A Wee Update
Feb 27th
It has been a while since I last posted. So I though that I’d give you all a bit of an update on where things are and what is happening. I’ll start with work. Work over the last month has been a bit of a roller-coaster. News of people being let off and more lay-offs to come makes me wonder if I’ll survive the chop. Been thinking about this a lot. What happens if I get it, what happens if I don’t get it. If I get the redundancy it means:
Cons;
1. No job. Duh!!
2. Living on benefits such as unemployment benefit, rent allowance and, well I think that is it.
3. Still have loans and bills to pay. How?
Pros;
1. Redundancy money
2. More free time.
3. Redundancy money will pay off loans, which sorts part of 3 in the cons list.
4. Possibility to return to college full-time and get a qualification while waiting out the “economic downturn”
Getting a redundancy is a mixed bag really. If I get it, what choice do I have but to accept it and get on with life and see what I can do. If I don’t get it, life goes on as normal and everyone’s, well most people are, happy.
Ok so moving on, college is all go. Working on projects and studying for exams as I go. College is an aspect of life that I like and don’t plan on giving up anytime soon. Once my current course is finished I plan on doing more. I really want to get deeper into programming languages and web development. I think that no matter what I am at in life or where I am, I’ll always be studying something. Knowledge is power after all.
Paddys week is coming up and we are meant to have the whole week off work, but I will be in on the Monday and Tuesday to help out on overhauling some of the machines while there is no production. I am looking forward to have the rest of the week off. Last year paddys day was a lot of fun, it was really sunny and warm, which is what we need at the moment after all of this cold weather of late.
It bonus time of year again and I am wondering what to get out of it, most of it is gone on the car, tax, insurance, service. However I do have some leftover and I have a few things in mind that I want to get. A new coat, new sunglasses and a few decent belts. So as you can see it’s nothing major.
I recently put an ad in the Galway Independent for PC repair as a way of making a few extra euros. Had a call for a job on Friday morning last but it was cancelled. So I am going to run the ad for a few more weeks to see how it goes. So if any of you or your friends are having PC trouble or need something done, who you gonna call? Mike Folan!! Iincase any of you don’t have my phone number and do need me, 0876953564.
Ok that is all for now, I think. Chat to you all again another time.
Mike
An Absence
Feb 9th
Hey folks.
It’s been a while since my last post. Was going to do one last week but ended up being off work and college sick for the week with little energy to do much. It reminded me just how rubish day-time TV really is and how much I don’t miss it, except maybe two and a half men, it has its funny moments.
One of the latest editions to my computer “network” is a Samsung N110 netbook. This topped with two PCs and my laptop means that I have built up a bit of a small home network. One of the PCs is fecked, so it is being used for parts for the other one and the laptop needs an overhaul as it is running quite slowly and having a few issues. The netbook allows me to have a platform to work on at all times as it is portable and combined with my HTC Hero I can gain access to the internet anytime and anywhere.
I have been using the HTC Hero as a HSDPA modem for when I am out and about. I dual booted the netbook with ubuntu and windows 7. Ubuntu is winning out so far as I love its simple and easy to use GUI and I am learning where different functions are in Ubuntu all the time. So far so good.
I was also hoping to go into my trip to London recently but think that I will save this for a separate post of its own. Saw a lot of things and did a lot things while there for 4 days.
Anyway that is it for now.
Talk again soon.
The Lord of The Rings
Jan 21st
Ok so, because this weekend is meant to be kinda wet, my friend, Clive Mulvey, suggested that we do our long awaited Lord Of The Rings weekend. Which basically means we will watch all 3 of the extended versions this weekend. We are all big movie fans and some of us that will be in attendance have never seen the Lord of The Rings before, not me.
- Image via Wikipedia
So the plan is Friday nite we will watch:
The Fellowship of The Ring (extended version). This alone is approx 3 and a half hours long, which is not bad for a wet Friday night in.
Then next on the list is Saturday afternoon we will watch:
The Two Towers (extended version). Again this one is near the 3 and a half hour mark. If the Saturday is a wet afternoon this won’t be so bad, having a few friends around for company. If the weather is good thought, it maybe a challenge.
Last, but most certainly not least on Saturday night we will watch the final installment:
The Return of The King (extended version). Another long one. If we have lasted the last two, then this sould not be a problem. Enjoy the movie and then maybe head out on the town afterwards? Who knows? I’m looking forward to it all the same.
The Lord of The Rings is by far one of the greatest movies ever made. It is a real saga that has depth, adventure and something that will captivate you while watching.
