andrew-kirkpatrick

Finally, after weeks of torture, I've finally managed to get a release of the web application that I've been working on to the client. Admittedly I've had a while to do it, but with two job changes, moving and a new city, plus trying to make new friends, sort out hobbies both old and new, and keep in touch, it's all been a bit too much. 80 hours this last week proves that much. On one hand I'm happy that I've managed to finally build an entire application by myself, which stands out from anything I've done before as possibly being worthwhile (although is far from finished)

I would say "it's that time again" but that would be a bit premature, seeing as I didn't expect to be looking for another job for at least a year, let alone have already gone through that process, gotten a job and have spent today as my first day off (and failing miserably at Super Paper Mario, which was kinda embarrasing...)Â but after only 3 months I've decided to leave where I was in search of pastures new, and mostly of less technical support and graphic design! As much as I sometimes like those things, I'm not the kind that enjoys doing it for a living.

Wow, it's been WAY too long since I've posted to this, but then it's been way too long really since I stopped moving around and got back to my normal life! Things have been hectic since I left Oxford University Computing Services and Oxford itself at the end of December...

After spending far too much time in Enterprise Manager and working out how the cryptic entity-relationship diagram matched up, my work on Somerville College's Student Records system is complete. I was due to work until release but the other developer on the project exceeds my ability and I conceded that my input to the project was gradually decreasing, as I only developed the backend scripting.

I learnt a fair bit from this however, and working with someone with superior techniques and more experience again gave me a bit of insight upon some of my other work and how I can go forward.

Work and meetings and meetings and work, I need a bit of a break I think! Maybe in July sometime...

Meanwhile I did manage to pick up a Wii before the weekend, and I've got to say it's the only thing keeping my sane at the moment; it's absolutely fantastic! Such a weird feeling, not hitting buttons or moving a stick, but flicking your wrists in the right motion, plus it's a lot more accurate than I expected. Sure there are a couple bugs with some games, like I find Wii Sports Golf is a bit finnicky, but overall it's re-kindled my passion for gaming which has been cool for a while.

It's been a busy week this week! Finally finished the series of C training courses I've been attending, and in the midst of some freelance too. Add a conference to all this and you can see why I was hankering for a lie in this morning! Plus being so busy cost me a couple work trips to the pub, and I like the pub...

The Oxford University Information Technology Support Staff (ITSS) Conference was on Thursday, and there were a fair few talks that were very interesting (which is rare for a conference, so many thanks to those that organised it)

I'm starting to get to that point in my career, when I've realised that I really need to push in order to start working my way upward. The only problem, which I guess is what most people find, is not finding the inspiration to do it, but the time and energy. I think right now I'm running out of both...