A dog owners Christmas tree

I am a dog owner and a proud one at that. If you had told me that having a cute dog was a great way to meet new people I would have got one in my teens. I am never happier then when Lulu and I are out on walks .... we did 55,000 dad steps one day ... about 26.2 miles. Enough to complete a marathon. As a responsible dog owner, yes I do clean up after my pampered pooch. Normally about 300-400 yards into our long walk.

Occasional I will “stick it and flick it” if I am somewhere far from the madding crowd rather than leaving a soiled footpath.

My dog is a tiny dog so doesn’t really leave something you need a wheelbarrow and shovel for. 

It does however never cease to amaze me that the larger the dog, the less likely the owner is to pick it up judging by the large species faeces we have had to navigate round this week.

I forgot my bag......we’ll surely it can still be moved subtley.

The thing that I really don’t get is the dog own who watches their pooch do what comes naturally ... then get out their multicoloured, sweet smelling, designer poo bag, pick up the said poo ......... and then leave it hung on a tree branch or a gate........ why..... is it a warning to other dog owners that dogs business is not welcome here?

I hope that in any fair world that said dog owner gets up on Xmas morning to find their Christmas tree sparkling and bedecked with all the sharny poo bars hey left for unsuspecting others to find throughout the year .

...

Teaching teachers

Thanks to friends who mistakenly think that as teachers, for us, the holidays have started.

They have not.

In strange circumstances, we are in the process of rolling our sleeves up, keeping calm and carrying on.

As  maths teachers, we are ahead of the curve as our weekly homework tasks are set and monitored online via show my homework and Hegarty maths.

In business, you have the experience of group conference calls for meetings straddling continents.

We are adapting / learning /setting up google classrooms and will meet on Monday and Tuesday to set up training and strategies to try and move forward as seamlessly as possible. 

Resources will be prepared and shared as we evolve our online classrooms to support all our students using the technology available.

The next two weeks will probably more strenuous than normal as educators get educated to keep education moving forward.

Spare a thought for teachers who are also parents so will see this from both sides at the same time.

Holidays? Don’t think so! The hard work is just beginning.

My my my my ...corona

Remember how Britain’s exit from Europe (Brexit) divided the nation? In? Out? We still disagree and I am still no better off understanding the reasons why. If someone can explain to me how I/we will be better off then I am sure I could support the idea based on actual facts.

Climate change (whatever happened to global warming which from a UK point of view sounded like a good thing) hard to believe that when we look at typhoons, hurricanes and flooding that there are still people (many in places of power) who could take actions to slow down the effects of this but choose not to. Information and misinformation. Yet it’s hard to deny what you see with your own eyes.

The Corona virus (Covid19). Shorten it (like Brexit) to make it easier to say especially when it’s something we will be saying a lot. 

It has been interesting to watch its rise, development and spread. PotUS refers to it as the Chinese disease. I’m sure that the people of Spain won’t appreciate associations with previous flu epidemics.

It was a disease that was “over there” and we watched as it moved slowly and deadly across the world. 

Then it was in Europe, in Italy  and Spain and finally here.

For politicians to be unsure of what needs to be done is alarming. Unlike a tv program that has been shown in another country first ..... everyone should know what happens before it gets here rather than ignoring all information and waiting to see for ourselves.

Again we live in a nation divided between those who are in “self isolation” or “social distancing” from others versus those who want to go down the pub for a drink or see the coming months as a holiday.

We have seen the best of people who are sharing what food they have and looking after the elderly and infirm, doctors, nurses and medical professionals working excessive hours to support patients.

We have seen the worst of people who have “stockpiled” products and emptied supermarket shelves, possibly forcing ill families out of future self isolation to forage for what is left to support their families.

We have seen kindness of some who have given the use of closed hotels to support exhausted NHS workers.

We have seen others cruelly sack and evict employees with no notice.

Now we are in gradual enforced lockdown. Many could not see the importance of self isolation as the need to “go out for a pint” was their right or that they think that they won’t get the disease or that if they did that it won’t be “that” bad since they are neither old or sick.

A bit like bad drivers. They have never had an accident but have seen loads happen around them. 

Whilst we just don’t know what the outcome will be, what further restrictions will need to be put in place or when life will go back to a new normality. 

There are many who are projecting two weeks, two months, three months , a year. Illness and death tolls are all based on projection , algorithms and opinions.

We have all been shocked by videos and reports from China, a communist state of the forced isolation, but their statistics appear to show that with this first wave of the illness, they are turning a corner.

Recent figures showing mortality rates since the 10th death in countries around the world that the UK has the second highest.

Our leader has talked about “squashing the sombrero” of the virus curve. In order to do that you need to act early and effectively, yet most things have been done retrospectively rather than proactively.

What do the next few months hold? 

I don’t know.

We live in interesting times.

Let’s make sure that we work together to emphasise the “live” part.

500 miles....or was it.

Bob A recent music quiz night ended in argument with just exactly how many miles the Proclaimers walked. The song title is I'm gonna be (500 miles)..... But they did walk 500 more......oh things got a bit feisty.

On the other hand I am a bit more concerned with the relationship between Mr Proclaimer and his lady friend. If he gets drunk....he's going to get drunk next to her. All well and good but if he is going to see her, why does he plan to walk only 500 miles and then 500 more. If his girlfriend lives 1000 miles away....why not plan to walk the whole 1000 miles? Is he unsure about the permanency of the relationship?

When he wakes up, he wakes up next to her? How often does this happen as he appears to live 1000 miles away and I'm not sure about a long distance relationship.

When he's working, he's working hard for her....... If he plans to walk for 2x 500 miles at let's say 50 miles a day that means he would take 20 days to get there.... What some of job would allow him that a out of time off in lieu?

