I wasn’t sure what to post for my monthly blog thing so I just went with a short life update.
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I have been studying full-time in-person at a local GRETB facility since September 2022 and part-time online at a local technical university since January 2023. Both courses are in Programming and Software Development. I never knew how to code before starting in September 2022 and honestly after 8 months I am not that much better but my foot is in the door.
I have now completed the in-person course and will do the online course until December 2024. I had originally planned to do the online course full-time and have it done in 1 year, January-December 2023 but elected to switch to part-time early on. It was too difficult to do both full-time. I will have such a light schedule from Semester 2 to Semester 4 that I may go back to work, having left work in July 2022.
The in-person course was only a QQI Level 5 so it was easy enough, some of the modules were no challenge if you’ve been a student before or are old (I am both). The coding was tougher but we walked through everything. As for the online course, it’s a level 8 designed to convert workers from other fields into ICT workers and is way tougher but all the information is provided. I will try and spend the summer 2023 doing a bit of coding. It's something I need to get a handle on.
One bonus of the in-person course was the option to apply for something called Erasmus+, which two of my friends have done in the past and have gone to Finland and Malta respectively. I am going to Malaga on the 21st of May until June 11th. I will be doing work experience part time and just chilling the rest of the time. I'll post some update on my various travels later in the year.
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Arbitrary ‘challenges’ in 2023: the only main one is no takeaway for the year, I can get it if it’s with other people or for the family or whatever but that’s been like maybe 5 times in the last 6 months. I'll write more on this in the usual 31st of December yearly post.
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I have been cycling a ton, 60 cycles since late January. It’s just a short 7km from my house to Menlo and back but is relatively stress-free, I feel good and it’s good for my hip. I was still lifting until recently but have taken a break in May for a month or so, will go back in June. Sometimes a break can be the best thing. I always go back to it with renewed energy and passion. I had also recently reduced the weights of all my dumbbells and the barbell as I am less focussed on getting bigger. It’s just not happening so I will focus on being as healthy as possible.
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Video games - I haven’t been playing as much but when this happens, Civilization 4 always has my back. I am thinking about writing a gigantic appreciation post for what is possibly my all-time favourite game. Earlier in the year I was playing a bit of Resident Evil 1 and 2. I played Doom 2016 for a bit in January but walked away from it. I got a Star Ocean 2 emulator so I played that about ¾ of the way through and got stuck as I was doing an all-mage playthrough, horrible. I did play a ton of Halo in April which deserves a write-up. It’s been mostly Civ 4 so far though so stay tuned.
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Board games/RPGs - I ran GURPS in January, just one session but was OK. I am still playing a D&D 5th edition Spelljammer game every Wednesday. We are level 11 and my character is a multi-class monstrosity: Fighter 5, Bard 3, Warlock 2, Rogue 1. I went to Athventurecon in February and played a Dread Jenga game and a D&D 5th edition game.
I managed to run not one but two games of Britannia this year, finally, after buying it for over a hundred euro a few months back. I was the Yellow player the first time in January and lost narrowly and was Green in February and came third. I did almost everything right as both sides but Red and (shockingly for me) Blue won the two respective games. I am hoping to run it again over the summer, playing Blue (have played at least once before years ago and can’t figure them out) and after that Red (have won with them before, the strongest colour IMO). I will probably post the results of all these games in the coming months and some thoughts on it. I have stats! I have data!
Other than that, hopefully I can get a game of Dead Winter or two and maybe revive T.I.M.E Stories for a campaign. I have yet to play all the original games so may try and make this happen.
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Other than that, just trucking along! Everyone is happy and healthy. I'm trying to grow my hair out.
