TPR was very efficient with his packing. I was less so, scattering the hotel room with my belongings, and wondering how on earth I would get back from the room to the lab by 11:00 for my special class on writing a Masters dissertation.
I was still organising my bits and pieces – including my ancient Royal Shakespeare Company brooch and precious Blue Peter badge – at 11:20 when the students came to find me. Mike was particularly anxious that we start because he only had an hour off work for this one class.
I abandoned my belongings, hoping that the hotel would not take its midday check-out time too seriously, and led the students to a computer lab. We soon discovered it was an impossible environment for teaching due to overcrowding and the loud voice of another tutor who was lecturing nearby, so we moved to a smaller vacant classroom (the only disadvantage of which was that it was not equipped with PCs).
It was 11:55 by the time that the class finally started. I answered a question on literature reviewing using the history of operating systems as an example. Then a catering assistant walked by and offered us salad. She recognised Mike who, in response, rolled onto his tummy, lifted his shirt, and asked to be tickled. Ever eager to please, I joined in when the catering assistant obeyed his request.
Dreamaticus 
Jaded academic seeks oblivion with the help of yellow jellied cocaine (Rousse)
It took us a while to find the meeting on the top floor of a deserted University building. The venue was a formal board room, and it was packed. All the great and good were there, including KW who greeted me as an old adversary, even though we had never shared a cross word.
Also in attendance was A, who seemed to have been sparing for a fight. It sounded like he had dragged some new people into a debate that should have been left buried back in 2014. I hoped that I wouldn’t be called up to comment.
Proceedings were brought to order by Robert Gordon University PhD graduate R. He asked us to work in groups on a number of tasks. My plan to maintain a low profile was thwarted when it became obvious that I was the only member of my group known to everyone else in the room. This meant that I was obliged to act as group leader and report back on our conclusions.
Perhaps this is why I sloped off to a bedroom with a supply of yellow jellied cocaine that had been kindly given to me by the Caribbean multi-millionaire drug dealing boyfriend of one of my students? I popped the coloured jelly into my mouth and waited for oblivion to take me.
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