Early Risers.

[Two_sugars]

NHN. . .Do you think Donk's dad may have sewed a few wild oats in his youth????

 

 

Goodnight everyone . . . . . . . Sleep well.

 

John

[bluebottle]

I can remember only a couple of remarks from my school reports.

From the RE teacher: "Normally absent". Fair enough; I think I'd learned as much about religion as I needed to know from the Kirk and, of more value to my mind, from my auld Scots granny.

The other remark was of more interest; from the Headmaster: "Seems to live in a queer world". Again... There seemed to be a lot of baffling things about the world; I asked questions and was given answers that didn't seem to explain anything. It was deeply satisfying to find things that did make sense, such as the rules of congruence which got me through O level maths.

Despite the head's remark, I felt that he had more practical insight into humanity than anyone else around me, (with the possible exception of my beloved father), and I was saddened that he left when the school went comprehensive. At this length of time, I can mention his name; Frank Pinion: he went on to the University of Sheffield as Sub-Dean and Reader in English Studies. He edited and wrote introductions for works of literature for Macmillan, who also published his "Companions" to Jane Austin, the Bröntes, Thomas Hardy and D. H. Lawrence.

A privilege to have known such a man.

[edcayton]

Reports. Most of my students were employed and came to college on a day-release basis. We sent reports to employers and these became increasingly complicated as various "initiatives" came through. I visited a local employer about his apprentices and he said:

 

"Never mind all this clever bo11ox, I need to know if he's G, FG or NFG."

 

@Gordon, I think I knew his Irish cousin.....

 

 

Ed

[Gwiwer]

Morning all.

 

Up and out of bed at last.  Still hacking like a good 'un and only hearing in the starboard ear but I cannot malinger any longer.  The roster worked in my favour and I've only missed three days of work though should perhaps have taken a lot more.

 

Frantic catch-up on the domestic engineering front today as SWMBO is offering support, friendship and dinner to a work-mate caught in an acrimonious and depressing partnership split.  

 

Gordon's school report rings a bell here.  Comments I received over my years at grammar school included "If he had twice as much brain he'd be a half-wit" (Latin), "A ham-fisted clot with a pencil - God help him if he ever picked up a paint brush" (Art), "Would probably do better if he stayed awake" (History) and "Does not yet know everything despite what he thinks" (Geography).  

 

I survived, went up to university to the astonishment of most staff and graduated which probably caused some to turn in their graves.  We seemed to lose two or three a year to serious illness, old age or suicide.

[NGT6 1315]

Morning all! First round driven already. On NGT8 car 1134 today. Weather dreich right now.

 

Have a good one!

[emt_911]

Morning all. Grey but warm start to the day which I can live with.

 

I had to look up Vygotsky and it now makes sense.

 

Have a good day everyone

[railsquid]

A-level teacher: "We do not recommend that railsquid pursues German as a university subject". (Which I didn't. Just went and studied something else at a German university - in German I hasten to add. Hah.)

 

PE teacher: "railsquid made some progress in remembering to bring his kit"

[roundhouse]

Up early this morning to do some work work but the PC on the dining table decided to go slooooooow. Gave up with it after half hour so went upstairs to use that PC.

 

However the 2nd hand Apple Mac mini arrived yesterday and that is now set up and working fine after a 2.5GB update. Good job we have unlimited cable data. Yet to have office installed so that's why I couldn't use it this morning.

Edited July 8, 2015 by roundhouse

[Robert]

Morning All,

 

It is a rather nice morning here.  Fortunately, we managed to escape the extreme weather which swept across Hessen yesterday evening.  There were several Tornados with roofs lost, and trees uprooted.  I am glad to say - All we saw was some roiling clouds and the odd bolt of lightning.

 

I never took German at school.  I chose Latin instead.  Teenage logic dictated that I wouldn't need German - although I can't quite remember why I thought I needed Latin!  Funny how things turn out.

 

Have a good day everyone...

[Gwiwer]

 

 

I never took German at school.  I chose Latin instead.  Teenage logic dictated that I wouldn't need German - although I can't quite remember why I thought I needed Latin!  Funny how things turn out.

 

 

Schools differ.  Thinking differs.

 

Latin was compulsory for the first three years at grammar school.  After which it was an option along with Classics to O and A-Level

 

German wasn't routinely taught but was a "General Studies" option at Fifth-form level which I took for a year.

 

French was of course mandatory throughout to O-level

 

I still use and remember far more German than Latin!

[BoD]

Morning all

 

Thanks for the support and advice.

I've heard of these hire car schemes but not sure how they work. We will have to check that one out.

