I woke up at three o'clock this morning in need
of a tiddle, rolled over and then slept through until quarter top six when I
was seriously in need of a tiddle. But sleeping probably two hours more than
yesterday was something of a result. I got up, had that tiddle, made toast and
started on the seventh season of "Big Mouth" (which was
quite entertaining) as I sorted the undercrackers which had tumble-dried.
And with telly watched
I had my usual root around the Internet. The Facebook page for people who went
to my old school was having something of a retrospective on one of the old
maths teachers this morning. "Fred Bread" taught us maths for
a year whilst I was at secondary school... Mind you when I say "taught
us maths", I need to point out that our maths class was immediately
after the morning break. Immediately before the morning break "Fred
Bread" was teaching at the Priory Road school on the other side of
town (our school had two branches), and immediately after the break he
was supposed to be teaching us some three miles away. The chap flatly refused
to travel during the break time and so consequently arrived twenty-five minutes
late for every lesson with us. He would then spend most of the remaining lesson
time grumbling about how he shouldn't be expected to travel in break time.
Through his "expert tuition" I managed a twenty per cent score
in the end of year exams, and much of the next year was spent with the next
maths teacher amazed at how little we'd learned in the previous year.
I can remember a "Brains
Trust" quiz competition as a fund raiser at school in which "Fred
Bread" publicly asked "If you had a third hand, where would
you put it?" and another teacher (who went on to become a vicar)
replying (equally publicly) "punched down your throat"
with quite some venom.
However most people
offering an opinion this morning seemed to think that "Fred Bread"
was perhaps the most able teacher of mathematics who ever lived. It is strange
how people's recollections differ.
Pausing only briefly to
be awarded the Munzee "Banners Flying" e-badge (what was
that all about?) I set off through the rain up the motorway to Maidstone.
As I set off my piss boiled somewhat. There was a lot of talk about how
university students are running up such massive debts to pay their tuition and
accommodation fees. I can't help but think that perhaps we (as a nation)
might revisit higher education. What is it all about? Why do people run up
massive debts studying the most random of subjects? Why not go down the old
"apprenticeship" scheme and get degrees and qualifications
which are relevant to your work and obtained as you work, the costs of which
being paid as part of your wages? Like I did when I had six years working four
days a week and going to various colleges on the fifth? I can remember
conversations of years ago with friends who'd got degrees they weren't going to
use, and with massive debts... who at the time were starting jobs effectively
three years behind where they might have been.
There was a lot of
other stuff on the radio this morning too, mostly about the ongoing war in
Gaza. There was brief mention about developments in cosmology theories, but
this was quite clearly considered (by those resenting the news) nowhere
near as important as the latest antics of Ant & Dec. I didn't really pay
that much attention to the radio; I must admit that most of my attention was on
staying alive; driving up the dark motorway in the rain can be something of a
challenge.
Work was work; I had a
rather good day, but was still glad when home time came. Having got to work
rather early in the hope of avoiding traffic light hold-ups I was stuck in the
thick of them on the way home. I’ve grumbled about the mentality of people who
organise the county’s traffic before, but you really would think that having
one way to the hospital being blocked up would be enough, wouldn’t you? Do you *really*
need road works on the other ways too?
I got home and fed the hounds, then “er indoors TM” arrived
with “Darcie
Waa Waa TM”. “Daddy’s Little Angel TM” has
gone down with the rona, and seriously needed a good night’s sleep.
Much as I do like having littlun to stay, she
is hard work…
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