am safely back from Lyon. My foot issue resolved okay by wearing my other shoes, though it's all a bit tender - still, at least I could do what I'd hoped before I left, I did see the cathedral and the weirdly empty Halles (glad I saw it on Saturday too, when it was buzzing) to get my last station-adjacent meal ( Read more... )

I have basically nested in my aparthotel - daffodils on the table, spice pots by the sink, and I've diagnosed the leak under said sink, which is more than the maintenance guy did (it's a tiny hole in the overflow hose, so unless I go wild with deep water it won't flood). I'm feeling tired (mostly because York germs have got to me, and I have a ( Read more... )

I'm on my placement and it's going really well, I think. What is going less well is the day job, which I'm in touch with perforce and where a crappy thing is unravelling in ways I'm having to try to manage at a distance, with out of hours phone calls and emails in between what I'm meant to be focused on. So I'd be lying if I said I was, you know, ( Read more... )

Hey all. I've been remiss, but that doesn't mean nothing good has been happening. Let's have some of them.

1. Professional validation. In a very minor way. I've been teaching a module which I'm not over-confident about, as the regular teacher has been away for a few months. I've just had my marking moderated for last semester, and the second marker ( Read more... )

Oh, lads, it has been quite a week. All that work travel, and I managed to find a new minor physical thing to have a series of anxiety responses to (silently, screaming internally while being my Super Professional External Assessor self, which was fun). And it is a complicated assessment with some difficult emotional aspects (not least that I know ( Read more... )

I'm on the road again for work. It's a rare month that I don't leave London, and January's one-afternoon-meeting-in-Swindon is a bit of a record in recent years. This feels annoying (who wants to lose a sunny Sunday to travel?) but alos familiar. I'm in a Premier Inn, which is my preferred cheapish work travel hotel, in a town I don't know well. I' ( Read more... )

A dull grey week, with lots of slush, and snow only falling on me when I'm trying to get to places, rather than sticking around attactively. But I've seen some fun shows this week, and discovered the VAULT festival near Waterloo is worth visiting. It's a massive two-month performance fest, like a very tiny Edinburgh fringe, peopled by cool young ( Read more... )

*through gritted teeth, as Parliament conspires to make this country a) a dangerous shitshow and b) an incompetent laughing stock* Good. Things. Three of them ( Read more... )

Oh guys, I'm a bit stuck here. I had a lovely Friday with the bonfire, and then I didn't really do anything the whole weekend. And now I have marking coming in but I'm going to leave it till tomorrow.

I guess this is 3 Good Things: In Praise of Sloth.

1. Candles. Obvious but true, and they are more tame than Friday's bonfire, but lots of happy ( Read more... )

1. Great big jumpers. So big they make you look like an actual sheep. I had a totally random day off today (using up expiring flexitime) and it was *cold*. But I have spent most of it reading and feeling happy that I have many layers on ( Read more... )