Chris' Journal
[Most Recent Entries]
[Calendar View]
[Friends]
Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in
Chris' LiveJournal:
[ << Previous 20 ]
| Friday, December 5th, 2003 | | 4:21 pm |
A professor stood before his Philosophy 101 class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, without a word, he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full? They agreed that it was. So the professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles, of course, rolled into the open spaces between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was. The professor picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He then asked once more if the jar was full. The students agreed with a unanimous -- yes! The professor then produced two cans of beer from under the table and proceeded to pour the entire contents in to the jar effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed. "Now," the professor said, as the laughter subsided, "I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life: The golf balls are the important things - your family, your partner, your health, your children, your friends,your favorite passions-things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full." The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house, your car. The sand is everything else -- the small stuff! "If you put the sand into the jar first," he continued, "there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for your life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you. Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your partner out dancing . Play another 18 holes. There will always be time to go to work, clean the house, give a dinner party and fix the disposal." "Take care of the golf balls first -- the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand." One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the beer represented. The professor smiled. "I'm glad you asked. It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of beers! | | 2:48 am |
Short depressing post.... Was just speaking to my former business partner back in NY. I was shocked to find out that one of my customers died in a really bad car accident recently. Link to an article about the accident: http://www.msnbc.com/local/ntwc/95002.asp?cpl=1#Truely one of the nicest people I have ever met, he will be missed. Current Mood:  shocked | | Monday, November 24th, 2003 | | 12:46 pm |
Been a while since I made a proper entry, so here is a quick one about my weekend. Friday - Met the LJ crew for ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) blujewel's birthday get together at il-forn in Birgu. Everyone else that was there has made a long post about it already, so I won't bother going into too much detail. Those who attended blujewel (obviously), her boyfriend Jer, wingflutter, marwiel, acer175, taur80, and szc001 who I bumped into as my girlfriend and I were leaving. There were some others, but I don't remember their names, though I am pretty sure they are not on LJ. Had a good time, and was glad I finally got to meet some of the people that I have been interacting with on here for the last 3 months. Would have liked to talk to acer175 a bit more, but he was too busy trying to get with the barmaid that has a boyfriend :). Also bumped into two friends (one of whom was acer175's little barmaid friend) from when I used to live in Malta before, so my time at il-forn was spent running back and forth between the LJ crew and the two old friends. After we left il-forn, my girlfriend and I headed off to get something to eat. After eating we drove by The Bar, but no one was there so we just went home. Saturday - I was supposed to spend the evening in because I really didn't feel much like going out. Plus my girlfriend has some kind of girls night out thing for a friend of hers that just got back from being abroad. Plans for that quickly changed, and I got a call saying we were going to Valletta to hang out with a bunch of people in some bar near Castillia (however it's spelled). It was alright, had a couple of drinks and saw a few people that I recognized. From there we ended up just coming back to my house and cooking some pasta because we were both hungry. Sunday - Sunday is our couples day out, so we met up with the two couples we always go out with on Sunday (two of my business partners and their girlfriends). First we went to Fontanella for some coffee and cake. We stayed there for a while confirming some final details for our trip to Gozo next weekend. Plus no one had any idea what to do after Fontanella, so we kind of dragged that out as long as possible. After coming to the conclusion that there really isn't much to do in the winter here, we decided to go play bingo in Bugibba. What a great idea that turned out to be. The very first game we played, my friend won. That made the bitter old people playing even more bitter :). Shortly after my friend won, I won. Now the bitter old women were giving us nasty looks, and saying not nice things under their breath. I can't decide whether they were doing this because we had won twice at the same table, or if it was because I kept cursing anyone that won besides me and passing rude comments or making a funny noise every time "six and nine, sixty nine" was called :). Over all it was a great weekend. Went out everyday, had fun and spent money, and still managed to come out ahead this weekend. After adding up everything I spent, it was less then what I won in bingo, so I actually made a profit having fun this weekend. Can't beat that :) Current Mood: good | | Saturday, November 15th, 2003 | | 6:11 pm |
| | Friday, November 14th, 2003 | | 5:24 pm |
