The day of reckoning

Tomorrow is P day. It is the day Keith goes back to hospital to get the pin removed from his ankle. For the benefit of new readers, Keith broke his ankle on ice at the beginning of March. Being a conscientious sort of chap, he did it properly - a complicated break in three places, which, for various reasons, needed a pin inserting through the base of his foot, to remain in place only until the bones were healed.
So, after weeks and months of hobbling around on crutches and cruising around in a wheelchair, the pin is now about to be taken out. He'll still have to wear his 'moonboot' for a bit longer, but at least will be able to put his foot to the ground.

Just as well, really. He is getting a bit fed up with my 'Ah, Jim lad......pieces of eight' impressions.

Father's Day

I sent Dad a Father's Day card during the week and, as he is a steam enthusiast, I was pleased to have found a card with a train on it (sorry - engine!).
This was his emailed response this morning:

Thank you for your card which came in the week but was left until this morning. It is a 4-6-4 loco as far as can be seen through the steam with a Westinghouse air compessor just in front of the cab with the 50 feet of air cooling pipe in front again. The safety valves are lifting and the cylinder cocks are open so it is ready to move.
I don't know the driver's name.

You see, it's important to get the details right!

Time and tide...

Comments heard from Younger Daughter this morning as she glanced over a job application I had left on the dining room table:
"You were at college when???" (As in, "Did they even have college in those days?")
"Ohhh, things have changed a bit since then, Mum."

I think I knew that, thank you!
This will be you one day, Sunshine!

Teen Buzz

There's a new ringtone specifically for teenagers. It uses very high frequencies and so can't be heard by older people as the ability to detect these very high frequencies is something which deteriorates with age.
There was an item about it on the evening news, during which children and adults were interviewed and asked if they could detect the ringtone. The children were able to hear it loud and clear, the adults weren't.
This, I thought, is annoying - another of these age things! So I turned the TV volume up, pressed my ear to the speaker and listened intently............
"Yes, I can hear it," I announced to my sceptic audience of one.
"I can definitely hear it..........I think...................I can, I can, really!"
(Runs in the family, you know, it's in the genes, good hearing. Can hear a pin drop, I can!)

Board dusters, chalk and flying missiles

This post by Krip reminded me of a conversation Keith and I had just the other day. I was talking about various new initiatives in education (let's face it, the last 20 years have produced more new initiatives than most people have had hot dinners!) and we got to talking about punishments and discipline in 'the old days'. Keith reminisced nostalgically about the good old piece of chalk hurled expertly at recalcitrant pupils, followed swiftly by the board duster if improvement in behaviour and attention was not instant. I recalled the dents in the back walls (pinboard) of many of the classrooms in my school caused by board dusters which had missed their mark.
"Of course, I never got anything thrown at me," I boasted.
"I did," said Keith. "My blazer was covered with white chalk marks by the end of the day."
No surprise there then!

L.O?

The Year 3/4 class I had this morning had been watching 'Mathilda' as part of their work on Roald Dahl so, after watching the last clip of the video, I gave them some related work and reminded them about writing and underlining the title as well as the date.
All of which was quite straightforward until one of the girls asked,
"Is there an L.O?"
"Sorry? A what?"
"An L.O. You know, an L.O." chorused a number of voices.
Memories of a well-known sketch in 'The Two Ronnies' flashed through my mind and then I had it.............
That would be the Learning Objective, then?

Work? Oh sorry, no

The week before last was half term, so no work for me. Last week some schools were still off, having taken a fortnight, which means that they will have a shorter summer holiday, and still no work. (There's only so much housework, grass cutting, car washing and blog surfing one can do!)
And then on Wednesday afternoon the phone rang. Could I do the next two days with a Y6 class?
Not my favourite age group - too many hormones - but I said yes and then spent the next two hours searching for work to do with them. Just as I had finished, the phone rang again.
"Sorry, we're going to have to cancel you. The class teacher is coming back."
Hmm, didn't think I was THAT notorious!