Life, Love, the Universe & Everything

Stupid is as stupid does.

2011-05-06T14:11:00.001+01:00

I remember when I first heard about the supposed Mayan prediction that the world was going to end in 2012. Not only did I think it was nonsense then, but shortly after I heard from a Mayan researcher that a more accurate translation is “rebirth” and it was simply the start of a new cycle. What I got from that was basically the Mayan’s way of saying ‘ok, time to re-start the calendar.’

But looking at what’s been happening in around me recently and around the world, I’m starting to think maybe I was wrong. Maybe simply because people believe that the world is going to end, their actions lead to the world ending. It is like being able to look into the future, and doing something to avoid that outcome, but what you do attempting to prevent it is what ends up causing it. I call that a time-loop because it probably wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t seen into the future. But anyway, I digress.

The unfortunate earthquake in Japan that crippled the near ancient Fukushima plant set back nuclear power at least a decade. Nuclear power is an excellent source of energy and people’s unease and lack of understanding about it has held back progress in it for decades. It has the potential to provide us with the more stable supply of electricity during the periods when volatile sources of renewable energy aren’t able to keep up. Nuclear power is a future we should have embraced a long time ago, and if it hadn’t been held back, and Fukushima was retired as it should have been, a nuclear disaster could have been averted.

But the world is also changing fast politically. The Middle East rose up and demanded attention, and this time we were fully supportive of it. People took to the streets to throw out decade-old regimes and demand fair and open elections. We saw a lot of pain, and a lot of suffering, but also some great triumphs. I think this is likely to spread more across the Middle East, as it is in fact doing. And the regimes that have seen what happened in North Africa and fearing the same are attempting to quell any rebellion quickly, will soon be over powered by the people and progress will be made.

What’s I think is interesting to note is that in the West we’re seeing what I consider to be an opposite trend. People seem to want to revert to more nationalist and conservative movements. Canada a country famous for it’s liberalism has just elected a majority conservative government. The US, not known for it’s liberalism in general and having a very closed two party system has a liberal as President, yet its legislative branch is controlled by conservatives. The UK who after over a decade of a Left-wing Labour government threw them out because of their poor handling of the financial crisis and lack of strong leadership, elected a curious coalition. The Conservative-Lib-Dem coalition, a necessary and unavoidable result of the elections went in with a lot to lose and not much to gain. The coalition was the only way to prevent a Hung-Parliament led by the Conservative Party, and the Lib-Dems went in with the aim of minimising the effect of having a Conservative government. I think the Lib-Dems did an excellent job with what they had. Yet the country has turned against them, they have become the evil ones in government, the scapegoat of all of the UKs problems. I believe I recall reading that this has happened to the Lib-Dems before, and it killed the party much like it’s going to do now. I’m confident that it will resurface, but will it be in ten or twenty years? I don’t know. The Scottish Nationalist Party has just won a majority in Scotland, further highlighting the trend towards the conservative and nationalist views in the West.

I know it won’t be that bad, but I do worry about the future, particularly in Europe and the West, because this trend towards conservative, nationalist and federalist governments will foster division and dislike between peoples and it will push everyone apart in a world of globalisation where everyone is meant to be getting closer.

I worry.

Crosswinds

2011-04-16T13:19:00.000+01:00

I've now had a good two months worth of experiencing the well oiled machine that is Flight Operations. After a good six months of living with Ground-school five days a week and seeing it's relatively sleek and dynamic operation hopes were high for what flying would be like.

Turns out that Ops leaves a lot to be desired. It's difficult to coordinate so many students and instructors, each capable of different things and at varying stages of training, with the ever changing and forever unpredictable weather. Recently we've been suffering from the effects of a local weather phenomenon called the Levanter which happens every year around this time of year. It's a very strong easterly wind that tends to put a dampener on our operations as it blows about 90° to our runway. Last week someone decided it was time to put us into full time flying. It just so happened that this was the week that the Levanter settled in and I managed very little flying. But such is the way. However the weather is starting to get on my nerves, but I guess that's the price we pay for entering an industry that's so weather dependant.

I've been trying to knock off some solo flights which is made difficult by the strict restraints on when I'm allowed to fly solo. This weather is totally unsuitable for it, and the incompetence of Spanish ATC doesn't alleviate the situation.

This post was originally titled "Communication" as I was to rant about the lack of communication between anyone these days. In our supposedly 'superconnected' society everything seems amazingly disconnected. It's entirely possible that this is just the result of suddenly being so well connected that seeing anything that isn't perfectly in sync seems weird and alien, but I think we're just getting lazy. Ops has a tough time scheduling everyone, but they coordinate surprisingly little with Ground-school, there is plenty of potential to become more flexible in the times allocated and get more people flying and putting them in Ground-school on bad-weather days.
This lack of communication isn't just prevalent in that case, there's also management and how they communicate with the students and the other departments. It can also be scaled up to problems within government and local councils coordinating with each other, departments helping one another out. Yet all we get is the mess left over from the left hand not knowing what the right is doing.
That was going to be a rant, heh, but I'm too tired and not thinking very clearly at all, yet I wanted to post *something*, so we'll leave it at that.

Met-Roulette

2011-03-25T16:28:00.001Z

Met-Roulette is a little game we like to play here occasionally. Often times we find ourselves with a relatively or particularly early flight the next day, yet all you really want to do is relax and socialise – usually all night.

Now flights have this terrible habit of being cancelled due to various weather phenomena common in these parts, ranging from too strong a cross-wind to early morning radiation fog and the rare thunderstorm. This is where the game comes in. Well it’s a game as much as Russian Roulette is a game i.e. the risks are quite high. The gist of it is that we look at the forecast for the next morning, stare at all the charts, and decide what are the chances of the flight being cancelled. The idea is that if the weather is going to be bad, you can afford to go out, simply get up, your instructor cancels the flight, and you can sleep in. However, the forecasts are often wrong, or not accurate enough to predict so specifically what the weather will be at a particular time.

The reason I bring this up is because I now find myself in this exact situation. The weather is forecast to be unsuitable tomorrow morning, and it’s a friend’s graduation tonight so I really want to go out. Sadly I’m not brave enough to play this game, so it looks like an alcohol free night ahead of me tonight. But the temptation is very strong, very very strong!

Baaaaaaaaa

2011-02-04T23:11:00.002Z

I think people judge sheep to much, they don't follow blindly. I think they just try and stick together, to keep everyone safe. Safety in numbers! But anyway, culturally it's the image we use for people that follow 'blindly' and that's what this is about: Following.

Facebook has always (to me) been about keeping in touch with friends from school, Uni, work, wherever. So the idea of exposing yourself to meet new people through it seems a bit silly in my opinion. However, we have other services for that. I use Twitter, and DailyBooth, and YouTube, and more recently tumblr. All these services are based on the idea of having "followers" and "following" others. I follow lots of people, some I find more interesting than others but all in all I enjoy seeing their thoughts and what they get up to. I also have many followers. A not insignificant number of them are spam-bots, which I dislike but as long as they don't tweet at me, who cares.

What has been recently brought to my attention is a new "follow me" culture that seems to be developing on these services. When I come across a new person/profile I look at what they've posted, what they're like, and if there's something about them I like, I follow them. Following means I'm interested in what you have to say, and I'd like to be kept in the loop if you don't mind (some people mind, and put their profiles to private). Unfortunately the number of followers we have seems to have become the yard-stick with which we measure our success as a person, how amazing and incredible we appear to others. This is a preposterous attitude. Saying "I'll follow you if you follow me" is completely stupid. I want a follower who's interested in what I say, who wants to know what I do (without being creepy), who finds me funny and engaging. I don't want a follower that will bump my numbers in exchange for bumping theirs.

I look at the profiles of some of the people I follow and am amazed at all they talk about and say. I have no idea where to begin to be that interesting! And sure, there are some that aren't that interesting, but happen to be pretty good looking so I won't lie, I might follow them just for that. But whilst it's not the most satisfying thing to see that my Booths don't get many replies, or that I'm hardly ever retweeted, I know it's not because the world hates me, or that I'm such a victim of society. Simply: I'm just not that interesting. It may be that I haven't quite managed to find the right way to convey myself, but until I do things are unlikely to change much.

I saw so many people on DailyBooth's Live Feed post a "last post" swearing at the users, saying how lame we all were because they weren't getting replies any more. I found that quite often, and I didn't think "oh god, this place is lame, screw these people!" I thought, 'what can I do to make myself more interesting?'. I looked at other people's profiles, tried to determine what made them interesting to me, and see if I could pass that along somehow.

I was looking at who of the people I follow don't follow me back using some Twitter add-on. I was not surprised to see that some of the most interesting people I follow, don't follow me back, because I'm not interesting enough! Sure I reply to some of their tweets, and they kindly reply back sometimes. That's the point! I follow them because I like them. I have no right to force myself upon them. You can't meet someone and really like them and say "OY! LIKE ME BACK!!!" Life doesn't work like that.

I think to a certain extent this is perpetuated a bit by celebrities. Usually "C-List" celebrities. These people chase the ever increasing number of followers, wanting more and more. I find that with stardom the followers will come anyway, I think it's a bit tacky at times to self promote yourself so directly! If a celebrity came up to me and said: "Please follow me on twitter! If I get to 200,000 I'll give something away" I'd be less inclined to follow them than if I just met them and WANTED to follow them. The word of mouth has so much more power when it's spontaneous rather than prompted. Also why I think advertising companies that design adverts to "go viral" are retarded because they're missing the point entirely.

So to all the people who are obsessed with getting followers: Stop it. Please.

Follow people you like, get to know them, and become friends with the people that like you. Drive this social experience, don't let it drive you!

Fail Safe, Fly Safe

2011-01-18T22:04:00.000Z

I read an interesting article about electronic devices on aircraft today.

I guess I should recommend it so you can have an additional appreciation of what I'm talking about Here.

