Archive for the 'Scotland' Category

Scraping the Scottish Parliament Official Record

Friday, June 15th, 2007

My friends know that I’m a bit of a political geek and like to keep abreast of what our elected representatives are doing, so I follow the Official Reports of the UK Parliaments with an almost religious fervour, although I’ve been a bit lazy recently and just been watching the BBC Parliament channel.

I’m also a huge fan of theyworkforyou.com, a volunteer-run website which republishes the Official Reports of the House of Commons, House of Lords and the Northern Ireland Assembly in a far friendlier form than the “official” sites, with the added bonus of public commentary and statistical analysis of the MP’s performance.

Missing from theyworkforyou.com is the Official Report of the Scottish Parliament, all the more sorely missing due to the now very interesting constitution of that body with its minority SNP government. Republishing an official record is no easy task, for a number of reasons that I’ll go into later, but I know for sure that I have all the requisite skills and tools to do it.

I’ve had this project on the back-burner for some months now and since I’m starting a new job soon, any spare time I might have to work on hobby projects is going to vanish.

So here I go. I don’t need to get it perfect - just far enough along so that someone else can pick up and complete the task.
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Putting Myself About A Bit In Search Of Gainful Employment

Thursday, September 29th, 2005

Close to 20 hours of driving later, I’m back in Sheffield following my short jaunt up to Fraserburgh. I had two job interviews; one face-to-face with a firm in Aberdeen and the other by telephone with a firm in Nottingham.

Both interviews went well. I have been invited for a face-to-face with the firm in Nottingham on Tuesday. I’m told that part of the interview will be a programming test, which is great news. Bring it on - I love ‘em! The last firm to give me such a test hired me and we spent two profitable years together.

My family is getting more musical. My brother is now strumming and my sister tinkles the ivories once again. I’m looking forward to their gigs. Maybe I should learn flute? Or better, invent a new instrument. The music world will tremble to my cowpipe - a bit like a bagpipe but instead of one bag and four pipes you have four bags and two pipes. Just be careful which pipe you blow into.

Tha Won’t Believe This!

Monday, September 26th, 2005

I have an interview in Aberdeen on Wednesday. Right next door to my divorce solicitor’s office. Err… actually I got that wrong - it’s not next door. More like 2 mins walk.

If that isn’t an opportunity to multi-task, what is? ROFL

Protected: There’s More To Life Than Money

Wednesday, September 21st, 2005

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Fraserburgh

Monday, July 11th, 2005

I’ve made it safely to sunny Fraserburgh. Yes… sunny! I’m planning to chill out for a few days then get dug in to some of the things I came here to do.

Road Trip to the Broch

Thursday, June 17th, 2004

Enjoyed: family, Fraserburgh (aka “The Broch“) in the sunshine, long-distance driving
Irritants: lorries and the speed restrictions imposed on them, roundabouts, incorrect driving behaviours, prices at motorway services

My first 1,000 mile round-trip drive home to Fraserburgh. The drive was enjoyable despite discovering some of the irritations caused by driving. I am sure more experienced drivers know them well.

Fraserburgh is totally different in summer than any other time. My previous few visits have all been during dreary winter and I think that has been jading my opinion of my home town. There is renovation going on (mostly tourism-related such as new signs) and I felt a sense of hope for the town’s future for the first time in years.

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Mum is having the bathroom in the house renovated and decided to - gasp - replace the bath with a shower cubicle. I didn’t get to see the work finished unfortunately, but the ceiling is very interesting - long thin bluey white wood-effect panels separated with mirrored grooves that give the impression of greater height. Overall the bathroom will be pleasing, much brighter but likely no warmer!

I think a morning shower will add a spring to Mum and Dad’s steps as they walk to work at 6am.

Both Kevin and Dad are into this farming simulation game on the Playstation called Harvest Moon. I know a farming simulation sounds quite boring - perhaps it is better described as a farmer simulation as that is what you, the player, do. You are a new farmer taking over an existing farm in a small community and you have 3 years to turn it into a success through cultivation, livestock, trade and many other means. I won’t go into a deeper description suffice to say that a) it looks like a great game and b) farmers work hard.

Mum’s garden is amazing. She and Sharon have put in a lot of work and now in full bloom it resembles a flower Mardi Gras - an explosion of colour everywhere. Sharon’s hand-painted plant pots are a lovely finishing touch. Copious bird-feeders hung everywhere have attracted a mini-community of noisy and argumentative sparrows, tits and blackbirds that vie for position on the feeders with comedic aerobatic skills. As the size and shape of the garden makes it unappealing to the many scavenging seagulls that live around Fraserburgh the smaller birds have the feasts laid out by my family all to themselves. The size of the community had better increase because with the amount of food available, the birds I saw will soon be too fat to fly!

And wow! Kevin finally on e-mail.

Christopher Born

Tuesday, January 25th, 1994

Age: 25

Our son, Christopher James, was born.

Jessica Born

Tuesday, May 8th, 1990

Age: 21

Late at night, our daughter Jessica Frances was born.

Got Married

Saturday, March 4th, 1989

Age: 20

Got married to Lindsay at Holburn West Church, Aberdeen, Scotland by Rev. Mike Mair. It was an unusual and entertaining service. Our reception was at the Skean Dhu hotel. Our honeymoon was on Jersey, one of the Channel Islands.