St. George’s College (Week #99) – Day #455

Date for Entry: (Friday 28 February 2025)

Actual Date of Online Entry: (Wednesday 25 June 2025)

[T2, W:08 – WD:39, (Td:6)*].

Dear Diary,

    This morning, Daddy walked into the living room and woke me up. This meant that I fell asleep on the couch and remained there the whole night. It took me a while to wake up and get ready. The ride down to Sixth Avenue was short. As soon as I got into the compound, it felt very strange to see Form 6 students out in the front car park area. When I got to the hall, I heard children, and a child inside had said, "Aye, look, Mister Ali!" I didn't bother to watch. At first, I had assumed that Religious Instruction was going on in the hall.

    The staffroom was very empty. As soon as I got to my desk, "GG" had asked me if I was still going to the funeral, and I told her yes. She went to speak with Mrs Ramsingh about it. I went to the office to see if Patty was there to get the forms signed and stamped. The students were taught in Religious Instruction. They were kept in the hall. I met Indera in the hall, and she held onto my clipboard. Thankfully, Patty came in and she signed it for me in her office. She told me that she would be leaving early and to tell the others that.

    I met Jeanice at Miss Ali's desk, now starting to fill out her timesheet. That was probably the first or second time for the month that she came to school. She mentioned calling Mrs Archer about the late delivery and that her driver was coming at some unknown time. I delivered the message to her. We had a brown envelope taken out for our sheets, and then I went back to the staffroom as the time for leaving was soon. I learned that "Kimmy" and "Hams" were taking us, but they weren't staying for the service. I had to go and get Mel in the Art Building. She came and took a long time talking to "Choo Choo", so we had to hurry her out of the building.

    When we got in the car, "Kimmy" didn't know where we were supposed to go. We tried to follow "Hammy" and got lost until Mel directed the way. The church was easy to miss. The church yard we went to first was another church, and it was locked. Mel said, "Good thing we checked, or we would have gone to somebody else's funeral." The "Kingdom Hall" Jehovah's Witness Church was very easy to miss. There was a small incline going up to the parking yard, but it was small like a backyard to some house.

    A gentleman was directing the cars coming in. I liked the place just by watching it from inside the car. There was a huge sliding gate made of iron that was able to roll open. The ground behind it was the higher platform and the podium. When we got to the church, not many people were there and we were late, lolz.

    We didn't see Mr Raymond coming in. He didn't show up to the service at all. We were very concerned. We didn't find a place the the five of us could sit straight, but it was better to have a corner. Not sure if "GG" was scared coming to the funeral. I decided to sit and type the journal entry for Wednesday by the time. It was from the beginning of the day.

    The air conditioning was not working, and Mel was thinking it was not turned on. I knew that we would be left on the heat, and it was so. They did not even turn on the sealing fans above. When the programmes were being distributed and Gloria forgot to take one for Miss Nunes-Charles and Mrs Ramsingh. The service had to start off with a lovely song called "". Some letters written by some of the family members were read first, and then the eulogy and sermon were delivered by the pastor.

    Even the sermon was super long if they were trying to hurry things up, but I loved it very much. A lot of the reference scriptures were from Genesis and Psalms. I was not sure if they had pushed the time of the service later, or if everyone was late today, or if there was traffic keeping everyone back. The last song was sung, and then there was the final viewing before the body was taken to the cemetery.

    Strangely enough, during the service as the sermon was being done, the current went and came back four times. The lights began to blink and flash, and move like disco lights. It felt like a poltergeist at one point. They ended up turning off the lights, keeping us in the dark, and there was only a breeze from the outside to ventilate the entire 'hall'.

    Sometime in the service, too, I was shocked when I saw a man pass by. I thought "Hams" had come back to the service, but then I was wondering how he was able to dress up in a fancy suit. When I looked at the hair, it was grown and grey, so I then realised it wasn't him. But the person could pass for a real close twin. I can't remember the person that Mel was telling me about in the service, but I thought it was Mr Ramdath.

    At the end of the service, I went to ask the guy resembling "Hams" if there were any more programmes. Sadly, it didn't have any for my journal entries. Mel went to the viewing, but I stayed back with the others. We had a long wait for the cars to come back. I didn't take any pictures for the journal entry today. "Hams" came first, and "Kimmy" came. She was out on the road, and we had to run because she was waiting at the corner of the road. She said that she was trying to call all of us, and we were not answering. I didn't remember to turn the silencer off.

    All of the banks were either filled or out of order. "Kimmy" had played a party song for Mel, and that seemed to be her favourite one for this season. When I got back to school, I used the washroom and went back to the office. Outside, Afisha told me that the timesheets were in. She said that Mr Harry took Jeanice to the Waterfront. Not many people were in the hall either. I saw Saskia and "Wayne" playing Table Tennis. I went to see if Indera needed help with the test papers. She said that the copier was giving trouble again and that they would have to call the technician to come and check it out.

    It was very displeasing to hear Miss Bacha speaking certain unpleasant things in the office again. To avoid hearing all of it, I decided to go and finish the six landscape Bristol board envelopes that I should have done since Tuesday. For me, it would have felt nice to finish them in one week, in case we got more board next week. Mrs Nunes-Charles was outside chatting with an Art student while supervising the other children playing in the yard. "Celia" wasn't there today. I thought that she would have come to school for us to finish by November 2024.

    School was starting to feel toxic again. I left some minutes after "Choo Choo", who said that she would look for me on TV. That night, I went home and completed the design for the leave form. The new printer was used to inspect the lining and make sure that diagrams fitted comfortably on both folded sides of the letter-sized page. I also had to go and learn how to use the textbook to get work rotated upside down. The form is ready for print. I will have to wait and see how much Isa will charge for a quote for it. I tried to catalogue one library book, but tiredness overtook me. It was early, around minutes to 11 minutes. Will have to see about it tomorrow.

Daryl Zion M. Ali

(7:53 am – 3:25 pm)

St. George’s College (Week #99) – Day #454

Date for Entry: (Thursday 27 February 2025)

Actual Date of Online Entry: (Wednesday 25 June 2025)

[T2, W:08 – WD:38, (Td:5)*].

