Building the Megaden: A Reclaimed Timber Garden Room

The Megaden started as an idea that sat in my head for years.

I had sketches, materials collected around the garden, and a rough picture of how it might eventually come together.

Eventually, I decided to actually build it.

So the Megaden is nearing completion. Standing on stilts, it's made from mainly reclaimed timber. The doors and windows we picked up from gumtree, the main supports are scaffold boards from a local farmer and the walls are finished with pallet wood.

We did have to buy some new parts for it including the roof, insulation, waterproof builders membrane, the electrics, and screws and coach bolts, but I think it's still mainly emainly reclaimed materials.

It is a whopping 3.6 meters by 2.4 meters inside. Outside has a covered deck which is another 3.6 meters by 1.7 meters.

I have to say I have loved every minute of the build. There is something so satisfying about working with wood and especially nearly free wood at that. Building something is also brilliant and gives a great sense of achievement.

So what's a Megaden? It's a place the boys and me can hang out, play games, and chill. It is a hideaway at the end of the garden that is removed from the house.

Designing the Megaden

I had many, many designs in my head before I started, I had them sketched out on paper long before I started. How big would it be? What shape would it be? how would the roof pitch, how does everything join together? How would I get electrics to it? How would I make it watertight?

A lot of the project was mentally assembled long before any timber was cut. I could already picture how the structure, roof, electrics, and layout would fit together.

Building with Reclaimed Materials

I have been collecting materials for years, squirreling away timber around the garden. The doors and windows have been lying under tarpaulins for over a year behind the shed. A length of about 30 meters of armored cable for the electrics has been hanging on my garage wall for about 15 years. It was leftover from a job my Dad did many moons ago.

The main structure sits on 100mm by 100mm by 3m long treated fence posts bolted into fence spikes and hammered into the ground. I used 8 spikes in total, one in each corner and one more each on the two longer outside runs.

With the spike and posts in place, the scaffold boards were clamped in place front and back, then drilled and secured with M10 coach bolts. Ratchet straps were used to pull the posts back into the square while the top boards were put into place.

With metal joist hangers I fitted more scaffold boards between the front and back boards to create a floor structure for both the inside and deck areas. These boards are long and heavy and give a sturdy frame really quickly.

I used reclaimed timber to make the deck from old fence boards made from pressure-treated timber.

For the inside, I put down a waterproof membrane over the joists and laid a layer of 11mm OSB.

The walls were made from CLS timber buttons, which were then clad in 11mm OSB, with a layer of builders membrane and then an outer layer of more fence boards. Inside got some foil-backed insulation before being framed inside with reclaimed pallet wood. Pallets are a real pain to dismantle and there are many videos on YouTube on how to do it quickly.

I have never had much success and is a very manual process of splitting the board and hammering out the nails. I did come up with a simpler way of taking them apart using an old car jack and spinning it up using an impact wrench. It basically just pushed the pallet boards apart with force rather than hammering. The boards had the nails removed and then sanded using a belt sander before nailing to the walls.

Learning as I Went

For the electrics, I ordered a shed/garage consumer unit from eBay. It has 2 RCB circuits on it. One for wall sockets and one for a light circuit. Amazon delivered the cable, sockets (with USB), and lights (thanks to prime).

The plan was for 3 double sockets mounted in the walls, 2 lights inside, and two lights on the deck. The boys wanted the PS3 moved into the mega den along with a TV on the wall. I wanted a mini-fridge.

My dad came down for the weekend to help with the installation. He likes this sort of work, running in cables and connecting things. I have some sort of certificate that I gained at university that I believe qualifies me for electrical installation, but that is a while ago now. I'll need to dig this out and check at some stage.

Starting with the consumer unit I had already pulled the wire armored cable in through the floor and up the cavity in the wall. Black and red and armored core as earth. We did a quick google on connection as the unit arrived with no instructions. It's basically a common neutral and common earth. The live wire goes into a master breaker which supplies the two other breakers for lights and sockets.

With a good day's work done, the electrics were commissioned and working.

Why It Was Worth Building

We have been living with the Megaden for a few weeks now and it's brilliant. Thankfully it's dry inside too as we have had a couple of sleepovers in it. The Old Sofa fits perfectly, and the PS3 has just enough wifi signal from an extender in the house.

One night there was a meteor shower, and we sat on the deck in sleeping bags at two in the morning watching meteors cross the sky through the open doors.

Looking back, moments like that were probably the real reason for building it.

In all, I would say the Megaden cost about £500 to build, which I think is quite good as it's a bit more sturdy than a run-of-the-mill summer house and hopefully will last for many years. I still need to paint it. I have the paint but need to find the time now.

Looking back, the Megaden was never really just about building a garden room.

It was about creating something from imagination, reclaimed materials, and problem solving—and ending up with a place full of memories afterwards.

This also connects closely to my thoughts on LEGO Technic and engineering mindset and how understanding structures and systems started early for me.

It links naturally to my reflections on visual thinking, especially mentally modelling projects before building them.

A lot of the same thinking also appears in my post about fixing things instead of replacing them.

I’ve always enjoyed building, fixing, and simplifying things—whether physical or digital.

A lot of the same thinking that went into the Megaden now goes into helping people untangle technical problems and improve systems.

You can take a look at my TechFix service if that sounds useful.

A Year After CodeClan

A year earlier, changing career into software development still felt uncertain.

By this point, seeing my entire CodeClan cohort working in tech made it finally feel real.

I did my first post back in September last year and was able to keep up a run of 43 consecutive weeks of posting each Friday.

Then I slipped up a couple of weekends ago and I was gutted. In the end, it doesn’t really matter but I am the sort of person when I start something it quickly becomes routine and I have to keep it going or I beat myself up about it

I follow a couple of YouTube vloggers who do daily uploads. Where do they get the time? I guess they don’t have full-time jobs and kids. YouTube is their job, but still, it must be a big pressure to keep it up every day with thousands of followers eagerly awaiting your daily post.

I will keep going with my weekly blog and if I miss a week it's no big deal.

Watching the Cohort Move Into Industry

Some good news from my CodeClan Cohort 7 this week. 21 out of 21 are now employed in the software development industry. And most in Scotland. The last of us to secure a software developer job was the other week. Woo hoo! Go Us!

