Life in general is going pretty well despite the odd worry but then they’re nothing more that what everyone else probably worries about. It gets me down and recently it’s got me down more than it usually does. The other thing that keeps bugging me lately is I have this feeling that things are just passing me by. I don’t know if they are or why I have this feeling but even as I sit here now I just thinking I could or should be doing something more. Fact is I probably could, I even started writing my part of a story I’m doing with Legionary, hopefully I’ll write more soon. Cat is doing well in her job though right now she’s worrying and stressing about her dancing exam which is approaching far too quickly! Our holiday to Iceland is booked for next year, just a case now of saving the money and damn it’s expensive but there you go, what in this life isn’t?! Still it’ll be worth it and I really can’t wait to go. On another life note, my birthday is approaching again, I tell you it must be improving its ninja skills as it really did sneak up on me this year.

One cool thing though that happened recently was my attendance, along with my good friend Carl, to the NHL ice hockey game in London. The atmosphere and venue (The O2) were superb and the game wasn’t half-bad either. It’s certainly got me buzzing and really excited now about attending the NFL London game for which the tickets turned up the other week. I also managed to get my hands on the Halo 3 Legendary Edition. It’s a seriously cool special edition and, in my opinion, worth it.

Sports wise it’s an up and down start for my teams. The Steelers are doing well in the NFL with their defence really looking the business this season. United have only just started to get in to gear and as far as the Penguins go; such a stark contrast to last season. I won’t mention anything about the Pirates’ baseball season as, apart from the odd surprise win there’s nothing to talk about.

So there you go, 3 months zipped up.

The migration took longer than I though, mainly down to an incorrect authorization code provided by my previous hosts. However, on second attempt a new auth code was issued which was correct and, well, we’re here now and that’s what counts. Back to bringing you all up to date I now have a job, a full drivers license and a car! So lets tackle everything in that order.

The job is working as a 1st line support technician at a medium size firm in nearby Wickwar. It’s interesting and although isn’t as autonomous as my old job was I’m happy with it. It’s like your average call centre job in that your role is quite defined however there’s no scripts, no targets (to a point) and you can visit some of the users. Sure there are some in other countries but I’m supporting the companies users and not millions of users like I would be if I worked for a big international company. The job was dependant on me getting my drivers license and fortunately for me I passed first time with only 4 minors, a fact which I’m quite chuffed about. So finally thanks to getting a job and having a full license I bought myself a car; an 04 reg Toyota Corolla VVT-I. It’s nice and shiny and hell it’s my first car and I’m damn proud!

So I’m a week, just over, into my new job and it’s going well. The office politics I’m still learning, I thought I had the jist of it a couple days ago but my assumptions and thoughts are seemingly a little off. However I’d like to think I’m fitting in well and that I’m proving my worth as it were. Anyway, it’s getting a little late and I’m tired as it is, so there’s an update and now that fluffles has migrated, posts will start up again.

Edit: Decided the stick it on the front page for all to see!

The thing is I need to decide soon as things aren’t easy right now. Cati is stressing over the money and the problems it’s causing and this is where the problem lies. At the moment I’m effectively living off Cati and that’s unfair to her and it has never sat well with me. Problem is, which road do I take?

The thing is I need to decide soon as things aren’t easy right now. Cati is stressing over the money and the problems it’s causing and this is where the problem lies. At the moment I’m effectively living off Cati and that’s unfair to her and it has never sat well with me. Problem is, which road do I take?

Firstly if you’ve ever bothered to read the about me bit below you’ll notice that it says “finally graduated” so for a shiny gold star can you guess what that means? No!? Well it means I took my pass degree and done a runner. I now have a BSc in Computing for Real Time Systems and can finally look for work. So far I did 3 days with a company which didn’t work out as the role didn’t suit me and I narrowly missed out on a position at a school. I have an interview next Thursday in Bath so all is okay on the job front; as in, I’m at least getting interviews.

Other things sportside have happened too. United won the Premier League which is fantastic and I’m really chuffed in the way that we’ve won it. I got myself tickets to see the L.A. Kings play the Anaheim Ducks (NHL) at the O2 Arena later this year and tomorrow I’ll find out if I’ve got tickets to see the Miami Dolphins play the N.Y. Giants (NFL) at Wembley. I also have my driving theory test this Friday (eek!) and it’s not too long till Catrin and I’s first wedding anniversary!

