The blue screen of Death…

I’m pretty sure that most of you are familiar with it. It’s the blue screen appearing while working on Windows just before it shuts down / restarts / crushes. I was pretty sure that this screen was extinct by now. Unfortunately for me, it hasn’t. It still does appear in a Windows XP, Service Pack 3 machine, my machine that I run at work.


I spent a full day yesterday and half a day today trying to fix it but in vain. Fortunately, there are more a dozens of PCs that I can choose from to keep on working but I really want to make my old one work. I am now running memory tests, driver updates, malware removals and everything known to my disposal to fix this. Unfortunately, I have to rush back to my old desk to pick up the phone and provide support using a PC that is in a nearby desk. It’s all very high tech, I assure you…

This is what happened to me yesterday, the first day of the week, of course on a MONDAY!



My weekend was pretty nice. It took us 6 hours to drive to Newcastle and 5 to come back. So, I spent in total around 11 hours in a car, singing, dancing, being bored and trying to do everything in our powers to make the journey nicer. There are some things I have to comment on our weekend.

The first thing I’d like to comment is that Newcastle in general is a beautiful city. It’s quite picturesque with beautiful bridges, nice buildings and shops. We went to an incredible Turkish restaurant for dinner and for drinks after that. The prices of the restaurants and bars there are so cheap there, it’s scandalous. ‘JJ’ had as a main a big whole grilled sea-bass for £11 and the cocktails in the bar cost £2.5 each! Find a place in London where you can get a whole grilled fish for that price!



However, I can’t not comment on the locals! They are very friendly, but the way they are dressed is extraordinary! Most women were dressed in very short, very bright coloured dresses, very high heels in colours like bright orange or light green, eye-popping fake jewellery and enormous hats / fake flowers on their heads! The heavy makeup and hair that look like they just got out of the hairdresser’s are also visible! They must have been spending a fortune and their whole day getting ready, just to go out for drinks on a Saturday evening! You really have to see it, to believe it!

In general, men there are good looking, if you are into that kind of rough look. I’m not going to use the word ‘Chav’ but I definitely had problems understanding them. Most of youngsters were into bright white sneakers, very tight t-shirts and jeans. The vast majority had tattoos on their arms, very short hair and some chains around their necks.

What else I’d like to comment is the drinking! They consume tremendous amounts of alcohol! As a matter of fact, even the next morning that we headed for breakfast in the hotel, some people were having their morning pints (yes, in plural) at 9:00 on a Sunday morning.

We planned it so that we’d be back to London when the football match was on. That way most of the roads were empty, so we didn’t have any problem with traffic…

Happy Friday…

I’m so happy this week is finally (almost) over. It sure started with a blast (work wise in not a very good way) but it got better. Almost every issue we had has been sorted out and now we are waiting for the arrival of my manager on Monday. Let’s hope he will not be too grumpy after the end of his vacations. We’ll see.

Regarding my plans for the future, I have to say that I’ve upgraded my CV, started contacting people to get recommendations on LinkedIn and also uploaded my CV on a couple of websites. I’ve even applied for two different positions, one of which is quite intriguing. I don’t know if it is good or bad, but what I do is quite particular and finding available positions is not very easy. Do not forget that with the current economic situation of this country not many companies are hiring anyway. At least I feel like I am not staying idle, but I am doing something to improve my situation. Having my current job is not bad, so I don’ really mind staying here until I find the opportunity I want.

This weekend is “Road Trip” weekend. We have to go to Newcastle to get some stuff from a warehouse (long story) so we’ll be driving there and back in two days. We’re leaving tomorrow, early in the morning, stay overnight in a nice hotel close to the river and we’ll get back the next day. I talked about our weekend plan to some English colleagues of mine to get the same response from everyone: “You’re Crazy” (with capital C). It’s supposed to be around 5-hour journey to go and another 5 to get back (If you’re lucky).

