Electronics deaths - slowly the entropy is taking over the electronics equipment in our home. We have been watching the old computer monitor slowly fizzle away, the printer/fax/scanner is crotchety, and our video camera (2 years old) has been getting more and more obstreperous until finally last night it refused to finalize the disk or do anything at all - resulting in the loss of our precious Christmas 2007 videos, with the kids discovering the train table and everything. Sigh. Sam broke our CD player a couple months ago, too. Suddenly I'm looking at the cost of replacing all this stuff - and hoping we can find some good deals.
On the bright side, it looks like we are going to get Dish network, a DVR and a new HDTV. I'm looking forward to watching only the programs I want, when I want, with no commercials. Oh yeah - probably will want an HD-DVD player along with the list above. Ouch! If anyone sees any good deals on electronics stuff - let me know, we seem to need one of everything. Maybe we will get a tax refund and I will go crazy at Circuit City. That's as good a plan as any.
New shoes - I got new walking shoes this weekend and I think they are cool. I'll post a picture. Sometimes retail therapy really does work. :-)
My new inner domestic goddess is coming out. I never knew she was there. It must be all this cold weather with nothing to do outside. I have made my bed every day for over a week now. That's more than I've made it in my entire life, I think. I've also planned menus and cooked real food for the past month - another thing I have never, ever done. I've also done a fair amount of decluttering, and dusted for the first time in about a year (I'm not kidding) and the place is looking decent. I even bought a feather duster on a long pole, which inspired Bryan to go around de-cobwebbing all over the house. Cool!!! The kids have also enjoyed "dusting" the baseboards and each other with it. Anyway, I'm enjoying the inner goddess and hope she will stay for a while.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Monday, January 21, 2008
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Sigo por aquí, peste de agencias y This is England
Hola, holaaaa
Aquí estoy de nuevo. Sigo en Palma y sigo buscando casa.
Todo está lleno de agencias a las que tienes que regalar un mes de alquiler por buscarte la casa, lo que te hace más difícil encontrar algo directamente de los dueños.
Las agencias no deberían ser necesarias, debería existir una agencia del gobierno que funcionase y se encargase de todo sin pedirte los precios abusivos ni las comisiones. Igual que las empresas de trabajo temporal, si el INEM funcionase como debería, no existirían las apestosas ETTs.
Por suerte hoy he leído una noticia que dice que en Palma han cerrado unas mil agencias inmobiliarias debido a la crisis del ladrillo. Sé que habrá un montón de gente en la calle, pero en verdad me he alegrado, espero que les sigan otras mil más. No respeto a los especuladores, pese a lo que se les admira en España y todo lo que se jactan, no me parece nada respetable y es una manera de enriquecerse fácil y para la que no necesitas ninguna titulación ni ser muy listo, solo carecer de escrúpulos. Estoy siendo un poco bestia, pero es que estoy bastante enfadado.
El otro día me fuí al cine a ver una película inglesa ambientada en los años 80 que me ha encantado, le doy 5 estrellas: "This is England" de Shane Meadows.
Nada más sentarme en la sala de cine y ver los créditos de inicio sabía que estaba ante algo especial, el temazo de Toots & The Maytals 54-46 Was My Number:
Y ahora el trailer oficial:
Una maravilla de película con una acuación y una dirección "de cine".
Aquí estoy de nuevo. Sigo en Palma y sigo buscando casa.
Todo está lleno de agencias a las que tienes que regalar un mes de alquiler por buscarte la casa, lo que te hace más difícil encontrar algo directamente de los dueños.
Las agencias no deberían ser necesarias, debería existir una agencia del gobierno que funcionase y se encargase de todo sin pedirte los precios abusivos ni las comisiones. Igual que las empresas de trabajo temporal, si el INEM funcionase como debería, no existirían las apestosas ETTs.