Looking back, that felt like a huge achievement at the time. Many of us had come from completely different industries and backgrounds, and there was a lot of uncertainty about whether the career change would actually work out.

Unfortunately, one was not kept on beyond 6-month probation. I'm not sure of the details but it's a real shame and I imagine it is more to do with the company than the graduate. Based on the 100% success rate they should get something else soon.

Looking Back at the Journey

I happened to be in Edinburgh last week and popped in to see how things were in CodeClan. A few cohorts have passed since I was last there. It was project week for some so it was busy with students working on their projects. It was great to catch up with the folk and particularly one of my fellow graduates who has gone on to be an instructor there. He never got to leave.

I had been asked previously by CodeClan if they could compile my 16 weeks of blogs while there into a PDF book.

Of course, that was my response and they had been working on it with my pictures and all. I got the first look and was amazed to find it has over 80 pages. It should be available via the CodeClan website soon. I'm quite excited to see it go live. I have never actually gone back and read through what I produced last year. Hopefully, the spelling and bad grammar have been fixed. I will add a link here later.

Looking back now, CodeClan was much more than just learning to code.

It was a complete career reset and the start of a very different chapter of life and work.

At the time it felt risky. In hindsight, it was one of the best decisions I made.

This also connects closely to my reflections on meaningful work and career change.

A lot of the thinking behind this transition started much earlier with my interest in early computing and programming.

Learning new technical skills can completely change the direction of your career and life.

I still enjoy solving problems, simplifying systems, and helping people untangle technical challenges.

You can take a look at my TechFix service if that sounds useful.

Why I Keep Coming Back to Arduino Projects

I’ve always enjoyed projects that combine software, electronics, and problem solving.

That’s probably why I keep finding myself buying Arduino kits, even when I already have unfinished projects sitting in drawers.

But when "The Most Complete Arduino Starter Kit" appears on Amazon prime at more than 50% off, Hey it would be rude not to. I looked at all the accessories and found myself clicking the buy with one click button and less than 24 hrs later it arrived.

Tech Christmas Day... The box was full of all sorts of colored bits.

This is the 3rd Arduino I've bought over a number of years. The first was a simple learn-to program an Arduino kit and came with some basic electronic components.

Why Arduino Interested Me

An Arduino is a solid-state microcomputer with onboard input and output pins exposed. It's basically a circuit board with a controller about the size of a playing card. It's blue, not that it matters. It's like a mini PLC or Programmable Logic Controller. It can sense the outside world with connected sensors and be programmed to do something that can affect that world. 

What fascinated me was the connection between software and the physical world. Code could suddenly control motors, lights, sensors, and real objects rather than just things on a screen.

So you could connect a light sensor and measure when it gets dark. When it does it can switch on a light. It can be so much cleverer than that though. It can measure how dark it is and can be programmed to adjust how bright the light is.

That was about as far as my projects got with the first one. Although I did make a bubble machine for the boys. It used a servo to dip a bubble eye in a bowl of fairy liquid, raise it up rotate it and a fan would turn on and blow bubbles. It would then lower back into the liquid and repeat. It wrecked the servo eventually as the fairy liquid dripped into its gears of the servo. It was fun when it lasted and the boys enjoyed it.

Projects That Never Quite Finished

The second one I bought a few years later was an Arduino Yun (posh model with Wifi) it was bought with a plan to solve my leaving the garage door opener problem. I can't see the door from the house so would forget and go to bed and wake in the morning to the realization that the door had been open all night.

The door is electric so the plan is to add a couple of limit switches and feed them to the Arduino. It would be programmed to tell me past a certain time that the door was still open. It would tell me via wifi and I would be able to press a button and it would close. This project will still happen someday. I've probably had the Yun for 3 years now.

And on to the third Arduino. It's an R3. I have no idea what's this means. I guess it's probably revision 3 but I still have to read the manual. Out of the box, it looked the same, it plugged into my Mac with a USB cable that provided power and the ability to download programs. I skimmed through the 3 pages of windows installation to get to the Mac installation. Which was 1. download the zip. File 2. extract and run the programming package.

So what came in the box besides the Arduino? Lots of things.

Learning Through Experimentation

The manual comes with 100 or so tutorials on things to make.

Building Things Together

Why did I buy another Arduino? Here comes the excuse... I would like Jamie (age 9) to get involved and what better way to get some son Dad time with Tech than to build things together.

We have done the first couple of projects and so far so good. Jamie has learned a resistor can change the brightness of an LED... The bigger the resistor the less bright the LED gets.

There’s something satisfying about learning these concepts physically rather than just reading about them. Changing a resistor and immediately seeing the LED dim makes electronics feel real very quickly.

I'm looking forward to getting into the more complicated projects and hopefully, as I/we will learn more about the Arduino programming language Also hopefully the Yun will be pulled from my desk drawer and be put into action for its original purpose of telling me when I have left the garage door open. Who knows I might get Jamie to build this project.

Looking back, Arduino projects were never really about finishing perfect products.

They were about experimenting, learning, solving small problems, and understanding how software and hardware interact with the real world.

That curiosity has never really gone away.

This also connects closely to my reflections on LEGO Technic and engineering mindset, where my fascination with mechanisms and systems probably began.

It links naturally to my thoughts on early computing and programming and how experimentation shaped the way I learned technology.

A lot of the same mindset also appears in my post about fixing things instead of replacing them.

I’ve always enjoyed experimenting with technology, understanding how systems work, and solving practical problems.

A lot of that same thinking now goes into helping simplify technical issues and improve digital systems.

You can take a look at my TechFix service if that sounds useful.

Why We Stopped Tracking Bugs in Excel

One thing I’ve noticed over the years is that software projects often become harder to manage because the systems around them become unnecessarily complicated.

At the time, we were tracking bugs in spreadsheets, and it quickly became messy with multiple versions, email chains, and poor visibility across the team.

The Problem with Spreadsheet Tracking

I hate managing software faults with a spreadsheet. It normally ends in a mess, with multiple versions, poorly formatted, emailed here there, and everywhere.

The real issue wasn’t the spreadsheet itself—it was the lack of visibility, ownership, and workflow around the process.

