Alan Skeoch

Month: June 2023

  • EPISODE 835 JUST WHO IS ALAN SKEOCH? (courtesy of Nolan Skeoch, granddajughter)

    EPISODE 846 JUST WHO IS ALAN SKEOCH
    alan skeoch June 24, 2023
    There is a chance that some readers might wonder just who is Alan Skeoch, author of these daily episodes. Well, one of my granddaughters, Nolan Skeoch captured me in her 3 second video below.
    No more need be said.
    > >
    Play the video below…3 seconds long
    {CAPTION}

  • EPISODE 833 SHENLEY STUD FARM 1903-1929…NOW KEvIN SKEOCH AND FAMILY LIVe HERE 2023




    EEPISODE 833    THE SHENLEY STUD FARM….KEVIN  skeoch JOINS THE GENTRY


    alan skeoch
    June 13 to 21, 2023


    Kevin Skeoch is now part of the English gentry as the manager of Shenley Equestrian Farm.  The farm
    has rolling pastures, a stately home, a formal garden , an electric gate, a billiard room and a large 
    enclosed swimming pool.    And more.

    Let me try to give you a pictorial overview of the stately country house with its 16 rooms and 6 bathrooms.
    Be prepared for a look at English county life from the inside.  Future episodes will feature the horses and
    the 500 acres of stately oaks and delicious grasses for the horses (about 18 horses…I lost count)

    So here are some pictures of the manor house.  Kevin  lives here at Shenley
    just a few miles north of London.  his daughters, Morgan and Morgan….their dogs and cats, 2 peacocks, …the whole ball
    of waz

    Horses in next episode

    alan




    “Marjorie . there’re bugs in the bed….come quickly.”
    “Alan, that is not a bug….that is part of the textile.”
    “Looks like a bug to me.”

    Reader:  Look at those two little specs … they are imitation bugs that fooled me.


    =

  • EPISODE 839 TRAVEL NIGHTMARE…LONDON TO TORONTO JUNE 21 AND 22, 223…TORTURE!

    EPISODE  839   TRAVEL NIGHTMARE…LONDON TO TORONTO JUNE 21 AND 22, 223…TORTURE!


    alan skeoch
    June 22, 2023




    Flying is not a happy experience.  Note the exhausted care giver flat out on the floor as she awaits the ‘special loading’
    of ill or handicapped passengers.  We were in this crowd.  Note Marjorie perched on her own luggage.  And we were special.
    This did not bode well.


    No, we were going to London, England rather than Singapore but the problem remains the same.  How can 300 people
    be packed into a jumbo jet?  How is it done?  What does it feel like?  Can I survive?”

    THE TRIP HOME WAS TORTURE….EDGAR ALLAN POE KIND OF TORTURE

    I would prefer to forget the last 48 hours.  Sheer torture of the thousand cuts kind. We were tricked by
    the beautiful sunshiny day in England when we awoke at 4 a.m., june 21, 2023.  Great to be alive kind of day in the
    early morning daylight.

    Marjorie was busy packing our bags for the return flight to Toronto supposedly take off time was high noon 
    from HeathRow.  That flight never happened,

    TIME LINE 8 A.M.,  JUNE 21:  “Alan, just got word our flight is cancelled due to a technical issue whatever that means.”
    TIME LINE  10 a.m.  June 21: “Alan, new flight will be tonight 1120…midnight

    SHORT VERSION OF EVENTS
    1) Awoke at 4 a.m June 21 Shenley, England
    2) Next sleep was 3.30 a.m. June 22, 2023 in Toronto…30 hours later.

    SHORTER VERSION
    1) WE have been awake for 29 hours and 45 minutes give or take an hour/
    No sleep for nearly 30 hours,
    2) Tortured for 7 hours in an airplane seat designed for children. Pure hell
    that never seemed to end.