| | Sunday, November 2nd, 2003 | | 11:07 pm |
Long time no update..... nothing much going on, just the usual routine. I think I have finally started to settle into my groove. Regarding my last post, turns out I had a cold. The kid in my icon gave it to me, but I am better now so all is forgiven. Besides, look at him, who could get angry at a kid that cute :) My girlfriend had a little accident with her car, so we have been using my car a lot more lately. I had forgotten how thristy my car can be when used frequently. I am going through Lm5 to Lm10 a day in petrol right now, thankfully her car should be all fixed this week. I think before I start thinking about another car that wastes a lot of petrol, maybe I should consider something more economical to run around with every day. Yeah so anyway, this was just a quick post to let anyone who reads this journal know that I am still alive and well. Current Mood: content | | Tuesday, October 21st, 2003 | | 4:03 am |
I seem to have gotten really lazy about making updates lately.... Life is good Business is draining, but all work tends to be, so no big deal New business venture looks promising although much research still needs to be done Things are going great with me and my girlfriend Can't make up my mind which car I want to get once business stuff gets settled Have no idea what I am doing awake at 4am I think I am coming down with a cold or something I am going to try and go to bed now Current Mood: awake | | Sunday, October 12th, 2003 | | 1:24 pm |
It's been a week since I last updated, man time flies when you are busy banging your head against the wall because work is pissing you the hell off. Pretty much spent the entire week working. I can't wait for this to be over, the UK is turning into such a headache. Thursday, we went to some party at a bar in Bay Street. Trays of vodka redbull shooters for Lm5, I was a happy camper. Friday, we went for chinese in the evening with another couple. Went to Oriental Gardens and as usual, the food was top notch. Saturday, some friends of my girlfriend had a party in a flat in Naxxar, so we went there for a while. From there we went to some other party at the NSTS aqua center. Met my cousin there, and he told me he and his girlfriend broke up the night before. They've been together for 3 years, but lately they seem to be breaking up every Friday, so I think I am going to wait a week or so before I start asking questions. Kinda give them a chance to get back together and save me the trouble of seeing what happened. Today, woke up and looked around my bedroom, that put me in a crappy mood because I realized I have really been slacking on the up keep of the house. So tomorrow I am going to give the place the once over. Everything is going to get cleaned. Plans for today are kind of open. I know at around 2:30 my friend and his girlfriend are going to pick me up and then we are going to pick up my girlfriend. Beyond that I don't have a clue as to what is going on today, and it appears no one else does either. I'm not really bothered by that though, as long as I am with my girlfriend and I don't have to think about work, then I am happy. Current Mood:  thirsty | | Sunday, October 5th, 2003 | | 11:32 pm |
Had a nice relaxing day today, didn't mention or think about work at all today. I was woken up at 8am this morning by my friend calling asking me if my girlfriend and I wanted to go out on the boat with him and his girlfriend. I got home at 5am, so I was really in no mood to even be awake, let alone go out on the boat. He continued to call every half hour until 10am trying to make arrangements for the day, so finally I just broke down and called my girlfriend to see what she wanted to do, that way he would get off my back and stop calling. Ended up going to lunch at Picolo Padre in Sliema, the watching a film. We saw The Italian Job, it was quite a good film. After the film we all came down to my place because my friend and his girlfriend said they wanted to cook us all dinner. By the time all the preparation had been done and the food was in the oven cooking, my friends girlfriend started getting tired and saying she had to wake up early for work. So they left without even getting to eat any of the food they had prepared, which was a real shame because the meal turned out really good. After dinner, girlfriend and I watched an episode 8 of 13 from this TV series I have on DVD. Once that was over, my girlfriend went home because she has to wake up early tomorrow. That's pretty much it, tomorrow I am back to working again. Hopefully this deal with the UK goes through this week. I really want to get this all settled so I can start making arrangements to go on holiday for Christmas. My girlfriend and I have been invited to go skiing in Switzerland, and we both want to go, but it all depends on when things get settled with work. Anyway, off to bed, I am tired and have to wake up pretty early myself tomorrow. Current Mood:  tired | | Wednesday, October 1st, 2003 | | 10:39 am |
