Today it's been a full year since I arrived here in Madeira. While this in itself might be reason to celebrate the additional cuts by the Portuguese government are anything but celebration worthy. Another 5% cut in salary and no summer and Christmas bonuses. Soon enough I won't be able to afford living comfortably anymore.
It seems I'll have to start applying for other jobs soon so I'll add that to the 'to do-list' with the research grants I'm working on.
Friday, October 14, 2011
Thursday, October 13, 2011
divine intervention?
So Asnida's birth certificate arrived in the Netherlands, then they said the recipient moved, then s/he wasn't home and after a week of not being claimed the document was returned to Funchal...
Frustrating doesn't even come close to the annoyance level.
I now send the document again but to a different address and I added the person's name who is handling our marriage request in the Netherlands.
If the document is still returned then it must be divine intervention! (another good reason to be an atheist lol)
Frustrating doesn't even come close to the annoyance level.
I now send the document again but to a different address and I added the person's name who is handling our marriage request in the Netherlands.
If the document is still returned then it must be divine intervention! (another good reason to be an atheist lol)
Sunday, October 09, 2011
I was supposed to do the 2nd training dive of the digital underwater photographer course yesterday but the digital camera came back too late from the dolphin trip. So I just did a regular dive with Sergi and Monica during their 4th/final open water dive to get certified. I still got 57 minutes underwater and experimented with breathing and buoyancy so definitely a useful dive.
I've rescheduled the training dive for next Saturday morning since the dolphin trips are always at noon. So nobody will have taken the camera when I get to the Divepoint.
I was told that we'll either go to the national park or to the Bowbelle wreck, I'm hoping for the national park since there's a lot more fish :-)
I've rescheduled the training dive for next Saturday morning since the dolphin trips are always at noon. So nobody will have taken the camera when I get to the Divepoint.
I was told that we'll either go to the national park or to the Bowbelle wreck, I'm hoping for the national park since there's a lot more fish :-)
Thursday, October 06, 2011
A Song of Fire and Ice
After finishing "A Storm of Swords: Steel and Snow" aka book 3 part 1, I was wondering why the body count of main characters was so low. Well, now that I'm reading "A Storm of Swords: Blood and Gold" and on page 358 already 3 main characters have died haha.
Then again, a few of the characters who died earlier in the books have either survived or been resurrected. I guess that's a benefit of the fantasy genre, you can do whatever the hell you like and then pull a trick to smack the reader over head yet again :-)
Good wicked fun!
Then again, a few of the characters who died earlier in the books have either survived or been resurrected. I guess that's a benefit of the fantasy genre, you can do whatever the hell you like and then pull a trick to smack the reader over head yet again :-)
Good wicked fun!
Wednesday, October 05, 2011
Monday, October 03, 2011
A Song of Ice and Fire
I've been calling this book series "Game of Thrones" since that's the title of the first book and the TV series but I guess after reading books 1, 2 and 3 part 1, I should call it by its rightful name "A Song of Ice and Fire".
I read book 1 in two weeks, book 2 in one week, and book 3 part 1 in four days :-)
I guess you could say I'm pretty hooked on this epic tale!
In contrast to, for instance, the Harry Potter books, the "A Song of Ice and Fire" books don't wrap up the story line nicely at the end of each book. They just end like a regular chapter and you're left wondering what the hell is going to happen next. Since there are so many story lines you get used to having to wait what happens with a certain character but with each book ending you just want to dive into the next book to continue reading.
So, I'll probably start reading book 3 part 2 "A Storm of Swords: Blood and Gold" tonight! There have been a few very cool twisted events which I love so hopefully George R. R. Martin doesn't let up in the next books.
I already have the paperback edition of book 4 "A Feast for Crows" so I'm still good for quite some time. It seems that book 5 has only been published in hardcover so far and I'll see if I can be patient enough to wait for the paperback version to be released. Probably not haha!
And after book 5 I'll have to endure the wait until books 6 and 7 will be out...
Winter is coming!
I read book 1 in two weeks, book 2 in one week, and book 3 part 1 in four days :-)
I guess you could say I'm pretty hooked on this epic tale!
