Well...it seems this blog has arrived to its end. The final exams are near and this means the uni-year is about to finish too. For the people who read this blog, I hope you enjoyed it and didn't get too bored.
And for the great people I have found at University, I want to tell you that you're all very nice and I want to keep in touch with you all during the summer too! Well, except for Álvaro, because it's sure we'll see each other in our trip to Scotland! Behave well...and study lots. We can do it, I'm sure, but don't be lazy.
Regards,
Cristòfol
Saturday, 15 May 2010
Scotland is waiting for us
If you remember, some months ago I wrote an entry called “Summer adventure?”. Well, now this is finally planned! After looking at flights, hotels, prices, comparing it all and considering my economy, I decided to go to Scotland only. England and Italy will have to wait for the moment.
Anyway, I'm really looking forward to it, because I won't only go to Glasgow, but I'll also visit other places where I haven't been to yet.
First of all, I couldn't go by myself, alone...Well, I could if I was only going to Glasgow because I know people there, but if I wanted to go visit other places as well, I didn't think it was a good idea to go alone. So I told my friend Álvaro about making this trip and he found it interesting.
Then, we started planning it all. Since I had already left the idea of going to Italy first -and or England-, we only focused on Scotland. Obviously Glasgow was a must because I wanted to see my friend, and although the city isn't anything special, I like it. But since I have already seen the most important places there and I thought spending the full holiday in Glasgow would be a bit...well, not boring, but perhaps rudimentary, I told Álvaro we should go somewhere else.
The first time I went to Glasgow, I visited Edinburgh but only for a day and I couldn't see much of it, but from what I could see, it looked a beautiful city, so I thought this would be a good option. And also, I was interested in the well-known Loch Ness, not only because of the monster story, but because I think it's one of the most important tourist points in Scotland. I already wanted to visit it in my first trip to Scotland, but it's not too near from Glasgow -3 hours and a half by train and more or less the same by road-, and so I decided to leave it for another time. But now it was a good time to visit these places with more calm...
And after having studied several options, looking for the cheapest ones, looking for cheap bed and breakfasts but near the city centre in Edinburgh, good train and/or bus connections to Inverness (the closest big town to Loch Ness), and also bed and breakfasts there...after lots of e-mails sent, lots of replies read, and lots of silly and fun comments made, we had our travel planning done! And here you have it...
First, we'll go to Edinburgh, so we'll take a plane from Alacant to Edinburgh on a Monday, the 16th August. Since the flight's departure time is at 11:15, and even catching the earliest train from Vila-real I wouldn't arrive there on time, the day before I'll go to Ontinyent, the town where Álvaro lives and which is much closer to Alacant than Vila-real, I'll spend the night there and his parents will bring us to the Alacant airport. We'll arrive in Edinburgh at 13:30-Scottish time! It's one hour less there. And so, we'll stay two nights in Edinburgh. We found a nice place near the city centre, near the main tourist attractions like the Castle, Princess Gardens, etc. It wasn't a small bed and breakfast but a quite big hotel, but the price was much cheaper than most of the bed and breakfasts we found. In addition, it includes a full cooked breakfast...you know, eggs, beans, bacon, etc. I don't know how tasty will it be, but at least it sounds good. In Edinburgh I'd like to visit the Castle, some museums, perhaps the zoo...and well, we'll see what else. We'll have Monday afternoon and evening, the whole day in Tuesday, and Wednesday morning to visit all these places. Then, on Wednesday afternoon, we'll take a train or a bus -most probably a bus...I looked for both's tickets prices and bus were extremely cheap!- to Inverness. I suppose we'll arrive there at dinner time more or less -it's a three hours journey-, so that day we won't be able to do much except have a walk around this town. We'll sleep in a cute and cheap bed and breakfast I found, run by a family, so it will be quite different from the hotel in Edinburgh. The following day, we'll take a bus to Loch Ness. Maybe we'll take an organised trip, because I found a company that organises them, including the transport to Loch Ness, the tour in the Loch with a boat, and a guided visit to some ruins near it at a good value. After that, we'll take a bus back to Inverness, we'll take our luggage and will take a bus to Glasgow. We'll arrive there at night.
