Tuesday 6th January, 2015               1145

Sunday was a catch up day to make up for having Friday off, so it saw me examining half each of two classes - the only ones I was able to in the normal way i.e. over two weeks. Afterwards I went to the office to relax and meet Anna who had requested it as she had many questions.

What I didn’t know was that the majority of them related to my blog! She has a small notebook in which she writes words or phrases she doesn’t understand when she watches a film or reads something. Then she tries to find meanings online but is not always successful. She was particularly unsuccessful in a lot from my last entry! I have no idea what films she has been watching but one of the things she asked me about that she had heard in one rather discomfited me - unbeknown to me she had already asked Kevin and he had said to ask me! Suffice to say it was what they call that thing that sometimes accidentally happens nocturnally to young males.

Yesterday was tiring mentally. I had no option other than to test a class in one hit. Luckily they never had lessons after lunch so we had agreed we would continue until finished. I started at 0930 and finally finished at 1300 by virtue of not taking a break. It was made longer by seven additional students who are about to graduate and needed a pass mark from me in order to be able to do so. Why this wasn’t done for them three years ago when it should have been is beyond me. How am I supposed to gauge from their level now what it was four years ago?

Any ideas I may have had of going out yesterday evening evaporated when I checked my inbox and found a large task sitting there which needed to be done before nine this morning. Certainly I could have started it and left some, got up early and finished it but I much prefer to start and finish these things in one sitting. It did numb my brain however, for it was all in scientific language and concerned illegal toxic dumping into a large lake in another province so there was plenty of water analysis and chemical reactions etc. That was finished just before 2100, at which time Joan came for her nightly visit. Luckily I still had some chilli which I had taken out of the freezer. I put some jacket potatoes in the oven and was annoyed on finding, after dishing up, that they still weren’t cooked after two hours. I wish I had used the microwave now - twenty minutes tops.

Last night’s was the most painful so far with Joan but it is very noticeable now that certain movements (even though I can’t perform them fully myself yet) are virtually pain-free after a fortnight of this. The clicking and crepitation has also decreased markedly although there is one manoeuvre which is still agony so that’s the one we are concentrating more on. I can’t expect miracles but am confident this is working - after all, it was eighteen months before full mobility returned after rotator cuff surgery prior to coming here.

We were supposed to have a dusting of snow late last night and throughout today but so far thankfully it has only manifested itself as light rain. This afternoon and tomorrow I am also working on the exams, doing the first halves of the Thursday classes and doubtless polishing off the rest of those who changed major. On Friday lunch, bar entering the marks on the system, I will be finished for seven weeks for the spring festival. I think the mass exodus from campus commences on the 19th and it will be interesting to see how many teachers remain on campus this year. For the first time last year I was not the sole faculty member in residence, something I attribute to the new housing which is actually comfortable in winter rather than being frostbite-inducing!

1900

After I finished this afternoon I took the bus to town to buy salad for tomorrow’s fondue. Annoyingly, when I got to McDonald’s for my dinner I suddenly realised I had forgotten to buy potatoes. I want to make a sort of potato salad (using that ambrosia - Heinz salad cream) to go with the salad. Halfway through what passes for a meal there Kevin popped in on his way to teach in town. Even better, he is going shopping afterwards so as long as I send a reminder we should have spuds tomorrow night. Even better I could give him my shopping to bring back later although stupidly I forgot the bag of kidneys I bought for the pets’ dinner. They still have kidneys but they are slowly thawing at the moment in a pot on low heat.

I now have the latest video of my life. Longer than the last one at forty-five minutes, I have to say it is nowhere near as good as the first and is decidedly amateurish and the sound is all over the place. The only thing I like about it is that five of my favourite girls are in it : Yvonne, Joan, Anna, Carol and Nancy. As for the rest, well it dwells far too long on certain events (given they completely cut out the children’s party), my face which appears miserable behind the fake beard and probably I should have simply refused them filming rights at that particular time. You may recall I felt awful over Christmas, at one point almost completely losing my voice. I also looked like death. This is all evident in it and no more so than the last section. This was filmed after a very long day having been busy in town in the day and then returning to play Santa for the kids. I had partaken of a few medicinal libations and at the finish went to McDonalds across the road for some food. I felt terrible and needed my bed badly but also needed to eat and to feed Nancy who I had taken as my guest. I can’t believe they included that part and you may conclude correctly that I had no editorial say in the production - unlike the last one which personally I think is a very professional effort, no credit to me.

Ho hum, at least I have more memories to watch in my dotage. It is currently uploading to You Tube (and has been for 24 hours so far) although whether I will provide the link? The jury is still out I am afraid.