Ten years ago I started my first "proper" job. My first job after graduating, in the world of chemical engineering. I, along with about 20 other recent graduates, arrived at a conference center in the middle of the countryside near Peterborough to start working for British Sugar.
When I first …
Today I took part in my first parkrun. I have been aware that there is a local weekly event for over seven years and yet I have never made it along until today.
Considering it was probably just under 10 years ago that I did my last race, I was …
I have let myself go.
Well at least all the good habits I had built up. Over the last year, I have slowly eroded my evening routine to an absolute minimum, and sometimes failed to even do that.
Missing the odd night doesn't matter that much. It doesn't s easy …
A couple of years ago, we found a pizza restaurant in the next town over and really liked the food there. We went quite regularly considering the journey to get there, and spent a fair amount eating out as a result.
This was one of the reasons that lead us …
It doesn't sound like fun when you really think about it. Loading up a webpage to see that it says the exact same thing as the last time you looked at it. But that is what I find myself doing. It is what many folk end up doing.
Sure some …
Last year I attended a pensions workshop at work. After this, I have spent more time reading up about pensions and other financial matters. You don't need to do much reading before you come across the FIRE movement.
FIRE stands for Financial Independence, Retire Early. Essentially, people live well …
Today was a day without kids. Well we still had them around at breakfast time but as is normal for a Monday morning my wife took them to nursery. What was not normal was us not going on to work.
Instead we have taken the week of work to prepare …
The best thing about thunderstorms is watching the really heavy rain from the comfort of your home. Watching the water bounce off the ground and the street turn into a river while I am inside and dry.
That is until I notice that our pizza oven is still outside and …
Today’s XKCD comic poses the following challenge
Name a movie that…
- You genuinely like (not ‘so bad it’s good’)
- Came out in your adult life post-2000, and
- Is rated below 50% on rotten tomatoes.
It is easy to think of a film that most folk liked but you …
Despite my best intentions, I have done it again. Back in February I swore that I was going to make sure that any future talks I give would be well planned in. Two weeks before the event, I would have my rough transcript finished, giving plenty of time for polishing …
Almost as soon as I published yesterday's post, I ran into a different energy supply issue.
We had been cooking dinner in our pizza oven when the gas canister ran out. Not to worry I smugly thought to myself. I knew it was low and a couple of months ago …
Today is the one day that Americans manage to get the date correct. To celebrate independence, they call the put the day of the month first just like everyone else.
Happy 4th of July to all my American friends and family.
I made it back to the circuits session for the first time in a while. I was expecting to find it hard, but there was a different trainer taking the session. While the half hour was fully utilised (it overran by a few minutes) it was actually easier than normal …
Yesterday, on my way home from collecting the boys I spotted some equipment getting set up in calendar park. This morning I saw more equipment and people in the park along with a sign directing 'Adventure Show Crew'.
I didn't think any mor about it but on the way back …
On Monday, it was raining all day and I was unable to get any work in the garden done.
Today the weather was so hot and my hayfever was so bad, I was unable to get any work in the garden done.
Just as well my day job is based …
I have been nursing my fitbit surge watch for the last year, ever hopeful that I could delay buying another piece of technology that I can’t use most of the time1, but at last I have admitted defeat and accepted that I need a new watch.
So today is International Women in Engineering Day. A day to celebrate the many women who work in engineering and try to promote the profession to the future generation.
I have not been involved with any events but have spent the day with a friend who happens to be a …
After attending the Royal Highland Show on Thursday, I had expected to be exhausted. But that evening and on Friday I felt fine. Actually I had more energy than I had had recently. I was surprised but this.
But now I know that I must have been living on borrowed …
I have just gotten in after attending a friend's wedding. The groom pointed something out during his speech that I will paraphrase1 here:
Weddings are a weird occasion. They are essentially a very expensive and public way to say to the bride's family, "hey, I am getting it on …
I have ay last actually booked some days off work. I had great plans at the start of the year to work out when we would take time off as a family, but never actually did so. Earlier this week I realised that we are now nearly half way through …
The IChemE Scottish Members Group is in trouble. Next week is our AGM and we currently have no one willing to take on the positions of Chair, Treasurer or Secretary.
As a result, it is looking increasingly likely that we may no longer have a local members group by the …
I have gotten soaked every time I have cycled home over the last two weeks. The day that I used the car because it was supposed to rain turned out to be lovely. Today was the most suspicious yet. Glorious sunshine all day then pouring rain just as I was …
The topic of discussion on the radio while I was driving home this evening was asking what traits indicate an untrustworthy person. There were plenty of suggestions:
Never trust a person who:
I went to give blood tonight. It was nice to see that they have changed their minds again and something that we were previously forbidden to do is now encouraged (in this case it was crossing our legs while donating).