Basically it talks about the risk that mobile phones, PDAs, iPads, iPods and the various array of devices we tend to carry with us day to day, especially if we're travelling! A quick read of the comments after reading the article instils the inevitable desperation with humanity that neither the deniers nor the advocators quite understood what was being said. So I'd like to clarify and expand for anyone who cares to read this.

One of the first things that article said, that while the chances of it affecting the aircraft detrimentally are small, that doesn't mean they don't exist! Do you want to be on the plane that had that fault that lead to the thing that caused the blackout which lead to the crash? I don't.

Aviation tries its darnedest to rather be safe than sorry. I'll say it right now, a single mobile phone won't bring a plane down on it's own. But that's not to say there won't be five other things that won't bring a plane down on their own, that just happen to all occur at the same time.

But I don't want to bring this message across based on scaring you into submission, because I don't think that works. I'm going to explain to you why you should switch off all your electrical devices until the seatbelt sign goes off. It breaks down to two basic parts, the technical, and the psychological. I'm going to explain the technical first, and then the psychological, the latter of which will help to explain why the seat-belt sign is so important in this case.

I wish the mobile or cell phone thing was obvious. Ever left your phone next to some speakers? You know you sometimes hear that interference? Well mobile phones send signals and interfere with communications with the ground and navigation. Usually it'll never amount to anything more than a distraction and nuisance for the pilots, but this is where society is against you. We always thing of "me, me, me, me, me"; "I can't possible cause any trouble with my tiny phone!" and that's true.

But here's fun fact one: one phone is fine, but try imagining all 540 passengers on an A380 leaving their phones on! And what of all those business people who have a work phone and a personal phone? Easily 550 phones, if not more!
Now, fun fact number two: your phone regulates how much power goes to the antenna. If you're standing next to a cell-phone mast, you have full signal with very little power! However the further you get away from it, the more power your phone has to use. Ever notice when you're down to one-bar of signal or no signal your battery runs out faster (say when you're in a rural area)? That's your phone using all the power it can! And that's what happens as your aircraft climbs.
Linked to fun fact number two is number three: the reason you're hearing about some companies allowing mobile phone calls on-board, even Ryanair, is because they've basically installed a cell-phone tower inside the plane, which means all the cell phones are using very little power to talk to the cell, as described above. They also have a lot more shielding, that all the large modern planes have, so using a phone is a bit more risky on the older or smaller aircraft!

This effect is much more drastic with GPS receivers, and they should definitely be avoided! They try and talk to as many satellites as they can, and since they're a lot further away than phone-cells, they use more power!

Now you're thinking, "OK, so I get why phones are bad, and that it's all about lots of people doing it, not just me, but why my iPod?!" What a good question! First of all, some basic physics: run a current (electricity) through a wire and you get an electro-magnetic field. Radio waves are electro-magnetic waves, and can be generated by varying the electro-magnetic field. Some music players take advantage of this and have built in radios that use the headphones as an antenna! Genius! Unfortunately it's this effect, of simply having headphones, that generates magnetic disturbances that can cause interference. But I have to be honest with you, it's just so damn small, it's practically insignificant, and decent headphones (no, not the basic Apple ones, and not the crappy in-flight entertainment ones either) can have shielding to drastically reduce this. However, close to the ground you have loads of things interfering with each-other and the plane. This may be a teeny-tiny contribution, but it adds up. And with aviation, if we're not sure, just be on the safe side and don't allow it.

But to me, the most important reason not to use any electrical device until the seatbelt signs are off are for psychological reasons. Or at least, that's the best way it occurred to me to describe them! In my opinion not even reading should be allowed, but I know that's a bit extreme.

Have you ever taken a flight during night? When it's dark outside? Did you notice they turn off the lights to dim the cabin? The reason they do that is so your eyes are more accustomed to the light conditions outside, because in case of an evacuation, it'll be handy if you can see outside! If it's bright in the cabin, when you go out in the dark, you won't be able to see anything for a while until your eyes adjust! The take-off and landing stages are the most dangerous, so it's when we have to be extra safe. In this vain, you're not allowed to use electronic devices so that you can hear properly the Cabin Crew's instructions (so, no headphones!) and that your aware of your surroundings, so that when an emergency happens, you're not suddenly trying to remember where you are!! This is why I spend the whole climb looking around and out of the window, to entertain myself whilst keeping aware of what's going on, even if most of the time it's nothing. So as you can imagine this applies to iPads, iPods, laptops, and especially phones! You don't want to be in the middle of the call when you're told to take the brace position! (Which BTW can save your life, not just preserve your teeth as some myths have it). And that's also why your tray table has to be up! So you can bend down! And why your seat has to be forward, so the person behind you can bend down!!

If you're honest, the climb happens quite quickly, and while what I said to do to be safe may seem a little daunting, you know it's actually only for a short period of time, and yes it's a mild inconvenience, but if you're on that unlucky flight, and you survive because you could get out of the plane fast enough as you were aware and paying attention, then you'll be glad you were!

The reason the seat-belt sign going off is so important, and why the cabin crew might be caught moving about before it's gone off, is because it signals the end of the climb, or the first bit anyway. You may notice that the plane goes from a pretty steep climb (it feels like it), to a slightly shallower climb, and shortly after, the seatbelt signs go off. At that point, the plane is in no rush to climb quickly because it's nice and far from the ground, so when something goes wrong, there's time to do something about it (unlike when you're close to the ground!). So when it goes off, it's your signal that everything's fine, and you're now in the cruise, the safest part of the flight! I highly recommend you keep your seat-belt on at all times, as turbulence isn't always predictable, and you could be flung up very suddenly. It's been known to happen on occasion! With several people injured unfortunately. So yeah, just be safe, it doesn't matter if it's a bit loose, as long as it's buckled it'll give you a little protection.

I hope you can see why this makes it safer, (and why I'd discourage reading too)... and so next time you fly, be safe!

It's not easy being big

2010-11-30T19:35:00.000Z

News arrived promptly on my Twitter feed that the Welsh Assembly was going to cover the rise in tuition fees for all Welsh residents studying anywhere in the UK. A bold statement, and one that puts to shame the Westminster and pushes Wales to a more autocratic running like Scotland. http://bbc.in/dXk8UU

I bet English students will be FUMING. But I thought I'd jump in to defend Westminster and the Government for which I voted (sort of).

How does the phrase go? Comparing Oranges and Apples? I'd like to give you a few examples why it's inaccurate to compare Free University education for Scottish, Welsh, and English students. It boils down to people, and in effect money. For clarification, I'll be using the short-scale numbers, i.e. 1 trillion = 1000 billion, and 1 billion = 1000 million (naturally 1 million = 1,000,000 in both long and short scale). Please bear in mind that these numbers are astronomically huge, and it might be difficult to comprehend the true extent of their meaning. These numbers were obtained in one form or another from the Office for National Statistics. The numbers bellow are for illustration purposes and I can supply further details on my calculations upon request. The numbers are (as I understand it) for the year 2010 based on 2008 projections.

Here are some of my assumptions:

"University Age" is people between the ages of 18 and 23.
The cost of one year of a University Degree is £9,000
A maintanance loan or grant is £3,500 per year
Population of Scotland* = UK pop - England & Wales pop
Population of Wales* = England & Wales pop - England pop
Repayment of the loan takes 30 years
Average UK Salary = £25,428 (from 2009 ASHE by the ONS)

The UK's university age population is 5,073,900 people.

That means, that over a 3 year degree, it would cost the UK government £137 TRILLION to send 100% of the population to University. Add the maintenance loan and it rises to over £190 trillion. Then consider that Bachelors are being constantly devalued and a Masters becomes more and more necessary, so a 4 year degree is really a minimum, the value sky-rockets to just short of £254 trillion*!!! (*inc. maintenance).

But not 100% of 18 to 23 year-old's will go to University, so here are the numbers for just 50% of the population going to Uni:

3 years costs over £68 trillion. Plus the maintenance rises to just over £95 trillion; and add another year of studying and maintenance, £127 trillion.

What about only 25% going?

3 years costs £34 trillion, plus maintenance £48 trillion, and 4 years £63 trillion.

So how does this compare across England, Wales and Scotland? 100%

England Wales Scotland

3 years: £114T £7T £15T

3 + mnt: £160T £9T £21T

4 + mnt: £212T £13T £29T

50% of the University Age population

England Wales Scotland

3 years: £57T £3T £8T

3 + mnt: £80T £5T £11T

4 + mnt: £106T £6T £14T

25% of the University Age population

England Wales Scotland

3 years: £29T £2T £4T

3 + mnt: £40T £2T £5T

4 + mnt: £53T £3T £7T

It costs Scotland just 13% of what it costs England, and it costs Wales just 6%!

So it's not fair to complain that the government doesn't want to support its students. Of course it does. It's just not feasible! Where the hell is the UK government supposed to find that much money to put towards University? Especially at this time when money is scarce and we have a massive deficit to control!

Coming out of Uni with anywhere between £20,000 and £50,000 of debt sounds scary. And it looks even scarier when you put it next to the average wage in the UK of £25,428. Repayments over 30 years would constitute anywhere between 1/30th and 1/15th of your salary, assuming it was constant at £25,428 during those 30 years. But consider that the majority of graduate jobs (that require a qualification) I've heard of usually start at around this number (Engineering tends to start around £30,000, and Finance around £35,000), with plenty of scope for pay rises. This is a very small amount of money, and it will allow the government to give that money to the next generation who wants to go to Uni.

So stop your complaining and get back to studying! The government isn't ruining anyone's future!! At least not this way.

Money and Freedom

2010-11-29T21:02:00.001Z

Student Fees seem to be a hot topic at the moment, so I thought I'd throw my two cents into the argument.

I remember during my search for a University I was amazed at the sheer number of Universities that exist in the UK. I wasn't sure if it was a mark of a 'civilised' nation, or that of a nation gone mad; I was inclined to lean towards the former, but I now question my judgement. Upon arriving at University, I was amazed at the geographic spread of the student population; the vast majority of students came from any and every extreme of the country, very few were locals. I remark this as a stark contrast to Universities in Mexico, where there aren't that many in one area, each specialising more in a particular area than the others, and people tend to go to their local one. So what does this have to do with Universities in the UK? With a completely different socio-economic situation?

