Departure: Tuscan Adventure

I'm set to leave for my Summer Holiday abroad in two days but, at the moment, can't see myself having a moment in which to write a blog entry in the time between now and then, so I'm writing a very quick entry now just to let you know that I'm almost set and I'll be on my way to Italy this Sunday.

I'll update when I get back in two weeks time (literally a couple of days before the new college term begins), which is a bit of a bugger, but hey, what's a guy to do?

I don't mean to be a mac freak, but...

Apple updated their online store last night, and I was in for a big surprise this morning when I checked if it was back online.

I've been thinking recently about buying an iMac just before I head off to University at the end of next year, and I'd decided to buy the poster-boy machine (y'know, the all-in-one slim white design). But I figured I'd wait until Apple released the latest operating system, OSX 10.5, Leopard (all their OS's have been named after big cats. The current OS is called Tiger), so that I wouldn't have to spend extra cash after I'd bought my mac updating to the latest OS.

I keep checking back on the online store to stay up-to-date with the latest happenings, but this morning I found that Apple had sneakily released a brand new iMac design overnight, all ready in the store without any prior press coverage. There were barely even rumours regarding a new design for their icon machine floating around the net, let alone any actual mention from Apple.
It's faithful to the previous iMac designs in that it's another all-in-one machine. The screens come in sizes of 20" and 24" inch with no sign of a 17" inch monitor, as with the previous design, they come with a built-in iSight camera for use in chat programs and video conferencing and they include all the latest wireless technology and bluetooth.

It's an improvement in every way on the previous design, in terms of specs (with options to upgrade) and design. And the previous iMacs were, in my opinion, difficult to improve upon. On top of all of this, it's cheaper than the previous iMac aswell. Oh, and more enviromentally friendly. How about that then? I'm just waiting for the Leopard release.

Conquering Mountains

I return from Yorkshire triumphant! (Technically, I returned over a week ago now. I've just been busy going to the cinema and doing jobs around the house)

So, I've now got the skills AND the residential sections of my Gold Duke of Edinburgh award completed. All that's left is the service, physical, and the residential. Which shouldn't take too long at the rate I'm going.

You may wonder where abouts the above picture was taken. Quite a way above sea-level would be an accurate clue.

The Residential section of the award requires that you spend at least 5 days and 4 nights in an unfamiliar environment with a group of people you don't previously know and work as a team towards achievable goals. I went to stay in a building, in Yorkshire, with 12 other people of a similar age (I think Sarah was the youngest at just 17, and Simon was the oldest at just 20) all of us doing our Gold award. We were tasked with looking after a group of 50 kids doing their Bronze expedition and the 12 or so staff looking after the whole 'operation'. We cooked for them, made their pack-lunches every day, and cleaned up after them. As if that wasn't enough, we had to put up their tents before they arrived. Oh, and by 'cleaning', that meant that we had to clear out their toilet cubicle every day (I swear to God, If I ever find the kid who pissed in the bin, I'm going to tear him limb from limb !@$&*?£*! )
The things that made it bearable though (and there is quite a list, so don't go feeling sorry for me) were... all the kids doing their Gold Residential got to bunk in the building in dorms, with nice warm beds and access to food whenever we wanted, a hot shower every morning (which the Bronze kids weren't allowed because they were banned from the building. I'm assuming because they had terrible manners and bad toilet habits, Grrrrrr). I also got 'aquainted' with an old friend, good solid solitaire. The staff brought a PC with them because we needed to print off transfers for the T-shirts we made for everyone (this meant we also did alot of ironing. Did I mention that I hate ironing? I HAVE SCARS PEOPLE! SCARS!!!)
The rest of the Gold Resi's were ace though. We all got along really well and split the jobs evenly between us. Unfortunately for me, I was the first to clean the toilets, and as such, had no prior warning for the unspeakable depravity and disregard for basic hygeine *shudder*

Anyway, back to the picture. Because all of the bronze kids (and a couple of girls doing silver) were all doing their expeditions, there was a fair bit of 'mountain' climbing involved, and one of our duties as Gold Resi's was to checkpoint for the kids doing their expeditions. This meant we were laden with supplies, big bags, and special communication equipment in case one of the groups ran into trouble, and then set off up the side of a mountain in a race to the top. If the other group reached the summit before we did, then they ran the risk of straying off the trail and getting lost down the side of the mountain without any means of communication. We had to make sure that all the groups were heading in the right direction to keep things running according to plan.
The picture shows me, Kathryn, 'Tall' Sarah, and 'Small' Sarah at the top of the summit. My group was just me, 'Small' Sarah (next to me in the picture) and Linda (one of the staff. She was quite nice). We beat the other group by quite a bit, thanks to my incredible 'running-up-the-side-of-a-mountain-whilst-carrying-all-the-equipment' special abilities *cheesy grin*