I don't see the connection but no, I'm not into that.

No work today. Well, there was. But I was home. Yesterday, the judge said that he had other work to do but there was a possiblility that our case could be heard in the afternoon. It seemed to be a remote chance but one of the solicitors insisted that we be listed anyway.

It's just the local court a short walk from my home. So after the day's work was over, I went to one of the solicitors and said that I live nearby, can you call me tomorrow if this case is going to be heard. He said okay.

So I just sat at home all day working on this slowly-diminishing mountain of transcripts. I had to get dressed because there was a remote chance that I could have been called to come in but no. At 1.30, I got a text that it was cancelled.

So that's a day's pay without even leaving my home. I'm justified in charging because I had to be on call for today. I had to refuse other work because of this.

Sadly, I have to work tomorrow. I wasn't supposed to because I don't want to work for the next two weeks but they said a few people called in sick and can I work. And it's some court I've never been to before and you have to take a bus from the train station because it's too far to walk. I don't think I've ever taken a bus in Scotland, and only...maybe 20 times in England. I hate buses. I get lost. But then they said that somebody else is working at that court too and they could pick me up at the train station. So great. Well, as great as it can be. I'll take a taxi the way back. It's all paid for.

I was going to tell a poop story from my youth but instead I'll talk about the greatest moment from my school days: the time I skipped an assembly.

Actually, I can't think of ever going to one. I don't think I skipped them all. Two at the most. And I think they were both in my senior year. I was there from 10th to 12th grade. I couldn't have been sick because I had perfect attendance all throughout high school. I don't know.

But it was a pep rally. You got to cheer the football team on for their big upcoming game. But...nobody gave a shit. I certainly didn't. I mean...that was the point of these pep assemblies, right? To cheer on the football team for their first game. I distinctly remember cheerleaders encouraging us to praise the football team through the medium of yelling and foot stomping.

Can that really be what pep rallies are for? Why would they take the entire school out of class for such a thing? Let me check Wikipedia.

I'll be damned, it is.

Pep rallies or pep assemblies are a gathering of people, typically students of middle school, high school, and college age, before a sports event. The purpose of such a gathering is to encourage school spirit and to support members of the team for which the rally is being thrown. The pep rallies are often very loud and have a lot of excitation to keep all the students excited for the upcoming game and to cheer on the team.

At a pep rally, cheerleaders will often lead in boisterous chants and dance moves intended to get the student body involved and supporting the school's team. Games between competing classes with small prizes may be held. The school's band will often play upbeat music in between demonstrations, and the drumline may play. In the case of a homecoming game, the Homecoming "court" may be chosen and announced. It's a big assembly.

This is also a time for the team captains to let the school know how their team are doing this season. Most schools have pep rallies to honor future and past events.

What a collosal waste of time. If I was a parent, I'd be demanding an end to this shit. Students are in school to learn, not to cheer on student athletes. If you want to cheer on student athletes, do so at the game, not during school time.

Anyway, that makes it all the sweeter that I lead a one man protest and just refused to go. Pep rally? Guess that's my time to head home. I don't give two shits about the football team.

But can it really be so easy as just opening the door and leaving the school? Aren't they watching the doors? What if a teacher sees you from the window running away from school?

I was a daring sort, though. At least when it came to avoiding social situations which encouraged rowdy behaviour.

So on the ground floor, there was a little-used back door that I used for when I went home to lunch. It lead right to the alley which took me home. Few school windows.

So long story short, I just used that door and went home. When my mother asked me why I'm home early, I said it was a half day. Simple as that.

There was at least one other time because I remember skipping school with a friend of mine, again through that door. And in order to get to that door, you had to walk past the special education room. And I remember seeing the special education teacher as we walked to the door. She just smiled at us. It was a young black woman.

Let's see if she's in the yearbook. She couldn't have been much older than us. No. Maybe she wasn't a special education teacher. Or maybe this was in the 11th grade and she had left by then. I only have a yearbook for the 12th grade.

Let's just look up random teachers. Even people I didn't know.

Here's a 2013 article mentioning one of the special education teachers. It's a New York state newspaper. Seems that he's coaching a special needs youth basketball team.

Yeah, here's another article from 2016 from a Utica, New York newspaper. Seems he's a teacher and coach there for special education students.

Here's another special education teacher. Still working at that school. Good for her. She appears to have been a young woman at the time. A lot of "celebrate pride" gayness on her Facebook but she also appears to have an unattractive husband and unattractive children. She herself is unattractive. No offence, just an observation.

Here's my health teacher. He also taught gym but I did gym at my other school. He was nearing retirement when I had him. Some old black guy. He died in 2003. Seems that he moved to Texas after he retired. He has a son with the same name as our high school. I wonder if that's a coincidence.

The obituary does give his son's title as "Dr" but that's all I can find. Here's a pyschologist with that name in Texas. And it is a somewhat unusual name. Probably him.

It's too bad that legacy dot com demands a payment before they'll show you the full obituary. Oh wait. Here it is.

Wow. He was in WWII. This guy must have been older than I thought. Born in 1923. He was like 72 when I was in his class? Can that be right? Aren't there mandatory retirement ages? I'm not sure if I'd say he was 72. Tough to say with black folk, though. He wasn't necessarily an amazing teacher but he was a good guy. He tried. An honest day's work for an honest day's pay.

Here's my art teacher. Real douche. Seems that he lives in Michigan now and is retired. It's mostly spam links on his Facebook so I assume he's senile.

I remember I saw his Facebook a few years ago and he was still teaching at that school. They painted his walls against his wishes. The walls were previously covered with little paintings that students over the years drew. So one of these former students said, "That's some real bullshit" or something, and this teacher said, "I know it's upsetting but watch your language." He's telling a grown man not to use profanity. No matter how old you get, some people who knew you as a child will still treat you like a child.

Huh. This bitch teacher who I thought died years ago (I saw a message about it on Facebook) is apparently alive and well and still teaching at that school. Here's a 2016 article mentioning her teaching work. Says she's been working for 25 years.

Too bad I can't find her gay colleague who once rubbed my shoulders. It's fortunate for him that he has a very common name.

Here's a math teacher. It was his first year. He's still teaching at that school at least as of 2011. Surprising. Most good teachers move on.

Pervert match teacher inducted to the local high school hall of fame. Still teaches there as of 2014. Surprising. He was an old pervert 25 years ago.

Yeah, this creepy old science teacher is still dead. Died in 2008. Everybody talked about how awesome she was but she was crap. We had to write a 10 page or whever paper every week on a different drug. But she didn't even read them. I turned in the exact same paper on PCP as I did on cocaine. All I did was change the "PCP"s to "cocaine". She didn't notice because she didn't read them.

Then I was going to fail the class because I didn't do a bunch of bullshit projects. So she said she'd pass me if I bought some candy off of her. She sold candy and she had leftover candy at the end of the year that she was trying to push. So she said if I bought $5 worth of candy, she'd give me a "D". I declined and got an "F".

What kind of way is this to teach? She was weird, yes. Weird does not necessarily equal good teacher.

Here's a young history teacher who's now an assistant principal in Colorado. Very bad reviews on ratemyteacher dot com. Claim that he's not very bright and a bully. Sounds like him.