So yes I’ve been quite the busy person which to me explains the lack of posting. With any luck once things settle, like when I get a job, I may start posting a little more frequently. Anyway, for now, let the current news of my life settle, take a deep breath (perhaps have a cup of tea) and relax.

Anyway, start of the year I’d just come back from New Year in Australia for the 2nd time in my life. It was fantastic as usual and really had me pepped up for the year ahead. By February Cati and I had decided to move out to new digs and had a place set up in Bradley Stoke. I moved in February while Cati stayed in the flat in the centre as each location gave us both handy access to our respective Universities. I then basically concentrated on getting the house sorted and passing my modules at Uni. By the end of May I’d take all the exams and in June Cati joined me out in Bradley Stoke. Then came the biggest day of my life/year when, on the 8th July, Cati and I finally got married. Pictures can still be found on our Wedding Site if you haven’t been there yet. Straight after that we went on our Honeymoon to Mauritius which was lovely and I would dearly like to go back again possibly when the weather is a tad better. Late July I saw Cati graduate from Bristol Uni in a long ceremony and then by the end of August somehow myself managed to pass all my exams leaving me with just one year left, hopefully. September saw me start back at UWE and the wonderful task of conjuring up a final year project to do which, to this date, isn’t really started. I was up in Scotland by December visiting my brother which was nice. However, not long after I came home I was informed that my Grandpa had passed away. Due to varying circumstances I missed the funeral which added to things as he never saw our wedding as we failed to get the DVD up to my Grandparents. Finally Christmas came which I spent with my family in Yorkshire which was fun as I got a Wii for Christmas. New Year was spent at home in Bristol with Cati and close friends including my best man Andy who came down with us from Yorkshire.

So that was 2006 and now for 2007. Really all I’ve got is goals. I want to graduate from Uni this year as I don’t honestly think I could take a 6th year at Uni. I want to find a job as quickly as I can and also pass my driving test. The other thing on my mind is our first wedding anniversary as well as Cati’s birthday in December. Still, these things are yet to come. No doubt you’ll find out how I do, lets hope it goes better than I think.

I also received a large amount of money for my birthday which has allowed me to do two things I’ve contemplated for a long while. Firstly, to replace my ipod as I’ve been dying to get my hands on one of the current gen ipods; and secondly to buy an iMac. I will still be keeping my main PC as it has the most storage (around 500GB) and has a lot of stuff on there that I couldn’t put elsewhere but since I bought my iBook last year I miss a lot of the functions that MacOS offers. Quite often I’ll be hitting F9 or alt+w whilst at a Windows machine and well, I do like Macs. So yeah, I’m really looking forward to that, should arrive by tomorrow if the despatch information is correct. I haven’t used the new ipod as I’m going to connect it solely to the iMac so I’ve had to be a good boy and not connect to my iBook or PC.

On other, rather sad news, a family friend of ours who Catrin knows more than I do is very, very ill and, according to all news, may not last much longer. It’s been a big drain on Cat and with her visiting her mother tonight no doubt it’ll be the topic of the conversation on the trip from the Convent to Seend. It’s been a big test for the both of us as something this big so early in our marriage has been a bit testing. The problem being is I’m sort of detached in a way from the situation. Although I know the person and have met them a few times I don’t have the connection that Catrin, Mair and her mother have. It has caused a couple mini-disagreements between us and while it’s nothing major I’m just slightly annoyed with myself. It’s always major to lose someone you know even more so when you’re heavily involved in the situation as Cat is. I know that she knows I’m here for her and everything it’s just every now and then I wish I know what I should be saying.

