Just wanted to say sorry for the lack of posts recently. Glen and I have been busy revamping this site, and the new look should go live soon (some of you will have had a glimpse of it, as I have activated it a few times over the past few weeks for testing).
I’ve also set up my own web development company, Juggle Communications, which should go live soon.
So, basically, although I’m not posting much, I am doing plenty of work behind the scenes.
I’m sure some of you, particularly those of you who know that I’ve been trying to secure a training contract for four years, would like to know how my training is going.
It’s now been almost two months since I started my training with South West London Law Centres, and all is going swimmingly. Most of the past two months have been focused on clearing my RAD caseload, as well as focusing on my casework supervision duties for the Advice team, and I am now starting to accept Deaf clients referred to me by RAD for the law centre. My first case will be a former RAD client of mine, who is facing possession proceedings for eviction. I’m really looking forward to getting stuck into that case.
I am still covering two advice surgeries for RAD, but with the handing over of Romford on Wednesdays to Laura, I now have up to four days a week at the law centre (three days when I go to Brixton on a Tuesday). It has been a massive improvement.
The Law Society requires that all trainees keep a training record of the work completed and the skills used during the casework, and I have been doing this, and also, I am currently sorting out funding for BSL/English Interpreters on my Professional Skills Course. At the moment, BPP Law School are insisting that *I* pay for the BSL/English Interpreters, and having thrown the DDA 1995 at them, I’m waiting for a response from the Course Director. Will let you know what happens.
All in all, I’m a happy bunny!
(Posted via mobile) Just saw something absolutely hilarious. Following on from Lynne Truss’ Eats, Shoots and Leaves, I just went through Clapham Junction on the way to East Croydon and noticed that the sign notifying all and sundry that Clapham Junction was “Britains [sic] busiest railway station”, as pointed out by Truss in the book. That’s not what’s funny though. The funny thing is that someone has stuck an apostrophe where it should be from the Punctuation Repair Liv, so that it became ‘Britain’s’. Classic! 
Having just finishing reading Eats, Shoots & Leaves by Lynne Truss, seeing as I enjoyed it tremendously, I thought I would write a review.
Now, you wouldn’t think that a book about punctuation would be a source of laughter, would you? You’d be surprised by Eats, Shoots & Leaves. Lynne Truss’ writing style is to be commended, simply because she makes what many people would think a stuffy, academic, and above all, boring, subject, actually quite amusing.
Truss appeals to that ‘stickler’ in me who finds mis-punctuation by the masses pretty damn annoying, such as: placing the apostrophe in the wrong place; not using commas or using too many commas; not knowing when or how to use colons and semi-colons; when to use single and double quotation marks etc. There’s even a ‘Punctuation Repair Kit” in the book, with adhesive stickers of apostrophes, full stops, question marks, exclamation marks etc. so any old stickler can stick ‘em where he or she spots a punctuation no-no and corrects it. The idea just tinkles me pink!
I’d like to quote Truss at page 136,
“Victor Hugo[,] (…) when he wanted to know how Les Misérables was selling – reportedly telegraphed his publisher with the simple inquiry “?” and received the expressive reply “!”
To me, that quote sums up the nature of Truss’ book. It demonstrates just how important punctuation is to the English language, and how it should be preserved against an influx of new technologies which are influencing the way we write English, which is causing us to neglect niceties such as spelling and punctuation. It also shows just how expressive punctuation – that is, without any words at all – can be.