London, the long way round

Last weekend we had our family trip to London which was part of my Christmas presents. Unfortunately due to the snow and other weather chaos Friday turned into a very long and frustrating day. We got to the airport slightly early because our flight was at lunchtime so we thought we would get something to eat beforehand. We got through security and literally just got the food we had ordered only for an announcement that our flight had been cancelled. We had to leave our food half-eaten in order to rush back down to the airline desk to see what our options were. We didn't see any point in just giving up given the fact we had tickets for the Tottenham match the next day, not to mention the apartment we had booked to stay in and also the fact that we had taken our cat to the cattery. The good news was that we were able to switch to another flight going to Southampton. The bad news that it wasn't for over four hours. We ended up having to sitting in the airport for all that time, and ended up getting some food from a cafe which wasn't exactly nice.

The flight wasn't too bad but we ended up landing in a snow covered Southampton late in the day. We got off the plane to discover that there were no trains/buses/coaches running. We ended up a desk, i'm not even sure if it was actually the proper help desk but the staff were very kind. There was the option of staying in a hotel overnight but that would've cost nearly £200 and we still would have had to get to London in the morning and get to the match. Thankfully they were able to organise a taxi for us instead and we ended up having the long journey to London in the taxi, which wasn't great for me I was in the middle seat in the back! It was quite surreal arriving in the outskirts of London and then driving past places like Buckingham Palace at that time of night especially with the snow. We got dropped off at our apartment and after dropping our suitcases off we ended up walking through the snow and slush to find something to eat. We ended up having burgers in an american themed diner after 11pm!

The robin that greeted us Southampton airport!

On Saturday we got up and had breakfast. Due to the afternoon kick-off of the match we were going to there wasn't time to do anything else. We relaxed for a bit and  got ourselves ready and then got the train to the station close the stadium. We had a look around the nearby area and decided to try and get some lunch before going to the stadium. We ended up in a chain restaurant that was very busy but it took almost 40 minutes to get our food and then we had to rush. I didn't realise how high up Wembley stadium and that was even before we got to our seats which were in the top tier! It was a good match but it was freezing cold, especially on your feet with the cold concrete underfoot. Tottenham won 2-0 which was good for my dad since he supports them. We ended up having a long walk back to a tube station and then made the journey back to the center of London. We went for dinner at a very nice restaurant before walking back to the apartment. I had brought my tablet and a hdmi cable with me so we were able to watch a movie on the apartment's tv (we are not ones for staying out in bars/pubs etc.!)

The view from our seats

Sunday was a very busy day, we ended up walking miles and miles! The first thing we did was walk to Spitalfields Market which was nice, we had a walk around it and I ended up buying a "unique" t-shirt with the blueprint/patent of the model of one of my guitars. We then headed to Denmark Street which I wanted to visit for the guitar shops. That said we ended up only really looking in one because I didn't feel there was any point in starting to sit down and play any guitars when it was highly unlikely that I would buy anything not to mention the logistical problems if I did buy anything. We then walked around the comer and I had a look in the Forbidden Planet megastore which was huge! Though I ended up not buying anything. We had a lovely lunch of fish and chips across the road before walking to Leicester Square. We had a walk around and through Chinatown before seeing about getting tickets for a show. Unfortunately since it was Sunday our options were limited to three shows. We were a bit skeptical but we ended up getting tickets for a show called "A comedy about a bank robbery" that evening. We then walked a fair bit more talking in the bank of the river Thames, the London Eye, Westminster and later passed Downing Street. We also passed through another indoor market. We had an afternoon snack before making our way to the theater for the show.

The show was very clever and very funny. Lots of slapstick humour, inventive stage design and the actors must've been exhausted by the end of it! It wasn't a musical but there were some songs which were decent. We were hungry when we came out after so ended up getting a quick pizza before heading back to the apartment. We flew back on the Monday at midday so we didn't have time to do anything else other than travel to the airport. Obviously the trip didn't get off to the best start but it was definitely worth it in the end. After being stuck at home so much doing these suggested revisions for my PhD thesis/job searching it was great to have a proper change of scene.

