I’ve heard this phrase a lot this week; I can relate to it – in several different ways. As well as getting used to working remotely, and all the changes that’s brought – there are a few other normals. Generally, Dundee (like most other Scottish Unis, as far as I know) treats Good Friday and Easter Monday as normal. That was a surprise after English Universities. But, this year, we’ve been given both as additional leave ๐Ÿ™‚ [So why, you may ask, am I blogging … things are busy and didn’t have time yesterday.]

Another ‘normal’ was making Hot Cross Buns – I’ve not done that for many years, but as soon as a photo of me in the kitchen was shared, my sister promptly commented with “that was always your job” ๐Ÿ™‚ Kneading the hot ctoss buns

From a work point of view, we’ve been working on assessments for students, trying to find what will work for the students, and whatever tech they have available, meet the requirements of the Professional bodies – and work for staff, who may well also have technical issues accessing them to mark.

As with everyone, I feel as if I’m spending a lot of time on line. While I do try to avoid too much, even in the office, it’s easy to spend too much time online and not enough talking. An old colleague and good friend, Alice points out:ย 

The use of screens have become a catalyst for community engagement during this crisis to support one another.

The thing that has hit me very much this week at work is how much I miss the more informal chats, sometimes over coffee, often in an office (i.e. away from the screen!). Vicki Dale put it well in a tweet –

We can’t have those away from the screen (well, not at work!) now, but I think I need to make the conscious effort to make the time for more coffee breaks

Tea, book and fire

I now have a long weekend – so can have tea without the screen at home! I’ve got some mundane tasks (weeds are no respector of a lockdown), I’ve a new bike that I’d like to get out on, we’ve also got a swingball – I’m intending to get out and play that!

Playing swingball

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