Posts from October, 2009

The Night Ride

Tonight, Tudor pulled me out of my den. It all started with a text message and continued with his coming over to pick me up for a ride.

Seeing Timişoara at night, with clear streets, no angry drivers, no sad faces crawling about was just what I needed after a Flashing day. Also, seeing how some streets are a delight to drive down, seeing workers busy at night, making the town better, seeing the faded city lights through the blurred windows as we whooshed by was more than uplifting.

It was also relaxing to just sit down — in the car, obviously — and just chat about everything and nothing.

–

I’ve spent the past two months setting my sleeping habits straight, waking up at twenty-five past seven, trying to go to bed before three in the morning, against my nature. Even doctors have been calling me a night person since I turned sixteen.

I may own my world all day long, but I still belong to the night.

Posted on the 30th of October, 2009 | 8 Sexy Comments

It’s All About You, Baby!

Everything worthwhile will have its dilettantes!

Discos are a great example. Most people go to the disco to shake their ass. A lot of people go to the disco to find dates. That’s all fine and dandy, as long as you find your date while dancing. Or after you’ve danced for a while and you’re catching your breath.

Whatever you do, the first reason for your being in a disco should be dancing. That’s it. If you’re hoping to pick up someone, that’s fine too. Just don’t let that be the ONLY reason you’re there.

I say this because, if that is indeed the case, you probably don’t like dancing all that much. You’ll probably end up just standing there, creepishly checking out all the other people who are having fun. It’s just like going to the library to pick up a person. It only works well if you actually like reading. Otherwise you’re a fraud. People will see through that, eventually. And even if they don’t, what kind of relationship are you really starting? A one night stand? A one-weeker? Probably shallow, meaningless relationship?

Are you that desperate?
The best way to pick up people is by doing the things YOU like! If you don’t like to dance, don’t go to discos. If, however, you like football, go to the game. You’re bound to make a hell of a lot more new friends that way. If you like beer, you’ll probably feel right at home in a pub. And that’s where you’ll probably find your next date. And if you do, you’re probably great for each other, since you met each other doing something you both enjoy.

Don’t be the fucker in the disco that just sits by the dance floor, drooling over the tits and sweaty necks. Don’t be the fucker who goes to the opera just to be seen coming out of the opera house. Don’t be the fucker who grows long hair just because you think you’ll be a smash with the ladies. Don’t get your boobs done if you’re actually a bookworm.

Don’t try to be someone else to get a date. You’ll be left with nothing. Enjoy yourself, and those who matter will love you for it.

Posted on the 19th of October, 2009 | 17 Intelligent Comments

Thank You, Jerry!

Jerry woke up this morning with a chill in his spine. Last night was colder than usual, and he forgot the bathroom window open. He then ate hearty, and left for work.

Jerry works for a small time Internet Service Provider. It’s not grand, but it pays the bills and is what’s seeing his 13 year old through school. He’s not an office rat, because he doesn’t know much. No. He spends his time on the field. Rigging new houses and apartments or fixing faulty switches and cables.

It had rained. A lot. With hale. Jerry has had a busy week. All those cables knocked down, all those furious, outraged subscribers. Jerry had to face them all. And he did. He spent most of his work time outside, in the drizzle, in the cold. His standard issue winter vest was working for him, but you can’t wear mittens when you’re dealing with cables all day long. And Jerry likes the summertime more than anything else.

Jerry has not been thrilled this week. But, back to this morning, and when he got to work. The visit to the office was brief. Just to clock in, meet with his partner, the driver and get a prioritized list of places he needs to go today.

They start going through the list, fixing the torn up cables as they go. Park the car, pull out the ladder, stand up the ladder, climb up the ladder and up the pole, and start fiddling with the web of cables and wires and filth that’s up there. Four hours after starting work, they make their way to the end of the world, where one particular family has been out of an internet connection since Monday. They are pissed.

But, relentless Jerry sets up the ladder, climbs up the pole, yanks a few cables, plugs in a new one, and leaves without saying a word. From his window, Horia Dragomir witnessed Jerry’s brief display of skill and courage. It was over in matter of minutes, but the show was glorious. Horia then checked his router and, sure enough, it was finally working.

–

Thank you, Relentless Jerry for finally fixing my Internet connection.

Posted on the 16th of October, 2009 | 2 Extraordinary Comments

A Shift in Social Interaction

When I was a kid, I changed houses a lot. This means I always had to make new friends.
So I became good at this. And after a while, I got really good at making people out, and realizing what they could/would mean to me.

Then, the internet happened. As I started spending time online, I could see some of the friends there as well. IRC, Mail, IM and then social networks were the means for this.

