Michelle's journal

Wed, 29 Aug 2007 19:50:13 GMT

I return!

Been in the new flat in Falkirk for nearly a month now, and everything's beginning to settle down. Aside from fights with the electric company (what kind of company obstructs you from PAYING them??), everything's gone pretty well so far. I started work a week and a half ago, so I'm getting back into the habit of that as well.

I've been playing a lot of Morrowind on the XBox while I've been offline. I never got very far into it before, so I never realised how much fun it was. I want to play it through properly without using the various exploits. Problem is, the way I play it it'll take me forever to get through it. I must rise through the ranks of every organisation, dammit!

Anyway, just a quick post to let everyone know that I haven't fallen off the face of the world. :D

Wed, 13 Jun 2007 22:24:29 GMT

I've been meaning to update here for a few days, but as usual, it's taken me some time to get round to it. It's been a good couple of weeks. I got my degree result back - masters with distinction! After a rather stressful year university wise, it was awesome news. Graduation is on the 25th June. After that, I'll officially no longer be a student, which is a weird thought. I'm getting old.. x_x

Last Friday, the CES students organised a meal out, as a farewell event. It was held at Kublai Khan's in Glasgow's Merchant City. While the mea was kind of expensive (£22 for an all you can eat meal), the restuarant was pretty cool. You pick your noodles/rice and any vegetables you want. Then you pick your meat, some of the choices being things like crocodile or springbok. Afterwards, you pick your sauce ingredients (with recipes suggested). Finally, you hand your concoction over to the chef, who cooks it all on a giant hotplate. Twas fun :)

Then, on Saturday it was Sharp's birthday. After a mess with trains, with delays of about an hour, a group of us headed over to the Time Capsule. I hadn't been there for years. It was fun going back again, and seeing people who I hadn't seen for ages :D

I spent the beginning of this week in Ayr, which was also lots of fun :) I think I've finally fallen to the dark side though, given a certain purchase on Monday.. >>;

Thu, 24 May 2007 18:26:23 GMT

I know I'm procrastinating when I actually finish artwork XD. It's always the same - I get flashes of creativity when I should be studying for exams. Anyway, tis my fire-loving blood elf Helias :D

Tue, 22 May 2007 18:39:52 GMT

Four down, one more (ever) to go! :D

Cookies!

Sat, 05 May 2007 18:16:35 GMT

So, after an afternoon of studying for my computer security exam, I decided to do a bit of baking. It's not something I do too often, but I do enjoy doing it. I'd been talking for a few days about making oatmeal cookies (which I really love). The problem is, I'd lost the recipe I'd had previously for making them. After a while of trawling about the internet for one that used golden syrup, I finally came across what I was looking for :)

And the results - well, I thought they tasted awesome. I made several batches this afternoon, half with raisins and half without.

So I remember the recipe (since I'll invariably lose my bit of paper), and in case anyone else would like to make them, I'm going to note it down here :) Incidentally, I think the recipe would also work well adding a handful of chopped cherries. I must try that next time.

Makes 9-10 cookies.

Ingredients:
4oz/100g self raising flour
4oz/100g porridge oats
½ level teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
4oz/100g butter/margarine
4oz/100g granulated sugar
1 rounded tablespoon (or 1½ dessertspoons) golden syrup
A handful of raisins (optional)

Recipe:

Heat the oven to gas mark 4 or 180 c

Grease large baking tray with butter or margarine.

Mix flour, oats, and bicarbonate of soda together in a bowl. If using raisins, add them at this stage too. Put the bowl to one side.

Put margarine/butter, sugar and golden syrup in a saucepan and heat on a low heat until butter and sugar are melted, stirring occasionally. Take off heat and stir in the oat mix, mixing well with a wooden spoon.

Scoop dessertspoons of mixture up and make into ball shapes. Place on a greased baking tray. When the tray is full slightly flatten the balls out with the back of the spoon.

Cook in the oven for 15 minutes. When ready remove from the oven and leave to cool on the baking sheet for 5 mins before moving onto a wire rack.