Por suerte hoy he leído una noticia que dice que en Palma han cerrado unas mil agencias inmobiliarias debido a la crisis del ladrillo. Sé que habrá un montón de gente en la calle, pero en verdad me he alegrado, espero que les sigan otras mil más. No respeto a los especuladores, pese a lo que se les admira en España y todo lo que se jactan, no me parece nada respetable y es una manera de enriquecerse fácil y para la que no necesitas ninguna titulación ni ser muy listo, solo carecer de escrúpulos. Estoy siendo un poco bestia, pero es que estoy bastante enfadado.
El otro día me fuí al cine a ver una película inglesa ambientada en los años 80 que me ha encantado, le doy 5 estrellas: "This is England" de Shane Meadows.
Nada más sentarme en la sala de cine y ver los créditos de inicio sabía que estaba ante algo especial, el temazo de Toots & The Maytals 54-46 Was My Number:
Y ahora el trailer oficial:
Una maravilla de película con una acuación y una dirección "de cine".
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Gripe
Been back in Bahrain for a while now, just started working. Feels good to be doktoring around after a long layoff, but the routine of having to wake up in the mornings again will need some getting used to. Adjusted to living here by now, so I guess Ireland is mostly out of my system at this point. There are some things you have to accept as they are around these parts, even though they could do with some (read: a lot of) improvement.
Was driving on the highway the other day and something peculiar happened to me. Not just once, but three times within the span of two weeks. I would be driving at a reasonable speed (about 110 km/hr) in the fast lane and a speed demon would show up behind me, all guns blazing. In most cases I would move over to the right and allow him/her (because women are just as bad these days) to pass. In all three cases there were cars in the middle lane and so I had to carry on until I got a chance to switch lanes. Instead of being polite enough to wait until I moved over, the drivers in this case would accelerate and overtake me on the hard shoulder, squeezing between my car and the barrier to the left at around 160km/hr. I could not believe what I was seeing. Speeding and high-risk driving are common enough, but this is just suicidial. Needless to say, it brought out a bit of road rage and I guess honking the horn and flashing my headlights were the most I could do in my frustration at those fucking idiots.
This ties into another phenomenon I have been witnessing. At times during the night, around 11pm and onwards, people would choose to ignore red lights located around the kingdom. They would slow down, see that the intersection was not busy, and would just drive off like nothing happened. It drives me insane seeing this, and even though they might justify it by saying that they've slowed down and saw no other cars coming.. there simply is no jusitfication.
All of these things, aside from demonstrating that a large proportion of bahrainis have completely lost any iota of driving etiquette left within them, is showing us the unfortunate mentality that most of them live with. This idea that they are in some way superior to those around them, that their time is worth more and that they can bend or break the law according to their wishes is simply laughable. No one is above the law, and I don't care how busy or in a rush you are, endangering other people's lives in such a flippant fashion is simply unacceptable. You almost wish you could say this to their faces, but something tells me that anyone who would do something like that without feeling any remorse is not worth talking to in the first place. Why have we turned into such a materialistic, consumerist society that is defined by the selfishness of the individual and not the love of the collective? Everyone is so concerned with how to progress themselves that they are openly willing to step (and shit) on eveyone else's heads. It a terribly sad state of affairs to find ourselves in, and I hope that something drastic happens in the near future so that we may shake off this frankly primitive way of living.
Was driving on the highway the other day and something peculiar happened to me. Not just once, but three times within the span of two weeks. I would be driving at a reasonable speed (about 110 km/hr) in the fast lane and a speed demon would show up behind me, all guns blazing. In most cases I would move over to the right and allow him/her (because women are just as bad these days) to pass. In all three cases there were cars in the middle lane and so I had to carry on until I got a chance to switch lanes. Instead of being polite enough to wait until I moved over, the drivers in this case would accelerate and overtake me on the hard shoulder, squeezing between my car and the barrier to the left at around 160km/hr. I could not believe what I was seeing. Speeding and high-risk driving are common enough, but this is just suicidial. Needless to say, it brought out a bit of road rage and I guess honking the horn and flashing my headlights were the most I could do in my frustration at those fucking idiots.
This ties into another phenomenon I have been witnessing. At times during the night, around 11pm and onwards, people would choose to ignore red lights located around the kingdom. They would slow down, see that the intersection was not busy, and would just drive off like nothing happened. It drives me insane seeing this, and even though they might justify it by saying that they've slowed down and saw no other cars coming.. there simply is no jusitfication.
