Friday 28th December, 2012         1630

I went to town yesterday simply to shop and as it was raining I thought I would try the 29 bus or at least take it to town and then cab it back. I didn’t hang about because I wanted to get back so Kiki could do my internet shopping for the month, so a quick flit around Lottemart followed by a brief lunch and I came out of the mall. Rather fortuitously, as I emerged I saw a 29 bus go through the traffic lights college-bound. It was only half full. Hmmmm, I thought, I wonder if the next one will be as well - far better to pay 1y instead of 30! It was, so for me a most unusual occurrence.

Doing the internet shop really brought home to me the fact that Kiki will not do it again for me. She will leave before next payday and although Joanna has said she will fill the void, I am going to miss Kiki dreadfully when she goes. I have however ordered half a dozen 9” pizza trays in the hope that this will cure the tendency for my pizzas to be perfectly cooked except in the very centre, where they are soggy, occasioned by the mini oven not producing an even heat. Next month of course I shall have to order sufficient supplies in order to be able to sustain myself for a month while everything closes here - there will be big batches of chilli and Bolognese made and frozen for later use.

Today was busy although I had good and bad news. The good news was that my morning class were advised there were no media rooms available for them to watch the film so we have knocked that idea on the head, the bad was that one of my classes asked me if I could examine the second half of the class tomorrow from 1530. I agreed, and it isn’t all bad because it then means I just have one class next Friday.

When I finished examining my morning class my assistant Cinny came to see me. I had asked her to get the Foreign Affairs Dept to organise a replacement hotplate for my defunct one. She gave me the news that the oh-so-efficient Foreign Affairs Officer’s reply to her request had been to the effect that as the machine is out of warranty there was nothing she could do as there are no spares on campus. Cinny has now been asked by me to get back to the FAO and point out that my contract states that the school will provide one and that although I have not pressed the TV issue, she had better sort this one out. If she refuses then the next port of call will be Prof Fang’s office because I can’t do without it and I have no intention of forking out for one from my own pocket. How that woman keeps that job is beyond any rational thinking. It is hardly a high cost item.

She also asked me if I was free at three on Sunday. They want me and Ollivier to take part in the tug’o’war between teachers. Great. Additionally, could I proof read the department newsletter before they print it? After the last one with its mistakes, when I found out she was in charge of it I suggested it might be a good idea. Before starting this blog I attacked the first page but there are so many grammatical and spelling mistakes (not to mention parts that are gibberish which I can’t even begin to edit) that I have had to send a text asking if she can email it to me. It would be more expeditious if I could simply emend it on my laptop and send it back because doing it all by hand will take forever.

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Just one amusing thing I remember from today. It occurred when I was testing a girl this afternoon. I held up a piece of paper and told her to imagine it was a ticket in her name for a fortnights holiday anywhere in the world, where would she like me to put as the destination and why?

England.

Ok, so she is trying to score more marks because I am English. Why England?

Because I have always loved England and when I was younger I dreamed of marrying with an English gentleman and  having a maxim baby.

A maxim baby - what on earth is that?

Maxim babies are very beautiful.

She did of course mean to say a mixed race baby!