Geeky stuff and marble cakes.

I’ve been very busy during and after work lately which explains a bit the lack of blogging. I have a big interview tomorrow. When I say ‘big’, I mean it. It is for a position that I am very interested in which will open lots of doors for me, but it also lasts way too long. I have to be there before 9am and I’m planned to leave after 4:30pm. They call it ‘evaluation day’ and I fear it will be a nightmare.

I’ve been working non stop every evening on a presentation I’ll have to do for them regarding a small applet I’ve programmed myself. I decided to do a simple image viewer. There’s a login screen where the user enters user name and password which is compared to the data stored in a file and a series of images displayed in a separate screen with ‘back’, ‘next’ button etc. It’s not something major, but I believe it to be correct in ‘theory’ which matters. I’ve tried to follow all the rules and regulations of object oriented programming. What worry me most about tomorrow though are silly things like ‘group exercise’! I don’t have any experience in them. Anyway, I hope it’ll be OK.

Staying on the same subject, I’ve ordered my new phone yesterday, renewing my mobile phone contract. OK, it’s not entirely the same subject, although I believe that the programming / geekiness subject might include tech gadgets. Anyway, it only took 3 phone calls, waiting for half an hour for someone to talk to and threatening I’m quitting them. They finally gave me the contract terms I wanted and knew they’d give me. I went for the Nokia N8, which is admittedly not the easiest phone out there with the best operating system but it has an amazing camera (12MP Carl Zeiss optics) and good hardware. I had my eyes on that gadget since September. I’m not that interested about silly billion applications as long as it plays my music.

OK, now I’m changing the subject, Monday’s Valentine’s Day. I’m not a great fan of the day. Last year I didn’t even mention it on my blog. I don’t believe in all the corny gift giving red shaped rituals one has to follow. I don’t like the fact that in a way you’re forced to show your love for someone. I totally prefer unexpected small gestures of someone’s affection than actually being forced to do so. I like receiving and giving flowers and small presents when not expected.

However, I don’t want to sound that obnoxious. I know ‘JJ’ will get me a card, so I’ll get him one too. He has already booked a table for us to go and have dim sum that evening. Just the though of the possible banal decoration of the restaurant is giving me shivers but I promise to keep my mouth shut so that I will not ruin the atmosphere. I’ve done the same for us and I’ve booked Korean bbq the following Saturday. I’m also checking if we’ll manage to go to an exclusive gym to enjoy an indoor heated swimming pool and Jacuzzi.

What I finally think of doing is baking him a cake. I’ve never ever in my life made desert before. I like baking and cooking but I do not generally have a ‘sweet tooth’. When people bring me chocolates, they might stay there unopened for days. I’m still trying to finish a box of really nice milk and almond chocolates I received before Christmas. So, the plan is to actually make something chocolaty from scratch, either a chocolate marble cake or chocolate brownie. I’m checking the ‘BBC good food’ with the label ‘Easy’ next to it. I hope it will look decent and taste nice. I also hope I’ll have fun making it.