A few days ago, the tragedy of the commons (a modified form) struck the staff'n'phd kitchen. Some people never clean up after themselves, leaving dirty dishes in the sink and the dishwasher for others to clean up. People who normally do clean up their own mess got fed up of cleaning for other people and hence left the kitchen as they found it. Some ( Read more... )

It's the first time in thirty years that I've got a christmas gift. Christmas is usually associated with food, for me. Ever since I can remember, we've had friends with whom we celebrated christmas. My POA used to be to wait for midnight mass to get over, wish everyone and head toward the kitchen. Being the youngest and tiniest helped to ensure ( Read more... )

Although Indians pride themselves on speaking the Queen's English, there's obviously some local flavour that we miss out on. Recently, while having coffee in the common room, a friend walked in from the rain. I pointed out that her pants were wet. She stared at me wild-eyed for about 5 seconds, when another friend who's exposed to Australian ( Read more... )

In October. Groan. It's autumn, but someone forgot to tell the weather.