Key Quotes

"Anyone who believes that exponential growth can go on forever in a finite world is either a madman or an economist."
(Kenneth Boulding)




"Down these mean streets a man must go who is not himself mean, who is neither tarnished nor afraid. "

(Raymond Chandler)





"Live simply so that others can simply live." (unknown)





"I cannot live without books" (Thomas Jefferson)





"Sport is war without the shooting" (George Orwell)





"New York is a great city to live in if you can afford to get out of it" (William Rossa Cole)





The secret of a happy ending is knowing when to roll the credits (Patterson Hood)































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































Monday 25 July 2011

Another Day

Last week by any standards was long. My last week at work, a dinner with work friends and a few beers on Monday, the official function complete with speeches and gifts on Wednesday and final farewells on Friday. Standing in the pub having a beer or two on Friday, with many people saying goodbye for the summer but with me knowing that it was the end of a chapter. I'll return in September as I'm taking part in a sponsorred event but it'll be different. From now on I'm officially retired ! Friday evening saw what I thought would be a quiet curry at the local curry house turn out to be a family affair, and a very enjoyable evening. Meeting up with the family raised my spirits and prepared me for Saturday.

The day after retiring I made my debut for Ingatestone & Fryerning Cricket Club 2nd XI at the ripe age of 58. An excellent game played in great spirit saw us losewith just 9 balls remaining. The result was in doubt until the final minutes. With my son captaining the side, and scoring 85 and his "old man" contributing 1 before being run out, it was a day that I'll remember for a long time. The day that we joined the "fathers and sons" who have played for the village side, although I suspect that there aren't many, where the son makes his debut before the father.

Tuesday 12 July 2011

The Clock is ticking down

Been away from here for more than a couple of weeks . For more than 20 years late June has been a busy time or me. I think it was in the mid 80s, needing cash, that I applied to become an examiner ( a person who marks students A level papers), and since then its just become part of the annual calendar.

This year more than any other my relaxation from this work has been cricket. T20 cricket may not be to everyones taste, but it provides entertainment and relaxation after a working day. With two games to go Surrey can still qualify for the quarter finals and possibly acquire home advantage. So Kent on Thursday and a visit to Hove on Friday awaits.

The last weeks news has been dominated by the phone hacking scandal initially at the News of the World and now gradually spreading across the whole News International empire. I think its too early to draw any immediate conclusions, but there is a sense that the world of print journalism will never be the same, after these revelations.

I was dismayed to read that many commentators described the end of the NOTW as the death of a British institution. Now I gave up reading it when I was a boy and as I began to appreciate that there was more to life than vicars, call girls and choirboys. What's more their predictions for football transfers invariably never came true. A few years later I came to understand, that there was a more important political purpose behind such papers with their dumbing down of real news and their drip feeding of an unpleasant political agenda to the readership. Now I'm left to ponder the relationship between the owner,journalists and readership. Why do 4 million people want to read tittle tattle regarding the private lives of footballers,TV celebrities and the occasional politician ?

As the week moves on I'm aware that I have less than two weeks before my retirement, the curtain is being drawn on my teaching career. Its a strange feeling, and one that hangs over me rather at unexpected moments. Put simply its a large portion of life ticked off, but something tells me that its more complex. We are defined by our work, its what people ask you when you first meet. "What do you do ?", is the opening question, I've often hoped that someone would ask "What do you believe in ?". It would be so much more interesting.