Taking a break

 As another few months has passed since I've written anything for this blog I feel like I should post an update. At the moment I don't feel like there is anything I particularly want to write about without it feeling like I'm writing just for the sake of it. I hope that this blog has been helpful or maybe even enjoyable for people to read but I don't want it to become a chore for me. It may be that down the line I get inspired and update it again but for now I think I'm going to take a definitive break from it. 

Thanks for reading,

James

Hello again

 Well I will once again apologise for having a long gap between updates but that said I had been without a working laptop for a while due to the one I had been using giving up the ghost and not being able to purchase a laptop that I wanted due to a lack of availability. I now have an Acer Aspire 5 which is much slimmer, faster and overall better than my old laptop. I also don't have to rush to plug it in after 30 minutes of use! I have also had less time on my hands due to being back at work. I started back in July and I have to say it has been good being back at work rather than being stuck at home feeling guilty about not being able to do proper work. The lab has social distancing measures in place along with hand sanitisers at each of the buildings. It did take a while to adjust back into things but things are fairly normal at the moment but just with a far lower volume of regular samples being brought in and our lab manager has had difficulty being able to purchase certain items that we need for our lab due to everyone needing them for covid testing. Our lab is involved in some covid work but the samples are inert and only a couple of my colleagues are involved in it.

Obviously with the pandemic there isn't a lot else happening. We did go away for a week up the North coast but we only ate out a total of three times and in each case we were comfortable with the social distancing and procedures in place. It was more for a change of scene and getting out for walks. We also went on a boat trip out from Ballycastle along the coast which was great.  I am volunteering as a dog walker at the animal sanctuary still but there is social distancing in place and also a rota system in place. My brother and his girlfriend did get a puppy which has been a lovely boost to our family. We have had lots of fun and entertainment from him and he has helped boost all our moods.

In more TCS related news I made the mistake of letting my BAHA headband get far too stretched and loose. I could hear fine for the most part but struggled when it came to watching TV etc. I recently found out about a woman who makes her own BAHA headbands as an alternative to the Cochlear and Oticon ones so I decided to buy one. My hearing has definitely improved due to the tighter fit but I've been impressed with the headband so far and will probably do a blog update of its own about it.

That's all for now,

James

Strange Times Part 3

Well we are over a month on and things remain pretty much the same for me. I continue to work from home and I feel like I should be a super employee once I return to work having done training courses in problem solving, time management, team-work, Excel, Word, communication, safety etc. etc. I've now moved on to working on rewriting the laboratory's Standard Operating Protocols for the various processes that we carry out. Our lab manager has set out various risk assessments and safety protocols for those working in the lab at the moment so hopefully when I do return to working on site it will be as safe as possible.

I haven't had much time to write outside of working hours recently due to spending a lot of time doing research to help with purchasing decisions. My parents have decided to use this time to negotiate new internet and TV deals given we were out of contract and paying far too much for both. We did a lot of research on whether to switch providers and/or potentially get one of the very good bundle deals but we decided to stick with our current providers and get better packages. As a result we are getting very sizeable upgrades in both for less than they were paying before. Given that we will be getting access to ultra HD content we also decided that it was probably time to upgrade our 13 year old plasma TV which is only HD ready i.e. not full HD. I did a quick bit of research and found what seemed like a great TV for our budget and being the same reliable brand. My parents went and looked at it and thought it seemed good, only for me to do a bit more research and discover that there was a major issue with viewing angles. This is an issue because of the way our living room is set out. I was a bit sceptical until I saw the TV in person and it really was an issue. Given that my parents didn't want to splurge on an OLED or QLED TV we decided the best option was to go with one which had an IPS screen which is better for viewing angles but not as good if you watch movies in a dark room which we generally don't do. Unfortunately it seems like everyone is buying TVs at the moment so we struggled to get the one we originally wanted however we have now ordered one which seems to be slightly better but for a good price. I'm very excited to get everything up and running!

That's all for now. Take care,

James

Strange Times Part 2

So I'm now approaching the nine week mark of being in this shutdown/off work. I have to say it was nice having plenty of relaxation time combined with some lovely weather. That said from the start of last week I've had to start doing some work from home in order to satisfy senior staff members. This has included online training courses and carrying out a literature search for our lab manager. It isn't the most exciting work and it is difficult to work from home both in terms of getting back into the mindset but also being in a house with my parents who are going about their business and can't be expected to tip toe around.

