Paul Nicholls

Photos of us completing the challenges for the Duck Disaster 2007!
Read the rest of this entry »

…At Tap ‘n’ Tin earlier tonight?

We were up on the top floor, merrily dancing away, when I look down and notice what looks like dry ice moving across the floor at our feet. I point it out to Hayley and Liz and we assume they’ve had new dry ice/smoke machines fitted.

The next thing we know, there’s an alarm going off, people screaming and shouting “tear gas”, couldn’t see my hand in front of my face for smoke, no-one can breathe, and there’s the most foul smell choking everyone. We all make for the doors, people are streaming down the stairs into the middle floor in coughing fits, smoke billowing down the stairs with them…

Bouncers and security staff close off the top floor and usher anyone who’s still coughing outside, where they’d stopped letting people in. Initially they said it was due to a tear gas release, but then (presumably to stop the spread of just this sort of gossip) they just called it an unknown gas release. We made our way outside, Hayley and Liz decided to go back for Liz’s brother then get a taxi, I had to go home as I was feeling really sick and still coughing pretty badly.

One suggestion made is that someone either let off or damaged a powder fire extinguisher, which when combined with the ventilation system could create the clouds of gas. However, a quick Google tells me all powder fire extinguishers are odourless, and that place definitely stank. It also wouldn’t make sense how it spread over the whole floor, looking like dry ice, then rose up causing the choking (surely the powder would sink to the floor, after all fire extinguishers are pretty directional if released properly, and if it exploded surely there would have been a cloud in one corner which then spread outwards?

Other ideas? Maybe it was a riot gas/smoke grenade of some sort? No-one was crying (directly due to the gas anyway), which rules out tear gas.

It does concern me a little that the place appeared to be staying open, and there was no sign of Police, Fire & Rescue or Paramedic response. Again, googling the “best case” scenario of a powder fire extinguisher release, H&S guidelines still say anyone who inhaled or got the powder in their eyes should seek medical advice immediately.

Can someone more “in the know” fill me in?

So much for a blaze-of-glory-last-night-at-tap-and-tin-before-uni!

So I just got Cautioned by the Police, full on “you do not have to say anything but it may harm your defence…. blah blah blah”.

And why?

Because I had a tail light out!

If I’m going to have a criminal record, can’t it be for something slightly more exciting than that?!?

Now I have to fill in a form to prove it gets fixed or I can be prosecuted.

Stupid Paul. Stupid Car.

When I agreed to work for RMGS for a year, I was expecting a relatively easy ride - no such luck! Its not necessarily a bad thing though; after all, I’ve been presented with a lot of fantastic opportunities this year. Not only to develop my own skills, to to leave my mark at the school, to begin to launch my own software development company, to work with some very expensive and high power equipment, but also begin to experience “the real world”.

Despite some initial reservations, all of this has however always been a stepping stone. I’ve learnt through the year that whilst working in ICT in the education sector is a fun and varied job, its not the career path I want to be following. To progress further I need to get my degree, and then look from there into my options in the Software Development market.

This last few months however, it’s almost like I’m not supposed to leave… It’s just been one thing after another at work, and I have to say the stress has been getting to me lately. Starting with Sam leaving for a better position, which promoted me to Network Manager, and then having a catalogue of disasters over the summer break; culminating in falcon, our core router, dhcp server, dns server and proxy server breaking beyond all repair; I’m starting to think its some sort of sign.

Yesterday should have been my last day, my contract has theoretically expired, however I’m going to be there for at least the next fortnight. I’ve had less than a week off (through holiday or absense) in the last year, and I’ve in fact been in for 5 hours today… On a Saturday! I’ve become a work-o-holic. I’ll be doing another few hours tomorrow from home, fixing moodle - another delayed summer job. I was supposed to be taking a holiday, I just don’t have time now. I can’t help but wonder how I’m going to cope at University without constantly having lots to do. Frankly, that’s what’s worrying me most at the moment - not having lots to do, not being under constant stress.

Is that normal?

One more month then I finish work…

One more month. I can’t believe I’ve worked there over a year now, its been such an eventful time but it has totally flown by. I’ve been so fortunate to have had this experience to work with some fantastic people, learn a lot of new skills and develop my existing ones further as well as - most importantly of all - have a good time.

One more month then I go to Uni…

One more month. Despite what I’ve just said I can’t wait to get to University, and to think its just a month away is pretty scary. It didn’t really hit home until last week when I went shopping for cutlery and bed linen, now things are quickly snowballing (Glasses, a Dinner Set, Mugs, Kettle, Water Cooler, Stationary, TV License, Iron) and I’m trying to keep up but I can sense the reality of the situation slipping away from me. In a months time I won’t live in Kent. I’ll be on the other side of the country. I’ll only know one person when I get there. I can’t “just pop home for some laundry”, “just pop to the pub and see Moira or Kim”.

I know its not exactly Timbuktu (although, I do have to be vaccinated before I’m allowed to go up north? Against Geordie-itis perhaps?), and I know I want to be away from here. I just don’t think everything has quite sunk in yet.

Obviously when disposing of old hardware in an environment where staff frequently handle sensitive and confidential information it is critical that proper measures are taken to ensure no data could be recovered from computers, laptops, etc.

We were on the roof doing some cabling, when an idea just came to us….

Disposal #3
Date of Disposal: 15/08/2007
Goods Disposed Of: RM Laptop
Method of Disposal: Seeing How Far We Can Throw a Laptop/Throwing Laptops at Mr Jennings.
Tools Used: a roof
Wielder of Destruction: Mr Nicholls, Mr Burrows and Mr Jinks… Mr Jennings was the one dodging the laptops and throwing it back to us.

Outcome: The first few throws didn’t seem to inflict much damage, the laptop just looked a little battered. Mr Jinks however employed a different throwing technique, which caused the laptop to shatter into pieces on landing… it was un-salvageable.