I got a new toy to play with! Once again, I have been given a company phone, and with it come the benefit of a brand new Nokia 6230. Yes, one of those little things with a camera that can also play nice music and be useful for a lot more than just making phone calls. I think there is a good chance for more frequent updating of the old photolog. (I’m not turning it into a moblog just yet. I still enjoy my wonderful real camera and will not give it up so easily).

I will keep playing with my new toy until a new, better one, comes around.

It has been getting cold in the past couple of weeks. So sudden. One day it was short sleeves and sun block, and the next it’s scarves and umbrellas. I took some action yesterday and went to buy a new heater. I brought it home proudly and connected it in the living room. It gave out nice warm air, and the cats enjoyed sitting next to it for the evening, but it was not strong enough to generate enough heat for the large space so that it will get warm as far as my desk. With cold fingers I disconnected it, and swapped it with the old heater that was in the bedroom which turned out to do the trick brilliantly.

However, before bedtime I wanted to heat my bedroom and get it ready for the night. I re-connected the new heater in the bedroom and turned it on. It started warming, and a few seconds later the lights were gone. Luckily I remembered to turn off the computer just before. Unluckily, I didn’t turn off the other heater, which caused the overload.

Strangely, there was still light in the kitchen and bathroom, only the rest of the flat was in darkness. I assumed they are just connected to a different fuse, or whatever the professional electrical term is. After disconnecting both heaters I climbed a stool and checked out the electrical board, but nothing seemed wrong. There was no safety switch I could just turn back up to get the electricity flowing again. Very strange indeed.

In such late hour of the night, there was not much I could do. I organized my gym bag in candlelight (these candles were meant for much more romantic situations), and only this morning, while getting dressed in the gym’s dressing room I found out that I packed the wrong trousers. Never mind, at least I put in nicer trousers than I initially planned to wear. It could have ended up much more embarrassing.

I already spoke with my landlord, so things will hopefully be back to normal tonight. If not, I will have to spend my evening reading a book in a candle lit room, warmed by a blanket and a cat or two in my lap. As long as I still have my hot shower, I think things could be much worse. Due to my internet addiction, withdrawal symptoms should be expected in the morning.

For years, I have been dreaming of a tattoo. Only something that would be nice, if I ever think of a design that will be something I will want to wear forever. Recently I have been thinking of it a bit more seriously. I even found my design (an image that I drew many years ago, and has been on my mind ever since), and I’m moving on.

This weekend I got a few recommendations for tattoo artists (and one volunteer to hold my hand), and now I need to make some phone calls, find out about prices, procedures etc. As it becomes more real, I become more and more scared. I hate needles. I know I’m going to need some painkillers. I think I’m going to get it done anyway.

I’m trying really hard to concentrate on learning things at work. I need to be an XSL expert by the end of the day, or the end of the week at most (yesterday I didn’t even know what XSL was). The problem is that my mind keeps wondering around. There are noises inside or outside the room, or I think about things I want to do at home, or a date that I set for Saturday and about how I wish someone was online on one of my many long instant messaging lists, just to provide a distraction, as if I didn’t have any already.

In such occasion the only thing that could have helped me would be music. I need to remember to bring my old CD player to work, and then remember to bring some CDs as well. I sent myself a reminder a few days ago, obviously, it didn’t work.

Laziness must not be an excuse. Could someone remind me to just bring it with me tomorrow?

It started yesterday. I went to visit my family in the south, and get myself some new glasses (I only trust my sister-in-law, who is also my optician, and it’s worth the 1.5 hours drive, as well as being a good excuse for a visit). I got to the shopping centre on time, but by the time I finally found a place to park, it was almost too late, and I nearly missed her. She had to leave for an hour, so I was waiting around the shopping centre. This can only be dangerous. (Not too much damage this time, though. I had coffee and only bought one pair of knickers, a thong which at this moment is proving to be extremely uncomfortable and on its way to the bin).

My sis-in-law got back on time and had an hour to kill before closing time, so not only did I get a full eye test and the best service for my new glasses, I also got to try contact lenses for the first time. This proved to be a bad idea. My eyes for some reason couldn’t handle the contacts, and after about half an hour they started to hurt badly. The contacts were taken out immediately, but the pain continued through dinner with the family and the long drive home.