Dear Diary,

    This morning, the challenge to wake up was not easy. I saw "Fine Tie" in casuals today on Sixth Avenue. Looked like we were both 'early' today, lolz. I was planning on what I was going to do with the children. It was not a day I wanted to come to school after what happened yesterday, but I did anyway. To my shock, in the staffroom, Jess came walking in. I knew she told me on Tuesday that she was not coming because she had to judge a Carnival show at another school.

    As soon as I entered the office to get my tray, there were a whole lot of teachers coming in, and Patty needed some help. It took up the time of the morning period before recess. No one was in the office besides me and Patty. I held down the office and did all the work and runs of it. It was very amazing to see that parents would send their children to school and then ask to sign them out in the second and third period of the morning.

    I also got a visit from Dr Blandin to do a sheet for teachers to suggest a theme and a guest speaker for the school's Graduation Ceremony 2025. She wanted it on separate pages, but I created it on one sheet, the same way it was always done. All of the teachers' requisitions for copies were done and batched. Miss Ali came in when the teachers were leaving for their classes. Mr Martin was also in a dean's meeting with a student. He was looking for a chair and got one from Candice's room. I asked him before he went off to it about his copies when he came out to get something. They were done and batched for the meeting today.

    Once recess began, there was a nice visit from "Mr Harewood" to return something. Before leaving, I told Miss Ali that I was going to breakfast and would be staying for the meeting. She didn't look like she was feeling good. The pies were taken to the staffroom. I heard Donna saying something when I sat down, but didn't realise that she was speaking to me. She said, "Pies again, sir?" And then she added, "You are de only teacher who does support Richard." I recalled while eating, Miss Burnette turned around and said to me, giggling, "So it's you who smellin' up de place nice so." The others laughed out.

    When I was done and had dried my dish, Patty came into the staffroom. Soon she found me and said that he was looking for the copies that I had made for Mr Martin. I told her that I left it in the out file for copies. When she went to get it, I don't think she heard me say from far that there were two batches. When they were handed out, I didn't see the second handout for the meeting. I went quickly to Mr Martin, and she said when I asked that the second one wasn't given to him.

    I had enough time to go and get the batch from the office and get it to him in the staffroom. He and Miss Marris shared them out again. The meeting began, and Mr Martin began to speak on the handouts that were distributed. During his presentation, Miss Ali came to get an Exit form signed for a student to leave. It made Indera come to my desk and ask me if I could go back to the office since Miss Ali said that she had to leave early. I did not like the sound of that. It meant that my notes would have to be cut short, and no one would be continuing them. I packed up my things on my tray and went over to the office.

    When I got there, Miss Ali was walking into the office and asked if she had saved me from the meeting, but it was far from that. Surprisingly, she came back and sat down, liming with Shiva, who didn't want to be in the meeting. I decided to get the new copies requested from teachers printed. At the very least, I go to learn how to print single pages into back and front on the chute (upright, rightdown, upright, rightdown). It came out good, and that was Dr Jogie's Add Maths batched and labelled with his name for later. Shiva left, and she left at lunchtime.

    Indera was the first to come back. I was alone again in the office when lunchtime came. "Choo Choo" tried to remind me about what happened in the meeting, but I forgot to write it down. I didn't see the Muslim boys coming to sign out the History room keys today. After lunch, "Tia" came and did her copies during the seventh period, but the machine kept on sticking. I felt like maybe the machine didn't like her. There was another letter to be generated. Patty gave me a sheet of paper with the student's name and Form level to create it. It did not take long to do this time around. The letter was printed and left with a white envelope for her to put in when finished signing.

    I took the rest of the evening trying to find the cabinet with the brown envelopes in the store room, but it wasn't there. Mr Charles was liming by me earlier when I asked about the filing cabinet and the folders. He said he packed everything up in a box and labelled it "VP OFFICE". I was able to find that same box long after school ended, and only folders were found. No sign of my work with the teachers' leave forms in them.

    When I got back to the office door, it was still open for me to get my stuff. I saw Patty leaving the building with her bags from the Science Block. I got to tell her about the folders, and she said that tomorrow we could try and look for them. She also said that if I wanted a ride with "GG", I had to hurry and go because she was about to leave soon. There was a short wait. I was so tired on the ride up the road. As soon as I was about to open the gallery gate, Daddy came driving into the yard. He joked, saying that he timed me well.

    That night, I worked on the last month of May 2024 to transfer into Version 5 from the third. It reminded me that this was the last month working with Dr Blandin. It also highlighted to me that I will have to see what Mr Charles did with the forms afterwards and how he took the late minutes. These were more frustrating things to look out for. I hope that the folders will be found.

    Tomorrow is Mr Raymond's mother's funeral. I called Afisha earlier to let her know. We didn't know if Jeanice would be able to do it. I will have to leave all of that for tomorrow. The timesheet for me just has to be signed and stamped. I was too tired to work on anything after beginning to design a cover for the leave forms.

    I found it nicer to have a formal print that is slightly fancy and has spacing for the purposes/functions I intend for them to have. This way, I wouldn't have to draw lines to fifty folders and then handwrite in the names of all the teachers. It would just be to write in the teacher's name, year, and department before the reinforcement to paper punch the holes for a treasury tag.

Daryl Zion M. Ali

(8:43 am – ?:?? pm)

St. George’s College (Week #99) – Day #453

Date for Entry: (Wednesday 26 February 2025)

Actual Date of Online Entry: (Wednesday 25 June 2025)

[T2, W:08 – WD:37, (Td:X)*].

Dear Diary,

    Today is the day of the school Carnival show 2025. I got to school in alright time. I decided to wear my lovely blue flowered shirt. People were watching me on the road, too. As soon as I got into the staffroom, teachers were starting to comment. Sometime after Mel came abd she said, "Ah go have tuh steal dah shirt, yuh know!" She laughed. Mrs Ramsingh commented on the shirt with "Choo Choo". I should have gone and taken a picture of it alone when they went to do so. The time was drawing closer to 9 AM, and still no word on when the show was about to begin.

    Soon Jess came by and asked me to join her with the judges in the back. She said that each judge had to write something about themself for when they were being presented. While writing up the entry in my red copybook, she made the joke that I was writing three pages. I was not sure what to write. It felt intimidating that there were three other accomplished persons more than me, so I kept my words short and simple and brief about what I think the public might like to know about me.

