Bye Bye Broccly the Hamster :( (by sarah)

For those who care, Broccly are cute fluffy hamster passed away last night, we've buried her in her hamster ball with some of her favourite foods and some purple flowers, up in the little wood thing near us.

This involved a covert operation last night around midnight but its a nice spot.

She was fluffy and we shall miss her.

Silly body broke again :( (by sarah)

Yep! I'm sick again, n have zillions of deadlines (well ok only 5 but still.... ) Soar throat, stomache ache n I can't stop flipping sneezing, and i think someones slipped a vice onto my head-so not to bad, still been making it in to maths and physics. Cough, cough....

Sleep, sleep, is the mind killer? Oops no wronge film. Silly maggot nightmares, go away!!!

Sleep, zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz............

Exocist the Beginning (by sarah)

Well, I insisted that we see the Exocist the beginning and though it probably makes lots of people jump and freaks people out, I'm freaked by the maggots and thats all really, shudder. Ok to make things worse I've been having nightmares about maggots for a couple of weeks now and can't get the imagry of them borring into my live flesh (yes I klnow they only eat rotten dead flesh) normally through something like the tearducts etc....

That bloody rat as a child, David remembers it too, (he came to the cinamear with me and Alaric), childish curiousity led me to poke it with a broom handle in the twilight, well it was blocking the entrance to my wendy house, the smell was horrendous, it had just looked like a small fluffy animal and at first I wasn't sure if it was dead and was worried that if it was I'd catch something by touching it and if it wasn't it would bite me. Then I got made to clean it up 🙁 my first introduction to maggots and I was wearing jellies, they came towards me 🙁 I used an entire bottle of disenfectant on the door way of the wendy house and the did similar to my self worrying that somehow I'd missed one, and that they would eat me, silly I know but it makes my skin crwul!

I had several more encounters culminating in the subortage of my cupboard in 2nd yr halls, someone had put chicken n pots of cream in there and I didn't know. I hadn't used the cupboard for six weeks due to exams and field trip. I was very ill after the feild trip due to period and possible food poisoning etc... so I went to make my self a cup of mint tea to try and settle things, I didn't notice the biohazard sing, it being dark and me half asleep. Maggots spilled out of the cupboard, I had baer feet and was in a nighty but I thought they where just fruit ones as I'd had a vague memory of having left a bannana in there (which I remembered on the coach on the way out on the feild trip) I started cleaning up the cupboard when I found the souporated chicken-I through up, I went into paranoid shock, thinking that they could smell the blood and that they would consider it rotting flesh, compulsion made me try to clean the cupboard but I ended up hyperventalating outside Becky the subwardens door. She made me tea and I had nightmares 🙁

This recent bout of nightmares was caused I think, by the fact that I found catapillars on the ceilling of our kitchen but at first I thought they where maggots and it was only when I was removing then avec glass jar and long scoopy thing, that I saw they where just catapillars (which made more sense anyway).

I think the maggot fear was already there when I encountered the rat, strange.

Oh well.

Suppose I'll try to sleep tonight, wish me luck!

Jewish Wedding and Fire works (by sarah)

Its been another bizzy weekend, especially as I accidently slept till 5:30 Firday and missed my physics and maths classes 🙁

Friday night was Ellas fire works party thing in Surrey Keys 🙂 This involved me trying to tickel people such as Dave and Toby to death, having random conversations and eating lots of chocolate and popcorn. Then to top it all of there where fireworks and sparklers and a bomfire (ok well the BBQ with some wood on but hey it's fire mmmmmmmm... we like fire), even if we where all taking bets on the life expectancy of the Landlady/firework lighter and later our selves as she through some live fireworks onto the fire and decided to do unplaned juggling with another (well it sort of started to go off in her hand so she threw it!). Who gave her the vodka? 🙂

They also had the cutest ferrets in the world which Al decided where ewokes 🙂

You know its a good party when you spend copious amounts of time staring into lava lamps and plasma tubes, have random conversations, throw up, see fire works lite from the burning bucket, and someone falls threw the roof!!! 🙂

Ok who let me eat the sugar?

Well that was Friday, we got back to the flate in the wee hours and where up bright and early to go to the campsite, where we instructed Air Rifles (well me and Katy did, the boys where our lackeys, yar mule yar!).

This was followed by a shopping expedition where I spent too much money on cloths! Well we did have a wedding to go to and then there where the cheap butterfly tops and the nice purple shirt and tie for Al. I was bad and spent £100 of Als money on two skirts (one black swooshy one and one denim one), a top for the wedding (unfortunatly it has a baby pink ribbon along the top though it is black-all the tops that where nice shapes and nice material had some pink on somewhere, why!? its not fair I had to wear pink, baby pink, and then colour coordinate, yuk! but worse of all it sutied me, wail lament, bring on the purple), a fluffy butterfly jumper, a long sleeved tie died butterfly top, a black bra and the shirt for Al, oh and some tights.

Wedding

More to come 🙂

Collecting postnominals (by alaric)

I've been collecting letters after my name. I reckon this is a noble goal; I hope that one day software development will be regulated by strict codes of conduct, like other skilled professions upon which lives and careers rest. Also, I think it's important that the IT profession have a voice of its own in politics, as opposed to the sometimes all too loud voice of IT companies.

Anyway. It all began when my degree earned me associateship of the City and Guilds of London institute.

However, all this seems to entitle me to is the postnominals "ACGI" - unlike the professional bodies I joined later, it doesn't seem to have any other benefits. Then again, they're not asking for an annual membership fee, and compared to the others it's a truly ancient institution, being based around engineering in general rather than software or electrical engineering.

Noticing that having "ACGI" after my name clearly made me highly attractive to the opposite sex, I decided I'd see if I could join any others.

After a few year's of work experience, in which I tackled some pretty interesting projects, I became a full member of the Institution of Analysists and Programmers, thus adding "MIAP" to the mix. I like the IAP; they're very helpful and friendly. They encourate networking, putting members in touch with each other, publishing a directory of members who are available to do freelance work, that sort of thing.

The next step has been joining the British Computer Society, thus adding "MBCS", too. These folks seem a lot more widely recognised than the IAP, and are involved in things like helping the ISO set IT standards. I'm hoping to get involved on their forums; I think the world will be a better place with more teamwork in the computer industry. However, they're a bit less personal than the IAP, and they cover a broader field, so I'm glad to have both.

The next step with the BCS will be to apply for Chartered IT Professional status - the IT world's equivelant of being a chartered engineer. This will involve some probing interviews and background checks, so I will leave it until I'm a little less stressed.

I wonder what to join next after sorting that out... IEE, IEEE (famed for their standardisation work), or ACM (famed for their meetings and SIGs)?