Sunday, May 31, 2009

Gotta Get Dat

That was amazing! The last few days have been exceptionally manic, but in return I have had a brilliant time, met some new friends and partied hard! For the last 3 days of term the Students Union put on a show every night. For me as a member of crew that means a lot of work, little sleep and lots of dancing and drinking. This is true.

I’m going to try and cover these few days in detail when I’ve actually got a brain that functions, so for now I’ll tell you how the last night happened.

The union (Rubix) had Radio 1 DJ Zane Lowe playing. I’d heard things about him before, but never seen him live. He was fantastic. He is so comfortable with the beats and knows how to create energy.

For Friday I was actually Stage Crewing, but I managed to take plenty of breaks as well. Once doors opened we had a band on stage, Geneva. Geneva are a covers band and played some classics such as Mr Brightside and Song 2. For this part I was operating the pit camera. I usually love operating the pit cam and last night was no exception. However, because the band started playing at 10:30pm, there was no-one in Rubix. We had to fill the dance floor with a dozen staff so the band weren’t playing to no-one.

After the band had played we had to changeover the stage to Zane Lowe’s DJ rig. This took about 20 minutes. The final part of the night was 3D disco. This basically consisted of 2 geeks on stage playing rubbish songs while they showed really boring ‘3D’ clips on the projectors and plasmas around the union. Before they came on we had to hand out 3D glasses to people, which was good fun.

Rest assured this is only the briefest of explanations of what’s been going on in the last week, but it’s taken me long enough to write this much so I’ll try my hand at more later…

  • Happiness: 8/10
  • Tiredness: 6/10 (despite only having 5 hours sleep in the last 65 hours)
  • Last meal: Cheesy chips!
  • Song of the day: Black Eyed Peas – Boom Boom Pow
  • Thought for the day: When will it hit me that I’m leaving?!

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Don’t Upset the Rhythm

Short one because I’m a busy man…

Sunday: Cakes! See the photos here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2025200&id=1293892814&l=3166de6a55

Monday: Baseball on the field. Chinese meal in the evening. Watched a film.

Today I’m going Go Karting.

Saturday, May 23, 2009

What do you know

Rubix last night was great fun. Went out with the usual lot, the music was good. They played some really great songs and I didn’t have any problems with loosing people which makes a change.

At one point I appeared to be dancing with a girl behind me, we were both enjoying ourselves so all was good. A bit of alcohol always makes a night out easier to handle, and last might was a class example of this fact. Towards the end of the night they played some really cheesy songs which me, Julie & Pete had no shame in dancing to!

Today I watched the qualifying for tomorrow’s Monaco grand prix, where did Button come from! Other than that I did a spot of bouldering with Phil which my arms are now regretting, but I think they’ll forgive me. For the rest of the day I’ve been wearing my planning hat trying to get things organized for the military operation which is now my summer.

  • Happiness: 8/10
  • Tiredness: 2/10
  • Last meal: Cheese on toast
  • Song of the day: Goo Goo Dolls - Iris
  • Thought for the day: Life is smiling on me

Friday, May 22, 2009

Relax, Don’t Do It

Hello again. Still having fun here in sunny Guildford. In fact, it was so sunny today I think I uttered the words “it’s too hot”, woops I’ve jinxed it now…

Thursday was a relaxing day. Got a few things done (like shopping), but otherwise it was just lounging around. I made a mean lasagne in the evening, which I had leftovers of today. Otherwise I’ve been catching up on sleep and loving not worrying about work.

Today I went ice skating with Josh, Josh’s girlfriend Jess & sister Iola (not sure if that’s actually how you spell her name). It was great fun. Iola has been doing figure skating lessons so could skate really well. We were playing ‘tag’ on the ice for a while and Iola gave me a real run for my money. Don’t think I’ve ever skated that fast before!

This afternoon/evening was spent playing UNO with Sophie & Phil, good times. Tonight I’m going out to Rubix for a spot of clubbing. Not sure how much fun it’ll be after the failure of a time a had out a few weeks ago, but I’m willing to give it another shot. It all depends on the music and who you go with at the end of the day.

The thought of leaving next week is starting to wear at my mind, it’s going to be really sad, but I’ll try and manage to get through it retaining what little dignity I have left.

Thursday, May 21, 2009

The start of something beautiful

Wow. Time flies when you’re not watching it. Since yesterdays post I’ve been catching up with the good times.

