Courseworking it out.
I've finally drawn all the drawings for ConTech and I reckon it'll take me until end of Sunday to line them all out, render and annotate them. That leaves me 4 days to get everything together, write up stuff for the photographs (once I've decided which I should actually use) and hand it in on the Friday morning. I've decided now to use Powerpoint to do the photographs and text together, as before I was going to do them separate and have the text in Word.
That then leaves me 2 weeks to write up the final lab reports (should take 2 days max.) and 3 weeks (i.e. one week more) to do a piece of coursework for the same module (ArchSci) which I've looked at and thought "we didn't do most of that in class..."; cue much panicking. It doesn't help that all the core books are out of the library(-ies) except one which is in George Green at the better other Uni, of which there are a number of unloaned copies. Thankfully there's also a short loan copy of one of the others (in Hallward, bizarrely), but they got rid of the tables and chairs so I'm considering taking my own ;P The other is available as an overnight loan from Boots at Trent Uni but it's hard to get it back before 10am when I'm at work!
After that, it's 2 weeks to do the Measurement coursework, which I think shouldn't be too hard once I've actually had a proper look at it. Indeed, if it's anything like the last one, it should be a panicking few moments until I actually get into it. I do need to check if there are any essay-type questions though, as they'll need more time devoting.
Finally, there's two more courseworks due at the end of term: another ConTech one which is lab reports and one for Law where we're supposed to advise such-and-such a business on about half a dozen different things. Hopefully that won't be too hard :D
So I'm having a relatively good day so far. Cycled in and didn't have to stop halfway up Ludlow Hill, but went on the path as I was weaving a bit! My old front light died about 5mins after I set out, but I pretended not to notice ;P And the new-old one is fixable (I managed to get it to fit back together last night), I just have to find the damn bulbs and I've no idea where they are! It wasn't hideously cold this morning, but I think it was drier as there was very little frost around, so being less humid it felt less cold than it would normally. I definitely needed the coat this morning (it wasn't necessary yesterday; when I left yesterday it was 0.5°C and this morning it was -2.5°C) and my scarf up round my chin :)
Anyway, I should give you a brief update as to the festive season:
Christmas Eve I got away from work at 13:30 so we managed to get the 14:11 train to Leeds. It was virtually empty and we had a nice table seat. Somewhere between Alfreton and Chesterfield off to the left of the train there was a steam locomotive sat idling... At Leeds we indulged in a mocha each (yay for the 20% discount Bite card) which wasn't great but I'm not sure what was wrong with it. We finished just in time to walk out of the heated waiting room and catch the train; excellent timing! The next train was pretty empty too. When we got to Burnley the platform was covered in salt and we nearly missed Clive's car because he was parked in an unusual place (and we were expecting the Renault, not the Honda). We had dinner and at 11ish I went with Sonia and Clive to Midnight Mass. It was my first time and it was alright, but I think I prefer carol services because singing's about my only connection to church nowadays.
Christmas Day we got up and I slobbed around in jimjams to eat breakfast and open presents. I got a HUGE selection box, the new-new front light for my bike and a rubber-band plane ;P Matt also got a selection box, as well as a beard trimmer and new razor (see where this was going?) and we got a calendar between us. After that I went and got dressed into my fancy stuff (pictures to follow later) and got the camera out :D
In the early afternoon Matt's uncle Phil and his daughter Sophie came round. Dinner was very nice (pork, turkey, sausagemeat, boiled and roast spuds, green beans, carrots and cinnamon-spiced red cabbage) and followed by yummy chocolate desserts. After dinner we set Sophie's Wii up on the TV and had a go at all the Sports. I have discovered I'm pretty OK at bowling, but Matt's awful ;P Then we played a short game of Trivial Pursuit (which had some hilarious questions) before watching TV. Doctor Who was alright, but it wasn't complicated enough for a Christmas Special, I thought; there just wasn't enough to it! It was like watching a normal episode and I didn't feel there was anything special about it. A Matter of Loaf and Death was pretty good. I think the only one I don't really enjoy is A Grand Day Out (made in 1989!!!) and I've seen The Wrong Trousers too often to enjoy it as much as I used to.
Sometime in the evening I developed a headache but managed to stay up and eat cheese, paté and biscuits with mango chutney :D
Boxing Day we left Paul at home and went for a drive around Pendle Hill, where the witches are. We parked at Downham and walked around the village (there were jackdaws :D) and then parked at Pendle Nick and walked around that. Matt climbed a cliff and I took lots of pictures. It was cold in the wind but not too bad when we found a bluff to hide behind.
