Back to School.

Yesterday was the first day of school for the good folks across the pond.  The kids here have been back for a few days already.   That whole "Labour Day Weekend"  thing is pretty much unheard of around these parts.  I'm not sure of the exact day when the kids went back,  but it was some time back at the end of August.
I wasn't really paying much attention,  since it's not really a significant day for me,  and neither is the first Tuesday in September any more.  It's a rather strange sensation,  but yesterday was actually the third "first day of school"  that I've missed,  ever since I strolled out of my former school back in May of 2008.
That first day of school was one on which the care-taking staff (um...that would be me)  got to find out just how "ready" you really were.  Was the place safe?  Had there been a party in the school yard over the weekend with smashed beer bottles or graffiti?   Did someone's dog leave a little present for you?

Best to get there early,  and hope it doesn't rain.

  If enough effort and planning had been put in over the preceding days and weeks,  the first several days of school were for the most part a rather calm lull after the previous summer storm.
This was in sharp contrast to the academic staff,  who were once again faced with a new crop of snotty nosed little buggers they had bit farewell to just a scant couple months earlier.

And to all of them I say,  "Good luck with that".

The reason I thought I'd mention these trivial little matters,  is that I happened to see this article in one of the local rags here yesterday.

They're basically talking about my former occupation,  and I rather like the way they've decided to do a little profile on one of the local caretakers from around here.  I don't seem to recall any of the local rags from around where I worked ever stopping by a school to do a profile on any of the Janitorial staff from our Board.  I'm sure I could come up with a host of reasons,  but I'll let you sort that one out for yourself.

I'm certainly not going to translate the article for you,  but suffice to say that this guy does exactly the same job we used to do in our schools over the summer,  which involved basically cleaning the place from top to bottom.   There are really only two slight exceptions.
First of all,  his school was built in 1888.  Do we have any schools that old?  None come to mind in our district.
Not only that,  but by now some really really clever provincial politician has made sure they were all torn down.

That link represents some further reading if you're at all interested,  and while I certainly wouldn't want to mention any names,  I'll just throw in a picture for you.

  Secondly,  since 1984,  he and his wife have lived in the school.   Not the politician*,  the Custodian.   But that does give one ideas,  doesn't it?



 Sure must cut down on his overhead,  but to live there?
Not really sure about that arrangement,  since where I come from,  it wasn't such a good idea to live too close to your school.

It's not like anyone is going to show up on the weekend and want to be let in,  since buildings on this part of the globe are locked up like Fort Knox pretty much all the time.

 I'm just thinking of stories here of Caretakers living too close to their respective schools,  and teachers actually having the Gaul to come to their house,  (empty handed,  I might add) wanting to be then let in to their school evenings and weekends.   Can you imagine?    And no,  there wasn't even any offer of cash.

I feel a rant coming on here,  so I'd better stop.


Plus,  while I'll admit that I may have ruffled a couple feathers by putting up a picture of one of our most beloved politicians in Ontario's history,  this is

after all

my blog.




So bite me.




*go to google,  type in "in praise of",  and that guy's name,  and let me know how you make out.











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Kids are gone and there's gonna be laundry.

Which isn't really that much of a consideration,  except that we don't have a dryer,  so it means prolonging the agony over a number of days. 

Here they are again,  about to embark on yet another form of public transportation.
 You might notice that the sky isn't all that bright,  since it's only around six in the morning at this point.  At least the traffic is no problem at that time in the morning.
The effort to smile for the camera is quite commendable.
 Judging by the British Airways website,  they had a rather long day of it,  and I haven't heard back the latest yet,  since it's still early on the holiday Monday in Canader, but I'm sure everyone is still out cold.
 They flew by way of Heathrow,  which meant a layover of what was supposed to be something like six hours.   I think it was after four when they left England.  Not sure of the exact time.  Doesn't matter.  Long day.
So once again it's the sailing analogy,  with a long period of sheer boredom in between the next activity.  My travelling and companion and I head to Spain on Saturday,  so that should break it up a tad. 
Other than that,  there's sweet bugger all going on.   It's once again Profit Plan season so the next couple months will be quite busy for the working person. 

For my part,  I'll just try to keep from going bonkers.







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Redemption.

I'm not talking about the religious kind,  so don't even think about it.   You'll figure it out in due time.
 As some of you may know,  we have guests.
 Oh,  and here's a twist,  it's been less than a week since my last confession er,  blog post.  OK,  gotta stop with the religious references.
 Part of the reason for having a chance to do a blog post,  is due to that fact that our present group of guests left this morning for Prague.
 That's right.  Last week it was Slovenia,  this week Prague.
Seems there are a few old buildings up there they wanted to visit.

Hey,  whatever.


Remember this place?

We met up with them there on the weekend.   Turns out I was pretty lucky to even get rooms,  since there was some conference or other that was going on in Bled.

Took me a couple minutes there to find it, but it was the Bled Strategic Forum.
No clue what went on.
Your guess is a good as mine.
This would explain why rooms at the "Villa Bled"  were gone some time back in July.  It all makes sense now!  It wasn't because I was procrastinating! Really!
 

I ended up doing a search for Colin Powell,  since one of our guests spotted him in the company of a couple rather large goons when out on a brief shopping expedition.   Travelling Companion and I chose to remain behind at a cafe and sip a couple cups of coffee,  so we missed out on seeing him.

  I'm crushed.

  "Down town"  Bled can be rather hilly,  and somebody's knees were already on fire from the day's walking up to that point.

The thing that came to mind in light of just who had turned up for this conference was the fact that the security seemed to be a little on the lax side,  well except for the above mentioned goons.  Then of course,  if one really thinks about it,  geography lessons being what they are in "Terrorist Camp",  actually finding Slovenia is pretty much an impossibility.
 I imagine the conversation going something like this:

"Hey Achmed!  I hear Colin Powell will be in Slovenia!   We should blow him up.   That infidel!"
 "Right Mustafah!  I'll book my flight for Bratislava right away!"


See?  There you go.


 Perfectly safe.


Now speaking of Bratislava,  (wow,  what a segue,  eh?)  we were supposed to go there this week.   Yesterday,  to be exact.   This is still a bit of a touchy subject for me,  and I'm not going elaborate too terribly much,  so as not to put too much emphasis on just how utterly ....stupid I can be.   I was going to put in a bad word or two there,  but I'll leave that up to you.

 We quite literally missed the boat.

Yup.   Bonehead here got the times mixed up. 

*sigh*

 On a positive note,   the weather was really,  really crappy.   Raining and blowing like mad all day long.  So maybe it wasn't such a good day to go down the Danube by boat to Bratislava and back?   That's my story anyway.  Other than that,  I'm not talking about it.

 For this very reason,  I made sure I had photographic proof that our guests made it to their train on time this morning. 

Please note the current time,  and the time the train (the "Gustav Klimt") is due to arrive.

Not being one to leave anything to chance.   Here they are actually getting on.

(hey,  I'm still annoyed about the whole missing the boat thing yesterday,  OK?)

The joys of public transit.  Apparently they will leave without you.







You may now talk amongst yourselves.







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