Archive for the ‘blog’ Category

Looks like in my neck of the internets the server change over is complete! The new site is up and has some issues. Most notably the gallery seems completely borked! I still have some teething to do as some settings have to be different from my old server but all is looking good so far.

Now off to uni to fix up scideas!

In my years of first experiences I get to experience the most cherished of teacher holidays – the February break. I say most cherished because in my (limited) experience teachers seem to value the February break more than any other holiday. Normally by February they have been working hard for months and the Xmas break never really allows anyone to have a break – who really rests and relaxes at Xmas? So by February everyone is burnt out.

Personally I have three days off, an in service and a recall day back at Moray House. That’s one week with no lessons to teach. However, I have my project for university to get started sooner rather than later meaning it’s not all going to be lounging around taking it easy.

I definitely am looking forward to a few days to clear my head though, I realised last week how little creativity I had going on at the moment, I normally love trying different things with the kiddies and I’ve not been doing that. I have a week to think up some good stuff.

First of all though I have my website to finish and hosting to change! Who needs a holiday, huh? Seriously though, I’m really looking forward to it, I start moving stuff in earnest tomorrow and should finish everything off on Tuesday. It’s going to be fun to so radically change my site and hosting. The new hosting has saved me a ton of money too, all very good. The new site is looking good and will be so much easier to update, or even radically alter. I also have to move the message board I host for my uni class. Moving the message board is tricky mostly because I don’t want to damage any of the information currently there. So my February break? Moving my website. He he.

When I first launched my own website way back when, I was very proud of what I accomplished. I taught myself how to use a web design program. In time I also taught myself enough HTML to edit pages by hand, I learned the basics of CSS, how to administrate web space, how to install programs and maintain/adapt them. And I loved it. I had created something that was unique and very much mine.

Now though I am heading away from coding my own pages, the new site I am about to launch is created using a content management system (a piece of software that creates the pages for me) and a web blog system, make no mistake, I am still pleased at the progress I have made in learning to use this software, it’s been a steep but fun learning curve. It allows me to work on the content without having to download, edit then up load pages. It looks (to me) fairly professional and aesthetically pleasing.

The kicker for me is the integration of the different internet based things I do. I’ve just installed an add on to my blog that interconnects it to my twitter account. Now there should be a blog post with my daily tweets gathered and every time I get around to posting here it should announce it in my twitter feed – all going well!

So I guess I’ve lost some of the creative ownership of my website but things like twitter-blog links are so interesting. It’ll be even better when I have a decent web enabled phone and tweet more!

I really am pleased with the way the site is coming together, it’s looking nice (none of my own work) and all I’ll need to do is update the content of the pages as time allows. I love the CMS I’m using (Joomla) and it’s fun to learn how to use it but I also love having a dedicated blog program, at the moment I’m using WordPress (and loving that too), but the two don’t mesh. They are separate programs and while I can find a bridge between the website, my gallery and the message board that makes them look integrated, at the moment I’m going to have to compromise on the blog.

So decisions have to be made, experiments undertaken but I’m sure it will be fun in the meantime. Expect the new site to go live in a few days, I’ll be changing over to this (my new hosting) on Tuesday.

I really am rediscovering my love for my web site.

Work progresses on the move to the new home! I reckon it’s looking quite nice if I don’t say so myself!

This has to be the most overdue post ever…. gonna have to write it all in the past tense now too – bet it sounds really weird!

Well, last year several things happened. I got married – I guess that was the big one. The run up to the wedding had the usual up and downs I guess are associated with most weddings, importantly things really started to settle down once the big day was out the way. My new family all seem really nice and Beth and I had a wonderful, if extremely fast paced day.

I made my application to Moray House and in January I was still waiting to hear if I was going to get an interview etc. I was still working at Donaldson’s but was beginning to really feel the strain of a not agreeing with a lot of the way things were being done.

So 2009, well I was hoping to get into Moray House, leave Donaldson’s and just progress with my new life.

Sorry it’s short but sweet but it is so long ago!

Edited to add something I actually wrote in January for this post about the wedding-

“It was a great occasion and I had such a good time in the States. I was lucky enough to spend four weeks in the US. Being there so long allowed us to go to Washington D.C. on honeymoon which was brilliant!!! And we popped past Gettysburg as Beth hadn’t been there before. It was a great experience. When we got back to Scotland we had almost no time off before we had to start preparing for our Japanese friends coming to visit and the party in Scotland. We all had a fantastic time though and it was awesome to see so many great friends again.”

