Slinky or spiral apple

This is the result of a rather fascinating device:

My grandfather was recently reminded of a device he bought a while back that both skins apples and removes their cores; I don't have a picture of the unit but ensured to photograph an apple. As you can see, it turns an apple into a slinky!

In a jam

As you can see from the traffic in this picture, I was caught up in a jam during my way back from college this evening:

Granted, most of the traffic in this image is on the other side of the avenue but I can assure you, it was just as bad on the side on which I was travelling.

The massive headache

I experienced something excessively unpleasant yesterday afternoon. During my mathematics lesson, I started to develop a headache; I thought I would be able to control it by having some water and by taking a nap during the class break.

Alas, this wasn't the case. My headache worsened by the minute and, because I found the room unbearably hot, I had to leave the class and attempted to listen to the lesson from the hall. The assistant that we have in mathematics came out to chat to me but, sadly, I ended up having to cut the conversation short when I rushed to the bathroom to be sick.

That wasn't the end of it, though; usually when I have a headache being sick clears it but not in this case. I had to wait in the hall again, where the assistant asked if I had been sick and said that that often cleared headaches for him, too. When the lesson finally ended, I packed all my college items away, made some hasty goodbyes and went to my bus. The bus ride back home wasn't fun because I had to restrain myself from being sick for the duration of the journey and when I returned, I was sick for a second time.

The headache persisted, so I went to bed and rested for a few hours, after which my head felt bruised but the pain had dissipated. I remained awake for a few hours before returning to bed for the night and I've felt fine today.

That was the worst headache I've had for several years and it annoys me greatly that it caused me to miss part of a lesson. I think it was caused by a combination of late-night revision the day before and up incredibly early on the day with my being in a hot classroom. Perhaps unsurprisingly, I forgot to bring with me yesterday any painkillers for headaches.

Sheffield spam

One of my Sheffield-related posts is a frequent target of spam:

http://airnicetolivelands.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/sheffield-2.html

It keeps receiving comments about student accommodation, which I'm guessing is because the post uses the term "student accommodation" and spambots are drawn to the article because of it. Fortunately, all the spam comments are blocked.

Jaffa Cakes

When out on a walk the other day, I spotted these Jaffa Cakes on the ground:

Looks as though someone entered into a fight with them. Judging by how intact they are, I'm guessing that the Jaffa Cakes won.

Bathroom mirror selfie

I recently posted to Facebook a selfie, which was taken using my phone's front camera. I intended to not ever post a selfie there but I've since mellowed and changed my mind. Now I think it's time for a bathroom mirror selfie:

What do you think? Does my phone look good in its bathroom mirror selfie? I certainly thinks so; its bumper is akin to a smart suit, don't you think?

The stormtroopers

There was an interesting sight along my bus road this afternoon: stormtroopers!

To reuse a joke I told earlier, this was obviously not the store they were looking for. They waited outside the store for a few minutes before walking back down the road.

Celebrations on St George's Day

I didn't realise that today has been St George's Day, so I was surprised when people were celebrating:

I had to navigate through some busy crowds in Nottingham today, had a long queue to wait in for my bus back home and my bus ride back was longer than usual. Not that I minded, however, the weather was excellent!

Bloggers Blog Party - March 2015

Food and college is the overall theme for March 2015's pictures for the Secret Life of Bloggers Blog Party, likely because my long walk images are reserved for other posts, which I still have yet to write.

Sorry for the delay in posting this blog party piece:

Sunday, 1st March: This is a Kit Kat Chunky. You can buy two sets of two for £1 at my local newsagent.

Wednesday, 4th March: This is a pyramid map my English teacher drew to provide the class some additional guidance for the Of Mice and Men control we had during this time. I was able to use my phone's camera in class because this wasn't during an official lesson - it was an impromptu bonus session and I was technically taking notes.

Friday, 6th March: On the day of the Of Mice and Men control, I ate a chocolate brownie and a jam square - from the college canteen - for breakfast. I wouldn't recommend them as part of a daily diet but they provided me with plenty of energy for my control.

Wednesday 11th March: This is the screen during this day's Employability lesson, which was to do with researching a job and giving a presentation about it. We were encouraged to photograph the monitor for the purposes of notekeeping.

Saturday, 14th March: This is a feature in Hucknall. I was informed that it's a tribute - not a large lemon squeezer - to the mining industry that used to be up there.

