The sun came out today in order to taunt Greg for going back to work. What was he thinking? I took the boys and the dogs to the allotment, where Mycroft and I dug things and Sherlock and the dogs sniffed things. This has nothing to do with any of that, but L sent me this picture while we were there - jumping spider holding tiny jumping spider:
And thence, to the park. Where we pretended to play rugby. I tried to explain the rules to Sherlock, not for the first time, and then we all ran around with a rugby ball in more or less complete chaos. In theory, it was me against the boys, but the dogs wanted to play to, and then it was every man (or canine) for himself.
While we were distracted (Sherlock had climbed a tree with the ball and was taunting us), Phobos wandered off and tried to play with a little girl's balloon. The balloon went off with a bang, which gave me quite a start, Phobos tried to hide behind Mycroft, and the little girl hid behind her mum. Couldn't blame her. Phobos was easily bigger than she was.
Mycroft got her a new balloon and an ice cream and made Phobos apologise, in a scene I found eerily familiar. Just replace Mycroft with me and Phobos with Sherlock...
And thence, to the park. Where we pretended to play rugby. I tried to explain the rules to Sherlock, not for the first time, and then we all ran around with a rugby ball in more or less complete chaos. In theory, it was me against the boys, but the dogs wanted to play to, and then it was every man (or canine) for himself.
While we were distracted (Sherlock had climbed a tree with the ball and was taunting us), Phobos wandered off and tried to play with a little girl's balloon. The balloon went off with a bang, which gave me quite a start, Phobos tried to hide behind Mycroft, and the little girl hid behind her mum. Couldn't blame her. Phobos was easily bigger than she was.
Mycroft got her a new balloon and an ice cream and made Phobos apologise, in a scene I found eerily familiar. Just replace Mycroft with me and Phobos with Sherlock...
123 comments:
Happily Sherlock has never tried to lick anyone's face in apology....actually...he probably has.
Sorry, when you said about it all I only really thought of Phobos' reaction to the balloon, not yours...you okay? Knocked a few more minutes off your life with the worry?
One or two, maybe. It's all right. I didn't really think about it until later. And Phobos was pretty hilarious.
I just love the way the dogs look so betrayed when something like that happens - like the world has tricked them.
I didn't think about it until just hearing there's been a drive-by on Waterloo Bridge tonight. I mean...ah, I don't know, it's a strange world we live in. Even just in my time in the job, it's all changed so much.
It is a strange world. A very different one.
Glad there's young gentlemen like Mycroft to buy distressed bystanders ice cream. gives me some hope. As well as caring doctors to entice children from trees...
You could almost see Deimos gloating that he wasn't the one in trouble.
What did Phobos do to make up for it? Shake paws? Act as a small(ish) horse and give rides? Or just do his best 'It wasn't me, I don't even know why you're angry' eyes?
He shook and woofed in a sorrowful way... It was semi-convincing.
sorrowful woofing... what a poor hard done by mutt.
I like it when they put their chins on the floor and sigh so hard they blow all the dust up out of the cracks in the floorboards. Or shake and turn an ear inside out and then can't get it right again. They're so full of character. Like their owner.
Ha, yes. They can be very sweet. I'm glad they got a second chance at life. They fit right in.
wonder what they dream about.
Probably nothing too bad. I don't think dogs dwell on the past.
Mmm. Probably eating tennis balls and imagining they can open the oven and devour an entire Sunday roast...
Want to write my seminar for me?
I don't think that would end well...
I think I'll need to take some boxes of tissues with me, some of the cases are so tragic.
What are you going to talk about?
Murder in the hidden population. People who are slaves, been trafficked, both at the same time, or who've come here illegally under their own steam and fallen into trouble trying to scrape by. Terrible stories about kids, teens, well...all of them, really.
That's... Yeah. I can see the tissues might be necessary.
It is...well, hopefully I won't have the whole room in tears, or I'll probably follow them and that'll be a shit seminar, won't it?
For now, though...think I'll put it all away. Far out of Sherlock's reach... and do more tomorrow at work.
