Advent 2011

Advent has begun. 5 weeks till Christmas.

It has to be remembered by Catholics that Advent is a penitential season, a time of preparation for the Christmas Celebrations. There has to be more than just shopping and gift buying and drinking.

We need to assess our lives, make changes, and renew our religious life.

Bit it seems that every year the religious dimension gets smaller for more and more people.

Yesterday we celebrated St Andrew's day as we will be closed on the actual feast day. Every class did a little performance. But it could have been Burns' night, as there was scant acknowledgement that we were celebrating the life of St Andrew.

There are difficulties in that we really do not know very much about his life. But surely there is more to a saint's day than humorous songs and poems?

Today we had a visiting theatre group from London performing Oliver Twist. A cast of 2, with minimum scenery.

The children enjoyed it in bits, but for the adults, it was pretty grim stuff. London accents which were difficult to understand when lines were delivered fast. Not really pantomime stuff at all. The children enjoyed the chase scenes, but there were no catchy songs or snappy dialogue.

There is a gap here waiting to be filled by Scottish talent. Do Hopscotch still exist? Visible Fiction?

Tomorrow there will be a large scale National Strike in protest at the Government's plans for pension reform. Basically, everyone will have to pay more into their pensions, work longer to get to the pension, and receive a reduced pension.

I believe there are other ways to address pension problems. Maybe everyone could have the same per centage contributions. At present the range is quite wide, with some people paying nil contributions. Politicians I believe and maybe some Civil Servants?

Another issue is that single people with no dependents can nominate another to receive a reduced pension following the death of the pension holder. This is crazy. When you die, your pension should die with you, unless you are leaving a wife and children who need that income.

And of course the chaos caused by the greed of Bankers has to be sorted by non bankers, and that is another reason for the financial straits many of us now find ourselves in.

It will be interesting to see the reaction tomorrow and what further developments will occur.

Photos are from flight Baltimore to Newark.

CRASH!!!!!

I suppose it had to happen. I had my first car bump. After 35 years of bump free driving, and no offences or points, I had a bump. Luckily, no one hurt and.....not my fault. I was stopped in the Asda car park. I looked in my mirror. Saw a little polo reversing rapidly towards me, veering over the centre line. I honked. No use. She ran into me.

But, thank God, everything has worked out very easily. Her insurance company contacted me, accepted liability and arranged uplift of my car, and a hire car for me. I am now driving a new Vauxhall Insignia. It's a diesel. Has 6 gears. A nifty handbrake which is a button, and releases when you move away.

Nice as it is, I prefer my Mazda. The Insignia is a bit noisy for me. The diesel is noisy at low gears. It is roomy, like the interior. But I would not buy one.

Still working, and enjoying it, though responsibilities are building up. But I reckon I can get to Christmas.

I had an e mail from Gettysburg about Christmas events. Made me want to be there for them. Maybe next year, but I do believe, God willing, that Kansas in March is now quite feasible.

The East Neuk

This is a beautiful little corner of Scotland. Cross the Forth Bridge, or the Kincardine Bridge, and you are soon in the Kingdom of Fife.

Make your way to the east coast road, and there you are. The road will take you through a series of pretty little fishing villages, like Crail, Anstruther, Largo and so on.

At one time, fishing was vital to the community. Today, there is not that much fishing going on. Anstruther has an interesting Fisheries Museum.

The houses are brightly painted, as they are in many sea side towns. I noticed the same in Wales.

The area is rich in history and historic buildings, and not a few castles. From more modern times there is the war time aerodrome at Crail, and the underground Secret Bunker, which was a control point in Scotland to be used in time of War, and is now a fascinating visitor attraction.

A corner of Scotland well worth spending a few days exploring.

Some photos of Anstruther.

St Andrew's Break

We spent this weekend at St Andrews, in the East Neuk of Fife.

We stayed at the Drumoig Golf club, just outside Leuchars, about 15 minutes from St Andrews.

Our room overlooked the golf course, and the attached photos show the sunrise on Saturday morning.

It turned out to be a glorious day. We spent the morning in St Andrews, then drove round the coast road to Anstruther. From there, after coffee, we made our way to Leven, and then back to the hotel for about 5pm. By then it was dark.

The only drawback about the Drumoig is that in winter, they close the bar and restaurant at 4pm, but there are eating places nearby.

Back to school today. My timetable is subject to frequent change as emergencies arise. I am flexible!

Wednesday 16th November 2011

We are halfway through another week.

I am still in school. Had a meeting this afternoon with the DHT about the learning Zone timetable....my timetable.

We shook it out and re-organised it, and probably on Monday we will start running the new timetable and see how it goes.