Finally, we'll stay there six nights, if I'm not wrong. My friend Eddie and his extremely nice and welcoming family said I could stay at their's again, even If I'm coming with a friend who they don't know at all. Well, it will be at my friend's grandfather's, since there wouldn't be place enough for two guests at my friend's house. That's even nicer. But I hope Eddie's grandfather won't make me drink whiskey this time!! I don't know what we'll do in Glasgow yet. I suppose we'll visit some museums -transport museum, please!-, the city centre, and maybe the Science Centre -according to what I've seen, it's more or less similar to “La Ciutat de les Arts I les Ciències” in Valencia. Maybe we'll also go to Stirling Castle some day for Álvaro to see it -I have already gone, but it's no problem to come back-, as it's not too far away from Glasgow. And obviously, I want to go to a Celtic match! I also went to one in my first time in Scotland, but it was away...I hope it's at Celtic Park this time!
Ah, I forgot...you'll laugh at this, but I want to eat Indian food! In Glasgow there are lots of Hindu people, and lots of them have restaurants or take-away places. Their food is spicy and usually has many sauces but I found it very tasty...Unfortunately here we haven't got any hindu people, so I can only eat this food when I go to Scotland!
Finally, on Wednesday 25th August, we'll take a plane back to Alacant from Glasgow Prestwick airport. I can't wait for this travel! I think -and hope- I'll have a very good time.
But please, the only thing I ask for is Mr. Eyjafjallajökul -yes, the Icelandic volcano- to shut up and go to sleep. I don't want the cloud to be there this summer, or I won't be able to fly!! So please...no more eruptions!
Anyway, I'm really looking forward to it, because I won't only go to Glasgow, but I'll also visit other places where I haven't been to yet.
First of all, I couldn't go by myself, alone...Well, I could if I was only going to Glasgow because I know people there, but if I wanted to go visit other places as well, I didn't think it was a good idea to go alone. So I told my friend Álvaro about making this trip and he found it interesting.
Then, we started planning it all. Since I had already left the idea of going to Italy first -and or England-, we only focused on Scotland. Obviously Glasgow was a must because I wanted to see my friend, and although the city isn't anything special, I like it. But since I have already seen the most important places there and I thought spending the full holiday in Glasgow would be a bit...well, not boring, but perhaps rudimentary, I told Álvaro we should go somewhere else.
The first time I went to Glasgow, I visited Edinburgh but only for a day and I couldn't see much of it, but from what I could see, it looked a beautiful city, so I thought this would be a good option. And also, I was interested in the well-known Loch Ness, not only because of the monster story, but because I think it's one of the most important tourist points in Scotland. I already wanted to visit it in my first trip to Scotland, but it's not too near from Glasgow -3 hours and a half by train and more or less the same by road-, and so I decided to leave it for another time. But now it was a good time to visit these places with more calm...
And after having studied several options, looking for the cheapest ones, looking for cheap bed and breakfasts but near the city centre in Edinburgh, good train and/or bus connections to Inverness (the closest big town to Loch Ness), and also bed and breakfasts there...after lots of e-mails sent, lots of replies read, and lots of silly and fun comments made, we had our travel planning done! And here you have it...