Bed?
you do have good ideas :)
L, if you need something positive to close your lecture, this might help. I know it happened in the US, but I still think it's an amazing story. I watched in unfold in real time, and thought it was amazing.
http://gizmodo.com/5544742/internet-commenters-save-two-russian-girls-from-possible-sex-slavery
Thanks, Piplover. It is amazing what the internet can do. Just look at this place...
Hope everything's all right and you're sleeping.
Hope you sleep, too Becca (whenever it is night where you are). That your foot is better. And your doctor has useful, hopeful things to say when you see him/her.
fA
I am dogsitting this weekend. One of the dogs is the size of how I imagine Phobos and Deimos (he's easily over 6 ft when he stands on his hind legs). He's a malamutey thing. The other one's a boxer mix and has lured me to the couch so she can sit on my lap. They can also be really silly but are currently very contenting.
I hope you're all sleeping well.
Ella
Also, I don't know what's going on at the Olympics, but I'm yelling at the television anyway. It's a speed skating relay? With like a million people on the track.
Ella
A million skaters as in the members of the relay teams? Or, like, random people?
(Yes. I could put the t.v. on, but not gonna happen.)
Also, yes, there's nothing more adorable than a dog that's half the size of a pony trying to sneak into your lap, one leg at a time. Until it gets extremely uncomfortable, that is. ;-)
Ella - we saw a bit of that! I don't know how they didn't all crash, all the time.
It's really really sunny again and we went out with our bikes and the dogs can pull me along but I fell off but it was still fun and John says he thinks my super power is finding mud to fall in and can we come and have lunch or cake later please and can we make pizza tonight and apple pie and ice cream?
Yeah, sorry kiddo, I was out. You can definitely come over, I think I'll be here from now on, so whenever suits you all.
Hope you're okay from falling off your bike? Hope the dogs are too...
Anonymous--Members of the relay teams. The race was 50 laps of the short track I think. After awhile, Russia and the US pulled so far ahead that the camera started following only them which made it much easier to follow. Each racer would do a certain number of laps, while their teammates paced them in the middle, and then at a certain point the skaters in the middle would come out into the lane, cutting off their teammates, who would shove them forward and then they would have swapped places. The US took over the lead at one point, and then their swapping skaters method turned out to not be as good and the Russians took the lead back while exchanging people.
I hope you're okay from falling off your bike as well, Sherlock, though if you landed in mud at least it maybe wasn't too hard of a landing. Did you get back on?
Ella
Yes I got back on I just got some bruises because I got hit by my handlebars and pedal but there wasn't even any blood and I liked that ice skating it looked fun. But I like the one on the big rink too because it looks really fast and smooth and I think that would be fun too. We're going to get cake now. I want one with cream and chocolate.
Bike crash bruises can be fun as long as they don't get in the way of you doing what you want to do. :)
When you say the one on the big rink, do you mean the one where all the skaters on the team skate in a line and draft off each other? Because I agree, that looks fun too. And with slightly less chance of catastrophe.
Have fun with your cake!
Ella
He says any skating on the big rink, he doesn't mind which sort - just as long as he can go fast.
I've remembered why I enjoy supporting a footy team ;) C'mon the Gooners!
We've all got cake.
Thanks fA. My foot isn't doing better, but I see my surgeon next week and he'll tell me what's the what.
I would like cake, please. It's 10am here--cake is an excellent breakfast food, don't you agree, Sherlock?
Ella
I watched the relay. Just about the time I said "I'm just gonna watch for the inevitable crash and hope there's no blood", the US and Russians took over the lead and it became much easier to watch.
The one they televised by making it look like they were starting out facing each other...that was exciting until I realized it was some weird camera thing.
When sports broadcasts do 'clever' visuals like that it confuses me and makes me feel stupid. There are very few sports I understand well enough that I catch on right away (basically tennis and basketball).
Which is all just complaining to complain since I'm cranky because I have been having to work flat out since Wednesday and it's going to continue through either Wed. or Fri. (hoping for Friday because I'll be able to sleep a little more, even if it extends the agony.) I know have some nerve complaining since my work is entirely benign, if sometimes frustrating, and never includes anything remotely related to human tragedy or even very serious suffering.
signed,
Whining (or whinging for some of you) fA
Yes cake is always the best. Except we just had pizza and that's good too! But Lestrade is mean and makes me not eat the toppings first even though I like it.
