Receiving daily news updates of construction progress at the Olympic Park as we inch forward to the opening of the London 2012 Olympics has to be a positive antidote!It was just back in late September that another milestone towards completing the Aquatics Centre was reached when the first tile was laid in the London 2012 Olympics swimming pool complex by world swimming champion, Mark Foster, the 50m freestyle world record holder.In total, there will be some 180,000 special 'pool ceramic' tiles lining the 50m (164 ft) main competition pool, the training and dive pools, which, together will eventually contain a total of 10 million litres of water.The continuing, good progress at the Olympics village contrasts with the the slowing down, once more, of the housing market and the likelihood of homeowners deciding to invest their money into renovation and refurbishments instead, to help maintain both the look and value of their properties until the property market starts to pick up again.On the plus side for the building industry, specialist house conversions means more work for the trained and qualified trades, especially ensuite bathrooms, loft and basement conversions and new kitchens. Lining the walls and floors with the latest tile designs becomes an important issue to maintaining property values.The difference between the DIY or part time tiler and those who wish to take up tiling as a fulltime career can simply be qualifying on a City & Guilds NVQ Tiling course!There are several training options for all levels of interest and time schedule requirements. For those who have decided to spend some time doing up their homes, perhaps on more modest tiling projects, a 5 day introductory tiling course is a great start and weekend tiling courses are available too. A more ambitious tiling project would probably require a 5 day Advanced Tiling course to get to grips with understanding and meeting the more advanced technical problems.Serious career switch candidates will of course be looking at the?