Monday, 23rd March: I ate mayonnaise on chips at the college canteen on this day. The chips served at the college are surprisingly high in quality, at least with regards to taste.

Friday, 27th March: I was out late on this night and saw the Nottingham Council House illuminated in purple, which I had never seen in this light before. I was compelled to take a photograph, which was conducted using the low light mode on my phone.

The bus station

Here is the Broadmarsh bus station, taken from my bus:

During the winter I almost always boarded my bus from the station, given that it was dark outside during that time. Now that it's light again in the evenings, I board via the stop prior to the bus station to maximise my ride back unless, of course, I am in a hurry.

First day post-Easter break

As it was a Monday, the first lesson back after the break was Mathematics. Much of the day consisted of catching up on what we were doing three weeks ago, which was geometry.

After class, six of my friends and I then attended a presentation about our next course. Eight members of my class - myself included in that figure - have applied for the same course; if all is successful, we eight will be classmates for another year, which will be awesome.

Major walk return

This afternoon, I felt like undetaking a long walk and so I trekked from my house here to my college. As my walking this month has been underwhelming when compared to March, I was fully expecting to be a little out of shape and to take more than two hours to reach my destination.

Instead, I surprised myself by taking an hour and forty-two minutes to arrive - and I would have been a couple of minutes quicker had it not been for a handful of minor delays along the way. This is my fastest walking time yet from my house to my college. So much for being out of practice!

Easter break over

The Easter break is officially over and I am back in Nottinghamshire. Monday is the first day of my third and final term for my current college course. After the lesson on that day I am to attend a presentation about my next course.

It is shocking to think that we are in the middle of April 2015. It wasn't so long ago that my course began and now its end isn't far away.

The found account

Thanks to the help of a policeman and a homeless shelter, John Helinski was re-united with his bank account and taken off the streets:

http://abcnews.go.com/US/homeless-man-florida-discovers-forgotten-bank-account-collecting/story?id=30363760

Sadly, a few of the article's comments chose to see the story in a negative light, such as believing that the man was a fraudster or wondering how he became homeless in the first place. The circumstances aren't relevant; all that matters is that a homeless person is off the streets and will have a roof over their head from now on. Negativity isn't necessary.

Just one more...for now. Really

I only have time tonight for a short post and so I thought, "Why not one more homemade meme?":

I promise this will be the last one for now...honest!

(And that marshmallow was delicious.)

Homemade memes

Just to follow up on yesterday's post about the meme-generating app I discovered, here are some pictures that I "memed". I really like how the app allows you to add your own text to images:

I'm not the only one who thinks that my stapler features a resemblance to the Alien from the Alien movie series.

Feel free to interpret the phrase in any way you wish!

Obviously, I didn't take the picture, as it's Boromir from The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. I have, however, hiked to Hucknall!

This is a quote stated many years ago by an online friend of mine. Ever since they first wrote it I thought it was an excellent statement.

I won't go into meme overload; otherwise, something that's fun and creative will end up turning into something boring and annoying, which is not what I want. I hope you enjoyed these pictures!

"Started out as a lemon tart" (2)

I found a meme generator app. Remember my recent blog post about the lemon tart? Here's another modified image of it:

I made a few memes out of pictures of family - myself included. Oh, I am going to have so much fun putting meme captions to my captures!

Liveland History: 13 April 2012

I wrote "Newark fire and rescue" three years ago today:

http://airnicetolivelands.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/newark-fire-and-rescue.html

It's a post in which I covered the actions of then-Mayor of Newark Cory Booker, who saved a woman from her house, which was on fire. I thought his performance was heroic, although in that post I objected to how some people believed he was merely engaging in a publicity stunt; however, it pleased me that most people praised him.

Booker once wielded a reputation for helping people; it's what helped lead to the video he and Govenor Chris Christie acted in together here.

Correction over yesterday

I made a slight mistake in yesterday's post. While it's true it has been a year since my college interview, the interview took place on 10th April 2014 whereas yesterday was 11th April; I accidentally thought yesterday was the 10th. I ended up implying that exactly one year had passed to the day when, in fact, it hadn't.

It's only a minor issue but even so, I try to avoid making errors in my blog!

Re-visiting "The college interview"

One year has passed since my college interview:

http://airnicetolivelands.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/the-college-interview.html

Funny...I said back then that I was going to make the decision in the "coming weeks" but I think I had already decided back then that I wanted to embark on the courses. Looking back, it was a wise choice.