Yesterday my favourite brother came to see me. We had a cool lunch at Wates, the pub 1 minutes walk away. Then I helped out setting up video things for the union’s AGM. James cooked a mean dinner for me and some friends which was beyond kind and definitely greatly enjoyed and appreciated. We all had a good time and went off to comedy night to round off the day.

Fajitas (4)

Today (AKA Wednesday) I went to Thorpe Park with Josh & Lauren. We managed 18 rides going upside down 27 times! We were all shattered at the end of the day and if it wasn’t for the sugar intake from the BOGOF Yorkie chocolate bars me and Josh wouldn’t have managed to stay awake. It didn’t help that the bus on the way back was delayed by 50 minutes, leaving us in Thorpe’s car park for too long to be reasonable.

However, that didn’t dampen our spirits as I’d finally got a chance to ride SAW (the new ride). Very good. Can’t wait go get another go next time!

Tomorrow is going to be a bit more laid back. I need to visit the Tesco-man (possibly for the last time!) and then I’ll see how it goes.

  • Happiness: 8/10
  • Tiredness: 8/10 (the new measure for the summer!)
  • Last meal: Cheese on toast (unless you count Yorkie bars…)
  • Thought for the day: Live your life with integrity.

PS: I watched this video on YouTube which was very funny, but at the same time had a moral, check it out…

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Hit the road Jack

Just finished my last exam. All things considered it definitely went well. There was one question I couldn’t answer (worth 10%), but other than that the rest should be good barring any stupid mistakes (which usually account for about 10-20 lost marks). Now it’s all done there’s not much to say other than: Here ends the first year of university…

Those words for me are filled with sadness more than joy. I don’t want this year to be over, it was so perfect.

However, those words also mean the last two weeks are upon me. In these last two weeks of university when I have no work to worry about I've got plenty planned to keep myself busy and make the most of the time left.

Those words also mean the summer is fast approaching… The summer where I need to keep myself busy to avoid what happened at Easter when my conscience ate me alive. But not to worry, I think I’ll be struggling to get everything I have planned done.

Keeping in touch with old friends, new friends and family is my number one priority. But there are also several jobs I’ve been putting off until after my exams that I can now start working on. There’s also the monster boat trip I’m planning which aspires to be one of the best holidays I’ve had to date.

So much to look forward to, and much to look back on…

  • Happiness: 8/10
  • Workload: 0/10 (pretty much…)(might need to find something to replace this with for the next few months…)
  • Last meal: Cereal (seriously, I have no food. I looked in my fridge last night and there was: milk, cheese, apple juice, tomato sauce and bramble jelly. YUM!)
  • Thought for the day: Play, work we don’t mind doing…

Monday, May 18, 2009

Fairytale

Hi-ho hi-ho! It’s off to the last exam I go! With plenty of revision and a bit of Eurovision, hi-ho! hi-ho hi-ho hi-ho!

Since my last post I have been taking it easy. A bit of revision here and there, but also been doing some resting. Today and yesterday was back to the hard graft before the finale tomorrow morning.

Friday was all foam. Saturday was all sleep. Sunday was all procrastination. Today is all revision. Tomorrow is 20% exam, 80% WOO!

Pictures from the foam party:

Foam (8) Foam (4)

  • Happiness: 8/10
  • Workload: 8/10
  • Last meal: tuna pasta
  • Thought for the day: Being kind is the best asset you can have…

Thursday, May 14, 2009

1 down, 1 up, 1 gone, 1 secret, 2 lost & 2 pizza!

Only one exam to go! WOO!

I’ve broken this post down into easy bite size chunks so it’s easier for you to revise later…

1 Down. Wednesday’s exam was by far the worst exam ever! I failed to answer 1/3 of the questions. But the 2/3 I did answer should be sufficient to at least get me a pass (40%).

1 Up. The good news is how brilliant today’s exam went. Aiming to balance out the shoddy marks in Wednesday’s exam!

1 Gone. Mariana’s gone! It’s the beginning of the end. There’s an empty cupboard in the kitchen and no-one talking in Portuguese on their phone. It seems that everyone left now is staying until the last weekend, so I don’t have to worry about it slowly getting quieter.

1 Secret. Ah-ha! Now this one is interesting. I’ll be able to reveal more in a few weeks, but until then I don’t want to get anyone too excited (And yes, mum & dad, you already know)

2 Lost. The double episode season finale of LOST was amazing! So many questions. It was such a great way to unwind after the exam.

