I broke my ass

and my scaphoid bone.

Long story cut short because typing with one hand is a pain. I was on my way to church, slipped on wet steps. The pain in my hand was awful and I could hardly move my thumb, so I went to get it x-rayed. Turns out I broke a tiny bone in my hand.



Now my hand is in a cast. And I am left trying to wash my hair, do dishes and just generally live with one hand. Super.

IOU...

...a seriously long blog. One with photos.

But until such times as I write the aforementioned long photo-filled blog, I will tell you that '30 Rock' is the funniest TV programme in the world...ever! Well ok, maybe not ever, but it is funny. I laughed out, like a full on belly laugh, about 7 times tonight.

My favourite line in the whole episode tonight was '[Even] Jenna can do this, and she was once engaged to David Blaine'.

I know about Ribena

I like Ribena. I've liked it from a young age, I like the taste, I like the colour and I especially like that it rhymes with my name. I know how much to put in to make it really good, I know that ice cold water makes it taste even better, and I know that there's not as much Vitamin C as they say there is.

I also know that when it spills, it stains and creates a sticky mess.

This fact was reiterated to me tonight when I got in from school. I was in a rush because I had to read two chapters of the book before Bible Study (I know, check me out, church and a Bible Study!) so I came in to the kitchen to make some Ribena to drink while I read.

The top 'egg shelf' has no eggs so I often use this to set the glass on while I pour my drink. Today as I reached to get ice from the freezer I stupidly closed the fridge door on the glass, knocking it over and spilling Ribena everywhere, seriously, everywhere.

So I now also know that you need about half a roll of kitchen roll to soak a glassful of Ribena up, you've got to wash your S$3.50 Ikea rug immediately upon a Ribena impact, and you should really clean the fridge door seal otherwise when it dries the fridge door is near impossible to open and it'll make that sticky noise when you do manage to prise it open.

But I still like Ribena.

O2 just don't have the same quality offers!

I just got this email from my mobile company out here. I promise you this is not made up.

Subject: Exclusively for Hub Club Members!

Win a pair of tickets to catch Olivia Newton-John 'Live' in Singapore!

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Exclusively for Hub Club members! As our privileged customer, you could be one of the lucky 30 Hub Club members to catch Olivia Newton-John 'Live' in Singapore. Simply answer a question correctly and you could win a pair of tickets worth $336 to Olivia Newton John - Body, Heart and Spirit Tour concert. So hurry, submit your entry now!

Eh, I'm good thanks.

If you wait long enough, a deep thought will come along

On Thursday, as previously mentioned, we had a chapel service. This is a weekly occurrence and as usual, it was carried off with varying degrees of success. On Thursday it was a game of two halves. I'll try to explain without going into too many specifics.

The first was taken by an outside group. It started off well, but things went progressively downhill from there. For me, it just got a little bit irreverent and things weren’t explained or followed up. But at least at captured the attention of the students, made them laugh and just maybe made them think.

In the second half, the speaker took over. He spoke for thirty hellfire and brimstone minutes. Just when we thought we were done, we had a turn or burn altar call that lasted another ten. I thought my students did well to stay quiet and respectful and not make a mockery of it, like some behind of us did.

The debate in the staffroom later centred around which approach was better. My feelings were this; I would sooner have students sing songs they can reasonably understand to a tune that sounds like music they listen to and be ‘entertained’ (to a certain extent) than think that Christianity is dull and boring and has nothing to offer them because it is irrelevant and stuck in a day long gone.

But neither do I think you can simplify it down to the levels that existed in the first half of chapel service. It cheapened the message. That said, why the speaker thought his approach was the best course of action is beyond me. There was nothing that encouraged them to listen, and we’re not talking funny video clips, we’re talking about basic stories or illustrations. Not everyone is a youth speaker and he isn’t.

In the staffroom, as the debate carried on (and this is where the deep thought comes in) we talked about songs used today in worship and whether they simplify the message too much. One of my colleagues refers to them as ‘Jesus is my buddy’ songs and uses ‘What a Friend I’ve Found’ as his example. Right enough, not great lyrics and cheesy. But I tend to think they are just being superior. (We sang ‘Wonderful Cross’ and mention was made of the funny tune that ‘When I survey’ was sung to.)

Generally, I don’t think modern worship songs contain dodgy theology and are saying the same things that hymns do. I’ve heard the criticism that too many of them aren’t being sung to God as being sung about us. I can definitely see that. But the question I’ve been wondering about, are today’s worship songs in some way less intelligent than hymns?

So how was your day?

Mine went something like this:

