Thursday 13th April, 2017                                      2300

It’s one thing to go to work when you are supposed to and find your class not there. It’s quite another when you rescheduled, admittedly for your own ends (dragon boat catch up day and the Shenyang Onslaught) but also in fact doing that particular class a favour because it means they don’t have to get up early on a Saturday.

I was none too pleased to find this was the case today, especially as I had spent time Wednesday night baking bread pudding as a reward! I went to Janet’s office and asked where they were. Typically, she asked who? I sent you an email telling you which classes I have rescheduled and you informed the school bus driver when to pick me up - today at 1325, remember?

Oh, which class? Monday morning 0800.

Off she went and fair play, rounded up the majority of the students, who rather annoyingly were attempting to deny all knowledge of the lesson. Laziness sometimes has benefits and it had on this occasion. I had spent time on Monday trying to ascertain the class timetable in order not to conflict with other lessons and in so doing I had drawn the days on the board with the lesson numbers, their extra class being periods 5 & 6 today and circled to avoid confusion. I never wiped the board and there the proof sat staring out.

So when Janet confronted me with the accusation the students didn’t know, righteous indignation came into play because my alibi (which the students had not spotted) was behind my left shoulder. Aha! Do not try to make me look a fool. That’s my prerogative but when I spend ten minutes getting my message across and making arrangements, never ever try to say it never happened, especially when I wrote it down and took it home to make sure I wasn’t the one who forgot.

Cue sheepish looks all around the room.

In fairness most of the students did rush to class, many out of breath. Should I tell them the Monday before 27th May not to bother coming to class that Saturday morning? The devil in me says let the buggers get up earlier than they need to and find no teacher but of course I won’t do that. I did give them the bread pudding in the end (particularly sweet this time with plenty of demerera) and they were happy. Perhaps not so happy that I kept them 30 minutes after official end of class but then they were by then watching Ice Age. Anyway they were half an hour late arriving.

When I got home I decided I would try to bake bread so I could make sandwiches for my lunch tomorrow. I put everything in the bread machine, pressed start and oh boy. Something bad happened. The paddle had seized. With all my strength I could not shift it. All that money was going to waste and the machine would be going in the rubbish.

But wait a minute! I have the one the school gave me for being Santa! Still in the box and no idea how to use it but I could at least try and have a guess. Instruction book entirely in Chinese so of no help whatever and I couldn’t even get the bucket out to transfer ingredients. Until that is I discovered that bizarrely, instead of being a simply push in and pull out job you have to turn the bucket anticlockwise a bit to get it out. Ok I was in business.

The bread it made?

Too doughy but then it is a smaller bowl and had ingredients meant for the other defunct apparatus. What it produced I can’t use but I just maybe if I get quantities right this one can turn out bread I might like. Time will tell.

If I post this quickly I may just get five and a half hours sleep before a long day tomorrow teaching. With luck I will have enough energy at lunchtime to go and eat so as to save needing dinner.