Paxman

For reasons which remain a puzzle, PTI took an immediate dislike to IT Bloke from the moment they arrived here. I quite like IT Bloke, he's affable and seems to be very good at his job. He manages to explain a bit of technical jiggery-pokery to you without either patronising or losing you. But he is an IT person at the end of the day, and a bit other worldly.

Anyhow, PTI blames him for every shortcoming in the IT here, and they are manifold, though none of them could fairly be laid on IT Bloke's shoulders. The other day PTI was trying to brow beat him over something and IT Bloke interrupted him to say, "I've seen Newsnight and that Jeremy Paxman guy, I know what you're trying to do and I'm not falling for it!".

PTI, who wouldn't know Newsnight from New Jersey, was utterly flummoxed.

TOHH and KST have gone barmy over the local contracts. She doesn’t want to believe the translation, and is trying to puzzle through the Arabic version – without much success. They went to see the DoS about them, and were gone a long time.

When they got back, KST thought that he’d virtually resigned. He’s actually behaving rather honourably, in as much as he doesn’t want to sign a contract when he’s already made up his mind to resign in the near future, which he has almost done. Whilst honourable, this attitude will perhaps flummox Fraggle Rock: is he going or staying? TOHH, I don’t know if she signed hers or not. On past form, she probably signed it straightaway, having bitched about it for hours in the staff room, and wound KST up into threatening to resign. She’s the Grand Old Doxy of York.

In a staff meeting we had to talk about developing the Placement Test. TOHH commented that, “I just find it bizarre” that the decision was made to write our own test when others were available, “written by experts”.

The government have taking to bulldozing business premises at short notice, including car show rooms on our route from the College to the Bungalows. This caused a long delay on the way home, and it was filled by VI Form banter from Paul and TOHH. This is getting to be very tiresome. Paul makes snide remarks about IT Bloke behind his back, too. I wanted to be almost anywhere but in that minibus with these people.