    Afisha was sitting in the corner with us, writing in the contestants' names on the score sheets. The waiting was not long. The other three went out into the hall. I went to grab some sheets of paper since Mr Marcelle mentioned that there was no place for the judges to write in their comments and that I should mention it to Jess. The anthem and school prayer were done before we began. The judges were introduced. I was presented last, and the prefect boy really could not read much of what I wrote down on the page, lolz.

    The first performance was done, then there was a big stall before the second one came. They brought on the different carnival characters. I glanced briefly to see which one was being shown. I mainly began to type my journal entry for yesterday. This was the work through every pause. The rest of the performances went on for the rest of the day. It went on and on, and I didn't get to use the washroom the whole stretch or go for the pies.

    The Original Soca was after the Original Calypso. One of the Soca contestants had a good Rapso named "King Jesus", and it was amazing, but didn't suit the genre. I smelled the wings being cooked from down in the Home Economics room. We had the Staff Calypso and Freestyle competition. The MTS workers went first but didn't do anything original. They had the drums. It looked like one of the guys was good with Tasa.

    "Maria" went second and said she was changing the name to "Pest". Her song was original, and it was about people calling her name in their confusion. She also had Gabby with her as the backup. Mr Bain had a skit using Roberts and Kelis Hood. There was another category for students after, and three contestants. The first was a mix of students with a very inappropriate change of words. The second was the Form 4s doing "Cocoa Tea". They had "Gabby" dressed as a flame and Kyla dressed with Swiss Cocoa boxes as part of her costume. They have had a big pot. A Form 1 boy came and stole the category. A lot of the Form 1s were up on the stage toward the end.

    The judges were taken to the back of the staffroom. Sitting in the corner was Aaron Duncan. Mrs Libert brought us food that came from El Pacos, and the packaging was the same as from Massy's. The other two ladies decided to start eating and took the process of tallying much longer. A lot of people won't go hungry all day long every week, like me, it seems. As soon as the tallies for each section were done, Mr Marcelle and another lady placed the order from first to fourth place. Jess was asking me how I found the day went. I told her that it was just a regular day, and she asked if it was a regular day.

    When the tallying was over, I went to use the washroom for the first time for the day and then went to eat the El Pacos food that they got us. The rice was really good. I had callaloo and stew in it. I went to visit Mrs Santana in the Home Economics kitchen, and she said they were done when I asked if they needed any help. Donna was in the back washing up the last of the basins and food containers.

    I spent the rest of the evening in the office. Patty came in and she said that she didn't see me all day. When I told her that they had me judging, she smiled, saying that she knew. They realised that a lot of the bix lunches were still behind. Looks like the prefects didn't put the big crates out. I got some to carry home. Daddy was given it.

    Jess left school to pull numbers in Port of Spain for the Calypso competition for the children. A lot of the teachers had cleared out, too. Couldn't take much of the school again. I walked out and got to Curepe. That night I tried to work on the teacher's punctuality and regularity from the old version 3 into the new file. I deleted everything from May 2024 and started over with the transferring of information. Thankfully, that was done, and the rest of the last hour was spent on the couch watching "Summer House". No photographs were taken today, so sadly, there is nothing to add to the journal entry.

Daryl Zion M. Ali

(7:41 am – 5:29 pm)

St. George’s College (Week #99) – Day #452

Date for Entry: (Tuesday 25 February 2025)

Actual Date of Online Entry: (Wednesday 25 June 2025)

[T2, W:08 – WD:36, (Td:4)*].

Dear Diary,

    This morning was not easy to get up. I was on the couch for a while. I decided to take my time walking down Sixth Avenue. As soon as I got into the staffroom, "Hannah" was asking teachers if they had any field trip forms. She saw me and told me that they were looking for forms, and there were none. I told her that I can go and make a copy of it. Thankfully, a teacher had an extra one for me to use. "Hana" came with me.

    The machine had a jam again from yesterday when Patty tried. There was another compartment to the side that had the stuck paper. The paper was taken out from another compartment I hadn't been in before, and the machine began running smoothly again. A letter from UWI came out for "Hana", and then I was able to make the copies for her. She took one for herself, and then she showed me the field trips folder with some other kind of form that I had never seen before. She moved them to their relevant file and placed the copies into the folder. I was also asked to do other things, so with these occurrences, I was not able to go to the classes.

    My tray was left in the office overnight, so before going for my pies at recess time, I gathered all of the copies that were made and batched, and had them delivered to the teachers in the staffroom. One of the patches was for Mr Charles. Once the documents were distributed, I went to buy the pies. Only one batch of copies was not with a requisition, so it had to be left without a name in the office. I took back my tray for class with the Forms 4s one time, going back into the staffroom.

    I had the pies in the tray, and "Kevon", the guard, was joking with me about me bringing the pies for him and the guard. When I walked into the kitchen, "Marcia" was getting the children to sell the chow, and Rhea was surprised that I was bringing the pies on a tray. While having breakfast, Mr Charles had thanked me for the copies and delivery. He was talking with Miss Dayna about efficiency. Somehwere in the conversation I heard him say, "Efficiency is an ass." Shiva made comments about my plate that I ate from after washing it out.

    When it was time for the fifth period, I went to the guard. "Kevon" was walking a man and a lady in the back. The lady guard said that the other music one (Roberts) had taken it already. She was there when I entered the music room. There was some good advice I got for the Form 4s. When the students came to the music room, "Gabby" and "Nai" were whispering about forgetting their laptops today. However, they were able to show me their work from their cellphones. Joshua, on the other hand, had his laptop but did not want to show me anything at all. I will have to speak to Jess about this.

    At some point, Roberts had asked if she could do something with the children. I agreed since they had nothing else to work on. She worked on melodic features with them until it was lunchtime. I spent a lot of time afterwards with "Michael" and "KiKi". They had brought "Mr Williams" with them. "Michael" had his amplifier box and a guitar that he brought to school. The three of us were shocked when he told us the cost of it. He showed me the book that he said he was bringing for me to look at. It was a book borrowed from the library with the National Songs.

    When we went through the first three pitches to “God Bless Our Nation”, it was confirmed to me that he did not know about key signatures as yet, which I explained right away. It took a long while for him to get the Bb4, but he was able to find it in octave 3. Then we climbed chromatically until we got to the Bb4. The next one was to find F₄, Eb₄, and D₄. He wanted to learn something from the piano and mentioned my arrangement of George's anthem on YouTube. I showed him the four chords. It was a lot of trouble for him to find the chords at first.