Work work work work... That is all I have been doing these last couple of days. Hopefully all will be settled by the end of the weekend, and I can relax a little. At least once the contracts are signed this weekend, I will have a set date on when I will start to see cash flow again. Girlfriend has been over the house a lot this week keeping me company, such a sweetheart. Had to make a quick trip up to Gozo yesterday. Got a call from NY at 4pm saying my cousin, who I haven't seen in 15 years, was leaving for NY today, so he could take some equipment back to NY for my father. I was in Attard when I got this call. So from Attard, I had to drive back to B'Bugia to pick up the equipment, package it, and then drive to ferry all the way on the other side of the island. Got to Gozo, drove off the ferry, handed the package to my cousin, said hello, then turned around and got right back on the ferry. Once we (my girlfriend and I) arrived back in Malta, we went to a bar to meet some of her friends because one of them was having a little get together for her birthday. Stayed there till about 11:30pm, then came home. Upon arriving at home I had to call NY and negotiate a contract which needs to be drafted and signed by Friday so business can proceed this weekend. I hate time differences, during the day I have to deal with contacts in the UK during business hours, then at night I have to deal with contacts in the US during their business hours. Then after business hours in the New York, I have to deal with my father, who technically I kind of work for. Anyway, this post was a little break from work to help me clear my head a little bit. Now it is time to get back to work though. Current Mood: busyCurrent Music: Disturbed - Stupify | | Sunday, September 28th, 2003 | | 7:39 pm |
Managed to get another really good nights sleep. Didn't wake up till 11am and I think the only reason I woke up at that time was because the phone rang. Spent the better part of the morning just talking to my girlfriend on the phone. She was keeping me company while I was playing solitaire on the computer and I was doing the same for her while she was doing some school work. I seriously can't get enough of her. Met up with two of my friends from when I used to live here before. Had a few drinks and got something to eat. I was a little worried about meeting up with them when I first moved back over here because the 3 of us got into quite a bit of trouble back in the day, and I was worried about possibly falling into old routines. Thankfully they have changed quite a bit just like I have. After 2 minutes, we were talking normally like there had never been a 5 year gap since we had last seen each other. Basically, I am very pleased with the way things turned out. Now it's almost time for me to get ready to meet my girlfriend and go out. Beer festival again tonight. Current Mood: happyCurrent Music: Adema - Giving In | | Saturday, September 27th, 2003 | | 7:58 pm |
Quick update for those that follow my journal
Wednesday Thursday and Friday were all busy with lots of business related work. Friday afternoon, my business partner and I met my girlfriend for lunch. It was her last day of work, so she wanted to celebrate a little, I still had business to take care of, and everyone was hungry, so I figured might as well take care of everything at one shot. After Lunch we all came back to my flat. Girlfriend stayed in the living room watching a DVD while I was in the office with my business partner working. About 6pm took my girlfriend back to her car, then she went home to eat dinner and get ready to go out at night, and I did the same. Went to the beer festival at University, had a good time. Bumped into a good friend from days gone by, and stayed speaking to him for while. Now it seems like we are having a little reunion of the old crew on Sunday. I am really looking forward to that. This morning I slept late because I was tired. Woke up around 11am, and started right away with business stuff. Worked till about 6pm, then went to the airport and bought some car magazines. For those that may be interested, there is a new magazine called Road Rage that is printed in Malta and is all about cars in Malta. First issue looks pretty good, though I haven't had a chance to give it s proper read yet. Now I am going to go shower and get ready to go out. Beer festival at university again tonight. Current Mood: happy | | Tuesday, September 23rd, 2003 | | 4:14 am |
4am and I am sitting here awake.... Finished my previous entry saying I would try to go back to sleep, and I managed. Didn't wake up till 5pm, so I basically wasted a day, but it was a much needed rest. Business partner stopped by the house around 6pm and we took care of a few things. Within 5 minutes of him leaving, my girlfriend showed up. We prepared some dinner and enjoyed each others company as we always do. After dinner we just kinda lounged around in the living room watching a DVD. | | Monday, September 22nd, 2003 | | 10:41 am |
Friday - Went to Oriental Gardens with my girlfriend for dinner. Had a great time and the food was incredible as usual. Saturday - Went to Slima to do a little shopping with my girlfriend. Picked up a present for my cousin's baby (the one in my icon), because Saturday was his birthday. From Slima we wentto my cousin's house to drop off the present and eat a piece of birthday cake. Then we rushed to my girlfriends house in Attard so she could get ready to go out. From Attard to my house in B'Bugia so I could get ready. Then we met up with my friend and his girlfriend, and drove to Buggiba for dinner. I can't remember the name of the restaurant we ate at, but the food was really good. From Buggiba we went to the university party that was at the NSTS aqua center. Stayed there for a bit, but it was really crowded and not much fun, so my friend and his girlfriend left early and we left shortly after them. Sunday - Spent the morning ironing and folding laundry. Business partner dropped by and we sorted out a few details for the project in the UK. Then I started getting ready for my cousins wedding. Girlfriend arrived at my house around 5, and by 5:30 we were on our way to Marsaxlokk for the mass. Felt a little odd being in a church again, the last time I went to church was back in 1996, and I was forced to go because my aunt said "we need all the prayers we can get, so that the Nationalists win the election". Apparently