Well, I think it's great that under the UK's current system, geography isn't a limitation for anyone wanting to go to University. And if Southampton, or Edinburgh or wherever is the best (or one of) for what you want to study, you can go there (grades depending obviously). The fact that all the Universities are the same price also means that you're not limited by geography either. Throw in Student Loans and you're not limited by your family's financial situation.

So to me it begs the question: Why do crap universities exist? Why do crap degrees exist?

Harsh comments perhaps, but let me give you a practical example: If you wanted to study physics, and you didn't get into any of the top 10 in that field, why would you go to one that was number 87 in the league tables. If your grades weren't good enough to get into the top 10 or 20, how are you better off by going to a low ranking university? Surely a potential employer would factor in the standing of your university in that field. So say you don't go into that field, then what's the point in studying that in the first place?!

I also don't understand why people go to University not knowing what they want to do, looking for some sort of inspiration. I disagree with the idea of going to University "for the experience". Yes University is a great experience, and I wouldn't want to deny anyone of that specifically, but it shouldn't be the primary reason of going to University. University is about furthering your knowledge in a particular field in order to help you further your career in that field.

In that vain, I think there are too many Universities, and too many subjects, and too many people going to University. I think the policy of promoting University to everyone unfairly detracts value from respectable and fundamental jobs that society requires. The UK has a large shortage of Plumbers and Electricians for this reason, not to mention the massive shortage of Carpenters. There are some jobs that don't require a degree, but more a good apprenticeship.

That to me covers one of the biggest reasons/issues why Universities can't be free. You can't try and put such a massive population through University without them paying for it. Why does Scotland have free University for Scottish students? Because there are a lot less people in Scotland than in England & Wales. Finland was another example given, but it's a lot easier to get 80% of women through University when your TOTAL population isn't much more than 5 million people.

Regardless of whether population size is or isn't an issue, we have to make the best of what we have. I believe that despite the massive over-reaction, the UK government has come up with a very sensible compromise. They give you a loan at a cheaper rate than you could possibly get from any bank, and you only have to repay it if and when you can.

There is something that bothers me about talking to people recently. This holds true here at the Flight School I'm at, where people are incredibly privileged to simply be here, as well as students in the UK. There is a distinct difference between a right and a privilege. Free University education is a privilege that is afforded to some by the ones who can. Making you pay unreasonable amounts up front would be a violation of your right to education, yes. But giving you a means to pay for University in order to improve your career options, and being willing to write off any debt if it doesn't work out seems nothing but reasonable. The Student Loans simply ask you to give back the money that gave you the advantage you needed to further your career, and if it didn't work out, you don't have to pay.

I don't like that there are so many Universities, and so many degrees, and I would probably drastically reduce the number if it were up to me. But it's not.

And finally, I don't see the point in violent protests against a passive government over a simple issue. Violent protests are never warranted, and students feeble attempts at non-violent protests are laughable. They should research how non-violent protests managed to succeed and realise that this small issue isn't going to succeed. To that end, if you're protesting the government making cuts in whatever area affects you, it CERTAINLY doesn't help to destroy government property, it's simply a waste of money, your money.

For another option, of someone more opinionated and vastly more intelligent than me, look at this post: here.

Glued to the ground like an anvil

2010-11-25T20:53:00.005Z

To be a pilot... ah to live amongst the stars... to be but one step below god.

I've been here in Spain for 10 weeks now. It's been great.

The 60 week program here is divided into three main sections: Phase 1) Ground School (theory); Phase 2) Ground School + Flying; Phase 3) Flying. They're each 20 weeks long and have exams at the half-way point and at the end of them.

I've learnt a lot since being here, even if most of it has just been reinforcing things I already knew. The Principles of Flight things I pretty much already knew, like Lift and Drag, aspect ratio and finesse ratio. I learnt all about Piston Engines which I really didn't have much of a clue about before coming here, so that was really interesting! I learnt about various Emergency Systems on aircraft, as well as the landing gear, hydraulics and cabin pressurisation. I had a nice brush with chemistry when studying batteries in Electrics, and learnt all about NDBs, VORs and ILS approaches in Radio Nav. General Navigation was fascinating, learning all about a load of different charts; it's crazy to think that there are so many different ways of depicting the earth on a piece of paper! Finally Meteorology, god it's mad. I have some respect for the people that try to predict the weather, though I know it's an in-exact science. Met is my biggest book, one of the more difficult subjects, and there's just sooo much crap to remember. But I can tell what might trigger clouds, the different types of clouds, and global wind distribution.

This has lead up to my first set of exams; the so-called "week 9's". I'm happy to report that I passed them all, eight of them in total. I got an 86% average which is fairly respectable; the school considers 85% to be an indication that you're doing/coping well. There's some merit too in that I managed to achieve this with little more than a weekend of revision (interspersed with plenty of procrastination). But I'm not happy with it. I'm ashamed, because I know that if I had studied for just a week or so before, and put more effort into it, I could have gotten 100% (or there abouts) in all of them. Alas, I hope I've learnt my lesson. At least I have a free morning off this Monday and Tuesday while my classmates re-sit the exams they failed (I was one of three out of 15 who didn't fail any).

Perhaps I'll show my stuff when I get into the sky.

The first months and to a lesser extent the second where frequently punctuated with copious amounts of partying. The night-life here in Jerez leaves a lot to be desired, but it's very good as the Spanish certainly know how to party. The problem I guess is that the Spanish party late, very late. A club here will be practically empty before 3am, and it might just open at midnight or 1am. The Spanish like to party from 3am until the clubs close at around 7. That's after enjoying a few drinks at the local bars from around midnight till 3. It's a very fun night out I must say, but it takes a lot out of you; I don't know how the Spanish do it.

On the up side, there is a bar on campus, that closes at midnight on Friday and Saturday nights. And it's spectacularly cheap, compared to Jerez or anywhere for that matter. A pint of beer? €1.50 a can of coke? €0.60. It's not bad at all. So as of late I've decided to stay in and enjoy this luxury, but I fear soon I'll be required to go out again, if only to be social.

The rest of my social life has been taken up by Tennis. I took classes when I was little, around ten or so, but wasn't great at it. Now I started again, and played abysmally, I'm starting to hold my own. It's a lot of fun, and it's great that so many people here enjoy playing it. I always remember something my dad said to me: "Tennis and Golf are the most important sports you can play in the world. Learn one, or both." Sadly the rain has been getting us down lately, and it's not nice to play on flooded or even mildly moist courts. So I haven't played in a while.

So that's me so far. But what does the future hold?

Well medium term, I'd really like to fly with FlyBE. I have become quite endeared to their turbo-props and wouldn't snuff at an opportunity to fly them. Even better it seems like a magnificent airline, and a great chance to get lots of great experience in turbo-props (and bad-weather) whilst offering an opportunity to move on to Jets with their Embraer 195s. They also happen to have bases in Scotland (particularly Edinburgh) where I would really like to live, at least for the moment. I would seriously consider building a career with FlyBE; I believe a lot in their business model and attitudes towards staff. However I'd be lying if I said FlyBE was the dream.

The dream ever since the 4th of January 1994 has been to fly Long Haul with BA. The first time I stepped onto the magnificent 747 at the tender age of six, I knew this is what I wanted to do, (after already knowing I wanted to be a pilot, now I knew what kind of pilot). So I guess my long-term plan is to get a job at BA and fly long-haul for them. To be more specific, I'll consider my dream fulfiled the day I fly in the Captain's seat of a BA A380. The A380 bit I guess highlights the fact that dreams can change, but their essence remains.

In the Short term, I have to finish this course and get my licence! So what's in store for me in these next 52 weeks?

You got a small taste of what I'm doing at the moment, so the first step is to pass my exams in February. Know everything there is to know about Engines, Meteorology, Navigations, and Flight.
In Phase 2 I'll start learning about Air Law, Operational Proceedures, and much more. It's when the theory gets a little closer to the things I'll be doing every day I guess. But most of all I'll start flying! The time table will be split into: one day flying, one day ground school, etc. for a total of about 20 weeks. After 10 weeks of that I can expect another set of progress tests for the ground-school stuff (week 30's) and PT1 (Progress Test) for the flying side comes in whenever I'm ready (and roughly equates to a PPL). At the end of phase 2 I will take the official exams for the subjects I was taking in Ground School. Once I pass those, that'll mark the end of all the theory!
Around mid June is when I can expect Phase 2 to finish and Phase 3 to start. Phase 3 is just flying 6 or maybe even 7 days a week. It's very hard work, but also gives me a bit of a breather. I won't be flying more than 2 or 3 hrs a day, and won't necessarily be flying every day (there are many factors that influence this). So it should hopefully mean that I'll have a very nice summer, and I'll get onto the bad weather flying (Instrument Rating) around October/November when the bad weather actually starts. It also means that the ideal time for people to come visit is in the summer :) When most people can! (Hint hint!)

But for now, I just have Christmas to look forward to. I won't be spending it with my family, but rather with my best friends! I'll spend Christmas in Somerset with one of my best friends from childhood. And I'll jet off up to Scotland after that to spend New Year with my best friend! I can't wait! It promises to be an amazing and unforgettable holiday.

The End of the Begining

2010-09-16T16:11:00.000+01:00

Well I've finally made it here to Spain! I'm so nervous, and very excited!

Took me forever to get here. Left Wimbledon at 7:00am local and arrived at the Flight School at midnight local.

Here begins the last stage in becoming a pilot; it will mark the end of the first steps to an awesome life.

Here we go...

Mexico

2010-08-23T03:30:00.003+01:00

After a good 7 months away from home, my 5 weeks in Mexico finally arrived!

Needless to say I was really looking forward to coming home, I always do! Sadly there are always things in Mexico that always remind you of why you don't want to live here. The worst part is that I was greeted by one of those such things the moment I arrived!

