from designer to professional footballer…

ok, so it’s an intentionally misleading title but forgive me for my excitement. Recent events have brought me as close to a football career as I will ever get! lol! In the last 3 or 4 weeks, along with a couple of friends,  I have joined a football team -  Agape 2nds. Ok, so we are a small team playing at an extremely low level – 5th division to be precise (and thats of the ameture leagues!!), however, we are still a team playing regularly and competing in a league, so that makes me proud and happy yeeooo! I’m playing Centre Midfield, which is where I like playing best. I’m not 1st choice, in 3 games i’ve started one and came on twice as a sub, but that will be the challenge…to get into the starting line up.

Work with Vision Solutions NI is going well. I’ve built 4 or 5 website since I started 2 months ago and have designed quite a bit of things for print – posters, business cards, leaflets etc. So it’s all going pretty well I feel. I hope that i’m justifying being given the job and hopefully my boss(s) are happy enough with me. Think i’m gonna have a large e-Commerve website to do soon, so that will be tough, will be good to learn though.

Got back to my house (Belfast house) last night after football to hear that our neighbour had died. He just dropped dead…out of the blue. A sudden, unexpected death is nearly always tragic, but this is so much more so. He was probably not more than 30yrs old, and had just got married 3months ago. It’s pretty sad really.

It made me think, and reminded me to thank God every day for every day of life he gives me, and the health and strength that I have. ‘The Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh away’.

enjoying it all so far

5 wks (hard to believe its 5wks!) into the job and I can honestly say that i’m enjoying it. After the initial settling in period, it’s all gone pretty well so far. It’s been busy…3 web sites up and going in the time that i’ve been here. but it’s good to be busy, so hopefully it will continue.

God has really provided for me. He’s given me a job that I enjoy, the best of workmates and a very importantly, a workplace with a Christian ethos at it’s core. It’s good to be here.

Outside of work, things have been quiet enough really. Went to a wedding last week, it was sad to hear the empty  and misleading words from the Minister. I find it strange people have the ‘desire’ to marry in a Church, before the eyes of God, ask his blessing on their marriage, yet have no regard for him in their daily lives.

On a brighter note, the new football season starts in a week! Can’t wait to that. Looking forward to wednesday next wk when Man Utd play Glentoran in Belfast, so i’ve tickets for that. The rugby World Cup isnt far way now either

I hope things work out ok for Natasha. Things haven’t quite gone her way of late regarding jobs and housing. We’ll keep praying, and God will open doors.

first update from the working world

hi folks. It’s been a little while since my last post as i’ve now started work and have been looking at a screen for a solid 8hrs each day…i’ve had no desire whatsoever to boot up the computer at home in the evenings. Work has been busy, with this really the first little window that i’v not been occupied doing something since I started with Vision Solutions NI last Monday.

I’ve been here a week and a half, just starting to settle in now I guess. Progress with websites has been interupted as we are moving to an office down on the Sydenham Road. I’ve got one site half done, and the initial stages of another. I’m pretty worried about what i’m gona do when the first e-commerce site hits me…not good!

I graduated last week, Wednesday 4th July. It was actually a decent day…more fun than I expected it to be. I tried to make the most of it knowing that it was the final final hurrah of uni, so I was determined to enjoy wearing the silly cloak and hat! Went out for dinner that evening to a place called Olio with mum, dad, my brother and Natasha. It was excellent, the rib-eye steak was perfection. It wasn’t my first time to eat there…and i don’t think it will be my last either!

A bit of really good news…I managed to get tickets to see Ireland vs Italy at Ravenhill on Fri 24th August. Really looking forward to that game, world cup warm up and also the first time in many many yrs that Ireland will have played a rugby match at Ravenhill. Should bee good. Also hoping to get accross to Murryfield to watch Scotland vs Ireland on Sat 11th August. Need to gather some ppl up for that one though.

and its full time employment for me!!

quite a significant update this is actually…i got the job with Vision Solutions NI!! i’m pretty chuffed about it, although i know it will be quite a bit of hard work and pressure. its amazing to have the oppertunity to get right into a web design job so quickly after uni. things have worked out really well. i know i’ve God to thank for this.

i start on the 2nd july…so i’ve a couple of wks to enjoy before that, although i’m doin a bit of freelance work these days to pay the bills.

over and out for now from a pretty happy me!

another job interview

I’ve yet to hear back about the interview which I had last week in the Ulster Herald, but i’m really happy that another oppertunity has come along so quickly. Hopefully I can get one of them!!

My preference however, is definitely the job I had an interview for today. I won’t be getting rich on either….scraping the barrell is a more suitable term, but it’s a dead exciting/scary prospect.

If I was to get this job…I would be the first person to be hired by Vision Solutions NI. At the moment the compnay is owned, managed and run by a two man team. Work has come in beyond expectations, opening the door to hiring someone. It’s understandable that the pay isn’t bigwith the compnay still being in it’s infancy, but the challenge will be massive…to enter such a small team and try to help the company grow. What’s more is that it’s a Christian company, which is fantastic aswell, giving me something in common with the guys and meaning no moral dilemas further down the line.

I should hear back within the next 48hrs, if not 24hrs. I’m a little nervous, but hopefully I gave a good enough impression today.

Hopefully come 1st July…i’ll be a Vision Solutions NI employee. Hopefully.

job interview

I had the job interview this morning with the NWIPP. Approaching the end of the interview…I was happy enough. I felt that I had answered every question with a suitable response, I had talked about some of the skills they were looking for.

then….

they produce a test!! I got handed a test paper on PHP and MySQL. First question – what does PHP stand for? …. BLANK!! why would I know what it stands for! you don’t need to know how a car engine works to use it… you don’t need to know what PHP stands for in order to incorporate it in websites. anyway…if the test was like a university exam needing 40% to pass…I definitely have not passed.

I’ll not worry too much about it though, as I firmly believe the Lord to be sovereign in these things. I got great encouragement last night during my bible reading.. it was from 2 Chronicles chapter 20. The verse 15 says

“Thus saith the LORD unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed … for the battle is not yours, but God’s. “