Lazy weekend?

A two hour lie-in this morning meant that I got up at half past eight. That is something to think about!

I am glad to say that I frittered away the time that I gained and finished off reading ‘Rules of the Road’ by Joan Bauer. This is a book that a purloined from a colleagues cupboard in school as she has amassed a class library of enticing titles to encourage her special English class to take an interest in literature and read a book by themselves. I have read a few of the volumes and I was picking about among the remnants to find something that I could take with me to the ‘sailing’ that our school does and where I am the ‘other’ teacher on alternate Thursday afternoons.

The cover, with its pink Cadillac and strap line of “A girl. A Car. A trip. A revelation . . .” was not particularly encouraging, but the pastel picture gave little indication of the muscularity of the writing.

Yes, this was a feel good book with a number of stock characters: girl from broken home with alcoholic dad and demanding younger sister, grandmother with Alzheimer’s and mother working as a Casualty nurse – just for starters! Add to that an unnatural (but fascinating) interest in selling shoes and big business chicanery with ancient founder of a shoe empire being sidelined by unworthy son and you really do have the ingredients for an interesting novel.

The girl heroine was satisfyingly sassy and there was just enough self conscious irony to make the whole thing believable. Well, probably not, come to think of it but who cares. A good read.

I have also read “Unseen Academicals” by Terry Pratchett. I simply couldn’t resist. I have spent the day drifting to the novel and back again in the spaciousness that comes with Toni being safely in Terrassa watching the dramatic cavorting of his nephews as they celebrate Al Souls Night (or afternoon in their case) and my refusal to go to a party this evening.

The only occasion on which I have left the house was to get some pollo a last from the restaurant on the motorway. I look on this weekend as a period of recovery from the week in school which has been made more difficult by the number of absences from kids and staff as the autumn period of illness strikes. We have collapsed classes and lost free periods and things have been unacceptably stressful as our place never considers hiring a supply teacher to take some of the strain.

It will be interesting to see what happens if the teacher illness rate rises. I think that there is a limit to what I am prepared to do for an institution which acts so nicely but pays so disgracefully!

Talking of disgrace, I had a strange conversation with a colleague about unions. He tells me that there are more union members than I would think in the place but that nothing much has been done to provide a focus for activity. He had been asked to consider becoming union rep. but he didn’t have the time to give as he was part time in the school. There are things that need to be addressed: facilities for members of staff: curriculum: timetable: supply – but there is not forum for discussion in the place. Meetings yes, but real discussion about things that matter no.

As term stretches on and seems to peter out in the far reaches of December, I am less and less likely to want to continue working in the place after United Nations Day in 2010. Perhaps this is just the end of October speaking, but I suspect not!

The Terry Pratchett book was a Terry Pratchett book. I found myself even becoming slightly annoyed by the smug predictability of the arch humour that characterizes his writing. His surrealistic approach to plot and his bizarre collection of freaks that people his narrative were annoying rather than amusing.

And then I settled into the comfortable rhythm of Pratchett’s style and I was captivated once again. Unbelievably “Unseen Academicals” is his 37th novel in the Discworld® Series (thus it is written in the inside covers of the book) and perhaps that ® show just how valuable the franchise has become.

This novel is about the Unseen University having to found a foot-the-ball team and play a match in order to retain money from a bequest which ensures the pointy hats (wizards) of Ankh-Morpork will continue to get their “one hundred and seven types of cheese, and more than seventy different varieties of pickles, chutneys and other tacklements” as the normal end to one of their traditional meals!

The story is quite up to his usual standard and the use of football as the motivating force gives some added humour. But this is one for people who already know Discworld® and are comfortable in its many insanities rather than for an unsuspecting reader coming to this strange world for the first time.

I have done none of those little jobs which look so good as you tick them off on a little list.

The one thing that I must manage is to get my phone working. My new phone with the touch screen which a child in school catching a glimpse of immediately said, “Oh, Juan in 3ESO has the next model up from that one.” Sometimes the thought of the Black Death singling out selected pupils is simply not enough! It does work and I have even discovered (by accident) the qwerty keyboard for making text messages just that little bit easier to send – and also allowing me, effortlessly, to add capital letters and apostrophes! I can’t get my computer to recognize it and thereby download pictures and music. It (and my computer) is supposed to have Bluetooth and I always assumed that they would find each other out merely by being on, but such simplistic views do not encourage electronic communication.

I’ll have to ask the kids!