The morning bus was actually completely on schedule this morning, probably because I was running 2 minutes late, and it was pulling away as I was walking up the hill to the stop. So I suppose I got in a mini workout this morning walking back and forth...Got a ride from a classmate though.
Lecture was pretty interesting, it was a guy who had worked for McLaren, Ferrari, TWR (Tom Walkinshaw Racing - during the Silk Cut Jaguar days) and various other teams as well. I guess really the takeaway message of the whole week is just to know what your getting into. That sounds painfully obvious, but it's amazing how many people really are not aware of the ways to succeed in the environments that they enter.
I'm working a little bit on our group assignment before going to a presentation on the Bloodhound SSC. There were some pictures of it in my album from the Autosport show too. Hopefully it is a bit better than the last night presentation from the Renault F1 engineer. Our assignment is going ok, I think we've finally gotten everyone focused on the task of getting our stuff ready for Friday. We basically have to present a preliminary business plan, and it is easy to get caught up in the technical details, especially with all of us being engineers!
So it's already been quite a long, busy week, but at least it is our last lecture week, so that is making it a little easier. I haven't gotten to the gym at all, and probably won't until Friday, which is unfortunate, but anyway. Well I should get back to work, and I think I'm out of things to tell you for now. Cheers!
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Monday, January 17, 2011
Good Morning
I fell asleep in the second quarter of the Pats game. Didn't sleep particularly well, woke up at some point in the third quarter, and then again at 3 am when I guess one of our neighbors was in a very heated argument with I suppose his wife. It didn't sound very good at all. Anyway, on to better things, Sunday was pretty productive, got to the gym, some more laundry, a bit of shopping, and caught up on reading a few Racecar Engineering magazines.
This week is the Business of Motorsport module, so hopefully it's interesting and difficult so that I don't have even more reason to give my business school friends a hard time! The lectures seem to be focused most on how to get funding for racing, whether it is through loans or sponsorships.
We still don't have any of our other exam grades back, and still don't know anything more about the group project. I guess I'll just have to continue being patient, but it's getting harder and harder.
This week is the Business of Motorsport module, so hopefully it's interesting and difficult so that I don't have even more reason to give my business school friends a hard time! The lectures seem to be focused most on how to get funding for racing, whether it is through loans or sponsorships.
We still don't have any of our other exam grades back, and still don't know anything more about the group project. I guess I'll just have to continue being patient, but it's getting harder and harder.
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Autosport International Show
Yesterday we all took a field trip to Birmingham, the bus ride was about an hour and 20 minutes. I wasn't quite sure what to expect from the show as far as potential job opportunites and networking. It turned out to be ok for that, got some business cards, talked to some people, but without specific product or service needs it was kind of difficult. Much more of a sales focus. There were some really cool cars there though, and some really high tech manufacturing machines too.
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| 14-1-11 Autosport |
Today will be spent doing a little schoolwork for the last two modules, getting to the gym, doing laundry, some grocery shoppping, probably some PS3, and then the first NFL game tonight. I did find out that the next season of Top Gear starts on Sunday, so that is exciting.
Guess that's it for now, I hope this rain will stay away so my afternoon is easier!
Thursday, January 13, 2011
I Hate Coming Up With Titles
Yesterday was easily the best day of the week lecture wise. Started with an hour from Adrian Reynard, who if you don't know, you can read a little bit about here. He was very interesting and honest about his experiences. And amazingly humble for a guy who broke land speed records with home built motorcycles and built Formula Fords in his garage. The rest of the day was on project management, which was decently interesting. Today is some more project management and we finish off the week tomorrow with a trip to the Autosport International show in Birmingham.
The last two days have been around 50 F and rainy. Nice to be out of the cold, and the rain has not been terribly hard, so getting around outside has still been ok.
Had a good meeting with our project advisors about my thesis. I'll give more details when things get more finalised and official if I can. Some projects wind up with non-disclosure agreements to protect sensitive information.
The last two days have been around 50 F and rainy. Nice to be out of the cold, and the rain has not been terribly hard, so getting around outside has still been ok.
