pictures due

it has come to my attention that ...

that sounds kind-of pompous ...


so, what i was trying to say was this:
during the last two weeks i kept on promising to "put some more pictures when i'd have the time".


now, i have the time, so, here are the pictures:

one crazy brother throwing himself in the great beyond (or something)


and not exactly falling down:

---

and some pics from my last dive in malta:
sunken statue of the madonna


and a hole in stone (facing surface):


... octopus in it's natural environment:


a scorpion fish:


a sea anemone (or something like that):


and a happy fish:


... some coral on a metal bar...

---

here're some pics from the dingli cliffs in malta (i hope i spelled that right):



and chammomille flowers:


and here's an old cannon (resqued from the depths if i remember correctly):


probably there are more to come when i feel like it :)

be well!

finally i can explain

yesterday i got an email from my brother. aparently he's into paragliding.

so, there you go: it's not that i'm abnormal; it runs in the family :).

probably it's something with our genes ... who knows?

i'll probably post a picture of him sometimes later.


but that means i'm not the only ... weird one.

---

and, in another order of events, i've. just. been. PROMOTED!

it's an official letter (now residing in my desk) which sais:

Following recent discussions with the divisional management, I would like to inform you that we have reviewed your skills, [...] and I am delighted to inform you that you have been promoted to Senior Programming Subject Matter Expert

so, there you go!

i'm one step from asking you all to address me as mister utnapistim!


be well!

note to self

my last revelation came to me while i was taking out the garbage:

when you move towards something, first, go within. once you're clear enough that you do not actually need it, you are free to take it: it will not enslave you.

that is the way to true freedom.

and a small sidenote: i don't expect anyone to understand this: it's in my own language; so feel free to not "get it", feel free to consider it stupid or just disagree with it:

i've written it for myself.

do you think i'm weird?

this must have been the question of the week!

i talked about it with L tonight; and with N a few days ago ...

i mean ... why don't we just get it: yes! you're weird! so am i; so is your neighbour and my cat (actually she's a bit weirder, but that's something different); and so is the church tower in your town; and the music i'm listening to! and so is your house;

i mean ... i have a few hundred coleagues, all weird, and live in a weird town;

let's face it:
you're living in a weird room, in a weird appartment, weird neighbourhood, town, and country! and on a weird planet!

so get used to it! so, you're different? so's everybody else! ( so infact, no ... you're not. you're just as weird as the next guy; sory to dissapoint you :) )

---

also ... a powerfull question i found a few days ago:

what would you do if you weren't affraid?

now ... my answer to this is too personal to post ... you'd see me as weird if i told you ;)

anyhoo!
yeah, i know that's not an actual word! so, shut up about it!


today i went to the company picnic. and it was ... cool? ok? voleyballish? hot? well ... all of that :)

and then some!

but ofcourse the food was still ... what one expects from one's company!
i mean we had sandwitches ... and apples (actually those were really good).

but the beer was good :) and the water! that water was ... damn! (don't mind me, i'm kinda thirsty right now :D)


anyway ... i didn't want to say much ... just that we had a nice picnic, i had a short week, and i haven't posted since wednesday (bad utnapistim! bad!)
(and i wanted to say you are all weird, reading a weird page on a weird internet!)

so i guess here's where the post ends. i'll post some pictures later if i don't feel too lazy.


sayonara!

my almost daily update

this is my second day of work.

and i started reading fanfiction again (not in the office, ofcourse).

so ...


i'm in the office, setting up my work environment; and feeling tired ( because i read fanfiction 'till 4 AM last night :( ).

but it's cool.

i decided (yesterday) to get some books from amazon.com (i hope - by the next salary, since i still have some money to pay for my holiday among other things), i almost finished unpacking, and i took my bike to repair-shop.

life goes on.



and hey, i realized something: some months i feel like i have no money, and then something appears and i have to "produce" an extra 500 USD (for example).

and i do it. usually without breaking a sweat. so the idea that i have no money ... is just an idea.

that's been stopping me from completing my scuba gear. (and that will have to change).



so not only does life go on, but it's getting better! all the time! :D


cheers!
(i have to get back to work)

:: w i s d o m f l a s h ::

this is a form of art;

or inspired;

maybe it's both. you decide!

pictures, pictures pictures! more pictures

so, i slept till about ... 10:30 :D

and then i unpacked.



then, i decided i wanted to post some more pictures from my trip to malta (the ones that didn't make it - so to speak)

here we go (these are from the wreck of the Um El Faroud):

me on the deck:


and my buddies on that dive:


and one of it's corridores:


and a good perspective:


and another perspective:


and the corridore on the other side:



that's all folkes! :)

i'm home

i'm home, at last; which means i'm sleeping; right now; as i'm writing this ...


actually, no!


on the airport i was practically sleeping on my feet; now, i'm not; i don't feel even sleepy yet;

and i have a strong feeling of ... evening (i expected F&L to be awake when i arrived, and was surprized when B said

sssshhh! they are sleeping

(i mean ... this early?!? then i realized it was three o'clock in the morning :) )


so, i'm blogging :); tomorrow i'll post some more pictures from malta. (the wonders of home internet connections! :) )


so, goodnight!

and if you're not sleeping, have fun!