    “Michael” also shared with us a recording from Divali with his family band. It was a wonderful presentation with everyone, and also the solo performance. I took my things from the art room and then went to the staff room. Mel came in shortly, and I told her that tomorrow I will come over to make the remainder of the envelopes. I went over to the office. There was still a lot more time for school to continue. I heard Artee chatting with Candice in the back. Only when lunchtime was over did she come and wanted to get angry that the machine was jammed. Unbelievable. We had to get Candice to come and get it. I have to turn Dr Blandin down, too.

    It took some time to find exactly where the paper was jammed before it continued. The cassette was also out of paper. Artee got her copies, but I was worried that Mrs Ramsingh's test paper had gotten mixed up. It was a lot of paper. Only one sheet for writing was not in. I hope that it will not be a problem for the students. There were no requisitions to complete. I realised that I had done all of them out.

    Surprisingly enough, I saw Jeanice there today in the back by Miss Ali's desk. Before moving on to the punctuality and regularity that I was working on with "Celia", I decided to create a table that Patty had asked me to do since morning. I recall a parent coming to ask for a letter. It was not requested, and Patty asked me to help generate the document. I went to ask Candice if she knew about it, but she said that it was not done.

    She gave me a small piece of paper with the name of the student and the form to create the letter. Patty showed me the document to make the letter, and eventually she signed it, and the stamp was printed. That was it for the remainder of the day. I got a visit from Mrs Santana to make copies of the receipts for their expenditures. I had to stick it down on a sheet of paper for it to go through the machine. She got the original to the principal and then took the copies.

    I remember when talking to "Celia" before leaving the staffroom that she had to leave early in the evening. The first time she came into the office, I forgot to ask her for the document with the minutes form for September 2024 and October 2024. She came back again and said that she would bring it. She came to check and see if I had it. We laughed that she could not find it, so she went back to look. Luckily, she came back with her file and gave me the forms.

    When she left, walking out of the office, she laughed, saying, "Don't lose them forms, eh, Mr Ali! 'Cause, ah don't have any more copies." I remained there until sometime after 4 to get September and October. The August will be left for tonight when I get home. I hope that it will have enough time to get all of that done, too. It took me four hours, and I still could not get the entry for today completed. The time was already 9:40, and I got to the computer.

    August 2025 leave was entered. The minutes from then to October 2024 will have to be entered. As soon as I began to enter the minutes, everything looked all over the place. I began to get tired and couldn't manage to do anything again. The time was close to 11 PM. The ride to Curepe in the bus was exhausting, too. I will wait to finish the judging for George's Carnival show tomorrow, and then "Celia" and I will meet up. She said that by that time, the judging would be over, and she should be ready to do the work.

Daryl Zion M. Ali

(7:41 am – 5:29 pm)

St. George’s College (Week #99) – Day #451

Date for Entry: (Monday 24 February 2025)

Actual Date of Online Entry: (Wednesday 25 June 2025)

[T2, W:08 – WD:35, (Td:3)*].

Dear Diary,

    This morning was a rush to get to school. At the WASA stop, there were two boys dressed as Georgian's although I didn't see them in the school before. They took a long time to walk down the road. The room was empty when I got in. It looked like Jess was now coming in. She sent me a WhatsApp message asking for full assistance as this week her preparations for the Carnival concert will begin from period six to eight, and then on Thursday, she will be going to another school to judge their show too. She met me at my desk to talk about what she sent. We will have to see what topics she wants me to do with the children.

    While there was some time before class with 1F, I went to the art room. I got the Bristol Board from Miss, and I got six envelopes ruled up and stapled. I ended up with the Form 4s in the music room and waited all lunchtime for Jess to come back. Since the children did not have the pansticks or scores for the practical, I decided to do some theory with them. The hardest topic they had when I asked was intervals.

    I went through the Grades 1 to 4 intervals with them. The Form 5 part will be their homework to explore. It was nice that they understood it. A very interesting conversation came up just as lunchtime came around. I also got to show them the different placements of the C4 clef and introduce their names. My head was spinning and I felt like falling. It took a long time for the children to move the pans out of the steelpan room.

    When I went back to the staffroom, it had been a while since I had had any water. "GG" told me while drinking the water that she was helping "Celia" with the lateness and absences yesterday, and she liked the form that she was using. She also added that she found it strange to be a Ministry document, since it looked so neat. She said that while turning through the pages, she saw my DAPHA Projects logo and realised that it was me who made it.

    I took my stuff and went to the office. I met "Choo Choo" out in the yard heading over there. Rhea was making a joke with her about not getting any privileges or getting any complimentary leave.

    I went into the office to get started. There were copies and other stuff to do. I got all the copies done that evening and batched them off. I got the CXC label for Mel printed and handed it to her in the art building. The only problem was that 2024 was accidentally left on it. I will have to change it sometime. "Celia" met me by the staffroom door afterwards. She said that she was looking for the Teachers' Punctuality and Regularity Excel file that she was using. She couldn't find it. Back in the office, she came after a while and was looking for it.

    After a long while, too, we realised that in the updated file, she had not clicked save, and some of her work was missing from the Excel file. Instead of all that, I invited her over to the computer where I plugged in all the numbers of late minutes, and she got to see how my Excel would work. She got all of the marks tallied to put in her form. We got a lot of starting progress done. We worked on the entries for November 2024.

    At 5:30, Patty had to go, and I got a ride up with her. There was some good music playing on the ride home. She mentioned that there was a tech committee that I could always share the instructions on operating the file, so they will know what to do when I leave. As soon as I got home, I ate and then went to see about the "Dark Wars" zombie game. After three weeks, I am at a Level 14 stronghold. I did some painting and then went to the computer at 9 PM to work on the remainder of November 2024. I also got started in October 2024. The time immediately got to 12:39 AM, and I had to call the end of a night immediately.

Daryl Zion M. Ali

(8:09 am – 5:41 pm)

St. George’s College (Week #98) – Day #454

Date for Entry: (Friday 21 February 2025)

Actual Date of Online Entry: (Wednesday 25 June 2025)

[T2, W:07 – WD:34, (Td:2)*].

Dear Diary,

    This morning, there was a rush to get to school. I even realised that I fell asleep on the couch from last night at 5 AM this morning before trying to get up, turn off the lights and go to bed. There was a wait for the religious instruction session in the first period to finish. The pedestrian gate was still open, so I used it to go pay for the pies one time before heading to the staffroom.

