Hey, overdue a few posts but for now I will share this pic I took, admittedly a little too merry on the last night of the Rythmns of the World Festival.
I'm not sure what it is about it that I really like, but it struck a chord with me and it definitely seemed a step above all the other graffiti scratched into walls which I've had the opportunity to read.
Hey, I saw this in my blogger dashboard, and thought it deserved a post.
Very overdue but it seems any free time I've got so far has spent in front of the TV like a zombie, or down the pub with a pint, err... like a zombie.
I did try and write this at the end of week 1, and then again at the end of week 2, and now I'm here on the Monday of week 3 and still nothing, oh dear. I think it's now best to make a number of small(er) entries rather than try and do a catchup of everything that's happened so far.
So, here we are, might as well make this a kind of overviewy exercise. I've started on a course which should train me up with the powers of performing desktop and/or network support in a professional capacity. Along with the lecture and the study towards certification, there's also the help with making my CV better and making a better interviewee of myself as well. That's been one of my probs, so along with the skills, we should hopefully get there.
Along with the course, they've given me a place to live for the couple of weeks. I am currently living in Earlsdon Ave South, quite literally a stone's throw away from where the Red Faction house was when I was back at Uni. Living with 5 others, and they're a pretty good bunch and surprisingly of all different ages.
There's this guy called Dave from South Wales. His surname is actually Hughes which is again a surprise, but then again it's a pretty common name in the land of Wales, so it's time to get over that. He is 32 and has recently graduated from a Music Technology degree and is a bit of a classic rock/metal fan - in particular Guns 'N' Roses. Then there's Aman, a recent graduate of a Computer Science degree and is 24. His twin brother has luckily got himself a job quite recently so Aman's hoping to sort something out pretty sharpish. There's Julian, 29, who currently works at Amazon in Milton Keynes as a problem solver. He's originally from South Africa but is very cool, if a little hard to understand at times (I'm sorry). We then Peter, although that's not the correct spelling - he is fact a Pole national and it's spelt (and pronounced) a little differently, but that's the English equivalent. And finally there's Dal (full name Dalber - remember Dal and "beer" - easy!) who as Julian described him perfectly and concisely as a "party animal" - he is 25, also a computer science graduate, and is often out all night, or gaining points on his licence, usually not at the same time.
So that's the guys, and it's not that surprising that there are no girls living in the house, although there is a single girl in her course - Aeyeisha (sp) who seems nice enough, not really spoken to her much, and unsurprisingly, Dal has made it a bit of a mission to lay her - to his credit he did invite her back to the house late one night, not sure what came of that, she wasn't in our house in the morning, and now Dal has moved out because of Asthma problems into her house, she better watch out lol.
It's probs best to save anything else for another post, but it's worth adding that some of the material in the course has been covered in my previous academic pursuits of computing, whether that be at A-level level (err..) or at degree level, so that's a bonus, although I think the most useful stuff will be the practical stuff plus proprietary hardware/software like Cisco and Windows Server 2003 etc. Also it's worth noting that a couple of the lecturers (Andy and Alex) are also party animals, pissheads at the least, and they are often out on the lash. I actually managed to make it out once so far with them, but that's another post right there.
I will finish up by saying that I've signed up for random free photo hosting accounts (photobucket and flickr actually) and mean to get snapping with my mobile phone with pictures of the room, this Strongbow glass I managed to swipe (another post), random shots of Cov and if you're lucky, me in my formal robes (read: shirt and tie).
Here's spending another night decomposing in front of the TV.
Hey, overdue post here, last weekend I was invited by my good friend Will to the Rhythms of the World festival in his own backyard, Hitchin. Now due to the way the trains work, if I was to solo the trip, it would mean travelling into the centre of London, going via the Underground to another hub in London, and then back out and northwards to Hitchin. Will offered to pick me up (and drop me off) at Milton Keynes Central, one of the main stops towards London. This was very advantageous as it cut the journey effectively in half so I was all in favour. The festival fell on the weekend of the 14th July, so the (revised) plan was to head down on Saturday morn and return back on the Monday, just before Will went off to work.
