Distracted

Since everyone seems to be posting nostalgic posts for the past couple of years I might as well join in before the servers get shut. Hope everyone's well.

I've heard that just means the hangover's gonna catch up to you later in the day, though I've always been spared of that when I got into that situation.

Hi guys, been ages. Came back from my trip to Norway over a week ago. It was completely amazing. The Fjordruta was way more into the wild than I thought it would be, and on the second day we ended up getting lost on the way up a mountain. We decided to just climb the thing since it was in our way, ended up spending almost the entire day climbing off the trail till we ended up finding the trail again and climbing the rest from there. It was tough but to get to the top and see the view, it just made it all worth it. We set up our tents there and ended up seeing the northern lights on the top of that mountain. Unforgettable experience. The last few days we spent in a wonderful house we rented, which had a lake in its backyard among other perks. All in all, good times were had. Other than that, bought a new laptop last week. It's way too good for me and I love it. Last laptop kinda stopped working, since it just randomly shuts down constantly. Only thing I'm still really worried about right now is my iTunes library, since I haven't been able to back it up properly on a drive before my laptop died.

Winter is coming? Oh shit. Seriously though, we're going towards the Fjordruta, starting in Kristiansund. I'm just gonna be sure to get me some good hiking boots in a few days and try to walk in them a bit to get used to it. Other than that I'm pretty dependant on my friends to do some research since I'll be gone till the day we leave, but I'm pretty confident in their preparation skills.

meh, great apes get to be lazy all day. great apes don't give a [bleep]. On a somewhat related note, got a box of crazy delicious chocolates from work. Still happy to have my last day of work for a while on Saturday though. After that it's a trip to my relatives in Egypt (meh) and the hiking trip through Norway with my friends (holy shit I'm still totally unprepared but it'll still be awesome). After that it's about 2-3 months of flat rest before heading to Switzerland for the winter.

It seems to me that the effect that a single person can have on history can't be underestimated at all. Yeah sure, you could analyze the demographics, the economy, the political climate and all those other things and predict where things will start to unfurl. But after the chaos of transition passes, someone will have the power and who that person is can determine a lot. If someone other than August had grabbed power in Rome, we might not have had a Pax Augusta like we've had now. August was known as a good ruler, and that was part of the reason the Roman state could remain relatively peaceful. Had he been a maniac (and we all know a bunch of those went on to become emperor afterwards), perhaps the state would've remained in a state of unrest, changing the course of history in a pretty significant way. But that's the thing though, you can't know what would've happened if those pivotal people didn't make those pivotal decisions that they've made. For example, Einstein wrote a letter to president Roosevelt in 1939 to warn him about a new nuclear technology that the Germans were tinkering with. This would cause the Americans to look into splitting uranium themselves, leading to the invention of the nuclear bomb. If he hadn't written that letter, who knows what might've happened. The war with Japan might've dragged on for years. Maybe there could've been a genius German scientist who had discovered how to make an atomic bomb before the US did. Then what? Who knows? No one does. But all those things are influenced by the actions of single people, and since it's impossible for us to know what would've happened if someone else was put in their place somehow it seems to me like we can't ignore what they meant for the course of history. Uh onto how my day went I guess. Worked two shifts today. The evening shift I did was the busiest evening I'd ever seen and we only had 6 employees to deal with the kind of crowd we usually have double the amount of people for. Ended up working a bit longer than usual since it kept being busy till closing time, but I still felt pretty good when I was done work. But then when I wanted to ride my bicycle back home I noticed a pretty significant problem: my steering wheel had literally just disconnected from the rest of my bike. Had to walk home since it was too late to take any buses or anything. Meh.

Came back from Dour festival two days ago. Holy shit it was amazing and awesome. Pretty much all the artists I wanted to see didn't disappoint at all, and I had so much stamina for some reason making it possible for me to stay up each night without letting up. I've discovered hardcore punk shows are pretty damn great when I saw Deez Nuts and Anti-Flag, and finishing the weekend off was Infected Mushroom with an awesome DJ set. The only disappointment of the weekend was Snoop Dogg. Dude came on 15 mins late, played a 40 min set when he was supposed to play for almost double that, and on top of that half of his set didn't even consist of his own music. At one point he literally just let I Love Rock n Roll play while he did absolutely nothing, and 2 songs later he suddenly put on some Bob Marley, waved and left the stage. At least I can always cherish that other time I saw him and he wasn't completely shit.

