Fasting for Draculina

I have just returned from having some blood taken for pathology tests.   The collection centre which is near our house, opens at 8.30am and when I arrived at 8.15 there were already four people waiting outside the door.  We are the early risers and fasters and as the door opened there was a bit of ‘were you in before me?’ as the queue tickets were taken.  I was to be 4th in and I took a magazine so that I didn’t have to search through the heap of old womens’ magazines for something that wasn’t about Brad or Angelina.  By the time I was taken in to Draculina, there were about ten people waiting with churning stomachs.

My turn took no time at all and as I exited the rooms asked the assembled for advice about whether I should have a bacon and eggs breakfast or just cereal.  Mutters and just a couple of laughs.

Daughter Helen starts back at work tomorrow. She is there today for staff meetings  etc.    The kids return to school tomorrow.  Strike that, reverse it (Willy Wonka). The kids start school next Monday.

 At the end of the 2013 year she was offered a three days a week contract, and fortunately in the last ten days of the holidays, she was offered another two days making up the full week.   She is not Permanent and is at a ‘hard to staff school’.   Being in the Western Australian public school system, that is one of several ways to get permanency....spend a year full time at hard to staff school.     She has completed three terms and now only needs to finish first term 2014 to get full permanency.    Had she not got the full week’s work she would have been granted permanency for only three days.  Crazy stuff!

Permanency means that you are assured a full time job without worrying if you are going to get paid employment every term and year.   It doesn’t mean that Helen will not be transferred to another public school some distance from her home next year.