"I forgot how to breathe."

It's been a while since the last update. This is a bad habit of mine. But since last time, I've tried starting a poi class. So far, I've got 3 people with me, which is excellent. I just need to find a good place until it's warm enough to be outside again. Vivian, having a humor my little brothers would find childish, did what anyone would do - compared her sock poi with elephant testicles. Her boyfriend was uncomfortable, for some strange reason.

Lisa has apparently at one point forgotten how to breathe, just by thinking about how to do so. She just keeps getting better. We had a great night out this weekend, I was surrounded by photographers, models and just all round nice people all night. It was excellent, until I had to basically carry Lisa to bed. Lisa may or may not have drank soy sauce from the bottle. This was about as awesome as partying with Vivian, the girl I'm poi-ing with. She's leaving soon, and a going away party at a metal bar... Ow my neck. Still an awesome night.

A while ago I was at Slayers24, which is the local nerd event. We were up to 100 people, staying up and gaming for 24 hours straight. My sleep has not been the best these last weekends, but it has been fun. Cards Against Humanity is highly recommended in the wee hours of the morning you just laugh for 5 minutes about anything. Or Diplomacy, which is incredibly interesting in that it is the first boardgame I've played with no chance involved, only player interraction.

What else? Work has been interesting. People with long-to-solve problems seem to come to me whenever I'm supposed to quit, so I've had a lot of overtime worked lately. Still, it's not been that bad. I keep getting good reports. There are problems, though. Recently, a bomb was found in Victoria's Square, thankfully it never went off, but of course it's a bit weird. Not something you get used to.

Today, it's been cold, but still no snow, while it's been snowing in Egypt. Stephanie made chili, omnomnom. One of my friend, Ting from my gaming sessions, has had a recital, singing, good music, it was all very nice. So for the most part good times being had by all. I've started playing Pokémon again for the first time in years. Nostalgia. <3

"Why'd you buy-" "It's a spaceship"

So it has been a while since I blogged. What has happened? Lisa bought a tea infuser shaped like a spaceship. It's awesome. A friend, the Game Master I play Dungeons and Dragons with, recently got married, so I'm very happy for them. Hugh and Ting, or however you spell her name - not very good at Mandarin. My coworkers had a party the previous weekend, where some young local men decided to invite themselves in. No one got seriously hurt, but they smashed the door and all but two windows before picking fights. No one was able to really help them, and the landlord was unreasonable, expecting rent until the end of the contract despite it now being unihabitable. Robert, my newest Swedish colleague, has left the company already and gone back to Sweden after all this, which is understandable. Tommy and Bastian, the norwegians, might be off as well. Might be I have to take norwegian calls from now on since that line could be left empty.

On a brighter note; my probation period ended this week, and I am officially a full time employee! I am also in the top 3 of my team, which means I might earn a bonus at the end of the month. And we have a new housemate, Stephanie who's moving in this week. She has apparently been here already, several times, but I have yet to meet her. Despite this, she already owes me money. My other housemate Lisa is currently in Portugal on a five star all expenses paid resort. Sure, I'm not freezing my ass off or anything, but Portugal VS Norn Iron weather wise... Portugal wins.

So plenty has happened, but a lot of it can be summed up in just a few sentences. Tomorrow a few coworkers and me are going to a café after work. It's been a while, so it's nice to hang out with them again now. But for now, I'm back to watching Attack on Titan, an extremely well made anime that is far too addictive to be good for me.

"No, we are not putting cats on the swastika!"

Like the title suggests, things have been interesting around here.

Jolly good weather lately, it has been cold some days, but not bad, still. It's been a while since I posted, so some of these are a bit old though.

 Like this - Halloween, party to the max! One of my colleagues wore this as well, and apparently got 8 phone numbers in 2 hours or so. The man is impressive.

Apart from the swastika on our back door, everything is just wonderf-

 OH HELL NO. I'M LEAVING. FUCK YOU, LIS.
I could handle the swastika, but this? Nope.

What else has happened, other than halloween? My mom visited, we rented a cara and drove of into the great unknown that is northern Northern Ireland.

 First a picture from my old bedroom window, though. My mom is quite the shutterbug.

The Carrick-a-rede rope bridge, which is supposed to be able to handle several tonnes, but felt pretty fucking unstable for a second. Blasted winds. At least I survived though.

The view from the Great Causeway, the largest part of Giant's Causeway. It's pretty cool there, and if requested, more pictures will follow.

 We also visited Musseden Temple, which had some pretty bomb views as well.

