Today, I attended the first of two assessment centres in May. This one was for the Scottish Government (SG) Graduate Development Programme, a 4-year programme with placements in different SG divisions, to build new leaders.
5 May 2015
29 April 2015
And Lastly in April
In other news, I'm helping to run a big Statistics Conference on Wednesday. My boss is pretty much in charge and quite useless to do anything else until it's over, so I thought I might as well make myself useful and help. There will be drinks afterwards.
On Thursday, I'm going to a reception in the Scottish Parliament, hosted by the organisation through which I first got my internship at the Scottish Government. There will be drinks.
On Friday, I'm first going to someone's leaving drinks (drinks!), and then to a gig in Summerhall, Rozi Plain. It's possibly a date.
And finally, today I went to the first prep meeting of the volunteers at the next Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival. This will be my third year of volunteering there and the goal is to top my efforts from last year, when I went to roughly 30 gigs in 10 days. I will take half days off so I can sleep and party!
On Thursday, I'm going to a reception in the Scottish Parliament, hosted by the organisation through which I first got my internship at the Scottish Government. There will be drinks.
On Friday, I'm first going to someone's leaving drinks (drinks!), and then to a gig in Summerhall, Rozi Plain. It's possibly a date.
And finally, today I went to the first prep meeting of the volunteers at the next Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival. This will be my third year of volunteering there and the goal is to top my efforts from last year, when I went to roughly 30 gigs in 10 days. I will take half days off so I can sleep and party!
27 April 2015
April For The Win
After a quiet first three months, 2015 is slowly but surely picking up speed.
I got an email on Friday asking whether I wanted to go on an adventure trip that weekend. How could I possibly say no to that?
I got an email on Friday asking whether I wanted to go on an adventure trip that weekend. How could I possibly say no to that?
21 April 2015
19 April 2015
5 February 2015
3 February 2015
Challenges
It's only early February, and I am already embarking on a number of challenges for 2015.
I started a barbershop quartet last week, and the first rehearsal went surprisingly well, even though none of us had done anything like it before. Mind you, my bass wanted a voice recording of his part instead of the piano recording I had made at home over Christmas, to put words and music together. As I couldn't find any recording software on my computer, for a while I was contemplating to just call him and leave it as a voice message. But then I ran into my friend Ronnie on the bus, and his pal Mike suggested Audacity, which is a free recording and mixing software. So home I went and did a quick and dirty recording of the bass part, one octave higher of course. Singing on my own in front of people was challenge number one. To be fair, doing karaoke the other week had helped to lose some inhibition.
I started a barbershop quartet last week, and the first rehearsal went surprisingly well, even though none of us had done anything like it before. Mind you, my bass wanted a voice recording of his part instead of the piano recording I had made at home over Christmas, to put words and music together. As I couldn't find any recording software on my computer, for a while I was contemplating to just call him and leave it as a voice message. But then I ran into my friend Ronnie on the bus, and his pal Mike suggested Audacity, which is a free recording and mixing software. So home I went and did a quick and dirty recording of the bass part, one octave higher of course. Singing on my own in front of people was challenge number one. To be fair, doing karaoke the other week had helped to lose some inhibition.
25 January 2015
Travel for Work
For a number of reasons I am reluctant to write a lot about work, but my job does come with a few perks. I must have mentioned Flexitime at some point, which allowed me to take thirteen additional days off last year. Another one is the trips to the north I do for work. These pictures were taken on the Glenlivet Estate around Tomintoul in the north of the Cairngorms National Park last week where I went on a site visit with the team.
30 December 2014
Chrismanay
Having spent most of Christmas indoors, cuddled up by my parents' wood-burning fireplace, I came back such a wuss that I couldn't sleep in my bed anymore without the heating on. I was permanently cold and boring, and felt very much like just sitting it out, hibernating until spring. But it only took one motivational blog article (*click*) to get me up on my feet again, go outside, and do winter.
16 December 2014
Tap dance is boring
Not this one though:
Just watch the first 2 min and that should get you hooked. And that's even before the band starts playing.
Just watch the first 2 min and that should get you hooked. And that's even before the band starts playing.
14 December 2014
Adventuring
I'm in need of some adventuring. Any ideas?
This year, I did the following things which were new and exciting and at least a bit scary:
This year, I did the following things which were new and exciting and at least a bit scary:
- An intimate evening of reading poems to strangers
- Online dating - the second most terrifying thing I have ever done in my life
- Dance performances (*click*, *click*)
The previous year I also did some scary stuff:
Ideas for next year:
- Spending a night outside on a hill
- Starting a barbershop quartet
- Singing in a band
What interesting and scary things have you done this year?
12 December 2014
9 December 2014
On books
Book recommendations? Haven't done that before! I think I have just put too much on my plate when ordering War & Peace from the library while still fighting the whale that is Moby Dick.
27 November 2014
Argyll
Also, I spent a lovely weekend on the west coast with the best Scotland has to offer: Views of the calm sea and islands, sea lochs, sunny November days, sunsets and sunrises, and a Scotsman with a campervan who takes me to these places. It was stupidly beautiful. And I forgot to bring my camera.
Anyway, the Scotsman took a few pictures with his phone:
26 October 2014
Job hunting season
It's job hunting time again. So naturally, as serious business goes always hand in hand with serious procrastination, I have rediscovered my blog.
Here is a list of other things I do instead of writing job applications:
Here is a list of other things I do instead of writing job applications:
13 September 2014
Scotland Decides
Next week, Scotland decides whether it wants to be an independent country. Civil servants are subject to restrictions in what they can discuss in public about the referendum. Therefore, I can say little more than that it has been very interesting times, and that recent polls suggest a close decision. Find in this poll tracker (*click*) an overview of how Scottish public opinion has changed during the duration of the campaign, and watch the news on decision day - 18 September, and announcement day, 19 September 2014!
18 August 2014
Visit from Friends
Two people just rose a few places on my best friends list by bringing this:
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| Whisky liqueur made from 15 year old malt. |
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| My new besties :) |
16 August 2014
Highlights from my Iceland Trip
Highlight: River crossings.
Highlight: Great walks.
Highlight: The Reykjavik businessman who happily gave us a lift and a tour of the area.
Highlight: Great walks.
Highlight: The Reykjavik businessman who happily gave us a lift and a tour of the area.
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| One of many river crossings - photo taken by Daniel. |
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