Lox - Archived Entries for 2006 / 11

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Day Three - First Cracks: [29th November 2006]

Following the very popular trend of being physically injured at the upper limbs, my body decided to be sympathetic with John and Nigel.

They got injured in several fashionably manners, mostly involved extreme sex scenes and stuff like that, I instead decided to feel bad just sleeping, which sets a standard in dullness and idiocy in how to ruin a business trip and one's health.

As you know I suffer jet lag quite a lot, so basically the night between Tuesday and Thursday (Day 2 and Day 3) I slept a GRAN TOTAL of 2 hours!!
I tried to be in bed for the rest of the night (making a common mistake), and probably I have slept in some awkward position hence the injury.

My chest has been hurting all day, but the real problem was the back, chest pains were just a side effect.

Of course the colleagues couldn't give a flying fuck about it and I had to go out to see two clients with them (among which a huge chain very famous all around the globe), and then work on the presentation for next Monday.

Then around six, I have been told that since today was "No overtime day" if I wanted to do overtime I should have told them to get approval from the director (the approval is infact automatic). Quite strange if you ask me...

Well it was no overtime for me (by the way 9 to 7 is ALREADY OVERTIME for European standards), and I went back home.

Got a nice Katsu-Kare (Curry with fried pork cutlet) in a very nice old restaurant near the hotel (I will take some picture next time I go it's really a cool place), and then after a very hot bath it was time to go to bed and get that sleeping pill that I badly needed...
[28 comments]
Day Two: [28th November 2006]

Nothing major to report, apart from the fact that I met Kutsunugi san and I was bloody happy to have seen him. We also went out for dinner with another agent and a supplier (incidentally the company where I should have gone to work).

It was a very good night, reminded me how much experience and knowledge I have got in these five years. Unfortunately in the present job, I can use very little of what I have learned, mostly because it seems that all the answer are already written...

Oh well.

I am getting stressed about the contract as well, the appointment to discuss everything is going to be next week, let's hope that we can finalize.

Jet lag is also killing me, but that's another story.
[6 comments]
Day One: [27th November 2006]

Technically speaking it's not the first day in Japan, but the second, in any case I can't care less and I've decided that this is Day One.

After all it was the first day at work, so it marks the beginning of the adventure.

In the night I slept a grand total of 2 hours, so I knew that in the afternoon jet lag would come and knock at my door. Still I set off quite late, mostly because my colleague yesterday (the guy who came and pick me up, Mr.E) told me that there was no point in arriving before 9.

Funnily enough I managed to get the wrong train! It didn't happen since I was living here 8 years ago!!! I must have been sleeping... Anyways I did manage to arrive late the first day of work, but I couldn't care less to be honest.

We set off with the first meeting of the endless strings that awaits me, then we started working on the presentation that I had prepared in Italy.
Incidentally a good 60%/70% of what I had selected has been removed, but that was to be expected, mostly because we cannot show all the fabrics that I selected.

In the evening (we left work around eight, as you are expected to do here), we went to an izakaya (Japanese pub) for some drinks and food, two more guys joined me and Mr. E, resulting in talks about politics, religion and the always important sex.
The evening was quite pleasant, and resulted in me drinking five pints of beer, hence getting quite dunk.

My hope is that these three weeks do not become a "beer trip" because this morning, at the time of writing, my head is quite puzzled whether to hurt from jet lag, tiredness or hungover.
[10 comments]
De "Jaet Laeggum" Res: [26th November 2006]

I took the liberty of readapting a dead language (Latin) to something a bit newer like jet lag, a problem that obviously the Romans knew very well, it was really discussed in depth, and I feel that a bit of historical prospective might be needed by my readers, as I always complain about jet lag, but so were my ancestors...
[Click here to read more...]
[5 comments]
The night Before Chrsitmas: [24th November 2006]

Yes, if you add an hefty month to the date above here you'll get exactly the title of this post, but there are other meanings.

When I was a kid I remember, as I believe most of you, that I was thrilled and so looking forward to the Christmas boxing Day galore, that I could hardly sleep.

The anticipation of what those cardboard cubic shaped presents (as the general imagery suggests all presents are red boxes) might contain drove me crazy.

Tonight is the last night I spend in the new house. As a matter of fact, even if today I arranged everything in a way that I could stay here for a FULL DAY by myself, to enjoy the new place, one of the workers that needed to work on the kitchen (that we now found is falling apart), had to come, so the plan, like any other plan I have made in last two months, failed.

