Vanity…

I was in the gym this morning.
I mention it because I’m quite proud of myself for actually dragging myself there. We went out yesterday, which left me returning home yesterday quite late. I did manage to go though. I was motivated because we went yesterday to see ‘Priscilla- the musical’ (again). ‘JJ’ wanted to see it, as well and ‘hm’, so I didn’t mind watching it again. It’s a very good and funny show.

Most of the dancers there have amazing bodies (they’re dancers after all) and are half naked most of the time. Not in my wildest dreams I can look like that (I don’t really want to go to that extremes anyway – I like my food) but I wouldn’t mind getting a slimmer, firmer body. To be honest, I can’t really afford all that waxing, laser treatments anyway…

Back to my main topic, I was in the gym this morning. I did my usual routine and headed for the showers to get ready to go to work. I like going there in the morning, where it is quieter and less crowded. More or less, there are the same people going there the same time, so I kind of know their faces.

What puzzles me is how much time some of them spend in front of a mirror, taking care of themselves and their bodies. I’ll exclude the few who just flex in front of the mirror to admire their newly built muscles (really guys?) and comment on the rest of the people.


For example there is a guy, who I usually meet when I finish my routine. In most cases, he has just finished showering, has only a towel on and starts grooming / getting ready. I hit the showers, finish with it and finish getting dressed but he is still getting ready. He is putting various creams / butter on his body, different for each area, fixing his hair for around 15 minutes (just to look like he hasn’t spent any time on it) and getting dressed in slow moves not to mess with his clothes.


I first I thought that he’s doing that so he can stay longer in the locker room. Now, I’m thinking that maybe I should start paying some more attentionto myself. However, it’s a weekday; I’m going to work afterwards and not on a date. If I was going on a date, I would spend more time getting ready for it, but not before going to spend many hours in front of a PC screen. The type of work I’m mostly doing does not involve meeting with clients, so I am not going to be too much bothered about it, in an open plan office full of computer geeks with no dress code. After the shower, I dry myself, I put some deodorant on, a nice shirt (most of the times), a little gel on my hair and I’m done. It’s less than 10 minutes for the whole process. Maybe that happens because I am a little insecure spending too much time in the locker room. For example, I wouldn’t even shave in the gym. I like to do that privately, in my own bathroom.

However, I think that this needs some kind of training. You have to start keeping some rules in your everyday life to make sure that you keep them in special occasions. I believe that it would be good if I started spending a little more time in front of the mirror (I’m not saying I don’t take care of myself at all but still there might be some room for improvement). It’s nice to look good / feel good, even if you go to work / shopping / having a stroll. I’m glad that I managed to lose some weight after I started running / going to the gym / having a personal trainer. Maybe it’s time I start looking at other, maybe less significant stuff…

nightmare

How much time do you spend getting ready after gym? How much time is too much time before your friends will start singing to you:

You walked into the party
Like you were walking onto a yacht
Your hat strategically dipped below one eye
Your scarf it was apricot
You had one eye in the mirror
As you watched yourself gavotte
And all the girls dreamed that they'd be your partner
They'd be your partner, and

You're so vain
You probably think this song is about you
You're so vain
I'll bet you think this song is about you
Don't you? Don't you?

Movie weekend…

I hadn’t planned it this way, but it just happened. I watched 6 movies this weekend, two each night. Some of them were really bad and some better than expected, some I had already watched, some in DVD and some accidentally on the telly.

(I also managed to spend 5 really nice hours in Regent’s Park for a picnic with friends enjoying the sun and playing Frisbee with ‘JJ’!)

Anyway, the movies I saw in ‘order of appearance’ were:
The fantastic Four
Jason X
The Box
Passenger 57
Zombieland
Miss Congeniality 2

What do these movies have in common?Nothing…
They are not even of the same genre…I believe the worst was ‘the Box’. It was even worse than ‘Passenger 57’ which is the one with Wesley Snipes jumping off and on planes chasing bad guys and a young Elizabeth Hurley before she first had plastic surgery (take a look at that nose, that’s huge!!!). At least ‘Passenger 57’ wasn’t taking itself too seriously. It was full of silly jokes and action scenes not to be believed in any way. It’s in the same category of Jean-Claude Van Damme’s movies.If you check online the tagline of the movie is (I don’t expect anyone to remember that, the movie was released in 1992):
He's an ex-cop with a bad mouth, a bad attitude, and a bad seat. For the terrorists on flight 163 . . . he's very bad news.

