As I mentioned in my previous post, I’m in the midst of coursework however, that’s no excuse not to update my blog.

On Monday morning, I arrived into the train station to find diggers all over the line.  I hadn’t realised there were engineering works and would have to get a bus to uni.  I got there in the end (well, I was a little late).  As you may well know, I’m not one to sing the praises of First Scotrail however, they did a great job organising buses.  When I was coming home from uni, they commandeered a 50-seater bus to take myself and two others home.  Our own private coach- you can’t beat that!

One other thing, in amongst all the engineering works on the railway, there was this digger with extra wheels which enabled it to drive on the rails.  It had an awesome name- the Monster Bug!  One of the coolest things I’ve seen in a while.  If I see it again, I’m taking a picture and posting it here.

So what else has happened?

Yesterday, I had a fantastic class which involved playing with remote control toys.  I played with a truck with caterpillar wheels and it had a wireless camera on top.  So much fun although I did crash it (went out of range and it didn’t cut off…oops!).  There was a small remote control helicopter in the room as well- so cool!

Aside from that, I got a weeks extension on the Java coursework so I’m happy!

Pool championship update: Kevin- 5, Me-3…..go me!  I’m catching up!

Apologies for the lack of updates this week- it’s that time again: coursework time.

I have yet another Java program due in next week and I’m really beginning to panic because mine is no where near working.  I’m trying but it’s just not happening.  No idea what the problem is at the moment but I’m going to spend the whole weekend faffing around with it and will hopefully rectify the problem.  Warning: may become moody in the process of fixing the code.  Hmm maybe I should invest on a do not disturb sign?

So apart from the stresses of coursework, what else has happened this week?

There was a slightly embarrassing moment on Thursday morning whereby I managed to get lost onboard a GNER train.  The normal carriage I sit in was out of order so I started heading towards the front of the train.  I passed the buffet car and then found myself in first class.  I thought there must be most standard class accommodation and kept wandering down but it was all first class.  Several GNER staff asked if I was lost but I said “no” (blatant lie)- by that point I had realised I needed to head back in the opposite direction.

The latest scores in the pool tournament: Kevin-5, me-2 (I only won a second game because Kevin accidentally potted the black).

I’d best toddle off- I’ve played Java and I think its time for bed.

It’s not been the greatest day today (well, it’s not been terrible).

For the past couple of months, I’ve had a sore jaw which kept on cracking but I didn’t think to do anything about it.  Over the past couple of weeks it’s started to hurt quite a bit.  I couldn’t put up with the pain any longer so I finally got myself down to the doctors this evening.

It seems that the joints between my skull and my jaw have become inflamed.  I’ve been given some painkillers (can’t have anti-inflammatory medicine because of my asthma) and advised to stick to softer food which isn’t chewy.  In fact, I was told to cut back on steak/meat in general which is fine by me!  Just gives me an excuse to buy some yummy soup everyday.  In order to relax the muscles in my jaw I can put a hot water bottle next to my face a couple of times a day (that’s helping already!).  If my jaw is still sore in a few weeks I have to go back to the doctors and I’ll get referred to a specialist who’ll take some x-rays and find out what’s going on.  Hopefully this will go away- I’ve got no idea what caused it.

On a lighter note I played some pool with Kevin today.  He won the first game and I won the second one (although I’m sure he let me win).  Unfortunately we didn’t have time for a third game to determine who the overall winner was.  It’s not over: Kevin, prepare to win

My computers have been renamed again. There was no link between the names Bob and Niles; my computers need a common theme. I’ve now chosen Futurama so I’m typing this blog on Fry and Bender is sitting on my desktop (odd name for a PC isn’t it?).

The geek formly known as pyr0phr34k (Kevin) has changed the url of his site. Click here to check it out!

Hmm I’m beginning to question my sanity…..I just did something I never thought I’d do- I gave my computers names.  Not technical names mind you (does this make it less sad?).

My very old desktop running Ubuntu will now be known as Bob (the generic name I seem to give to everything).  My laptop on the otherhand is now called Niles (yes, named after Niles Crane, possibly the funniest character in Frasier).

Yup, becoming a fully-fledged geek as we speak!

I was having a look at my website stats this afternoon because I haven’t checked them in a wee while. I love sitting looking at them, wondering who has viewed or if anyone has stumbled across it accidentally.