My annual trip to Dour takes place again tomorrow. Should be a blast again this year, looking forward to a bunch of the names playing, but one of the artists I'm looking most forward to is Infected Mushroom. Been wanting to see those guys for ages.

Who you going to see? Tropkillaz and Flosstradamus were headlining the show. It was pretty damn awesome as well, despite being expensive as shit, but that's just Paris for you. The show a few hours ago that we played went pretty well, we ended up second with just 2 votes difference. Still just had a blast on stage, I think it was one of our best shows yet. Now I'm really confused though, a few minutes ago on the way home a bunch of cats suddenly ran onto the street from out of nowhere while I was driving, and two of them were running full speed at the car. Of course I tried to brake as soon as I saw it, but I'm afraid I might've been too late since I heard a thud. The strange part is, that when I got out of the car there wasn't a trace to be found anywhere. No cat, no blood stains, nothing. I have no idea whether or not I just killed a cat, but either way I'm still pretty shaken, especially since I had been thinking about how hard it would be to dodge a cat that suddenly runs onto the street just a few minutes earlier. And another congrats from me Boris. Now that you're becoming a doctor, can you check out this weird lump on my back?

Going to Paris in a few minutes to go to a trap show in a club. Didn't really expect myself ever to say that combination of words but here we are. I'm kind of annoyed I can't really party all out though, have to save my voice for the show tomorrow and I know from experience that a long night out is hell for my voice.

Got a free day today cause of the crappy weather. Praise the Lord, Hallelujah!

I can barely convince myself to message people I know, never mind randomly messaging a stranger from the other side of the world through a comment on a random FB page. Part of me would be curious to reply to someone like that, but whether or not I would actually do it? No idea. I somehow caught a cold in the middle of a heatwave. Got a busy week coming up, working 7 days in a row. I know it makes me sound like a crybaby but holy shit I just want some free days. Good thing I at least got Friday to Sunday off. Will be travelling to Paris with 2 friends to see a trap show in a club on Friday, and the day after the band's playing another battle of the bands, so I've got a busy weekend ahead of me as well.

Wait whaaaaat? I've been so hyped for this ever since I finished watching the first season. Did you see any of it yet?

What does it matter which sector it is? If the people you work with are shitty people, you'll dread going to work and vice versa, whether you're a garbage man or a rocket scientist. My boyfriend only just started working at McDonald's as well. Only been there two days and his colleagues are racist, sexist high school dropouts and he was talking to one of them about something and the guy randomly described black people as animals and needing to be kept in the zoo. Was a bit awkward for my boyfriend and he wisely decided not to explain that his girlfriend is black :unsure: They also constantly disrespect female managers and make fun of women on the job. Anyway, yeah working on fries is quite intense according to him as he's never had any sort of customer service job or food-related job. He's undercooked nuggets and got a burn on his arm from the oil, so you could say it's going well :o Good thing the McDonald's I work at isn't anything like that. Even students who have barely any idea what they're doing on the job don't get disrespected (by staff I mean), nor do any of the female staff. It's actually a pretty good working environment. It had been a while since I last worked there and the place had been renovated since, and there's been some changes to the menu and such that I've had to adapt, but even if it's really busy I always feel like I can ask my question to someone else and get a decent reply. And Nox, I've been wondering, what exactly drew you to Qatar in the first place? It's awful, even the manager said to a Lithuanian boy who was working there "If you can't do the job, I'll find someone who can you stupid polish idiot!" It's outrageous and an awful working environment. My boyfriend is constantly being put down for being slow at things he's never done before. Apparently after three shifts, you're not a trainee anymore. I do remember them having pretty high expectations from me as well when I just started out. My first day, almost 3 years ago now, I learned how to make hamburgers in the morning when there weren't a lot of people, but once noon came around it was just another busy summer day and I had to work as if I knew exactly what I was doing. Sure, I'd sometimes get some additional help or something, but after 2-3 shifts they expect you to get the hang of it. Like I said though, they never really resort to abuse to make something clear to you; they'll just try to explain things, or maybe they'll show you a different method of doing something you've learned.

A few weeks ago I discovered a large group of my friends are interested in starting up an amateur football (soccer) team. Football used to be my passion when I was younger, but I stopped after having played with a really crappy team that made me lose that spark. I've had thoughts about restarting for a while though so when I heard that news I immediately got excited. Now we regularly play with a group of around 10 people on a nearby pitch, and despite the exhaustion and muscle pains due to long inactivity, I've been having a blast.

