Same Old, Same Old

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My laptop is now the office computer.

A fortnight ago, I set up the old (and I do mean old) office computer with two XP installations - so if one crashed, the other could be a fallback. This morning, I switched on to find both were corrupted.

Okay, no great problem - all I need to do is use the Xp installation disc to run a repair procedure.

Oh. The computer won't boot from a CD. No problem - I just have to reconfigure the BIOS, and then it'll boot.

Ah. Someone's put a password on the BIOS. No one knows who, or what, or indeed why. Most passwords you can recover if you forget, but passwording the BIOS is like putting a padlock on all the other padlocks - lose one key and you're screwed.

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Getting computers for the school may be delayed by another month.

Payment of wages was delayed because...money from the wrong account was taken out to pay for the anticipated computers.

Employment of another teacher who's a native speaker of English is delayed because the boss has no time to look.

Employment of another non-native speaker of English is delayed because there aren't any.

Renovation of the "teacher house" is delayed because there's no money for it at the moment. See above.

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I now have six different kinds of tea, the latest being strawberry flavour.

I'm living in a country that makes the worst butter I've ever tasted, and the best sunflower margarine.

It also makes expensive bars of chocolate that taste like cardboard, and staggeringly cheap tubs of nutty chocolatey stuff that I must stop dipping into.

I haven't been able to find any cheese that isn't made from goat's milk. Seeing as they all have "Koze" (Goat) written on the label, one of which shows a farmer and a goat dancing a waltz, I assume there are some non-goat cheeses.

There are two kinds of bread in the markets. One is white and needs toasting. The other is white, pre-sliced and is called "toasting bread".

The only difference I can find between the 0.75L salami and the 5.0L salami is...the price. It's less unbearable when fried - which is why I have a bag full of fried salami slices.

Bad mayonnaise tastes of stale air. Middling mayonnaise tastes of stale eggs. Good mayonnaise costs the equivalent of twice what you'd pay in Britain. Bulgarian people use a lot of mayonnaise.

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Yes, my life revolves around computers, food, and waiting for things that have been promised but are delayed.

How could I feel homesick? This place is just like home.

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