M.I.A.

Well I am back in the land of the living hopefully doing things that interesting enough to blog about, maybe doing a little shopping and generally getting on with my life. But I thought I would take the time to write a little bit about why I haven't blogged in such a long time... I may not have mentioned this before but to make ends meet I am a Structural Engineer, really it is more than making ends meet it is my career and something I love to do. If you stop by here to read my general life bits and bobs then you most likely don't have a clue what a structural engineer is or does. So here is my basic explanation, an Architect or Client may have an idea about how they want a building or space to look and then we get involved and make sure the whole things stands up and defies gravity, wind and the general demands made on a building.

I love my job, I love creating buildings that will still be here long after I have finished my career and hopefully long after I have left the planet. There is nothing more satisfying than leaving your mark on the planet for a good reason!

Anyway after spending 5 years at university getting a masters in engineering I then started working but that wasn't the end of my examinations. After accruing a number of years experience engineers can go on to become Chartered, meaning they are competent to design a structure on their own. In September 2011 I submitted my application for Chartership and in November I had an interview to make sure my submission was accurate and I was competent to sit the chartership exam. On Friday 13th April 2012 I sat that examination, it was the longest and shortest day of my life so far. It was a 7 hour exam which seems like such a long time but you are asked to do so much in that time that it absolutely flies by and that the end you just want 3 more hours to finish the paper properly.

I had spent such a long time working up to it that the satisfaction of it being over has been a little overwhelming and I am just so happy to be "living" again! I just have to wait now until August to find out if I passed or have to resit....