I was honoured to have been invited to JG’s stag party in Dublin, along with KA (how did she know JG?), and AG. I congratulated the latter on her weight loss and enduring beauty.

I had to tidy my office before I set off. It was a strange day at work because the admin staff were on strike. However, rather than picket the campus, they were all forced to sit at their desks in the school office and stared into space all day. I offered KT a book to read, and she was tempted to borrow it, but this was against the rules.

University pals GW and HP (still teenagers) helped me clear up the mess of my room. By the time we finished we had hung new (to me) heavy pale blue curtains (donated by VJ) in the window, and made up two beds – a single and a double – to match. In the course of our work I found numerous souvenirs of former students, including several pairs of tiny dark metal ear-rings from Africa. I was going to throw them out, but instead packed them up for KA in case she wanted to wear them to JG’s stag party.