Diary 2006

December 2006

14th December 2006
Last day of term tomorrow! Hurrah!

Yesterday, I picked up a Christmas card from my pigeonhole. The envelope had my name written on it (that's how I knew it was for me!) the card didn't have anything written in it at all - a bit like Valentine's Day, but at Christmas. Strange!

I'm wading through assignment marking again - there's a stack about 2 feet high in my office - so far I have marked 14 .... *groan* Anyway, the work has, to this point, been of pleasantly good quality. However, one student pointed out that grammar is very important; shame they didn't take their own advice as that piece of work was grammatically incorrect most of the way through! Another student talked about their time on a Camp America type summer school and said that they shared a bunk with 10 year-olds; I have assumed (hoped) that they have mistyped "bunkhouse". Ah, the joys of student writing!

We now have five dogs living with us and they don't all get on particularly well. Actually, I must correct myself there; four of the dogs get on reasonably well, the fifth one (Maddy) is the bug bear. (I have just looked up that term on Dictionary.com and it is defined as a persistent problem or source of annoyance which is a superb description of Maddy!).

On Tuesday evening we started out with Maddy and Saffy in their usual places in the kitchen and the three little Yorkies, Candy, Jessie and Mickey, in the hallway with a baby gate between the kitchen and the hallway and another on the stairs.

All started out quietly and then first one and then a second Yorkie materialised on the bed. It turns out that the two girls are so tiny they can fit between the gaps of the baby gate on the stairs!

Wednesday night saw three Yorkies in the kitchen, Maddy and Saffy in the hallway and no materialising dogs! The bars on the kitchen gate are much closer together.

I have maintained the same positioning of dogs for the day time too. It means I can't set the house alarm, but if anyone is daft enough to try to break into a house containing five dogs - bl**dy good luck to them! I got home this afternoon to discover that a bag of recycling, that I had lazily left in the kitchen, had been torn open and emptied. I identified the culprit as Candy (from previous form) and took photos of the damage, which I will post later (or not, in my usual lazy fashion).

Here's a picture of the results of Candy's recycling efforts. What particularly amused me (apart from the guilty look on the faces of Candy and Jessie) was the bottle floating in the water bowl. Picture added 6th Janaury 2007

What Candy was looking for in the recycling bag was a cardboard box that had contained dog biscuits. This particular box was inside another box and had several layers of bottles, tins and plastic containers on top of it. Dogs! If I hadn't previously caught her in the act of pulling over the kitchen bin, I would never have thought she had the intelligence to do such a thing. Note to self: Don't leave ANYTHING within reach of dogs in the kitchen.

Here's this year's Christmas photo of Saffy and Maddy. Picture added 7th Janaury 2007

8th December 2006
Today I went back to my Angelfire website and was unable to sign in. I followed the instructions for lost passwords and usernames - it's so long since I edited that site that I have forgotten both! I eventually got so bogged down in Lycos "help tickets" and emails giving me exactly the same info that had not been helpful on the Lycos help screens that I have forgotten why it was that I wanted to edit the darn site in the first place ....

It's almost that time of year where I will have to shift all of this text into another file in order to continue with my random nonsense for a whole new year!

6th December 2006
Time is whizzing by again! Alwyn and I had an internet blitz on Saturday and have pretty much finished our Christmas shopping - thank you Amazon, eBay and I Want One of Those!

This evening we went late night shopping in Marks and Spencer. They had a dodgy "choir" singing however, apart from that, the service that we received from the staff there was absolutely SUPERB. Thank you to everyone.

Oh yeah, the other thing we noted about M&S was the quantity of people who were wearing what appeared to be wigs that they'd knitted themselves using really big needles ... hmmmm

Yesterday, I was lecturing in a room that has recently been refurbished in terms of AV equipment. On the new "Teaching Desk" was a laminated card with "Health and Safety Do's and Don'ts". The students were filling in questionnaires so, for lack of anything better to do, I read the aforementioned card. It says, and I quote, "DO evacuate the room if a data projector bulb explodes with a loud bang during your session." OK, at face value it is sensible advice, however, what do you do if the bulb fails with a soft pop? Presumably the fire risk is still the same but we haven't been specifically told to evacuate. Oh heavens, what a dilemma!!