With my daughter sitting stationary waiting for lights to change and a runaway, driverless car hitting her I'm not sure that even the most reluctant insurance company could claim knock for knock. We shall see.

Edited July 8, 2015 by BoD

[grandadbob]

Good morning all,

Rather a dull start and some rain is forecast.

Yesterday I asked Gemma if she was missing her brother while he was away. She looked thoughtful for a moment then said "Not really Grandad - it's been very quiet and peaceful"

Have a good one,

Bob.

[Tony_S]

Morning all.

Cool and cloudy here. I managed the trek to the pavement to deposit recycling bags and containers.

I actually did something to my model railway yesterday. I made a bridge (non scenic) to the turntable to remove a tight curve on the access track.

I surprised Robbie by giving him a thorough coat grooming/brushing this morning. Not too sure if the change of routine was successful. He thought he had been good enough to deserve a couple of biscuits.

Tony

[AndyB]

Morning. Another sunny one here.

 

I have to say I always take more notice about the teacher's comments about my children that appear at the end of the report than those in the earlier sections . Personally they paint a picture of whether my child and how she/he is progressing to become a well rounded individual and contributing to the class. 

 

Busy cutting and pasting Mike's phrase into my meeting minutes.  

 

About to start "interpreting" some emails which left me scratching my head last night. With some folk I'd settle for a grasp of grammar and an anti-verbal diarrhoea tablet.

Initial thoughts are:

Who is the subject of the sentence. 

Are the "comma" and "full stop" keys misssing on their keyboard.  

 

Have a nice day everyone. 

[Killybegs]

School Reports! We didn't have them at junior school but, boy, did we have them at Grammar School. I used to dread mine arriving in the post (sensibly, we weren't allowed to take them home as my kids were) as I inevitably received a 'Bad Report'. Not only did this engender grief at school where two consecutive bad reports resulted in a visit to the Headmaster for 'six of the best', but as my father was a teacher, I also got it in the neck at home. I did get good reports for my sporting achievements but these didn't seem to carry much weight! Ah well, all character building stuff.

 

Cooler again today with a cold North wind. I'm hoping that it stays dry and that the sun comes out otherwise we may need a baler when we eventually get the grass cut!

 

I had an email from FGW this morning notifying me of the upcoming rail strikes. I thought that was pretty good considering they don't send me any advertising blurb.

 

One of my spam folders is getting busier day by day, the other one remains empty. 

Edited July 8, 2015 by Killybegs

[Smiffy2]

Morning all.

 

Just off to Smith's to see if they've got a GBL Lord Nelson or two...

[Barry O]

Good morning ERs!

 

A non cricket day (yes I will be listening to Test Match Special for the Ashes commentary).

 

Some housework to do but isn't that what life is all about..balancing fun with work?

 

Her indoors clocks up over 200 reports for her music pupils spread over 11 schools. As each one is studying a different instrument or level of music theory it takes some time!

 

I studied French, Germans and Russian at school and failed them all! Over the years this has not stopped my visitvisits to French, German and Russian companies so it was time well spent (although I didn't realise it at the time!)

 

Andyb, if its full of garbage can I suggest provide a one sentence summary, send it to all email addresses in the first email with an opening sentence of:

"I take it that the following is what you are saying?"

 

Then stand back and watch it implode!

 

Have a great hump day!

 

Baz

[PhilJ W]

Morning all from Estuary-Land. I had a school report book that followed me through my 'academic career' in fact I still have it somewhere, I'll have to find it for a laugh. My headmaster was also of a literary bent, not the heady heights of Gordon's teacher however. You might still find copy's of 'A guide to Essex pubs' by Glynn Morgan in second hand book shops, it ran to several editions and IIRC he wrote more than one book on the subject.  

[grandadbob]

After my first year at grammar school I received an excellent report.......after that it was downhill all the way!

 

The Head's comments each year usually ran something like "He has had a disappointing year academically but has swum well / played cricket for the school /had an excellent season in the 1stXV etc. TBH at our school if you played for the 1st XV you could (almost) get away with anything!

Edited July 8, 2015 by grandadbob

[southern42]

Morning all from soggy red dragon land.

Playing trains on hold.  Flask of coffee ready though.... 

Hope it's a bit better where you are.

 

Cookery teacher's short report on 42's end of first year exam: "My star pupil".  Then she left and we had someone else....   I'll say no more. 

 

 

Edit:  Other favourite moments in the first year came after beating a 6th former in the chess tournament.  The Geography and History teachers were tickled pink and made a big thing of it in the classroom.  I just found it a tad embarrassing especially as it was a sheer fluke - I didn't see the checkmate coming at all, not from me anyway.  I felt doomed!  But I didn't tell anyone. 