My dear mother, when we visited the Dark Hedges, a pretty beautiful piece of... Well, it's trees by a road, that's all. But it looks pretty cool. And just like Musseden Temple, it's been in Game of Thrones.

In other news, my bike has been fixed again, and my roleplaying society has gotten sillier. A pacifist running around with two swords, a piece of metal, supposedly holding a human inside it, a wizard who only knows one terrifying spell (you get a cookie if you get the reference), and a man who heals people by touching them inapproporiately. Well, it seems like the healing is an unintended side effect, but useful none the less.

And that's pretty much it. Work isn't very intere- oh wait it is. People have been assuming I'm dating someone there, someone I hadn't spoken to in 2 weeks. This spiralled into a 10 minute discussion about orgies, stalking and whether or not I sleep with a tie on. While I work it's all good, it's just the breaks that worry me...

Shower before going to work is optional.

Shower WHILE going to work is mandatory, though. That lovely Belfast weather early in the morning really makes you smile. I looked like a wet dog. Ah well, at least I got to work on time. It's been stressful lately, having to get my bike to the repair shop AGAIN, and just generally cleaning and fixing my room up. And finishing my training. My work as a fully trained Logitech agent starts monday. Thursday's Halloween, and I have my costume ready for then, will look good. Then friday, my mom's coming over. Renting a car, travelling around Norn Iron, seeing Giant's Causeway, a few parts from Game of Thrones, a dozen other places and then a tour of haunted places, and the Titanic museum. And probably some whiskey as well. We'll see what else we can have time for.

What else has happened? Not a lot, actually. Just the general, boring antics of everyday life. Tommi was really interesting in class, never got along with the trainer, James, really. Or the cafeteria staff. Or the other finnish people. And is so honest he's pretty rude as well. But he has a sense of humor. Same goes for everyone, of course, but a few are noticeable. I get along well with Zera, Ana... Well, everyone actually. Multiculturality, we're all here for the same reason in the same position. It all works out great.

This week has also had its share of interesting quotes. 
"And you don't have to take a picture of your butt for me." "Too bad, I already did."
"It seems that to the south there is an entire nation of humans disguised as small reptiles. They don't appear to be hostile." "WHAT. NOT HOSTILE?"
"My sister's present will be arriving in a week." "But what will I get?" "My penis." "Same as her then?"
"I'll do it today, 100 % sure. Definitely. Or maybe tomorrow." "I might have to buy a whip."
And someone trying to tell me they're sober 3 times without succeeding.

Pretty standard, no big problems, but no massive good things either, that I can think of. Just life as usual. Carry on and lose the game!

A broad abroad

So, I've started watching Breaking Bad, after countless recommendations from friends. First episode done now... I'm impressed. Bryan Cranston's a good actor, and it's entertaining. I'll definitely keep watching that.

What else is new? On my way to work this morning, my bike starts humming "I want to break free" by Queen, and my chain, for some stupid reason, decides to join in. One brisk jog later, and I'm late for work. Tomorrow, me and quite a few people are going out, should still manage despite being busy... My gaming mates won't be let down.

Also, the bringer of awesome music - the one known as the German Girl,or Zera - has a blog, apparently. About belfast. It's not got much stuff on it, but it's getting there, so I think you should read that one as well. (Why she didn't pic this blog entry as a name I will never understand) She takes good pictures, and can draw.

Alex, the firebender, after I showed her the video of me poi-ing. I think that's awesome. She DID also draw a picture of me, regular... And then added boobs. I need to work on my manliness, apparently, because it looked natural. >.<

No, it's past midnight, and I have friends whining that I should sleep. So I'll do that. G'night y'all!

The ties that bind you.

Thursday was Hat and Tie Day in the office. What the hell do I do then?! I mean, do I wear one, two, none, all of them?

Solution:

My tie is wearing a tie.

What has happened since last time? My housemate has gotten into a fight with a turkish pimp (regular thursday), I've gone back to training at work, and gotten my ass handed to me in a pub quiz. My accent is getting irish, at least the sayings are starting to slip in. What's the crack? Yeah, that's grand. Happy days, mate!

It's a bit of a shame that I'm back in training - thursday, I got a reply from a customer I'd helped. They claimed that I was a genius who should get a raise, and that they had other issues currently being handled by other agents, that they wanted me to help them with instead. I felt very honored, but... Given I'm in training, and not handling any calls or emails right now, there's not much I can do.

Training is fun, as well (trainer is great, he actually makes me want to learn more about it all), as we can try out the products we'll help people with - the Ultimate Ears headphones Logitech sells are ridiculously expensive. We're talking Rockstar salary price on the expensive ones, the site doesn't even list the price. If you have to ask, you can't afford them.

