Noxx

I don't get that kind of response though. Black people in America always seem to be so proud of being black, their heritage, etc. But the moment you ask them something actually significant, or meaningful, they find it offensive. I understand what you're saying, because even i wouldn't ask a black person from America what tribe they're from. I just don't understand why it's an offensive thing to ask. Do white people get offended if they're asked what their roots are? I get that a nationality isn't a tribe, but it kind of is. So if someone asks me if i'm half English/Scottish/German/whatever, do i get offended? Should i? Just doesn't make sense to me. "I'm proud to be black/indian, but don't ask me anything about it ever."

Not sure why that's amusing, to be honest. Pretty sure if Maddy did some research she'd be able to find out what tribe her ancestors were from. Many countries in Africa still have tribes, and people from those tribes wouldn't take any offence if you ask them what tribe they're from. Sometimes it baffles what westerners find offensive. People trying to be too PC.

What a crummy week. Somehow threw my back out drying myself off after a shower, i have completely lost feeling in my left foot, and yesterday i missed my flight from Greece back to Doha and i had to spend 12 hours on the airport after already being awake for a good 8 or 9 hours. Air-hostess was hot af though and we're going for drinks tomorrow evening, so that's pretty cool.

Firewatch was super disappointing, and pretty much a waste of money. It's a game with so much potential, but the way it ends completely ruins anything positive that might happen during the game. I wouldn't recommend anyone waste money on it, even if it is only $17. Got Destiny a day or two ago. It's pretty overwhelming to be honest. Very beautiful game though.

Actually not really. It's kin d of an "all or nothing" kind of thing at the moment. 18 months to complete 14 exams. If you don't complete them within the 18 months you need to start all 14 again. You also only have 6 sittings, meaning you have to write all 18 within 6 sittings. This coming week will probably dictate how i proceed. So if i do decide to do it some point in the future, i'l pretty much starting from just beyond the starting line.

Over the past few months i've slowly been losing interest in the whole pilot career thing. I don't know what it is, but i just don't find this process enjoyable anymore. I've been having a ought time studying for my exams because i have no motivation. Despite all the money that's gone into all of it, i really think that after this month i'm going to give it up. It was really fun in the start because it was a new experience in a new place, with new people, etc. But now it's just me doing it, by myself, and it's not fun anymore. I've been studying for exams for the past 17 or 18 months and to be honest i've learned very little. I've learned how to choose the correct option from 4 possibilities. That's it. I'm kind of scared to tell my dad though, because he's the one that made the initial (and biggest) contribution to this. He's not going to be very happy, but i think that's one of the reasons i've been putting it off for so long. I am kind of afraid of disappointing him, as stupid as that sounds. Problem is i have no other form of qualification or tertiary education, and while it isn't an issue at the moment, i can't ensure that it never will be. Finding a job on pure experience is just as hard as finding a job with a degree but no experience. So i am thinking about doing some sort of fast, easy business degree online just for now. Just so i have something to go with my current experience. I can't afford to do anything apart from part-time studying because i have a demanding job already. My flight for Greece leaves in about 10 hours, and then i have till the 20th to think about things. Also thinking about learning Arabic on the side, just to open a few more doors for myself.

Can't unsee this now....

I've been watching a lot of documentaries lately. Mostly things about serial killers, satanism, cults, Charles Manson, etc. Also recently watched a few interviews and documentaries about Marilyn Manson which led me to finally watch Bowling for Columbine. Been wanting to watch it for a long time, but it's hard for me to get in the right mood for it. But i decided to give it a go today. It was really shocking. I don't really get emotional about things at all. I can watch things that'll upset a lot of people and it'll have little or no affect on me, but for some reason Bowling for Columbine really got to me.

Zoe Saldana has been one of my all-time favorites. She's [bleep]ing gorgeous.

I've had a strange amount of luck the past week, in terms of getting dates. The Greek girl called me up 2 days ago and asked if i wanted to go for a drink. On the same day i ran into an old friend of my ex, while having lunch with a client. We didn't have any time to really talk so the conversation was limited to a hi and a bye. But when i got back to the office she sent me a message suggesting we meet up for a drink over the weekend so we can "catch up". I found it strange because we never really talked in the past, but i agreed nonetheless. The one i'm proudest of though is the date i arranged earlier today. I was checking Facebook when i noticed a girl online. Someone whom i've been tempted to ask out a few times before, but never followed through. She's a few years older than i am (about 10, to be exact), and for some reason i find that really intimidating. Probably because i just assume she's looking for something serious, and i'm really not. But i decided to give it a go nonetheless. I came up with a pretty silly method of asking her out without being too direct about it, and surprisingly it worked. So i have a date with her tomorrow night. I'm still kinda nervous about it, and still really surprised that it worked. Looking forward to it though.

