Motorcycles

I just realized thanks to Scatterbrain that I had something up on motor riders that just hasnt been covered at all. So, I'd like to just write a few words on that topic..
Drivers in Bucharest, and most probably in the whole country are not "non-car vehicle aware".
the are many people who started riding bikes, motorcycles, scooters, etc...but the drivers here are oblivious to anything but other cars and seldomly other pedestrians. That just needs to change!
People in cars should give priority to anybody else who is driving a less protective means of transportation. They excuse "sorry, I didnt see you"....their hactic driving skills are all things that makes life for the non-car owners harmfull if not potentially deadly.

I even have a story on this one....I was coming from Snagov back to Bucharest on the bike.
As you know on the left side of the road there are smaller cities and they have a lane for getting on the main road. Quiet difficult to cross because of the heavy speedy traffic..but some manage to get from the left side of the road to the right so they can get to Bucharest. This Saturday evening, a young lady got to the right side of the road and instead of heeding priority to the ongoing traffic pulled the wheel towards the right cut me off and pushed me to the ground.
I fell on my back and i wasnt badly hurt but the bike stopped on its side a few meters further.
The lady proceeded from the second lane to the first that's when she hit me, and then got scared and return on the second lane and cut off my riding buddy. he also fell on the side .....
Lucky us, we were riding very slow.....very very slow.......
due to the breaking and the hectic woman, two other cars got in an accident. It was rush hour.
And what was the explanation...She didnt see us. Neither of us....and besides that her husband made a huge scandal in the middle of the road. The bikes were halfway crashed; we had to wait for hours on end for the police to come and someone to come and pick the bikes up because they were too damaged to be driven back.

If you are aware there might be other non-cars, you will see them! Protect them, cause that might be your kid or your family in the near future. So yield them some priority!

Test yourself to see how great you are: awareness test

Thanks for the test scatterbrain!

On Human Resources

I've been working on selecting, interviewing and hiring people for over three years.
I dont have a degree attached to this job im going, except for my dimished in size psychological
background. I started out being an optimist, a true believer in people, in their good nature, trustworthiness, common sense. Now looking back on these years, I noticed the long line of events: people not showing up for interviews without even calling, people being constantly late, people lieing in their resumes, people saying and promising a thing and then backing up....I used to look at a person and feel like I could trust them; trust their capability to judge the job at hand, its risks, its responsibilities, its rewards, its challenges, its opportunities for growth and development....But trusting such a thing was wrong...people rarely really take time to consider all of these....they just see the money, is there more? yes, check.. they jump the boat without prior consideration to whether or not they can really do the job. They realize they cant, then jump out at the next stop, 3 months later. What a waste of time! For both...us and them....but they dont loose anything except time, badly spent, because now they can ask for a better salary and they can pretend they have some newly acquired experience.

So from the optimist I started out, I ended up now, a new strong skepticist. I except them to be late, and not even show up. Im sometimes suprised when they come on time. They dont renegotiate the already negociated wage? OMG...he must be a looser of some sorts. When everything looks fine I cant stop wondering when and from where is the problem going to arise.
Is it going to be easily fixed? or did we just hire one of those "3 months guys"
Can you picture paying someone a huge wage monthly so that you get to teach them how to write and email, answer a phone, use word and excel? There's always the box: "how well do you know the English language?" "advanced" is always check out, the first time a conversation needs to be had in English, guess what? "I havent practiced in years!" or " I only know how to write" or "I just had English classes in high school - 6 yrs ago"... WHAT?
My head hunting liaison told me "sales people tend to exaggerate a bit to sell themselves well"....well from exaggerating to blatenly lieing there is a fine line?? Since when? What happened to being honest? When did that become a faux-pas? I understand we all need to present ourselves well, but turning the truth into something else besides a well spelled, well worded, and well presented truth is just something useless. Why do candidates try to con employers? There is a lack of candidates anyhow, how much more advantage can you get. Really now? Besides the fact that the employee has all the advantages and the employer is never ever protected, they get to hire again and again and again the wrong people for the job! why? because they lie!!!
A guy came in and sat with me at an interview....and i offered him a fair, above the average level salary for the position and he complained he need more because he has an outstanding credit at a bank....the guy had alligator boots on and something that looked like an armani suit and tie and cufflings. REALLY??? credit for what? personal needs?