A free trial for me... Two Steps From Hell is awesome that way. The German girl who just happened to have that band on her phone made the day that much better. She's been there for a while, but wanted to get moved to the Logitech branch, which I think is a good thing - while tough at times, it's worth it. Who else do we have? A few people I started with here, great people I've partied with, and the new recruits are nice as well, from all over the world. An unsual amount of germans. We're all having a good time while the remaining swedes - we're supposed to be 6 working, but right now, 2 working, 2 sick, 1 on leave and me - toil away and do their best with all of this. The newest guy has been working for 1 week now, I feel sorry for the amount of work he gets already. I'll be back to helping them in 2 weeks, though.

Then the week after that, my mom's supposed to be visiting. Will be fun showing her around. :D Belfast has plenty to offer for just a weekend - nice people, the Titanic Museum, Game of Thrones set, booze, more booze...

Feels like I've missed something, so expect more updates within a week. Bye mates!

No fire, but action anyway.

I am currently the leader of an evil cult controlling a merchant barony consisting of roughly 800 lycanthropes. I've convinced all of them that the HUGE crocodile lurking in our swamps is an aspect of the evil god of chaos "we" are worshipping. I am a shapeshifter currently assuming the form of the (now dead) leader of this... Okay, now it counts as a proper religion. This is the least exciting thing that happened in our RPG session today.

My bike should be repaired tomorrow, so wee. :D I'll finally be able to get to places other than getting a taxi, or walking. Sure, this will cut a bit into my audiobook sessions, but... BIKE!

I'm apparently doing an unusually good job for a beginner at my job, some of my scores are actually higher than the more experienced agents. I'm just happy I'm not terrible. :D

My lovely and very excellent mother has bought me a new camera, which should be able to take pictures when I get it in about a month. Canon EOS 450D, will be absolutely brilliant. She's bringing it when she's visiting in about a month. All is well.

I have also gotten business cards:

Nothing TOO fancy. Want to stay classy, after all. And no, not everyone on the internet is going to get my personal phone number. If you know me, but do not know my current phone number, just ask.

"You nimbly dodge their beards."

International book week apparently, find your nearest book, turn to page 52 and quote the 5th sentence. No telling which book, though. "Ser Robin raised a hand, and his archers lowered their bows." is what I got. I bet you can guess...

Fire spinning has started again, will post video as soon as Matt gives it to me. The oil I got works excellently, will try something a bit different out later... Expect a cool video by the end of the year.

My bike's in the repair shop, so I still have to walk to work. At least I'm getting something out of it. Going to start listening to audio books on my way. Downloaded Atlas Shrugged, because I cannot for the life of me read it on my own. Each part is half an hour, phone says: part 1 of 115. This might take a while.

In other news, Logan the Lab is gone now, found a new owner. He was nice and all, but too energetic, and we're all stressed enough as it is.

I am having the time of my life gaming with friends. The title is NOT the weirdest thing I've done so far, and I've only been there 2 sessions. :D It's a buttload of fun.

Nothing else new, see y'all!

Bikecurious

That's right, I bought a bike. We had a small accident on the way home...

That's right, it's picture time! This week, very little has happened, apart from getting the bike. I have a new computer mouse, so there's that... Otherwise:

There is this one song, I keep forgetting the lyrics, though... We all occupy a 570–590 nm uboat?

My room. It's small, but it's home.

Just watching a film with Matt, he falls asleep halfway through. I'll just turn off the lights, the TV, and sneak o- Like hell I'm touching that.

HAIL TESCO.

Rather elegant solution to how to do phone lines. I just keep thinking spiders.

Speaking of which... One has taken over my room. It was nice living here, but I guess I will take my leave now. I hear the park's nice to sleep in.

"I love penis"

-- Lisa, my housemate.

So it's all getting better. My firepoi have arrived, and I can't wait to try them out. But I saw armored police cars not long ago, and a 20-something guy walking by with a bottle of lighter fluid in the middle of a rough night might attract the wrong kind of attention, so I'll wait with getting that.

Today, I had a good day at work, nothing too stressful, and we went down to a café afterwards, a group of 5, mostly swedish people. Just nice relaxing, making jokes, discussing other coworkers. It was good. Today was supposed to be ju jutsu night, but last session, I landed wrong, and my shoulder's been sore since. Didn't want to tempt fate too much, so I'm having a calm week from now on. Otherwise I like ju jutsu - the teacher's always saying "you might recognize this from karate", things like that, it's not that different. Except more throws. Hip toss is so much fun!

