Bad form

Working with Lorraine for four hours on her headteacher application form. Not for nothing does Lorraine call it the scary monster form. Each question requires a mini-essay, and apparently this form is the most difficult part of the process of application. The completion instructions alone make your eyes bleed. If anything, Lorraine has too much evidence of her mad teachin' skillz.

I always get enraged by the vacuity or inflexibility of the questions in forms. In a previous life I worked for an ill-starred year as a civil servant, and most of the work consisted in selecting the right form, and then filling it in. When I arrived, working on Widow's pension, the staff were so overworked, two of the section were absent having had nervous breakdowns. Meanwhile the head of the section spent his days reading the paper in his office. I was excellent at talking to grieving widows, but useless at filling in forms and I and Her Majesty's Civil Service parted company on exceedingly poor terms, with me sending a three page account of life in the section to the regional controller.

Betty came around in the afternoon and went to sleep on the sofa and we all hung out watching dinosaurs on TV and eating the roast chicken I made. Beth brought me a pair of slippers for my birthday, as the last pair she had bought me had been worn to shreds.

First Matie called with news of an owl day at a garden centre where you can get close and personal with owls. I think I will go, especially as Katie told me it would be a hoot.

A long overdue tea-sipping night.

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