Saturday we visited Matt's Grandma in hospital. She's doing well but is incredibly fed up with being there because it's boring as hell and she's usually pretty active (the reason she went in was because she went right downhill in 2 weeks). She can walk for a bit now too. They're hopefully moving her from Salford (ages away) to Blackburn (much closer).
Sunday I got up hideously late, had a bath and then went with Sonia to Boundary Mill, where I spent £150 :O I got two dresses, one blue sparkly weird-fabric and one purple long-sleeved velvet. I also got two Gift Packs of hot chocolate (one was the Sins one) and some fudge from the Whittards outlet, some better control pants from M&S, another heart-shaped silicon baking mould, some black drawing pens, a pair of work shoes and a pair of ankle boots. Sadly they didn't have any long lace-up boots and the really nice zip-up boots NEVER fit (I tried :( ) but they're about a year behind in stocking stuff so hopefully the Clarks ones will be there next year. Apart from long boots and any other shoe disasters, I shouldn't need to clothes/shoe shop for a good few years now :D
Monday Matt had a dentist appointment and afterwards we went shopping. We went to Woolworths and bought some sweets; there were some albums on CD but nothing I REALLY wanted, and even Ace of Base at £3.83 wasn't really justifiable. In WHSmiths Matt looked for books but didn't find anything he wanted so I bought sweets instead :) We got him a new phone from Phones4U because it was cheaper than Carphone Warehouse; it's got a calendar and sudoku! I got some stuff from Home Bargains (think Wilkinsons but with Lidl's prices) and then we got lunch from Oddies (probably the best bakery in the country): Matt had sausage rolls and a mallow snowman and I had a pork and apple roll and a chocolate danish whirl, which Matt had about a third of! We watched Paul's DVD of Kung Fu Panda after Road to El Dorado (on TV) had finished :D Matt had already watched Fantastic Four II and the other film he wanted to watch, and we'd both watched AVP2 a couple of days earlier. In the evening Sonia came home in pain but luckily dinner was easy: she threw some stuff in the oven and grill for Paul and Clive and I cooked cheesy chicken, which went down rather well :D
Tuesday Matt had another dentist appointment for a filling and bought more stuff from Oddies: two pork and apple rolls for me as one wasn't enough, two chocolate whirls as I wanted one to myself and three sausage rolls. I spent the morning packing and talking to Sonia, who was off work in kidney stone-related pain, about the weather and how it would be -5°C up North but probably about -3°C in Nott'm. She kindly drove us to the station and we waited about 10mins for the train (in about -2°C) and it wasn't packed when it arrived: table seat again! We scoffed the chocolate whirls and then had some giant Cadbury's buttons that we'd got from WHSmiths (there were other options in the 2 for £3 but everything else was £1-something normally and these buttons were £2.05! Even more of a bargain!). We had 20mins to wait by the time we found the heated waiting room on the far platform so I went off on my own to get hot chocolates: I had chocolate mint syrup in mine and Matt had marshmallows :D The hot chocolate was really nice, much better than the mocha (and cheaper, before adding the extras!). I got back just in time to pick up my bags and walk to the train, then we waited about 2-3mins before the doors opened: yet another table seat! We were really lucky with transport all the way through both journeys and I would definitely go by train again.
That evening, we got to Nottingham and went straight to Pizza Express. Unfortunately, it was booked up but they said we could make a reservation for 7:15, so we did, and went to Wetherspoons for drinks while we waited out the 45mins. I had a Caesar salad starter which was yummy and Matt had cheesy garlic bread. Then I had a margerita with tuna and Matt had a margerita. I was stuffed after that so even though I really REALLY wanted a dessert I didn't have one (or I would've been sick :S). It was a nice meal and I was glad I only had the tuna margerita because even though there was a special pizza with tuna and some other stuff I liked on it, it had olives and I didn't really want (Matt) to pay £9-something for something I'd pick at. Besides, I wasn't sure if I'd like the capers with tuna ;P FYI, my pizza was £6-something :)
When we got home, Matt went straight out after dropping stuff off to get milk from Spar, and I put the heating on: it was 14°C in the house and -4.7°C outside! We had it on Max. until we went to bed, when we turned it down to Min. and left it on. I went to bed in a jumper and socks ;P In checked the 'memory' on the weather machine thingy in the morning and the lowest temperature was -5.1°C! So much for it being a bit warmer in the Midlands compared to the North!
