How to rectify two simple things in Word.

There are two things that I want to tell you today. they are things that annoy me somewhat when I come across them. the first is how to create superscripts and subscripts.
So often I read 25C or H2O They are both wrong. The Celcius scale is measured in degrees, a small raised 'o'  and the formula for water needs the dropped 2 or it means, if it means anything, one atom of hydrogen and two of oxygen Which is an impossibility anyway.



(Unfortunately, Blogger does not seem to recognise the super- and sub-scripts. I originally gace examples of the correct use, but Blogger has reverted them to the non-super and subscripts so I had to remove them. Pointless in saying it's wrong, then the 'corrected' version still has them wrong!)

This is a very simple thing to rectify. Simply click on ‘format’ on the toolbar and click on Font.
You will get the following window opening.

Check the superscript or subscript box, whichever you want and click OK. Then type what you want to be super- or subscripted. Go back to Format, then  Font and uncheck the box. Click OK and you’re ready to go.








The other thing that irritates me when reading is when there is an apostrophe at the beginning of a word. (such as ’till, an abbreviation of until) So often, this comes out as ‘till, which is. of course a quotation mark and not an apostrophe. What's more, it's a quotation mark with no closure.

In order to prevent this, I discovered a very simple way. You can fool Word into thinking it’s an apostrophe in the middle of a word by not pressing the space bar until after you’ve typed the two words.

EG. Wait here’till I arrive.

Then you simple go back and put in the space. Word will then keep the apostrophe the right way round.

Wait here ’till I arrive.

Both quite simple really, but are usually done wrongly, either because the writer knows no better, or through ignorance of the means to correct it.

Horselords

I have been serialising the early stories of some of the people you can find in The Wolves of Vimar Series. Today I am starting the early story of Kimi and Davrael. I hope you enjoy it.

 
Kimi woke to hear sounds of horses whinneying. A gate creaked and then she heard galloping hooves. She quickly jumped from her bed and went to the window of her small bedroom. There, in the darkness, she could just make out a herd of horses disappearing across the plains.

She ran to her parent's bedroom and woke them.

'The horses have been stolen,' she called as she turned to her brothers' bedroom.

Her father leaped out of bed and ran to his window. This looked out over the back of the ranch where there were two corralls of some of the best horses on Vimar. He saw that these had not been touched, but these were not his best animals. The one Kimi's room overlooked held those.

'Are you sure, Kimi?' he called to her as she woke her two brothers. He knew she would not have made such a mistake, but he felt he had to ask.

The girl came out of her brothers' room, followed by the young men,Yeldin and Olias. The boys were older than their sister, Yeldin being the elder at almost twenty, and Olias was eighteen. Kimi would be seventeen at her next birthday in two months' time.

'Of course I'm sure,' she said. 'I heard the gate creak, then galloping. I looked and saw them galloping off over the plains.'

Olias looked at his sister. 'Are you sure they didn't just jump the gate, or otherwise break it themselves. Did you see anyone?'

Kimi looked at her brother and sighed.

'I'm not an imbecile, Oli,' she told him. 'The gate was open. Unless the horses have now developed a way of opening the gate, someone did it for them.'

'The Tribes,' said her father, pulling on his trousers as he came out of the room he shared with his wife. 'It must be one of the Tribes. Thieving scum that they are.'

The family was one of a number of settled folk living close to The Barrier, the range of mountains that cut off the Western Plains from the rest of the continent of Khalram.

Once they had been of the Tribes themselves, following the herds of wild horses that roamed the plains Several generations ago, some of the people had decided they could rear better horses if they had more control and so they settled in one place. There had been enmity between the Tribes and Settlers ever since.

Kimi looked hard at her father.

'Not all the Tribes are thieves, Dad,' she told him. 'Some are, yes. They are jealous of the progress we've made in breeding, but not all of them.'

'A Tribe member is always a thief,' replied her father in a tone that said he could not be convinced otherwise. 'Get dressed quickly, pick up your weapons and come with me. We've some horses to get back.'
Soon, Kimi and her brothers were cantering westwards after their animals, alongside their parents. All carried bows, and the men were also armed with knives. The tracks were easy to follow. The thieves had taken around twenty of the family's best animals and they left plenty of signs of their passing.

Then the tracks split into three. Kimi's father pulled his horse to a halt.

'They want to confuse us so we don't know which way to go,' he said. 'We'll need to split up to find them.'

Kimi's mother pulled her horse nearer to her husband.

'Do you think it's a good idea to split?' she asked him. 'We've no idea how many there are. It might be that there are too many for a couple of us to take on alone. Perhaps we should just go after one group and get those horses back. At least we would have some of our stock.'

'These are our best animals,' said Kimi's father. 'We need to get them all back. If we allow the thieves to gain even one, they'll spread the word that we're easy and keep coming back till we've no horses at all.'

