2010 Conference

[mariab]

Hi Claire, I see. Kiwi (at least the one of you), but currently residing in the British Isles – and in Pakistan. (Wow! I hear about the floods, which we also had here in East Germany, due to never ever stopping rain for 3 weeks. And K2!! Now that's a place I've been dreaming about!)
I'm not coming Friday evening, I have to work, plus I'm desperately broke. (August was a no-salary month for me, and September is with a nice salary, but in Paris, which is excrutiatingly expensive.) I'm coming early saturday morning, and leaving sunday evening. I can't wait to try some routes in Whitechapel, and obviously I'm looking forward to the conference. (Well, actually, I can wait! There's so much workload right now, that I'm simply taking it one day at a time!)
Looking forward to meeting you in Whitechapel (said the Ripper), and

[claire]

Ah well, some of it is better than none of it--hope your journey is quick and safe!
We're in Islamabad, so just the Margala Hills and the unfortunate remains of that terrible plane crash the other week just behind the house...the country seems completely blighted right now
I hear you about work: I've no idea what I'm doing on here bar procrastinating...

[mariab]

Hi Claire,
Pakistan sounds very dramatic. I think that the getaway town to K2 is Rawalpindi.
I bet that almost everyone posting on casebook is procrastinating from something!
I'll be back to work in a jiffy (after having dealt with laundry). Big stupid bureaucratical project to take care of, I'll try finishing it up tonight, but it's not a given. But first I have to deal with my boss in Chicago (which is as nice a distraction as casebook!)
I guess we'll meet in Whitechapel, but it's a long time from now, and presently I can only think about all the crap paperwork I have to fill out tonight...

[tnb]

Procrastinating? I won't hear of it.

For the record I am going to sort the washing and drying, wash up from dinner AND take the rubbish bags down to the end of the garden ready for the morning...in a minute. Or two. Ish.

[mariab]

Ha, ha, ha. You're so funny, Trevor!
Gosh, I'm SO bored I'm about to lose my mind. Laundry is drying (by itself, all over the apartment), I've finished with Chicago, which was no bother, but now comes the UGLY part of the evening, taking care of that bureaucratic paperwork crap thingie. Ugh! I wish I were dead. I'll start with it in about a minute or two-ish.
Besides this, I'm starving to death, I wished there were potato chips in the house, but the only edible thing left (pasta with tuna and crabmeat) has to be cooked, and I think I'd rather go on with the paperwork thing, in the off-chance that it might be done eventually. Ahhh, the night is young, and NOT in a fun way...

[claire]

Yeah, 'Pindi's Islamabad's shambolic sister town...but it's a fair old way from there to K2. I tend only to walk distances if there's a drink at the end of it...

So, I am hoping that everyone is being more productive than me. If so, I'll have some volunteers to wash up, mark the assignments of 3 students who feel quite at liberty to submit whenever they please, sexy up the world's most boring report and make me a sandwich. In the meantime, I'm only here cos I'm revising for Trevor's quiz...I mean: that's not procrastinating, is it? Priorities, priorities, and all that.

[mariab]

Hi Claire,
yes, a long way from Rawalpindi to the K2 basecamp, first by bus, then trekking. But it sounds much more fun than what I've been doing with myself tonight at any rate.
You are a teacher too? (I teach irregularly.) It's not surprising that casebook attracts so many teachers...
I'm so relieved to announce that I've just FINISHED with the darn paperwork! At least for tonight. Tomorrow after the copy shop etc. more will be added, and hopefully submitted. But for tonight I'm done, and about to cook some pasta with tuna and crabmeat (the only edible things left here), and settle in front of the TV with some nice rosé and maybe a DVD. Bliss...!
The next assignment is a proposal for a conference. Might do a bit of it later tonight. Or not...
Have a nice evening, everyone, and

[bigjon]

Hi Bigjon,
I think I've seen you on the JTR Forums. From Swansea, right? And I just happen to know that there is surf in close proximity to where you live. Anyway, welcome to casebook!
The internet reports complained about construction noise as recently as in July. But I totally forgot it'll be a Sunday, I wasn't even thinking!
They also complain about the elevator of the hotel never working, but that's not a problem for me, even for a room on the 6th floor. (I'm used to dealing with no elevator from Paris.) But for older people it might constitute a problem...

