Be the first to read my latest entries on the New WOBM Blog!!!
Friday, April 27, 2007
7 Hours Till the Big Trip
Yes, folks, in 7 hours, I'll be on my way to Athens. I still have 2 more hours at the office, so there are actually 5 hours left for....
....for my list of what I should have done, but didn't. Here it is! Should I mention I am pretty sure most of it will still remain in the "to do" state and not promoted to "done" after 7 hours?
get my luggage ready calmly (i.e. not in a 10 minutes race)
not forget anything I need back in Bucharest
pick my mom from the station
get some sleep before going
shower, long shower...
burn some audio CDs for the road
find already burned audio CDs
print maps of Bulgaria and Greece, just in case
download larger maps and transfer them to my laptop
make some sandwiches for the road (help will be available here)
make coffee for the road (I have this cool cup from my dad that you can use to heat the drink while driving :P)
buy Red Bull for the road (what?!? It's a 16-hour-drive! All help is needed)
talk to Trisi Sis enough to last for these few days (no chance for that now...:((. Sis, where have you been hiding?)
Prepare important papers such as car papers/driver's license/passport/ID. Do not forget said papers at home...
Pray hard that I make it in under 16 hours :D
Pray hard to actually find the hotel easily
Pray some more..
Wish me luck! I will need it. If I get back safely, I will brag about how cool I've been driving so much with no help from other drivers!
Today has been one of those days when your head swirls and you have no idea how time passes by. One gets to the office, turns the computer on, grabs a cup of coffee and starts working. A blink of an eye later, it's lunch time. You then come back, more tasks, a brief meeting announcing more to come. Another blink of an eye later...OMG, it's 5.30 pm already! Soon I should leave and I still have plenty to do.
Yes, we have all had such days. My problem? I absolutely love it. The challenge is there, real, keeping me under huge amounts of pressure, but it has the effect of an adrenaline rushing extreme sport. I missed it. I am glad it's back!
According to a statistic carried out by BestJobs.ro, some 19,000 users of the largest headhunting portal in Romania look for work in Romania, rather than abroad.
BestJobs.ro officials said that the figures is constantly growing this year. The most interested are Romanians living in Germany, France, United Kingdom, Italy and Spain.
Interesting, but quite incomplete...So I checked the article in Romanian, hoping to get more details. Not much though. What I wanted to know is: -19,000 of how many? - is the proportion the same on other portals? - is there an estimation of how many people actually work abroad? - do most of them want to come back?
Using a Romanian jobs portal seems inappropriate. First of all, because the majority of jobs offered by it are in Romania. So if you offer only a few jobs abroad and they are not interesting for all users, of course you get such proportions...This seems like a nice and devious way to promote BestJobs. Am I wrong? I doubt it. I do have to say they chose an interesting approach. It does catch one's eye. But then again, to make the story work, it needed more data.
Never, never doubt your path again! Yes, it is true what they say, a door is never closed without God opening a window for you. I should remember that each time I feel disappointed.
It was designed by the very Cool Trisi, of course. Just for me! The logo and the header were a present for my birthday but they were implemented in the template only a few minutes ago. Don't you just love it? I do :P See more of Trisi's photography and posts here and here.
Well, I thought I'd spend the Labor Day prolonged weekend close to home. So, I decided to try Constanta for a few days. Seaside on May 1st, now that's something I always wanted and never did. So, I started looking for hotels. The cheapest room was around 30 EUR per night. Which is quite a lot! And I said no way, let's see other options.
I went to Booking.com (we'd used the same site for our Istanbul trip) and searched for hotels in Athens. Yup, 10 EUR less and it's like..ATHENS! Let's go people! For some reason, they all agreed on going. So, on Friday evening, I'll get in my car and drive for about 1250 km. Then spend three lovely days in Athens.
