Updates

At last I've updated the family web site. If you've forgotten its URL, then do email me, or try searching by using a couple of our surnames.

Funeral

I went to Jack's funeral on Monday. The memorial service at the church was philosophical. When the priest first arrived at the parish, Jack greeted him by telling him that he had been at school with his son-in-law, and that's how the priest started his memories of Jack.

His middle daughter read Jack's favourite poem, High Flight, by John Gillespie Magee, and I've got a reasonable recording of it to put on the family site when I get the time.

Afterwards there was a meal at the Cottage.

Electrical failure

5.00 Calm and quiet Friday night planned, with easy meal and glass of beer.  Husband and I start home.

5.30 Daughter rings   -  burglar alarm is stuck on, no power to any sockets, what should she do?

• I tell her to switch on electricity trip switch - she tries but it trips again.
• I tell her to ring burglar alarm emergency maintenance people - she does so.

Get home - inside alarm is loud and painful, external alarm sounds like clucking starling - neighbours have called police, who called another neighbour who's supposed to have the key.

• Burglar alarm maintenance man comes - disconnects alarm.
• We ring an electrician. He can't come.
• We ring another electrician. He comes in the morning and disconnects a whole circuit, so now we have power to the rest of the house but not to freezer, dishwasher, burglar alarm or the wi-fi network.

Great man, this electrician!  He comes back on Sunday morning and finds the problem, - a fused wire in a socket that must have been sparking for ages.  He fixes it and another potential problem (electrical joke - laugh!) and switches that circuit back on again. And he explains RCDs, new legislation on circuit boxes, leaks in circuits and trip switches.  

Visit to Bristol university

Daughter & I have been to see various maths departments in universities, including Warwick, Bath, Surrey and Bristol. They offer more or less the same but ask for different A-level grades. Warwick, for instance, asks for four grade As, ie AAAA.

Yesterday we went to see maths dept in Bristol. She has to make a firm choice of university and a back up choice in case she doesn't get the grades for her firm choice.

Choosing a university

• reputation
• course
• flexibility
• type of uni: collegiate (Oxford, Durham), campus (Bath, Warwick), city (Bristol, Birmingham), metro (London)
• accomodation
• cost of living
• abiltiy
• teaching
• social life
• geographical situation

And an admissions tutor amplified on these various aspects of choice.

Where do maths grads go next?
You can't tell long term, so Bristol can only say of its recent graduates

• 30% in finance
• 20% in further study
• about 15% other
• 12% industry

Requirements are AAB results in A-levels. Bristol is turning away people with predicted AAA but only single maths.

Studying maths at university
Activities include:

• lectures
• tutorials
• problem classes
• homework
• practical sessions

In the first year you expect to do units totalling 120 credit points so as to sample all aspects of maths.

If you go on to a MMath, it's a four year course, but with the master's being mainly taught components.

Son to Switzerland

Son's making own way to airport for this trip to Switzerland, for the student conference that Deloitte's running. He sent me four texts, more or less like this. Together they give the sense of frustration with public transport:

Son text me.

“Underground delayed,

Circle, Bakerloo and District lines running late

Not fun with this suitcase.

Two connections. Grr!”

“On the Gatwick express.”

“Checking in okay.”

“Boarding!

Bye”

Uncle J died Friday

Odd! There I am thinking about Uncle Bill when his big brother, Jack, dies. Uncle Jack was 90, nearly 91.

I'll add a page for him to the family site and include some sound recordings from the memorial service.

Spanish lodger left

Our lodger's left. It wasn't anything that we did, honest! But she landed a teaching job in Spain. It seems that in Spain, it isn't too easy to get teaching jobs, but you have to take a test with 60 or 70 subjects in it, and then if you pass, you may get offered a supply job. Well our lodger had passed the test, but a supply job came up on Thursday evening - she found out through the web site. She was to start on Monday in Spain, so on Friday she handed in her notice at the school where she's been a language assistant since October, and told us.

Poor thing had no notice and has had to leave bags of stuff, including food and meals that she'd cooked and frozen. She hopes to come back for a few days to fetch her things and perhaps come again in summer to improve her English.

The good thing is that she gets to see her gorgeous dogs again. Here's a photo she sent me of one of them.

And I expect her mother will be pleased to have her home.

Horse in garden

We have a new toy in the garden, this rubber horse. It's cleverly made out of just one rubber tyre, cut and twisted back on itself to create a head and tail. Husband says grown ups are not to go on it. But I've had a swing - and I reckon it's just big people aren't to go on it or they'll be too heavy and break the rope.

Mothering Sunday

Had yesterday off marking assignments to go and see the Mikado in London, and now have strains of "I have a little list... they never would be missed" running through my head.

We went up to London, youngest daughter, husband and I. We

• lunched at the National Gallery
  
• had a mosey round some Turner and Constable paintings, as well as Leonardo's Virgin of the Rocks,
  
• walked down Parliament Street just up to Downing Street,
  
• strolled around St James Park - saw squirrel

I did enjoy the Mikado and am rather sorry that we didn't buy a copy of Richard Suart's "They'd none of them be missed" - I've ordered a copy from Amazon.