Technical Madman

Another Dr Who entry

Tue, 05 Jan 2010 22:14:22 GMT

Yes, its another Dr Who entry. I tend to agree with most people on the regeneration issue.

I will only add one thing (and this is a link)

http://www.wired.com/geekdad/2010/01/why-dont-they-read-the-evil-overlord-list/

Oh, I'm still alive here. Hope everyone had a Happy New Year....

Its the 25th so

Fri, 25 Dec 2009 09:40:24 GMT

IIIIIIIIIITTTTTTTTTTTSSSSSSSSSSSSSS CCCCCHHHHRRIIIIIISSSSTTTTTMMMMMAAAAASSSS (in the style of Noddy Holder of course)

Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays or whatever you celebrate today.

Enjoy this day.

The final days before Christmas

Wed, 23 Dec 2009 21:12:49 GMT

Work is currently dead - its VERY quiet as there are no students (a few may use the library etc) but no lectures at least. A lot of academics are off now (or "working at home") as the students aren't around. Masses of other people have this week off. A couple of things happened which I'll mention after the techie Christmas do.

Yesterday was the techie Christmas dinner. After the doctors I walked to work - I go through the city centre and got a new battery for my watch. I also stopped by a Post Office near work to send some cards (sorry people they'll be late). I finally got to work at 11.30am.... We were meeting for the techie do at 12... It wasn't even worth turning my computer on.

We went into Derby (I was squashed in the middle of the back of a Ford Fiesta) - its small so we were tightly packed but survivable (3 in back). The meal was at the 'May Sum' Chinese resturant which was very nice and "all you can eat". Meal was excellent and the Chinese beer was nice enough.

Afterwards one of the techies had organised a pub crawl. A real ale one as she knows the best pubs for that (we have a lot of real ale pubs in Derby). It didn't start that well, the first pub was closed but it went well after that. I stopped having alcohol at about the 5th pub as I know my limits. My boss and fellow techies had a lot of fun. One left earlier so his wife would only half kill him. My boss was going to get killed so he decided to stay longer (if your're dead anyway, it doesn't matter how late you are :-D ).

As per normal I sent babyghia some 'hic' text messages. After my boss swiped my mobile (cell) and sent a couple to her himself it went even further downhill. We all had fun and a good time was had by all. I walked home (slipped a bit on the ice but didn't fall over) and after a nice pot of tea I found my bed.

A couple of things of note happened today - I've had a couple of the subject managers home computers in for repair. One had a busted PSU (overloaded one rail) so he purchased a new (overpriced) one and I installed it and explained to him how to install one. I will say I was impressed with the powersupply and its cables (at that price it should be). We wired it in and I hit the powerswitch to be greated by absolutly nothing... Luckily the PSU header cable was loose and a quick adjustment and it flew into life. One happier subject manager.

The other thing, one of the lecturers dropped and 'required' some help outside the building. Turned out she had a box of real ale for me (12 bottles). I've repaired her daughters laptops several times this year and they bought me the ale as a thankyou (they decided that and were not pushed by her mom). I never ask for anything as its often easy enough for me to do. But its nice anyway (plus its Wychwood ale too which is really nice).

Anyway, short day tomorrow (2pm finish at the latest). After that I should probably think about sorting out stuff to pack for next Monday.

Christmas Card Call

Wed, 09 Dec 2009 10:52:04 GMT

Standard Christmas card entry ;-)

If you want a Christmas card from me leave a message with your address as a comment (comments screened).

If you want one from babyghia and me then leave a comment in her card post.

http://babyghia.livejournal.com/499536.html

Some people may get one anyway (just to annoy them).

A personal rule

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 20:54:40 GMT

I have a few personal rules. One of which is to do with Christmas - its basically this.

I will not deal with any Christmas type stuff until December.

Basically, it means that I don't think about Christmas until its December, no Christmas shopping, decorations or music. My Christmas clarinet and flute music is not touched along with the CD's (they are all kept in the same box).

There are, however, a couple of exceptions. The first is that if I have a concert or something where I need to practise something which involves Christmas music etc. As I need to practice to ensure I play (or whatever) the best I can it is acceptable (but ONLY that stuff, nothing else).

