Quote

If you are going through hell, keep going!
Probably Winston Churchill

Toilets!

Most of the time the main problems of living abroad are not the big things like paperwork, visas, renting a flat, liking the food, … but the small little details of your day to day life.
Little things like for example walking on the wrong side of the pavement (people tend to walk the same way they drive). It seems that Jenny has problems opening doors (I admit I do too!). Or getting terribly confused when you meet new people: is it handshake? one kiss? two kisses? … three kisses? … two kisses, a hug and we exchange presents? … HELP!! These are the little things that make you look like an idiot and completely out of place.

My worst nightmare though are the toilets! And I am not talking that they might be dirty or have weird hoses attached for who knows what purposes! I am talking going to a bar or restaurant and being presented with two doors and being like … "oooooook … which is the right one?"

Thanks God for standardisation nowadays in most places you have some variation of the man-woman outlined figure. Good and simple even if you are in a hurry after a few beers you can easily guess properly in no time.
Sometimes there is a bit of a variation, specially if the bar/restaurant has some weird decoration and they decide to alter the standard sign for a man-woman that go with it. In this sense I have seen more detailed drawing with vintage clothes, astronauts, completely naked and quite explicit, … a picture of a chimpanzee and a chimpanzee with a pink dress, … It can take you a bit of extra time but in a second you are able to choose the right door.

Then you have the places where there is no way to guess. For example, in a bar I used to go they had the image of a little angel and another of a virgin … so, everybody was peeing outside! :-D Jokes aside a lot of people had to ask the waiters which was which and if you are in a hurry that is not good!

But the real problems, for me, are the ones where you just have a single freaking letter! Specially if they went for some designer font: "is this an M or a W?" In that case my advice is to wait until you see someone that looks like a local going to the toilet and following him/her! If you cannot wait here I'll list some of the combinations I have seen in my life in case it can be of any help:

• M (men) / W (women)


• M (male) / F (female)


• B (boys) / G (girls)


• B (blokes) / L (ladies)



• H (hombres) / M (mujeres)


• C (caballeros) / S (señoras)



• H (homes) / D (dones)



• C (cavalheiros) / D (damas)


• H (homens) / M (mulheres)

So, men: if you are in a Spanish or Portuguese speaking county don't go for the "M" door or you'll be in trouble!! :-D

Manowar's King

I like a lot of different types of music, from chill out to symphonic metal passing trough salsa and all sorts of weird stuff. And, even though I don't like that much "heavy metal", my favourite band of all time is Manowar: the KINGS OF METAL!

I am not entirely sure which is my favourite song, because I love quite a few ... and with every new album they get better and better :-) But there is one that I always like to hear because it inspires me, gives me energy and, in my opinion, has the best "one-liner" ever:
"For Those Who Never Try They Are Sure To Fail" ... think about it ... think about it :-)

Unfortunately the official video is a kind of live recording in a dodgy studio with some ever dodgier girls around ... and the fake smoke, what is that for?!?
So I like the album version better as voice and instruments have better quality ... and there are no dodgy girls, but, who am I to judge the taste in girls from the KINGS OF METAL:
video clip on youtube


King

Now Is The Time To Reach For The Sky
Gather The Wind Hear The Voice To Fly
To Know Why They Sing About Heroes And Kings
Who Were Brave And Not Afraid To Die
Look And You'll See That A New Day Will Bring
The Will To Go On And Fight Trough Endless Suffering
For All Who Believe Wait A Crown A Ring

The Power Of The Man Who Would Be King
The Power Of The Man Who Would Be King

Into The Fight Of Hopes And Dreams
The Master Of The Wind Knows Nothing's What It Seems
The Melting Of The Soul The Wish Of Those Who Scheme
The Taking Of The Will By Destroyers Of The Dream
They Live To Spread The Fear Of The Wrong Of Right Of Self
They Want Us All To Live Like Books Upon A Shelf
But We Know We Have The Power To Fight And Make A Stand
Strike When We Are Challenged All Across The Land To Be King

Fight For The Crown, Fight For The Ring
We're Fighting The World, We Fight For The King

Time To Face The World Let Brothers Never Fight
Forever Forge Ahead And Keep The Dream In Sight
For Those Who Never Try They Are Sure To Fail
The Heart's A Righteous Wind That Comes To Fill The Sail
For The Glory Of The King We Fight To Stay Alive
By The Power Of The Will, The Spirit To Survive To Be King

