Shards of Glass!

Several interesting events have happened since the last time I posted:

Everyone shall now have to refer to me as Master Mond due to the fact I got a 2.1 for my Master of Engineering in Electronic and Sofware Engineering degree at the University of Glasgow. Now I can remove the "(expected)" part from where it says "MEng 2.1 (expected)..." on my CV :D Firstly I was just relieved to get a 2.1 as I hoped to but after a while it has sunk in and I'm just really happy.

On the job front I went for a preliminary interview with Her Majesty's Government Communication Centre (HMGCC) just outside Hanslope which is between Milton Keynes and Northhampton. Have a wee zoom out just to see where Milton Keynes is as I didn't realise how far South it was.

All accomodation and travel expences were paid in cash at the end of the interview. I thought it was quite strange for them to invite me all the way down just for a preliminary interview, which usually is done over the telephone. I asked this and found out that they normally do do it over the phone but in some cases they like to see and talk to the person face-to-face. So I think that was a good thing.

I flew down to Luton from Glasgow and then had to get to Milton Keynes Central rail station. I looked up the times on the national rail website to find it was operated by Virgin trains but the mode of transport was a bus, which I took to be a mistake. So I got on the free bus from Luton airport to the Parkway train station only five minutes away (I took this route on my way down to London 2 years ago so I was still familiar with it). However, after talking to a ticket guy he said it was complicated and expensive to get to Milton Keynes by rail from there. After my argument of "but I saw it on The Internet" (so it must be true) was shot down in flames, he instucted me to go back to the airport and get a bus direct. Which I indeed did get and it was a raillink bus operated by Virgin trains. So the moral of that situation is sometimes The Internet knows best (TM). (Using Google Maps you can see the parts of the journey I took, for this stage see here.)

I then took a taxi to Olney, where I was booked into a B&B there called The Lindens. It was very nice place as you can see from the photos. It was strange how the put me in a place quite far from HMGCC. I went next door for some food (which I previously researched ;)) at The Two Brewers. I had a nice Chicken, Ham and Mushroom pie with veggies and a pint of local "Fiesta" beer/ale, which was really nice though I slightly regretted it later on when I did some last minute preparation for the interview.

As I was suffering from the cold and hayfever I didn't get a very good sleep and I also got attacked by a ghost fly in my ear. Mrs Gregory (the landlady) was very nice and cooked my a tasty breakfast. The taxi was supposed to pick me up at 8.30am as my interview was a 9am but he never arrived until 8.50am as he said he got lost. I did phone HMGCC to tell them so that was ok. After discussing the taxi driver's hippity-hop musical interests and "what the wimen are like in Glasgow" I arrived at about 9.10am.

The site was large and was surrounded by lots of high, barbed fences. There was even inner "walls" (like a castle but with fences, if you know what I mean? Yes? No? N/A?). I first went to the reception to get signed in (they checked the letter in invitated Ii received and my passport), then onto the gatehouse of the main building to get my visitors pass and hand in my mobile fone and digital camera. According to the sign this was a "sterile area" :O. Through some more security doors in the main building I was greeted by Vicki who gave me a introduction, what to expect, etc. A sign said that the "Security Level" was "Black" - just so you know.

The interview took place in a room which you could only reach by going back out the main building. It was conducted by a engineer guy who asked some technical questions and a recruitment lady who asked, surprisingly, HR-type questions on teamwork, why I applied, what my interests are, etc. The technical questions varied from electronic ones like design an XOR gate using NANDs and aliasing due to oversampling to software ones like what languages I was comfortable with. Nothing very difficult.

So I thought it went well! I got a letter in this morning saying that I got thought to the final interview panel stage so that's good news! :D

Acceptance is conditional upon security clearance and a vetting procedure, which can take between 4 and 15 weeks!! :O They need five references, check everything to do with my background, drug test and how much alcohol I consume (hopefully by not checking my anus as my dad insists but by checking my hair as Iain suggests).

As the interview was delayed it was a rush to get back to Milton Keynes for the bus at 11.55am as the next one was not till 12.55. It took 45 mins to get to Luton and check-in closed at 2.15. I did make it there on time but I eventually found out that the 11.55am bus broke down at Luton so I had to wait for the 12.55, which was supposed to get at Luton Airport at 1.50pm. To help in matters, only 5 mins from the aiport the fucking bus driver decided to stop and visit a shop for a fucking wank or something (actually a can of juice and a packet of crisps). Most annoying it was.

Eventually I did check-in on time. However, after getting changing from my suit and then waiting in a long queue for departure security clearance I had to run to the gate (the very last one as well!) after they did a "final call for passenger Graham". I just made it and was last on the plane - a bit embarrissing. But it did leave a few minutes earlier and the plane managed to make it into Glasgow 20 mins earlier. Go EasyJet.

Lastly, I got back from a week in Greece with Mariken last Friday, which I really enjoyed. My first actual holiday in five years or so! We did very little except sleep, drink and eat. Though we did visit Athens, which was so amazing - not the actual city but all the ancient Greek sites and some of the neo-classical buildings including the uni. The Parthenon and the Acropolis was amazing: the architecture and all the history surrounding it. The photos of everything are here.

I started this post on the 30th June but my internet was down so I've now became bothered to put up those photos and post this thing.