Being on holiday (3)
Hello people. Long time no see, huh ? Well well, I certainly do have a few things to add about my holidays...
A few details about my trip to Bayonne
As I may already have said, I joined my parents and sister into their holidays in Capbreton (Landes) near Bayonne. It was thoroughly enjoyable, of course. The camp was just next to the beach, the weather was mostly sunny and not excessively hot - yet I got a nice cycle-like tan, cos you can see where my shorts ended lol. I don't have that much to say, actually, it was rather enjoying the beach, enjoying the pool, enjoying the sun, and doing nothing...
On the 25th of July, we drove down to San Sebastian for a quick visit. San Sebastian isn't that nice a city, even with the narrow streets downtown, but we didn't have enough time to make it to Bilbao. My father said that next time we may just take two days and drive to Pampelona instead, which sounds promising (well provided that it doesn't take us another 12 years to go back ! lol).
A few of the pictures from San Sebastian are hosted on my Flickr Album. I may add some as the end of the month approaches (I can't afford a pro account, so I have to cope with the bw limit) - I didn't want to post too many of them in case I'd need the bandwidth.
The Peter Story
After I was back and spent a few days at my country house with my parents and sister, the two of us moved back to Paris. On the 16th of August, my friend Peter arrived from Belfast for a visit.
Unlucky he was ! We went to my country house for five days, but the weather was mostly bad, it kept raining and it was even cold at some point, so we couldn't really wander around or anything... Here in Paris, we actually managed to have some proper time out : one afternoon at the Luxembourg (FR Wikipedia link | EN Wikipedia link) where we took a fair number of pictures (some of which may well ending up on my Flickr Album as well) ; later that day we went to Paris Plage (FR Wikipedia link) where we just walked about, and could admire various shows that include a very impressive demonstration of dancing by a group that came from Tahiti (French Polynesia)... Exotic music and belly dancing - it was actually the first time I had a chance to see that in real, and I was really impressed). Then it started raining like mad and we got stuck against a door waiting for the shower to calm down so we could run to the nearest métro station which, ironically enough, was only 100 m away, the problem was that we had to cross a huge avenue before we could reach it.
After we went back from my country house, we went for some shopping around the city and ended up visiting the Buttes Chaumont (FR Wikipedia link), the twin hill of the Butte Montmartre, except that it was all made gypsum and ended up dug in to build the buildings around. The quarry that resulted is now the heart of the park, and when you're in there, you can't see the city around (unless you get to the top of the hill where stands the Sybill Temple !) nor hear it, it's a brilliant feeling. The lake at the bottom just adds a nice touch to the environment (yes, I'm very fond of that park because it's all my childhood there, living only 10 mins away by foot !). Do not miss the HD pictures in the links at the bottom of the Wikipedia article !
We then went back home by the Parc de la Villette (EN Wikipedia link) which hosts the City of Science and Industry, the City of Music, and the Géode (an IMAX-format movie theater) - among other places like the parisian Zenith.
The City of Science was in fact where the Parisian Slaughterhouse were hosted. This is why the 19th District Coat of Arms is a hill with the Sybill Temple with, at the top, bull heads that symbolizes the slaughterhouse.
And then Peter went away, back to Belfast on the 24th of August after having to deal with the "no hand luggage allowed" rule, silly brits ! Must say it feels a bit empty, I was starting to be used to having him around ;)
After having had to deal with a bit more of bank problems - they failed at counting some of the money I put on it quickly enough to avoid my limit to be blown up, sent me tons of letters and billed me a lot of "debit fee" or stuff like that (98,75 euros in total), I finally managed to get an appointement, to get my debit authorization back, and everything is settled, except that now I deadly need money.
Funnily enough, something happened tonight that made me all thoughtful.
I was going out to meet Julia and her new boyfriend, Corentin, along with two guys who work with Corentin. The three of them are actually the Kookai computing crew ! We went to Footsie, a place in the 2nd arrondissement near the Opéra, which is an amusing bar : the prices aren't fixed, they evolve depending of how many people order them, etc... just like a stock exchange ! So you can drink for (rather) cheap if you manage... An interesting concept, that keeps you occupied for a while ;) It was good to go out for a change, I even managed three drinks for only 6,40 euros, go me !
At some point, Corentin told me that they may have a job offer near the end of the year : one of the other two will be leaving cos he's been offered an awesome job, so the third one, who is currently only under a work placement contract for his studies, is probably going to take his place. Trouble is, neither of the two remaining of them can develop in html and php, so they're going to need someone. They plan on coupling that with internal helpdesk.
