Hello again
Mornin' all. It's been a while.
I'm going to seriously try (again) to keep this more up to date so that the few people that are interested can know what's going on with me.
The short version is:
Work has been totally mental for the last 2 months, but is much much calmer now.
Ant and I are still in love and going all squishy about each other.
Life and money are ok.
I've been a bit far from God for a few months now, but a very small but very alive church in Oxford has helped me turn around so I'm at least moving in the right direction (towards God again) now.
I'm gradually moving over to linux. (using it right now)
I was going to do some more work this evening, but instead spent it sorting out my music player on linux, and playing silly flash games, so I'm gonna finish off by rambling on here for a bit.
Longer versions of some of that stuff:
First off, let me just say that Infected Mushroom are an excellent band. Psy-trance at its finest (insofar as I'm qualified to judge that). For a taste, look on youtube or some such for Heavyweight by them. Did I mention that some months ago I accidentally went to an all-night rave (thought it was just a regular gig... oops) where they played? I really didn't expect to enjoy it, but was wonderfully surprised.
So, yeah, work. What a crazy couple of months that's been. Things were going ok for the first half of the summer holidays until we got to the "Add parental access" job. That went from being 2 weeks of me and Mike to being 2 weeks of me and Mike followed by 3 weeks of just me while Mike went on his honeymoon. Several late nights, and a couple with almost no sleep ensued. Knowing that a couple of hundred people expect to use the system that is still effectively in pieces around your ankles in 2 days time is one hell of a motivator. It's been 4 weeks since launch day, and there were a series of smaller launches (about 1 a week) for the first 3 of those. We've got the biggest bugs squished, and are just working on smoothing things out a bit and making the whole thing a bit nicer and more robust now.
The other good thing (other than having a pretty impressive piece of software with my name on it as author) to come out of this busy time is that I'm in line for a pay-scale change. That'll help things out a lot. Once that's signed and agreed I'll be off to get a small loan and buy a bike that won't fall apart and that I'll be motivated (by its beauty) to maintain a bit better. Along with the pay improvements, there's the fact that I've built up just over 40 hours of overtime in the last 6 weeks. That equates to a little over a week off :-) I spy a holiday.
Adam's stag do was excellent. I was a little worried for the guy as we were literally carrying him back to the hotel... stopping occasionally for him to vomit. The drinking rule for him was pretty harsh but amusing. He was only allowed to drink swearwords: so for example at one point Chris came out with 4 shots: Tequila, Whiskey, Archers, and another Tequila for him. This kind of immature behaviour provided much amusement throughout the evening.
The following day we went quad-biking. That was a lot of fun. The patch of worn-off skin on my thumb has almost grown back. Painful but much worth it. I managed to achieve what no-one else had done in the year or so one of the marshals had worked there when I broke one of the front wheels off my quad. :-D I may have been going at it a little bit hard, but I wasn't expected that! All in all, a great weekend of fun and games with good friends.
Antonia is still lovely. We're still remarkably doting over each other, and generally snuggly. This is the longest that that phase has ever lasted for me; it's normally gone by about 6 months, but we're entering our 9th together. Quite a few people have asked "wedding bells in the air?", and I'm quite sure when I say no. It's still too soon to be sure imho, but I'm not going to rule it out as she's so lovely :-) .
I was concerned at first when she moved to Oxford that the distance was going to be really awkward, but it's worked out ok. We see each other every weekend, alternating her place and mine. Now that I've bought a car (Renault Megane, S reg, so ... 1999) it's a bit easier to go places with Ant who refuses to go on the bike. I'm convinced she'd enjoy it if she could just get over the terror, but hey ho.
She's still looking for work as an Illustrator. It's a real shame she's not found a permanent job doing that yet as she's really talented and enjoys drawing/painting more than just about anything else. I'm sure it'll work out in the end, but it's hard for her to stay positive in the middle of it. Prayers welcome.
Pete and Sulari have left my small group (bible study group) to go back to Australia. The car was theirs before I bought it. We all miss them and hope their doing well, and that little baby Tarquin is adapting to the Australian climate.
I'm kinda learning to play keyboard / piano. I miss doing Tai-Chi. I love Ant. I'm enjoying learning Linux. I want to buy some land but have no money. I want to build a house but have no land. I miss my Plymouth friends. I miss my Brighton friends and can't justify why I've not visited them in so long. I could do with a holiday.
Mike (my minion at work) is leaving. He's off at the end of the month to work for Skandia doing a simpler job for £7k more. Best of luck to him, and I hope he does well and enjoys the new place and the extra cash. We'll be hiring one or two people to replace him and work under me on the great Apotheosis project. I'm curious to know what we'll get for the salary we'll be offering. Will they be any good? Will they just need a bit of training then be able to take on some serious work? Who knows. It'll be interesting in any event.
