Tired Granny

Knackerated that's me today!

Last week was my first full working week since the end of July. Over the last month I have been back on a phased return since having my knee operation at the beginning of August.

The weekend has been hectic as the band I play with http://www.newhallband.org.uk/ had a concert Saturday night, followed by rehearsals Sunday in readiness for Pontins contest next Saturday. What with the clocks going back too, I definitely felt my age today returning back to college after half-term.

Afternoon Session

Nothings changed much for this session, still just as boring and not very awe inspiring. We started on a new unit - Personal Effectiveness. This will captivate the audience just as much as the Health and Safety unit - not!!

Is it me - Has classroom etiquette (big word - not bad for a tired old bird) been re-written. In my day it was all about respect, following dress codes, having the right tools for the trade (i.e books, pencil case etc) and being punctual. The new updated rules are as follows:-

• Be as late as possible and never ever apologise.


• Books are not meant to be read, but are for shredding and flicking across the classroom.


• Pens are for cleaning out your ears or in some cases, for picking your nose.


• Dress code - Always be attached to your i-pod and listen to R&B throughout the lesson.
  

In my day the only form of portable music appliances were transistor radios and they were bloody massive things, could you imagine sitting with one of those on your desk!

Evening Session

As I have said before I quite like this session as you really have to think on your feet and we work solidly for the whole of the three hours. The tutor is great (bound to be because she's a woman) she really knows her stuff and knows how to keep a captive audience.

I must admit though I was feeling a little irritable tonight, the chap who's head I would like to doodle on was chewing gum and he has one of those goatee beards (a big bristly white one). All the time he was chewing it jumped out from side to side and it kept putting me off. All I could see was big white whiskers in my eye-line.

He's a nice bloke though and I think I am grumbly because I'm tired so I am going to finish here and go to bed.

Tonight we worked on the following:-

Bad debts - Journal entries - Aged analysis of debtors - Cash receipts - Security Paying in.

Night Night

Granny's a Skiver

Yes that's me today - skiving. Not done that for years. The last time I skived was at my senior school. It was a PE lesson which I hated, so I hid in the toilets and was caught by the Deputy Headmistress.

She was a real dragon in her long black cloak and pointy stilettos. I can still hear her click click clacking of her heels on the main hall floor. No-one disrespected her, I suppose you could say she was an icon of her era.

I didn't know it at the time but the lady in question was to be my late son-in-laws auntie, he hadn't even been born then. My daughter married her nephew a couple of years ago and they had two beautiful twin daughters just before he passed away. I can't believe this scary woman is knitting lovely little cardies for my grandbabies.

Anyway to get back to my skiving. I'm not really skiving as such. Today should have been a workshop day very similar to last weeks. If you have read my previous blog you will see that it entailed spending sometime in the IT suite typing up our assignments.

To me it just seemed a waste of good time sitting amongst unruly folk and not getting a lot done. I felt I would achieve much more working from home as most of the information I need is on my PC.

Evening Session

It's much easier to park at night than in the daytime and I managed to find a parking spot straight away.

I made my way to the classroom and met up with my fellow classmates. I asked how they had got on whilst I was skiving.

Apparently they never made it to the IT Suite as the tutor had forgotten to book it, so out came those dreaded laptops, the ones that didn't work first time round and still didn't work. All in all from what I can gather, most of the class disappeared one by one.

We got settled into our classroom and waited for the lesson to commence. Flippin nora who should join our class but flamin "Innit". He's not normally in our class at night, it's only for us adults.

He wore a black hoodie and kept the hood up all evening (probably to disguise his headset which is always attached to his mobile).

It was quite fun tonight which is unusual because you are not supposed to be enjoying yourself. We had a little quiz and we were divided into two teams. We all had to take it in turn to pull a question out of a bag and answer it.

My question was "Which of the day book totals includes Vat"? The Gross total of course!

Our new books have arrived and they weighed a tonne (whats that in metric)? I shall need a trolley to pull them around in as I am still hobbling with a crutch tucked under my right arm. Carrying the books in my left nearly topple me over as they are so heavy.

I got on quite well this evening and managed to finish some of my work well before any of the others and it was right for a change. It's a great feeling but it won't last.

This evening we worked on the following:-

Complete Sales Ledger Accounts

List Methods of Communication with Debtors

Complete a Business Letter

Complete a Statement of Account

Yippeeeee its half term next week.

Tattie bye for now.

Autumn has arrived.

The weather today has been absolutely beautiful, far too nice to be sitting in a classroom.

The trees around the college are beginning to shed their leaves and the complex is framed by lots of lovely different colours as the leaves turn and then fall.

This is my fourth week now and I suppose you could say that I am starting to settle in.

Before my lessons commenced I did a little shopping in the town. I bought some lovely little buttons for a cardigan that I am making for one of my granddaughters.

I decided to have my boots re-heeled and soled while I had got the opportunity, as yesterday I found out that they were leaky whilst scrabbling about in a grave-yard looking for a family grave which I had not visited for some time due to moving away from the area 42 years ago.

