Rock and Roll!

Another month passes, time seems to flash by here and drag on there. The G.E.F LT event was fun, despite 24 hours of continual rain. Had some drinks, some laughs, a slight bruising to the head, but otherwise fine.

Download festival was awesomesauce. Many (too many to see all of them) excellent bands, friendly people and interesting times. Standouts for me were Nightwish, Slash, Corey Taylor, The Mission, Tenacious D, Steel panther and of course Black Sabbath. Metallica came on 40 mins late, which was just disappointing and encouraged me to see someone else. Just a shame the weather was so awful to start with. The mud was so thick in places people were just abandoning their footwear. Oh, I also went on my first real amusement ride; some twisty thing that spins you through the air upside down and backwards. So that is two things from the list checked off this weekend.

Back to work now for 'start' of the academic year. A policy I do not agree with, but there it is. Only six weeks to go before summer. Hopefully I get some work lined up for after otherwise I am going to be a poor panda.

May it be...

May (or maybe late April, time is confusing) have been rather busy. Let's see, had two job interviews which I didn't get one, not so fussed about. The other, a bit bummed out about. But On the bright side I actually got some useful feedback from that one and they even referred me on to another school, so that is something. After resignation date (may 31st) there should be a few more posts. But unfortunately, if I can't get one locked in before mid June, I will no longer be able to teach after January. Leaving my options as; A) Get a none teaching job, B) Get a job at an independent school, or C) Go home. Time will tell.

Attended my first Lorien Trust event at the beginning of May. It was a lot of fun and quite different to Maelstrom. Much more combat, opportunities to do monstering, and for me, no more mask. Next one is in 3 weeks, which will be closely followed by the Download festival, then there are some bands I want to see later in June so it will be a busy month. Let's just hope I have the money for all this fun stuff.

April

Age of Seekers event 2: The Toy maker of Prospero Valley, was a huge success. 30 odd players with half that again as crew, excellent site, embedded NPCs equaled a lot of fun and excitement. It wasn't without its flaws but that just gives us something to work on for the July event.

My Easter break was a mostly relaxing fortnight where I didn't get up to much, but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing as I am now a bit short of funds and waiting for payday. I did get down into London for a night out and had the event organisation to keep me busy.

Back at work this week, and given the previous weekend was the event, I have been tired from day one. I think a quiet relaxing weekend is in order, as I know the following ones are going to be anything but.

Maybe this time...

Oops, six months huh? Oh dear. One day I'll be regular with this. Here come the dots...

• Moved flats again. Upsides; Larger room, closer to town, fewer flatmates, double bed! Downsides; Car insurance is now stupid high, parking is rubbish. A new move may be in order once contract is up.
  
• Lost job at Marlborough. Apparently teachers shouldn't confront misbehaving students, who knew. For the best. I wasn't enjoying it. Did a stint as day supply which was always interesting if a bit financially unstable. Now semi-permanent at Bushey Meads School. Also, government have finally accepted that yes, I am a qualified teacher. So that is good.
  
• My adventures in the Goth scene continue thanks to my guides Russ and Maz. Attended two Antichrist events which were blurs of fascinating images and sound. Also been trying to be a regular at Inferno and hit Invocation this weekend. Two visits to Slimelight have left me somewhat disappointed, apparently not as good as it used to but still OK.
  
• Taekwondo suffered a setback this month with a failed grading. Destruction with the off foot is not easy if you haven't had the chance to practise for three months. So, I have been kicking walls with my heel and stretching to ensure the next one goes without a hitch. But other than that, all good.
  
• Began using the Paleo diet this month. No more breads, grains or cereals, severe reduction in sugars. Plenty of fresh meat, vegetables and nuts. Combined with an altered workout plan this has started to show some improvements, particularly in the back. Pull-ups are key to this. Go figure :P.
  
• Travels. currently stalled due to finances. But key places to go before exfil are Scandinavia, Egypt, and maybe a few others. Maybe in summer, although I would rather do Scandinavia in winter to try and see the Northern lights and go dog-sledding.

Guess that is it for now. Easter break is imminent and have a LARP to help run during so should be busy. A with any luck I will remember to update this again. But don't hold your breath.

Sooo...

Um, yeah.

I have a blog! Wow, look at that. So, things that have happened since what, december more or less? time for bullet points methinks.

• Worked at Kings Langley school teaching both A level Bio and Chem, helped with Duke of Edinburgh expeditions, started a Role-playing group. finished at Kings Langley this summer after contract kerfuffle and other nonsense.
• The Vectra was running ok, right up until it started smoking and shuddering september this year. Has now been replaced with a lil blue Fiesta.
• Have a new job as of this week teaching junior science at Marlborough school, seems ok so far, the kids are definitely different stock to Kings Langley though. Hopefully this will last a while.
• Went on holiday to Portugal, did I mention that? drank lots and lay in the sun mostly, but also went paragliding and jetskiing.
• Maelstrom continues, I am now a tailor! Excitement. However, endtimes approach so a rethink is perhaps in order.
• Moved flats, now somewhere smaller in a quieter neighbourhood.
• Went home during summer break, saw some mates, the new house, got cold.

