22 December 2014 (Monday) - This n That

Again I was up early and watching "Dominion" this morning before most people would be thinking of emerging from their pits. And with telly watched I checked out the Internet. I'm a member of a group on Facebook for old boys of my secondary school, and I saw something in that group this morning that made me think.
I went to Hastings Grammar School; for over a hundred years, at the end of every school year several boys would leave that school and go to Oxford or Cambridge universities. The names of those that did were put on huge notice boards that lined the corridors. Dozens of boards; hundreds of names, the list growing yearly.
When I was a pupil there government policy was against grammar schools; and so the place became a comprehensive school. One of the members of the old boys Facebook group had cause to go back to visit the school this week; no one's graduated to Oxford or Cambridge for twenty years.
So much for comprehensive education...

I stopped off for petrol on my way to work, and then drove on through the gloom. I'm glad we are now past the shortest day. As I drove the news was of the usual drivel; wars and squabbles.
I did laugh at the "Thought for the Day" bit. When it is presented by a Jewish, Muslim or Sikh speaker, it's interesting or thought-provoking. Today's was presented by a Christian. I can only assume that the Christians are so used to no one listening to them that they don't actually bother having anything worth saying. Today's speaker wittered on with an anecdote from her recent experience in an airport, then said that airports are just like God, and that was the end of it.

I got to work, did my bit, and at lunchtime I again abandoned my set saxophone homework in favour of just playing whatever I fancied having a go at.
My phone rang; "Daddies Little Angel TM" was distraught. Whilst having his nappy changed littlun had escaped her clutches and slipped off of the sofa. She'd phoned 999 and been told not to waste their time. I suggested she went round to the local walk-in health centre. She did. All was fine. By the time she got there, littlun had forgotten all about his accident. But it was worth going for her own peace of mind as much as anything.

As I came home I drove past the filling station where I'd fueled this morning. Petrol had dropped in price during the day; I was done out of forty-three pence. And once home I took "Furry Face TM" round the block. We woofed at various innocent people and objects as we went.

And this evening I finished my Coursera course. An odd course; called "Origins" it started with the Big Bang, then covered the origin of life. It then looked at evolution af various forms of life, and today's was an incoherent rammble about climate change.
In retrospect the course would have been more comprehensible if presented by English-speakers...


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