Thanks for reading.

What I'm currently listening to

Have plans for some updates soon but I thought I would just share  a quick post on the songs I've been listening to lately, I know some of my readers are from different parts of the world so maybe I can introduce them to some local Northern Irish acts as well as other artists they might not have heard of.

In no particular order:

I really like this song, I have been a fan of Lauren Bird for a while now but I will have to check out more of Darren's songs. I love the clean guitar melody and the vocal harmonies.

My Dad got the first two seasons of The Dectectorists at Christmas and I have to say I was a bit skeptical but it is such a lovely show. The icing on top is it's title song which is sung by a guy called Johnny Flynn who I had never heard of before.

I only came across Dawes after reading about them in a magazine saying that they were a underrated band and I checked them out and had to agree.I got their second most recent album and I will probably get their other albums when I get a chance.

I changed the strings on my acoustic guitar recently (finally!) so this is one of the songs I've been playing. It's a great song (as is Little Talks and Dirty Paws) and it's a cool video as well.

Ok technically this is a cover of a classic song but it is a really great cover with a number of different vocalists and they are clearly have an awesome time performing it.

Owen Denvir got retweeted by Coldplay for his mashup video of their songs but his own original music is pretty great as well. Helps that he can play multiple instruments!

This is a band from Northern Ireland, they really have to be seen live to really experience them properly. I saw them last Thursday night and they nearly blew the roof off! This video was taken 3 years ago and I've no doubt that they have improved since then.

Hope you enjoy these songs if you haven't heard any of them before.

In case of emergency (ICE)

Nobody likes to think about the possibility of being in an accident or getting seriously hurt or worse but for quite a long period a thought would pop into my head. That thought was that it would be good to have something on me that would help someone who found me if I was involved in an accident or a paramedic or whoever by having a way of giving them information even if I couldn't tell them myself. Information like the fact I have Treacher Collins Syndrome and I have a narrow airway. I had done a limited search before but had only come across things like medical alert bracelets or necklaces which is a bit over the top in my case and I wasn't fussed on the idea of having to wear a piece of jewelry. I carried out a more thorough search recently and after finding lots of expensive options like jewelry or subscriptions to services with fancy cards with codes you can scan with your phone I came across this brilliant website-https://geticecard.com/.

It is a FREE, SIMPLE service. There is a form on the website, you fill in details such as your own name, mobile number, gender, blood type, two emergency contacts, their phone numbers and their relation to you and whether you want your organs to be donated if you die. There is also a bigger box where you can fill in health information. So in my case I have included the fact I have Treacher Collins Syndrome, a narrow airway, that I require fiber-optic intubation through the throat, that I wear a bone conductor hearing aid, that I have speech difficulties and the antibiotic that I'm allergic to. It then automatically generates a .pdf file with two ICE cards on it with the information you filled in on the form. You then print out the file (make sure you disable scaling or in the case of my printer select the option to print it as the actual size) and cut out the cards. They are credit card sized and can easily slip into your wallet/purse or phone case if you have one with credit card slots. You can also do what I did and get them laminated but you might find you need to trim them a bit to get them to fit in the credit card sized slots.

Obviously I hope they will never have to be used but I think it is a good and sensible precaution to take. One thing that I didn't think about until after I had them printed was that a paramedic or someone else wouldn't be able to access my phone due to the fingerprint scanner/swipe pattern I have set up. The fact is you don't need to have TCS or even a serious condition to get one and given the fact it is a free service you might be better safe than sorry especially if there is anything a doctor or a paramedic might be better off knowing if you are hurt or ill.

Thanks for reading.

2018 begins!

Hello again, you would think with "finishing" my PhD I would have a lot more time/inclination to write but that doesn't seem to be the case! Those who read my second most recent post will know that I found November to be a very tough month. December was definitely better however I did have the recovery from my recent surgery, I also had the frustrating wait to get my list of suggested revisions for my PhD thesis. It was frustrating because I was led to believe that I was definitely going to get them before Christmas only to not get them until the start of January. I had been hoping to make a start on them before Christmas and then be able to enjoy Christmas before resuming work in the new year. It would have been much better if the person dealing with it had just been honest with me and told me that I wouldn't get it until after Christmas rather than leading me on. So the expectation that I would be getting the corrections any day along with guilt about not being productive after doing the PhD for three years wasn't a fun combination.