Hello
:-Lightinthedark
I'm going to seriously try (again) to keep this more up to date so that the few people that are interested can know what's going on with me.
The short version is:
Work has been totally mental for the last 2 months, but is much much calmer now.
Ant and I are still in love and going all squishy about each other.
Life and money are ok.
I've been a bit far from God for a few months now, but a very small but very alive church in Oxford has helped me turn around so I'm at least moving in the right direction (towards God again) now.
I'm gradually moving over to linux. (using it right now)
I was going to do some more work this evening, but instead spent it sorting out my music player on linux, and playing silly flash games, so I'm gonna finish off by rambling on here for a bit.
Longer versions of some of that stuff:
First off, let me just say that Infected Mushroom are an excellent band. Psy-trance at its finest (insofar as I'm qualified to judge that). For a taste, look on youtube or some such for Heavyweight by them. Did I mention that some months ago I accidentally went to an all-night rave (thought it was just a regular gig... oops) where they played? I really didn't expect to enjoy it, but was wonderfully surprised.
So, yeah, work. What a crazy couple of months that's been. Things were going ok for the first half of the summer holidays until we got to the "Add parental access" job. That went from being 2 weeks of me and Mike to being 2 weeks of me and Mike followed by 3 weeks of just me while Mike went on his honeymoon. Several late nights, and a couple with almost no sleep ensued. Knowing that a couple of hundred people expect to use the system that is still effectively in pieces around your ankles in 2 days time is one hell of a motivator. It's been 4 weeks since launch day, and there were a series of smaller launches (about 1 a week) for the first 3 of those. We've got the biggest bugs squished, and are just working on smoothing things out a bit and making the whole thing a bit nicer and more robust now.
The other good thing (other than having a pretty impressive piece of software with my name on it as author) to come out of this busy time is that I'm in line for a pay-scale change. That'll help things out a lot. Once that's signed and agreed I'll be off to get a small loan and buy a bike that won't fall apart and that I'll be motivated (by its beauty) to maintain a bit better. Along with the pay improvements, there's the fact that I've built up just over 40 hours of overtime in the last 6 weeks. That equates to a little over a week off :-) I spy a holiday.
Adam's stag do was excellent. I was a little worried for the guy as we were literally carrying him back to the hotel... stopping occasionally for him to vomit. The drinking rule for him was pretty harsh but amusing. He was only allowed to drink swearwords: so for example at one point Chris came out with 4 shots: Tequila, Whiskey, Archers, and another Tequila for him. This kind of immature behaviour provided much amusement throughout the evening.
The following day we went quad-biking. That was a lot of fun. The patch of worn-off skin on my thumb has almost grown back. Painful but much worth it. I managed to achieve what no-one else had done in the year or so one of the marshals had worked there when I broke one of the front wheels off my quad. :-D I may have been going at it a little bit hard, but I wasn't expected that! All in all, a great weekend of fun and games with good friends.
Antonia is still lovely. We're still remarkably doting over each other, and generally snuggly. This is the longest that that phase has ever lasted for me; it's normally gone by about 6 months, but we're entering our 9th together. Quite a few people have asked "wedding bells in the air?", and I'm quite sure when I say no. It's still too soon to be sure imho, but I'm not going to rule it out as she's so lovely :-) .
I was concerned at first when she moved to Oxford that the distance was going to be really awkward, but it's worked out ok. We see each other every weekend, alternating her place and mine. Now that I've bought a car (Renault Megane, S reg, so ... 1999) it's a bit easier to go places with Ant who refuses to go on the bike. I'm convinced she'd enjoy it if she could just get over the terror, but hey ho.
She's still looking for work as an Illustrator. It's a real shame she's not found a permanent job doing that yet as she's really talented and enjoys drawing/painting more than just about anything else. I'm sure it'll work out in the end, but it's hard for her to stay positive in the middle of it. Prayers welcome.
Pete and Sulari have left my small group (bible study group) to go back to Australia. The car was theirs before I bought it. We all miss them and hope their doing well, and that little baby Tarquin is adapting to the Australian climate.
I'm kinda learning to play keyboard / piano. I miss doing Tai-Chi. I love Ant. I'm enjoying learning Linux. I want to buy some land but have no money. I want to build a house but have no land. I miss my Plymouth friends. I miss my Brighton friends and can't justify why I've not visited them in so long. I could do with a holiday.
Mike (my minion at work) is leaving. He's off at the end of the month to work for Skandia doing a simpler job for £7k more. Best of luck to him, and I hope he does well and enjoys the new place and the extra cash. We'll be hiring one or two people to replace him and work under me on the great Apotheosis project. I'm curious to know what we'll get for the salary we'll be offering. Will they be any good? Will they just need a bit of training then be able to take on some serious work? Who knows. It'll be interesting in any event.
Hello
:-Lightinthedark