The second is that if I have to do something that will take longer (delivery/creation) than I will have (or push the 'completion' point) too close. That again is okay.

Other than that - forget it. You can do stuff, I won't mind (apart from a sarcastic comment or two). Just don't push it onto me.

For the record I'm not anti-Christmas (or whatever you celebrate). My Christmas music is some of my favourite music to play. Its also some of the best to listen too out of my collection (probably).

(so, now its December I'll probably but a 'who wants a card' post up in a day or so).

Made me smile...

Thu, 26 Nov 2009 08:50:24 GMT

At work, we have a ANPR (Automatic Number Plate Recognition) system at the main (and only vehicle) entrance as well as at a few other points near the car parks/bus stops. As I have a car park pass its just a matter of stopping just before the barrier and it lets me though. The gate is manned (for the vistors lane etc) and the person also keeps an eye on the passes lane.

Now, for the 'rush' times they have a second person there who will check the passes and they leave the barrier up. When I arrive its usually before this happens (the barriers are usually on 'automatic' or more often just left up). The car ahead of me went through the barrier and the 'guard' waved me through - except the other guard hadn't hit the 'leave barrier up' switch so it almost hit my car (proves my brakes worked).

No harm done and we all had a good laugh (couple of apologetic looks from the guards) - its all good fun. I know a lot of the guards (as well as porters, cleaners etc) and enjoy some good banter with them.

Good smile for first thing and also made sure I was awake (I think they did that on purpose ;-) ).

Birthday Time

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 10:54:53 GMT

Happy Birthday to ravenlore Hope you and your clone have a fun day.

Birthday Time

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 19:15:39 GMT

A happy birthday to zola - enjoy the day and many happy returns.

Birthday Time

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 08:14:33 GMT

A Happy Birthday to lilly_rose.

Enjoy the day and many happy returns.

Back in Blighty

Wed, 16 Sep 2009 08:35:18 GMT

As a few may have noticed - I arrived back from Austria yesterday. I need to do a post about it all but it was a good trip.

So I'm now back at work and sorting through my email. One thing has made me laugh today - which is unusual as sorting through work email is usually soul destroying (academics love to make their points known). So, here it is, with the background.

A couple of weeks ago, at the last annoying staff meeting, I asked about a piece of software that has been requested to be installed on lab machines by some academic staff..... I got a rather annoying reply from several staff they "they've been on at people to get it sorted for about a year". This was the first time I'd heard about it - the IT TECHNICIAN for the department wasn't spoken to AT ALL about it. So, after talking to the correct people I got an email today - the software has been set to install on the lab machines when the are next switched on (installing over the network is nice).

Isn't it nice how quickly something can get done when you talk to the correct people and not scream to the wrong ones......

Oh well, such is life here and I have to rememeber it won't last too much longer (I hope).

Update + Parcel Fun

Tue, 11 Aug 2009 20:01:19 GMT

Not really much is happening at the moment. Work is quiet as its summer (practically no students) so I'm trying to get as much programming done as possible during the quiet time (few, if no interuptions = easier to programme). Lots of academics are on holiday or 'working from home' so its quieter that side too.

If I order stuff online I usually get it delivered to work or my parents as I'm not in much. I placed an order last week and the form complained that I was using the wrong address. The address I use, although correct, is not the 'registered' address as I need to add an extra line so it actually gets to me and not stuck in the post room for a few days while they work out where it should go.

So, it got sent to my parents. I let my parents know that one was coming and got an email today saying it had arrived. It was good timing as the kitten was being spayed - I got to my parents after work to discover they had to take her back to the vets - they'd picked her up and she managed to break her stitches, so my parents took her up again and they stapled the wound shut. It was bleeding again so I drove them up there. Luckily it wasn't that bad and didn't need anymore work so I drove them back again. I spent longer at my parents than I'd planned - cups of tea and general talking as well as laughing at a kitten having trouble with a buster collar.

When I finally got home and opened the box - it wasn't what I was expecting. It was the normal monthly anime collection with another folder. I telephoned my parents and told them to expect another box.