Eat them :D

Wed, 25 Apr 2007 14:34:33 GMT

Why must people insist on using the *only* colour laser printer in the department to print out stacks of black and white emails?

Not only would it be faster and cheaper to print out on the black and white laser right next to it, it would also allow actual colour documents to be printed -_-;

He also used up the last of the colour toner, and systems support is taking its time getting around to fixing it. We should have had the report printed and finished by now...

Programming fun

Wed, 18 Apr 2007 10:09:43 GMT

I've just been thinking recently. I kind of want to code something fun - not something for any kind of university project or class, but something for my own enjoyment. I haven't really programmed anything that I've enjoyed this year, as my project hasn't been much fun. Only problem is, I have no idea what to do. That, and given that exams are coming up I probably shouldn't start on anything. Doesn't stop me considering it though.

Anyone got any ideas?

Tue, 17 Apr 2007 14:49:46 GMT

So, the walk around Cumbrae has been achieved :D We walked 10 and a quarter miles on Sunday for the CF Trust. It was a nice day, thankfully, unlike the first scheduled day, where the ferries got called off due to snow and rain x_x; Now I just need to collect my sponsor money.. >> Does anyone here owe me anything? :-P

While we were on the walk, 312z and Chris were talking about Oblivion. It made me want to play it, and as it happens, Alan had bought it for the 360 when it first came out. So, when I got home, I decided to give it a shot. And it's thoroughly enjoyable. I managed to lose 4 hours on Sunday to the game. I'm playing a Dunmer spellsword. Yay big-ass sword and magic combos :D

Yesterday was Steph's birthday, so I headed into Glasgow around 4-ish and met up with Steph, camtarn, 312z and a friend of Steph's called Will. We headed off to the Xscape centre in Braehead, which is a big complex with an indoor snow slope, aerial assault course, mini golf, shops, restaurants and a cinema among other things. We played a round of mini golf (which was a lot of fun, though I suck at it XD) and then went to Frankie's and Benny's for food, which was very awesome. :D I was supposed to be heading home after that, but ended up in Ayr instead >>; It was a very fun stopover though :)

When we got into Ayr, we noticed a sign for Mugenkyo. Turns out, they're playing in the Gaiety Theatre in Ayr on Thursday 31st May. Tickets are £14 (£12 concession). I think I have the possibility of being called for an oral exam the next day, but it's Mugenkyo and they're awesome. Anyone interested?

Fri, 16 Mar 2007 12:14:14 GMT

So, I've started watchin Heroes lately. It's really rather good - a little cheesy, but it's fun :) I've watched up to episode 5 so far, and I have to say that Hiro Nakamura is awesome. He's hilarious XD. I'm sorely tempted to watch another episode just now, even though I should probably be working on something.

Was over at Ayr last night for 312z's birthday meal. The food was great, and we watched Jackie Chan's Drunken Master afterwards. It's an awesome film, even if it does switch into the english dub in certain parts. My new weapons of the gods character must have the drunken master kung fu style :D

I've also managed to acquire the MST3Ks of Space Mutiny and Puma Man. I haven't watched either yet, but if a bad film night at SURGe is on the cards, then they may be candidates to bring in :D

In other non-film related news, I'm doing a sponsored walk for the CF Trust around Cumbrae on Sunday with along with 312z and a load of other friends and family (as well as a hyper puppy :-P). It's somewhere between 10-12 miles all the way round - it should be fun, but I'm probably going to find out just how unfit I am XD. Between everyone, I think there's been a fair amount of money raised, which is great. One of the pubs in Largs has also offered to raffle a Jack Daniel's guitar this weekend and donate the proceeds. They've also offered to provide food for all the walkers when we come back off of the ferry, which is really nice of them. :)

Now.. off to ~~watch episode 6~~ work...

Tue, 06 Mar 2007 14:36:59 GMT

Ugh. Why is there always someone on strike towards the end of the university year? These train strikes this week are going to screw me over a bit, mainly since I was planning on doing some project work on Wednesday and Thursday afternoon. Ok, so the trains will be running until just after 5, but there's no way everyone's going to be able to fit on the last couple of trains. People don't fit on the peak trains as it is, nevermind when *everyone* has to get on them. -_- So, I'm going to have to leave much earlier than I normally would.

