the end of an era is getting neara

a walk in the wild

2006-11-27T10:35:00.000Z

i thought i'd brush up my backwoodsman skills so i lit a fire. I cooked an egg in an orange and a trout on a stick. The oly flaw in these survival skills is the need for and orange, an egg and a trout. I can do fire though. And i'm growing an orange tree. My fishtank is too small for trout.

full circle

2006-11-20T17:39:00.000Z

Well its official. I have a job
Contour got back to me and i start Jan 2nd in my new role of tea-boy
Praise be!

this week i have been mostly...

2006-10-31T14:50:00.000Z

i bought the first series of the Fast Show on DVD. Scorchio! It has been keeping me entertained.
I also, rather depressingly, signed on :(
To cheer me up, i went walking in Snowdonia. I was there in an official role, teaching scouts how to navigate. That didn't stop me imitating a mountain goat.

I then went on a weekend trip to London and saw all the sights (except for the Queen who is apparently horizontal with a back injury. Gawd Bless you Ma'am.)

Then to top up my joy, i bought a car. It is big and blue. Notice how i have lovingly adapted the bush so i can park it on the drive.

life at home

2006-10-09T08:03:00.000Z

I have been a bit lazy updateing my blog but i've been sooo busy procrastinating.
Last week i painted
6 medium sized bedrooms
1 small bathroom
1 hallway
6 doors
1 mile of skirting board
and i had a big fire.

Yesterday was a highlight for me. As a family we debated the length of time bread was taking to toast in our toaster. My father's estimate was 3 minutes (too long, inducing premature worrying and frustration) It used to take the length of time for another piece of toast to be buttered, jammed and then eaten. "just over two minutes" was deemed the accurate timing of a control experiment. I predict this is an increase over this historical life of our toaster. Maybe it's time for a replacement.

new car

2006-09-28T15:38:00.000Z

today i got a new car at work. It's for a business trip i have to make tomorrow, which is incidentally my last day working for powertile.
it has cruise control.

A prize. I won a prize

2006-09-20T10:29:00.000Z

Yesterday some girl rang me up form Double Take- photographic studios. She said i had won their top prize of a champagne reception, hair stylist, makeover, photo session and screening. I was quite astounded. I have likened it to winning a hot air balloon repair kit. Only useful if you need it. Never mind i may choose to go and am allowed to take someone with me- place your bids now. I probably won't though, my time is more valuable than my hair :)

Thanks tho' to Vicke's sister Clara, or whoever it was that entered my name into the draw.

On a different note i'm off camping this weekend in Farnborough. Firstly i'll be on a mission to see if 1) i can find a scrap yard with my car in it and 2) if i can steal my car back.. I'm feeling pretty hopeless.

Regarding the camp i was looking back at how scout camps first began, i.e with Baden-Powell on Brownsea Island, but was interested to discover the founder of scouting got many of his ideas from Ernest Thompson Seton, a radical of the early 20th Century with great ideas for enjoying wildlife and with fun ways of holistically developing youngsters. Here's his ethos, which i generally live by anyway:

First, your fun must not be bought with money. Make your fun; Woodcraft shows you how.

Second, your fun must be enjoyed with due decorum. No one must be hurt in body, spirit or pocketbook.

Third, the best fun is that which appeals to the imagination. Physical fun has its place, but its zest is apt to pass with one's youth; joy in the realm of the imagination grows with one's years, and increases with each indulgence in it. At the end of a long life, it means more than at the beginning.

Legend.

what has been and what will come

2006-09-05T12:38:00.000Z

I have just spent 2 weeks in malawi with a fine bunch of people from Cardiff Uni Christian Union
We did everything from elephant spotting to entertaining orphans in extreme heat. I may publish my diary if i can be bothered.
For some photos look here

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Whilst i was away i received news from Contour, the aeroplane seat company informing me i had a second interview- arranged for this friday. I'll let you know how it goes.

mayhem

2006-08-09T12:30:00.000Z

an update on events in my life,
last monday my beautiful car blew up on the M3 on the way to an important business meeting. My boss was with me when it happened. It has been duly scrapped after the head gasket got nicely mangled.

in a fortnights time i'll be settled in Malawi- it's slowly sinking in.