While still on the subject of stupidity, I picked up a telephone answering machine message this morning from a prospective student. This person specifically requested a call back with regard to a particular course and then left neither a name nor a telephone number. Clever I might be, telepathic I am not ....

Sian, my sis-in-law who lives in the US, sent me some links to articles on the KTVU.com website. The first article referred to an advertising campaign that was being run in San Francisco as part of the California Milk Processor Board's "Got Milk?" campaign. The campaign involved putting "cookie-scented" strips on bus shelters so that people waiting for buses would smell freshly baked cookies and then want milk and cookies - which is, apparently, something that American people do. The second article, a day later, reports on the ditching of this campaign for the following reasons:
- concern over potential allergic reactions to the scents.
- concern that the ads could be "offensive to the poor and homeless who can't afford to buy sweet treats".

Personally, I am not sure which is the most ridiculous:
- the campaign as a whole.
- the idea that someone could have an allergic reaction to a smell on a city street, particularly in a large city where air quality is questionable!
- the "offensive to the poor" bit.

Ah well, perhaps the UK doesn't hold pole position in the stupidity stakes after all!

Last week I had an unfortunate incident involving the car park exit barrier at my workplace. I was attempting to drive off site and the barrier dropped shut on my car. It gave me quite a shock, as you can probably imagine, and it was only thanks to the design of my car - it has a lip and a thick rubber strip either side of the windscreen - that prevented the barrier from breaking the windscreen and showering me with broken glass.

I don't know, they've just started to make us all pay to park our cars on site and now they are trying to prevent us from leaving!

Probably the most embarrassing thing about this particular incident is that I have been chipping on and on about the fact that the barrier is left up, so that Uncle-Tom-Cobley-and-all can pay and display to park on site, meaning that those of us who have pre-paid for parking permits can't find spaces. Now, the barrier has to be left up because it broke on my car! It could only happen to me!

November 2006

13th November 2006
Last Friday (10th November) was graduation day. It was the first time I had gone to graduation as a member of academic staff and not as a student! I was very proud to make the announcements of the names as my first cohort of students graduated.

The day didn't start off in a very auspicious manner, however. Graduation took place in the centre of Cardiff so I decided I would catch the train; no hassle of parking the car and I could go for a drink with my colleagues after the ceremony. Seems like a simple plan? Ha! I reckoned without the wonders of the rail service. I got to the train station at about 8.50 and was still standing there at 9.25. The reason for this? Two train failures and a driver taken ill.

I had to be at the venue for the event to start at 9.45 and as I was to be part of the academic progression and sit on the stage, arriving late would not go unnoticed. I got my money back on my train ticket (a return costs �2.70) and dashed from the station to the main road to catch a bus - just in time to see the bus leaving. Great.

Time was ticking away so I ran back to my house, grabbed my car keys and cursed all other drivers all the way into the centre of Cardiff. I abandoned my car in the nearest multi-storey to the venue and dashed off. This was 9.41 am. I just managed to get robed up and make it into the rehearsal.

Following the ceremony, I spent a little time chatting with my colleagues and then walked back to the car park to retrieve my car. By now it was just after 2 pm. Luckily I had gone via the bank, because the car parking cost me �10.40. Yes, that's TEN POUNDS AND FORTY PENCE for four and a half hours parking. Jeez. I cussed all the way home too.

Something I found odd was that despite the fact that the car park was so expensive, it was packed - I had to leave my car on level 7. I simply cannot believe that EVERYONE in that car park had been caught out by the trains!

9th November 2006
My grand plans for celebrations for my MSc were somewhat thwarted by some health problems. Hey-ho. I guess I don't need all those calories anyway!

I like to think that I do my bit to help the environment, and that includes hanging out washing on the line whenever possible instead of tumble drying it. Last week I hung washing on the line and look what happened!

Some darn bird (and a big one at that) perched on my nice white t-shirt with great big filthy feet!

