Today I got a quick tour of Boston (the city). A guided tour throughout the city - Southie, The Commercial District, Beacon Hill, and ended in Cambridge. I didn't realise Cambridge was pretty much a part of Boston. It's across a bridge from the heart of the city.
Cambridge felt like a magical place on that summer day. The majestic campuses of MIT, Harvard and Cambridge blending into each other joined by lush parks create a sense of long history of achievements. Cambridge is a true college city. It's full with vibrant dinners and hip shops full with young and multicultural people. Even though it was the summer holiday still, the city was already getting filled by excited new students from all over the world, eager to begin what would equate to opening their world.
At the centre of Cambridge, there is a big plaza where a lot of people were enjoying performances by buskers. There is the Harvard Coop - the official school supply shop of Harvard, a news paper stand with worldwide publications, a few nice cafe places, and of course a garden. About 200m from there, we visited the Cambridge Library - an icon of education recognized everywhere.
While I was there, I also couldn't help myself but do some shopping. Got myself a pair of street Adidas shoes from an original Adidas store (had the DJ and everything). I'm pretty happy with them.
Overall, spend the better part of the day walking amidst the funky atmosphere of the place. Had a fantastic lunch at one of the local places just across the street of the Harvard Coop and met with a few students from Cambridge College. After that, I was left with a subtle desire to come back and study there one day.
Saturday, August 18, 2007
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Boston
Boston (or close to it). I was glad to be in Boston. Walking out of the airport, at the opening of the outside door I was greeted by a blast of the familiar sea air that tastes so sweet. It's like a breath of life and summer joy.
I was met at the airport by a dear friend of mine. A guy that has helped me fit in throughout my first experiences in a foreign world. A guy that has appreciated who I am and what I do and has remained a friend of mine over the years besides distance and time. It was good meeting an old pal.
I was treated with a fantastic basketball game as a welcome gift. It is crazy how good people are at sports around here at all levels. Although I may in general not sympathize with the reckless waste of time and body with sports, it's hard not to admire the dedication and deserved achievements some people get to.
By 10 at night I was at my new home. I can't even begin to describe the beauty and serenity of the view from the bay. Duxbury, my new address, is on the south shore of Boston. Famous for it's wealthy residents and endless party life, it sounds like the perfect place to be during the summer. I didn't have much time to enjoy the view as it was already getting late and after travelling for close to 20 hours I was ready for a rest.
The morning came with another pleasant surprise. The people in the main house were so naturally warm and helping that I felt very welcome and comfortable. It was just a natural reaction for them to get on with their day by joking around and having a laugh, truely enjoying life. Even though I knew them from before, I was amazed that our relationship was back to what it was 7 years ago, without skipping a beat.
Even more so was I surprised when the same shiny personality greeted me everywhere I went. My new work place, the shopping centre, the gas station. Wherever I entered, I was greeted by warmth and good heartedness. I really like this because that warmth is all I need to allow me to get out of my shell and return the good intentions. It's nice and easy to live a life of joy all the time :) I had memories of people here being very warm from my school years and ever since I wondered if that was just a glorified memory and if it wasn't just a college experience. To my surprise I get the impression now that my experiences weren't a rarity but rather the norm around these parts. I guess it only makes sense - life is so much easier when instead of sizing the people around you as potential criminals you take them as your family and try to have as much fun with everyone as possible, regardless of the situation.
In that spirit, the weekend was a fantastic experience. It was a constant party, where the house was filled with kids and adults from all our neighbours and the good times rolled from the early morning, way into the late night around a fire. Add to that a swimming pool, a gorgeous weather and a few beers and you have the makings of one of these moments of life you remember for the peaceful comfort only higher planes of existence promise.
On the Saturday, like some sort of sign, there was a wonder of nature to enjoy. The sky was torn by tens if not hundreds of meteorites, the biggest of which leaving a bright trail, measuring at least a quarter of the sky. It was an amazing display of lights under the clear, summer sky, which I'm sure to remember as one of those wonders that happen once in a hundred years and you can't help but feel lucky to add to your memories of beautiful things in life.
On the tedious side of things, I had to rebuild my life here. I've been shopping every day after work since I came here. Food, kitchenware, furnishing, bathroom things, etc, etc, etc. There is always more things I can't live without :). It's a good surprise to see that most things here are actually cheaper (sometimes by little, sometimes by lots) than in Australia - it only makes shopping easier. Another bonus is that most shops are opened pretty much any time I've tried to get to them. This never ending shopping spree seems to finally be quieting down. Both because I probably have everything a shop can offer as well as having spent all the money I had. I'm down to my last dollar now. At least food shopping was one of the first things on my list so I won't die of starvation. I'll have to be patient until my first cheque now.
I also had to do all the official things - organize my social security number, open a bank account, get a sim card for my phone here and so on. I think I've handled most of the services that make you a human here by now.
Ok, ok. There is also work here. Going from 9 to 5 (and later), building a new site from scratch pretty much on my own (I had no idea that's what it will turn out to be), working with 5 other people working on all the websites here (at least three of them). Still trying to get a handle of everything, especially when it seems like there has never been a clear direction of where things are going and no real management of how projects progress.
The project I'm working on seems quite interesting and with all my previous experience I should have an initial prototype knocked up pretty quickly. If all goes to plan, it may become one of the biggest online databases of its kind on the Internet. The existing site already has the visitors to be a good launching pad.
Ok, so that's it for now. I'm alright and happy and I hope so are you :)
I was met at the airport by a dear friend of mine. A guy that has helped me fit in throughout my first experiences in a foreign world. A guy that has appreciated who I am and what I do and has remained a friend of mine over the years besides distance and time. It was good meeting an old pal.
I was treated with a fantastic basketball game as a welcome gift. It is crazy how good people are at sports around here at all levels. Although I may in general not sympathize with the reckless waste of time and body with sports, it's hard not to admire the dedication and deserved achievements some people get to.
