Offtopic Sofa Time

New arrivals, including the hello threads and the sofa.
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MariaDiaper
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Re: Offtopic Sofa Time

Post by MariaDiaper »

He would be fab as a baddie! I liked how bad he was when he nearly killed Pelant.
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ThyneAlone
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Re: Offtopic Sofa Time

Post by ThyneAlone »

Hello!
Wanted to update again and let you all know I haven't forgotten you. Great to see old friends back from time to time. I'm still visiting daily even when I have not had time or inclination to post!

Back to work, and to my new part-time status. Definitely less stressful. But there have been other things which have made the start back really hard. For a start all the IT is slowly falling apart. This year our incredibly small tech staff (that's small in number, not size) have spent the vacation trying to get everything ready for our new wifi to get up & running. Unfortunately this means they have neglected to update basic systems. We have a database that doesn't work properly and won't allow you to print such everyday necessities as class lists and timetables; and a new filter that is basically denying access to practically all the sites we use regularly. Folders keep dropping off the system and having to be re-routed for access, our laptops are all about 10 years old and slower than you can imagine (some newbies still haven't received theirs!) and you find yourself planning two lessons for one slot in case the system fails to function!

Then there is the key situation. In a magnificent locking-the-door-after-the-horse-has-bolted scenario the school has reacted to two breakins by changing every lock in the place. This means sometimes teachers can't get in and out of their rooms - some of the new teachers don't even have keys. It also means that as they have changed a lock on a back gate to which I had a key I now have an extra 10 minutes or so on my walk home, which is minor, but frustrating!

And then there is the major b*****king our department has just received from the principal subsequent to a poorish set of public exam results. He has implied that we are incompetent, don't function as a team and have no confidence in our department head; and threatened us, no other word for it, with redeployment and removal of advanced level languages from the curriculum altogether. I don't really want to go into all the reasons why there are problems with MFL results, but believe me there are many factors - most go a bit deeper than the actual teachers and have to do with the exams themselves and the ethos of the school. It is becoming increasingly clear that the papers are poorly and inconsistently marked and are in any case badly conceived (report from exam standards watchdog OfQual this week). We have certainly had such a huge number of exam re-marks come back with MASSIVE changes of grade that we are ordering a full centre re-mark in French. If the exam board can find the papers, which seem already to have gone astray in many cases.

Not the best start to the year, coming as it does on the heels of me fighting so hard to keep a student, following a lower grade than expected in his GCSE, that were it not for the intervention and support of my dept head I might have been disciplined. But then internal reasons why he wasn't being advised to take my subject had not been made clear to me (and that is half the problem here, lack of transparency and communication). I got him, but on a much-reduced timetable and teaching one lesson unpaid.

I never used to put my head above the parapet, but I am starting to feel maybe it is about time I made a fuss about things that have been wrong for a long period.

Anyhoo - hi y'all and thanks for being a refuge and shoulder, as ever!
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"We make our lives out of chaos and hope. And love." - Angela Montenegro

TJ4ever
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Re: Offtopic Sofa Time

Post by TJ4ever »

Hang in there, Steph! :romance-smileyheart:
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Angela: Well, what about love? What do you have to say about love?
Hodgins: It´s overrated-most of the time :-)


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cutenebula
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Re: Offtopic Sofa Time

Post by cutenebula »

Hello there!!! :greetings-waveyellow:

It's been ages since I sat here and chat with you.
I see we have some new members!!! :text-welcomeconfetti: I'm sure you will have great times with us here, it's a cool place to be with amazing friendly people :-)

Sooo, I have been through some bad times, and not really in the mood to talk about it, but I think I should have come here more often because I have precious friends here that I really love to talk to and spend time with, so I feel bed because I wasn't able to just come and sit and chat and laugh with you all precious people.

I won't detail all the bad things that happened and are still happening at the moment but I can tell you there will be some huge changes in my life soon (some months, maybe a year, but it will be a real change)

I'm really proud to be a part of TJ's gang, thanks to you all <3

I have a LOT of posts to read now :happy-smileyflower:

Hugs gang!!!

Véro
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The waffle conspiracy...

Sinkwriter72
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Re: Offtopic Sofa Time

Post by Sinkwriter72 »

Véro, hi!! :greetings-wavingyellow:

I'm so sorry that you've been having bad times! Huge changes in life are always hard, and I sure understand that. Sending you lots of supportive hugs and as much cheer as humanly possible.

If you need to talk, we're here for you.

:romance-smileyheart:

- Sherry
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ThyneAlone
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Re: Offtopic Sofa Time

Post by ThyneAlone »

So sorry Véro. Hang in there. We will be here for you. :( <<HUG>>
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"We make our lives out of chaos and hope. And love." - Angela Montenegro

Sinkwriter72
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Re: Offtopic Sofa Time

Post by Sinkwriter72 »

Guess where I am???

:D

Spending my very first night in my new apartment!

I have finally moved all my stuff out of storage and my aunts' home (sweaty tiring work and I'm so glad to be done with all those trips back and forth to and from the car!), and am settling in for the night. Back on my own bed, with my own stuff that's been in storage for SIX YEARS! (Believe me, I had a lot of dusting to do, opening up all those boxes. LOL.)