Hilarious! ‘The box’ on the other hand, was awful! That’s not a psychological thriller, it’s a joke. The plot was so predictable. It was just a combination of similar movies with a Cameron Diaz trying to appear anxious and dramatic…

Yes, that's a young Hurley(I know, it doesn't look a lot like her)

That's Cyclops and Fiona trying to look worried

‘The fantastic Four’ and ‘Miss congeniality’ are movies I’ve seen a couple of times. The first one is not something exceptional but easy to follow. The latter is one fine movie to watch on a Sunday evening to finish your weekend, work on your laptop while getting ready for the new week.

Jason X is actually fun. It’s not a movie to make you scared but a movie to watch with friends, comment upon and laugh. It contains all stereotypes of slasher movies, exaggerated and ridiculed. There is of course the half naked blonde girl dying first (unfortunately without the high heels like in ‘Valentine’s Day’). There are the common sex scenes found in similar movies where women breasts are exposed. Jason even gets an upgrade and becomes half metallic! We laughed so much watching it…

I watched ‘Zombieland’ with ‘JJ’ while having dinner yesterday at his place. Watching that movie while eating is probably not the best idea but we enjoyed it. It has a wicked sense of humour and has something new to offer in terms of plot and direction that makes it quite interesting. It’s not of course an award winning movie, but it is actually a good action movie. I wouldn’t say it’s a thriller in any way… I loved the series of survival rules…

Newsflash…

Greece is again on the current news. We’re activated the EU-INF financial rescue!

As my brother said, the Greek government is borrowing money with worse interest rate than he does with his VISA card…

My countries credibility is going down the drain once again. The final terms of the agreement are not set yet, but it doesn’t look good for the people…

Speaking of integrity, here’s a picture of Keither Sutherland as he was seen in a British pub, before being thrown away:

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At least the weather is amazing. I went to enjoy the sun next to the river for my lunch break. All good looking, half naked men started running / cycling around. I just love summer…

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This Sunday is the Virgin London Marathon. I’m looking forward to going and seeing it. I’m having thoughts of registering for next year. I plan to turn 30 with a bang.

I am slightly worried though. I don’t know if I’ll get a place. You either have to register with a charity and raise more than £2000 to be accepted and I don’t think I can do that. Or I can register the ballot on my own and pray that I will get picked. Normally it’s 1 out of 10 chances to be accepted. However, you are not told if you’re accepted before October, which is a bit late.

The plan B is to go and do the Paris or Edinburgh marathon… We’ll see…

Training for the event, will be challenging though…

Thoughts of a Random Thursday…

I made some mistakes on my last posts which Gauss_Jordan kindly spotted. Thanks for that… I hope I will not do them again. I used to be careful regarding these things, but mistakes do happen. I can blame it all in English not being my mother language, but that’s unfair. I should know better…

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In a week time, if all goes well, I’m flying to Spain, to Barcelona, for a long weekend. There are still some flights disruptions due to Eyjafjallajokull (who can really pronounce that name that is not from Iceland?) but I hope it’ll be fine by then. I’m flying on Thursday and I’m staying there until Tuesday. It’s the first time I’m going there and to be honest I can’t wait! I’ve heard nice stuff about the place. Sticky Crows was there recently. I’ve been to Madrid which I loved, but not to Barcelona that everybody said it’s even nicer. Any suggestions?

I’m going there with two female Greek friends of mine. We’ve rented a one bedroom flat with a sofa bed in the living room (guess where I’ll be sleeping). One of the girls is my oldest and dearest friend that I know since primary school. We’ve known each other for more years than we’d like to admit. She’s practically family. I even used to date her for a short period of time when I was 12. She’s the first person that I first came out to, some years later. Funnily enough that’s the first time we’re going on vacation together. We’ve spent some weekends in friends’ places together in the past, but not like this and definitely not abroad. It will be fun…

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On a different matter, I’d like to say that if I was a voter, I’d most likely be in a difficult situation to choose who to vote. For those not familiar with it, there’s a general election scheduled in the UK on the 6th of May. There are 3 major candidates: Gordon Brown from the Labour party, David Cameron from the Conservatives and Nick Clegg from the Liberal Democrats.
I am not entitled to vote since I am not a British Resident (I can only vote for local elections) but I wish I could. I always love a good political debate.