    When the second period came, Jess took a very long time to come down to the music room. It was a long wait for her to get out of the staffroom. We met in the hall and I told her that the children were down by the music room. They were called back and were given a note on their coursework project. Mrs Santana came and took her out of the class to chat about something. It sounded like the Carnival show they wanted to put together next week. GG came and said that she was coming to leave some work for the children to do because "Jan" was not there.

    I ended up leaving both Mrs Santana and Jess there and walked over to the staffroom. I went to get a copy of the timesheet and the leave form. In the remaining time before recess, I wanted to get the information for all of this month thus far consistent with the OJT logbook and my journal book to insert it into the timesheet so that on Thursday morning, the rest will be easily inserted. I went to get the pies when I was done. It was hard to wait the next twenty minutes for recess.

    As soon as I was done, I took my things over to the office and began to work. I went to make the copies that Miss Soodeen gave me to make and the rest of her desk. Mr Charles called my name from his desk, signing her permission slip for the copies and said that he "needed some copies by today, please." As soon as the copies were done, I left them on her desk just in case it was to be used after recess.

    Mrs Santana came toward the end of recess and told me that the letter I had printed and formatted for her yesterday had to be done over. She said that Patty said that they could not charge the students for the entrance to the show. She took off quickly, mentioning that she was running late for your class. She said running out the door will email the letter through the school's FAC again.

    Candice was in her room doing some work. At some point, she had called me and asked for some tips. It looked like a document for the school on an Excel sheet. I showed her how to merge the cells and wrap text to make the word fit comfortably. Patty was in the room too, and she was glad and mentioned how Excel gave her trouble. Looks like Jeanice decided to show herself today. She and Miss Carthy were busy talking outside when I was coming back from delivering Miss Soodeen's copies.

    At lunchtime, Mel came into the office and shouted to her, "Jeanice, the car is here." Not sure where they were going. Afisha was asking me if I was okay. I told her that I'm okay despite the headache killing me since morning. The other Muslim student came to sign out the keys today. Just before lunchtime was over, Jess came back to check on her letters. They were still not scanned, and I told her that the best thing to do is to take a picture of it to send to the person for now, until the scan comes in. So she still took the picture as I suggested and left.

    It was sometimes in the seventh period while working on the computer, and Mrs Santana came to let me know that the email was sent in the FAC email. I tried over fifteen times to open the email, and it bounced like a bounced check. Not sure why the email was bot wanting opening. I asked her to send it back to me on the school's Gmail account.

    When she came back into the room, I got the email and was able to open the document. I got the document set up as a new file, and there was one change she saw. A date on the document was concerning, but she left it. There was another class to run off to, and she mentioned 250 and 300, so I had in mind to make. I had the letter made and stamped. It was left in the In-Box for the Principal to sign off.

    It was nice of Anisa to sit with me while she did her work. We had a laugh about me recognising the ratios questions in the Form 2 paper that she asked me to print a sample for her. She then said, "Take a look at the other one and see if you can tell me what's in it," with a giggle. We had another laugh. It was a Form 6 paper for Pure Mathematics, Statistics and Calculus. She left sometime before the eighth period. Miss Carthy came late for her Sports meeting. Mrs Santana came for the letter, and I told her that it was not signed. She signed it and then took it right into the Principal's office when I told her that a meeting was going on.

    A student came by and asked the student to go and get Jess to sign it. Once the letter came back, I got the prints going for her. I had set 300 copies to run off. She came back to get them from the tray and then went off to the classes with Rhea. Candice left early after checking the large boxes for the box lunches. Indera, Patty and I were outside in the main part of the office just chatting. She showed me the teacher's register and asked if there was anything I could use to paper it. I was telling them that I was searching for affordable contact paper to paper the office logbooks, since the clear one might still make them look untidy. Patty agreed.

    When she asked, I told her that I had secured the clear ones she gave me in the cupboard. Indera left sometime after. I left the office after 4:30 PM. Patty had some nice trees placed out in the 'lobby' area. She asked me if I didn't want to go home when she saw that it was too late. I told her that it would have been nice to stay late and work on those lateness and absences. Earlier, there was a loud noise, and then I realised, while delivering the copies for the teachers, that the dancers were practising. There were also students giving a loud cuss talk, and as soon as Indera heard me alert it, she spoke out to them from Patty's office.

    I went to use the washroom for the first time for the day since leaving home. I packed up and then left Donna and Mr Marlon in the staffroom to go up. It was a long wait for transport again. I realised that this was the third day in a row that I was riding back to Curepe in a maxi. The headache was really bad this evening. Thankfully, after eating, it went away. I spent some time with the SAGHS anthem again, and there were a few of the embellishments from the original that I realised were not inserted. I had a study of the recording and my score in fragments. It seemed a bit better to me. The night came to an end very quickly.

Daryl Zion M. Ali

(7:55 am – 4:28 pm)

St. George’s College (Week #98) – Day #453

Date for Entry: (Thursday 20 February 2025)

Actual Date of Online Entry: (Wednesday 25 June 2025)

[T2, W:07 – WD:33, (Td:1)*].

**valentines pics

Dear Diary,

    This morning I was hurrying to school. I didn't remember what the timetable day was going to be. When I got to my desk, I saw that it was Day 1. It meant that there was still some time to wait. I was able to sit there until the start of the third period to get some of my recording of the entries done. I was able to finish Monday's entry by lunchtime that day.

    Jess and I were in the music room today with 3F. Ari's group went last when recess time came. I was working on the entries. Seems like the way the office works goes, I did not have much time to type everything out. There are also a lot of things to mention. I went to get the pies and had them at recess.

    Before going to the office, I went up to the library to When I got into the office, Jess was by the computer, and then Mrs Solomon came in to print something. I was amused that they were not getting through, and it didn't occur to them to ask me for help. I had to rush out of the room to do something and come back quickly. We laughed about that when I came back. The two ladies said they saw me just dart out the door and wasnt sure if I had heard them.

