Things going well

Wednesday started quite well this week, managed to get both my graphics and algorithms final labs marked, although a lack of demonstrators (who didn’t seem to realise that the marking session was scheduled for today) meant that it took longer than expected. I got full marks in algorithms, which was good, but only half marks in graphics—although to be fair I hadn’t got very far so 50% was actually a good score in that respect.

After handing all my labs in and grabbing something to eat, I headed off back to Bury to drop off a load of CDs and DVDs that I wasn’t using, to clear some space in my already packed and small room. Fortunately there wasn’t a huge pile of bills or junk mail awaiting me, but I did find a box of Maltesers and a large box of Black Magic that apparently I’d been given at Easter, which was a nice surprise—I’m going to enjoy eating those over the weekend with a big cup of coffee.

Heading into Bury town centre, I stopped at the police station to get my lost property report. I thought the whole thing would be a long and drawn out process, but all I had to do was provide the desk officer with a few details and he filled everything in for me—he was a bit surprised that I had all the required information (including exactly where I’d lost the pass – I imagine most people are a bit vague when it comes to reporting lost property). In fact I was really impressed by the service I received, I only had to wait a couple of minutes until someone came to the desk and the officer was very friendly, helpful and polite—it makes a nice change to when I read the paper to hear the public sector being attacked by the press and the politicians.

After getting the paperwork filled in I headed off to the building society to sort out some stuff, again the staff were friendly and polite (makes a change to the usual grumpiness that I encounter at my bank) so that was good. Seeing as I was walking past anyway I popped into the Oxfam shop for a chat and a brew, everyone was doing really well by the sounds of things which is good news. I also ended up covering on the till for a while and was glad to see that I hadn’t lost the knack of ringing things through at a decent speed (not that there’s ever a huge queue to get through, but it’s nice to give a speedy service). I’ll probably end up going back there once or twice a week this summer to work properly, because it’s a good laugh and I feel I’m making a difference—only a small one perhaps in the grand scheme of things but it’s something.

On returning to Manchester I realised I was a bit early for the cinema so I wandered around Waterstones for a while, and as usual ended up spending money there, although the only thing I picked up was Linux Pocket Guide which will be useful anyway. I managed to stop myself from buying a book on game development in Java, which was I was quite pleased about because a couple of years ago I would have bought it on impulse whereas now I can resist the temptation.

The film Rachel, Kirk and I were off to see was Casablanca, another old movie being digitally remastered and brought back to the big screen. I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would, originally my expectations were of a soppy romance where the main man gives up his life to save the woman he loves or something equally sickening. Fortunately it wasn’t like that at all, in fact it was quite tense in some parts, funny in others and of course you have all the classic lines such as “Here’s looking at you”. All in all I really enjoyed it, and for once I agree with the rating of 8.8/10 on IMDb. The sound in screen 12 of thefilmworks was dodgy again, but thankfully they didn’t manage to set the film into widescreen as they had for Lizzy and Kate when they saw it earlier in the day.

After the cinema I headed back home to put my feet up and watch some of the DVDs I’d brought back with me. At the moment I’m in the middle of The Very Best of Have I Got News For You, although I’ve also brought back 10 Things I Hate About You (always a good laugh, plus it has a great soundtrack) and Catch Me If You Can (which I still haven’t watched all the way through yet). Rachel has also lent me the first season of Stargate: SG-1, but hopefully I’ll be able to resist watching those enough to get some revision done for the Software Engineering II exam next Thursday.

Overall Wednesday was a good day, managed to get everything done on my todo list, and then some. For now though I’m off out to the pub for the weekly Megalomaniacs meeting, although if it’s the same as usual it will end up with Paul, myself and Gareth being left at the end of the night trying to figure out what to do with the society next year.