11 November, 2016

Damn if it isn’t almost the end of the year. The garage is built, the old garage is now a workshop and I’m planning for another year in the same school. Teaching young people is still good fun. After a few changes in direction over the last decade I’ve come to the conclusion I simply don’t think like the people I surround myself with and that is always going to be a conflict for me. I don’t get along with many of the people I worked with in I.T. and with the exception of a few notable people I do not really gel with Teachers. The thought patterns are too different. I am being described as disruptive and I have started to embrace that despite it causing a conflict in my mind. I seem to be at an age where a lot of things start to collide and all of the things I could either fight or ignore in younger years have to be dealt with in better ways. It’s an odd time.

Our wee girl starts school next year. Being a teacher at this time is both helpful and depressing. The optimist in me says it’s a great chance for her to grow, learn about people and herself, and that the local school is diverse and full of people who match my idea of good teachers to be a good start for her. The cynic in me hopes that as she becomes institutionalised she can retain her imagination, creativity, love of dancing, singing and a sense of humour that thinks farts and silly jokes are hysterical. There is something about being a man that seems to trigger a protective instinct in the face of a perceived threat and our education system appears as a threat to me. I hope that changes.

The distance I now have to travel to work is far enough that biking is no longer a feasible option. The combination of age, energy, time and distance have made it tricky and I am less fit that I am used to. After 20 years of biking to work it turns out I have no other methods of exercise and I hadn’t realised how important that was to me. Having to think about that now. Not used to feeling this stodgy and unfit. It has, however, encouraged me to look at electric bikes again as a way to reduce the ‘distance’ a bit. Will see where that leads over time I guess.

Another 5 weeks and the school year ends. Looking forward to a break but also looking forward to getting back into another year and finally developing the kind of course I really enjoy teaching. When Punks Rule The Earth indeed ….