I think we are fortunate in a way in terms of the technology available to us in this pandemic. I've had a number of group chats and quizzes with friends including people living in England and another living in America. I haven't run out of physical books yet but when I do I have a kindle so I'll be able to download e-books. I also have a library card which has allowed me to download books and more importantly guitar magazines onto my tablet for free which is brilliant. In terms of TV the lack of football is rather strange but we have the guilty pleasure of watching an episode of the show American Pickers while we have our lunch. We have also just finished the most recent season of Better Call Saul on Netflix. In terms of personal viewing I finally finished watching all of the Netflix Marvel shows with Jessica Jones season 3. I persisted with Arrow and watched it until the very end (and I'm glad I did) and I'm continuing to keep up with The Flash (much improved this season) and Supergirl (may drop it). I decided to stop watching Legends of Tomorrow because it just got a bit too silly for me and I haven't given Batwoman a chance as I haven't been fussed on what I have seen on it. In terms of games I got Jedi Knight: Fallen Order as a birthday present which was very good. I'm now playing through Red Dead Redemption 2 which is great but also a real time sink as there is just so much to see and do!

In terms of other activities I haven't played as much guitar or drums as I probably should have though I'm trying to make more of an effort to actually learn songs on guitar rather than just messing about. I'm kinda glad I'm not taking lessons especially on drums at the moment because I don't think doing it via video calls would work for me. Given that I plan to move out eventually I thought it would be a good idea to get some cooking practice and so with some assistance from my mum I have made one meal a week for the three of us for the last six weeks (including this week). Part of it as been finding new recipes and so far I've made Chicken Schwarma (middle eastern inspired spicy chicken) with garlic and herb potato wedges, Nando's inspired peri-peri chicken (twice) also with potato wedges, "Italian" meat loaf with mashed potato, carrots and brocolli, herb crusted chicken with a creamy sauce with roast potatoes and vegetables and sticky sesame chicken with rice.

Obviously there are lots of talks about the shutdown easing and it's hard not to be a bit impatient but at the same time you don't want to rush back too soon. I think it will be a good while before things are back to normal.

Thanks for reading,

James

The poor sound quality of TV shows and movies

It seems to be a regular complaint both online and in newspapers about the poor sound quality of TV shows or movies or to be more accurate the inaudibility of what characters are actually saying. This can be due to a number of issues such as poor audio mixing and actors speaking "naturally" aka mumbling. It shouldn't be an issue in the cinema with a properly set up sound system though sometimes they can be too loud even for a cinema. At home many people buy sound bars or surround sound systems to get better sound quality from their TVs but these don't solve all the issues. I live with my parents and we have a surround sound system for our main TV which is great if we are all watching TV at the same time. It's not so great if one person is watching the TV and the others are doing other things and are getting disturbed by the high noise levels. There is a regular issue with shows and movies having whisper level dialogue only for an action scene to suddenly pump up the volume. This has been a problem with trying to watch movies at home as you have to keep constantly putting the volume up and down.

I'm not sure exactly when but I eventually gave up and started to use subtitles when watching TV by myself. It means I can actually sit and enjoy what I'm watching rather than be worried that it's far too loud or having to constantly increase and decrease the volume. It can be a bit hit and miss at times, on Sky TV the subtitles aren't always 100% accurate and there is also this annoying thing where they take a few seconds to kick in after you have fast forwarded through adverts or paused so you have to account for that in order to not miss anything. The subtitles on Netflix are great especially since they are just plain white readable text and they immediately show up unlike with Sky.

Obviously subtitles have some disadvantages due to their nature of appearing before dialogue is actually spoken so potentially spoiling a surprise or a joke but I think people should be more open minded about them. They are not as distracting as you might think and they take the stress of worrying about volume levels and not being able to enjoy a show because you are struggling to hear what characters are actually saying. Being open minded about subtitles also opens the door to enjoying shows or movies in a foreign language such as the recent Oscar winner Parasite (which I haven't managed to see yet). A few months ago we watched Narcos on Netflix of which large parts of the dialogue are in Spanish. You quickly get used to it and it doesn't detract from enjoying the show.

Of course one other option if you are watching by yourself is headphones or in my case streaming audio either through my Cochlear mini mic via a standard audio cable or through my Cochlear phone clip via Bluetooth directly to my hearing aid. I've found that I usually don't need subtitles when I do that and I can mute the mics on my BAHA's so I am only getting the audio from whatever is streaming to them. Though I do get a bit paranoid about having the volume up too high sometimes, I really don't want to add tinnitus onto my list of medical issues! There is also the issue of it being a drain on the BAHA batteries and having the phone clip or mini mic charged and ready to go. When I eventually move out I may look into purchasing a TV streamer accessory that would just sit near the TV and be able to be plugged in for electricity.