First, we'll go to Edinburgh, so we'll take a plane from Alacant to Edinburgh on a Monday, the 16th August. Since the flight's departure time is at 11:15, and even catching the earliest train from Vila-real I wouldn't arrive there on time, the day before I'll go to Ontinyent, the town where Álvaro lives and which is much closer to Alacant than Vila-real, I'll spend the night there and his parents will bring us to the Alacant airport. We'll arrive in Edinburgh at 13:30-Scottish time! It's one hour less there. And so, we'll stay two nights in Edinburgh. We found a nice place near the city centre, near the main tourist attractions like the Castle, Princess Gardens, etc. It wasn't a small bed and breakfast but a quite big hotel, but the price was much cheaper than most of the bed and breakfasts we found. In addition, it includes a full cooked breakfast...you know, eggs, beans, bacon, etc. I don't know how tasty will it be, but at least it sounds good. In Edinburgh I'd like to visit the Castle, some museums, perhaps the zoo...and well, we'll see what else. We'll have Monday afternoon and evening, the whole day in Tuesday, and Wednesday morning to visit all these places. Then, on Wednesday afternoon, we'll take a train or a bus -most probably a bus...I looked for both's tickets prices and bus were extremely cheap!- to Inverness. I suppose we'll arrive there at dinner time more or less -it's a three hours journey-, so that day we won't be able to do much except have a walk around this town. We'll sleep in a cute and cheap bed and breakfast I found, run by a family, so it will be quite different from the hotel in Edinburgh. The following day, we'll take a bus to Loch Ness. Maybe we'll take an organised trip, because I found a company that organises them, including the transport to Loch Ness, the tour in the Loch with a boat, and a guided visit to some ruins near it at a good value. After that, we'll take a bus back to Inverness, we'll take our luggage and will take a bus to Glasgow. We'll arrive there at night.
Finally, we'll stay there six nights, if I'm not wrong. My friend Eddie and his extremely nice and welcoming family said I could stay at their's again, even If I'm coming with a friend who they don't know at all. Well, it will be at my friend's grandfather's, since there wouldn't be place enough for two guests at my friend's house. That's even nicer. But I hope Eddie's grandfather won't make me drink whiskey this time!! I don't know what we'll do in Glasgow yet. I suppose we'll visit some museums -transport museum, please!-, the city centre, and maybe the Science Centre -according to what I've seen, it's more or less similar to “La Ciutat de les Arts I les Ciències” in Valencia. Maybe we'll also go to Stirling Castle some day for Álvaro to see it -I have already gone, but it's no problem to come back-, as it's not too far away from Glasgow. And obviously, I want to go to a Celtic match! I also went to one in my first time in Scotland, but it was away...I hope it's at Celtic Park this time!
Ah, I forgot...you'll laugh at this, but I want to eat Indian food! In Glasgow there are lots of Hindu people, and lots of them have restaurants or take-away places. Their food is spicy and usually has many sauces but I found it very tasty...Unfortunately here we haven't got any hindu people, so I can only eat this food when I go to Scotland!
Finally, on Wednesday 25th August, we'll take a plane back to Alacant from Glasgow Prestwick airport. I can't wait for this travel! I think -and hope- I'll have a very good time.
But please, the only thing I ask for is Mr. Eyjafjallajökul -yes, the Icelandic volcano- to shut up and go to sleep. I don't want the cloud to be there this summer, or I won't be able to fly!! So please...no more eruptions!
Wednesday, 12 May 2010
Welcome to the magical world of RENFE
Well, today I don't know what to write, so I have decided it would be a good idea to rant and rave -cool expression by the way!- about Renfe.
I suppose every reader of this blog knows what Renfe is, but if there's some strange visitor -hello!-, Renfe is the Spanish company of trains. Trains aren't great over here. But at least we have the “Rodalia” suburban-regional train-...in other regions they have nothing.
I take this train everyday to go from Vila-real to the university, in Castelló. First of all, I'd like to complain about the delays. I don't know how well -or not- do trains work in other places, but here, they are late almost every day, at least, the typical 4-5 minutes. Then, I don't understand why they have so exact schedules like 07:33 or things like that. It makes no sense! But this is only the beginning! Sometimes -not too often, but there should never be!- the train arrives ten, fifteen, twenty minutes late...But hey, it doesn't matter! In the magical world of Renfe, everybody's happy. Everybody but the passengers, obviously. In these “extreme” cases I've just told you, there weren't any explanations by the company, nor either any apologies. And what's more, they don't ever warn about the delay, so you keep waiting and waiting...Only last week, a worker in Vila-real train station came out to tell the passengers waiting on platform number two, that the train had a delay of 20 minutes. Luckily I had time enough to arrive at class in time..., but still, it's annoying. I hope this won't happen any day during my exams period...but just in case, I'll take an earlier train.
