Early Risers.

[BoD]

Evening all

 

My daughter had a prang in her car this afternoon.

Thankfully she was not hurt although she has a sore shoulder which she is having checked out. There was, it appears, only superficial damage to the car but when this sort of things happens that is low down on the list of priorities.

 

It was a strange accident. She was stationary at a set of red traffic lights when a car ran into the side of her. The car was driverless. The driver in front got out and started berating my daughter because he heard the noise and just assumed that she had run into him. It was a good job I wasn't there. He apologised when she pointed out the extra car stuck onto the side of hers. This along with the accident made her tearful but she was supported by people from the houses nearby, one of whom phoned the police. The police had to do a DVLA check to find the owner of the runaway car. Police have taken details and given her an incident number.

 

The owner of the other car is claiming no responsibility as it was, in his words, an act of God!!

 

My daughter is distressed even more now as this is her first experience of an accident and dealing with it. I must admit, never having had to deal with anything like this myself, I'm feeling fairly helpless here. Her husband is now dealing with it through their insurance company.

 

I'm not sure if I'm posting this for advice or just to get it off my chest. I suppose if I were less civilised I might be performing my own 'act of God' on this other gentleman right now.

[PhilJ W]

Evening all from Estuary-Land. A little while ago my doctor told me to cut down on my sugar intake or run the risk of diabetes. I have succeeded quite well in that though my blood glucose levels are still more than they should be they are reducing. However at this time of year it was my habit to drink a lot of fruit juice so I looked around for an alternative. I found a carton labelled 'coconut water' that seemed to fit the bill as the 1 litre carton only had 2.5% of the recommended daily sugar intake, however it was rather expensive for what was basically water with a bit of coconut flavour added. I then tried what was labelled 'coconut milk' which had even less sugar but no taste, when I read the label it turned out to be a milk substitute for those with lactose intolerance, it may be of interest to Mick for young Jamie though as it is protein free. I then tried a similar product made from almonds, absolutely zero sugar but with a slightly 'nutty' taste which I like.

[Tony_S]

I suspect the driverless car would have had to have been propelled as a result of a bolt of lightening or a tornado or similar to be an Act of God. I can't imagine having a faulty handbrake counts. But I am not a lawyer!

[Coombe Barton]

Happy birthday Pete and Phil

 

Move four completed today

 

Two to go.

 

Still Knackered

[andyram]

Happy birthday for yesterday to Pete(themole). I haven't quite turned 48 yet, so by comparison I'm perhaps the unruly child of ERs. I must be, as I still manage to throw my toys out of the pram on a regular basis... off for an ER catch-up so likes/funnies etc where due.

Hate to say that I beat you to the unruly child prize as my 40th is still just over a month away. Many happy returns to those celebrating their birthdays at this time.

I hope BoD's daughter is ok. Any car accident is scary whether your fault or not. I hope the owner of the driverless car is well insured to cover any damage. Maybe the other driver may suffer an act of God of his own, a stray lightning bolt perhaps?

 

Here my own countdown continues. It is now 13 days until the summer holiday. I can't wait but I am sure plenty to do before then, I have begun the work on solving the issues referred to yesterday as well as dealing with an irate parent over a lunch mix up. Their fault too! I had next year's children in this morning for a transition time. They settled in well. I did manage to upset the teaching assistant though. Apparently she ended up in tears in the toilet at break time. I wouldn't mind but the issue that led to it was more me trying to put her mind at ease. Women!!!! (No offence meant to those on here though!!!) I only found out about the upset after the lady in question had gone home so I will speak to her tomorrow. Now - when does my deputy list start???

 

A nice moment today though. The new young teacher popped in to see me, complete with the report card I had written for her when she was a nervy six year old. Her mum keeps any old rubbish apparently.

 

I believe it is hump day tomorrow...

[The Stationmaster]

I'm not putting a photo of Robbie on the forum today! He looked really smart and tidy this morning. After a walk in the park he looks like one of those dogs in the 'please sponsor me" adverts.

Or like the one in your avatar? 

[Tony_S]

Or like the one in your avatar? 

He was just rather wet in the avatar photo. Today he was doing a good impression of looking uncared for, as his fur had dried in clumps and needed bits of weed removing. He looked very comfortable stretched out on an oriental rug avoiding being brushed. He likes finding something expensive to lie on. At least he doesn't get up on the furniture!

[New Haven Neil]

OOh err, some bloomin dog bonking our Donk!  Donk is here on holiday with us (currently in Sheppey - waves at Tony across the water) so it must be an unruly cousin!

 

Had 4 days to skim though, some very moving comments, folks, you have my admiration.

 

Went to the Bluebell today, Q class in steam, nice journey.

 

Quick post as web connection is poor, sorry.

[Simon G]

Very nice in the Conwy Valley today.  Morning spent clearing ivy from trees which were in danger of being throttled by it.  Then wood sawing and chopping for a winter fuel supply.  Watched a Conwy Valley Explorer special trundle up the line from Llandudno Junction to Blaenau Ffestiniog - 8 coaches topped and tailed by Class 47/57.  As it was over a mile away, too distant to get a decent photo with my little camera.  Family 90th birthday celebration tomorrow, followed by a trip on the longest and fastest zip line on Monday  - cant wait!

