Some work

Got a work task today. I was ordered to put together the departmental sweepstake. With a massive £32 in the offing, I've ended up (witnesses present) with Holland. Could have been worse. Poland and the USA have also gone. Also played football again today. Was referred to as "Chopper" Jackson at one point. That's for the tackling, btw. Not the tackle. ;-)

PS. Have just noticed that I'm now a link on not only Jason's Blog, but also the Ayers Family Blog (the continuing adventures of Lauren, Serena & Jason). As such, here's a brand new link. -->

ITEs

Took most of last Wednesday off - as I had a hospital appointment in York at 9.45am the next day and it seemed a good excuse to wander off early and see the parents. Appointment went well. My hearing isn't good - as we all know! - but it hasn't got any worse either. Even better, I'm going to get some new digital hearing aids (RRP £1,7000 each) on the NHS, the downshot being that I'll have to wait 3-4 months for the fitting. But this is great as they're ITE (in the ear) and I thought NHS ones would have to be theose horrible behind-the-ear ones - and that I would have had to go private (again) and pay through the nose for ITE. So, Thursday was good. Sally had a job interview in Leeds on Friday morning so I joined her there straight afterwards - fingers remain crossed - before we went back to Huddesfield for the weekend (and Spring Bank Holiday). So, barring a little bit of work on Wednesday morning, I haven't worked at all from Wednesday 24th May-Tuesday 30th May. Now that's pretty good - or pretty bad, considering. Even better, I've had my contract extended. I thought I would be out of a job come end of this month, but I've had a stay of execution until end of July. Two whole extra months.

Hull it is. Still. And if this lecturer strike continues, I'll get more work still. :-)

Thunderstorms: Fun or scary?

Didn't get the York St John job, but no worries. Hull plans are - hopefully - afoot. What is certain, is that it's raining outside. Proper rain. One of those "working at your desk and seeing the room darken before your very eyes" storms. I keep reading in the papers about hosepipe bans further south. Not a chance up here... Hey, Hey - thunder. :-)

Marking mountain climbed (stopping for whinge at top)

Phew! I'm pleased to report that I've finished the marking. Just now. It's a real shame that 12.08pm on a Friday isn't the best time to start something new. Besides, I'm off the Huddersfield later to see Sally, so I suppose I'll slack a bit, rattle off some e-mails and have a long lunch. There's plenty to do, of course. But nothing in the "sort in thirty minutes/hour " category. Haven't heard back from York St John, but no worries there: (a) I can easily convince myself I didn't actually want it; and (b), plenty more options left. What I am going to do, is have a whinge about something else. :-)

Battlestar Galactica (the modern re-make). I'm a fan, most of you will know that. But the last in the series - I think - was on this week. 90mins worth. So I sat down to enjoy it (at home in York, the perfect distraction the night before my interview) and, same as last week, Sky didn't have subtitles showing on the programme. In fact, there were subtitles running in the adverts, but not the programme itself. This is starting to happen more and more now and it's hacking me off. (Not just my digibox, but my parents and at friends). My hearing isn't that bad, but I do need the subtitles as a guide to trick myself into thinking I can hear the dialogue. I can also relax, which is what I want to do in front of the telly, not strain every fibre of my being to catch things. Now, it ended on a bit of a cliffhanger, so I wanted to hear what was going on - not guess from the bits of it I did hear. So last night, I watched the repeat on Sky Two. And guess what? No bloody subtitles. I tell you, I'm actually *compaining* to Sky. "Disgruntled of Hull" and all that. It's not fair. And having the advertisement subtitles working normally was just a slap in the face. I'm not one to normally go on about my hearing loss (I hope), but this time I'm so frustrated, it's untrue.

Lazy Sky *%$£"&%!!

So much to do

Has to be a short one as I've a train to catch to York (lectureship interview at York St John tomorrow), but just a quick Blog to complain about all my marking. There's loads. And I mean *loads* - as you can see - and it's all due back by Friday. More on that tomorrow.

