A very well made point about this whole banning of encryption tools and software.

Well, Whitby has come and gone once more leaving a trail of finicial
and this time physical destruction in its wake, That aside is was
awesome. I packed up the motorbike started the 231 miles trip down
in Scotlands traditional climate, Rain!. Regardless the trip down
was fun and kept me amused. Soon the entire wegian (both Glas and
Nor being fully represented for the first time in ages) were assembled
and the madness could begin.

As usual there was a lot of drinking and carousing and the like,
much Whiskey and Ale (Turbo and Tanya* brought a fridge full and
several bottles of Whiskey). There were lots of people in attendance
for a change making it very fun but several new faces too (or possibly
old faces that I haven't been able to recall yet). Being a goth weekend
there was drama, intrigue and of course drinking. It was great to see
Fury and Wes making it again with the families and a suprise appearance
from Marquis. I only managed the gym one day which is an improvment
over last time in April (come this coming april I am going to aim for
twice). I am not going to go through everything and everyone that
happened though I will say the weegians big night out where all 9 of
us (with brief appearance from Mr CJ) ended up in the front room of
the Angel getting wreaked on Scrumpy and Ale should definately figure
again. The small whiskey related gathering was nice and amusing. I
missed most of the Glamnight due to the swath of weegian beer/scrumpy
destruction. Danced for pretty much the whole 80's night after a full
curry (not a good plan). Staying up drinking with a couple of folk until
the wee small hours talking about all sorts of things all very interesting
and much fun and finishing Thursday with a couple of drink chatting to
Preacher. The beach party was also awesome though my ability to fall over
logs wreaking my back and re-pull my leg muscle wasn't fun.

Next year we are back in Glasgow Towers *yay* and I'll get my cave back!
Really hoping the weather is better next year than it has been this year
so the ride down will be better.

* Commander Long Suffering as she is now known.

I was looking through Livejournal to get some old address information
and started reading through some of my old entries (dear god what a
miserable young fucker I was). However apparently I've been riding
motorbikes for 5 years now and amusingly my youngest bike was the
first one my Kymco Hipster (The Princess) with an 05 plate. The thing
I like about Livejournal is as a diary you can look back and see how
far you have come forward. More nostalga today huh ;)

The excitement is starting to build once more as I come ever closer to attempt number 2 in changing my Career path. I now have six weeks in Aberdeen left which is around 2 months before I enroll at the University of West Scotland for a second time. I have no work on getting my fee's paid and have heard nothing about my Disclosure Scotland security check.

It's been a long time since I've been in Further Education, the advantage being that as a Postgraduate Degree and within the Field of Careers It should attract more mature and adult students (You'd hope). Changing Career is an important step in the plan for the rest of my life, rather than continuing to try and wear IT like a badly fitting shoe. By moving into a Career more suited to my strengths (something web development never did; I was a arty designer type originally) I can hopefully find sustained employment and then settle down and if I am lucky gain a Career that I can not only succeed in but excel at.

1) How I could have been so bloody absent minded as to leave
the house without my Bike Keys, House Keys or indeed my Mobile Phone.
All in all its annoying but not the end of the world and I don't miss
not having my mobile with me, it's like [Star Wars] I've taken my
first step into a bigger world [/Star Wars]

2) The state of the country; I have never been big on politics
because I genuinely don't believe anyone in politics at a level where
they can make change is uncorrupted by politics. But I had feelings of
dread when we got the ConDem's (basically a tory goverment with hangers
on) headed by a man who has himself proclaimed he wants to be more
Thatcher than Thatcher (so I am told). So the run of policys and bullshit
abounds and amazes me everyday.

3) The Future; The future is a very fluid concept for me right now
I am a creature of routine and habit. Soon I'll be changing career which
is good, but I spend a lot of time wondering if there will be much of an
industry for me to move into once the ConDem's are finished with it. The
fact I can't make any life decisions on where I want to live or work for
the next 12 months is very frustrating because I can't make any plans beyond
save enough money for a deposit on a house.

4) The Past; I don't dwell in it, but I often look to it for insight
into my future, where I've gone wrong, how I've overcome obstacles and what
I've yet to overcome. I am a great believer in if you don't learn from your
past you are doomed to repeat it. I do occassionally loose sight and dwell
but I have plenty of people to slap some sense into me.

5) My Fitness; I've been on about this forever and for the first time
since Leicester I feel I am making some real headway. Its only been 3 months
but I am constantly looking at my diet and what I eat and how I eat, my
lifestyle and trying to be hard on myself with regards to doing the work. As
a result I spend a lot of time planning how to proceed with this and even
though I can't see the difference people assure me there is a one. Hard as it
is for me to believe people are being honest and not just nice to make me feel
better about the lack of progress for the work I am doing (I am not saying they
are but its how I feel) I just need to take them at their word that its the
case ... which is what I am doing.

6) Location; It's very much the forepoint on my mind atm, 90% of the
stuff I like doing is in northern England, Whitby, Bike rallies etc even though
Aberdeen is a limited time only thing I swore blind years ago I wouldn't come
here yet here I am ... just thinking of the money for my house!

