Thursday 29^th March, 2018 1930

Well despite the choice of dishes giving me problems to actually deliver them, I have to declare Tuesday a resounding success.

My guests seemed to think my chicken satay consisted of nothing more than pieces of chicken on wooden skewers because when I put them out (literally plain chicken because I really never had the time to marinate them) and went to prepare the peanut sauce, they started eating them!

Once the sauce arrived though they were in raptures. None of them had ever had anything like it before, which was gratifying. Stephanie declared my ham to be the best she had ever had, inside or outside a restaurant and I must admit, it certainly looked the part, having been done in a brown sugar and mustard glaze. There's still some in my fridge for me to nibble on when the desire grips me.

That at the moment is difficult. I have toothache, or rather I am pretty sure I have an infection underneath a molar so eating is hideously painful. So much so that it interrupted last night's sleep and left me extremely grumpy today.

I was safe in the knowledge though that today would be better than last Thursday, I knew where to get off the bus. Indeed, I left home 25 minutes later than last week, took 30 minutes to be outside the classroom at the window and with enough time for a cigar. Besides my tiredness and the pain in my jaw, the day was going well.

I taught the class to the bell at noon, after all, I now knew where to get the school bus. I arrived at 1205 to find the bloody thing had already left. How the frigging hell can the school bus for teachers transferring campuses leave before any of them have a chance to get aboard if they teach to the bell???? Rest assured, henceforth that class will terminate ten minutes early each week. Already grumpy, by then I was fuming as it meant a long, unexpected walk to take public transport, meaning I got home for lunch at one instead of half past twelve. I had been seriously considering taking a nap before afternoon classes.

By then the dental pain was excruciating so I took one of my few remaining UK painkillers (unavailable here as they are opioids and right now I have but four left) and tried to grab half an hour, unsuccessfully.

I asked my students what they took for severe pain and was told 999. I have heard of it but never used it. I hope it's good because after my Pizza Hut breakfast tomorrow I shall go to buy some along with amoxicillin, which I hope will cure the infection. I dread the day I will have no option but to check into a hospital to sort out my gnashers. They are surely and steadily crumbling (I assume due to the effects of long term medication) and will surely be left speaking like my Mother when she never put her falsies in - hardly ideal for a teacher. I don't even like dentures but it would be nice once again to be able to smile broadly for the camera. And eat pork crackling.

I have taken another pill (the last one lasted four hours) which will enable me at least to drop off in an hour or so, two more are in my bag for tomorrow so I can actually eat breakfast.

I wore summer trousers today but annoyingly even at 0900 it was too cool to dispense with the fleece yet two hours later it was too warm to wear it. It will definitely be too cold in the morning, the high is supposed to be 20C as opposed to the 26C we had today. At 0645 it will be ten degrees.

Ah well, as Winnie said, keep on buggering on.....