Gap in posting because ...

The last few days, I haven't really been able to think of anything sensible to post on! Instead my mind has been full of:

1. Emptying the office/library into the living room ...

... while I cleaned the shelves etc and decided that I did not need to keep past issues of magazines, cuttings and papers from as long ago as 1978 .... However, a pile of "things to scan before I throw them away" has developed.

2. A couple of pieces of complicated trade union case work.

3. A consultation by my local authority about what in practice is a proposed removal of car allowances for most staff who use their cars in connection with their work. To give you some idea of the level at which these things work - the lead officer on the council side hadn't realised that this would affect some of the teachers who work in the authority, so had forgotten to include teacher unions in the consultation process. In any case, the project timeline seems to have been presented without any union input, or we would have pointed out that it might take more than a month for us to consult our members, come back with suggestions, have them incorporated into any proposals, and then go back to members ... And, to cap it all, the lead officer for the council really could not get it into his head that teachers are not actually at work between the end of July and the first week of September, so we can't consult them now until September (no, I am not making this up).

4. Booking the next holiday - Prague for the October half term. Zero is looking forward to me not being able to understand the local language either (our recent trips have been to French or Italian speaking regions, which I can make some pretence at understanding).