GOOOOOOAAAAAAL!!
No, I am NOT a soccer fan :o) Today I completed my first goal for 2012! And totally out of the blue, too.
As you might or might not have noticed, for some of the goals on my list it will be kind of hard to tell when I actually achieved them. They are not exactly S.M.A.R.T. goals.
Some of them are more a reminder to myself to do more of something in a given period of time (e.g. "people-watching", "more live music"). Others are bound to a specific task, but are not in themselves telling me when I can check them off the list ("grow onions", "grow peppers"). I guess, since it is the end of the first month of the year, it might be time to re-evaluate some goals. (hm, are my goals getting S.M.A.R.T.E.R. then? :o))
ANYWAY, Dennis dragged me out to the "city"-center of Bochum today, and while we were perusing the better of its five streets, we stopped at a cell phone shop.
You should know that I have been with the same cell phone company for the past eleven years (geeeeeeeez...), and what can I say, I was always very pleased with the service & products of o2. But for some reason, I really don't like going into cell phone shops, which is why I usually stay out of them (duh.). Well, not this time. As I mentioned earlier, Dennis dragged me into the store, was instantly recognized by the two lovely ladies in the shop as he had changed his cell phone plan in the past week and has been totally excited about it.
We left the shop about 5 minutes later - equipped with a new cell phone plan for myself, the confirmation for a better deal for Dennis, and all the info that I might need to get myself a new phone. The exciting part, though, is that by midnight tonight, I will have a plan that costs half of what I usually calculate for a month (50€, now at 24,99€), I have unlimited calls to o2 customers, unlimited calls to (German) landlines, 120 minutes of calling per month free to all other phone companies, 120 SMS free per month, PLUS UNLIMITED INTERNET ACCESS. It might be hard to grasp, but for someone who really enjoys the internet, I have been pretty backward and old-fashioned regarding the whole mobile trend. I always thought that calling and texting is quite enough for a phone to handle. I'm ashamed to admit that I haven't even fully understood how bluetooth works...
For a while now, though, I have been getting confronted with all sorts of advertisements and recommendations for various apps - AND I'M DYING OF CURIOSITY HERE!
So now, I have the cell plan to actually access the internet. I'm not convinced that my current phone (a 5-year old HTC XDA Nova) is up to the task, but I can use a newer phone that was surprisingly gifted to me last week (a vodafone 858 smart).
So watch this space for all sorts of app reviews to come :o)
Goal #1 - DOWN! Thanks, Dennis :o)
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Friday, January 27, 2012
Pidgeons, Pirates, Proclamations
Friday oh Friday, thou hast such beautiful hours in you!
The weather was perfect today! After a busy week at work, I managed to take off early today - getting the benefit of glorious sunshine, mild temperatures, a fresh breeze and hoppin' good mood :o)
I stopped in Essen on my way home, grabbed some Asia noodles, and planted my four letters right in the middle of the sunshine, overlooking the busy shoppers hustling by to catch some of those final winter sale discounts. I must say, I felt thoroughly content.
Then, of course, I noticed the growing crowd of pidgeons greedily eyeing me. I suppose they were rather eyeing my food, but briefly I felt like I had just entered a pirate movie - Stan, limping, with one foot only a stump, Pete, messy, with dishevelled feathers all over the place, John Jack Guybrush with an eye hanging out of a socket (ok, I made that one up).
Pidgeons really are the rats of the air. Although contrary to my belief that rats are damn smart, pidgeons always strike me as mind-numbingly idiotic.
I sat there, watching three of them inching their way forward, smelling the food (do birds even have a sense of smell?!). Occasionally, I would shift my positions rapidly to shoo them off a bit. Then a good couple of feet away, someone must have dropped something, and all of them took of, hustling over to the single crumb of whatever, with pidgeons flying in from all over the area! They must have been around 15 by then. By the time they realized that what had been dropped had mostly been a bottle cap (and thus not entirely edible), ALL OF THEM decided to come back over to my place! Only this time, they weren't satisfied with shuffling on the floor but found their spots right next to me on the wall. Great. Fortunately, they are easily shooed away.
Remember the pidgeon lady from Home Alone 2 in New York? You get the idea :o)
Well, sunshine, food, people-watching, and shopping, what more can you want on an average day :o) One of my professors once noted that women are odd creatures. They love shopping, hope to find a good deal, but if they fail to find something, there's always a "Claire's" or "Six" close by to at least buy herself a set of earrings.
