Category: Personal

Despite being at work all the time, and being constantly busy, I am still a human. I am social. I have a life, family, and friends. I have thoughts and experiences. Once in a while I share them, and when I do, I do so in this category. If you don’t know me personally, chances are you’ll find posts in this category particularly boring.

How old are you, son?

Olga and I are having a blast over this for a few weeks now.  Maxim seems to be going through an age comparison stage when at his kindergarten.  Kids tell each other how old they are, and all of them want to be of the same age as someone else.  Maxim has this friend Sasha, who is “five and three quarters”.   We haven’t covered quarters with Maxim yet (only halves), so he is exploring the math on his own.  That results in this joke that runs in our home for some time now:

– Maxim, how old are you?

– I am five and cree waters.

– How? How old?

– Five and cree waters!

– Five and what?

– Five and cree waters, I said!

Of course, we tell him that it’s “three quarters” not “cree waters”, and that he isn’t actually “three quarters” yet.  But as with everything you learn on your own rather than being taught, it takes more time to get used to the new knowledge.

Joined Tototheo Group of Companies

I’ve been working on a whole lot of side projects since I parted ways with my last employer – FxPro.  I was looking for a new job too, but I wasn’t in a hurry.  After all, a long vacation was one of the things that I needed for some time now.

Today I’m glad to let you all guys know that I found a new job.  I joined Tototheo Group of Companies.  I know the owner for a few years now and I’ve also worked with most of the guys in the IT team before.

Tototheo Group is in the shipping industry.   They provide a number of services, most interesting of which are around communications.  It is a very interesting time for technology in shipping – a switch from analogue communications to digital – and I am excited to join the party just in time for all the major fun.

Lock Stock rock band is now online!

I am helping out my friends at Lock Stock rock band to get online.  They are performing hard rock music – Metallica, Sepultura, Nirvana, Limp Bizkit, and many others – all over Cyprus.  If you are a fan of hard rock and you are in Cyprus – chances are you’ve heard them before.

There is too much that we can do, but we have to start somewhere.  So, the first version of their official website is online – see it at Lock-Stock-Rock.com .   There are some band news, contact information, and a Google Calendar- powered schedule of the upcoming events.  Go check it out, subscribe, follow @lockstockrock on Twitter, and leave a comment.  Let us know what you think.  Let us know you were there.  Spread the word. And stay tuned.

We have a lot of plans and a lot of material to cover, so there will be some activity in the nearest future.

Back from the party land

I’m back from the party land.  This was, no doubt, the longest and heaviest birthday celebration that I ever had.  I’ve been going from drunk to wasted for a whole week, and got to the stage where my body does not accept alcohol any more.  Not even a beer.  I need a break for a week or so.

Big thanks to everyone who sent warm wishes, presents, and money, who called and came, who thought, and so on and so forth.  I think there were well over a hundred people who congratulated me this time.  I can’t tell you how awesome it makes me feel!

And of course with so many good things coming my way, there were some really special presents.  Just to name a few:

  • Fallout3 and Gran Turismo video games for PlayStation3.  I tried both of them already and they are excellent.   Fallout3 will have me exploring its world for many months to come.  Gran Turismo is faster than that – I already completed all events in category C and B, started with Category A, and got myself my first Ferrari.  There are many excellent cars to drive, tracks to try, and I haven’t even got into online races.  Hours and days of my life will be spent staring at the TV.
  • “The Mummy” and “The Mummy Returns” Blu-ray disks.  These are my first blu-rays to both own and watch.  I was expecting something out of a blu-ray experience, but I never expected what I got.  It is absolutely stunning!  I think I finally got all the bits of the setup in order – PlayStaytion3 blu-ray player, 32-inch Sony Bravia HD TV, and an HDMI cable to connect them.  The results are mind blowing.  It’s crisp and clear and colourful and almost 3D-like and makes me want to never ever watch another DVD again.
  • Kwak beer set.  And the best part of it – two traditional Kwak glasses and a wooden glass holder.  This is something that I always wanted to have, but would probably never bought for myself.  In a few days, when my body clears all the traces of last week’s alcohol consumption, I will enjoy a glass of Kwak at home.  And now I can do it with a friend too.

There were, of course, more awesome presents, but the idea here is not to list all of them, but to show off the amazing people that I am surrounded with.  Thank you all once again – it was a blast!

2 ** 5 = 32

It’s my birthday once again.  And a very special number this time – 32, which is 2 to the power of 5.  Powers of 2 are very special numbers for all the computer people.  Hopefully I’ll make it to the 2 to the power of 6 and that these powers will be more important to me when I was at 2 to the power of 4.  Other than that, everything is as always.  Getting older, but not growing up.  I am ditching the idea of becoming an adult, since it is unachievable or way too hard.  And I am not sure it’s worth it.

Now, for all those people who complained that I don’t have a wishlist handy, and who think that that is a valid excuse to NOT get me a present, I have something to say.  I will gladly accept:

  • any driving, action, adventure, or first-person shooting games for PlayStation 3 (I already have all Call of Duty and Modern Warfare titles, both Assassin Creed games, Fallout 3 and Grand Theft Auto IV, just in case)
  • DVDs and Blu-rays of awesome movies and TV series (region 2 preferred)
  • books on web, programming, technology, team and project management, photography, driving, and pretty much anything else
  • geeky clothing (sized at least XXL)
  • food, beer, hugs, kisses, handshakes, best wishes, emails, tweets, money (in no particular order)
  • anything else

That’s the best I can do in the wishlist department right now, but I guess you got the idea. ;)