I definitely think there needs to be more discussion/warning about what it's like to actually submit/be done with the thesis defence. I know I certainly have found it difficult after pushing myself to get it completed and then to suddenly find myself finished, only to then have to prepare for the viva, then to pass the viva to have to wait for corrections and then have a deadline of three months to finish those. It's silly but after focusing on the PhD for so long it's very strange to now to almost be finished it and have the rest of my life ahead of me and not know what I will end up doing next. On the one hand I envy those who already have jobs/post docs lined up, on the other hand I imagine it would be easy to get burnt out going straight from a PhD into something else.

I did enjoy Christmas but as predicted it went by very quickly and it's hard to believe we are nearly halfway into January already. It wasn't quite as enjoyable as previous years because I had been at home so much already whereas previous years I had been working away in the run up to Christmas. I got Horizon Zero Dawn for the PS4 which I've been enjoying as well as various other bits and pieces. My parents are also treating us to a trip to London as a family later in the year and we are planning to see a premiership football match when we are there. We didn't have a white Christmas however we did get some snow in December, unfortunately the snow turned into ice on the footpaths which were not cleared so walking anywhere wasn't fun for a few days. I've included a picture of the snowman I built below along with some other pictures.

My attempt at a snowman

Wintry walk

My traditional Christmas Eve chocolate chip cookies

Picture I took on Boxing Day when we were out for a walk

So recently I've been working on the revisions as well as trying to enjoy the free time I have. Once I am nearly finished the revisions then I will start applying for jobs. In the meantime I will try and write a bit more frequently than I have been.

Thanks for reading.

My recent (minor) surgery

As stated in the last post I recently had to go into hospital for a minor surgery. It had been hanging over me for a while so it was a relief to finally get it out of the way but that said it wasn't exactly a pleasant experience. Many months ago I had been informed by a dental surgeon that I would need to have my lower right wisdom tooth removed, it was at an angle and trapping food against the molar beside it. As soon as he sat down he said that it would need to be done under general anaesthetic due to the awkwardness of it and my small mouth. The last time I had surgery was also to remove teeth back in 2005. That time I was knocked out before they intubated me (put the oxygen tubes in) through my nose. However this time it was decided that they would use fiberoptic intubation wherein they would keep me awake, numb my nose bit by bit and put a camera down my nose to look at my airway so they could accurately intubate me before knocking me out. Having not experienced this before I was rather nervous though I was told I might not remember much of it due to the sedation.

On the day itself I had beentold to be in at 10.30am and we (my mum was with me) had a lot of hanging about. They checked my blood pressure several times, also checked my height and my weight and had to go through the full consent form with a nurse despite having gone through it previously. Also had two younger doctors in who informed me that I might need to get the tooth beside the one that was going to be removed taken out as well which was a bit of a shock. One of the original reasons for getting the wisdom tooth out was to save that other tooth. But they said it was better to get my consent there rather than have to come back and get it removed another time. They tested it with a bit of electricity which I could feel which was promising... Despite the fact it was just an oral surgery I had to wear surgical stockings and a gown.

I was taken up at around 3pm and was taken into the room before the operating theatre and put on the bed and got the iv needle in my hand which was a bit painful. I was then taken into the operating theatre. The anaestichtist attempted to numb both my nostrils but it was painful. I remember very little after that but he decided to go to plan B which was to intubate me through my mouth. I have a faint memory of coughing a lot. I then woke up fully about 6pm in the recovery room. I was surprised how awake I was. One of the nurses informed me that they had to take both teeth out which was disappointing.I had to stay there for a while probably not helped that they were focused on a guy in a bed beside mine who had obviously had a more major surgery. I was finally brought back to my room (got a room by myself!) And it was a relief to see my parents (my dad arrived after he finished work). I had to stay until after 10pm with a nurse coming and checking my blood pressure and breathing regularly. Also had to deal with my mouth bleeding and holding an ice pack to my jaw. Once the nurse was happy and once I had been able to pass water I was able to leave.