I must be honest, I can be pretty ridiculous when it comes to certain things, and travelling here with three laptops might seem excessive to some, but it felt quite necessary to me. However, I didn't realise (because noone ever reads it) that in the customs declaration it says you're only allowed to bring in ONE laptop, netbook, or ultraportable device. And because all they care about here in Mexico is squeezing every penny out of you, they scan all your bags as you go through customs (EVERYONE'S!). So not only were my bags one of the last ones off the plane (typical) but also I had to pay VAT on the two additional laptops!! I was not at all happy.

These weeks have shot by so fast, that I can hardly recall what I've done!

My only travels in my 5 weeks here have been very quick, but very worth it. I travelled to a city called Guanajuato which is a fantastic place a few hours drive north of Mexico City. It's a very small city with only a few inhabitants and which relies much on tourism. Much of it is pedestrianised and it has an amazing road network built from old silver mines that run under the city for which it's quite famous. It's so impressive, and it is also famous for it's narrow alleyways through all the residential areas, much of which are only accessible through them!

I stayed in quite a mediocre hotel (it looked very tacky!) but at least it was very (VERY) clean, so much so that my parents didn't mind staying there, so it wasn't all bad. The local food is very good and the "Callejoneada" tour around the city at night is an absolute must!

The next day we set off for San Miguel de Allende, which to be completely honest I don't recommend much. It's a small town that doesn't really have much to see except a cathedral and a few very nice gardens. It's one of the most expensive residential areas in the whole of Mexico (which I found kinda weird). It's famed for it's furniture and decorations, all hand made, which are very expensive but very nice. It seems to cater a bit more for rich Mexican tourists, though it's not entirely unwelcoming to the rest. I can recommend a fantastic (moderately priced) restaurant close to the Cathedral if you ask nicely!

Further proof that there isn't that much to do in San Miguel, we didn't stay the night there. We quickly went off to Queretaro (a large city that is rapidly approaching 1 million inhabitants). We found this absolutely amazing hotel (top of the mid-range price) that was so nice! It was made from an old Hacienda (as all the best ones are) and the architecture looked very Mexican and authentic, with some nice modern touches in just the right places. The rooms were very luxurious for the price, and it was just such a fantastic place.

The city itself was charming; there has been a lot of recent investment and redevelopment by the government in it and it's ended up looking very nice. On the weekend a lot of streets are pedestrianised, and there are several plazas and gardens which are nice to sit in and just "people watch". The regional Museum is an absolute must. It's in a really nice ex-Hacienda (there are a lot of these around, but they're not all nice) and it has such a fascinating history dating back to the first arrival of the Spanish in the settlement. It was also where the Mexican Revolution was planned (1908) and started (1910) and so played a pivotal role in the shaping of modern Mexico (especially apt since Mexico celebrates it bicentenary of it's Independence and centenary of it's Revolution this year 2010).

It's these sorts of fascinating trips that remind me why I love Mexico.

Two more things of note, my cousin is an (hopefully) up and coming composer and co-wrote the score to a small Mexican-Argentine production called "Marea de Arena" set in Argentina. It's a really good film, slow to begin with but about half way (or maybe a little more) you're hit with something completely unexpected! And the film becomes like a tense chess game that's soon to end. I found myself to have enjoyed it quite a lot by the end, and I was impressed with the music.

And call me weird but I love cars, especially my cars. We've had an old 2002 VW Jetta for, well 8 years now. It's been such a good car, so faithful and reliable. So today we celebrated something special, it's 100,000 km. I don't quite know what to say about it, but I'm very emotional, I've had some really good times in that car, and can't wait for the next 100,000 ;)

PLANES!!!!

2010-07-18T22:40:00.002+01:00

Well today I spent the day at RAF Fairford where I visited the 2010 RIAT (Royal International Air Tattoo http://airtattoo.com/).

It was amazing! We began by walking through the static displays, checking out some cool transport/rescue helicopters like the Sea King and the Merlin. When suddenly, in between them, behind some marquees I spot an aeroplane tail... and it's none other than my favourite military plane the C17-Globemaster III. What a great start!

I was amazed by the quiteness of the C17, and it was nicely contrasted by the omnipresent roar of the Eurofighter Typhoon. The Typhoon had a brilliant display, being thrown about even more than if a giant kid had picked it up and started zooming it about!

I won't detail every display, but the only the ones that stood out to me. Like the B-52, which is unbelievably massive! And a RNZAF Boeing 757 transport plane that had one crazy pilot! This guy was throwing this massive plane around as if it was a fighter, and it just left you gob-smacked!

I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the F-22 Raptor... it was as if it had been taken straight out of a video-game. It looked so smooth and shiny, so futuristic, and flew very impressively, though only out-did the Typhoon in looks.

The beautiful Airbus A400M made it's worldwide air show début today and it didn't disappoint! It is a bit dinky, but very fast, very manoeuvrable, and very impressive! It even managed to land and stop within 1000ft, AMAZING!

The Vulcan was very impressive and managed to make an unbelievable amount of noise! Along with many Spitfires and Hurricanes.

The Red Arrows did a SPECTACULAR display at the end which was very well commentated over the tannoy and an absolute delight to watch. I think I spent the whole 30 minutes with my jaw on the ground!

The very last display was of the Eurofighter and the Spitfire to show the old and the new technology. A lovely way to end (though a bit of a dud compared to the Red Arrows!)

I will enjoy this amazing experience while the memories last (they're sadly fading fast!)

You Can't Always Get What You Want...

2010-06-30T03:12:00.000+01:00

… but if you try sometimes, you just might find... you get what you need!

Well it's game set and match for another chapter in my life; University is over and it's time to go on to bigger and better things, hopefully. There have been many ups and downs over the years, but I feel I can say with some confidence that the ups have definitely outnumbered all the downs and all in all I've had a great time.

I've dedicated the last four years of my life to achieving a Bachelors of Engineering in perhaps one of the hardest subjects possible. With many ups and downs, the time is finally over. Here's a summary of the last four years:

My first year was the first time I'd lived on my own 5500 miles away from my family. I remember thinking when I first came to University that I was OK with it and I was strong enough to shrug it off. Looking back I think I realise how much it actually affected me. I've come a long way from the shy boy that arrived at Southampton in 2006. I laugh when I look back at my feeble attempts at appearing confident and outgoing, I wasn't. And it took me two years to settle in to my new life.

Repeating a year always makes you feel stupid, especially when everyone else around you seems to cope fine with the work, but I have to say that repeating second year was probably the best thing that could have happened to me. I suddenly found myself in a very familiar setting, studying familiar material, and managed to gain a level of confidence I'd never reached before. I felt happy and confident enough to go out and meet new people, and I manage to land myself in the most awesome and friendly Martial Arts club I could ever have hoped for. Jiu Jitsu was vital in helping me keep my sanity at University and it helped me gain the weight I needed to not look like I was wasting away. The regular exercise made me fitter and happier, and the social aspect of the club helped me make a great group of friends and got me out of the house three times a week.

Third year (of the degree) was as amazing as I could have hoped. I had a great group for my Design Project and my Individual Project (dissertation to everyone else) was really interesting. I did some very interesting modules and re-enforced the friendships and confidence I had gained the year before. I met some great fresher’s this year who I'm sad to leave; this year has made University that fantastic place everyone seems to reminisce about, and I'm going to miss it a lot!

Another highlight of this year has been that I spent it in a fantastic relationship with the most amazing person I've ever met. I travelled a lot, finally finding a use for all those air-miles, and had some wonderful experiences I'll never forget. This past year has been practically perfect in every way.

My results at the end of this year haven't been as amazing as I had hoped, but they're good enough, and I now have a degree. I'm confident that had I dedicated myself entirely on my studies, I would have done a lot better, but I pride myself in being a well rounded person and so distributed my efforts evenly across all my activities. I am proud of what I have achieved and am thankful to everyone who was able to join me on my journey.

Now that this chapter is coming to a close (I suppose it's not over until the Graduation Ceremony) I am looking forward to what lies ahead. Come September I have the absolute luxury of going to an amazing Flight Training School in the south of Spain. I will finally embark on my destiny to become an airline pilot. Not many people have the benefits and good fortune to follow their dreams, and I feel I owe it to them to achieve mine. I have the opportunity to fulfil a long-life childhood dream of becoming a pilot and doing what I love for the rest of my life.

I can't wait!

CDO - That's OCD in the right order...

2010-06-07T00:19:00.002+01:00

I took part in a conversation today all about perfectionism and mannerisms. I'm not going to lie, a lot of people often say that I'm somewhat of a perfectionist. I like things to be tidy and clean. I'm not compulsive, but I do get fed up of mess quite quickly. There are also things that bother me greatly, and I occassionally find it quite upsetting when I see people doing things... well wrong. Most cases I think comes mainly down to people touching my things, and not touching them or taking care of them in the same way I would.

I mainly have this trouble with my brother and sister, and often find being at home quite... well upsetting. But I've learnt a lot really, and I know people don't do these things to spite me, or to hurt me. It just never occurs to them to do it my way because they're not me. I guess this just serves as telling you a little bit more about me, but the main reason for this post was amazement today at how a 40 to 50 year old woman is only just learning this, after decades of bickering and arguing with her husband and daughters.

I was contemplating not posting this, because well it was quite random and you didn't quite need to know. But there's a reason to my madness, and that was to flesh out this post a bit, and tell you that I managed to fiddle the dates on some posts so they match more or less the time I travelled to those locations. So my previous posts proclaiming I hadn't posted since November is no longer quite true. Scroll down to see if there's something you haven't read before :)

Land of clogs and stuff...

2010-06-04T01:14:00.003+01:00

Easter... a great time, mainly because I get 4 weeks off from Uni which is more than enough time to spend it leisurely trotting the globe. However, final year tends to put a damper on things.

I had planned to write my dissertation during these 4 weeks, well firstly finish the damn project and then write it up. To be honest, that did not go as well as I had planned, but it all worked out in the end.