One good thing - I've been invited around for Sunday Lunch so that'll be okay. I can probably annoy my sister too.

Oh well, not much of an update but hey ho - it filled the time while waiting for my dinner to cook ;-)

Lest we forget

Sat, 25 Jul 2009 14:19:24 GMT

Over the last couple of weeks two links to the past have died.

First was Henry Allingham - a person who fought in World War 1, serving in the Roynal Navy Air Service (a under which was merged with the Royal Flying Corps to create the Royal Air Force). He died at the grand old age of 113 last week. He was with the fleet which fought the Battle of Jutland and also spent some time in the trenches defusing boobytrapped bombs left by retreating German forced.

Then today, the last surviving British survivor of the trenchs died. Harry Patch was conscripted and fought in the Battle of Passchendaele.

Both were links to the past which we no longer have. I was lucky enough during the 1990's to spend a few minutes, during a concert interval at a nursing home, to speak to a very frail World War 1 veteran. Although we couldn't speak longer, those few minutes were extremely interesting.

History is one thing, talking to people who were there is entirely another thing. If you get a chance to speak to a veteran of any war - do so, you may be surprised with what you find out.

Dublin Fun

Tue, 14 Jul 2009 21:07:42 GMT

I don't get much from my work - but I did get 3 days in Dublin last week for the ATSiP conference. As conferences go - its quite cheap and I was told I could go. So thats what I did.

I have gone to the conference before in 2006 in Middlesborough (Teeside University). I missed the 2007 and 2008 due to the campus move (2007) and it being too close after visiting babyghia (which started not long after I'd returned to work after my arm operation).

Anyway, last Wednesday I got up at 4am (I had gone to sleep around 11.30pm), ate breakfast etc and drove to East Midlands Airport. Its only a 20 minute drive away and at that time of the day there is almost no traffic, parking was fairly easy too. Although it was raining extremely hard. The airport itself is not exactly fun - its a regional airport and fairly cramped in places. I got through security okay as I only had hand luggage and made it easily to the gate with plenty of time.

The flight I got was a Ryanair flight - basically a cattle class 'cheap' airline which charges for just about anything it can get away with. The seats are cramped and the background music is stuffed full with adverts and such like. Thankfully the flight was fairly quiet so finding a seat was easy and I had the row to myself. One short hope later and we landed early in Dublin. To be honest - if I'd have had a choice - I would have driven to Wales and taken the ferry. I can't complain though, it was a short flight and survivable. This airline are hinting that they will be doing transatlantic flights - there is no way in hell I'd take one of those, I wouldn't be able to move afterwards. There are also no 'booked' seats so its find a seat and sit in it. I didn't have 'priority' boarding but was near to the front of the queue (more luck than judgement). Also, when heading out to board I went to the rear entrance which also was a decent plan (as most people went to the front).

Anyway, there I was, at Dublin Airport, at 7.30am. The earliest I could check in at the hotel was 2pm. So, I had a lot of time to waste and I did what turned out to be one of the talking points of the week (and the looks of surprise). With my usual thinking - I decided to walk to Dublin from the airport, which is approximately 6 miles. The question (and often asked of me) 'why' is answered like this.

I had six hours to loose. The choice was take the bus to Dublin and walk around Dublin for six hours (Dublin is a nice place) OR walk to Dublin from the airport and see what I see - they walk around Dublin for 3 to 4 hours.

I had my trusty Sat Nav (aka Emily and set to pedestrian mode) and a rucksack. So, to me it was a decent idea which turned out pretty good. I saw a few things you wouldn't have seen from the coach and it was a decent day. I stopped at a shop and got a something to eat and drink. Had a short break at a park I walked by and just enjoyed the walk. I got to Dublin in about 2 1/2 hours (wasn't rushing and didn't really look at the clock much). Got something to eat and drink then walked around Dublin for a bit.

The hotel could have been better - but it was decent enough, had free wifi, and the room was a decent size. I didn't have a view and the extractor fans were just below my window so it wasn't quiet. It was, however, fine for me and thats all that I needed.

The 'meet' session was at 4.30pm (ish) at Trinity College. Its a nice place, but the information maps weren't good. Luckily I found the library and the security guard pointed me in the correct direction. That was nice - psychology techies and not an academic in sight so it was also good fun.