Think that is the main highlights. Time does seem to pass quickly.

A car is a hole...

To pour money into. After many hundreds of pounds I now have a car that is not a risk to my health, and only two repayments left on the insurance so I should soon have some money with which to do things, cool things, foreign things. Well, that is if the taxman doesn't decide to take it all away from me. But enough of a moan for now. On to plot...

Since September my life has been relatively routine, plodding along at work alternating between pulling my hair out and a feeling of 'huh, well that worked'. Nothing terribly interesting to report. Although I have finally gotten myself into gear in regards to extra-curricular stuff (other than DOE). Started two clubs. One, the role playing group, currently has four year 12 students, two of which are capable of running games so that will be good if/when numbers increase. The other group has been referred to y my fellow staff members as a cult but really it is just me trying to improve this country by upskilling some young citizens in the values and skills they should have learnt anyway. Still creating the history for this but the Order of Orion will have links to all the cool guys from history, the knights of the round table, knights errant, order of assassins, the musketeers, and whatever else I can come up with to make it seem mysterious and cool.

Speaking of DOE, spent several weekends in the Wales farmhouse with groups of students. Interesting seeing them in a different light. Got in some decent hiking trips as well. Also had a staff training weekend in Wales. Managed to get fastest orienteering time which is good.

TKD is going pretty well, in fact have my next grading coming up in a week to go from yellow tag to yellow belt. Shouldn't be too difficult though. Also attended a competition the other weekend. Managed to come home with two gold trophies, one for white belt patterns and the other for yellow belt heavyweight sparring so not too bad an effort.

Role playing continues to be interesting. My Star Wars character is a hard-hitting Kel-Dor with two Sithy looking sabers who hasn't had much fighting recently. Wraith finished with our ghosts rising from the dead and banishing the bad dudes to somewhere horrid. The new steampunk game sees me playing a Maori airship privateer who can fly like no ones business near the speed of sound while scorching the Earth in his kick-ass ship.


Went for a drive with Sam on Friday as I had the day off. We went to Shuttleworth falconry centre to find it closed so we looked at some old churches. Then I decided I was hungry so we drove all the way to Felixstowe so I could have fish and chips on the beach. It was good, but damn was it cold.

The snow has started for the season. About an inch on the ground, just not enough to close the school which means not only do I still have to work, I have to go through a harrowing journey twice a day. Here's hoping for a decent fall over the weekend so I don't have to go in on Monday.

Coming up on two years now since I left the homeland. While I do miss the country occasionally and the people more often, I have pretty much decided to stay here in England another few years, Probably until I can get citizenship. This should mean I return with more money in the bank and allows me more time to see this part of the world, but it does mean I miss out on events back home but that can not be avoided. In summer I may make an effort to come home for a month or so, depending on what the bank balance looks like of course.

Until next time (in several months most like),

Arriverderci miei amici

'We're not out of the woods yet.' "Yes we are, it's the bugs that are in the woods!"

Back at work now. You would think I would have learnt to actually prepare stuff before this happened but oh no. In my defense, this is my first real start of year beginning here in the UK (it made sense in my head, what's wrong with you?). A varied lot this year, several junior classes, A level bio and chem. Mostly good students, a few ad apples spoiling it for everyone, as usual.

I have a car! Vauxhall vectra for 300 pounds. Runs well, carries lots of stuff, only downside was getting the insurance. First quote? 2000. Second quote; 6000! Finally went to a broker and got proof from back home which brought it down to 1200. Still extortion but at least I am covered and fully comp at that too.

The car came in very handy for the run up to the Maelstrom LRP this month. As usual Sam C and me had plans with Sam H to sort it out and as usual Sam H was late and rubbish with organisation so ended up driving himself up. Still, was a great event with interesting people, situations, drinking, trade, big battles with bugs, tea, and a cake emergency. Once again the Rat tribe and the Squeaky bugs were a highlight. As was being Sam C's escort as two wemics competed for her attention. Now there is six months to go before the extended Easter event and methinks a plan is afoot involving clocks, mechanics and a catapult.

My bike got stolen! Some nerfherder snuck into the garden shed in the back yard and nicked it between the time I rode home around midnight and woke up to ride into town around 9am. Still, the police were very helpful and even though it is unlikely it will come back it made me feel a bit better about the state of this country.

Upcoming events for me are several journey's into Wales for Duke of Edinburgh. Pretty much the next four weekends give or take I am out West in the wilds. Could be fun, could be hell. Only time will tell my friend.