5.30am First alarm goes off. This is the pre-alarm alarm.
6.00am This is the time I should get up and but knowing full well I won’t I set another alarm for…
6.15am This is the time I need to get up at.
6.30am The ‘seriously Tina GET UP’ alarm.
6.53am The time I actually got up at this morning. Normally the time I am walking out to the bus. Swear words.
7.05am I'm ready to leave. I have 'getting ready in a rush' down. Things that help me on my way are showering and packing my bag the night before and not doing make up in the morning. I cancelled breakfast out of my morning routine about 12 years ago.
7.15am I saw the bus I need to get on its way so I sped up my walking.
7.45am I arrived in my classroom, switch on my computer, check my emails, and get ready for assembly.
8.25am I head down to assembly which was also a Chapel service. I checked my form’s uniforms. All perfect as usual, they know I hate a unbuttoned top button and bad knot.
8.30am Assembly starts with announcements.
8.45am Chapel service begins. We sang ‘The Wondrous Cross’ and watched an...interesting presentation from an outside group.
9.13am The chaplain got up to speak.
9.42am The chaplain finished his sermon and begins the prayer.
9.53am Prayer is over. I can take my class upstairs to have a short tutor time. I run through more announcements and admin.
9.58am The class left and I am back to my work.
10.00am I went downstairs to hand in money and forms for various things from my class and pick up my printing.
10.15am Back upstairs to do some marking.
11.10am One of my students comes in to re-arrange a make up class. This left me free to carry on with marking.
11.53am My first class of the day started arriving in the room but I needed to give back the work I just marked, so I left my room to find them.
12.01pm Back in (just about) time to start class. They were doing a test, happy days.
12.50pm Final people leave the class and it’s lunchtime for me.
12.55pm Downstairs at the canteen I decided which Asian stodge I am going to have. School dinners are no better around the world. In fact they are worse because there’s an abundance of seafood.
1.20pm Conversation and debate about this morning’s chapel service began (more tomorrow…maybe)
1.45pm I leave the staff room to go back to my room, stopping at the canteen to buy jelly beans.
1.54pm Jelly beans all eaten.
1.55pm I go off in search of my form class to sort out yet more administration.
2.05pm Back in my classroom again, I start writing emails and information about Monday’s workshops.
2.55pm My next class arrive in my room. Another test. Yay!
3.50pm The last few hand in their papers. The make up student arrives to go through exam questions.
3.55pm Realise a small cock up in the plans for Monday. A partition wall cannot be taken down to have one big room as it it made of brick.
5.00pm We finish up.
5.05pm I go back down to admin to sort out the cock up about Monday and organise IT support. 5.45pm Back in my classroom I updated the information for teachers and students for Monday which I had done earlier.
6.30pm Answer test questions myself so I can take home papers to mark.
7.10pm Start to tidy my desk, ready to go home for a long weekend.
7.18pm Stop at the supermarket to get grapes, but end up with Ben and Jerry’s and frozen pizza (on offer!)
7.42pm Walking to the bus stop I see a bus I can get so I run the last 50m.
8.05pm Change buses.
8.20pm Arrive home just in time to see who got booted out of American Idol.
8.25pm Pizza in oven, test out Ben and Jerry’s/
8.45pm Channel flick between Sky News and My Name is Earl.
9.00pm Watch 30 Rock
9.30pm More channel flicking and I turn on my computer.
9.33pm Doss some more on tinternet.
10.25pm Start writing this listening to yappy dog.
10.59pm Post this online, still listening to yappy dog.

All go I tell you. Bed time now. Thankfully I will not be setting any alarms for tomorrow.

Pressing 'ctrl c' and 'ctrl v' is easier right now

Well that and it made me chuckle.

On my school email you get a lot of 'all staff' emails, things that get sent to you that are supposed to affect the whole school. (Well sometimes people are just lazy and don't filter out the 95% of people that don't need to read it.)

This is one that I got tonight:


To: All Staff
Cc:
Subject: Data Migration
Attachments:


Hi,

There will be a migration of data for the Academic folder and the root folder "File_server" on 04 Apr (Wed) at start time 1230pm. The time taken to finish the migration takes approximately 3 hrs and therefore the server will be down. And, there will be some reboots of the server which is responsible for this migration happening in the morning between 10am-12pm. If you would like to work on some files, it is recommended to copy those files out before 10am in order to prevent the interruption caused by the reboots of the server in the morning.

This is to ensure that there will be enough space for users to save their work in the server.

Your co-operation is much appreciated. Thank you.

Sorry for any inconvenience caused.

Best regards
The IT Department


'Reply all' emails are also very common. This one in response just made me laugh out loud.


To: All Staff
Cc:
Subject: RE Data Migration
Attachments:

I know I am an English teacher, but I have absolutely no idea what this means.
Can someone please explain?

Genius.

Guilty of neglect

Yes, yes I am. But I’m sure none of you are that bothered by it.

I just had the shower that I have been looking forward to since 9.30 this morning. Today I was kind of in charge of different seminars and workshops. I say in charge, but I really mean the only one doing anything. There’s supposed to be a committee but they were strangely absent from this little day, so I was the proverbial blue arsed fly. I ran up and down the school getting things for the speakers, making sure classes were where they were supposed to be, getting attendance lists, checking on all the different venues, and getting in evaluation forms. Not great in 100% humidity and 30 degree heat. All that and then I had to cover a class for a teacher who was off! But it all went as well as it could have really which is good because I have to go through the same thing next week.

Right now I am watching Take That in Taipei singing ‘Back for Good’. I bet they thought lightning would never strike the same place twice. (Oh key change, I love that bit.) In other music news I am up to song number 1510 in the Big Listen (REM – ‘What’s the Frequency Kenneth?’) and I am stuck between wanting to update myPod and get some songs that I really like right now and carrying on, but I’m still not even half way and I’ve being doing it for three weeks. But then again, I am stubborn so I might just hang tight. Maybe myPod will freeze and the decision will be out of my hands?

Right, not much else for you really. But still to come St. Patrick’s Day Ball and the past weekend. Maybe tomorrow, although not likely based on recent form.

Have a nice Monday.