The interesting part comes on Easter weekend, when I went for 4 days to Copenhagen. When I went around western Europe after finishing school Copenhagen was by far one of my favourite cities. It's so small and quaint, it's cosy and cute; it's a fantastic city all-round. I took* a special certain someone there, and we had a fantastic time. The hotel claimed to be 4 stars, and had the pictures to prove it, but the room left way too much to be desired.
Add to that the unforseen hiccup that in Denmark everybody get 5 days off for Easter... that's from the thrursday to Monday off. So almost everything, bar a few coffee shops and restaurants was shut for all but one or two of the days we were there. Needless to say that sucked epically. But we still managed to have a great time. I got in touch with some neighbours from my London days who now live in Copenhagen and they invited us for dinner. Their house was so small and fantastically Danish, I loved it, and the food was great as always.

For crimes against the Internet...

2010-05-20T02:00:00.002+01:00

November... That was my last blog post... November... I should be shot.

I'm not saying that I'm a bad person for not updating this blog; personally I think that this year it is perfectly justified... we'll see about next year.* But I kind of wanted this to be kept more or less up to date. But now, since that last post, I've been to Mexico and back, St Andrews a few (though not enough) times, and Copenhagen. Oh and I forgot about Spain! Needless to say there's much to be said! :P

I guess that I'll eventually write it, hopefully in a couple weeks or so, and maybe even adjust the time-stamps so that it's all in proper chronological order. Yeah, that sounds good.

Reason for not posting in December: Butt load of coursework; January: Exams; February, March, April: Dissertation; May: Exams. I think that's enough justification.

Thinking about it, even though I wanted to focus this blog on my many travels, I also want to say a few things on the recent Election, the Digital Economy Bill, the Economy, and the Internet, though for that mainly talk about Facebook.

So, that's enough for tonight at 2am... I'd say "back to revision" but who am I kidding. Anyway, lecture at 9 tomorrow so see ya!

Fly me to the moon...

2010-02-04T00:58:00.001Z

OK, so Exams are over, for the moment, and it's time to take a jump into the unknown and take a trip to Spain!

But first, St Andrews, again. I LOVE visiting St Andrews, it's such a nice town and I'm insanely jealous of everyone who goes to Uni there. And of course, there are people there I wish I could see a hell of a lot more often. Quite a few friends of mine from school ended up going there and it's funny bumping into them in the Students Union. But people I've met more recently have made it a very fun place to visit. But of course, I'd be lying if I didn't say that my main reason for going there is to visit a certain someone. I LOVE them and I love visiting them. I guess my experiences there are quite/very personal, but I recommend the town to people thinking about Unis and people looking for a nice Scottish sea-side town.

I went to a Ball there and had such a great time. I love dressing up for Balls, and having such fantastic company makes it all that much more amazing.

I was required to go to flight school in Spain in order to take some tests and have an interview to get into the school. It was set to be quite an adventure, and I managed to convince someone special to accompany me there. Whilst the room left plenty to be desired, it had enough, except heating, so it was quite cold.

The weather was very nice compared to England. The temperature still demanded a good jacket but it wasn't that cold, a very welcome improvement on England. The downside however was that in Spain most buildings are designed to be very cool, so that they're habitable in the summer, but tend to be bloody freezing in the winter, particularly at night. So the two nights we spent there were by no means warm.

The tests went quite well, I think I did above average which is good, but the interview went even better and I really feel I made a lasting impression. I think I'll need a lot of help training for proper job interviews, but I think I've got everything else I need to excel!

The one and only downside to this place (so far) is the fact that it's bloody difficult to get to! The quickest, most direct route from the UK is from London Stansted on Ryanair, which to be honest, I think I'd rather herpes. The only other option is Heathrow-Madrid-Jerez on Iberia. I flew Ryanair the first time, but from now on I'll take the latter option. I think the price is worth paying.

Mexico & Holbox

2010-01-03T00:39:00.001Z

Christmas is always a fun time time in Mexico, there is so much colour everywhere, and the lights and decorations, with Santas and Reindeer left right and centre. It's a fun time.

However, the fact that I "only" get three weeks off for Christmas and that I have a large family means that I (and everyone else) is constantly busy. There is so much to do and so many people to see that it is so hectic all the time. I love seeing everyone, but I hate not having any time to myself, or at least any time to relax or take things slowly. But Christmas is Christmas, and it's not going to change any time soon.

New Years however is a different matter. Starting Uni on the 3rd of January means that on the 26th of December there is a mad rush to go on holiday somewhere to celebrate New Years. There seems to be a bit of a tradition to spend New Years on/near the beach, or at least near water (have spent a few near a lake). This year we dispensed with the usual Acapulco and went East to the Yucatan Peninsula.

I spent a couple of days in the city of Merida, the capital of Yucatan state in Mexico. It's absolutely fascinating all the culture and heritage there is incredible. Yucatan had a large population of Mayan people, and there are loads of ancient towns and cities dotted with pyramids and ruins. I love seeing all that stuff and while it does boil up a certain anger at the Spanish who came here and obliterated the culture left right and centre, it's nice to see that at least some of it remains. Hopefully we can avoid such a mass extinction again.

One more thing about Yucatan is that it is made of porous rock, so there are no rivers or lakes on the surface but it has many deep underground. The area is famous for its underground lakes which are connected by very slow moving flows that literally travel through the rock! It was nice to be able to go swimming in one of these lakes that had only recently been discovered and so hadn't experienced much human contact. Much like seeing a nature show on TV and wanting to visit, if everyone got to visit there it would be ruined. I'm all for sustainable eco-tourism, but what really does destruction is the sheer volume of people.

I spent New Year on an island just off the Yucatan peninsula (near Cancún for those that don't know). The island has a funny name, Holbox, which is pronounced Hol'-bosh... which sounds rather snobby... but is just another way to pronounce the letter "x" apparently. The island has some very peculiar characteristics. The only way to get there is by boat (or very very small plane) and there are no cars on the island! Well to be honest the Police have some bitching pick-ups but everyone else moves around on golf-buggies! I'm serious, imagine miniaturising a town, where everyone moves around on golf-buggies like they were cars. I thought it was quite a surreal experience.

We stayed at this absolutely amazing boutique hotel called "Las Nubes de Holbox" (The Clouds of Holbox). It had a spectacular view, and the rooms were beyond amazing. The hotel sells not just really nice facitlities but also service. This was lacking somewhat, not from effort, but from experience. It was clear this was a new venture and the staff lacked the experience with dealing with guests. But all in all it was a fantastic experience, and I shall treasure it for a long time.

Sitting at the Dock...

2009-11-14T15:49:00.002Z

... of Southampton

OK, so I live in Southampton, so this doesn't really count as me going away, but last weekend someone came to visit me and it was magical.

I picked them up from the airport early last Saturday and we took the bus to my house, quickly catching up on some lost time. We then went for a day out in Southampton City Centre and had a great time shopping and wondering around hand in hand. We spent about half an hour having coffee and lunch in the Starbucks inside Borders and proceeded to wonder around the shop. In the end we spent about two hours wondering around Borders before finally deciding to move on to other stores. We had planned to go to IKEA at some point during the visit, but I refused to go during the weekend as everyone knows IKEA on a weekend is just short of a death-wish. We briefly visited the Apple Store, Curry's Digital and John Lewis. We spent quite a while in Primark and eventually decided to go home to dump the shopping and come back into the city to go out for dinner. On our way home we popped in to Whittard's and spent about forever in there; we found a few teas and hot chocolates we wanted to buy and they were on offer 3 for £12. We spent so long trying various different ones and eventually settled on some Aztec Chilli Hot Chocolate which was awesome, some Turkish Apple Tea, and some Mango and Passion Fruit tea which were both fantastic!

That evening we ate at Frankie & Benny's, we originally went to T.G.I. Friday's but there was a half hour wait for a table. I couldn't help myself and went for the burger which was great! It was quite a romantic dinner and I think we both thoroughly enjoyed it. The next day, Sunday, we didn't get up to much, we got up quite late and had to go shopping for food in order to cook dinner, but as fate would have it we arrived at the Supermarket just as it was shutting and so couldn't buy anything. That night we were meeting my friends at the pub so I decided to just eat at the pub a little before they got there. The night with my friends didn't go exactly to plan, but it went quite well. And my friends all remarked that they thought I had made a great choice, a good catch if you will, despite their shyness/quietness.

Monday was spent mostly at home; I had a couple lectures and a meeting to go to but it was nice to have someone to come home to for a change. I had intended to take them to meet my Jiu Jitsu friends that evening, but we got a bit carried away and started cooking dinner very late, so I decided not to go and just stay in. We had a few nibbles followed by a fantastic salad of my own creation with a dressing from Mexico that tastes of amazing-ness (an actual taste you know!) and then a brilliant Spaghetti Bolognese cooked by yours truly with some creative input from my guest. It was so good and I learnt a few cooking tips and tricks which was good!

Tuesday was our last day together, and I spent the first half of it writing an essay that ended up being several days late anyway. Then the plan was to go into town and have dinner in IKEA, but by the time we'd both showered and gotten dressed, it had gotten a little too late. I had bought tickets to the Laughter Lounge, a fortnightly comedy club at my student's union, and they usually sell food there so we had little choice but to eat there. Sadly when we got there I found out that they no longer did food like they used to, no more hot dogs and burgers, just nachos and chicken wings. We ended up having two combo-platters which were quite good, but the onion rings and garlic mushrooms weren't very good for kissing if you know what I mean. The comedy night was really good, with a nice MC and ever improving acts. We bumped into two of my Jiu Jitsu friends and their house-mates so at least they met SOME of my Jitsu friends. Afterwards we went home, finished packing and enjoyed our last night together.

Then on Wednesday morning at approximately 0530 I drove them to the airport where after check-in we spent our last half hour together having coffee. They remarked just as I was about to leave and they were about to go through security that this was the first time we would part knowing exactly when we would meet next! Needless to say I can't wait for these next 14 days to pass.