I know most of my friends are going to Bulgaria to spend Labor Day. Others are going to the mountains. Most hotels on the seashore won't be open. The rest of the hotels, where do they expect guests from? There is this little thing called competition, you should always think of it. Or you know, not going bankrupt anytime soon?
So, passengers: Silviana, D, a friend of Silviana's; driver: yours truly.
The Tulips Symphony is a yearly event that takes place in Pitesti. You can read more about it and see a few snapshots of past editions here. This year, the event started on Friday, March 20, and lasted until Sunday. We were there on Saturday to celebrate the event.
Usually, waking up at 9 am is not a big problem for anyone. Well, given the fact that we went to bed at 4 am, the situation was not what you could call a normal one. Ryan and his friend Iulia (aka Olive) had come to visit us on Friday afternoon and we took them clubbing. It was a great night, but waking up the next morning did become just a little difficult. Well, we managed it eventually, picked up Cristinica on the way (she has already posted some photos), and one hour and a half later we were in Pitesti.
First we stopped by Silviana's place. Her mother prepared something to eat, then coffee and a great cake that I could not stop eating. A half an hour later, we got to Cristinica's place. Her mom had also cooked for us. So we started meal number two: steak, fries, pickles and salad. Then ice-cream. I only watched the others eat...But could not resist the coffee with cream that was next on the menu. So when we left to actually go see the symphony, we were all pretty much feeling like stuffed turkeys.
We got to the central area of the town and that's when Ryan and I turned into more than human beings. We had some weird devices attached to us that made us so much better! Yes, we were taking photos every five seconds :) We saw beautiful flowers everywhere! Tulips, lots of them, but also roses, orchids and cactus and any other flower you could dream of.
After all that walking we stopped for a quick drink and met some of Silviana's friends. At about 8 we were on our way back to Bucharest. We picked up D when arriving and went to the Plaza mall for some more food. Seasoned with conversations and drinks. I have to say I could hardly move when I got home!
Ariel was expelled from high-school because of posts written on his personal blog. See his version of the story and all the comments here (Romanian only unfortunately). As I saw, Radio 21 has already offered to help as many others will, I suppose.
So, this is how the Romanian education works: criticize and you pay! You my friend have no right to think differently. Do as you are told, think as imposed and you'll turn out just fine! Do not dare to say anything against us!
I am pretty sure there is no rule supporting this decision. What students do on their own time and outside schools has nothing to do with their right to get taught. I browsed through several posts and really see no reason for this...Then again, I am smart enough not to look for an explanation. Yes, people, at times Romania sucks big time! Like today.
Traian Basescu will watch from the presidential palace the evolution of the Parliamentarian vote on his suspension and will hold a press conference tonight, after the procedure is completed.
Basescu said his resignation will be wrote as soon as the Parliament suspends him and will be submitted as soon as the Constitutional Court decides that the suspension procedure was properly conducted. Article from here.
The same news portal, HotNews, published an article on an attempt (Romanian only) to gather people for a protest in Piata Universitatii (University Plaza). The protest against Basescu's suspension is scheduled for today, at 6.30 pm.
The Constitutional Court (CCR) decided that Basescu's constitutional "deviations" are not of nature to cause his suspension as president, yet the final word belongs to the Parliament.
Well, I'm with the President on this one! I prefer him to the Parliament as they are all a bunch of backstabbers and they switch sides for any reason. The President might not be far from them, but he's got more points from me in the end.
I will be at the Opera at the time anyway...Better choice! I am seriously thinking of never voting again. I simply feel there is nothing to choose from.
Update! It is done. President Basescu has been suspended. More in Romanian here and here. We are officially :presidentless", to quote Ryan.
President Traian Basescu participated in the spontaneous meeting in the University Square several hours after the Parliament voted in favor of his suspension on Thursday.
The matter of the resignation - which Basescu promised to submit as soon as possible in the event of his suspension - remained unclear, as his only official statement in this regard was: “I will do what’s best for Romania”.