Gordon Brown is the current Prime Minister. During his time, major economic and political scandals occurred that really placed in jeopardy the economic situation / growth of this country. The unemployment rates increased dramatically, the recession affected all households and the national debt increased, to name a few. Some might argue that his government wasn’t the cause of these problems. However the way he tried to counter them is questionable. Keeping him in power would send a message of approval regarding his measures during the crisis. Regarding gay and lesbian rights I think that the current government was sympathetic. Section 28 was abolished and legislation regarding equal rights was made active.


David Cameron is the leader of the Tories. He is presenting himself as the man most capable of improving the UK economy and solving most of its contemporary problems. He condemns (of course) all measures taken by the current government. His better social skills and his wife declaring that she’s pregnant (don’t ask me why) helped his public image and popularity a lot. The dark cloud above his head according to what I think is the gay and lesbian rights. He is trying now to present himself as more liberal, not associated with mistakes of the past made by his party. He made a speech in a gay pride event and apologised for Section 28. However, the question remains about the rest of the members of his party. They are the same people that voted for it in the first place. Also the Conservative party is in alliance with some of Europe’s most questionable parties when it comes to gay rights like Lithuanian’s MEP Valdemar Tomaševski who declared homosexuality being an perversion.

Nick Clegg is the leader of the Liberal Democrats. Not many things are known about him and he is considered to be the outsider. Having done a very good job on the television live debate between the three party leaders, he gained popularity. The other two leaders are in unison now trying to stop him from getting ahead of the game. However, in the recent MPs expenses scandal, Lib Dem MPs were first with the higher claims. Also Clegg has been accused of being a lobbyist with political donations to his bank account coming from questionable sources. However, they have produced a LGBT manifesto, claiming to help gay and lesbian human rights in a way that no other party will.

Now, who to choose between the three?
In short, the first one has a history of political economic mistakes; the second has a homophobic history with condemnable alliances and the third could be overly ambitious / hungry for money and power...
You choose...

I heart London

I really do love living in London, especially when it is sunny, warm and nice

I heart:
-having a cup of coffee in Tate Modern coffee place overlooking the Thames and St. Paul’s Cathedral

-having a pint next to the river by Hammersmith bridge

-going running near Barnes, under the trees, looking at Thames

-being able even to try Trinidad and Tobacco’s cuisine

-browsing for hours in a four stories bookshop

-being able to book tickets for the Sci-Fi-London Film Festival

-browsing aimlessly through stuff in Portobello Market

-relaxing in Greenwich Park overlooking Canary Wharf

-having a lunch break in St. Pauls’ courtyard

-wandering in National Gallery

-having smoked salmon eggs Benedict for brunch on a Sunday in my favorite coffee place

-flying to Barcelona (if Eyjafjallajokull allows) in the half price compared to my friends flying from Greece

-buying a pile of comic books from Forbidden Planet while reaching thirty, without being frowned upon from the only teenage customers of a Greek comic bookstore

-playing Frisbee on a Sunday in Regent’s Park

-making my own living and having a job that pays my bills compared to probably living with my parents unemployed in Greece

-having a best friend here a guy from Paris, a former housemate from Lisbon, a manager from Scotland, a personal trainer from Florence, a drinking buddy from Ireland and a boyfriend from South Africa

-crossing Waterloo Bridge looking at the night lights of an amazing metropolis

-sitting on the steps of Trafalgar square in front of National Gallery enjoying the smiling faces of tourists taking pictures

-walking at Regent’s canal from Camden Lock market to little Venice

-sitting on Primrose Hill overlooking London with friends

-sunbathing in Wandsworth Park when two police men on horses pass by


Some pictures:

Enjoying a pint of Guinness by Hammersmith Bridge

Greenwich Park and Canary Wharf

sunbathing in Wandsworth Park

running around Barnes

St. Pauls in Hammersmith

Web sites

I came across a web site that I think is something that Paige would show and Juz would like. I don’t know if you know it but it’s called ‘Texts From Last Night’ and it’s about just that, text messages. Some of them are indeed really funny, some of them not so much… Their humour reminds me of the cheap college humour presented in ‘American Pie’ that sometimes works sometimes doesn’t.
Anyway, I’m giving you some examples:


Literally just stood in the shower and forgot what to do. That hungover.


i got kicked out of Barns and Nobles cuz i put all the bibles in the fiction section


-he said he didn't have a condom.
-and you said?
-that that's fine cause i was ready to be a mom. yeah - he magically had a condom he forgot about after that.

The stoners next door have their couch on the sidewalk again, shirtless, soaking their feet in a baby pool and listening to loud ukulele music. I want their life.


So I think I just got a job offer from the guy I used to blow. See, networking pays off.


-the red head has a bf -just because there's a goalie doesn't mean u can't score


seriously iPhone. stop autocorrecting all my fucks into ducks. you're making all my strong worded texts look harmless and adorable.

So, when he came he screamed MORTAL KOMBAT!!!! at the top of his lungs and all of his roomates yelled back FINISH HER!!!!.....yeah kinda akward


She had a group on her phone called "great fucks". I was in it. It's almost like making the forbes list

-I'm watching CSI, they found semen in the woman's ear. -Guess she heard her killer coming


Dude you can't like a status about me getting hit by a car


-I want to fuck you on the side of the bed tonight.
-babe, don't say it like that!
-I'm sorry, I want to penetrate you on the edge of our sleeping quarters this evening.


Learn some fucking English or leave me alone! "Your" is for something that belongs to you, like 'your herpes'. And "you're" is a contraction for "you are", like "you're not sleeping with me".


We must be getting old. All of our friends are having kids and they aren't illegitimate.


I'm also leaving you with this:

My military service Part 6

So, I was sent back to my first training base to wait for the ‘newbies’ to arrive, train on how to be a sergeant and also train on truck driving. It was quite a busy period then.

Thankfully it was beginning of spring (5 years ago – time does fly quickly) and the weather was constantly improving. For the first week before the first arrivals we were busy cleaning the barracks, painting the outposts, replanting, doing laundry and making beds, clearing the grounds etc. We had a week to make the base look spotless for the newcomers. While that was being done during the day, the night posts were guarded by us as normal. Sleep was a luxury that we didn't have.

The first wave of people that would join the base was the people with some ‘specialties’. That would include immigrants applying for a green card serving for a shorter period of time, gypsies (can I use that term or is it politically incorrect?), people who illegally refused to join the army when properly called (mavericks?) or deserters. These people would stay in the base for a week and would be quickly transferred to proper military bases before the ‘proper’ new privates would arrive.

Greek Army is a fascist, racist constitution who discriminates between people as you can see. They put gypsies in a special category of people and they want to keep a different eye on them. Also, a major part of the immigrants serving are people from the former USSR. They have served a far more serious army of their own country, have families with children and are quite old to join this farce called Greek Army. They can’t afford to be far from their families for 6 months. I met many of these people and I didn’t have answers to this kind of their questions. They could do some social work to ‘prove’ their loyalty to their new adaptive county.

Anyway, the day that that first wave of people joined, I was away in the firing ground, tidying that area up. They placed them in groups (immigrants, gypsies, Greeks etc) in different rooms, far away from one another. The very first night though, there was an incident between a young gypsy and a Russian guy. As I was later told, there was a vendetta between their families and the gypsy stabbed the other man in the chest who was quickly transferred to the military hospital to be treated. The gypsy was also transferred to the military prison in Athens where he would be judged. I never learned what happened with him.

That incident caused us a lot of trouble though. It made everyone more tense and having agitated officers is never a good thing. We were to have extra shifts guarding the newcomers as well to keep an eye on them and also apart. There was a fear for retaliation. Proper sleep or evenings without duties were a luxury we didn’t have that week, which everybody hoped to pass quickly. I don’t know if the new extra guards helped (I doubt it) or the fact that the Colonel allowing that specific group of immigrants some extra freedoms, but there weren’t any other incidences with them.