I won't relate to you our exploits in the bedroom because one is not supposed to kiss and tell and I don't quite want to go parading it across the internet (even though I practically have on some other websites), just know that they were great!

Camels and Straws

2009-10-27T17:48:00.002Z

Shrug...

A little upset today... I hate how I'm such a strong person 9/10 times but then just that once, I'm crushed.

Well something happened that annoyed me today. But perhaps I need to backtrack a little... Here at Uni I have 4 best friends. 1 of them is in the year above and so I rarely see her. The other three live in the same house, so whilst they don't do it on purpose they often do things spur of the moment and forget to include me.

I had kind of organised/proposed that we go to IKEA this evening for £1 meatballs for dinner. Two agreed it was a good idea and would propose it to the third, the one with the car.

So I called a little earlier to see if we were still on with the plan, and they tell me they can't be bothered to go into town *again*. I asked what he meant by "again" and he said they'd just been down to go buy a football, some boots and a pump, and also go to Primark. All these things are right next to IKEA and we could easily have rescheduled for half an hour or an hour earlier (when they went down) but instead just went without me and now don't want to go again.

I hate to sound so damn pathetic/dramatic but I hate being excluded, on purpose or not. And now I have to put on a brave/happy face and go with them to the comedy night. Bleahhh,.....

A holiday amongst the stars

2009-10-15T17:41:00.004+01:00

Well it's Thursday, which means I have taken way too long to write this post!

My life has once again taken me to a far away land. Last Friday was the birthday of the most special person in the world; they are my life, and I wouldn't have missed it for the world!

The tragedy of this story is that this person lives 550 miles away from me! I've found that it's an 8 or 9 hour trip no matter which way you look at it! But I did the trip gladly, I'm only sad I can't do it more often!

I took the first bus/coach of the day from Southampton to Heathrow, leaving at 6:30am! It was an easy enough trip as I slept most of the way, but it was the first of many stages. I checked in at BMI's new premium check-in section, which was very nice, and the lady was very helpful. I should have gone to the Duty Free and bought a bottle of Champagne or something, but I just went straight to the BMI Business Lounge which was right next to my gate. I was travelling Business, or Premium or whatever they call it now-a-days. It was great, it's THE way to travel in my opinion. And with the free Wifi I managed to post a DailyBooth while I was in there. Finally arriving at Edinburgh I took the bus into the city centre which was very nice, or it would have been had it not been for all the road/renovation/restoration/improvement works that were going on. It was a giant building site. I then bought a ticket to Leuchars, and had to wait 20 or so minutes for my train. Then it was a short bus journey from Leuchars to St Andrew's.

Arriving at St Andrew's I began walking towards the town centre and I hadn't gone more than five paces when I saw the most beautiful sight in the whole world, waiting for me at the street corner. I ran up to him and hugged him, perhaps a bit too hard, and gave him a small peck on the cheek. I walked with him to his lecture, so I could at least see a little part of the university, and left him to do Spanish while I went for a wonder.

The rest I'll leave to the imagination, mostly. It was his birthday so we went for dinner first, then a flat party in his halls, followed by a night out at the Student's Union! The dancing was great, and got a bit frisky by the end of it (thanks to the Alcohol).

The next couple of days we spent together, on Saturday he cooked for me, and that was fantastic! And on Sunday we ate out for lunch before I tragically had to leave for home :(

To sum up, I had the best weekend of my life! And I can't wait for it to happen again! :)

Uno, dos, tres...

2009-09-18T23:49:00.002+01:00

Recently, for my DailyBooth I was asked to give five facts about myself, now usually I find it really difficult to think of these things but once I got the ball rolling, I couldn't stop! Which unfortunately lead to me writing a hell of a lot!
So I thought I'd share these 5 facts with you! Here they are:

1) I like making new friends, and to be honest I make them pretty damn fast, if the person is nice and open :) But regardless of how quickly I make them, my friends mean everything to me and when I make a friend, they're a friend for life! Unless the wrong me, but even then I'm quite forgiving and I believe most people are good and so deserve second chances. If I ever call you a Best Friend, then you know that I will always be there for you no matter what!

2) When I was little I was super shy and very insecure, I was bullied at times and to overcome it I became a bully for a while. All to deal with my insecurity and longing for social acceptance. Then (thankfully) one day I decided I didn't like myself like that, so decided to change and become more confident and just be myself, let people decide if they like me or not for who I am, not for who they want me to be. This is mostly me jumping into things biting the bullet as it were, which helps me confront my insecurity head on, but I must admit that insecurities are often still there. One just tries to overcome them!

3) I LOVE to help! I have never felt helpless and think I have lots of people to turn to when I'm in trouble. So I despair when I see someone in need, I love to help people! I feel I have already experienced a lot in my (so far) short life and so I can relate to lots of different situations, and I love giving advice. It's something I do automatically and without thinking, which considering I don't always articulate my thoughts well, I tend to blabber a lot sometimes which in the end doesn't prove as useful. But I do seem to give a lot of advice.

4) I have been gifted with great friends and a great family. And that family, namely my parents, has allowed me to travel a lot in my life. I Love travelling, I have visited most of Western Europe and both East and West US Coasts. I've been on safari to Africa, and to the beach in Dubai. I've had it good. And I love travelling so much, that when I saw my first plane
ever I knew right then and there that my destiny was in Flying. I'm currently studying Aerospace Engineering (Rocket and Plane Science) and next year I hope to go to Pilot school to become the most bad-ass commercial pilot ever! I love flying so much!

5) I couldn't decide what to write for my fifth fact. Perhaps my Love of Stargate (I've seen it ALL!); or CSI; or NCIS (I LOVE Gibbs!!). Or perhaps that I'm good in bed, or that I can't talk about myself easily. But I think I'll finish it off with the fact that I shamelessly can't help myself blabber my mouth off when asked to explain something about myself even though I consider it impossible to talk about me!
Or my indecisiveness? :P

Now you know a little bit more about me!

London Baby!

2009-09-15T18:45:00.003+01:00

So after some nothingness in London I decided it was time to return to Southampton.
Turns out I returned to nothingness there too! So after a week of gauge-out-your-eyes boredom I got that "London's Calling" feeling and decided to return to the homeland.

On Thursday the 10th it was a lovely sunny day, so I decided to spend it in Central London. I bought a return ticket to Waterloo (£2.70) and walked from there. I went via Westminster and Downing Street towards Trafalgar Square. From there I continued on to the Bond Street and then Oxford Street. I went along Oxford Street (popping into the Apple store in Regents Street briefly) and carried on until Tottenham Court Road. I made my way down to Covent Garden having done a sufficiently large loop, and looking on the map finally realised how close Covent Garden is to Waterloo. The trip took me three hours, which included some dilly dallying in a couple of shops. My main aim was to learn lots of new routes for when I'm in London.
That evening I had a long over-due reunion with my good friend Ben, from back in my St John's days. He very kindly offered to meet me in Wimbledon and we went to the Village for some drinks. We hit the Fire Stables, a fantastic 'gastro-pub' off the High Street. We got through two rounds there, over an hour of chatting and catching up. It's great when you have such a good friend that literally years can go by without you seeing each other, but once you meet, you just pick up where you left off as if only a weekend had passed.
After a couple rounds of drinks we were starting to get a little tipsy and hunger was setting in. So we made our way to Strada which is a fantastic Italian restaurant on the Wimbledon Village High Street. I ate a fantastic pizza called "Speck" which has lots of mozzarella, Italian ham, and rocket. It was a very good night and we managed to chat a lot about lots of stuff.
I fear I'm using the word "stuff" or "things" too much, but that is in truth the best way to describe it, also I don't exactly remember the details of the conversations, though obviously a lot had to do with our friends from school or how and what we were doing now at university.
We had desert and paid the bill, it was a very good meal and we were positively full by end of it. We decided that since the conversation was good we'd continue at a pub that is the favourite of one of our mutual friends Mike. It's called the Rose & Crown and is just off Wimbledon Common. The conversation carried on and finished on a high I think, including some great revelations!
Friday was pretty unpleasant weather so I didn't get up to much but Saturday was a beautiful day again, and rather late in the day I decided to finally satisfy my dinosaur cravings that I'd been having and go to the Natural History Museum. I again got a return into London (this time getting off at Vauxhall) and walked from there. I walked past the SIS building, and through Belgrave Square (where a lot of Embassies in London are located) and up to Knightsbridge, then on to South Kensington.
I Loved the Natural History museum, and I saw almost all of it's exhibitions! Except the Creepy Crawlies because, well they're called Creepy for a reason!!
It was fantastic, and the pictures can be seen on here:

On Sunday I saw Ben again, and I caught up with a huge bunch of other people I used to hang out with. We took part in a pub quiz and generally had a great time. I spent the night at Ben's house, in his spare room at the end of the garden. It was great, and his house is very nice (quite different from the last time I went!)
And so Monday and Tuesday so far haven't been very busy, I've just been relaxing from all this excitement! Now I'm pondering when to go back to Southampton, it's Boat Show time and I think I really need to go!!

Strolling

2009-09-08T22:48:00.005+01:00

After quite some time of rather dreary weather today was finally a nice day, and as a pure coincidence I decided it was time to get out of the house, after all it's just not healthy to be indoors for so long!

I plugged my iPod and set off; I like to walk into town, it gives me an oportuinity to listen to my iPod and reflect on life, love, 'cos maybe all it takes is a little understanding... plus, the difference between walking is 10 maybe 15 minutes and £1.50 which suffice to say, isn't really worth it.
I went to Waitrose to take advantage of their Ecover product offer, which ended today, and so I got lots of cleaning products that are nice to the environment, yay me! On my trip to Waitrose however I realised that the day was in fact a lot nicer than I had thought, and jeans were a bad idea. So I came home to drop off my pollution-busting purchaces and quickly donned some shorts. They're brand new shorts that are quite tight, so I couldn't fill the pockets as I usually do, but worst of all they're Orange! Now I like orange, but I couldn't think what colour shirt would go with it, so I stuck with the pale/pastel pink Lacoste Polo I was wearing. It seems alright at the time, but upon further reflection, perhaps not; what do you think?