The campus at which my interview took place has since been closed. I'm actually pleased that my course's location wasn't at that site because it would have far more difficult to reach that campus (the bus would have covered less of the journey and in the winter I'd have had multiple dark streets to traverse) than my current one.

Evening Leicester

I photographed a small part of the Leicester skyline when my train pulled into that city's station yesterday evening:

You might remember Leicester as the city I ended up in when I failed to disembark from the train after the O2 Arena concert I attended in March 2013.

The final control...completed

My college class and I completed our Macbeth control this morning. The theme of our essays was to write about ambition and how it is portrayed in the play. With Macbeth out the way, all our controls are complete and now, for English, we have to prepare for the final exam, which takes place in June.

We have all worked incredibly hard on our respective Shakespearean pieces. I hope everyone receives a good result.

The cooling towers

When riding the train up to Nottingham today for tomorrow's control, I photographed the Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station as my train stopped:

I don't recall ever being this close to the power station before; then again, I hadn't ever ridden a train on the Nottinghamshire-Leicestershire line until today, either. It was quite impressive experiencing a close view of the cooling towers!

The power plant has appeared in previous posts of mine: here, here and here.

The break within the break

I have a small amount of packing to complete before I go to bed in a few hours and after I wake up later; tomorrow, I return to Nottingham briefly for my final English control, which occurs in the morning on Thursday. I have some revision to perform on both days.

Am I annoyed by this break within the break? Not at all! I'm absolutely delighted to take a train up to Nottingham for the Macbeth control. If last Friday hadn't been a bank holiday the control would have taken place then. I'm fortunate for the well-timed bank holiday and for having an English teacher who is willing to accommodate the class accordingly!

Facebook

When I began Air Nice-to-Livelands, I did not possess a Facebook account; it wasn't until July of 2011 that I did but my activity over there didn't increase until sometime in 2012. I've never mentioned here that I have an account - until now.

So why the change? Well, today I found out that a close relative of mine has one and I helped them out today with their account. The revelation came as a huge surprise to me but not as much as my having a Facebook account was to them. Both of us expected a lecture from the other!

Now that I'm open about this, if anyone following Air Nice-to-Livelands wishes to follow me on Facebook, please let me know and I'll e-mail my username and/or link. Of course, there is no pressure to do so and I won't take offence if no one does; some of my Blogger friends are Facebook friends with me already.

Off lights

I went for a long walk today and encountered this:

The traffic lights in this part of this road were offline, likely due to maintenance. Despite this, the traffic flowed freely and without issue.

Pretty cool sign, though!

Re-visiting "Nottingham visit April 2014"

It's been a year since I wrote this post:

http://airnicetolivelands.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/nottingham-visit-april-2014.html

It was the week when I visited Nottingham and underwent my first interview at my college. As I'm sure everyone remembers, the interview went well; I experienced a minor touch of apprehension but I otherwise performed well in said interview.

Ironically, today my grandparents drove me back to Northamptonshire today for the Easter break. After my first lesson back on the 20th, I shall be attending a presentation with regards to my next course.

Pleasant extras

The amount of people around here today has been a surprise. My Sheffield-based cousin was here with his girlfriend and one of my Nottingham cousins is here for the night; this is on top of my Lincoln cousin visiting for a few days. Thanks to this, today has been more exciting than it otherwise would have been; I had intended to go for a lengthy walk but the rain prevented me from doing so.

End of the second term

Today's Sociology lesson marked the end of my second term at college. We have two weeks off for the Easter break and we're officially back on the 20th of April; however, my class will return on the 9th to complete its control for Macbeth. We have to because we've lost time due to holidays and staff-only days.

I'm happy to make a return during the break; I think the time off at Easter is too long, especially given how we don't have much time left on the course. I endeavour to enjoy every remaining day on the course to the maximum.

Unfunny April Fool

I posted this elsewhere today:

"Every year on this day, various Internet communities experience a higher than normal amount of retirements, resignations and "rage quits". Miraculously, April 2nd usually sees an almost complete reversal of all such incidents."

While what I wrote was said in humour, I have been in online communities where some people pretend to quit on April Fools' Day then come back the next day. It was funny during the first couple of years I witnessed it but now it's just tedious.