To avoid this and not having access to a real software bug-tracking tool like fogbugz I quickly set up something in Trello.

Why Trello Worked Better

Trello is brilliant and I have many boards for various jobs on the go at one time. It is a simple free-to-use tool for managing simple tasks and workflows.

 

I set up 6 lists flowing from left to right. New bugs can be added by the team or by the customer. They can be entered directly as a new card or via email by links provided. The email to the board facility is brilliant and it will create a new card automatically.

Visual Workflows and Team Collaboration

The bug tracker board can be accessed by anyone who has access to the team. When connected to the team they can then take control of individual bugs and they can be assigned a bug. So at a glance, you can see John is working on bug #27, and Tom is testing #32. When John has completed the fix for bug #27 he can move the bug to the ready for test list and assign the bug to Tom. When Tom tests the bug and it passes the test Tom can move it to Done. If it is not fixed he can move it back to in progress and assign it back to John and add a comment as to why it did not pass the test.

What made the system effective wasn’t complexity—it was visibility. Everyone could immediately see what was happening, who owned what, and where bottlenecks were appearing.

Colors can be added to each bug indicating the criticality of the fault. So at a glance, you quickly see the red for critical and can concentrate on these first.

Bugs can include attachments, so you can take a screenshot of a fault and quickly add it to the bug to help with the resolution. You can add multiple items to a bug, so if there are a number of similar faults these can be grouped into one bug and make use of the checklist facility. Tick them off as they are resolved.

What Stayed With Me

So there you go. Trello as a bug tracker. It's not perfect, but I set up ours in under 10 minutes, you can have your whole team collaborating together working through problems or changes. It's much better than yet another Excel spreadsheet and you can see at a glance visually the status of the bugs.

Looking back, this probably reinforced something I still believe now: simple systems that people actually use are often more effective than complicated processes designed for perfection.

A surprising amount of software delivery problems are really workflow and communication problems underneath.

This also connects closely to my thoughts on overcomplication in systems and how unnecessary complexity often creates more problems than it solves.

It links naturally to my reflections on understanding systems properly rather than simply adding more layers around them.

A lot of the same thinking also appears in my posts about organisation and workflow simplification.

Good systems are often simpler and more visible than people expect.

I spend a lot of time helping simplify workflows, untangle technical problems, and make systems easier to manage and maintain.

You can take a look at my TechFix service if that sounds useful.

I Have the Maker’s Itch

I’ve always had the urge to make things.

If I see something interesting, my first thought is rarely “I should buy one.” It’s usually “How could I build that?”

Projects tend to sit in my head for weeks, months, or sometimes years before I finally start building them.

So I have an affliction with making stuff. I always have some project or other on the go. I get a whacky desire to make something and mull it over for weeks, months, or years before having to start.

If I don’t start I just keep thinking about it and thinking about it! I am either planning, making, fixing, or repurposing something. I have many projects on the go at one time.

I have to say I enjoy the whole process. I see something and think I can make one of those. I don't have much of a desire to buy it but given the chance to build or make it. How can I build that? and then I'm off.

Projects That Stay in My Head

The perfect project is something that takes a long time and has many stages to it. It can evolve and be shaped. I love to spend time subconsciously sketching out in my mind how I can make parts, how I can adapt parts, and how I can engineer something. It's those moments when I am waiting or daydreaming I will be engineering something in my head.

Looking back now, I can see this connects strongly to how I think visually. A lot of projects are mentally assembled long before anything physical gets built.

Learning Through Making

Building the boy's Jeep was a perfect example of this. It had lots of parts, it required research, it needed different types of skills and I had to adapt and repurpose things. The front steering mechanism was a problem I spent ages thinking about. I needed a way of having a 3 axis mount that could swivel in all three directions. I'd sketch out diagrams, play with bits of metal, Lie in bed awake thinking how to solve the problem. Inspiration and a final solution came while in the local hardware store. Large eye bolts normally used for gates bolted together in an X-Y-Z orientation were a quick reasonably cheap and strong solution. Relief, I can stop thinking about that problem.

The Joy of Solving Problems

Both my boys sleep in custom beds I have made. Jamie wanted a high sleeper in the shape of a Campervan, and Thomas wanted a Pirate Ship. Both required research, planning, and design. The Campervan was drawn out using a digital projector that beamed the outline of a Campervan onto a giant sheet of MDF that I then traced around with a black Sharpie.

It has working lights a real sliding door, and a surfboard as a ladder to get to the top bunk.

Thomas's Pirate Ship bed is a similar construction and has an anchor, a ship's wheel, and a bell (last orders at the bar type bell from eBay). The anchor and ship's wheel were cut out on my mini X-carve CNC machine.

I am a bit of a petrol head and one of the big projects I wanted to do was build my own car (I mentioned this in previous posts). My first attempt was to dismantle my mum's Mini Clubman estate when it was parked up after terminally failing its MOT. I didn’t get very far. I was only 12 and had a limited budget and tools. Years later I set about researching and choosing something new I could build, I had the maker's itch that needed to be scratched. It was a long project that took 4 years to build and get on the road. I took my time and enjoyed all the detailed parts of the build. Again I loved all the little projects and spent lots of time daydreaming solutions along the way.

Why I Keep Making Things

This year is no exception. I started collecting materials to make a “Mega Den" for the boys... A sheltered hangout In the garden that we can escape to, we can draw, play games, and pretend we are on holiday all while still in the garden at home. It needed to be bigger than the fort (another scrap wood project I made a few years ago).

I found some windows free from Gumtree, and some old doors also from Gumtree, and they sat under a tarpaulin for over a year as I planned out in my head how I could use them. A chance discussion with a farmer saw me collecting 12 scaffold boards and I had enough to get started.

I have spent a few happy weeks and evenings sawing, hammering, and drilling to get to the stage of something resembling a "summerhouse" no MegaDen in the back of the garden. Roofing materials arrive next week and it will be fully watertight and ready for action.

Electrics arrived this week (thanks to Amazon Prime) and a length of armored cable that I have squirreled away in the garage for over 10 years will see power running up under the grass for lights and sockets.

A couple of weeks should see it finished and that will be another project completed, and I can stop thinking about it.