Switching topic as that is way too sombre a way to finish a blog post I’ve been most chuffed with United’s last two performances. We beat Liverpool and then, yesterday, we demolished Bolton in a very clinical way. Shame the Steelers can’t match them as last week we lost again. The match was a gripping one and I really thought we’d done enough to win. However it went into overtime and we lost as they scored on the first drive with a field goal. Oh well, I guess that’s sport for you I just hope we can turn it around soon ya know?! Long ways to go in the season in both respects but I feel United could be a real challenge for Chelsea this season. Finally though on a side note, Morton (where a lot of my relatives live), lost they’re unbeaten record this week losing 3-2 yesterday. Shame really but we’re still top and that’s key and with any luck we could be going up to the Scottish First Division, time will tell no doubt.

One point they hinged on was that the “aircraft weighed approximately 140 tons. This means that 140 tons hit over 3,600 tons of concrete plus all the steel in the pans and exterior columns!” So I decided to do some math! A very infrequent event for me you should know using the numbers they give and let me know if I’m wrong on any point. So, we know that the plane has an estimated weight of 140 tonnes they also state that “The floor systems were approximately 31,000 square feet and had a composite construction with steel beams of 50 ksi yield strength supporting concrete slabs on metal deck, with a floor thickness of 5.5 in.” So we have the weight, I think, of what the plane was hitting. As all good school kids know, that when a mass is travelling at speed (Force = Mass x Acceleration) it packs more of a punch. To the sites credit it does point out “The laws of physics are based on relative motion. A grain of sand moving at high speed in space will punch right through a space craft as it is vaporized. The point is that both objects are subject to the same force.” The aircraft speed, for argument, is thought to be around 450mph.

So here’s my math, 140 x 450mph gives us 63000 tonnes (a lot of wellie!). Now, we’ve been told each floor had 50ksi of yield strength. KSI is kips per square and 1 kip is equal to 1,000 pounds, so each floor had 50,000 pounds of yield strength. So, how much wellie does 63000 tonnes have? Well, first we convert tonnes to pounds and thanks to Google calculator I am reliably informed 63 000 tonnes = 138 891 225 pounds. So to get that into ksi we divide that by 1000 and we get the grand total of 138 892. 225 ksi which is roughly 2.7 times the amount it was meant to take.

Now yes, the plane did hit more than one floor but I’m sorry, I don’t think this is hoaxed and it’s about time you people moved on. From what I gather they’re not disputing the 2nd hit, the one which went out live. It seems they’re only interested in the 1st hit (which was found to have been recorded by a film crew following a fire crew from what I remember) and the Pentagon. Conspiracy theories interest me and sometimes they’re compelling but I really do think this one is just too out there to even consider.

My rights are non-conditional.

My right to life is non-conditional, ergo my right to free speech is
non-conditional.

Therefore, I can say and draw whatever I want about who ever I want, even if it
offends Muslims!

Hmm this is quite a tough one to respond and is quite topical at the moment. So please, anyone who reads my response, don’t take offence to my response or the question asked. In short I agree that our freedom of speech is non-conditional I don’t think that’s the issue here. What I believe to be the issue is the fact that there was no thought to the feelings of the Muslim community; this is all about respect to the Muslim religion (Islam).

Say a Muslim paper produced a cartoon mocking the Holocaust or September 11th bombings, what would happen? I can guess; there’d be racial beatings, the Americans would probably start saying we should bomb them or something and we’d be generally offended by it. Producing a cartoon of their prophet Muhammed linking him with terrorism (the cartoon apparantly depicited him with a bomb in his turban) is pretty much the same and I do think it’s trying to say all Muslims are terrorists even if its very subtle.

The outcry and protests by the Muslim community is, I think, justified as we have insulted their religion. Their reaction may be over the top and I don’t agree with all this flag burning etc. However as someone on one of the forums I frequent said “It’s not about imposing views, it’s about respecting peoples belief system.”

Overall I’m sick of religion in the sense that it’s caused more wars/atrocities than anything else and to be honest its getting boring. I think we really have to start respecting other peoples beliefs, views and attitudes and perhaps following what my parents always used to say to me ‘Think before you act!’ and let us be honest, the Danish paper didn’t. Yes a lot of what these protesters are doing are hypocritical e.g. saying that the cartoon will make people fear Islam and then they go off and burn a flag or two and tell us all our 9/11 is on its way. I’m just getting sick and tired of all of this, how about we all forget about religion and have a nice cup ‘o tea?