After Matt got back we opened presents: Matt seemed very pleased with his sweets and a bit confused by the woolly hat, chopping board and chair :D Matt got me some predictable stuff off the list I gave him, rather than any of the more exciting things :) From Hazel I got a dragon ornament which smokes when you put special cones in (I have three now :) ) and we got a selection of German biscuits which I'm really pleased with; from Mum I got a bottle of baby lotion (no more please!), a cuddly rabbit and giraffe (though it's not got a long neck) and two necklaces: one with three skulls and one with 15d6! 15d6!!!!! Amanda and Tim gave us a game which will no doubt get dragged to various gatherings; from my work people I got chocolates, from my Aunt money and a really nice black tourmaline pendant, and from everyone else money or gift cards. Very pleased indeed with the gifts this year :D
Wednesday we went to Sainsbury's and got provisions for New Year. In the afternoon we wandered over to The Old House and started dinner. Cheryl was very pleased with the cookbook we (I) bought her and Ilya and we're very pleased with our veritable MOUNTAIN of peanut butter cookies :D People started arriving and eventually dinner was an hour late but nicely done. And there weren't too many leftovers. Phil and Tim ate with us but John came and only had dessert (homemade blackberry and rhubarb crumble :D). We nattered the night away and eventually turned on Jools for a few minutes before turning over to BBC1 just as Big Ben bonged the first time. We watched the fireworks and then started making motions to leave: I know I was knackered for no apparent reason but wanted to be up at a decent time so as to get a good shot at my coursework.
Thursday I'd've liked to have done something like gone for a walk or somesuch with Matt but coursework got in the way and I got on with that instead. Friday we went shopping in town: Matt got a new D&D book from FP, I got a couple of things from Wilkinsons but sadly no LED lights (there's always next year :) ) and we came back via Sainsbury's. That evening I installed my old version of XP on to the old hard drive and it works OK but is terribly slow (there goes that idea): unfortunately the newer hard drive is already partitioned into one massive bit and one 'unpartitioned' bit for Windows stuff, and the old one is FAT so I believe it can't be partitioned? It took bloody forever to do and I wanted to see how it installed and what: having done it, I'd rather get someone who knows that they're doing to come and do it for me, because I don't really want to have to go through resetting all my settings when I don't have to: a refresh is all I need, right? Is that so hard to do? I should probably delete the newer install because it's very slow, doesn't have Office or anything attached to it and means that you have to choose the second Operating System from the two XP professionals in the list at Startup.
The weekend was pretty normal. I got coursework done as mentioned. Nothing much else really happened.
Sahha ohrain.
That then leaves me 2 weeks to write up the final lab reports (should take 2 days max.) and 3 weeks (i.e. one week more) to do a piece of coursework for the same module (ArchSci) which I've looked at and thought "we didn't do most of that in class..."; cue much panicking. It doesn't help that all the core books are out of the library(-ies) except one which is in George Green at the better other Uni, of which there are a number of unloaned copies. Thankfully there's also a short loan copy of one of the others (in Hallward, bizarrely), but they got rid of the tables and chairs so I'm considering taking my own ;P The other is available as an overnight loan from Boots at Trent Uni but it's hard to get it back before 10am when I'm at work!
After that, it's 2 weeks to do the Measurement coursework, which I think shouldn't be too hard once I've actually had a proper look at it. Indeed, if it's anything like the last one, it should be a panicking few moments until I actually get into it. I do need to check if there are any essay-type questions though, as they'll need more time devoting.
Finally, there's two more courseworks due at the end of term: another ConTech one which is lab reports and one for Law where we're supposed to advise such-and-such a business on about half a dozen different things. Hopefully that won't be too hard :D
So I'm having a relatively good day so far. Cycled in and didn't have to stop halfway up Ludlow Hill, but went on the path as I was weaving a bit! My old front light died about 5mins after I set out, but I pretended not to notice ;P And the new-old one is fixable (I managed to get it to fit back together last night), I just have to find the damn bulbs and I've no idea where they are! It wasn't hideously cold this morning, but I think it was drier as there was very little frost around, so being less humid it felt less cold than it would normally. I definitely needed the coat this morning (it wasn't necessary yesterday; when I left yesterday it was 0.5°C and this morning it was -2.5°C) and my scarf up round my chin :)
Anyway, I should give you a brief update as to the festive season:
Christmas Eve I got away from work at 13:30 so we managed to get the 14:11 train to Leeds. It was virtually empty and we had a nice table seat. Somewhere between Alfreton and Chesterfield off to the left of the train there was a steam locomotive sat idling... At Leeds we indulged in a mocha each (yay for the 20% discount Bite card) which wasn't great but I'm not sure what was wrong with it. We finished just in time to walk out of the heated waiting room and catch the train; excellent timing! The next train was pretty empty too. When we got to Burnley the platform was covered in salt and we nearly missed Clive's car because he was parked in an unusual place (and we were expecting the Renault, not the Honda). We had dinner and at 11ish I went with Sonia and Clive to Midnight Mass. It was my first time and it was alright, but I think I prefer carol services because singing's about my only connection to church nowadays.
