Having had a meeting in Paris, today I departed for another set of meetings in Brussels. These are for the [url=http://www.openuped.eu/]OpenUpEd [/url]project, which I’m on the steering committee for.
I like these old analogue, click-over departure boards, and getting a train from one country to another still seems full of romance and adventure to me.
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Tetra
After getting my tank a week ago, I bought my first fish today. They tetras, just four little ones at the moment as the tank settles down. I really like looking at fish dart ndn explore a tank. One day I’ll have one of those massive marine tanks, with a great white shark in it. Until then, these little fellas.
Biorb
I used to keep fish when I was a kid, but recent attempts with my daughter haven’t been successful. I thought I’d give it another try, so bought this Biorb 60L tank today. I set it up in my study and will leave it for a week before adding some fish.
New pal
He’s not very talkative, but has a certain style
Dead leaves on the dirty ground
Autumn gives you at least 5 thought-free blips a year. Hoorah for autumn
A ladybird riding a zebra duck
Not something you see everyday.
John Charles stamp
Had to buy some stamps yesterday (i know, how often do you buy stamps now?). There are some World Cup related ones featuring famous footballers, this is John Charles, the Welsh player. Before Bale, he went overseas to play for Juventus. Before my time though.
Sound the alarm
I like this old fire alarm up at the stables. No fancy system just whack a big metal cylinder
Cowbell
When we were in Chamonix last year and Sarah was doing the CCC, we bought a cowbell, so my daughter could ring it to encourage the runners. It’s a thing there. It now sits in our bathroom and on a cold winter’s morning I like to look at it and reminisce of those sunny days in the alps.
The value of a cuppa
Yesterday some OU colleagues released interim findings for their [url=http://www.open.ac.uk/researchprojects/enduringlove/files/enduringlove/file/ecms/web-content/Enduring-Love-Interim-Survey-Report.pdf]Enduring Love project[/url], looking at long-lasting relationships. It’s a very interesting report that doesn’t come at the subject with any agenda, but rather tries to find out what life is like for couples now. A couple of interesting findings: “Heterosexual parents are the group least likely to be there for each other, to make ‘couple time’, to pursue shared interests, to say ‘I love you’ and to talk openly to one another.”
And the one the press liked: “Surprise gifts and small acts of kindness were valued highly, with ‘a cup of tea’ being singled out as a significant sign of their partner’s appreciation”.
My wife doesn’t like tea (I know!) but I do make her coffee. I don’t often use a tea-pot but had run out of tea-bags so today had to go for loose leaves. I’m not sure it is vastly superior as tea purists like to believe.
