Human Biology reunion

Only three of us managed to meet up with Mike, our evening class teacher of the last two years for AS and A level Human Biology. Five photographs were taken: Jo looked good in four of them, Joy was great in two, Mike managed two without his eyes closed, but I didn't come out well at all. So I've had to construct a montage.

Joy got an A, and Jo got a B, and they deserve a great deal more credit than me with all the difficult family circumstances they had to deal with. Joy's staying at work for the time being and reconsidering whether she'd like to change to radiography after all. Jo would like to do A level psychology, but is having trouble finding a course because so many have been withdrawn, so she may do Maths or Chemistry. Good luck to them, and to the others who finished the two years: Sam, Alison and Donna.

But the star of the show is definitely Michael, whose inspired teaching helped us all enormously. Highlights include:

The very first lesson and the deconstruction of the word 'polymorphonucleocyte' - I knew this was a teacher I would get on with;

The practical exercises like the comparison of mitosis and meiosis using our hands and fingers as chromosomes, paper chains of nucleotide bases on the lab floor, and unzipping his flies to demonstrate DNA replication;

Anecdotes - too many to list! But I won't forget the shaving incident associated with the varicose veins, the suggestion that the cricket team should give their shirts to their wives to distinguish by smell, and the timing of conception of his first child according to biological principles;

Mnemonics, even if we suspected that the last word of 'Kindly Please Come Out For Good Sport' was not exactly as reported.

Funding for adult part time education is being cut back, and this year Mike's is the only A level course that is being run part time in the evening at Solihull College. It will probably be the last AS intake. He keeps threatening to retire, so this might be his opportunity, although it will be a huge loss to the college and its students. I was very lucky to have started the course when I did, and even more fortunate to have Mike as the teacher!

Curtains and other trading activity

I haven't done a great deal that's constructive for a week or so. My trip into the loft to get the saxophone down revealed a whole pile of curtains that we'd presumably put there 'just in case'. As well as getting the saxophone valued - £250 in case anyone would like to buy it - I've been tidying up the curtains, washing and ironing them to assess whether there's any value there. Four pairs might net me £100 altogether through local paper small ads if I'm lucky; one pair from Mr A's old flat in Burnage is in no fit condition to sell but so far I've had no takers from Freecycle.

I also found a vintage 1985 squash racquet (wooden) that I thought might produce takers on ebay, but other similar artifacts don't seem to be attracting any offers. I'm not sure where else to dispose of it, other than to a theatrical company as a prop. Other loft-based treasures included the manuscript of the 'book' about my time in Israel I wrote in 1988 - I haven't got round to reading any of it yet - and a pair of high heeled boots. I can't imagine why they would be in the loft. I tried them on for a laugh - 'mutton dressed as lamb' was the phrase that sprang to mind as I looked in the mirror. I must have loved them dearly once, to have kept them for so long and even repaired the heels with electrical insulating tape.

The other fruitless task that has kept me busy is the search for new light fittings for my room. I suppose that half the problem is that I begrudge spending money on any non-essentials at the moment, but I really can't find anything that I like much anyway. I actually suppressed my thriftiness for long enough to splash out on a new camera, although the old one will still work intermittently if I smack it on the side when it won't recognise the memory card. And the bumph from Nottingham Uni finally arrived, with a list of suggested books, and I managed to get the main one second hand. Pity I can't sell the curtains, the old squash racquet and the saxophone through good old Amazon.

So I'm eagerly anticipating learning how to use the new camera. I need to read through the Nottingham stuff a few more times too, to understand all the things I'm supposed to do in the new world of e-university. It mentions filling in something called an ePAR, getting an ID card, registering online, buying sports club membership and a parking permit... At least I don't have to decide on optional courses, everything's compulsory for dietetics in the first year (or Master of Nutrition, as they call it). Only three weeks away now - my holiday is nearly over!

Bernadette and Hugh

I had another lovely visit to Hugh and Bernadette - no fresh orange juice this time, but a pub lunch near Dunham Massey. We had a quick round of whist after lunch, too. Bernadette looked somehow better this time, although I think she was seriously tired after lunch. We did the trip in the brand new adapted Kangoo, but both this and the previous vehicle seem to have the major flaw that there's no assistance or winch arrangement to help the pusher get the wheelchair inside. I keep trying to find ways to help out, but there seems to be nothing for me to do! They'll just have to suffer repeated visits, although I don't know what the new term will bring in the way of spare time for travel.

