Again I was up early and
watching "Dominion" this morning before most people
would be thinking of emerging from their pits. And with telly watched
I checked out the Internet. I'm a member of a group on Facebook for
old boys of my secondary school, and I saw something in that group
this morning that made me think.
I went to Hastings
Grammar School; for over a hundred years, at the end of every school
year several boys would leave that school and go to Oxford or
Cambridge universities. The names of those that did were put on huge
notice boards that lined the corridors. Dozens of boards; hundreds of
names, the list growing yearly.
When I was a pupil there
government policy was against grammar schools; and so the place
became a comprehensive school. One of the members of the old boys
Facebook group had cause to go back to visit the school this week; no
one's graduated to Oxford or Cambridge for twenty years.
So much for comprehensive
education...
I stopped off for petrol
on my way to work, and then drove on through the gloom. I'm glad we
are now past the shortest day. As I drove the news was of the usual
drivel; wars and squabbles.
I did laugh at the
"Thought for the Day" bit. When it is presented by a
Jewish, Muslim or Sikh speaker, it's interesting or
thought-provoking. Today's was presented by a Christian. I can only
assume that the Christians are so used to no one listening to them
that they don't actually bother having anything worth saying. Today's
speaker wittered on with an anecdote from her recent experience in an
airport, then said that airports are just like God, and that was the
end of it.
I got to work, did my
bit, and at lunchtime I again abandoned my set saxophone homework in
favour of just playing whatever I fancied having a go at.
My phone rang; "Daddies
Little Angel TM" was distraught. Whilst
having his nappy changed littlun had escaped her clutches and slipped
off of the sofa. She'd phoned 999 and been told not to waste their
time. I suggested she went round to the local walk-in health centre.
She did. All was fine. By the time she got there, littlun had
forgotten all about his accident. But it was worth going for her own
peace of mind as much as anything.
As I came home I drove
past the filling station where I'd fueled this morning. Petrol had
dropped in price during the day; I was done out of forty-three pence.
And once home I took "Furry Face TM"
round the block. We woofed at various innocent people and objects as
we went.
And this evening I
finished my Coursera course. An odd course; called "Origins"
it started with the Big Bang, then covered the origin of life. It
then looked at evolution af various forms of life, and today's was an
incoherent rammble about climate change.
In retrospect the course
would have been more comprehensible if presented by
English-speakers...
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