First Day At Uni!

Whew, that was a long day, I'm knackered. I was up at 5:45am, which might not seem too early, but I never got home till 6:50pm. I cocked things up a bit going in early anyway, as I thought I had to meet a studies adviser in the morning, although I didn't know what time. Turned out it was only those training to be Primary School teachers that had appoinments, so I was kicking my heels till mid-day.

From noon till 1pm we had to attend a welcome meeting in the Arts Lecture Hall, at which point I realised how many trainee teachers there were in the Uni this year. About 400 it was reckoned, but that's Primary and Secondary combined. After that, it was waiting around again until about 2:45, when I went to complete my registration. That went quicker than expected, so I hopped straight on a bus for the train station about 3:10. Damn bad luck, I missed the train by about 2 minutes, and they only run every two hours. Crap eh? It's like a third world country up here in the North of Scotland.

When the next train finally came, it had some technical problems. Deja-vu! The last time I used the same train, the driver couldn't get it started. Third World efficiency too! The train finally got going, packed to the rafters, and about 10 minutes behind schedule. The guy I managed to find a seat beside had come prepared, he had 6 bottles of Bud with him, nothing else mind, just the beer. I heard him mutter "alcohol" every time he reached for another bottle. His burps were reeking too!

So, I'm back on Wednesday and Thurday for similar punishment. We have to attend a reception from 3:30 till 5pm on Wednesday. I'll be leaving that before it finishes, I'm not going to catch the 7:15 train. That would make it near 9 before I got home, no way!

Let's All Join Hands!

Hah, yesterday I discovered the joys of Bebo, sort of. I don't have any intention of making a page for myself on Bebo, but I'd heard that there were some pics from the mother-in-law's 60th birthday party, on a relative's Bebo page. So, obviously when my wife found out that her picture was on there too, she insisted that I look it up so she could see how horrible the photo was (typical women eh?).

So, it was easy enough to find the page we were looking for, we had a look at the photos, then of course we recognised some of the friends listed, so we went to their pages too. Before you knew it we were howling with laughter at hilarious pictures of relatives, friends and even our next-door neighbours. It's a very odd thing though, looking at someone's photos like that, it feels as though you've broken into their house and are rummaging through their belongings.

The one thing we did notice though, is that the sort of person who has a listing on Bebo, and uploads loads of photos of themselves, are clearly vanity personified. Every single one of them was posing and pouting and clearly of the opinion that they looked fantastic. However, my experience tells me that only ugly people are convinced of their own beauty, just as idiots consider themselves to be the most intelligent people they know. How they come about this conviction I do not know, but I've seen it manifest itself innumerable times. It's a social distortion, just like someone very intelligent is unlikely to make a fortune. But, someone a bit dim is far more likely to earn themselves a fortune, because taking stupid risks is the key. In that respect perhaps intelligence and beauty are double-edged swords!

It's Crunch Time!

I have a fateful decision to make tomorrow. Well, it's not entirely down to me, but nevertheless, I must take part in it. A decision which could effectively put two guys out of work, one of whom has had the job for more than twenty years. You see, I'm on a committee for a club (have been for almost 10 years) and it's gotten to the stage where there's way more going out than coming in. The cost of running a business of that sort these days is unbelievable. For instance, although we use little in the way of water, having a water supply costs us about £1200 per annum.

We were just about getting by alright though, until the insurance company asked for an electrical inspection. Well, the existing electrics are 30 years old and the inspection found over 50 major problems. So basically we'd be as well re-wiring the whole building, but we don't have that sort of cash available and there's no way of acquiring it really. We could take out a loan, but it's doubtful we'd be able to re-pay it the way the business is going. So, the decision must be taken on what to do next. I have some ideas on how we can possibly continue operating, but like I said, the whole committee must decided together. It could be messy, as the two employees will be in attendance... groan!

Have you ever wondered how it must feel to put a load of people out of their jobs? I think major companies hire people specifically to do that nowadays. What a horrible job, you'd need to be soul-less or downright evil just to avoid getting manically depressed. It's true though, to be a success in business you need to be ruthless. I'm not really into ruthlessness, I do have a soul, I have scruples and I'm holding on to them!

Look What the Cat's Dragged In!