By 10 at night I was at my new home. I can't even begin to describe the beauty and serenity of the view from the bay. Duxbury, my new address, is on the south shore of Boston. Famous for it's wealthy residents and endless party life, it sounds like the perfect place to be during the summer. I didn't have much time to enjoy the view as it was already getting late and after travelling for close to 20 hours I was ready for a rest.
The morning came with another pleasant surprise. The people in the main house were so naturally warm and helping that I felt very welcome and comfortable. It was just a natural reaction for them to get on with their day by joking around and having a laugh, truely enjoying life. Even though I knew them from before, I was amazed that our relationship was back to what it was 7 years ago, without skipping a beat.
Even more so was I surprised when the same shiny personality greeted me everywhere I went. My new work place, the shopping centre, the gas station. Wherever I entered, I was greeted by warmth and good heartedness. I really like this because that warmth is all I need to allow me to get out of my shell and return the good intentions. It's nice and easy to live a life of joy all the time :) I had memories of people here being very warm from my school years and ever since I wondered if that was just a glorified memory and if it wasn't just a college experience. To my surprise I get the impression now that my experiences weren't a rarity but rather the norm around these parts. I guess it only makes sense - life is so much easier when instead of sizing the people around you as potential criminals you take them as your family and try to have as much fun with everyone as possible, regardless of the situation.
In that spirit, the weekend was a fantastic experience. It was a constant party, where the house was filled with kids and adults from all our neighbours and the good times rolled from the early morning, way into the late night around a fire. Add to that a swimming pool, a gorgeous weather and a few beers and you have the makings of one of these moments of life you remember for the peaceful comfort only higher planes of existence promise.
On the Saturday, like some sort of sign, there was a wonder of nature to enjoy. The sky was torn by tens if not hundreds of meteorites, the biggest of which leaving a bright trail, measuring at least a quarter of the sky. It was an amazing display of lights under the clear, summer sky, which I'm sure to remember as one of those wonders that happen once in a hundred years and you can't help but feel lucky to add to your memories of beautiful things in life.
On the tedious side of things, I had to rebuild my life here. I've been shopping every day after work since I came here. Food, kitchenware, furnishing, bathroom things, etc, etc, etc. There is always more things I can't live without :). It's a good surprise to see that most things here are actually cheaper (sometimes by little, sometimes by lots) than in Australia - it only makes shopping easier. Another bonus is that most shops are opened pretty much any time I've tried to get to them. This never ending shopping spree seems to finally be quieting down. Both because I probably have everything a shop can offer as well as having spent all the money I had. I'm down to my last dollar now. At least food shopping was one of the first things on my list so I won't die of starvation. I'll have to be patient until my first cheque now.
I also had to do all the official things - organize my social security number, open a bank account, get a sim card for my phone here and so on. I think I've handled most of the services that make you a human here by now.
Ok, ok. There is also work here. Going from 9 to 5 (and later), building a new site from scratch pretty much on my own (I had no idea that's what it will turn out to be), working with 5 other people working on all the websites here (at least three of them). Still trying to get a handle of everything, especially when it seems like there has never been a clear direction of where things are going and no real management of how projects progress.
The project I'm working on seems quite interesting and with all my previous experience I should have an initial prototype knocked up pretty quickly. If all goes to plan, it may become one of the biggest online databases of its kind on the Internet. The existing site already has the visitors to be a good launching pad.
Ok, so that's it for now. I'm alright and happy and I hope so are you :)
Saturday, August 11, 2007
If you're going to San Francisco ...
Well, well, well dear readers,
Here is my story about a long flight and a short day at San Francisco.
First things first. I was lucky with my flight. Flew Air New Zealand from Adelaide to Auckland and then from Auckland to San Francisco. On the first flight, there was only one person next to me, and he got upgraded to first class, so I had two seats for myself for the full 9 hours. I had only a short stay at Auckland's airport (less than an hour). And then onto another 12 hour or so flight. Luck strikes back, the flight was almost empty, so I get moved next to an empty seat. That made the long flight so much easier :).
Then there is San Francisco. After a bit of a confusion with the shuttle to my hotel, I finally get there at close to 3 and had to get a taxi to the city to make my Alcatraz cruise on time at 3:20. I'm so happy I made it. Got there at the last possible moment, yet just in time to get to one of the legendary attractions of the city.
Alcatraz was great. I didn't realise that, but the island has a history, which spans much more time than just its story as a prison. It used to be a military garrison, and then military prison. It also houses one of the original light houses for SF, which is quite impressive and is still used today. It used to be a prison for only 60 years or so until the 60s, when it was decommissioned. The island is pretty big, with a whole bunch of historical buildings scattered around as a proof of its rich history. There are also amazing gardens on the island, grown by the prisoners under the warden's supervision. The island has one of the most breathtaking view in the world. West - golden gate bridge; South - San Francisco's downtown skyscraper skyline; East - another fantastic bridge, split in two by a small island; North - the ocean and another peninsular in the distance. All in all, makes you wish you could live there. Then in the back of my head creeps in the thought of what it must have been for the prisoners there, having this great view, and being so close to the greatest of civilization, yet so far away from it. The prison itself is quite morbid. It was the largest steel & concrete building in the world when it was first built. It looks solid and lifeless like the rock it sits on. The prisoner cells were tiny and bare. I never could understand what's so bad about prison - you get a quiet place for yourself and you get free food and place to sleep. Not until I saw the actual conditions of Alcatraz. Maximum security prison really didn't look like such a free ride after all. Four rows of 3x2m cells in three stories. And then there is "D" block. The tough guys got a special treatment of complete isolation. Half the cells there are completely bare and with no light. That was the home for some of the most famous prisoners like Al Capone.