We also have a new dog. Logan, a lab, just like Molly. Really nice and friendly, but way too forward, barking, playing, jumping around and licking anyone he feels like. Molly has some company now, and they're adorable together.

It is also nice to know my cooking is appreciated, Lisa wants me to make "that tasty salmon thing" again, which just limits it to most recipes I know... And Matt eats just about anything you put in front of him. So I feel like I'm right where I'm supposed to be right now, I've got a busy life and good people around me. I'll post some fire pictures later, I think. And the dog, of course. Now, sleep... Take care, everyone!

Pizza? Pizza.

Oh boy it's been a pretty good week. Started full of drama, due to the dog situation, but other than that, it's been all good. Monday, I'm going to start martial arts again, I think. Tuesday, going to join a group of people playing games every once in a while, thanks to a work friend, or alternatively spinning fire. We'll see.

Either way, I'm making the company I work for money now. I'm out on the floor, answering emails and answering calls. First call I got was over a bad phone, with a client with an accent and speech impediment. Could have been easier, as I was also SUPER NERVOUS, but at least I helped them in the end. Otherwise it's been pretty boring, VERY few swedish people have problems with their universal remotes.

I am rather proud of yesterday, though. A customer calls, angry and frustrated, having previously talked to someone who took about an hour and a half of his time, and did not fix their problem. Ten minutes later, xe's showering me in gratitude over fixing the problem. So I could get around to solving another problem that weren't fixable before since the first one was in the way. And another after that... Long story short, I had an hour of unexpected overtime that day. But now another client loves us. And I took care of it without having to ask anyone else. Hell yeah I'm awesome.

And Lisa, my housemate... Her sister just had a baby! :D She and Matt could possibly be dancing to Shania Twain right now. Not going to confirm. Matt can't dance.

I have been eating way too much pizza these days, though, need to start cooking on my own more. But I should be getting my bank card next week, so I can use my first paycheck. :D Aww yiss.

Now I'm going to party. See ya!

Interesting week.

Going to sleep monday night, calm day, nothing interesting happening. 3 hours later, I get back from a gay bar. Juuust as I was going to start getting ready to sleep, one slightly less than sober landlady knocked on my door. She and her friend Dean were going to party, since he was only going to be here for a while, and they dragged me with them. It was actually pretty cool, dancing, good music, no one had THAT much to drink, so for a night out, pretty calm.

I'm also getting used to the UK now - understanding the accent a bit, remembering they all drive on the wrong side here, setting up a bank account, national insurance number, and everything. Felt I'd moved in properly when I got into the bathroom, and someone had moved my toothbrush into the communal toothbrush cup. We share meals, walk the dogs, make jokes... It's good. Matt and Lisa are great people.

And yesterday, I had my final exam and mock call in our universal remote training, I'm all done with that part now. Only peripherals left, then I'm out on the floor, shooting troubles.

Today's been calm, gaming, making some food, until just now. Zeppelin, the massive Akita, was eating out of the trash, told him no, went in to grab whatever he was eating out of. Stupid move. He bit me, and now my right arm hurts like a son of a bitch. It'll be fine, but they're going to have to get rid of him for now, unfortunately. They're worried he'll do it again. Bit of a downer to the weekend. Hopefully I'll just end up with a cool scar and story, though.

I'mma go internet now, sleep tight and don't let the akitas bite!

"I was talking about MY CROTCH."

So I've moved in properly. I now find my way around the kitchen, here. The last few days have been good, my colleagues are nice, Matt and Lisa are great, and last night, I had my first Irish Pub experience. Matt took me out to meet one of his work friends, Paul, and his fiancée. They were both swell people, and they lived so that they could see the place the Titanic set off from, as well as the actual Game of Thrones studio. Cool getting to meet them, but even better once we took a cab down to the city centre.

We were going to a place another friend had told me about, the Limelight. Only it was payday, and monday is a bank holiday, and studies start next week, so there were people EVERYWHERE. We went to a less popular pub, and even then that was packed. Loud, both from the music, and the people there. It was good music, but too loud to talk comfortably, and too packed to dance. I even had the full Irish experience (apart from the booze and rioting); A guy with a black eye fell down just behind me, and was half carried out of the pub, followed by security. And trying to get a cab at 2 in the morning is almost impossible.

