Weekend of Barbeques

Paul's wedding on Friday. Hadn't seen him since we shared a flat in Oz. Almost 5 years infact.

Half a decade(much longer than 5 years!) ago I had slept on the streets of Manley in order for Paul to have the flat to himself and romance the girl he had the hots for. Amanda.

We had spent most of the day tidying our flat, no small task as it had seen more backpackers pass through its door than the local hostel. And on a mid winters night (in Sydney admitadlly but it WAS still brass monkeys(ies?) and besides I'm cast as the noble hero in this story), while I bedded down on a local bench, Paul the romantic hero put his plan into action. The ingredients for a romantic meal already prepared, He took her up to our rooftop to admire the sunset and present her with the flowers, champagne and charm he had ready. Clearly she was swept off her feet as when I let my chilled bones back into the flat in the morning, the meal preperations were still on the counter. ;-)

Congratulations Paul (+ Amanda). Thanks for the invite and for the lesson in how to be a true romantic hero.

Saturday morning, much like Charlie's wedding the week before, I enjoyed even more than the wedding itself due to our catch up chat and the banter of shared memories.

I actually met Paul on a plane, well waiting in a boarding queue to be exact. We ended up sitting next to each other, sharing a flat in Sydney and 5 years later I'm at his wedding. Funny how things turn out. It shows you what can happen if you just make the effort to speak to the person sitting next to you.


The rest of my weekend seemed to be a blur of barbeques. I visited Gemma(who I met on a beach in Thailand) in Grantham and ended up at Tamsin's in Wimbledon for yet another barbeque and another crazed night.

This week I have been trying to get stuck into work but have met with varying success. At the beginning of the week I managed two brief and mainly underpowered kitesurf sessions after school which nice, but has left me craving a day of decent wind.

Chit is coming down for the bank holiday weekend which I am looking forward to. It will be good to catch up properly.

YES - Exam results

Literally in the last minute I have been passed my exam results for the last 6 exams. I am still shaking.

These were my results:

Mass and Balance - 97%
Performance - 90%
Operational Procs - 92%
Flight Planning - 93%
Radio Navigation - 90%
Human Performance - 96%

As you can guess I am really, really chuffed.

6 down. 8 to go.

Degenerate Students

WARNING: RANT

Yet another evening I have come home to find the kitchen in an utter state.

I like to cook. However at the moment, there is not a single plate to use. Impressive in a house that has enough plates to cater for a large wedding, even if not a very coordinated one.

The sideboard is covered with pots and pans, crockery, cutlery and the grease and moldy food which covers them.

The problem arises when I come to wash up to cook a meal. In the sink there is another mountain which means there isn't enough room to wash anything under the tap. I am forced to empty out and wash more of the gipping filth than I need just to be able to eat. I suppose it is akin to having stuffed your mouth full of food and not having the space to chew.

Over Easter there wasn't any problem. Everything was generally washed up as it was used, or atleast within a reasonable time. The major difference between now and then are the two pikeys who live downstairs.

I'm sorry, that last comment may have come across as rude or even disrespectful, but I don't really have anything against gypsy folk. The two filthy toerags downstairs however are beginning to wind me up.

There is a light at the end of the tunnel. Within a month they will have finished their exams and left Bournemouth and no doubt a mountain of washing up behind till September. What those of us who are left will have to make sure is that their replacements understand what a kitchen sink is for.

Charlie + Anna's wedding weekend

Very funny weekend. At one point on Sunday I laughed till I cried. A day of pub food; handbrake turns with new mother-in-law in the back; ploughman's lunches without any cheese; flying kites at Bream; crashing kites at Bream and lovely pie.

Birthday kitesurf session

I feel that I am always struggling to keep this 'blog' up to date.

My original intention had been to write about what was going to happen as well as what had already happened so as to give myself more of a 'before and after' effect. I was interested to see how my anticipation of future events compared to my perception of the same events afterwards. I am going to try and improve on this, but don't have too much hope.

Anyway, last Wednesday [already 4 days behind], was my birthday and in true rock and roll fashion I went to lectures. Double Air Law, double Instruments, double Engines, Instruments(again) and Engines(again). No-one was up for going out so I thought I would make the most of the day and go and pick up my freshly MOT'd car which had been fixed in Sussex for half the price that they had quoted in Bournemouth. Result. The Egomobile lives again. Taking the train home I didn't fancy doing absolutely nothing on my birthday so popped into Brighton to meet up with some friends.

Thursday, I didn't go to lectures. I went to Pevensey instead with Dave and Adas to go kiting. I treated it as my anniversary proper. A much needed break from study, an awesome session, some cracking fish and chips and the blissful afterglow that only certain sports give you. Another gusty session after work yesterday(friday) is the only time I have been out two days in ages. It probably is also the reason I feel like I have been beaten up by a rugby team today.

Tonight, I am going to Charlie, a good friend from Southampton's Wedding reception. [see - I am trying the future plans thing]. Should be fun though I don't think there will be many people I know there.

Friday night

Thanks to all those that came for my joint birthday and end of exam celebrations on Friday afternoon/evening/night/next morning. I had a really good night and it was good to have a beer or two for after all the revision.

The Friday before I had popped into Brighton to see off yet another friend(Damyan) who is emigrating to Oz. I met him and his friends in a gay bar called "Harlequins", a fun bar that had it's fair share of characters including a pair of Les Dawson look alikes in drag. The great things about the place is that the barman served me in front of the ladies who were waiting. Surely a first. One week on, last Friday I was asking Tom(from Brighton) whether he had been there. The conversation went something like this:

Me: "Tom, have you ever been to Harlequins?"

Tom: "Yeah, my dad has a season ticket."

A pause.

Ed: (suprised) "Your dad has a season ticket to Harlequins???"

Tom: "Yeah that's right, he goes a lot."

Another pause.

Ed: "Harlequins, the gay bar?"

Tom: "NO, Harlequins the rugby club."

It made me laugh all weekend. A good night all in all and while I insincerely apologise for any cookie madness, I blame anything that those present might have imagined on the sugar.

A picture will go here when I get one off someone.

The meal at TAS was typically Awesome, if anyone ever fancies 'a Turkish', then they can't go wrong with TAS on Borough High Street. The vine leaf wraps are particularly gorgeous.

COOKIE

Exams Over - for now

That was intense. 6 exams over 4 days last week. As for how I did? Well, the first four were basically OK, the fifth was shocking and the sixth was easy.

When you take exams I think there is always a tendancy to play down your chances and I have certainly done this in the past, might possibly be doing it now and will definitely do so in the future. I don't want to look an idiot by being over conifident and than failing them, nor do I want to tempt fate. However I think the first four should be ok, the fifth however contained a lot of questions that no-one on our course recognised. This one will require a certain amount of luck. A shame really as I was well prepared for what I believed they were going to examin us on.

The results will be out in the next couple of weeks, so I will know for definite soon. We started the second module out of three modules this morning. Air Law, Aircraft General Knowledge and Engines this time around.