1-Web
Posted 21st June 2008 at 7:19pm by M1ke, tagged as Internet | Commenting Closed
Web design has been one of my hobbies for over three years, and I've put a lot of time into learning and developing my skills. One of the results is the CMS that powers this very site, and I've also completed a number of commercial design projects. To try and give more focus and business prescence to my web designing skills I've finally got round to making a site for just that purpose. So, if you're interested in having a site made, administered or improved head over to 1-Web and have a look at my portfolio.
Reflections
Posted 21st June 2008 at 1:17am by M1ke, tagged as Random | Commenting Closed
Yes, its that time of year again, a time when I've had tea really late, drunk a bit and can't be bothered going to bed. Its also the end of my second year at University, which I feel is more important than the aforementioned sleeplessness. I was returning to our house today and felt that reflecting on the various goings-on of the year was an important task. Indeed as with every other year its seen some large events, some significant changes.
I've had a year now of living in a house, away from the parents and away from the more regimented and looked-after confines of college. Thinking back to the relatively uncaring mindset I had when choosing a house I realise how lucky I've been to have been in such a wonderful place for nearly a year. Also looking back I realise what a good decision I made living with my current housemates - if any of you happen to be reading this, you're brilliant. Of course that on its own would do a disservice to my other friends, all of whom have been excellent throughout the year. I've gained plenty as well, through getting to better know those in my year, and meeting people in the year below. Naturally one large area for meeting people has been skydiving.
Anyone who actually reads my blog will doubtless be finding this old news, but my entering into the crazy world of skydiving has to rank as one of the largest changes. This time last year the thought of skydiving was merely one of those things I'd heard about once (something that Stuart from Blue Peter did once, for those in my year who remember). Now its a major hobby of mine, taking up much random thought time previously dedicated to random amusing animals. At that point I must mention that despite the llamas from last year seemingly vanishing, the two new llamas are also great.
With making friends and finding new activities comes loss. Today I've said goodbye to two amazing friends who are leaving for their year's abroad, and in just over a week I will have said goodbye to four more. I am acutely aware that for none of them is it truly goodbye as all will be back in a year's time, but to think that I've got to know all of them so well over less than two years since meeting them, it is saddening to loose them for more than half that time again. Lest the fractions overwhelm, in the past year I've also lost a relationship of way over two years. I've written about this before and don't wish to do so again, but I must be honest when considering changes in this year. Still, as I loose I may also gain, as a few days ago I received the news that the hard work and stress of exams and assignments this year paid off, and I am once again pursuing a Master of Engineering degree here, rather than the Bachelor's which I've been assigned too the past three terms as a result of my poor efforts (read, enjoying myself too much) in the first year.
So overall I'd consider this year a success - I'm still alive, I'm still me, I've explored some amazing new areas and continued to tend some fantastic friendships. In a day's time I will be departing for my first ever holiday outside of the British isles, and I'll be bringing a notepad and a camera to record what I can. Time to continue, in true Doctor Who style, that journey through time and space.
Cat 8 Video and Stills
Posted 20th June 2008 at 1:14pm by M1ke, tagged as Skydiving | Commenting Closed
Before clicking "Play" be warned that you'll want to turn the volume down (bottom right corner) - 120mph air rushing past the camera is rather loud even on a compressed video.
Many thanks to Lee for taking the video and for getting it online.
I also used VirtualDub to take stills from the video and put them on Flickr, along with some explanation as to what I was doing at certain points.
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Busyness
Posted 19th June 2008 at 10:02pm by M1ke, tagged as Random | Commenting Closed
Been websiting and that most of the day - now I'm off up to our college for a midnight barbecue and we then plan to watch the sun rise. It may not be the solstice tomorrow (the day before in fact) but its the solstice to us, and we intend to have a wonderfully chilled out time! If anyone else plans to watch it, enjoy!
Unlucky for Some, a Friday 13th Tale
Posted 14th June 2008 at 1:03pm by M1ke, tagged as Skydiving | Commenting Closed
Well well, what a day yesterday was! A more superstitious person may have decided that it wasn't the best day to go jumping out of planes, and initially it didn't look like I would. Then at half two I rung the DZ and was told they were jumping and al hesitation went out the window. I got there as quickly as I could and had the shortest retrain of RAPS so far (about three minutes) and supervised Tom who was packing my rig. I kept practicing all the moves I'd need for my Cat 8 qualifying jump and was fairly confident of getting it, but I was really feeling the nerves. We watched as some static line students were dispatched, then waited for the plane to taxi back. It was great to see the camera strapped to Lee's helmet as he got out of the plane - though it would mean that if I cocked up the jump everyone would be able to see.
Unlike the very warm Monday (when the plane ascended as if through treacle) we made good progress, dropping a static line student before heading up to 6,000 feet for Ben to do his fifteen second freefall. Deserving of mention is Ben's comical attempts to get into position before his jump - he was sat behind me and had to turn round onto his knees in the same small space, which was difficult because he's quite tall. Lee had to restrain himself from laughing and I didn't really know what was going on behind me. The tomfoolery ended and Ben did his jump with Dave the pilot banking the plane incredibly steeply (I swear the wings almost went vertical) to allow Lee to watch the whole delay and set us up for the climb to the top.
As this was my Cat 8 dive I needed all the time in freefall I could, so we were aiming to go higher than the usual 10,000 feet. I was sat next to the door (well the hole in the side, as the Cesna is once again without a proper door) and at points really felt the need to hold on as we were climbing as steeply as we could without stalling. By the time we circled to run in we were over 10,000, and as we went over the village we passed 11,000. When Lee eventually started spotting and called the cut we were at 11,200 feet, so that's a new record for me. I got my feet onto the step, let go of the strut and dived towards the rear of the plane, arching hard to bring myself belly-to-earth. The first move once I was stable was the backloop, bringing my legs in and waving my arms like a crazy man to send me tumbling over. The point is to prove that I can go unstable and regain stability, so after one spin and stable I counted that as done. Next were two 360 degree turns in either direction - these also served as a good time to find where Lee was in relation to me. Having done them, and seen Lee, I tracked towards him, turning off to the left slightly but holding it. At this point my altimeter read 7,000 so I decided to do the turns and track again. This time I held the track for longer and straighter, and knew I must have it by now. I looked around for a bit to find Lee (I had planned to give him the thumbs up once I'd finished) and eventually spotted him hovering above and behind me. With the geeking done I waved and pulled, watching Lee plummet below me as my canopy opened.
The ride down would have been pleasant, but for the fact that my mum was correct when she warned against jumping with a cold, as it felt like my sinuses had exploded. Admittedly they had just been cleared at 120mph and I felt better for it after the pain subsided and my hearing returned fully a few hours later, but it was somewhat distracting during my canopy flight. There was no wind and I ended up landing near the runway again, but it was a good landing even if I didn't stand it up. Roy had driven the quad bike up to collect the plane, so when it landed I hopped back in and rode it back to the hangar. I waited around for a bit before Lee finished packing and came over to congratulate me - Cat 8 at last! We did the usual paperwork and I completed the ridiculously easy CH1 written test and that's it - I'm now an A certificate skydiver, able to jump anywhere in the country with BPA membership, and able to jump at any drop zone in the world with temporary membership to their organisations. Aside from that I no longer have to be retrained every time I go down, don't need an instructor to dispatch me any more and can jump in higher winds (a relief considering the weather at Peterlee). RAPS has been a long adventure but I've enjoyed every jump, got to know lots about the sport and made a lot of friends too. Here's to wherever skydiving takes me next!