Had a really long day. Woke up late, and by the time i got out of bed it was already 11 and i had a flight to catch at 12:50. Had to shower, pack, check out, and leave for the airport as fast as possible. Couldn't even eat anything. I figured i would just grab a bite on the airport, but i couldn't find anything apart form 1 or 2 places that sold sandwiches. They didn't really look all that appealing, and i really couldn't justify paying that much for them. So i just stuck it out and waited to eat on the plane, which was great as always. Had another bumpy flight. The take-off and initial climb was rough, because we had to climb through some clouds. I really didn't enjoy that too much. The landing was pretty rough too. I'm guessing there was some wind or something, but the plane made some pretty positive impact on touch-down. Met a girl on the airport in Greece though, while waiting to board. Apparently she's in town for a week for an interview. It's her first time traveling to the middle east, so i told her to prepare herself for a culture shock. She didn't exactly know what i meant, so I took my chances, gave her my number, and told her to let me know when she figures out what i meant. Really it was just an easy way for me to set up a date for later this week. I'll see what happens.

There's a bakery near my hotel and i go there pretty much every day cause they sell the most delicious sandwiches. So i just went to go buy some and the girl that helped me gave me her number. She doesn't speak a lick of english. So like... i don't really know what's the use.

Good thing this isn't Facebook/Twitter, or people might have complained about the lack of diversity (with regards to both race and figure). Anywayyyy... Choosing between the two is pretty hard. When i look at the pictures of them, neither really has anything that really "stands out". Something that immediately makes me go "WOW". The third picture of Olivia is probably the best. Not because she's half naked, but because her facial expression is very alluring. The second picture (well, technically the first picture) of Margot is for, whatever reason, the one i find the best. Margot has very sharp features though. So i'll probably have to give my vote to Olivia.

I have 10 warning points (shocker, i know). Last one i received was late 2012 though. The first warning point was for ban evading (kind of ironic). I created this account after my previous account got banned. If i recall correctly, it got banned over an argument i had with someone in a thread about homosexuality. Another warning i got was for posting about my frustrations regarding Indian drivers, 3 for "personal" attacks towards users and/or moderators, 3 for Runescape related rule violations, and one "unknown".

2 more exams ticked off the list. Both of them are considered to be among the most difficult tests, not because the actual subject is hard but rather because the exams are kinda bs. One of them often have graphs and figures that are difficult to work with, and the questions can sometimes be very unclear in terms of what exactly is asked of you. The other one is kind of the same, except with different graphs/figures. To add insult to injury, one is a 35 question paper, and the other is 25. It really just depends on the luck of the draw. Both of my papers had piss-easy theory and fairly easy graphs, except that one of the questions gave me the wrong graph to use so i was kinda [bleep]ed there. Just so relieved i got them out of the way. Ironically the 25 question paper was considered to be one of the easiest a year or two back, but then they went and changed the format a bit by replacing a few theory questions with calculations and over night it turned into one of the hardest.

This just reminded me of Florida back in 2012, having to wake up at 5am to be ready for a flight at 6am with weather so cold my hands were ice cubes. And then to make matters worse you're flying at ~3000ft where the weather is ~6C colder than on the surface. You're in an old plane with a heater that doesn't work, and even if it did work you couldn't use it without a high risk of getting carbon monoxide poisoning. And just to make things even a little better, sometimes you'd have to open your window while flying to see what's going on underneath you. Ahhh, those were the days. Also: "A ten year-old Muslim boy has been questioned by police after mistakenly writing that he lives in a 'terrorist house' instead of 'terraced house' in a piece of school work". Happened somewhere in the UK. Not sure why, but i found it pretty hilarious. It's crazy that this sort of action was taken in this situation, but situations so much worse get ignored because of "freedom of speech".

Well to me anything in the region of 15-20 is already bordering on the region of too cold (taking into account things like wind and humidity). Anything below that makes me incapable of functioning. I really hate the cold. Right now it's something like 7c in Greece and i hate it. I still have to take a walk later on to go buy food, and i'm really just dreading it. I much rather prefer 45c to 15c, but that's probably because it's easier to condition warm weather than it is to condition cold weather in my house. And i really don't like having to wear several layers of clothing. Makes me feel too constricted. I really hate winter...

Yeah i used a pretty poor comparison, come to think of it. My comment wasn't directed at the size of their breasts, but rather their lack of "curves".

