[	Current Location	|	sofa	]
[	mood	|	excited	]

It seems that my sojourn in Dundee is coming to an end. After two and a half years, I have been offered a job in the Big Smoke - yes I'm going to be moving back to England after 12 years to work in London (baby). I've been looking for a while now, I've not been excited about work for a while, and of course this has nothing to do with the lovely redbrown!

I'm going to be a proper civil servant, so I'm not sure I should reveal exactly what I'll be doing (no, I'm not a spy, see Civil Serf), but I'll be providing policy advice and writing speeches in the Government Department responsible for the UK research budget, the Intellectual Property Office (sounds boring, eh, but wait for it..) and UK SPACE POLICY. How cool is that!

Excitingly (!) the job starts in three weeks. So, I know its short notice, but if anyone fancies joining me I'll be in the Bon Accord next Friday (10th) for a swift half to celebrate. By that point I should be really panicking about everything I have to do before I move, so it should be quite amusing.

On the other hand, if you're not a Weegie, especially if you're anywhere in the south and fancy helping out a confused émigré to re-establish her social life, let me know.
 

has crept up on me and is this Sunday. 
I have only trained once this week due to weather, sociability and work busyness. 
Am still confident that I can do it, but not sure how fast.
You can sponsor me at http://www.raceforlifesponsorme.org/helenex 
Full report will follow next week, maybe even with pictures.

[	Current Location	|	work	]
[	mood	|	bouncy	]

...but I was ambushed by the sale rail in New Look at lunchtime.
I bought a pair of utility jeans with lots of funky pockets and a red and white checked shirt with poppers down the front.  I'm going to call this look "Sexy Telephone Engineer"!

[	Current Location	|	sofa	]
[	mood	|	bored	]

I'm so bored this afternoon I went running in the rain. Then got bored of that so I'm back on the interwebs. 
I have acquired over the last month a suspicious amount of "specialist" running gear (i.e. clothes I wouldn't wear anywhere else) including proper trainers with white bits and shiny bits and funny lumpy bits.  Also, cut off jogging trousers with writing on the bottom. Not very me but they were a Primark special and I didn't notice the bum inscription until the second wear. And my special running t-shirt courtesy of

anthrokeight

How peculiar. In the nightmare world of economics, I seem to be half an hour ahead of schedule. 
I do have 70 pages of micro left to cover today, but I think its well worth my while to take half an hour out and be sociable with the internet. Then another half an hour's work before Who!

In non-exam news, last month I was bribed with a t-shirt into promising to run the Race for Life.
Dundee's race is on the 15th June (six weeks away). So having not run for anything other than the bus in about 15 years, I've been trying to get out there a couple of times a week, and am slowly moving from walking (with occasional bursts of jogging)  to jogging (and occasionally slowing to a walk). 

Its still not fun, but this afternoon I covered 2.8 miles, mostly jogging, in half an hour. Next weekend I'm going to try for the full 5k. 
Trawling for sponsorship will follow as soon as I get my act together and find the web link.

Its not quite dark yet. I can almost see the point of this clock changing lark.

I went to Eastercon. Other people's LJ seems to cover most of what I did, but here's a quick recap:

Conquered the UK flight security systems, arriving only 2 hours later than expected in both directions
Attended about as many (or as few) actual programme items as usual
Chilled out (literally) with old friends
Made some new friends... not entirely as a result of...
On one evening, drank slightly more alcohol than I should (I blame the Scandinavians)
At one point exactly understood the precise relational location of all things within the Radisson Non-Euclidean
Drank Tea
Laughed my socks off at Mitch Benn
Pre-attacked the post con miseries by signing up for a whole load more.

The date of Easter has meant that a gentle return to work this week has not been possible - the end of the financial year is nigh and I am justifying taking time out to post this with the thought that despite having Monday off I have already worked my contracted hours this week and its only 4pm Thursday. 

Must go...someone has just brought me cake!

[

mood

|

confused

]

For my birthday, my lovely Dad gave me some money to put towards buying a camera. I'm looking for a compact digital camera, with the following things:

As many megapixels as are necessary (I think at least 7)
Lithium or other long life battery
Optical & Digital zoom
Non-proprietory memory card format so it'll go into my laptop slot
Fast image capture
Simple intuitive controls

I have around £150 to spend but want to get a case, a couple of memory cards and all the adaptors and leads I need - maybe even a spare battery. 
For the last month I have looked: online, in Jessops and Currys and suchlike, and have totally failed to come to a decision. They are all shiny and small and fancy, and no-one in the shops has been enthusiastic enough to help me make a decision. I just need to get over it and get one already, but I thought I'd put one more call out for the collective wisdom of my friends. So does anyone has any recommendations - for particular cameras, brands, batteries, memory card types or alternatively good places (in the real world or online) to go for information or to buy?

Happy Birthday 

f4f3

 (and why do I always get funny things happening with carriage returns when I try to add usernames?)

[	Tags	|	birthday thanks	]
[	mood	|	happy	]
[	music	|	Helen's 30th birthday album - 1987	]

Made it! 
Bit of a mad weekend, starting modestly after work on Friday with a few drinks at the DCA with friends and colleagues.

Struggled out of bed on Saturday morning and down to Glasgow to meet my sister S and 

incomparable616

After a great deal of procrastination I have been kicked up the bottom by 

zantic