2 pizza. Just had 2 pizzas for dinner from Pizza-man. Nothing celebrates the end of these three exams like pizza!

So what now? Well today was R&R, all fun and games. And tomorrow I’m helping out stage crew with foam party all day. Then it’s back to revision again on Saturday for the final maths exam on Tuesday. When will it end!? (well, on Tuesday, but figuratively…)

  • Happiness: 8/10
  • Workload: 9/10 (woo!……??)
  • Last meal: pizza
  • Thought for the day: (said yesterday about the exams) “Today I need a miracle, tomorrow I need a nightmare!”

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Bad-arse!

My first exam this morning went well. I was only surprised by one question which was worth 5% so if you take that and my probable stupidity into account, I should have at least passed. I’m going to guess at 70% if only because that’s the margin for a first. I need 60% in all my exams to get a £1,000 award next year, so hopefully that’ll happen.

While we’re on the topic of results, I thought this would be a good time to share my progress so far:

  • Labs: The bane of my existence might be my saving grace because I got one B and the rest were A’s and above. Obviously I don’t know how well I did in the final project, but I’m definitely on for a good grade regardless. Estimation: 80%
  • EDPS: Essentially report writing and giving presentations. I got 100% in my presentation (worth 15% overall) and 88% for my report (another 15%). Estimation: 80%
  • Programming: I loved programming this year. Last week I got my results for the programming assignments (worth 60% overall) and turns out I got 94%. I’m expecting good things from programming. Estimation: 85%
  • Maths: I haven’t done my maths exam yet, that’s not until next Tuesday, but the exam is worth 45%. I reckon (through rigorous calculations) that I’m already on 40% (a pass!). So anything in the exam will add to my grade. Estimation: 70%
  • Electronics 1: The exam I did this morning, worth 90%. Estimation: 70%
  • Electronics 2: Thursday’s exam, worth 90%. Estimation: 80%
  • Electronics 3: Tomorrow’s exam. Estimation: 40% (hoping for a pass, yes it’s that bad)

So that’s a 72% average. Maybe I should have been more pessimistic…

  • Happiness: 7/10
  • Workload: 10/10
  • Last meal: Spag bol
  • Thought for the day: I don't do engineering for nothing!

Monday, May 11, 2009

They’ve Brawn It Again!

Well. Another day, another 6 hours of revision. First exam on Tuesday and all I can say is BRING IT ON! Lets do this.

Had a minor fail this morning when I got up to revise at 9am and fell asleep for another hour. Nevertheless, I got lots done today, clocking up a record 5.5 hours straight in the library!

Apart from revision, I’ve watched the grand prix this evening and you’ve got to give it to Brawn for consistently out-performing all the other teams in Formula 1.

As for the rest of this week, lets give the lowdown:

  • Monday. Electronics 1 revision.
  • Tuesday. Electronics 1 exam. Electronics 3 revision.
  • Wednesday. Electronics 3 revision. Electronics 3 exam. Electronics 2 revision.
  • Thursday. Electronics 2 exam. Rest.
  • Friday. Start of maths revision weekend marathon for test on Tuesday…

I feel most confident about the electronics 2 exam. Electronics 3 looks to be the hardest, but we’ll see…

  • Happiness: 7/10
  • Workload: 10/10
  • Last meal: Not-a-Cornish pasty with chips
  • Thought for the day: “Tomorrow it’ll only be tomorrow before our first exam!”

Sunday, May 10, 2009

Button, Chairs & Oh No!

Forewarning: This is just a short post. You may have realised that I’ve been posting every day recently. Well, I just wanted to warn you that with exams getting extremely close now I’m probably not going to be able to keep this up…

Jenson Button on pole! What a pleasant surprise that was! Unfortunately, it looks likely that I’ll not be able to watch the race tomorrow (you know, with revision and all that)

After 6.5 hours of revision, me and Josh decide to utilise the office chairs at our disposal:

Revision (1) Revision (2)

I’;m starting to forget what day it is, they all merge into one when all your doing is REVISION!!!

Tomorrow: More revision!!!!

  • Happiness: 7/10
  • Workload: 10/10
  • Last meal: Curry (a different one)
  • Thought for the day: “My mouth is just the right size to eat chocolate biscuits whole!”