If he's working hard, surely the loss of 20 days salary is an unwise option.

If he is going to walk 2 x 500 miles to drop down at her door, surely the concept of "getting drunk" with her might have something to do with the fact that he drops down at her door.

It's good to know that he plans to give almost every penny on to her. Although the drinking is unwise, it would surely be better to spend the alcohol money on a bus fare so that he can then earn more money at work and maybe save so that they can afford to live closer than the current 1000 miles which seems to be having an adverse effect on their relationship.

I don't think that this would have happened when the Proclaimers were a fine folk trio before Frankie Boyle went solo

Nice day for a white wedding....

Billy idol knows that every day is a nice day for a white wedding. Also an expensive and stressful one.

There are certain times in life that you look forward to but are not always easy.

Weddings

Christmas

Holidays.

All involving a great outlay of cash and spending a concentrated time with loved ones. 

Holidays are something that we all look forward to but can find that two weeks in the company of someone that you only see for a few waking hours a week can make you see them in a different light.

Christmas. You've got to love Christmas, but whether you are playing home or away, getting the right presents, the right meal, the right wine and the right blend of family guests who won't tear each other to shreds after the third sherry.

Weddings. I once knew someone who spend 18 months planning for a marriage that lasted less than 6 months.

Between the dress, the flowers, the venue, the meal and the alcohol, not to mention any honeymoon can see one spend a large amount of money. "It's the brides day" as many people will say. 

Ive always been worried about bridal wear. In an ideal world, we only get married once. 

So. Why is it the thing that a bride appears to have to buy her dress but that the groom rents his?

If you get married once...why buy? Are you planning to wear it again? If you get married a second time.....should you wear the same dress........since it wasn't so lucky last time?

I do love the idea of the antique wedding dress being handed down from grandmother to mother to daughter but that doesn't seem to happen nowadays.

On the other hand...a trip to Moss Bros and a weekend rental for him! There may not be as many occasions where you will have to wear the dinner suit for the rest of your life but a kilt on the other hand can be used for weddings, black tie dinners (with the Prince Charlie jacket) and fine for a summer hike to feel a cold breeze in the Trossachs.

Brides dresses. A bit like getting your old school shirts signed on your last day at school. Happy memories but what use are they in the back of the wardrobe?

Just saying.

OFSTED and 2020 vision.

I think that as we progress further into this new millennium, that we have got Education and Regulation wrong. League tables, performance tables, stressful visitations and special measures.

Being a teacher has neve been an easy task but does a baker have to deal with flour that doesn't wan't to be made into bread? 

Does a carpenter have to deal with wood that doesn't want to be carved into artistic figures? 

Does an artist find that the paint refuses to be placed on the canvass?

Doctors do, on the whole, deal with patients who actually want to get better.

I was told in a twilight that we are teaching kids for jobs that don't actually exist yet. 

Great.

Why do I get the impression that more and more kids don't actually care about their education or the education of those around them?

We are told that kids don't know how to revise? How did that happen?

That we need to teach to different learning styles .....like trying to manage Manchester United where 2 of the team want to play rugby, 3 don't like the colour red and 5 are late or in detention already.

We need to be aware of all the issues going on in the lives of our students ....we are teachers not social workers.

Having spoken to 2 year 11's who were three weeks from their exams with their heads down on the table during a lesson, a third girl who is one of the biggest underachievers in the class told me that I should be grateful that they have come to school!

Many have no motivation whatsoever. Colleges accept people with no qualifications. Many of our bottom sets have no motivation to try as they have already got in. Many have no idea what they want to do and can't track back to see what that need to now as they have no direction.

OFSTED need to change the way they work.

Why do schools get Ofsteded and not the parents?

I'd love the concept of OFSTED going to inspect failing families and setting targets for younger siblings.

Short inspections to look at the parents who take their kids out of school for holidays or who don't want any part of the behaviour/lack of effort/poor ethos that they as parents have developed on their children. You can't unteach those things as well as an ever changing curriculum

The parents who don't bother attending school parents evenings because they know what's coming and don't want to hear it. 

Parents who have no idea that behind their kids bedroom door they are online on their phones till all hours. 

We get students for 1,2 or 3 hours a week depending on the subject. Parents have them for 11 years before secondary schools get them. Where is their accountability.

How about it OFSTED? 

Mind the gap.....

"Mum, Dad, I think I'll take a gap year"........

Words that are heard by parents across the world...although it appears very popular in the UK and the USA.

I'd like a year off before I start my University life.........I want to find myself,

Now, in my day there was no such thing as a gap year. Am I just envious? No! 

I have just watched a video where there two different attitudes to post 16 life. One which says two years of A-level, 3 years of  university, first job, marriage etc.....another talks about all the different options including gap years.

For me, a gap year sounds like getting your pocket money before you clean your bedroom.

We don't all start a new job and say that we'll take our holidays straight away.

Whilst there is nothing wrong with wanting to teach English to kids in India, it is an admirable thing to do as your parents spend their time worried about all the things that could happen as you have never been away from home before and didn't enjoy that camping weekend with the scouts.

Surely there if you wish to do good, there are loads of things that you could do with your own community to make things better without going half way round the world.

Whilst I understand that the financial costs of going to university and paying off student loans may take a shine off the start of your first job, surely spending your free time earning money would be a better thing to do to get you back on sound financial footing sooner rather than later.

It does sound romantic and is full of good intentions, but is it a way of avoiding the responsibility that others are willing to take on?

Gap years also seem to be spent in far flung, warm and exotic locations......places that many people never go to or go back to.

Surely we should be teaching our children the importance of responsibility and whilst a gap year may provide "life changing" experiences, more often they don't.