There is more in the pipeline…

I have to build another Jeep. I have all the parts. The boys are bigger now and starting to outgrow the first one. I want to make something all metal and try to use the full 900W capacity of the motor's power in this one. (The Jeep currently is only using a third of that)
I need to build a double computer desk for the boys. They will have a workstation and storage each for homework and school projects

I have an Arduino Yun bought with the sole purpose of warning when the garage door has been left open and it's dark. I can’t see the door from the house unless I go outside. It has an electric opener and the plan is for it to email me to tell me it is open and from my phone, I'll be able to close it. It will involve some wiring and some code but I have planned out in my head what it needs to do. I am tempted to also connect the Arduino to a Speaker and have it play the Thunderbirds theme via WAV file when the door is opened. But that might annoy my neighbors

So yeah, I have the maker's itch and the only way to stop it is to keep on making.

I think of projects as good therapy, and if you remember that 80's kid's TV program "Why Don't You"...

P.S... top marks if anyone knows the next line?

Looking back, I think making things has always been a form of problem solving, creativity, and probably even therapy for me.

Some people switch off by relaxing. I seem to switch off by building, fixing, planning, and figuring things out.

The only real cure for the maker’s itch is to keep making.

A lot of this connects closely to my reflections on LEGO Technic and engineering mindset, where my fascination with systems and mechanisms probably began.

It also links naturally to my thoughts on visual thinking and mentally modelling projects before building them.

Many of these ideas also appear in my posts about fixing things instead of replacing them and building the Megaden.

I’ve always enjoyed building, fixing, adapting, and simplifying things—whether physical or digital.

A lot of the same mindset now goes into helping people untangle technical problems and improve systems.

You can take a look at my TechFix service if that sounds useful.

How I Became a Chartered Engineer (CEng)

For years, becoming a Chartered Engineer was something I kept meaning to do but never quite started.

I had the qualifications, the experience, and the professional membership. What I really lacked was momentum.

I just lacked the personal motivation to get my finger out. I was "comfortable" in my job I didn't need to be chartered. It would be nice but not a must-have.

Why I Put It Off for So Long

The biggest blocker was compiling my experience in chronological order on the application form. I had been working for 20 years so remembering and cramming it all into a few pages was daunting.

I think a lot of experienced engineers fall into the same trap. The more experience you have, the harder it feels to summarise it all into a few pages.

What Finally Changed

The shove I needed was when I looked to move up a grade at work. My "boss" blocked me with a job description. Basically, a badly written list of must-haves to perform the upgrade in position. Lots of airy-fairy statements plucked out of thin air that the person must meet to perform the job. I was doing the job already but had to prove it.

So I set about formulating a case that showed and was backed with evidence of my experience that I could meet the must-haves. I spent a few weeks with a text document open on the side of my desktop, quickly adding experience when I remembered..., reliving my past 20 years.

The document grew and grew and gradually I recounted all the projects I had worked on. I had ticked off all the job requirements (must-haves) and provided real evidence of how I met them.

I polished it a bit adding in real must-haves the job holder should have and forwarded it to my "boss" and was moved up a grade. The bonus was I now had a full career review down on paper (or digitally). The dreaded application form for chartered engineer would be easy now.

What initially felt overwhelming suddenly became manageable once I realised I already had most of the evidence—I just needed to organise and present it properly.

I sought out 2 sponsors as a reference, added all my details, did some more polishing to my career history, and sent it off and waited...

I was invited for an interview shortly after. A time and date were set for me to be at a hotel in Altens to be "grilled".

I had a few weeks to prepare for my interview. The format would be for me to present for 15 minutes and then answer questions for an hour.

The application pack I had downloaded from the IET website had a guide to what was expected in the presentation and what the interview would cover.

Preparing for the Interview

I prepared a pack of 5 slides covering projects (maximum allowed) I have worked on and ticked off all the skills I needed to have. I then printed 3 packs with my slides, my application, training evidence, work evidence, and my CV and presented them neatly in a clear plastic folder.

I also added a couple of pics of my Tiger, the kit car I built. I felt like a software engineer I wanted to be able to show I also have electrical and mechanical hands-on skills too.

A few weeks later, I donned my suit and tie and headed for my interview. Confident I had prepared well it was time to be a shining example of a potential chartered engineer.

I met with a panel of 3 interviewers. The IET guide said there would be 2! Oh well, the more the merrier.

We introduced each other and I sat at one side of the table and they at the other. I did my presentation and quickly talked through all my slides.

The Interview Wasn’t What I Expected

The next part I was dreading, what if I couldn't answer the questions? What if I wasn't qualified? It didn't matter. What happened was a good conversation about my experience. One interviewer was leading the conversation and another was checking off where I met the skills required as I gave my answers.

What surprised me most was that it didn’t feel like an interrogation. It felt more like an experienced conversation about projects, decisions, and engineering work I had already done.

The main point I had to quickly adapt to was to say I rather than we. Working as a team for so long I am accustomed to saying 'we' rather than 'I'd, which caught me out a couple of times. I had said we had created some procedure and had to correct myself and said I, one interviewer said are you sure, while the other chipped in with the front page of the procedure showing my name on the front cover as the author. Thankfully I had put a copy In the interview pack.

The rest is a bit of a blur but an enjoyable blur. It was a great opportunity to talk about what you have been doing for the last 20 years.

In the end, the interviewers came across the pictures of my Tiger and probably had just as many questions about it and how I had built it, an easy subject to talk about without any prep.

So that was it, it was about 1hr 45min when we finished, and I left confident I had done my best. My interviewers couldn't give me any indication of whether I had passed or failed. I would be contacted in due course.

6 weeks later I received an email. My application must have been good, my presentation and interview must have been good. I was invited to join the engineering council as a chartered engineer.

What I Learned From the Process

Go me! Why didn't I do that a long time ago? With a bit of effort and lots of preparation, the whole process is very straightforward and not as daunting as first thought.

Looking back, the process was far less intimidating than I had built it up to be in my head.

Most of the challenge was simply taking the time to reflect properly on years of experience and organise it into evidence.

If you’re considering becoming chartered but keep putting it off, my advice would simply be to start gathering your experience together. Once you begin, it becomes much more manageable.

