Monday 28^th December, 2020 1845

Boxing day was a day off and I had intended to get some wine from BHG but I procrastinated too long and ended up doing so after my class yesterday. That was after I had paid a visit to McDonald's for that double burger and German sausage thing they do – the one where the sausages shrink year on year!

It looks as though the decent spuds are back so I also bought them plus a carrot and green beans. This is going to sound odd but I actually quite like bubble and squeak with a couple of poached eggs and it is something I can make enough of for two or three dinners. I am too tired when I get home at nights this term but with luck, seeing as I don't start until 1640 on Wednesday, I may actually get the veg boiled and the mashed potatoes done in readiness for frying in the evening.

Today, because I broke the back of last Monday to Wednesday classes, my exams finished quite early. An hour early in fact. That was great because I had checked my gas meter last night and it showed 6m³ left! Well on my own that would be a week's worth but with two of us showering? Panic time.

I got to the gas shop at 1805 and the shutters were down. Staff still inside and not interested in my plaintive looks. Damn, I thought, I will have to traipse down there before Wednesday classes. When I got back I fished out my torch (the meter is really hard to read, the screen is very opaque) to see how much it read now. In fact there's a 1 in front of the 6 so I actually have 16m³ – more than enough to last us until after I finish work on Saturday. Phew! Just need to find out when the electricity Auntie will knock off for her spring festival and cajole 1,000Kwh out of her!

And boy, are we using electricity at a rate of knots, about 125Kwh a week. It's bloody freezing, especially tonight and I wouldn't be surprised if we get a dusting of the white stuff before dawn. It smelt like snow when I was walking home.

So four days left and then two months holiday. It cannot come soon enough, it has been hard going this term. Great being the one and only because nobody is interfering with me for fear I will clutter off but all the late finishes have played havoc with my eating habits. If I don't cook and freeze at weekends I am not getting proper food in the week and I can't eat campus food, even the students detest it! It will be nice to clear out the freezer a bit and restock with lasagne and the like and maybe a hundred sausage rolls for my lunchboxes next term! Oh, and maybe I might just get around to making that cheese and onion pie that I desperately want to try.

Before you ask, no, I am not doing anything for new year. I am testing all day Thursday, will probably be in bed before Big Ben bongs 1600 in the UK and I have a full day of exams on Saturday so Friday I will simply rest.

A student asked me today after her exam whether I was going back to my home country in spring festival. I nearly choked. If I wanted a week in England I must first quarantine for two on arrival and then two more when I returned here, making five weeks of hotel bills for a week's vacation.

And she clearly missed the memo about China banning flights to and from the UK now because of the English virus! You have to laugh, I saw a headline in The Telegraph that said the UK was being blamed just for alerting the world to a new Covid variant. Well..... that's what happened to China when they told the world a year ago!

Bugger off 2020, not sure 2021 will be much better though.