I have tried to stop making a habit of working on Sundays, but there was no avoiding it today — and on campus, too, meaning I drove in to work for only the fourth time in fifteen years. There is something post-apocalyptic about campus on a Sunday — but seeing as we might all be quarantied at some point soon, maybe it’ll look like this from this point on.
The walls of the castle at Richmond, North Yorkshire, have been there for some 900 years now: they’re not as intact as once they were, but still form an impressive backdrop to the town — and here, its football club. I lived near here for a few years in the mid-1990s, it always seemed like the ‘big city’ in a way but it’s a tiny town in actuality, a sign of how far out in the sticks I was at this time. I don’t miss living there and haven’t been back much at all, but it was pleasant to return for a day trip today.
I don’t normally depict work colleagues on here but it’s worth making an exception today. For three years at least I’ve been working on getting a new hybrid (mixture of online and on-campus) MA launched (in Educational Leadership), and over this weekend we are finally welcoming our first batch of students. Here are some of them, along with Paul, Bee and Steve, fellow academics, looking happy about this at the meal we organised to mark the occasion. And I am glad too, it’s always a relief to see something come to fruition. There’ll be more of this on Sunday, a working day this weekend (a price to be paid)…
I am very unsure that I would have such seemingly nonchalant faith in engineering as these guys. Nor that I would function well in a job that required me to put my faith to the test very often. But that is one reason why I do not have such a job.
While out in the countryside today I was very surprised to encounter this fox at such close quarters — and even more surprised when, on seeing me, it didn’t run away, but simply sat down and looked at me, as if it were a pet dog awaiting a treat. It did then amble round a little, clearly well aware of my presence but seemingly unbothered by it. On the other hand, cute and cuddly though it appeared, I suspect this was a vixen, with cubs nearby, hence its interest in keeping an eye on me — and so I kept my distance until we’d got its photographic model duties out of the way.
Mathilda makes it on here for the sixth time, and there are only four people who’ve been on more often (and one of them is me). I just pass through her territory quite often. As she is clearly getting rather old, it’s actually nice to confirm she’s still around. The sad thing is that no one will think to tell me when she finally passes on.
Having finally arrived, at least to some degree, winter sustains its grip. I was not in this pub (the Old Gate) at just after noon, I can assure you — but I took advantage of the shelter offered by its outside awnings as another revolting hail storm swept by. While there, I mused on what a too-literal interpretation of the sign might indicate: a dry world beyond the present one? Hmmm.
This Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton is made of Lego — some 80,000 bricks, apparently. Currently the centrepiece of the ‘Art of the Brick’ exhibition in Manchester. Which (review coming up) is not bad, but the creator’s claim to be making high art is a little hard to sustain. On the other hand, who doesn’t like a dinosaur, even a plastic one.
The blog’s third 29th February. Like 2012 and 2016’s, I didn’t really get up to anything very exciting to mark the extra day: I didn’t even visit any of the attractions noted on this signpost outside Blackburn station, but I took the picture because I liked the look of the canopy roof.
I seem to remember praising January 2020 for its weather, and I stand by that. February 2020 on the other hand — that can piss right off, frankly. And this year we get an extra day of it.
Being 42 