Proms Take 2

This year we headed up to the BBC Last Night of the Proms in Hyde Park. Last year I vowed I would make more of an effort with my flag, so bought an Essex flag and a flag pole on the interwebs.

Well I broke the flag pole, so I went to Tesco instead and bought a £2.49 mop and just unscrewed the mop end. Job done :D

I packed up my flag in my backpack. but had to carry the make-shift flag pole. But on the underground I suddenly noticed people were just moving out the way to let me through. A sort of parting of the Red Sea scenario. Then I realised, I was holding the pole out in front of me with both hands. They thought I was blind!!!

Question is, why would a blind person be wearing glasses?

We got to Hyde Park around 1pm, and despite the weather forecast we only had a little drop of rain and lots of sun :)

When we got inside we got a prime position behind a group of German ladies and a Chinese family. There was some interesting dancing going on lets just say that :P

It was a really great evening, but I was a little disappointed with the second half. Where the hell were all the sea shanties? The same last night spirit was just lost. It just seemed so rushed, too structured and the conductor in the Hall just seemed so nervous and unenthusiatic. Also, the National Athem was just made into even more of a durge and I found it very difficult to sing along.

Don't get me wrong, it was an awesome evening, and overall I had a great time with some great company, but I did feel the last spirit was lost somewhat in the second half.

Was a great night :)

Clearing

Whilst browsing UCAS Clearing... one of the courses offered was....

KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT!!!

Hahaha

Crunchy Nut Advert filmed in Dartford

http://www.visit4info.com/advert/Ludicrously-Tasty-Diversions-Kelloggs-Crunchy-Nut-Range/85183

It's the little things that make you smile.

Well... in some circumstances :P

/shutup

Friday the 13th

I had a very close call this evening when driving from work to Guildford. The petrol station I use next to work was closed, and took the wrong turning onto the M25. I called 118118 and they said there was a petrol station in 11 miles. The petrol light came on and 15 miles passed, tensions rose. Luckily I managed to reach Clacket Lane services just as the car started to sputter, and there was a traffic queue up ahead!!!

It really was a typical Friday 13th. Woke up late, was late for work. Kept knocking things over all day in the lab! Although it wasn't until lunch time it was pointed out to me that it was the famously known unlucky day.

Tomorrow is a new day :) Hopefully the weather will brighten up, I won't get caught in any more flash floods, and I will have a great time training my replacement LINKS committee.

One Week Down...

One week of work over, and it's actually gone by like a flash! My week has been full of reading health and safety documents, learning about lab machinery and attempting to remember everyone's names (and I'm not doing very well...)

But the highlight of my week was seeing my boyfriend again. He was meant to be leaving Guildford at half 1, and meeting me back at my parents house after I left work. I had a peak at the Dartford bridge at lunch, and I couldn't see any traffic, so I sent him a quick text to tell him there wasn't a problem with the traffic and he should set off now.

Fail.

The reason the bridge was clear is because just out of my view was a lorry on fire, and they had shut the bridge, resulting in 27 mile queues on a Friday evening during rush hour. I didn't see Dan until half 7 :(

Oops

At least we made it to Colchester Zoo on the Saturday. :D

And I'm back....

OK, final year kinda got a hold of me, and I had no time AT ALL to blog. But now... I'v graduated (with a modest 2:1) and I'm back out in the big wide working world.

I'm back into the lab, but this time with a different company.

As the job is close to home, I am living back with parents in Essex. I also now have a car, a silver fiesta called Pedro, who is my new faithful companion on my travels. No more depressing bus rides for me in the near future. But adjusting to Essex commuter drivers is tough, and I think I am slowly (very slowly) becoming one of them. Sorry!!

This also means that I have left my very good friends and my boyfriend in Guildford, which is fairly upsetting. As I am working in Kent, I will be half way there, so many trips to Guildford will happen I'm sure.

The first weekend of me moving home involved clearing out my room. I'm still doing it. Parents managed to aquire a double bed from a friend who is relocating, so we had to squeeze it into my room. Much to my parents' disgust, I have also chucked out all their stuff, and claimed some space for myself. I think the total was 7 clothes bags, 10 recycling bags, 12 black bags and three car loads (my parents have an estate) to the rubbish tip. I haven't finished yet.

Needless to say, there was a lot of crap in here :P

The hamster is adjusting well to her new home. She spent the whole journey here running up and down her cage, and didn't settle for the whole day and night. I think she wore herself out so much she hasn't got up much since. She is loving having a wooden floor to roll around on and lots of new things to crash into :D

Another task in the room clearing was buying new furniture. IKEA!!!! You can fit a surprising amount in a Ford Fiesta :P

That's it for now!!