In short, he thought I might be interested, which I actually really am (and I must add that the Kookai HQs are only 10 little minutes away by foot from my home !) because php and xhtml are my thing, I can bring my knowledge of accessibility standards, and as I'm autodidactic, I may not know everything but I can adapt easily... and as a bonus, I'd be working with two people I'm friends with.
... the only problem, as always, is that it takes a full time job to do all that, and my current studies status doesn't allow me for that. I could never fit 35 hours of work into my typical week, not with some 18 hours of work + all the work I need to do outside of univ (well I must admit I'm far from working as much as I'm expected to, but still !). I'd need a part time (half time would be perfect).
So I'm a bit confused because well, I know I can do this, I have the two others speaking for me, and I probably could do well for a job interview, but there's no way I can stop my studies. I can't do anything good with my current degrees, so I need to carry on ; and I've been at school for nineteen years and I really want to finish asap, so I don't see myself taking a year off. If I do that, I know I'll never go back.
I'm going to get a new laptop : a friend of my dad who's full of money, suggested that he could lend me the requiered amount without having to give it back before a year... after he heard the tragic story of my laptop. There are Dell promotions that shouldn't be missed.
After coming back from the Footsie, as I hadn't had dinner, I stepped by the McDonald's Jaurès, which stays open (for take away food) until 2 am. The chips I ate had that particular taste they had back when I was little and that going to McDonald's was rare. I don't know why, but the term that comes to my mind to describe it is : "paper".
I won on the bank application binary file I had to install on the ADAG website. Yay me, I can now bill people and have they pay by credit card ;) it's really handy though, once you get to know how it works...
I think that's it for now. Sister's at home, having friends, but apart from her and myself both being pissed off at the same time (ended up fighting) two days ago, it's going OK.... She's squatting my room at the very moment so she can phone her boyfriend without being hassled by the others, lol !
This morning, I awoke with the radio talking about Bloody Sunday in Derry, Northern Ireland, in 1972. I've been interested in NI story and having Peter around to talk about it proved handy because I learnt quite a lot of things I probably wouldn't have got without him. It made me sort of depressed, and I ended up spending the day listening to U2... yeah, I know.
Stay tuned on Channel Clem for more news coming soon !
A few details about my trip to Bayonne
As I may already have said, I joined my parents and sister into their holidays in Capbreton (Landes) near Bayonne. It was thoroughly enjoyable, of course. The camp was just next to the beach, the weather was mostly sunny and not excessively hot - yet I got a nice cycle-like tan, cos you can see where my shorts ended lol. I don't have that much to say, actually, it was rather enjoying the beach, enjoying the pool, enjoying the sun, and doing nothing...
On the 25th of July, we drove down to San Sebastian for a quick visit. San Sebastian isn't that nice a city, even with the narrow streets downtown, but we didn't have enough time to make it to Bilbao. My father said that next time we may just take two days and drive to Pampelona instead, which sounds promising (well provided that it doesn't take us another 12 years to go back ! lol).
A few of the pictures from San Sebastian are hosted on my Flickr Album. I may add some as the end of the month approaches (I can't afford a pro account, so I have to cope with the bw limit) - I didn't want to post too many of them in case I'd need the bandwidth.
The Peter Story
After I was back and spent a few days at my country house with my parents and sister, the two of us moved back to Paris. On the 16th of August, my friend Peter arrived from Belfast for a visit.
Unlucky he was ! We went to my country house for five days, but the weather was mostly bad, it kept raining and it was even cold at some point, so we couldn't really wander around or anything... Here in Paris, we actually managed to have some proper time out : one afternoon at the Luxembourg (FR Wikipedia link | EN Wikipedia link) where we took a fair number of pictures (some of which may well ending up on my Flickr Album as well) ; later that day we went to Paris Plage (FR Wikipedia link) where we just walked about, and could admire various shows that include a very impressive demonstration of dancing by a group that came from Tahiti (French Polynesia)... Exotic music and belly dancing - it was actually the first time I had a chance to see that in real, and I was really impressed). Then it started raining like mad and we got stuck against a door waiting for the shower to calm down so we could run to the nearest métro station which, ironically enough, was only 100 m away, the problem was that we had to cross a huge avenue before we could reach it.
