Chapter 357

Another day of joy and prosperity. I had a lab in the morning, one girl spilled a beaker of hydrochloric acid on her hand. Normally they manipulate only low concentrations, which might sting a bit and not much more, but this one was 3.0 mol/L, which could cause burns. Thankfully, she rinsed her hand right away and was fine. I then hung out in the office, writing homework and listening to the Metal Minded podcast. When it was over, I went home and joined the guys in a little Zoom after-party where we discussed new metal releases and all sorts of debauched interests of ours. I then whipped up a quick pasta dish and ate before going back to work.

I had a lab with Crazy Class, and then another lesson. Can’t say much about them. Then I sat in the office, and didn’t go home at 5, as there was the Christmas show soon after. I played a few online chess games and listened to an album recommended by a few friends on Facebook, the new offering by old-school Swedish death metal band Wombbath.

Then I went downstairs to the auditorium. I was lucky enough to find a spot in the third row, rather than being lined up front row with the other foreigners, and also I was glad I’d had the presence of mind to bring my Kindle. So I read the novel Tout Est Ori while the students did their boring and uninspired choreographies or sang their sappy songs. I’ve had to sit through at least one, if not two such “talent shows” every year and I’m always there, smiling like a donkey, clapping at the right time, and saying “Very good!” if asked how it was, but I still have the right to find it boring as hell, especially if it’s taking place during what is supposed to be my free time.

The last show was the only one with a modicum of originality, as a bunch of twelfth-graders took the stage wearing giant masks with their teachers’ faces on them. Then I was mercifully freed. I went home, took the dog out on our usual little circuit, he was a bit recalcitrant, as he remembered a scary interaction with a gigantic German shepherd a few days ago. The big dog was a sweetie and only wanted to play, but it was enough to traumatize our little twelve-pounder. I got home, ate reheated pasta and watched some chess instructionals. I’m not sure if I acquired that much in terms of techniques and moves, if anything I just saw how colossal the task is if one wants to get really good at chess, in terms of memorizing tons of openings and reactions to the opponent’s moves. I must have learned a bit though, because after that I went to play a bunch of games and won all of them. The only one I lost is when my shit-fucking third-world gold-plated turd internet disconnected and the website treated it like an abandoned game, something I refuse to take as an L, as I was moving in with a queen and rook on a nearly undefended king. I was wondering why he wasn’t moving, and before I could disconnect my malfunctioning VPN, it was too late.

For some reason, I established the tradition of listening to the most violent and harsh of grindcore and powerviolence when I play chess, so after the Magrudergrind and Insect Warfare debuts finished, I put on a few tracks from my hard drive to make sure to not rely on the gargling internet.