The longest journey begins with the first step..........

This Thursday I was back aboard the SS City & Guilds at the ungodly hour of nine am or perhaps a tad later. The broom cupboard, or exam room, as it's sometimes referred to was being used to torture some poor unfortunate ensigns so I was unable to occupy it for study and had to use the official space set aside on the bridge for this purpose. My luck was doubly in as Lieutenant Grumpy de Chatelaine was on watch and his usual surly nature was not improved by being on the early shift. Watching some poor confused ensign ask Grumpy about something they don't understand is a bit like watching a moth being drawn to a flame, and the thing about the Lieutenant is that he never disappoints. As soon as the miserable wretch has the temerity to ask Grumpy a question the vitriol begins. In a voice akin to nails being scraped down a blackboard he usually berates them for not reading the question properly or failing to understand even the rudiments of their particular discipline. This is generally followed by several quick fire barked commands to do this or that leaving the object of his derision totally shaken and confused. Having thus reduced them to a heap of quivering jelly the good Lieutenant will then withdraw satisfied that yet another ensign has benefited from the full force of his teaching prowess. I think the score on this particular day was Lieutenant Grumpy de Chatelaine three, moths zero.

My deed on this Thursday was to attend college and my contacts included the mythical Lieutenant Grumpy. My thoughts for this day were on the unfortunate moths with the singed wings.