mytbc

Keep it Real … Represent

Like a circle in a spiral, like a wheel within a wheel, my life is moving on. I received a quite exciting letter at the weekend, from the US Consulate in London! Its contents were not very exciting, just “Fill in these forms, and give us $350″ but the implication is exciting. They’ve received my case now, so things can progress.

I’m feeling slightly ahead of the game; I’ve been waiting for this letter for a while, and have slowly been gathering the stuff I need. I’ve renewed my passport, I updated my driving license to my current address, I’ve got a printout from my medical records showing my vaccination history and I’ve a fresh copy of my long form birth certificate, which should hopefully prove I was not born in Kenya.

The only things I think I’m missing before I can schedule a visa interview are those forms they need me to fill in, my police certificate, and the results of a medical exam. I will be filling in those forms tonight, I sent off for the certificate yesterday, and I’ve booked my medical exam for the 2nd of November.

The medical exam is the most annoying part, it has to be said. I can understand that I need to go to London for the visa interview (even though there is a consulate less than 50 miles away in Edinburgh, but that one doesn’t do visa interviews), but why should the only doctor’s practise with the rights to do visa medical exams also be in London? Quite apart from the £210 cost of the exam, I need to pay for travel down to London, and a hotel room for the night before just to make sure I’m not late for it. Also, this line from the “what to expect at your medical exam” document is a little scary: “The medical examination is conducted by one the Embassy’s appointed panel physicians. It consists of a physical examination (eyes, ears, nose, throat, extremities, heart, lungs, abdomen, lymph nodes, skin and external genitalia) chest X-ray and a blood test, which includes testing for venereal disease”

Still, at least it’s only my external genitalia they’ll check.

I’m quite lucky in that I work for a hotel chain with properties in London, so I’m hoping to get a room in one of those properties at the substantially discounted staff rate which I won’t disclose publicly. For travel, I would love to fly, but flight costs were going to be ~£100, and by the time you factor in the Heathrow or Gatwick express, the getting to Glasgow Airport and whatnot, they’d be unrealistically expensive. Turns out it’s overall cheaper to take Virgin Trains in first class, so that’s exactly what I’m doing. I am the 1%.

I am making progress, and that’s a good feeling.

Like a circle in a spiral, like a wheel within a wheel, my life is moving on. I received a quite exciting letter at the weekend, from the US Consulate in London! Its contents were not very exciting, just "Fill in these forms, and give us $350" but the implication is exciting. They've received my case now, so things can progress. I'm feeling slightly ahead of the game; I've been waiting for this letter for a while, and have slowly been gathering the stuff I need. I've renewed my passport, I updated my driving license to my current address, I've got a printout from my medical records showing my vaccination history and I've a fresh copy of my long form birth certificate, which should hopefully prove I was not born in Kenya. The only things I think I'm missing before I can schedule a visa interview are those forms they need me to fill in, my police certificate, and the results of a medical exam. I will be filling in those forms tonight, I sent off for the certificate yesterday, and I've booked my medical exam for the 2nd of November. The medical exam is the most annoying part, it has to be said. I can understand that I need to go to London for the visa interview (even though there is a consulate less than 50 miles away in Edinburgh, but that one doesn't do visa interviews), but why should the only doctor's practise with the rights to do visa medical exams also be in London? Quite apart from the £210 cost of the exam, I need to pay for travel down to London, and a hotel room for the night before just to make sure I'm not late for it. Also, this line from the "what to expect at your medical exam" document is a little scary: "The medical examination is conducted by one the Embassy’s appointed panel physicians. It consists of a physical examination (eyes, ears, nose, throat, extremities, heart, lungs, abdomen, lymph nodes, skin and external genitalia) chest X-ray and a blood test, which includes testing for venereal disease" Still, at least it's only my external genitalia they'll check. I'm quite lucky in that I work for a hotel chain with properties in London, so I'm hoping to get a room in one of those properties at the substantially discounted staff rate which I won't disclose publicly. For travel, I would love to fly, but flight costs were going to be ~£100, and by the time you factor in the Heathrow or Gatwick express, the getting to Glasgow Airport and whatnot, they'd be unrealistically expensive. Turns out it's overall cheaper to take Virgin Trains in first class, so that's exactly what I'm doing. I am the 1%. I am making progress, and that's a good feeling.