Anyways, we were talking about anticipations, and what is better than looking forward for a three weeks ride in Japan? I was talking to Marta tonight, I was telling her how I loved to travel to Japan before this job came along.
Now I am scared, I'd love to finish off the work here in the house, I'd love to spend more time with my friends, I'd love to do a lot of other things that, to use a similitude, once you savour a little, you cannot stop eating.

Am I scared? Yes. Two days before the trip my minds take the lead and cannot be stopped. The usual "the plane will fall" fear, the other usual "thieves will break into the new house", then "I'll get fired", are among the best and more recurring thoughts that usually are attached to a long haul flight.

I perfectly know the extent of a "mind wank" so I know that these thoughts apply perfectly for the role, but still I am not tranquil.
I really wish these three weeks to fly quickly, then it'll be Christmas, then maybe I'll know if Marta will be coming or not.

Yes Marta. The main issue now is the job. She doesn't feel right at leaving the current employers so quickly, and she wants to find a job that "pleases her" in Florence before coming.
All very noble and I agree with her, shame that my experience tells me that it took me TWO YEARS to get the right offer, and also that actually getting an interview it's hell if you don't live in the place.
Moreover her present job is extremely demanding and she really works 8 AM to 8PM every day, so she has little time to look for employment.
Given all of these points I told her that we can wait a bit, but I am not prepared to keep the distant relationship for long, once the decision is taken, job or not, the main point should be living together...

Anyways, there are doubts on both sides, as it is natural for it to be, changing completely one's life it's not easy, even if the heart makes you think so.

So once again, it's Christmas eve, I am worried about those boxes, but I ought to open them and look what's inside, it might even be a pleasant surprise. (rhyme not intended!!)
[3 comments]
The First Night: [23rd November 2006]

Yes, tonight for the very first day I have had dinner at home. To be honest there was another occasion where I ate a frozen pizza here, but today I really set up my stuff to cook and decided to go for a great grilled fillet steak with butter-garlic carrots and most importantly a PINT of Giunness!

What a dinner! Really what I needed after all the troubled days that I have just had.

I posted also all the pictures taken at Lucca, at the Comics festival. I wanted to write about that day but it happily coincided with the blog engine crashing so in the end I am going to post the pictures only.

Well that's it really.
[1 comment]
On Friendship: [21 November 2006]

Three days till my next trip to Japan, finally the fridge has been installed in the new house and from today I am technically living elsewhere in Florence.

This is the first time that I actually live by myself in my own place in Florence, I have done so all around the world but not here.
Taking the last things from my mother's house and leave was not easy, it's a period of my life that draws to an end and another that begins somewhere else.

All in all it was a quite eventful day though, apart from the usual job related problems, in the evening we were meant to see each other with the famous group of friends with whom we play Role Playing Games.

In the last three weeks we couldn't play, mostly because the person responsible for the adventures decided not to show up for two sessions in a row, didn't call for two weeks, and was not available at any known contact.

On the top of the behavior that it's totally unacceptable, as without him we cannot play, while if any of the players is missing the adventure can go on, we were quite worried that something happened to him.
Fortunately we managed to get a message from him, and a couple of pointless phone calls, so we knew he was alive.

Anyways we decided that maybe it was better to change the master, and let it do it to someone that was more reliable, but tonight the person in question decided to come (2 hours late), and was quite shocked about the fact that he wasn't in charge anymore.

A massive discussion started, not only he didn't apologize for his behaviuor but he started feeling offended about the whole thing as if nothing had happened.
The funny thing is that all the points that brought us to decide that maybe it was better to change person, were quickly taken back by every single member at the table ("I wasn't here that night", "I didn't want to do it" etc etc). Eventually he moved the target of his wrath on me, hinting that it was surely me that misteminded the whole situation.
I kept my mouth shout, as if I open the dam, too much water would flood the valley, but neither one of the other people raised the hand to say that what we were discussing about had been decided unanimously.

In the end we went back at playing the former adventure, although we did stress that the situation was not acceptable.

I left the room at the end of the session with a very bad feeling, I think that the friends that once were are now gone and probably I shouldn't expect anything from them, or at least I shouldn't expect the same treatment that I am prepared to give them.

To me this is a very sad realization, they were entities in my life that I thought I could count on, but it doesn't seem that way anymore.
It all degraded to a sort of "if it pleases me, if it works out with my schedule" game, where basically you are remembered if there is a convenience in the other party to do so. I have lost so many friends because of the choices that I have made (mostly living abroad and moving a lot), and every time I felt like that, a rag. I really put a lot into friendship and it hurts double bad when things like that happen.