Fight For The Crown, Fight For The Ring
We're Fighting The World, We Fight For The King

All Of The Dreams Held Deep Inside Have A Meaning To The Soul
Freedom To Bring A Thought To The Wing Is Waiting To Unfold
For The Crown And The Ring
The Power Of The Men Who Would Be King

Fight For The Crown, Fight For The Ring
We're Fighting The World, We Fight For The King

For The Glory Of The King We Fight To Stay Alive - FIGHT -
By The Power Of The Will The Spirit To Survive - FIGHT -
Across The Gates Of Heaven Beyond The Gates Of Hell - FIGHT -
We Fought To Stay Together
We Have Won And Have Lived To Tell Who Would Be King

Fight For The Crown, Fight For The Ring
We're Fighting The World, We Fight For The King

UK vs Brazil: Dogs

One of the things I have noticed after living in the UK for some years and Brazil for a few months is that there is a clear difference in the breed of dogs people tend to own. In the UK there is an abundance of "lean, mean, killing machine" type of dogs whilst in contrast here in Brazil they tend to go for the "small, fun, cute" type.


They say that dogs tell a lot about their owners ... and I believe it is true!

Quote

24 hours in a day, 24 beers in a case. Coincidence?
Steven Wright

Did you know Steven Seagal ...

… was the martial arts coordinator in the "Never say never again" James Bond film and broke Sean Connery’s wrist while showing him how to perform a martial arts move?

James Bond is a sissy!

What am I up to?

Good question! I started thinking about the different choices available and there was only one option: to start drinking beer professionally or to get depressed … two options: to start drinking beer professionally , to get depressed or to buy a weapon and then going into a killing spree … three options: to start drinking beer professionally, to get depressed, to buy a weapon and then going into a killing spree or to put all my energies into starting my own little thing developing web based games and stuff … five options … anyway! I went for this last option … even though I was pretty tempted by some of the other ones … choices, choices … :-P

And I have started already: you can see that I am a bit more active with the blog and I also started a web site thingy in www.framiq.com with a bit of a software development experiences blog but that I am also going to use as the place where the games themselves are going to go. Finally let me give you a quick glimpse of what the first game thingy is going to look like:


It is going to be a space exploration themed game, as you can see. This is a pre-alpha screen shoot with temporary graphics and I still haven't optimize it for mobile browsers. So the appearance is likely to change a bit/lot. Also, it is still going to take a couple of months (finger in the air) before I have a version I am happy with … this is just a "prototype" and if one thing I have learned all these years in software development is to never ever rush the deliveries and to never ever send software not properly tested out of the door!

So, be patient … I am! :-)

What happened during this five months?

Quite a few things … and nothing!

As you know I sold every single thing I had in the UK, put the rest of my belongings on a single suitcase and moved to Brazil for this nice job with high hopes and expectation. Well … it didn't really work that well … I found myself in the middle of a mix of economic crisis, company without clear goals, desperation, people with secret agendas and people giving up. So, the high hopes broke and the expectation turned into disbelieve … and I though: "Ups!" :-)
Thanks God (not literally though) mentally I am stronger than Yoda so I put myself together and waited patiently until it was the right time to leave. And that is what I have been up to this time: waiting, doing my numbers, looking at the options … unfortunately I wasn't really on the mood to update the blog that much! :-D

So, recommendation number one: don't ever sell all your things and move to a different continent!
Recommendation number two: think before you act, even if it means delaying the acting and having to put up with thinks you don't like for a while. :-(
Recommendation number three: don't spend a single second more than necessary not being happy! :-)

I am back!

I know I haven't written anything for five months, sorry! As some of you know and the others can imagine they haven't really been the best five months of my life … but I am back!

First thing is that I am going to change a bit the focus of this blog thingy and make it a bit more general, so, not only about Porto Alegre but about my life in general. Yes, quite a lot of people have told me already I should write a book about my life … well: I work/worked with computers so I'll write a blog instead :-P

You know me, you know my style, … it's going to be worth following! :-D

Things you don't learn by just going a week on holidays

Did you know that the Brazilian bus drivers wait for you if they see you running to catch their buses? And, believe it or not, these 10 extra seconds don't add any delay to the overall bus timetable. The only thing they add is a big smile in people's faces and contribute to a better mood when going to work.

So, could you, freaking London bus drivers, take good note of that! Thank you ...