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2012

Fireworks, 2012

So another year has arrived and inspired by various other blog posts on happiness, I’ve decided to make a list of things to do/see/achieve/avoid this year, in the vain hope of being encouraged to achieve them because they’re written down! Note I don’t like the idea of New Year ‘resolutions’ so will avoid such word from hereon in. Think of this as my ‘Happiness Project‘, as most of these unashamedly focus on me!

Travel:

  • Spend more time visiting parts of the UK that I have so far neglected (and take photos)
  • Visit the US, preferably San Francisco (and take LOTS of photos)
  • Visit at least one European city (Prague and Vienna are top of the list)
  • Take more time to escape London into the countryside, whether long walks or exploring National Trust estates etc (and, you guessed it, take photos)

Lifestyle: Continue Reading →

Sunset on Abu Dhabi

So my time in Abu Dhabi is coming to an end. I fly home to London next Friday and begin 6 weeks of qualification leave…I am incredibly happy that in a few weeks I will be a qualified lawyer and an associate in a Bank Finance department.

But before that, I have lots to do and people to see. I will be spending time in Milan, Geneva, Portugal and of course in London. It has been a fascinating 6 months here in the United Arab Emirates and I have the majority of it! I’ve also learnt an awful lot about myself!

Now, it’s time to get back to loved ones and enjoy the rest of the European summer.

It’s been a while

I last wrote in January which is, quite frankly, appalling. My apologies, if anyone is actually reading this.
A quick rundown of what has been happening since then:
February saw me sit the first set of LPC exams, those relating to my compulsory subjects. I had a week in which to sit exams in Criminal Litigation, Civil Litigation, Property and Banking. It’s fair to say they were tough; open book exams are far more difficult that you’d imagine. Anyway, I feel I did pretty well in them and am actually looking forward to getting my results.
I then had a week away in Barcelona with about 50 other LPC students. All I can say his I had a much needed break and it was rather messy…ahem.
Following Barcelona, it’s been rather quiet. I have started my electives and am studying Public Companies & Equity Finance, Acquisitions and Banking & Debt Finance. Following my year in an investment bank, I have a slight headstart on most people but in any case, the electives are enjoyable and see me in college 3 or 4 days a week, which is nice.
I’ve had a couple of trips up to Durham to visit old friends and am off up North again this weekend at the start of my (strangely late) Easter holiday.
All in all, not much to report but just thought I’d check in!

Family server setup

I’ve noticed a steady stream of visitors from the UbuntuForums site; while I have not updated this in a while (as my server is running smoothly and has done for 2 years now) I am happy to answer any questions as best I can. Ask away in the comments!

Introduction:
I’ve had a home-built server sitting in my flat for a while now but have never got round to setting it up as much more than a personal networked storage device.
I was then hit by some very strange memory/motherboard problems which cropped up during my exams, so it’s taken me a while to get things up and running again.
Anyway, after a few days (I’m slow and learning) I have a pretty useful family backup server which, touch wood, is running very very well:

Continue Reading →

2007 In Review

Predictable this is very late, but my excuse is an unbelievable workload in the run up to final exams in February. Anyway, here goes:

2007 was a year in which I spent a lot of time out of the country, I returned to study, I became single rather suddenly, I have grown even fonder of London and my future plans all fell nicely into place. I’ll recap with some main events from the year 2007.

  • I saw the New Year in at The Weir with girlfriend and friends and it was a perfect NYE. It’s not often anyone can say that!
  • February saw me in Jersey for almost a week, celebrating my ex-gf’s father’s birthday, and a good time was had by all
  • The major event of the year was my success in March in gaining a Training Contract at a major US law firm here in London. I’d finally achieved my dream of training at a top law firm in London and had done so before starting my final year of study.
  • Skipping forward to July and into my newly single status, I was coming to the end of a year working in the bank here in London. I finally got to see Muse live when I flew over to Geneva for the Paleo festival. they were just as awesome as I expected.
  • After the end of my 11 months working in banking, I spent a very relaxing week back in Switzerland. A perfect end to the summer and all it entailed.
  • College started in August and proved to be interesting, challenging and a very different experience to the GDL.
  • I managed to fit in some more sunshine before winter set in by jetting off to Turkey for a week’s sailing with a friend and his family. Turkey was lovely, almost preferable to Greece and it was a much needed break from a tough first term at college.
  • In the run-up to Christmas, there were the obligatory Christmas parties, afternoon drinking sessions and of course, work to be done. However, there was one thing keeping me going, the much anticipated trip to New Zealand!
  • New Zealand was just…incredible. Photos are going up on Flickr once they’ve been sorted but suffice it to say there will be records of (a lot of) wine tasting in Marlborough, sailing in the Marlborough Sound, swimming with dolphins, whale watching, a trip to an active volcano, beautiful scenery and lovely weather. A brief stop-over in Los Angeles for some shopping and tourist sights rounded off a wonderful trip.

    • Finally, some numbers:
    8 gigs
    7 weeks out of the country
    7 foreign countries
    1 job acquired
    1 girl leaving
    0 girls arriving
    1 successful year to be honest!

    Here’s to 2008.

    What’s Greg watching these days?

    Shamelessly stealing Rob’s post, here’s a rundown of what I’m watching at the moment, apart from the few breaks I take to study ;)

  • Heroes – I loved the first season, I haven’t yet watched the first episode of the second.
  • Battlestar Galactica – As Rob says, what a cliffhanger at the end of the third season! Looking forward to Razor.
  • Californication – A very amusing David Duchovny plays a heavy drinking, heavy smoking writer who sleeps around a lot and wrestles with an uneasy relationship with his ex-wife, his daughter and is various other friends. Very funny, worth checking it out.
  • Studio 60 – This comes from the genius behind West Wing, Aaron Sorkin. Unfortunately, it was cancelled after the first season, but it’s well worth a watch.
  • Grey’s Anatomy – Lost touch with this at the end of season 3, so I’m going to need to recap before starting on the next.
  • House – The hilarious Hugh Laurie just gets better and better in this, currently watching season 3.
  • Prison Break – The first season was incredible, the second season mixed, the opening episode of the third season has neatly extended the plot line sufficiently. I’ll reserve judgement on the new direction!

    • Apart from these regulars, I’m looking forward to checking out Jericho and Criminal Minds. I also am sorely missing Veronica Mars so might check out ‘Chuck’ as Rob suggests.