The argument went on until Kimi, ever practical, pointed out that while they were arguing, the horses were getting further away. They took a vote, and all voted with their father and so the group split into three.

Kimi found herself with her elder brother, Yeldin. They followed one set of tracks to the south west.

'Any idea how many are in this lot?' he asked her. Kimi was a good tracker and she descended from her horse and studied the tracks.

'I'd say there are nine horses here, but how many are ours and how many are being ridden by the thieves I couldn't say.'

Yeldin smiled at her. 'Well, little sis,' he said, 'I'm sure we can take them on. Let's get going.'

They had ridden for several miles when they spotted dust on the horizon.'

'There they are,' called Yeldin from ahead. 'I'll circle round from the east and you approach from the west.'

Kimi pulled her pieballed horse round and galloped of in a westerly direction. She had her bow ready to fire at any enemy who approached, but she was not prepared for the five warriors who came from out of a stand of trees and surrounded her. They quickly pulled her from her horse and bound her hands and feet, then put her back across her horse so she could only see the ground below as they cantered southwards towards their camp.


What will happen to Kimi? Will she be able to escape? Find out next month.

Review of Stairlift to Heaven 2, Further up the Stairlift by Terry Ravenscroft

For those of you who have never heard of Terry Ravenscroft, he is a writer of comedy. He has written for such people as Les Dawson and The Two Ronnies, and has also been the script writer for such shows as Alas Smith and Jones, Not the Nine 0'Clock News and many others.

This book does not fail to live up to the expectations such a CV would lead one to expect. It is full of humerous anecdotes of his escapades with his friend, Atkins.

Atkins seems to be just the same kind of person as Terry Ravenscroft and the two egg each other on to all kinds of misdemeanours from misleading someone in a charity shop to believe he had found a valuable piece of pottery to annoying cold callers on the telephone.

This is the second book Mr Ravenscroft has written about his life in retirement and I am looking forward to reading Book 3.

Definitely worth a read.

In Defense of Grammar Schools

This should not have been published on 23rd May, so I'm going to move it to the correct place. Apologies.

There is a debate going on in the UK at the moment about education. As an ex-teacher I am interested in the arguments.

The Conservative Government wants to allow Grammar Schools to be re-established. Before the 1960s there was a system of Grammar Schools and Secondary Modern Schools.

In order to get into a grammar school, all children took an examination at age 11, in the final year of their primary school. It was called the 11+ examination. Those pupils who were in the top percentage got a place in the grammar school. I don't know what that percentage was, but I have heard it said that the top 25% went to grammar schools.

The grammar schools were academic schools, and they taught academic subjects. secondary moderns tended not to teach much in the way of languages, for example.

It is said that the future of children was settled at 11, and that was not good, because some children developed later. But the 11+ was not the end. There was a 12+ and a 13+ that pupils could take if they seemed to be developing in a more academic way.

At that time, the school leaving age was 15. The pupils who went to grammar school had to stay on until 16 so they could do the GCE 'O' level examination. A few pupils stayed on at secondary modern and did 'O' levels as well. If they did well in the examinations, they could then go on to the 6th form in the grammar school or at a college. I have several friends who did this.

During the 1960s, came the advent of the comprehensive school. These schools were deemed to be fairer than the old system. Each neighbourhood took in all the pupils from its catchment area. All went to the same school, regardless of their academic ability. This, it was said, was much fairer. It did not create an elite and a lot of 'failures' at the age of 11.

On the face of it, this seems to be fine, only I think there are a number of flaws in this argument.

The main one, I think is this. Pupils from a given area all go to the local comprehensive school. There is no examination for entry, so no feelings of failure by those who did not pass the 11+.
That sounds fine, but if the neighbourhood school is not very good, all pupils from that particular neighbourhood are being failed.

Children do not get the chance to meet children from a different background, either. They are living with these people, have been brought up in the area, either rich or poor, and so they do not get a rounded picture of society.

The idea was the opposite of this. Pupils attending comprehensive schools were supposed to see all the different types of people. Yes, they saw all the different academic types, but not people from different social backgrounds.

Comprehensive schools were supposed to prevent the feelings of failure by some pupils failing the 11+. I don't think you can stop pupils from feeling inferior intellectually by lumping them all together. They can see the brighter pupils doing better than them in their academic work. That will make them feel inferior just as much as 'failing' the 11+.

One other thing brought about by the introduction of comprehensive schools, is that the education given is a watered-down academic curriculum, which is not suited to all pupils, and has lowered the academic standards for the very brightest pupils.

Grammar schools, they say, create an elite. This is supposed to be bad. In a perfect world, I suppose everyone would have the same academic capabilities, but everyone does not. There are some people who are much cleverer than others. Some say that it is solely due to their background how some people develop, and a middle class background is advantageous. This I would not dispute, but only to a point. There are middle class children who do not excel, and working class ones who do, in spite of their background.

