Doberman

Today I joined in a sequence of emails from academics bemoaning the latest infantilization of our student's study environment, as algorithmic procedure replaces academic guidance through an intellectual journey. I signed off by saying how glad I am not to have to "sell" our teaching product. They were sent to our Head of Student Services, and I was careful to write to her afterwards to acknowledge that she was only the messenger, and it wasn't an attack on her. I used to do more of this, particularly when I was responsible for an MSc programme, but now I've almost given up on trying to fight to retain a quality student experience.

More positively, I followed up a few leads from yesterday's LinkedIn discussion, and put our developer in the loop. It all takes time, but we don't know everything about what we're doing, and it keeps things coordinated. I also finished the slides that I'll present tomorrow. 

A went out for the evening, so I walked Django. Coming back through the park, we saw a Doberman with its owner further along the path, so I took a detour through the skate park, and liked the way the evening sunlight was illuminating this fresh graffiti. Back home, I cooked for myself and then watched the last episode of "Alice and Jack". It's far from brilliant at times, but I appreciated the way that it tried to be different in portraying the evolution of an emotional situation that was damaging for so long before being resolved.

It's a week since I returned from the Faroes, and on the way back I'd looked enviously at the weather forecast for the week that has just passed. However, I'm now glad that I left when I did, since the strike is now hitting very hard. Supplies are no longer coming into the islands, and there is fuel only for emergency vehicles. They don't mess about...