A conversation

I’m a curious sort of fellow. When I get the chance to listen into a conversation, I often take that chance. Some may call it eavesdropping, but it’s my stance that if you don’t want to be overheard, stop conversing in your room with a door that I can listen through the keyhole. Or, you know, loudly on the train or something.

The point I am trying to make is that, well, when I overhear other people’s conversations, they seem kinda… boring. It’s all “He said, she said, and I was like, WHAT-EVER, GIRLFRIEND”. Nothing of substance. I dunno, I like to think my friends and I are slightly more interesting than that.

To that end, Paul and I recently sat down with a couple of microphones, and we recorded a conversation. We’ve considered some sort of podcast for a while now, and we’re trying to nail down a format for it. There isn’t much of a format to this one, just a case of we started talking about books, and saw where it went from there. I’d appreciate it if you could give it a listen, and let us know if it’s something we should consider doing with regularity.

I'm a curious sort of fellow. When I get the chance to listen into a conversation, I often take that chance. Some may call it eavesdropping, but it's my stance that if you don't want to be overheard, stop conversing in your room with a door that I can listen through the keyhole. Or, you know, loudly on the train or something. The point I am trying to make is that, well, when I overhear other people's conversations, they seem kinda... boring. It's all "He said, she said, and I was like, WHAT-EVER, GIRLFRIEND". Nothing of substance. I dunno, I like to think my friends and I are slightly more interesting than that. To that end, Paul and I recently sat down with a couple of microphones, and we recorded a conversation. We've considered some sort of podcast for a while now, and we're trying to nail down a format for it. There isn't much of a format to this one, just a case of we started talking about books, and saw where it went from there. I'd appreciate it if you could give it a listen, and let us know if it's something we should consider doing with regularity. [audio:http://roostercogburn.co.uk/myblog/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/second-podcast-attempt.mp3] Audio player above, or download by clicking here.

Some reading recommendations

I have one great love in my life.

Ok, fine. Two. Two great loves in my life.

I am, of course, talking about my Kindle. It is simply the greatest device I’ve ever owned. I mean, if forced to I could probably list a few problems with it. It needs a better way to organise the books on the device, to make it easier to find something to read after finishing the latest opus from some bearded fantasist; its text-to-speech isn’t perfect; if I never have to see that screen-saver of Harriet Beecher Stowe again I could die happy; and of course, it can’t take the weight of a fully grown man. These are all fairly minor foibles though. Overall, it’s as close to perfection as I could imagine.

Seriously, go buy one. You can get a refurbished wi-fi Kindle for less than £80, and it’s indistinguishable from a new one.

That plug for the greatest e-reader the world will ever know aside, I thought I’d recommend a couple of things to put on it when you inevitably purchase one. First up is Lightspeed Magazine. You can buy individual issues on the Amazon Kindle store, or all the content is actually free on their website. Personally, I subscribe to it through Weightless Books. It’s $19.95 a year, with one issue a month. Each issue includes four science-fiction stories, and a variety of not very interesting non-fiction content. It works out to about £1 an issue, and really well worth it. They now also include a feature to automatically e-mail it to your Kindle, so it’s fairly seamless.

Secondly, check out Delivereads. Some guy, his name is Dave, will once a week or so e-mail a bunch of articles to your Kindle. What I like about them is that they’re not things I’d ever seek out, but they’re pretty interesting nonetheless. Also, it’s completely free.

My third recommendation is Fantasy & Science Fiction Magazine which costs £0.99 a month (though there is a free version with only one fiction piece in it) and comes out every two months. A nice selection of stories of various lengths, plus some more kinda boring non-fiction pieces. Each issue is longer than Lightspeed, so is worth the nearly twice the price.

