Congrats also, Paul.
I guess you CAN teach an old dog new tricks.
Thanks boyz, it was a pretty fantastic day, I have to say. I came from a housing estate in the Industrial Midlands near Birmingham and left school with no qualifications and have had to put the hours in to get an education but I never in my wildest dreams ever thought I would get a degree.
When I put my robe on (which, being a Masters degree was pretty fancy
) and saw myself in the mirror, I was pretty choked (no cheap shots here please
).
When I went out to meet all my family, because there were so many people milling around, they didn't see me until I joined with them. My Dad took one look at me and I will never forget the look on his face as long as I live - he was speechless and even cried. So that set my Mom off and then my wife and then my two daughters.
During the ceremony, the title of Honorary Masters Degree was conferred on a guy who had spent 20 years in prison, got his degree in 1994 and has been a writer ever since. He has written book and works with the prison service to educate prisoners better as well as writing for a national newspaper. His speech was tremendous, not what I had expected on the day at all. I was particularly impressed that my university had chosen make this award to him instead of some other, well heeled dignitary that they usually get.
Anyway, that was topped off by a great meal in another swanky restaurant that I will need to mortgage my house to pay for but it was a super day.
On Saturday, we are throwing a big family party for my dad's 80th birthday and my brother and his family coming over from the US, so it will be a great day. And the best thing is that my Dad doesn't know anything about it at all, we have been working on this for months
Until then, its business as usual, work and more work. Well, sitting down and planning how to get others to do it
Its a very strange job - hours and hours of emailing, lots of telephone calls and a few meetings. Not like a proper job at all
Oh, well!
