Infestation

L’s Ironwoman friend says she can see that L has an Ironman in her. L fell about laughing at that comment but once she’s got that Vitruvian under her belt in 2017, who knows...

Meanwhile her lowly half-ironman other half heads off for a 'small' watt bike session. Only small because I have a race on Sunday you know. I have to fight my way through a sea of mortar boards to get there, there’s been a right infestation of them across Pride Park all week. They’ve been holding the Graduation Ceremonies inside the velodrome.

Which is so not the place for it. Inside graduation frocks and sweaty gym kit mingle uneasily together. Not a great combo. I tried my hardest not to drip on anyone but unfortunately I think I inadvertently photobombed several once in a lifetime souvenir photos.

(Friday 15^th January)

Something Less Intimidating

On the bus today and I pick myself up the new Robin Hood travel card from the machine at the QMC stop this morning. This is supposed to be Nottingham’s ‘Oyster’ card but I’m not really sure how it's supposed to work as you only touch on and not off. So it always charges you the same fee no matter how far you go. 

They have chosen to use the current Nottingham City Transport scheme rather than the more advanced 'Mango' scheme operated by Trent Barton which charges you based on distance when you touch off, like ‘Oyster’ does. It seems to me that Trent Barton will lose out if someone gets on one of their many out of Nottingham bound buses, touches on, but doesn’t get off inside the Nottingham boundaries and therefore gets a cheap ride all the way to Derby, Mansfield, Cotmanhay, Ripley, etc etc. A wrong call which I’m sure will have to be corrected at some point.

Apparently there’s a photo of me on Facebook wearing a mortar board. Can’t imagine where that came from.

I go for a Watt Bike session after work and the same athletic looking chap again gets on the bike next to me, clips in his proper shoes (I could have brought mine you know) and then dials his way up to 300 Watts. The girl in front of me is maintaining a steady 200, I think it’s best if I slot in somewhere between them at least on my warm up. That’s a 5k warm up, with another 5k as a cool down and a ramp session to 315 Watts in between. Five of the six bikes are taken tonight and when a chap decides to do a session on the shopper bikes next to us he only keeps it up for a couple of minutes. After looking at the five of us trying to out-die each other, he aborts and opts to do something less intimidating instead.

L walks the boys up to meet my bus. Anything to get out of ball chucking.

Tonight we finish series three of The Bridge

(Tuesday 22^nd December)

Graduation

I take the boys for a quick session on the park before we drive over to Warwick for Son’s Graduation. When we arrive, L is rather appalled to find that our Graduand (a new word we learnt today) has not managed to get to the barbers or to run a razor across his face. The biggest shock though is his new suit trousers, which he seems to have washed. We know not why. L manages to rectify the situation somewhat by borrowing an iron off one of his flatmates and at least restoring some sort of shape to them.

L has bought him a watch as a graduation present, which I was deeply sceptical that he would ever use, but he genuinely seems thrilled with it.

We head up to Stoneleigh Park where there is a park and ride in operation and soon we deliver a somewhat stressed looking Son to the university where they kit him out in his robe, hood and mortar board. Then we have to re-kit him out when we decide that it’s best if he removes his suit jacket, as he looks like he’s about to melt.

With only two guests allowed in the hall, Daughter has to watch in the cinema or via a big screen outside. Considering the heat, she opts for the cinema.

L and I take our places in the hall, which really isn’t big enough, well in advance and are entertained (broadly speaking) by the University band/choir. It’s all a bit old hat really and the ceremony probably hasn’t changed much since the University was formed almost 50 years ago.

Then there’s the speech from the Vice Chancellor, that probably also hasn’t changed much in 50 years either. It was also very similar, and as long, as his welcome speech three years ago when he promised that before too long we wouldn’t recognise our child. We were sceptical of course but he was proved right eventually. Although I’m not even sure Son would recognise himself at this moment.

Then the long process of calling up the students one by one starts. There is a pause for the awarding of an Honorary Degree, a process that has always confused me. No matter how deserving the person is, and this person was very deserving, surely there still needs to be a link to the University or the area? I couldn’t spot one in this case.

Son was close to the end of those being called up and he managed to not trip or anything, as he picked up his degree. Which was not rolled up in a scroll, as I thought was tradition. Refund please!

Once over, the band/choir, who must have been knocking the alcohol to get them through the ceremony burst into life and start dancing in aisles. Now if only they'd done that from the start.

 

Then it’s out into the sun again, where the official photographer has to organise all the new graduates into some sort of order for a group photo. This takes some time obviously. It all ends with the traditional throwing of the hats in the air. No one goes against the safety briefing and attempts to skim their mortar board across the heads of the assembled crowd, sadly.

Then more photos, both from us and from the official photographers back inside. Then it’s back to Leamington for a celebratory meal at our regular, the White Horse, actually it’s getting a bit predictable and we might need to think of somewhere else soon. Perhaps Son’s new place of employment... the pub where he starts work on Thursday.

(Tuesday 16^th July)