After we went back from my country house, we went for some shopping around the city and ended up visiting the Buttes Chaumont (FR Wikipedia link), the twin hill of the Butte Montmartre, except that it was all made gypsum and ended up dug in to build the buildings around. The quarry that resulted is now the heart of the park, and when you're in there, you can't see the city around (unless you get to the top of the hill where stands the Sybill Temple !) nor hear it, it's a brilliant feeling. The lake at the bottom just adds a nice touch to the environment (yes, I'm very fond of that park because it's all my childhood there, living only 10 mins away by foot !). Do not miss the HD pictures in the links at the bottom of the Wikipedia article !
We then went back home by the Parc de la Villette (EN Wikipedia link) which hosts the City of Science and Industry, the City of Music, and the Géode (an IMAX-format movie theater) - among other places like the parisian Zenith.
The City of Science was in fact where the Parisian Slaughterhouse were hosted. This is why the 19th District Coat of Arms is a hill with the Sybill Temple with, at the top, bull heads that symbolizes the slaughterhouse.
And then Peter went away, back to Belfast on the 24th of August after having to deal with the "no hand luggage allowed" rule, silly brits ! Must say it feels a bit empty, I was starting to be used to having him around ;)
After having had to deal with a bit more of bank problems - they failed at counting some of the money I put on it quickly enough to avoid my limit to be blown up, sent me tons of letters and billed me a lot of "debit fee" or stuff like that (98,75 euros in total), I finally managed to get an appointement, to get my debit authorization back, and everything is settled, except that now I deadly need money.
Funnily enough, something happened tonight that made me all thoughtful.
I was going out to meet Julia and her new boyfriend, Corentin, along with two guys who work with Corentin. The three of them are actually the Kookai computing crew ! We went to Footsie, a place in the 2nd arrondissement near the Opéra, which is an amusing bar : the prices aren't fixed, they evolve depending of how many people order them, etc... just like a stock exchange ! So you can drink for (rather) cheap if you manage... An interesting concept, that keeps you occupied for a while ;) It was good to go out for a change, I even managed three drinks for only 6,40 euros, go me !
At some point, Corentin told me that they may have a job offer near the end of the year : one of the other two will be leaving cos he's been offered an awesome job, so the third one, who is currently only under a work placement contract for his studies, is probably going to take his place. Trouble is, neither of the two remaining of them can develop in html and php, so they're going to need someone. They plan on coupling that with internal helpdesk.
In short, he thought I might be interested, which I actually really am (and I must add that the Kookai HQs are only 10 little minutes away by foot from my home !) because php and xhtml are my thing, I can bring my knowledge of accessibility standards, and as I'm autodidactic, I may not know everything but I can adapt easily... and as a bonus, I'd be working with two people I'm friends with.
... the only problem, as always, is that it takes a full time job to do all that, and my current studies status doesn't allow me for that. I could never fit 35 hours of work into my typical week, not with some 18 hours of work + all the work I need to do outside of univ (well I must admit I'm far from working as much as I'm expected to, but still !). I'd need a part time (half time would be perfect).
So I'm a bit confused because well, I know I can do this, I have the two others speaking for me, and I probably could do well for a job interview, but there's no way I can stop my studies. I can't do anything good with my current degrees, so I need to carry on ; and I've been at school for nineteen years and I really want to finish asap, so I don't see myself taking a year off. If I do that, I know I'll never go back.
I'm going to get a new laptop : a friend of my dad who's full of money, suggested that he could lend me the requiered amount without having to give it back before a year... after he heard the tragic story of my laptop. There are Dell promotions that shouldn't be missed.
After coming back from the Footsie, as I hadn't had dinner, I stepped by the McDonald's Jaurès, which stays open (for take away food) until 2 am. The chips I ate had that particular taste they had back when I was little and that going to McDonald's was rare. I don't know why, but the term that comes to my mind to describe it is : "paper".
I won on the bank application binary file I had to install on the ADAG website. Yay me, I can now bill people and have they pay by credit card ;) it's really handy though, once you get to know how it works...
I think that's it for now. Sister's at home, having friends, but apart from her and myself both being pissed off at the same time (ended up fighting) two days ago, it's going OK.... She's squatting my room at the very moment so she can phone her boyfriend without being hassled by the others, lol !
This morning, I awoke with the radio talking about Bloody Sunday in Derry, Northern Ireland, in 1972. I've been interested in NI story and having Peter around to talk about it proved handy because I learnt quite a lot of things I probably wouldn't have got without him. It made me sort of depressed, and I ended up spending the day listening to U2... yeah, I know.
Stay tuned on Channel Clem for more news coming soon !