    LONG VERISON
    1) Flight delay for 12 hours from 12 noon to 12 midnight
    2) Packed jumbo jet with 300 very unhappy passengers some of whom must have been medicated comatose
    3) My seat was 53H, aisle seat with large jolly man as partner.  I knew he was jolly because he kept pushing
    buttons to help me with the Tv screen. His body began an amicable takeover…
    4) Easy for him to do so because his body overlapped my body by about one third.  We shared 
    my arm rest until he fell asleep and took full arm rest and a nice slice of my seat surface.  Not his fault but
    seat designers must have known.
    5) I decided to give up territory and turned my body right angle.  …which meant both feet were now
    in public  space as stewardess gently reminded me.
    6) I have a bad knee….painful so decided to walk the aisles for the fulll 7 hours and 45 minutes of the flight
    7) Woman in centre seat noticed my agony so we both tried to lift the aisle side seat arm rest.  Failed.
    8) Young man in aisle seat ahead of me got up and helped me escape the Edger Allan Poe seat.
    (*Edger Alan Poe wrote  novel about a room too small for the human body) I popped out like a Champaign cork.
    9)  became an unhappy wanderer of public slit called an aisle.  Noticed things.  Like the large man… 250 to 300 pounds
    who sat aslant in his seat…bum partly on bottom, partly on arm rest.  Worse than my fate.  Even worse for the man
    sitting beside him who seemed about to be engulfed in a wave of human flesh.
    10) Others wandered with me.  All of us seemed to have been happy passengers on the cancelled flight. “Ive been awake
    since four this morning,” was comment we all shared….by then we had been awake for 20 to 24 hours. With more  to come.
     11) Stewadess found me an middle bulkhead seat….I thanked her before realising The foot space was less than my body length.
    Edger Alan Poe came to mind again.   I wondered why my mom had named me Alan at that point.
    12)  I tried a new posture.  Kneeled on my seat and faced backward viewing all passengers which included
    Marjorie who had a similar large man partner.   She was being slowly crushed. which raised another story 
    for Edgar Alan Poe were he still alive.
    13) I noticed  Marjorie was the only person wearing a mask in the back of he aircraft.  Mine had dropped and was lost
    to foot traffic.   Was that tiny bastard called Covid 19 hovering in the air.?  Which asked another Edger Alan Poe story
    that was yet to be written.
    14) I was calmed down by the thought that this flight would end soon.   We were moving at over 500 miles
    per hour.  Pain would end soon  That thought disintegrated when the pilot eased off on the throttle as we crossed
    over Nova Scotia.  Why slow down?  Only answer I  could think of was he wanted to extend the discomfort.  A masochist.
    And, yes, Edger came to mind once more.
    15) “Are we about to land?”, I asked the stewardess and she assured me we still had several hours of flight time. This was
    not assurance.  This was science fiction….A space/time warp. Then more food was handed out.    i thought of a scotch and water
    but did not ask.  The last time I did that the stewardess poured the whole sample bottle into a cup of crushed ice.  Too much. If I was drunk
    then pain would ease….was that her thought?
    So I let the food amd drink pass by.
    16)  Our earlier supper arrived at 1 a.m. which ws an odd time to be eating a full course meal.   No worries.  the meal may
    have been good but the cover was put on with super glue.  Could not be opened.  The bun was good when coupled with 
    a cold beer.  Fulll marks for those two  items.  Lucky I am left handed and could raise glass to mouth.    If I had been right handed
    then my jolly rolly polly partner would have made eating and drinking impossible as his mobile flesh began to flow into my territory.
    Even so, the hot meal was dumped into the trash. impossible to eat.   I had newly sliced two red peppers as rescue food but that
    was now three rows behind me where Marjorie must have been enjoying them with.  “Alan, let me help you,”
    she had said and then neatly took my red peppers.  Mean or thoughtful.?  Can  good intentions be clothed to cover evil
    thoughts.  Once again Edger Poe came.

    TOO MUCH INFORMATION?  LETE ME CLOSE WITH THE LIMO SCAM.

    Travelling luggage is never light as Marjorie prepares for every possibility including nuclear war.
    When I was single and a prospector in the Canadian wilderness my gear for three moths was packed
    in a singe rucksack.  Today’s baggage consisted of thee suitcases, a pack sack and an immense
    purse.   We do not travel light which is as much my fault as hers.  There were six bottles of English
    beer in the bags “because the beer labels are fascinating.”

    THE LIMO SCAM

    Marjorie flagged down a Limo.  Nice guy it seemed as he helped
    load the bags and drove us smoothly home.’

    “How much ?”
    “$57”
    “Here take $60 out of this #100 bill.”
    “Sorry I have no change.”
    RED FLAG!  RED FLAG!
    THIS SMELLS LIKE A SCAM….HE WANTS MY $100 BILL.
    “Let me see if I have $60…need the headlights.”
    “There, I have three twenties.”
    Driver hung around…seemed unhappy…seemed to want more money…maybe 
    I should have given him a larger tip.  But my mood was vile.  Due as much 
    to the fatigue as to his scam.   He got no more from me. He slipped way.

    MEANWHILE MARJORIE was hauling the luggage to the house in
    the darkness.  Had she eaten all my sliced peppers and felt guilty?

    As i said, my mood was pure evil.  Pure Edger Alan Poe.


    POSTSCRIPT:  I FIRMLY BELIEVE THAT AIR CANADA IS
    AWARE OF THE FAILURE OF THEIR SEAT DESIGN…THAT
    MAY BE DELIBERATE…MAKING SEATING UNPLEASANT WILL
    ENCOURAGE UPGRADES!

    alan skeoch
    June 22, 2032

  • EPISODE 835 SHE WAS SCARED….TO WHOM COULD SHE TURN FOR HELP?

    EPISODE 835       SHE WAS SCARED….TO WHOM COULD SHE TURN FOR HELP?


    aka skeoch
    june 2023


    25 Different Types Of Hugs (With Pictures) And Their Meaning
    Hugging can be very dangerous for teachers.

    TO WHOM COULD SHE TURN FOR HELP?  ME?  YIKES!

    She lingered as the classes changed.   Her boyfriend was there as well but outside my classroom 
    door.  She wanted to talk to me alone.  
    Alone! Yikes!  Being alone with a female student is not
    a good thing under any circumstances.   It is darn dangerous.  Can cost a teacher his job.
      Never be alone with a female student.  Friendly for sure.  Laughing and
    teasing but never crossing the line…to be alone with a female student.