I won't go into the full details of the conference itself and the ATSiP AGM but it was good enough. We had a meal on both Wednesday and Thursday evenings. Wednesday, the meal was in Dublin and Thursday was in a town outside of Dublin (short train journey). The food was good and I choose a traditional Irish dish on Wednesday. Both nights I had to sample the proper Irish Drink - which, of course, is Guinness. Now, I like to drink - but not for the reason of drinking. I like a good Ale or bitter in a social setting, not the standard 'student' thing which is to get drunk as quickly as possible. I like to enjoy my alcohol - so I had a few pints of Guinness and they were decent enough. Guinness is a 'stout', which isn't a type of drink I would go for, but I was in Ireland and I like to sample the local 'stuff'. I didn't stay up as long as some people did when we were back at the hotel, but I didn't embarass myself.

Friday, I checked out the hotel before going to Trinity College, after the talks and AGM a few of us went to see The book of Kells - we got in for free as Trinity college staff can get in for free and bring 'guests' (although six guests each did push it a little). Its well worth seeing if you get the chance - although the gift shop is quite expensive and mostly tacky (staff can get 10% off too). I'm a sucker for historic things - so it was very interesting for me.

and made got back to Dublin airport mid afternoon (this time I took the bus although I did seriously consider walking). I was stuck there for a while as the plane was due to leave at 8.55pm but I had my DS with me and played that (needed the spare battery). I did get a little fed up of the constant 'surprise' in a dungeon in FF IV Thats not a door, its a trap - which occured on EVERY damn door.

Anyway, after security I went to the gate and found that the plane that was due to leave from it before mine was 'delayed'. The plane wasn't even there - sounds like the plane had a big fault and everyone was stuck. Luckily my plane wasn't delayed and again I was quite close to the 'front' of the queue and went to the back of the plane and found a window seat. I helped a short lady get her case into the overhead compartment (it was only polite). Although I had someone next to me who played music on their ipod - it was quiet enough to be only slightly annoying and wasn't on for that long as the flight was so short.

On landing I waiting until the 'rush' had gone for people getting off the plane (again I was polite and helped the lady retrieve her case). Short walk to retrieve the car followed by a nice drive home I half collapsed and made a pot of tea.

I have some pictures that I'll probably put on facebook - I have some others that were taken by one of the other people at the conference (I'm in a few unfortunatly).

All in all, it was a decent few days out and very useful (especially in meeting other people) - and work paid for it as well (well, not everything but the hotel, conference and travel).

So, now its back to the programming and other such fun at work. I spent a couple of days before the conference messing with 'gd' to attempt to make dynamic graphs from php. Now I'm back to the systems I need to programme. The graphs are an interesting project - but these other projects are more important currently.

Quick Update

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 11:48:23 GMT

I haven't posted much for a while (actually, since the update after myself and babyghia had gotten to the hotel in London during the tube strike.

babyghia is doing a series of posts about her trip so that saves me posting anything. Since she went back nothing major has happened. Work is quiet as the students are gone until late September so I'm getting on catching up with my programming. I have one system ready for testing so I'm planning the next amount of coding.

Last Saturday I went up to Edale with my best friend for a walk. We didn't walk up Kinder Scout for several reasons (a) We didn't bring any safety equipment or our walking boots and (b) neither of us is really up to that sort of walk. I'm still building my stamina back up and my best friend is trying to lose some of the extra weight he's put on. We'll attack it sooner or later though - its a nice walk and excellent views of the 'Dark Peak'. We did about 4 miles worth of walking and I may dump some photos up on facebook at some point.

Badminton has been okay, I enjoy playing it and I have a good laugh. At times I get really annoyed with myself if I play well below what I am capable of (I don't mind losing as long as I've played well).

So, thats about it - this afternoon its the badminton BBQ in Duffield - I'm taking a load of bread (probably too much) and I had a special order for one of my 'death by chocolate' chocolate logs.

We've had a heat wave this week so its been really hot and humid at times. A mass of rain has helped but I'm hoping for a good storm to clear the air more.

