NickWeb - English - Archive
| , March 3, 2005
We had quite a bit of snow over the last couple of weeks, which is unusual for Ireland. The thumbnails below give you an indication of what it looked like. Nick
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| , February 16, 2005
The worst thing about maintaining a website is that you have to keep updating it, even when nothing much happens. Still, Úna and I were in Hamburg for a pre-Christmas weekend break. We finally got our pictures developed and got some sent to us by Vally. Thanks! With a bit of luck we'll be able to return to Hamburg in May when it will hopefully be sunnier! Nick
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| , October 19, 2004
Time flies! New news on the jobs front: I am again between engagements, as the previous role didn't work out. We agreed to part company as it made no sense to prolong the agony. It was amicable, though, so no question of stormy days and all that. Sometimes things just aren't suitable. I have taken the time I now have to post some new pictures. Life went on following the honeymoon, and we went to Barolo in northern Italy in late September. Barolo is a tiny hilltop village and is at the heart of the Langhe region between Turin and Genoa. Very picturesque! And of course, Barolo gives its name to the top wines of the region. The Nebbiolo grape yields the Dolcetto, Barbera, and Barolo wines, distinguished by the length of time they age in the cellars. There's also the Nebbiolo wine and the Langhe wines, but since I'm no expert, I can't really say what the distinction is between all the different appelations. Our acquaintance down there, Sylvano, hosted us for a few hours and we tried out his wines before buying a few bottles. Since we flew in, we could only take back 5 bottles of wine and 1 of grappa, but Tomás and Gine came by car from Freiburg in Germany and really loaded up! One day I'll hire a van in Ireland and ... Anyway, I hope you'll enjoy the pictures I'll add more as I process them. Cheers,
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| , August 5, 2004
News on the jobs front: I have started a new job as Technical Operations Manager with hosting365.ie, Ireland's leading hosting company. It's an interesting opportunity: the company is quite small and agile and is going to go places. I'm very much looking forward to contributing my share. The key is the ability to be involved in the shape of things to come; at Adobe managers are little more than performing seals. The first couple of weeks at 365 were a bit fraught with mail server troubles, but it's probably best to see the dark side of the moon early on, so to speak. Úna and I have just returned from a spell in Scotland, where we visited my parents and also met up with Martin and Moira in Glasgow. Mr Visa also paid for a trip to IKEA in Glasgow. For those of you who can go to IKEA anytime, this is probably not a big deal, but since there is no IKEA in Ireland, we were thrilled by all the really useful stuff they have. We're off to Germany to attend a friend's wedding next weekend, so hopefully I can let you know how that went the next time I update this. Nick |
| , July 4, 2004
Euro 2004 Who would have thought the Greeks would come away victorious, eh? Especially since the coach of Greece, Otto Rehagel, employs such antiquated tactics. But winning counts and the victor is always right. Nick |
| , June 16, 2004
Euro 2004 Well, it was a good game and the result was about fair, I suppose. Germany were lucky not to lose at the end, but played with last-gasp determination. I'd like them to play with more attacking purpose, but Rudi Völler probably won't listen to me... But two years ago against Ireland in the World Cup the same thing happened: Germany go 1-0 up and allow Ireland back into the match, enabling Robbie Keane to score a last-minute equaliser. Now that we've seen all the teams, I still fancy the Czechs. I put 5 euro on the Czech Republic to win; I got odds of 14/1, which seems great odds for such a good team. Same odds were quoted for Germany, but I believe the Czechs to be a better team, so Germany's odds must have been based on their reputation as a tournament team. I was disappointed by France, although to be fair to them they never gave up, and England did play well. No news yet on the jobs front. I'm enjoying some fabulous summer weather in Ireland; the garden is beginning to look quite alright and the video of the honeymoon is taking shape. I expect the first couple of interviews to happen in the next 10 days or so. But the last time I had this much time during summer was at school! Nick |
| , June 9, 2004
Well, I expect that I told everyone about my new and somewhat surprising state of unemployment. I'd prefer to call it being between engagements, but hey! Truth be told, I have been going to job interviews, having toyed with the thought of leaving Adobe for some time now. I wasn't going to progress any further and I wasn't prepared to relocate. So I'll take the redundancy package, which is quite generous and fair, and will have to pull the finger out. I'm hoping this will re-energise me, as things have gotten a bit stale, especially after the high of the honeymoon. Let's see what will happen next. Nick
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| day, May 16, 2004
It's done! The final pictorials of New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa are complete and uploaded. It was a labour of love by the end, since it took up so much time, but it was fun to revisit the honeymoon and think about the great time we had. As it was then, so it is now: thinking about the end of the holidays involves a little sadness. On another not, my knee is better and I can walk unaided again. Just in time, too. Tom Noone and I will take the ferry to Holyhead in Wales next weekend to pick up his vintage car that he bought in England. And the weekend after that, Úna and I are going up to County Monaghan for a day of rallye driving; it was Úna's birthday present to me, how rock'n'roll is that! Nick
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| day, May 7, 2004
Well, I'm 40. Life can begin, so! Unfortunately, I'm hobbling about on crutches at the moment, an inflammation of the bursa – bursitis, no less. Still, it gives me a bit of time to update the web site, so that chapters 3, 4, and 5 of the honeymoon are now uploaded. Enjoy the pictures. Nick |
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Sunday, April 18, 2004 Well, I've gone for yet another redesign after finding some inspiration on the web. One of the main difficulties when you're hopeless at design is to find some method of making the site look alright while not being too graphics heavy. The honeymoon pages are taking shape, I've been busy getting the right pictures selected and applying some basic Photoshop image processing. We'll be spending next weekend in Prague, so if I get some decent pictures, I'll post them, but I'll have to finish the honeymoon site first. Nick |
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