Why can't they strike early in the semester?

Mon, 05 Mar 2007 20:01:27 GMT

So, it's cold, dark and wet outside (and I mean *really* wet). There's something about nights like this that makes it feel so much cosier when you're warm and comfortable inside. I'm just about to start on a few bits of work that I need to do tonight, but I have a laptop, a comfy bed I can use said laptop from and a hot mug of tea. Not to mention awesome fluffy socks :D

There's a lot to be said for owning a portable computer. Plus, when my work is done, I can WoW from bed ^^; (which I fully intend on doing later tonight :-P)

And also, on a totally unrelated note - I think I need some new icons..

Wed, 21 Feb 2007 00:53:08 GMT

...I just bought Rome. Damn you Amazon!!

Tue, 20 Feb 2007 12:38:45 GMT

So, Hot Fuzz. If you haven't seen it yet, then go. Now. Srsly.

Went to see it last night, and it was fantastic. I don't want to go into spoilers, but all of us were laughing our heads off in parts. I'm still undecided as to whether it's better than Shaun of the Dead, but I think it's definitely on a par with it :D Speaking of which, I had been meaning to buy the Shaun of the Dead dvd for a while, and never quite got around to it. I remembered last night, and decided to order it via Amazon.

..I ended up spending £30 altogether on random stuff from the site, although the dvd itself only cost £4. XD Amazon is bad for me, especially if I start looking through recommendations. I've bought enough from the site that its recommendations are generally spot on, so it's rather tempting to buy them. Which, I guess, is exactly what they're trying to achieve, really. Oh well.

I probably should be working at the moment. I just spent 20 minutes or so checking the password facility on my blog for my web apps class works properly, and it does seem to be fine. It also works if I add another user to it, which is good. I'm glad I switched over to the class, as the practicals are really pretty fun - coding up a simple blogging application in php. Beats microcontrollers anyday >>.

Project's also still going ok I think. We're still making progress - I managed to get another part of it working yesterday, which is good. Although, now I need to start looking into being able to code in java graphics 2D. Unfortunately, CES never got offered the Graphics class, which is a real shame. It looks like it would have been an interesting and useful class. And it certainly would come in handy for what I'm trying to do with the project GUI just now. At least the notes for the class are all easily available online, so I'm going to try and read through those. Which.. I should probably doing right now, as I said. Somehow, I always manage to end up writing to LJ when I'm in the labs. Ah.. procrastination.

Tue, 16 Jan 2007 22:25:31 GMT

After lots and lots of signing things, the car has been collected and now sits outside my house :) Managed to get insurance for around £480, which isn't too bad considering I'm under 25, have no claims bonus and have only had a licence for a year and a half. I've parted with rather a lot of money today, but at least everything's sorted out now. :) I think.

I still have no voice though :(

Voiceless :(

Mon, 15 Jan 2007 13:46:27 GMT

Blah.. I seem to have entirely lost my voice today. I've had a bit of a cold since late Saturday evening - I didn't think it was anything bad though since it wasn't really bothering me at all. Yesterday, my voice was kind of hoarse. I could still speak though, and it wasn't hurting me or anything. Today though, I just can't speak at anything above a whisper, which is really rather annoying. I'm guessing it's this cold I've managed to catch, which is the second I've had in as many weeks. Hopefully it won't last long though and my voice will come back tomorrow :(

Happy New Year!

Tue, 02 Jan 2007 16:13:23 GMT

So, firstly, Happy New Year to everyone :)

Just got back from Dublin, where I was spending the new year. It was pretty quiet, but we wanted something that was different this year. We were staying in the Dublin airport Hilton, which was not in fact located in the airport. It was actually about 15 minutes away. The hotel was really nice though, which some of the comfiest beds I've ever seen. So comfy, in fact, that my dad barely left his at all yesterday.