Some of you might know the story of the Gold Fish who was once caught by a fisherman and granted him three wishes for being left alive. Well NetBoy has tagged me to tell you what my three wishes would be.
The first one would be world peace, but as I understand it: no conflicts whatsoever. No wars between countries, no internal conflicts, no family wars, no fights between neighbors, just a peaceful and constructive environment. Yes, it sounds lame, but it's what I need to be happy, knowing that while I am enjoying expensive coffees and buying clothes or perfume or a sandwich, no one gets killed. If there are no wars, we can then concentrate on fighting poverty and disease and whatever else keeps making us unhappy.
The second wish would be a career to keep me happy and allow me to do all the things I dream of doing: to see the world, be a photographer, keep writing, maybe publish a novel one day, help out people who need some help etc.
I would then wish for the family I always wanted. A boy and a girl would be a must, in that order if possible. If I get more kids, no problem with that. According to my calculations, which are far from being scientific, I am pretty sure I have a strong chance to have twins, so...
That's that. I tag everyone inspired by this meme.
Bloggers: The blogosphere is coming to an end. You have one last post. What is it going to be? What is the final summary of your blog? What is the one last gem that you want to leave with your readers?
Urban Monk has created this very interesting meme as he needs entries for a good cause. For each link back he gets he will put one dollar aside. The moment he reaches 500, he will donate the amount to a charity. Mig (Mihaela Lica) has tagged me with this one.
Dear all,
This is a sad moment for all of us and especially for me, as I am so attached to this blog for all that it has brought to me. It's been over years since I have created Words of a Broken Mirror and I still come back here with great joy every day.
First things first, I have to say a huge thank you to George. Besides teaching at my faculty and being quite good at it, his was the first blog I've ever read. His blogroll pointed out my first steps in the blogosphere and after a few months of reading, I decided I should have my own blog. I still check his blog daily.
So thank you all for sharing this experience with me, for your thoughts, experience, comments, views, emails, chats and conversations. The Internet will definitely be a lot duller without your contributions to the blogosphere.
P.S. All of you mentioned here can consider themselves tagged. And I remind you, this is for a good cause.
Views of a Broken Mirrors used to be my photoblog. Now it turned into something better. As it is a collaborative blog that I am the administrator of. Trisi agreed to join me in working on uploading more photos here. This is a photo from her first post which you can all see here.
I decided I shall have Gregory’s and their Coffee Right for ever. I took this decision on Saturday when I found out they’d decided to no longer sell Cherry Mocha. My favorite coffee ever…
I would also like to use this post to thank the nice girls at the Gregory’s I’ve been on Saturday who decided to make me one last cup of Cherry Mocha. I enjoyed it to the max, knowing it was my last.
To the Gregory’s management: I will not enter any of your fast-food restaurants until Cherry Mocha is back! I was a good customer, going there a few times a week for Cherry Mocha only! Keep that in mind! Evil doers!
"Internet is a lonely place without Blogging; a fine art, also a science. Blogs are different to different people. In the first project, Quasi Fictional asks you - the blog artists - to share your views on what is blog to you?"
"Fine Art of Blogging" is a project launched by Diogenes. He has gathered opinions from many bloggers and he keeps bringing new people into this. I also contributed my two cents today. Hope you all get to comment on the project and participate, if possible.
Ate a lot. I actually ate up to the point where I could hardly move. My first offense was at my dad's place, on the first day of Easter. After leaving his place, I met my mom. She asked if I was not up for ice-cream. I asked her to give me half an hour :d
Slept more than a baby. Yes, long night sleep and afternoon naps and everything.
Got my driver's license back :D After having it taken away from me by the bad-bad officer. My car and had our moment of falling in love again sometime this morning.
Started reading then finished Woman in the Dunes by Kobo Abe. Then started another book, Silence in October. Both will have dedicated posts soon, I hope.
Survived without an internet connection for four days.