They say that comprehensive schools help social mobility. How? Pupils live and learn in the same area with the same people and values.

In a grammar school, pupils come from all backgrounds and all areas of a town. They mix with each other and get to know something of the lives of each other. Pupils from working class backgrounds can get an academic education, and get away from the schools in their area where ambition is perhaps not so great.

Bright pupils who live in an area with a poor school can get away from that as well.

It is said that grammar schools have more middle class pupils than working class ones. That is something that can be worked out. 'They' say that the exam can be coached and middle class parents are more likely to put up the money for coaching. Well, I went to a grammar school and was coached for the exam, but not by private tutor, which is the perception, but by my primary school. Encourage primary schools in working class areas to coach. Or develop an exam where coaching is no advantage.

There's always an answer, and in my opinion, the advent of comprehensive schools has lowered standards. When I look at the exams I took at 'O' level and the exams pupils take at GCSE, there's no comparison. We had to write essays. They just have 'structured questions', or fill in the blanks.

I see grammar schools as promoting social mobility far more than comprehensive schools in contrast to what the detractors say, that they are elitist and prevent it.

The Legend of Grillon and Parador from The Wolf Pack

The legend of Grillon and Parador is one of the legends of the world of Vimar. Grillon is the god of nature and wild things, and Parador the goddess of agriculture. This tale is told on the first day of spring, the equinox, which is also considered to be the first day of the year. It is celebrated by feasting after a religious ceremony, and people let down their moral standards for that night.
Any children conceived on Grillon's Night are not considered illegitimate, but rather, are blessed, being thought of as Grillon's children.


One day the Lord of Nature was walking all alone
When beside a hidden pool a lovely sight was shown.
For bathing in the moonlight, where no-one should have been
Was a beauteous maiden, the loveliest he’d e’er seen.


Lord Grillon lost his heart to her
This maiden oh so fair.
He vowed that she would be his own
His life with her would share.


He showed himself at once to her
As forward he did tread.
She said “And who are you, good sir?
Should you not be abed?”

Oh lovely maid, my love, my life,
I ne’er will rest again.
Unless you come to be my wife
My heart will feel such pain.”

And so fair Parador was wed
To Grillon. She agreed
To always sleep within his bed
And others ne’er to heed.

But evil now will turn to dust
That love and bliss
For Barnat after her did lust
And swore she’d be his.

He poisoned Grillon’s mind and said
She was untrue
That she had been into his bed
And others too.

Lord Grillon he was truly sad
That she should treat him so.
He thought that he’d go truly mad
So far from her he’d go.

Now Parador had done no wrong
To deserve this fate.
She could not any more be strong
Beneath Lord Grillon’s hate.

So mourn she did and all the world
Did join with her in sorrow.
All green things died and creatures curled
All safely in their burrow.

But in good time, Lord Grillon found
How false the god of war.
He came to her and he reclaimed
The love of his wife once more.

So once again the land grew green
And springtime came again.
And summer’s warmth and life serene
While she forgot her pain.

And so each year the land remembers
The love of Parador
And autumn comes and winter’s embers
Till Spring returns once more.



If you want to find out more about the world of Vimar and its inhabitants, you can buy The Qolf Pack, Book 1 of The Wolves of Vimar by following this link.
mybook.to/thewolfpack

Special book offer

Starting on Monday 19th June, Emily Littler is offering Vengeance of a Slave at the special promotion price of $0.99 or £0.99. This is a 59% saving.

The price will increase in steps for the following 7 days, until June 26th, when it will be back at its full price of $2.99 or £2.35. Hurry so you don't lose out.

Here is a bit about the story.

Adelbhert is only 6 years old when he is forced to watch the crucifixion of his father and other men from his village. They rebelled against the Romans and this was the punishment meted out.
Then he and his young sister are taken as slaves for their pretty looks and ash blonde hair. A rich merchant from Britannia buys them and takes them to give as presents to his wife and daughter. Adelbehrt promises his sister they will escape one day, but cannot promise when.
His experiences make the boy hate the Romans, and he nurtures this hatred throughout his years. as a slave. He is treated more as a pet than a human being, which he hates.
What will become of him and his sister when they are no longer pretty children? Will they be sold and separated? What will their future be?
Adelbehrt's one ambition is to escape and take his revenge on the Roman Army.
But one young man against the might of Rome is seemingly impossible odds. How can Adelbehrt escape, and how can he fight the Roman Army, and can he overcome his hatred before it eats away at his soul.

Clancy Tucker's Blog: 10 June 2017 - TOP QUOTES WORTH READING

Clancy Tucker's Blog: 10 June 2017 - TOP QUOTES WORTH READING: TOP QUOTES WORTH READING G'day folks, Get ready. Here are some more top quotes. ...