As with the complaints about THAT Game of Thrones episode where you could barely see anything I think the people who make TV shows and movies need to remember that at the end of the day people just want to be able to clearly see and hear what is going on without having to sit in a dark room with a large expensive TV or having an expensive sound system that is perfectly set up. I'm also sure actors would like to for the effort they put in to be worth it with people actually being able to hear and understand what is being said.

Thanks for reading,

James

Strange times

Well these are certainly strange times it hasn't even been six months since I started working at my job and now I'm back to being at home all day. I unfortunately had to make the decision to take responsibility for my own health and indeed that of my parents who I live with to no longer go to work. I am grateful that my manager and indeed her boss are both understanding and I have a letter from my GP to satisfy senior staff as to why I'm not at work. As part of having Treacher Collins Syndrome I have a narrow airway and for the most part it does not affect my day to day life but given the risk that the Coronavirus poses and the fact that it is a respiratory illness I did not feel I could continue working. Given the nature of the work I do it is impossible for me to work from home as I need expensive and large laboratory equipment to carry out my work not to mention working with bacteria and hazardous chemicals. I found out towards the end of last week that the lab I work in has actually been shut down but the site where I work hasn't so apparently my colleagues who are still in work have been moved to other departments on a temporary basis.

So at the moment things are very uncertain, I have no idea when I will be able to go back to work. I'm also unable to volunteer at the animal sanctuary as only staff members are allowed in at the moment. I really hope that people follow the government instructions and limit the spread of infection but that said I've been going out for long walks to get fresh air and exercise and have come across people who clearly don't understand the concept of social distancing. My plan is to take things day by day and try to enjoy the unexpected downtime but also try and use it in a positive or productive way. Hopefully as part of that I will be able to write more for this blog.

Keep safe,

James

Working 9-5 Part 2

Yes I know it is yet another long period between posts! That said when you are working full time and then have the busy build up to Christmas then there isn't much time or energy for blog writing. That said I am delighted to announce that I've now been made permanent! I had been going through the recruitment process for the organisation on a permanent basis which had started back in the summer. I had to do an aptitude test, then there was an eligibility shift (for some reason they look at your qualifications after doing the test) before an interview. The interview took place in November which worked out well for me because by then I was already working there under the same job title but on a temporary basis. However competition for the limited number of positions was very high and despite already working there and the great feedback I got from the interview I did not make the initial list. Unfortunately due to the formal writing of the letter letting me know this and my past experience I assumed the worst and that it would be unlikely that I would get the job on a permanent basis. This was especially unfortunate as I found out on the day I was going up the north coast for a weekend away with my parents and it rather soured my mood! I was eventually able to meet with a senior staff member who clarified the situation, that I was in a good position on the waiting list and would hopefully have some good news in the new year. This made me feel a lot better but unfortunately due to being an agency worker I only accumulated half a day's holiday every week I worked and not only that but I had to book any week day off even mandatory holidays like Christmas. When it came to Christmas I ended up taking a few days as unpaid rather than go back to work so soon (there was some work to do but nothing that had to be done). Before Christmas I got an email saying that I had been sent an offer letter for the job but of course when I asked if they could just email me it they said no and that I would have to wait but with it being Christmas it would probably be a while. Long story short a few days after Christmas I got the offer letter for the position on a permanent basis however it didn't give any information as to where exactly I would be working and if I would be staying in the lab I had been working. It was only after my supervisor got back after Christmas that I got clarification that yes I would be staying where I was and that I definitely had the job on a permanent basis. By that point it was a bit of an anticlimax!

It's a major relief to have gotten the job on a permanent basis. I would be lying if I said it is my dream job but I there are some great benefits, I like the people I work with, the commute isn't too bad and it is a great organisation to get experience in. Since I've been made permanent I've started to get trained up on other processes in the lab which has added more variety to the week. It's hard not to get a bit nostalgic for my PhD though, when I was working with plant material I didn't have to worry so much about contaminating samples with anything from myself! It's also a bit different working in a shared lab, I'm still learning about where certain things are stored and what the processes are for ordering consumables etc. At the moment all our samples are collected by other people but apparently we will be collecting some of our own samples in the summer months so will have a chance to get out and about so I'm looking forward to that after missing the sampling of my PhD.

Thanks for reading,

James