Strathclyde University - Jordanhill Campus

I’m sure there are a few of you out there who don’t follow my goings-on via facebook and/or Twitter so I thought I might as well put a few words up here. This blog is rapidly becoming a film review site and I don’t want that!

Recent news – I applied for a PGDE (Primary) course at Strathclyde University and found out this week, after interview, that I hadn’t got on. I’m disappointed, but it’s not the end of the world. With over 800 people competing for barely 130 places I’m glad I at least got as far as an interview. I guess I’ll see how things stand close to term starting and I may ring to see if there have been any drop-outs. Or I try again next year.

What’s a real shame is that next year will be the last time the course will be running at the Jordanhill campus and I really liked it there. Far more convenient and lovely surroundings – much better (and cheaper) than traipsing into the city centre every day.

What else? Well, Gill and I are still doing remarkably well. I guess she’s just not got bored of me yet. The two kids are just amazing. I honestly didn’t realise how much I would enjoy taking on the responsibility of kids. OK, so I only see them all at weekends and holidays but I’m looking forward to July when – assuming I don’t arse things up like I have a habit of doing – I’ll be moving in with them.

In the meantime I’ve been helping redecorate, put together furniture and “tech” the house up a bit. We had been hoping to move to another place (and such a lovely place), but financially it’s just not viable at the moment. Instead we’re looking at extending the existing place and staying put for a few years. Nice location, though, and good for schools for the kids – and hopefully for me!

On the job front, things aren’t looking fantastic with precisely no full-time vacancies for Computing teachers being advertised. There’s always supply, and I have no issues with going back to IT if it’s going to pay the bills. Hell, the dive company that Gill is doing her SCUBA training with is after divemasters, so you never know – I could go that direction instead.

Work is going well. I’m lucky enough to have fantastic support at the school at which I’m doing my NQT year. Teaching isn’t as easy as you might have thought it was when you were the kid sat in the classroom staring out of the window. I’m definitely on the downhill slope towards the year end, and will be losing a fair few classes to exam leave in the very near future. Revision time!

As mentioned, though, the job situation sucks and it seems the Scottish government have decided that their money saving plans for next year are best focussed on destroying the education system as best they can while ensuring that the upper echelons of Holyrood get to keep their flash cars and velvet-upholstered toilet seats. But that will be another blog post.

Post from: Mosher'sUnimaginativelyEntitledBlog - why not pop by and read some more shit?

Catch-up post

I do actually have a work blog, but good luck finding it – it’s deliberately well hidden. Though not that well, due to my employer’s bonkers IT system (up until I complained a few weeks into term that having posts “signed” with my real name was a little silly).

The other main reason for the lack of blogging is the fact that I’m making quite a lot of use of Twitter and Facebook. My life is being reduced to several 140-character bullet points, and a series of “Like”s. This isn’t good.

So I thought I’d take the end of the year to do a quick wrap-up and fill in some cracks. What’s happened and what’s happening?

Well, the year in brief. I started it at university, living with an aunt in Glasgow. I finished my PGDE(S) with Computing in the summer and headed to Vietnam, where I worked for 2 months with some incredible people at the Hanoi Backpacker’s Hostel.

There I met some new friends, and had a chance to catch up with some old ones – in particular the staff at the Blue Dragon Children’s Foundation. I didn’t spend as much time as I’d hoped with them due to the work commitments (6 days on, 1 off if I was lucky), but still enjoyed a lot of time helping out and just hanging with the kids.

On the off chance anyone from Vietnam is reading – hey guys and thanks. It was great!

Upon my return, I started working in Edinburgh – placed there at random by the Scottish government. This was fine by me but meant doing a bit of house hunting. My first “own place” since 2006. OK, so I do have a flatmate, but I also have my own room. And bills. Whoo!

I’ve started catching up on my live music as well. Missed so many gigs over the last few years – it’s hard to book tickets in advance when you don’t know from month to month what country you’ll be in – I went to around 10 gigs between August and December. Exodus, Annihilator, All That Remains, Airbourne, Bowling For Soup, Alter Bridge, Disturbed, Hatebreed, Ginger (ex-Wildhearts)…

Then in October things changed. Armed with a pass to all four of Hayseed Dixie‘s Glasgow tour dates, I arranged to stay with the cousin of a friend for one of the evenings. This would allow me to have a couple of bevvies. She decided she wanted to come along as she liked the sound of the band.

As 2010 draws to a close, I’m writing this blog post in her front room. Her two kids are upstairs in bed and we’re settling down with a cuppa.

Despite always promising that I’d never date a single mother, Gill completely changed my perceptions. I had my reasons – mainly related to worrying about how I would handle children who weren’t my own. I’m glad to say that Gill’s two are lovely and I love them as much as I love her.

Yeah, let’s end the year on a soppy note. Work’s hard, but rewarding. I have my hopes for next year, either in employment or back at university.

But the main thing is that I’m finally in a stable relationship with the most amazing woman with the most wonderful kids. I shall try desperately not to screw this one up.

