Category Archives: VA

Wash Time is A-coming – –

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Jack gets over the line – just – –

Yesterday was Wendy’s birthday and her present took a fair bit of work and preparation. When she just missed out in a job interview recently she decided her consolation prize should be the bathroom of her dreams. So I set to work – –

The bathroom we inherited was functional but drab, with an ancient tub we couldn’t keep clean and uneven yellow tiles that leaked!

We sent out a request locally for recommendations of competent folk to carry out the job. In a previous post I mentioned the arrival of Tom and how we weren’t too sure.

He turned to be much more than competent in every way.

A plumber, carpenter, tiler and designer – all in one person. But more than that, anything we needed done while he was here he also did and without us asking!

He also made sure our cats didn’t end up trapped under the floor and got to know them well.

What he didn’t know was that Wendy’s birthday was approaching, but he worked until late on Monday so everything would be finished and ready.

Of course I had to add something so I painted the ceiling and untiled sections of walls before Tom arrived. The pale blue wall color was her choice but she allowed me a small hidden area of orange to make me feel better!

A&A Home Improvements are hereby thoroughly recommended!

A lovely bowl of roses arrived today for Wendy with a card from Tom – – –

Teach your Children Well – – –

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Jack just makes it in time – –

I taught an on-line class yesterday morning and it brought back many memories.

To explain – –

I taught classes in a Scottish college for over twenty years starting with apprentice house painters and ending with management students. I had the opportunity to retire at either age 60 or 65 and might have gone on to 65 if only for the sheer pleasure of actually teaching. But the bureaucracy and paper work was so awful that I chose 60 and don’t regret it.

However, I never lost the pleasure of actually helping a group of people to navigate their learning experiences and I’ve been lucky to continue to be able do that.

Following retirement, I was contracted as a consultant and taught classes in lots of exotic places, then after moving to the US it was mostly more about Scottish culture, language and music.

Sometimes this was very informal just sitting down with friends and sometimes much more academic in lecture halls or classrooms.

In some ways performing as a singer for audiences gave me more confidence to do something similar in front of a group of students. Eventually, I think, it worked the other way too.

The two big role models in my teenage years were both teachers – George Simpson was the woodwork teacher at the high school I attended and Jim Yeats was the newly appointed young painting instructor when I moved on to the local college as part of my apprenticeship as a house painter. If I saw them walking in town and they said hello I felt like I was walking on air!

So if I managed to be a role model myself, then I’ll be well satisfied!