Naoko's news, views and shoes thread

[Handley_Page]

Jane; love the AV.

 

[NaokoSmith]

Oooh, a queue of blaggards vying to attend to my screw-y bits!

Sadly I am totally exhausted and unable to take advantage of any of you Unbelievable chaos across the university. Absolute disaster, so stressful. My teaching isn't as badly affected as some other people's, but it's awful having to read what some people are going through on the forums.

I have just popped in to show you these. Remember how I bought those tables for £5?

The tables have turned! out quite nicely

A couple of details:

We're going to collect bits of rubbish-y old things and seashells etc for chess pieces.

 

[stickygirl]

Oh no ( re Uni )
Oh Wow ( re tables, which are inspirational. *looks at sad furniture and imagines amazing thoughts that will only turn into a disaster of brown puddles so maybe not* )

 

[Handley_Page]

I have just popped in to show you these. Remember how I bought those tables for £5?

The tables have turned! out quite nicely

A couple of details:

We're going to collect bits of rubbish-y old things and seashells etc for chess pieces.

And damned good they lo0ok, too.
Wanna come & do mine ?

 

[TxRad]

Ok, where is Naoko?

Who has her tied up in a closet?

I'm calling Scotland Yard or that guy named Bobby.

What has a Scottish yard got to do with law and order in merry old England?

And is this guy Bobby allowed in Wales of all places?

Inquiring minds and all that.

 

[Handley_Page]

Ok, where is Naoko?

Who has her tied up in a closet?

I'm calling Scotland Yard or that guy named Bobby.

What has a Scottish yard got to do with law and order in merry old England?

And is this guy Bobby allowed in Wales of all places?

Inquiring minds and all that.

I believe that Naoko is up to her eyeballs in organising her teaching.

And now, a bit of History.
When the Police in London was in its infancy, they had a small depot in an address called Scotland Yard (I think it had been a stables, or something like that).
New Scotland Yard, the HQ of the fuzz, is a big building constructed on the site.

'Bobby', as a nickname for the policeman, comes from Robert Peel who set it all up in the first place. At one time they were also known as "Peelers".

Hope this helps

 

[R. Richard]

Ok, where is Naoko?

There is this guy named Sherlock Holmes ...

 

[Handley_Page]

There is this guy named Sherlock Holmes ...

He's been in the care of a "Doctor Watson" for some time now.

 

[Hypoxia]

He's been in the care of a "Doctor Watson" for some time now.

That seven percent solution worked nicely. He's very alert.

Meanwhile, I'm in a pickle and it's my own fault. I bent an eight dollar part that will require US$2600 in repairs. I am fucked. Advice: Be VERY careful how you close the hood on a Sprinter-based vehicle. Whatever happened to just using a stick to hold the hood up?

Otherwise, all is well, except this cold snap drove the mantids away. I miss them. It's fun when biblical insects obviously watch my motions. Makes me feel wanted.

 

[Bramblethorn]

Ok, where is Naoko?

Who has her tied up in a closet?

I heard from her today. She's alive, just dealing with work silliness.

 

[TxRad]

I heard from her today. She's alive, just dealing with work silliness.

Thank you.

As for the rest of you clowns. I know what a Bobby is and where Scotland Yard came from but just asking if anyone had heard from Naoko sounded a little boring.

 

[Handley_Page]

Thank you.

As for the rest of you clowns. I know what a Bobby is and where Scotland Yard came from but just asking if anyone had heard from Naoko sounded a little boring.

Sorry:
Well, one could not normally expect a Texan to know about these things.
After all, there's good few English folk who don't know it either !

Where can I get a copy of a particular film
("Company of Cowards" or "Advance to the Rear"; Glenn Ford, Stella Stevens, Jim Bacchus). Everywhere I look is not there.
I'd even have it in VHS!

 

[oggbashan]

Sorry:
Well, one could not normally expect a Texan to know about these things.
After all, there's good few English folk who don't know it either !

Where can I get a copy of a particular film
("Company of Cowards" or "Advance to the Rear"; Glenn Ford, Stella Stevens, Jim Bacchus). Everywhere I look is not there.
I'd even have it in VHS!

It's not on eBay.

I've found it on IMDB. If you Google search for the title you should be able to follow links to stream the film (probably for a price).

 

[Handley_Page]

It's not on eBay.

I've found it on IMDB. If you Google search for the title you should be able to follow links to stream the film (probably for a price).

It ain't on Youtube. Well, the trailer / preview is, but attempts to 'enter the link below'
have so far failed. Even my regular supplier's having trouble.

 

[NaokoSmith]

Hullo dahlinks! I'm back

The last two weeks have been carnage in the university. It was so bad, I didn't even want to go on FB or tell most of my friends. However now I heard from the Fella that his Institution of Learned Learning also introduced a computerised timetable system which resulted in absolute chaos, so we are not the only ones.

It affected us particularly badly, though. We don't teach regular tutorials, our students expect to be able to travel. I am teaching first year students, so they don't quite know the setup. Still, at least my student who lives just outside Cardiff asked if she should really go to Basingstoke for her tutorial! Some other students in Norfolk were told by the new timetable to go to London School of Economics. They bought (non-refundable) train tickets to London. One is a wheelchair user

I was responsible at this time for moderating our joint student forum. I have been online, on tenter hooks, for two solid weeks. Every time I thought I might just take an afternoon or evening off, some new bit of information would dribble through and I would have to rush to post on the forum so at least our students had some idea of what was going on.