My Birthday

Look what Dan got me for my Birthday...

http://spyclub.dyndns.org/hamcam.html

New Year, New Post

Hello everyone!

I'm back!

And I promise to keep my blog up to date from now on. Honest.

I spend New Years Eve on the Embankment, as I have the past two years and it was as awesome as ever :D

We got to London for about 1900, and met in Leicester Square. We had ordered pizza earlier in the day so it would be ready for us to collect so we could dash down to the river side and munch on it there.

I was surprised at how many people were already there at 1930 this year, last year it was empty, but it was about 2-3 people deep already by the time we turned up. Maybe we need to get there earlier next year :(

There were hardly any animations projected onto the Shell Building this year, just a few dots that looked strangely like a Windows Standard screensaver about 2300. No Boris this year :(

As midnight approached, the London Eye was illuminated and the light show got more and more complex the closer to midnight we got. It was obvious that the organisers had a tight budget this year.

The fireworks were not stingey, however. They may have been shorter this year, but they were still impressive. At one point, the sky looked like it was full of golden rain, which was beautiful. I am always impressed with the way that they launch the fireworks from the Eye, it always looked good.

The plan for after the fireworks was to stay put on the Embankment and wait for the crowds to disappear, then head towards the park. This plan worked fairly well...

Until the blizzards. I was absolutely freezing. We were planning on making bacon, but it was too cold. According to the met office, the temperature didn't fall below 0.2oC, but there must have been a very powerful wind chill factor, which we didn't feel until we left the crowd. It's amazing how warm 200,000 people can keep you :P It's the penguin effect.

So we gave up about 0300, and headed towards the station where we jumped on a train and headed home.

It was a good night, and it was a shame that it was soooo cold. We did avoid the crowds, however, which was the main aim, so I think we should do this again next year.

Hey Jude

Watch this... The metamorphasis of a perfectly innocent Beatles classic to a WW2 Nazi propaganda song by pointing out that Jew in German, is in fact "Jude". Use your imagination a bit...

"Hey Jude, dont make it bad.
Take a sad song and make it better.
Remember to let her into your heart,
Then you can start to make it better.

Hey Jude, dont be afraid.
You were made to go out and get her.
The minute you let her under your skin,
Then you begin to make it better.

And anytime you feel the pain, hey Jude, refrain,
Dont carry the world upon your shoulders.
For well you know that its a fool who plays it cool
By making his world a little colder.

Hey Jude, dont let me down.
You have found her, now go and get her.
Remember to let her into your heart,
Then you can start to make it better.

So let it out and let it in, hey Jude, begin,
Youre waiting for someone to perform with.
And dont you know that its just you, hey Jude, youll do,
The movement you need is on your shoulder.

Hey Jude, dont make it bad.
Take a sad song and make it better.
Remember to let her under your skin,
Then youll begin to make it
Better better better better better better, oh."

V Festival

As I was in Essex, I thought why not... lets pay a visit to the Festival of V in Hylands Park.

Not as a punter, I would like to point out... that would be a bit hardcore! But with the ol' Johners.

I was posted on a medical post, which was right opposite the 4Music stage. This meant that I got to see people such as Fat Boy Slim, Pendulum, Dizzee Rascal, Jet, Keane, The Enemy, Paolo Nutini, Katie Perry, Alisha Dixon and Lightning Seeds.

By see, I meant I either caught a glimpse of them from the corner of my eye or heard them whilst filling out paperwork. It was quite a busy day for us, especially as the weather was amazing...

One thing that I appreciated very much, due to the sheer number of customers we had over the two days was the presence of a pharmacy right next door. :D Only other Johners would appreciate this, a pharmacy that sold plasters, sun cream, anti histamines and paracetamol. :D

One good thing about being so busy is that I got to get a lot of casualty experience. Especially as I was on a Medical Centre post, this meant I got a lot of experience of shadowing doctors and nurses, which all adds to the UCAS personal statement. :P

I was very grateful for the people giving out free chocolate :D Thanks Aero Mint...

Also thanks to Vitamin water who came and gave us cool drinks during the day :D Mucho Appreciated!

For whole weekend, it perplexed me as to why there were people walking around carrying hundreds of cups in towers that stretched higher than their hats :P Turns out they were doing an exchange a number of used cups for money off more drinks, to help the place tidy. Good thinking V Fest!

Good weekend!

Home Bound

So after finally leaving Portsmouth, I'm back at home for a week or so to spend some time with my family.

I'm also having a full health check up. Opticians Monday, Dentist tuesday! Turns out my eyes are fine but I may need a tooth out soon. Meh... cross that bridge when I get to it. Damn Wisdom teeth.

Monday was pub quiz! We came last but we sure nibbled on Nobby's Nuts.