The island tour took about two and a half hours. Never would have thought there would be so much to see - it was pretty amazing. After that, it was free program. Went up through the Fisherman's Wharf, which has some really nice shops and restaurants. Had a local, fresh seafood sandwich from the street and it was the tastiest seafood meal I've ever had. Then, went for a climb up the steep streets where the cable cars go. It was quite a bit of a hike. I walked up for only 4-5 blocks, but at 40 degrees incline or so, it gets up puffed out. I was pretty much just walking around aimlessly without a clue where I came from and where I was going to, so I was pleasantly surprised when I found myself looking at the crazy, winding street in San Fran. You know the one, from the movies. It was so pretty. It's full with flower gardens and the pavement is brand new.
Next stop was was downtown. On the way there, I went down Columbus St., which was like little Italy, but very, very long going all the way from the beach to downtown. The sky scrapers in the city were pretty cool. Some of them so tall, their tops were in the clouds ... literally. I had a few hours walking around there (half enjoying the sights and the walk, half searching for how to get to my hotel). My journey ended on the "BART" - an underground railway (like a subway) going out of the city in pretty much any direction for hundreds of kilometers. God knows how and when they built that, but it's mighty convenient and really fast.
I didn't have much time on the next morning for anything more than to get to my flight. I was "lucky" enough to be "randomly" selected for additional "screening", so that was a blast ... On US airports, you are not allowed any liquids and you have to take your shoes off when going through the security. On top of that, I had to go to this weird blowing machine and also had to empty my backpack. I can't describe how "exciting" that was. Meh, at least somehow I ended up being upgraded to "Economy Extra" class, with the extra 2 inches of legroom or something, which I didn't need anyway. I felt bad. I felt like swapping with someone that needed it, but I didn't.
6 hours or so later, I was in Boston. I was met at the airport, went to see a basketball game and got to my new home.
next week ... Boston :)
Here is my story about a long flight and a short day at San Francisco.
First things first. I was lucky with my flight. Flew Air New Zealand from Adelaide to Auckland and then from Auckland to San Francisco. On the first flight, there was only one person next to me, and he got upgraded to first class, so I had two seats for myself for the full 9 hours. I had only a short stay at Auckland's airport (less than an hour). And then onto another 12 hour or so flight. Luck strikes back, the flight was almost empty, so I get moved next to an empty seat. That made the long flight so much easier :).
Then there is San Francisco. After a bit of a confusion with the shuttle to my hotel, I finally get there at close to 3 and had to get a taxi to the city to make my Alcatraz cruise on time at 3:20. I'm so happy I made it. Got there at the last possible moment, yet just in time to get to one of the legendary attractions of the city.
Alcatraz was great. I didn't realise that, but the island has a history, which spans much more time than just its story as a prison. It used to be a military garrison, and then military prison. It also houses one of the original light houses for SF, which is quite impressive and is still used today. It used to be a prison for only 60 years or so until the 60s, when it was decommissioned. The island is pretty big, with a whole bunch of historical buildings scattered around as a proof of its rich history. There are also amazing gardens on the island, grown by the prisoners under the warden's supervision. The island has one of the most breathtaking view in the world. West - golden gate bridge; South - San Francisco's downtown skyscraper skyline; East - another fantastic bridge, split in two by a small island; North - the ocean and another peninsular in the distance. All in all, makes you wish you could live there. Then in the back of my head creeps in the thought of what it must have been for the prisoners there, having this great view, and being so close to the greatest of civilization, yet so far away from it. The prison itself is quite morbid. It was the largest steel & concrete building in the world when it was first built. It looks solid and lifeless like the rock it sits on. The prisoner cells were tiny and bare. I never could understand what's so bad about prison - you get a quiet place for yourself and you get free food and place to sleep. Not until I saw the actual conditions of Alcatraz. Maximum security prison really didn't look like such a free ride after all. Four rows of 3x2m cells in three stories. And then there is "D" block. The tough guys got a special treatment of complete isolation. Half the cells there are completely bare and with no light. That was the home for some of the most famous prisoners like Al Capone.
The island tour took about two and a half hours. Never would have thought there would be so much to see - it was pretty amazing. After that, it was free program. Went up through the Fisherman's Wharf, which has some really nice shops and restaurants. Had a local, fresh seafood sandwich from the street and it was the tastiest seafood meal I've ever had. Then, went for a climb up the steep streets where the cable cars go. It was quite a bit of a hike. I walked up for only 4-5 blocks, but at 40 degrees incline or so, it gets up puffed out. I was pretty much just walking around aimlessly without a clue where I came from and where I was going to, so I was pleasantly surprised when I found myself looking at the crazy, winding street in San Fran. You know the one, from the movies. It was so pretty. It's full with flower gardens and the pavement is brand new.
Next stop was was downtown. On the way there, I went down Columbus St., which was like little Italy, but very, very long going all the way from the beach to downtown. The sky scrapers in the city were pretty cool. Some of them so tall, their tops were in the clouds ... literally. I had a few hours walking around there (half enjoying the sights and the walk, half searching for how to get to my hotel). My journey ended on the "BART" - an underground railway (like a subway) going out of the city in pretty much any direction for hundreds of kilometers. God knows how and when they built that, but it's mighty convenient and really fast.
I didn't have much time on the next morning for anything more than to get to my flight. I was "lucky" enough to be "randomly" selected for additional "screening", so that was a blast ... On US airports, you are not allowed any liquids and you have to take your shoes off when going through the security. On top of that, I had to go to this weird blowing machine and also had to empty my backpack. I can't describe how "exciting" that was. Meh, at least somehow I ended up being upgraded to "Economy Extra" class, with the extra 2 inches of legroom or something, which I didn't need anyway. I felt bad. I felt like swapping with someone that needed it, but I didn't.
6 hours or so later, I was in Boston. I was met at the airport, went to see a basketball game and got to my new home.
next week ... Boston :)
Sunday, February 12, 2006
daily news review 3
UK to probe Iraq 'abuse' video
- cause they ran out of things to probe ... that's their latest 'designer' fetish
'No survivors' in Sudan air crash
- not sure why the quotes ... what is that a codeword for?
Iran Jews express Holocaust shock
- A bit too late for that I say
Volkswagen to cut 20,000 workers
- the car for the people doesn't need people anymore :) kind of ironic
Intel looks beyond the microchip
- and overlooks. 10 years later, nobody has ever heard of Intel - it has crashed and burned
- cause they ran out of things to probe ... that's their latest 'designer' fetish
'No survivors' in Sudan air crash
- not sure why the quotes ... what is that a codeword for?
Iran Jews express Holocaust shock
- A bit too late for that I say
Volkswagen to cut 20,000 workers
- the car for the people doesn't need people anymore :) kind of ironic
Intel looks beyond the microchip
- and overlooks. 10 years later, nobody has ever heard of Intel - it has crashed and burned
Sunday, December 25, 2005
daily news review 2
"Radiation checks at US mosques" - what better way to show how tolerant to other beliefs and races the US is. What next? Random arrests, without warranty or reasons? Oh, wait, they already do that.
"Scientists find 'mass dodo grave'" - yes, they have (or rather had) cults as well. What's the fascination with the dodo anyway? Just one of millions of extinct species. It's like a random media pick to underline their concern, and simultaneously touch the cute note of their usual viewers, without any need for justification. Well that's typical, but why the dodo?
"Chad in 'state of war' with Sudan" - yep, it's another african war. I wasn't aware Chad and Sudan not being in war with each other in the first place. After all, there are grounds to believe that every african country is in war with every other one. There is only so many permutations 20 countries or so can generate.
"Judge blocks law on violent games" - stopping a law that stops the selling of violence and sex games ... no comment
"Scientists find 'mass dodo grave'" - yes, they have (or rather had) cults as well. What's the fascination with the dodo anyway? Just one of millions of extinct species. It's like a random media pick to underline their concern, and simultaneously touch the cute note of their usual viewers, without any need for justification. Well that's typical, but why the dodo?
"Chad in 'state of war' with Sudan" - yep, it's another african war. I wasn't aware Chad and Sudan not being in war with each other in the first place. After all, there are grounds to believe that every african country is in war with every other one. There is only so many permutations 20 countries or so can generate.
"Judge blocks law on violent games" - stopping a law that stops the selling of violence and sex games ... no comment
Saturday, December 24, 2005
Queensland
mmmm, nice.
But before we get there - the journey. It was my first time in Graham's new airoplane. It's identical to his old one, same model and same internals and externals, except it's built in a later year. For all I could tell, it was the same thing with a new paint job ... Anyway, we packed everything in, which was a big effort, having in mind there were presents and of course my computer. The early hour didn't help either. It's not easy for anyone to operate before 9ish ... we were at the airport at 6am. Enough said on that - I don't want to remember it.
Then, there was the flight. We had a stop in the middle for a refill. The flight in total takes about 6 hours. We were lucky for the first part as we had very strong tail wind and were travelling about a quarter faster than usual so the first leg of the trip took 2:20 instead of 3 hours. There was something to be desired for the second part though. I slept for about 5 of the six hours of the flight, but the last half hour was particularly bad. There were lots of air bubbles, cross winds and all kinds of other nasties to keep you on your toes, including one sudden drop of about 20m freefall through an air bubble, which send us flying, held only by the seatbelts and the luggage landed straight on the roof of the plane. Quite an experience actually - best rollercoaster I've ever been in. Although this experience is far from turning me off from flying, it will remain as a tale of caution of what could go wrong. I'm really glad the flight didn't go on for 5 more minutes, because I cannot begin to imagine what my awakened internal decorator would have done with the place, adding unique colours and smells to the place. You get the idea. The good thing is that I did survive, without loosing my dignity and I was as good as new 5 minutes after we hit solid ground.
If you haven't been to Queensland, one thing that hits you (besides the hot wave of humid air) is how alive it is. There are millions of expressions of life. For the time it took to unload and get the car (20 mins or so), there were different creatures on 4 of the bags. Quite an effort if you ask me. Don't even get me started on how I'm typing this with a monitor, that's covered with little flying thingies of all sorts.
The drive from the airport was somewhat of a nightmare as well. Nothing special as far as nightmares go - just very, very hot. Swimming is usually not a bad thing, unless it's in your own bodily fluids. I guess I had one of the less offencive ones .. just ordinary sweat, but still.
Fortunately, things just got better from there. Lounging around generally wasting time and place and swimming were the majority of the occupational hazards. Nice hotel, beautiful view, apparently the biggest public swimming pool in the southern hemisphere, nice weather ... what else could I ask for?
me tired. Christmass tomorrow. Merry christmass everyone. me goes to bed before it turns into a pumpkin for being on this post on christmass
But before we get there - the journey. It was my first time in Graham's new airoplane. It's identical to his old one, same model and same internals and externals, except it's built in a later year. For all I could tell, it was the same thing with a new paint job ... Anyway, we packed everything in, which was a big effort, having in mind there were presents and of course my computer. The early hour didn't help either. It's not easy for anyone to operate before 9ish ... we were at the airport at 6am. Enough said on that - I don't want to remember it.
Then, there was the flight. We had a stop in the middle for a refill. The flight in total takes about 6 hours. We were lucky for the first part as we had very strong tail wind and were travelling about a quarter faster than usual so the first leg of the trip took 2:20 instead of 3 hours. There was something to be desired for the second part though. I slept for about 5 of the six hours of the flight, but the last half hour was particularly bad. There were lots of air bubbles, cross winds and all kinds of other nasties to keep you on your toes, including one sudden drop of about 20m freefall through an air bubble, which send us flying, held only by the seatbelts and the luggage landed straight on the roof of the plane. Quite an experience actually - best rollercoaster I've ever been in. Although this experience is far from turning me off from flying, it will remain as a tale of caution of what could go wrong. I'm really glad the flight didn't go on for 5 more minutes, because I cannot begin to imagine what my awakened internal decorator would have done with the place, adding unique colours and smells to the place. You get the idea. The good thing is that I did survive, without loosing my dignity and I was as good as new 5 minutes after we hit solid ground.
If you haven't been to Queensland, one thing that hits you (besides the hot wave of humid air) is how alive it is. There are millions of expressions of life. For the time it took to unload and get the car (20 mins or so), there were different creatures on 4 of the bags. Quite an effort if you ask me. Don't even get me started on how I'm typing this with a monitor, that's covered with little flying thingies of all sorts.
The drive from the airport was somewhat of a nightmare as well. Nothing special as far as nightmares go - just very, very hot. Swimming is usually not a bad thing, unless it's in your own bodily fluids. I guess I had one of the less offencive ones .. just ordinary sweat, but still.
Fortunately, things just got better from there. Lounging around generally wasting time and place and swimming were the majority of the occupational hazards. Nice hotel, beautiful view, apparently the biggest public swimming pool in the southern hemisphere, nice weather ... what else could I ask for?
me tired. Christmass tomorrow. Merry christmass everyone. me goes to bed before it turns into a pumpkin for being on this post on christmass
Friday, December 23, 2005
daily news review
"Maradona arrested at Rio airport" - now that's news ... something new and exciting ... something that has never happened before and I really wanted to hear for the first time ... or not
"Bird flu kills two in Indonesia" - only two chicken? what kind of horrible illness is this? I'm sure more have died trying to plunge an egg out or other stress related problems.
"Hunger leads to deaths in Kenya" - I'm pretty sure it leads to death anywhere in the world ... sort of a biological consequence of our nature.
"Japan population starts to shrink" - That's not so much news as such ... it was expected and awaited. It's already happening to a few countries in the world (notably Bulgaria). The strange thing is that the health minister is screaming his head off, making it a horrible and tragic thing. So much for the UN's praise that Bulgaria by decreasing it's population is helping the world's overpopulation problem. In China, you go to jail if you have more than one kid and in Japan as it looks like they'll give you a house and a 20year contract for your unbourne child to work in the toy robot factory.
"Bird flu kills two in Indonesia" - only two chicken? what kind of horrible illness is this? I'm sure more have died trying to plunge an egg out or other stress related problems.
"Hunger leads to deaths in Kenya" - I'm pretty sure it leads to death anywhere in the world ... sort of a biological consequence of our nature.
"Japan population starts to shrink" - That's not so much news as such ... it was expected and awaited. It's already happening to a few countries in the world (notably Bulgaria). The strange thing is that the health minister is screaming his head off, making it a horrible and tragic thing. So much for the UN's praise that Bulgaria by decreasing it's population is helping the world's overpopulation problem. In China, you go to jail if you have more than one kid and in Japan as it looks like they'll give you a house and a 20year contract for your unbourne child to work in the toy robot factory.
Monday, December 12, 2005
Water fun
Now that's a birthday party to remember. Tim and Ruth's birthday party happened to be on the first hot day of this summer.
Before the actual party, I went to Adciv's christmass party in the park. It's an annual event, involving nice food (very tender stakes along with lots of other meats and salads) and good fun. There are presents for the kids and alcohol for everyone else. Anyway, I couldn't stay long so I don't have much to tell about how it went on, but I remember crindging at the rumor that there are water baloons. I made a mental note to disappear before they were brought to light and so I did.
That is how by about 1pm I found myself at the main event of the evening - the forementioned birthday party. I was late, but wasn't the only one, so about average. They had started setting up the shade and tables and the like and I did my best to get into the role of organizer and accordingly do as little work as possible. By the time everything was setup, water guns magically appeared around the table. Imagine my surprise, especially after my efforts to run away from the other party with planned water related festivities. To my surprise however, cold water being sprinkled at each other turned out to be a very pleasurable thing. Usually it's a major annoyance at best, but on that particular day, for whatever reason (if I had to guess, it would be the hot weather), it felt natural and really fun. I made sure I secured one of the weapons of doom and kept refilling until everyone within the line of fire was mildly wet at best.
It would have been great if stayed at that, but it's in human nature to keep pushing and pushing. This time it went way overboard. The water pistols became deadly when instead of filling them with tap water, their damage was being enhanced with icy cold water, which in combination with the 38 degree day resulted in quite a painful experience. Since ice was proven to do a satisfactory (in a sadistic kind of way) damage, ice was liberaly used in all kinds of other shapes and quantities - ice cubes were flying around and bowls of ice water were being splashed all over innocent and not so innocent bystanders. Then there were water balloons, which have just about enough water to drench a single person from head to toe, hurting a little as an added bonus. After the first round of those was used, there was the ultimate water weapon - the garden hose. Yes, yes, we got to the hose. For some unknown reason, I was the first one to fall under its unforgiving sprays of fire. I haven't been so drenched in my life. From then on it was easy. I had nothing to lose. Of course I got back everyone involved in my downfall, mainly Ruth and Elena and made them share the same experience I had. Soon enough the sprinklers were turned on to complete the arena feel, although by then they really made no difference - nobody could get any wetter than they already were. At some point, I lost my shirt as it really served no purpose anymore - left it to dry instead. Same with shoes and socks. After the aim of the day was accomplished - complete and utter anihilation of the enemy (everyone else) with weapons of mass ... watering, things started to wind down. We spend the rest of the evening in our usual intelectual conversations and the like.
The end. (or close enough)
p.s. Of course it's never the end, but it feels like I get tired of this after a while. I'll trademark a new writing fatigue or something :) I think I cover the most important part ... the rest is more or less usual gripes and struggles of the earthbound human :)
Before the actual party, I went to Adciv's christmass party in the park. It's an annual event, involving nice food (very tender stakes along with lots of other meats and salads) and good fun. There are presents for the kids and alcohol for everyone else. Anyway, I couldn't stay long so I don't have much to tell about how it went on, but I remember crindging at the rumor that there are water baloons. I made a mental note to disappear before they were brought to light and so I did.
That is how by about 1pm I found myself at the main event of the evening - the forementioned birthday party. I was late, but wasn't the only one, so about average. They had started setting up the shade and tables and the like and I did my best to get into the role of organizer and accordingly do as little work as possible. By the time everything was setup, water guns magically appeared around the table. Imagine my surprise, especially after my efforts to run away from the other party with planned water related festivities. To my surprise however, cold water being sprinkled at each other turned out to be a very pleasurable thing. Usually it's a major annoyance at best, but on that particular day, for whatever reason (if I had to guess, it would be the hot weather), it felt natural and really fun. I made sure I secured one of the weapons of doom and kept refilling until everyone within the line of fire was mildly wet at best.
It would have been great if stayed at that, but it's in human nature to keep pushing and pushing. This time it went way overboard. The water pistols became deadly when instead of filling them with tap water, their damage was being enhanced with icy cold water, which in combination with the 38 degree day resulted in quite a painful experience. Since ice was proven to do a satisfactory (in a sadistic kind of way) damage, ice was liberaly used in all kinds of other shapes and quantities - ice cubes were flying around and bowls of ice water were being splashed all over innocent and not so innocent bystanders. Then there were water balloons, which have just about enough water to drench a single person from head to toe, hurting a little as an added bonus. After the first round of those was used, there was the ultimate water weapon - the garden hose. Yes, yes, we got to the hose. For some unknown reason, I was the first one to fall under its unforgiving sprays of fire. I haven't been so drenched in my life. From then on it was easy. I had nothing to lose. Of course I got back everyone involved in my downfall, mainly Ruth and Elena and made them share the same experience I had. Soon enough the sprinklers were turned on to complete the arena feel, although by then they really made no difference - nobody could get any wetter than they already were. At some point, I lost my shirt as it really served no purpose anymore - left it to dry instead. Same with shoes and socks. After the aim of the day was accomplished - complete and utter anihilation of the enemy (everyone else) with weapons of mass ... watering, things started to wind down. We spend the rest of the evening in our usual intelectual conversations and the like.
The end. (or close enough)
p.s. Of course it's never the end, but it feels like I get tired of this after a while. I'll trademark a new writing fatigue or something :) I think I cover the most important part ... the rest is more or less usual gripes and struggles of the earthbound human :)
Saturday, December 03, 2005
"new" work
Time to brag about my new working environment. As I mentioned in a previous post, my labour was sold to a third party like a Chinese worker. I get paid a cent and my tyrannical dictator gets a fortune. But that's all good once I get over the money issue because my new working environment is pretty cool :)
I'll be there from last Monday till the end of the year (finishing on Friday, 23rd December). It is three weeks of JSP and PHP (about 50/50 each). I get an awesome place with a fantastic view from the corner of 12th floor of the building on the corner of Rundle Mall and King William, which allows me to see all of Rundle Mall all day long as well as about half of the CBD. As far as cityscape goes, I haven't been in a place with a better view. Also as fate would have it, the room I'm in is supposed to have three people but at the moment is empty so I get an office for myself again (talking about being lucky with working environments). The people there are really nice too. They are really friendly and easy going. No stress and no pressure on performance or anything. They were really considerate while talking me through what they do and what needs to be done.
I also get to learn stuff. It's my first real experience with JSP. One of the two systems I'm working on (Merlin) is driven by OpenRoad (4th generation language) on the backend and JSP on the front end. So I get the joys of handling all the user interactions in Java and communicating them with the backend through COM objects. It's pretty interesting and took a day or so to get to feel comfortable as to what is going on and how things work, but now it all just works and is pretty easy to make extra stuff.
I haven't seen what the PHP stuff will be yet, but I have a feeling it will be easier so I'll get to cruise through the second half of that contract :)
All in all, I got lucky with this one and I like the opportunity to try different things and learn new languages. When you add to that being in the middle of everything and going shopping every day during lunch or on the way home, I feel pretty good at my new working place.
I'm planning on making some pictures from there and hopefully there will be a new entry on this. I just have to remember to bring my camera ...
I'll be there from last Monday till the end of the year (finishing on Friday, 23rd December). It is three weeks of JSP and PHP (about 50/50 each). I get an awesome place with a fantastic view from the corner of 12th floor of the building on the corner of Rundle Mall and King William, which allows me to see all of Rundle Mall all day long as well as about half of the CBD. As far as cityscape goes, I haven't been in a place with a better view. Also as fate would have it, the room I'm in is supposed to have three people but at the moment is empty so I get an office for myself again (talking about being lucky with working environments). The people there are really nice too. They are really friendly and easy going. No stress and no pressure on performance or anything. They were really considerate while talking me through what they do and what needs to be done.
I also get to learn stuff. It's my first real experience with JSP. One of the two systems I'm working on (Merlin) is driven by OpenRoad (4th generation language) on the backend and JSP on the front end. So I get the joys of handling all the user interactions in Java and communicating them with the backend through COM objects. It's pretty interesting and took a day or so to get to feel comfortable as to what is going on and how things work, but now it all just works and is pretty easy to make extra stuff.
I haven't seen what the PHP stuff will be yet, but I have a feeling it will be easier so I'll get to cruise through the second half of that contract :)
All in all, I got lucky with this one and I like the opportunity to try different things and learn new languages. When you add to that being in the middle of everything and going shopping every day during lunch or on the way home, I feel pretty good at my new working place.
I'm planning on making some pictures from there and hopefully there will be a new entry on this. I just have to remember to bring my camera ...
Saturday, November 26, 2005
entertainment tonight
I've been watching belly dancing for the last 4 hours. I haven't had so much fun since I don't remember when. Apart from the obvious reasons for enjoyment, the girls were really, really good. You could feel their energy and fun flowing into what they were performing. The dances were all really different, from different countries and different styles, from traditional ones to "fusions" of modern and traditional elements. It was fantastic piece of art to watch.
Ok, I'll start from the beginning (I hate doing this). There was this dinner we were invited to. It's something along the lines of Lebanese belly dancing performance with dinner. The reason we were invited was because one of the groups that was performing was Bulgarian girls, doing traditional dances. It was at the stonyfell winery starting at 7pm. We got there a bit late as usual and as a consequence, we had to walk 200m or so from their secondary car park to the function centre. That was cool though, because the walk was nice and you get to see around the winery. The view from the function centre is unbelievable. You can see all the central parts of Adelaide. This view just kept getting better and better as night fell upon us and you could see all the lights of the city.
Anyway, we get inside and get seated around the table by a guy in a fess. After some yummy food (which was more of an assortment of nibbles rather than dinner), the dances began. There were three sections of the program, separated by short breaks during which there was music and lots of people danced around :) As the night progressed, they were getting better and better.
The first section felt sort of like a loosen-up section. It had some experimental stuff, notably one Goth fusion, where the girl was a ghost, covered in lots of smoke, and a white eerie shawl. It finished with a bunch of kids, ranging from about 5 to 13, who appeared to have immense amount of fun. So much in fact that it was infectious and everyone was quite uplifted after that.
The second section was about the different cultures during the night. There was one belly-dance, which was combined with Spanish music and flamenco moves, along with all the bells and whistles. There were a few very modernized pieces (the kind of thing you would see in a night club, but with belly dancing thrown in it - I hope it catches on :) and notably the Bulgarian group, which was quite different from the rest, but good in its own right.
It was great to see what can be done with simple things. One of the dances in the third section involved two simple shawls. They were flowing around the dancer, creating a great sensation of water or wind flowing all around her. It was amazing that you can feel the power of nature just through her movements. Another dance was with a sword. Mmmm, the excitement … you could cut the tension with a knife … which she did (
The rest ... well, it cannot be explained - it has to be seen. I can just say that it is fantastic to see women that feel free and express it in a beautiful way.
Ok, I'll start from the beginning (I hate doing this). There was this dinner we were invited to. It's something along the lines of Lebanese belly dancing performance with dinner. The reason we were invited was because one of the groups that was performing was Bulgarian girls, doing traditional dances. It was at the stonyfell winery starting at 7pm. We got there a bit late as usual and as a consequence, we had to walk 200m or so from their secondary car park to the function centre. That was cool though, because the walk was nice and you get to see around the winery. The view from the function centre is unbelievable. You can see all the central parts of Adelaide. This view just kept getting better and better as night fell upon us and you could see all the lights of the city.
Anyway, we get inside and get seated around the table by a guy in a fess. After some yummy food (which was more of an assortment of nibbles rather than dinner), the dances began. There were three sections of the program, separated by short breaks during which there was music and lots of people danced around :) As the night progressed, they were getting better and better.
The first section felt sort of like a loosen-up section. It had some experimental stuff, notably one Goth fusion, where the girl was a ghost, covered in lots of smoke, and a white eerie shawl. It finished with a bunch of kids, ranging from about 5 to 13, who appeared to have immense amount of fun. So much in fact that it was infectious and everyone was quite uplifted after that.
The second section was about the different cultures during the night. There was one belly-dance, which was combined with Spanish music and flamenco moves, along with all the bells and whistles. There were a few very modernized pieces (the kind of thing you would see in a night club, but with belly dancing thrown in it - I hope it catches on :) and notably the Bulgarian group, which was quite different from the rest, but good in its own right.
It was great to see what can be done with simple things. One of the dances in the third section involved two simple shawls. They were flowing around the dancer, creating a great sensation of water or wind flowing all around her. It was amazing that you can feel the power of nature just through her movements. Another dance was with a sword. Mmmm, the excitement … you could cut the tension with a knife … which she did (
The rest ... well, it cannot be explained - it has to be seen. I can just say that it is fantastic to see women that feel free and express it in a beautiful way.
Friday, November 25, 2005
Tastelessness makes the world go round
Just think about all the tasteless stuff people can't survive without - water, rice, salad, popcorn ... A lot of them I think are liked because they are tasteless - they can be made to taste like anything by combining them, and still serve their role in survival. Anyway, that's all you get from this unrandom thought.
Thursday, November 24, 2005
Getting a job as part of a job
Here is how it goes. My boss decides to apply for a job he sees and sends in my resume. As a consequence I spend the most part of today applying for a job. It went like this:
- [11:00 am] call the employment agency (hays) to arrange an interview
- [01:00 pm] have an interview with the agency
- [02:00 pm] have a practical test on jsp, something I've worked with for about 2 days in my life
- [03:30 pm] they arrange interview with the actual employer
Anyway, the interviews went pretty good. It's good to know that things can go well and if I needed and really started to look for a job out of desperation, there is some chance I wouldn't end up on the street ... or developing OS for the dole?!
As a consequence I think I have a new job, under the old one - outsourced, starting Monday till the end of the year. I'll be on the 12th floor on the corner of a building on King William, finishing some chump's jsp program, cause he left all of a sudden (or was sacrificed in the transmutation of gold or some other random precious metal) and some other php search engine thingy. The people there seem really nice, and with a small IT team, I have a feeling it will be a good working environment. The time is flexible (there was something mentioned about 10am or whenever ... I liked the sound of that). No matter what happens, if it goes ahead it will be a good experience and a chance how others work.
On the slightly bad side, I'll have to find a way to get to the city each morning.
Oh, well, let's leave things to take their turn.
- [11:00 am] call the employment agency (hays) to arrange an interview
- [01:00 pm] have an interview with the agency
- [02:00 pm] have a practical test on jsp, something I've worked with for about 2 days in my life
- [03:30 pm] they arrange interview with the actual employer
Anyway, the interviews went pretty good. It's good to know that things can go well and if I needed and really started to look for a job out of desperation, there is some chance I wouldn't end up on the street ... or developing OS for the dole?!
As a consequence I think I have a new job, under the old one - outsourced, starting Monday till the end of the year. I'll be on the 12th floor on the corner of a building on King William, finishing some chump's jsp program, cause he left all of a sudden (or was sacrificed in the transmutation of gold or some other random precious metal) and some other php search engine thingy. The people there seem really nice, and with a small IT team, I have a feeling it will be a good working environment. The time is flexible (there was something mentioned about 10am or whenever ... I liked the sound of that). No matter what happens, if it goes ahead it will be a good experience and a chance how others work.
On the slightly bad side, I'll have to find a way to get to the city each morning.
Oh, well, let's leave things to take their turn.
Wednesday, November 23, 2005
Birthday party
Today I had a so, so day at work ... building some website, using exponent (an excellent cms tool, that I highly recommend to end users) and doing some admin stuff to help out. At least it went through quickly and I was on to bigger and better things.
Yay, I had some sort of social event in my life. Today is my step sister's Glen(long story) birthday. To celebrate that all important date in history, we were out to dinner with "our" family and her kid, the ever-shining Sunshine.
Glen and Sunshine are vegan, so we entrusted the choice of restaurant to them. We went to Sprouts - a little vegetarian restaurant in hindmarsh square. This restaurant actually has a long history in the family. Glen used to own it for years but had to give it up. Luckily for her, it stayed vegetarian even after changing the owner and is still a good place with an excellent atmosphere to go to.
The food was absolutely divine. For all people that think vegetarian food is all about green things, they have bad memories about from their childhood, I can say one thing - I thought the same. Now I have to admit I knew nothing. In all honesty, the meal was somewhere in the top 5% of bestest meals I've ever had. I had a mushroom/tofu steak, which was really spicy, with nice garnishing of feta cheese, zucchini and baked potatoes in chilly tomato and capsicum sauce on the side.
To top that up, I had a astonishing desert - chocolate lasagna. You probably know what lasagna is - layers of tasty, cheesy sauce, separated by layers of pasta. Well, the chocolate lasagna was onto something way more brilliant. It had layers of chocolate ice-cream and coffee flavoured chocolate moose, separated by layers of chocolate and nuts. I can't even begin to express how tasty this was. For everyone that hasn't tried it already, this is one thing you would want to write down in your "100 things to do before I move on from this world".
Before you start thinking I'm totally obsessed with food (which I'm prone to be due to my zodiac sign and all), I'll veer off to the left and get back to the rest of the evening. We all had good time. Sunshine was particularly hyper (and if you know her and how hyper she is with her normal disposition, you would know what I'm talking about). Lots of joys to be had with a little, tired, hyper girl, running around and playing with everything. She was very happy because of her mum's birthday and the excellent day she's had with her. She even skipped school to celebrate.
Anyway, I think Glen had a good time, as we all did in a good company. We talked about good books and other joys of life in general. Everything was high spirited and will leave me recharged for the rest of the diminishing working week.
Now back to a newly discovered bad habit - Anime (Full Metal Alchemist at the moment).
tata, that's enough for one day. The rest of it maybe tomorrow ... maybe never ...
Yay, I had some sort of social event in my life. Today is my step sister's Glen(long story) birthday. To celebrate that all important date in history, we were out to dinner with "our" family and her kid, the ever-shining Sunshine.
Glen and Sunshine are vegan, so we entrusted the choice of restaurant to them. We went to Sprouts - a little vegetarian restaurant in hindmarsh square. This restaurant actually has a long history in the family. Glen used to own it for years but had to give it up. Luckily for her, it stayed vegetarian even after changing the owner and is still a good place with an excellent atmosphere to go to.
The food was absolutely divine. For all people that think vegetarian food is all about green things, they have bad memories about from their childhood, I can say one thing - I thought the same. Now I have to admit I knew nothing. In all honesty, the meal was somewhere in the top 5% of bestest meals I've ever had. I had a mushroom/tofu steak, which was really spicy, with nice garnishing of feta cheese, zucchini and baked potatoes in chilly tomato and capsicum sauce on the side.
To top that up, I had a astonishing desert - chocolate lasagna. You probably know what lasagna is - layers of tasty, cheesy sauce, separated by layers of pasta. Well, the chocolate lasagna was onto something way more brilliant. It had layers of chocolate ice-cream and coffee flavoured chocolate moose, separated by layers of chocolate and nuts. I can't even begin to express how tasty this was. For everyone that hasn't tried it already, this is one thing you would want to write down in your "100 things to do before I move on from this world".
Before you start thinking I'm totally obsessed with food (which I'm prone to be due to my zodiac sign and all), I'll veer off to the left and get back to the rest of the evening. We all had good time. Sunshine was particularly hyper (and if you know her and how hyper she is with her normal disposition, you would know what I'm talking about). Lots of joys to be had with a little, tired, hyper girl, running around and playing with everything. She was very happy because of her mum's birthday and the excellent day she's had with her. She even skipped school to celebrate.
Anyway, I think Glen had a good time, as we all did in a good company. We talked about good books and other joys of life in general. Everything was high spirited and will leave me recharged for the rest of the diminishing working week.
Now back to a newly discovered bad habit - Anime (Full Metal Alchemist at the moment).
tata, that's enough for one day. The rest of it maybe tomorrow ... maybe never ...
Tuesday, November 22, 2005
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