I was in for a shock once I had finished …
This morning, the weather was brilliant. I took a quick trip into Edinburgh to pick up my bike from the bike shop after its service. This involved a nice walk on my own through the woods, a quiet train ride into Edinburgh, a leisurely stroll through the streets of edinburgh …
Whenever I have a thought, followed by the thought "I should write about that", I try to write the first thought down as soon as possible.
If I don't write it down, the chances are high that I will forget about it. It doesn't have to be much, just enough …
Journey on the train
Adventure to Newcastle
To watch the rugby
Last night, I logged into twitter for the first time in two and a half years. I simply posted a link to yesterday’s blogpost, so that the pedal on parliament organisers would be aware that it had been written.
I have considered, should I end my self imposed exile …
Well that didn’t last long. My shiny new bike managed two days of commuting and has already had its first flat tire. So it is back to driving.
My bike isn’t the only one feeling flat. I think it is a combination of fighting a cold and the …
This evening, I am feeling sonder. Sonder is, according to [the dictionary of The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows, “the realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own”1.
As I look out at all the houses I can see across the valley …
Tonight I have admitted defeat. It is the third Wednesday of the month, the night I had penciled in for this month's Disastrous Dinner. The problem being that I still haven't organised it yet.
I could have organised an event for next week, but I want to move away from …
This morning was a morning full of mistakes on my part. Nothing serious, just frustrating. Lots of small things that just lead to more work needing done. More stuff to tidy up. Lucky the day has gotten better as it has gone on and it has actually been a pretty …
After yesterday's post, I remembered about a time when working in Newark. I was living on my own in a flat, and had no car at the time.
As a result, any time I was outside, I would have a helmet on. I had no garden to spend time in …
Last Friday, I somehow managed to leave my hat at work. I didn’t notice that it was missing until leaving the house on Saturday morning, when I walked outside and noticed I wasn’t wearing it. Generally speaking, I wear my hat most of the time when outside, so …
I have just finished having a mega clear out. I have been storing all of my papers from highschool and university in a closet. When I say 'all of my papers' I mean class notes, coursework and exam papers.
All of it is now in the recycling.
I have had …
When walking around the supplies warehouse today I noticed the labels in a set of cabinets that look ready for dispatch:
It was nice to see kit destined for my old stomping ground.
For long periods of my life, I have ended up commuting to some place further East of where I live. This includes going to secondary school, going to university from my parents house, even for the period I lived in Norwich. The problem with commuting to some location further east …
I had intended to send an email at the start of the month. Unfortunately I only just got around to sending it today.
Between the regen and family illness, this month has raced by. I hope that I haven't left it too late and that the email can still fulfill …
I had to take my son to see the out of hours GP at the weekend. After arriving spot on time, the receptionist confirmed our appointment and asked us to take a seat.
After half an hour, he got up from his desk, came over to the waiting area and …
This week seems to have flown by. To be fair, I did take Monday off to recover from nightshift, and the spent the rest of the week trying to recover from a cold/stomach bug. As a result, I have been very tired and not very productive with my down …
I am currently reading a book and I suspect that my politics completely disagree with that of the author's. The author makes many remarks that I feel are pretty and unnecessary, but bluntly criticise some group of people.
I am fairly sure that there are some useful things that the …
One thing I noticed during the regen was that I always ended up in a better mood after I had a teaching session. Anytime someone asked me about the process, I couldn't help myself and would launch into a lecture about it. I really do enjoy the opportunity to pass …
I am currently feeling very out of the loop. This is partly because I have spent the last 2 weeks on nightshift, which completely disrupted my normal routines and interactions. But the other reason is that my feed reader broke, the tool I use to keep tabs on updates from …
Last night we were running through the next phases of the regen and it suddenly hit me. There is not much left. Should be finished at some point over the weekend and I might not need to go in on Sunday night.
I think that might be the reason that …
Last night was my rest 'day' during the event. Some folk don't like just taking one day off and feel that they need to take two in a row off to properly recover. I find that if I am on night shift, one is sufficient. There is no point in …
I remember this happening last year as well. I wake up about 2 or 3 o’clock in the afternoon after a night shift. Most days I have cereal for breakfast but at some point I have a craving for a full cooked breakfast, so decide to treat myself and …
Today, my wife was at work and the kids at nursery while I slept1. I woke up with just over an hour before I needed to collect the kids, so spend that time cooking dinner for the family while I had the house to myself.
It has been great …
Back in November my company offered everyone a half day pensions workshop to explain how pensions worked. It covered what limits you might hit in terms of various allowances and other tax implications. At the end of the session, we were invited to fill in some forms for one free …
It looks like the shutdown will be delayed slightly due to a vulnerability on a different unit. I went into work tonight to monitor a short trial, however the trial was cancelled.
I wasn't too bothered, I had intended to stay up tonight in an attempt to get my body …
Today was the last day before I am working nightshifts on the shutdown. This will involve long hours and sleeping at antisocial times. So today was a last chance to enjoy family life.
I was gifted a long lie in in preparation for swinging onto nightshifts. When I did get …