Had a good meeting with our project advisors about my thesis. I'll give more details when things get more finalised and official if I can. Some projects wind up with non-disclosure agreements to protect sensitive information.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Guess What?
I know some of you know what is coming...
2 days is all it took for a bus to not come. I was at the stop to go home 6 mins early and stayed 20 mins before deciding to go check emails and wait for the next one.
I was unsuccessful in not finding out that Auburn won, because NBC of all things decided to send an email about it. Why, I have no idea. Haven't watched it all yet because the internet here is being slow.
The lecture today was on finance, which was just ok. At least the lecturer was pretty entertaining. He told us how he worked for about 5 months on cruise ships as a Barclay bank representative, which sounds fun I suppose, he seemed to have enjoyed it :) You just can't get very detailed in one day of finance, so it was pretty basic, just an overview of things. Can't say I didn't learn anything, but there was a lot that I'd already heard or knew.
Gonna work a bit on a few things for this week (project ideas, resume for the Autosport International show) and then try to get to bed. I did get in a quick after dinner workout, some legs and back stuff, but no squats.
2 days is all it took for a bus to not come. I was at the stop to go home 6 mins early and stayed 20 mins before deciding to go check emails and wait for the next one.
I was unsuccessful in not finding out that Auburn won, because NBC of all things decided to send an email about it. Why, I have no idea. Haven't watched it all yet because the internet here is being slow.
The lecture today was on finance, which was just ok. At least the lecturer was pretty entertaining. He told us how he worked for about 5 months on cruise ships as a Barclay bank representative, which sounds fun I suppose, he seemed to have enjoyed it :) You just can't get very detailed in one day of finance, so it was pretty basic, just an overview of things. Can't say I didn't learn anything, but there was a lot that I'd already heard or knew.
Gonna work a bit on a few things for this week (project ideas, resume for the Autosport International show) and then try to get to bed. I did get in a quick after dinner workout, some legs and back stuff, but no squats.
Monday, January 10, 2011
6:15
Was early today, but not as early as when I woke up at 4:22 and checked my alarm clock. I saw 6:35, which is my late, emergency alarm, but it was only there because I had left the clock in alarm set mode!
The lecture was pretty bad. A big room, quiet professor with bad English and a pretty dry subject (cost engineering) makes for a difficult day. Hopefully tomorrow will be better.
I think the lack of sleep is finally catching up with me, so I'm heading to bed early today.
I'm going to watch the BCS game on ESPN3 replay tomorrow, so please no one mention anything to me about it, even if Cam Newton goes Beast Mode to win it. I think the Mario video is my favorite of the two. It'll be hard enough to avoid on the internet!
The lecture was pretty bad. A big room, quiet professor with bad English and a pretty dry subject (cost engineering) makes for a difficult day. Hopefully tomorrow will be better.
I think the lack of sleep is finally catching up with me, so I'm heading to bed early today.
I'm going to watch the BCS game on ESPN3 replay tomorrow, so please no one mention anything to me about it, even if Cam Newton goes Beast Mode to win it. I think the Mario video is my favorite of the two. It'll be hard enough to avoid on the internet!
Sunday, January 9, 2011
I'm Back
The flight went well, I fell asleep before the first movie ended, and woke up a few minutes before the breakfast which was an hour before we landed. I was somehow able to get much more comfortable than I had before so I think that's why sleeping was more successful. Customs was super quick and easy, and my bag came out within 5 minutes, obvious we're not at RDU anymore. The Tube was of course packed, which made carrying 3 bags so much fun. I took the Tube to Victoria Station with the intention of seeing Buckingham Palace and a few other sights near there. The cheaper place to pay to leave your bags is at the coach station, so I walked over there - it wasn't far but felt further the first time when I was looking for it, mainly because I wound up taking an unnecessary detour through the main train station.
I got to Buckingham Palace just in time to kind of see the end of the changing of the guard, which I didn't even realize was going on, but it was quite obvious by the crowd. I could only really see the group march in and hear the music though, the crowd at the gate was pretty large.
Well I was going to keep writing, but I've got to go find some breakfast somewhere and probably do a little grocery shopping. I will try and finish writing when I get back.
