Thursday 16^th April, 2020 2310

Yes, late again. I have just finished marking. I could have left the last class until tomorrow but then two more popped up in my inbox. Admittedly, one of those classes has managed to be by now sending me week 8 assignments (which are next week!) so I don't mind them being keen. Shows they have a good monitor. They are a week ahead.

But sometimes I hate computers. Today I scoured my laptop for signs that I had actually set next week's assignments and could not and still cannot find any trace. So I set a new one, only to cause confusion with the monitors who already had week 8! I'm buggered if I can find it and so now I have had to spend the evening telling them yes, I'm a pillock (and remember there's no shame in that if you are ever back in a classroom with me – doubtful – and having to rename it week 9. )

Now, that particular topic was the Moscow plane crash with video from May last year. Every damned link I sent them they said they couldn't open!

Ok, I use a VPN and they don't but I was beginning to think the only news they could get was from China Daily! Even Dean Delia said she couldn't open it, could I copy the article. No!!!! There's a video they need to watch!

So just now I disabled my VPN and became just like them. Mirror and Telegraph links both worked! I mean really, do they expect me to run newspaper reading classes just using China bloody Daily?

I will have to remember to find my links when my force shield is down in future though, it seems so many options are blocked here.

Still no official confirmation as to whether we will be back on campus this term or whether I am staying another year. The former I have now posed to Delia, the latter clearly Brenda has forgotten about. I hate asking either of them questions in emails because they usually phone me! I don't like phone calls! Well not here, anyway. One, my home often kills the signal and two, they are Chinese and it is hard to understand them. I think my aversion to phone calls was born in the UK with the marketing calls that plague everyone. I get the occasional one here and most are instantly recognisable because they are patently recorded and start “Wei nihao!”. You simply hang up. On the odd occasion it is a real person so the response is do you speak English? End of.

Well, no real rant this time, no talk about the V word (I'm getting bored of that now it's become so common) and I am tired. Two classes of essays to mark tomorrow and if I read my timetable correctly, just one more class of essays to arrive for me to mark on Saturday. Or Sunday, Or Monday if I choose.

I am mulling over have a weekend break in three weeks, the week after the Labour Holiday. I may ask the students if they can possibly do my work in their off days (well they will be home anyway!) so I can hoover it up by the morning of Friday 8^th, allowing me to sod off until Sunday night. We shall see.