SH!

It has been quiet round here lately…

Be quiet and careful not to wake up the sleeping Deviant Dragons.

I’ll be back as soon as inspiration returns and stress goes away.

Meanwhile, here are some other interesting reads:

The Cat Is Here – A recent project by Berez and Turtle1 with a lot of pictures and stories about cats (in Hebrew) – Notice the stars at no. 11

Defective Yeti – Most funny blog around

Daily Oliver – A doggy photolog

Moving On

So much has happened in the past few days, I didn’t have the time and energy to write about it all.

The move went almost smoothly. The cats were well behaved in their closed room, the movers came in on time and did a quick and careful job and the Biking Geeks were so helpful, I don’t know what I would have done without them. The only hitch was my fridge that couldn’t fit through the kitchen’s door. This was easily solved by using the fridge that was in the flat originally, and putting mine in storage. Even the ADSL was reconnected quickly, and by then end of moving day I was already online.

Sebastian and William are slowly getting used to their new home. They were very hysterical at the start, but are starting to learn all there is to know about the new place. I let them wonder around the flat when I am there, and they seem to appreciate it. Sebastian is already back sleeping near my feet in bed at night.

Now there are all the little bits to finish off. Hanging things, buying things, making sure the place is suitable for feline use, cleaning the old place etc. I want to get all these done by the end of the month. It’s all very exhausting and I want to get it out of my way. This means that this week is going to be very busy. There are so many tasks to get through.

Nearly Moved

Everything is almost ready. Boxes are packed; the new flat is cleaned with some stuff already moved there. I’ve got the time off from work to handle everything, my mum is coming tomorrow to help with the process and the Biking Geeks agreed to help on Friday morning.

Tonight will be my last time online for a few days. The phone line will be cut off tomorrow morning, and it is unlikely for the ADSL to be reconnected in the new flat at least for a few days. So, if anyone is missing me online or hasn’t received a reply to a very important email, please accept my apology in advance. Besides, if you are someone who would send me an important email, it is most likely you have my phone number, so no excuse.

Withdrawal symptoms will be noticeable in the morning. At least until I’m connected again at work on Sunday.

Nearly Thirty Crisis Update: Addictions

I have never smoked (unless you consider holding a lit cigarette once while out with friends in a pub). I have never tried any drugs (unless you consider legal prescription or non-prescription medication). I have never gambled (unless you consider the lottery a few times). I have no intention of making a habit of any of the above, not now and not in later life.

I am currently addicted to caffeine. I love coffee and the way it makes me feel. I don’t mind decaffeinating from time to time in order to get the coffee kicking in my body again, but I have no intention of giving it up. Maybe I will reconsider if it is ever found to be unhealthier than cigarettes, but even then my reconsideration may come to the same conclusion, that I just love coffee.

I can’t live without music. It is the air that I breathe and that gives me life. It is constantly played in my head whether I want it or not, and I don’t want it to stop. I don’t think it is a bad addiction. It is not unhealthy (with the exception of dangerous volume while playing) and it makes me feel good. No reason to quit.

My last stated addiction is to bandwidth. If that addiction did not exist, would I be a blogger? Would I be reading other people’s blogs, enjoy meeting people online and enrich my knowledge of just about anything? Maybe it is a bit too much when my real personality and my online personality can no longer be differentiated, and that my mood is badly affected if I don’t see my online friends for a while. However, I do think this is part of what defines me as a geek, and as long as I enjoy it, there’s no harm in it. Maybe this is not an addiction which should be considered in any relation to age. It has nothing to do with it, mostly because I’m sure the technology will change much more in the future, and it is currently a lot more than what we could think of in the distant past. Maybe it is just a definition of my generation.

Boxed

The process of moving officially started. Yesterday I got the key for my new flat and started cleaning and moving things in. I would have gone through a lot, if I didn’t manage to cut my finger on the measure tape while trying to figure out what will fit where. The cut was quite deep and kept bleeding for hours. I continued cleaning only to find out that mixing a wound with cleaning chemicals might not be a good idea.

Despite my efforts being cut short, it was quite an exhausting day, and I could only crash to my bed when it was over.

Sebastian is starting to sense what is happening and has already gone into slight hysteria mode. At the moment he is mostly happy spending his time hiding at the top of the book case, at least until it will be moved away.

Nearly Thirty Crisis Update: Love Life

I have mentioned it a bit as part of the Family subject before, but I feel that love life before and after thirty deserve a post of its own.

In the past year, I changed men almost as frequently as I do socks. To an outsider, this may give the impression that I’m a men eater, playing around and then throwing them away. Sometimes I wish I was that heartless, but I’m not. I have opened myself to vulnerability. I let my protective walls fall down in order to find love and companionship, but failed. I let my heart be touched and broken too many times.

I think my love life is what I have most regrets about in my Nearly Thirty reflections. My misgivings are conflicting. On one hand, I wish I could still be naïve, and enjoy initial flames. On the other hand, I know that my mistrust can be a good protection against possible pain, and has probably saved me more times than I even realise. On one hand, I know I can enjoy my singlehood, I appreciate my independence and know it is very difficult for me to live without it. But on the other hand, I often wish I had someone with whom I could share my passions and emotions and with whom I will be able to bond in that very special way.