October 2006

19th October 2006
Today is a GREAT day! I have just heard that I have been awarded my MSc. Hurrah for me! I'm so excited!

September 2006

19th September 2006
Helen and Philip got married on 8th September. Here's a link to the photographs I took - there aren't very many because I was too busy socialising and drinking! Helen & Philip's Wedding.

1st September 2006
Lordy the summer is nearly over! Here's a link to the photographs from our holiday in the Dordogne: Dordogne holiday photos.

I have just been to hand in my dissertation. Exam board is in the middle of October. I am going to get very drunk whatever the outcome is!

The new suite finally arrived and so did a cheque for compensation. Quite a good result I feel!

I completed the Race for Life in less than 40 mins and raised over �300 in sponsorship - I rock!

This week myself and all of my colleagues received a key ring from the University to celebrate 10 years of incorporation or whatever it is. My reaction to this was unprintable. One of my more enterprising colleagues put their keyring on the University's "Small Ads" web page and got a severe telling off for their effrontery!

June 2006

23rd June 2006
Alwyn picked the first radishes from our veggie patch last night. Very nice they were too!

Alwyn and I just spent a fabulous four days in Dublin. We had the best time ever! We visited the Guinness Storehouse and Jameson's Whiskey Distillery - where Alwyn became a Certified Irish Whiskey Taster *lol*. We went on an open top bus tour of Dublin, listened to live Irish music and generally had a fab time touring various hostelries!

Link to photographs of our trip to Dublin: Dublin Photographs

It was my birthday on Wednesday. I had a lovely day. I had lunch with my best friend, Jen, and then dinner with Alwyn, Helen and Philip. Super! I also had some very nice presents - thank you everyone!

This evening I am going to a hen party. Well it started out as a hen party, but the "chief hen" has decided not to attend - I still haven't got to the bottom of why, so far the excuse has come back that she "has to visit the vicar", I'm not sure if that's a euphemism for something else. Anyway, the rest of us girls are getting together despite the lack of the bride-to-be and intend to have a darn good celebration!

In April, I ordered a leather suite and paid a 10% deposit. At the beginning of May, the company (who shall remain nameless for the time being) phoned me up and requested that I pay the balance of the money because the suite was ready for shipping from Italy. Two weeks later I phoned them to see when the suite was likely to arrive, to be told that in fact I had been asked to pay in order that the company would manufacture the suite. In other words, it wasn't ready for shipping at all.

The original delivery date I was given was 9th June, so when 9th June came and went with no telephone call, I phoned once more to see where the suite was. No-one seemed to be able to give me an answer. Finally a chap called me back to tell me that he was phoning around and trying to locate my suite. He called me back AGAIN to tell me that the manufacturers hadn't actually received the order for my suite. I complained that I had been told that a) the suite was ready for shipping and that's why I had paid in full at the beginning of May and b) that I had been subsequently told that I must pay in full for the suite to be manufactured, so why was I now being told that the manufacturers hadn't received the order. No satisfactory answer was forthcoming and the new "estimated" delivery date is likely to be mid-July.

I feel cross enough to cancel the order and demand my money back, but if I cancel the order I will probably have to wait another 12 weeks for a sofa from any other company. Plus of course the particular suite that I chose fits into my lounge. I have been offered "compensation" but I feel the amount is paltry in comparison to the time wasted. *grrr*

1st June 2006
I can run a bit further than last month, but I'm still not very good at it. I'm still "interval training", so I run and then walk and run and then walk. At least I have stopped wheezing now though!! I can also manage 5k in about 40 minutes, even with the running and walking combination, so I will be OK for the Race for Life on 28th of this month. And a BIG THANK YOU to everyone who has sponsored me so far!

It's Thursday again. This evening I have two students for the ECDL, which is quite good. Last week I had a record number of FIVE! Sessions are running until the end of this month and then that's it until October - at least as far as ECDL is concerned. I still have three weeks of summer school and various other ICT classes for the project I am managing.