Indeed you may have. I very occasionally dip my toes over here. I do indeed, have the beautiful Gower peninsula on my doorstep, which I'm told has some of the best waves around, but I don't indulge in them personally.

Last year lift was working as far as I recall.

[mariab]

Hello Bigjon,
I've never been to Swansea myself, but there have been enthusiastic reports from local friends, including pictures.
I don't mind if the elevator at the Travellodge “Liverpool Street“ gets out of order, even if I had luggage along. Since I'll be coming from my secondary residence in Paris, I'll only bring my computer bag (without the computer), pack everything in there, and whatever doesn't fit – into a plastic bag? The Victorian Whitechapel way of carrying around one's stuff like a homeless person, revisited. But if anyone of “advanced age“ comes over with, say, a lot of exemplaries of his book to sell, and he gets a room on the 6th floor, he might get a mild case of hernia if something happens to the elevator.

[claire]

'secondary residence in Paris' sounds very posh, Maria You spoiled it all referring to your homelessness-chic! Swansea, of course, is lovely too--well, in parts...not been in an age but used to teach Open Univ. contact courses there and have a colleague from there called, terribly, Stephen Knight who, after the *other* Stephen Knight passed away, started to receive some mysterious packages with instructions to meet in various East London locations...he never went, unfortunately...anyhow, way off topic, so I'll get back onto it by saying, ooh, I'm looking forward to the conference!

[mariab]

posh with a homeless-chic chaser

Hi Claire,
Happy to see we're colleagues!
Second residence in Paris as in I'm employed there, but I only work there for about a third or a half of the year, depending (and trying to drag on the tenure as long as possible).
And obviously I neither own the apartment, nor do I pay rent when I'm not there. It's actually a posh-ish place and looks TOTALLY like a bordello (NOT a Whitechapel one) in typical French fashion – burgundy tapestry walls, a burgundy thick carpet (unbearable in the heat of July), burgundy Recamier couch, and so on. The owners (a painter and a baritone opera singer, who have pratically adopted me as their third kid) say they're thinking of installing mirrors on the ceiling as next! And the view from the one side of the windows is the roofs of Paris, on the other side the ex-Opéra Comique theater of rue Montansier, and in the basement of the building there's Jacques Offenbach's original theater, Les bouffes parisiens. It's also 1 block away from the music department and the manuscripts department of the Bibliothèque Nationale, 2 blocks away from the Bibliothèque de l'Opéra Garnier (which takes over 20'minutes to cover every morning, cutting through the crouds like a knife through butter, and jumping over Japanese tourists), and a very short métro ride/walk from the Archives Nationales. The rent is DEADLY (almost 900-€ for 30m2, but including free international phone, internet, and even cleaning), but for Paris, esp. for the neighborhood, this is a huge bargain. To compare, in Berlin I pay just 450-€ for 70m2, and in Chicago Hyde Park (which is a sometimes dangerous neighborhood, with muggins and shootings/killings having happened, even 1 block southwest of Obama's house) my rent is just under $700 for 30m2 (which thankfully I don't need to pay myself). And the homeless-chic comes from the constant travelling and the unforeseen expenses connected with it! Also, it can't hurt to be dressed in homeless-chic fashion when walking around in Chicago Hyde Park after dark!
I had NO idea that Ripperologist/“Royal conspirationalist“ Stephen Knight has passed away, but your story with the Swansea Stephen Knight is hilarious!
With many apologies for having drifted LIGHTYEARS away from the thread's subject,

[Suzi]

Hi all! Just been alerted!!!


would post a pic- but can't

Dids

[Suzi]

OK here I am! Seriously real 'eh!!!! xx

[Robert]

Hanney! Do not imbibe too many alcoholic stimulants at the conference, Hanney! You need to be alert for your semi-deponent verbs.

Remember to shun chocolate cake, Hanney, as it might affect your prowess on the football pitch. You may send the chocolate cake to me, Hanney!

Do not smoke cigarettes at the conference, Hanney, especially the very strong ones. I hereby confiscate your cigarettes, Hanney, especially the very strong ones.

Have a happy conference, Hanney!

HSQ, MA

[Jenni Shelden]

Hi all,

just wanted to say, great confernce, sorry to hear it will be Adam's last as organiser.

Well, I dont want to say to much as it will spoil my write up for Issue 4 of Casebook Examiner - out soon, (subscribe now, !!)

Regards

Jenni