The venue asked us to make some decisions for our afternoon of celebration: would we prefer the chairs to be set out theatre or cabaret style, and when would we like tea and cake to be served – before or after the performance? I looked up to the stage and had a question of my own. Would it be possible to use that old domestic stereo to play our records for the disco after the Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre show? I also hoped that we had enough vinyl and volunteers to change the song every 3-4 minutes.

Next I turned my attention to duties on campus. First I confirmed arrangements to attend janitor Jimmy’s funeral. Then I popped along to the end of a reception, hoping that nobody would notice that I had not attended the lecture beforehand. I gave the impression that I was interested in the academic chit-chat, but my real mission was to fill two enormous shopping bags to the brim with left-over pains au chocolat to take home and stuff into my freezer.