Leap Day

A day that only occurs once in four years should be celebrated as something special yet February 29 passes largely unnoticed (except surely by those whose birthday it is); I think it should be a national holiday (there is a case to say that those on an annual salary work that day for nothing) but ironically I had agreed to cover a wiser person’s shift and so delivered a lesson on factors, multiples and primes (for which, being hourly paid, I will however receive remuneration).

Greenhouse

To say I built a greenhouse today would be a bit misleading as it measured only about fifteen inches square and five feet tall – just big enough to hold a few planting trays that my wife has sown with innumerable flower seeds that will hopefully produce a cornucopia of blooms in due course; we shall see.

Dutifully Suited

The bride’s dress will do doubt be beautiful,

So the father’s suit too must be suitable;

She sent details by text,

And I bought it from Next,

Which makes me not only suited but dutiful.

Four Years Younger

I think getting my hair cut makes me look about five years younger, probably due to the copious amount of grey hair removed, but as today was my birthday the net gain was only four years.

Deliveries

The question was would an incoming delivery, missed yesterday but, according to a card left, to be re-tried today, arrive in time to allow me to make an outgoing delivery of my wife’s forgotten lunch bag before the school dinner break; the answer was yes, just.

Job Done

The switch of my teaching session from Thursday to Wednesday is proving a good move, especially on a Wednesday evening when work is done for the week, a couple of free days beckon, and a small glass of Famous Grouse, Stones Ginger and ice is quite in order.

Great North Road

I have given the M62/A1 route a lot of stick over the winter but when, like today, the sun is out, the sky is blue, the clouds white and fluffy, and it is possible to actually see first the Pennine Hills either side of the M62, then the Yorkshire Dales to the left and the North York Moors to the right of the A1, the drive is a breeze.

Swinton

Having taken the morning shift keeping my dad company I gave the bus pass an airing in the afternoon and made the short trip to Swinton town centre, which I found much changed from the days when it formed the proud hub of the Borough of Swinton & Pendlebury (rather than an outpost of Salford) and to which my mum would take my sister and me to visit the library or “the shops”, in the earliest days by a splendid trolley-bus; the trolley-busses have long gone, the library has moved twice, and the shops are struggling, but thankfully the distinctive nineteen-fifties town hall, once futuristic, now historic, remains looking as good as ever.

Foreign Food

I knew I would arrive back at my dad’s in Salford too late to partake in their Sunday lunch so I came prepared with some Bolognese sauce from the freezer and a handful of fusilli pasta; such a meal is foreign to them in more ways than one and, having viewed my bowlful with wrinkled noses, is likely to remain so.

Trapped

Having avoided the dangerously addictive Scandi crime drama for a couple of years I have got back on the reindeer and have started watching the Icelandic thriller “Trapped” on BBC4 (first double episode last week and episode 3 and 4 tonight); lots of snow and mountains and wind and snow and people in woolly jumpers and hats in the snow, and tonight even a snowman, amongst which are emerging multiple plot lines concerning murder, people trafficking, marital crises, political corruption, police force rivalries and past misdemeanours of as yet indeterminate natures – cracking stuff.

Good New Days

Joined my ex-boss and similarly retired senior management colleagues at what has become an annual get together lunch, today at the County Hotel in Aycliffe village, to swap twelve months-worth of news; each year the chat is more about holidays and grandchildren and less about our old workplace, which has to be a positive sign that we are living in an agreeable present rather than wallowing in past glories.

Wedding Talk

Visiting my daughter gave plenty of opportunity to discuss her forthcoming wedding and my part therein; with just the ten months to go planning is well advanced but it is nice to have an input, no matter how inconsequential.

New Home

Took a wet and spray-splattered drive down the A1 to Nottingham to see the younger daughter’s newly purchased house; as first time buyers it represents a significant milestone for her and her fiancé and it was lovely to share in their excitement and enthuse over their small but well planned and nicely finished home in desirable West Bridgford.

Chance Encounter

After a day in yesterday my wife suggested a trip to Teesside Retail Park, to which I readily agreed in the sure and certain expectation that coffee and cake would feature at some point; what was not expected was that her mother and sister would turn up during our sojourn at Costa’s and turn our cosy table for two into a crowded table for four.

Three Rs

Some early flurries of snow were all the encouragement needed to stay at home today and catch upon some reading, writing and arithmetic (the latter in the form of a particularly tricky killer Sudoku). 

Welcome Home

Returned home from Salford to a St Valentine’s Day welcome from my wife that included not only the card and chocolate orange but some fine dining in the shape of a lamb shank, posh mash, and trio of green vegetables, followed by a luxury dessert in a pot, washed down with Lemoncello spiced Prosecco; hopefully my appreciation, including (but not limited to) a card to my ‘Wonderful Wife’ and some ‘I Love You’ chocolates, was equally well received.

NHS Staffing

My dad having a poorly turn late last night led, in retrospect, to an interesting take on the current dispute over weekend staffing levels in the NHS, as following a 10:30 pm call for emergency assistance he was seen by a succession of fourteen practitioners over the next seven hours – four paramedics, three doctors, five nurses and a couple of auxiliary staff – all of whom showed care, consideration and capability in stabilising his condition and making him safe and comfortable.