Don't get me wrong, I like cats, but why do they always have to s**t in my garden? And, I thought that most people who had a pet would have either a cat or a dog. Well, not round here they don't. There are just as many people with a menagerie as there are with single pets. As the only house for some distance with no pets, all the local cats seem inexplicably drawn to my garden, where they leave tell-tale signs for the other cats, so they'll know who's been in recently.

My daughter is always on at me about getting a pet. I had a cat when I was younger, so she believes that to be justification enough for her having one too. However, I've made my stance very clear, as in "No Pets!". The reasons; well, besides their being smelly, messy, destructive, attention seeking and just plain downright annoying sometimes, I don't want to feed and clean up behind it, which is what would happen. So, no pets in this house!

I was going to write an article on corporal punishment today, after that 11 year old was murdered in Liverpool. In fact I did write it, but was conveniently reminded by my wife, that a prospective teacher should not get involved in such topics, so it was moderated accordingly, ie. I deleted the whole thing. Sometimes opinions are best kept to yourself!

Ticket To the Limit One More Time!

Treated myself to a mince and onion bridie from the bakers for lunch today! Absolutely love them with baked beans and tomato sauce. I just load the whole lot on to the plate and mix it all up into mush, then devour. Some people might consider that kind of sick, but I can assure you it's lovely. You just don't know until you try.

Also, happened to chance upon my Radiohead ticket stub from the AEC - 1st December 2003. I've been trying to find that for the last year or so with no joy, then happened to find it while looking for something else. Isn't that always the way? Reminds me of when I used to work for Riddoch's. A co-worker of mine, "M**e S***h" (Name altered for privacy, but it's the same as a BBC radio 1 DJ from the 80's who was in a helicopter crash with his girlfriend Sarah Greene!) was a huge Bon Jovi fan. I'm talking 97 here I think. Anyway, I told him about the time I went to see them at the SECC in Glasgow in 1989, how they were at their peak and so on. He absolutely refused to believe me, even when I showed him the stub for the concert. Ah well!

Back to the bridie, it was lovely as I said, but then again I do like my food. It's my only vice really and it's not really a vice since eating is essential to survive, so I may as well enjoy it IMO. That said, I'm feeling really unfit right now, three years at College does that to a man. I'm hoping that Uni will at least allow me to get some exercise, albeit little, other than that I may have to resort to, heaven forbid.... dieting! No.............. !

The Not-So Phantom Menace!

We've got a real gull menace here right now! What do I mean by menace? Well every time we go out the door we get dive-bombed by the rats with wings. There's a mother gull across the road with 2 chicks, both bigger than her, and she's diving at anything and anyone that moves. It wouldn't be a big problem if it was the only one, but they're all over the town.

I have a theory about why there's been a marked increase in the seagull presence in this town and most other coastal towns. It goes something like this: The fishing industry used to be massive and the seagull population feasted on the residual matter (ie. fish guts and offal) from the fishing. On this basis a large seagull population was tolerable, especially as they were not living in the towns, but usually in cliff colonies etc. With the decline in the fishing industry, these gull colonies have had to find alternative sources of food and being lazy vermin, discarded human food waste is the easiest option. So the gulls nest in the towns where the food is most easily obtained to feed their chicks.

Of course, a massive nationwide cull is required, but it'll never happen because the do-gooders would never permit it, they are living creatures after all. We're such a nation of bleeding hearts! Fortunately, the chicks across the road should soon be ready to leave, but something tells me they'll be back again next year. Creatures of habit and all that!

Learn To Fly!

Yes, hooray, the kids are back at school! Now I can furtively sneak a shot on their PS2 and no-one need be any the wiser. Unfortunately for me, I only have a week in which I'll be able to do so, for as of next Monday, it's back to school for me too. Well, not school, Uni, but within several weeks I will indeed be at school. Yes, that's right, they don't hang about with this teacher training malarkey. Five or six weeks training and then I'll be unleashed on some secondary school somewhere.

To be honest, I'm not entirely sure what this course is going to consist of; lectures... check! essays... check! classroom time... check! How exactly I'm supposed to learn how to become a teacher I'm not sure. Then of course there's the small issue of what the hell am I going to be teaching? Computing obviously, but it's quite a big subject area when you look at it as a whole. Then there's pitching lessons at the right level for the right classes.