someone wasn't too pleased to see me though, because the Nationalists lost the election. Anyway, back to the wedding. After the mass, we went to hall where the reception was held, it was somewhere near Rabat. Met a lot of family that I haven't seen in a long time, and had a really good time. Also drank quite a bit, as can be expected at any open bar event :) Monday morning - Woke up early for some odd reason, and couldn't fall back asleep even though I was still really tired. I have a major hangover, but besides that I am having what appears to be a very good day so far. Business partner called this morning with some good news, and then girlfriend called shortly after with even better news. And now here I am updating my journal, it has taken me almost an hour to write this entry because I am having a lot of trouble focusing my eyes. I think I am going to go give sleeping another try. Current Mood: tired | | Friday, September 19th, 2003 | | 1:23 am |
It's been a few days since my last update, and I am sitting her with nothing to do, so I figured why not. The little problem that made us leave Gozo in a hurry seems to have been sorted out. All this rain has been pissing me off because my car and rivers for roads don't mix well. Girlfriend was sick on Wednesday, so ended up spending the day at her house watching DVD's. Then in the evening she was feeling better so we went to my aunts house to meet my cousin who is getting married this coming Sunday. We had to drop off the presents, and I wanted my girlfriend to get a chance to meet some of my family before the wedding, that way she wouldn't feel too out of place. That all went over very nicely. From my aunts house we went down to my house to pass the time till it stopped raining. (note to Wingflutter: If you called I wouldn't have answered the phone) Thursday I cleaned and did laundry all day. Rearranged the furniture in my living room to make for more enjoyable TV viewing. Then my girlfriend came over after work, unfortunately at that time I had some business related stuff that needed attending to, so she decided she was going to take a nap while I worked. She left in the evening because she had a girls night out. I wasted my evening playing computer solitaire and listening to music. Then after girls night my girlfriend came back over to say goodnight. Now she just left again, and I am here typing this entry before I go to bed. Oh yeah, congrats to Wingflutter on cracking that nut. I am really happy to hear that the two of you are back together. I have always said you deserve to be happy, and it makes me happy to see that you are happy again :) Current Mood: satisfied | | Monday, September 15th, 2003 | | 9:30 am |
Had a great time in Gozo this past weekend. Left Malta Saturday around noon, visited some friends and family in Gozo upon arriving, then checked in to the hotel around 3pm. Stayed in the hotel room till around 9pm. Then we went out to find a place to eat dinner. Ended up at at that restaurant on the road to Xlendi. I think it was called Kanur or something like that. The food was incredible, but we were at a table outside, and the mosquitoes killed us. From there we went down to Xlendi to have a drink and wait for one of my girlfriends friends to meet up with us. After she showed up we went to Marsalforn and sat outside of Cafe Ritz talking and having a few drinks. We were there till about 2am, then we dropped my girlfriends friend off and went back to the hotel. We ended up waking up pretty early and checked out right away. Tried to take care of something in Gozo, but had no luck, so we returned to Malta pretty quickly. Got back to my flat around noon on Sunday. Then we went to meet a friend of mine who was going to help us with something. From there we went back to my flat with the intention of taking a nap. But another friend of mine called as soon as we laid down and said he would be over in 5 minutes. He and his girlfriend had gone for an ice cream near my flat, and they decided to get me and my girlfriend and ice cream and pop by the flat to say hello. We all ended up just lounging around watching a DVD. After the movie we all went out for pizza and a few drinks. Then my girlfriend and I return to the flat and pretty much relaxed for the rest of the evening watching another DVD, and then she went home because she was really tired and it was about to start raining. Spoke to Wingflutter on the phone for a bit and then again online. Then my girlfriend called to say goodnight. After that I just had a quick shower and went to bed myself. Current Music: Incubus - I Wish You Were Here | | Friday, September 12th, 2003 | | 9:03 am |
I was quite busy Wednsday, but I managed to get the flat clean, and all the laundry done with time to spare. Went to the airport to pick up my girlfriend in the afternoon, and then spent a few hours at her house talking to her mom while she unpacked and showered. Then we headed down to B'Bugia were we got some take away and relaxed at my place. Dropped her off at home around 1am. Yesterday morning she picked me up around 10am and we went to University so she could register for her classed. Then we went to Cara's for lunch. While at lunch my friend called from work complaining about how bored he was, so I told him we would stop by and say hello. Spent about an hour at my friends job, then we decided since we were in Paceville, we might as well go see a movie instead of waiting till the evening and then driving back to Paceville. Watched American Wedding, great movie, couldn't stop laughing. From the cinema we drove to the super market near my house to buy some stuff because we were going to cook dinner at my place instead of going out. We were