lol @ well-respected Honestly one of my reasons for getting a PhD was because I thought "Dr Rough" was a cool supervillian name should I ever decide to try and take over the world 🦹‍♂️

This Lidl pizza accurately summarising my December and my January in one word each 😅

Perhaps some day I will stop drinking wine and eating nachos, and I will lift one of the kettlebells I use as doorstops. But so far 2026 demands no less than maximum hedonism in and I shall not be aggravating the shittiness of this timeline with undue discomfort 💜

Fresh hell from the LinkedIn cesspool. Yet another case of 'oh we have this shitty tech why not flog it to education'. If you need me I'll be screaming into my pillow with regular wine breaks

Oh how fabulous! I've been invited to...*checks notes*...an hour in the 9th circle of Hell 😬

"No Donald, you can't have an award"

Think it went well. Student commented that on his spectrum of "drugs the lecturer might be on", I'm at the crack cocaine end. I must have been energetic 🤸

First lecture of the academic semester tomorrow and wow I am NERVOUS. I always thought my lecturers were super-chill (and maybe they were) but I still get the collywobbles. If nothing else, I have introduced you to the wonderful word that is 'collywobbles' if you hadn't heard it before 😅

A fun fact for my Monday lecture. If you stacked 1 trillion Big Birds on top of each other, they would be 2,490,000,000km tall, enough to reach the Sun and back and then back again! (There is a purpose to this fact)

Next week I start teaching Database Systems again. It can be a bit dry so I'm thinking of ways to make it more engaging. 1. Lecture karaoke 2. Bring your pet to class 3. Halloween costumes 4. Firework-of-the-week 5. Charcuterie board 6. Seagulls Your thoughts are welcome 💜

If he hadn't spent a fortune crashing that big boat into an iceberg then he wouldn't be in this financial mess in the first place.

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"Shall we forever resign the pleasure of construction to the carpenter?...No doubt another MAY also think for me; but it is not therefore desirable that he should do so to the exclusion of my thinking for myself" A prescient quote from Thoreau that I love, even though I was shit at woodwork 😅

I like my fact of the day calendar very much but the purely American ones unsettle me. To my British mind they all read like "Buffalo Bill once hooped a shortstop ding-dong the size of Kalamazoo" 😕

Entering conference call...

Ralph is staying over at my mum and dad's house. Both he and Betsy are tired from entertaining the humans all day 😴

Not a TikkyTokker myself but please give Emma a follow! As I understand it there are no negative consequences for you in doing so. Only good things 💜

Hurt my right wrist shovelling snow and so left hand is taking on many of right hand's duties. Hate to be a dick boss but it won't pass probation at this rate. Absolutely massacred carrot-chopping and has dangerous accuracy issues with kettle-pouring. 😑

Tonight's drink is Crémant with some lovely whisky/blackberry/honey liqueur my sister got me. It's not a Kir Royale but it's sort of close. I shall call it a Kir Hebridean. Sláinte!

trying to get Axios to quote me saying "JD Vance gargle my balls" or something of that nature

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After about two hours of shovelling, finally got my car released from Old Man Winter's RUDE and CREEPY embrace. Back in comparatively tropical Dundee now. There's even iceless pavement to walk on! 😍

I hate to keep ringing this bell but they have HIRED and ARMED rapists & murderers

Because of the snow mum and dad haven't been able to shop for a 2026 calendar. All they have is this knockoff Cliff Richard one my dad got as a joke Christmas present, which will now hang in the kitchen for a whole year. Must say I love it 🤣

Mama Rough has ended this year's unbeaten Scrabble run, snatching victory with a triumphant PUBE. I'd have been disappointed if it wasn't such a vulgar flourish 😂

The novelty of snow has now worn off for Betsy too. She will be warming her arse on the stove until further notice. 💜

Got this cute coffee bean bag charm from my sister 🥰 Am seeking coffee-related names, or any name you like really. (Betsy stares as she believes all plush items are her toys)

Getting a bit bloody sick of it tbh 😖 Buggerload of snow. Free to a good home. Collection only.

Village looks lovely from up the hill a bit. We've run out of places to put the snow though. Might have to start taking some inside 😬

Back to an Amber weather warning again. More snow forecast and the gritters haven't been through so I'll be here for a while! 😕

The world is bloody awful but it's still inexplicably my birthday again so I made a wish that it wouldn't be! So yeah if it gets better this year I'm at least partially to thank 💜

Rethinking Schools published my article about pushing back on some of the arguments made by those seeking to rush AI tools into schools.

Never fear, Betsy Plough is here! 😍

Snow in the village today! We're right in the middle of the 'Amber Warning' zone but hopefully won't be too bad ☃️

A quiet Hogmanay at Roughhaus. Stove is on, Betsy is relaxing, some shite is on TV, and mama Rough has flexed her sharcootery skills! Hope you're all having a good one 💜

I'm the proprietor of a demonic travelling carnival! Not exactly the main character, but the main antagonist, and the one with the best job 😎

A life raft for CS educators who are also not waving, but drowning. 💜

When I was 8, me and my family met Tommy Burns, the former Celtic coach. He was such a friendly chap, and while we were chatting he got a phone call, declined it without looking, and said "that can wait". I still think about that day. What a cracking guy. Rest in peace, Tommy 💚🤍💚

Betsy was at the vet for a full-day monitoring today. She's lost 2lbs since last Tuesday (a lot for her size) and her blood sugar is down but still high, so more insulin. Vet said she was very shy which isn't like her at all. Poor wee thing 😢

The purpose of a hoe is to remove unwanted noxious weeds. Whereas the purpose of attacking Trump's cabinet is - oh right I get it now

How I'm walking out of 2025

Love and good tidings from Betsy and Ralph! 😍 Poor Betsy was diagnosed with diabetes on Tuesday 😭 No festive treats for her this year but she's taking it very well 💜

The humble Christingle. A gentle reminder of the Holy Orange Ladybird who bravely faced a horrific candle injury to lay the chocolate egg that hatched Jesus or something idk I should have listened to the reverend.

Just a wee festive message from me to you, à la Love Actually. Whatever you celebrate (if anything) I hope you have a lovely break 😍

A domesticated evening making jam. My sister loves jam so it's a wee bit of her Christmas 💜

Christmas jumper has arrived! Never owned one before but I love it 💜

Introducing my dad for his father-of-the-bride speech! My lovely mum to the left and my sister, the beautiful bride, to the right. She evidently got all the good genes, but at least I must've said something funny 😅