It was certainly a  bit of a different experience from the last time I had surgery, however the surgeon and the anaestichist told my parents that they were both very happy how it had gone. My recovery hasn't been the most pleasant due to my mouth bleeding, not being able to eat on the right side of my mouth and having to rinse my mouth along with taking liquid painkillers which didn't taste very nice (I struggle to swallow pills). I had a bit of a scare on Sunday night when my mouth started bleeding a lot when I was merely sitting in bed on my laptop but I managed to get it stopped after sitting with  a bit of gauze in my mouth for an hour or so. Thankfully I've been able to reduce the amount of painkillers I've taken and have been eating pretty much what I would normally eat. I had my follow up appointment at the hospital and the dentist who looked at my mouth said it looked great and that it has healed quicker than expected. She removed some of the stitches, some of which she said were irritating my mouth a bit so I feel a bit more comfortable now.

I feel incredibly lucky that I haven't really had to have many surgeries, I certainly don't remember much about the surgeries I had when I was very young. Obviously this surgery wasn't the most pleasant but I'm glad to get it out of the way and I'm especially glad it went smoothly (mostly!). It was disappointing to lose the two teeth but I'm quite fortunate that I still have a fairly healthy mouth of teeth. Now I'm just looking forward to being able to eat certain foods like burgers and pizza again!

Well that was a tough month!

Well to say that November was a tough month for me would be an understatement! At the start of the month I was in a bit of a limbo, I had time to recuperate after submitting my thesis and also suffered from a cold and then a cough but I didn't need to start focusing on my preparation for my PhD viva (interview with a external and internal examiner where you defend your thesis) just quite yet. Possibly due to having nothing to really focus on and having so much free time to think about things I started to feel a bit down. I ended up getting some negative thoughts stuck in my head that I would normally be able to shake off. I ended up talking to my parents and felt a bit better but around this time I started to feel off with a constant feeling of nausea. I felt mostly fine otherwise but it didn't do much for my anxiety levels and I started to worry about things I didn't need to worry about. Long story short it was a rough few weeks, I had nausea then I was exhausted, my appetite wasn't great then the nausea went away only to be replaced by my stomach being upset/unsettled. I felt all over the place physically which didn't help my mental state. It didn't help that I had it in my head that it couldn't be a stomach bug or something because I wasn't throwing up but we spoke to the pharmacist who said that's what it likely was and it was normal for it to take a while to pass. I was also worried that my mental state wasn't helping things so it was frustrating when I managed to set my worries aside only to still feel rubbish. There are reports that your stomach can be linked to your mental state and if things are not right in your gut then it can affect your mental health. I have to say I am a believer because I was definitely not myself. It was only at the start of a couple of  weeks that I started to properly feel like myself again which was disappointing because I had actually been away for a short break with my family and despite feeling good on the journey to the place and for most of the first day I really struggled to lift my mood that night and the next day.

So we got back from our break and I was feeling better but now I had to really up my preparation for the viva. I went through the my analyses, I asked my supervisor a lot of questions and I looked up common questions online. On reading through my thesis again I was pleased to note that apart from a few minor typing mistakes/formatting mistakes there was nothing major. The problem with the viva is that it is very hard to know what to expect, everyone's different and each examiner will ask different questions. Mine started on the Friday late morning and lasted over 3 hours with one short break. It was tough because they asked a lot of questions about things I hadn't thought about or didn't think I needed to think about. The internal examiner caught me off guard early on by asking me about a line I had written in the introduction, something that I hadn't given any more thought to after writing it. Long story short it was tough but not overly so, communication was a bit of an issue but the examiners both seemed to be in positive moods. Unfortunately when it came for the time for me to step out of the room so they could make their decision they really took their time. I was left standing out in the corridor for what seemed like ages, at least 20 minutes if not 30.. It didn't help that there was another PhD student doing his viva at the same time and he had finished and found out he had passed. So I had to stand in the corridor and see him and hear people congratulate him whilst I awaited my fate. Thankfully they eventually came and brought me back to the room before congratulating me for passing with minor corrections (very uncommon to pass with no corrections). I only had a few days to relax after the viva until I had to go into hospital to get my wisdom tooth removed, something I will talk about in detail in my next update.

