Reading...

Hm, anyone looking at the stuff I am reading at the moment, e.g. "The Rise and Future Demise of the World Capitalist System" might think I am turning into a pinko-commie-bed-wetter!

A walk in the country

Went for one of our walks with students this morning - great fun, as always,even though the weather was a bit grim.

The sun seemed to shine through the trees just for this pic.

I love the Autumn, but prefer it when it is a little warmer, dryer, less windy...

More soon.

Back again!

There were a few times when things got interesting - going through a field full of bullocks was one!  I kept the camera rolling just in case we had one of those blooper moments when someone got seriously mangled in a hilarious manner, but to no avail.  We got mooed at but that was all.

The weather seems to be settling down for my journey home, which is nice of it.  I hate cycling into a head wind after a long day.

I keep thinking that I should write a reply post to Terri's recent post about women's moods and how men should deal with/understand them.  A post about guy's feelings and how women could deal with/understand them.  This would be a very short post, though.  Men are simple creatures with simple emotions and needs.  IMO, a man needs the following to have a full and happy life:

1. Food.  A well fed man is a happy man.
2. Sex.  Preferably without having to beg or pay for it.
3. Respect.  At least the pretence that he is needed and that his views are valuable.
4. Toys.  Every guy needs toys of some sort - gadgets, cars, guitars, toy soldiers, welding equipment, scuba gear, etc.  We are, when all is said and done, children trapped in an adult's body.

See what I mean?  Hardly compares with Terri's masterpiece, but I guess this reflects the relative complexity of the subjects.

Please feel free to suggest additions to my list above, if I have missed anything!

So where is the haffalump?

We were sitting in the kitchen on Sunday when suddenly there was a horrible screaming/screeching noise outside.  My first thought was that a bird had been caught by a cat.

Custard was bouncing around wanting to go and have a look, so I opened the front door and let him into the garden.  Something was going on in the far corner - the shrubs were thrashing around like crazy - but Custard couldn't get right in there.

The screeching continued, so I went out of the garden for a closer look. There I saw a cat making a hurried exit (well done Custard!), and went to have a closer look to see what it had attacked and if it was OK. 

There was movement in a patch of grass...

I looked closer...

What on earth?

It was a weasel!  (Not the one in the photo, sadly).  And he was clearly very angry (but no longer screeching).  As I watched, he shook himself, looked around and then scampered off into the undergrowth, apparently unharmed by his ordeal.  I know these sorts of animals have a reputation for being able to look after themselves, but the size difference was a bit extreme.

I don't know if he is a new resident or just passing, but it was great to see him.  If he is a resident, I hope he learns to avoid cats in the future!

*************************************

Keeping with the animal theme, we had a near miss with the rabbits too.  A moment's lapse while cleaning their runs saw Blossom (a female who is in season) break into the run where Bubbles, our male, lives.

She went straight to him and introduced herself.

What did he do?

Like a lot of guys who meet a very forward female, he ran and hid!

We quickly returned her to her own run, but are now a bit more at ease about what might happen if she breaks in again while we aren't there. 

"Breeding like rabbits", like all generalisations, seems to have its exceptions!

Friday...

Phew, made it through to the weekend again!

Amazing!

Now I just need to make it to pay day!  Been a really tight few months and now we have got Christmas coming up!  Ah well, we will tackle that when we get to it, the government is determined to slash spending left right and centre so who knows what is coming next!  I have been a bit uncertain about stimulus programs but right now that is looking much better than Britain's up coming austerity measures - this is going to be very bad for a lot of people...

Blah, anyway, it is Friday, I am heading for home now - a spot of treasured family time, slouching in front of the TV and chipping away at my assignment if I find the energy!

Have a great weekend!

Only in the Blogosphere...

Shrinky was intrigued by a comment I made recently - I mentioned that some time ago I had been made an Honorary Girly.


Well, this is roughly how I remember it happening.


When I started blogging I attached myself to a group that was forming - one was a real life friend, the rest were "virtual" friends - mainly female, as it turned out.  Most of this group is nolonger blogging, sadly, but Terri is still here and Ali keeps threatening to blog again (I live in hope, but little else).


So, anyway, our early days of blogging involved sharing background stuff that we thought others might be interested in. 


I talked about how much I love being a parent, how I became "Mr Mom" when my wife had to be away for various reasons - looking after relatives being the most common, but there was also the time just after our first daughter was born when my wife got bilateral mastitis and almost died.  In these times I take over running everything, and do a pretty good job, even if it does sound like I am bragging!


I talked about movies, the most relevant being Beaches (Bette Midler) and how I cry like a girl every time I watch it.








Hey, there I go again.

Meanwhile, in a group of mainly girls, lots of girly stuff got talked about - you name it, it appeared in print.

Now I can't remember the exact sequence of events, but at some point it was decided that given my relevant experience and qualifications (see above), it was OK for me to read all this stuff and I was made an Honorary Girly into the bargain.  I was assured that cramps and mood swings would follow, but I think that I dodged those...

So there you have it.  I don't think that many straight guys get that sort of award, and I am very proud of it!

Busy...

Hope to have time for a decent post later...


Meanwhile....


"Why do we buy bread?  We only feed it to the animals."

"Dad eats it too."

"Like I said..."

The Weekend

Had a good weekend - Saturday was really busy, Sunday was my Day of Rest - feet up, watching rubbish on TV, doing a bit of reading, snacking, etc.

Oh, I did cook the roast, but that is a one-braincell job, so no worries.

Back to work again - this morning was mayhem, no lunch until after 2pm, but now all is quiet so I am doing a spot of reading for my first assignment of the year.  Looking at cycles of boom and bust in the world economy.  Yes, very topical, and very interesting reading the different views.  I am finding myself siding more and more with the Marxist writers on a lot of this - a system driven purely by individual greed is bound to fall on its face from time to time.  Having said that, the alternatives are little better - Soviet Russia was hardly a thriving economy!

Right, diving back into the books now -

DO NOT DISTURB!!!!