Went shopping with my mom. I actually bought some pretty nice clothes. My mom also found some things for her.
Missed everyone I keep in touch with through IM or mail.
Spent more time with my cell phones
Took photos of some cute live rabbits. Will post them as soon as I get my camera back. Yes, I forgot it in Ploiesti. I suppose my Canon is pretty upset with me...
Walked a lot, alone and with my mom.
Been extremely lazy, but relaxed and very happy to be home.
The biggest struggle I ever experience on Easter is taking the "light" home. I have been constantly improving my technique for years.
But first, let me explain what the Easter light is about. Receiving the light is the crucial moment of the Easter sermon. At 12 o'clock, the church bells ring for longer than ever, then the sermon begins. All lights are shut down (or at least used to be) at this time. Then the priest comes with the holly light, a replica of the light that self-ignites at Easter in Jerusalem (as some choose to believe).
Children are always the first to receive it, so I was privileged for many years due to my "extreme" height. Now I just stay at the back of the crowd. Wait for the light and then I leave after a few minutes. I used to stay up and at the church for the whole sermon. It is different now. This year, the moment I heard the EU membership was dragged into the sermon, I left.
When I was in secondary school, getting the candle home without it being blew off by the wind was a severe task. They looked like the photo in this post, therefore it was quite hard to protect it. I remember one year, when the church I went to was 10 minutes from our house, I had to go back twice to relight my candle. As they say, third time is a charm, and I managed to get the light home.
This year, the candle was placed into a plastic recipient, so it all was a lot easier. It was pretty windy though, so I help it tight in my arms, trying to protect in on all sides. My mom's did not last that well, we had to light it again about three times. We also helped out other people returning from the church with no light.
This is a personal test for me. My bonding with the light, with fire in general, with my faith. I might not believe in the same things I used to believe in, however, I feel my faith is stronger now than ever. I can see the future, my future, and I also live in my present. And it is all looking quite bright. And also passionate and sometimes painful, like the fire withing me. Yes, there is no question as to why I was born under the sign of Aries.
...then go see Music and Lyrics. The movie starring Drew Barrymore and Hugh Grant is the perfect way to relax and laugh your heart out. It is a quite light movie, fairly predictable, but extremely funny. And the actors were perfectly chosen for these types of parts.
It is basically a story about how to get back on your feet after failing, being disappointed by others and taking a long detour from your path. A story of discovering love in strange situations. And about the music industry being corruptive and extremely fake.
The situations, the lines and the songs, everything is funny in this movie. It does not require much thinking, just some time to enjoy it and to let go of all daily nonsense.
I saw it on a Wednesday night with Silviana, after a long day in the office. It was my first experience with the Orange Wednesday program and I believe we will have a repeat. Doing something completely different in the middle of the week actually pays off!
Those going to the movie theater in Plaza Romania might have seen the Boo Boo add. It is stupid and annoying! And I would only allow it to be shown before children's movies. That's all! In a room full of young and careless young people it is just...not right. So yeah, when I don't hate the add, it just makes me laugh. I would never take my kids to Boo Boo. They need real food, not cakes and juice, which the ad promotes. Oh, and I just loved the part in which "Daddy" drinks a cold beer while "Mommy" drinks a coffee. Yeah, good policy!
This song is what I keep listening to today. I only understand the tone and the music, not the words. However, I feel it is the right one to be expressing my current state.
Sen önce, tani bil kendini Saril da kalbine Sonra beni sev dedi Hepimiz yanliziz bu yolda Hayat denilen oyunda Önce seni sonra beni bul dedi
Kirilma, Yapma kalbim, Darilma... nedeni var herseyin Suclu, sorumlu arama Sorma, sorma kalbim sorma Bilirsin sen aslinda Yok ki kaybeden askta
It was pretty awesome actually. We went to a cafe/restaurant/something where I go pretty often and it was all cozy and nice. There were 15 guests and we had a whole section of the place just for ourselves. Food and drinks, lots of laughter, great presents, not too loud music. A surprise visit from one of my cousins that I have not seen in...about 6 or 7 years.
It was the day I had hoped for! Yes, I do love the feeling that the world revolves around me :P What I particularly like about this place is the fact they always have paintings on the walls. Different artists, different styles, but beautiful to look at.
Two of the Cristinas in my life. Cris Wife and Cris V :) Yes, talking and talking. All the time. The first Cristina in my life is also here :P. I thank all of them for making my night so perfect. Unforgettable I dare say.
Mihaela Lica (Mig) is working on a very interesting project these days. She is presenting one Romanian blogger each week. She has picked me to be the first one introduced to her readers. You can read all about it here.
I own two cell phones. I am addicted to them. I feel awful without them and hate it when I have no signal. A broken or stolen cell is always a tragedy for me. And it's been like that for years.
I got my first cell phone for my 18th birthday, from my father. It looked like a toy really, perfect for me. I've had it for about 2 years and a half and it then was stolen in a bus. I cried for days because of that.
Weird one might say. But it is not. It is not the cell itself, it is what it brought me. The possibility of people calling me exactly at the right time. My 18th birthday was the first time in 11 years when my dad actually called on my birthday, not before nor after, in that very day. And it so continued to happen on every birthday, name's day or other holidays.
Today he called me at about 7 am. He said he wanted to be first. I lied and said he was. Trisi was actually first, as she caught me little after midnight. I was still walking impatiently around the house until my mom called. She was sad she could not wake up at 7, to call me at the exact time of my birth. She was crying, happy tears, but still.
I simply love birthdays. Everyone calls, sends text messages and well, the sun is brighter (although it is cloudy outside), the music sounds better and everything is all cheery as the world revolves around you.
Update One of the sweetest wishes, from Ryan: Happy birthday, sister lady. May your life be like your weekends and your adventures like your Cherry Mocha.
Well, these past few days (starting last Wednesday I think) have seen a repeat of the same songs. over and over again. It all looks like this: 1. Hande Yener - Acele Etme 2. Tarkan - Hup 3. Mustafa Sandal - Moonlight 4. Tarkan - Dudu 5. Mustafa Sandal - Kop 6. Tarkan - Verme 7. Tarkan - Gulumse Kaderine.
I blame myself, Trisi for Hande Yener, and Ryan for helping me out with this. :)
As I said on Saturday, the first day of my weekend was not all bright and sunny. So we thought it would be good for a movie. We chose 300. What can I say? Lots and lots of hot looking men. Fighting. And winning...although they all die in the end. It was not a great movie. But Gerard Butler was the leading man. And the Spartan Queen, oh she was great! My favorite from the whole movie. My favorite quote from now on: "This will not end fast. You will not enjoy it. For I am not your queen". At the time she was killing a guy. He was a traitor, an abuser and generally a moron, so he deserved it.
Anyway, if you like stories about true soldiers, fighting for honor and freedom, if you are not easily scared of by a nation that threw unfit babies from a cliff, then you should see the movie. Oh, and also you should make sure you don't have a problem with the "no prisoners, no mercy" principle. Or if you just want to enjoy the view of very well-built, handsome, gorgeous men. Other than that, the movie is a little bit too commercial for my taste.
Then there was this extremely great person that came to visit. Namely Sim. And Bruno. And their "little alien" that they want to be a boy and I want it to be a girl. I missed her so much, with her sarcasm and warm smile at the same time. I wish we could somehow see each other more often.
Name: Alina Home: Bucharest, Bucharest, Romania About Me: "This is my church. This is where I heal my hurts". It's also where I feel free and my preferred means of expression. See my complete profile
ADS
On this blog, I accept sponsored reviews. Expect one such entry every now and then.I am picky about them, but you can contact me for the details.