Well I set off into town, shorts on, iPod plugged in, and bag over my shoulder. I took my favourite white hoody because you never know how or when the weather's going to change! I was cornered by a guy from this charity that helps people all over the world feeding the hungry and stuff and he managed to bleed £12 a Quarter from me. I'll probably pay once and then cancel the Direct Debit. I love to give, but I can't support 3 charities at once! Two is already taxing, I may have to drop them too.
I arrived at IKEA (where else?!) and promptly got a cup of coffee. I sat in the caffeteria for a while, enjoying my coffee and my Harry Potter book (which is in Spanish). After finishing my coffee I strolled around the shop and showed exceptional restraint in only buying stuff I needed! (mostly). I went back for a stroll around town, and was starting to get very hungry. I walked into McDonalds, but promptly walked out; I decided that I was going to go for something cheap and (kind of) healthy, and the best place for that is IKEA! I had their meatballs with fries and gravy (ok not very healthy but got to be better than a Quarter Pounder!), an apple, a bread roll, and a tea, all for £1!!! (AKA super cheap!)

Now I'm excited about returning to London, I've decided I'm getting up early, and going to go touristing around for a bit. All on foot! (almost, just to save on the travelcard!)

On which note I'll wrap this up, don't want to bore you!

One last thing though! When I got home, I had to put the bins out (for tomorrow's collection) and I found this massive spider had tied it's web to one of the bins. I felt bad having to destroy it :(

Ok, it was two last things (and this is becoming very long!) but I was saddend to see that broken sun flower is broken :(

Home is where the heart is...

2009-09-06T14:21:00.003+01:00

Well I've just spent another lonesome week in Southampton, and I'm likely to be here for a while longer.

Why am I here? None of my friends are here, no-one I know is in Southampton and I haven't left my house in days!

I guess it's because this place is home now, I have my bed here, my computer, and all my stuff, here. Everybody else is at home, with their parents and the rest of their family, seeing their old friends from school. But I am not. My parents moving to Mexico put a damper on things, it's not like I can go and see them often or anything. And even if they were still here I lived miles away from all my friends and half of them are now scattered across the world so it's not like I'd be a lot less lonely.

It's very clear to me that I need to get out of here... but where do I go? Summer's not nice when you rather be somewhere else.

But I guess September came along fast, and since I do have quite a lot to do it'll probably go quite fast and before you know it Uni will have started and I'll be having the time of my life!

Because you Live, Je t' ecris...

2009-09-06T14:04:00.003+01:00

"Es dificil en tan solo unas palabras, poder describir lo especial que has llegado a ser en mi vida;

pero lo que si quiero es agradecerte por todos los gratos momentos que hemos compartido y en los que has traído tanta felicidad a mi corazón.

Definitivamente el compartir contigo, ha sido una gran bendición del cielo."

To save you time, I provide the translation bellow:

"It's difficult in so few words, to be able to describe how special you've become in my life; but what I do want is to thank you for all the fond moments we've shared and in which you have brought so much happiness to my heart.

Definitely the sharing with you, has been a great blessing from heaven."

Sense & Sensibility & STFU!

2009-09-02T22:14:00.003+01:00

I was debating whether to delve into the usually controversial and problem-causing waters of politics and current affairs, but there are some things that are really grinding my gears at the moment!

Naturally, as with most of the world's problems, the USA has something to do with it or is involved somehow.

First of all I feel compelled to defend the NHS. It, like any other system, has it's flaws, big ones, but in principle it is a brilliant idea and if it managed to get its act together it is what every other country should aspire to have. They may have long waiting lists, but health is a human right, and the state should care about its population and provide them with the health care they need, period. The US's system doesn't work, is biased, and helps too few people. Change is a vital part of life, the Democrats promised it, so they should now deliver, the Republicans need to get a grip and stop dragging their heels, change can be good! and it's what the world needs now.

Secondly, Abdelbaset Ali Mohamed Al Megrahi, known as the Lockerbie Bomber and recently released from prison on compassionate grounds. The world is up in arms about it, the US is pissed off, Libya is having a party, and London is brown-nosing everyone. Now I don't claim to be incredibly knowledgeable about this topic but I'd say I'm just above average.

The only crime here is the way the Libyans treated Al Megrahi on his arrival, as a hero! A hero of what?! Seriously what are they trying to say? He's a hero because he killed 270 people? He's a hero because he beat the justice system? He's a hero because he's innocent? I just don't see how in any way he can be labelled a hero. Libya what the hell are you doing?!

Scotland, I can totally see what you were thinking. Here's a guy, who about 10 years after the attack you managed to convict of the bombing. It took you 10 years to put together some pretty shaky evidence, and I think you knew that if it went to appeal or was re-tried it probably wouldn't stand up that well. He's also an old man, who's dying of cancer none the less, and who's served 8.5 years in prison. Now 1 year in prison is no pic-nic, let alone 8, and did I mention he has cancer, which isn't one of those die quietly in your sleep / no pain kind of diseases, so he hasn't had it easy. So three months before he's supposed to die, you let him out, I think that shows some compassion, which is what you were aiming for, well done!

London, Westminster, the UK government, whatever you want to call yourselves, seriously, what are you playing at?! First of all the USA used to be your BFF, since WWII none the less!! Be nice! put your arm around it's shoulder and comfort when it needs it! Obama is the new C in C, and he's a no nonsense kind of guy, you can't sweet talk him like you did ol' Dubya, he's not a politician he's a human, who needs to be talked to like one! They are certainly a better friend than a North African dictatorship!! You seriously need to stop brown-nosing Muslim ass. I think relations with North Africa and the Middle East are important, and we need to accept them as they are, confrontation solves little, but neither does submission!! You shouldn't be playing with them whilst turning a blind eye to their faults! And if it was for Oil then "ashamed" doesn't begin to cover what I feel. You should start acting like the Superpower that you are, but you also have to work to earn that status! Gordon, I feel so sorry for you, but you should really get out. I may even just about be willing to agree that you were one of the best candidates to get us out of the recession, but you fail at every other aspect, and a PM needs to be an all-rounder, and you're not, so go, please, for both our sakes. David, I have to admit, you've got the personality, you're engaging and charismatic. But I'm convinced you have no spine, you aren't clear about your aims, you aren't decisive nor progressive. I have to admit, you are going to suck as a PM, it's just not for you, go do PR for a company or something, just not PM please!

As for my American friends, you have plenty of problems to deal with, get over the Lockerbie thing, seriously. Tragedies happen but we all have to move on! You're a young nation and still have that revolutionary thirst for blood, the more civilised nations over here are kind of over it, you should really get started on that road! We're not going to kill Al Megrahi for some sort of crappy revenge. You shouldn't be criticising Scotland but Libya, and maybe a slap on the wrist to London, but forgive them, and take us back! We still want to be BFFs!

SW19 to those in the know

2009-08-31T12:11:00.002+01:00

What to say? What to do?!

Well after my brief trip to Sommerset I went home to Southampton... and it was a good week. It's nice to be at home and once again have my command centre at my disposal!
I spent the whole week watching season 8 - 10 of Stargate SG-1 as well as The Ark of Truth movie, and a few CSI season 9 episodes. Basically lots of TV :P lots of sitting around and lots of doing nothing. Well, I say nothing, I always ended up spending a lot of time on MSN talking to certain people ;) and twitter and DailyBooth take up their fair amounts of time.

I planned on leaving for London on Wednesday, to arrive at the same time as my friend Fausto was returning from Salt Lake... but Wednesday was rainy and I don't like rainy, so I was waiting for it to stop so I could make it to the train station all dry and all. Alas it didn't, so the revised plan was to leave on Thursday morning, getting there ASAP.

As fate would have it, on Thursday morning one of my best friends calls me and asks if I'm in Southampton, I concede that I am and invite him over for tea. We had lots of tea and a very good chin-wag! It was good to catch up, tell eachother all about our holidays and what we were up to until Uni starts in October. Eventually he got in touch with one of his housemates so they could let him in! So he went to move in and I went to have a shower and get ready, finish packing and left the house!

On my way out, as I was walking into town I get a call from another best friend asking the same thing, if I was in Southampton. I told her yes, and offered to go to IKEA for coffee. We met up in town and made our way to IKEA for a bit of shopping and of course Coffee (free :D).
I finally made it to SW19 just in time for dinner, so I didn't get to see my friends until Friday.

Turns out not to have been to bad, I went to Kingston to meet up with them and we had lots of coffee and we walked in and out of Waterstones and Borders. But it ended up being quite boring, my friend Alex was broke so he couldn't do anything. So I've spent the rest of the weekend with my surrogate family here in SW19 and have been maxing relaxing (and talking to a special someone on MSN).

So yeah, like a lot of other people's lives, a little boring! :P

Where dragons rest

2009-08-25T01:56:00.003+01:00

The day my parents left for Mexico, on Monday the 17th, which just so happens to be a my cousin's birthday (well one of them :p) I left for Somerset. Final destination: East Horrington (near Wells) via Bristol Temple Meads.

One of my best friends, with whom I went to primary school, well I know his family really well, and Tuesday the 18th was his little sister's 18th birthday! So having come back to England sooner than expected I was invited to attend the celebrations. I did what I could to help out with the preparations, though to their credit (as can be expected) everything was already sorted. The party was on Tuesday evening and it went rather well! I helped man the door as it was strictly invitation only, but thankfully we had no gate-crashers! It was held in the function room of a small hotel near Wells's High Street. The food was good, the music was... alright, and the company was great. I had a wonderful time!

On Wednesday I went up Glastonbury Torr, and on Thursday went to Tarr Steps and Exmor... I tweeted all about it :p Even though not much happened. It was a very relaxing holiday and I had a fantastic time.