So, anyway, there’s some stuff to read on your Kindle for those times you don’t have time to dip into something as thick as A Song of Ice and Fire, but do want to read. Perfect for commuting, maybe. If anybody has any other recommendations for me, I’m happy to hear them.

I have one great love in my life. Ok, fine. Two. Two great loves in my life. I am, of course, talking about my Kindle. It is simply the greatest device I've ever owned. I mean, if forced to I could probably list a few problems with it. It needs a better way to organise the books on the device, to make it easier to find something to read after finishing the latest opus from some bearded fantasist; its text-to-speech isn't perfect; if I never have to see that screen-saver of Harriet Beecher Stowe again I could die happy; and of course, it can't take the weight of a fully grown man. These are all fairly minor foibles though. Overall, it's as close to perfection as I could imagine. Seriously, go buy one. You can get a refurbished wi-fi Kindle for less than £80, and it's indistinguishable from a new one. That plug for the greatest e-reader the world will ever know aside, I thought I'd recommend a couple of things to put on it when you inevitably purchase one. First up is Lightspeed Magazine. You can buy individual issues on the Amazon Kindle store, or all the content is actually free on their website. Personally, I subscribe to it through Weightless Books. It's $19.95 a year, with one issue a month. Each issue includes four science-fiction stories, and a variety of not very interesting non-fiction content. It works out to about £1 an issue, and really well worth it. They now also include a feature to automatically e-mail it to your Kindle, so it's fairly seamless. Secondly, check out Delivereads. Some guy, his name is Dave, will once a week or so e-mail a bunch of articles to your Kindle. What I like about them is that they're not things I'd ever seek out, but they're pretty interesting nonetheless. Also, it's completely free. My third recommendation is Fantasy & Science Fiction Magazine which costs £0.99 a month (though there is a free version with only one fiction piece in it) and comes out every two months. A nice selection of stories of various lengths, plus some more kinda boring non-fiction pieces. Each issue is longer than Lightspeed, so is worth the nearly twice the price. So, anyway, there's some stuff to read on your Kindle for those times you don't have time to dip into something as thick as A Song of Ice and Fire, but do want to read. Perfect for commuting, maybe. If anybody has any other recommendations for me, I'm happy to hear them.

Worry not, content’s a-coming.

I know that I’ve neglected this here blog for a while, a combination of not doing much and just general laziness. I do have some good news though, faithful reader (there must be at least one faithful reader, right?)

Continuing in my attempt to ride all of Scotland’s railway lines, and thanks to having a bit of cash and lots of free time, I’ve decided to visit Wick on Thursday. Visit is perhaps overstating it. It’s nearly 8 hours each way, for an hour in Wick. Going to be a long day, but if I take plenty photos it should make another nice post, in a similar vein to my posts on The Kyle Line and The West Highland Line.

I’ve also decided to go visit a friend who moved to Bradford last year. Luckily, she lives next to Shipley train station, which has direct trains that run on the Settle-Carlisle line, which is generally considered the most scenic in England. We’ll see how it stacks up against the rural Scottish lines I’ve done. I’m expecting big things.

I know that I've neglected this here blog for a while, a combination of not doing much and just general laziness. I do have some good news though, faithful reader (there must be at least one faithful reader, right?) Continuing in my attempt to ride all of Scotland's railway lines, and thanks to having a bit of cash and lots of free time, I've decided to visit Wick on Thursday. Visit is perhaps overstating it. It's nearly 8 hours each way, for an hour in Wick. Going to be a long day, but if I take plenty photos it should make another nice post, in a similar vein to my posts on The Kyle Line and The West Highland Line. I've also decided to go visit a friend who moved to Bradford last year. Luckily, she lives next to Shipley train station, which has direct trains that run on the Settle-Carlisle line, which is generally considered the most scenic in England. We'll see how it stacks up against the rural Scottish lines I've done. I'm expecting big things.

Wow

To the next step!

To the next step!