Saturday, May 9, 2009

Work, Chavs & Riddles

Lots more work today. Feeling a lot more confident about the maths exam. Me and Josh spent pretty much the whole day in the library working apart from the odd break for lunch. This evening me and Josh had curry and it was really good to be able to relax. Me, Josh & Phil were telling each other riddles over dinner; not everyone’s idea of relaxing, but there you go.

The usual motley crew went to Rubix for chav night. I (rightfully) decided to say well away… Did give rise to lots of jokes about people dressing as chav’s though.

I like days like today when you feel that you’ve not only done a lot of work, but also been able to spend time with people. I can’t say enough how I’m looking forward to not having to worry about exams and just being able to spend time with everyone.

This weekend is going to be an interesting struggle between trying to get as much revision done as possible, eating, shopping and watching the Spanish Grand Prix. Sorry, but its got to be done. I’ve even figured a way of cooking and eating lunch while the grand prix is on to save time!

I’ll keep you posted as to my progress, but at the moment the exams feel do-able and life is generally good =)

  • Happiness: 8/10
  • Workload: 10/10
  • Last meal: Curry
  • Thought for the day: Aim for the moon, even if you fail, you’ll land among the stars…

Friday, May 8, 2009

‘x’ On The Mind

that’s ‘x’ as in the mathematical variable for those dirty-minded out there (you know who you are!)

Another day of maths, digital electronics and signals & communications today. Went to the library for a change of scenery and found it to be quite productive, so will probably be doing that again. The problem is that the library is very busy at the moment with lost of people wanting to use it for revision.

As for everything else, all is going well. I have to say that life has been put slightly on hold over the last few days and will probably continue to be until the end of my exams. I’m looking forward to the Spanish grand prix this weekend, I can use that as a break from revision. Apart from that, I’ll be making a curry tomorrow.

In other news, my summer is starting to take shape. I’m planning lots of things and it looks like I’ll be busy most of the time. I’ve still got a few plans I’m working through for June and mid-August, but if all goes to plan, I’ll be a busy bunny!

Got another video to share today, It’s a long-un, but definitely worth watching… very sweet :-)

  • Happiness: 7/10
  • Workload: 11/10
  • Last meal: Charles Special, chocolate fingers and toast
  • Thought for the day: Perfection can only be achieved with infinite practice.

Thursday, May 7, 2009

All Work & No Play Makes Charles A Happy Boy

Lots of work done today. Still plenty to do before the exams, so I’ve got to keep it up for the next 2 weeks. I’m tired at the moment (look at when I posted this) and I have lots to get done tomorrow. So really this was just to check in and say that I’m still at university and still doing work!

Mariana finished her exams today so she’s been very relaxed this afternoon which was good. Lauren is not looking forward to her exam on Friday (her first and last). Sophie doesn’t have any exams, but she seems to be hard at work on her choreography. Chris and Adam are having a great time clubbing and going out at every opportunity, someone’s gotta do it!

  • Happiness: 7/10
  • Workload: 11/10
  • Last meal: Charles Special (again)
  • Thought for the day: Surely you can’t be serious!

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Put in Fridge!

Jolly Good! Today was great. Got plenty of work done this morning, then had a fairly productive, but not as productive, afternoon. This evening I made a pasta bake with beef and carbonara sauce topped off with cheese and tortilla chips, AKA the “Charles Special”.

This evening was the obligatory comedy night, which was great as usual. Only one more comedy night left before the end of the first year!

  • Happiness: 7/10
  • Workload: 11/10
  • Last meal: Charles Special
  • Thought for the day: Look out for the upcoming “Baby Charles” series!

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Bank Holiday CANCELLED

So today I worked out my revision schedule for the next week, the final week before my exams. It doesn’t look pretty. Analogue Electronics, Circuit Theory, Digital Electronics, Signals & Communications, Mechanics, Acoustics, Engineering Science, Semiconductors and Mathematics. Time to stop thinking about trivial matters such as friendship, this is when the real cramming begins!

I have 4 2-hour exams, the first of which is in 1 week. Do I feel ready? No. Will I be ready? Yes. Will I pass? Definitely.

This evening I was going to see The King Blues at Rubix, but the gig was cancelled after the lead singer lost his voice. Still, it gave me a chance to not only eat more of my wonderful stir-fry noodles, but also to do some light revision.

I came across something today that made me think of you lot. It’s an trailer for a film coming out in Autumn called “Oh My God”. It’s a documentary asking all types of people from all over the world the age old question: “What Is God?”