Trains were fine, and after a bit of traffic getting out of Milton Keynes, Will getting slightly annoyed at the sheer volume of the number of roundabouts, we were on our way to the festival and the alcoholic oblivion beyond :D. Will stressed getting the earlier train to allow for more drinking, and well we arrived in Hitchin with about half an hour before the festival officially started LOL. We went via his sister's flat, currently unoccupied, to fill up cooler bags with beverages and then we were on our way.
First stop was off to see a band on one of the main stages that was promised to be in the same mould as Enter Shakiri. Unfortunately that was not so, the band that actually turned up produced nothing greater than watered-down 3 minute emo songs. A promised highlight (thanks Will) was their completely unexperimental cover of the dance hit "Castles in the Sky", which when the rest of the band kicked in created nothing more than shapeless noise - nice one guys, you were so good, I can't even remember the name of your band.
Next stop was the other main stage for the Chris Phillips Band which many held in high regard, the band forming after the split of former local band Ardent Kicks, and Tom, one of Will's mates, was brother to the Chris from which the band drew their name. By this time a bit of a crowd was forming, and front man Chris milked it for all it was worth, and the set was genuinely enjoyable - their stuff being quite folksy thanks to Chris' acoustic, but also some electronic and synth elements included to deepen the sound. One for the future here hopes, the guys were extremely good, very tight - Dan the drummer is held in exceptionally high regard for his skills although the set didn't allow the freedom for him to show off, plus speaking with Chris later that night was pretty cool, a stand up guy - I wish you guys the best. As I mentioned to Chris in the little chat I had with him, the band coped very well the technical difficulties that struck Dan's kit a couple of times throughout the set. Rather than feigning excuses and mass shrugging, it was inspiring to see Chris take the initiative, and get the crowd involved. That involved the classic sing-along and clapping with the instruments dropped out. Another bit of fun was the Mexican wave that was sent back through the crowd which actually made it back to the front a couple of times, which was quite smart.
With the early highlight of the day already over, it seemed appropriate to take a breath (and get more beer) so we headed over to the acoustic stage to chill out (if memory serves me correctly, it gets a bit hazy from here on in, thanks to the copious amounts of alcohol that we were drinking). The absolute name escapes me but next highlight was an Orchestra that did classical covers of modern songs - it couldn't fail to be entertaining so we all set about being there. Some food later and we headed back to the first main stage in what was already an impressive crowd but the sound seemed screwed up. There didn't seem to be any amplification going on, so it was very hard to hear them over the general hubbub of the crowd. It was a shame as they promised to be very good, so we took our leave - I can't remember if we went back to the acoustic stage or perhaps even the George for the first time.
Next performance we couldn't miss was the Easy Star All Stars (I think that's what they were called, where is my programme?..), and we didn't miss them. This goup were responsible for remixing popular albums like Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon and Radiohead's OK Computer in a reggae inspired fashion. Properly liquored up the crowd were really starting to enjoy it, lots of people dancing, our substantial group as well and even I showed off some of my moves towards the end.
It was after those guys that I met one of the Irish girls (I want to say her name was Fiona oh dear :s), and in my merriness I got her to say lots of things, practically anything that came into my head, starting with all the cliches like "Top of the morning to ya laddie!" I'm afraid I got quite smitten pretty quickly, and that is quite worrying that I can get like that after such a short space of time. It actually got me thinking about certain voices, or perhaps accents can, just on their own, be very hot. I actually thought of Koel, particularly one of the times when I went up to Cov to see everyone and she left this incredibly long answer phone message, but it was cool to listen to her voice a couple of times hehe. Anyways, back to the festival...
Later on in the day, we were back in the George (I'm pretty sure) for the performance of another person that Tom plus others knew (it seemed Tom knew the majority of Hitchin) and his band at the back of the beer garden. They were fine without being particularly exciting but it was at this point that I discovered that, upon reflection, quite naturally, that they had a Ceilidh (look up spelling) on in the town hall. I tried to persuade at least one person including this girl I've never met, who it turned out to be the girlfriend of the guy whose band we were watching LOL. A little disappointed that noone would join me for a ceilidh, I decided to go check it out on my own, and hoped that I would find another odd person over who would be my partner (for those not in the know, Ceilidh's are dances that generally operate in groups of 2 or 4). Hanging about on the fringes didn't seem to help much, and I didn't feel bold enough to ask a stranger to dance, so after what was a probably short time, I headed back dejected that it didn't work out *mimes sad expression with fingers on face*.