Because we are not that lucky planning for this trip a couple of months ago, this weekend is the end of the Glastonbury Festival. That means that on the Sunday, I don’t know how many thousands people will be driving back to London. Fortunately Glastonbury is due west and Newcastle is on the north, but still, by the time we’ll be arriving to London, most roads will be packed. Although I’m thinking how amazing it would be for someone to invent teleportation, I hope that we’ll have some fun goofing around in the car (for hours and hours). I do really have to thank ‘JJ’ who will be our driver for the whole trip! He doesn’t really have to do that, but he will.

Beam me up Scotty

So, I wish to you all a nice weekend. “See” you next week… I’m leaving you with some Garfield posts:

Future plans…

I started my week working for a little bit more than 12 hours. That was not a nice Monday. What was most irritating was the fact that it wasn’t my fault. They forgot to tell me that the next day’s visit to a client included stuff that I didn’t know about, that needed preparation! Oops, indeed…
At least I got the time off in lieu which I can use in the next 4 weeks. I smell a long weekend soon…

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On a slightly different matter: I was recently enjoying a nice cup of java with my housemate. She turned around at some point, looked me in my eyes and asked me:“Where do you think you’ll be in 5 years”?My first reaction was laughter. When I managed to put myself together, I realized that I had absolutely no idea where I’d like to be in 5 years.


When I confessed that to her, she admitted not having any goals in her life as well, but she’d like to change that. She fears that having no goals in your life can make you wonder aimlessly for years, not achieving anything in your life.That thought put me slightly at unease.

I’ve always respected the saying: ‘Want to make God laugh? Tell him your plans’! There are so many unpredictable variables in life that can totally change your direction, make you see things differently and make unusual choices. I am not a fatalist though. I know that if you want to achieve something in life, you have to provoke Fate and try your best. Since I was in the first year of my university in Greece, I always wanted to finish a Postgraduate degree in London and stay to work. After some years, I’ve arranged it so and here I am!So? What happens next? Where would I truly be in 5 to 6 years time? (I say 6 because I’ll be 35 by then).

In order to reply to that question, I was trying to find first which things would make me happy. I don’t want to be too materialistic but the first thing that came to my mind was physical possessions. I’d like to probably own, or be in the process of buying a house.


Will I be in the financial position to do something like that? Most likely not in my current job! That thought made me question my next career move. I wouldn’t like to be in the same job in five years. I like it, but in a small company like mine, there is no prospect of development. If I stay here, I’ll probably be doing the same thing in 6 years which I wouldn’t like. I’ve already planned acquiring a certificate in programming, but until now I haven’t taken it very seriously. I wanted to take the exam until the end of June, that was my New Year’s resolution, but I cannot see that happening any time soon. So, I have to alter that plan, but stick to it…


So, I’d like to have a better job and probably be looking for a place to buy. What about my personal life? Would I like to be with ‘JJ’ in 6 years? Will I be living with him?I’d like to be with someone in 6 years and have the maturity to settle down, live happily with someone and maybe own a pet. (I’ve always wanted a dog or a cat and never had one. Getting a dog means to me that I am responsible enough to own it. I’d never get one now with the hectic lifestyle I have). I don’t know however if I can see myself with ‘JJ’ in 6 years (is that bad?). I wouldn’t mind if I was, but I just don’t know if I will be. I can’t think that much ahead for that…


What I’d really love to do in the next 6 years is finish a marathon (waiting for my application to be approved), dive in various clean blue sea waters (at least in Greece this summer) and do more fundraising for NGOs (running for Cancer Research each year, volunteering for ‘Action Against Hunger’ etc). Can I also ask for a trip to South America and Australia?

However, all this planning made me think something completely different. What if after all this planning and dreams nothing comes to life? Am I setting myself to be extremely disappointed all by myself? And even if I do realize my plans, will I be truly happy? Will it be worth it?

I have some more brainstorming to do on how I will achieve my goals...

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Greece National Football team said goodbye yesterday to the World Cup. I’m leaving you with some pictures of our really good looking goalkeeper who did an amazing job yesterday:

What is it in a name…

I had a very busy week, last week. I am not complaining though. I love it when it is like that. I had to go Essex (see picture) to some clients for an installation and also help prepare the new version of our software. My manager is away this week to a Greek island and everything had to be ready before his departure. Funnily enough it was me that had to stay late a couple of nights to work on stuff.

