Scottish Deep Thoughts

Do you ever feel like nothing is going right and you haven't stood still all day? I have felt this way for the past two days.
It started with a phone call from Kingussie confirming that we were still coming for a rugby match. The week of snow and in-service days has put our rugby schedule on hold. Apparently. Kingussie is still on-track and keen to play. This means that I have to get everything organised in two days!
At the computer night class I made a website for one of my classes today. I asked the computer teacher to upload it to the server. Of course, it didn't work and erased all the files I had made! I spent the better part of last night re-creating the pages and hoping that they would work or else I would be pulling yet another lesson out of my ass.
I really hate waking up in the morning with the hammering thought of something that you forgot to do for that day: rugby meeting notices. This meant I had to get to school early to get that organised. I run out of the house (forgetting my lunch) only to hear the distinctive rurr, rurrrrr, rrrrrrrr of a dead battery. I walked very quickly to school. I was not smiling when I got to school.
Things continued to get worse when I had to cover a class during my spare period. Even worse, was that it was the one class which I (and all other teachers) hate. Things did not start to get better until after lunch.
My new laptop arrived at the school http://www1.euro.dell.com/content/products/features.aspx/inspn_630m?c=uk&cs=ukdhs1&l=en&s=dhs ! It's so pretty and shiny. The next bit of positivity came when the website I created worked just like I wanted it to. The janitor helped me out with my car; he gave the car a boost and it works fine now.
So I have a new toy to play with and my car works. Now I just need to sort out rugby. Could be tight.

There are toast crumbs on my shirt and Beast of Burden is on Radio 2. Scotland lost. I'm kinda drunk. After spending a whole day with 40 kids from school I deserve a few drinks. Shortly after I got home I met up with someone who I have never met. Rona (secretary from school) gave this girl my number. We exchanged a couple of texts yesterday and I met up with her tonight. It was a bit weird to begin with; I hate "the first meeting". Jacqui is pretty cool though so this one wasn't that bad.

The Scots are snow-pansies....well, our Headmaster is anyway. An inch of snow hit the ground today and school was closed. I'm not complaining but it is amusing. I made fun of them: "I'm Canadian. I'm used to walking 10 km in ten foot high snow drifts for 11 months of the year. This is nothing."

Now the rugby match on Friday is probably going to be cancelled and the trip to Murrayfield will be in question.

The second of our in-service days was alright. My grand plans to get all my marking done were quickly squashed by Campbell. That guy kept me laughing the whole day so the day passed with only 3 essays marked.

We have a severe weather warning for Thursday. Apparently, we should be getting a blizzard at 11:52 on Thursday night. Even though this would most likely mean a day off on Friday, it could also spell the end of our trip to the Scotland v. New Zealand rugby match in Edinburgh on Saturday.

At the moment, the weather outside is clear and very cold. This means that the junior rugby match against Kingussie might be postponed AGAIN! dammit.

Today was the beginning of a revolution. The youthful teachers are starting to overrule the old guard. We now form a strong force that is attempting to blow away the dusty ideas and archaic teaching styles of the geriatric staff.

We have in-service training today and tomorrow. Today was enjoyable. Normally, these days are spent listening to our Rector drone on and on about nothing of importance. Instead, he kept his speech short and had a couple of other interesting teachers give some worthwhile presentations.

I got roped into chairing the Health Promoting School committee. It is all about getting staff and students active in body and in the school community to make school a better place. It isn't that bad; I get to change a few things that bother me about this school.

The new music teacher started today. Eleanor is a young and very pleasant girl. We made her feel welcome and she will make a good addition the Youth Revolution.

The second half of the day was for a "personal health" break. We had a choice of attending 4 sessions: yoga, aquarobics, relaxation techniques or massage. I wasn't fond of aquarobics because I am not a 50 year old woman with arthritis. Relaxation techniques did not really sound fun. I don't particularly like pretending I am a cloud or running in any directions making strange noises. Massage sounded nice until I realized that it was not going to be a hot blonde Swedish girl giving me a massage. I would have to practice on other staff members and they would have to practice. That is just one step too far past the prifessional relationship. So I opted for yoga. Apart from the large cracks I heard in my shoulders and the painful stretching, I enjoyed it. I might even think about going to a class on a weekly basis.

I am moving into a different flat a couple of minutes away. At the current place we have to move out at Christmas, Easter and over the summer break. This is a shitty set up so we're gonna move. It's a much smaller place but should be pretty good.

The cold weather has made mornings very cold and, therefore, a fire is necessary to keep from freezing. I started a fire this morning and stocked it up with coal. This made the house heat up quite quickly but also created a problem. I don't quite understand how the water heating system works but it is somehow linked to the fireplace. When the fire is on for a long time it tends to heat the water to an unbelievably hot temperature. I can hear the water boiling when it gets hot enough. Tonight it started to make louder than normal noises. I went to the kitchen to let some of the hot water out of the tank. This is where things get bad...
I turned on the kitchen tap and a bunch of boiling hot water comes out, which soon turned to a muddy black color. Then nothing came out but steam!!
Oh crap.
I run upstairs to my bathroom sink to turn alleviate some more hot water. Same thing: muddy black water! The pipes behind the walls started to clunk and vibrate.
Not good.
I crank open the bath and sink taps, which seemed to have stopped my water pipes and tank from exploding.
I still don't know where the dirty water came from.

