Yesterday, I completed my second week of work experience with Dgtek Solutions. They are an I.T company who provide technology solutions and tech support. This basically means that they sell computers and technology to improve other companies and then also provide support to companies who have a contract with them. On the first day I didn't do much in the morning. I was just installing new drives on 2 laptops but in the afternoon I got to go to an on-site support callout with an engineer. The hardware shop that we went out to had been having problems with their cash machine connecting to their network. When we got to the shop we assessed the problem to try and find out what had went wrong. It turned out to be a pretty simple IP address issue and we had it sorted in around 45 minutes. When we got back to the office it was time to go home, so that was it for the first day. The next day was very busy. In the morning I had to build two windows machines. It isn't that hard to do but it can take a while. Then we had to go and install a Wi-Fi access point in a customer's house. I was really involved in doing this and it was a great learning exercise. Once we had done that it was time to drive out to a nursing home in Sandymount to do a complete upgrade on their current Wi-Fi. This job took a few hours as there were a few complications but we eventually figured it out. Wednesday was a pretty uneventful day but I still managed to learn more about networks from one of the engineers. On Thursday we had a few more callouts but I could only go on one. It was pretty quick fix. When I got back to the office I had to try to fix a laptop that was making an awful noise. I opened it up and discovered that the fan had been damaged and was hitting off of something and making the noise. I went onto the supplier's site and ordered a new fan for the laptop. The next day there were loads of calls but no on-site callouts. One of the engineers was very nice and he decided to use this opportunity to teach me about linux, the different types of it, and what it's used for. I learned a lot from this. That concludes week one. The next week that I was there started off really busy with loads of callouts mainly with network and computer problems but by Wednesday it was very quiet and there was little to do from an I.T aspect. One of the guys working there had mentioned that they had want to create a splash page for people to be directed to when they sign into their guest network in the office. I suggested that I make one. They liked this idea but I didn't know how to code in html so they had to teach me. After around three hours of lessons and messing around with templates to see what I could do I understood enough to create my own from scratch. I downloaded "Komodo Edit 11", a programme used to create html files on my laptop and got to work. Over the next two days I created the webpage by coding in html. I even coded some parts with CSS and JavaScript to create fancy styles and actions. All together it was just under 900 lines of code, which sounds like a lot but it really isn't. The next step was to make it into a splash page for the guest network. To do so I had to log in to the office router and configure it as the splash page. I also had to make sure to set the commands right so that it automatically sends you to the page when you log in. After I had done that it was ready to go. I was very satisfied with it. That was my two weeks at Dgtek. In conclusion, this was great work experience that I learned so much from. It was by far my favourite work experience placement.
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For this week of work experience I had originally arranged to do it in a hospital however that fell through and I had to get something on short notice. This week that I spent in the kitchen in Avoca Powerscourt was unfortunately cut short by Storm Emma and the snow that came with it. I only got to complete two days. On the first day I was working in the bakery. I made scones, bread and some other desserts. Despite only spending one day in there I actually learned a lot and the bakery staff were very helpful and patient. On the second day I was working in the kitchen. I was taught how to make sandwiches, salads and some other meals such as lasagna. It was interesting to see what goes on behind the scenes at restaurants and how busy a chef's working day can be. Overall it was a great two days where I learned some valuable life skills. I am a bit disappointed that i couldn't have rescheduled but it was amazing to a least get those two days.
Last week I completed my first week of community service in Festina Lente, a nearby riding school which specializes in therapeutic riding. I chose to do my community service here because I have a lot of past experience with horses and thought that it would be much more interesting than doing it in a charity shop or something similar. When I arrived on the first day I walked into the office and told them that I was here to do community service. Jo, a horse riding teacher greeted me and then began my induction. She showed me around the yard, introduced me to her colleagues and explained the rules of the yard and how things are done there. She explained that they use methods unfamiliar to what most people know and that there methods of handling and taking care of the horses was really based around being considerate about how the horse feels . This means that you are very gentle with the horses and for example, if you are leading one you ask them to move rather than just pulling the rope. After the induction to the yard I began work. Work included leading horses, tacking up horses, grooming the horses, sweeping the yard, washing feed buckets, picking out horse's feet, and just general helping out when I could. I did theses tasks everyday but during the week I also got help out with a few lessons , a few therapeutic lessons and horse clicker training. The horse clicker training was fascinating to watch and showed me how intelligent horses are. They were able to associate the clicking noise with touching the target and then receiving a treat within just half an hour of training. It was really interesting. I think that the highlight of the whole week for me was participating in the therapeutic lesson. The effect that the horses have on these children (who have mental disorders) is immediately obvious. I was completely in awe of how the horses changed their behaviour and mood. I really enjoyed my week of community service in Festina Lente and found working with the horses to be relaxing. I hope that I can come back for another week later in the year.
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