I'm currently waiting for the full list of corrections/revisions and apparently I will have 3 months to complete them but I hope to do it quicker than that to get it out of the way. Once the new version of the thesis is signed off then I will be able to get it printed and hardbound and submit copies to the university, the people who funded me and of course have one for myself. I will then hopefully graduate in the summer. It has been a very strange period, having been so focused on getting through my PhD and getting it all written up and to suddenly finish and have to start thinking about what I want to do next. It ended up being a bit of a perfect storm, negative thoughts, being ill, worries about the future, trying to navigate this transition period, stressing about the viva and then having the stress of the hospital and the subsequent recovery. Thankfully I'm feeling better in myself though obviously the future is still very uncertain for me as to what I want to do next. I find it difficult to sit about and do nothing but I am trying to enjoy some much needed time off and of course I'm looking forward to Christmas though no doubt it will fly by like it always does.


Thanks for reading, I will hopefully have a post about my hospital experience up soon as well.

Spider-man Homecoming and Thor Ragnarok spoiler-free reviews

I realised that I never got around to sharing my thoughts on Spider-man despite it coming out a fair while ago.

Spider-man is probably my favourite superhero and  the original Spider-man 2 is probably still my favourite superhero movie. The Amazing Spider-man movies didn't do much for me so I was very happy when Marvel announced they had done a deal with Sony to incorporate Spider-man into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Whilst he was great in Captain America Civil War it was hard not to be worried that Sony would find a way to mess up his solo movie. Thankfully it turned out that Homecoming is a great Spider-man movie. It skips the origin story but it is very much a story of a beginner superhero and trying to balance that with school, family and his social life. It has a great villain in Michael Keaton's Vulture who is definitely among the better villains in the MCU. Tom Holland makes a great Spider-man and Peter Parker and I definitely prefer him over Andrew Garfield. I only have a few personal criticisms. Firstly the problem is that it is yet another version of Spider-man so they have made the decision to make it different from what has come before. As a Spider-man fan its hard not to be disappointed that we didn't get a version that managed to include certain classic characters but actually get them right his time. And whilst it is nice to skip the origin story there seems to be a lack of any emotional fallout over Uncle Ben's death.

Loved this scene in the movie, it's like a panel straight out of a comic book

The movie does a good job of setting up Peter's story going forward along with setting up potential future villains. However its hard not to be worried that Sony will again try to mess things up. They seem to be a bit greedy to milk the franchise (they still own the movie rights). They announced a Venom (Spider-man villain who you may remember from Spider-man 3) movie with Tom Hardy in the lead which will apparently be set in another universe from the MCU. They have also  announced a Black Cat and Silver Sable movie which if rumours are true will include major Spider-man villains including one set up in Spider-man Homecoming but again be in a different universe to the MCU thus potentially causing confusion and fatigue among movie goers...

The first Thor was a decent movie but it could be said that the bits on Earth dragged it down. The second seems to be acknowledged as one of the weaker entries of the MCU. It's a decent enough movie but the villain isn't developed at all and ultimately it isn't that memorable of a movie. Thor Ragnarok is the third Thor movie and it is a bit different. It is directed by Taika Waititi best known for his vampire spoof film What We Do in the Shadows. Thankfully it skips the Anthony Hopkins exposition dump at the start and instead jumps right in, it also has a more interesting villain in Cate Blanchett's Hela. The director has definitely had an impact on the movie as there is lots of quirky humour, he also provides the voice and motion capture of an alien character who is very funny. Whilst it is a funny film I have to say I wasn't fussed on all of it and I could really do without some of the cruder comedy moments that I don't think are needed. Another criticism I have is that the movie is predictable at times. Ultimately it is funny, the action is exciting, it looks great not to mention that it has consequences for both the Thor movies as well as the whole MCU going forward.


Thanks for reading!