Another week gone by

Another weekend gone by. This time, Baanisuu and I spent the weekend on Gozo, the sister island. We were staying at Ta' Marija farmhouse in Gharb. It accommodates 16 people (though it has 5-6 rooms), has a huge pool, well stocked kitchen and a large living area. We did not use the pool much.

This weekend came on the back of two large events.

One was the visit to London the week before (blog post in the working). The other was my dissertation viva on Thursday 25th. Basically, this was a sort of a 30 minute interview in front of some 7 people. You may think it is intimidating, but alas, the setting was not. I was situated at the head of an oval shaped table. That reduced the confrontation element. I knew all the people in the room except for the foreign examiner. Questions were though and at times rather tricky, but I think I answered them well. As expected, the trickiest came from one of my tutors...

So know I am waiting for the disseration and degree grade. In the meantime, I have some corrections to my dissertation to do.

It's over

I am done with it! No more Mirming! After having spent a week in Maremma doing our final credits, I had two weeks left to finish my dissertation.

The corrections that I had to do in the end were not much. At this exact moment I am printing my second copy. I need to hand in the copies by tomorrow noon.

Actually I still have the viva left. It will be held on the 25th September. But let's not worry about that now.

Daqshekk! Finito! Fertig! Chan gun!

Welcome back life!

Still alive

Just a note to tell you that I am still alive. My dissertation has taken up much of my life for the past weeks. It is due on the 4th of August. In the meantime, I also went a week to Maremma, Italy for a week of hard work (fieldwork and presentations) as part of the MIRM course.

Anyway, hope to be regularly back in a few weeks, and finally get my life back!

Six Revisions

One of my hobbies, or rather addictions, is browsing through countless pages on the web, also looking for information that interests me. This covers a wide range of activities from football, Formula One, to climate change, energy and current news.

One of my hobbies and things I enjoy doing is building websites. I started by doing the typical personal website that were quite popular some five years ago. However, that project was abandoned (with all the stuff on it lost) while I was studying Geography for a semester at Hope University, Liverpool. Nonetheless, I worked on two projects, mainly related to my dad's travel agency business.

When I joined my current employer after finishing my final year at the University of Malta, I was given the task to develop the company website. I was also involved in building two project-related websites (that have been taken offline after the project was completed) and some others. Furthermore, I am currently working on an online questionnaire for my MIRM dissertation.

Therefore, when I encountered the blog 'Six Revisions' I could not have been more than pleased. Six Revisions is a web development and design blog. The posts are quite varied and include many tips, ideas and resources. What's best is that the language and jargon used is too my likeness,ie neither beginner nor too advanced jargon. No wonder I added the blog feed to Google Reader.

Finally, it is very useful to me since it helps to stay updated on the current trends and developments in both design and development.

Busy Busy Busy

I have my first semester exams today week. So I have to do much reading and memorising the basic theories. That will most probably stress me out a little but then Sunday 20th I shall rejoice!

Anyway, the New Year has been good to me so far. I have already given Baanisuu her Valentines' present. I know it is still early and still fresh from the Xmas presents dash but circumstances led to it.

Ok so I am off to continue studying. Please....

Silence!

I kill you!

(Thanks Achmed!)

The countdown begins

Today is the 4th of January 2008. I have just handed in my last assignment for this semester. Exactly today in six months time, 4th June 2008, I have to hand in my dissertation.

The countdown has begun.

Welcome 2008

The first post of the year has to be a welcoming one. Looking back at 2007, I must admit that it was characterised by a number of lows that were not experienced in the years before. Nonetheless such events help to make people stronger and love each other more.

So what do I expect from 2008?

Well there are two major events: Hopefully My Masters Graduation in November and a good result for Italy in the Euro 2008.

I have no holidays plans at the moment but I am sure that Baanisuu and I will run away from the country for some time.

I also hope that Inter will keep on doing well as they did in 2007. 2008 is the year Inter will be 100 years old. For that occasion, they are playing with a special gear that was designed on the original way back in 1908. I have one such gear, given to me by Baanisuu for our fourth anniversary.