Edited July 8, 2015 by southern42

[AndyB]

Good morning ERs!

 

A non cricket day (yes I will be listening to Test Match Special for the Ashes commentary).

 

Some housework to do but isn't that what life is all about..balancing fun with work?

 

Her indoors clocks up over 200 reports for her music pupils spread over 11 schools. As each one is studying a different instrument or level of music theory it takes some time!

 

I studied French, Germans and Russian at school and failed them all! Over the years this has not stopped my visitvisits to French, German and Russian companies so it was time well spent (although I didn't realise it at the time!)

 

Andyb, if its full of garbage can I suggest provide a one sentence summary, send it to all email addresses in the first email with an opening sentence of:

"I take it that the following is what you are saying?"

 

Then stand back and watch it implode!

 

Have a great hump day!

 

Baz

 

Funnily enough, Barry, that was pretty much what I was planning to do.

Last week I did what I was told to do, wrote an email confirming that I was about to do as I was told to do.....

...a day later I got a sn@t-o-gram demanding to know why I had done what I'd done. 

Err, cos you told me to?  

 

As the t-shirt says.

"Grammar: the difference between knowing your sh1£, and knowing you're sh1£." 

[Smiffy2]

Morning all.

 

Just off to Smith's to see if they've got a GBL Lord Nelson or two...

They haven't...

[The Lurker]

Morning all, the grey clouds over Borough Market Junction this morning promise a cool day but hopefully no rain when I am slogging round Battersea Park later.......

 

It's a big day today, not only is it budget day for which rumours have it there will be a lot of "technical" stuff - which will no doubt cause headaches - but also the start of the Ashes. The Aussie lads in the office are strangely unconfident. That's most un-Australian in my experience.....!

 

BoD's tale reminds me of the time we got home to Lurker towers after a lovely week or so on holiday to find a note saying "Dear Lurkers, terribly sorry we've crashed into your car". It turns out that someone up the road had parked their Zsara Picasso in the street, removed baby from the car and then the shopping and then the handbrake "failed" ( I assume wasn't put on properly - I've never heard of Citroens having this as a known fault). The car had rolled down the hill cannoning off various cars including Mrs Lurker's and into a car parked in the street at the end writing it off. As far as I know no one was hurt but Mrs Lurker was upset as the car was her pride and joy. Not as upset as the little old lady at the end of the street who owned the written off car; she never drove again.

 

On a positive note, the insurers dealt with everything most satisfactorily.....

 

Have a good day all

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

Dealing with the news that all four of the parental units appertaining to my wife and myself are now in significant health difficulties. Not too surprising with a combined age of 356 between them, but problematic as we of all their progeny are far and away positioned most closely to both couples, (as in living in the same country) but there's a 200 mile distance between their respective homes, and neither will relocate...

 

...Cookery teacher's short report on 42's end of first year exam: "My star pupil".  Then she left and we had someone else....   I'll say no more...

When I re-read my secondary school reports after decade or thereabouts of experience of real life, it was clear that many of the teachers revealed more about themselves than the pupil. Had this insight been available earlier there were several chains that could have been jerked more effectively. Probably a good job that I was ignorant of this at the time...

[The Stationmaster]

Morning all,

 

School reports - can't really remember what was in them although just as well in some cases - I recorded the lowest ever mark in an end of year Latin exam (which will amuse those who know my name) but have long since found that at least it taught me a lot about pronunciation (like only a couple of other folk, and unlike the BBC, I can at least pronounce the name of the comet lander as if it were Latin), was ropey at French and never did German although I did go there on a school exchange and stopped with a family where only my 'exchanger' could speak english.   So suffice to say that in my final big railway job i was regularly attending meetings held in French or German, and even Flemish on one occasion, and even ended up at one meeting translating from German into French for the benefit of the latter. Funny old world isn't?

 

And yes Andy (B) I too used to respond at work to letters (and Micromails - a BR DOS version of email but 10 times better and about 50 times faster) exactly in response to what was asked, not my concern if some halfwit didn't know the difference between 'effect' and 'affect' so not only didn't get the answer he wanted about Class 37s but also told him where he could stick his Class 60s.  Interesting thing was that the not too much older generation at work had received an education which had given them a proper understanding of the language and punctuation while it quickly became apparent that many of the not too much younger either hadn't listened or hadn't been taught so letters they brought to me for signature went back to them with lots of red ink showing corrections.  Peculiar thing w as that even some in the legal trade lacked the understanding - that is worrying.

 

Off to sunny Tesco in a short while, have a good day one & all