More annoying things about Renfe: the tickets and the turnstiles. If you buy a normal ticket for one-day-use, most times the turnstiles won't accept it. Why? I don't know, it's another one of the great Renfe mysteries. Sometimes you have to put your ticket in the machine about five or six times or try different turnstiles until the doors open, and this is really exasperating. Once, when I arrived to the Castelló station, I went to queue, and when it was my turn, the ticket didn't work in any turnstile. Everybody had gone and I was there, trying to make the doors open... When I was seriously starting to think about jumping above them, a Renfe worker appeared and opened the doors...lucky me! If not, I'd still be waiting on that platform in Castelló station * lol *.
On the other hand, if you buy a month-use-ticket, it works fine. The machine accepts it the first time you put it. Mystery again!
A friend of mine had a terrible experience with her ticket...well, still worse, because it was a month ticket. She inserted it into the slot and...the machine started to make strange noises. Eventually, the doors opened, and she had her ticket back...but all ripped and semi-broken. Luckily for her, the assistant at her town's station was understanding enough and she could have a new ticket. This is strange by the way, because Renfe workers aren't specially well-known for their kindness, and neither for respecting you when you speak Catalan. Well, I don't want to get into these matters again, excuse me!
And to conclude I'll talk about another anecdote related to Renfe. I arrived to the Castelló station after a twenty minutes walk from the university. It was a Monday, so this means the busiest day of the week for me at the uni. I looked at the screens to see from what line my train departed, I went through the turnstiles, walked down the stairs to the platform and...saw that there was a train in the line it was supposed to, but also one in the line next to this...I started to get confused. I got on the one that the screen said, but some people on it started to doubt if this was the right one. The screens next to each train didn't show any information, so this didn't help at all. We got off that train and looked if the small screen of the other train said the destination of it. Nothing. We stood on the platform, and as it was almost the departing time, everybody got on the first train again, the one that was supposed to be departing from line 2 at 15.20 according to the big screen. At that moment, a Renfe worker appeared on the platform and started shouting that the train departing at 15.20 was the other one. You could also hear the automatic announcing voice repeating it, since the information on the big screen was incorrect, as you see. There was only one minute left, so everybody ran. 15.20. Doors closed. The train started to move but just a few meters and...it stopped. Lights went off and it seems there were some technical problems. The train finally departed at 15.35. So you can see the lack of coordination, and how many “mysteries” there may be in a simple regional train departure. Great work, Renfe!
I suppose every reader of this blog knows what Renfe is, but if there's some strange visitor -hello!-, Renfe is the Spanish company of trains. Trains aren't great over here. But at least we have the “Rodalia” suburban-regional train-...in other regions they have nothing.
I take this train everyday to go from Vila-real to the university, in Castelló. First of all, I'd like to complain about the delays. I don't know how well -or not- do trains work in other places, but here, they are late almost every day, at least, the typical 4-5 minutes. Then, I don't understand why they have so exact schedules like 07:33 or things like that. It makes no sense! But this is only the beginning! Sometimes -not too often, but there should never be!- the train arrives ten, fifteen, twenty minutes late...But hey, it doesn't matter! In the magical world of Renfe, everybody's happy. Everybody but the passengers, obviously. In these “extreme” cases I've just told you, there weren't any explanations by the company, nor either any apologies. And what's more, they don't ever warn about the delay, so you keep waiting and waiting...Only last week, a worker in Vila-real train station came out to tell the passengers waiting on platform number two, that the train had a delay of 20 minutes. Luckily I had time enough to arrive at class in time..., but still, it's annoying. I hope this won't happen any day during my exams period...but just in case, I'll take an earlier train.