The final act we had to see on day 1 was this very large, latin-inspired percussive act which amongst its lineup had one of Will's friends, Dave's dad. They were also a lot of fun and with that sealing the end of the day, we promptly headed over to the George and the other pubs closeby. Some more drinks later, and a trip to the loo and I lost people, which was very scary, I was thinking oh crap oh crap oh crap, I actually left this one pub and then joined the queue to get back in just in case I missed some ppl despite me having a big look. Fortunately, Will randomly turned up so it was all good. We went inside the pub and played some fuseball which I lost after taking a promising early lead - shame.
We returned back to Will's pretty knackered and pretty much went straight to bed. The next day was going to be more of the same, but we chilled for a lot of the waking day playing Call of duty 2 and Forza 2 on Will's 360. We went down at about 8 to have the rest of the group attack us for not being more prompt and not getting into town at 12 like they all did. The pub had a hardcore chiller set up outside cooling some beer cans which could be ours for just a £1 each -bonus! We got some of those and then got into the live drum 'n' bass that was on at the end of the beer garden. Enjoying that as much as it's physically possible we thought it was best to leave and headed over to Club 85, the "indie stage" but in fact a club - the clue's in the title. We were off to the see the last act of the festival, the Eagles I believe was what they were called. Yeah, they were pretty cool, had essentially a young lineup, with this older guy doing a lot of spoken word which was pretty cool. They also had a fair few guests come up on stage including a 2nd drummer which Will met at the bar just before, and a woman singer to do a song. We then met back up with the group to finish off the beer supplies which were a little low on the ground.
The next day I only just made the train, the timing being very tight. It is very strange that I am always tired and/or hungover when making these commutes back to Wem, why is that? Overall a pretty good weekend, spent a lot of money, and got a bit sunburnt on my neck, but it was a lot of fun.
Here's pencilling in the weekend for next year.
Hey, lack of book and any other means of viable of entertainment has lead me to dish out the laptop and blog blog blog like some obsessed person, No but seriously, thought I'd share how quietly nervous I am, about the whole training scheme. As I said to Carl last night, I'm getting all stressed about the packing and living somewhere completely new, and there's also all this learning I'm expected to do yikes! (note to self: bring back the word yikes!)
As mentioned before, these people like to run a presentable ship, so I've been stressing about making sure I've got enough formal shirts, trousers etc, but I also have to be paying attention, learning etc, let's just say I would never have made the previous start to the course 4 weeks ago.
I am currently sitting on a train in Shrewsbury, waiting for it to leave for Birmingham New Street. Thanks to the recent onslaught of rain, plus what seems like regular "random" engineering works that occur on Sunday, it means that I will be taking a bus from Brum to Coventry. Now as you all know folks (also bring back folks...) the one thing I can't stand more than riding trains is riding buses. To make matters worse I am with suitcase, so the whole thing is gonna be one stressful ordeal. This truly is the calm of the storm, thanks to the infrequent trains that run on a Sunday, I've had to spend just over an hour doing nothing on the platform. Looking at trains and scaring pigeons away gets old really quick.
I'm not sure if it's an omen or not but I forgot to pack my "lunch". Yep, a snack and my precious final can of pepsi which was carefully put aside ready for this trip and I went and bloody well forgot it. I was getting a little worried that I may forget something pretty darn important. I only remembered to pack towels just before I was gonna go out for a quiet farewell drink. Yep, they stressed it in amongst the bold type of the rules of my stay that they would not be providing towels. I think that's where a lot of this nervousness(ness) comes from, the fact that the open day went by so fast, and a lot of details are still unknown to me.