Becca I hope your foot is better soon and are you in a cast it was boring having my arm in a cast.
I just hit my hand so hard against a doorknob I've bruised my knuckles. Looks like I punched someone.
I hear you, Sherlock. Cherry picking the pizza is my secret, guilty pleasure. Then you are left with the lovely bread that's just the right texture to bite, soft and chewy on top with little smears of tomato sauce. I only get to do it when I'm alone though, since it's really not very polite at all. And who wants to eat pizza all alone? I'd rather have company than cherry pick and have leftovers.
I am forced to ask what the doorknob was doing to deserve such treatment. Or is it a particularly vicious doorknob?
...yet he can type on a blog rather than tell his husband! I will examine my medical repertoire...and treatment prescribed is....kiss it better??
Seriously you okay, Doc?
Honestly, I just walked by it and it bit me! No provocation at all.
L - I'm fine, just baffled how I managed to hit it that hard just walking by. Feel free to kiss any part of me you care to though.
vicious, trained attack doorknob...
Because you're all brisk when you walk, swing your arms like you're marching. Must be quite a velocity.
I hurt my tongue the other week....I was actually too embarrassed to tell you. At least trained attack doorknob is a good reason for bruises...
Trained attack teeth? Or was there very hot coffee involved?
Nah...those...you know when we buy cake, and the put a bit of that clear plastic around it to stop it sticking to the next bit of cake? I got my tongue stuck. In the kitchen.
I'm not laughing, honestly...
I did contemplate walking out to the sitting room, packaging hanging off my face, saying "I goh a theeese'ake 'apper thtuck oo y ongue' ... but instead decided I'd get myself out of the predicament. And pretend I hadn't been licking the cream off the packet...
Ha! I would've helped you out...eventually...
You would actually have died laughing, and I wouldn't have been able to give you mouth-to-mouth because I had a huge piece of plastic attached to my tongue. It would have been terrible.
I may be actually dying of laughter now. It's the thought of you trying to explain it with your tongue still stuck... I am sorry it hurt though.
Mmm. Well, I freed myself eventually...
And now, as you lie there dying of laughter and occasionally wheezing out the word 'theeescake' I'm going to put Sherlock to bed, as somehow he's still up!
I once had to remove someone's tongue from the barrel of a Browning if that makes you feel any better. Fortunately, it wasn't loaded. His explanation: 'I just wanted to see if it would fit.'
...presumably explained after you'd freed him? Wonder what else he put where 'to see if it would fit'.
Nicky got her head stuck in the bannisters on our stairs once. She was trying to spy on someone.
Yes. Beforehand, all he said was 'ease et it off!'
Was that someone you?
Me and Mum arguing, yes.
At least it wasn't loaded...that would've been terrifying.
Did you help her get out?
Yeah. At least he had that much sense.
I...sort of? She was released, anyway.
Just when you thought you were safe from vicious attack curries...
Ella
He was in such a bad mood he kicked the bannister and broke it so I could get out.
When we left the house, years later, it was still broken and fixed with sellotape.
I hope your hand is okay, John!
It's an improvement over tickling your feet, which is what Harry did to me in a similar situation.
Thanks, it's not too bad.
Well....oh, God, I can't say what I want to or you'll divorce me!
Sorry to hear about your hand John.
Sherlock, my foot's in a soft brace, called an ASO. If I have surgery again I'll be in a splint, which is different than a cast, because it wraps around and leaves a gap, to allow for swelling. It's held on with elastic bandages.
L - ...what?
Nope, I like being your husband.
I have to know now!
I believe, having observed the direction of Lestrade's gaze, coupled with the frequency of his giggling, plus his obvious knowledge that whatever it is he wishes to say may cause you to punish him - that he wishes to make comment on the angle at which your ears meet your head.
... I'm going to start wearing a tin foil hat.
I mean, I was going to do nothing of the sort!!
Gregory Martin Finchley Lestrade! My ears do not stick out!
No, No they don't. I can't believe Mycroft suggested such a thing!
Uh huh
I love your ears!
I think John's trying to decide between tickling him and burying him in cushions.