I just hate liers...I cant say I hate anything else in this world except people who lie!

On Recycling

I love recycling! I used to be environmental efficient in college...which felt great! Here, after i trained and hussled with my work colleagues to put paper and other junk in different bins, i descovered that even though they went out separately the company picking up the garbage would mix them together. Why? Why do they collect boxes for recycling but not paper? Do they even actually recycle those - the carbon boxes? At home its easier, I did manage to convince everyone to put plastic bottles in a separate bag and each week or so, I take it down to this place that is a few blocks away from my home where they do collect plastic. They keep offering me money for it, which is funny....people here need incentives in order to recycle? That's wrong! I wonder when we will be able to separate plastic, paper and alimentary junk, like other countries do. At least I know that plastic is for use reused here, which is great....but what about paper? Besides the fact that we waste so much of it, in a true paper factory (outside Ro) paper is reused 13 times, and after that used as energy source. Did you know that paper factories in the Netherlands, Sweden, etc are obligated by the state to plant 5 to 10 more trees when they cut 1 tree down?!
Did you know in Viena the City Hall is the biggest realestate investor? The Viena city hall buys off different kinds of lands in the city, in order to create parks, and green spaces. What do we do here? The city hall cant wait to sell land...and I wont even go deeper into other issues.
I know there are lots of people fighting for Delta Dunarii and other natural treasures, but we need to common people to support in the efforts. Nobody asks them to volunteer but do recycle people!!! Its for your own kids that you are doing it! For clean air, for greener pastures in Bucharest,........for your own peace of mind! There is a company that picks up paper for recycling.....you do need to collect a sizeable amount, but it is duable, especially in the work place. Think of the hundreds of kilos of paper a company uses daily..
A few months ago at work I noticed a lady who was throwing away empty printer cartridges.
I asked her how many they're throwing away on a daily bases....well that number reaches around 10 once in 3 weeks....Its a building company so im not even going to think at how many pages that means, but I was really put off by her ignorance....She said it wasnt her call if they get in the trash or recycled. Even though I insisted on how easy it is to contact the company who buys off empty cartridges, (and they even get money for it!!!) they never did. They keep throwing them in with the "normal" trash. :(
Why are so many associations for the protection of stray dogs that go to the streets, and no associations to protect our environment! More people need to be aware! More services should be covered for recycling to become a second nature to all of us...Well will that day come?

Today is the day!

Am pierdut destul timp saptamana trecuta.....asa ca m-am decis! things will change. De azi...da da da chiar de astazi! Si tocmai ce imi suna telefonul ca imi mai veni o idee - de adaugat la program!
:) Este oricum o zi frumoasa astazi. Este soare bate vantul putin, dar este a good good day for change!

Si ascult o melodie foarte frumoasa; coloana sonora de la my absolutely favorite series :)))
nu spun ca e secret! Dar melodia este urmatoarea: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fG8eQBSp9Ao

Va urez si voua o luni extraordinara, plina de aventuri, noutati, lucruri bune......sentimente placute, flori, pufi, ..... Ciao!

Am obosit

Am obosit sa trag dupa mine oamenii...oamenii care se pierd in iluzia vietii lor de zi cu zi, cu monotonia care le da siguranta zilei de maine si saracia zilei de ieri. M-am saturat sa aud zgomotul scos de oamenii care sustin public ca "inteligenta plus caracter - acesta este adevaratul scop al educatiei". Ce stiti mai voi cu adevarat inafara sa va plangeti ca nimic nu e bine si nimic nu va convine si ca voi ati facut "the best" ? zilele astea am petrecut mult timp cu oameni de exceptie. Oameni de un anumit caracter, cu o grea experienta si reputatie....oameni care au stat la masa cu mine care sunt cu 40 de ani mai tanara decat ei, si au ascultat ce am avut de zis. Oameni cu care in cateva ore am construit planuri pentru urmatorii cativa ani...Asta ma face sa cred ca imi pierd asa de mult timp cu oameni care nu merita, si reusesc in procesul asta sa ii ignor pe cei care nu numai ca ma pretuiesc, dar au si o mai mare valoare decat mine. Inainte reuseam sa ma simt dezolata si dezamagita de unii oameni, acum doar ma uit la ei cum trec pe langa mine si ma amuz. Incerc sa ma distantez pentru ca am impresia ca uneori chiar vor sa ma traga in jos....ca vezi doamne, sa ii pot intelege eu pe ei. Unele lupte nu merita a fi date pentru ca pierd oricum.....Uneori cred ca asa este si lupta mea pentru fericire aici, in Romania. Poate asta este o cauza pierduta, dar prefer sa fie asa.....decat sa ma ascund in umbra altora si sa ma incadrez in tipare. Duc din ce in ce mai multe lupte, cele mai multe le dau chiar cu mine insami,..
lupte care nu vreau sa fie ingreunate de zgomotul de fundal al ineptiilor, al oamenilor care nu stiu decat sa lucreze pe linia de manufactura zilnica si sa contempleze frumusetea zilelor demult apuse.