The frigid -10 degree weather on Friday morning cured my hangover. However, it prevented our rugby match from taking place due to the field being like concrete. I was looking forward to that match all day...dammit. Fortunately, we scheduled a game for the next Friday. Even though the cold weather put a crimp in plans I still really had a great day. Everyone complained about it being too cold but I enjoyed it! There is nothing quite like a crisp sunny day of sub-zero weather.
The rugby was cancelled but our bowling night went ahead as planned. Dougal and I spent the afternoon in the pub while we waited for Ian to pick us up in the mini-bus. By the time we hit the lanes, we were in fine form for bowling. I did alright considering I haven't been bowling in a few years.

It's gonna be my second straight busy Friday. This does not make Mike happy. It should be a good day though. I'm taking the junior boys for a rugby match against our closest rivals, Kingussie, after school. We have a pretty good squad so I think we'll win. Then tomorrow night some staff are going for dinner and bowling. Should be a good piss-up and a good way to start the weekend.

The trip to see Alistair MacLeod was very enjoyable. My class did me proud. They paid attention and asked good questions. Al was speaking in the library and was a very initimate venue. It was our class and a few other people so Alistair directed most of his speech to our group. He read one of his stories (which he didn;t appear to be too enthusiastic about) and then spoke and answered questions. He enjoyed this quite a bit. I think all my kids enjoyed it as well. We got a class picture (the other guy in the photo is his illustrator. I'm at the back) and I got my copy of "Island" autographed.

A decent weekend, nothing special though. I went to the local Remembrance Day ceremony on Sunday (we do everything a couple days later over here - must be the time difference). They were very basic compared to other ceremonies I have been to, but that's not what matters.
We had a pretty good hockey training session. We have a game next weekend and I think we might have a chance of winning. I am in pretty good shape and some of the other players are getting better so, once again, I have unrealistically high hopes.

My day was crap. I had too many things to get done and a couple of classes wore me out. I was feeling like roadkill by the end of school. Fortunately, my day turned around very quickly after the final bell rang. I checked my email and found a message from the librarian. In a fortunate strike of coincidence Alistair MacLeod is touring the Highlands! 2 days ago I laughed at the idea with James of MacLeod coming up to the Highlands - very strange! He is speaking at a few schools (unfortunately not ours) and a few night speeches. I am going to go see him in Inverness on Tuesday night. I am going to do my best to get some, if not all, my senior students to go as well. SO excited.

I donated blood after school as well. It always makes you feel good to fill a plastic bag with a pint of your blood. The process is almost identical to Canada's system. I could donate here no problem. I was a bit worried that I wouldn't be able to because Canada doesn't let Brits donate. Apparently I won't be able to donate in Canada ever again! Damn British angry cows. I donated and took my free juice and biscuits with pleasure.

Computer class tonight. Learned a few new programs: Hot Potatoes, Xara3D and Font Twister. Pretty easy programs that make the website look slick.

I'm tired now. Goodnight.

Yet another successful weekend of avoiding work. I was hoping to get some substanial work done this weekend. Instead, I went hill-walking, got really drunk, cleaned my house and played hockey.
Ian called Saturday morning and convinced me to tag along with him and Marilyn up a munro. Although I did have plans to get some work done, I thoroughly enjoyed myself. And realistically, I would not have got all that much work done. It was Ian's 10th munro this year so he had achieved his new year's resolution. To celebrate he broke out the champagne. Then we proceeded to the pub for "one" pint, which actually meant five.
Just when I thought my night was over, I get a text from Nikki: Going to the Claymore in 15 mins". It was still early so met up with her, her boyfrined and her family. That party continued for another 4 hours. Got home at 330 in the morning. So much for work...
Woke up at noon with a foggy brain and cleaned up the remains from a week of neglect. I wasted time until hockey practice.
So much for work.

I had another parent/teacher evening last night. Unfortunately, I had to talk to parents of my least favourite class so I was not looking forward to it. I have tried to like my class but have found it difficult because of a few numpties. As usual, only the parents of those kids who are at the top of the class showed up so the night was fairly straightforward.

Afterward, a group of us invaded the pub and had a good time. It was the first time some of the other teachers had been out with us (by "us" I mean the 4 teachers and myself who regularly venture to the pub on Thursdays). Many of the teachers are a bit anti-social so hopefully this is a shift and will be the start of a regular outing. I doubt it though. We are planning a bowling night in a couple of weeks and as well as an outing to see me play hockey. I think we should go paintballing too. I am determined to bring a bit of excitement back into the staff and school.

On a similar note, I was cornered by our Depute Rector (Vice Principal) this week and politely "asked" to join the Healthy Schools committee. I went to the first meeting this week and, somehow, I am now chairing the committee! I'm the "young one" so therefore I will bring new, fresh ideas so it will be easy for me to head up this committee. uhh...yeah, sure. Apparently, our school needs to be more pro-active in promoting healthy lifestyles in staff and students as well as creating a positive environment. Dammit. More work for Mike.

I woke up this morning wanting more sleep and wishing that it was Saturday. Fortunately today went by quickly and was quite enjoyable. I received our 45 tickets to the rugby match today - Scotland v. New Zealand on Nov. 26th. It's gonna be sweet.

I got out of school by 3:30 and had a few things to do. It is quite amazing how many people say hi to me while I walk down the High Street. I kind of enjoy that.

I kept up my resolve to buy more things from the local butcher. I love going in there. He'll give you anything you want, tell you how to cook it and answer any questions you have! This week's meat selection: a beef roast.

I went to supervise the Halloween disco tonight. I escaped without setting foot on the dance floor. I'm sure I disappointed my fans. After witnessing tonight I realized that there are not too many things more frightening than scantily-clad, hormone-driven, half-drunk teenagers running amok in a high school while "Welcome to the Jungle" by Guns n' Roses filters through the sweaty air.