I've got a TON of boxes yet to go through, right now my rooms are what I like to call "organized chaos" (very messy but in specific piles, LOL) and it's probably going to take me at least a couple of months to go through it all and get cleared up and turned into a real home, but I'm here and it's a good feeling to be back out on my own again. What a strange journey it's been!

Anyway, you all have been SO supportive to me over the years as I went through all sorts of transitions, so I just wanted to share in the surrealness that is my life right now. New apartment! Who knows what's next? Hopefully good things.

And I wish good things for ALL of you. (Especially you, Véro. May things get better for you very very soon.)

:romance-smileyheart:
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stargazer
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Re: Offtopic Sofa Time

Post by stargazer »

Hey ladies!! I hope everyone is well. Vero, I'm so sorry to hear that you're having a hard time right now. We're all here for you if you need a shoulder to cry on. I hope things take a turn for the better soon. :romance-grouphug:

Sherry, congratulations on the new apartment!! Although it's a lot of work moving it's always exciting making a new place your home. Good luck on the unpacking! LOL

There's nothing new going on in my life right now other than a work trip to San Antonio in a few weeks. I'll be glad to get out of my little corner here at home and visit somewhere that I've never been. It should be fun. :)
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ThyneAlone
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Re: Offtopic Sofa Time

Post by ThyneAlone »

Well despite a holiday which has included such gems as constant drizzle, having to sing a major role in a concert at 15 minutes' notice, a pleasant shopping trip that culminated in not being able to get home for a couple of hours because of an accident on the railway, a car breakdown, the failure of a delivery to arrive after we had stayed in all day to receive it and 2 old sofas perched atop one another in our driveway because, although the collection had been booked ages ago, the council did not turn up to take them away, I am feeling relatively chipper. Son no.2 is back on UK soil come Tuesday. Well, I hope he is - 3 plane trips to get through, as opposed to two last time!

Sherry - enjoy your personal space. And well done for persevering in finding it! You are a star. As ever. Talking about piles of possessions - we have been organising son no.2's books in anticipation of his return, having agreed to buy him a new bookcase for when he gets back. Talk about surreal. He has books everywhere. Main piles are fact, fiction, football and funny, but we also have history, TV/film interest and even children's books (which will be moved out. Obviously. Why does he still have 'Can't You Sleep Little Bear?' at the age of 22 anyway?). Not to mention a mountain of PlayStation games, only some of which fit into the huge storage tower we have bought him. Life laundry as soon as he is over his jet lag, I think!

Kathy! Have a great trip to San Antonio - sounds like fun, and things that interrupt the humdrum are what make life interesting..
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TJ4ever
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Re: Offtopic Sofa Time

Post by TJ4ever »

Today is my anniversary - 7 years on this site! YAY!!! Love you all!!! :romance-smileyheart:

:romance-grouphug:

:occasion-partyblower: :banana-dance: :text-woo:
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Angela: Well, what about love? What do you have to say about love?
Hodgins: It´s overrated-most of the time :-)


Dexter: They make it look so easy-connecting with another human being. It's like no one told them it's the hardest thing in the world.

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skftex
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Re: Offtopic Sofa Time

Post by skftex »

:happy-cheerleaderkid: :occasion-partyblower:
Yay!!! HAPPY ANNIVERSARY SIMONE, thanks for being an awesome member for 7 years! :romance-smileyheart:
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Blessed are they who see beautiful things in humble places where other people see nothing.-Camille Pissarro

stargazer
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Re: Offtopic Sofa Time

Post by stargazer »

Happy Anniversary Simone!!! :banana-dance: :banana-dance: :banana-dance:
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ThyneAlone
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Re: Offtopic Sofa Time

Post by ThyneAlone »

Fab! And going strong! TJ must appreciate you nearly as much as we do! :romance-smileyheart: :banana-dance:
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cutenebula
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Re: Offtopic Sofa Time

Post by cutenebula »

:romance-grouphug: THANKS A LOT TO ALL OF YOU :romance-heartsthree: :romance-heartstiny: Thanks for all your kind words.
I will let you know when things are back to normal, be sure of it :-)

Congratulations for your new appartment Sherry!!! :happy-cheerleaderkid:

Waaah!!! 7 years Simone!!! Congratulations!!! That is great!!!

I'm going to bake waffles, because we all need some waffles, at least 99...

:happy-smileyflower: Véro
Last edited by cutenebula on Sat Nov 22, 2014 9:56 am, edited 1 time in total. word count: 59
The waffle conspiracy...

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skftex
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Re: Offtopic Sofa Time

Post by skftex »

99 waffles! But will they be luftwaffles???
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cutenebula
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Re: Offtopic Sofa Time

Post by cutenebula »

Of course!!! Luftwaffles or nothing :D
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The waffle conspiracy...

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skftex
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Re: Offtopic Sofa Time

Post by skftex »

Are you going to throw them out the window? :laughing-rolling:
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cutenebula
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Re: Offtopic Sofa Time

Post by cutenebula »

yes :-) Lufwaffles need a little help to fly but once they are launched they go high up in the sky :D
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The waffle conspiracy...

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skftex
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Re: Offtopic Sofa Time

Post by skftex »

I wish I could see them fly!
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Blessed are they who see beautiful things in humble places where other people see nothing.-Camille Pissarro

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cutenebula
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Re: Offtopic Sofa Time

Post by cutenebula »

Someday you will Sharon, someday you will... :-)

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The waffle conspiracy...