So, memorable points:

-Was the only one in my family who got searched at the airport. I must have looked suspicious :(
-Tried Guiness. Didn't like it at all.
-Had the most expensive (and biggest rip-off) breakfast of my life (€19.95 >_< )
-Saw the biggest suitcase ever on sale in Dublin. It was nearly the same height as me and my mum
-Nearly got blown over by storm-force winds returning from the city centre

We didn't get to see much of the city unfortunately, due to everything being close up on New Years Day, and it pouring on Hogmanay when we did decide to have a look around. I'd like to go back again at some point to see it more - probably in the summer. It looks like a really nice city :D

Mon, 04 Dec 2006 22:45:12 GMT

The last few days have been made of sheer awesomeness :D I'll update properly later, but I just wanted to say that ^^;;

Wig

Sun, 26 Nov 2006 22:45:47 GMT

Well, just finished cutting my Lucy wig for Auchi. It was a lot easier (and faster) than styling the Soi Fong wig, which took an age. It helps that it's supposed to be a choppy, messy cut so I didn't need to worry too much about being straight or anything like that. The only thing I had to worry about was trying to get a relatively natural looking cut.

Nearly had a panic when I tried it on though, as I thought at first that it was too short at the back. But when I compared it to the reference pictures, it was just about the right length. Just as well too. If I'd messed up the wig, I'd have been kind of screwed for Auchi cosplay x_x; I've had the wig for months too - I should have cut it much earlier.

Sun, 26 Nov 2006 14:32:41 GMT

I've done something terrible... I've made the mistake of getting Phoenix Wright the week I have a lot of coursework to do >_<. Of course, I'd heard all the hype and stuff about it from people that play it, but I didn't realise it was quite so horribly addictive. It's absolutely awesome, but now I need to keep off of it while I write my reports for this week x_x; It doesn't help that Auchi is at the end of the week, so I need to be done for Wednesday. I do have Tuesday and Wednesday off this week though, so I have a good amount of time to work on them.

Nearly got my cosplay ready for Auchinawa too. I was intending to have a lot more ready - 2 or 3 costumes, but with everything that's gone on, it kind of got pushed to the back of my mind over the last few months. Ah well, I should at least have one ready, and I might have the others done for Minami. I'm looking forward to the weekend though. It should be loads of fun :D

Now... I need to stop procrastinating and get back to work x_x;

Weather

Mon, 20 Nov 2006 11:56:13 GMT

You know, I think I've managed to get soaked every day for about a week and a half now -_-; I know it's November and all, but surely there could be at least *one* day where it doesn't pour down. It was dry when I left the house this morning. By the time I reached the train station fifteen minutes later, I felt like someone had poured a very large bucket of water over me.

I need to start carrying a towel in my bag or something x_x; Damn Scottish weather.

Fri, 17 Nov 2006 23:44:27 GMT

:D I have now acquired one slightly used but still shiny copy of Cyberpunk 2020 from Ebay :) Won it 4 days ago from a US seller and received it today. I'm impressed. :D

I'm planning on running my first game soon using the Cyberpunk rules and set in Paradise (some of you may remember my ramblings on it from the first game that was run by Cammy a while back). The system just seems made for the Paradise setting :D. I'm looking forward to it, but I'm also hoping that it's going to be ok, seeing as I've never run a real pen and paper game before. I have some stuff planned, but I suspect that I might be winging a lot of it :-P. Here's hoping. *Crosses fingers*

Wed, 27 Sep 2006 11:07:52 GMT

Had a bit of a scare last night not long after I posted my last entry. Jack began to vomit up foam and was looking seriously sorry for himself. Normally, he's hyperactive, cheerful and a general little monster, but he was just lying about, looking rather dejected. :( We thought at first that he'd just eaten some grass, but when he was still looking unwell at around midnight, we ended up calling the vet.

She said that it looked as if he'd taken an allergic reaction to something and gave him a few jags, including some steroids. Thankfully, he's looking much better this morning, to the point where he took a flying leap off of the vet's table when I took him back this morning. We think that he managed to swallow a bee or wasp that stung him in the process when he was out in the garden. You think he'd learn after he got stung trying to catch them before :(

Ah, well, at least the season for them's nearly over, and he seems to be alright now, thankfully. :)

Tue, 26 Sep 2006 19:26:32 GMT

Well, it's been a long time since I've updated here - oops >>; ( WoW ate me. Srsly). Just a quick update on various stuff here.