I also hope that 2008 will be a calmer one, one where I will also have more time to spend on things I enjoy. I shall hopefully be returning to playing football after I finish with my MSc studies. With the extra time at hand, I shall be also spending more quality time with Her.

Anyway, farewell 2007, I expect more from 2008.

Ticking away...10 days to go

This is the season to be jolly fa la la la la la la la

I might add, this is the season to be stuffed, stuffed with all the food that I am going to eat. My Xmas party bash started last night with a meal with my MIRM mates. The meal was at Peppino's in Paceville. Food was good. Afterwards we had a couple of beers in the bars.

Today was my last day at work for the year. We finished early, at around 2pm and went off for lunch at Vino Veritas. Had a pizza with some wine. Tonight, I have a five course meal, courtesy of Alleance Francais. My god!

Tomorrow for lunch I am meeting my former geography mates. Then in the evening, I have a meal with Baanisuu's Uni mates.

Sunday and Monday are dedicated to our mates. We shall be hanging out together at the usual place. That means lots of food, lots of drink and lots of laughter.

Come Xmas day, another big meal. I can better define it a marathon meal. I am not exaggerating if I say that such meals at my aunt's may last up to almost six hours!

Then Boxing Day is another meal, the official meal with the 'marmalja'.

Jesus....that's so much of food.

Society and the young

Interesting post from Nestor Laiviera, a 23 year old University student in 4th year of reading for a Bachelor of Communications Degree. I think there is much truth about this. And how many times have we heard it? (U iz-zaghzagh ta' illum.....)

Defining the younger (and theoretically more enlightened) generation as ‘frivolous’ and ‘immature’ only ultimately belittles the society that creates them, and only serves to hinder the generations that follow.

This comes from a students' blog found online on The Times.

Time to blog

Anybody knows what writer's block is? Well if you have been waiting for some posts, that is what it means - the inability to write. That does not include laziness, which is also part of the equation.

Anyway some updates on my recent doings and goings:

Present and recent past

I have passed all my exams related to the MIRM. Therefore, I have been promoted to second year (which will be a hell of a year bdw). So, at the moment, I am just doing nothing. And I plan to enjoy it while I can since September in soon with us and that means get back to work for me.

So recently I just seemed to never have enough of those BBQs, yes lots of them some three a week. They are fun and all but make you feel stuffed and piggy. I, for one, cannot refuse food on a plate, even if I have just ate, so avoiding food altogether is a good solution. I managed to put on a few kilos. Add also the beer (Hey, we're in summer! What do you expect me to drink? Hot chocolate?) and that makes me sluggish.

So I decided to do some exercise. I tried with the bike (I am a 24 year old beginner biker) but I am still scared of cars driving fast beside me. So I decided to try and run around a little just to keep me fit since as you know I have quit football for MIRM reasons. I plan to be back next year, if my body allows me that is.

So apart from doing nothing, apart from working and hanging out with my dear ones, that is it.

Future

The next big thing is Ireland in September. I am really really looking forward to it. This is really really true (apart from the fact that I should be reading the Lonely Planet Guide instead of blogging). That will be a nice 7 days between the 18th and 24th of September.

I am also going to Gozo, for one night with old friends of mine from my secondary school days. Plus I might be going for a workshop in Swansea, Wales. This all depends if I am accepted or not. I will post the outcomes later on.

Thesis. Of course, I cannot miss this out since it has been and will be a good common headache for the coming 9 months. Naturally, I have decided to focus on climate change, my daily online love. Will keep you posted on that too. In fact, I am giving too many promises (I just feel like the usual MP Mr Beaurocrat).

It is OVER!!

At least officially, I have finished my first year MSc Integrated Resource Management (MIRM). Today was the big exam. Big meaning 3hours fifteen minutes, covering all the stuff we did during the second semester. Subjects ranged from co-management techniques in the Himalayan or Uluru National Parks, to International Treaties, to biodiversity conservation and stakeholder involvement.

Insomma, hafna x naghmel! (lots of things to do) as we say here in Malta.