The weather has finally decided to be a bit more summer-like. Last week when I was in class the rain was lashing past the window horizontally. Now I maintain that horizontal rain was invented in Wales, but horizontal rain in May? Please! Anyway, I have started planting bedding plants in the garden and despite the best efforts of all the slugs and snails, things are starting to look quite pretty. There appears to be a bees nest under the pond (yes, really!) Not quite sure what to do about this, so I am ignoring it for the time being (no pun intended!) The bees will be useful when the runner beans and courgettes flower.

As mentioned earlier, my mobile (cell) phone stopped working. I have just replaced the phone, which is good because I am now contactable again, but is also annoying because I now have a new number to learn and a new phone to learn how to use! Doh! I'm a mobile phone luddite!

Dissertation update: 16,000 words.

May 2006

12 May 2006
Oh-my-gosh! How unfit am I?! I started (attempted) to run this week in training for next month's Race for Life. I was wheezing - WHEEZING! I am so unfit! Note to self: must move more. I walk, a lot, and fast, but I do not do running so this is a real challenge for me.

So, here I am on Friday evening, having drunk half a bottle of wine and now I am whinging about how unfit I am and how much I wheeze when I try to run! *lol* Note to self: drink less, move more!!! Having said that, I went for a fitness test on Thursday afternoon. When Gareth was taking my resting heart rate, my heart rate went so low he thought I had gone to sleep, so I suppose I can't be that bad!

Sponsorship is coming on nicely, mostly because I harrass everyone who walks past my office door for sponsorship. So far I have had to promise:

• To wear my t-shirt that reads "100% Welsh, need I say more!"
• To finish
• To finish in less than 45 minutes
  AND
  
• Not to die (which is not something I was planning on doing anytime soon anyway).

I had a slightly bizarre conversation this afternoon, with my office-next-door-neighbour, about braille t-shirts. It was eventually decided that although it was an interesting concept it was probably not a good idea, especially in cold weather when the meanings could become extremely garbled *lol*

I read an article today, on Silicon.com, about a freelance computer programmer who had developed a DVT after spending 8 hours sitting in front of his 'puter. I'd just like to say "DUH! What did you expect?" When did spending 8 hours sitting in one place ever begin to seem like a good idea? Is this the level of stupidity that we can expect in future? Does the Nanny-State have to tell us not to sit for 8 hours in front of our PCs in order that we don't become afflicted by something that is usually associated with sitting motionless on long-haul flights?!

This week, I have been walking or running every day. On Tuesday I saw a sparrowhawk chasing a thrush. This morning I saw and heard a wren singing (fantastic song, amazing volume from such a small bird!). The dogs startled a squirrel out of a litter bin this morning - someone had thrown a sandwich in there - the squirrel had the good sense to get up and run along the top of the fence surrounding the tennis courts, but Saffy followed it anyway in a triumph of hope over expectation!! Yesterday evening there were bats flying about. I've also seen a pair of tree creepers but, so far, no sign of the parrot that was on the loose last year.

Thanks to a very irritating (but memorable) TV advert, I have managed to more than halve my motorbike insurance (thanks to Confused.com). Having said that, a few months ago, I switched insurance companies in order to reduce my car insurance and then, thanks to someone else's driving stupidity, when I had to contact the insurance company I ended up speaking to people in India who a) couldn't get my name right and b) didn't seem to have a clue what my problem was, the reduction in price didn't seem to be such a good idea *sigh* Please can you all keep me in your thoughts in the hope that I don't have to invoke my new (and reduced price) motorcycle insurance!

My mobile (cell) phone has gone SNAFU. My service provider claims that there's a problem with my SIM card, however I find it somewhat suspicious that since I told them I was not going to renew my contract when it ends (mid-June) I suddenly have no signal - hmmm, funny that, eh?

Extremely brief update on my dissertation: I've now got 11,600-odd words. Most of which are different!! (This subject will not get any more interesting until I finish, graduate and get drunk at my graduation!!!)

9 May 2006
I've just signed up to take part in this year's Race for Life in aid of cancer research. If you are so inclined, you may sponsor me by clicking on the following link: Sponsor Rhiain in the Race for Life. The run is on 28th June.

