Wednesday 2 March

There was an article on BBC news website about the German Defence Minister having to resign because he'd plagiarised his PhD thesis.  Over 50,000 academics had signed a petition for his removal.  Plagiarism is a huge problem nowadays with easy access to the internet so I used the article in class.  We practised reading quickly (but not sacrificing comprehension) and summarising and then read it intensively poring over such phrases as 'another nail in the coffin for democracy'.  The students' reactions were interesting but mainly they thought that all politicians are corrupt - or why else would they be politicians - so why is anyone surprised when they cheat?

My new shoes that I ordered online arrived.  I'm not that keen on shopping for shoes - the shops always seem to be in a muddle or it takes ages to get served by a stroppy assistant but online is risky because of the fit.   But these fit perfectly - what a relief - and I like them too. 

Went out for lunch unexpectedly.  As I was walking home, my phone rang but by the time I fished it out of my bag it had stopped.  It was HimIndoors so I called him back but before he picked up, he walked round the corner with Steve.  They were on their way to the High Street to see about some food and wanted to know if I'd like to come too.  I was honoured.  We looked at a couple of places and ended up in one that did a meal and a drink for £8.  I chose sausage and mash with parsnip crisps and a glass of sauvignon blanc and the boys had steak baguette and a glass of Merlot.  No cooking tonight.