I wasn’t too tired when I got home, but my eyes still hurt a lot. I wasn’t going to give up my social life easily though, and I turned on the computer and logged into my usual chats. Despite the pain, I kept on going. It was Friday night after all. Sad, init?! I need to get a proper life, one that doesn’t come with a keyboard and a higher glasses prescription!

My new glasses should be ready next week, and there will be no contacts for sure. I will keep my geeky look which I have worked so hard to obtain. Meanwhile, I will try to get away from the screen for just a little bit. Maybe just go see Lee and Oded tonight, a much healthier form of fun.

Dates can’t always be successful. Oh well…

I was a bit late because I ran into traffic (I forgot you have to take traffic into account when driving into the centre of Tel Aviv). I called to let him know a few minutes before we were due to meet, I don’t like being late just as much as I don’t like waiting for others. When I saw him from a distance he reminded me of someone I went out with once a few months ago, so for some reason the other guy’s name kept popping into my head. I did manage not to slip, though. Good me.

He was nice most of the time, but he managed to embarrass me a few times, which made me feel a bit uncomfortable. Discomfort should always serve as a warning sign. I went on with it, though, told my safety-call friend that everything was OK. At the end of the evening he walked with me to the car, and he got too touchy, I don’t like that on a first date. I don’t know what was running in his head, but it was not compatible to mine. I protested and he didn’t stop, so that spelled a big N-O.

There will not be a second date. I haven’t told him that yet, though. I’m not looking forward to that conversation.

Moving on… Next!

Finally, I’m getting myself together and moving forward. With full optimism and a big smile on my face, I’m heading on a date tonight, for the first time in ages. Yay!

He should call any minute now to let me know where and when we will meet, though this was already more or less finalized. I met him online a while ago, and this week we started talking on the phone. He sounds really nice.

I better get on and get dressed. I also must remember to call a friend, to make sure she calls me back during the date to make sure I wasn’t raped or anything like that (I’ve been told I should always be careful). Wish me luck.

My new computer has arrived! Happy Happy Joy Joy!

Unfortunately, I won’t have the time to work on the installation before the weekend (busy times, I’ll let you know all about it soon).

Meanwhile, I need to choose a name for my new computer. So far previous computers were named after the saints of the day on which they arrived. My first one, many years ago, was called Valentine, and my current one is Patrick. Since my new computer arrived yesterday, I am considering calling it after St. Leo the Great, who sounds like he was a pretty cool guy. Most likely, it would be in the shortcut form of LEOTHEGR8.

Does anyone have any better suggestions? Bring them on!

The winner will be credited, and maybe I’ll think of a cool award too. (Ideas for prizes are also welcome).

If I’m not mistaken, this is something we thought about when traveling in Australia, but never got around to doing anything about it. Good thing there are people who are not as lazy.

The Bathroom Diaries are genius!

(Thanks Biking Geek for the reference and enjoy clean bathrooms through South America, while I miss you and your Biking Geekess to bits back here).

ASUS 3.0GHZ 775PCX5300 915G 512MB

Processor: INTEL Pentium 4 3.0Ghz 775 800Mhz HT 1MB CACHE

Motherboard: ASUS P5GD1 VM INTEL 915G DDR400\ PCI EXPRESS x16 \8xUSB2.0 \1xPCI EXPRESS\FSB800MHz\4xSerial ATA Hyper-Threading\ Dual Channel Memory

Memory: 512 MB DDR MHZ 400 (DUAL CHANNEL DDR) 2 x 256MB

Video card: PCI EXPRESS GEFORCE PCX 5300 128MB DDR TV OUT \ DVI

HD: 8MB CACHE WESTERN DIGITAL 80GB SERIAL ATA

CD Burner: LITE ON 52X32X52 CDRW

Sound card: Realtek ALC 861 High Definition Audio 8-channel

Network card: Intel LAN 10\100

Case: MIDI ATX P4 400W 2-FAN (front USBx2)

And it is on it’s way over…