This also connects closely to my reflections on career change and professional growth.

A lot of the practical engineering mindset behind chartership also appears in my posts about making and problem solving.

Professional development often feels more intimidating before you start than it does once you begin.

I know how intimidating the process can feel at the start, so if you're stuck or procrastinating on chartership, you can drop me a message here.

My Early Days in Digital Transformation

Starting a new role at Aberdeen City Council felt like stepping into a very different world from the engineering environments I had worked in previously.

Suddenly I was surrounded by digital services, accessibility discussions, web design, smart city ideas, and people trying to modernise large public systems.

So I'd consider myself part of the team now at Aberdeen City Council. I've managed to get into the swing of how things work,

I have lots of new friends and colleagues, and I am really getting into the hot desking. I get to sit at a different desk each day and get to sit with different people most days. Although the folk I work with directly in the Team generally sit in the same area.

Adjusting to a New Digital Workplace

I have had a few days working from home and it's good. Probably the easiest login from home I have ever had or used yet. No hassle, no dongle, no phone app, and no code to remember.

I also found myself surrounded by people who were genuinely passionate about improving digital services and modernising how the council worked.

A couple of interesting tech projects I heard about this week is Smart Benches and City Lab.

Discovering Civic Technology

ACC has commissioned a couple of Smart Benches for Aberdeen City. They are solar-powered smartphone recharging centers in the form of a park bench. So if you are low or run out of charge you can pop by one of the benches, take a load off and recharge your phone. This is a great concept and it will be good to see how they work and are used when installed. I do have concerns about a USB point exposed to the elements but I'm sure that has been thought of.

The other initiative is City Lab, which is run jointly between The University of Aberdeen, Robert Gordon’s University, and ACC. It brings together students, ACC staff, and partner organizations for one term to design and build sustainable projects for the city.

ACC has identified areas where new projects would help the city and community. Students get to be creative by brainstorming and developing their ideas. I wish I could have had access to something like this when I studied at RGU.

Some of the projects going through this scheme are smart tiles that generate electricity by people walking on them to power traffic lights, smart school busses with teaching capacity, and smart signage.

Seeing How Digital Services Are Designed

This week I also got a sneaky peek at the new ACC website design.

I can't say too much but help came from a design agency called Screen Media. It was great being able to work with these guys and get an insight into the whole web design process.

A lot of thought goes into layout, colours, and accessibility. I was well impressed with the draft and excited to be involved with the process so far. It also goes to show there is a lot more to good web design than code and a bit of CSS. Looking back now, this was probably one of the first times I really started appreciating how much user experience, accessibility, structure, and communication matter in digital services.

I will keep you posted when it goes live.

What Stayed With Me

Looking back, this period feels like the start of a major shift in how I thought about technology.

I was moving away from purely physical engineering problems and becoming increasingly interested in systems, usability, accessibility, and how technology shapes everyday public services.

The pics this week are not mine (I wish) I found them on display at the Brewdog next door to Marischal College. They are part of an Aberdeen Star Wars Exhibition. Thought they were cool, and as ever I forgot to note who the artist is. I like them though.

This also connects closely to my reflections on visual thinking and systems thinking.

A lot of the same ideas around simplicity and usability also appear in my post about technology overcomplication.

The transition into digital work also links naturally to my reflections on changing career into software development.

I’m still fascinated by how technology, systems, and design affect the way people interact with services every day.

A lot of the work I do now still centres around simplifying systems and improving digital experiences.

You can find out more here.

10 Objects That Shaped How I Think

I’ve always become attached to objects that carry memories, stories, or ideas with them.

Looking back, many of the things I value most aren’t expensive or rare—they simply represent creativity, learning, engineering, family, or moments in time.

So it's been a super busy week and my usual write-my-blog-on-the-bus time did not pan out. I keep meeting interesting people. What I have written this week I did a while ago.

I am a bit of a hoarder and like things with sentimental value. Anyway here are my 10 favourite things. Note this does not include friends and family, I should maybe title it my 10 favourite inanimate objects...

Objects Connected to Family

One – Grampa’s hip flask

I'm glad I found this. After my grandpa died years ago his car lay abandoned outside my parent's house. They asked me to clean it ready to sell.

In the driver's door pocket, I found his hip flask. Well bashed, worn and shiny it still had his favourite tipple in it. My mum said why don't you keep it.

Now it lives pride of place on a shelf in my study. Still with my Grampa’s whisky in it. Johnny Walker Black Label.

Two – LEGO

I am a massive LEGO fan. I grew up with LEGO. Starting with blocks then LEGO City and moving on to Technic LEGO when I grew older.

I have two young boys and we have a lot of LEGO in the house. A lot. It's a brilliant and timeless educational toy.

I love sitting on the floor with my boys watching them create cars. Some have many different-sized wheels with no hope of steering in reality. They have lasers and guns sticking out at odd angles.

We have several big boxes around the house ready for creative minds. I have a few select constructions that took a bit longer to build that also live pride of place in my study.

Tools, Making, and Creativity

Three – Mini socket set

I love my tools, and this little red socket set is one of my favourites. It came free with a classic car magazine subscription many years ago.

It is a good quality set made by Teng Tools. It's a great size and has 13mm and 10mm sockets, hex bits, a universal joint and an extension bar.

I built my own car a few years ago so I guess I could say I have enough tools to build a car.

Four – Hot Wheels cars

These little 1/64 scale cars are almost a currency in our house.

“I'm going shopping anyone coming?... can we have a Hot Wheels car dad?”

Tesco trips involve sifting through the Hot Wheels display looking for rare finds.

90% of them end up in a big play box and have a hard life, chipped and crashed. The 10% I rescue and give them a concours life.

It's the ones I recognise from my childhood. This little Mk1 Escort is possibly the rarest one. Found in Tesco for 99p and currently trading on eBay for 10 times that.

It was mint in the box till the boys got hold of it.

Five – Coos head

Jamie made this coos head (with a little help) and I just think it's brilliant.

He made it from scraps of wood in the shed all his own design. He pulled the bits from the scrap bin and glued them together.

A few bits were cut to length, sanded, and given a rub with finishing wax.

We have made and sold quite a few of these as part of Udny Designs. Ours, and the first one, hangs pride of place in our dining room.