both suprised at how well the food turned out considering we don't have much kitchen experience between the two of us. Basically had a great day together and an incredible evening in together. I knew I missed her while she was away, but now that she is back, it makes me realize just how much I really did miss her. For the first time in a long time, I can actually see a future to a relationship that i am in. Not being able to see past tomorrow is the norm for me, but with this girl I can see a lot further. Business had a little dip earlier this week, and I will be killing the Malta project today. But on the up side, the UK project is looking very good, and my business partner and I will most likely be going up to the UK a week from today to sort out some final details. So I get a little vacation, little being the operative word, leaving Friday evening, and returning Saturday evening. Current Mood: satisfiedCurrent Music: Foo Fighters - Times Like These | | Wednesday, September 10th, 2003 | | 1:04 am |
Woke up at 9am and sat here at home waiting for the guy to come and install the air conditioners. The guy didn't show up till 5pm, so from 9 to 5 I stayed playing solitaire, listening to music, and fixing my car. Car is all fixed, and rooms are nice and cool. I am one happy camper :) Girlfriend will be home at 4pm today, so chances are I won't be posting much these next couple of days. Cutting this post short because I just got an SMS from girlfriend asking me to call her. Current Mood: excitedCurrent Music: Incubus - I Miss You | | Monday, September 8th, 2003 | | 11:10 pm |
Managed to keep myself pretty busy today, which was a good thing because the day seemed to just fly by. Woke up at 9am and started working on business stuff. 9:15am business partner arrived, and then we really started putting an effort into work. Took a break around 1pm to go pick some papers up and grab some lunch. After lunch I was feeling kinda tired, so I took a nap till 4pm. Then woke up and continued working. Finished working for today around 8pm. Stopped by my grandmothers house to see if she wanted anything to eat because i was going out to get some dinner anyway. So I picked up some food for us and ended up eating at her house. I really need to cut back on the carbohydrates again. I was doing good for a long time, but since I have been back in Malta, I am finding it quite hard to avoid them. Then I went into the garage and started messing with the car a bit. Figured out what was wrong with it, turns out the battery has an internal short. So tomorrow I will buy a new battery and that should solve the problem. Managed to get it started even though the battery was shit. Ended up taking the car out for a drive to relax a bit. Yugoslavian people have got to be the stupidest people on the face of the earth. For the last 15 days, I have called there once a day. I have yet to find someone that knows how to transfer a call or can understand the word "room" and every number from 1 to 9. Thankfully my girlfriend will be leaving Yugoslavia tomorrow afternoon, so tonight should be the last time I will ever have to deal with anyone there. So tomorrow my girlfriend will be in Italy for a day, where I will get to talk to her for 100 minutes for my Lm5 instead of the 20 minutes I was getting for Yugoslavia. Then Wednesday she is back home with me :) Now I am just relaxing here listening to some music, and catching up on non-business related e-mails, and browsing some of the old car forums I used to hang out on regularly. Current Mood:  okayCurrent Music: Chantel Kreviazuk - In This Life | | 2:48 am |
Two days left... I can't wait. Technically I think it is 3 days till my girlfriend gets back, but I am not counting Wednesday because it is not a full day :) I have made it into the italk contest finals. Good thing I have been buying all these international calling cards lately. I need to go on their website and see what the prize for the contest is. With any luck it will be a new car, because the one I have now is really starting to piss me the hell off. I have decided that I will be having a diesel engine installed in my car. Going to speak to the guy that will be doing the install on Tuesday. I am fed up of having to worry about the reliability of the car every time I go to use it, and the whole Lm10 petrol every 2 days is starting to get to me also. So once the diesel engine goes in, I will have a nice looking car, that still moves alright because I am getting a 2 liter turbo diesel engine installed, will offer me reliability, and I can start turning on the air conditioning again because it isn't a pig with the petrol. Seems like a good deal to me. Then once cash flow resumes, I will buy a new car for the weekends... Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 5 :) Today was a pretty run of the mill day. Managed to make the better part of the day go by, by taking a 7 hour long nap in the afternoon. Then went and visited my grandmother for a bit. From there I met my friend and his girlfriend at a local bar, and had a few drinks and some pizza. Then we drove around for a while to kill time till my friend dropped off his girlfriend. And now I am home, waiting for an SMS from my girlfriend letting me know she is in her hotel room so I can make my daily phone call. Tomorrow I should be able to keep myself busy with business related work. Then Tuesday the air conditioners are going to get installed, so that should make the day go by quickly. Then Wednesday, I will clean the place up in the morning and go to the airport in the afternoon. That is pretty much my plan for the next few days. Current Mood:  anxiousCurrent Music: Matchbox Twenty - Unwell |
[ << Previous 20 ]
|