Dan came to visit on the Tuesday, and we went out for dinner to a Thai restaurant in Tarpots, which was really nice :)

Thursday I went to visit Keira in Hertforshire! Went to the Rye House pub and had many drinks and the biggest ice cream sundae ever! nom nom nom nom nom....

Friday I popped into London to pick something up for Dad, and had a random stroll along the North bank from Southwark to Tower Hill. It was a nice day, but suddenly changed dramatically just as I got to Tower Hill. Woop!

So I managed to fill my week quite easily :D

Last Day at Work

I have now finished work, this means I can leave Portsmouth.

HHHHHOOOOOORRRRRAAAAAAYYYYYY

I was actually quite sad to leave work. Happy to hand over to my replacement, but I think I am going to miss the people and the place. My last day was basically chatting to people, saying goodbye and people making the same joke over and over again...

"doing much are we???"

dear lord.

I also got presented with a few leaving gifts from my boss. Some electric candles, a money tree, and a dissertation for dummies book :)

I also got a card, which everyone signed, which was nice.

Broom Broom Broom

I PASSED MY DRIVING TEST

BRRRROOOOOOOOMMM

Couldn't have had a better test! 7 minors.

I had a driving lesson before hand, when my driving instructor decided it was a good time to show me under the bonnet. As soon as he lifted up the bonnet however, the burst of smoke wasn't a good sign, and the engine was chucking out heat like it was the Albert Hall...

Never mind, I drove home, then was picked up again after a short lunch. I have never been so scared in my life. My instructor gave me all this "well if you don't pass then..." advice, which didn't help things. Pulled into the test centre, and my driving tester got into the car. He slammed the door, and said very sharply... "RIGHT DIANA, DRIVE ON...BAY PARK FIRST"

AHHHHH, of course I did what he said out of pure fear, and pulled out of the bay, then back in.

Success!

Next, to drive out of the test centre. Not only is the junction to the test centre on a hill (so hill start) but its onto a 40 limit narrow country road on a blind corner. As you can imagine, a lot of people fail driving out the test centre :P

BUT I DIDN'T HAHA!

(but I did get a minor....meh....)

As soon as we got out of the test centre, the tester suddenly lightened up a bit and he attempted to clear up the whole Essex/Portsmouth/Surrey confusion. He failed... and probably went away more confused than before...

My test was at 1402, and for some reason, there was noone on the road, the Cosham roundabout was empty, and I got green lights pretty much all the route!

I did, however, get stuck behind a cyclist. Not any cyclist, this cyclist had a dodgy back wheel. I'm sure it was about to fall off, and this guy was swerving all over the road. Now, as the road was narrow, I decided to hang back, and not overtake until the road opened up a bit, but the tester got a bit edgy.

"JUST OVERTAKE" he boomed, and after argument I did as he instructed and we zoomed back to the test centre.

Phew...

A few minors for not driving eco-friendly and a few signalling issues, apart from that, :D

Proms

Dan came to the proms with me :D

:D

:D

We decided to go to prom 31, an evening with the National Youth Orchestra. We heard Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No.1 in B Flat minor, Lutoslawski's Concerto for Orchestra and Respighi's Roman Festivals.

Before that we decided to head up to London early, grab some food in Leicester Square and head to Hyde Park, to enjoy the sunshine and chill out for a bit before entering the Royal Albert Inferno...

The Albert Hall was looking as splendid as ever, but was also as baking as ever... Although being strictly frowned upon, we had to choice but to fan ourselves with a leaflet or suffer slowly cooking.

The performance was awesome, a brilliant performance by the NYO!

Same again next year?

We're going to take a short meal break....

Nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom

London Film and Comic Convention

Off to Earls Court 2 we trotted....

We knew we were heading in the right direction when we saw the stormtroopers....

We definately knew we were in the right place when we saw Spiderman....

Yep, all geeks unite for the London Film and Comic Convention. YAAAY. Earls Court 2 full of stalls selling geeky stuff and people in all kindsa Sci-Fi costume. Truely awesome.

I got to hug a Stormtrooper and watch random people from Heroes, Star Wars and Harry Potter be questionned by the audience.

There were many Darleks, and the odd remote control R2D2 hanging around, as well as hundreds of Jedi Knights and Stargate Soldiers.

If I hadn't reached my blog photo limit there would be many pictures.... :(

We got badges that said "Team Jacob", and I got a beautiful copper notebook for Mum for her birthday, which was Harry Potter themed. I think she will really like it :)

Next year anyone??

UKCAT

I'm planning on applying for medicine for next year, so this means apitutude test time!

Most of the universities I'm planning on applying for want the UKCAT, so I decided to take this one.

