Shiny Thing (02-11-07 at 17:28)
Nothing particularly exciting this time, except the addition of the photo of my new car. The A3 was getting a bit old and had done 46k miles, so I thought I'd buy a nice shiny A4. I eventually found one with the exact spec I'd been after (quattro, S-Line etc.), and am therefore extremely happy with it :) That is all.
New York, New York (11-09-07 at 21:42)
As if flying a light aircraft wasn't enough excitement for me, Amy and I have also just been on our summer holiday! This year we opted for a week away in New York, and what a fantastic week it was! I've visited a number different places in the US in the past, but New York is something quite different - and in a really good way. It's pretty difficult not to 'do' all the tourist things whilst there, so we visited the Empire State Building, Top of the Rock at night (the top of the tallest building in the Rockefeller plaza), the Statue of Liberty and all the other 'must sees' which were excellent without exception! Even the hotel we picked was really good.
The highlight of the holiday for me was a helicopter sightseeing tour over the city. We took off from a pier next to the Brooklyn Bridge, flew out over the harbour and all the way up the western side of Manhattan to the George Washington Bridge, seeing the Chrysler Building, the Empire State Building, Central Park and loads more from the air. We flew back to Liberty Island and got a close up view of the Statue of Liberty before returning over Governors Island to the heliport - just awesome :) I could go on for hours, but you've probably stopped reading anyway so I'll leave it there...
It's a plane! (28-08-07 at 16:33)
Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Actually yes, it is a plane - with me in it! For my birthday, as I mentioned before, I was given a trial flying lesson which we had booked for the Saturday of the August Bank Holiday. Despite the 'interesting' weather we've had recently, Saturday turned out to be an absolutely perfect day with lots of sunshine and a reassuring lack of wind. We took off from Redhill Aerodrome, after which I flew us all the way to Reading and back - and I didn't hit anything which was an unexpected bonus! We returned after a good hour in the air with a landing so soft I only knew we were back on the ground by the fact I could see one of the wheels out of the window. Landing on grass is definitely more comfortable than landing on concrete! Just as expected, the experience was awesome and left me grinning like a madman and wondering how much it costs to get your PPL. Yet another thing to add to the TODO list...
A huge thanks to the people who contributed to a superb birthday present!
It's been a while (29-04-07 at 20:54)
This year's ski trip (which admittedly now happened some time ago) was excellent yet again, and photos are unsurprisingly available on the gallery. In line with my policy of not breaking any bones or otherwise seriously injuring myself whilst on holiday, I returned largely unharmed and am already looking forward to next year!
Quite a lot has happened since and I'm going to use that as my excuse for, once again, failing to write a new blog until now - many would say this is a blessing...
Over Easter Amy and I went to see The Mousetrap in London which I thoroughly enjoyed, although it wasn't quite as good as the excellent Woman in Black which we saw last year at the Fortune Theatre.
A group of us have also recently been wine tasting at Vinopolis which was excellent fun - and amongst other things I tried my first Israeli wine! Now that the weather is improving I should also think about booking my Birthday present - a fantastic flying experience, something I've wanted to do for years! Unfortunately this does have a significant disadvantage though, which is that if I enjoy it as much as I think I will, I could end up with a very expensive new hobby...
Hello 2007 (04-02-07 at 09:18)
Whilst I know it's been 2007 for over a month now, it still feels like it was yesterday. Somehow I can see this year going as quickly as the last one... Last week was mostly taken up with some work in Dublin where I continued the Guinness theme of the previous trip by sampling their latest brew, North Star. This turns out to be almost exactly like Guinness, but not quite as bitter - very much drinkable! I really must find the time to return to Dublin when not on business as it's a small but interesting city which I haven't really had time to see properly.
Last night was my (first) birthday party, and people are still asleep in various places around the house - why can't I lie in when I have a hangover?? The evening was, however, very good fun :)
On Tuesday I'm officially 25, which let's face it is pretty old. It's my quarter century - it's almost three years since I left Uni, seven since I left 6th form, and over 14 since I was standing at the entrance to Therfield School wearing my slightly-too-large green blazer wondering what I'd let myself in for - it feels like yesterday. Still, ignoring the ever-present possibility of a rogue bus or some H5N1, I'm hoping I still have a while longer yet...
This year's ski trip planning evening has come and gone, and I'm incredibly pleased that the outcome was that a day later we had a ski holiday booked! We've managed to get a group of 12 of us together (the biggest yet!) and as a result got a fantastic deal on a catered chalet in Les Arcs, near Bourg-Saint-Maurice. A fair amount of snow has fallen in Les Arcs in the last few weeks, and I'm hoping this will continue until March when we go! I've just purchased myself a Nitro Revolt 158 (which apparently means I'm officially "revolting" - sigh...), so if anybody wants an '04 Salomon Mandate 155 (twin tipped) then please make me an offer!
FOSDEM is now under four weeks away so I'm looking forward to enjoying a variety of fine Belgian beer, catching up with people, and of course watching a few talks!