...i fear he'll do both.
Can't believe you think he has sticky-out ears.
I would never suggest such a thing.
Which is definitely not the same thing as thinking it...
You just did! I was thinking something entirely different.
Oh, really? And what were you thinking precisely?
Something entirely inappropriate for a young audience.
What did you have your head stuck in, Danger?
.... to quote a great man..."I have to know now!"
Murray?? (I mean, Murray, do you know. Not did you get your head stuck in Murray...)
Bookcase. It had these slats on the back. There's a picture somewhere, Harry showed me years ago. I laughed for an hour and then Watson poured an entire bottle of beer down my trousers.
What a waste of beer!
Any idea why his head was stuck? I ask...purely for reasons that, er...well, if it happens again I'd want to help, naturally.
She said he was trying to crawl through the gap. In other words, to see if he'd fit... His head did. The rest did not.
I...seee. And he couldn't reverse out? Wonder why...
Needs whiskers, like a cat.
I hate you both, incidentally. I was five!
That's a shame. I love you. Lots. Even your sticky-out bits.
I do entirely remove my comment about anything unsuitable for younger readers though, if you were five!
I haven't got my head stuck in anything recently.
God I'm laughing at the silly in here!
1) Unless Murray is sitting on the sofa or chatting online with you, Greg, you DO need a tinfoil hat to shield your thoughts, the way you asked him a question and he answered instantly - powerful psychic abilities!
2) Mycroft is in all instances I have yet come across, an asset.
3) Y'all have SOME NERVE laughing at the dogs when they get stuck in things.
Carry on. (Ella - they definitely do not have the ability today to handle attack curries.)
fA
fA - I assume he had put the thing on when comments get emailed to you? Or John was so fast to text him not to say a word, and it backfired!
When I saw the conversation, I saw he had answered you with a 2-minute time stamp difference. (I don't get email comments.)
I'm good with blaming/crediting a text from John . . . not quite ready to credit either of you with telepathy.
fA
Oh, God, neither of us has telepathy. But Mrs Holmes and the boys can read minds, I'm certain.
If you ever wanted email comments, you click a box near the comment box....or something. I don't know why I ever try to give technical help, I never quite know what I'm talking about!
It's all good. With email comments I'd interrupt myself. This way, I have to intentionally go to the blog. It's a break or a reward for working, usually.
fA
Ha, I'd never imagined our rambling a could be a reward! But I know what you mean. I often give myself a few minutes to see what's happening here when what I'm doing in the real world is getting me down a bit too much. You guys are wonderful company to have.
Happily today my on call has been limited to actual calls, no need to go anywhere, apart from away from Sherlock's prying...ears.
I look forward to checking in a few times a day at work too, it definitely lightens the mood - we move office in a couple of weeks though and I don't think we'll have a signal there unfortunately so that won't be so good. :( Never mind, I'll enjoy it all the more when I can.
Do you sadly have to part from one quarter of your family today for a while. At least it's only a few weeks til Easter and maybe you'll have a weekend together in there somewhere too. Good luck for the rest of your term, Mycroft. Glad you got to spend the last day without being called away, Greg. Enjoy yourselves :)
Yeah, we're losing Mycroft back to school. Just there, dropping him off, actually.
Of course, no teenager being content to wander off, leaving serenity in their wake after a holiday... Mycroft announced today that Harrow wasn't the only place he was considering for 6th form! First we'd heard of it...
There are times when I am only too happy to have got past that stage!
It would be foolish to discount other options without research.
I know, we...well, I, anyway, just hadn't thought about it. Seems like only a few months ago you started there! And now look at you...
Go Mycroft! The educational system demands a lot of conformity, some pointless jumping through hoops and, to take full advantage, actual work. I am so pleased that Mycroft understands (at an age most don't) that he has the right to get the best he can out of it in return.
Make the decision that seems best to you, Mycroft (I know you'll do your research and listen to advice) and go forward. Hindsight is 20/20, it honestly doesn't matter if at some later time you think it wasn't the "right" choice. It only has to be the best choice you can make now. That's all any of us can ever do.
fA
It pays to keep your options open, and it pays to widen your experiences also.