Needless to say that we were happy to see these people go by the end of that week. Not all of them were creating problems but we hoped that the next bunch would be more obedient and trouble free. The day that new group arrived I was allocated to accompany the new privates from the gate to the building to have their stuff searched. I had been similarly accompanied like that, just three months ago into that same small room to have my stuff searched and it felt kind of weird. I could see the horror of the unknown in most of their faces and the anxiety of their parents dropping them off. I could also see the pride in some of the fathers’ faces seeing their children finally reaching adulthood and becoming a man (don’t get me started on that).

These days with the new privates were happy days. Most of the officers were preoccupied with them and we were left alone. We had fewer things to do, since some of the duties we previously had, were allocated to them. We also had this euphoria about being ‘old’ privates, taking some steps closer to been released.

My military service 5

I know I left this story behind since mid January but I always said I’d continue it.
The rest of the parts: part 4, part 3, part 2, part 1

I left the story when I was informed my military specialty (‘logistics manager of a military warehouse and truck driver’) and the location of my barracks where I’d spend the following months of my service. I had just finished around 45 days of basic training that involved proper military behavior and gun handling. I had no idea about what my specialty would bring or how my life would be in the new base. The only thing I knew was that I would spend a very short period of time in the new base at the beginning, since I had to go back to my training base to train on becoming a truck driver and a sergeant. I would return to that base, after that second period of training.

One of the worse things when it comes to being a soldier is the stories and gossips that circulate among the men amazingly quickly, making the even most insignificant stories sound like the beginning of the third world war. While doing the basic training, I had heard horrendous stories from a ‘friend’ of a ‘friend’ about new privates being tortured by older in the service men. It was said that when it came down to allocating responsibilities and trivia work being done in the base, newbies were the first to pick. It’s like being in jail and the newcomers being the bitches of everybody else.

I’d like to make a small (or not so small) parenthesis here regarding the stories circulating in barracks. I have already mentioned the horrible stories regarding the health checks being done when you first join that of course are not true. Most of these stories circulate among soldiers, but each time a small dramatic element is being added. To give you an idea about how stories circulate, I’ve been to 4 big military bases and other 3 smaller outposts during my service, all of them, had a ghost story related to them. In each base, the same story spreads from generation to generation of soldiers with some changes, but it does stay approximately the same for decades.The one that I most vividly remember from my training barracks had to do with a specific guarding post which was the most remote (it is always the case). There, some years ago a heartbroken soldier who couldn’t stand being in the service took a bullet from his stock, armed his rifle and blew his brains out. If you really look closely inside the post you’ll be able to see the marks of the bullet pieces (yeah, right). His mother couldn’t bear the pain of her son’s loss and died soon after. Now, each Tuesday around 3:30am (the day and time varies according to the story teller) which was the time the young man died, you might hear the mother’s ghost walking around, close to the guard post. Don’t be alarmed if you hear ghastly, frightening screams at night as well. It would be her, calling for her son. Her soul cannot rest. You might even see her briefly yelling and tearing her clothes off, wailing.
When I was first told that story, the guy next to me asked: ‘Are her tits at least nice? If they are, I don’t mind seeing her tearing her clothes off’ gesturing the size of tits, he mostly likes.
That’s a soldier mentality for you. I’m closing the parenthesis now.

The stories of the newbies being tortured, even if I knew that most were unfounded, and the fact that I would yet again change my surroundings and serve under a new captain were putting some stress on me. The day I was supposed to turn up in my new military base I was quite stressed. I was allocated to platoon 1.2 which was in charge of taking care of two huge warehouses as I would soon find out. Apart from a very good friend of mine from my hometown being there but in a different platoon, I didn’t know anyone else in the whole base.

What stroke me at the beginning were two guys who were about to take their last leave in a couple of days before finishing their service. I was in awe, thinking that they were about to go home when I had 10.5 more moths to serve. However, they weren’t the best of examples as people. Knowing that they would be ‘released’ soon, they were wearing very dirty uniforms, not giving a dime about the rest of us, causing various problems to the rest of us. I remember them going about to some of the high ranks begging for some more days off since they couldn’t stand it there and getting drunk almost every night at the canteen.