Happy New 2011.

And a token “humbug” just in case you think I’m losing my touch.

Related articles

• Ginger (ex-Wildhearts), Glasgow Garage (moshblog.me.uk)
• Airbourne – Glasgow Barrowlands (moshblog.me.uk)
• Hatebreed – Glasgow Garage (moshblog.me.uk)
• Alter Bridge / Bowling For Soup (moshblog.me.uk)

Post from: Mosher'sUnimaginativelyEntitledBlog - why not pop by and read some more shit?

Life should not be in bullet points

:)

I don’t post much personal stuff on here any more for a variety of reasons. The main ones are a) lack of time and b) lack of feeling that I need to.

I always used to find this rather therapeutic, but over the last few weeks in particular I’ve just not had a need for it. Prior to that I’ve been too wrapped up in work which isn’t something I can’t really blog about.

What I can say is that I’m really enjoying the work, tough though it is. The weeks are flying by and teaching offers the one thing I was really missing in my old work: variety. There are no two children the same, classes the same or lessons the same. Even with my S1 and S2 classes where I repeat the same lesson over with 3-4 groups of children, every one is different.

The other thing that’s buoying me along is the new girlfriend. It’s been a while since I’ve actually “dated” someone and it’s early days. However, I’m enjoying it. Things are paced well, we’re getting along wonderfully and there could well be a future here. I certainly hope so.

All the travelling helped me realise what I need in life, and right now I’ve got most of it. Health, family, work I enjoy and the love of an amazing woman. Anything beyond that would be a bonus.

Post from: Mosher'sUnimaginativelyEntitledBlog - why not pop by and read some more shit?

Happy days

I managed not to break this car.

I apologise forthwith for that awful headline.

Anyway, later than it should be up, a little something about last weekend. Courtesy of a birthday present I’d not had time to cash in I had a Rally Experience voucher available for Knockhill, out in the country between Perth and Edinburgh. I’ve always wanted to have a go at rallying, and the always-wonderful Leah picked up on my hints and bought me this for my birthday/Christmas. Erm, last year.

OK, I’m a little slow about organising things right now.

The weather’s been pretty lousy recently but I checked on the morning and the rally experience was still on. I hopped into my little Clio and zipped down from Perth. When you get to Knockhill along the country roads, do keep an eye out. Heading from the north it’s fairly well signposted right until you get to it. I drove past and had to double back.

Once there I parked up, handed in my voucher and was given a driver log sheet and a wristband. A short while afterwards one of the instructors gathered up the 15 drivers and took us for a short induction and safety briefing. This was quick, clear and well-presented.

We were then shuttled down to the lodge from where we’d be based for the afternoon. A nice, cosy little structure protecting us from the freezing wind outside! There we were given some more instructions and left to our devices as the first five drivers were taken to their cars.

I sat and watched some of the rally videos on the big screen inside and got a couple of pictures of the cars setting off on their first run up the course. The schedule was simple – two repeat runs, another two, one final hell for leather run up and then the final drive back with the instructor in the driver’s seat.

For those who wanted the “real” experience or for others who were spectating, a retired rally driver was on hand to take passengers up and down the course at full pelt for £20. A few people took him up on it and every one came in shaken but smiling.

I was in the third group and finally my number was called. I was in red car 10 with my instructor Iain. That’s always a good start, having someone with your same name in the co-pilot’s seat. A really pleasant guy who made me feel comfortable from the off. The cars are all old Ford Sierras with roll cages, uprated suspension, 4-point harnesses and so forth. Otherwise, the only safety equipment is a decent crash helmet.

The first run up the course was done slowly so that I could become familiar with the turns. Iain pointed out when and where to turn, the best entry points, where to avoid mud and so on. We turned at the end of the course and came back down. Then repeated the return trip only somewhat faster.

My task while waiting for my second run through was to draft some course notes using my memory of the run and a map placed on the wall of the lodge. This is trickier than it looks, given the short time I’d had in the car. Do I take that second turn in 2nd gear or 3rd? How far do I go flat out before the sharp left? And so on.

Soon enough, my second run came up and I managed to get around much faster without crashing. Although I came on one occasion. Well. Two. But I didn’t. That’s what’s important.

My third and final run was to be assessed on various points – steering, cornering, quality of my notes, consistency, braking, control… quite a few things to worry about! I think I did quite well – then Iain took over and tried to kill me on the return leg. The video of that is below. It was… bumpy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0Qrp_knueU

Finally there was the award ceremony. All the drivers had their points collated and the instructors argued over the ties. I’m very pleased to say I came 3rd with 78 points. The guy who came 2nd also had 78 and the winner had 79. There was at least one other driver on 78 so I was lucky to pick up my little plastic medal!

Overall I had a great time and would recommend it to anyone who’s even remotely interested. It’s fun, well-run and not that expensive for something you’ll probably only do once.

Thanks to the folk at Knockhill for a fantastic afternoon, and to Leah for buying me the gift certificate in the first place!

