Dec
4
Frozen Pool!
Filed Under Daily
The swimming pool was cold the last two days. Maybe the heaters need to be repaired. It always happens in winter time in Australia. I do not complain but I think I got a cold. Let’s hope for a quick recovery. The thermal base layers I bought are very good and keep me warm even though I do not wear lots of clothes or heavy ones.
I saw the other day a young beggar in the street, he was happily sitting there eating his food. At that moment, he was a happy man, strange but I wanted to know what it feels like to be content to eat food in the cold and being happy!
Dec
3
I went to the pool and had a great and fast swim. Somehow the fastest lane was quickly available and I had the impression the dude who did that wanted to make sure, me and another fast swimmer would get into that lane right away! After the swim, I was dead tired and I went to sleep for 2 hours! This week, there is no seminar or exercise, so I took a break!
I switched my SIM card to Orange Dolphin plan, that means that I have 300 free text every time I top-up with 10 GBP. I realized I am extremely sensitive to bad smell and noise that is why most people around me are a disturbance to me. What annoys me the most is bad breath in the lift and cheap artificial deodorant.
Dec
2
After the fog, now comes the snow. I had the surprise to see lots of snow this morning at 6 am. It quickly turned into ice on the ground. It was quite slippery on my way back from the pool. There were lots of slow new swimmers at the beginning. Luckily, the staff opened quickly the fastest lane for real fast swimmers.
I need to concentrate on things that are important and forget about little annoying things that got on my nerves easily. I am really obsessed with tiny stupid things that have no effects or whatsoever on my life: ugly dirty noisy smelly stupid people!
I found a very nice Chinese store that sells excellent roasted duck. I had a taste yesterday and it was really delicious. I am going to try again for lunch today.
Dec
1
Something beautiful!
Filed Under Daily, Nikon D200
I was lucky on Sunday with one or two shots. I really could capture the beauty of the scenery on Snowdon. The hike was boring, easy and slow even though I was supposed to be with fast people. What a pity! But I guess I had more time to take pictures. This is probably one of my best shot
Nov
29
Foggy Manchester
Filed Under Daily
It’s a very thick fog that covered Manchester city since yesterday. I have everything I need in the fridge so I won’t need to go out today. The movie night yesterday was funny, we all had a good laugh with “Kung Fu Panda”. I have seen it several times but when there are more people, it’s always a good social laugh, there is a spreading phenomenon in the laugh.
The weather for tomorrow’s Hike seems good; It will be cold and it will be windy. I hope the visibility is good because that’s all I need to take pictures.
Just got a call from Malinda. I am invited to a Thanksgiving dinner at 5 pm. It should be good. Because of the fog, I doubt there is anything better to do in the city but I still want to go there.
Nov
27
Lost in the Night!
Filed Under Daily
Strange night yesterday! I woke up at 4 am and I was perfectly awake. I did not want to sleep anymore beasue I went to bed quite early. I stood up and I lied down on the floor facing the hallogen lamp. Names of common places came back to my mind while I was playing music.
Toowong, Brisbane City Center, South Bank and Mt Cootha for Australia
Picadilly Gardens, Snowdon, Lake District for the UK
Wall-mart, Best Buy, Cicrcuit City, South Bend, Chicago for the USA
Auchan, Cergy, Vaureal, Lyon, Versailles for France
Maybe I was not that awake after all. In my mind, I was back to these places again.
I just got over my 3rd herpes crisis, I must check my trans-aminases level. These high frequencies of viral attacks are not normal.
Nov
26
Planning time!
Filed Under Daily
6 months left before the next step! Time to make some plans again, Time to get stressed in other words. It takes about 6 months usually for me to figure out what I will do next.
The worse situation and the most probable one would be that I do not find any job at the end of the second semester and I need to find a place to stay in Manchester. I could last another year or so staying here after June 2008. That would take me somewhere till June 2009. By that time, finding ANY job will be my priority.
The best situation would be a smooth transition, meaning a job as a trainee in London in a law firm! YEEEEAA that would be cool! I would take 2 weeks vacation to go somewhere in Europe. I still want to visit South America and take some nice pictures.
I will apply for the Canadian visa as soon as my retirement funds are transferred. That would be another adventure. Moving again to another continent and finding a job there. Canada seems to be crisis proof so far. They also need bilingual people in French and English. I could work as an IT or a research company. This would be maybe a backup plan. Not ideal but not too bad for my taste.
I will start to send out my CV today. It takes for ever for them to answer. In fact, I would like to find something in Manchester and stay around. I like the city! But there are more opportunities in London.
We shall see.
Nov
26
Cool sound from Mutemath-Spotlight
Nov
25
ANZ and ING.au in Australia
SG and ING.fr in France
BARCLAYS and HSBC in the UK
If I could I would have opened one in Ireland as well since it was free but due to stupid administrative complications I could not. It is actually very good to have a bank in as many countries as you can because for a basic account it is FREE. It is harder to open one because of all the administrative requirements so I usually open one when I can, even two if it is easy! In Ireland, there was not any problem because it belongs to Europe and it uses the Euro. Every bank transaction was free, even cash withdrawal using my french credit card. I should check and open a ING.uk here in Manchester.
My body is still really really sore today, I was hoping it would go away but it did not. I only hope people who did the hike with me get as much pain as I do :). I could not find any magnesium salt in powder, they would greatly help!
Nov
24
Sore everywhere!
Filed Under Daily
I think every part of my upper and mid-lower body is sore! The climbing did take a lot from me! The swim was slow and painful today of course but there were not many people in the pool which is nice. I think the winter weather has some effects on people. Some slow pokes are quite resilient and they are still there sadly.
Chebet seems to feel the financial burden of living in a big British city like Manchester. I wish I could help her but as long as I do not have a job myself, I cannot help anybody but myself.
I finally got a letter giving me internet access to HSBC, my second British bank. But I have not received anything else from them so I had to go to the bank and asked about the debit card and the bank information. The lady looked at me like if I was a stranger who lied to her when I told her that was all I had received from them. She then went and looked into their files and found all the relevant stuffs I needed. She told me as if I was an idiot that when I opened my account, I was told to come and pick them up. Of course, I replied kindly that nobody has told me anything. They will have to re-issue a new pin code since I did not come to pick up the card within 2 weeks!
I have also received my 3rd french credit card. This is the first time I had to change so many cards with the same bank in less than 6 months! I hope they will not charge me any fee but I doubt about it!
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