A long (good) Friday!

I've been running like a headless chicken around Athens today - I took a day off work - and still haven't finished all the jobs I had.

The most important part of the day was my job interview, and what an experience it was!

Knowing the traffic in and around the town, I decided to leave home two hours ahead of the meeting. What a wise decision that proved to be!!

To kick things off, there was a car crash on the road and four lanes of traffic converged into two. Resulting tailback, about thirty minutes. No worries! Still had time to get there with a few minutes to spare. Right? Well, that would have been the case if the guy's assistant had given me the right directions!

I asked virtually everybody owning a corner shop for about five kilometers, I sweated, I smoked, I got stressed and frustrated, I phoned her (without any reply!), but managed to get there with five minutes to spare.

Removed my red cape and blue uniform, changed into my newly bought suit, and went ahead with the interview.

One hour and forty five minutes it lasted. I covered every detail of my life and career to date. It never ceases to amaze me how obscure details about the past come into my mind in situations like these. Overall, I think it went well. We'll wait and see!


Fifty minutes later I was back at home, sweating like a pig (it's 36 degrees outside and about fifty in my house), jumped into the shower and off to the gym! (I know the sequence is not the logical one, but what the heck!).


Now I'm back home, having showered for the third time today, AC on, and posting, before I go out to dinner with my uncle's wife who's visiting from Taiwan.


I desperately need a drink!

Taming the monster

Requiring to lose about ten pounds, Epi, has been going to the gym more frequently these days.
No, he does not dress for gym in the ancient Greek tradition!
This Saturday morning was no exception. Woke up, shorts and T-shirt on, trainers on, a glass of cold water, and off he went. He looked really cool walking to the gym, ipod shuffle blasting loud music in his ears, and towel carelessly thrown over the shoulder.
Cool indeed! Until he got in front of the treadmill once again. He really hates that damned machine, but he's always ready to confront it. This day he was ready to win! He felt the energy flowing through his body. He was in the zone!
Purposefully, he got on, set the parameters pumped the volume up on his ipod and pressed the start button for a 25minute run.
Thirty seconds into the warm up walk, he started having second thoughts. "Is this really a good idea? Shouldn't I be lazing under the sun on some beach? After all, what is the purpose of it? I won't actually get anywhere on this!"
As if the machine was reading his thoughts, it started speeding up. Faster and faster it went, until there was no time for poor Epi to even think! He was only trying to keep up with the enemy and find the time to inhale the much needed next breath. (He should have quit smoking a long time ago!).
He threw the towel over the display of the machine, trying to avoid seeing that what seemed to him like hours of running was nothing more than a few seconds. But he had more opponents to confront! All the bloody monitors in front of him were airing morning news programs and had the time displayed in the bottom corner.
Huffing and puffing, gasping for air, he closed his eyes in an attempt to ignore time. Sweat was pouring from his body, soaking his clothes. He felt like he was going to meet with his maker.
But when he felt that he was going to lose this battle, on the machine in front of him he found hope.
Yes! A Greek goddess had decided to challenge the beast in front of him, and she had arrived just in the nick of time. There was no need to stare at the timer any more, no need to stare at the monitors. He could focus his attention elsewhere! He was going to pretend that he was running after her. (You know. Like dogs run after cars without actually catching up with them).
Yes! There was a point to this struggle now. Suddenly the fight seemed easier. The changes in the speed and the incline of the machine meant nothing at all. It was a piece of cake.
Then, without even noticing, the time the buzzer went and the indication on the machine display read "Cool down period".
The battle had been won. The enemy had given up the challenge and gone back to sleep, gathering energy and laying down its plan for the next bout.
Epi, the fair winner that he is, thanked the machine for the challenge and gave it the opportunity to fight back for its dignity tomorrow morning.