QUOTE(sarah123 @ Mar 17 2008, 12:46 AM)

as you've probably gathered, there's a chemistry mock tomorrow
Yep, I managed to work that out, thank you!
We had a funny chemistry teacher for GCSE (I didn't do A level chemistry; chemistry was probably my least favourite subject at GCSE). He was rather elderly, and was the sort of typical absent-minded professor, who taught totally above our level and didn't seem really aware of where he was, nor of what he was doing. The lab technician - also rather elderly - (I'll call her Mrs. W) and he loathed each other. She used to say to us before lessons (as he was always invariably late, and would sometimes forget that he was meant to be teaching us) "You've got to remind the old fool he's teaching GCSE and not A level".
Without fail, every experiment he demonstrated went wrong. We'd end up with acid everywhere, broken glass everywhere, an explosion or a fire. Sometimes a combination. And whenever it went wrong, he'd blame Mrs W. for setting it up incorrectly. Of course, it wasn't her fault. He'd sit there at his desk shouting like a child until she appeared from out of the store room to clean things up, or to get a fire extinguisher. I remember one occasion he set fire to a desk, and he shouted out "Mrs. W! Mrs. W! I say! I say! Mrs. W! Mrs. W! Will you or will you not extinguish this fire, Mrs. W?"
A couple of years later, after we'd finished A levels, I understand that he managed to set fire to a classroom which spread and caused damage to several rooms. I believe it was then suggested to him that he retire.