Summer Hols 2011

I’m afraid it’s been ages since I’ve put anything up on here, more than 18 months, oops! Been a busy bee. Anyway, spent some time looking through everything on here and realised just how good it is to have it to look back on, so I might attempt to keep it up a bit more, even if it’s just holidays and stuff…

First up, 2011′s summer holiday number 1 was a trip to Brittany to catch up with all the old guys…  Might add to this later but for now I’m  going to hang out the back of Greg’s blog. Cheers Greg!

The Green Beast is Dead

He’s been in the family 11 years. My mum’s car, and then my brother’s and then mine. I’ve just given the order for him to be sent to the scrapyard, a sad day indeed. Goodbye old friend.

Graduation

So I graduated last Friday, and a tremendously proud day it was too… Best bit, though, was when the piper’s pipes started playing up and the whole congregation started wetting themselves laughing. Brilliant!

Culzean Castle

Really enjoying my new-found freedom post-phd. First weekend, absolutely loving the no niggle at the back of my mind feeling. Watched the boys play footie on Sat morning, went to see the dons on Saturday afternoon, few drinks and some FIFA with Jamie Smith in the evening. Always thought I’d be on an enormous celebratory bender the weekend after I passed my Viva, but I’m still feeling totally exhausted by it all, so it was a nice, quiet one.

And a Sunday morning without a hangover to go adventure. Headed down the Ayrshire coast to go see Culzean Castle. The weather was brilliant, lovely and sunny and dry. Parked up a couple of miles north of the castle and walked to it along the beach. Seemingly it costs a load to get into the grounds but we did it all for free and got a great beach walk thrown in for good measure. Even got to play with a puppy. Excellent.

Dr Neil C. MacEwen

Yup, so it’s done. I did it. I am so unbelievable chuffed. Last Wednesday I sat and passed my Viva. It went really well actually, my examiner (Prof. Jonathon Chambers, Loughborough Uni) was very fair, and I ended up with only minor corrections, mostly aesthetic things and a few clarifications. Worked like mad that afternoon until the early hours of Thursday to get my corrections done and sent the thesis to the binders on Thursday morning. I’m not sure I’ve ever been as mentally exhausted in my life. On Friday morning I think I went for one of the best trips I’ll ever take in my life, on the train to Partick to pick up the 4 bound copies. I’d been dreaming of that trip for years, and especially as I look back through some of the stuff I have in here, it was a sweet, sweet moment. It keeps hitting me now and again, and I have a massive smile to myself. I’ve even had a wee weep a couple of times,  it’s a weird but fantastic mix of relief and satisfaction and pride.

So now I hope that all the paperwork will go through in time and I’ll be fully graduating in November. If not, it’s next July, which isn’t the end of the world but obviously I’d rather get it as soon as possible!!

So anyway, if you fancy a read, here you go…  ;)

“An OFDMA-Based Data Extraction Protocol for Wireless Sensor Networks“

Macca’s Thesis

Just over one year ago

I wrote this post about writing my conclusions for my thesis. This morning my Viva took place, and I passed. This evening I’m manically doing my (minor) corrections in order to submit in time to graduate in November. One year ago.

I

am

so

glad

it’s

over.

PS: Neil, it WAS good enough.

What would you have me do?

Following from my last post, BobbyJ has requested a poll, for what I should try next… Any good ideas? Nothing too dangerous please!

Me and my kitchen floor

We’re getting to know each other pretty well lately. Kat’s away on holiday, so I’m having to get a  bit inventive to feed myself. Got a touch of the old hangover today, couldn’t face going to the shops, so fell back on the old favourite staple: baked beans and sausages. Yum! First time I’ve ever opened a tin with my feet!

I can cook, see!

First attempt at cooking for myself last night… Predictably ended in disaster, glass and pesto all over the floor. Back to the ready meals methinks…

Broken…

Broke my forearm playing football on Tuesday night. Got hoofed up in the air by a clogger of a centre half and came down awkwardly on my arm. Heard the crack as I landed, not nice! Pretty darn sore, but now I have a cool black cast on it. They say it’s for 4 weeks, which means I get it off right before heading for the airport and a long weekend in London, excellent timing!!