Earthling

I'm contracted from 8am - 4pm, with half-hour for lunch. When I first started, seven and a half years ago, I worked a whole weekend imaging, installing and configuring a new classroom of pc's for use on the first day back. I was told I would be able to claim time off in lieu. I'm still waiting. So, now, I work from 8am - 4pm with half-hour for lunch. The rest is my time and I keep it that way.

No one is indispensable.

Our bunch of clowns do this as well. Somehow they seem to think that the teaching staff ARE the whole staff.

Unfortunately, I have to say that if the teachers here did their job half as well as I do mine, we wouldn't be in the mess we're in now.......teetering on the brink of Special Measures. I'm sure there are some good, thoughtful, egalitarian teachers somewhere in the country, but not here. We have five, maybe, at the outside. I get a bit fed-up when they say to me, 'You're really clever, you should have been a teacher.' I normally respond with, 'If I'd wanted to be a teacher, I'd have been a teacher.' When I get really p#ssed off, I say 'Yes, I know I'm really clever, that's why I'm NOT a teacher'. Apologies to all teachers on here, but you must be able to see my point. Support Staff here have already been warned about redundancies if we go into Special Measures, and it really is not our fault. It's the T&L that's failing, and we don't do T&L.

Happy Solstice for tomorrow, everyone.

For those of us who remember, 'Winamp. Really whips the 's ass'. http://staticc2.cdngeek.net/images/smilies/smilies/laser.gif This one reminds me of the Starship Trooper cheat out of Age of Empires, the first one. Don't know why.

I've not been in many shops this year, just the local mall once or twice, and I don't listen to music radio but..........I haven't heard 'Fairytale of New York' this year, yet. Has it finally been retired as a Xmas song?

Have to watch this when I get home, but yes, it looks good.

As I've posted before, Support Staff here lose the first two days pay of any sick leave. Colds and URTI's tend to bounce around from person to person for ages because of this.

Happy Birthday. Make it count.

I always feel really cheated for having been born in the 1950's. By the time all this wearable technology, or even implants, become as normal as smartphones, I'll be long gone, dust to ashes. I would love it all and embrace it whole-heartedly. I always wanted to be Takeshi Kovacs, even before I read the books.

I'm in.

Renewed my insurance beginning of November. The RAC were one of the best quotes so I went with them and it includes get-you-home-or-destination breakdown. I'd love to say the breakdown cover is with Green Flag or AA, just for the irony, but it's with RAC.

Finish here on the 20th, back on the 6th. School closed for entire time. Two weeks off w00t. I might be in 23rd/24th.......maybe......if I feel like it or something crops up. Lots of sleeping late, indulgence, grandkids, indulgence, toys, more indulgence, then probably a couple of days of Destroy-It-Yourself at home before we go back in January. Then it's all downhill. That's what I always think when we go back in January. Midwinter passed, days getting lighter, weather getting warmer, short, short term until Easter, then it's all over for another year, basically. Roll on July

I listened to this on R5 Live yesterday, while I was doing my ironing (as you do). I'm afraid the cynic in me heard three different MP's (I think they were all MP's, I was ironing a particularly favourite shirt and my mind wasn't fully on the radio) shrugging their shoulders and saying a variation of 'Well, if it was up to us MP's, we wouldn't award ourselves a pay-rise, but IPSA have said we should have it, so there's not a lot we can do about it'. They all said they shouldn't accept it, but hey, let's wait until after the next election and see what happens then, when one or other of the Big Two Parties has another five years before they can be voted out. I'm in favour of a hostel/serviced apartment block, a flat-salary of £100,000 pa (nice round figure, no sums done) and the satisfaction of knowing you've served your country and your constituency.

Sad day, but inevitable.

I'm getting two weeks off. I only want one week off, really, but everyone's being so generous.

Very good. Don't give up your day-job.

I drink tequila, I love tequila.......blanco, gold, with worm, without worm, Jose Cuervo, Corrida, as long as it's tequila, I'll drink it and face the consequences. My ex went to New York for a week and brought me back a bottle of........JD.

I've got a Navman F20 (I think), seven years old in January. I don't use it much, but when I do it gets me where I want to go. I should really get a new one, as the maps are out of date in some places and I haven't seen any updates for it since I bought it. When I went to Lincolnshire to buy my car, it showed the last four or five miles as driving through a featureless, grey landscape, like something out of a Stephen King novel. Then I looked out of the windscreen and realised I was driving through a featureless, grey etc. The 'Home' button is the one I use most. I call it the 'Get Me The F*** Out Of Here' button.

We had an 'Occasional Day' on Friday, so I browsed on-line for an hour or so, saw a 32" 3D Smart TV on eBuyer for £220, including 4 sets of glasses. Wasn't what I'd call a 'recognised' brand, Digihome, but it seemed like a good deal. I was sorely tempted on the basis that if it blew up or conked out in some other manner, I'd have my present TV to fall back on. Just never got round to clicking the button.

Neuro-chem sounded quite useful, too. Loved those books, haven't checked to see if he's continued the series since 'Broken Angels'. 'Market Forces' was another one of his I enjoyed, but just had too much of a ring of 'possibility'.

Same here, and on my phone And Nexus. I use it with the Shoutcast plug-in to broadcast sometimes. Have to start looking for an alternative, I guess.

Wonder what DC Comics have to say about Superman, Batman and The Flash appearing in a 'Marvel' product, albeit probably non-Marvel approved. Or have DC been bought out by Marvel......I dunno, I haven't read a comic since I was about 14/15. But it's a nice picture, all the same.

Exactly that.......that would be my first and foremost concern, and never mind their course requirements.