Wednesday 4^th March, 2020 1500

Last night the bathroom started to flood just as I was finishing my shower. A number of kettles of boiling water were poured down the drain (well it worked last time!) but this morning the overflow was almost immediate.

Nothing I could do about it, the plunger is useless, so it was time to call in DynoRod, or rather the four musketeers. They shoved a broom handle down to no effect, scratched their heads and left for an hour, presumably for a game of mahjong. One of them returned with a snake which also proved useless and the next I knew they were lifting all the manholes outside using a portable pump to drain water.

Ultimately they deployed a machine with a snake about three miles long which they threaded down my outlet and eventually they cleared the blockage. At least, I think they have but won't know for sure until I take a shower.

All this time I was busily marking essays submitted by one class. They were instructed they had to write three to five hundred words and more than half were less, most under two hundred. Very foolish indeed to think that I wouldn't notice they had simply rattled off any old rubbish in fifteen minutes because I wasn't serious. A collective rocket has been delivered to their monitor and I await eagerly to see if next week's recordings will be between three and five minutes. Anything under scores zero. They have been warned.

1840

And another class submitted even worse! It was like getting a Post-It note or a text message with some of them! I was missing being in the classroom but now I'm not so sure! I don't think they've twigged that with me being the only foreigner, suddenly my classes count and if they fail, no degree. I don't mind anyone being poor academically whatsoever, in fact I sympathise if they struggle but to pay lip service at best is thumbing their nose at not just me but the department. Time to break a few thumbs, methinks!