I have also been informed that a considerable portion of a teacher's time is spent planning lessons. A lesson plan must be created covering duration, equipment, type of learning exercise... and innumerabe other factors which must also be considered. Yep, teaching looks quite easy from a spectators point of view, but I'm certain that it will be pretty hard work, at least to begin with.

The Great Glen Of Approval!

I hear that a great travesty is yet again to be foisted upon the people of Scotland and mainly because it's been done many times before and we took it. So we'll take it again and just like before it will then be rolled out to the rest of the UK. I can only hope that since we have a nationalist party in power in this country, that on this occasion they'll tell Westminster where to stick it.

I know I'm being elusive so far, but what I'm talking about here is ID Cards. Just as Poll Tax and the Smoking Ban were tried out in Scotland first, rumour abounds that the ID Card will come to us first. I know that other countries already have ID card schemes in operation, But in our case as with the US, the ID card will only be a small part in a much larger surrender of civil liberties and of course terrorism is the stick with which they'll beat us in to acceptance.

I read that the Scottish Labour Executive brought in legislation (either section 52 or section 57, can't be certain) over 2 years ago, which basically allows them to keep personal details on every Scots person, and I mean every detail; bank, health, employment, property, criminal... everything! Of course, any vigilant person will notic that President Bush has also just recently awarded himself the same powers, although he's been collecting info since 2001.

The question of course is what will they do with that info? Well, they really want to bring in ID cards, so that they can tie your personal details to a biological data bank. Once they have all that on you, they will be able to crush you instantaneously if required. It could be for something as trivial as attending an anti-government demonstration. The way the laws are being shaped right now, something like that could brand you as unpatriotic, anarchic and a terrorist. Of course, terrorist suspects can be held for a long time without being charged, and they could do that again and again. That's where we're heading, don't think they care about you, you're just a number, a statistic, and if you become a negative statistic then you will serve no purpose for them any longer!

When The Music's Over!

Yep, the party's over! I wasn't too drunk and I'm not too hungover either. I am of course talking about my Mother-in-law's 60th Birthday Party, which was held in the local social club last night. I did consider taking the camera, but then I thought "You know what, I can't be arsed, I'll just scoop it back instead!", so no incriminating photos. You would have liked that wouldn't you?

There was a real eclectic mix of people though, which was good. Most bizarre moment for me, came when my father took my mother's friend up to dance to "Sympathy For the Devil"! You wouldn't see anything odd about that, but let me put it into context for you. My mother and her friend are more than slightly religious and any mention of the devil would more than likely send either of them off on one. Also, my father is in no way whatsoever religious, so on this occasion may have been representative of the horned one himself. But of course, none of them knew what the song was anyway, so I permitted myself a little chuckle at their expense of course.

The weather was atrocious here last night though and we had to walk home in the rain and wind. I always like to walk home after drinking, it clears my head and sobers me up, so I don't go to bed with my head spinning. That's a sure fire recipe for barfarama! I don't know why but I seem to have dyslexic typing skills today, I think I'm still slightly intoxicated!

The Importance Of Being Occupied!

Sometime back I realised that there is a trait common to all my family, or at least my father, myself, my brother and my two kids. The fact is that all of us are unable to sit for any length of time doing nothing. We need to be occupied all the time, but it gets worse. I first noticed in myself and now see it in the rest of my family, that we also don't like to be doing one particular thing for too long either. That is, we rapidly lose interst in something, and divert our attention elsewhere.

Obviously, this characteristic is a double-edged sword. Doing something is clearly more productive in doing nothing and my brain needs constant stimulation, that much is true. However, when placed in a working environment, particularly where a large degree of repetitive behaviour was required... well, you can imagine how claustraphobic I felt. The only real surprise was that I stuck it for so long. That was because I had a family! When I was single and with no committments, I found it very difficult to see things through, but I've trained myself now I believe, to do what I have to do!

Yes, it's not easy when you need constant mental stimulation and this trait becomes even more apparent when on holiday. I find sitting at the pool or on the beach, almost akin to mental torture. Two hours on a deck-chair without a book or magazine and I'm crawling up the walls. I just hope that teaching will bring me the sort of challenge and fulfillment I need!