After looking at the statistics, I was left wondering who actually reads my blog? Do I know you in real life? It’s just that there seems to be a variety of operating systems, browsers and IP addresses in the stats. I can guess who some folks are based on the OS they use and the browser they are most likely to use but tell me, who uses Lynx to view my page? Who uses Vista? C’mon, own up! Leave a comment or something!

Oh yeah, before I go, I found a page with a curious wee link to my site.  Who put this here?

When I woke up this morning, I decided to install Ubuntu Linux on one of the computers in this house and I’m not finished yet. Why has it taken so long? Well…..

First of all, I downloaded the cd image and ran the demo on my laptop. It seemed to be very quick and I was impressed with the interface- nice and clear.

I then attempted to put it on an old computer which belonged to my sister. I think it contains a 300MHz processor (or possibly even less than that), very little RAM and it only has a gigabyte or two for a hard drive. It took ages to start then the processor started making some very dodgey noises so I decided to try another computer.

I tried my old computer from way back in 1999 (350MHz processor, somewhere around 256Mb of RAM). This old computer already ran Windows XP (although I’m not sure it should have been able to!). I didn’t really want to uninstall XP so ended up fiddling with the BIOS and booting up from a specific part of the hard disk dedicated to Ubuntu.

It took ages to install. It would have been great on a modern PC/laptop but bear in mind the one I was using was 350MHz and the cd-rom drive kept playing up, meaning that it would sometimes just stop reading the cd.

I got Ubuntu installed in the end though! Ok, so it doesn’t run as fast as I would have hoped but it has a really nice, clean interface. I think I’ve spent around 30 minutes playing around with it and it seems to be easy to navigate.

Here is a screenshot of my desktop-

So I’m now running a distribution of Linux. Does this officially make me a geek? Perhaps I already passed that stage when I got my own website?

Right, I’m off to make a large cup of tea!

Apologies in advance: this is a mini-rant.

Some of you guys out there might know that I’m an asthmatic.  I have to keep it under control by taking my inhaler when I get up in the morning and before I go to bed in the evening.  If things get bad and I have an attack, I always have the Ventolin inhaler on me to open my airways.

At the beginning of this week I ran out of my “preventer” (that’s the brown one I take daily) so I ordered another one.  My mum went to the Post Office to collect it today and was charged £6.30!  Asthma can be a life-threatening condition- people can die from it.  A girl at my school died from it.  So, why do the government insist in charging so much for something that essentially keeps people alive?

You know what annoys me the most?  Asthmatics have to pay for essential medicine; become a heroin addict and the government will supply you with substitute drugs….for free!  No much wonder the NHS has problems….

Now, on a much brighter note, my Bryan Adams tickets arrived in the post today and the tickets themselves are so cool!  Look, I’m excited

The picture below is hot off the press (so to speak) and was taken at 8pm this evening. Look at the blizzard! If this keeps up, someone might not get to uni tomorrow!

Guess what? It’s been snowing here tonight!!! Just a light dusting but it’s snow nonetheless (even if there’s only a few flakes, that seems to be enough to get me running around like an over-excited child).  It was snowing in Dundee when I arrived there this morning- it was so pretty I could have sat and watched the flakes fall instead of going to class.  Might be time to start carrying my camera with me?

Speaking of cameras and such, I should probably seek revenge on the paparazzi that insisted on hounding me today (you know who you are you evil, evil people ).  You know, I brought it on myself really.  Rest assured , I don’t think my face can be manipulated in order to look like a Pokemon character however, I could be wrong*.

In other news, I seem to have damaged my laptop slightly (no nothing like the last incident where I needed a new keyboard). The plastic cover on the card reader broke and fell inside the drive meaning my wireless card wouldn’t fit in (which subsequently meant no wireless for me yesterday afternoon). When I got home I poked inside the drive with a trusty wee screwdriver and after shaking the laptop vigourously, the plastic finally fell out. Ok, so the card reader no longer has a cover and might get a little dusty but it still works!

I’m going to toddle off to bed soonish, the only thing is I keep hearing this odd hooting noise. Now its either an owl (which I highly doubt) or its the rejects. I place my money on the rejects.

*Me?  Being wrong?  Hardly ever happens…..wouldn’t admit to it anyway