Although I no longer had any responsibility for the module, I turned up for the first knowledge management class of the new academic year. This was just as well because the module leader was late for the 11:00am start.

At the back of the class of around 30 students sat a row of topless young men. They had taken off their shirts to play football at lunchtime and were still too hot to get dressed again. As well as looking a sight with their emergent beer bellies hanging out, they stank.

I suggested to the students that DH was caught up in assessing student presentations, so while we waited for him I would answer any questions they had about the module. Someone asked if writing press releases might be added to the schedule. I responded that the basics of report writing were a higher priority.

Then there was a knock on the classroom door, and in shuffled my university friend GG, dressed smartly in a black suit and (literally) legless. He took a seat in the front row, keen to learn all that I could tell him about knowledge management.

By now it was 11:30 and it had started to rain heavily. The water came down from the ceiling and up through the floorboards, creating an ankle deep muddy mess. Most of the students evacuated themselves, leaving behind just a couple of kindly souls who helped in my attempts to sort out the deluge.

I lost four good pairs of shoes in the flood, and some of the props for the class had gone missing. When we returned the salvaged goods to the cupboard, I noticed there an art canvas that depicted the first class of the previous academic year. At least this time around we had managed to avoid a fire.