This is only personal bullshit, so please do not read further if you are uninterested in personal tittle tattle from alanabit... Santa came early this year - and brought me the sack. I have been doing relief teaching in a German school and had been expecting to see the year out with the five very enjoyable classes, which I currently teach. It was not to be. The job earns just enough to pay the rent, but the new head of school has decided to get by without me. Some of the kids offered to start up a petition on my behalf and my colleagues were all shocked. I still have to go.
With the taxman already after me for money, which I do not have, life was interesting enough! Had I understood tax law - or even German officialese better, I may have been able to challenge the assessment. However, the amount I "owe" is not huge, and I am not going to gamble money, which I do not have, on getting a tax advisor, who would probably cost as much as the difference between what I might have to pay or might not have to pay. It has left me having to drive on icy roads and go out busking (between school and family commitments) to try to scrape together enough money to stave off the taxman and keep petrol in my car (so I can work). So life sucks? Not quite!
On Tuesday the phone rang. The head of my old school was asking if I could start work at his school again in February. Apparently, when they needed cover, mine was the first name that all the English teachers came up with. The man is an absolute gentleman and I look forward to going back.
Oddly enough, the really big news this week had come a day earlier. It took a while for the significance of it all to sink in though. The band is being signed! We are getting a deal with a publisher in Köln, who will be pushing us to every radio and TV station in the country. I also get to keep the copyrights to all my songs. Of course, there is no guarantee that anything will happen, but we all know how much chance we have of getting airplay when we send out stuff under our own name. It is in the interests of the company to push it, because their money (if any is made) will come from royalties for the actual recordings. We also retain the right to print (and sell) records.
I am feeling a bit more optimistic now and I wish you all a very Merry Christmas!