Back to college and the lesson commenced at 1330 hours. Us older ones tend to arrive early. I suppose its been instilled into us over the years that it is not polite to arrive late.

Today I became aware of a very strange lad in our class. He arrived at 1400 hours, just walked in with no apology. He found a seat after a lot of shuffling around. He then proceeded to pull his headphones out of his pocket, shoved them in his ears and started listening to his i-pod. Whats so strange about that you might ask. Well not a lot really in this day and age.

The strangeness comes from the fixated stare that he gives you. He just focuses on you for the whole of the time that he is in class. He has no expression - no nothing. His eyes peer right through you and its quite spooky. I can just imagine him going berserk at some point and murdering us all. Note to self - Don't watch so much rubbish on the telly. Another note to self - Be nice to him and he might spare you when he goes mad!

The afternoon session was to end with a workshop. This really meant that it was just some time allocated for students to make a start on their assignments and would mean a trip to the IT Suite.

For some reason I was feeling quite rebellious (not bad for a 49 year old). I wasn't really happy about spending time in the IT Suite with all these kids. They can't behave in the classroom, god knows what they would be like amongst all the computers.

I told the tutor that I wasn't going join him for his little field trip and would work on the assignment at home. The tutor never really said a lot. Probably because I'm older than him!

All the kids trotted off whilst the rebellious granny made a quick exit out of the college. I half expected to have my collar felt and be hauled back in again.

I quite like being a naughty girl at 49.

The "unexpected" early finish allowed me to wander around the town (again) and enabled me to purchase a birthday present for my son, who will be 18 on Thursday 11th October.

I made my usual trip to M&S for my cup of tea and scone and then made my way back to the car for a while. I sat watching a squirrel messing about with his nuts!

Tonight's lesson was again hard. I am finding it a struggle to keep up with everyone as they are so quick at completing the question papers. I like to take mine home and work on them at my own pace, which enables me to fathom out the answers and make them stick in my brain ready for when we take the exam in December.

This evening we worked on the following:-

Credit Notes
Division of the Ledger
Completion of Sales Day Book
Completion of Sales Return Book
Posting from Day Books.

Hurray its going to be half term soon.

Fun At The Fair (or not)

Once a year the Statutes Fair comes to Burton on Trent and the town is cordoned off. Because of this, my daughter, (the one who I cried down the phone to on my first day) offered to take me to college and to pick me up later.

My gorgeous little granddaughters waved goodbye to Granny at the college gates (well only one did as the other was fast asleep in her baby seat, bless her little cotton socks).

The class started to fill up with the usual kiddies. The three witches flew in on their broomsticks, you could hear them cackling before they even arrived in the classroom.

Before the lesson started, our tutor said he had something to tell us. I couldn't believe what I was hearing, another of our colleagues had died during the week from an epileptic fit. The week before a chap had died from a heart attack. It sent shivers up my spine and I felt really sad and again as last week, it made me realise how life can be so precious and fragile.

The afternoon session commenced. The tutor and several students disappeared only to re-appear sometime later with their arms full of lap tops. Around twelve in all. A bit of "hands on work" ahead.

Don't be daft - only three of the lap tops worked and by the time we had managed to fire these up, half the class had disappeared.

The 3 witches were the first to arrive back, each armed with a bag of salt and vinegar crisps and a bag of skittles. They proceeded to chomp their way through the rest of the lesson.

"Cool" turned up with a bag of candy floss and passed it to "Solid" and friends under the table. "Innit" had a head-set on for his mobile and chatted away to his mate.

Not a great deal of work was done during this session.

I have got myself into a little routine now whilst I am waiting for the evening session to start. I usually head for Marks and Sparks and sit in the coffee shop and have a cup of tea and a scone.

Today was no different, accept I had to weave my way in and out of the fairground rides and dodge the bags and buckets of candy floss hanging from the stalls.

I was sitting at the table in the coffee shop enjoying a cup of tea, when a lady came past balancing a teapot, cup and saucer and a jug of milk all in one hand. She bumped into a chair and the milk spilt from the jug into my open rucksack. She looked horrified and couldn't apologise enough and I thought she was going to cry. I really felt sorry for her.

Tonight's session was particular hard for me. It involved lots of things to do with VAT. We had two papers to complete, but I am afraid I could only manage two questions on the first paper, and I got both of those wrong!

I have managed to suss out where I was going wrong, and so now have plenty of homework this week to keep me busy.

LIFE

Life is but a stopping place

A pause in what’s to be

A resting place along the road

To sweet eternity.

We all have different journeys,

Different paths along the way,

We all were meant

to learn some things,

But never meant to stay...

Our destination is a place

Far greater than we know.

For some, the journey’s quicker,

For some the journey’s slow.

And when the journey finally ends,

We’ll claim a great reward

And find an everlasting peace,

Together with the lord.

Author Unknown

For Liam and Carl