Voi reusi! sunt ferm convinsa ca orice este posibil, doar daca iti pui capul la treaba, nimic nu ma poate opri.... :)

Note for Sor'mea

Da, sunt o romantica! imi place sa cred, ca si tie de altfel ca fiecare isi are si isi va gasi jumatatea pe lumea asta.... Clipul cu "i bruise easily" este un clip foarte apropiat de mine, de cum ma simt uneori, ......fragila! dar momentele alea sunt scurte si trec repede! ha hahhaa

Astazi

Ce se intampla doctore? Nimeni nu stie!! Este o perioada tumultoasa in care multe proiecte se incheie si altele noi incep. ASa imi place sa imi traiesc viata... :) desi exista ceva presiuni din exterior, proiectele, visele si dorintele mele le-am optinut pas cu pas ....mai am de lucru la doua trei chestii importante dar voi termina si cu ele in curand si pe urma vor veni altele si altele si altele.
Nu imi place viata monotona...as hoinari permanent daca ar fi dupa mine, dar circumstantele ma cam limiteaza momentan.. Asta este unul din proiectele alea doua importante. Am momente in care....ca al soson (dar nu alb si nu de Converse :P) mai degraba cu un design misterios, viu colorat, desperecheat ma simt dezolata mai ales in marea circulatie de perechi dimprejur. DA si pana care la urma este problema ca eu sunt diferita? De cele mai multe ori ma bucur ca nu am constrangerile implicate de acel soson pereche, oricum nu sunt o carpa...si mai am mult pana atunci, de ce sa ma grabesc? Oricum in acele momente, mi-am diminuat valoarea, m-am depreciat pentru ca in jurul meu nivelul era altul, dar de fapt, cine ma masoara dupa asta? De cele mai multe ori mi s-a demonstrat si ca fac mai mult decat o pereche la un loc si asta este tot ce conteaza. Cand te uiti inapoi vezi de unde ai plecat si unde ai ajuns, multi oameni nu pot sa faca asta, ca sa nu mai mentionam ca pentru sosoni este imposibil....:)))
Sunt proud de cate am realizat, nu numai pentru mine, dar si pentru cei din jurul meu,....sunt mandra ca am oameni pe care ii vad crescand langa mine, pe care ii iubesc si ii respect si sentimentul este reciproc.... Soro...I luvvv youu! :) Eu am o comoara ascunsa, dar doar partial si doar pentru straini....pe mine! :)

Be gentle when handling me....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_h_bdIynqio