2nd Edit:

I forgot to add how delighted (and in Beth’s case emotional) we were to witness the Election of Barack Obama in November, it was a wonderful night (right up there with the 1997 UK general election for me) and a memory I want to cherish forever. Obama’s America is one I am even more happy to consider living in!

A year end review will be forthcoming, honestly!!! But just a titbit of fun. Seems the kiddies at my school have found this little old site and it been banned!!!! So there you go, andy-thomson.co.uk is officially NSFW!!!! Enjoy!

Hey there, biannual update ahead!!! So let’s play catch up from June:

* Indeed my gut feeling was right and I didn’t get into Moray House. I did get a really nice letter asking me to apply again, reassuring me that I could get in but there were no places left and telling me I was first reserve should someone drop out!
* I found all this out on the last day of the term. I was still due to finish up that day. When I told the head teacher about it she asked me if I wanted to come back for this year and I did so I’m still there.
* I have reapplied to Moray House and need to get paperwork sorted out and sent to them – should have a better chance this year as I applied earlier…….. I hope!!!!!!
* The wedding was awesome, the time in Chicago was amazing and so much fun. The food was mind boggling and I managed to undo most of the good work that I had done weight wise before leaving for Chi-town!
* The kilts looked great (if I say so myself) – check out the gallery for a few pictures.
* Beth and I just had a nice day away in York.

Post number three of 2008!!!! That’s an improvement.

Things here are all starting to come together at once. I’m 31 now – get that!!! Also, all my clothing is on order for the wedding, I need to go try on a shirt on Saturday and after that all I have to arrange is silk thistle buttonholes (boo hiss – the crazy Americans seem to think a thistle is a WEED!!!!) and get two wing collared shirts somehow. But we have been measured for the kilts AND our jackets and they should be ready to try in a week or two.

Today I had my interview for Moray House, yes, yes, I finally got my application in and got an interview. The bummer is that there are “very few places left” for next year, seems most of them were awarded in December. Nightmare. So I probably (going on probability and numbers etc) will have to consider whether I want to reapply next year. I seriously don’t know if I can put my career on hold for another year.

ANYWAY! The interview seemed to go well. I got to be me which is one of my assets (I hope). My 5 minute talk was OK, the slides looked good but I don’t know if I rushed myself too much. I might have been the closest to the 5 mins, some of the others went WAAAY over. If I do have to do it again, I will have to remember to speak more clearly and confidently. Still, it wasn’t a disaster, it was fairly me – informal and I even managed to get a laugh or two. All good. I also tried to take a leaf out of Randy Pausch’s (not that I could ever aspire to delivering this) book and end it on a personal and cutsy note.

Speaking of which, go check out that video, it’ll make you think. It’s certainly inspired me. The guy is awesome.

So back to the interview, it went OK. I should find out in 10 days or so, I’ll be gutted if I don’t get in but with only 13 spaces this year it’ll be some achievement to get one!

After the interview I had to get my hide out to Linlithgow because I had the last of my BSL 1 exams today (nice timing guys!!!). It seemed to go OK as well. After telling Susan I was going to do food for weeks (and no doubt panicking her in case food didn’t come up as a topic) I chose “People you know at work”! I did a wee chat on Peter the (crazy cool) chef mainly cos I thought of a wee anecdote I could tell involving him that would let me use roles (basically one day he offered me potatoes which I refused because they “were deep fried” at which point Peter became proclaimed they weren’t and how dare I accuse him of deep frying anything! (told you he was crazy cool) Anyways, the assessment seemed to go well, I might even have passed.

Tomorrow is sports day which should be fun. I also have a blood test to check if my Hep B innoculation has taken. I’m really looking forward to that!!!

I finish Donaldson’s a week on Friday, it’s a very weird feeling. I’m going to seriously miss a few people from there and seriously not miss a few too! I’ll leave writing about Donaldson’s until later.

OK, time for bed. Today’s really cool news is that I get to Chicago 3 weeks today! Yep, only 21 days! Time is passing so quickly, I just hope it doesn’t slow, I can’t wait to get there and see Beth again!!!! It’s been a long 3 months in that way.

PS ^^^^ Up there’s a recent photo from my new web cam that actually works on Linux!!!

Presidents like Josiah Bartlet always seemed too great, too honest, too principled to be possible. Do you think America has found such a man? Will they be smart enough to elect Barack Obama?