And the beat goes on...

Just got that phone call, I had a feeling I'd know something today...

I'm through to the training!!!!!

Yuppeeee!

Tinky Winky is gay!

Long gone are the days where innocence was a ever-present. Tinky Winky from the Telly Tubbies has been branded as a homosexual because he carries a “hand bag” and so the Polish Children's Rights Commissioner Ewa Sowinska wants him banned from tv. Apparentely poor Tinky Winky, the purple one, is promoting homosexuality!
How I miss my childhood days!

The Assessment day

OK, done and over with!

It was quite an intense morning, filled with presentations, group discussions, simulations...All I know that at some point 2 of the 7 of us were 'disposed' of, meaning they kicked them out as they didn't want to waste anymore time with unsuitable candidates.

It was a very creative, stressful experience which, if I go through, was just the beginning of what's to come: a week-long training at the end of which we must present our cases and defend ourselves against the commercial board, the tough cookies. HR garanteed we'd have all their support during the process, but the final decision wasn't theirs to take... Basically we have to sell ourselves and maybe even our mothers to convince these guys we are the best for this job.

The job is quite ambigous in what isn't a common 9 to 5. Having said that, because it's so different, it gives me the chance to capitalise on it, later on. But you can be sent to India for as long as 6 months and then to Greece for another 3. And that's what it makes it so special, and hard. Not many would have the guts (or madness) to go for it, but I'm willing to try, like always. To stop is to die, right?

Oh dear...

Nervous? Who? Me?

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Yupiiiii!

Remember me saying that I've applied for my dream job?

Well....I'm invited to their Assessment Day!!!!!!

If this go well, then: 'candidates who fit the profile will be invited to participate in the selective training which takes place in Madrid. Finally those that pass the training will be hired.'

This went really quick and I guess I sort of deserved this push up, as work nowadays has been hell! I guess it all comes round.

Just a tip on this crazy job: it involves travelling for 11 months a year....


Indeed, I'm CRAAAZZZZZYYY!

Nutella, the best!

Found under the category The best way to get fat Nutella is the best.

On any given day, you can get over 3.5 million Nutella mentions on the internet. And in Italy, there's even a MyNutella.it page where you can exchange compliments about the spread with other unconditional fans.

This I found in The Best Stuff in the World! Vote for yours!

Rice and the inconvenience of...

...being small.

That's right, these two came together as on our weekly food shopping we couldn't get the rice we wanted from the shelf! I mean, me and my sister aren't super tall, but at 1,65m we aren't tiny.

Well, that seemed true, when we tried to get the rice pack from the top shelf. We were literally struggling to get that last pack of rice, by trying to climb on the shelf below - accidentally kicking some other rice brand from its place -, by reallyyy streching our arms and legs and whatever helped us to reach that damn box. Meanwhile, plenty of men, taller than us, were passing by, noticed our frustration and did nothing to help ease our suffering. And not that they were with their other halves, they simply didn't mean to help. Finally, in a quick, decisive and unbalanced jump your dear here managed to get the box which didn't fall to the floor and ruined our whole experience, by a nail. We managed to grab it from my shoulder, on its inummerable twists and turns while falling from its altar there. That was hard work and this while there were 49 other brands to choose from, on normal height shelves... But women, we like it complicated, don't we?

Dream job

My sister found on the internet what seems to be my dream job! I've applied immediately and am now pendent of my mail.

I'm not going to share what it is yet, but I got a quick response from them, asking for a photo and, in my rush to send it, I wrote 'thank you very mich'! Hope they understand it's a silly typo and don't stick to that!

I'm just telling you, if I get that job, my life would change a lot, and I'm not just talking financially! :) It would change drastically, I'm telling you!

Cross your fingers for me, plllliiiiizzzzz!

Intelligence

Eduard Punset is one of those people you thrive to be like.

Beside being a lawyer and economist, he's also a writer and scientific (meaning, he spreads scientific achievements, namely on the psychology area). His blog is on my favourites and even for who's quite lay on those subjects of science, finds it quite appealing. He makes it simple for us.

His latest contribution peaks at how psychopaths are. They can be our bosses, neighbours, friends... Very interesting, but sorry, only in Spanish. TVE is showing this program only at 3 am next Sunday, bless ignorance! Prime time too expensive to be dedicated to documentaries like this.

Anyhow, according to studies, psychopaths know what they are doing, they understand the difference between wrong and right, but are incapable of showing any kind of empathy or remorse for their actions. They usually are liars, violent and charming. This might ring a bell to some, at work we have one of them around. Besides neurotic, hysterical and unpredictable, I also think she's a psychopath! I'm sure!

Colour test

I found this test in Coisas da Net e não só. Do it! I'm this Aqua colour. Which is yours?

AQUA

You enjoy life, humor, and being exuberant. Wherever you go you usually find yourself stealing the spotlight without even trying. You love to let go and have fun.

Find out your color at QuizMeme.com!

Mopping the floor

This is Naomi's diary of her sentence cleaning floors. We tend to forget celebrities are also human...

