Support (1)

When I was first contemplating doing a course, I read all the stuff about support at home – and I laughed. I knew then that it would never be forthcoming. The husband would not be interested, but I thought he’d just let me get on with it. What I didn’t expect was the ‘anti-support’ and just how obstructive he would be. The way he waits until I am deeply engrossed in reading or writing something, then he will find something totally trivial and pointless to say. He distracts me so that I have to stop what I am doing – but once he’s distracted me and has my full attention, he shuts up. I wait a while, expecting another inane comment, I start writing – and off he goes again. Last week he felt compelled to tell me he’d bought 100 teabags for £1. Little things like that annoy me, plus his need for constant background noise which conflicts with my need for total silence. He has to have the television on if he is in, even when not watching it – then he will flick through every channel watching 5 minutes of each programme he finds. If he just stuck to one programme and the noise was constant, I would eventually be able to block it out. But not channel hopping. There is no escape either. If I give up and go upstairs, he seems to turn the TV up much louder – so that I don’t miss anything. Eventually I do have to admit defeat. I realise he is perhaps lonely, or feeling neglected, so I go down to try and engage him in conversation. Then, of course, I get the silent treatment. I can’t win.

Getting ahead...

One of the advantages of working in a school is half-term week. It means – if the time is used wisely – you can get a week ahead of your course work, and allow yourself to feel a little smug. Well, that’s what I do anyway. Of course, when the weather is horrible, then it’s really no loss to sit inside reading twice as much as a normal week. Of course, one of the dis-advantages of working in a school is that you pick up all the horrible snotty colds, and vomiting things that spread like wildfire. This, of course, leaves you unable to do anything for a week. The two kind of cancel each other out. So after a week of smugness I now find myself in “thank goodness I got a week ahead when I could” mode – I won’t go into details! The rubbish weather has been a bit challenging on a photography course. Invariably the blue skies have appeared when I haven’t been able to get out and about with my camera, so I have been having to amuse myself by taking photos indoors. This week I have been taking close up photos of Belgian chocolates. That wasn’t one of the assignments, by the way – it’s one I invented myself. It’s all about making the most of opportunities. In the last couple of weeks of this course, I intend to see just what I can get away with buying on the pretence of “needing” it for a photo shoot. I’ve always fancied an eternity ring…

Tutor Marked Assignments

New courses – it doesn’t matter how experienced you are – have one dreadful hurdle. That first TMA. You can expect them to get progressively harder throughout the course, but there is so much at stake with that first one. For a start, it’s a new tutor – you perhaps haven’t met them yet, and you haven’t got to know their likes and dislikes. And most of all, you want to create the impression you are intelligent. I agonise over each TMA01. Trouble is, when I am in agonising mode, the brain turns to mush and I write gibberish. No doubt the rest of the agonising is done by the poor tutor who has to mark it. At least after that first one is out of the way, you can act on the feedback and try to tailor them to the tutor's whims and desires. Perhaps that’s one of the things that attracted me to T189 (Digital photography: creating and sharing better images). No TMAs – and no tutor. True, there was a CMA – a computer marked assignment, but I was much more relaxed about that. I even submitted it two weeks early. That’s how laid back I was. I don’t mind if a computer marks it. I am happy for a computer to think I am thick. I am quite sure most of them do anyway. My various computers and I have come to an understanding over the years – if they do what they are supposed to do (or what I expect them to do) then I won’t hit them with a hammer. Perhaps I should have a similar arrangement with the husband?

The other advantage of T189 was the cost. I’ve just had an expensive couple of years with three 60 point courses. A ten pointer was a mere drop in the ocean by comparison. At least it would have been had I not been compelled to blow all my back-pay on a DSLR camera. I’ve never spent so much on myself for no reason other than I wanted it – there was no special occasion or event. Well I say no special occasion… last year was a ‘special’ anniversary – but did I get a silver present? Did I, in fact, get any present? I'm guessing you can tell the answer is 'No'. This year was a special birthday – and the husband gave me a tenner to go and buy myself a book. So perhaps I might be forgiven for indulging myself. I think I’ve earned it.