electronics deaths, new shoes and my new inner domestic goddess

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.

Vinni Puh

Una joya...

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".

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.

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.

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:

• 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.

Os deseo lo mejor y que todo lo que queráis que se cumpla se haga realidad, pero recordad que las cosas no vienen por si solas.

Christmas Preview

We opened gifts at our house this Saturday because we're going out of town this week. Bryan and I were up until 1:30 a.m. assembling the new train table. As we were finishing, Bryan said, "Now I know why my parents were always so tired on Christmas." Yes, we are just now figuring this out. I anticipate many sleep-deprived Christmas days for years to come, until the kids are old enough to request gifts that do not need complicated assembly. Of course, by then we will probably be waiting up for them to come home...

The late night effort was SO worth it though! I held the kids at bay until Bryan had the video camera ready. They walked in, saw the train table and raced straight for it without a word. Alex soon discovered stockings, candy, and presents, though Sam remained happily in Train Heaven for most of the morning.

Alex and I had been talking a lot about the song, "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" which she has requested as her bedtime song for the past few weeks. I also explained to her that good kids get presents, toys, and candy - while "bad" kids get coal, which is like rocks and isn't much fun. When she saw the presents she said, "I was GOOD!" and "I did not pout!" and "I did not get rocks!"

Sam's fun was interrupted by a much needed bath, to his dismay. He did get to keep his Tootsie Pop in the bathtub though, which was a good receptacle for the copious amounts of green drool.

I am loving Christmas with a 1- and 3-year old! It is so easy to make them happy. And fun to see the innocent, surprised happy expressions. I'm glad we get to do it again in another week or so.

Grúas

Haced clic en la imagen.

"Just" adopt

I really enjoyed this article by Sarah Kelly. It's about the well-intended phrase tossed out by so many people who don't know what else to say when confronted with infertility - "You can always just adopt."

https://www.adoptivefamilies.com/articles.php?aid=1380

Not sure if the link above will work - and don't want to violate any copyright laws but here are some excerpts -

"Which is why you cannot tell someone to “just adopt.” As if there were anything “just” about it. It’s not like, “Hmm, what should I do today? Oh, I know! I’d love to fill out 500 government forms! I’ll just do that today! And then I’ll just schedule multiple visits with social workers, request letters of reference, declarations of good health, a complete financial inventory—I’ll lay bare every aspect of my life that can be summarized on paper. And then I’ll just have everything notarized. In triplicate.”

The complicated process aside, before making a new map for your life and choosing to adopt, you need to go as far as you feel comfortable going with treatment, mourn not being pregnant, and say goodbye to the future you assumed you’d have.

I liked the last paragraph too:

After everything my husband and I went through in our quest for the “miracle of life,” I know now what the real miracle is. Through everything—through miles and oceans and air and time and loss and grief and healing and acceptance and love—we found a way to our son and he found his way to us.

Kudos to you, Sarah Kelly - lots of heads are nodding in agreement and appreciation for what you put into words.

bizarre, and sad

So, I'm in my office working away and the sound of a helicopter circling barely registers, but keeps intruding on my consciousness. Eventually a co-worker sends out an e-mail: there's a news helicopter and the Credit Union (across the street, visible from my office window) is surrounded by fire trucks and security. What's up?

Turns out a construction worker was buried in 8 feet of dirt when a trench collapsed on him. Heavy equipment was brought in to rescue him but they were unable to reach him. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=2311443

I can hear the news helicopter again, sitting here at my desk on a sunny cold December day. A day just like any other day - for us - but for one man, his last day. May he rest in peace.

little faces haunting me

In the midst of the Christmas season, with all the shopping and the lights and the cheery music, I am haunted today by two images which have reached around the world to me. It would be easy to forget them, and in prior years I probably would have been able to, at least with more ease than I can now. The needs of the world are overwhelming, and it becomes too hard to think about them all the time. But this year, these two images are lingering in my mind.

The first is a picture of several children at an orphanage in South Korea. The picture was taken recently by an adult Korean adoptee who writes for the NY Times Relative Choices blog (http://relativechoices.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/11/27/south-korea-and-its-children/). She was adopted at age 3 and grew up in the US. Seeing these kids, she wrote, "Looking at those children I could not help but think: I got out."

