Today I've mostly bin...

[Bunnylump]

Hmmm. We had one of THOSE letters round at work today. You know, the "we have to consider cutting non essential staff due to budget constraints and wondered if anyone would like to volunteer to cut their hours down" type of letters.

Maybe they should consider cutting out some of the expensive staff at the top? How can we possibly need a headteacher, TWO deputy heads, and THREE assistant heads??

Oh well, if they make me redundant, at least it'll force me to find myself another job. I could probably do with a change. I've been in this one for nearly 12 years! Any suggestions as to what to try next? I'm thinking either pole dancer or astronaut (yeah, I know they'd both need to defy gravity!) Or maybe I could do full time puzzle writing just to wind Giraffe up?

[LAT]

why only giraffe?



and I agree that a lot of organisations could cut their costs massively by getting rid of just one or two people at the top.
How many of those 6 you mentioned actually do any teaching?

[giraffe]

Because I'm the only one rude enought to tell Bunnylump that I can't solve her puzzles.

....French Horn arrived yesterday and tonight the horn teacher got to see it and try it out. It has passed his inspection, (in fact he was moderately impressed) which is a relief because although we didn't buy the cheapest one available it cost only a quarter of what a new one like the school horn would have. I think it has come from China which is why we have waited two months for it. So tomorrow the school horn can be returned and I no longer need to grovel to keep it.

[Bunnylump]

Because I'm the only one rude enought to tell Bunnylump that I can't solve her puzzles.

Or honest enough??

And yes, LAT some of them do teach a bit. Well that's what they think anyway... I just can't believe they need so many. They are so stupid too: eg they all "forgot" to notify the cover manager that they were off on a SLT "meeting" (aka jolly) so there were 3 classes without teachers yesterday.

[Bunnylump]

Battling through the traffic...

The A41 was closed at rush hour today, and apparently there was also a problem on the M1 AND the M25 at around the same time. The traffic was ludicrous. The whole town seems to have come to a standstill - while I was attempting to get to work to start GCSE science exams, I was getting frantic phone calls from all my staff who were stuck in traffic all over the town. It took me over an hour to drive the 3 miles to work!! So when I did get there it was a case of running from one block to the next, manically locating random staff and exam pupils and starting off exams.

I also had the specialist teacher in (who charges by the hour) to go over all the paperwork I'd prepared in those manic two days last week. (He'd managed to get there because he drives a motorbike). And GUESS WHAT? He said he thought I'd done it all perfectly well in the first place and couldn't understand why I'd had to do all the extra work. SO pleased I wasted about 30 odd hours for no reason.

[LAT]

Typical!

Did you get a reply to the e-mail you sent your boss last week?

[Bunnylump]

No. I suspect she hasn't looked at her e mails. But I don't care. I'm just NOT going to do it. Oh, and here's the thing, I announced today that despite the fact that we're not supposed to be working "flexitime" I've worked my hours already,over and over and over again, so I'm not going in tomorrow. So there. There wasn't really much she could say to that. I'm off to Dorset tomorrow, so that'll be nice. The mood I'm in at the moment, if they don't like it they know what they can do with it. I might just RETIRE.

[MBH]

... taking my Council Driver Assessment exam which I've known about for about 3 days

Doesn't bother me - as far as I'm concerned anyone can come out with me at any time to see if I'm doing my job properly. We're supposed to have this test every 3 years. I had my first one of these after starting this job and having 2.5 weeks notice for the 'regular' slots for testing [THAT was a busy couple of weeks, since I'd never driven a bus before ] Then about 4 years ago when it was due again there was some "dispute" about why we should be tested more regularly than the general public.

Anyway - passed with flying colours, and had a good chat with the examiner about driving techniques and swapping driving stories


Hope you're having a good time in Dorset, Bunny. I'm sure we'll hear all about it when you get back.

[LAT]

.......cuddling a one week old baby.
Well maybe not mostly but I did cuddle him till he went to sleep in my arms while my boss changed the nappy of his twin (ie the baby's twin, not my boss's twin. He doesn't have a twin!)
Poor new Mum is confined to bed, hardly able to move she is in so much pain but the new Dad is doing really well and proving remarkably adept at nappy changing. swaddling etc.