In contrast to, for instance, the Harry Potter books, the "A Song of Ice and Fire" books don't wrap up the story line nicely at the end of each book. They just end like a regular chapter and you're left wondering what the hell is going to happen next. Since there are so many story lines you get used to having to wait what happens with a certain character but with each book ending you just want to dive into the next book to continue reading.
So, I'll probably start reading book 3 part 2 "A Storm of Swords: Blood and Gold" tonight! There have been a few very cool twisted events which I love so hopefully George R. R. Martin doesn't let up in the next books.
I already have the paperback edition of book 4 "A Feast for Crows" so I'm still good for quite some time. It seems that book 5 has only been published in hardcover so far and I'll see if I can be patient enough to wait for the paperback version to be released. Probably not haha!
And after book 5 I'll have to endure the wait until books 6 and 7 will be out...
Winter is coming!
almost anniversary time
I've been in Madeira for almost 1 year. I arrived on October 14, 2010 so only 11 days before I can have a party of one to celebrate the anniversary :-)
Seems my left thigh is getting old and injury prone. After the July injury I pulled (separate) muscles in that thigh over the past 2 weeks. Interestingly, it only happens when I kick the ball, not while running, turning or whatever. While it's good that I've learned to use both legs for soccer while I was a teenager it's hard to avoid the automatic action to kick with my left leg when the ball is perfectly placed in front of my left foot. Either way, I'm taking a break for a few weeks from playing soccer now. If I pull yet another muscle in my left thigh the next time I play then I'll go see a doctor.
It's good that despite the thigh issue I can still scuba dive without any problems. I guess I use different muscles to kick my fins underwater which don't hurt or cause injuries :-)
We did a fun shore dive on Saturday while the waves were pretty strong and the swell kept shoving us left and right, back and forth. I felt pretty comfortable though and getting more and more into my buoyancy. We stayed underwater for about 54 minutes which is quite long. Although our maximum depth was 14 meters we stayed in shallower depths (around 7/8 meters) for most of the dive.
Since it's been a while since I did any speciality scuba dive course I will start doing the digital underwater photographer course on Wednesday and probably finish it on Saturday. After that I'd like to do the night diver and underwater videographer specialties. Once I have done those I will do some more challenging courses: search and recovery diver, cavern diver, and rescue diver. Each of these 3 more advanced courses consists of 4 dives while the usual specialty course is 2 dives.
Finally, after I get the rescue diver certificate I'll go for Master Scuba Diver which is "the highest non professional level in the PADI System of diver education". I don't expect to go pro after that but the top level of fun diving seems pretty effin good in its own right!
Seems my left thigh is getting old and injury prone. After the July injury I pulled (separate) muscles in that thigh over the past 2 weeks. Interestingly, it only happens when I kick the ball, not while running, turning or whatever. While it's good that I've learned to use both legs for soccer while I was a teenager it's hard to avoid the automatic action to kick with my left leg when the ball is perfectly placed in front of my left foot. Either way, I'm taking a break for a few weeks from playing soccer now. If I pull yet another muscle in my left thigh the next time I play then I'll go see a doctor.
It's good that despite the thigh issue I can still scuba dive without any problems. I guess I use different muscles to kick my fins underwater which don't hurt or cause injuries :-)
We did a fun shore dive on Saturday while the waves were pretty strong and the swell kept shoving us left and right, back and forth. I felt pretty comfortable though and getting more and more into my buoyancy. We stayed underwater for about 54 minutes which is quite long. Although our maximum depth was 14 meters we stayed in shallower depths (around 7/8 meters) for most of the dive.
Since it's been a while since I did any speciality scuba dive course I will start doing the digital underwater photographer course on Wednesday and probably finish it on Saturday. After that I'd like to do the night diver and underwater videographer specialties. Once I have done those I will do some more challenging courses: search and recovery diver, cavern diver, and rescue diver. Each of these 3 more advanced courses consists of 4 dives while the usual specialty course is 2 dives.
Finally, after I get the rescue diver certificate I'll go for Master Scuba Diver which is "the highest non professional level in the PADI System of diver education". I don't expect to go pro after that but the top level of fun diving seems pretty effin good in its own right!
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