One important detail is how many days of the week does the training consume. Ideally I would like it to be Mon - Fri, but Saturday is considered a working day so can't help but feel that perhaps there is no, or less, structure to that day. The smart dress, shirt + tie is mandatory on weekdays, but on Saturday, they'll let us get away with no tie - oh those rebels!
Another area of concern, probably the least largest, is the accommodation they're gonna set me(us) in. Yep, I will be living in shared accommodation with some other people on the course. It's not hugely important that I get on with these guys (they will be guys...) but the whole experience would probably be more enjoyable if I did. Here's hoping that a lot of other facilities are provided for us, i.e. cutlery and cooking equipment as I decided to risk not packing any, plus no more stuff would fit in :s. As they state, fresh linens are provided every day, which is quite smart, not unlike halls at Uni, and I assume this will be done when we're all out learning hard LOL. Although this is great, I hope this service extends to keeping the communal area tidy and of course the providing of toilet paper. One of the few downsides of the Red Faction house was how messy the shared areas got and it was always fun waking up and discovering there was no toilet paper just when you needed it, which spurred an impromptu visit to "the shop" to get some. Those were the days...
Anyways, to be more positive, this training course will give me the skills, both those specific to jobs and improved interview skills, which should guarantee myself a job at the end of it. The course itself lasts just 7 weeks, so by the time I truly get used to the new digs and the routine of the day, it will be soon over. So yeah, the ultimate goal to come out of this is a nice new shiny job that pays well enough for me to move out, comfortably live on, and start getting on with my life, like learning how to drive etc, so we'll see.
Hey peeps, it's been quite neglectful of me not to mention what is in fact a new chapter in my life about to begin. That being that as of next week, I would have started on a training scheme which should (here's hoping, although the family is that tiny bit more) lead to a nice shiny job in computing.
The training scheme is being put on by JBC Computers which as it happens are based in Coventry - it really is a small world, and if I'm a little honest was a tiny added motivation in going for the scheme. The scheme itself is training myself to have the skills to fill a desktop/network support technician role. So that goes right from the hardware of PCs, networks, servers etc, right through to the software aspects like configuration and security issues.
Now, I am cautiously optimistic about the scheme, the main worry is my financial situation which is looking in pretty dire form right now. Moving on from that I am really looking forward to it, and the new skills and experiences the whole thing will bring. I am a little apprehensive that it is not software development training, as that area was what I did (still do) want to go into. But saying that, how much actual programming have I done in the last year since graduating? The answer is very little, and pretty much all of that has been web programming i.e. HTML, CSS, PHP etc
After going to the open day in which they practically offered me a place, I didn't feel I had to earn it, or convince them - which is a good thing. The place I have been offered is a sponsored place, and thus all of the fees for the course are void - which is also a good thing, as it would cost upwards and beyond of £5000 depending on which modules are done :S. That being said they do offer discounted accommodation which I have taken them up on, as well a commute from Wem every day is just silly, and probably not even possible, especially in the morning. Yeah, so living in their accommodation, which is very much like the place I stayed in back in Uni - the good ol' Red Faction house. We got shown one house that the company owns, and that was literally across the road from their main premises, so making it in on time shouldn't be too tricky.
Also including in the scheme, which is very enticing for myself, is the grooming of ones self in preparation for interviews and then job beyond. Cleaning up my CV, and those crucial interview skills are something I feel that I could benefit a lot from, so I'm hoping that aspect works out especially. The whole course is over in about 7 weeks, with the option for the company to keep tabs on you as you/I progress in my new found job and continuing the learning process with more exams and the qualifications that go along with it. Although it's probs unlikely, but if I went for every exam they offer, I think I would gain something like at least 7 qualifications in various subjects like A+ networks, Windows Server 2003 etc.
To repeat my newly set facebook status, if you do see me in Coventry, then do not hesitate to tell me how tubular my tie is. That being because, they are pretty strict when it comes to dress code, so I'm gonna have to look pretty smartish a lot of the time, but that's no real problem, it may sound a bit weird but I actually am more uncomfortable in jeans now than I am in my work trousers, mmm.
Here's waiting for his transport to the real world. hope the movie is a good un...
