This is a fine bromance

As long as it lasts.

It’s no secret that Dmitry wants to be his own petty tyrant, and with posts for local despots having been announced, he’ll be applying for at least one of them. But what’s Vlad going to do if his favourite lapdog departs?

You’d think this might be the moment I should’ve taken about three years ago when I was offered the HOD post, but declined it (didn’t want the stress, and was sure the High King of the Petty Despots would never allow it; still think this is the case), but I’ve been told Vlad doesn’t want me to be HOD. That’s probably because I’m too academic and not sufficiently shouty for Vlad’s liking.

Assuming Dmitry gets promoted (which I doubt, but you never know), that’d mean we’d have to have a new HOD. That buggers up my plans because I was thinking that I might throw my hat in the ring once Vlad and Dmitry have gone. If the latter does leave, that’d put an end to my plans for at least another two years. I could only hope we had a proper HOD, who was suitably experienced (unlike Dmitry); but it wouldn’t be me. Besides, I want to have as little to do with Vlad as possible and can imagine he would’ve deliberately made my life awkward if I’d already been an HOD.

There are a couple of HOD posts elsewhere, but as I said above, I’m not sure whether the High King would agree to such a thing. In spite of my experience and long service, I don’t really fulfil the criteria laid out in the handbook, which is what stops me from fooling myself that I’m a prospective candidate.

The department is fragmented. Dmitry continues to show no real leadership skills, and the boys waste their time reinventing the wheel and trying to avoid any real work by constantly having students do presentations. I give them what guidance and direction I can, but they show no real interest in the materials that I’ve created over the past few years.