I left on the Friday in the middle of the afternoon, which was good I think, having spent 5 days I didn't feel I had over-stayed my welcome, but I didn't quite feel compelled to stay longer, so it would seem it was just right :)

I'm sad that now my tweets come out of my monthly text message allowance :( but oh well, it was going to happen SOME day...

A little bit of Sol

2009-08-24T01:45:00.002+01:00

So, family trip... stressful, very stressful, but I do enjoy them I have to admit.

My sister is studying Hospitality at Les Roches in Switzerland, and this summer is on placement at the Ritz Carlton in Marbella. It's a very nice hotel and she's having too much fun there I think :p

The family trip was organised to go visit her, and she took a couple of days off and spent them with us.
We also have some friends who have an apartment there and a speed boat!

I must say we didn't get up to much. The holiday consisted of driving to one town, eating and drinking... going to the beach and sunbathing... went on the boat once, and then more eating out.

Just as holidays should be :)

It was a little stressful with the going to and fro to different places and stuff and trying to co-ordinate several people's schedules... but all in all a good time.
And I finally got a semi decent tan... but out of the 5 days I only sun bathed on three of them, so I felt that I could have done with a bit more... but I think that's me done until Christmas :(

It was also good to see my Sister again, and I spent a lot of time with my parents which was nice(ish) as they weren't working for once :p

My parents, my brother, and I returned to England and met up with some old family friends. I had a great time catching up with them all, and Sunday dinner at a friend's house was fantastic!! Will have to go back there more often :p

An abrupt end, and Lufthansa

2009-08-23T20:26:00.000+01:00

While I was going loco down in Acapulco (thanks Tom Jones :) ) in a phone call with my mum an interesting proposal was put on the table.

I was offered to return to Europe almost a month earlier than planned, and to join my family in a holiday to Marbella in Spain. It took a lot of considering to come to a decision.

I didn't quite want to return because I had spent the first month paying way too much attention to my Mum's side of the family, and not much to my dad's. And considering that on my dad's side are the cousins I get on with best, I felt I was missing out on a lot!

On the flip side, I was really far away from someone I care about a lot, and thought I should jump on the oportunity to reduce the distance by 90%... I still wouldn't be with them, but I was convinced that being closer, or at least in the same time zone would make me feel a lot better.

I asked just about everyone and received a fairly consistent message of "GO!" so I did.

I changed my ticket to a few days after the rest of my family were leaving, so I could have a little extra time to see my cousins and then I jetted off back to civilization.

I flew Lufthansa which I will take this oportunity to say is AMAZING :) The food is great, and the blanket and pillow (in Economy) were fantastic. It was a feather pillow!! (with a plastic case for the alergic people) and a cotton cover!! And the blanket was very warm. The service was great, the only down side to it all being lack of individual IFE system :( but small price to pay I think!

Acapulco

2009-08-22T20:18:00.000+01:00

Don't panic, my last post was long...

and this one will be brief... maybe... I'm not good at brief

There's only so many lines I can fill yammering on and on about how I sat around all day watching TV, sunbathing and reading!

I was devistated that my trip to Mexico wasn't going to include even a short trip to Acapulco for some much needed sunbathing! Thankfully my aunt called me up and asked if I would join her and my cousins on their trip to Acapulco. So the weekend after Oaxaca (again with the weekend) I set off for Acapulco!

Not much to say. I met my cousin's boyfriend which was interesting. He's really nice, shame he's a bit ugly, but then I can't really talk can I?!

Food was great, though unfortunately there seemed to be a bit of a bug going around Acapulco because four of us fell rather ill (myself included). It wasn't Swine Flu before you start! :p but yeah, that put a damper on things.

Mind you, ill or not, 5 days in Acapulco ill or not, was much needed.

My only complaint is that I got a bit lonely, despite having my cousins around. I guess it was the lounging about, but I had hoped that I'd take a certain someone to Mexico and Acapulco would be one of the main pit-stops where we could lounge about together. So that depressed me a little. BUT swings in roundabouts...

Polo Polo & Oaxaca

2009-08-21T02:19:00.000+01:00

So, like most people it seems that travel often falls on weekends... and everybody knows the weekend starts on Friday, or sometimes even Thursday, but sadly must end on Sunday :(

So after Tequisquiapan, from which we returned on the Sunday morning in order to make it in time for Tea at grandma's, the week was fairly uneventful, but plans had taken shape for the weekend :)

On Thursday my cousin took me to go see a stand up comedian called Polo Polo. He's Mexican, old, bald, but funny as hell!! My cousin had promised to take me since I was sixteen! five long years ago. Alas this comedian is also an alcoholic (or if he isn't you wouldn't be able to tell) and so all his shows are done in fairly small bars that have a drink minimum... naturally I had to be eighteen before I could go. Crazily enough my 18th came and went and it wasn't until this summer that he finally got round to taking me. It was hillarious, I had such a brilliant night, and discovered that I actually quite like Jack Daniels!

Early on Friday morning my mum and I left for Oaxaca (at like 6:40am) to catch up with my aunts and uncles (who had left on Thursday) to go sight-seeing for the weekend. We stayed in a super-cool boutique-y hotel in Oaxaca city center. We rendevoused at a place called Monte Alban where there used to be a massive Aztec city... with plenty of cool pyramids and temples and stuff.

After Monte Alban we went for lunch at this increadible restaurant known as (though not actually called) the 100 dish buffet. Basically it's all you can eat, massive buffet with loads and loads of different dishes... I didn't quite count 100 but it looked like it could have been! So we totally pigged out and were pretty pooped. There was an awesome plane in the garden, a very old one (I'm not good with the old model numbers and stuff, so forgive me). Basically it was almost like heaven :p

That evening we went around the central Square and went to a couple bars, which was fun... basically lots of talk...

The next day we hired a tour that took us to five pretty awesome places. Firstly was the "Tule" tree, named after the Tule plants that grow around it... It's a massive tree who's age is estimated at 2-4000 years old (they're only certain it's older than 2000). It's not that tall, but even it's 42m height is quite a lot (twice as tall as the church next to it). It has a 58m circumference and is as deep as it is tall... and weighs 636,107 tons!! It's big.

Then we were taken to Mitla, which was a place built by a race previous to the Aztecs that were dying out, and this was to be their final resting place. There are no huge pyramids or things like that, just some tombes and a small palace. But the remarkable thing is that it's still there (in an earthquake prone zone) and its ancient pain is still on many of the walls!! It's super cool and pretty :p

We were then taken to lunch which was followed by a demonstration of how the locals make Mezcal which was a pretty sacred drink of the Aztecs but now anybody who wants to get wasted fast drinks it. Its made from the more spikey looking cactus (there are lots of diferent types...) and tastes similar to tequila, but is not the same. Not a fan I have to admit.

Then came Hiervel Agua, which comes from the Spanish meaning "boiling water". It's a spring, at the top of a cliff where water comes out (duh)... but this water is very high in salts and minerals, and as it falls down the side of the cliff (very slowly, like a small trickle) it evaporates in the sun leaving the salts and minerals behind. Over millenia, this had formed some giant white structures (of salt etc.) that look a lot like water falls, made of rock in essense... so they're knon as the frozen waterfalls... because that's what they look like... an utterly amazing sight!

Finally we stopped of at a town known for making some stunning carpets, all hand woven and hand coloured. All the colouring is done naturally from plant, bug and seed extracts... I won't go into the details of the colours but they can make literally any colour just by mixing the right ingredients... and just about any pattern, it's crazy how amazing these people are. Respect.

That's the major Oaxaca stuff, and I highly recommend going there if you get the chance! It's a fantastic place!

Tequisquiapan

2009-08-16T20:48:00.000+01:00

So I while in Mexico I went to Tequisquiapan. It's a small town in the state of Queretaro, about an hour and a half's drive from Mexico City.

My uncle (from mother's side) married a very nice lady quite a few years ago, well she's awesome, one of my favourite aunts and her parents have a house in Tequisquiapan. So she asked to borrow it and organised a BBQ type thing for my mums family, but extended family was invited, so my mum's cousins and their children came!

Not everyone was able to turn up but we managed around 35 people!! This was awesome because this is a frequent thing on my dad's side, but a new idea on my mum's. (however on my dad's side we pull in around 150+ people...) This was a fairly uneventful weekend but it was very pleasent. I met lots of distant relatives and got to speak to a second-cousin or uncle who is a pilot and has taken me flying before.

My cousins (those mentioned in the previous post) took my uncle's scooter for a ride (without permission) and fell off it... one of them was fine, but the other was baddly scratched and she had to go to hospital, though it wasn't that serious. I felt kind of bad, because I didn't have any simpathy for her, she's not a nice person and I though Karma had the last laugh on this one.

Mexico

2009-08-15T20:23:00.001+01:00

I will try and give this a little bit of order, but don't expect much!

So, at the end of June I went off to Mexico for my holidays. My family lives there and I went to spend the summer there. I was hoping for a relaxing break after a very hectic academic year, but alas Mexico is nothing if not hectic, well Mexico City at least. I have an Aunt who lives in Valencia Spain and she was down with my two cousins, so my first few weeks in Mexico involved spending a lot of time with them. By the end of that I was ready to shoot myself, they're quite nice people but they do test your patience and are very very intense.

The only reason I go to Mexico really is for the food, because Oh my god the food is amazing, but mainly my family. I really enjoy spending time with my cousins and dedicating my grandparents a couple days really makes them happy. Saddly I don't think Mexico is a nice place to live, not for too long at least. It is a very young contry founded by people who are only in it for themselves, it's run by a very selfish society. And worst of all, as it is a developing nation it seeks to emulate and grow into a developed nation, and the one it seems to copy is the USA. I don't have much against the US but I don't think that the way it does things is necessarily the best way. The US is changing a lot, it is vastly improving by reducing it's capitalism, it's pollution, and improving it's healthcare system. But it hasn't gotten there yet, and Mexico won't improve until the US finishes it's evolutions which will take a while.

I'll post about my great and mini adventures both in Mexico and out of it.
Stay tuned...