Six – Spring picture

This is more artistic flair from Jamie. We went to a parent-child art competition at his primary school.

You were given lots of materials, paints, glue and an hour to make a spring-themed picture. Bright colours and of course a tractor (Jamie is tractor daft).

We had a busy hour cutting and sticking, laughing and joking. In a frantic rush up to the buzzer, we had made this picture.

Jamie and his classmates all voted for their favourite picture by placing a tiddlywink on their favourite. Cheers and clapping followed as Jamie was rewarded with first place and an Easter egg.

Chuffed to bits, the picture lived in the house and Jamie proudly showed it off before disappearing.

Several months later it reappeared professionally framed as a gift for my birthday from my wife.

Well chuffed, it now hangs in our hall. It is framed brilliantly including hanging some of the worms (pipe cleaners) which had been dug up by the tractor plough.

Seven – Coffee table

We had to move house because of this table.

Inspired by a restaurant in Florida where the tables were wood framed with maritime maps under glass as the surface, I decided to make my own and use a local OS map.

I joined an evening woodwork class at Ellon Academy, bought some materials and set to work making my table.

It's big. OS maps are big.

I built the frame and legs, mortise and tenon joints and all, and glued them together.

The top was actually so big it wouldn't fit in the car so I had to walk it home.

We lived in a one-bedroom semi in Ellon at the time with a table for a mansion.

It lived for a year or so under the bed while we looked for a bigger house.

It has now been in active service in our living room in Udny. Scuffed, scraped, wine glass stains and 9 years of kids later, it's looking well used but still looks great.

The map is long gone and now replaced by hundreds of little Instagram photos scattered below the glass.

I can't see it being replaced any time soon apart from maybe updating the pictures.

Eight – Tiger

I built my Tiger 9 years ago. It took me 4 years to complete. I have had it for 13 years.

Most people these days only keep their cars for 3 years. Well, I spent years dreaming of building my own car, so I saved up my pennies and ordered a kit.

I use the term kit loosely as what I bought was a hodgepodge of the basic parts: frame, body, and some new and used parts.

Unlike the more expensive Caterham or Westfield kits, where you get every nut and bolt and a comprehensive build manual, mine required a lot more figuring out.

I had a brilliant 4 years pottering away in the garage at my own pace, chipping away at the build one small project at a time.

I have blood, sweat and tears in this car so it will continue to be tucked up in the garage for years to come, only coming out in the dry when the weather is good.

Tools, Technology, and Problem Solving

Nine – MacBook Pro

This is a computer without actually feeling like a computer.

I was fed up with firing up a Windows PC and waiting, then waiting for updates and virus checks.

Being a massive iPhone and iPad fan, I made the jump and bought a desktop Mac and loved it.

Then when I went to CodeClan they gave me a MacBook Pro which I cosseted for 4 months until they asked for it back.

Lost without it, I splashed out again.

Mine is a 2016 model with a graphite grey solid-state drive. It gets opened and starts immediately and I can work. No waiting.

Looking back, I think I’ve always valued tools that feel simple, reliable, and frictionless to use.

Ten – Notepad and pen

I carry a notepad and pen with me most days.

Electronic ways of keeping notes are ok but you can't beat pen and paper.

I think in pictures so I like to jot down notes and add diagrams.

My current notebook is a Moleskine lined notebook which has been modified with duct tape to hold a pen on the spine.

The pen I carry is a simple four-colour Bic ballpoint.

Having multiple colours in one pen is genius and makes diagrams and underlining much easier.

Why These Things Still Matter

Looking back, none of these things are really valuable because of what they cost.

Most of them matter because they represent memories, creativity, learning, problem solving, or people.

I suppose the objects we keep often tell us a lot about how we see the world.

A lot of this connects closely to my reflections on LEGO Technic and engineering mindset.

The maker side also links naturally to my post about having the maker’s itch.

Many of the same themes around creativity and systems thinking also appear in my reflections on visual thinking.

I’ve always been fascinated by tools, systems, creativity, and the objects that quietly shape how we think and work.

A lot of the same mindset now goes into the projects, systems, and technical work I still enjoy building and improving.

You can find out more here.

The Bus Conversation That Introduced Me to Gold Nanowires

So this week I met someone on the bus. I have met her before and this time we started chatting. She is a chemistry teacher in a high school.

Looking back, this wasn’t really about chemistry. It was about curiosity, engineering, and how fascinating ideas can appear in unexpected conversations.

Why Chemistry Never Clicked for Me

I liked the idea of learning chemistry when I went to secondary school. It sounded exciting, mixing and burning things.

I was however completely put off by my chemistry teacher. "Dr. Pockets", he wore a tweed jacket and a black gown. He wasn't very good but worst of all would come up behind you and poke you in the sides with two fingers. I didn't like that or him so I completely switched off from chemistry and dropped it as soon as I could. Perhaps that is why I became an engineer.

The Conversation That Changed My Perspective

Anyway, my new friend the chemistry teacher was telling me about what she did her Ph.D. in.

I may get some of the terms wrong but she was researching making mirrors by dissolving silver in a solution. This would form a thin atom-thick layer of silver that she would bounce lasers off. (How cool!)

She described how her lab would be dark as she set up a beam that was split and would go on different paths. One beam would take a longer path than the other to reach a detector and the difference in time would be measured along with their intensity. It would give interesting facts about the mirror, some of the light would be lost or absorbed.

Discovering Gold Nanowires

The standard practice was to use silver and she pondered what would happen if you were to use gold? So she mixed up a solution of gold to find out. Under an electron microscope, the gold behaved differently. No longer an atom-thick layer or sheet of silver, the gold had formed into atom chains. Like tiny little snakes or wires. Bizarre! She didn't do anything with these wires and just put them down as a cool anomaly.

Moving on a few years later, what she had created were gold nanowires. I've googled it and it's a real thing. Gold conducts electricity and the nanowires made from it can also conduct electricity.

At the moment they are being used in medical procedures. They are grown much like a snowflake, in an additive process building out from an electrode spike.

To give them some scale and put them into perspective they are 1,000 times smaller than human hair. That's tiny. Smaller than human cells.