During each day, after the morning inspection each soldier had a task to do until the night shifts began. Luckily enough I was allocated to serve at helping at the warehouse under a captain called Stavros. I can evens till remember his last name and I really do thank the gods (or whatever that’s out there) for going to work for him. Stavros came from a military family and knew the troubles that we, the privates, were facing. He was treating us as proper human beings, being nice to us as long as the needed daily job was done which was fine by me.

When I first joined that base, Stavros had just taken over a new huge warehouse and was trying to check his supplies. That meant that we had to empty old boxes and go through their contents. Unfortunately, some of the boxes had small uniform parts, like clips of a belt, which we had to count. We’re talking about thousands of them. However, the work environment with Stavros was quite relaxed and I didn’t mind too much. Being busy like that, meant that each day was passing faster and the fact that I was not being yelled at for any reason was a plus. Counting things in old boxes with mold was what I was mostly doing day in and day out then.


I didn’t stay much in the second base then before I was transferred back to my training base. I have some stories to tell about that second base which I really can’t recall whether they occurred on my first or second visit.

Various news…

I went out with ‘JJ’ yesterday and we saw the ‘Clash of the Titans 3D’. The movie as expected was blunt with good visual effects but not really interesting story, acting or directing. I don’t think that it’s a movie that you’ll remember for long… Even the fact that Sam Worthington is in it doesn’t make that much of a change!

I talked to ‘JJ’ about the ‘Brazilian’ and that I was feeling kind of sad about it. His first reaction was ‘well, he can’t have you’ in an as-a-matter-of-fact way that made me laugh. I’ve decided not to go to the goodbye party not to stir things more. I don’t want to create any more problems to him than he already has.

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In a very different matter, I don’t know if you’ve heard but you might be hiding a small pedophile in you as well if you’re gay. Apparently, according to Catholic Church there has been proven a connection between homosexuality and pedophilia. I rest my case…

That reminded me, are gay men still not allowed to donate blood in the UK? I think that was the case up until some years ago. I have no comments on that as well

Losing friends…

I have mentioned ‘The Brazilian’ in the past but not as much as I would like. He’s the guy I was dating for about two months around Christmas of 2008.

I don’t know where to begin to tell that story but I’ll try.
He is a very nice guy. We got along really well from the beginning. Our first date was in Vauxhall, in Barcode, and we talked about various things for a couple of hours. He is a pleasant, smiling, caring and very interested in various geeky things like manga and video games guy. That gave us some common ground to talk about and share. That first date ended with me going to his place afterwards where we had some really nice fun… (Back then, I didn’t have a problem sleeping with someone on a first date, now I am slightly more reluctant – I am probably getting old)

I was quite happy to receive a text message from him the next day saying that he had a very nice time the day before and that he’d like to see me again. So, we did meet again and that whole thing progressively evolved into seeing each other more frequently and forming a relationship.

The ‘Brazilian’ was the first guy I started seeing in a more serious way. As I’ve explained in the past, I hadn’t been dating much (to be honest, while being in Greece I only ever dated one guy) before coming to London and I wasn’t probably ready yet for a relationship. Up until that time I only had some fuck buddies. I needed space and time to get used to being with someone in a relationship. The ‘Brazilian’ being in a total different state in his life and without having a big circle of friends was coming onto me too strong too fast.

This is how I see it now. Back then I remember feeling suffocated, under pressure, in need to be left alone and do other things that did not involve him. That frustration of course didn’t come out too well to him (I wonder why). I started wanting not to spend any time with him outside the bedroom (we had fun there but that wasn’t enough) so the end of our relationship was near. I went away for New Year’s and he came to pick me up from the airport when I returned. I remember seeing him in the ‘Arrivals’ and not feeling very excited about seeing him (it was a surprise). He sensed that, although he did try to hide it. Some days later he broke up with me (I feel ashamed to admit that I didn’t have the guts to do it on my own) telling me that he could see that it wasn’t going anywhere.