Comic Strips

Back at my dad’s, and one of my jobs is to go to the newsagent’s to get his paper, which for him is the Daily Mirror as it has been for at least the last fifty years as I well remember as a lad leafing through the pages to find the comic strips – Andy Capp, The Perishers, and Garth; it is either reassuring or sad that they are all still there, massively anachronistic – the workshy misogynist, the street kids free from any adult supervision, and the muscle-bound hero rescuing damsels in distress – the only change seeming to be they are now printed in colour.

Cat Hair

The cats’ bed, a roomy velour covered item, naturally collects their fur over time so today I decided to take the vacuum cleaner to it, and by selecting various nozzles and applying several different wrestling holds, managed to suck up most of the hair and make it look respectable again; of course all I had done was transfer the problem to the Dyson so then had to spend the same amount of time cleaning that out.

Disengagement

One of the drawbacks with teaching disengaged young learners is that they tend to disengage from their disengagement setting, like my current ‘client’ who has not been seen for three weeks and whom (correctly) I did not expect to see today; however my previous learner wandered in after a ten week hiatus expecting to just slot back in, and I obliged of course, but I suspect the sudden re-engagement was less to do with a desire to learn and more to do with an imminent meeting with a case-worker, social worker, probation officer or suchlike.

Marking Policy

Attended a tutors’ briefing today that included a session on effective marking of learners work; and if any of my recalcitrant learners ever turn up and produce any work I will mark it accordingly.

Half Day

After spending the early hours watching Superbowl 50 on TV (a dour, defensive match more for the purist than the casual viewer) I returned to bed after seeing off my wife to work and the boy to college, eventually rising again about noon for an unconventional breakfast of warmed up shepherd’s pie.

War and Peace

Although previously unreported, the highlight of the last five Sunday evenings has been the BBC’s adaptation of Tolstoy’s War and Peace featuring a great cast and stunning locations; once the characters emerged from the rich context of society balls and military campaigns (about week 2) it was compelling right through to tonight’s final episode.

Northallerton

On a rainy Saturday I gave the football a miss and accompanied my wife on a visit to Northallerton, a fine market town, where we followed our familiar route from the car park, up Barker’s Arcade, turning right along the High Street, crossing at the far end and returning down the opposite side before crossing again and returning to the arcade; though not far it takes a couple of hours due to frequent dodges into shops (especially in the cold and the wet) and of course a stop for lunch – today in the Lewis and Cooper tearooms.

Excel-ing

Talking recently to a neighbour about household budgeting I advised “you need to get a spreadsheet”, so when asked to help I could hardly refuse; not that I would want to, as there is little I like doing so much as setting up a financial model in Excel, and fuelled by numerous cups of tea, we had it cracked in a couple of hours, by which time my neighbour had had enough – as for me I could have carried on all day.

Antarctica

Gave the bus pass its first outing (having driven to Sedgefield) on the X12 to Durham where I visited the current exhibition at the Palace Green Library, “Antarctica: Explorers Heroes Scientists” which displayed books, artefacts and photographs from the South Pole expeditions of Scott (in the Terra Nova) and Shackleton (in Endurance), the pair making a fascinating contrast: Scott reached his aim of the pole (albeit days after Amundsen) but perished along with four colleagues on the return journey and his mission tends to be remembered as an heroic failure; Shackleton never even got beyond the ice flows that crushed the ship, but his remarkable exploits to get everyone back home is considered (rightly) a triumph; what both had in common were dedicated and talented photographers in Herbert Ponting and Frank Hurley who produced the spectacular images reproduced for the exhibition today.

Bus Passed

On reaching sixty years of age I was surprised and disappointed to learn I was not yet eligible for a free bus pass, needing to first reach the pensionable age of a woman with my date of birth; this I have now done and although I won’t get a state pension for a while (unlike my imaginary twin sister) the bus pass was duly applied for and received a few days ago; however in the intervening three years the bus services have dwindled and currently the village has public transport only on a Monday, when the bus makes three trips to Darlington (but only two trips back), so on any other day I’ll need to drive onto a bus route and park up before getting any benefit.

U Bend

On returning home from Salford my first job was to unblock the kitchen sink drain, and removing the U bend (easily done for once) revealed the main problem to be three coloured pencils around which other detritus had gathered; how do you get three pencils down a plughole? – get your wife to bring home from school 50 that have been abandoned outside for a month, let her wash them in the sink, and allow her to pull out the plug and drain the water before removing the now clean (but fewer) crayons.

Military History

Got my dad talking about his limited involvement in World War II (enlisting in the Royal Navy in 1942, aged 17, becoming a telegrapher transmitting and receiving messages in Morse code) in which the nearest he came to a making a telling contribution (unfortunately negative) was in Athens when he swatted a giant moth with the naval code sheet, which he then used to wrap up and bin the messy remains; this breach of security could have been disastrous for the Mediterranean Fleet had it not been the last day of the month and due to change anyway – so he got away with cancellation of leave rather than a court martial.