Southend-On-Sea

While having that whole hectic atmosphere in the office, I had my annual appraisal meeting. It went a little bit strange. My manager likes me. He knows he can depend on me and we work together quite well. He said some really nice stuff about me. What I didn’t like was my director’s comments. He said that I shouldn’t waste time on clients’ demands more than needed. Bear in mind that my job some days is to do technical support, meaning talking to clients to solve their problems. He probably needed to say something negative so that he will not give pay rises to us at the end of year.

I took this picture this Wednesday afternoon
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That’s enough with work related issues. (It’s my excuse for not blogging enough this week). On a different matter:

I finished reading the ‘A million miles from Normal’ some days ago, written by my virtual blog friend Paige. I have to say that I loved it. If I really (really) had to find something negative to say, that would be that the plot was slightly predicable. It’s a romantic comedy however, so to be honest some things are expected. I only comment on something bad, so that you wouldn’t say I am totally subjective on her behalf.


On the other hand, it is a very well written story. I could totally see Sandra Bullock playing Rachel Marcus and someone like Dylan McDermott playing Jerrod. I loved the facebook updates comments here and there, giving a slightly different touch to the story. The characters are very real and the story as well. It’s a very entertaining story that I’d highly recommend for a relaxing summer read that you wouldn’t like to finish...By the way, is the ‘Five Roses’ tea that good?

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I saw Robyn this week in Heaven. That’s a club in central London, part of the famous (?) ‘G-A-Y’ and ‘G-A-Y late’ venues.

While we were waiting in the queue to get into the club, there was a guy giving to the people waiting some wristbands. They were for something called ‘I blame Coco’. At first I thought they could be for a demonstration or something and I was trying to think who Coco is and what she did wrong. My mind even travelled to Coco Channel! What could she have done wrong? Was it a band against skirts or something?

We were then told that ‘I blame Coco’ is the name of the rock band supporting Robyn. The wristbands were passwords to download for free some of their songs. They were quite good actually. I liked them a lot.

I blame Coco live

Robyn was also a pleasant surprise. She has an amazing energy that she was able to transfer to the crowd. I danced and danced. It was amazing. I had a really nice out, that day.

Robyn live...

Active life…

I’ve really enjoyed my last week very much. It involved many different physical activities that I truly enjoyed and I would like if possible to keep on trying stuff. I went swimming on Tuesday, scuba diving on Wednesday, to the gym with my personal trainer on Thursday and cycling on Saturday!

I’ve already registered to take the full course to become an open water diver with PADI. The difference with being a ‘PADI scuba diver’ is that I will be able to dive on my own (it will not happen soon I promise you) and be more serious about the whole things. The specialties provided vary and they all look very cool. How about learning to be a ‘fish identifier’, an ‘underwater photographer’ or a ‘wreck diver’?


Anyway (back to reality) we were discussing with ‘JJ’ of taking a trip somewhere around the UK to go cycling. That would include us taking the train from London to a nice destination, probably rent a bike there, cycle to a picturesque location around, spend the night in a bed and breakfast and come back the next day. The plan seems simple enough and interesting. The only (minor) problem is that I don’t have a bicycle of my own and the last time I really cycled was when I was 13 or 14. ‘JJ’ cycles back and forth to work all the time so he’s a very competent cyclist. However, I needed to do a ‘test drive’ before booking train tickets, accommodation etc. That’s what we did this Saturday.

The day before, on Friday, I went to ‘JJ’s place to take his housemate’s bicycle. He was kind enough to lend it to me for a day. Little did he know how inexperienced I was. The moment I started readjusting it and moving the saddle around I managed to break its rear mudguard! I was shocked and I felt awful about it but ‘JJ’ uncontrollably started laughing. I was quite upset but I learnt that they are not that expensive, easy to replace and easy to break. I’d just buy a new one before I gave it back…

I tried to put myself together and cycle back to my place (our journey would start from there the next day). It was quite an interesting ride through ‘Fulham Palace Road’ to Hammersmith. I was scared shitless of the traffic. I had buses next to me, stopped cars opening doors, junctions without traffic lights, people crossing and everything else happening around me at the same time. I also had to remain balanced (of course) on the bicycle the whole time…

I survived the experience though and the next day we took the morning train to Cambridge!

