Exams

While I agree to some extent that there are pupils for whom skipping GCSEs to go straight to AS-levels might be a good idea (I should point out that I was one of them, and would have stayed with academic learning far longer if I hadn’t spent 14-16 bored to tears and not giving a shit about staying in school – if I’d taken the GCSEs at 14, I’d have done fine, and been able to go on to A-levels there and then) I’m equally unconvinced that assessing the relevance of GCSEs is going to be of much use either.

Now, assessing the relevance of the syllabus – that might actually be useful. I’ve never had to solve a quadratic equation outside the confines of a classroom, but understanding how the APR works on credit cards would have been invaluable. I’ve never felt the need to make another metal coathook since leaving metalwork classes, but cookery and simple home economics would seem like a good thing to have in the brain. Making the courses relevant to life, not just to fit the confines of the current outmoded and ineffective syllabus – now that would be a real advance.

Page alterations

Following on from Saturday’s birthday, there’s been an addition to the index page for the site, as well as alterations and updates to the about d4d™ page detailing some ideas for the future and so on. I’ll be adding more to the pages over the next couple of days as well, and also probably writing some more stuff in other sections, but I’ll detail those later.

In the meantime, thunder’s rattling around the building I’m working in, and I’m hoping for a really decent downpour. Actually, a drop of about 10°C would be nice too. Today’s the day for refuse collection where I live, and the miasma of smells and stench from the bins was like wading through a marsh this morning. Utterly vile.

Rain – pt. 2

Sometimes I wonder if it’s me that’s barmy or the rest of the world. It’s still raining here, and I’ve walked down to the supermarket to do the shopping. It’s still bakingly hot, yet people are out fully covered up in waterproofs – it must be like cataracts of sweat inside there. Why do people worry so much about getting wet?

At the end of the day, we’re all human, our skins are inherently waterproof – we dry off. So when the weather’s so warm that we just broil inside waterproof clothing, why are we so obsessed with staying dry? I know I came home soaked, and about ten degrees cooler than anyone else who’d been out – thoroughly enjoyed it.

So – who’s barmy? Me or everyone else?

Rain

Ah, that was nice. Woke up to the sound of thunder, and it’s just absolutely pissed down for an hour. And yes, I went out to get my paper while it was raining – it brought the temperature down nicely. *Grin*

Of course, now it’s stopped, and the temperature is ramping up again nicely. But at least the thunder’s cleared the air a bit.

Skipton

I don’t know why, but over the last couple of weeks, I’ve been getting a shedload of search requests for “Skipton Building Society”, and then also getting connections from some poor gonk who actually works for them. So – what’s the deal? I’m intrigued to know…

Happy Birthday to me

Yes, amazingly d4d™ is now 1 year old. The presents haven’t been up to much, but hopefully the party with jelly and ice-cream later will go down well. A couple of friends have been invited, but really a first birthday party is more for the parents. So I’m going to get pissed.

It’s not bad really – 79,500 page impressions in a year. Not bad for a little baby site. I’m sure I’ll add more here later today, but for now…

Happy birthday to me,
Happy birthday to me,
Happy birthday dear d4dddddddddddddddd,
Happy birthday to me. :¬)
*Blows out the candle*

Knew I’d forgotten something

When this site changed from destruction for dummies to d4d, I knew I’d forgotten something. I’d changed the addresses in all the comments boxes and so on, and it finally occurred to me today what I’d neglected to do. So the Contacts page has now been amended, and also (ahem) added to the list on the index page. *Oops*