When I was younger, and thirty seemed so far away, I always thought of it as the ultimate adulthood, and as an age in which there is no doubt I will be in a steady relationship with a man I love. Now that I’m so close to that milestone, I feel as if there is something I should have achieved but haven’t. However, I know there is no time limit, and that my life is still ahead of me. The theory is that every pan has its cover, and somewhere out there mine is waiting for me too. The problem is that I don’t really believe that my knight in shining armour would just show up. I stopped believing in fairytales many years ago. Maybe the only solution would be to keep letting myself get hurt and keeping a good stock of chocolate and a copy of Sliding Doors at home for those rainy teary days. Only by letting people into my life will I be able to find the person who will be right for me.

Nearly Thirty Crisis Update: Academic Achievements

I started my university studies when I was 22. In Israel, that would be a very normal age to start studying, but in the UK, I was considered a Mature Student. Thinking back, I think mature would have been the last word that should have been used to described me then, but I have learned a lot since. I enjoyed my university years very much. Being a geek, much of my time was spent studying, as opposed to the stereotypical student way of life of drinking, smoking and having lots of sex, so I guess that in a way I was more mature than many of the people around me. I worked hard, studied hard, gave up my social life for three years, and ended up with a First Class Degree which I am very proud of.

Yes, one day I will do a Masters degree. I don’t really see the point of having one at the moment. When I do go back to university, I’ll make sure it is for a subject I am really interested in, and in a location I really want to be at. One dream is to return to the UK, maybe to Scotland, and learn something related to music. I don’t feel it is something I have to do by a certain deadline. Just something I want to do when I feel like it. If this dream doesn’t come true, and I will need to prove some academic record for any professional reasons, I’ll probably end up studying something related to business right here in Israel.

I think that studying can be a lot of fun, as long as it’s something I really want to know. There’ no reason to ever stop studying, even if there is no official certificate at the end of the process. I just wish I had more time and energy to do it now.

Nearly Thirty Crisis Update: Travelling

In the past ten years, I’ve visited four continents and almost 20 countries (if I remembered them all when counting). I also lived in four different countries (defining living as staying in a place for longer than a month, leading a life routine, not only for the purpose of visiting). This is not enough! It will never be enough!

True, there are some age related limitations on certain type of visas to some countries. For example, if my memory does not fail me in my old age, I will no longer be able to issue a working visa to Australia (the one that allows backpacking for a year with some work breaks that help continue travelling). Apart from that, there is no reason I won’t be able to go places when I’m over thirty. On the contrary, it is likely that when I’m older, with more experience and higher likelihood of steady jobs, I will be able to enjoy my travels more, and afford to go further.

I’m hoping the next destination will be Ireland. Maybe I’ll even manage to get there before my thirtieth birthday. Mostly because I’ve never been there before, and that’s a good reason to go anywhere. No specific plans yet, don’t know exactly when, where and who I will go with. Anyone want to join?

Nearly Thirty Crisis Update: Career

Many years ago, I was working for a company who had an amazing Managing Director. A very powerful woman, who has given up everything else in life in order to climb up the corporate ladder. Even though she loved kids, she gave up the idea of a family. She had amazing political skills and was a very successful manager. She always seemed very happy with her life choices and was very proud of them. Working with her, I realised that as much as my career is important to me, this is not what I want in life.

I am not willing to give up the things I love in life, and all my leisure time for work. I am also not the kind of person who would like to deal too much with politics, a necessity of senior management. Maybe my current position if the highest I will ever get in management. I still have a lot to learn, though, both in technical and managerial areas. And I hope to develop myself sideways rather than upward. I guess that as far as career is concerned, I have achieved quite a lot. I am happy with the way things are going, though often I wake up in the morning hoping I had something better to get out of bed for.

In this day and age, jobs are no longer for life, so anything could happen. My father changed his whole career path after he turned forty, and he is continuing to learn and enjoy his new career when he’s coming closer to sixty with no hint of a wish for retirement. I hope I will one day find my real vocation and be as happy about it as my father is now.

Nearly Thirty Crisis Update: Family

I guess some people (i.e. my family) would have expected me to have a family of my own by this age. Especially my grandparents, who keep going on and on about it. Looking around me, I can see people my age in steady relationships, with kids and an “adult” life. In a way, I do feel that they have achieved something that I haven’t. On the other hand, this sort of family life is not something that I have considered as an ambition that I need to fulfil, therefore, not an achievement I wish for or feel that is missing in my nearly-thirty life.

This is not to say that I would like to avoid any kind of family life. I do hope that one day I will find my knight in shining armour, or the one man with whom I would want to share my life. (Using the cliché of “the rest of my life” would be exaggerated). However, I do not think I would want that relationship to take the traditional form of an “official” married and family life. I cannot say what form I do want it to have, but I hope to let things flow in a natural direction.

I don’t have a deadline for my family structure. I know I do want it to happen, and I know I feel the need for stability, especially due to my recent frequent change of boyfriends. It would be nice not to spend my thirtieth birthday on my own, but there’s plenty of time until then. Besides, a boyfriend is for life, not just for my birthday.