3 and a bit months later...

Hey all, yeah time has flown by, and the blogs been gathering a bit of dust so I thought I'd update with some randomness. Also contributing to this is the fact i'm bored, waitng for Jen to get home from work. She is working a late shift today, and doesn't get to the station 'til 11pm, i'll go pick her up somewhere near that time.

As per the norm, it feels like not much has happened since mid-feb, and yet so much has really...it's a bit like being some kind of creature hibernating through winter, waking up during spring and realising the worlds changed a little and a lot. I feel like that creature, waking up today and realising the events that have transpired since, and the impact it has had now and forward.

I've been doing driving lessons again for the past few months. They've been going good and steady. I'm at a stage where i'm close to booking my test. I hope to get booked in for around early-mid July depending on available spaces. On my little progress card, i've completed all novice stages and nearly 3/4 of intermediate, only a few advanced bits to go.

I last did lessons and a test over 9 years ago. I was 18, and transitioning from 6th form to university, starting a new part time job to supplement funds and studies, it felt pretty rough and stressed. So after failing the test, flunking my 6th form studies/exams and feeling pretty bummed, I let it all brew up until now, and things have worked out well.

The system has certainly changed, a lot more organised, and tougher than ever before. Last time I did a test, I didn't even really need to know anything about what was under the hood of a car, now you have to study every bit *gulp* I'm still positive moreso this time though and excited about the prospect of being on the road shortly...watch out London!

Jen and I had a weekend trip to Dublin recently which was ok...not really that dissimilar to London to be honest, except people just seem a lot younger. It felt like being in a completely student town, pubs on every corner, people rushing around, and 2 protests, one for the olympics and one about scientology, in the space of the 3 days we were there. We got this thing called a Dublin pass and Freedom pass, which let us sample the most popular tourist attractions for free, as well as hop on and off tour busses and public transport all over Dublin.

We ended up visiting the Guiness Brewery, at it's highest point, you could see over the whole of Dublin, breathtaking view (awesome!). Also the Dublin Zoo, Hardrock Cafe, and spent a large portion of our time around Grafton and O'connell street, which were the busiest, metropolitan areas there.

We also tasted one of the nicest coffee and hot chocolate brands exclusive to Dublin called 'Bewleys' They had a cafe we visited on Grafton street which is a MUST. Was sad to find out the brand wasn't available anywhere else. If you know of it, and you know where to get it, let me know! If you've not tried it, make sure you do if you ever visit!

We got Mario Kart and Wii Fit for our Wii, both of which we've been having a blast with. Mario Kart comes with a steering wheel attachment for the wiimote, detecting steering motions as if you were handling the wheel of a car. It seemed surprisingly difficult at first to get to grips with, as I dived straight into racing usng the 'manual' option. The CPU difficulty seem's unfairly superior, as they knock you down with weapons like bananas, shells, thunder clouds and bullet bills at the worst possible moments. The worst being coming close to the finish in first, and being his with a homing blue shell right before the line. Not fun!

Switching to 'Automatic' drastically changes the outcome though. The CPU is much more forgiving, and I got Gold and unlocked a lot of things quickly. The real fun is online and playing with friends all over the globe. Mario Kart was one of those game that could always make me curse loudly at the screen in mixed frustration, excitement and elation...Thankfully nothing is lost on this version either :)

With Wii Fit, you get an accessory with it called the 'Balance Board' which can accurately measure your weight, and determine your balance depending on how you shift your weight on the board itself. It's very clever, and encourages the player to really work at the games, be it yoga, muscle exercises like push ups and sit ups or even hula hooping, which you really feel after 250+ hip rotations.

The first day we got it, Jen and I did a full set, 30+ mins of mixed exercises, and afterwards, I can say I felt like I was dieing. The next 2 days I felt aches and pains all over my body, but it does make you want to work harder. We love it! If you have a Wii, it's well worth getting.

I turned 27 on the 5th of April. Feels like it came by so fast, I just remember waking up and the first thought on my mind was that I was closer now to 30. Not that that is a bad thing, i'm quite looking forward to reaching the third decade, it just took me back like 'wow' where did the time go? I keep reminding myself I should wake up and take note as the time flies and the days blur together almost seamless. I've got to apologise for not keeping with my promise and not writing here when I should, since I realise the opportunity I miss from reflecting on a captured experience at a point. I'll work harder at it.

Jen's parents visite London for a week, and had a great time. Jen and I only wish they could have stayed longer, since a week in England is only a condensed experience, but we tried out best to give a concentrated taste of the finer points of England. We decided to do a seaside visit to Brigton, and a visit to Salisbury and Stonehenge, as well as spending time in central london and seeing the main sites. Next time they visit, we're considering going to other areas of the UK, possibly north, up to Scotland or Ireland, maybe venture off to Paris seeing as it's only a 2 hour train journey straight to the center.

I finally took the plunge and invested in a eee pc. You may notice I mentiond this in an earlier posted somewhere below when talking about the Macbook Air. I managed to snag the newer variation of the EEE PC mini laptop, which has a 9" screen, an additional 16GB secondary hard drive on top of the 4GB primary, a Multi-touch trackpad, 2GB ram (I fitted this myself), 1.3MP built in webcam, SDHC slot (i've stuck an 8GB card in there), as well as all the other regulars from the original eee pc, retaining it's tiny size. I'm loving it to bits, and infact writing this blog post from it. I've been taking it to work with me each day, and using it as a secondary machine, as it's faster than my main work PC ironically... I've also loaded it with my favourite old games, and a bunch of emulators, including MAME, ZSNES, SCUMMVM, ePSXe, Project 64, and Final Burn, all of which eats the time when neccesary.

As this incoherent post draws to a close, i'm left thinking about some future events. This Friday 30th May, it's Jen's birthday, and I'm thinking about what we may get up to. It'd be nice to go out depending on if the London weather behaves, except the whole of this week it's been doing the complete opposite. Fingers crossed for a sunny day! I will update on the gifts, and what we get up to etc soon after the day come.

This Christmas time, we plan on visiting the states again, and I need to start looking into flights soon. I'm hoping we can pick something up on the cheap soon.

If you've reached this far down through the blabber, I thank you for reading! I guess quite a bit has happened since Feb, even if my mind insist is has been 'same old' I will wake up...i'll wake up soon. Promise.