I find both of these women to be kind of "over-hyped" in terms of beauty. Clarke has a very average face, and Dormer's mouth along with the "pout" in so many of her pictures leaves her looking a bit mousy. From the pictures provided it's also pretty evident that neither of them really have an eye-catching figure. I'm not saying everyone has to have curves like Barbie, but the both of them share a resemblance to an ironing-board. With that said, i'd probably have to vote for Dormer strictly because she comes across as more "kinky".

Think about it this way: it's something that's probably bound to come out sooner or later. Probably sooner rather than later, as my boss often teases me about my lack of qualification. So now this guy invested time and money into moving halfway across the world, two weeks later he finds out he's more qualified than his boss yet he paid 3 or 4 or 5 times less, starts giving me attitude, i have to fire him, and he has to go back home. So by being upfront with him, i not only saved him time, but i also saved him money. I arrived in Greece yesterday afternoon. Pretty cold. I don't think i've ever been here in January before, so i really didn't expect it to be as cold as it is. My entire day yesterday was strange. I got slightly carsick on the way to the airport. The slight turbulence on approach made my stomach turn a bit too. I can't even remember the last time something like that happened to me. Usually it takes a lot for me to feel sick on a plane. This is my 3rd time traveling to Greece alone in the past 6 months and each time it becomes increasingly more... depressing. I get that i'm not here to party or have a good time. I'm here to write exams. But i've become so accustomed to being around people all the time, it feels strange when i'm not.

Today was one of the most frustrating days i've had in a while. My workload has increased quite a bit over the past few weeks, so my boss thought it would be a good idea for me to hire an assistant who would also do a few other things around the office. So over the past few weeks we've been going through some C.Vs and made a shortlist of possible candidates and we started with interviews today (which doesn't make a whole lot of sense considering i am leaving the country for Greece in 2 days, but whatever). So i spent the entire day interviewing people. Some interviews had to be done over the phone, as some of the candidates are not in the country. Personally i dislike doing interviews over the phone, especially if the candidates are from India (that region in general), because they are so well trained for telephonic interviews. They'll practice a set of standard/frequently asked questions and answers. They'll practice them in a more "understandable" less "accent heavy" accent as to sound less like the stereotypical Indian. Either that, or they'll have someone with good english do the interview for them. As a result, they might end up sounding like the perfect candidate but when you eventually meet them their english understanding and speech is pretty sub-standard. They don't fully understand instructions, or they're just not understandable. And from my limited experience their work quality isn't always the greatest either. But anyway, i interviewed them nonetheless, because that's what i was told my my boss. So right off the bat the first 2 candidates were not suitable. So i phoned the next one. He sounded a lot better. A bit of an accent, but completely understandable. Sounded very intelligent. He told me he had family working here, so he's been trying to get a job here for a few months now. Everything was going great. He answered the questions i asked him acceptably. And then i decided to throw him a curve ball. I told him i was in the market to buy a new car and i'm trying to decide between a Mustang and a BMW. If it was up to him, what would he choose and why. I wasn't expecting him to go into detail. If he told me "I would choose X because of this, that, and the next thing" i would have been happy. I really just wanted to ask something completely irrelevant. There was a moment of silence, then he told me that he did not quite understand the question. So i asked him again. There was another short pause. You could almost hear him thinking. And then it happened. Out came the broken english. So i asked him, on his C.V it's noted that he is fluent in english (about 8/10), but for some reason he's unable to give me a coherent answer to a fairly simple question. So i thanked him for his time, told him that, unfortunately, he's not exactly what we're looking for, and that was the end of that. The next few telephonic interviews didn't go much better either. After that, i had a few people who were going to come in for an interview. People who obviously already live here. It became apparent to me, really fast, just how much people embellish on their C.Vs. Saying they were "Manager" this, and "Supervisor" that. And then you ask them about their duties and responsibilities at their previous place of employment and it turns out they were no more than a secretary, or an assistant. I don't have a problem with that, but i do have a problem with them misrepresenting themselves. Two people in particular stood out to me. "Client Services Manager" and "Office Operations Supervisor". Two titles I don't think i've ever heard of. The former turned out to be the customer service representative at the service center for Audi or BMW, or something (i don't remember). He gave himself the titled of "Manager" since he was the only customer service representative for that particular branch. Or something of the sorts. The latter turned out to be a secretary, who was also in charge of bringing her bosses' coffee and running errands for them. Again, she appointed the title herself. One of the guys that came for an interview is actually here on vacation visiting a friend. Apparently a friend of his knows someone at my office, so it was suggested to him to send in his C.V since he's been toying with the idea of working in Qatar. So his C.V found it's way onto the "shortlist". So i take him to the conference room and asked him to have a seat. As he sits down, and as i walk over to close the door, he asks me if i would mind bringing him a glass of water because he feels a bit "parched" as he put it. I'm guessing he assumed i was on my way out to fetch my boss, because he had a very confused look on his face as i sat down at the head of the table and requested a glass of water and some tea over the intercom. Just to make the situation a bit more awkward for him i asked him if he wanted to "change his order" to a warm beverage or perhaps even a soda. He laughed and said water would be fine. He then apologized for his "lack of office attire" (he was wearing khakis, a button-up shirt, and sneakers), and explained that he only sent in his C.V a few days after arriving in Qatar. No big deal to me. He still seemed a bit confused as to why i was interviewing him, so i started off by saying something along the lines of "My workload has become a bit overwhelming over the past few weeks, so we're looking for someone who'll fill the position of my assistant, as well as doing a few other odds and ends around the office". And i think it finally struck him. I asked him the very generic "Tell me a bit about yourself, and why you applied" question. He went on to tell me that he's a "regular" 27 year old, born and raised in Florida. His friend has been working in Qatar for just over 2 years now and he seems to be enjoying it. His friend has been urging him to find work here himself since he's having a hard time adjusting and meeting people. He told me about his current occupation, and how he feels like he wants to "experience something new". We went on to talk for quite a while about his current duties/responsibilities, what'll be expected of him here, his skills and qualifications, his educational background, etc. Pretty much the standard. At some point i asked him if he had any questions so far. He asked me how old i was, and how long i've been "with the company". I found it rather...invasive, but understandable to a degree. So i told him how old i was "even though i look like i'm 18 when i'm clean-shaved" and i told him how long i've been working here. I briefly explained to him that it all still kind of feels surreal to me given the fact that i had no previous experience and i'm grossly under-qualified (in fact, i have absolutely zero tertiary education relating to this particular field. He seemed rather of offended, or annoyed by how i got my "titled" given how long i've been working here (which is probably less than a year) along with how "young" i am. He jokingly said suggested that i must have some serious "wasta" (meaning "connections"), implying i pulled strings to get where i am as apposed to earning it. I wasn't exactly what to make of the comment. But his attitude changed after that. He seemed uninterested for the rest of the interview. Kept making snarky remarks whenever i'd say something, answered with a tone of sarcasm in his voice, etc. Things fell apart pretty fast. Kind of tragic since he was probably the most suitable applicant, but he didn't seem intrigued by the fact that his boss was going to be an inexperienced, under-qualified, 25 year old. So yeah... frustrating day. ~10 hours of interviewing people, and i pretty much have nothing to show for it. Really not looking forward to the rest, when i get back from Greece.

