The Imperial War Museum

For some reason the OU still think that I'm doing AA312 so I got an email invite to an event held at the Imperial War Museum. I was in two minds if I should go, but having been forced to go to a birthday party for somebody I don't really know by her indoors  the night before I really needed to get out of the house to clear my head. I got up quite late still suffering from the night before and Carolyn had by that time already knobbed off to sing to the Sky Fairy. After a shower and breakfast I made my way to Headcorn Road and got the 136 to Grove Park and then a train to Waterloo East. A young girl sat next to me on the train which I thought was a bit odd because experience tells me that most people would prefer to stand than sit next to me.

I got to Waterloo East and made my way to the exit. It was down several flights of stairs and I came out in some side street in the middle of nowhere. After a while my GPS got a fix and I found myself walking down a very wide pavement in Waterloo Road. I passed the Old Vic and photographed it because I had plenty of time.

It was a bit of a maze of a journey but I managed to find the Imperial War Museum eventually. Typical OU stylee the signage was appalling and I had to venture in not knowing if I was in the right building. There was an OU representative in the lobby and she gave me a leaflet. I asked her where the lectures were and she directed me to the cinema at the back of the large room which had aeroplanes and tanks in it. I was a bit early so I thought I would go to the toilet. I went through a maze of rooms and found it but couldn’t find my way back. The place was dark and very claustrophobic which didn’t help. I followed the signs and eventually found my way back to the entrance so I just retraced my steps.

When I got to the outside bit of the cinema I had to register my name with the bloke on the desk and then wait around with the others for the previous lecture to finish. I found a seat but the place was more or less full. OU staff were there in abundance and the various people were their usual bossy selves, treating the punters like naughty children. A middle aged woman sat next to me but she was as unfriendly as the usual bunch of OU students that I’ve met in these places. We exchanged a few strained words and then ignored each other for the next hour, until she changed seats.

Linda Corlett

The first lecture was by Linda Corlett who was my tutor for DA204. She was quite petite and spoke with a bit of an accent, which I assumed was South African. She knew her stuff and tried to be a bit jokey with the audience but it didn’t quite come off. I think she was quite nervous. The lecture was about humans inflicting pain on each other which wasn’t a barrel of laughs but interesting nonetheless. She spoke well under the circumstances and I can understand why she is regarded as a good tutor.

The next lecture was on First World War poster propaganda which was an interesting subject but Dr Barry Dakcombe wasn’t very good. He was reading from his notes and kept stopping to drink some water. He didn't know his subject very well and at the end when people were asking questions the woman running the show had to get up on stage and help him out.

The last lecture was by Dr Anneka Mombauer who is an expert on the causes of the First World War. I think she used to be the course tutor for AA312 a few years ago. I heard a similar lecture by her about the same time last year in Camden so I gave it a miss.

I walked back to Waterloo East but got a bit lost because my GPS was playing up. I found it manually, and was quite knackered after I climbed the stairs to the upper platforms. I got the Hayes train to Catford Bridge then the 336 home. Carolyn was out when I got in so I ate some biscuits, drank some squash and just dossed about a bit. After stroking the cat I did a bit more on the broken computer. I managed to do a partial restore which was better than nothing but not perfect. I tried again and after the second wang it appeared to work again. I had to tidy a few things up but it appeared to be back in full working order. I put the case back together and called it a day.

When Carolyn got home she seemed alright and wasn’t grumpy at all so the rest of the evening went well. Looking back on the whole thing I don't know if it was all worth it. In fact, at the moment, I don't know if my whole life is worth it, but it's probably best to keep on going anyway.