NGT6 1315

A student colleague at my school told me that math teacher training today includes introductory courses to programmes like http://www.geogebra.org/cms/ . I'm sure I'd have liked to be working with this kind of software when I went to school!

Having just looked through the photos I took yesterday for some quick examples to post, what do you think about these models? This would be a I scale class 150 electric... ...and these are Siemens ER 20 type diesels in O and I scale respectively. I doubt I could ever accommodate any layout in that scale, but having one of these on the desk to look at sure would be nice – if very pricey.

Morning all! Didn't manage to post yesterday due to us having taken a trip to Cologne in order to visit the combined International Model Railway Fair and LEGO Fan World. This had been entirely new to me as I'd never attended any model fairs before, which is why I really cannot make any educated comparison. I took a number of images which I'll see to posting some time soon, but what I can say is that it certainly was crowded! A few retailers were also present, but far as I could see, none had any of the items I'm currently seeking to obtain. Perhaps it's better this way as pay day won't be till the end of next week!

Morning all... With all this talk of precipitation, I checked whether we might be getting any of that, and indeed there is an increasing chance of rain beginning this afternoon. Now preparing breakfast before setting off to work again!

Don't call me Shirley!

Two recent autumnal snapshot impressions from our balcony... And tonight:

Happy birthday to Abi! Was still getting my mind realigned when I wrote my previous posting...

Oh man. Do you know any easy way of increasing the caffeine content in coffee? This is going to be one of those weeks... Though on the positive side, I had a 5th year geography course write an exam today, which went rather well. Given that and the fact that it had been sunny around noon, I then was happy to allow the kids outside for the rest of the lesson as they completed the exam fairly quickly. I personally think it is a perfectly legitimate option to cut 5th year kids some slack after an exam. As I'm typing this, it is fogging up again, so tonight will certainly see me put my feet up.

Morning all... Just wanted to say hi before leaving the house, so I'll save any more elaborate postings for later. Pea souper style fog outside, too.

Afternoon all! I can now finally spare a few moments to chime in after my telegram at silly o'clock this morning... First of all – DD, I completely sympathise with your current situation. I'm not sure whether this will be of any help beyond providing some moral support at least, but I'm thinking of you and your friend. On the school front, it was quite noticeable how student motivation appeared to have eroded halfway through the week. Though I guess the fact of today's classes all having been year 7 and 8 courses will probably have been a relevant factor, too. In any case, I'm now sat down with some pretzels and something to drink to tide me over till dinnertime...

Morning all... Slept well, but am still tired stop. Therefore consuming coffee and able to post telegram style only stop. Happy Hump Day stop.

One in free verse: When I'm feeling tired, Does that mean I am a car?

Morning all! Extra classes at school this week, so wasn't able to say hello earlier this morning. I guess we're now seeing what autumn can do to personnel reserves.

Well, I'm rather pleased by how my classes behaved today. There was nothing aside from the usual degree of (normally) friendly banter between neighbours, which I but can tolerate to some degree – provided they keep working on their assignments and do not cause disruption across the entire room. I did have to have three boys tidy up the floor as they kept dropping paper snippets, but this was about the worst there was in terms of unruly behaviour.

Morning all... Not able to write much due to it being silly o'clock, so I'll get freshened up in a few. Talk to you again some time after noon...

I need to confess that ironing is something I do only as an exception rather than a rule! Then again, I'm not subject to any official dress code at work, so I don't see any problem with hanging my laundry up to dry. We're now back from Leipzig and rather exhausted by the weekend, so I guess dinner tonight will be provided by way of home delivery.

Morning all... Don't think I'll need any breakfast today as I'm still so full from last night's dinner. Which also resulted in some rather bizarre dreams, so I'm feeling a bit off the track right now. Perhaps a cup of coffee or two will help solve this problem... Stu, I'm glad to hear your son's improving. I can imagine life to be rather difficult for him, being so unlike almost all other kids his age – at least going by what I could infer from your description. However, I'm happy to hear he has hobbies which he enjoys!

Morning troops... According to the weather app, we're supposed to have -1.5°C outside, but I prefer not to check for myself just yet and to have some coffee instead. Part 1 of MiL's birthday do has been completed, and Part 2 tonight will see even more guests arriving. I'm glad to see everyone appears to be in good spirit thus far. However, we may well do some shopping in the city this afternoon as SWMBO wanted to look for something or other. Why can't there be as many model shops as there are clothes shops?

Charlie loves to occupy the sofa for his naps:

Well said, Ian. That's exactly why I was referring to ERs as something like a virtual pub that's open 24 hours a day and where you can always find someone to talk things over that bother you.

Morning all... We, too, arrived safely after our road trip yesterday. It's been quite foggy on much of the route, which of course didn't bother too many speeding motorists. Amazing that nothing appears to have happened, though. Aside from an accident on the A38, which but appears to have been caused by flash ice. Phil – glad to hear you're well, too. Deutsche Bahn did have serious problems in the cold months for the past several years , so they promised to step on the toes of the builders they had ordered rolling stock from and make their infrastructure winter-proof. I guess that's what you get when you expect railways to earn a profit for their shareholders and award regional franchises to the cheapest bidders...

Thanks for writing this posting, Andy. You must tell me how you managed to acquire that thick a skin some day, though! I think there's few things in life harder to deal with than haters whose only pleasure in life appears to be harassing people they probably wouldn't have the guts to face in the non-virtual world.

Mornin'... Been running errands in preparation for our trip later today and need to tidy up some before I leave, too. I guess the next time I'll be reporting in will thus be from en route or après l'arrivée. Phil – you have a good trip, too! B)

Ian, I can well imagine Gillian to be anxious in those circumstances, so I guess it really is a lot better to be safe than sorry... I think there really is a limit to how much content that has once been posted on any social network can even be removed from the 'net in the first place. Especially so if the network in question claims the right to using any such content as it sees fit, or if something has already been re-posted elsewhere by other individuals.

Sorry for two postings in a row, but I just wanted to fully and completely second what you wrote, Gordon.