So why officially? Well I still have a couple of assignments to finish off by mid-June. In the meantime I must also start thinking seriously about my thesis. I must admit that I do not have any clue!! And I must do some serious work on it, since this will be a major piece of work that will occupy most of my free time during the coming year.

But till I start thinking and going back to pre-MIRM life (work and play), I shall enjoy this weekend. Let's get wasted! ;-)

Thank God for Nature

There are times when you just flip, control is non-existent and reasoning is a thing unknown.

Being a calm person, when such a thing happens, it signals serious wrongdoings. Although this happened last Sat, even as I write I feel the pain inside me.

Stress is a word we have heard too often, and experienced it too. One can say that it has become almost part of everyday life...what a pity. Life has become too hectic for me, with university and work at the same time. Add to that an intensive week of 3 hours lectures a day, assignment deadlines approaching, lack of sleep, lack of sports and a personal life that has not been quite so smooth...well the limit is unfortunately reached.

My way of getting over it was rather simple (and I recommend it to anybody out there):

I just left all, family and loved ones at home (yes I flipped right before lunch) and went for a long, long walk. From my house to Hagar Qim. There I found my resting place, against the base of it-Torri tal-Ħamrija, face out over the Magħlaq Fault. The sound of birds and the sea down below and the view along the coast - > that managed to calm me down. In fact, I got hungry and asked my family to pick me up. The one hour walk did most of the magic as I sweated the tension out.

One last thing...dear nature...thanks!

Will it be today?

Today can be a memorable day, in football terms that is. The reason is that Inter FC, the team I support and who are the present Italian Serie A league leaders are playing against second place Roma, who lie 16 points adrift. Everybody says that Inter will win and win the league bla bla. But Inter are Inter and all Inter fans have suffered too much. We all remember that terrible 5th May 2002 when Inter lost the league on the last day of the Campionato.

How painful that was! An the Milan and Juve fans continuously remind me of that!

What's more, I have a lecture at 5.30pm and am still undecided on what to do. The game is at 5.30pm when usually mid-week games are at 8.30pm but due to the recent clashes etc. in the Italian game, authorities decided to anticipate the start of the game .

My heart is opting for the game, my brain for the lecture. I shall decide at 5pm.

Blogger update

Although I have been using Blogger BETA for some time now (it is no more in BETA), I have not really used much of the new features, except for the labels tool. I actually want to use the new template tools, but since I have modified myself this template, I will lose all the 'personal changes' when going for the new set. No prblem with that actually, I can just copy and paste into Dreamweaver and save the file. However, knowing me, I would spend quite some time looking at the code and layout and personalising, so that will take some time.

Thus, updating my blog layout is another thing-to-do after I finish my exam which will be held on the 2nd of Feb. I havent' actually started the real studying since I am still assignmenting, i.e. doing my last assignment on salt marsh ecology.

I am most likely to start including a section on MapInfo tips, since I am quite a frequent user and I often encounter issues which take me too much time to solve. Plus I do not find often tips on the internet on these issues. So, I will start doing that. It will serve as a reminder to myself too.

I guess it is time to start my Sunday work, I want to finish this last assignment. So I am off.

Xmas shutdown

Xmas came and passed, as did the year 2006. 2006 ended with a bang, a bad one, resulting from impropriate new arrivals. At the moment there is some uneasiness in the group, bad tidings arising from stupid actions. Grabbing attention is a way kids/young birds do to be fed, not adults (if they can be called adults).

Anyway, the Xmas shut down spanned 5 days where I did practically nothing, just ate, played PC games and hung out with Baanisuu and friends. No mention of MIRM or any assignment.

The New Year: First day was foody...lots of it. The second day was the perfect introduction to a new year thanks to HER. Day three, yesterday, slam back to life. Working for eight hours was not at all easy, doing an environmental chemistry assignment after that was even harder. Yes, I have to make up for the do-nothing period during Xmas. Plus I have exams in the last week of Jan. Which reminds me that I have no idea what it is goint to be all about; no clues from the secretary or admin.