Today the weather was really nice. Blue skies and sunshine, but not particularly warm. There was frost about this morning.

I have written to Tesco expressing my disappointment with their decision to fund a family friendly spot at the London Gay Pride March. I'm not sure how you do that, or who would want to do that.

Anyway, I have expressed my thoughts and I will simply take my custom elsewhere. I know where I do not want the money made from my shopping to be used.

Some older photos today from the Erskine Bridge, looking down over Old Kilpatrick, and down the River Clyde, towards Dumbarton.

Old Kilpatrick claims to be the birthplace of St. Patrick. Dumbarton was the ancient capital of Strathclyde, and has a castle perched on the top of Dumbarton Rock, an extinct volcano.

The Murder of Geoffrey Robbins

This was the title of short play written by our sons Gerry and John, and performed all last week at Oran Mor in Glasgow.

Geoff was their flatmate in Edinburgh, and not long after he moved in, they wrote their first anti-Geoff song...."Geoff Came to our flat, so we killed him!...."

This was the first of many. It would appear Geoff had many unattractive traits that irked people, hence the play after he moved out.

It was great fun. The boys performed well ably supported by George Drennan as the hapless policeman.

Geoff and his family came to see the show on Tuesday, and thoroughly enjoyed it. He is back in the Black Isle now....isn't he???????

I am back teaching all next week.

On Friday I went into the computer suite to find some worksheets and print them off. I switched on one of the computers. 18 minutes later, I was still waiting for it to open up. How are schools meant to offer computer support to teachers and pupils if this is the quality available. Not fit for purpose I hazard to guess. They are not new, are HP machines, while the Dell holds the contract for Glasgow schools. I guess there is an issue there.

The Weekend is Here!!!!

It is Friday. I Have done a full week at school and I am tired. I am back next week. I am responsible for Learning Support. I hope to have a look at pupil files this weekend and organise some lesson plans for the next few weeks.

I am enjoying working with the children, but I will appreciate my freedom when it returns.

Teaching, done properly, is an exhausting job. And everyone in the school where I am working is really giving their all.

Anyone who thinks teaching is an easy option is mistaken.

We are going to see the Gerry and John tomorrow at Oran Mor with their play, "The Murder of Geoffrey Robbins". The Herald described it as a cross between Noel Coward and Hinge and Bracket.

Then on Sunday we are having lunch with Martin and Claire.

Looking forward to all these family events.

Infant teachers are Saints!

I had a busy day at school today. I was covering for teachers who had pupil review meetings, and for 2 periods, I was in Primary 1. They are 5 years old. Their teacher is a saint!

Anyone who teaches infants is a saint!

It is so intensive. Non stop. Never a quiet moment. They are always moving.....talking...questioning...poking...touching....

I honestly could not teach down there. It is a special vocation. I do not have that amount of energy or organisational skill....really. Hats off to all Infants teachers!

I have a link at the bottom of this blog about teaching. Check it out. Funny, but true, as they say.

I include some more photos of Gettysburg. I would like to go back and visit more Civil war sites. It is in my diary.

http://en.gloria.tv/?media=61621

Monday 7th November

It was a cold and foggy morning this morning.

I am out teaching again at a local school where they are having a run of absences, and are unable to find available staff.

I did some learning support in the morning, and in the afternoon I was covering a Primary 2 class.

It looks like my services might be needed for some while. Though I was not actively seeking supply work, the income will be very welcome. America was a bit more expensive than I had planned, and of course, Christmas is coming.

I am still thinking back to my time in the USA. I can cross 2 states off my to-do list...Maryland and Pennsylvania. I would have liked more time to have explored a bit of Baltimore and Harrisburg.

I have also discovered that with my Sat Nav finding Shamokin Dam instead of Shamokin, I gave myself a sizeable detour. You live and learn.

The TFP are having a further conference in 6 months time in Kansas.

Will I be there? Watch this space.

Sunday 6th November

Getting back into my routine again.

After Fireworks last night, this morning was cold and misty.

We went for a drive towards Drymen and it was really misty there. No sun penetrating the mist to burn it off. Mass this evening at St Patrick's.

Out teaching tomorrow in Drumchapel.

I brought back some mementos of Gettysburg. Some bullets and some items that had been found on the battlefield. On my last visit on the way back to Baltimore, I had a chat with a park Ranger, Mr. Moriarity. Amongst his tasks are preventing vandalism and deterring digging by treasure seekers. I bought my souveniers in the town at legitimate sources.

I intend to watch the Turner film Gettysburg again soon, and try to sort out the geography of the battlefield in my head.

I attach some more photos from the site.