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Hacked
Jan 13th
Some of you may have noticed that this site was hacked yesterday evening. Unfortunately I had not backed up the last post that I had written. It was a post about my new HTC Hero phone, an iPhone killer??? Anyway I posted a video about it. You can watch it below.
Will be backing up from now on a bit more frequently, will also be talking a closer look at my sites security.
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First Day of the New Year
Jan 5th
OK I know the post says the first day of the new year, but I’m not talking about the 1st of Jan. I’m talking about yesterday, the 4th of Jan, Christmas is over, the new year celebrations are finished and things are back to normal, back to work and soon enough college. For the first day of the new year “routine” I was happy with it. I did mention in my previous post, The New Year Post, what goals I wanted to achieve for the new year, these are not resolutions, these are goals.
My first day involved an hrs walk, healthy eating and a good night at work. I am just happy that things are off to a good start and it is all coming together nicely so far. Lets hope that I didn’t jinx it by speaking too soon.
The Lauch of CliveMulvey.ie
Jan 1st
Very talented and professional photographer and great friend of mine, Clive Mulvey, has officially launched his web site today. Make sure to go and check it out at www.clivemulvey.ie or just click the image below.
Wishing you all the success in the world Clive.
The New Year Post.
Jan 1st
Unsure if I should make this a review of 2009 or an objective post to which I can look back at come the next new year and see if I have achieved any of the goals that I set out in this post. A review would involve remembering stuff and deciding if I should include that. I think that it may be best to make an attempt to look to the future and see where I want to go, what I want to do and how I’m going to achieve them.
The first goal would be, as most people at this time of year, weight loss.
I want to loose at least 3 stone in this year alone. That’s only 1 stone per quarter, which is only 4lbs per month and that is not a lot. With regular exercise and being careful with what I eat, weight loss shouldn’t be a problem. The only obstacle I see here is my schedule during the week. With college during the day and work in the evenings, it can be hard to find time to make a meal. I will have to start bringing packed lunches.
The next goal would be to clear as much of my debts as possible.
My biggest debt would be my car. Not only do I have the costs of keeping it on the road, petrol, tax, insurance, maintenance but I also have the monthly repayments for it. The repayments will be complete in September of 2011. Clearing this would be a big weight off my back.
Weight loss and clearing debt are the biggest goals for 2010 but not the only goals. Some of the smaller goals that I want to set for myself are learning PHP and MySQL, getting back into playing the piano, putting an ad in the papers for PC repair.
Those are my main targets for the year. I may come back to this post frequently and add some more goals to it as I remember them or think of them.
So for now I will wish you all the best for 2010 and hope that it brings you all that you hope it does.
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The Christmas Post
Dec 26th
- Image via Wikipedia
I hope that everyone had a great Christmas. Between the Ice, the cold and the miles, it appears that people got to where they wanted this Christmas, safe and sound. It was possible that we might have been without our grandmother yesterday as where she lives is at the end of a steep hill that cars where struggling to get up, but thanks to some helpful neighbours who spread ash on the hill we where able to get her home for the Christmas dinner.
Mmmmm, the Christmas dinner. It has to be the best dinner of the year. Turkey and ham, varieties of stuffing, varieties of potato crochets, carrots, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, broccoli, Yorkshire puddings, roast potatoes and potatoes. A stomach filling and sleep inducing affair that is welcomed every year. Mam always puts on a great dinner every year and everyone who has it is always filled.
Gifts included clothes, Diesel perfume, lynx gift sets, set with a watch, pen and compass in it, family guy season 8 on DVD and more. A good haul if I do say so. For the evening we had a few drinks around the fire and sang Christmas songs, well no we didn’t, but we did have drinks around the fire while watch Inglorious Basterds on DVD.
It was an enjoyable day and am looking forward to our annual St. Stephens day party.
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PC Problems Again
Dec 20th
- Image via Wikipedia
Technology is a something or other at times. I love technology and all things computer related, but sometimes I find my love for it lacking. When it works, it works great, but when it starts to give trouble, it gives proper trouble. My PC won’t start up. Gives and error message telling me that the system battery is low, and then proceeds to tell me further that the OS won’t load.
I’ve had a similar issue to this before, where the PC would not load the OS, I had to change hard drives as the first one was fried and I lost a lot of info, but I reckon that this is more related to the system battery being low and not allowing the OS to load until the battery is replaced. Thankfully this time there is not as much stuff on the hard drive as the last time due to a fresh start along with the installation of windows 7.
Going to try a battery that I have in a PC that I don’t use that is left lying around. Must check to make sure that it is compatible first.
Mike
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Oh Christmas Tree, Oh…
Dec 15th
It’s that time of year again, it’s up. For your viewing pleasure.
Christmas Tree 09