So thats about it - pretty boring really.

Reporting from London

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 17:37:06 GMT

Well, myself and babyghia have made it to the hotel in London (near Tower Bridge). No thanks to the RMT union who are on strike today and tomorrow (the days we are in London).

We got to London okay but we found out that there were more tube services running than expected. Although not many and the Tube station at St Pancras station was closed. So, with each of us with a fairly heavy rucksack each (we were at the minimum but still we had to pack some stuff), we set off.

We walked to near Euston station and then headed to 'The Mall' via Russell Square. After a rest near the fountain in Russell Square we carried on past one end of Oxford Street and down Charing Cross road towards Trafalgar Square. On the way we spotted a small Sushi place - not a bar as although it was made onsite it was packaged. As babyghia is a sushi monster we stopped and had a small selection box each (not a great amount but enough). After that we continued on to Trafalgar square where it started raining quite hard. We stayed for a bit for photographs but finally headed off down the Mall near Admiralty Arch. At this point the rain eased off and we walked down the mall to Buckingham Palace. We then staggered to St James's park and sat down for a while with a drink.

After the rest we walked over to King Charles street and went to look at Downing Street and the Cenotaph. Then we walked downto Parliament Square for the Houses of Parliament and St Stephens Tower (which where the bell 'Big Ben' strike the 3pm chimes. At this point we were both starting to tire (babyghia especially). We crossed Westminster Bridge and attempted the tube at Waterloo station. The Jubilee line was running (delays though) and we got on a very packed train and got off a few minutes later at London Bridge station.

After yet another walk with several rest stops we walked past HMS Belfast and over Tower Bridge to St. Katharine's dock. We knew that there was a Starbucks there and we both needed another drink (we had walked past 4 of them already). After that it was a final big effort to get to the hotel and thats where we both collapsed (and we were both glad of being able to remove our shoes).

So, after we've recovered some we are going to find something to eat and then I have something planned for late this evening.

This 'quick' entry turned out longer than planned - oh well. I'm cursing the RMT union a lot now (even more than usual for this really annoying union).

Edit: For the record I just about killed babyghia with the walking but I will point out I had planned to use the Tube today so I shall blame the RMT

Quiz Time

Fri, 15 May 2009 17:04:03 GMT

Swiped from ravenlore while she was worrying about the Goth Prom

Not really surprised with that result. I'd better find a spanner and some scotch.

Your results:
You are Mr. Scott

Mr. Scott		80%
Geordi LaForge		80%
Jean-Luc Picard		75%
An Expendable Character (Redshirt)		60%
Chekov		50%
Will Riker		50%
James T. Kirk (Captain)		45%
Beverly Crusher		45%
Data		44%
Spock		42%
Worf		40%
Leonard McCoy (Bones)		35%
Mr. Sulu		30%
Uhura		25%
Deanna Troi		5%

You are a fun-loving foreigner with an
amazing ability to get any job done on time.
Often described as a "Miracle Worker".

Click here to take the "Which Star Trek character are you?" quiz...

Day at home

Wed, 18 Mar 2009 08:48:57 GMT

One of these days I'll do a real update (honest) but here's something boring.

Today, I have the day off - I used some 'lieu time' aka toil so it doesn't eat into my annual leave allocation (although I have 2 days left on that to book). The reason - I ordered a new monitor for my computer - my current one is getting darker and showing serious signs of breaking so I ended up getting a new one.

Luckily, I found a well priced one on offer from dabs. Unfortunatly as its my first order from them they will only deliver to my payment address (ie where my debit card address is), instead of having it sent to my parents or work. Annoyingly their delivery setup is worse - their 'cheapest' delivery is a '3 day spread, between 7am and 6pm' (ie arrive on one of 3 days). Next, arrive on a single day between 7am and 6pm. A lot more expensive is single day '7am to midday'.

So, I went for the 'single day, 7am to 6pm' option. So, I'm stuck in the house all day awaiting it to arrive. I know I could have asked my mother to house sit for me but I thought I'd use some of the lieu time. She may visit (easy way to walk dog and get a cup of tea).