Christmas Day we got up and I slobbed around in jimjams to eat breakfast and open presents. I got a HUGE selection box, the new-new front light for my bike and a rubber-band plane ;P Matt also got a selection box, as well as a beard trimmer and new razor (see where this was going?) and we got a calendar between us. After that I went and got dressed into my fancy stuff (pictures to follow later) and got the camera out :D
In the early afternoon Matt's uncle Phil and his daughter Sophie came round. Dinner was very nice (pork, turkey, sausagemeat, boiled and roast spuds, green beans, carrots and cinnamon-spiced red cabbage) and followed by yummy chocolate desserts. After dinner we set Sophie's Wii up on the TV and had a go at all the Sports. I have discovered I'm pretty OK at bowling, but Matt's awful ;P Then we played a short game of Trivial Pursuit (which had some hilarious questions) before watching TV. Doctor Who was alright, but it wasn't complicated enough for a Christmas Special, I thought; there just wasn't enough to it! It was like watching a normal episode and I didn't feel there was anything special about it. A Matter of Loaf and Death was pretty good. I think the only one I don't really enjoy is A Grand Day Out (made in 1989!!!) and I've seen The Wrong Trousers too often to enjoy it as much as I used to.
Sometime in the evening I developed a headache but managed to stay up and eat cheese, paté and biscuits with mango chutney :D
Boxing Day we left Paul at home and went for a drive around Pendle Hill, where the witches are. We parked at Downham and walked around the village (there were jackdaws :D) and then parked at Pendle Nick and walked around that. Matt climbed a cliff and I took lots of pictures. It was cold in the wind but not too bad when we found a bluff to hide behind.
Saturday we visited Matt's Grandma in hospital. She's doing well but is incredibly fed up with being there because it's boring as hell and she's usually pretty active (the reason she went in was because she went right downhill in 2 weeks). She can walk for a bit now too. They're hopefully moving her from Salford (ages away) to Blackburn (much closer).
Sunday I got up hideously late, had a bath and then went with Sonia to Boundary Mill, where I spent £150 :O I got two dresses, one blue sparkly weird-fabric and one purple long-sleeved velvet. I also got two Gift Packs of hot chocolate (one was the Sins one) and some fudge from the Whittards outlet, some better control pants from M&S, another heart-shaped silicon baking mould, some black drawing pens, a pair of work shoes and a pair of ankle boots. Sadly they didn't have any long lace-up boots and the really nice zip-up boots NEVER fit (I tried :( ) but they're about a year behind in stocking stuff so hopefully the Clarks ones will be there next year. Apart from long boots and any other shoe disasters, I shouldn't need to clothes/shoe shop for a good few years now :D
Monday Matt had a dentist appointment and afterwards we went shopping. We went to Woolworths and bought some sweets; there were some albums on CD but nothing I REALLY wanted, and even Ace of Base at £3.83 wasn't really justifiable. In WHSmiths Matt looked for books but didn't find anything he wanted so I bought sweets instead :) We got him a new phone from Phones4U because it was cheaper than Carphone Warehouse; it's got a calendar and sudoku! I got some stuff from Home Bargains (think Wilkinsons but with Lidl's prices) and then we got lunch from Oddies (probably the best bakery in the country): Matt had sausage rolls and a mallow snowman and I had a pork and apple roll and a chocolate danish whirl, which Matt had about a third of! We watched Paul's DVD of Kung Fu Panda after Road to El Dorado (on TV) had finished :D Matt had already watched Fantastic Four II and the other film he wanted to watch, and we'd both watched AVP2 a couple of days earlier. In the evening Sonia came home in pain but luckily dinner was easy: she threw some stuff in the oven and grill for Paul and Clive and I cooked cheesy chicken, which went down rather well :D
Tuesday Matt had another dentist appointment for a filling and bought more stuff from Oddies: two pork and apple rolls for me as one wasn't enough, two chocolate whirls as I wanted one to myself and three sausage rolls. I spent the morning packing and talking to Sonia, who was off work in kidney stone-related pain, about the weather and how it would be -5°C up North but probably about -3°C in Nott'm. She kindly drove us to the station and we waited about 10mins for the train (in about -2°C) and it wasn't packed when it arrived: table seat again! We scoffed the chocolate whirls and then had some giant Cadbury's buttons that we'd got from WHSmiths (there were other options in the 2 for £3 but everything else was £1-something normally and these buttons were £2.05! Even more of a bargain!). We had 20mins to wait by the time we found the heated waiting room on the far platform so I went off on my own to get hot chocolates: I had chocolate mint syrup in mine and Matt had marshmallows :D The hot chocolate was really nice, much better than the mocha (and cheaper, before adding the extras!). I got back just in time to pick up my bags and walk to the train, then we waited about 2-3mins before the doors opened: yet another table seat! We were really lucky with transport all the way through both journeys and I would definitely go by train again.