I have to give it to him though. The way that he handled the whole situation was very admirable.

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Some months later he contacted me again and suggested meeting. I hadn’t tried contacting him before since I was feeling guilty of being the bad guy in the situation. Even before actually meeting, he told me that he was coming out from another relationship, was in the middle of doing many changes in his life, was feeling stronger and happier than ever and wanted us to go for a pint as buddies. I didn’t see anything wrong with that, so we went out.

What he had told me was true. I could tell that he was in a happier place. He managed to get rid of some extra weight that he wanted to, making him look much nicer, and also acquired a lot of new friends. He now had a few places where he was frequently going out, getting to know all the ‘regulars’ and really enjoying himself.

After that first time we met, we went out lots of times. We went clubbing, dancing, drinking and I met some of his friends who seemed really nice people that I’d like to get to know more. He had hinted about going and staying over at his place for some ‘fun’, but nothing more. I thought that he was just being his usual horny self (he’s Brazilian after all) and I politely declined almost all of the times. I only recently slept with him (before meeting ‘JJ’) during that night of passion when I shared the ‘Brazilian’ with another guy. We became good friends that even if we didn’t meet very frequently, we had a good connection.

Unfortunately, the ‘Brazilian’ needs a green card to stay in the UK and they declined his latest application for renewal. That meant that he can’t stay any longer here. He tried to arrange a white civil partnership with one of his mates to get residency, but that was declined as well. His plan now is to go to Brazil for a while, get married there and come back as a UK resident. I don’t know how much that will take though. So, unfortunately, the ‘Brazilian’ is leaving…

I’m quite gutted about that.
His friends are organizing a surprise goodbye party. I’ve accepted the invitation for that event and I also wanted to take part in the arrangements / gift purchasing etc. That party will take place this weekend.

I sent him a text yesterday to go for a pint. I hadn’t seen him for a while, even before I went away for Easter, and I felt bad about it for not standing by him at this difficult time. His reply was a very long message in facebook.

I’m not going to go too much into detail.
He told me that he thinks I’m a great guy and that he is still in love with me. That the last time we went out, since we were just the two of us, made him realize how strongly he felt for me still. However, he knows how happy I am with ‘JJ’, so now seeing me makes him feel heartbroken and sad. He was sure that he wouldn’t like to see me again at the moment and that he needs time. Maybe, when he comes back from Brazil…

I was shocked. OK, I suspected that he might still like me, but not that much, to actually not want to see me again. I was of course flattered but the fact. I can be kind of slow (or insecure) sometimes and I don’t normally see when people are flirting with me.
However I am mostly sad that I will not get to see him before he leaves. I contacted his best mate in facebook to ask him and it was confirmed that it would be better if I don’t go to the surprise goodbye party…

When all the gods are conspiring against me…

I don’t want to talk about work. I really don’t…
However, I’m starting to feel that my vacation period must have irritated one of the gods (or more) and he or she wants to get back at me for it. They can be a very jealous lot.

I have a deadline, for tomorrow. I’ve been working on it nonstop to finish it since I got back. I’m running out of time but I am determined to get everything done on time.

I’ve even took the files needed at home yesterday to take a look at, even after I’ve left work late. The files I was working on did not open at my PC. I thought that the problem was caused while copying them.

Alas, the problem was at the files themselves. They’re corrupted. Everything I worked on for almost 3 hours yesterday evening is gone. Even the backups I made are backups of corrupted files (nice)…

Funnily enough, I’m trying to remain calm and I’ve succeeded in staying like that. I’m quickly progressing since I remember what I did yesterday and which pieces of code I should use from where. I’m so going to stay late tonight though…

Anyway, I’m sure I’ll be fine.
I’m leaving you on a happy note from here:

Back to reality…

After spending 10 days in Greece I’m back to London.

Overall I had an amazing time. I went to three different cities to see friends and family. I met some old university pals, friends from the army and mates from school. I tried to see everybody. It was at the end a bit tiring going through my same news for a tenth or fifteenth time, but I am not complaining. I even went out to some new gay bars in Thessaloniki (there weren’t that many). I was happily surprised to see them getting more popular and much busier than the old times.