    But that day she wanted to speak ro me privately…urgently.   I remember her name and her face
    clearly now… about 30 years later.  But I did not talk with her alone.  she mumbled something to me…..one clear
    wrord was ‘help’.    She was not explicit but it was clear something bad had happened.  Seemed
    sexual.   Seemed parent was involved.  But It was not clear.And getting enmeshed in the
    situation was  not a good idea.   Her boyfriend was also one of my students.  He remained 
    in the hall but clearly  wanted  her to get help from me.  They trusted me.

    So I had to do something.  And fast.  She did not want to go home.   I was not sure why
    but there were enough hints that i feared sexual abuse.’

    “I willl see what I can do?”

    And away they went.  What should I do?  What could I do? To whom could Turn
    for help?  Te girl should have gone to the guidance department but she did not.
    Too embarrassing it seemed.

    Then it dawned on me that the school nurse might help.  

    “I am not sure but I think one of my students fears sexual abuse.  She asked me to help…sort of
    asked me.   Her boyfriend was with her and he seemed worried as well.  Both really nice kids.”
    “Leave it to me.” said the nurse and immediately steps were taken.  I never knew
    what steps.  The girl was interviewed and I believe she did not go home that night but
    instead was taken to a safe place…..a home for women in trouble.  It happened fast.
    within an hour or so.   She wagon.

    the nurse did not confide in me.  But she knew this kind of trouble could be dangerous
    and discretion was necessary.   I am not sure if anyone else knew what happened.
    she did not return to my class.  She was gone. I am not sure what had happened…
    if anything.  Something did happen .  That was the soft voice saying ‘help’.  She was gone.

    Then a long time later, perhaps a year, the girl appeared with her boyfriend at my classroom
    door.  Both happy and smiling.  They did not say much  but wanted to express
    thanks.   Not sure it they were married by then but suspect marriage was coming
    soon.  

    I think they  owned a small booth in
    one of the malls in Toronto. They were a very happy couple.

    WHY WAS I SO CAUTIOUS…SO SECRETIVE?

    For good reason.  Teachers are assumed to be guilty until proven
    innocent if a student says touching has occurred.  It might be imaginary or real…
    like an innocent hug.   The  teacher is sent home until the case
    is examined..  That teacher might be quite innocent but will carry a cloud of
    suspicion no matter what is determined.   So most of my teacher friends keep 
    their distance.  As do I.

    Innocent until proven guilty no longer seems to apply.

    alan

  • EPISODE 833 THE NIGHT DANCE WHERE I NEARLY GOT PUNCHED OUT OR WORSE parkdale c.i. 1963

    EPISODE 833     THE NIGHT DANCE WHERE I NEARLY GOT PUNCHED OUT OR WORSE


    alan skeoch
    June 2023


    1950 – Sept 19 – Jameson Avenue south from Queen StreetPin on Rockabilly
    In 1963, Jameson Avenue was lined with tall elm trees…very dark at night.  The boys in the picture are not the boys who mouthed off to me, but look like them.



    My first high school dance.   The first dance i was the teacher in charge.
    Tihisdid not go well.   A bunch of older boys arrived and lit up cigarettes in the
    hall of Parkdale C.I.  A challenge.

    “Get rid of those cigarettes.,” I said loudly but nervously.
    “Why?”
    “No smoking in the school.”
    (mumbling response with the  “f” word used liberallly or so I thought.)
    “OK boys, get out of here. You are not Parkdale students.”
    “We would like to see you make us leave….paid our money.”
    “Get out.”
    “Big tough teacher.  All talk.”
    “Out you go!”  
    (This was my first school dance.   My first year teaching.  I was not much
    older than the boys who were joking and mouthing  off to me.”
    “Think you are a tough guy, don’t you.”
    “Get out!”
    “Bet you haven’t got the guts to come out with us to Jameson Avenue.”

    That was where I made a big mistake.  I escorted the tough guys out 
    to the dark street where they began to encircle me.   This spelled trouble.
    I was about to get mugged and could do nothing about it. The encircling
    was nearly complete when a wonderful thing happened.

    “Having any trouble Mr Skeoch?”, came the voice of Ted Spencer who knew
    I was in over my head.  He had a couple of other big guys with him.
    They were prepared to back me up should push come to punch.
    Rescuers.

    The tough guys melted into the darkness of Jameson Avenue.  I have never
    forgotten that evening.

    Another new teacher, Alison Petrie, and my wife Marjorie were also present
    and had their own kind of trouble.

    Two boys struck up a conversation.  “So Miss Petrie, you came to Ontario from
    New Brunswick…how do you like teaching?”

    While one boy talked the other stood behind Alison and slowly un zipped her dress.
    Not completely unzipped but down enough to see her brassiere straps.  She was
    scared but remained calm.   These boys were just kidding around but it
    seemed far worse to Alison and Marjorie.

    Hard to forget that first night dance in October 1963.

    alan skeoch


    Parkdale Collegiate's senior football team may have to share ...

    Ted Spencer was a member of Parkdale football team in 1963.