My weekend has been destroyed. My part time Science Technician is off on sick leave (again!!). This means I will have to pick up on his duties. Next week is Open day. Writing a revised Risk assessment for technican duties on a Sun night when I should be out in the pub drinking.

The complex part of the week sorted. Electrophoresis using Edvotek tanks & kits. I can easily get it to work. I showed the teacher the results as proof. However, I'll still get the blame when her class get a square gel of blue dye. Not my fault if they can't follow instructions

...and so it begins. The 2025 Open day in the College!

At 4Pm every Monday to Friday I swap the White coat plus safety glasses for a set of cans, reading glasses and a radio script as I settle into my daily three hour radio show called "Heading home". Check it out here on radiogarden online radio.garden/listen/iurfm/E…

A well meaning teacher asked me if I had or applied for the RSciTech accreditation? Let's see, I have a degree in Science, a level 6 qualification in management, NEBOSS Cert H&S, CPD training across the 31 years from ASE & CLEAPSS and I have trained six technicians. Ans: No!

So that's the 2025 Open Day finished. It was as much as I could do to get Teachers to put everything back into my preproom area. I wil put up a picture on Tuesday (day of in lieu of Sat) of the mess that awaits me. "X" formerly known as Twitter don't unfortunately do smells!!

The day after Open Day. So the clear up begins! (But first, I note a Thiosulphate-Iodine titration has to be set up for this morning.)

So, every student & teacher waits to see if we get the nod to be off on Friday because of Storm Eowyn. A red weather warning has been issued for Northern Ireland.

All schools in Northern Ireland have been advised to close on Friday 24 January 2025. The Met Office has issued a red alert, which covers all of Northern Ireland from 7.00am on Friday until 2.00pm and is warning of "very dangerous conditions" and "widespread disruption". Read

The look....when your arguing with your mum and she has just brought up something that you did not think she knew!!!

Storm Éowyn (Go on, i know you cannot pronounce it. Neither can I) Has cause a major broadband outage in the College. No phones. No C2K computers. No Interactive boards. No Outlook. Nothing. So we are forced to go back to ancient cave dwelling days and start to use....textbooks!

Not fair!. Mon was St. Paddys day here in Ire. What do teachers normally do on this day? Get hammered! Then they work out what the best excuse to offer on Wed after taking the day off to recover. In my work they make Tues a home ONLINE parents teacher day. I'm non-teaching staff

A nice way to finish of the weekend. Mac Fleetwood. One of Europes leading Fleetwood Mac Tribute bands. Give the band credit, they sounded very ealistic, covered Fleetwood Macs reptoir from 60 to 80's adn did this over 21/2 hours. One enjoyable night.

On Friday we bid farewell to two of our Biology Dept teacher staff who have retired. One was my line manager. Both will be missed. From next year new teacher staff recruits. After 32 years, I am now the longest serving member, not just in Biology but the entire Science Department

Back to work after Summer Holidays. First day in the preproom. Please excuse me while I have a quiet moment to myself.

First full week back for all staff and Students. Just love our First Years. So Polite, So well mannered. How long will this last.

You could not make this up. Its Priceless. The very first question I get asked every year is.....Do you know what my password is? Answer: No

You would be amazed at how many teachers cannot understand this simple sentence: "There is a technical issue with our main gas supply. I do not know when it will be fixed"

My food order never arrived, & the (famous) food company wrongly claimed it had. The restaurant confirmed it wasn’t delivered, & the owner recognised me from times I’d helped him with Sci Practicals. He apologised, refunded me, and offered my wife & me a free takeaway as thanks.

...and so it begins. Preparation for 2026 Open day for Biology. Job done. Next on the Job List Chemistry.