[Bunnylump]

Awwww...lovely!

Well done MBH! Remind me to never take you in a car with me. I'd scare the living daylights out of you...

Now back from Dorset - had a fantastic time. One of the members of one of my husband's bands is a head teacher. He goes to an annual head teachers' conference in Sandbanks, Poole, and so organises the entertainment on the last evening - and that was their band!! The good news is that this means that we got to stay in a posh hotel and go dancing!! Three of the other wives and girlfriends were there too, who are all really nice so we had lots of fun. Today we all walked about 4 miles round the coast mainly on the sand *(crossed on the chain ferry)- it was a brilliant sunny day but FREEZING cold. We did manage to find a nice National Trust Cafe en route and a lovely old pub with real ales where we all had lunch.

*We also managed to walk through a naturist beach... It was quite disconcerting to come across a completely naked man wandering about - it couldn't have been much more than 3 degrees...

[MBH]

and I bet he was perfectly at ease, and the rest of you were freezing and not sure where to look

You just reminded me of a story I was told about the Chrismas period. The guy who played the pipes on New Year's Eve at the cricket club was showing his holiday photos around. He honestly thought that all the people at the table KNEW he was a naturist - but 2 or 3 of the ladies didn't

Glad you had a good time enjoying the scenery of Dorset

[Bunnylump]

and I bet he was perfectly at ease, and the rest of you were freezing and not sure where to look

Now, come on. I did know WHERE to look...I just didn't WANT to look there Thing is, I CAN see the attraction on a boiling hot day, and well, after all, bodies are just bodies. I just couldn't see the sense of wanting to do that when it was so flipping COLD!!

[MBH]

He's probably a Geordie:

The Geordie Temperature Scale (Celsius):

10 degrees - Southerners turn on the heating - Geordies plant gardens.

4 degrees - Southerners shiver uncontrollably - Geordies sunbathe.

1 degrees - Southern cars will not start - Geordies drive with the windows down.

-6 degrees - Southerners wear coats, gloves and wool hats - Geordies throw on a T-shirt (girls start wearing mini-skirts instead of bikinis).

-10 degrees - Southern landlords turn up the heating - Geordies have the last BBQ before it gets cold.

-17 degrees - Southerners begin to evacuate - Geordies go swimming in the North Sea.

-25 - Southerners cease to exist - Geordies throw on a lightweight jacket.

-60 degrees - Polar bears wonder if it's worth it - Geordie boy scouts start wearing long trousers.

-75 degrees - Santa Claus abandons the North Pole - Geordies put on their long johns.

-113 degrees - alcohol freezes - Geordies get frustrated because the pubs are shut.

-182 degrees - Microbial life starts to disappear - The cows on Newcastle Town Moor complain of farmers with cold hands

-273 degrees - All atomic motion stops - Geordies start to stamp their feet and blow on their hands.

-295 degrees - Hell freezes over - Sunderland qualify for Europe


Everybody DOES know that I love my Southern friends and have no interest in football rivalries... don't they?

[Bunnylump]

Very good!
So was that YOU on the beach today??

[LAT]

You mean you didn't recognise him?

[Bunnylump]

...Well, I wasn't looking at his face...

[LAT]

no, I'm sure you weren't!

Just imagine if you had recognised him.

[Laura]

Oh, I can picture the conversation now!!!

Bunnylump: Hang on a minute! I'm sure I recognise that bloke!
Bunnylump's Hubby: Oh Really!?!?!?!

[giraffe]

Our window cleaner turns up on a Friday night to collect his money, wearing a smartish shirt and jacket, contact lenses instead of glasses and no T-shirt and wooly hat. I opened the door and didn't recognise him. We had a laugh about it and he said one woman greeted him with "I didn't recognise you with your clothes on" much to the consternation of her husband.

[MBH]

LOL - Could have been worse. She would have caused more consternation if she'd said, "I didn't recognise you with my clothes on"