It was simple: you had a friend you could hang out with, they had an email account, you sent them emails. They had a social network account, you could befriend them. You could interact, in an eerie sort of way. And that was good, considering most people had curfews and had to be in at a certain time.

Now, things have kinda changed.

You can befriend anyone on any social network. You can follow anyone on twitter. You can read any blog you like. You don’t have to actually know the person. For me, it works like this:
Social networks, I tend to keep clean. I don’t like adding people I don’t actually know. On twitter, I tend to follow people not because I like them, but because I like what they say. So I do follow people I’ve never actually spoken to. And blogs, well. That is totally different, but I read mostly tech stuff, and about 20 blogs from Timisoara, which do belong to people I know.

Another thing that’s different now is that actually knowing someone no longer means you’ve met them. Sure, it’s better if you do, but it’s no longer required.
I’ve made friends on last.fm, with whom I now chat regularly. Only one of them is from Timisoara, and I still haven’t gotten around to seeing him in person. I got picked up by a guy from India because he liked my shared items on Google Reader. And he’s a great dude that did not want me to outsource my business to him. He just wanted to chat. I’ve been there to see how a girl made it in to Cambridge, though we’ve only talked and jammed online. I’ve ‘harassed’ people on their blogs or on twitter. Now we go out for beer together. All the real jobs I got, I found over the internet. The list goes on.

And this scares me.

I’m now in a very strange state, struggling to close down the virtual interaction. But then, with some people, it’s hard to keep in touch, let alone go out and grab a cold one. With others, it’s damn impossible, since they’re from different continents. So I surrender some of my principles, and keep talking, laughing and sharing online. Because, sometimes, that’s all we’ve got.

Just think about it. Do you remember when the phone used to be an impersonal means of communication? It still is, but it sure is not perceived as such anymore, now is it?

Posted on the 11th of October, 2009 | 9 Exquisite Comments

Congratulations, Herta Mueller!

Thank you, Herta Mueller, for being Romanian-born and for winning the Nobel prize for — what was it? — literature!

We, the Romanians, had no idea who you were a couple of days ago, but today you are our Nation’s pride!
We still don’t know anything about you or your work, but boy, are we ever proud! Just check twitter, facebook and the local news to see how much we love you.

PS: Could you come visit soon? Since you probably haven’t done so ever since the commie regime forced you to leave Romania.

By the way, behold Herta Mueller.

Posted on the 8th of October, 2009 | 2 Remarcable Comments

Perfect Storm

Can you feel the wind, gently bashing against your chest?

The clouds blocking your sight. The haze of dust and shit and lies. The cold, grasping your spine tightly, standing you straight. Your knees giving in, cold feet, and a void in your stomach that will just not let you be.

Can you feel a storm is coming? Will it be perfect? All storms are!

–

Every now and then, I like to let go of my iron grasp on life. Letting it have its way with me, until I decide it’s time to reach out and grab it by the throat again. I like to just renounce all the control I so carefully build up, just to be taken off my feet, taken on a trip. Just to see where I land and if I’ll survive.

We spend most of our lives carefully sailing ahead, enjoying the calm seas and brilliant Sun. I just love it when I’m lost in a storm, with no direction at all, and the only sure thing I can reach out and touch is the wind, gently bashing against my chest.

Posted on the 6th of October, 2009 | 7 Coarse Comments

Funny Thing Debt Is

Let’s say someone very important owes you a big sum of money. Now imagine you have to make a loan from someone else, who’s also very important.
You do so knowing you will receive your debt from the very important person that owes you money. That debt is more than enough to pay for what you loan out, and everything is legal.

What happens if the one that owes you money does not deliver by the due date? You’re not short on cash, per se. You just owe someone more than you currently have. Would it be ethical to sic the person you owe money to on the person that owes you money? Keep in mind, they’re both important, while you’re nobody, on their scale.

I’d love to live in a universe where that would work. Sadly, even though you’re not really to blame, you get to take the fall. And that does not make perfect sense, now does it?

Now, imagine the state owes you a ton of money, you’re a pharmacy, and you yourself owe money to the distributors. Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to tell said distributors that the damn state is trying to take you off the market? The state and the distributors could easily arrive to a long-term agreement or some sort of installment based payoff. But no. The state cannot be declared insolvent, while you can. And that is exactly what will happen to you.

Now, imagine the state of Romania owes most of the pharmacies from Timişoara a ton of money… you can figure out the rest, yeah?

Well, that’s actually happening.

Posted on the 5th of October, 2009 | 2 Brilliant Comments