More annoying things about Renfe: the tickets and the turnstiles. If you buy a normal ticket for one-day-use, most times the turnstiles won't accept it. Why? I don't know, it's another one of the great Renfe mysteries. Sometimes you have to put your ticket in the machine about five or six times or try different turnstiles until the doors open, and this is really exasperating. Once, when I arrived to the Castelló station, I went to queue, and when it was my turn, the ticket didn't work in any turnstile. Everybody had gone and I was there, trying to make the doors open... When I was seriously starting to think about jumping above them, a Renfe worker appeared and opened the doors...lucky me! If not, I'd still be waiting on that platform in Castelló station * lol *.
On the other hand, if you buy a month-use-ticket, it works fine. The machine accepts it the first time you put it. Mystery again!
A friend of mine had a terrible experience with her ticket...well, still worse, because it was a month ticket. She inserted it into the slot and...the machine started to make strange noises. Eventually, the doors opened, and she had her ticket back...but all ripped and semi-broken. Luckily for her, the assistant at her town's station was understanding enough and she could have a new ticket. This is strange by the way, because Renfe workers aren't specially well-known for their kindness, and neither for respecting you when you speak Catalan. Well, I don't want to get into these matters again, excuse me!
And to conclude I'll talk about another anecdote related to Renfe. I arrived to the Castelló station after a twenty minutes walk from the university. It was a Monday, so this means the busiest day of the week for me at the uni. I looked at the screens to see from what line my train departed, I went through the turnstiles, walked down the stairs to the platform and...saw that there was a train in the line it was supposed to, but also one in the line next to this...I started to get confused. I got on the one that the screen said, but some people on it started to doubt if this was the right one. The screens next to each train didn't show any information, so this didn't help at all. We got off that train and looked if the small screen of the other train said the destination of it. Nothing. We stood on the platform, and as it was almost the departing time, everybody got on the first train again, the one that was supposed to be departing from line 2 at 15.20 according to the big screen. At that moment, a Renfe worker appeared on the platform and started shouting that the train departing at 15.20 was the other one. You could also hear the automatic announcing voice repeating it, since the information on the big screen was incorrect, as you see. There was only one minute left, so everybody ran. 15.20. Doors closed. The train started to move but just a few meters and...it stopped. Lights went off and it seems there were some technical problems. The train finally departed at 15.35. So you can see the lack of coordination, and how many “mysteries” there may be in a simple regional train departure. Great work, Renfe!
Saturday, 1 May 2010
Valencian Country
I was born the 21st April 1991 in Vila-real, Valencian Country. Now you may think...what? What's Valencian Country? Well. Probably you'll think that this region's (I despite this word) name is Valencian Community. And yes, I know officially it is.
To be honest, that “community” makes me laugh. It reminds me of “comunitat de propietaris” -resident's association in English-. The denomination País Valencià -Valencian Country- has dissappared from most or all official papers, although this name was completely accepted some years ago, until PP came to power here. Obviously they thought it was too “red-separatist”, you understand what I mean!
Coming back to what I first said, Valencian Country is my land, and I feel proud of it. I'm not proud of lots of people who live here and what they do here, though. At home, my parents have always spoken to me in Catalan: my mum in Valencian dialect and my dad in Majorcan. So yes, you can guess I defend the unity of the language. In my opinion it's a total nonsense to say that these aren't the same language. Dialects are what make a language rich and we must be proud of each one of them, but it's obvious that all together form a same language. This happens with Catalan and with most languages in the world, if not all. And in general, there hasn't been a big influence by them, but there have never been many references to “Spain” at home, so I have never felt very indentified with it. Nowadays, I don't feel it at all.
I know people will think that it's them who have made me think like this. Again, my answer is no. Obviously they are part of my ideas, but they have never told me: you have to think this way, you have to defend this, you have to hate that. Never, never. So if I think like this,it's because when I reached a certain age, let's say teenager, I started to be interested in politics and I looked for information, read things, talked to people with different views...and so on.