 

 

Rather you than me, Mister :-)

 

Well as it turns out, I didn't get to do the Zip line run!  I got a phone call from them on Sunday evening saying that it had been cancelled due to adverse weather, along with all others on both Monday & Tuesday.  As I couldn't do any later due to commitments at home, it has gone on the back burner.  Really fed up, as is my brother who was also doing it at the same time.  We don't often get together as he is in Reading, so it could be tricky rescheduling both of us at the same time.

 

Not yet caught up with everything since Friday, as I have been staying with relatives with no internet access until today.  Have now driven back home to West Cumbria and can get online again!  The usual congratulations/commiserations to all as appropriate.

[Barry O]

game completed by dodging in and out of the showers... added bonus... St Peter's York is in listening distance of York Station and the very loud steam engine whistles were a joy!

 

My new tablets seem to be giving me some problems.... suffice it to say I just need to work through it...

 

Belated birthday wishes!

 

Have a nice evening

 

baz

[Tony_S]

OOh err, some bloomin dog bonking our Donk!  Donk is here on holiday with us (currently in Sheppey - waves at Tony across the water) so it must be an unruly cousin!

 

Had 4 days to skim though, some very moving comments, folks, you have my admiration.

 

Went to the Bluebell today, Q class in steam, nice journey.

 

Quick post as web connection is poor, sorry.

I wouldn't trust Robbie with Donk. He had various soft toys that he used to carry round. Then he discovered how much fun it is was to disembowel them. He only gets Kong toys now. Though perhaps Robbie is a reformed character as he didn't bother with a cuddly toy moose (Chris) who was in the lounge over Christmas.

[Judge Dread]

Just when this day was slowing drawing to a close and I was looking forward to an hour or so sat at this keyboard, panic stations set in at Château Wass.

My good lady was about to set off for her fuscia  society meeting and was calling our three cats for food. Wilson and Batty turned up but not Kepple. These are three male cats and that's why Batty is Batty and not Betty. I was left to search for Kepple who does sometimes find new places to sleep. They are all indoor cats, our address is at a junction of two quite busy streets. Checking out our bedroom, I noticed the door was open, which is normally kept shut to exclude the cats, even more so because one top light window was wide open. Failing to find the missing cat, I ventured outside and heard from the direct of next door a pathetic meowing. This I traced to their bay window top.  There was the missing cat, looking very wet as a shower of rain had just occurred. He must have gone through the open window, dropping onto our bay window top. Then leaping onto our other window sill and onto next door's bay window roof. From there he was stuck. Not wishing to call the fire service, I borrowed a ladder from a neighbour and before climbing it, I put on a jacket to protect my shoulders and arms. He was willing to come to me but when I tried to lift him down, panic set in. I could only get down a couple of steps with the cat held by the scruff of his neck. I had to drop him about six feet or so to prevent me following him. I'm glad to report he is fine with no apparent damage to his legs.

My next job now is to copy and print this story as part of my report to my dear wife. 

[Tony_S]

I think my brother still has the scars from when he climbed a very tall tree to rescue one of his cats which didn't seem too happy to be rescued.

[The Stationmaster]

One of our past cats had a bit of a habit of climbing trees and then not being sure how to get down.  A later one (the amazing Henry) was quite happy to get part way down and then be grabbed but the earlier one wasn't - but fortunately our other cat at that time often seemed to understand his plight and would climb up to show him the way down!

[Simon G]

I did threaten/promise to post a picture of the view from our accommodation for the first few days in Wales, so here it is.  It was taken on an evening looking east over the River Conwy to the Denbigh Hills.  I even managed to get a 2 car DMU in - on its way up the valley to Betws-y-Coed. As I posted previously, this is one of my favourite views!

 

 

[emt_911]

Ready for another ER, so it's time for bed.

 

Night all

[The Stationmaster]

G'night all

[bbishop]

We had a similar tree climbing problem with Toddy.  He would climb about 10 foot, find a branch and stop there.  And then bark for help.  Yes, he was a Jack Russell, and being a dog, no ability to climb down.  We would wander round below him, calling out for him, and saying: "I can hear him, but can't see him".  Toddy would be barking "I'm up here, I'm up here!" In the end, one of us would spot him, get a ladder and collect him.

 

Harvey, the cat, never bothered to climb a tree.  Too much like hard work.

 

Bill

[AndyB]

How quaint. I thought that these days teachers cut and pasted standard phrases from an ever-so helpful website and applied them as appropriate.

 

 

I like to think we can still do quaint down here. But I wouldn't be surprised if a website existed; some of the comments seem quite forumlaic. 

 

1.  Remember when daughter comes up with report not to explode on seeing various typos.

 

2.  I believe the wording you want is along these sort of lines - 'after in depth discussion covering a wide range of viewpoints ... ... '

 

1.Mike, it might not have been the best day for me to typing up grades; a bad night's sleep meant I was treble checking, especially as former colleagues kept popping in and asking how I was doing in the new job!"