Mycroft--There are advantages to sticking to one place and advantages to switching, so whatever you decide will be a good decision. (I went through the stay-or-switch process in grad school, and in retrospect, either choice would have been fine.)
And I love that picture of the spiders!
What's grad school?
In the U.S., after high school (secondary school) which ends in 12th grade, at age 17 or 18, usually, "college" is 4 years and you earn an undergraduate (Bachelor's) degree. Schooling after that is graduate (grad) school. A Master's degree is generally two years of grad school. A Ph.D. (doctorate) varies. After doing a master's a Ph.D. is generally 4 to 6 additional years. Some programs, usually 5 or 6 years roll the two up together.
A medical degree or law degree are called "professional degrees" and you don't start in them until after finishing the Bachelor's degree. (You don't apply to medical schools until near the end of your bachelor's degree, for instance.)
fA
Right. I mean, I barely under stand the schools here now, because it's changed so much since I did it all.
Sounds like you don't pile on the pressure for kids to choose a path in life as early as we do here though, which is good.
Can you leave school at 16, like you do here? Or do you have to wait until you're 17/18?
That was a better summary than I would have come up with, so thank you, fA! (One of my nieces is doing the med school application thing now.)
L, that depends on the state you live in. Most let you drop out at 16 or 17. (A couple of years ago, in his State of the Union Address, Obama called on states to require students to stay in school until they get their high school diploma or turn 18. I don't think that led to any changes.
Legally you can leave school at 16. Unless you've started early (generally prohibited nowadays) or skipped grades (less common than it used to be), you will be leaving without completing the high school course and without any certification or diploma. Nowadays, this makes it impossible to get much further formal education, and you can't even join the military.
The work-around is a very bare bones competency certification called the "G.E.D. certificate" which stands for General Educational Development, though most people incorrectly will call it the General Equivalency Degree or something similar. It is 5 subject matter tests meant to measure the attainment of skill & knowledge equivalent to a high school diploma.
If I recall correctly, it was developed for the military during WW II so that soldiers who had joined or been drafted before completing high school would be eligible for further schooling without having to go back to high school as 20-something vets.
There's a lot of controversy about the adequacy of the GED and a new version that is supposed to measure college-readiness has just been released. I think there are a also couple of competing high school competency certification tests now in existence, but I don't know anything about them.
fA
Huh, RR. I guess I'm behind the times. I didn't realize there were states where you couldn't leave school till 17. THAT seems like an expensive proposition (since most kids who really want to leave early start skipping school wholesale as soon as they can get away with it, which kicks off a whole arsenal of enforcement, disciplinary and supplemental/outreach/alternative measures & programs.
From what I've seen, you can't reason with a determined 16 or 17 year old.
fA
Yeah, education falls within the state police powers. There's a state-by-state list [a href=http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0112617.html]here[/a], but it's a little old, so there might have been a few changes.
(Let's not get into the Common Core Curriculum!)
Darn it! Here's the link: http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0112617.html
In England you have to be in education or a job with training until you are 18 these days. Unlike up to 16 it's not the parents who are responsible, it's the students, but nowhere does it say what he sanctions are.
And who checks there's any training going on??
Who knows? Self employed kids still have to sign up for college and they still have to keep trying to get GCSE Maths and English even if they have special needs that mean that will never happen. It's a mess.
I'm glad I'm not a kid these days. Or at least, just a big one.
Me too. It seemed like it was difficult when I was at school but they do have it much, much worse now and it's combined with the rhetoric that even when they do well it's because the exams are easy or the school cheated, the poor little buggers can't win.
Every time I see people moaning the exams are getting easier I'm struck by the fact it's the same generation moaning about it as are setting the exams! Kids can't help what exams show up on their year, can they??
I think a lot of the issues here in the US stem from the fact that there are precious few jobs at which you can support yourself, let alone a family, unless you can get through at least *some* post-secondary education. Even the trades that pay decently don't have many entry points without post secondary training. Hence the sometimes unrealistic expectation that nearly all kids have to get through the same system.
fA
oh yes, these blogs are definitely in my reward category too! :)
been laid up since Friday night with the Cold That's Been Going Around, ugh. I have not slept this much since I don't know when.
S
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