What I'm reading at the moment

Royal Leamington Spa: Images from the past
by W G Gibbons

The Domesday Book (1086) records details of "Lamintone" and from 1166 to 1539 it was owned by the Priors of Kenilworth during which time its title became Leamington Priors. Over the centuries there was little growth; in 1663 there were but 46 dwellings while in 1800 there were still possibly no more than 50 (when the population was about 300) ... By 1830 there were 1100 houses in 111 streets and the population was about 6,000.

I've been meaning to read this since we moved to Leamington.

What I'm reading at the moment

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
by J K Rowling

I'm half way through the book already, so it shouldn't be long before all is revealed - and, dad, I don't think it was John Prescott what done it...

What I'm reading at the moment

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
by J K Rowling

The one with Snape teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts and with the terrible thing happening to Dumbledore. I'm just catching up with the story so far before starting the new one (thanks for the loan, Lola).

Paragliding in Shropshire

Mr A's birthday present this year was a one-day paragliding course. We met the group on the Shrewsbury bypass and headed off to the Long Mynd hills, and set up camp on the 'nursery slopes' there. In the morning there were two other first-time learners, but some more joined in the afternoon who had already done half a day on Saturday, but couldn't finish that day because of too much wind.

It was cloudy and fairly breezy in the morning, and speaking as a spectator I got too hot in the sun and then too cold when a cloud came over in the morning, although the afternoon was better. The participants were far too busy to notice - after learning to fall over safely they had to check over the equipment and by lunchtime were strapping themselves into the harness for a first try at inflating the wing.


The wind got too strong and changed direction at lunchtime, so we moved to a different field, where things got really busy. By the end of the afternoon, Mr A had done several 'hops' and on a few of them he was airborne for a good while. Now we have to deal with the consequences - an aching back, bruises from the harness, and an inclination to follow up with more lessons!

A day at the zoo and lunch with RNIB

I'm getting a bit behind now - on Tuesday, in honour of Ali's birthday, I was invited to accompany her to Twycross Zoo, together with her mum and friend Amy with boys Harry and Sam. The zoo specialises in primates, so we saw many gibbons, chimps, lemurs and monkeys, and the orangutans were particularly lively. Lots of other animals to wonder at, although Harry was a bit too young to appreciate them, and Sam was much more interested in the tractors, diggers and lawnmowers. Ali's mum told us that she liked the kangaroos best - before remembering that there weren't any and she meant to say giraffes. The day ended with fish and chips and an ignominious performance in the pub quiz (relative to our usual high standard, anyway).

Can you believe that I've only just worked out how to add Alt tags to the images in this blog? And it's not even difficult? Shows how far I've slipped since leaving work. On Thursday I went to Birmingham for lunch with the RNIB crowd, who unexpectedly presented me with a card to congratulate me for the A level results. I'm surprised that my head fitted through the doorways after that. Lunch at the delicious Café Soya was splendid, but RNIB is sadly deficient in juicy gossip, or perhaps everyone is just too discreet. Minty is building a Techshare empire with more staff than the rest of the section put together - so this is how my salary is being spent. Sally had some good news about how RNIB is buying software now, and from the sound of it, she is much more diplomatic than I ever could be. With some additional staffing I'm sure she will take all those achievements outside RNIB, and change the world, just like I wanted to before I decided to change direction.

Dead, Alive, Not Very Well

My camera: previously Not Very Well, now Dead. Happy without a memory card, won't turn on with a memory card. Pants.

Time with my mum

It's been a busy couple of days while mum has been visiting - I think I wore her out. Perhaps it was the trampolining... she certainly didn't like it that much. It was nice to have an hour or two sitting on the sofa before she left!

After she arrived we had lunch, then I dragged her around Leamington doing odd jobs - dropping off my saxophone so it can be valued before I sell it, a bit of food shopping, buying products to descale the toilet. Mum was looking for some special spectacle frames for dad - there are two sets of lenses in the frame, one in front of the other, and the front set is hinged so it lifts up. He's had this type for ages, but it looks like it can't be replaced, because none of the opticians have ever seen anything like it.

We went on the regular guided tour around Leamington that happens four or five times a week in the evening during the summer. John the guide was pretty good, and although I've been on the tour before there were still some new bits - he pointed out how the parish church was extended, which made sense of some of the old pictures I've seen.

On Tuesday mum thought it was Sunday, which explains why she was confused when Mr A was rushing around getting ready to go to a meeting at 9 o'clock. We drove off to the Student Finance office in Warwick so that I could prove who I am in exchange for the faint chance of funding, then dropped into Currys on the way home to look at all the different sorts of cordless phones, and then walked to a lighting shop in the hope that I would find something I like for my room. Then it was lunchtime, and then we had that cup of tea and a sit-down. The rest of the family would never have forgiven me if mum had died of exhaustion.

It was a lovely visit, and I'm hoping we'll do it again soon.