Interesting old day today. I won't bore you with the details of my trip to the JR last night, because (a) it wasn't that interesting and (b) other than to tell you that the Newtonian involved was the most brilliant example of Summerfieldian stoicism imaginable, there isn't really much to tell. Eventually, we were seen by a senior nurse, and all was well.

Apart from that, well, I found myself helping to push the car of one of our parents from its rather curious resting place, which again, in itself wasn't that much of a big deal, although I shall relish for some time to come the fact that I felt confident enough to greet the aforementioned in a 'familiar' manner, which caused some interesting looks from some of the fathers from the other place ...... I say 'the other place', as I used to work there, as some of you will know, and I have to admit to a little satisfaction about the fact that we did rather well this afternoon. (I know the HM, and regard him as a friend, so to say that it was a veritable rout would put paid to a few glasses of decent vino, so I'd better exercise diplomacy.)

Our Leader kindly invited us all to drinks tonight, at his place, which was extremely pleasant, not least to hear him speak so enthusiastically about this term's winning ways. He told us that he wasn't very competitive, which enabled us all to award him the Nobel Prize for Litotes. Mrs C and I have worked for only one HM who was as competitive as he, and he was an Olympic sportsman. I became his deputy, many years ago, which was quite an experience. I do remember playing against one school, whom he regarded as 'the old enemy', and losing: this gave rise to Mr and Mrs C, and Mrs and Mrs Ives, who were colleagues together, hiding behind our form room doors when he returned, parking the car with a screech of brakes and storming up and down the corridors of the classroom block, looking for anything that might further his fury, such as a desk that was out of place. And no, I'm not joking. Ask the Ives.

It's a good job things are different now.

Goodnight.