(actually, have fun if you're sleeping also!)

until we meet again

it's saturday ... so, it's been almost two weeks.


during these, i've done lots of dives; and a lot of reading of my favorite book; and sightseing, and blogging, and took lots of pictures, and experienced cooking through a steamer ... and octupus boiled in wine :) ...


i also met a lot of good and great divers (and saw some interesting dive-gear setups) ...

and i met an old friend, and made some new ones ...

i also met a kalamari, two octupuses, lots of fish, and two jelly-fish (but that's another story).

and hey, i made a flying gunat fly for the first time. now that was cool!



all-in-all, it truly felt like a holiday; i felt at times like a traveler; and like an adventurer (at other times); and saw new things;

it was a welcome change.



there were a few mistakes (lesser choices) on my part, but looking back on those they only seem to complete the picture.



i know tomorrow i'm due to leave; i also know i might not come to malta ever again; and on one hand i can't wait to get home; there's my room (which i left in a right mess), and my bike (which still has a flat tire needing to be fixed), and diving clear cyprus waters;


and then, there are my friends :)



i'm kind of sad to be leaving ... but still i see it as the ... normal ending of my holiday. so, althow sad (somehow), i look forward to it :)

---

so ...
today, i still have to do some shopping, i have to get to the net (maybe i'll post this up), i have to get to oxygene and say goodbye, and ... we'll see what comes.

the blue hole

on the way back from the blue hole i kept searching my mind for superlatives; for powerfull words; for exagerations;

then i decided i was being ridiculous: instead of filling my weblog with superlatives, i'll just write what i remember, and add some of the pictures i took; that way you can decide it was great for yourselves ;)


so, we started at 7:30; Niklas picked me up;

i had awoken at four at night with a stomach-ache and had to do some reiki on myself (among other things) to get it under control; then i woke up again at five, then at six and ... something ... so i was a bit sleepy when i got out of the house to meet him.



after we got to the dive shop, we got our gear together ("does anyone need more weights?" "when i call your name, please tell me what gear you still need" and all that ... i was still sleepy), then we got in the cars, and we started on the road;


the ferry trip to gozo was cool (despite waiting in a long line of cars);




apparently, there's no way to go from there, which means that once you get there by ferry, you come back by ferry: you only pay the tickets on your way back; (it's a strange, strange world!)


here's a picture of gozo's wasteland, on the way there:



we arrived at about 10 and something and started putting our gear together; that was a while also (and i discovered that i can barely lift my BCD w/ tank and 12 kg of lead attached to it)



then, we got to the blue hole; there were about 5 dive-shop cars around, and about five other ones when we got out; the site was packed with divers;


there are two natural stone bridges there: one, ten meters above the water;

(it's called the blue window)

the other one, at sea level and we passed under it;



and we saw two big barracudas (i think that's what they're called); they were almost a meter long;




we also saw the entrance to a small cave (which unfortunately i didn't get to go into, because of my low - at the time - air supply :( )

here's two of the guys in the cave (no additional lighting :( ):



and here are some additional photos from the first dive:


right under the blue window


divers going up



the blue hole from a side (and down :D)


looking up from inside the blue hole


almost surfaced


at the surface



during the surface interval i had some sausages and chips, a few drinks (no alcohol since i'm not suicidal), and something sweet. that was not interesting (so, no pictures! :) )



then, we started on the second dive, to the inland sea;




basically, the water entry was through the tunnel; then, we went around the shore, to come out through the blue hole again;


my diving buddy (ok? ok!)

the inside of the cave makes for one of the most interesting sights i've ever seen:




after that point, the dive was ... a normal one (but no less spectacular).

on the unpleasant side, i got stung by a jelly-fish, again, in the same spot as yesterday, just much worse; at this point it looks like a hot-burn, and does not bother me at all :)

the place was full of them!

also on the unpleasant side, it's definitely not a site for a 3mm short wet-suit; as you go through the thermocline you start wishing you were in a warm bed, drinking a hot tea, under the warm sun, or in front of the fire (you get the picture :))
after surfacing for both dives, i was a few minutes short of hypothermia ... i think :(


on the interesting side, this was the first time i noticed getting narked; at some point (around 21m during the second dive), i started feeling ... funny (i felt like laughing, and was a bit unclear as to what i want to do: kept checking my gage, clearing my mask, taking a picture, checking my gage ... looking around, taking a picture but not quite continuously - i wasn't that narked!

but i have a few pictures which i cannot explain (why i found so interesting)


so, the dive (more or less) technical data:
the blue hole:
max depth: 27.5
bottom time: 45
safety stop: 3 minutes at 5 meters
water temperature: 19 Celsius
visibility: 14m (give or take a few)

inland sea:
max depth: 26
bottom time: 45
safety stop: 3 minutes at 6 meters
water temperature: 19 Celsius
visibility: 14m

500 hits

hey, my weblog went over 500 hits on blogpatroll.com.

i would like to use this opportunity to thank:
the voices (they didn't tell me to kill anyone lately)
the coffee machine back at my office (i couldn't have done it without you)
the woman with a beard
santa clause ( i don't need your gifta anyway! :P )
internet caffees in malta and all over the world (did i mention i'm going to see all the world? well ... i will! really!)

i still have a few words to say:
i'm touched (thanks guys!)
i'm the best!
i'm popular!
i'm smart!
i'm good!
i'm GOOD!
... and in need of therapy! if anyone knows of a good therapist, please contact me;

and if he's a nice person, then don't: i wouldn't want him to know a person like me (that would be cruel to him)

saturday post

man! i feel like a compulsive, obsessed blogger!

(wait! i am an obsessed, compulsive blogger!)


so here's what i wanted to say:

this morning we went to buskette forest, then to the dingli cliffs).

the forest thing was built by knights (man! this is getting repetitive!) as a hunting ground; nowadays, it's more like a park;






the cliffs, are more spectacular:




since i have nothing intelligent to say anymore, i'll just stop here (i know i usually don't have something intelligent to say, but if you don't like it, just go someplace else; nobody is forcing you to read this :) )

friends in malta ...

so, by (more or less) popular demand, here are my friends in malta:

D:



and becky: