Wednesday 9 May 2012

Top Cat, Deputy Dawg

Tomorrow we fly to Cyprus for a short break.  It's Grandma in Cyprus' 80th birthday on Saturday, so celebrations are in order.

Democracy is a curious beast.  In Greece it could lead to the collapse of the Euro.  To be fair to the Greeks, if you've been used to being paid for 14 months in every twelve, retiring almost before you've started, with a pension that would make a banker weep with envy, and had a job that is done by ten people, austerity must be hard.  So I have some sympathy...even though the consequences of the hope to renege on their commitments will be a disaster for the global economy.  The French too are making it all look a bit tricky.  Some of the proposals of the new President (how on earth did the French elect someone called Hollande?) make me raise my eyebrows...reducing the retirement age (for some) to 60 from 62, whilst the rest of us have to work until we stagger into the grave.  But I do quite like the concept that there's merit in trying to make the economy grow, rather than grind it down as Punch and Judy are trying to do here.

As an amusing little side-note, someone in our office has had their mortgage application rejected because it was printed on 80gsm paper rather than 100gsm.  If you're not familiar with paper weights (as opposed to paperweights) 80gsm is the sort of paper that EVERYONE uses in their printer.  Frankly it's no wonder we continue to live in economic misery.

I've learnt a lesson...never comment on one of Nursemyra's posts from your mobile phone.  a) because it's tricky b) because Wordpress automatically subscribes you to follow-on comments.  It seems impossible to turn them off, no matter how many times you click the unsubscribe box.  And Nursemyra gets a lot of comments.  And she lives 'down under'...so the comments tend to arrive through the night on your phone.  I blame Wordpress, certainly not my techno-incompetence.

One of the absolutely marvellous things about being a parent is that occasionally your offspring give you such a sense of pride, that you can puff your chest out and march down the street happy, smiling, and bathing in the reflected glory.  First off The Cat has been made Head of House...a fine achievement of which the Cat's Mother and all the family are cock-a-hoop.



The Boy has been made Deputy Head of his house...again a fabulous achievement.  They're both much liked and respected at school, both participate and show the qualities of leadership that will do them well in future life.



The Boy has also been awarded 'Best Cadet'..a fine silver cup which will have his name added to it.  We've got our fingers crossed that he may be put in charge of the Contingent...but are certainly not counting our chickens as there are more than enough animals in this post already.

Today I like being a parent...

Monday 7 May 2012

Image is everything

It's been a little while since I put any pictures up...I've lost my photo mojo (or is it just that I'm lusting after a new camera so anything I take with my current camera is just not good enough?)

This bank holiday weekend we repaired to Brighton to do as little as possible...it's not something we're very good at, but at least we try.  This month is Festival month, so there's plenty to see and do, but we managed to continue my track record of not actually seeing any festival events.  Which is odd, because as you know we love theatre...I'm not sure why The Brighton Festival never gets our attention.  At the same time it is Open House, where the very many artists in and around the City open their houses so that you can see and buy their cleverness.  We went round looking at a lot...to see the art, as well as to sate our nosiness about our neighbours' properties.  We ended up at Roedean, which is celebrating 100 years of it's art studio.  they have had some talented people there including Enid Marx, whose second cousin thrice removed you may be more familiar with. She also taught the designer of the cover for The Beatles' Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band...you'll have to look that one up! Although really you ought to know.   Also a more recent pupil who has won an MBE for shoe design...and is the grand-daughter of one of the Chinese Revolution's leaders...sorry I didn't catch the names.  Evidently English boarding schools are very, very popular with wealthy foreigners from developing countries...so there is a good chance Britain's place in the world is safe for a generation or two yet.

And back to my pictures:

 The quay at Orford in Suffolk
 The old warehouses where I work are now mostly offices, and it's good to see how the character has been preserved
 Just a boat bobbing up and down in the sea off teh Suffolk coast
 I think this labrador rather enjoyed himself too much....
 Crab pots or are they for lobsters at Orford
 You may have to look twice...at first it's a beautiful view, until you see the drunk sleeping off his hangover mid-morning
 This Coca Cola umbrella was a God send as I sat supping a cold drink whilst waiting for my next train in Lyon
This is Gare de Lyon in Paris.  Oddly the French have mastered hi-speed rail, but their stations are still in the dark ages - beautifully designed when originally built, they've failed to keep pace with the needs of the modern traveller
 The Shard, now officially Europe's tallest building...less than half . the height of the world's tallest
The Cat and The Boy on the way to see Bugsy Malone