In my googling I also came across the cost and if I were to buy some gold nanowires. I wasn't expecting them to be cheap but a handful (literal) of wires 30nm wide by 6000nm long delivered in a 10ml tub is £384.50. (June 2017)

I guess the bulk of the cost is in the manufacture rather than the raw material. They make gold more expensive than gold!

I have been pondering where else gold nanowires could be used, more googling found them used in flexible solar panels and batteries. Being so thin lots of them can give a larger surface area.

The Scale Is Hard to Imagine

I still can't fathom the scale and how you manipulate things so small. It’s difficult to visualise something thousands of times smaller than a human hair actually being engineered, measured, and deliberately created in a lab. 

As an engineer, I’m used to physical things you can hold, machine, weld, or bolt together. Nanotechnology feels like a completely different world where physics, chemistry, and materials behave in ways that almost seem unreal. 

What fascinated me most was the idea that structures this tiny can still have useful electrical, optical, and mechanical properties that can be used in real-world technology. It also made me realise how much innovation happens quietly in research labs long before most people ever hear about it.

What This Made Me Think About

I always remember a story my dad told me. I think it was pre-war, and the Germans in a show of engineering skill took a sewing needle drilled a hole down its center, and sent it to the British. The British, not to be outdone took a cast of the hole in the needle drilled a hole down its center, and sent it back to the Germans. Many facts here may also be wrong but it was a good story about something tiny, and as a kid, I could imagine the tiny drills doing the job.

So that's my new friend the chemistry teacher. Have to say much better than 'Dr. Pockets' and I actually learned something interesting.

What stayed with me wasn’t really the chemistry itself — it was the reminder that there are entire worlds of science, engineering, and discovery happening far beyond what we normally see.

Sometimes all it takes is one interesting conversation to completely change how you think about something.

A lot of this also connects to how I process and visualise complex ideas in my post about visual thinking.

It also reminded me of my reflections on seeing the hidden simplicity inside complex engineering systems during a space shuttle launch.

The same fascination with how things work also appears in my reflections on LEGO Technic and engineering mindset.

I’ve always been fascinated by how systems, engineering, and technology work beneath the surface.

A lot of the same curiosity now shapes the technical and problem-solving work I still enjoy today.

You can find out more here.

What Video Games and Technology Are Really Teaching Kids

So yeah, I read this week that picking your nose and eating it is good for you. It boosts your immune system.

I took great pleasure in telling my boys this. 

I had been told for the past 46 years it was bad for you and I have been dutifully passing on this message. I won't take up this habit but the boys will be boys and it will save me from telling them off for it.

Looking back, this post wasn’t really about nose picking at all. It was about how quickly technology was becoming part of childhood learning, creativity, and problem solving.

It got me thinking what else have we been told when growing up is bad for you but might be good. Living in our nanny state maybe boogies are not alone.

Questioning What We’re Told

Tv is bad for you? Son 2 (age 6) has a massive vocabulary. He got up the other morning and I asked him how he was and he responded with "fantastic" While helping me make my packed lunch he asked are the roots on the spring onions were "edible". I don't recall teaching him these words so can only assume it was the TV. He likes his TV. Pepa Pig has even taught him a bit of French... he announced one day "Bonjour Delphine donkey!". (I only know it was Peppa Pig as I have seen that episode) We have 3 TVs in the house and something is normally on. Mostly on demand these days, be it Netflix, Amazon, or YouTube.

Why Simulators Fascinated Me

My other son Son 1 (age 9) is a tractor daft. He asked for Farming Simulator 17 for his Christmas. It's a game that runs on the computer. Santa snuck in on Christmas Eve and installed it on the Mac in my study. Son 1 likes nothing better than doing a bit of farming. It's a very realistic 3D simulator. He has taught himself how to manage an entire farm. Buying the equipment, budgeting, sowing crops, and reaping the rewards from his harvest.

Children Growing Up With Technology

The tech in this game is brilliant. The 3D rendering and fully explorable maps are "awesome" (to quote Son 1. It even has a mud mod pack that simulates real mud across the farm so at the end of the day you have to wash your machinery with your 3D jet wash. It's certainly more realistic than any game I had growing up. I'm sure by the time Son 1 is old enough to work he will probably be able to run a profitable farm with little or no training. He has taught himself with this game how to farm and also gained a wealth of knowledge on tractors, combines, and other machinery, even to the point when we are out in the car we have to take the back roads if there is a chance of spotting some farm machinery.

So we are told computer games are bad for you!

All this farming doesn't really matter as Son 1 wants to be an Architect. Possibly inspired by Minecraft, another 3D simulator. Actually, if I remember right he wants to be a successful architect designing big buildings, and then when he is "rich" buys a farm and just does all the "cool tractor-type jobs".

So are these games a kind of training? A way of self-teaching. They seem to go hand in hand with YouTube too, where you watch a clip on how to do something on your farm and then recreate it.

Technology as a Learning Tool

Kids using iPads is also supposed to be bad for them. Mine both have iPads. Both with Military spec Griffin Defender covers. These are supposed to be tuff. Despite this, I have changed the screen on Son 1's three times. Not an easy job. Getting the glass off without destroying the wifi antenna is almost impossible. And those tiny screws I can nearly see them let alone pick them up. Thankfully parts are cheap on eBay. There are also many YouTube videos on how to change the screen.

Son1 and 2 are a dab hand at using the iPad it's almost second nature to them, in fact, it is. They don't remember a time before them. They learn so much from the apps. They can be driving trains, or identifying animals. playing with numbers, spelling, farming (more farming), being a doctor or dentist, there is even one app where you give Santa a shave.

As an aside, they are learning to install their own apps (free ones) and configure them, manage their memory space, and understand the need to recharge the battery.

Son 2 has Bluetooth headphones he uses with his iPad. He repeats the "Your Bluetooth device is connected" message every time they are turned on. He has destroyed many corded headphones by chewing the cable so wireless and Tech solve this problem.

I did try to introduce Son 2 to the flight simulator on the Mac. A step too far! It didn't go well. He likes pressing buttons. Perhaps he won't be a pilot.

Technology as a Learning Tool

So yeah I might not encourage eating bogies but I will let my kids embrace technology. If they are learning something it can only be good for them and set them up with valuable life skills.

