Wednesday 4th May. 2016         0055

Operation Cats Go Free is not going according to plan at all. I opened the window to let them escape last night. Within 5 minutes Zorro and Bristle had absconded and two minutes later so had Pooh. So far so good except the one cat I should have thrown out five years ago shows no sign of even attempting to leave - Lottie.

She is the one who pisses everywhere, on my bed in the old flat and now all over the bathroom floor in this one. I can only think of one other person who would have put up with her and he’s a cat freak. I am not. I prefer dogs and yet I ended up with five moggies.

Last time I looked the only ones still missing were Zorro and Pooh. I need them all to start going out because the last thing I want is for the school to shut everything up in my flat when I leave and one of them to be locked in with no food or water. I really don’t want their final memory of me being me throwing them out even if cats have absolutely no regard for those who feed them. Maybe as the weather warms they will start to realise that outside is good but I worry about Tigger. He’s a real Daddy’s boy and at 6 he is my oldest. I may try and take him wherever I go if I have to but I would rather he learnt to live in the wild. Wherever I fetch up I am not going to adopt any animals, at least unless they guarantee me six years of employment. It isn’t worth the worry unless you buy mice or hamsters with short lifespans.

Now when I retire, wherever that may be, THEN I will probably get a decent sized dog or even a puppy I find lost without its Mum. We can be mates until one of us pegs out, sadly it will probably be me!

Retiring now still with a cough. Attendance at the concert still in abeyance.

2230

I got up this morning with great reluctance. The way I felt I could have stayed in bed all day but needs must.

There seemed to be a game of musical cats going on during the night. I hardly slept because either I was waking myself with a bout of coughing or the cats were making a commotion in the other room. The headcount was three cats with Zorro and of all cats, Tigger, missing. I thought it a bit odd but was pleased.

Classes today were a real trial, anyone with any sense would have taken a day off but it’s a matter of pride to me that all the time here the only time off I have had was in my first year when I was unavoidably detained in hospital. Had they furnished me with strong enough painkillers and advised I could get away without an operation I wouldn’t even have taken that time off.

During the break in the morning class Helen from Ningguo (I visited her family last summer) came to give me scripts for a speaking contest. Well, half of them because she had given Richard the other half. Initially I was told I was to be a judge but on further probing we are not to be judges but question masters.

I told her to take the scripts, get the others off Richard and photocopy them so we both had every one. We need to formulate our questions and compare in order not to duplicate. Probably won’t happen with Richard but it was surprising the times Kevin and I coincided and one of us had to change our query.

When is the contest? Monday. I have class starting at 1540 Mondays but I will cancel or reschedule it. The competition starts at 1430. In fact I am rather glad because it means I will finish earlier than normal and as it will be my 60th birthday I can go and start on the pijou that much earlier!

Feeling the way I did today I had already decided not to attend the concert tonight - I had coughed all through four lessons so it would be stupid to go. It was only when I met Andrei and Juliette when I had finished that I learnt they had moved the day yet again to tomorrow. I will see how I feel tomorrow.

My trip to the office was brief but I wanted to go because today was hot and I did need cold refreshment. Martyr that I am I made bread pudding when I got home (now sitting in a bag on a hook in my bedroom) and then went to wash my hands in the bathroom.

I heard a cat, seemingly scratching at the bathroom window. I opened the window but there was nothing there. The meowing persisted and I thought it was their cat upstairs, until my bathroom ceiling started moving! I looked up where the ceiling meets the window bars and caught a glimpse of Tigger’s face!

How in God’s name he got up there I know not and by now he has been there for a whole day. He got himself up but couldn’t get back down. Andrei kindly came to try to dismantle the ceiling but with limited success, managing only to wedge it down an inch or so. Any further and we risked pulling the lighting arrangement out. We hoped he would be able to extricate himself but as yet he hasn’t. He will have a long, hungry and thirsty night.

Anthony has arranged for a repair man to come and do what he can in the morning. Damned annoying as otherwise I could sleep until noon, something that would be handy right now.

It does however explain the commotion the cats were making last night!