Hello and welcome to rcarey.co.uk
I have recently had some problems with my website which required me to build my site once again from scratch. While my old blog posts have been backed up many of them rely on other material on my website which is now no longer online so I have decided to put my website on hold until the university term begins again in September.
Check back then to see my latest news.
Here I am, sitting in the laundry room waiting for my clothes to become clean again, with the perfect opportunity to update you all on my latest news.
University is coming to an end now; I have completed and submitted all of my coursework and with just two exams left to sit there is not long left before I can relax. Lectures ended just over two weeks ago, so I have full control over how I can spend my time.
From the end of last week, I have done about 45 hours of work at Halfords leaving me quite ready for a day of rest. Today, my first morning off in 14 days, I was woken up, by the pleasant sound of grass being cut, much earlier than I would have liked but at least it got me up so I could start on my chores for the day.
My laundry should be done in the next hour or so and then I am to head back to work in order to earn a little bit more money.
I am due to work again tomorrow, starting first thing in the morning and staying until the end of the day. Friday sees me sitting the first of my last two exams and upon completion of this I am to jet off to Ireland in order to spend a week with Sam. I think it is these trips to spend time with my girlfriend which help me to get so much done. The chance to relax and unwind will also be incredibly welcome! Hopefully, the second spell of disruptions to flights caused by the difficult-to-spell-and/or-pronounce volcano in Iceland will have ended, allowing me to arrive in Dublin as scheduled on Friday evening.
Of course my priority over the next couple of days is the preparation for my exam on Friday. To those of you joining me in this adventure of academic proportions; good luck!
Today has seen completion of two pieces of work which I have decided to post online in a portfolio of finished projects. Follow this link to take a look at my work. The portfolio currently just contains two projects but is set to expand over the coming months as I develop more and more interesting work.
Here we are, now entering well in to May, still enjoying the effects of the infamous ash cloud first seen some 3 or 4 weeks ago. I forget.
Many people, like me, are preparing for exams and coursework deadlines and stress everywhere seems to be phenomenal. I personally, find the extra pressure to be more of a helper than a hindrance but I know many who are getting crushed under the strain of being placed in this situation.
What we can all look forward to, once work is completed and handed in (hopefully on time!), is a nice long summer spent relaxing and doing the things we all enjoy. My personal plans are still up in the air with, as you can expect, a strong desire to make the most of the time away from university. Having a girlfriend who lives in Ireland complicates the way I spend my time, somewhat, and although I manage to see her fairly regularly, even during term-time, it would be nice to be able to spend more time with her over the summer. This, not helped by the cost of everything in Ireland being considerably greater than it is here in England, is by no means the cheapest way to spend the summer, but it is, by far, the most rewarding. Hopefully, I can come to some compromise with my colleagues at work which will allow me to spend my free time as I please.
As a keen motorcyclist, I hope to have the chance to spend some long Sundays blasting away through the windy roads near the area I grew up in which I have come, after many rides last summer, to thoroughly enjoy. The opportunity to spend some time in Ipswich will allow me to catch up with some old friends, some of whom I have not had the time to see since before arriving at university in September. A couple have motorbikes of their own so no excuses for not seeing them!
Time has a habit of passing far too quickly when you least want it to so we must all remember to make each day as special as finances allow.
It’s been an interesting few days for airports, airlines and aerospace professionals over the past few days. Iceland’s volcano with that name which I can’t spell correctly has erupted and has spread a cloud of ash over Europe (in case you hadn’t heard). Thursday saw flights canceled accross the continent and, although a few planes managed to squeeze in a flight here and there, aircraft are spending their time with their wheels on the ground.
The lovely weather that I enjoyed whilst at work over the weekend has had many people confused as to what all the worry is about for at ground level, the air looks perfect for flying in. My work is right under the flight path for London’s Heathrow airport so we have enjoyed much less noise pollution thanks to the cancelations of flights.
Yesterday saw a few test flights taking place, mainly by German Airlines, eager to get airspace restrictions reconsidered and today, the lack of ash damage foundthought the inspection of the planes that took part in the test has allowed the airlines to put pressure on governments to re-open the skies.