All in all, for me, it was a good night. Not as good as the Bar'am parties, but still, good times were had by all. Might get forcefully invited to Paul's band. And I found out that on tuesdays the Limelight has Circus night - juggling, fire dancing, acrobatics, it seems. I'll check THAT out in a few days. If I get good enough, I might actually get paid to fire poi. Getting paid for doing what I'd usually do (fix swedish people's electronics, spin my poi), good friends, and a nice city so far without any riots. Could N.I. get any better?

No, I have things to do, bye for now!

We don't go to Ravenhill.

Must resist urge to dance in public...

The training is going fine, it's all fairly simple once you come down to it. I don't have to understand the technology behind it, just how to fix it. The instructor keeps going on about how to make it as easy as possible. So far so good. I'm getting to know and like my colleagues more and more. While hating both the technology and its developers more and more.

On a better note, I've found an apartment. 3 floors, kitchen and dining room bottom floor, upstairs a bathroom larger than my bedroom, said bedroom, and a livingroom, and another floor up, the other people, Matt and Lisa, live. They also have the gaming room there. And fiberoptic internet. And 2 dogs, a lab named Molly, and an akita named Zeppelin. It all seems great, about 4 km from work, view towards the park just outside, quiet neighbourhood, and they're easygoing, fun people. I think it's all going to be just fine. :D

Pictures tomorrow. See ya!

Catch-22 with several layers

I work until 5.30, half an hour from the nearest phone store. So I can't buy a SIM card from the store. I know, I'll ask them to send me one in the mail! Only I need a permanent address AND a phone number to get that... I'll get that first then? Oh, I need to call the agent to apply for a residence, or maybe have access to a printer? Sure, I keep one in my suitcase. And I have the time to stop working to visit them. Fuck this, I'll just get an insurance number and a bank account in the meantime, will make the other things easie- oh, I need a permanent residence for that? I guess I'll live under a picnic table then.

At least the hotel room is nice. I now have free 128 kbps internet. And I can find my way without a map. Sort of. It's still not GOOD since I have a ton of things to sort out, but it's getting there, slowly, I think. In other news, I'm getting to know my colleagues right now, as well. They all seem really nice. I've gotten used to internationality, and having people from all over the world around me,

I think it'll be another month before I'm out on the floor, taking calls, but then I'll take y'all by storm.

Anything I missed, that you want to know about? 'Cause I've got nothing more to say right now. I need to figure out how to get back on track.

Take care, and The Game!

I've not fucked up yet.

I can find my way now, 20 minutes by foot or so, not too shabby. Still don't have anything yet. :D No phone, no bank, no house... But I'm getting education. So far it's been mainly what the company's all about, what to do to get a bonus, what not to do (don't kill anyone, or steal their money, or sexually harass them. DUH.).

At 8.30 this morning they picked us up in a taxi. Me, a french, an italian, a finnish, and a german guy. All newcomers doing tech support in our respective languages. Well at the premises, we met another french guy, and a portuguese girl. There were more as well, but they're doing customer support for some other company. So it's just us 7 right now. 3 getting educated in a new dohickey as well, though, tomorrow, so for the next 2 weeks, we're 10. They all seem really nice, and there's so far been few problem with languages. The computers we've used, though... A mess to log in. I'm glad I don't have to troubleshoot that!

The place I work at is nice - spacious, looks professional, good and cheap food in the dining area. We apparently have a room with an example of all the current products from Logitech (some of which you don't know about yet, but they're great as well, I can promise that! Things I had no idea were even planned.), and employees enjoy quite the benefits - a massive discount at Logitech's website. All in all, I'm going to enjoy it here, I think. Nice people to work with, XBOX tournaments on fridays, and what seems like a great city. If only I could understand what they were all saying... Need to get used to the accent.

£ 1.475 an hour

So I've landed. I went from Sweden to Denmark to Ireland to Northern Ireland. Even got on the bus that left 10 minutes after I walked out the entrance at Dublin Airport. I'm now in some unknown hotel, not too far from the central train station, paying the title to visit the internet for 2 hours. I'll have a taxi waiting for me in the morning to take me to my work place, fancy! Well there, I'll be getting a month's paid education in all the stuff I'll be tech supporting in - keyboards, headsets, whatever. It'll be fun. I have no money - sheklim and euro doesn't get you far here. I have no home - the hotel only covers the first week. I have no phone - it didn't even work in Sweden.

... I'm off to a good start here. On the plus side I- oh right, the closest aquaitance is in Edinburgh, I think. Or Manchester, or Leeds, not sure which is closest. A swim away, at least. Not much else to say, and no pictures to add. I'll be back with more updates later, just in case you're interested.

See y'all!