Sunday 21st March, 2021 1830

So Friday turned to snow and saw me bitterly regretting not having put on a jumper beneath my summery jacket! The consolation was that due to all the sand swirling in the air the taxi drivers had been keeping their windows closed. Normally up here they freeze your nuts off in winter with open windows and in summer are too parsimonious to put the air-conditioning on. The latter I can understand but the idiots seem to think the heat from the engine costs money!

My classroom schedule on Friday left me aghast. Three classes back to back in room 102 then 103 then 102. Not only could they easily have bunged the middle Chinese class in 103 so I had 102 all day BUT before they fixed my rota I was in 102 anyway for those periods!!!! I sometimes wonder at times if I am in a parallel but utterly dysfunctional universe.

I was too tired to stay up and watch England doing what they do best to me and losing me £50 but I would have loved to be awake for the Welsh game. And of course it now makes Saturday vital. A day where I shall be Scottish again with £30 on them at 8/1. No chance of course but then I never thought the Paddies would demolish us so who knows?

Finally this afternoon I got around to trying to make a cheese and onion pie. It's baking as I type and as always with my pastry-making, it looks like an unmade bed. One day maybe I will perfect the art of presentation! I hope it's good, I've used the last of my cheese (Burger King and Metro run next weekend is on the cards) and it will do my three school lunches this week.

My little friend who manages the biggest China Tobacco store sent me texts earlier. I asked her a week ago to get me as many cigars as she could. They were out of stock at the time but I still have enough for another three weeks or so. Well, she has now found or scrounged at least fifty boxes, which is great news. I have said I will take sixty if she can get them – 6,000 cigars will do me for an entire year. Quite where to store them all is a bit of a puzzle though......

The sand seems to be either retreating or it is now sitting on car rooves so with luck the coming week will be a tad warmer.