Wise words, mister. Look at what I found :o)
Welcome to the globalized world :o)
The weather was perfect today! After a busy week at work, I managed to take off early today - getting the benefit of glorious sunshine, mild temperatures, a fresh breeze and hoppin' good mood :o)
I stopped in Essen on my way home, grabbed some Asia noodles, and planted my four letters right in the middle of the sunshine, overlooking the busy shoppers hustling by to catch some of those final winter sale discounts. I must say, I felt thoroughly content.
Then, of course, I noticed the growing crowd of pidgeons greedily eyeing me. I suppose they were rather eyeing my food, but briefly I felt like I had just entered a pirate movie - Stan, limping, with one foot only a stump, Pete, messy, with dishevelled feathers all over the place, John Jack Guybrush with an eye hanging out of a socket (ok, I made that one up).
Pidgeons really are the rats of the air. Although contrary to my belief that rats are damn smart, pidgeons always strike me as mind-numbingly idiotic.
I sat there, watching three of them inching their way forward, smelling the food (do birds even have a sense of smell?!). Occasionally, I would shift my positions rapidly to shoo them off a bit. Then a good couple of feet away, someone must have dropped something, and all of them took of, hustling over to the single crumb of whatever, with pidgeons flying in from all over the area! They must have been around 15 by then. By the time they realized that what had been dropped had mostly been a bottle cap (and thus not entirely edible), ALL OF THEM decided to come back over to my place! Only this time, they weren't satisfied with shuffling on the floor but found their spots right next to me on the wall. Great. Fortunately, they are easily shooed away.
Remember the pidgeon lady from Home Alone 2 in New York? You get the idea :o)
Well, sunshine, food, people-watching, and shopping, what more can you want on an average day :o) One of my professors once noted that women are odd creatures. They love shopping, hope to find a good deal, but if they fail to find something, there's always a "Claire's" or "Six" close by to at least buy herself a set of earrings.
Wise words, mister. Look at what I found :o)
Welcome to the globalized world :o)
Monday, January 23, 2012
And the strong prevail!
Or... Let Nature Run Its Course Part II
Just sharing some small victories with you! I didn't give up on them, and they didn't give up on me either :o)
GO NATURE - GO NATURE :o))))))
Just sharing some small victories with you! I didn't give up on them, and they didn't give up on me either :o)
GO NATURE - GO NATURE :o))))))
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Let nature run its course
As you might have noticed, I have one goal on my list that would usually not require a lot of work if any.
I'm talking about "growing out my hair".
As probably most women, I have a close connection to the growings on my head. I have heard numerous horror stories of people (well, women), who went to apprentice clippings and came back just sobbing in agony about the mixed salad that was left on their heads.
I believe that is because we as humans, and especially we as women, identify ourselves excessively with that person in the mirror. I used to think that any mishap that happened with my hair would automatically mean that the world and its people would gang up on me and deny me social living status. "What, with that thing on your head? Get the h.ll outta here."
As a kid, I had my hair sorta short, later it grew out, at one point down to my buttocks. Then I got sick of it (my hair is extremely straigt, from root to tip - many a woman envied me for it, but I just found it incredibly boring) and cut it. First to shoulder length, then successively further up the chinline, until I pretty much hit punk length. It has been meandering back and forth between mohawkish and shoulder-length ever since. Usually, I am quite ok with my hair, but there comes the point were it just starts growing too long, then I get nervous and then I find myself at the hair dresser's, explaining exactly what I want, I even bring pictures. The ladies are always very understanding, nodding, acknowledging. Then, once they start wielding their scissors, all I said seems to have blown straight out of the window.
More than once I have sincerely doubted my ability to explain what I want. Maybe I just don't use the right lingo. I must obviously be very badly trained in the correct language to be used in such occasions. The result is always the same. I walk out of the hair studio with hair a lot shorter than I anticipated, it always looks pretty good, even the cuts that make me look absolutely boyish, and curiously, the cuts always resemble one another. It seems that I have one of those faces that each hair dresser within a 200-mile radius just automatically assumes should have this certain look going along with it, no discussion.
Well, that's the reason why "growing out my hair" has made it as a separate goal to my list. I don't even want to get back to long flat-as-hell mats of ginger hair. I just want to have a chance of actually letting it grow in the sections that I think need more length, and having it short where it's getting annoying.
