Sunday 25^th March, 2018 2040

I could lie or keep quiet and nobody would ever be any the wiser. Maybe I should, given that I have hopes for a Malaysian holiday next summer. KL Steve (nee Shenyang Steve, nee Hefei Steve) is going to hate me.

It was oil change and wash time for the deep fat fryer last night. So I did. Even with the lid closed stray drops of hot oil had a habit of getting on the top surround so I gave that a clean as well. In doing so, I ended up getting dishwater down inside. Being a genius I decided to turn it on, close the lid and let it dry itself out.

I remembered what I had done some time later when an awful smell pervaded my office.

It didn't take kindly to being left on full heat with no reservoir or oil atop the heating element. The lid had melted. I thought it might still work even with half a lid but sadly not. It is dead.

Bloody annoying, it was great to have chips on demand. With the Great Summer Save well under weigh, a replacement will have to wait until next term but when I do I will get a double-basket one so I can cook two items simultaneously. Sorry Steve!

I find this term's work schedule not only gruelling but leaving me extremely loath to do anything at all on Saturday and Sunday. Oh I was awake early enough this morning and had every intention of doing my shop even though I hate weekend supermarkets. The longer I sat here the less inclined I was to do it so yet again I have given myself a hectic Monday. Shopping and then cooking. I have rather shot myself in the foot by saying I would use the recently-arrived coconut milk for a starter.

I want to make satay with peanut sauce but the pork I started curing last week is now ham so I also want to offer ham, roasties, veg and pineapple sauce. With a mini-oven no mean feat. They can run for dessert, I will just buy ice lollies!

I note an article in the Telegraph today where China's Social Credit system has come under attack by various human rights organisations. In short, and I suspect the implementation of needing an ID card to purchase a train (but not bus) ticket a few years ago was central to this, commit antisocial offences such as block the pavement with your parked e-bike, flog fake train tickets etc and you can be handed a ban on being able to purchase train or air tickets for a period of time – and nobody else can get them for you either. This effectively prevents an offender from travelling any great distance because the country is so vast it could take days to go by long distance buses.

As much as I dislike a lot of what the new Mao has been doing and I firmly believe it will be rolled out further and become a serious abuse of state power, in this instance I actually like the idea.

Think about it. What realistic effect do ASBOs have in the UK in curbing anything? In a country where a great many people need trains and planes as they don't own automobiles, it is going to have an effect.

I await with interest the next legislation, which will almost certainly be a step too far.