Well it has been a fairly busy two weeks since I got back to work after my big layoff, and I must admit I have found it really tiring getting back into the swing of things.
Firstly, trying to prioritise the mountain of work that has built up still presents some huge worries for me, but I think I'm just about under control. On top of this are the problems, predicaments and queries that continually present themselves without warning.
I must share a little story with you that happened last week that just cracked me up.
There were two young brothers, aged about 6 and 7 who were going home early. They were sitting in the office area just outside the office I share with our other Deputy Principal.
I always like to go out and have a chat with any kids who are sitting in the office area for whatever reason as it gives me a better understanding of what is happening around the place, plus it is also a great way to build up relationships with the kids.
Anyway, these two boys were telling me that they were going home early as they were getting a new dog that day, and the whole family was going together to pick it up.
How good is that!!
They told me it was a border collie and her name was going to be Tully, and they were just so excited about the whole adventure. We then had a great chat about the dog, and I told them how we had a dog that was part border collie, and that they are just beautiful dogs.
Just as they were about to be collected, the younger brother then said excitedly, "And we are also going to go to Bali!"
To which his brother replied instantly, and with absolutely no expression, "No we're not. We are going to Tongala!".
For those readers who might not understand the humour in this, let me explain.
I presume you all know about Bali, and how it is a great holiday destination.
Tongala is a small dairy farming town about 120km from Bendigo, and has a population of 1 869 !!
Compare the two destinations and you'll understand why I barely contained my laughter!!
I didn't laugh in front of the boys, but just nodded approvingly, then left to go to another room to have a giggle and share the story with some colleagues.
Not many people would go to Tongala for a holiday I can tell you!!! (And if any reader is from 'Tonny', I am not being disrespectful, as my niece is a teacher there, and two of my sisters have taught there as well, so there is a connection!!
Tongala on a busy day!
The second thing that happened to me wasn't as funny, but looking back now I can see the funny side.
Some girls from Gr 3 came to the office area to tell me that 'There was a big mess in the girl's toilets'.
I just groaned, as I really do not look forward to cleaning the toilets with my weak stomach!
After questioning the girls about what the 'mess' actually was, it was soon clear that this one was high on the Richter scale!
Sometimes a 'mess' can be just some paper or water on the floor, but this one was a doozy, with 'stuff' all over the toilet seat and floor.
Great!!
I explained to the girls that they were to come with me to get any girls out of the toilets and to stay with me and hold the doors open. I also said that I would probably make lots of weird noises as the smells would get to me!!
So after donning the gloves and getting the mop and bucket, the cleaning of the cubicle began, and yes Readers, it was everywhere!!
I was holding the last bit of the end of the mop in outstretched hands and doing my best to get to every bit of the mess, my jumper pulled over my face and me continually gagging every time I looked at it or copped a whiff. Boy am I weak at times like this!!
And what made it worse was the two girls at each entrance holding the doors open and doing their best to not fall over from laughing so much!!!
The job was soon done and as we were leaving, one of the girls called out, "Hey Mr K, you missed a bit!!" Aaaarrghh!! I had to go back in again for another crack, same result from me gagging and the same result from the girls having a great old laugh at my expense.
I can look back on it now and have a laugh, and I can only begin to wonder what sort of stories those two girls shared with their families when they got home last Friday!!
After those two episodes at work I was sure that the rest of the weekend could only get better, and it did.
Today I went over to Colbinabbin (my home town, and not that far from Tongala!!) to do a bit of mowing, cleaning and spraying at our family home that is on the market after the passing of our brother who owned it.
The mowing was going fine, that is until the throttle snapped off, leaving me with no way of increasing or decreasing the power. To its credit, the old mower just kept plugging away and I soon had the job done. Turning it off was interesting, but I soon worked it out!
I then found that I was running ahead of time, and speaking of running, I went down to the local football ground that has just been totally resurfaced at high cost to get a bit of exercise while I could.
The surface was just magnificent, and I had a great workout doing some stride throughs and just remembering the countless hours I had spent as a youngster watching football at this ground, and then playing on it myself. The work that the community has put in to get this job done has been huge, and it does not surprise me a bit as it was just an amazing place to grow up in.
Not only did I relish the opportunity for a bit of a run, having the whole oval to myself just brought back so many memories over many, many years.
The Colbinabbin Football Oval
So many memories of playing on this great venue.
So this week will be the first full week of work I will have done in more than two months, so it will be interesting to see how the energy levels go.
I'm also hoping for some clear days so that I can ride my new bike to school, as I haven't ridden it for a WHOLE WEEK !!!
I was just about to ride it last Friday, only to remember that I needed the car as I had to take a school banner to a printing company to get altered, and it would be somewhat difficult riding a motorbike and carrying a banner that is 1 metre wide and 8 metres long!!
As you can see, my new bike is a much better option than my previous one. The extra 550 cc's might have something to do with that!! Still, the Yamaha on the left served me well, making me well and truly ready for the much bigger and heavier Suzuki Boulevard.
That's about it for tonight Readers. My football team (Richmond) got well and truly pasted tonight in the clash between the two unbeaten teams. The gap between my team and Adelaide could not have been any bigger, we have a lot of work to do!!
Until my next post...
Cheers!
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