So to continue: I waited for the band to march back away from the Palace and then continued walking down Birdcage Walk and through St. James Park. It would be a nice place to relax and enjoy a sunny afternoon. The birds and squirrels around the lake were obviously very used to being fed by humans, and seemed pretty aggressive in coming up to anyone that put their hand out at all. By now I'd worked up quite an appetite, as the airplane breakfast isn't very substantial. I had been planning on going into the Churchill Museum and War Rooms, but delayed it for some lunch. I wound up walking to Trafalgar Square scouting out places to eat. I was looking for something maybe a little more adventurous than what is around MK, but was ultimately unsuccessful, and wound up at a pub. I got braised oxtail and of course a pint of beer.
The Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms were pretty interesting. It is the location where the war operations were run from, and many of the rooms had been left intact from the day they closed. Of course things had been restored, but much of the furniture and everything else is original. Maybe the neatest part was the map room, which still had the original map, complete with all of the pinholes from tracking troops and ships. The museum part was just a vast amount of information and documentation of Churchill's life. Did you know his mother was from the Vanderbilt family that had Biltmore Estate built? The most impressive feature might have been the interactive timeline, that went through anything significant that had happened in his life. I think you could spend a week reading everything available if you wanted.
Then my Tube adventure continued back to my train station. I did find time to stop in the Euston Tap for a few beers before the train to MK. I did wait for a bus to take me closer to my place though, I was tired of walking and carrying my bags, even though the bus didn't necessarily save me any time.
Spent the night unpacking and watching the crazy Seahawks game. Woke up today exactly at the scheduled sunrise time and went out for some groceries so I could eat today. I didn't know, but the store made announcements that there are laws preventing them from selling goods before 11am. Guess that's why the grocery stores don't open till 11! Finished the afternoon with a good workout. I've been working on a couple of lab reports while watching KC and Baltimore. My 6:20 wakeup call is going to be a rude surprise I think.
I got to Buckingham Palace just in time to kind of see the end of the changing of the guard, which I didn't even realize was going on, but it was quite obvious by the crowd. I could only really see the group march in and hear the music though, the crowd at the gate was pretty large.
 |
| 8-1-11 London |
So to continue: I waited for the band to march back away from the Palace and then continued walking down Birdcage Walk and through St. James Park. It would be a nice place to relax and enjoy a sunny afternoon. The birds and squirrels around the lake were obviously very used to being fed by humans, and seemed pretty aggressive in coming up to anyone that put their hand out at all. By now I'd worked up quite an appetite, as the airplane breakfast isn't very substantial. I had been planning on going into the Churchill Museum and War Rooms, but delayed it for some lunch. I wound up walking to Trafalgar Square scouting out places to eat. I was looking for something maybe a little more adventurous than what is around MK, but was ultimately unsuccessful, and wound up at a pub. I got braised oxtail and of course a pint of beer.
 |
| This random new, pretty ugly building was right in the middle of Parliament, Westminster Abbey etc. - stuck out like a sore thumb! |
The Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms were pretty interesting. It is the location where the war operations were run from, and many of the rooms had been left intact from the day they closed. Of course things had been restored, but much of the furniture and everything else is original. Maybe the neatest part was the map room, which still had the original map, complete with all of the pinholes from tracking troops and ships. The museum part was just a vast amount of information and documentation of Churchill's life. Did you know his mother was from the Vanderbilt family that had Biltmore Estate built? The most impressive feature might have been the interactive timeline, that went through anything significant that had happened in his life. I think you could spend a week reading everything available if you wanted.
Then my Tube adventure continued back to my train station. I did find time to stop in the Euston Tap for a few beers before the train to MK. I did wait for a bus to take me closer to my place though, I was tired of walking and carrying my bags, even though the bus didn't necessarily save me any time.
Spent the night unpacking and watching the crazy Seahawks game. Woke up today exactly at the scheduled sunrise time and went out for some groceries so I could eat today. I didn't know, but the store made announcements that there are laws preventing them from selling goods before 11am. Guess that's why the grocery stores don't open till 11! Finished the afternoon with a good workout. I've been working on a couple of lab reports while watching KC and Baltimore. My 6:20 wakeup call is going to be a rude surprise I think.
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