Not sure when it'll arrive - it has online tracking but the depot is in Nottingham so it depends on when the drivers route is. Made me laugh as the tracking reminded me of (http://xkcd.com/281/

Well, I'm going to finish the current pot of tea, then do some housework. I need to do a decent cleanup around here and I need to redo all the cables behind the tv setup as they got messed up a bit when I got the new cable modem.

Still, its still nicer than work - I get to see more of the outside as my office is in the middle of the block (ie 4 walls and a door).

Edit: It arrived just before 10am

Lets have a laugh

Wed, 04 Mar 2009 08:49:01 GMT

On the radio today there was a story about how the local A&E (ER) is moving soon and one of the ways they're letting people know is by 'word of mouth'.

So, the presenter decided to do that for his show on Friday (which is an outside broadcast).

This'll only take a minute or two but would you all just drop him a note on the website to say that you can't make it (being a long way away would be a half decent reason) but you heard of it 'word of mouth' (or would that be 'word of livejournal'). Go on, you may get a mention (blame me if you want) - and you can listen to the show online.

Message is 'Shane O'Connors breakfast show will be presented from the top of an old bus in Burton on Friday'.

Web link is http://www.bbc.co.uk/derby/forms/contact_radio.shtml (you need to select 'Shane O'Connor' from the drop down list).

The show is on 7.00am to 10.00am UK Time every weekday http://www.bbc.co.uk/derby/local_radio/ (click on the 'listen live' link).

Go on, get others involved if you want (anyway you like). It'll be a laugh......

Snow time

Mon, 02 Feb 2009 22:59:40 GMT

Oh well, we got some snow. Not much, we don't usually get much in my part of the UK (the part out of the city is another matter (it is called the 'Peak' District for a reason).

Anyway, it wasn't too hard to drive to work, most of the time it was just like driving in rain. A couple of roads hadn't been gritted but again, they weren't that hard to drive down even with my small engined car which has no fancy stuff to 'help' the driver. Parking at work was easy enough - I admit there was a little sliding but nothing too worrying. Of course - London near enough went into panic mode - as well as a lot of other places. Its the worst snow we've had in years - but still its not THAT bad.

Anyway, work was uneventful and as I went to leave I noticed a massive traffic jam at the car park exit - so I turned around and went back inside (picking up another techie who did the same thing when I told them the size of the queue). We know it took another techie about an hour to get out so that gives you some idea (think getting out of the site onto the main road was probably a mess). Another - about 3/4 hour later (6ish) I braved it and it was clear. Oh, one of the A/C units for one of the many server rooms has broken big time so a lot of the systems are offline at work. Thankfully, the server I'm responsible for is somewhere else so its okay.

Went and did some shopping and half expected a lot of panic shoppers emptying the place - it, wasn't. In fact it was the reverse - very quiet and so I got around it quicker than usual. Getting home was easy enough, same as the morning in truth. Plenty of idiots around though and I spotted a couple of shunts that had occured (nothing major, just dented cars).

I'll try to get some photos of the snow first thing tomorrow - I misplaced my camera (its around here somewhere, I put a new harddisk in my PC over the weekend so its probably somewhere obvious (ie in plain sight). I have my other camera though (the one with the busted on/off switch) so I can attempt some pictures with that one.

Tomorrow - I may walk to work depending on what the weather looks like (if it takes that long to get out of the car park tomorrow I would be almost home). I'll make that choice tomorrow - work are also going to alert everyone if the site is shut or something. They cancelled the evening lectures today and there're being safe.

Anyway, time to make a cuppa tea and get some sleep I think. Could have ice on the roads tomorrow, won't that cause some idiots 'issues'.....

The next doctor

Sat, 03 Jan 2009 19:18:09 GMT

Well, first off. I'm still alive and surviving in Pacifica. Luckily babyghia is watching taped tv so I've managed to get onto the computer. I'll update when I can but don't expect too much from me.

Anyway, the BBC have announced who the new doctor is going to be - so as no-one else has posted I thought I'd get in ahead of everyone :-p

The New Doctor
Profile

Anyway, looks good and he's a young doctor too - even younger than Peter Davidson was.