What This Made Me Realise

A couple of coding books for kids arrived in the post this week. One for the new Raspberry Pi and one for Scratch. They are colourful with lots of pictures, so here's hoping I can take the boys back a step and show them what goes into their games, iPads, and YouTube. I'll let you know how I get on...

Looking back now, it feels obvious that games and simulators were becoming educational tools as much as entertainment.

Minecraft, farming simulators, YouTube tutorials, and creative apps were quietly teaching problem solving, systems thinking, planning, and creativity.

In many ways, kids were teaching themselves using technology long before schools fully adapted to it.

A lot of this also connects to my reflections on visual thinking and different learning styles.

The same fascination with interactive learning and systems also influenced projects like my browser-based text adventure game Redcastle.

Many of the same ideas around creativity, systems, and engineering also appear in my reflections on LEGO Technic and engineering mindset.

I’ve always been fascinated by how people learn through technology, creativity, and problem solving.

A lot of the same thinking now shapes the technical, systems, and digital work I still enjoy today.

You can find out more here.

Back in 2017, I Thought Petrol Cars Might Disappear by 2025

So I'm on a train on my way down to Cumbernauld for the weekend. I have Jamie (age 9) with me, and he is delighted to be on a train. It's diesel-electric. Onboarding, I pointed out the massive turbo on the side of the train just below the level of the platform. (I'm an engineer, I notice these things...)

The Diesel engine powers a generator to make electric energy to turn a massive induction motor that makes it move, I tell Jamie.

It's quiet, but you can just hear the engine's dull drone as we fly through the countryside. I'm guessing being diesel-electric, it is more efficient than pure diesel and also cleaner.

Travelling Through a Changing World

I was also on a bus this morning on the way to work. It was one of Aberdeen's new hydrogen-powered fleet. Diesel buses have been abandoned in favour of turning hydrogen into electricity, which again powers a motor to make the bus move. This bus is almost silent apart from some transmission noise on the move. When stopped, there is no noise at all. Great for commuters like me tapping on my iPhone and writing my blog.

Looking back now, this post captures how quickly the shift towards electric vehicles felt like it was happening in 2017.

Some of these predictions clearly didn’t happen as fast as expected, but the transition away from traditional engines still felt inevitable at the time.

Why I Still Loved Petrol Engines

I like both these forms of transport in terms of where we are with the tech. I am, however, a massive car fan… a petrolhead at heart, and I feel a sense of gloom coming.

I like my petrol and Diesel engines. I have a few cars. All of them are older. A big 4x4 with a Diesel engine in it. I love the torque and the feeling of going anywhere it gives, and it's 500 miles or so range. I have a Lotus Seven kit car with a revvy 16v Toyota engine that makes it fly. I also have an Abarth 500, which has a little 1.4-litre turbocharged engine. It's got twin intercoolers and one of my favourite exhaust notes of any car I have owned.

I have promised the Abarth to Jamie when he is old enough to drive.

Jamie is 9, and he will not be able to drive till he is 17. That's in 8 years' time. With care and regular servicing, little Abarth should still be in good health when he is ready. It's quite easy. I have had many cars that were over 10 years old and had higher miles on them. The Abarth is a modern car, and the build quality and corrosion protection are really good.

The big problem, as I see it, is whether petrol and diesel cars will still be on the road in 2025. In only eight years' time.

The Fear That Petrol Cars Might Vanish

I read an article while having my lunch today, which was a report by Stanford University that is predicting that fossil fuel cars will vanish in less than EIGHT years time! The report suggests that as electric cars become cheaper, 'Big Oil' and the petroleum industry will collapse. People will have no choice but to invest in electric cars. Electric cars will become cheaper, more reliable and travel further.

It painted a picture of petrol and diesel cars being abandoned. No longer being economical to run. Petrol stations would close and become increasingly difficult to find. Spare parts would stop being made. Garages will no longer repair the current generation of cars. The falling oil price is predicted to fall further.

So it may be game over for the little Abarth and my 4x4. Eight years does not seem that far away. What's their fate in years to come, abandoned, in the 2025 fuel crisis?

Imagining an Electric Future

For my Lotus Seven kit car, I'm not so worried. I built it after all. As technology changed, I could even imagine replacing the petrol engine with a large electric motor and modern battery systems. Possibly both were donated by a crash-damaged modern electric car. The performance could be better than the current petrol engine.

My kit car has a simple 12-volt electric system with a separate wire harness for the engine. So, to remove the petrol engine and its ECU would be easy. It would leave big holes where the engine, gearbox and petrol tank lived. These can be replaced by the motor's ECU, batteries or fuel cell. Who knows, I may be able to put a motor per wheel and make it four-wheel drive. That would be fun.

All the other electric systems would remain unchanged. There are no antilock brakes or traction control. It's really only lights and a horn left when the engines are gone.

It should be lighter too, if I could get a range of 200 or so miles, that would be ideal. It doesn't go much further on a tank of petrol at the moment. It's not very comfortable for long distances, so the majority of driving I do is just a quick blast in evenings and weekends.

Would Classic Cars Survive?

So 2025, here's hoping Jamie gets some use out of the Abarth before we need to abandon it at the side of the road.

I also need to get my finger out as I have dreams and promises of building a hot rod project with the boys when they get older. Nothing fancy. Something rat-looking with old black faded paint, a small noisy engine, no mod cons, and flames up the side. Fingers crossed.

(edited, The Abarth may have some reprieve, found this great article on an electric rally car... Hmmm 460 bhp?)

Looking Back at Those Predictions

It’s interesting reading this back now that we’ve actually reached 2025.

Petrol and diesel cars clearly didn’t disappear overnight, but electric vehicles, hybrid systems, and alternative fuels have become far more normal than they felt in 2017.

What I still find fascinating is how quickly technology transitions can feel inevitable, even when reality turns out to be slower and messier.

Looking back, this post says as much about engineering optimism and uncertainty as it does about cars.

A lot of the same engineering mindset also appears in my reflections on building and maintaining my Tiger kit car projects.

The same fascination with understanding and rebuilding systems also connects closely to my post about why I like fixing things.

Looking back, a lot of this engineering curiosity probably started with things like LEGO Technic.