Ikea's bedroom

Ikea left thousands of catalogues downstairs. It's the new 'bedroom for 07'.

Do you want to miss the most modern tendencies? Go now and pick one of these catalogues from your neighbour's mailbox and sit confortably on your Ikea sofa, pull your Ikea blanket up, drink some tea on your Ikea mug and relax. Enter the world of Ikea's bedrooms...

(came in quite handy too, we were looking for fundas nórdicas for quite some time... Do you actually know what fundas nórdicas are? hihihihiihi)

Is it me...

...or I'm not being a good blog owner?

My poor blog is nostalgic of those days of multiple posts, with many uploads and colours, laughs and comments from all over...

The reasons of this non-activity can be found on:

> my moody days

> my eye surgery

> my internetless week

> my lack of exciting facts to share

> my boring days (sniff!)

> my non existing life after working hours

> my work

> my sister, who uses the laptop all night long

> me???

This is not a 'take a pick' option kinda thing. It's the whole list! (sniffffffff.....)

Catching up...

Yes, yes, I know...long time no see.
In a nutshell:

- spent an internetless week at home (coincidentely we changed operators a week before and that week was the transition, quite a good timing hey?) where days were slowly passing by, for my own comfort. It was also cold outside, so I managed to choose a good week to stay home alone. Nah, it was a bit boring, actually, given that I had a red eye and the prospect of going out wasn't tempting, especially in this country where the genre violence is the highest in Europe, maybe in the world, who knows?
Last year, 70 women were murdered by their partners or ex-partners and this year this figure is starting to grow - 3 so far, and it's only January.
Anyway, needless to say that I was happy not to go to work, although bored.

- then, it's the sales month, so one has to be active during this time of the year (that week at home set me back quite a bit!). Not that we bought a lot, but it's always good to have a look around.

- during the weekend, gave a dinner here, I cooked my best chilli con carne, and also went out on boring Sunday afternoon for a coffee and a muffin in 2 Chueca coffee shops, Isolée and Diurno. Met a new Portuguese girl, and talked about banalities, including my plans to buy a car for my own self.

- yesterday, went back to the gym, after that week's absence and it felt good. Tonight thought of going back, but dinner at Vips and then the viewing of Dr Rouse (Spanish interpretation of the famous doc) sound a bit better :)

- booked my flights to Barcelona to the end of next month, going Saturday and coming back on Tuesday. Would like to see my dear friend over there and enjoy 2 days of turism in that beautiful place (Saturday afternoon and part of Sunday are spent at Graphispac fair, poohh!)

- and now, excuse me, but going to bathe myself, it's my best moment of the day, coming back home and just relax....

PS - did I tell you we are going to stay in this flat, at the end? The landlord was understanding and was did 'rebajas' on the rent!!! Not that my persuasion didn't work, it's just that he likes us :)

Marie Antoniette

Yesterday we went to the movies and watched Marie Antoinette, the new Sofia Coppola's film.

Can someone tell me what modern-age element appears in one scene? Quite funky too!

If you check out wikipedia you'll find quite a big deal about this amazing woman.

Mowgli (feminine version)

In Cambodia a woman apparently living in the wild for around 19 years has been found in a jungle.

She was described as half human, half animal and she cannot speak any language. She must be around 27 years old and she was naked and walking in a bending-forward position like a monkey. She was bare-bonnes skinny and shaking. Her eyes were red and always glancing left and right, left and right. Her father recognised her by a scar in her arm and her family is watching her after she took off her clothes and acted as if she was going back into the jungle...

Can you believe it? It reminds me of Mowgli, of Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book, about the boy who was raised by wolves and his friends: old wise bear Baloo and Bagheera, the sleek black panther. In our ultra modern times, these odd situations still exist and make us wonder about our progress and how much we have developed. How it's all so relative. Maybe this girl was also happy like Mowgli and his jungle friends and thought of herself as one more. Is this a rescue or a sentence to her?

Catching up...

I guess I'm part of the 60% of workers who check jobsites whilst at work...
Besides showing a bad sign about people's attitudes at work, it also shows that many people aren't loyal to their companies, i.e., don't feel happy enough at their current jobs and are willing to take chances. I'm always willing to try new things, as once I learn how to deal with something I look for something new. I couldn't be a maintenance manager or something that'd involve routine as the main task (like in a production line), as I'd be out of that in a blink of an eye.
So, basically, I'm on the look out. If I see something interesting, I'll go for it. My Dad left a cool book about how to elaborate a decent CV and how to market ourselves efficientely, so when I'm done with the book, I'll translate my CV into Spanish and off I go! Full of confidence and taking it easy. You'll see me!

As for the promised sunset, have a look and think how the Phoenicians must have liked that spot! We were near Byblos, one of the most ancient known cities in the world, looking at the sunset. Nice, no?...

Other news: currently looking for a cheaper 2-bedroom flat and a cheap car... Talking about utopias, right? We have it more or less assumed it is a waste of time, as no landlord in Madrid rents one out for less than what I have now, given all the conditions and area. But, in case I won't keep this one I'm in now, we'll have to settle for something less exciting (no swimming-pool, no 24 hour doormen, no car park, no gym at the end of the street). I'm trying to sort a meeting with my landlord to somehow persuade him to let us stay for less than now...Uff, I guess I will need lots of convincing to do, as for him to slice 25€ off it was almost the end of the world, therefore an inmense task of persuasion is ahead of me... (Should I bake some cookies and stuff to sweeten his heart?)

The car, well, that will have to take a while, as I want to see as many as I can. After all, you're buying a commodity, something that you must trust upon and rely on, so I would like to be convinced I'm doing a good business. I'm inclined to buy semi-new, which is to say, less than 20.000 km used car, sometimes it's quite worth it, as the age of the car is usually quite low and the price is quite different as if I bought a 0 km car.... I'm quite ignorant of all car things, so I guess I will wait for a guy from work who's away, to come and advise me, as guys know best about these things...

Vacations

Coming back to work has been hard, with so much stuff to do, so many things to think about at the same time, visits at home the same day I come back from holidays...Well, only today I think I'm gathering a bit more of my thoughts and myself.

As for the holidays, they were cool, any holidays are good, as long as we don't come to work, right? For the first time, I had a New Year's Eve without champagne or sultanas (as tradition obliges), but I had a great time. Met so many new people (it had been ages since I met so many new people at once) and was very welcomed over there at that turbulent yet beautiful part of our world. The thing about Lebanese, from what I aprehended is that they are very positive, optimistic and above all, resilient.

The fact there are tanks on literally every corner, barbed wire on major locations, soldiers with their M-16's (I took enough care to know this name) and hundreds of campers in front of the President's office Downtown, all these things going on and people still walk around as if nothing is happening. Of course there is tension, 2 years ago we didn't feel the same around town, but it's nice to see that life goes on, no matter what. And the sun set is quite nice, from that restaurant on the cliff...

I still have the pics to download, as I told you, no free time, lately. But I will post that pic of the sun set and you'll know what I mean :=)

New Year

Just a quickie to say HAPPY NEW YEAR everybody!
Hope your new year will be eveything you wish for!

Take care sweeties, I'll be back!