  • Happiness: 7/10
  • Workload: 11/10
  • Last meal: Stir fry noodles (tasted even better today!)
  • Thought for the day: After careful analysis and much research, I have decided that Swine Flu is not making it onto my “things to worry about” list, because I’ll probably never be infected and even if I was, it probably wouldn’t kill me.

Sunday, May 3, 2009

Content (and not as in table of…)

Happy. Today was a good day. Tesco this morning, so now I can eat. I like eating. Then I had a good lunch and got on with some work. I managed to get some work done today and also had some good time with my housemates. Days like these, perfectly normal, externally seeming like nothing special’ make it all seem worth it. I know it’s not a day to remember, but at least its not a day to forget…

  • Happiness: 7/10
  • Workload: 11/10
  • Last meal: Stir fry noodles (so tasty and so simple, recommended)
  • Thought for the day: It's amazing that the amount of news that happens in the world every day always just exactly fits the newspaper.

Down the rabbit hole

Exams are looming and I’ve spent too many hours over thinking things. Lets give this one a go:

I have quite a few friends at uni (or at least, I like to think so). But there are a wide variety of friends:

  • Course Friends. These are essentially the people I’ve only ever met in lectures or while doing work. We’ve never really spoken about each other, just about work or the course or lectures. These people I would like to get to know more.
  • Stage Crew Friends. The people I only ever see at stage crew. I know these people a little, but we still never get to know each other.
  • Friends Of Friends. This accounts for a LOT of people because my housemates friends come over a lot. I may have never spoken to them other than to say hi, but I think they could still be classed as friends.
  • Close Friends. And this is the clincher. These are the people I want to see regularly, I know them, enjoy their company and they enjoy mine. I can think of maybe half-a-dozen of these that I have at university. These are the people that are special, I value their opinion and enjoy hearing their stories.

Why all this talk about friends? I don’t know, I’m just writing what I’m thinking, and in the last few days I’ve been thinking about who my real friends are. Not because I feel betrayed by anyone, but because I’m beginning to wonder who are the people who’ll stick around next year when we can’t just bump into each other, there will be effort involved.

I can definitely count Josh in there, but he’s almost an exception because I’m going to be living with him next year anyway. Who else? My current housemates, Sophie, Lauren and Mariana are definitely close friends, but I often wonder how much we’ll see each other next year. I hope that we’ll stay in touch, but only time will tell.

And what about next year? meeting new people and making new friends has got to be a part of it.

------ END OF WEIRD POST ------

Highlights from the last few days:

  • Friday with Josh was fun. We had a good laugh
  • Meeting up with next years housemates again
  • Signing the tenancy agreement
  • Rubix on Friday was NOT a highlight (but that stuff happens)
  • Going to town today
  • Getting my haircut
  • Watching “Marley & Me” with Mariana, Sophie & Julie

Brief-O-Meter:

  • Happiness: 7/10
  • Workload: 11/10
  • Last meal: Chicken soup (a trip to Tesco’s is in order)
  • Thought for the day: This song

Friday, May 1, 2009

Special Post #9: Accommodation, Part 6 – “Sign here: ____________________________”

That’s right, it’s back! This is now the 6th part of the 5 part series. The first 5 parts covered all the key points up to getting a house: getting housemates, looking at lists, looking at houses, not getting a house, looking at more houses and finally getting a house. Now the story takes its new turn: living in a house! But… before we get there (because we’re not there yet!) we have to cover the final piece in the ‘getting a house’ puzzle: signing the tenancy agreement and meeting the landlord. Enjoy :-)

Today we signed the tenancy agreement on the house! We met with the landlord at 7pm to ask questions and do the deed. Earlier in the day we’d all met up for the first time since our celebrations over 6 weeks ago. We caught up and read through the agreement together. Also talked about a few things that were bothering us like who’s room is who (now sorted) and about paying rent.

Signing was very painless, but its good to finally know that we definitely have a house: signed, sealed and delivered. We met the landlord and his wife who seem very friendly about everything and very good landlords. One of the current tenants also said how good they were at fixing things, so that gives us a good impression. We also took the opportunity to take another sneaky peek around the house. This time Will took pictures of every room and even a video! So I’ll get that up here as soon as I have it.

It’s becoming more and more apparent how great this is going to be next year. The more I get to meet everyone, the more we seem to get along. Stay tuned to hear about how life is living in a house! I know we’ve got plenty of time yet, but a little anticipation never hurt anyone!