7) Navel Gazing; I contemplate myself a lot, which might seem terribly
self-indulgent. I have a tendency to look at my behaviour, how I react to things
and analyse and sometimes over-analyse which in certian situations I react with
hostility or frustration or disapointment etc. Egocentric as it may sound it does
allow me a certian amount of self-awareness and for the bits I can see or decypher
I have some very blunt, plain speaking, brutally honest friends.

1) Honesty, I may not like what you have to say but I'll trust and respect you for saying it.

2) Kindness, The world is an ugly enough place as it is at times and a little care and compassion for people goes a long way.

3) Perspective, I always try to see things from all sides and I don't always succeed. Over the years I've met people who are able to take a real step back and approch things in this fashion and it's this clarity that always suprises me. I find this are very rarely black and white these days.

4) Loyalty, This one is in the position it is due to the fact it goes without saying and I didn't even think about it until halfway down the list. Loyalty isn't blind though, it's tempered by other traits. I believe in being loyal but if you cheat on your partner don't expect me to lie for you or tell you its not your faultor pander to your need to justify bad actions. This is part of being a friend (a real friend not a fair weather friend) its combination of Loyalty, Honesty, perspective and compassion. Its true of most traits its not about one or two but how they all combine together to make a whole person.

5) Justice, As we've seen in films, books and comics and Justice and the law are two different things. Again justice isn't a simple concept, there are a wide range of situations that have to be judged aqainst and the range is vast for Eg: Murder against forrgetting to return a library book and a sense of justice tempered by wisdom is a good trait.

6) Forgivness, I do struggle with this one, some say its experience others say if the nature of Glaswegians that once you earn their ire your forever listed in the book with a black mark. I think these days I am just so short on paitence for people I used to have so much forgiveness. As such people who have this trait still I find I respect even more because somehow they have managed to get through life and still be able to have this trait is impressive.

7) Listening, In my experience Listening isn't as easy as it seems. I have always seemed to have 'That face' that says tell me your problems. Listening is just that letting people talk because most people resolve their own issues if they can't talk them through for long enough. Occassionally you have to throw in something to keep them talking if the stumble or start to struggle but essentially you're there to listen, offer encoragement and most of all keep them talking. Its not easy to listen and not have a conversation, I find myself occassionlly wandering into conversation and usually catch myself and bring it back. But its a valuable skill that can help people find a reasonable degree of clarity and peace with things and is frustrating when you can't find someone who will listen.

8) Humour: A sense of humour has to be amoung the best traits there are many great things in human nature but the ability to laugh together creates a bond like no other.

1. I don't so much wander from place to place as much as run!
2. I think too much, way way way too much.
3. I'm shy, no, really ... It's not really something you ever shake completely.
4. I suffer from memory dyslexia and have trouble committing information from short term to long term info.
5. I damaged my right knee in the drunk goth skittles incident
6. I and not as rock n roll as my quiet friends think or as quiet as my rock n roll friends think.
7. I make plans and only starting to get better at achieving them
8. I don't drink as much as you think I do.
9. I am terrible at talking about myself.

Day One: Ten things you want to do some day.
Day Two: Nine things about yourself.
Day Three: Eight qualities you think are awesome in other people.
Day Four: Seven (semi)interesting things you've pondered or thought about recently.
Day Five: Six things you are glad you did.
Day Six: Five books/movies/tv series/etc that you'd recommend.
Day Seven: Four silly quirks
Day Eight: Three pet peeves
Day Nine: Two things for which you're proud of yourself.
Day Ten: One secret plan.

1) Own a house of my own (with a garage/workshop)
2) Settle down somewhere and feel I belong there
3) Look in the mirror and not see a tubby weegie *
4) Ride from Oz to the Uk (Damn you Sutherland!)
5) Visit Hawaii (and Venice for that matter)
6) Dress up as Flash Gordon for the 80's night one Whitby
7) Go to Wheelie School
8) Do a track day on the Fazer 1000
9) everything else
10) Burn out rather than Fade away! Because its better to burn out than fade away ;)

This weekend was franks birthday and wendyhouse. I set off from Aberdeen about 12:30pm for around 6 hours I had a 10 minute fuel stop in Leith, in Edinburgh., by which point I was rounding where the A68 turns into the A69. Running out day light on small twist back roads I decided to head for Newcastle and major road networks. Stopped at Baylys new house and very nice it is too, we talked rubbish, went out for beers and pizza and seen the local "wildlife" and then watched Batman year one.

Leeds the next day, was good to be back in yorkshire and seeing orange, al and their housemates (lovely people). Frank appeared later there was pub and silliness followed by Wendy and silliness. Was great to catch up to so many folk I hadn't seen in ages. There may have been inadvertent hangover.

The next day was full breakie and then booting up the A65, It was a beautiful, cold, crisp day. I was feeling rather Zen and a touch sad at leaving west yorkshire. For some reason I always equate the A65 with the road home, so progressed along in no real rush enjoying some the amazing views. Had a brief stop at Devils Bridge then booted up the M6 stopping at Hamilton services to assess my energy levels and decided another 3 hours would be too much and went my bed in barrhead. I am getting into work late today but its been a nice weekend that's been exhausting but enjoyable.