That evening, we got to Nottingham and went straight to Pizza Express. Unfortunately, it was booked up but they said we could make a reservation for 7:15, so we did, and went to Wetherspoons for drinks while we waited out the 45mins. I had a Caesar salad starter which was yummy and Matt had cheesy garlic bread. Then I had a margerita with tuna and Matt had a margerita. I was stuffed after that so even though I really REALLY wanted a dessert I didn't have one (or I would've been sick :S). It was a nice meal and I was glad I only had the tuna margerita because even though there was a special pizza with tuna and some other stuff I liked on it, it had olives and I didn't really want (Matt) to pay £9-something for something I'd pick at. Besides, I wasn't sure if I'd like the capers with tuna ;P FYI, my pizza was £6-something :)
When we got home, Matt went straight out after dropping stuff off to get milk from Spar, and I put the heating on: it was 14°C in the house and -4.7°C outside! We had it on Max. until we went to bed, when we turned it down to Min. and left it on. I went to bed in a jumper and socks ;P In checked the 'memory' on the weather machine thingy in the morning and the lowest temperature was -5.1°C! So much for it being a bit warmer in the Midlands compared to the North!
After Matt got back we opened presents: Matt seemed very pleased with his sweets and a bit confused by the woolly hat, chopping board and chair :D Matt got me some predictable stuff off the list I gave him, rather than any of the more exciting things :) From Hazel I got a dragon ornament which smokes when you put special cones in (I have three now :) ) and we got a selection of German biscuits which I'm really pleased with; from Mum I got a bottle of baby lotion (no more please!), a cuddly rabbit and giraffe (though it's not got a long neck) and two necklaces: one with three skulls and one with 15d6! 15d6!!!!! Amanda and Tim gave us a game which will no doubt get dragged to various gatherings; from my work people I got chocolates, from my Aunt money and a really nice black tourmaline pendant, and from everyone else money or gift cards. Very pleased indeed with the gifts this year :D
Wednesday we went to Sainsbury's and got provisions for New Year. In the afternoon we wandered over to The Old House and started dinner. Cheryl was very pleased with the cookbook we (I) bought her and Ilya and we're very pleased with our veritable MOUNTAIN of peanut butter cookies :D People started arriving and eventually dinner was an hour late but nicely done. And there weren't too many leftovers. Phil and Tim ate with us but John came and only had dessert (homemade blackberry and rhubarb crumble :D). We nattered the night away and eventually turned on Jools for a few minutes before turning over to BBC1 just as Big Ben bonged the first time. We watched the fireworks and then started making motions to leave: I know I was knackered for no apparent reason but wanted to be up at a decent time so as to get a good shot at my coursework.
Thursday I'd've liked to have done something like gone for a walk or somesuch with Matt but coursework got in the way and I got on with that instead. Friday we went shopping in town: Matt got a new D&D book from FP, I got a couple of things from Wilkinsons but sadly no LED lights (there's always next year :) ) and we came back via Sainsbury's. That evening I installed my old version of XP on to the old hard drive and it works OK but is terribly slow (there goes that idea): unfortunately the newer hard drive is already partitioned into one massive bit and one 'unpartitioned' bit for Windows stuff, and the old one is FAT so I believe it can't be partitioned? It took bloody forever to do and I wanted to see how it installed and what: having done it, I'd rather get someone who knows that they're doing to come and do it for me, because I don't really want to have to go through resetting all my settings when I don't have to: a refresh is all I need, right? Is that so hard to do? I should probably delete the newer install because it's very slow, doesn't have Office or anything attached to it and means that you have to choose the second Operating System from the two XP professionals in the list at Startup.
The weekend was pretty normal. I got coursework done as mentioned. Nothing much else really happened.
Sahha ohrain.