Our entire day there was brilliant. The weather with some sunny spells was perfect for us. We first cycled to Grantchester and Trumpington. In Grantchester there is a placed called ‘the Orchard Tea garden’. It was first established in 1897 and serves lunch, tea and scones in an amazing garden. With good weather this place is really nice, relaxing and worth visiting.

The Orchard Tea Garden (Very English)

After that, we cycled back to Cambridge. We passed through the center and followed the canal in a northern direction. I don’t know if this is the case each week but there were many rowers from different colleges that day. The colleges had allocated areas in Stourbridge Common where students sat to cheer for their teams and have bbqs and drinks. It was very busy but nice at the same time. After sitting there for while we had lunch in a really nice pub called ‘Fort St George’ by the canal before heading back to the station.

Punting on the canal

Watching the rowers while chilling under the sun

In general we cycled for 3 to 4 hours. With the breaks we took for tea, laying on the grass on the Common and enjoying lunch in the pub we spent our whole day in Cambridge. My knees and ass were very sore by the end of the day but I totally loved it. If I try this kind of day trips more often I’ll be ready for a whole weekend of cycling…

Not afraid of water are you?

Yesterday I had my introductory course in scuba diving in the London School of Diving. Their initials are LSD but I am not going to comment on that. It was an amazing experience.


We arrived there on our scheduled time. We met our co-students and instructors. Everyone was very friendly and the atmosphere relaxing and fun. There were 5 trainees (3 guys, 2 gals) with two trainers (a guy and a girl). One of the trainers was constantly humming ‘Copacabana’ and was begging us to help her change the tune in her brain.

After signing a list of forms that practically say we will not die on them in the swimming pool, we were briefed on what we would be doing that day. We went through the gear (on land), the hand gestures (you can’t really speak underwater), the change of the water pressure as you go deep, the way to pop your ears and how you shouldn’t really tease the underwater sea life because it can be dangerous (general knowledge since we were meant to dive in a swimming pool). After that, we headed to the changing rooms and the swimming pool.


The room of the swimming pool was amazingly hot. They had set the temperature to around 34 degrees! Maybe they do it to motivate the people to go in the water without complaining. We first tried some masks and fins. You are supposed to suck the air out of the mask to make it stick to your face without holding it or having the straps on. Having a beard made that difficult for me. The trainer suggested putting some Vaseline on it. He commented that using Vaseline would be awkward but it’s the best solution if you don’t want to lose the mustache. I told him that I don’t have a problem doing that, laughing inside that I am not that unfamiliar on using Vaseline (while going running for the nipples, what did you guys think? gosh).

After finding a proper set of masks and fins we all jumped into the swimming pool. The trainers went to each one of us and showed us the gear again while helping us wear it. When everybody was set we simply took our first dive and kneeled on the shallow end of the swimming pool. It felt kind of weird breathing underwater. It didn’t felt that natural at the beginning (at least for me) and I had to think in order to remind myself to breath.

Then the exercises began. We had to remove the regulator under the water and try to retrieve it and start breathing again without of course drowning or drinking half the swimming pool. The first rule of diving is never to hold your breath (water pressure) which means that even if without the air regulator on, you need to slowly exhale all the time because the instructor wants to see bubbles coming out of your mouth. So, the first time I took the regulator out I was slowly doing the previously demonstrated movement of retrieving it while exhaling. I unfortunately ran out of air in the process and slightly panicked because I thought I didn’t have the time to put the regulator back on and start breathing normally so I emerged to the surface slightly out of breath. Having done that, I felt tense and my second exercise didn’t go that well either. I was supposed to allow some water to go into my mask and try to remove it while being underwater. The beard wasn’t helping much. So I wasn’t able to do it perfectly well and I needed to emerge for a second time…


While the instructors were going through these two basic (for them at least) exercises, I managed to calm myself and started again to enjoy the experience of being underwater. I realized how keeping yourself calm can be sometimes challenging but probably life saving. Under normal circumstances in scuba diving, when I am supposed to be deep under water I cannot afford to lose my focus and panic to go back to the surface. I probably need some more practice…

After we were done with all these, we moved to the part of the swimming pool that was much deeper (ok 3 meters deep is not THAT deep but it was enough for the first time). We had a plastic shark, a plastic torpedo, a Frisbee and a hula-hoop to play with! The trainers did everything possible to keep us entertained. I think we stayed in the deep for more than half an hour. We tossed the plastic toys and the Frisbee around and we swam through the hula-hoop. I am proud to say that I successfully manage to remove water from my mask many times without a problem although I didn’t even try to remove my regulator.