    Jess also asked about how I was going to be working with the office and mentioned having mixed signals. She mentioned what Patty had said, but I told her that my working plan would be a 50-50 split where I would be with her in assigned classes for the first four periods, and then after recess, I would be in the office since there isn't anyone around to hold it down. She was then able to understand why she hadn't been seeing me in the afternoons. She couldn't get her document scanned and emailed. I told her that she would have to ask Candice since I forgot how to do it. It was placed into the Principal's inbox.

    The box lunch was taken outside during lunchtime, and a boy came to ask for the keys to the History Room for the Muslim students to pray. Jess was still there trying to get her things done, and I ended up leaving to go to the library for the poetry writing competition that Rhea was telling me about. They were supposed to start at 12:15, but everyone was late, including the judges. It was nice to see the library supervisor there again. She was one of the judges with Rhea and Mrs Libert.

    Students from 2L had done a really good job of decorating the library for the event. Around 1:25, the competition. The lower schoolers were marked first. It was nice to see "Mr Haynes" try, and also "Pablo", who said he is always happy. It was surprising that happy was his chosen word, too. The second category was for students in classes higher than Form 3. Not many of the students in this range had participated. While the judges were writing, Mrs Solomon held out the basket for the teachers to pick.

    Mr Bain had entered while the last of the older students were sharing their pieces, and Jess had forced him into the competition. The order was Jess, Afisha, me and then Mr Bain. The mic was accidentally turned off. I had to learn how to turn it on. I was very nervous, but I did the reading and it was alright. Mr Bain was boasting and also mentioned, "Bad man doh need no paypah!" He tore his one up and threw it on the floor. He had a presentation, which was a picture of him and his wife. He was very illustrative but went more than five sentences, like Jess.

    The judges took over fifteen minutes to tally and deliberate. The wait was very long. Patty had come into the library just before the results were announced. In the lower school category, there was a tie for second place between "Mr Haynes" and "Pablo". The first place was Jasim, and everyone loved his poem. I can't remember who one the other category. For the teachers, Afisha came third, Jess came second, and first place was given to Mr Bain. They took a picture of the winners, but I will have to ask for pictures of them for the journal.

    I went back into the staffroom, and Mel was there sorting her folder out. We got the VAPA business on her desk sorted into folders. Before I began to sort my documents that she handed to me, I also got to share the poem that I wrote. She gave a little laugh after reading. I related Inktober to her and the competition to understand what I had to do.

    After school, we went to Hunchies and had a good lime after school with Gloria and Mr Raymond in the staffroom until I left. Sadly, I was going home with no punctuality and regularity forms for 2024, so I decided when leaving the school that I would do whatever I wanted to work on for the evening when I got home. There was a strong feeling to work on the SAGHS steelpan arrangement that evening. I was not sure of the reason why.

    I remembered on Tuesday night, while chatting with John, I mentioned to him how difficult it seemed to find a single working idea for the SAGHS anthem. From 5:13 PM, the question to another trial of five trials, and the arrangement was done and completed at 8:32 PM. As soon as I was done, I called John to let him know the good news. He was surprised that I told him it was done tonight, and on Tuesday night, I told him that it was very difficult to work with. He laughed and said that he would listen to the recording. Some more good news was shared with me.

    Our chat finished some minutes after nine, and I spent some time listening to the song and making light changes. That was all that could have been done for the night. I was so amazed, surprised and glad that this arrangement was accomplished tonight. That was all that could have been done. I will have to check over the song another night since it was getting late.

    At that time, it would be new to my ears altogether again than from several repeats tonight. I sent Vangy a recording, and thankfully, for once, her phone was able to play a recording of my steelpan work. After speaking with her about trying to find affordable coloured contact paper, she said that she will try to listen to one of my steelpan arrangements a night to catch up with the ones that I previously shared with her, lolz.

Daryl Zion M. Ali

(7:52 am – 4:50 pm)

St. George’s College (Week #98) – Day #452

Date for Entry: (Wednesday 19 February 2025)

Actual Date of Online Entry: (Wednesday 25 June 2025)

[T2, W:07 – WD:32, (Td:6)*].

Dear Diary,

    This morning, Daddy and I rushed to get to the bank to try and help me make a deposit for the first time. I would admit that it was scary being in front of the intimidating machine and trying to follow the instructions. We tried three times, and the machines were saying that there was an error and to check the bank for assistance. When it was time to wait in line, the lady asked for my identification card, and I was so disappointed that I forgot it at home. So busy trying to remember the bank card that I didn't have it. I told Daddy that it might be best to try another day since I didn't want to get to school any later.

    The bus was empty like a ghost town. Had to wait because the light changed before I could rush from the main road to the bus route. There was one bus that came down the road, and the chairs were a bit shaky. Somehow, the driver reminded me of Mr Neaves, the husband of Mrs. Patrice Cox-Neave. I hope he is doing all right. They walked down Sixth Avenue. It was a good walk, but the sun was very hot. I was humming the song from the neighbouring school too.

    As soon as I got into the staffroom, Miss Dayna was complaining and cussing early in the morning softly to Mr Charles. The task for me was to find out who angered her. Before I could even settle down, I heard Seth's voice at the door. He and some of his colleagues from his class came to ask if I could open the music room for them to practice a song they had to do for Friday.

    I went to buy the pies, took my plate to eat them in the music room. I had my tray with books to work on the book while I waited until the end of recess. I was in the hall. She said, smiling, "Yuh taking a breeze from the office." The students had to be reminded of playing too loudly. At 11:02, the music room was closed down. I had to get the boys outside to bring back the drums that they had taken from the room.

    I went into the office and was at the desk for the day. None of them had much to do today. I worked on organising the desktop computer from the cluster of files. Rhea was in and out for a while. She spoke with me at different parts of the day while I made copies, saw about the parents when they came in, etc. She liked the organisation and the customer service that I was telling her about. Just before lunchtime, a School Feeding Officer was here. She had a long wait for the MMT meeting to finish. We had some nice chats in between, too.

    After lunch, a boy had to be rushed in an ambulance to the hospital for difficulty breathing. Patty came into the office to ask Candice to call the ambulance. They could not let the student go and had to wait for the parent to come. I went into the store room to put back a projector and saw a box of legal-sized paper. The printer was running out of paper. Thankfully, there was a student's desk with a place to put books.

    They used that desk for the office microwave. I used the area as a cupboard for the reams of paper. I placed the last two legal reams there and cleared the empty box to be used as a bin. There was another box with one alone, so I did the same. The shelf by the computer was cleared up now.