As great as it is that we were able to adopt Alex and Sam, in slightly different circumstances they could easily have ended up exactly where these children are. They could be the kids in that picture.

The second image is a black and white photo of a baby in a North Korean orphanage, sent to us by Holt International. They have been supporting orphans in North Korea for about 5 years, but this year, due to flooding on top of famine, hundreds of children are starving - and dying in terrible numbers. There is no heat in the orphanages; children are huddling together for warmth. Milk is so scarce that staff workers are grinding rice and grain into powder for "formula." After recently reading about the conditions in post-war South Korea in the 1950s, it strikes me that after all this time things are just as bad in the North--even worse, because they are cut off from many sources of aid that were available in the South. Once again - if Sam or Alex had been born just a little north of where they were - they could be the ones in these photos. The thought brings tears to my eyes.

There is normally little opportunity to send aid from the US to North Korea, due to government policies and other factors. I hope Holt will collect a lot of donations for its North Korea program (see https://www.holtintl.org/gifts/). As for us - how could we say no?

Led Zeppelin - Stairway to Heaven

Si alguien tiene una canción más bonita que esta que me lo diga. Seguro se puede encontrar alguna, pero no muchas...

Cambio de vida. Palma de Mallorca. Tragnarion games

Lo sé. Llevo un montón sin postear. Lo que pasa es que mi vida ha dado un giro en las últimas semanas.
Os cuento:

Un día recibí un mail de una empresa inglesa encargada de poner en contacto a empresas de videojuegos con empleados potenciales. Me hablaron de una compañía en Palma de Mallorca, Tragnarion Studios, que se dedicaba a desarrollar videojuegos y que necesitaban a alguien para encargarse de su departamento de QA (Quality Assurance), que significa control de calidad.



El caso es que, tras mucho dilucidar, decidí darle una oportunidad para ver como era el asunto. El caso es que me organizaron una entrevista telefónica con el director del estudio y a los pocos días estaba volando a Palma para entrevistarnos. Yo no estaba muy seguro de nada, pero para mí suponía una oportunidad de ver a mis amigos de Palma por un día y de ver el estudio por dentro ya que el vuelo corría a cuenta de la empresa.



El estudio me gustó, muy al estilo americano, oficinas grandes y soleadas, llenas de muñecajos, armas de juguete para los diseñadores, espacioso, con área de ocio, estudio de sonido, de efectos especiales...
El caso es que después de ver el estudio y a la gente, me encariñé algo con él, pero las condiciones seguían sin convencerme.
Me volví a Madrid sin dar una respuesta asegurando que me decidiría antes del final de la siguiente semana.



La siguiente semana recibí un montón de llamadas de la empresa inglesa, intentando convencerme y diciendo que el estudio estaba dispuesto a negociar. El caso es que tras unas 6 llamadas y de ofrecerme algunas cosillas que pedía, decidí dar el sí.
El caso es que estoy en Palma, viviendo en casa de unos amigos que se han ido a Japón 2 semanas y me han dejado con 4 gatos que me alegran el día.

Los juegos en los que estamos trabajando son, The Scourge, un FPS (First Person Shooter), juegos de disparar enemigos estilo Doom, en primera persona,



y Doodle Hex. Un curioso juego de magia para DS en el que para luchar contra tu contrincante tienes que dibujar unas runas en la pantalla de tu DS.



Ahora un vídeo de cuando llevaron el juego al Salón del Manga de Barcelona:



Pues eso, que ahora soy el QAM (Quality Assurance Manager) y que estoy bastante a gusto.
Un par de cotilleos: el dueños de la empresa es un sueco hijo del dueño del Ikea de Palma y al parecer estuvo casado con Juncal Rivero. Le deben gustar mucho los videojuegos...
De hecho nosotros comemos en el Ikea, ya que el estudio está situado en uno de los edificios de Ikea.

Thanksgiving, the Good Earth, friends

Wow, I haven't blogged in a month now, since Halloween.