Linkage

Something for you Star Wars fans out there. And I'm assuming that most people reading this are Star Wars fans, btw. Mik sent me this and I couldn't resist the urge to share it with you here. Let me know what you think. :-)

It's a funny old game

Played football again yesterday, too. Some people came and went during the hour, but we were managing a stable six-a-side, all skill levels, all fitness levels. Psychology vs. Sports Science/Sports Centre Admin. I don't think I did too badly this time. As it turns out, I can do a mean sliding tackle. I'm not too hot with the ball itself, but I'm more a hang back, pass sideways option for the old one-two. Besides, I simply don't have the fitness to run forwards and backwards all game. Up just past the halfway line, yes. But not all the way! Dave can, and a few of the others, but I have to content myself with right back/midfield. Funny really as at one point, I found myself up on the left. Got a great pass threaded through to me, just ahead of my feet. Got to it, half-controlled it, then suddenly realised I was on the opposite side to normal and was struggling with a daft urge to cross it left and off the pitch, rather than right towards goal (old right-back habits die hard). In that split second of confusion, I paused, shifted my weight onto the *side* of my right foot, stumbled and fell over. Fantastic!! ;-)

It's away

Yep, it's on it's way. What, you may ask. Well, I can announce that after six months of working on it - or rather six months of working on it when I haven't been given anything else to do - I've finally sent off my paper to the Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research. So now I wait for it to be peer-reviewed, rubbished, and sent back. :-)

Seriously, I hope it gets accepted or even accepted on proviso of certain changes being made. I gather that 65% of journal articles are rejected straight off the bat, and right now, academics are at the end of the RAE cycle. (Every few years, your journal articles are counted as proof of your - lack of - research activity). That means that HUGE numbers of lecturers are desperately trying to get their papers published before the next deadline - they come round every four years. Then three years of bugger all, then one year of desperate activity, then... Well, you get the idea. Human nature, isn't it? If you're *really* interested - and I rather doubt it - I can email you a copy, either word document or pdf. (Before some anonymous reviewer gets hold of it and makes me change everything!)

Lack of lack of things leaping out at me

I was about to say that no Blog topic was leaping out at me for today, but that's not quite true. Something did. Dave got back from his weekend earlier. I got back from mine last night (more on that in a little bit), so we were just catching up, chatting away in the office. Not quite sure how long IT was there, but while we were talking, we were suddenly aware of a *HUGE* wasp on Dave's knee. It's a small office too, so Dave and I were scrambling out of the room at speed. Given a little composure, we came back in and killed the little bugger with a rolled-up newspaper and gave it the burial at sea (down the toilet) it probably didn't deserve. Then I remembered, like I do every year and then forget again, that wasps float. Three flushes it took. Three.

Anyway, my weekend. I'll have to rustle up some pictures and ramble on in a way no-one cares (no comments please, I'll just delete them. lol) about Memory Lane at some point, but for now, it's just enough to say that Sally and I celebrated a year together by spending the weekend at a hotel near my old school in York. We're also fiercely resisting becoming some sort of God-awful "Jally" couple. ;-) Whether we'll succeed, only time will tell. However, I can tell you that we concur on one thing at least. Champagne cocktails are great!!

Kean, George and Mini-Eggs

Hey thanks Kean - saw your comment on one of the previous Blogs. I hope you're well, wherever you are (India is my best guess at the moment). [And fellow travellers]. Myself? I am knackered after a sprightly game of 7-a-side football out on the sports pitches. Beautiful weather today so had a great little run-around. I'm not as fit as I was, mind you - some lean, running-machine types (i.e Dave) were sprinting away and leaving me two yards adrift. I also ran out of steam *a bit* towards the end, but not as shabby as I feared. Still, I've not got the frame of mind to write something interesting and thought-provoking, so I thought I'd pass this on for all you George Bush fans out there. Clicky.

PS. Stats exam tomorrow --> Students banging on my door today. Some of them even bought me a free bag of Cadbury's Mini Eggs for my trouble. Nice one. :-)