Heeeere's Voley

Hello again. Gosh, how I've missed you, even though some of you have used my absence to snark away in the comments section and to make sure that any lingering threads of anonymity remaining have been ripped away. Cynical - photos of me aren't much use in identifying me, as readers either have met me in the flesh, or live so far away that the chances of recognising me on the street from an online photo are infinitesimal! One of my faithful read was at the UKSG though - Simon. Surprisingly for one of my 'friends', he forebore from bullying me. Usually he at least deliberately gets my name wrong. Stupid Fat Hobbit.

I've realised that what I thought was tinnitus actually is the sound of keys clicking - it went away for the duration of my sojourn in the lands of Best Practice, Video Replays and Polyester. Talking of Polyester, thanks to the England, Northern Ireland and Wales teams for presenting me with rather cool team kit - Scotland would have, except that the kit provision was rubbish and they were left with XXS, despite having no fencers anywhere near that size…

Anyway, I won't go on tonight - I've had three hours of sleep each night for the past few days, so I'm having a beer (first one for a week) then going to bed. Highlights? Meeting Denise Lewis, Jason Gardener, Darren Campbell and Kate Allenby, quietly organising birthday cakes for fencers, and having Lorraine Rose as my Welfare partner. Lowlights? Some of the serious stuff I had to deal with, getting up before 6 every day, the bright yellow Welfare hoodies and polo shirts (two, for 5 days?) and the silverfish infestations resulting in helping teams move accommodation at 2 a.m.: watch out, anyone moving into Talybont halls at Cardiff Uni. (Though the staff at Cardiff and UWIC were lovely, and worked incredibly hard).

I'll post some decent photos tomorrow, some rants no doubt. But tomorrow's another big day - two graduation ceremonies to attend. I'll be wearing another silly uniform: Wolverhampton's PhD rig looks like a 1980s Laura Ashley curtain set - brocaded yellow and cerise, topped by a weird hat. Still, it's kind of fun, and I'll try not to recall choice phrases from students' essays as they receive their degrees! Actually, there are quite a few I'll miss, especially those whose projects I've supervised, and those whose lives have been transformed. That's the kind of thing that makes this job worthwhile, despite the best efforts of outsiders and management.

OK, I can feel a rant coming, so I'll log off and save it for tomorrow.