I want to get started on finding a job in Switzerland for the winter but I'm kinda scared of actually writing a CV cause I feel it'll look so empty. I'll get over it, I guess, but looking at an example CV startled me.

Worked the last 3 days, my feet are sore and I'm tired but oh well, I get paid. My boyfriend only just started working at McDonald's as well. Only been there two days and his colleagues are racist, sexist high school dropouts and he was talking to one of them about something and the guy randomly described black people as animals and needing to be kept in the zoo. Was a bit awkward for my boyfriend and he wisely decided not to explain that his girlfriend is black :unsure: They also constantly disrespect female managers and make fun of women on the job. Anyway, yeah working on fries is quite intense according to him as he's never had any sort of customer service job or food-related job. He's undercooked nuggets and got a burn on his arm from the oil, so you could say it's going well :o Good thing the McDonald's I work at isn't anything like that. Even students who have barely any idea what they're doing on the job don't get disrespected (by staff I mean), nor do any of the female staff. It's actually a pretty good working environment. It had been a while since I last worked there and the place had been renovated since, and there's been some changes to the menu and such that I've had to adapt, but even if it's really busy I always feel like I can ask my question to someone else and get a decent reply. And Nox, I've been wondering, what exactly drew you to Qatar in the first place?

Ouch, best of luck with that Nox, sounds like a shitty situation to be in. I start working at McDonald's again tomorrow. Should be really hot and we're in a pretty touristic area so it'll immediately be a busy day to start off, but oh well.

Just came back from 2 days of Amsterdam. Was chill. Also, happy birthday Kalphite!

Well today I completely shaved off my beard for the first time since September. Did so in preparation for working at McDonald's again. Was supposed to start working tomorrow, but they for some reason thought a scan of my ID was unreadable and so they couldn't set up the contract. Sure it wasn't readable on first sight, but everyone has a zoom function right? Also, my sister came and visited from Egypt. She's only staying the night before going somewhere else, but was still fun to spend some time with her.

Drunkenly decided to take a trip to Amsterdam with two of my friends last night. All of our other friends are busy with their finals around now, so we thought we might as well just go. Probably the first few days of June. Otherwise, been enjoying things since I decided to quit college for now. I even went jogging today for the first time in 2 years. Took me almost half an hour to run 5 kilometers. Yup.

Oh hey, I didn't know that. I hope you understand I didn't mean to offend or anything, I was just surprised when I first saw it.

To be honest, as someone who kind of straddles the line between being a native English speaker and having it as a second language, I feel it's completely justified to see things like "should of" as unprofessional. If I'm writing an email to someone important about something important and I get a mail back with grammar mistakes like that, I immediately lose a bit of trust in whoever I'm writing to. There's something similar to it in Dutch, where there might sometimes be confusion with the conjugation of certain verbs, causing a semi-common mistake to pop up. If you make a mistake like that on an essay, you'd be lucky if the professor would finish reading it. It's just a matter of education, and effort: the rule is pretty simple and universal in its application, so making a mistake on it usually shows a certain amount of apathy in your writing, something you just don't want to be showing when you're writing something important. And now completely random, but is Alg female? Have I been lied to through the medium of username for all this time?

To be honest, I was studying philosophy so it's not like I was heading to a bright career anyway. And I think the main reason I'm even attracted to Seattle is its music. I mean, a city that produces Jimi Hendrix and Kurt Cobain must have something going for it. It always just seemed like an awesome place as well.

Looks like I'm dropping out of college after half-assing it for 2 years. It feels kind of liberating, but I feel kinda bad about it as well because I know I have the intellectual capabilities for it, and I had some great times over there. I just never really found the motivation to work for it and the academic aspect ended up getting me closer to depression than to anything else. I'm still keeping university open for a later point in my life, but right now I just want to spend at least a year out of university and see what happens. I might go to Switzerland in the winter with two of my friends who are ski instructors and just stay there during the season working as a waiter or whatever. My friend who's been there before says they actually earn a pretty sizable loan, and they're always looking to hire at the start of a season. I've even been considering moving to Seattle, though that might be a bit too far out of my comfort zone. City's fascinated me for ages now though, so I'm thinking of taking the plunge eventually, even if it's in a few years. Other than that, same ol' same ol'.