Tuesday 25^th August, 2020 1500

Yesterday I went shopping and Jody came along to grab some lunch before going to school to use the photocopier and also go to her bank branch to try and sort out her problems. In China you can't simply go to any branch, it has to be the one you opened your account with in the first instance. Quite whether that applies (it probably does) if you move to, say, Beijing or Shanghai a thousand miles away I hope I never have to find out.

Just before we left though, an arm on her glasses broke and detached. It's not repairable, the opticians confirmed that and of course she can't order and pay for a new set because her account is frozen. I offered to pay to get the ball rolling – they'll take a couple of days to make, Vision Express not being an option in Lanzhou – but she prefers to wait until she can use her own money. I have offered to do a Jack Duckworth on them but for some reason she's not keen!

She's no further forward really, basically her friends who she helped when sending money abroad for them, now have to go and show the paperwork to the main branch downtown – which is where I had to open my account due to my Christian name being a “bad” one, you may recall.

Today I planned to visit the local police station to obtain whatever it is they give you so the school and I can apply for a further year's permit. About two hours ago I stood up to go and get a beer from the fridge and contrived to pull a muscle in my upper thigh! Currently I cannot walk. Jody, bless her, is about to trot down there in my place and I hope they will give it to her. Being the first time I have ever been asked to do it myself I assume Brenda has done it before so it shouldn't be an issue. I am though, heartily glad that the crutches I bought after the fall in the shower and which I had intended to donate to the east campus surgery are still in fact residing next to my desk. With any luck they will not be required tomorrow.