10 random things

• I got an ‘above expectations’ performance on my appraisal yesterday! I was so glad. If only they knew… But if they’re happy, I’m happy. Unless of course they had no expectations whatsoever.
• I was told in the same meeting though that I should speak up more. This is something I've acknowledged and should improve. In very big groups, especially with senior people, I’m not going to easily make a stand and talk / argue. I get nervous, my accent gets worse, I stutter and no one understands me.  Getting to know the people in my new department and getting more experience in the field helps though. And if I start, there is no turning back.
• A work colleague has a ridiculous face tan that he got wearing big goggles while skiing. I’m so jealous, even if I've never been skiing in my life. I prefer summer sports but having a bad face tan in the middle of bad weather season is just so cool.
• Another work colleague changed his work role to a part time position to pursue a career in writing novels. That’s so good for him. I wish I had a talent like that. Especially, when it comes to writing, I would have loved being good at it. I’ve actually read something he’s written and it’s very promising
• Most of the random things I had to use in this list of random points of the day sounded a bit negative, so I’m not going to use them. I need to think of something different instead. My plan of the day is to be positive.
• My next small experiment is to try listening to an audiobook while running. I usually listen to music, but then I end up hating songs I used to like for listening to them too many times while exercising. So, starting with Miranda’s latest book I’ll hit the roads. I needed something not too engaging but rather fun. There’s an app called audible from Amazon with a free 30 days trial. That will give me plenty of time to check this form of running. I wonder how that will go. My concern is that I get too distracted and get hit by a car. I hope not.
• I've also started another personal project. I was thinking that it wouldn't harm acquiring a Microsoft IT certificate (MCSE) based on things I've been doing at work. I’m not entirely convinced that they are worth it and if employers look for them. But my educational background is in engineering and what I’m working on now is IT. Of course having some real job experience counts more, but having a certificate (any certificate) to back that experience wouldn't harm. Also, since I've been learning things on the job from other employees or online (stackoverflow) that doesn't mean I’m learning things properly. Reading a book or two might help me get better understanding.  Acquiring that certificate though means passing 5 different exams. So, that might take a while… 
• Apart from struggling to choose a dog breed, when the time comes, it might be harder to pick a dog name. I assume Darth Vader or Victor von Doom is out of the question?
• My Greek friend was asked at her first day at work if in Greece people speak ‘Arabic’. The person asking the question was surprised to find out that there is a language called ‘Greek’! These stories amuse me so much! 
• What’s been on my mind though the most the last days is the trouble I've been having with my phone. It randomly freezes and I can only restart it to make it come back to life. I've tried formatting it by restoring the factory settings and reinstalling only very few applications. It’s generally more stable now, but it still crashes. That can be very annoying and I haven’t managed to find a proper solution online. Everybody says different things. So, I need to keep on trying different setups to see which one would work.