random bits and pieces on a Wednesday night

Hello September. I am not ready for it but I have yet to find the superpower that holds up time for a few days. I can tell it is colder by just watching my hands turn a shade of cadaverous splotchy white whenever I venture outside. I refuse to wear gloves yet. My algorithms have been showing me Raynaud’s gloves. With silver or copper threads, plus minus compression and quite possible all snake oil. 

We did a pond biodiversity survey with my volunteering group last Saturday. It was fun to do something less physical than usual, and learn that our local newt pond is in good health, scoring really high on the biodiversity. So much life in a small pond!

Frankie had is neutering surgery on Monday. He seems to be recovering ok but he is not a happy boy, not at all. He gave us a little bit of a fright the night after the surgery because he managed to undo the buttons of his surgical suit and wiggle out. I’d have liked to see how he did it! He had of course been licking his wound but did no damage, phew. Unfortunately for him, he now has to wear a cone. Which he already chewed up and we had to fix it with a generous amount of duct tape. It is going to be a long week. 

Work is driving me nuts. I asked for additional permissions on our student record system, to allow me to enrol students on a course on said system. I was sent off to do a online course, which I did. I had to take the test five times because you could only pass if you got 100% correct. An insane pass mark I would not get away with for student assessments. There was some overlap between tests but not so much I could improve easily. I was pretty good anyway above 90% correct. The course itself had screenshots of the system interface and videos that were narrated by someone with voice devoid of life. It was insanely boring. Alas, I passed the test and was congratulated on my success. The next message told me that I could not get the additional permissions because I had not enrolled on the course via our HR system and my line manager needed to approve that. I wish the student record system team that sent me the link to the course and told me to complete it had mentioned that. So much for clear sequencing of actions required for something as simple as enrolling students. In the meantime, we cannot enrol our students on the virtual learning environment because bulk enrolment is no longer permitted and we can’t use auto enrolment because we can’t enrol the students on the student record system, which is a pre-requisite. I kid you not. I have >100 students that need to be pulled in on four different course virtual learning environments. I wouldn’t normally have to deal with that but key staff on the administrative side are on sick leave. It does not surprise, considering the nonsense they have to put up with. 

Iris’s neurodevelopment assessments were intense and went well and they now have a clinical diagnosis of autism. This was already clear four years ago and nobody who knows Iris is surprised. I hope this will help Iris make sense of how they experience the world because of course there is no magic bullet to help them navigate it. There are now additional avenues of support we can access, which we could not previously and I take that. 

We are celebrating two birthdays this week, first Richard, then Annie. I was glad Richard didn’t want a cake because I don’t like baking. I got him black pudding and lamb chops instead. I don’t like those either but I don’t have to eat them. Annie will be here for her birthday, which is lovely. I haven’t seen her for a few weeks and I am looking forward to catching up with her. 

That’s it all really. Actually, I went to the ballet last week to see Ballet Nights. It was a spontaneous decision and it was wonderful. It is a varied programme with young dancers and a mix of classic pieces and contemporary dance. My favourite was this duet danced by two beautiful dancers. If you are on IG, the link is for a short section of the duet. I was very moved. 

And now I am done! Thanks for visiting 😊