We never had this at school, more's the pity

Having spent much of the past year in front of a computer screen, sadly growing my waistline more quickly than my bank balance, getting out of the house to pick up Ottawacker Jr. from school has become something to which I look forward immensely. Except when it is cold and miserable and icy. And even then, it is not something I dislike doing.

Today was all of those things. But as he came home from school, he showed me his latest piece of artwork, which made me a lot happier. Thank God they teach kids this stuff in schools now. I'm not sure it will make that much difference, but it might, which is a step in the right direction as far as I am concerned.

We had none of this when I was at school. My geography teachers included Eddie Hyde, who could hit a kid with a blackboard duster from 10 metres; Bobby Mander, a thuggish bully who believed education was all about discipline; and others, who were so implausibly crap I have blocked their memories from my head. We learned about groynes and calderas; volcanos and valleys; and bugger all else. It was a dull and uninspiring subject taught by either dull or uninspiring teachers. 

How things have changed. And for the better.