Tuesday 27^th February, 2018 1900

Hahaha!

It's a good job I went to sea and my alma mater's motto was Quit Ye Like Men, Be Strong!

Or maybe I am what they commonly refer to nowadays as a “snowflake”? I don't think so but I could understand others caving in and crumbling.

Why this opening to an entry? Well, hot on the heels of the threat of non-renewal of contract, I received an email from Janet, my assistant on east campus. This was in response to my reminder for her to inform the bus driver I needed picking up each Wednesday and Friday morning this term and also to check they either had or had ordered the new text book.

So far so good. The email simply said “ok”.

Then I noticed a pdf attachment. I almost never opened it, assuming it was my timetable because I already knew I had all day Weds and Friday morning. Every class will be in the same classroom next to my office so why should I need one?

I revisited the email after reflecting for a while. Janet has never sent me a schedule, sure she has printed one and brought it to me in school, but.... And the email was rather brief. No wonder she sneaked it in, just as surely as the UK government buries bad news when there are more catastrophic tidings in the headlines and as the Politburo sneakily announced Xi's successful bid to make him emperor for life by announcing it as item 14 of 21 in a national statement.

Fridays are not mornings only, I have the first class and then once again a huge lunch break of 4½ hours before the next one. I requested clarification, knowing full well the answer. “It just got changed”.

So apart from threatening to sack me in four months it seems they are determined to do their damnedest to kill me before they have to bother doing so.

No, of course I am not happy. And yes, I could probably demand that the three straight days be split so as I did last term I could have a rest day Tues and Thurs. But with a bigger battle on my hands I really don't want to appear to be a recalcitrant, after all what do I want more? Another year or some respite from teaching? It does though rather make a joke of the reasons I may be dispensed with (my age and health) when they are quite happy to give me a rota I am quite sure no other teacher here will have - even the youthful ones.

Ah well, looking on the sunny side, it does mean I get a McDonald's breakfast every Friday.

If you call it breakfast.