So I have decided to start experimenting. I will study hair, my hair. I will give DIY haircutting a try :o)
I found this lady who perfectly puts into words the feeling I have when I'm at a hairdresser's. There's also some pretty spectacular stuff out there on this topic. Mostly spooky ghost stories of what can go horribly wrong. Others just take up their set of scissors and go for it. Take a look at this fearless lady (with very forgiving hair :o)).
Hairfinder.com seems like a pretty good resource - so I don't see any reason for not trying this one out.
Does anyone have recommendations, bewares, anecdotes? I'd love to hear about them :o)
I'm talking about "growing out my hair".
As probably most women, I have a close connection to the growings on my head. I have heard numerous horror stories of people (well, women), who went to apprentice clippings and came back just sobbing in agony about the mixed salad that was left on their heads.
I believe that is because we as humans, and especially we as women, identify ourselves excessively with that person in the mirror. I used to think that any mishap that happened with my hair would automatically mean that the world and its people would gang up on me and deny me social living status. "What, with that thing on your head? Get the h.ll outta here."
As a kid, I had my hair sorta short, later it grew out, at one point down to my buttocks. Then I got sick of it (my hair is extremely straigt, from root to tip - many a woman envied me for it, but I just found it incredibly boring) and cut it. First to shoulder length, then successively further up the chinline, until I pretty much hit punk length. It has been meandering back and forth between mohawkish and shoulder-length ever since. Usually, I am quite ok with my hair, but there comes the point were it just starts growing too long, then I get nervous and then I find myself at the hair dresser's, explaining exactly what I want, I even bring pictures. The ladies are always very understanding, nodding, acknowledging. Then, once they start wielding their scissors, all I said seems to have blown straight out of the window.
More than once I have sincerely doubted my ability to explain what I want. Maybe I just don't use the right lingo. I must obviously be very badly trained in the correct language to be used in such occasions. The result is always the same. I walk out of the hair studio with hair a lot shorter than I anticipated, it always looks pretty good, even the cuts that make me look absolutely boyish, and curiously, the cuts always resemble one another. It seems that I have one of those faces that each hair dresser within a 200-mile radius just automatically assumes should have this certain look going along with it, no discussion.
Well, that's the reason why "growing out my hair" has made it as a separate goal to my list. I don't even want to get back to long flat-as-hell mats of ginger hair. I just want to have a chance of actually letting it grow in the sections that I think need more length, and having it short where it's getting annoying.
So I have decided to start experimenting. I will study hair, my hair. I will give DIY haircutting a try :o)
I found this lady who perfectly puts into words the feeling I have when I'm at a hairdresser's. There's also some pretty spectacular stuff out there on this topic. Mostly spooky ghost stories of what can go horribly wrong. Others just take up their set of scissors and go for it. Take a look at this fearless lady (with very forgiving hair :o)).
Hairfinder.com seems like a pretty good resource - so I don't see any reason for not trying this one out.
Does anyone have recommendations, bewares, anecdotes? I'd love to hear about them :o)
Thursday, January 19, 2012
You got........ MAIL!
I gotta tell ya, I LOVE getting mail :o) It's odd, even if I just receive pamphlets that don't really apply to me, I get mildly excited.
And today I had prime mail content (no, not the winning lottery ticket, but that would have been nice as well. I'd be available tomorrow...?).
I received:
- the confirmation for opening my state-backed retirement insurance (Riester)
- a reaction to the account clearing measures I took regarding my national retirement account two weeks ago
- an advertisement from ING DiBa (a bank) for a free checking account with a bunch of additional free features
This means that three of my goals have been tackled today, without me having to do anything for it! (well, today).
Point 1:
I am now waiting for one final document on the business retirement account that I signed up for, then I will consider myself thoroughly retirement-prep'ed. Ok, sure, I will have to check back in a while to see whether I'm on track, but I feel like now I can just let things run for themselves for a decent while.
Point 2:
That the agency that is taking care of my national retirement account is reacting tells me that my efforts to let them know about missing entries has worked (yay!). Two more files to fill out, and the reaching of goal "sorting out retirement account" is in very close proximity :o)
Point 3:
Receiving advertisements that are actually useful must be a clear indication that my goalsetting is being responded to by the universe (*^_^*) I LIKE!