The most common conversation topic is of course the recession and the mess that the Greek economy is in. I was very sad to see some of my friends going to unemployment, not being able to find work even if they are well educated, responsible people. My engineer friends were commenting on how almost all new constructions stopped and that the market is down leaving them without projects to work on. They just hope this situation will not last long.


On a happier note, I was spoiled rotten by my parents. I couldn’t easily say ‘no’ to my mother who wanted to stuff me with all kinds of food. She thinks that I lost a lot of weight (probably due to my running) and she wanted to change that. I started feeling like a small whale after some days, but I still couldn’t say no. It’s so nice not having to cook, do laundry, do dishes and get to taste the familiar lovely food that she cooks. Don’t get me wrong. If I suggested doing the dishes, for example, she would feel extremely offended. So, I spared us both the drama and I let her treat me the way she wanted to.


At the end, I had an overweight (apart from me) piece of luggage to check in for my flight yesterday. I had some gifts / food / orders of cigarettes that I had to carry with me. I have to get back to my weekly routine and start running / going to the gym again. The weather here seems to have improved drastically which always helps when doing outdoor sports…

I had some trouble coming to work this morning though. I didn’t know what I’d find. Apart from that, I didn’t want to leave a sleepy ‘JJ’ and a bed that seemed so welcoming. All is well though in the office. No major crises happened when I was away.


I have a deadline for something I have to finish till Wednesday though and I’m kind of under pressure. I blame the sales team who just promises everything to make a sale without much considering the time needed to do it and that I was on holiday and not having a very productive day. I have to get my hands dirty though and work if I don’t want to spend extra hours in the office the first days I’m back…

Numbers

N. 24/26132462 The bank account of the National Greek Bank accepting donations to eliminate Greece’s national debt (the saddest but also funniest thing I heard this year). Yes, there are TV commercials about it broadcasted here…

24 Are the minutes I spent in Church to witness the resurrection of Christ on Good Saturday.

3 The number of people died on accidents with fireworks during Easter Celebrations in Greece (some people will never learn unfortunately)

50,000 rockets are being fired each year in the island of Chios to celebrate Easter. Watch the video here. (Don’t try it at home)

23 The number of people attended my family’s Easter Day celebration, relatives and friends.

5.5 The number of hours the feast lasted

9 kg weighted the roasted lamb that we consumed that day, apart from all the sausages, steaks, burgers etc grilled. The whole animal was skewed and roaster for more than 5 hours:


5 kg heavier I expect to return back home

Holiday…

It’s Saturday afternoon. It’s almost Easter time.

I arrived in Greece two days ago. My journey here was pretty uneventful although I did travel for almost 12 hours. I really don’t know how I managed to do that since Greece is only 4 hours flight away. It probably has to do with my mood when I was booking my flight. I was feeling quite stringy that day so I booked the cheapest possible flights which meant staying in the airport of Munich as a midway stop for 3.5 hours! It wasn’t the smartest move I could have done since I the money I saved I spent in coffees / food / silly buys in the airport while waiting for the next flight. However, I have to say that Munich’s airport is really nice. I think it’s the first airport I’ve been to that offers free Jacobs coffee and also has a sex shop. I haven’t traveled that much outside Europe, so I don’t know how it is in other countries but the existence of a sex shop in the airport I found intriguing…

Anyway, putting the sex shop aside, I’m enjoying my stay here a lot. I’ve already seen some of my old friends. I’ve even been in Lent for three days. (I exclude a nice wurst I had in Munich on Thursday which doesn’t count since travelers are excluded from Lent anyway). I’m not doing it out of religious reasons but out of custom. It’s Easter, I’m in Greece and I thought that some kind of detox will be good for me. It’s even easier since the only food in the house is dairy and meat free. I’m also going to Church tonight to ‘witness’ the resurrection of Christ. Someone has to be there for that job...

After that, it's all Chocolate Bunnies / Huge portions of Roast feasts with friends and family...

(just because I was in detox for three days)

HAVE A HAPPY EASTER!!!!

Enjoy the days off, for those of you that have some!

Also, I'd like to wish to Suf a quick recovery! Get well soon my friend! All the best to you...