Ages ago

I have blogged for ages now, almost a month. Not that nothing has occured to me, but I am running out of one thing for sure, and that is time.

Never in my life have I felt time fly so fast, too fast actually. I realise this mostly when weekends approach 'every other day'. Worse still is take weekend are not what they used to be, mainly because of the MIRM. Yep, MIRM has taken much time out of my life, too much sometimes I feel. It is also my fault since I spend ages doing assignments, and because of that I hardly have any time to do anything else, may it be reading, taking a stroll, play some PC game or else. And yes, unfortunately my physical activities have come to halt. The only physical activities I do, apart from sitting on my ass for 8 or more hours a day is climbing up the steps to work - most people say that is stress.

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Well there you go, I have lost it again, lost my thoughts.

Work schedule

Just to give you a picture of my current busy life:

On Wednesday 15th November, I have to give a 10-minute presentation on "Irrigated Agriculture";

On Monday 20th November I have to give a one hour presentation on: "The Origin and Structure of the Earth";

On Monday 4th December, I have to give another one hour presentation on: "Igneous and metamorphic rocks"; and

By Friday 8th December I have to hand in a 1000 word essay on "The cryosphere and climate change".

Recent doings..

I have been quite busy lately, mostly since I stated the MIRM. In fact, I have totally quite playing my lovely PC games, i.e. Sim City Deluxe and FIFA 2006. Well everything has a price in life.

I have also almost completely quit football; I have no time for it. The only time I do have free for training, Tuesday and Thursday, I need to spend reading and doing research. The same goes for the weekends.

But I have decided that I need an alternative for my lack of football. Baanisuu and I have decided to start going on long walks on the weekend for three main reasons: get some fresh air, explore Malta's countryside and do some much needed exercise.

Baanisuu's grandad is thank God out of hospital. He still has mobility problems and has a painful leg, but the doctors attributed it to arthritis. Anyway he started going up steps again to feed his beloved birds and had numerous visits, especially his village mates.

A MIRM

What's a MIRM?

A MIRM is short for Master in Integrated Resource Management.

That is what I have just started, last Monday. The first module, comprising three lectures a week involving different speakers, is called Science of the Environment. It involves various topics on the physical environment, soils and agriculture, weather and climate and well as some environment chemistry.

The first bombshell was dropped on the first day, we need to prepare two one-hour seminars on various topics on the physical environment. All of us chose, democratically, our most suitable topics. I took Origin and Structure of the Earth as well as Igneous and Metamorphic rocks. I am sure there are loads of papers out there which I can consult and prepare these lectures. My worry is at Masters Level, I really have to delve deep into the subject, get the technicalities out. This might come as a cost since understanding technicalities is also always easy. Plus this is and Integrated degree, thus we always have to look at the wider picture, and combining, analysis different aspects and what are the resultant results.

It sure is a challenge which I hope will help me get rid of my constant writers' block that I suffer from, as well as tickling my brain into to think, possibly in a critical way too.

August 31st 2006

August is over today and with it come the usual last minute things that I need to do before the new month starts.

One of these is applying at the University of Malta for a post-graduate course. Initially I was going for a Pg Dip in Planning Studies. However, I got a phone call from the Institute's director who told me that the course would most likely not be offered since there were too few applicants. So I had to make a choice: do nothing or go for something else.

Luckily another course on the same lines was on offer: Master in Integrated Resource Management, a sort of Environmental Management degree. I opted for that but to do the change I had to go to Uni to change my application form and today was the last day.

So off I went this morning and popped in at Uni on my way to work. I found the room, knocked and was greated by 3 ladies surrounded by piles of applications forms. After telling them my situation (they had phoned me themselves to come and change the application) the enter 'Search Mode' to look for this sheet of paper. Could not be found. After some time it was found on the monitor of a PC with a note attached to it, indicating that it was going to be changed. I modified the applicaiton appropriately and left for work.

To get my Masters, I will need to attend evening classes after work, study / read / do assignments after work and on weekends, and do the BIG ONE: a 25K thesis. Wish me luck!