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Coaxed into consciousness at 6am via Classic
FM and a handy time switch, I stumble out of bed and perform
fifty push-ups followed by twenty five sit ups (after all,
it's pointless being security man if one is not in shape!).
Classic FM is replaced with a dose of Led Zeppelin and an
infusion of caffeine and I am ready to face the college's
great outdoors.
Before departing my cosy Towers Lodge at 7am, I check various
TV weather forecasts-the weather dictates my day's activities
on the estate.
Wearing my security man, hat, I de-alarm and check buildings.
Following this, I begin the day's pet care - currently, we
have a pony; a goat; fourteen rabbits; twenty guinea pigs;
fifteen rats; two hamsters; five ducks; two chickens; seven
budgies; two cockatiels; eight degus (a kind of chinchilla)
and two dogs - Ned the Newfoundland and Bruno the Boxer: the
dogs are collage sentinels - chosen for temperament. Out of
normal hours they monitor the college portals in a benign,
but vociferous manner; late night arrivals and departures
incite a crescendo of barks and I am alerted - be it friend
or foe! (90 pupils currently board here, security is paramount).
During the summer months umpteen aspects of the grounds
need simultaneous attention and a disproportionate amount
of my available time is consumed by cricketing needs: squares,
nets and outfields are cut as frequently as possible; up to
sixteen wickets (or batting strips) are cut daily.
For the remainder of the day, aspects of the 40 acre estate
are tended to. Today, I begin the arduous tasks of trimming
our quarter mile Henwood Road boundary hedge; the council
side is completely overgrown. An unpleasant task! Battling
through head high bramble and nettle, stung and bitten by
myriad wasps and various other invertebrae - ugh! I move a
sheet of corrugated sheeting and a nest of rats is disturbed
- they flee in all directions!
At teatime, with pupils help, pets are locked safely away
- hungry foxes, badgers and buzzards are never far away. Having
taken tea with the boarders, I commence the first of several
burglar alarmings and lock ups as well as tending to final
grounds tasks- maybe watering our potted shrubs. A ten-minute
work out in the school gym is slotted in.
A little daylight remains and it's a dry evening - can't
resist a quick spin around the lanes on my beloved Harley
Davidson (a chap needs to play too!)
Later, whilst relaxing back at the Lodge, audible outside
is a chanting cacophony "Ghosts, Ghosts Ghosts!"
A bunch of boarders demand my attendance for a scary game
in Towers Theatre: "Okay, but just for half an hour,"
I retort!
It's now lOpm and time for a dog patrol and final lock up.
I go to bed around midnight - about to doze off, I hear the
distant pavilion alarm! It's now raining, dark and cold "come
dogs" let's go look and see!
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