    Looking back, there was a box with letter reams. I took four of them to the 'cupboard' area for them. I had put the rest of them in the empty shelf by the door and thrown away the ripped-up box. Hopefully, that will give them some space to bring the boxes down from the upper shelves. Miss Ali and I worked on piled-up copies that had to be done for a long while. Choo Choo came asking for it for tomorrow, and then we saw a pile of books. I told her that I still had to learn how to print from books. I got all of the batches that she made taped up and labelled.

    During the day, Rhea passed by a few times. We spoke while I was alone in the main part of the office. She mentioned that she was appointed as a judge in the poetry writing competition tomorrow. She said that it would be in the library. I told her that I would go and check Mrs Solomon to find out more about it. Just before I had packed up to leave, I placed my things neatly aside to empty the tray. I went to deliver the copies that were batched off on the tray.

    I entered he staff from the back saying, "Delivery!" Donna, Mr Martin and Miss Harris were there to see this. I guess that took the conversation from them. Miss Harris was joking about how I ended up passing her straight. On my second trip from the office, afterwards, she did mention how only one time she got angry with me. There was her laughter after.

    I went to use the washroom, pack up and then went up Sixth Avenue to the bus route. That night, I was able to complete the Loan Letter for the APC Library. Couldn't believe that it took me a long while when I watched the time. The document came up to five legal pages in total. That was all that I was able to get done for the rest of the night. My eyes were starting to get cold, so that was the end of the night. The printing will be done probably tomorrow...if I remember, lolz.

Daryl Zion M. Ali

(7:39 am – 4:36 pm)

St. George’s College (Week #98) – Day #451

Date for Entry: (Tuesday 18 February 2025)

Actual Date of Online Entry: (Wednesday 25 June 2025)

[T2, W:07 – WD:31, (Td:5)*].

Dear Diary,

    The morning was late today. It took me 45 minutes to get up from the couch to the shower. The ride to school was slow. I have to rush to make the road crossing the Curepe. Thankfully, I made it to the side of the bus route. The woman police officer had caused a big line of traffic, and people were not being allowed to get on. A man on the road told her, "Like you're goin' mad!" And she walked passed by and said, "Yeah! I'm goin' mad!" It took up time, but a driver had stopped for me to get in.

    There was also a wait down at Sixth Avenue to cross the road. I saw "Fine Tie" walking out late same time as me. It was strange last week to see the casual outfit. Teachers were already in their classes. I got to my desk hearing Miss Dayna angry again as if someone did something "stupid" to her. She and Mr Charles, in their conversation about it, began to sing the "Blessing" song and the Radica song too. I wish I weren't there to hear it, lolz.

    Jess was early, busy chatting with Mrs Libert. I think they were planning out the performances for Carnival. It was nice to see Patty early after recess. I didn't see Mel or Gloria in the morning yet. Maybe they were in class. I had enough time to finish the entry for yesterday and begin this morning's entry. Jess gave me the keys to go and take 1F down to the music room. Their behaviour was the issue. She spoke about the project that was due three classes ago and then gave them review questions to work out until the last ten minutes of class to correct them. I left to get breakfast and then went to the office.

    On this day, I had some wait before I got to the computer. All afternoon, but starting from sixth period all the way to after school, I took the time working on the regularity and punctuality Excel document. I was able to stay long after school and finish it. I knew if I went home hoping to work on it, that I would end up doing nothing. This was exactly what happened last night. There were a few interruptions by visitors, students to make copies, and students to do exit forms. The work was done on the individual portfolios concerning formulae and getting the names of teachers in their appropriate places.

    The fifteenth profile down to the sixtieth profile was completed. The last thing to do before leaving the office late that evening was to put the portfolios in numerical order and save everything. It was great to have this accomplished at home. Also at home, trying to have formulae for future changes of the names was the challenge. I was thinking of asking Miss Ali for help when it did not work out the three times of tried. I tried a fourth time and it worked out.

    Two different sets of work were required. Although I did not want to have two sets of heavy work for the names, this fourth idea worked, and now the file was ready for use and data archiving. I then spent more late hours into the morning checking the document that Indera wrote with the numbers. All 60 profiles, all 12 months, 12 monthly summaries and all of the teachers' monthly tallies were checked. I knew what I did when inserting the formula, but a doubting feeling came in big again. Thankfully, they were all accurate and consistent with each other.

    I was so happy about this massive accomplishment. Lord bless this file that one day it will assist the schools in the country. I remembered strongly about Indera mentioning that she would not be in George's tomorrow.

Daryl Zion M. Ali

(8:12 am – 3:55 pm)

St. George’s College (Week #98) – Day #450

Date for Entry: (Monday 17 February 2025)

Actual Date of Online Entry: (Wednesday 25 June 2025)

[T2, W:07 – WD:30, (Td:4)*].

Dear Diary,

    Today I got to school just in time. Jess was already there. I needed a while to settle in. When the time came for class with 2L, she was not there. I met her in 2F and said that Roberts had taken the music room, so she was going back to the class. The children were coming in late. They were given a review of ledger lines.

    As usual, not many of them had their orange ABRSM books, so I was asked to go and make copies. There was a problem that I didn't know how to fix with the prints. Luckily, Miss Ali was there to assist me. She instead folded the book in half, and it came out good. Only the name of the topic didn't come out, but that was fine. When I got back and it was time to share the copies, more students began to mention that they needed them. I had to go back for a few more sheets.

    3M came to meet us, and Roberts had to use the room still. We had class, and I worked on the writing for the last lesson in the workbook while we listened to the groups. Matthew was trying to recreate a melody for his group's song. They used the Curry Tabanca melody but didn't realise they had to create the melody too. I got the writing done and then went to breakfast as it was one minute to recess. The pies were good and had enough pepper today. I was surprised that the front doors of the school were locked, so I had to go all the way around to wash my hands first before getting to my table.

    At the end of recess, I went over to the office for the rest of the working day. The fifth and sixth periods were used to complete the music notation for the last lesson. Also, Patty brought out the visitor's passes that we were trying to make. She said that she was able to get the front part of them in the plastic. She found the other side that I had cut last week, on Wednesday, on the bookshelf and handed them to me to put in the rest, saying that someone had gone away with number six. She realised that there was a lot more, but we were out of plastic pockets.