My work placement went well - I had a lot of fun and I learned a lot :D. Got a phonecall the other day too, and they've offered me a permanent job when I finish uni next year ^^ I haven't received the official email/paperwork yet, but that should hopefully come through soon. And hey, it's one thing that I don't need to worry about now.

My DVD player went on the blink shortly before I left for the summer. Came back to find that it then wasn't working at all. So, I decided to order a new one from Amazon and it arrived today. First thing I noticed is that it's much smaller than my old one - it's only about a foot square. It fits much nicer next to my TV. I was a little concerned when I received it as it had a region 2 symbol on the box, and I had ordered it thinking it was multiregion. However, it's played both region 1 DVDs and DVD+Rs without any trouble whatsoever. Not bad for £18 :D. I can watch my DVDs again!

I did mention that I was hoping to revamp my LJ at some point. Finally getting around to making a start on the images I have in mind. With a bit of luck, I may actually get the redesign done at some point >>;

Thu, 13 Jul 2006 20:57:03 GMT

I've been meaning to update this for a couple of days, but haven't quite managed to get around to it until now ^^;

I decided to take a couple of days holiday and have a long weekend at the end of last week. It was my dad's birthday on Sunday, so I went home for a few days. It was really good being able to see the family again and actually be at home. Last time I visited them, we were going to a wedding in England, so it wasn't all that relaxing :( The weekend was good though. We went up to Linwood on Saturday afternoon to see Pirates of the Caribbean. It was absolutely awesome! :D I'll not go into details, but suffice to say that I'll be more than happy to go see it again. I just wish it hadn't finished where it had :( We went to Frankies and Benny's in the Xscape centre afterwards. The food's so good in there, but I ate far too much. >>;

Sunday was fun too. My mum managed to get a banjo for my dad from ebay. It's the oddest thing - I'd never have figured him for a musical type, but he said that he'd always wanted a banjo. So, now he's got one :D He was very impressed when he realised what it was. ^^

In other news, I got my project mark back. I got 77% on it, which gives me an overall average of 81% or so. Needless to say I'm very happy with that :) Now I just need to submit my class choices for next year.

Finally, a message for all the Dundonians: If anyone wants to go and see Pirates of the Caribbean 2 at the cinema on Friday night, please leave a note saying so. ^^ It'll probably be the 7.10pm showing.

Thu, 15 Jun 2006 21:13:13 GMT

Whoops. So much for saying I'd update this more often.. >>;

Well, that's me nearly two weeks into my placement with Agilent now. I moved up to Dundee at the beginning of the month, so I'm now staying with avisrapax and travelling down to Dalmeny near Edinburgh every morning. I'm not going to be getting much in the way of lie-ins this summer, seeing as I need to get up at 6am every morning. XD

The work itself is pretty good. I'm working in a group that deals with internal software tools and I've been given an actual, real project to do in the three months or so that I'm there. It means that the work isn't wasted - they're not just giving me something to do to pass the time - but it also means that it's pretty scary. x_x; I've been working on gathering requirements this week. So far, all the people I've met have given me conflicting requirements on what the tool I'm developing needs to do. It's going to be fun trying to put together the requirements document. XD

Seeing as I've had a lot of time to kill while travelling, I've been making my way through a book a week. Just after I arrived up here, I finished reading "Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell", which was really pretty good. I'm now reading the Boudica series by Manda Scott. I'm absolutely loving the books - the characterisations are excellent and the story draws you in. She really does punish some of her characters a fair bit though - seeing what happens to some of them is really quite painful to read. By the same token, though, it's really hard to put down the books again, as you find yourself wanting to know what happens next. :-P

I'm heading back home tomorrow evening, and on Saturday I'm heading down to Newcastle for a wedding reception. It'll be nice to see my grandfather's side of the family again - I haven't seen them for several years now. It should be fun, although I'm betting I'm going to be exhausted by the time I get back. Ah well. :)