So on top of receiving mail, I received USEFUL mail. GOAL Mail :o)
That just makes my day.
Good night!
And today I had prime mail content (no, not the winning lottery ticket, but that would have been nice as well. I'd be available tomorrow...?).
I received:
- the confirmation for opening my state-backed retirement insurance (Riester)
- a reaction to the account clearing measures I took regarding my national retirement account two weeks ago
- an advertisement from ING DiBa (a bank) for a free checking account with a bunch of additional free features
This means that three of my goals have been tackled today, without me having to do anything for it! (well, today).
Point 1:
I am now waiting for one final document on the business retirement account that I signed up for, then I will consider myself thoroughly retirement-prep'ed. Ok, sure, I will have to check back in a while to see whether I'm on track, but I feel like now I can just let things run for themselves for a decent while.
Point 2:
That the agency that is taking care of my national retirement account is reacting tells me that my efforts to let them know about missing entries has worked (yay!). Two more files to fill out, and the reaching of goal "sorting out retirement account" is in very close proximity :o)
Point 3:
Receiving advertisements that are actually useful must be a clear indication that my goalsetting is being responded to by the universe (*^_^*) I LIKE!
So on top of receiving mail, I received USEFUL mail. GOAL Mail :o)
That just makes my day.
Good night!
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
Heeeeello!
What a great day! I had a spectacular time at work today, made it to the train just in time before a huge downpour started, and kept reading in the entrepreneur magazine that I bought for an outraging 8,80€.
And I have to say - I LOVE IT! I get so many ideas from reading this magazine! Although there is so much info in it that I probably won't be able to finish any given edition that I am about to read, I have decided to go ahead and subscribe for a year :o) Now I'm very excited for the future issues to arrive! Being an international reader, I'll have to be patient for 10-12 weeks until the first delivery finds its way to my home, but the meantime will be filled with sweet anticipation :o)))
I was thinking about posting a bit of the article that I found so fascinating in the magazine but now I'm opting to update you on my kitchen greenery - or the partial lack thereof. Remember back when I planted onions and red pepper and mandarine seeds? Well, turns out I'm not being so lucky with the seedling part of the activity. Both of the mini greenhouses started producing bunches of fluffy mould today... not a good sign for the pepper seeds. And upon seeing the fluff, I checked on the mandarine seeds, and found itsy-bitsy pieces of fluff on there as well... I haven't given up on either yet, but it doesn't look too good.
The onions, however, are growing very happily :o) Already on the second day of being plunged into soil, tiny white roots found their way out of the pot to the puddle of water. Their greens have been "on the sprout" ever since! Not so much in height, but in number, firmness, and over all greenness :o) Those make me happy every morning!
Good night, Peopz!
What a great day! I had a spectacular time at work today, made it to the train just in time before a huge downpour started, and kept reading in the entrepreneur magazine that I bought for an outraging 8,80€.
And I have to say - I LOVE IT! I get so many ideas from reading this magazine! Although there is so much info in it that I probably won't be able to finish any given edition that I am about to read, I have decided to go ahead and subscribe for a year :o) Now I'm very excited for the future issues to arrive! Being an international reader, I'll have to be patient for 10-12 weeks until the first delivery finds its way to my home, but the meantime will be filled with sweet anticipation :o)))
I was thinking about posting a bit of the article that I found so fascinating in the magazine but now I'm opting to update you on my kitchen greenery - or the partial lack thereof. Remember back when I planted onions and red pepper and mandarine seeds? Well, turns out I'm not being so lucky with the seedling part of the activity. Both of the mini greenhouses started producing bunches of fluffy mould today... not a good sign for the pepper seeds. And upon seeing the fluff, I checked on the mandarine seeds, and found itsy-bitsy pieces of fluff on there as well... I haven't given up on either yet, but it doesn't look too good.
The onions, however, are growing very happily :o) Already on the second day of being plunged into soil, tiny white roots found their way out of the pot to the puddle of water. Their greens have been "on the sprout" ever since! Not so much in height, but in number, firmness, and over all greenness :o) Those make me happy every morning!
Good night, Peopz!
Monday, January 16, 2012
Business Bed Bureau
Phew, the weekend flew by like nothing! I got myself into mild trouble with starting to sort files - partly for straightening out the finances that haven't been included in straightening-outings yet ;o) And partly to start getting ready for filing my taxes!