 

2. Liking that. Must dig out my copies of Yes, Minister by way of a refresher course. 

[andyram]

I like to think we can still do quaint down here. But I wouldn't be surprised if a website existed; some of the comments seem quite forumlaic. 

 

 

 Several years ago our then head teacher did introduce the use of a computer programme called "Report Assist" which included a bank of statements for each subject. It didn't last long though as it was not very user friendly. The statements were very blend and I used to spend ages just writing my own ones. It ended up taking twice as long.

[laurenceb]

Night all

[DougN]

Well I think I might have moved on from Sunday! 3 in a row does feel strange. Yesterday puffing billy was very enjoyable. Na 12 I think did a grand job to lake side and back. The kids enjoyed the ride but Miss DougN was tired on the way back and curled up against me at 9 she still goes into little girl mode every so often. Caught up inprompt with my uncle and cousins for dinner but this has created the delema of no modelling for the past few days I have to get some in today. I will say though the kids are both exhausted. So may be a quiet one today is the best option. The GLW is working again so I have to do the normal chores.i might get to a local model shop if I'm lucky today!

 

Reading some of the comments about project management i had to giggle at. The normal day job is just that for construction projects. If things are going well and flowing I cancel the meetings as they don't achieve anything. I did have one for the government where the govt rep would talk for the best part of 2 hours and the architect and I would sit there in the cafe drinking coffee. Later we realised this was the best course of action as the project didn't need the meetings but the govt rep had to attend... I think her office may have been happy to have her out of the office! I still remember her taking Flexi days what seemed like every week and then still complaining she had so much work to do!

 

All the best.

[Smiffy2]

I didn't enjoy reports.

 

I always made them in three parts, as required by the school policy. These were generated, in part, by National Curriculum levels and effort/behaviour grades over the reporting period. The first section was summative, and described the pupil's progress and attainment in the rp. These tended to be formulaic as they were couched in NC terms. The attainment was straight reporting (NC levels achieved and described) and the effort/behaviour came from my markbook.

 

The second section was formative, and expressed where I wanted the pupil to develop over the next rp (very Vygotskian - I was describing the zone of proximal development).

 

The third section was free-form and was my comments on the pupil, although to be fair most important areas had been covered in parts 1 and 2, but allowed for further comment both good and critical.

 

It took hours...

 

In the course of the year I had to write at least one for every child I taught (about 250) and read/approve them for all the kids I was responsible for - 350 kids x 10+ reports each. And I had to check/correct the spelling, send back the sub-standard ones and chase the unwritten ones. And, of course, deal with teachers who submitted them late, so I might have a few hundred reports to check in the last couple of days.

[Tony_S]

Fortunately I am sitting next to someone who could explain Vygotsky to me!

Tony

[Jock67B]

Morning all,

We are now into the hump (aren't we?). Late on parade after a fairly busy day and an impromptu family gathering this evening. Saddened to be so starkly reminded of the atrocity that is now known as 7/7. I clearly remember Joanna's stress (she would win gold if worrying were an Olympic sport!) as we had a son, daughter and son in law working in central London at that time, but luckily, they were all sensitive enough to get in touch to reassure her as soon as they could! Such indiscriminate killing, which included some of Muslim faith, in the name of Islam is simply obscene!

My mood was greatly lightened however to read Dave(TG)'s post! Dave, I am absolutely delighted that Is had some good news to follow the bad - now she will need to muster all the mental strength she can to assist the work of the wonderful new drugs available. Please wish her well from Joanna and I, and remember what I said before about the value of using the Macmillan organisation to make sure you are getting all the help due to you - I've found their help very useful.

Happy birthday to our birthday boys, and many more of them. I have to confess that I'll be topping you both by one year on Thursday - the bubbly is chilling in the fridge as I type!

Mike(60860), glad you enjoyed your Danish break - Joanna and I spent a few days there as part of our grand tour of Russia and Scandinavia a few years back. I suppose the only downside was the need for a very fat wallet! Some of the machines in the Tivoli looked very scary - I think a music concert was a safer option!

BoD, I'd advise your daughter to let the insurance company do the work, as that is what we pay for. Warn them against the current habit of calling everything 'knock for knock', and beware of the many hire car scams running - good advice is available on the motoring section of the Daily Telegraph web site. Good luck, hope her injury worries prove to be unfounded but it is a frightening experience nonetheless.

Good to hear that the Isle of Man's finest and his good lady are progressing with the holiday - let's hope they hit an Internet hot-spot soon so as we might get to see some of Neil's excellent photographs!

Simon, missing your zip wire treat was indeed a real shame - hope you manage to reschedule soon. I have to agree about your opinion of that view, it must be lovely to awake to that each day?

Tomorrow has nothing scheduled other than the taxi run taking great grandson to nursery and home again - from experience, this could change however! Weed patch needs attention (I was told earlier!) so it is almost certain to stay dry here! Have a good rest of the week and all being well, we'll get a bulletin from Ian(OD) later to let us know he has landed safely in the West Country.

Kind regards,

Jock.

G'night all!