Tuesday 15th December, 2015                1830

Another day, another dollar as they would have said in SSM when I had the best job imaginable.

That’s the beauty or the drawback of blogging in real time, you show your true feelings and that is why I don’t delete my entries even if I think maybe I should later.

It seems almost certain that the ice festival  trip is off. The exam dates are still in abeyance. Joan screwed up with the dates but notwithstanding, the latest bollo*** would have scuppered my plans anyway money-wise probably.

The moment Joan finds out about the exam schedules will be the defining moment as they say. If she is free then I will do my best to protect my finances and still take that holiday. If not then I have to cancel everything and recoup what I can.

But I am damned if I will let all these setbacks prevent me from having at least a short break elsewhere. Plan B is now to take Joan to Nanning if it all goes wrong. There are still flights, provided we find out the exam schedule soon. I mean, they start in three weeks so of course they will be published soon, won’t they??? Don’t hold your breath.

If I don’t get to see the ice festival and my very generous Hilton friend then of course on the disappointment richter scale it measures a full ten. But. I have envisaged this coming ever since Joan confessed, sadly only after the flights were paid for and which will now cost me dearly to cancel.

There are still flights to Nanning at reasonable prices, I may be able to contact old friends from the Jinhua hotel and of course if we do go then I have to show Joan Yangmei - of cow taxi fame.

You know when life pisses you off and you want to stick two fingers up to it? Well right now that is me. I will fight and probably lose as I am not on home turf but at least I will fight (QYLMBS for the OCs  reading!) and by God I will enjoy the scrap and the journey to oblivion or a new life even though there will be much sadness on the way.

I never got to see the new witch - sorry, Dean - today. I needed to shop in town (zero wine stocks) and the electrician was late coming to replace the starters in two of my fluorescent strips. I could have done it myself  but they aren’t like the ones I know, the entire assembly has to come down and the starters are as nothing I have seen previously. One would have thought with such hassle involved (he needed to use a table because my chair wasn’t high enough) they would provide more robust stuff but no, maybe starters have to retire at 60 too!

Anyway I did go to town to get my shopping and that’s the last time I take the number ten bus the wrong way. It turns right at the commercial centre so to carry out my dastardly act I have to get off there. The number 29 on the other hand goes straight over. The 29 is it from now on because even at the commercial centre I still had to let three buses pass before I was sure of a seat. Public transport here may be cheap but when you are fat, old and have two heavy bags of groceries, standing is not particularly enticing.

For now, spring festival is up in the air