After today, after this other reality bite I am starting to think maybe I am mistaken, maybe it's time for me to change too...
[6 comments]
The Day After: [20th November 2006]

The day after Marta was here was quite eventful. Nothing majorly interesting, I had a lot of work to do, finished packing all the selections and presentations that I must send to Japan before I arrive.
Of course I got a mail from a supplier who sent me the goods late and that parcel probably will not make it into the presentation.

The job itself really wore down to making a big excel list, with all the prices and details that I need, then we'll review the whole thing once in Japan.
Since I know little of the way they want me to present the fabrics I could not rule out a lot of things, it would have been stupid, hopefully from the next time, with my space set up and the office running I will be able to make a better job.

This "in the future it will be better" has been a bit of a "fil rouge" in the last three months, and I am growing tired of it to be honest.

I had some time to think about the Marta situation again, we spoke on the phone and she seemed all strange about the fact of having to move and change job.
This sounded a bit of an alarm, as I felt that she doesn't really want to leave the job and the house that she's got. I called the customer care, they called the local Italian Telecom station and they called me on a Saturday, saying that there is very little that they can do, that Tiscali (my provider) is to blame, that the moon is round and that water is wet...
I told her that if she has even a smallest doubt about the whole thing, it's better to call everything off, as there are going to be very hard times here in Florence too, and I don't want her to tell me what great opportunities she left to come to live with me!

In the end she told me that she is ok with the move and I insisted that we try to do everything as quickly as possible, there is no point in waiting months over this issue I think. After all one of the things that was driving the relationship away was the distance.

The rest of the day was spent in an attempt of decreasing the number of boxes lying around. The attempt strictly speaking was successful, but the stuff that were inside the boxes have been just moved from a position to another, with no real definite collocation decided.

The pending trip to Tokyo comes in a very bad moment, I'd have wished more time to sort out my situation here...

Last but not less important ADSL.
Basically the service is there but the connection is behaving EXTREMELY badly. I pay for an 8 Megs connection, but the modem connects sometimes at 3, 5, doesn't connect at all, sometimes connects at 8 as it is meant to be doing.
My hope is that they will come this week, because if they don't I won't get this line fixed until January the 15th if I am lucky (I'll be back by Christmas and in Italy it means nothing gets done). Quite disappointing, but at least I am able to call and surf, so it could be worse..
[4 comments]
The path ahead: [18/19 November 2006]

This weekend Marta came to Florence, late in the afternoon of Saturday, as we did have some important catch up to do.
As some of you probably know we didn't speak to each other for quite some time, two weeks more or less, but in the end we hooked up again and decided to talk face to face.

I really missed her during this period, not being able to speak to her was painful, and I was quite happy to meet her in person even for just a day.
Her absence was quite strong and it really made me realize that she is very very very important to me.
We went to the new house, she didn't see it yet, and then in the evening we went to one of my favorite restaurants to have a great dinner together, just the two of us.

Since we missed each other a lot I had made my mind to ask her to come to live with me in Florence so that we could start some sort of "plan" of a life together.
I still cannot think about getting married yet, mostly for two reasons:

1. I consider it a total waste of time and money, I don't believe in it.
2. There are too many things going on at the moment that having an additional burden of the organization of a marriage doesn't seem the most sensible thing to do right now.

Maybe I am too "logic" in the approach at something that should not be so (love it's about logical thinking after all), but that's the way I see things now.

There is a part of me that deeply refuses the idea of getting married and make a family, probably the part of me that still wants to be young and free, traveling the world, make a gazzillion dollars and have more women than Hugh Hefner (google it to see who he is).

Then there is another part, that is looking at the rest of the world go by, that is realizing that albeit only thirty one it might be the right time to start thinking about the "next step", the path into adulthood, as I want to have a family at some point in life! Most of my friends are either married or about to, and sometimes I envy their stability and strength.

It's a difficult fight, sometimes I am positive for either one of the thinkings, sometimes after I reach a decision a little thing puts everything in jeopardy and I must start again.
After two weeks of internal discussions though I decided that it was to time to let one of the position prevail and I asked her to move here.

Of course her moving to Florence will not mean automatic marriage, there are some things that need arrangement and a little testing in the new environment, but since the white dress seems to be soooooo incredibly important to her after she moves here we can decide a date as I expect that all the external situations (work/house) will be a bit more stable.

Let's see, it's not an easy move, and we will still be apart for some time, but I see this as a step forward, small step, but still some movement is involved....
[7 comments]
Cleaning: [17th November 2006]

Today I have spent the whole day cleaning and sorting out some emails that needed attention. The plumber finished with the bath, so now both the bath and the bedroom are "ready", i.e. cleaned and ready to go.