This weekend i visited the Gower with my Venture friends- we spent our days kayaking, climbing, swimming and surfing. I'm a tad sunburnt.

I had an assessment day with contour the aircraft seating place, 11am-6pm of psychometric testing- i'm yet to hear the results. The social meal afterwards was awesome, the niceset steak and chips, all for a measly £400 between us.

I'm still designing at Powertile, and my contract's up for review soon, when i get a firm job offer i'm gonna buy me a nice ford focus with alloy wheelnuts.

back to work

2006-07-13T21:39:00.000Z

somebody slap him

moving house

2006-07-06T11:00:00.000Z

i found this picture on my phone of my mammoth house move. I fat (is that the past version of "to fit"?) everything i own into my car as shown.
Also this is what happens when you have everything you own and you take a corner too quickly.:

i'm now at work in my office which is presently 30.5'C, but reached 36 on tuesday. Hot.

things are afoot

2006-06-28T09:40:00.000Z

i got an email today from contour the aircraft seat design place inviting me for an assessment. I thought they'd forgotten about me!

update

2006-06-26T23:06:00.000Z

a brief whistlestop tour of the last 3 weeks of my life...
week 1- North wales working at the ranch...
3 primary school groups, lots of sun and still no dolphins

then a week best manning for my housemate nathan, whos on his honeymoon now with wife Karen, but no-one knows where!

And now i'm here tying off things in Cardiff before moving home on thursday for the summer. I have a job working for Powertile for 3 months developing their SOlar Panels

Mr S. Ewing MEng

2006-06-16T21:54:00.000Z

apparently thats all i get for 4 years of work. 4 letters.
2.1 come on!!

a day off

2006-06-16T21:38:00.001Z

last weekend i took a break from working at the Ranch and went for a little ramble in the snowdonian mountains, Tryfan and Glyder Fach.
the pictures show my failed attempt at a self-timer shot

and my more successful jump form adam to eve (or vice versa) on tryfan, taken by some lovely obliging girls

a series of lasts

2006-05-30T21:40:00.000Z

i can't stop myself from thinking of the potential of some of my weekly experiences being the last i ever do them. Tonight was my last student bible study group. I've had my last regular sunday morning service at highfields. Tomorrow is my last CU. This could be my last whole week in cardiff ever. To end on a happy note the last exam of my degree (and also incidentally the hardest and most unnecessary) is on thursday. Hoorah. About time too!

A small notice- a cry for help:

WANTED:
one willing volunteer to help clean an activity centre, cook meals for a school group and generally have a great time serving in the fine Snowdonia nirvana that is the Ranch Outdoor Discovery centre. All expenses paid. They just need the help. Desperately. Can you help?

Doodles and drawings

2006-05-23T20:59:00.001Z

I found an old doodle in my notes. It brings back fond memories of the first 4 years of my degree where every lecture was spent seeking out hidden puns in the hand-outs or finding the double meanings in what the lecturer was saying. When i say 4 years i actually do mean that i never once listened properly to a whole lecture- something always stole my attention...

beautiful eyes

2006-05-16T17:06:00.000Z

well i sailed through my Quality and Reliability Engineering exam today(!) It was probably helped by the pre- exam cram where we watched kids TV- did you know that the terrible lizard, the Tyrannosaurus Rex, according to it's social and activity patterns, only needed to eat the equivalent of one man every 5 days. Crazy. Just don't ask me how i got that into an essay question about the Consumer Protection act 1987.

On a different note my eyes are all teary after a young lady told me i had beautiful eyes.
Well, that's not strictly true. My eyes are teary due to the contact lens trial i'm currently undertaking, and the lady optician said something more along the lines of "your eyes are healthy". Great. I'm just not allowed to sleep with them in because they'll land me in A&E or somethin'.

All the protein you need

2006-05-13T10:50:00.000Z

anyone for a glass of ants?
they're very good at washing up, if a bit inefficient

the end if an era is hera

2006-05-12T19:58:00.000Z

well. i guess that's it. Had my last lecture ever today. Went out last night to a farewell end-of-course- dinner in which the lecturers were wasted before the meal began. Great fun if you didn't have any respect for them in the first place. Jono and i thought we'd milk their insobriety by plying them for drinks. It backfired when all that was offered was a round of tequila slammers. Remember- salt...tequila...lemon.
Not that i'm advocating the excess consumption of spirits, but what fun it was to see one lecturer, Keith, get it in the wrong order, and Karen-the-newly-made-professor realise that after buying a round for our table, she'd have to do the same for the other 40 attendees of the meal! ho ho.