Happy Solstice

Sun, 21 Dec 2008 11:16:18 GMT

Happy Winter Solstice everyone

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/wiltshire/7794338.stm

Meme time

Mon, 15 Dec 2008 20:35:22 GMT

Planet meme from a few - first spotted at zola's livejournal

Your result for What Planet are You From? Test...

You are from Saturn!

33% Saturn

Did you know you were from Saturn all along? I bet you did.

Saturn is the second largest planet in our universe. It’s one of the gas planets rotating around out there. It has a very prominent system of rings and rotates very rapidly. The rings on your planet were seen as early as 1610 by Galilelo Gallilei.

Saturn is named after the Roman god of the harvest and agriculture. He also monitors justice and strength, so evidently he’s good at multi-tasking. A really nice thing about Saturn is that he can impart serenity and wisdom. Goodness knows we need those!

But what does this mean to you?

Well, more than likely you are one that does a lot of hard work. You probably also know what it is like to be miserable. You have experienced the boundaries of the physical world around you. You’ve learned to be tough and are a survivor. While some people may think that you are a bit cold, you just want to make it through another day. Inside you may tend to be a bit sad or melancholy. You don’t open yourself up to a lot of people and probably have just one or two really good friends. What it really means is that you are very realistic and you don’t like to get hurt, so you do what is necessary to keep yourself sane and safe.

As far as aliens go, you’re pretty cool, calm, and collected.

Take What Planet are You From? Test at HelloQuizzy

Top Gear Fun

Fri, 12 Dec 2008 19:12:23 GMT

You may wonder why I go on about Top Gear so much on twittet. Its part of my Sunday evening watching it. Now, I'm not especially a 'car' person. I like them and I know a bit more than the basics - but I'm not one for knowing everything about them. Its also a massively popular programme - in the UK and around the world.

How can a car show be that great... Well, its the 3 presenters and the style.

I put forward the following youtube video as my evidence. Its almost 10 minutes long and you should need watch it all to get the full effect - its well worth it. Please note that you need to understand sarcasm as its supposed to be a 'serious' car review......

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=6exoTO4zUY4

I rest my case

Birthday time

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 17:33:07 GMT

Happy birthday to ravenlore and of course the clone.

Have a good day.

Fire Alarm & Music

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 21:07:36 GMT

As I mentioned on twitter earlier - we had a fire alarm at work. Now, I should explain a couple of things about the fire alarms at work.

1 - I'm a fire warden, I carry a pager around with me and when an alarm goes off I pick up my fluorescent and go to either a specific exit (if I have one for that alarm) - or just find a spot and keep people from entering that particular area.

2 - Work uses a 'zone' system. The entire place doesn't evacuate if an alarm sounds. Only the area(s) concerned. With a campus as big as we have its the only answer.

So.... I was talking to the other techies after a meeting I'd had. All of a sudden all our beepers went off - most of us techies are fire wardens so we all picked up coats (if your're outside it can get damn cold) and vests. The pagers told us it was 'Richardson Hall' - which is now the Student Union Bar (oops). I haven't a 'station' for that zone so I went to the 'lower' enterance from the atrium (I was joined by one of the learning centre staff) and started the task of stopping people coming in (you would not believe the amount of people who still want to go in). All the normal questions we get - when will it be over (we don't know, listen for the all clear), is it a false alarm/drill (again, we don't know). But this time we had an extra 'problem'...

A short distance into the 'zone' are a set of toilets.... which are probably the most used within the university as they are the closest to the atrium. So, as well as the normal queries we get students who want to use the toilets... (can't you just let me through).. So, we (mostly me) got these and directed them to another set of toilets (not that far away but boy were some students bitchy). It was quite funny and myself and the other fire warden laughed (especially when I told her it was her turn to tell them next).

Anyway, the fire brigade turned up and gave the all clear (we can only get the all clear from them). I found out afterwards that my manager (who was at the exit above me) had stopped the subject manager who I deal with a lot - he wanted a pint of beer and wasn't allowed near the bar. I wonder how many students had that problem....

Well, thats it - nothing much but was quite funny due to where the alarm was. I need to post something about the poll I made, the results were interesting but in once place annoyingly tied (1st question).