All of these things, aside from demonstrating that a large proportion of bahrainis have completely lost any iota of driving etiquette left within them, is showing us the unfortunate mentality that most of them live with. This idea that they are in some way superior to those around them, that their time is worth more and that they can bend or break the law according to their wishes is simply laughable. No one is above the law, and I don't care how busy or in a rush you are, endangering other people's lives in such a flippant fashion is simply unacceptable. You almost wish you could say this to their faces, but something tells me that anyone who would do something like that without feeling any remorse is not worth talking to in the first place. Why have we turned into such a materialistic, consumerist society that is defined by the selfishness of the individual and not the love of the collective? Everyone is so concerned with how to progress themselves that they are openly willing to step (and shit) on eveyone else's heads. It a terribly sad state of affairs to find ourselves in, and I hope that something drastic happens in the near future so that we may shake off this frankly primitive way of living.
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Justice is served in the VA parking lot
Have I really not blogged since Dec 17? Wow.
Well, it's been going on for several months and I'm sick of it. Unauthorized people (mostly VA employees, from the looks of their parking permits) have been parking illegally in the designated spaces for myself and my Building 4 compatriots. There are signs clearly stating "OIFO parking ONLY". But even if we arrive before 8 am, often all our spots are taken and we are forced to drive around in circles, park across the street or in the "back 40", and then walk through the snow and ice.
So today, I parked within inches of a large snowbank because it was the only spot I could find. I walked into my office with one wet and cold leg and, disgusted, called the VA Police and complained. Previous complaints were made to a different office and were never acted on.
So today - After months of futile protests to the deaf bureaucracy - I look outside and YES! There are tickets on the windshields of the 5 cars next to mine. Victory dance!
It's funny how much this has made my day. I have never been one to gloat excessively over others' misfortune - but seeing the parking vandals get ticketed gave me a whole new taste of Schadenfreude.
Well, it's been going on for several months and I'm sick of it. Unauthorized people (mostly VA employees, from the looks of their parking permits) have been parking illegally in the designated spaces for myself and my Building 4 compatriots. There are signs clearly stating "OIFO parking ONLY". But even if we arrive before 8 am, often all our spots are taken and we are forced to drive around in circles, park across the street or in the "back 40", and then walk through the snow and ice.
So today, I parked within inches of a large snowbank because it was the only spot I could find. I walked into my office with one wet and cold leg and, disgusted, called the VA Police and complained. Previous complaints were made to a different office and were never acted on.
So today - After months of futile protests to the deaf bureaucracy - I look outside and YES! There are tickets on the windshields of the 5 cars next to mine. Victory dance!
It's funny how much this has made my day. I have never been one to gloat excessively over others' misfortune - but seeing the parking vandals get ticketed gave me a whole new taste of Schadenfreude.
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
Deseos y planes para el nuevo año, 2008
Pues sí, otro año más.
Hay que reconocer que éste lo va a tener jodido para superar al pasado.
Espero darme algún que otro viajecillo.
Como cada año. yo también me he propuesto un par de cosillas que me gustaría cumplir:
Hay que reconocer que éste lo va a tener jodido para superar al pasado.
Espero darme algún que otro viajecillo.
Como cada año. yo también me he propuesto un par de cosillas que me gustaría cumplir:
- Hacer algo más de ejercicio (menos no se puede)
- Ponerme al día en diseño de videojuegos. Ya me estoy leyendo un librito muy chulo que espero que me sirva para algo:
- Leerme más libros y comics que el año pasado.
- Retomar el estudio del japonés, de hecho ya me he propuesto volver a Japón como muy tarde para el Tokyo Game Show 2008 que será alrededor de Septiembre, Octubre...
- Darle a los platos (los de Technics :P)
- Aprender a cocinar algunas cosillas más.
- Echarme novia, casarme y comprarme un piso donde vivir felices para siempre... (es broma, por supuesto...)
- Disfrutar al máximo.