Life after the Dalai Lama

Dalai Lama is going to retire. He is part of the world furniture, he has always been there, it sounds weird he will not be in the future. But the fact is that he wants to step out and leave it to a younger Lama, with whom all teenage girls are in love - that's something not even His Holiness can claim in this world.

His unique presence is due to the fact that he has had a dual role: he spoke for the Tibetans as a people and for their suffering at the hand of the invader and, at the same time, and with startling directness, he told the truths of Buddhism. The Independent says:

'The trampling of Tibet by the People's Liberation Army, the trashing of its monasteries and the brainwashing of its monks and nuns, the colonisation of its towns and cities by Chinese settlers, all of which continues, was an outrage of which the Dalai Lama spoke with unique eloquence, and because the outrage was so stark he found a huge ready audience everywhere. And then, almost without us being aware of it, he was telling us about values, about morality, about happiness, in the simplest words. And because of the way he did it, most of us lingered to listen to that message, too. Tibetan Buddhism is a fabulously exotic construct, as remote and strange a religious tradition as any in the world, ineffably far away. Yet Tenzin Gyatso has a way to make it simple, without cheapening its truths. "Happiness is not something ready made," he will say, "it comes from your own actions." "In the practice of tolerance, one's enemy is the best teacher."

My bichinho is back!

I have it again! How I missed my dear bichinho. (Refer to 'Bad day for Bichinho' in March). Looks all shiny and new. Got the plate replaced and some paint on, but seriously I can't tell where, as it wasn't scratched anywhere. But that shows on the invoice the guy's insurance is going to pay, so I don't mind too much. Overall it was a 100 euros plus bill. I can only imagine how a serious damage would cost!

But that's the price of owning things, right?

Golf mania

Yesterday, we went to the golf course in the posh area of Madrid. The intention was for me to try and learn it, as the guys are already almost professionals with their 13 club sets... So, there I was, learning all about the positions, the strikes, the clubs' range, the speed and direction of the balls. Basically, it was great, even though I had their gloves and clubs (all much too big for me). But learning with inadequate equipment is no news for me (skying, windsurfing, kitesurfing...all of these I dared to try and learn with equipment less than fit for me, but even so I went for it and when I finally got the right stuff, everything seemed much easier!).

At the end of the practice, after we knocked 3 whole baskets of balls, around 50 balls each, we were sore and tired. Today my shoulders hurt, but the feeling of shooting a ball across the grass across more than 80 meters, that's cool. My favourite clubs was nr 6 and nr 7. I have 11 more to practice with!

YOU!

This is you guys! Look at the countries your servers are on, I mean, who do I know in Mexico? Keep poking in, make me proud!
Buá! Have a nice weekend!
PS - Still missing it.... :(

Friday feeling...

I want to finish this week... Bad mood and silly headache on a Friday afternoon? Booh!

My dream

Missing

Why is it that you only miss something when it's lost?

(this can be applied to a trillion of things and you can have your own interpretations of this, but I'm really missing it...)
Any guesses?

And you, what are you missing?

Weather

Where's Spring? With the beautiful greens and flowers and nice and smooth temperatures? Here in Madrid we have either winter (all last week pouring rain and freezing) or super summer (this week totally hot, temperatures last evening, at 8.30 pm - 26c!)...Go wonder! Of course, terraces and cold drinks are all we start thinking from now on until late september! Yuuupppeee!

Tax

Yesterday I've opened my mailbox to find inside my simulation of the tax I had asked before. I wish I hadn't ask for it....it seems that I will have to pay a LOT back, as the office in all 2006 was charging me less tax than I ought. I hate taxes! I am now in negotiations with my landlord to see what we can do in relation with the rent I'm paying and if I can include it in the tax form to somehow try and help reduce my payment... Believe me, it's a lot!

How I wish to be a kid again to be tax-free happy!

7 Wonders of Portugal

As you probably already know by now, Portugal will be the host of the ceremony of the New 7 Wonders of the World the coming 07.07.07.

Taking advantage of the idea, we also came up with 77 sites which are considered relevant, both historically, architecturally and of course, are beautiful.

So, out of the 77 and following the same model as the World wonders, people are asked to vote and 21 finalists are competing nowadays to become the 7 wonders of Portugal. Mainly are castles, churches and palaces. These are excuses also, to visit them before voting and deciding. Please vote, even if you aren't Portuguese, check the website and the pictures and decide for yourself. It's really cool.

My hair

Spring is here, and changes are almost inevitable. I'd like to cut my hair, but have no guts! The thing is that I always had my hair long, always girlie girl, and for as much as I remember, I always wanted to give it a radical change, but I could never get round to it. I love to change a lot, changes are fresh, keep you alive and give you energy...but not changing my hair. I can't compromise that. It's weird, how attached I am to it, but I guess it's also who I am, a long hair girl. Lately I've been playing with the idea of cutting it shoulder lenght, but funnily enough, always find excuses not to go to the hairdressers'. Maybe when I'm old and wise, then maybe I can serioulsy ponder that option, but now...I'll stick to it. It's feminine, never outdated and looks fine. Right?

