Category Archives: Work

Three short notes.

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28°C, humid, later breaks down to thunder.
End of academic year- we’ve broken up for summer. What a good day it is when you win the staff Fairtrade hamper in a raffle. I don’t think I ever won a raffle before, and I really like the stuff in the basket.
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Shock: I got a shock when I arrived home, literally. It was so hot and humid when I got in that I threw windows open to change the air. Then I thought of the lodger’s pet rabbit up in attic room. It gets roaring hot on days like this: I went up to check. A bit untidy and the rabbit seemed okay- he even appeared interested to see me. I reached down to switch on the fan and got quite a jolt. There was a thump to the back of my arm.
The cable had live wires exposed. Mr rabbit had nibbled though the insulation and is lucky to be alive.

Overnight– woken by the slow, ominous approach of a thunder storm. I played the counting game, flash to rumble/7. It was coming directly for here. When close enough, the sound was loud enough to trigger house alarms.
That was about 1am, the same happened at about 4am again.
I love a good thunderstorm.
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General summary.

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2 days of warm sun, and now- thunder.
First DofE trip camping trip of the year. Sun is strong, and pollen dense. Day two was remote supervision, and for a change, there was a lot to do.

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Worcestershire is a very attractive county. Britain is in full bloom so fields are blazing yellow with buttercups and all the rest.
Young cattle were pleased to have visitors to their fields. They all came in our direction. A herd must weigh in over 10 tonnes, I was nervous. I turned to face them, hands on hips and in unison- they all did a u-turn. This gave my group of teenagers time to clamber over the stile.

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RM 380Z

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8C, windy with rain later.
School trip to the National Museum Of Computing. We met Collosus, The Which, but no Lorentz machine. However, view did have an RM 380Z. The very same model that I did my O-level computing with. We were the first year to submit coursework on floppy disk instead of ticker-tape.

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The trip was great, the place was run by enthusiastic volunteers who put on well performed presentations for the kids.

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Sent home.

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rode home with MapMyRide! Distance: 37.98mi, time: 02:48:08, speed: 13.55mi/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/459607041
Slow ride with floods, rain and sorrow. I was in no state to consider work, sympathetic colleagues sent me home. They even suggested a bike ride, if that helps.
It did.
Near Elford, a large horse wandered up and down in the inundated flood-plain. It seemed to be exploring and sploshing its hooves in the shallow water. It was like a child playing out after a storm in its Wellingtons.
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The horse is just visible, right of centre.

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End of term.

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I rode with MapMyRide! Distance: 37.45mi, time: 02:39:28, speed: 14.09mi/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/448782769
A pretty poor average speed, though I did have my school bag on the back and many roads were coated in slimey red mud.
What a fine way to end a long term!
Most years, I get home and feel a bit of anti-climax. Today, I buzzed with energy and a deep contentment.
I would have lost my mind years ago if there was no physical release like this. Car drivers must have boundless patience and resilience to do the daily commute. All those hours accumulated in traffic jams. Months of your life spent sitting, waiting,polluting. The expense! You have to admire them.

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Dark.

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6~14ºC, clear, no wind. CA:22 miles.
Do you tell-off drivers who take pointless risks. I do. Today, two were texting as they drove. And another had a spiral notebook on the steering wheel which she wrote in as she drove along. I shouted at that one. PUT it down! … then…Thankyou!
Ever the teacher…
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Teaching kids: a bunch of year 9 kids about storage media in today’s Computing class. We talked of durability and ways they can get damaged. One way that they didn’t anticipate was DVDs can be spoiled by bright sunlight, especially the recordable ones. So, I told them it would be fine if you put them where the sun doesn’t shine. I didn’t mean to!

Some got it and felt the need to explain to the rest.

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Workload

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15ºC heavy showers,
I teach 17 groups which vary in size from 28 down to 12 kids. Most classes come in 16s. In all that makes 265 pupils, each of whom is supposed to receive one homework a week. For me, that makes fifty pieces to mark each day. That doesn’t count half-term projects that also need a grade, comment and associated paperwork. Every pupil is supposed to receive personalized learning, special needs for many and I am expected to know them all by name. Any advice?

It can’t be done can it?.

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12mph.

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15ºC, E wind.
Drive- heavy traffic and mostly stationary. Average speed was 12mph, meaning it took over 50 minutes to get there. I drove because I am still ill, but what about all the other drivers? Why are they in their cars? I don’t know where they get the patience, why don’t more of them do the obvious?

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Get up!

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11C, nice day to come.
Woke early: an unusual cause this time- hunger. Maybe it’s these extended commutes and all those extra calories. The extensions may only be 25-35 miles but they are a bit faster than average at 16-17 mph too. That’s not bad with a work bag on the back and a day’s work done.

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Ride home profile.