I have been particularly interested in these on-going developments due to the fact that my girlfriend is due to fly to visit me on Thursday so have naturally been looking online for any kind of update at any spare moment. My journeys through the world wide web lead me to a very interesting website which shows the real-time positions of aircraft in the skies all over the world using Google’s mapping technology. The site have cleverly encorporated a representation of the position of the ash cloud, although this seems to update a little slower than is desirable. Have a look at the site at www.radarvirtuel.com
Further into my search for up to date news I came accross a forum populated by comments written by those who claim to work in the aerospace industry, specifcally pilots (it can be difficult to know who tells the truth about themselves online these days!). This forum greatly interested me as it gives the points of view of pilots; professional people who work in the industry which has been seriously affected by recent events. I have always been fascinated by air travel and it is exciting to read news from the point of view of those in the industry at question. I would definitely recommend checking out the forum here. There are posts being made throughout the day at intervals of just a few minutes, and the breaking news seems to be announced at the same time, if not before, as news websites publish it.
Fingers crossed that planes get flying as soon as possible!
That’s right folks, I’m back. A well needed break gave me the chance to clear my head of all things computery and come back to university ready for the next challenge. I fantastic two weeks with my girlfriend in Ireland was the best way to relax and enjoy life away from the stresses of work.
Now I’m home it’s time to crack on but two weeks is more than long enough to get used to an easy life so it’s taken a couple of days to get back into the swing of things! My first shift back at Halfords was particularly tiring but I soon got back into the swing of things.
Today is my first day of programming in almost three weeks and it’s not been easy to get back into the swing of things. I do, however, regularly enjoy the challenge of problem solving and the sense of achievement that can be found through finding a solution. My favorite programming exercise is definitely finding errors in code written by friends.
The next few weeks are not going to be easy as we hurtle towards deadlines and exam dates but hopefully it will be a journey of self discovery… I am probably fairly unique in the fact that I enjoy the challenges of programming but I think it is fairly safe to conclude that Java can be fun.
So it seems I have slightly longer to get Tamsyn’s site sorted than I initially thought. Good news! This means that when I get a chance over the next day or so, before I disappear abroad, I’ll be able to focus on my own site.
Not that I will have much of a chance mind, with work all day tomorrow and packing in the evening, but a small oppertunity would be nice!
Still, to all of you; Happy Easter!
We’re now in the run up to Easter and the shops are full of overpriced chocolate. Brilliant. And I mean this with no hint of sarcasm for it’s an opportunity for us all to have a bit of a break and with the improvement in weather brought to us by the change in season, this should happen in reasonable sunshine.
I happen to be spending my 2 week Easter break out of the country so those of you who are really keen will probably find that I’m not posting so much over the next couple of weeks. In fact, those of you who’ve visited my site any more than once over the past couple of days will have noticed that I’m experimenting with themes for my site and of course, with me out of the country, this will also stop.
As you already know, my friend Tamsyn requires a portfolio web site for her artwork to be displayed on and she has come to me for help. I have said I will help her and in order to get a basic version of her site online by the time I leave for my break, I will be dedicating my spare time over the next couple of days to working on her site instead of my own.
Feel free to monitor the development progress on her site by following the link on the right hand side. At some stage, she will get her own hosting and her site will move there but this is a long way off at this stage.
So have a good Easter, don’t eat TOO much brown and I’ll see you when I return!
To those of you who are incredibly observant, you will have noticed that a new link has appeared in the panel on the right hand side. Follow this link and you’ll find yourself in a blog which I am temporarily using to develop Tamsyn’s portfolio site. I am currently playing around with different themes in order to get a look and feel for her site which is appropriate for hosting a large amount of image content.
So far I have tried several themes and am currently struggling to find anything that feels just right.
Have a look at the site and let me know in a comment below if you know of any good themes which are great for image based content!
Just came accross a fascinating new product from Google. The company have produced a tool that enables the rest of the world to view their statistics on searches. Data viewed in a graph shows predictable trends for news stories, such as ‘swine flu’ or ’2012′. Follow the link below to have a look!
http://www.google.com/insights/search/#