From personal experience i find that it's so easy to have success on Tinder if you have the right kind of pictures. I don't mean pictures showing your most attractive physical attributes (cause i'd probably have very little success then), but rather pictures displaying your "lifestyle". Like i have one with me changing the tire on my car, one of me in the office, a "selfie" of my friend and i flying a plane, and one with me and a small group of friend (male and female). Each of them suit a specific and collective purpose. The first one not only shows that i can "use my hands" so to speak, but it also shows a degree of financial success/stability. The second pretty much just displays financial security and i guess a degree of "authority" given the fact that the picture shows a plaque on my desk with my title. Subtle but relevant. The thirst picture (along with my very short "bio") shows "ambition for greater things" and maybe even a sense of adventure. And the last shows that i'm a "people person". I specifically chose one that has a mixed group of not only guys and girls, but different race and ethnicity as well. It gives the impression that a.) i'm not one of those guys that goes to a bar/club with his 10 male friends and spends the entire night either hitting on girls with no success, or spends the entire night saying they're gonna talk to a girl but never ends up doing so, and b.) it shows i have no prejudice against any culture or race (which i would say is pretty important in a country made up of so many different cultures and races). That's pretty much the image i'm trying to get out. Whether or not it is perceived that way is another story. But i've had extremely good success since i put some thought into it and changed the pictures. It's almost like fishing with dynamite.

Third world countries having first world problems, while first world countries are having third world problems. That is kinda funny, you're right. One of our clients got the "senior staff" my office a few VIP tickets to the tennis, so i decided to go last night. Apart from the cold weather, it was actually pretty fun. It's just awkward being "senior staff" when i'm only 25. I also realised how much i hate being called "sir" by people who easily have 10 years on me.

Cause people were speeding too much. And by speeding i mean 150+. And it's a road leading to residential areas. i actually don't think the speed limit is still supposed to be 100, they probably just never bothered changing it.

Drove over a speed-bump at ~100kmph with my dad's Porsche. [bleep] hate when they don't paint the things properly and you only see them when you're already on them. Front bumper is pretty much [bleep]ed. Thank god for insurance.