After all that, the session was over. It lasted for about 2 hours and I enjoyed it very much. I can’t begin to think how interesting and fun that would be in the sea! I enrolled to do the next part of the course which is spending some more time in the swimming pool, some written exams and a dive in a lake for the exams. After the end of all these I will be ready to start diving in other places of the world!

Trying out diving was something that I always wanted to do but never tried. Needless to say that I mentioned it to my mother the phone later on and I can’t say she’s thrilled with the idea but anyway! I’m very happy to have that box ticked for things I want to try in my life!

Judgments

Over the years the relationship I have with technology has dramatically changed. I used to play lots of video games and was trying to keep up with the technological achievements like buying the latest mobile phones or DVD player when they were first released. My parents were a bit like that too. I remember buying one of the first VHS, CD and DVD players when they still were mostly unknown.

Now, things have changed. I don’t play video games on my PC anymore and I’m not that interested in even buying a console like a wii or a PS3. However, I love reading and I know the video games’ latest releases. I know for example when ‘Starcraft II’ will be released even if my laptop could never support it and load it. I also love going through gadget websites reading reviews of stuff I will probably never buy.

The latest buzz of course in all these websites is the new upcoming iPhone 4. Let me ask you the simplest of questions: why?


OK, I have to admit that I never had one and I am mostly commenting on other people’s experiences and what has been written. However, if you go through what the new version of the iphone has to offer are things that other phones had for years now. Some form of multitasking, a 5 MP camera, video recording and video calls are something that other phones had for years (for example my Nokia N95 had all that and was first released in 2007)! Bear also in mind that the video calls only works through iphones and if you are accessing the internet through wi-fi. That means that the iphone as a phone shouldn’t be that successful (in fact it’s crap). However Apple did something right and managed to win so many people over! (Not to forget that flash is not supported by iphone still).

The first thing I really have to give to them is marketing and product design! The iphone looks really good. The new version looks even better. It’s slick and tasteful. Even the box that you get with the phone is stylish like most Apple products. The marketing campaign supporting it is very good. It captures the eye and it is everywhere.

I also have to admit that releasing a version of their products with the minimum of possibilities and then reintroducing a new version with a little extra every time works like a charm. The second, third and now the fourth version of the iphone only introduced capabilities that even the first iphone should have (5MP camera on the 4th version? Really?). However, I know people that went through and bought every single one of them. The same will happen with ipad. There will be a new release of the ipad with a little extra each time to make people buy them.


I have to admit however that the only reason this not-so-great-as-a-phone gadget is successful are its applications. There are so many of them and it is impossible not to find something you will like. Nokia or Google applications are not near as varied although they are trying. Applications like ‘grindr’ or ‘Lose It!’ are things most of the gays love (and I don’t blame them).

I’ve always been a Nokia fan. I loved them since I was younger and I still own one. I’m trying to resist the temptation of getting an iphone even if it means that I am a minority between my friends (especially the gays). I might go for the next Android phone but I don’t know yet. I still think that Apple is all about looks and not about substance. They managed to be amazingly successful simply providing a platform that simply accepts applications which other developers created. Most of the people owning an iphone admit that is a lousy phone but they can’t now leave without one.

On the other hand I love the idea of developers earning so much money by creating applications for the iphone. I don’t want to upset people that love the iphone. I don’t blame them. I can see how easy to use it is, helpful and entertaining. I'm sorry, it is just not for me (at least yet).

