Bricks and mortar

One thing I'd like to get sorted over the summer is some of
the exterior brickwork. The mortar joints are in a bit of
a mess and the best solution is probably to repoint.
Another option is some form of render; this is something
only 5-10% of houses in the area have, but something to
research anyway.
Had one of these reps round (you know the sort - cheap
aftershave, fake tan, lots of gold); it cost me two and a
bit hours of my life and I can't get that time back!
After hearing the thorough spiel he drew a figure in large
numbers, showed it to me and asked my thoughts.
8.8k, just for the front of the house(!)
I responded. The price was reduced by 25%.
My next response was even shorter and 'direct'.
Then another price was quoted if I signed today at that
very moment. The worrying thing is these tactics must
work on some people! I'd never heard of this company or
seen their work first hand and was given the opportunity
and privilege of signing up on the spot to some
ridiculous 30quid a week for the next ten years repayment option.
Anyway at this point I was stood up and the front door was opened.
He got the hint.

Before and After (3)

Here are a few 'before' and 'during' photos of the lounge improvement project. Six months of fun and surprises! Hope to post some better after pics soon now the furniture's in.

Top Trumps

Last week I tried to hide in my classroom, oh how I tried, but my ever-so-helpful colleagues whilst pretending to be busy (they were banging the keyboards randomly) told the cover manager exactly where I was! Result: one more cover lesson! I thought English was boring, French was alright but this was the worst lesson I've had to give yet - Sex Ed!!
I had another surprise this week, this time from a sixth form class. They had spent the lesson scribbling down notes on reciprocal trigonometric functions. Or so I thought. A few of the more enterprising had created a deck of Top Trumps cards. You know the sort, different characters with different attributes. This deck was based on the class...and not just the students. After confiscating them it seems I rated top in fields including 'Looks' and 'Maths Power' but scored low marks in 'Grumpiness' and 'Sobriety'.

Where there's smoke...

I can't help but think previously mentioned university student who has been shadowing me this week has an inaccurate picture of life in the public sector. A few classes of mine are on study leave and as a result I was teaching a whopping one hour today. I did spend a fair bit of time in the staffroom with some colleagues discussing how best to cut vanilla cake and make fire using only natural means but I can only assure him that there are 'targets' and 'stress' in the public sector just like the lean efficient private sector. Right Anton? Back me up!

British P Power

Ventured a bit further than Stockport for a night out and made a few interesting observations:
1) I'm not sure if people are getting friendlier or I just attract the more bizarre elements in pubs. I went to the bar and when I got back there was some stoned Welshman adamant on getting my friend to clap in a flamenco style. I wanted to find out how he lived his life (I know I shouldn't have) and when he had finished his clapping lesson revealed he was a train driver. That explains a lot.
2) I got ID'd, which I take as a compliment as well as a minor irritation. It's also really handy when you've got your driver's licence to hand unless of course the useless twonks at the DVLA have MISLAID YOUR LICENCE AGAIN.
3) Toilet attendants in the gents?! They seem to be cropping up more and more. Funnily enough I don't go to the gents solely to get aftershave or moisturise, so I just to try and avoid them.

The Battle of the Buff

I have recently discovered that there will be a 'Battle of the Buff 2007' in Spain. Pete has set up the tournament and entered me into it along with him...there are no other entrants at the moment. The winner will apparantly be chosen by the ladies of the travelling group and the victor will enjoy holding the title 'the buffest bloke 2007'. Also, it seems the winner will not need to apply suncream himself for the duration of the trip, this will be 'graciously accpeted' by the ladies in the group.

The Apprentice

No cover today but still some extra work, or more positively a promotion! Yes I now have something in common with Alan Sugar, namely potentially taking charge of mentoring would be apprentices (but in the field of teaching maths rather than buying and selling). Nice one.
By the way, can anyone else see a vague future resemblance between Anton and Nick Hewer?