Herastrau Park

So what do you know, its been two three days since i wanted to write this, but i just never got around to it. Now, let me get to the point. I usually walk my dog every morning during the weekend, in Herastrau. For the past few weekends its been interesting because there were several cross country races. By the way, I walk my dog fairly early in the morning to avoid the crazy rush.
These races seemed to bring over a lot of international people. Last Saturday as I was sitting on the bench admiring the beautiful lake and keeping a close eye on the dog, a couple with a baby in a stroller came and asked me if I can tell them the way out of the park. I was delighted to help them out especially since I had to use the English language which i miss so much. So I explained to quicker way out, but unfortunately this also wanted to catch a cab. So the quickest way out was not really the best way, so instead of explaining which routes to take in order to get to the main entrance/exist area I decided to walk out with them. Really nice couple, over 30, that seems Spanish for at first glance, but them I realized they were from the Middle East. Anyway, we walked around and talked. it was the wife's and the daughter's first trip to Bucharest. The husband works here periodically so he knows the city a little. The wife was amaized at the beautiful flowers in the park. Indeed it's been years since the park has been so clean, so full of flowers and grass. The point is that she said the park is way more beautiful than Central Park in New York. Wow! I was very surprized. I havent seen the park from NY, but I was happy to see tourists enjoying Bucharest. It seemed rather strange, because I only heard complaints: the strays, the garbage, the traffic,...but hey OUR PARK ROCKS! Doesnt that just feel wonderful?
It certainly makes me feel awesome, not that I had any part in making it look that way. well I do clean after my dog, and I do pick up the trash people throw on the ground, but that's not even a quarter of what the gardeners do in the park. They should know that their work is appreciated!
Not only by tourists, but also by the hundreds of people who stroll there and take pictures. I dont remember ever seeing people take pictures in the park with the flowers before this year, and I've been in that park since i was 2 years old, minus the years I was away from home.
PEOPLE keep the park CLEAN!

What if

What if there was no light.
Nothing wrong, nothing right.
What if there was no time?
And no reason or rhyme?
What if you should decide
That you don't want me there by your side.
That you don't want me there in your life.

What if I got it wrong?
And no poem or song..
Could put right what I got wrong,
Or make you feel I belong
What if you should decide
That you don't want me there by your side
That you don't want me there in your life.

Oooooh, that's right
Let's take a break jump over the side
Oooooh, that's right
How can you know it if you don't even try?
Oooooh, that's right

Every step that you take
Could be your biggest mistake
It could bend or it could break
But that's the risk that you take
What if you should decide
That you don't want me there in your life.
That you don't want me there by your side.

Oooooh, that's right
Let's take a breath jump over the side.
Oooooh, that's right
How can you know it when you don't even try?
Oooooh, that's right

Oooooh, that's right
Let's take a breath jump over the inside
Oooooh, that's right
You know that darkness always turns into light
Oooooh, that's right..

Nobody can harm you as much as you can

We all go through tough situations in life, but really nobody can hurt you as much as you can hurt yourself. That makes sense, right? Your own decisions limit yourself and make you suffer sooner or later and then you realize that you bitch so much about how others hurt you, when in reality it was you, yourself who is to blame. Its easier to blame the others around though, isn't it?
Why accept you did it? On this theme I drew a little something back in the day I was feeling artistic and creative.
This is how you feel when you build a wall around yourself and then try to break free.
And of course there is a song to go along with this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hMrY8jysdg
A very old song as it might be, its fun to listen to from time to time.

The idea is that I find myself once again in this situation when based on the previous decisions
I am hereby declared trapped. What was i thinking at that point? Well I'm sure I was trying to make the right choices. Maybe I even accomplished that, but appearantly it all got me in a dead end. Not cool. At least this time it's going to be easy to get out. The way has been paved by the first few experiences of this sort. Still it feels like Im in a very distant sad place. Like a dog who keeps running around trying to catch its tail. Can it be done?? Hell, yes it can!
I will never stop believing that one can make anything come true as long as you really, really really want to. Well, yes there is a small chance of failure, but doesnt that exist all the time?
I cannot remember a time when that ever scared me or made me reconsider. There is no point to do that. That reminds me of at least two people who got stucked and kept living in their own trap - and still do as a matter of fact. I know its hard to throw away something you have been building for years; especially if its something very up close and personal like a relationship. But why oh why carry on with something that perpetually make you unhappy? Alright, maybe not "unhappy" but its enough to not make you happy in order to let it go. Im taking of one of my highschool girlfriends who just celebrated 6 years of "happinness" with her highschool sweetheart. Was she ever happy with him?? Yes, in the first few months, lets say years. Until she discovered he liked other girls, many other girls as much as he liked her. Okay, maybe not so very much since he kept coming back to her....The "others" were little flings every now and then, everyday or so. Sad! Crazily depressing to see her moaning and crying over this little events and not to a goddamn thing except complain about it to the people around. Has the situation changed over the years? NO!!! It just got worse I'd say since in the beginning he actually felt some kind of remorse. Now after so long its like a well built-in habit. Like checking to see if the door is locked at night, type of habit. She learned to be ok with it. What the bloody hell? Why would anybody, grow to be ok with something like that? Well, yes what do I know about the world, but she is such a cute, smart person being taken advantaged by a dimwhit. Really now, she can do so much better....really really much better. Do you think she ever considered getting out? She pondered, but it seems she is VERY patient..and waits for him to change. Seems reasonable to think that the highschool "habit" and of the others years after that will AT SOME POINT IN THE FUTURE dissapear. NOT!!! At least she figured the best way to handle the situation....since you are stuck why not stuck yourself even better.....She is getting married to him! I just nodded my head. I did quit beating this dead horse a very long time ago since there is not a case in high heaven to convince her that what he feels for her is most probably not love. Even if this is "love" is his mind...it is clearly not the definition of "love" for her, and why put up with it? why waste your life..your precious, short life, dedicating more and more time, money, feelings and so much more into something that is obnoxiously clear to yourself and everyone else that it does not make you happy. Believing that maybe in the future it will? That is always a lost bet! Always!! trust me on this one. If it aint making you happy now, wants to point of waiting till Kingdom comes? there is a very high probability that want doesnt make you happy now, it never will unless you go crackers. Why be such a coward? Its your own life you are destroying.....and you only got ONE of those. Live it up to the max.

