School Days

It was a relatively quiet day by comparison to the past few weeks.  Linda and I walked to campus around 8:10.  As we trod along the river, we were treated to the sight of an egret in flight.
 
I couldn't capture the bird flying by us, but this borrowed image shows the attitude of the bird we saw.  It was a lovely treat.

We've got our journey down to about a half-hour trot.  Helen assures us we'll soon perceive it as a short jaunt.

Once we arrived on campus, we had a meeting for international students.  The meeting began with some words from Vice Chancellor Green.  Once again, he proved himself to be a charming and  friendly administrator.  He gave the students a tip for success.  He shared that he has a background as an economist and he revealed that he tends to get excited when discussing "appalling economic policies" from governments around the world.  He confessed that when he gets excited, he speaks more rapidly.  So...what should students do when professors start to rattle on in rapid fire manner?  VC Green said, "I always tell my students they should just say, 'David, slow down.'"  It's hard to imagine many academic leaders using such familiar self-references.

Linda and I wanted to do more work in our office this afternoon.  I needed to get my U Worcester email address, log in id and password and we both needed to get our phones (and Voicemail) working, as well as our U Worcester ID cards.  When we went for the ID cards, the clerk told us we needed photo identification in order to get our UW ID.  I explained that I hadn't brought any identification, but Linda offered to go back to the office to collect hers.  While she was gone I mentioned to the clerk that the woman I saw at the back of the office area (I referred to her as "Kim") knew who I was and could vouch for my identity.  The clerk said, "Who's Kim?  Oh, do you mean Lisa?"  I affirmed that was indeed the person.  Thankfully, she DID know who I was (even though I apparently didn't know her name) and the clerk accepted her word.

The clerk was a really genial guy and was very accommodating.  He put a camera device up on the counter (it looked a bit like a slender WALL-E), but before he snapped the shot he said, "Do me a favor, Love, and smoothe your hair before I take the picture.  Your hair is standing straight up and the light is catching that.  I used  to be a hairdresser and can't bear to see that."    He was quite sweet about it, complimenting me on my color (hair color, that is).

The long and the short of it is that I had my ID in hand before Linda even returned from our office.

My big adventure for the day was to collect Kaitlin from school.  Helen had an appointment, and Kathryn was slated to greet our colleague and friend Paula from the train station, both at the same time Kaitlin's school day concludes.   Linda walked with me part of the way and we both chuckled over yet another unusual British sign:

The legend "Kill your speed---NOT ME!" frames the image of what looks like a rodent dressed in a dinosaur costume.

The "clean up after your dog" sign is rather noteworthy.

Linda and I were impressed by the level of the fine, and yet, I've seen numerous violations along the footpaths.

Kaitlin's school is less than 15 minutes walk from our campus office.

It's a charming school.  I took advantage of the waiting time before Kaitlin was released from class to have a look around the school.  The grounds looked a bit like a farm and the playground featured numerous chalked games, none of which I recognized.

There was also an interesting mural which appeared as though it might have been painted by children.

Kaitlin soon appeared and we set off to join Helen and Kathryn as the welcoming committee greeting Paula.  The path took us across the Sabrina Bridge where we saw some river traffic.

It is such a pleasure to live by the water.


My friends invited me to join them for dinner (which was delicious), and then I headed home.

The rain has returned after a week which was essentially rain-free, but it was still a pleasant walk.  There was quite a bit of traffic on the canals this evening--both feathered and wooden.

See if you can find the aperitif on the barge.  These men called out "please sir, open the locks."  Two men on either side of the canal worked the locks in response to the request.  It was a lovely way to end the day.