Hat Trick

I took three wickets in three successive balls today for the first time ever and I think I may have been the only one to have achieved it this season for any of Stony Stratford Cricket Club's teams.

It's a milestone I haven't achieved before and now I know what can happen if I bowl three of my better deliveries in a row, I think I'll concentrate on consistency for next season.

My First Day

My first day back to school after my long summer was very different from what I had become used to over the summer.

For starters I'd had to get up at the ungodly hour that is eight o'clock. Then there was the question of what to wear, which I've realised is a pain in the arse in the morning when the last thing you want is to have to think whether your clothes are acceptable "smart business wear" or not.

Once at school it wasn't too bad, but the first days of a new year never are, mainly because most lessons involve sitting in a chair for an hour while the teacher sums up a two year cours: necessary - yes, fun - not so much .  .  .

I do realise however that, despite the IB Diploma being heralded as the hardest course you can take pre-University, it seems less like the difficulty of the actual work is the problem, than the quantity of work one is required to complete makes it difficult to keep up with. It will be a challenge but one I feel I am up to - even if it does mean commandeering my living room so I am able to organise myself .  .  .

Just checking!

Test rest test 1 2 3 testing
Click here for Google bold italic

(This was a test to see how easy it was to take a photo, write some text and upload it from my HTC Desire S Android smartphone to Blogger.

It worked, although the quality of the photo - no, I don't mean the composition, as that is just Dad in his pit of a study - isn't great, which gives me something to work on.

It's convenient to blog things quickly as the opportunities arise using the Android phone, and then I can edit the post later on using my desktop, giving me time to reflect on whatever had provoked the post.)

Top Gear

Yesterday I was given a free driving lesson.I was over at the Buszy for a meeting about the festival we are planning to stage next Summer and the MAD organisation had been contacted by two guys who run driving schools who specialise in giving lessons to younger people who haven't had experience in driving, so that when they try for real for the first time, it isn't a completely new concept.


To get around the fact that it's actually illegal for me to drive a car on the public highway yet, we just drove on private land - the old bus station. Before we got started, I was asked if I had any driving experience - I told them unless you counted a Legoland drivers licence, then no .  .  .

When it actually came to driving, I was aware of certain things that I was probably expected to do, the first being stalling it, which thankfully I managed to avoid, much to the approval of my instructor. The next thing I was worried about was accidentally pushing too hard on the accelerator and going straight into the metal fence, ruining the car in the process. I didn't do that either. What I did manage to do was successfully navigate around the course, following my instructor's commands and advice correctly, which I know isn't quite as exciting as crashing and making a huge fireball, but it was certainly as exciting for me to snail along at 10 mph as it would have been at 100 .  .  .

Smart!

This is my watchword for my IB. I shall be using a smartphone to try to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of my studies in ways some of my peers may not have previously considered - unless they read my blog to get an insight - which have not been possible until very recently. For example, my French teacher has recommended that I purchase a book called 501 French Verbs which I shall obtain and I am sure will prove very useful. I have noticed, however, that there is a free Android app unsurprisingly called French Verbs and an associated app called French Verb Trainer which seems to offer everything the book does - and you can hear the words being pronounced as well. That sounds like the sort of learning reinforcement I need.

My school's Sixth Form dress code is "smart office wear" and I am looking forward to abandoning my bottle green blazer (which I have managed to make last five years!) maybe "dressing down" a little on Fridays.

The third part of the smart approach is to work smart.This doesn't just mean not procrastinating, as all the advice on a successful IB emphasises, but setting myself goals in the various aspects of the IB which are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Rewarding and Timely. My CAS planning will be a good place to start with this.