Tuesday 22^nd September, 2020 2315

I think I know why I fell the other night because the same almost happened again today. Unless I have a bannister, I simply cannot walk upstairs or downstairs any more without putting a foot on the next step and having the other foot join it – not going to the following step. Luckily today when it nearly happened the stair rods were there for me to grab. Now that to me is really a sign of becoming infirm – and as things go, I am not exactly supposed to be geriatric yet. My body says otherwise. I just hope the pain eases in another day or so.

I also received a major setback to my retirement plans. Joan informed me that she didn't think she would follow through on the plans to open a bar. The possibility, nay the probability, was always something I had half expected. Her mother is ill, she has younger siblings and she is working hard to help her father support the family. When I asked what her father was doing she replied he was earning as much as he could to pay into his and his wife's pensions because he was getting older and weaker. Strangely, I can relate to that feeling. So I now have a lot of thinking to do as to what I will do in 22 months time.

This term's timetable after only two days of the full Monty is already killing me. Finishing at 1830 and getting home at 1930 means I am knackered. Going to bed at 0100 still sees me waking at seven or eight when I could sleep until midday if I wanted to! But at that time of night I don't want to start cooking by torchlight (I think the bulb in the kitchen is about 20W) even if I have the energy and I don't. I need to have a rethink on weekend cooking and freezing and have a clearout of the freezer to make space.

So far I have met half my classes and touch wood, not only are they below 30 students per class (wonder why!) but even the Chinese majors seem reasonably active. I may well find myself the least active in the class but I will get around that by recruiting helpers with the board.

Yesterday I waited for five minutes outside main campus for a taxi to take me home. Sod it, I had a pay rise that will cover taxis to and from and I have already been taking them to. The road they knocked down is a mud pit and it's a long way to the bus but none came quickly but the moment I had walked half a mile and was waiting for a bus no less than four vacant ones emerged! So as we had a flash storm just before my class ended tonight I decided I would wait for half an hour if necessary. Three minutes and I was on my way and boy, there were lakes on every road until we got close to my home. China still hasn't got the hang of the drainage thing.

Apologies for returning to the V word but of course I just heard the UK is now under further restrictions for at least another six months. Businesses are going bust willy-nilly and redundancies are about to skyrocket, the economy is halfway around the s-bend and every day there is a u-turn by the government. And they are hell-bent on destruction.

Firstly, I have to ask why so-called developed countries can't get a grip with 6 months of lockdown when China more or less killed it in five? I carry a mask in my pocket but only wear it now for the occasional taxi driver who asks me to and of course on buses. Otherwise life is pretty much back to normal. If they can do it, why not the “intelligent” countries?

I do watch on incredulously from afar and despite the gybes that I was mad/bonkers for staying here, my God I am so glad I did. I have made some good decisions and some bad ones in my life – as we all do – but that turned out to be a great one.

And do you know, when I decided to stay it was part can't afford to go anywhere else, part inertia, part happy here and part what the hell I can die from anything.