    Miss Baka and Candice were chatting the whole time while out in front of me. "Jan" and her Form student were in the office. Someone had soaked all of his clothing. Lunchtime had to pass before his parent came to pick him up. The student and I spoke about the music alphabet while I worked on the passes. I went to the hall to enjoy watching Jessie and "Kia" play team table tennis against Steffon and "EB".

    The rest of the evening was spent by me at the computer working on the punctuality and regularity file. I was able to work on profiles up to teacher number 30. I thought that I would be able to work on Korean when I got home, but ended up doing nothing, sadly. I had a good chat with John instead.

    I shared with him the special experience of meeting with Mr Hanooman and handing over the booklets that were made for the school. We spoke about his busy work for the school concert they are planning for Carnival. He said that he would try to work on the Tacarigua music to get to me, and another one to work on. We also spoke about George’s and the change from Valsayn back to Barataria, and the school song that I did for them.

    The most I could have done for the night was download images of the library books to work on the letter for the church, sometimes this week. It is becoming very exhausting after getting home from school these evenings. On a brighter note, it was nice being given a Valentine's gift today with a small pouch of chocolates.

Daryl Zion M. Ali

(7:58 am – 4:28 pm)

St. George’s College (Week #97) – Day #447

Date for Entry: (Monday 10 February 2025)

Actual Date of Online Entry: (Wednesday 25 June 2025)

[T2, W:06 – WD:26, (Td:1)*].

Dear Diary,

    The morning was too late to begin. Last night was horrible with a chest pain that burned for an hour. Even the toilet again was giving trouble. Daddy packed my Extra Foods bag with the boxes. It was too small. Thankfully, the bigger one that I had was able to neatly squeeze all of it together. The challenge was to fit the bus seat while holding my bag. Praise God, it did not fully disturb the lady sitting next to me. It was a challenge to hold that bag right down the road from bouncing it into people on the pavement.

    The staffroom was empty for the first two periods. Miss Dayna began taking the room with only the five of us, on the poor mentality of the school and how it is always broke. There was a song Mr Charles shared with us with "Since yuh leave me is ah blessin'." There was a big joke about that. Patty came to the staffroom to let us know that the community police were here to speak to children about safety during the Carnival. From 9:30, the Form 1s to 3s were taken to the hall. That means that I had no class to attend.

    Patty and I spoke about the gift boxes that I had for the office. She didn't have a problem with the contact paper since it was not too pretty. When recess was over, I was done with my pies, too. As I picked up the bag of boxes, Mr Charles said, "Like Santa Claus come." I got the boxes all wrapped up by the end of lunchtime. Miss Carthy came in and saw the changes. Donna passed by too and saw that they made a difference.

    I remembered that Carthy had another document that she needed the school letterhead on. When it was checked and printed, I had her sign the document and then rest it inside the inbox for the principal. I noticed Indera checking it out when she came back from school. All day long, people were coming in and out of the office to see Patty, but the meeting with Dr Lubian-Baptiste was extremely long. There was an emergency going on too that had to interrupt the meeting lightly. Mr Bain had to bring "Miss Browne" out, holding onto his shoulder with two other students behind.

    There was another meeting between Miss Harris and Dr Allyson with a lot of loud volume, and it began at the beginning of the eighth period, with Indera and Patty in there long after school. I left sometime after Mr Baptiste came to the compound. The rest of the evening was very tiring to walk up the road. I ended up lying down on the couch at 5:15 PM, which was some minutes after Daddy had left. I did not awake until 7:00 AM the next morning. Daddy opened the door and came right in. The door and windows were still wide open from last night.

Daryl Zion M. Ali

(7:53 am – 3:49 pm)

St. George’s College (Week #96) – Day #446

Date for Entry: (Friday 07 February 2025)

Actual Date of Online Entry: (Wednesday 25 June 2025)

[T2, W:05 – WD:25, (Td:X)*].

Dear Diary,

    This morning, Daddy walked into the hall.  Awoke from the couch. He said that he thought I was up early with the windows open. I got ready and went down the road in smooth timing. I commented to him that I was coming home with rain yesterday, and now leaving the house with rain again. I got wet for a long while. Thankfully, it eased up by the time I had to walk down Sixth Avenue.

    The students were all over the school’s compound. When I got into the staffroom, I found out that the road race was over. I didn't bother to find out who won. As it was into the third period, I went to buy the pies, eat them and then went over to the office. Miss Ali was not there today. It had too many parents coming to sign students out of school.

    Patty and I were by the computers. She was waiting, and then we went into the store room to try and clean it up. She mentioned today that it was the last day they had me in the office fully with them. Off and on, she had to leave me for Principal things, and then there was a situation in her office. We gradually got that store room finished by the day's end.

    Towards the middle of the Seventh period, the two of us got the office cleaned up. She also got some students to move around the shelves inside the office area for us to put the various registers. The bookshelf was placed behind the typist's desk, preventing teachers from coming behind us to get something all the time from the small cabinet. When she had finally gone to eat lunch, Patty came back and gave me a nice can of Peardrax and a box of chocolate. There was a joke about Miss Carthy mentioning how everyone went to buy food, and there was none for her. Patty mentioned that they brought none for the Principal, too.

    Candice had a letter to type for someone abandoning the job for the whole day. The rest of the afternoon went by. I didn't realise again that school was over. When Candice saw me still cleaning, she said to Patty that I don't like to stop working. Patty said, " Mr Ali! It's Friday! Enjoy it." She mentioned to me to have fun because it's a Church meeting, when I mentioned it later.

    I had to rush up to the bus route to get to Isa, but Mel asked to walk out with her. Then we got a ride to Third Avenue with Mr Rishi. The wait to get on a bus was really long. The rain came down lightly, and I had to run. Daddy and I had been waiting a long time for Isa to finish the three quotes. The property sticker was the last one to be made. The ride home felt longer, and I wanted to lie down.

    As we pulled into Green Street, I mentioned how it would be nice to go by Aunty Vangy. She messaged me and told me that she was about to fall asleep as soon as Daddy called her. She messaged me that she will be coming in an hour. I got some time to pack my bags first, and then got the property stickers stuck onto the inside back covers of my books. I went to my aunt's to help her clean up the house for the plumber coming in the afternoon. The rest of the night was short but nice. I was able to get some more work completed.

Daryl Zion M. Ali

(7:55 am – 3:37 pm)