Main lounge, kitchen and utility room are still in need of work. Hopefully everything will be over before I leave, which means that when I come back I will be able to enjoy my house without having any major job to do.
Better not count on it anyways, all the plans that I have made so far resulted in a really shitty outcome, in terms of timing so...

That's it really I have downloaded a nice extension for Thunderbird that lets the program play a different sound every time a mail arrives, I am sure that I'll grow bored of it soon and revert back to the "no sound" strategy... :)

Blog seems to be working alright, let's hope it keeps up this way!
[5 comments]
Useless request: [17th November 2006]

It is Friday the 17th and I am about to know what this marvelous day is keeping for me!
[Click here to read more...]
[7 comments]
Feels like a long time: [16th November 2006]

It feels like it has been ages since I last wrote an entry. It is more or less two weeks, and since I started frequenting "la Maison" it has been the longest time that I have seen part of it completely down.

Fortunately John managed to sort it out, re-wrote a nice piece of software that avoid all the server related problems, and our blogs are going to be fine.
Great stuff John!!

These two weeks have been quite full in terms of happenings. Let's try to make a list...

[Click here to read more...]
[6 comments]
Pictures or non Pictures?: [16th November 2006]

Angels used to fly not to drink wine

let's try some indentation issues that might arise

Looks like working ok...
[4 comments]
New Life or Old Woes?: [16th November 2006]

Test entry... Let's see if John's program is working. It looks ok as far as I can see, but... Comment away friends!
[4 comments]
Pretending: [2nd/3rd November 2006]

I don't feel like writing much, but I need to keep my life running as smoothly as possible considering the recent events.

When Claire left me almost nine years ago, I completely sacrificed six good months of life to grief and pain, and I promised myself that I wasn't going to allow anything like that to happen again.

Now it's a little different, I am older, I cannot let go as there is much more than an exam failed at stake, there is my life on the line.
Still, I keep asking myself what is Marta doing, how's she feeling, and I can only hope that she is coping better than I.

I am starting to review the last five years, all the things said and done, all the mistakes made and all the good things. The more I look back the more I'd like to hit my head on the wall, thinking about all the moments in which I could have just shut up and made her a little happier.

I feel guilty. Guilty of having taken decisions that where aimed at making my life better, not considering 100% the effect that these moves would have on the person that was at my side.

It's quite interesting to see how every person I have spoken to (apart from my uncle), is not considering the hell that I am going through with all the things that I have to worry because of the move and new work, as if I had been working at the post office as an employee for years (no offense to post offices employees, it's a similitude to explain a safe and relatively calm job).

Aside from the mental maze that I am helping to create, Thursday was taken up pretty much by work, setting up appointments for the next week.
In the evening I went playing football again, and once more I have had a lot of compliments from the opponents as I saved a gazzillion shots, unfortunately we lost two to four, two of these goals were taken after I was subbed to go play in attack.
The good news is that the knee managed the game outside the goalposts without any strange pain or problems.

Friday morning was devoted to arranging some of the stuff in the new house, waiting for the big move on Monday. I managed to empty a couple of boxes and now all the clothes and bed linens are safely stored into the wardrobe.
The bigger part of the job will be putting all my paintings on the wall, and once I buy the new furniture that I need, setting up all the books, comics and the rest of the stuff.

I think that if I am lucky I can get the house running 100% by January, until then I will have to live with the boxes around.

Work wise I am gearing up to prepare these presentation, although the real important part of the job (looking for different suppliers) have yet to start, I hope that the Japanese company will give me more time, until I am set up completely I cannot put my mind to it...

That's it really, tomorrow I will go to the Comics Show in Lucca (near Florence), will take some pictures...
[25 comments]
The Bridge of Khazad-Dum: [1st November 2006]

For all the non Lord of the Rings readers/lovers, the bridge of Khazad-dum is a tiny narrow bridge that the company of the ring (the good guys) must cross to get to the exit of a big dungeon.
On this bridge a massive fight ensue with a powerful creature and eventually everyone flees leaving one guy fighting the monster and eventually killing it, but loosing his life himself (or so it seems).
A great metaphor for results that cost dearly.

[Click here to read more...]
[7 comments]

Lox, Lorenzo... ME!!: A little introduction about the author and the blog itself. Plus contacts and CVs... You never know!
Pictures: A Selection of the best pictures that I have taken all over the world during the years, all nicely indexed by year and geographical area. Jolly good!
History of this Blog: A collection of all the articles that I have wrote so far, divided by month/year.