Had a visit from N yesterday (good thing I do not discuss too many people here or he may have been N1 or N2) here in Streatham Common. Was good to catch up and hear how he is doing, face to face discussion is so much richer than e-mail. For lunch we had a nice chickpea soup, that we tend to make as more of a thick stew (always ends up sitting on the stove for longer than intended), some fresh bread, a salad from P and a delightful Pinot Grigio (I know nothing about wine, but tasted alright). Following lunch we had some lemon slice (from packet and tasting a little like sunlight liquid) and caramel slices with tea. Always nice to have an excuse to sit around and chat over lunch when there is no need to rush off anywhere.
Anyway, it was good to see N. Had some interesting news from Wellington and people that we know in common and was able to give me a taste of the blue cloud that NZ currently finds itself under. I was horrified (though sadly not surprised) to hear that John Key is modeling himself on Cameron here in the UK. How someone can model themselves on an empty vessel I am not sure. Was also good to hear how things are doing in Wellington and reminisce on times back there. Perhaps we will get some time to visit in the future. P is at work today (doing last on-call long day in A&E!!!!!) so I am catching up with N in town this afternoon before he flies back to NZ.
That is one thing that has been good about being in London. When people come over this side from ‘downunder’ they tend to stop in London and it is possible to catch up with them quite easily provided you can find a suitable place to meet (given the difficulty in getting across town here). Rotherham will be a different story, given that most people over here would have no idea where it is on the map (I didn’t, other than that it was North) let alone intend to visit the place. We will have to get out and visit people more to make up for this. At the same time it will be nice to live in a smallish community and still have access to major cities (Manchester, Sheffield, Nottingham, Bradford and Leeds all within relatively easy reach) and perhaps can encourage people to visit the North (more real than the South) and drink some Mild.
Have been giving some more thought to conference paper and the further research projects. The conference is rather daunting, promised quite a lot, will be a challenge to get it together and good to have something to work towards. Also got the ball rolling (nudged it at least) on another research project that came to mind after discussion and thinking about something P had said sometime ago. It will be a challenge and may not lead to anything substantial, am constrained once again by inability to conduct fieldwork (leaving out the language barrier). Is nice to have a new challenge to consider, although not doing any ‘heavy-lifting’ until finish writing organisational development paper (not to mention the ‘forgotten’ paper that has dropped off the radar).
That will do for now.
Oh, just found this on I Can Has Cheezburger?, Classic:

[their message: see more Lolcats and funny pictures]


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