Almost half the year has disappeared! Alwyn and I have been to Antibes (February - Fab!) and Weymouth (April - fun, but talk about Banjo Country! Weymouth Photographs). Next month we are off to Dublin to see the sights and especially to imbibe the black stuff.

Mickey is still with us. His fits seem to be under control with the medication, but he has arthritis in his back legs. He seems happy enough. He enjoys his food (as ever!) and also enjoys having a good bark - although usually he has no idea what he is barking at! He turned 13 last month. He's been staying with my Mum as Maddy will not leave him alone.

Last weekend I redecorated the lounge, with the help of my Mum. Alwyn dropped his dinner on the carpet (and had to wrestle the chicken from the dogs *lol*) which stained the carpet sufficiently for us to have to have a new one. The new carpet is being fitted next week. Alwyn said "When it's all done we'll have to have a party." To which I replied "Yes, and they can all stand out on the patio, because no-one's coming in here with a drink in their hand!!" heheheheheh.

January 2006

19 January 2006
Ah here we are again. Another New Year and another diet ....

I was driving to work yesterday and, during my otherwise uneventful drive, I got stuck behind a Texaco fuel tanker. On the back of this tanker someone had written in the dirt "I LUV CARROTS". How bizarre is that?! I don't think I can raise feelings for any root vegetable, let alone sufficient passion to want to broadcast it to the nation by inscribing it on the back of a large vehicle.

During the early hours of the Thursday before Christmas I was woken by a noise from the kitchen. I went to investigate and it was a good thing I did because Mickey, the oldest of the terriers, had stopped breathing in his sleep. I picked him up and jiggled him around a bit and thankfully he started breathing again. He did this again at about five pm, so I whipped him off to the vet who could find nothing whatsover wrong with him. He did it twice more (on Boxing Day and the day after) so I took him back to the vet once more for blood tests, chest x-ray etc. Again, the vet couldn't find anything wrong with him. The vet suggested that perhaps Mickey should have an MRI scan. The cost? �800. As an alternative (cheaper!) the vet suggested that Mickey be given anti-epilepsy medication. This seems to have worked admirably as he's had no further episodes and I have managed a few nights of unbroken sleep!

I don't often take Mickey out for a walk with the other dogs because he's old and slow. He gets to walk to the post box or the shops and that's about it now. Anyway, last week I was rounding up the other four to go for a walk in the local park when Mickey joined the queue. I always feel a bit sorry for him because he gets left behind so I put his lead on and away we went.

As I have mentioned before, Chip and Bonnie are currently residing with me. In the house, Chip and Bonnie have as little to do with Maddy as they can. When we are out on walks the three of them gang up and bark at anything and everything. Trees, people, squirrels, other dogs, bits of paper blowing around ... Picture if you will - Saffy trotting around doing her own thing, the three nutty terriers haring around in circles and me walking along with Mickey on the lead and he's determined to walk at snail's pace. We were walking past the tennis courts when I caught sight of a large group of people who were on a path that would converge with ours. After watching them for a couple of steps I realised that this wasn't just any group of people out for a stroll in the January sunshine, but a special needs group.

It suddenly occured to me that the three nutty terriers and a large group of special needs people was not going to be a good mix. So I tried to walk a bit quicker in order to outpace them and avoid the possibility of chaos and carnage caused by yappy, crazy, disobedient dogs. I had, however, reckoned without Mickey who was still determined to walk at his own pace. He ended up with his collar pulled right up behind his little ears as I tried to hurry him along and he tried to continue to walk very, very slowly. Chaos was averted, but Mickey is not going out for another walk with the rest of the gang.

I have just finished marking a couple of batches assignments. The standard ranged from quite outstanding to utterly p*ss-poor. A large number of the submissions did not appear to have been spell-checked or proof-read, so that in one case a student was "making altercations to the survey" and another was talking about "smoking in pubic places" (heheheheheheheh, that one really did amuse me!), at least three students appeared not to be able to tell the difference between the words "mortality" and "morality" which also made for interesting reading.

Last year's diary entries are here: Diary 2005