Tonight saw our team's return to Cymmer in the Rhondda valleys to run our youth group- quite well attended and behaved which was a blessing.

Signing off cos Rocky Horror's just starting...

my trip to the hills

2006-05-01T15:01:00.000Z

three days
two nights
5 bananas
2 Malt Loaves
one tescos cooked hot and spicy sausage
3 servings of cheddar and onion smash
2 sachets of instant custard
one packet fresh pasta
two gas bottles
one cooker
one tent
and.....
me.

with 8 of my friends
in the hills.
Enjoying creation at its finest
Notice the lack of visibility due to the mist.

albino squirrel

2006-04-20T17:04:00.000Z

the title says it all. It's been visiting our garden for a while. My Dad won't let me trap and skin it. I think it will make nice warm slippers.

my new car

2006-04-20T14:28:00.000Z

look what i bought. Isn't she beautiful.

my new girlfriend

2006-04-18T08:32:00.000Z

i got a very flattering card this weekend:

from my niece-in-law. bless.

a day on the water

2006-04-14T15:50:00.000Z

he manages it- although was nearly swayed by a day of watching non-stop scrubs on abc, he got the energy together to paddle to langstone, a few villages along the coast- He left before high tide (meaning it was a struggle all the way there) and into the wind but managed to get to his friends house in good time for lunch. Then he entertained his friend's daughter with a quick spin around langstone harbour before catching the tide back in. tiring but beautiful. Roll on summer!

bank Holiday

2006-04-12T17:18:00.000Z

i'm looking forward to the bank holiday. I'm warming up my canoe in anticipation...

Me on Radio 4

2006-04-09T10:56:00.000Z

I hope you all listened to the morning service on Radio 4 cos my church Highfields in Cardiff was on air live to the nation. Catch it on Listen again
You may be able to hear me snore cos i was up quite early after a long day yesterday.

Cliche

2006-03-31T08:25:00.000Z

It was a gorgeous day yesterday. So i hung my washing out to dry in the burning sun. A swift half hour later i went outside to check my boxers. Nearly dry! apart from the elastic bit around the top. So i say to myself "another half hour should do it". I return to the confines of my room. Then the volume of a swimming pool empties itself into our back yard from the heavens. These things are sent to try us!
Therefore being a long serving scout i did what i do best- improvise.

(notice the trainers on the radiator, i had to practically swim to the quiz night last night and please note i was in the winning team)

2006-03-25T11:26:00.000Z

I played squash with jamie this morning.
He used me as one of the walls.
The bruise is quite impressive.

(yes I do shave my legs)

2006-03-24T15:52:00.000Z

ah. Many a stressed person surround me. But i am an island of composure. I have learnt the art of trusting that if i don't do the work then someone else will have to do it for me, thus the work gets done and i feel good.

In our fluid power lecture today we were told that by releasing industrial oil into the environment (i.e oil slicks, mechancial leakages etc) we will actually help nature on a microbiological level. Never mind the birds, it's what goes on under the water that counts. Apparently.

nuff said

2006-03-22T14:28:00.000Z

Today i spent another :
3 hours on my hospital project. We nearly worked out how big the pipes should be to carry hot water. Then we actually worked out all our calculations were wrong. again.
1 hour on my Race car project. That was fun cos i can do that.
1 hour on transforming my lecturers' faces:

~ 27 hours filling in an application form- answering questions like:
1) describe a situation in which you were amazing, and how did you measure the effects of your amazingness?
2) Describe a seismic/ volcanic/ Nuclear or other extensive disastrous situation that you have overcome, and why. (in no more than 14 words)
3) Using no less than 2500 words explain why you are male/female.
All to get a job designing luxury aircraft seats:
http://www.contour.aero/start.html

2006-03-21T11:27:00.000Z

well, into the last 5 weeks of term
by then i'll be
homeless
jobless
poor
lonely
but free to start afresh.
What a philosopher
here's some poetry:

The end of an era
is getting neara
give a litle cheera
Amen