Post from: Mosher'sUnimaginativelyEntitledBlog - why not pop by and read some more shit?

I had a rally good time

Thank you

Post from: Mosher'sUnimaginativelyEntitledBlog - why not pop by and read some more shit?

[SILENCE]

Eldster

You can tell you’re getting old when your film references fall flat. Being near an ill person, I held out a paper cup and said “If you’re going to spew… spew into this!” and was met by a completely blank stare.

It was at this point I realised I am at university with people who had only just stopped crapping their own nappies when Wayne’s World was out. For some reason this scares me.

The cold

I am overjoyed at getting onto my first choice of “additional module” next term – Teaching in the Outdoors. I actually get to go hiking and stuff as part of my course.

Of course, I reckoned without the fact that I’m studying in Scotland. And this will be January-February. I will, therefore, freeze my knackers off.

I may invest in thermals. And a large hip flask.

Other stuff

I’m glad to say that everything else seems to be going swimmingly:

• I just found out I get paid significantly more for my probationary year than I was expecting
• My placements for next year could be in Perth which means staying with the ‘rents – and therefore being able to waste all the spare time I won’t have on my PS2 again
• I start my first “proper” placement next week and I’m alternating between excited giggling and nervous pant-wetting
• It appears there may be a new lady in my life. Await further announcements. Early, very tentative steps and no more as yet.

One may even go so far as to say *whoop*. But I’m an old crusty so I won’t.

Post from: Mosher'sUnimaginativelyEntitledBlog - why not pop by and read some more shit?

#toolongfortwitter

All smiley!

I was down south this past week (to Londoners, this doesn’t mean I went that far – right now to me anything “south” is latitudinally below Glasgow) and amongst others I caught up with were Chris, Lyds, Lucy and Anna-Louise.

I am overjoyed to announce that Lydia gave birth to a new poppet – Sophie – on Sunday night at around 21:34. She looks utterly gorgeous and the only reason I’m miffed is that she decided to wait until I was back home before she entered the world.

Enormous congratulations to the family and I’m sure she’s in great hands given how lovely her two sisters have turned out!

Post from: Mosher'sUnimaginativelyEntitledBlog - why not pop by and read some more shit?

Welcome Sophie!

These look like fakes, too

Screw all you anti-global-hypermarket lot. I love Asda. And for one reason only. Check out their dirt cheap “Smart Price” Midget Gems. They look like the old Lion Ones. They’re almost (but not quite) as hard and chewy as the old Lion ones. They taste, not too far away from how the old Lion ones did. They’re about 30p a bag.

And the black ones are liquorice.

I’ve not bought any Lions ones since Maynards bought them out. The other colours in the Asda packets aren’t quite so good, but it’s a matter of principle. I could consider buying both and giving the Maynards black ones away, but I couldn’t force myself to spend money on them.

Fuck you, Maynards. Fuck you and your blackcurrant black Midget Gems (unless you buy them from jars or other trade-size containers). Asda’s where it’s at. I’ll be buying a basket-load of these next time I’m passing by.

Post from: Mosher'sUnimaginativelyEntitledBlog - why not pop by and read some more shit?

I love Asda

I wish I had a camera. Not just to show you what they’re like dangling around my monitor, but to show you the office window from outside in the dark. While I’m sat here I don’t notice how bright they are. I only spotted last night that once the office lights are off, the whole rooms glows blue. From the street it looks like an alien abduction is taking place!

So thank you, Leah. You’ve helped brighten our office up! Nicely complimented by the pink snowflake screensaver on my Ubuntu laptop as well.

Post from: Mosher'sUnimaginativelyEntitledBlog - why not pop by and read some more shit?

Cool blue

I would like to introduce a new word into the English language (assuming I’ve not already been beaten to it):

Alcopoop (noun) – the thick, turgid yet also somehow sloppy and always sweet-smelling shit that you have to force out of an arsehole that seems too small the morning after an excessive intake of alcoholic beverages.

Yeah, I had a good night. Much alcohol was downed and I even had a birthday “dinner” at the hotel. All the staff signed a card for me (that I’ve lost – it’s in the hotel somewhere), sang “Happy Birthday” to me and then we went out and got trolleyed at Bar’Dup.

I’m not that bad, surprisingly. But my credit card is still in the pub. And has been since Friday.

Great present, though – a 3-0 away win at Portsmouth. A goal from birthday boy Michael Owen, and it turned out that a guy I was sat with in the pub also had his birthday yesterday. As did his flatmate! We got free Jagermeister shots from the bar.

I generally don’t “do” birthdays, but I had a cracker this year in part mainly to hanging out with a great bunch of people. Thanks to them all!

Related articles by Zemanta

• Birthdayboy Michael Owen helps lift Newcastle United out of relegation zone
• Portsmouth 0-3 Newcastle: Away gloom lifted
• Premier League: Owen on target as Newcastle win at Portsmouth

Post from: Mosher'sUnimaginativelyEntitledBlog - why not pop by and read some more shit?

Alcopoop