Category Archives: Life

Planes I have flown in (updated to include Saab 340)

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May 2017 Update

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So it’s been a while since I’ve posted.  Notice a theme?
Anyway, here goes:

  • I’ve quit my job as a Control Systems Engineer in the mining industry and have started a new job as a Control Systems Engineer in the grain handling industry.  The change has been good and I feel reinvigorated.  I’m enjoying engineering more as I no longer have people reporting to me.  I’m also going away with work a lot less (and when I do go away it’s generally a day trip).
  • I’m catching the bus to and from work so the 1975 Mini Clubman is no longer a daily drive.  I’m getting some of the more involved work done on it now (disc brakes and suspension).  I’m planning on it being a fairly original car with some upgrades for safety (disc brakes and suspension) and for the look (period roof rack, possibly a rear window shade).  Recently fitted new plugs and leads as it lost a cylinder…

End of 2016 Update

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So it’s been a while since I’ve posted an update.  Apologies to my regular readers…

Here is a point form update:

  • Work and life are very busy (so no change there);
  • I’m not sure what I think about Fitbit buying Pebble (I don’t remember an acquisition like this ever going well);
  • The finches are doing well, the Painteds seem happy and are breeding, the Zebras perhaps a little too happy…;
  • Bird watching has taken a bit of a hit (closely related to amount of free time available unfortunately);
  • Using a 1975 Mini Clubman as a daily driver seems to be going well (after the clutch was replaced).

Useful Mac OS X Software

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Here is some software I use on my MacBook Pro and recommend.  I have no commercial interests in any of them.

BBEdit (or it’s free cousin TextWrangler)

Available from Bare Bones Software or through the App Store.  TextWrangler (a free “lite” version from the makers of BBEdit) probably fulfils my requirements but once I had the funds I purchased the full version.  The best text editor I have used on any platform.  I have been using this product since the days of Mac OS 7.1 on a PowerBook 150 (when BBEdit Lite was available as opposed to TextWrangler).

VLC

A media player available from VideoLAN.  Plays just about any format I need.

PCalc

Simply the best calculator application out there (and available for iOS too).  I used to use the “lite” version of PCalc on the aforementioned PowerBook 150 during my university engineering studies.  Well worth the money.

VirtualBox

A free virtualisation platform (now available through Oracle).  Worth a look if you need to run old software on old operating systems every now and then.