Thanksgiving was great fun this year. We were all reasonably healthy (the kids had runny noses). Cameo and I split up the cooking for Thanksgiving dinner again and it was a true feast. Thank goodness the turkey turned out well - I always feel I don't know what I'm doing when I try to make big meat dishes. I have a new favorite dessert - Bryan's mom's recipe for "Captain Scott H's Key Lime Pie." Yum. The stores here don't carry key lime kool aid, so I used lemon lime and it was OK, but if I ever do find key lime kool aid I'll buy a lot. :-) Cameo's pumpkin gooey cake was very delicious too. We had our friend Jill and Buzz's friend Alison and family and we all played Catch Phrase after dinner. A good game you can play anywhere with any number of people. The kids were playing semi-independently, though at one point I wondered where Sam had gone so I checked. I found Ava pressing down on him in a corner with one of the chair pillows in the toy room. He wasn't complaining, just trying to sit up despite having a pillow and Ava on top of him, and Ava explained something about how she was trying to play with something (translation: trying to keep Sam out of her toys).

It was interesting preparing and eating such a decadent feast while in the midst of reading about the famine in The Good Earth. Several thoughts I've had while reading it...

- Women in this country are very, very lucky to live here and now.
- I thought I worked hard and for little reward in residency - reading about how the people worked themselves to the bone on the land (and still risked starvation) really puts things in perspective!
- Things happen "when the rich are too rich, and the poor are too poor." Reminds me of the line in Les Miserables, "Something's gotta happen now and something's gotta give."
- The protagonist of The Good Earth is a man, but I think Pearl Buck secretly makes the real hero of the story a woman. A plain, silent, selfless, sad woman who no one wanted.
- I cried when I read about Olan's death and Wang Lung's response. I'm pretty sure I liked this book well enough when I first read it in high school (20+ years ago now!?) but I think I appreciate it much more now. How many other books were half wasted on me in high school and college?

Anyway - not much more can be said about a long weekend of feasting and friends and time with my beloved family. I am deeply thankful.

WoW

World of Warcraft has officially taken over my life. The game was released in 2004 and I've fought buying it for so long because I knew this would happen. Some people think its geeky, but heck I don't care.. it still kicks ass. I'm at level 43 now, achieved in the span of 3 weeks which is quite intense. The fact that work don't come easy in this country means that I've got lots of spare time (yes, there is a shortage of doctors in Bahrain yet we still find it hard to get employed). All this spare time has been dedicated to leveling my character in pursuit of more power, better items and crazier adventures.

The missus is unfortunately away for a while, and I know that this will all end when she comes back. That doesn't make me sad. In fact, it might be a good thing for my general well being.

Short post, but I need to get back to questing. Level 44 awaits.

Blue Magic, Jay Z - American Gangster

Lo que se puede hacer con una producción millonaria y todo el peso de Roc-A-Fella Records detrás. Jay Z no deja de sorprenderme de vez en cuando con una joya de estas. 

¿Reconocéis a Pharrell Williams?

A veces lo comercial no es tan malo...

Ahó os dejo con Blue Magic, para la banda sonora de la película American Gangster.

Hace algunos años, 2003, me cautivó con un temazo llamado "Dirt Off your Shoulders" con una base impresionante. ¡Cómo nos divertíamos pinchando este tema en garitos de mala muerte de Brighton! Lo malo es que a alguien le gustó mucho el disco y me lo "sustrajo", una pena porque no me lo volví a comprar...

Unos añitos antes que todo esto, 1998, el amigo Jay, sacó el que se consideró su mejor album hasta entonces. Se decía que estaba en un momento artístico de lucidez en el que no había estado antes, "Hard Knock Life".



A disfrutar...

Ilusiones ópticas "sociales"

Dependiendo de dónde seas verás una cosa u otra en el dibujo de abajo.



Si eres del este de África casi seguro que ves a una mujer con una lata en la cabeza y una familia sentada debajo de un árbol
Si eres de Occidente es probable que veas una ventana y una familia sentada en una habitación.

El mejor camión del mundo

O al menos lo es para mí.
Me parece impresionante.
Soy fan acérrimo de la serie Mad Max y de todas las pelis postapocalípticas. Éste sería un vehículo ideal para vivir en el desierto junto luchando contra hordas de zombies y de monstruos mutantes del desierto.
Una maravilla.

Creo que es una agencia que lo alquila para viajes aventura, pero está en alemán y no me entero ni del Nodo.