So off I trotted, down to the Pearson Education education centres, which happened to also be the DSA testing centre, which I had visited a few weeks ago to do my Driving Theory Test. I can't imagine many people end up on the 5th floor of the Venture tower in Portsmouth twice in a month :P

To be honest, I didn't do much preparation for the test, you wern't supposed to. I had done a practise on the net but thats about it (and they don't give you the answers :(... not useful). Some people are given months of private tuition and study for weeks beforehand, but I think this is just unecessary. Either you got it, or you don't....

The test comprised of 5 sections, the first four tested the way you thought, so there was a pattern recognition, a mathematical one, verbal reasoning and a decision analysis. The fifth was a non-cognitive test, and gave you a print out with an analysis of your personality.

It turns out im good with numbers, and making decisions (although a number of people would argue this), but sometimes I can be overconfident... meh....

The test wasn't as bad as I thought, and I found sticking to the time limit the most hardest part of the whole test.

Lets hope it's good enough for Medical Schoo huh??

Top Gear

Another interesting duty to really top up this week's duty hours, providing first aid duty at a recording of Top Gear.

Sitting in a hanger in Dunsfold Aerodrome (which I drove to...YEH!!) we watched the three boys do their thang!

In the morning we watched the rehearsals, and watched the Stig and celebrity go round the track numerous times, then, after lunch of course, we watched the show being recorded. Unfortunately we didn't make it onto the show or get to talk to any stars, but it was still a good experience!

I'm still finding the packets of biscuits lying around everywhere :P

Guilfest 2009

I am a member of St John Surrey, therefore I went to Guilfest :P

Instead of doing nightshifts, as I did last year, I decided this year I would do the earlier shifts. So for three days I was there 1000-1800. It was a pretty uneventful duty for us really, so it was a good opportunity to catch up with other members, and also to see some random bands and to look around the stalls.

One thing I did see however was a Abba tribute band, a heavy metal Abba tribute band, which was special. I also saw Toploader, which was awesome!

Same again next year??

My Review of the SDU

[I'm catching up on blogs, so these are a bit over-due]

As a member of St John Ambulance in Hampshire (somewhat temporarily..but meh) I got picked to trial a new uniform for duties. I had three months to trial it, and I did my best to wear it out and test it to the max. It was an interesting experience. I've never had so many people stare at me, point out there was no writing on my arse and fondle me in public (especially when my flies were undone on Southend Sea Front). And I'm from Essex...

So, after three months, this is my opinion -

Shirt - I like the green shirt, especially as it is to be worn open collar with no tie. Its a good colour, but the material was a bit thick and hot during the long day duties. I couldn't bring myself to wear the long sleeve version much, it was mainly worn just for trial purposes. The pockets were useful, and I got used to having a pen pocket on my sleeve. As for the printed writing, it didn't seem to come off like the new white shirts but then I only had it for 3 months.

Overall - Thumbs up!

Trousers - I liked the pockets and the design, but unfortunately I don't think they were cut right for my body shape. They could have been longer, and not up to above my belly button, but I guess these are just fashion preferences. The top pockets, however did go all the way down to my knees, which could have been cut better. I liked the side pockets, with the pockets within them, and think its a great alternative to a belt pouch. However, one major flaw. When tuff cuts are in the designed pocket, and I knelt down, the tuff cuts poked their way out the top of the pockets and fell out when I stood up. Fial.

Overall - Good design, maybe a bit more style guys!!

Belt - Belt was good, nice design but had one major design flaw. When the plastic/leather/black stuff heated up it became safe, and the adjustable teeth design failed and the belt fell apart. This nearly resulted in casualties being knocked out, so this one needs a re-think.

Overall - After a re-design, thumbs up!

High Vis Hat - I can see the practical use for this, but no, just no.... After a few uses on the black side the high vis side became dull, and the front visor bent into shape.

Overall - No

Beenie Hat - I liked the design, but unfortunately didn't get to wear it much, as the trial took place during the spring, but I would have worn it during the winter, so all is good :)

Overall - Good :)

Reversible Fleece - LOVE IT - I miss it so much. Was lovely and fleecy on one side and waterproof on the other, with zip pockets. They better keep this in the uniform!!!

Overall - WOOP

Parker Jacket - Again, I didn't get to wear this much, but it was a nice thick coat, which will do anyone well for those artic condition winter duties! With hundreds of pockets on the left side, and 2 on the other, I thought it was kinda swung towards the righties but they were very useful!

Overall - Good for winter :)

Jumper - I didn't get a jumper in my pack, but I'm not sure I liked the round neck jumper look, I would much prefer just the fleece with a shirt.

Overall - hmmmm

So thats it, I miss it already, and I wait with anticipation as to what national have to say! Bring it on, I think it's going to be a great improvement for the image of St John Ambulance, with a much smarter uniform (thats actually a uniform) which is much more practical for the work we do.