Joke of the day

Miscellaneous terms definitions:

ADULT: A person who has stopped growing at both ends and is now growing in the middle.

BEAUTY PARLOUR: A place where women curl up and dye.

CANNIBAL: Someone who is fed up with people.

Travel bargains!

25 wonders

Love travelling. Lifts the spirit. Breaks your routine. Enhances your senses.
When I read this list of wonders to be seen in our lifetimes, compiled by the Rough Guide, I tried to find one out that I could possibly afford to visit soon.

1 Salt flats of Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia
2 Uluru or Ayers Rock, Australia
3 Pyramids at Giza, Egypt
4 Drifting down the Amazon
5 “Fairy chimneys” and caves of Cappadocia, Turkey
6 Grand Canyon, Arizona, USA
7 Petra, the city carved from stone in the Jordanian desert
8 Machu Picchu, Peru
9 Sagrada Familia, Gaudí’s masterpiece in Barcelona
10 Perito Moreno glacier, Patagonia
11 Sistine Chapel, Rome
12 Trekking in the Himalayas
13 Angkor Wat, Cambodia
14 The canals and palaces of Venice
15 Taking a camel train across the Sahara
16 Great Wall of China
17 Victoria Falls, Zambia and Zimbabwe
18 Paddling in the Barrier Reef, Belize
19 Taj Mahal, India
20 Maya ruins of Mexico and Guatemala
21 Stone giants of Easter Island
22 Grand Mosque, Djenn鬠Mali
23 The temptations of Las Vegas
24 Forbidden City, China
25 Itaipú, the world’s biggest dam, Paraguay and Brazil

There's plenty of room for discussion about these 25 choices. For example, Las Vegas??? Is the Rough Guide patriotic or what?

In any case, I've seen (or been to) 2, been really close to other 2, but out of these true wonders, the one that would most easily and quickly take my fancy would definitly be....(still thinking)....maybe.....either Stone Giants or Patagonia. That sounds exotic enough, doesn't it? I mean, I wouldn't say no if my only choice were the Maya ruins or Petra.

Basically, I need the time and the money and I'd do them all! Oh yeah!

Learn how to...

I married adventure

I bought a very interesting book. It's called 'I married Adventure' by Osa Johnson and it relates the biography of the first explorers and documentary makers in the South Seas and Africa, at the beginning of the 20th century. It's the story of the Johnson couple, Osa and Martin, and their mindblogging adventures in cannibal lands, unexplored places where they were the first white people locals saw. It's truly amazing to read how they organised the expeditions, how this delicate woman went through the difficulties of exploring rough lands, with rough insects, huge and dangerous beasts, diseases, communication... Don't forget we are talking the beginning of 1900s.

They were from Kansas and together filmed and took thousands of photographs of remote and unheard lands. They exchanged gifts with cannibals, learnt aboriginal languages, learnt how to use rifles and hunt for survival.

All is told with plenty of humour in this remarkable book. It comes with some examples of the pictures they took for us to have an approximate idea of how things looked and how, for example, a human head looks like standing on a pole by a fire!

You can also see more photos on their Museum webpage on the Exhibits link. Really cool couple. Above all, brave and ahead of their time.

The thumb test

What to do:
Interlock the fingers of your hands, and place one thumb on top of the other.

Analysis:
The brain works in two general modes. In one mode (often called ‘right-brained’), it is more intuitive, visual, and creative. In the other (often called ‘left-brained’), it is more logical, sequential, and language based. In many ways, it is like having an artist and accountant arguing in your head, and you keep flipping between the two. All of us work in both modes, but everyone naturally tends towards one or the other.

People who place their right thumb on top of their left thumb tend to be left-brain dominant, and are thus more verbal and analytical. Those placing their left thumb on top of their right thumbs tend to be a right-brain dominant, and thus excel in visual, spatial and intuitive tasks.

PS - I'm a right-brain :)

Slow down!

A study in 32 cities has concluded that we are walking faster than a decade ago. This might be the reflection of technology in our lives, such as the internet or mobile phones which turn us more impatient and likely to cram increasingly more activities into a day.

The speed we are walking is also the mirror of what we feel and the pace of our lives. We feel more stressed, more agitated, more demanding. Answer these questions:

Slow down?

* Do you seem to glance at your watch more than others?
*When someone takes too long to get to the point, do you want to hurry them along?
*Are you often first to finish at mealtimes?
*When walking along a street, do you feel frustrated because you are stuck behind others?
*Would you become irritable if you sat for an hour with nothing to do?
*Do you walk out of restaurants or shops if you encounter a short queue?
*If you are caught in slow-moving traffic, do you seem to get more annoyed than other drivers?

Five or more “yes” responses mean you should take your foot off the accelerator.

I will slow down! I definitely get frustrated at a slow pace, I'm too accelerated!

Read more at this interesting web and participate in the studies.