Finally yesterday I gave my tutorial (one whole hour! I can't believe I've gone through all this to do one hour's teaching ), and I also handed over the forum to my colleague. It won't be so bad now, things will settle down and I have done most of the necessary emergency posting.

The situation was so bad that they sent out people to the campus where we were delivering the tutorials. I expected some young poorly paid person, but in fact when I got there, there were three or four senior managers! I came off particularly well as the students said how useful the detailed information I posted about the venues we were using had been, and one of the managers took a photo of the (gluten-free! as I have one student this presentation who is coeliac) cake I baked and put it on twitter with a link to the VC

But I don't feel proud of what I did. Yes, we all saved the day and hundreds of us across the country made sure our students could get out and get their tutorial support in spite of the total dog's breakfast of information the computers were spewing out to them. And what will happen as a result? No doubt the senior managers will say that negotiations for our permanent contracts will have to be put on hold while they sort the mess out. They will probably say: "Oh dear, that was a bit messy, never mind it's all OK now, thanks for all the fish," and still sack all the admin staff they want to get rid of and replace with this cr@p computer system.


I will write up how horrendous it was - really, it was just chaotic and I was working 24/7, when I only have two eight hour contracts . (And we union members were supposed to be working to rule in a dispute over pay.) But will they listen?

 

[Handley_Page]

It's very nice to hear how a good set of decent 'Joining Instructions' (as the military often call them), can really make a difference.

As for Norfolk (which, for the benefit of those unfamiliar with the geography of the UK) is pretty rural, despite having a fairly decent railway line, the thought of $50 or thereabouts for a trip to a tutorial is damned silly. (Cardiff to Basingstoke is just as barmy, to my mind).

 

[redzinger]

Hi all, apologies for my long absence, but it's been a fucker of a last few months.

- My mother became ill...then passed away.
- After a month or so, I returned to a very overgrown garden in London...and managed to hack my dominant index finger (nearly) off. Cue operation, and lots of physio.
- From walking my mother's dogs, my body is giving up on me and my ankle is totally fucked. Can hardly walk.
- My sister is going through a divorce from an utter arsehole who served papers the week my mother died. That's actually the least of his tricks, but it goes to show what an utter cockwomble he is. Fucker.
- My other sister fucked her shoulder up by standing on a rotten table (trying to sort out my mother's place, and was in a rush at home).
- My mother's place won't sell. Not that we're prepared to sell it as there's still shitloads of stuff to sort through.
- I'm now a dog owner and have lost about £3000 in rent due to being unable to find someone to live here. (Partly due to the dogs being so stinky, see below.)
- One of my mother's dogs escaped from me, ran across a road, got hit by a car. Now he's three-legged (thanks to RSPCA) and I'm £1500 poorer.
- Can't charge my laptop, and it's not worth fixing.
- Other shit that I can't remember as I'm not sober.

So, it's been a bit shit. Apologies for the 'poor me', but I'm still reeling a bit. A lot. My head is fucked, the house is a complete state, and I'm barely functioning. Holding on from going batshit mental by my fingertips.

In better news, I may be publishing another book soon.

Have to go and work out what dogs want now. They're my substitute children, I think - it's so hard to not spoil them. And I love them to bits, no matter how much they're disrupting my life.

 

[redzinger]

Oh, and I've hardly masturbated in the last few months. You try it when you have two confused canine faces staring at you, or scratching at the door. Talk about a mood killer.

 

[SamScribble]

Oh, and I've hardly masturbated in the last few months. You try it when you have two confused canine faces staring at you, or scratching at the door. Talk about a mood killer.

Oh well, the only way is up.

 

[Handley_Page]

Hi all, apologies for my long absence, but it's been a fucker of a last few months.
- My sister is going through a divorce from an utter arsehole who served papers the week my mother died. That's actually the least of his tricks, but it goes to show what an utter cockwomble he is. Fucker.

I can really sympathise with this one; my wife did the same to me while I was being radio-therapy treated for cancer.

But as Sam put it; The only way is up!
Hugs

 

[NaokoSmith]

Oh, and I've hardly masturbated in the last few months. You try it when you have two confused canine faces staring at you, or scratching at the door. Talk about a mood killer.

Poor Toria!
*hug*s

 

[NaokoSmith]

Hullo dahlinks,
My life is chaos (but at least not quite as much carnage as poor Toria's ). However I am going to try to post in here at least once a day this month - Naoko Smith's advent calendar

I shall have to think of something very big for 24th. Maybe one of my boobs. (No, only one, otherwise I will stretch the thread and TXRad will get cross and refuse to spank me )

I will come back later and tell you all my news. Or as much of it as will amuse you.

Here is a festive bauble to start us off. (Oh yes. That is exactly what it is! )

 

[TxRad]

Some Englishman said, "Arse over teacup."

I corrected him. "Arse over lap with the skirt up over the back."

I don't think either of us understood the other.

Welcome back young lady.

 

[NaokoSmith]

Welcome back young lady.

Hullo lovely

 

[NaokoSmith]

Advent Calendar Day 2

Here is a special treat for Toria, who has had such a rough time in a not-good way.

Dieux du Stade

BTW, I finally made it along to the Millenium Stadium to see a rugby match live!!! (Wales v Japan). It was totally great, I was amazed how well you can see - even though the seat I was in was very high up. I got a much better idea of the game than on tv, which I didn't think I would do. And of course the atmosphere was fantastic. They shut the roof on the stadium, which I thought was a bit wimp-y of the two teams. I mean, it wasn't actually snowing at the time ...

I had to buy something special to wear for the occasion. It was surprisingly expensive for such a flimsy garment! Don't get too excited now ...