Grumpy old man…

Generally I am an optimistic person. I try and see the glass half full most of the times. I’ve also promised that I won’t be whining about things through this blog and I think that I’m managing that. (I think)…


However, there are some days (like today) that I can’t help thinking how wonderful it would be to simply be million miles from here!

The weather is abysmal! We are almost in midsummer but it feels like mid autumn, early winter.
My foot hurts. The cut I managed to do two days ago is still giving me troubles walking and is even affecting my sleep (especially if you’re like me twisting and turning at night which might result in sharp pain outbursts during the night).

After gym this morning, I went to get a cup of coffee as a normal human being, trying to ignore the pain the tight sport shoes had given me in the gym earlier. In front of me was a blonde with a ponytail, flip flop wearing, talking-on-the-phone-while-ordering girl! It really crossed my mind to struggle her. She was wearing flip flops although it was raining since yesterday, she didn’t know what kind of coffee to order, plus she wanted to find her wallet and pay while talking on the phone. She did this annoying gesture of holding her pink mobile phone between her elbow and ear while talking, placed her huge handbag on the counter while browsing I don’t know what to find her purse! I think the guy behind the counter was almost ready to start serving other people since the queue was getting bigger and bigger when she managed to find it! Still talking on the phone, she added sugar to her coffee and went to find a table!

Don't get me started about what's happening at work...

Ok, I feel better (and slightly embarrassed) now since I got this out of my chest. I’ve started singing in my head ‘I want to break free’ while NOT imagining myself vacuuming in a tight leather skirt!


It’s only two months and 20 days since my proper summer vacation, so I should be fine, right?

Accomplishments

Don’t really ask me how I did it, but I did! If you ask me now to recreate the same issue, I’m pretty sure I will not be able to do so…

What is it that I managed to do?

I cut my left foot, next to my small toe, using the nail of the small toe of my right foot.
(Yes, you are allowed to read it more than once if it doesn’t make sense).
Yes, I do cut my toe nails (occasionally).
Yes, I am that flexible (apparently).

I was sitting on the floor with my legs crossed (my favorite position to work on my laptop). When I was trying to get up, I clumsily fell. Unfortunately the cut is quite deep, in an inconvenient location when I wear shoes (or walk) and more than 2 cm wide!!

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On a different and much nicer subject, I’ve booked this week to do my first ever scuba diving lesson! This is something I’ve always wanted to do but I never really managed. I am a fairly good swimmer and I’ve always been fond of the sea since I grew up next to it. Diving however was something my mother feared and forbade us of trying while growing up. Some of her ancestors were divers collecting natural sponges. Back then, in the beginning of the previous century, there weren’t really any safety measures, so most of them grew to have various serious health problems. As a small child she was listening to these stories so she wasn’t very fond of the idea of me and my brother diving.

So, in a couple of days I'm going to the London School of Diving for my first class. I don't expect too much since it is just introductory. It lasts for 2.5 hours though, so I hope I'll get my first look at breathing underwater in a swimming pool. If everything goes well, when I go to the Greek island this summer I'll dive in crystal clear warm waters...

I so want to try that!

OK, I am not going to try anything like that… It’s an amazing video though:

Ecological disaster…

I’ve been going through the BP oil spill news that was triggered by an explosion on the April 20th. I can’t believe how after so many days they still haven’t managed to contain it even a little bit. I can’t even begin to think the effects that is having to the environment which is already under so much pressure! I really don’t care about the price of the BP stocks or the legal damages. We humans are doing so much harm to our planet it's so frustrating.

I ran into this website. You can check the size of the spill in comparison to other areas of the world. I don’t think it’s very accurate, but that is not the point… It’s a very scary picture

What if theaccident happened in London...

I have to mention this…

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Things I've...

Some of the thing's I've received from South Africa:
(I'll read the book and let you know. I loved the small hand-made elephant and the zebra salad thongs)


Things I've eaten on Sunday, while having a very short sunny spell:
(that's a boerewors being cooked)


Things I watched:

I have to admit it was better than expected (I expected it to be simply awful)

A nice action movie. It will def not win an award for scenario or acting but worth watching if you are into this kind of movies.

I've seen this cool car in Putney:

That was part of my weekend in pictures. How was yours?