In my future, I see green hills, with lakes and vineyards.
I see a week spent with my E., in total relaxation.
I smell spices and taste richness of coffee and tomatoes.
I see Chianti flowing and big smiles.
I hear nothing but quiet.

In the present, I see maps and confirmations.
I see an E-ticket printed out and resting in a folder.
I smell the mint in my window boxes.
I feel my eyes closing after a tiring working day.
I hear the noise of children in the park when they should be sleeping.

Tuscany, here we come!

I tend to divide the books that I read to three groups: Light, Heavy and Professional.

Light – These are books that are written and read purely for enjoyment. Often humorous fiction that deals with day-to-day issues or feelings. These are books that I enjoy reading before bedtime. They help me disconnect from the real world and slip peacefully into dream.

Heavy – Books that deal with more complex or depressing subjects, sometimes fiction that is based on historical facts. Also, books that are written in a high level of language (I usually read in English). I like reading such books, and I find myself moved by them very often. However, they require concentration, and this is not something I can commit to late at night after a long working day. For this reason heavy books are often kept for non-working times (i.e. unemployment).

Professional – As the name implies, books that are required for professional education. I sometimes buy these books when I find their content might help my work, but they end up left on the shelf, collecting dust. When I work, I can’t be bothered to keep reading about work related topics at home. When I’m unemployed I just enjoy the break. I know it’s wrong, but I can’t help it.

During the time I was unemployed I got to catch up with quite a lot of reading. Most of the time was spent on The Ground Beneath Her Feet by Salman Rushdie (filed under Heavy for language and physical weight). It is very good book that could have been better if some of the descriptions were shorter and the ending was more exciting.

Unfortunately, I recently ran out of Light category books. As I am now working again, I find the Heavy books that are waiting on my shelf difficult to deal with, and I cannot bother with the Professional ones. I might do some shopping soon, or switch to books in Hebrew and raid E’s library. Any recommendations? (No sci-fi, please).

Sebastian is finally back at home.

Eventually he didn’t have to undergo any surgery, and everything that had to come out did in a natural way. He could have been home yesterday, but for some reason the vet had to close shop early, and I couldn’t pick him up on time. I tried to ask my dad to pick him up for me, but being helpful was never his strong side, so he just ended up pissing me off. It was a strong deja vu of my childhood, which is something I might rant about some other time.

Meanwhile, Sebastian is happy to be at home, though he is still under close observation. While I’m typing, he is busy brushing his head against my hand, reminding me that he is still entitled to more attention than my keyboard, so I better comply.

Sebastian updates keep changing.

Yesterday morning nothing was clear, and we were waiting for a second opinion.

Yesterday afternoon, the second opinion claimed that he was probably constepated after all, and there’s no need to alarm. He just needs to stay longer for observation.

This morning an operation seemed eminent.

This afternoon it seemed that it is just constimpation after all, and no surgery will be required.

I went to see him after work. He looked OK, but obviously upset and couldn’t wait to get out of the vet’s cage and come home. Unfortunately, he still needs to stay for further observation.

He is treated very well at the vet’s, and everyone there is so nice, but he will be better off with me when all this is over.

Hopefully, tomorrow we will know for sure that everything is fine, and Senastian will finally come home.

Sebastian’s recent tummy ache turned out to have very scary possible outcomes. There were words about a tumor, and I’m very worried for him. He will spend the night at the vet’s and I will know more tomorrow. I’ll keep you posted.

One of my favourite features on this blog is the subscription section. However, recently there has been some abuse of it, in which some unfriendly or blank email addresses were added to my database. Many of those are Yahoo addresses, which I am not sure really exist.

Therefore, as a precaution, I cleared out those addresses that I could not recognize as legitimate, and removed the registration section from the blog. All the registered users were notified, and the ones that were left on the list will still receive notifications on updates.

If you wish to be removed, please let me know by replying to the notification email. If you are not registered and wish to be added, please let me know in the comments.

Thank you for your attention.

My apologies for the lack of updates, but it seems that I do have a life after all. In some magical way I manage to both work and still take part in extracurricular activities in the evening.

I have a few things I want to write about, so I’ll try to catch up in the weekend.

For the first time in six months I had a weekend that meant something – not just another laid-back day, but a weekend that allows rest from a hard working week. I guess that this is another thing I need to get used to, and enjoy while it happens without feeling guilty for having spare time which is not fully utilized.

This weekend, I can also look back on my week and make some observations about my new workplace. (Obviously, I prefer not to write much about work in general, but I guess a few notes about the environment won’t hurt). Here goes:

Working for a big corporate is not like working for a start-up – It starts with the first things that are noticed when stepping into the building – organized security, people wearing identity tags that let them into places, corporate posters reminding everyone of the Mission Statement, with colourful motivating slogans, and many many unfamiliar faces. Then there are the less obvious things – rules and procedures, which are exactly what I was looking for. For a change, a company in which they are already in place, and I don’t have to fight too many windmills to remind arrogant managers of their importance, and that my job is to improve the quality of processes and products rather than just be a rubber stamp that would cover their backsides.

Location Location Location – Let me split this one into two: the macro and the micro. On the macro side, there’s the general location – a walking distance from home. Very convenient. So far I’ve been driving to work, so I can enjoy the air-conditioned journey, but I believe that as soon as the weather becomes more bearable, I will take advantage of the situation. On the micro, there are offices. Mostly, big offices with many people, divided to cubicles with a lot of noise and no privacy. I need to adapt to that, and mostly adjust to concentrating on my work in such an environment, as the lack of seclusion does not enable anything else. And besides, work needs to be done.

People – This is the hardest thing to take in. So far, people seem to be very cautious of me, which is understandable. After all, I am someone who was brought from the outside to a managerial position, and they need to check me out as much as I need to assess them. In such a big place I’m not expected to get to know everyone, and this is also something I still find a bit unusual.

Family comes first – I think it’s a lot to do with working in such a large and varied organization. Unlike the stress of delivery that takes most of the time in start-up companies, here the atmosphere is more relaxed, and in most cases, schedules can be planned. I’m sure there will be some more demanding periods, but it is obviously not the norm. This makes the place more mature and family friendly. It seems that most people have a family or are in the process of setting one up. There also seem to be a lot of pregnant women around. I hope the latter is not infectious.

My phone was found yesterday evening, alive and well. I have my phonebook, and my audio connection the outside world back.

</panic>

Dear friends,

I have misplaced my mobile phones. I hope to find it within the next 24 hours, but there is a danger that I won’t.

This means that my address book has been lost too. If you think that I should have your number, please send it to my by email or IM. If you don’t have my email address or IM, I probably shouldn’t have your number anyway.

Thanks,

Me