It's still pretty early in the year, tax filings in Germany are not due until May 31st - but the earlier I file them, the earlier I have a chance of getting some of my payments back ;o) I guess that's universal for every country.
As I started thinking about tackling the business plan goal (you see? thinking about tackling... I'm still in the early stages :o)), I have decided to expose myself to fresh entrepreneurial thought. Ideally, I'd be mingling with a bunch of überhuman business magnates that managed to stay down to earth. As I am currently lacking such contacts in the business, I went for the next big thing. Buying a magazine in the field...
I am always amazed at the sheer size of the magazine market. And yet, I find it pretty difficult finding a product that is worth going back to time and time again, at least for a little while. Over the past year, I have been an infrequent reader of Business Punk. (Infrequent, because I only read 3 issues so far. On the other hand, as far as I know only 3 issues have been published until now, so maybe I am really more of a hardcore fan...?). That's a highly recommendable magazine for entertainment with a taste for business. I quite enjoy reading it, but it isn't entirely helpful for soon-to-be entrepreneurs.
Which let me to (*drumroll*) the entrepreneur! With that title, I had to be hooked. It took me three trips to the book store to actually buy it though. The cover looked great, the topics sounded interesting. Only one thing really annoyed me. The original US-version costs $4,99 as printed on the issue. The book store recalculated that into Euros - translating $4,99 to €8,80! OUCH!
Well, I guess book store owners have to carve out a living somehow as well... Conversions like that are a definite reason for just subscribing to the original though. Which I promptly checked out. I bought the magazine, I've read about a third so far and quite like it, found a gift coupon - and the coupon is for $9,99 - for 12 issues! Even better than the Kiplinger's deal! This one comes with a hook though - to include international mailing bumps up the price tag to $35,97 dollars. Which, of course, is still a better deal then 12x €8,80, but not as great a deal as I thought.
Soooo, as my final comment of the day - I spent the best 10€ ever today :o)))))))) I bought a portable bed bureau *grin* A wooden surface mounted on top of a textile bag filled with polyester bubbles - to set on your lap while sitting in bed, with your laptop on it! Here's a picture:
So what more can I say - Goooood night everyone :o)
It's still pretty early in the year, tax filings in Germany are not due until May 31st - but the earlier I file them, the earlier I have a chance of getting some of my payments back ;o) I guess that's universal for every country.
As I started thinking about tackling the business plan goal (you see? thinking about tackling... I'm still in the early stages :o)), I have decided to expose myself to fresh entrepreneurial thought. Ideally, I'd be mingling with a bunch of überhuman business magnates that managed to stay down to earth. As I am currently lacking such contacts in the business, I went for the next big thing. Buying a magazine in the field...
I am always amazed at the sheer size of the magazine market. And yet, I find it pretty difficult finding a product that is worth going back to time and time again, at least for a little while. Over the past year, I have been an infrequent reader of Business Punk. (Infrequent, because I only read 3 issues so far. On the other hand, as far as I know only 3 issues have been published until now, so maybe I am really more of a hardcore fan...?). That's a highly recommendable magazine for entertainment with a taste for business. I quite enjoy reading it, but it isn't entirely helpful for soon-to-be entrepreneurs.
Which let me to (*drumroll*) the entrepreneur! With that title, I had to be hooked. It took me three trips to the book store to actually buy it though. The cover looked great, the topics sounded interesting. Only one thing really annoyed me. The original US-version costs $4,99 as printed on the issue. The book store recalculated that into Euros - translating $4,99 to €8,80! OUCH!
Well, I guess book store owners have to carve out a living somehow as well... Conversions like that are a definite reason for just subscribing to the original though. Which I promptly checked out. I bought the magazine, I've read about a third so far and quite like it, found a gift coupon - and the coupon is for $9,99 - for 12 issues! Even better than the Kiplinger's deal! This one comes with a hook though - to include international mailing bumps up the price tag to $35,97 dollars. Which, of course, is still a better deal then 12x €8,80, but not as great a deal as I thought.
Soooo, as my final comment of the day - I spent the best 10€ ever today :o)))))))) I bought a portable bed bureau *grin* A wooden surface mounted on top of a textile bag filled with polyester bubbles - to set on your lap while sitting in bed, with your laptop on it! Here's a picture:
So what more can I say - Goooood night everyone :o)
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