There is one thing I learned from my wanderings around the world....its worth keeping something the whole time its fun, enjoyable, pleasant...when that stops, press next and move along. Dont stay in something less than all of those. We are young and we have so many undiscovered things ahead.....why tie yourself down on the wrong side of the street in the worst neighbourhood when you can Keep on Walking?! :)
Be your own Hero! Grab your groin and get the hell out....the further you sink the harder it will be for you to swim ashore.

And a little disclaimer: This does portray my own opinions and beliefs based on my own experiences and the experiences of all the close people around me. DO CONSIDER what has be written here. Be wise! You dont have to agree with everything. Its enough to think it a little bit.
Its up to you what you decide to keep and do.
CARPE DIEM

New beginnings..

I have this blog since i was in college. "have" is not really the appropriate word in this case cause i decided to close the blog down about the time i graduated....and that happened almost 2 years go.
Well that seemed a long time and the archive was deleted. Unfortunately i miss those blogs. They were interesting...well the past should stay in the past. Nothing good can come out of it, can there?
How did this turn into something about the past when i actually wanted to tell a story about the present? So..what is going on in the present? I give you this: blogging is way more popular than it used to be. :) Yes, it is!! Trust me on this one. Everyone "needs" to open up to the world... and to prove themselves. Its an ongoing battle...how do i "specialize"? How do i distinguish myself from the mob? Well its easy. Theoretically all you have to do is be yourself. Practically people try to be so much different and special that they hit the group entitled "we are all the same because we want to be different"..that's a pun to some extent. Statistically speaking we, we all humans on Earth, have lots of things in common. So many things that we can call that commonalities "normal". Hey, I tricked you and you fell for it...ha haha. Indeed psychologists will always support that we are all different and special, all we need is to be ourselves and stop pretending to be something else. CAN WE DO THAT?? By "we" i mean some of the "we" 's that are out there.
It striked me a little while back how many people do that. Some quite successfully. How is that saying going "dont trust first impressions"..? i dont remember exactly the English version but the Romanian one goes like this: "aparentele inseala". I've seen the doctor Jeckyl turn to Mr. Hide effect....scary? yes! Episodes like that are always disarming to me, because I have this innate propensity of aiding the people around me. As one of friends said "when somebody needs help or is feeling something, bang, i do something nice to make them feel good, so that everyone and everything is ok around". That situation is disarming because trying to help in this particular case is not really the best solution...maybe not even a solution at all.

I just cracked up laughing at one of my colleagues who printed around 6-8 invoices in landscape.
Hillarious. She didnt think it was so...nonetheless I lost my train of thought. :P Or i just made up a brilliant excuse to stop writting. I think this is a good start to getting back on the blog thing after such a long separation.
Thanks for being here with me! In dedication to a special person that came in my life...and way too quickly left... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BwL_13enB8 I do miss you!