In this land of corruption and “spanishism”, it seems there's no place for us, the real Valencian people, the ones who want a fair government, a place where we can say we're proud of what we are, of our culture, of our identity, of our language. A place where you can speak our language with anybody without having to stand these people laughing at you or saying “in Spanish or I don't understand you”. A place with no fascist nor racist people. A greener place.
In short, a better Valencian Country.
This last paragraph will sound like an idealistic political speech for you. Well, possibly I am an idealist. I know what I want is very difficult, extremely difficult. But that's not a reason for me not to go on supporting my ideas.
Ah, and if you think I am racist, -some people have called me this- well, you better listen.
I am not racist. I don't hit foreigners or people of other races, I hate people who do this. I have had classmates from different countries and I have had no problems with them, I even have had good relationships with some. But I want people who come to live here to respect our language and culture and get adapted. I find it shameful when I speak Catalan to somebody, whoever they are Andalusian, Castillian, Romanian, North-African or South-American and they reply in a bad way, “Don't speak Catalan (or Valencian)”, “What?????? I don't understand!”, or worse things. Can't I speak my own language in my own country or what?
On the other hand I've seen foreigners -not a big number to be honest, but still some- not just understanding Catalan but also talking it. And I admire those. Why can't all of them be like that?
You may think very few people think like me. And well, if you compare it with the people that think the opposite, you are right. But we're not an insignificant number. Little by little we are more, and I know we won't stop supporting our ideas and defending our goals, a free Valencian Country, free to be able to decide its future and considering the option of joining our brother countries to be stronger.
To be honest, that “community” makes me laugh. It reminds me of “comunitat de propietaris” -resident's association in English-. The denomination País Valencià -Valencian Country- has dissappared from most or all official papers, although this name was completely accepted some years ago, until PP came to power here. Obviously they thought it was too “red-separatist”, you understand what I mean!
Coming back to what I first said, Valencian Country is my land, and I feel proud of it. I'm not proud of lots of people who live here and what they do here, though. At home, my parents have always spoken to me in Catalan: my mum in Valencian dialect and my dad in Majorcan. So yes, you can guess I defend the unity of the language. In my opinion it's a total nonsense to say that these aren't the same language. Dialects are what make a language rich and we must be proud of each one of them, but it's obvious that all together form a same language. This happens with Catalan and with most languages in the world, if not all. And in general, there hasn't been a big influence by them, but there have never been many references to “Spain” at home, so I have never felt very indentified with it. Nowadays, I don't feel it at all.
I know people will think that it's them who have made me think like this. Again, my answer is no. Obviously they are part of my ideas, but they have never told me: you have to think this way, you have to defend this, you have to hate that. Never, never. So if I think like this,it's because when I reached a certain age, let's say teenager, I started to be interested in politics and I looked for information, read things, talked to people with different views...and so on.
In this land of corruption and “spanishism”, it seems there's no place for us, the real Valencian people, the ones who want a fair government, a place where we can say we're proud of what we are, of our culture, of our identity, of our language. A place where you can speak our language with anybody without having to stand these people laughing at you or saying “in Spanish or I don't understand you”. A place with no fascist nor racist people. A greener place.
In short, a better Valencian Country.
This last paragraph will sound like an idealistic political speech for you. Well, possibly I am an idealist. I know what I want is very difficult, extremely difficult. But that's not a reason for me not to go on supporting my ideas.
Ah, and if you think I am racist, -some people have called me this- well, you better listen.
I am not racist. I don't hit foreigners or people of other races, I hate people who do this. I have had classmates from different countries and I have had no problems with them, I even have had good relationships with some. But I want people who come to live here to respect our language and culture and get adapted. I find it shameful when I speak Catalan to somebody, whoever they are Andalusian, Castillian, Romanian, North-African or South-American and they reply in a bad way, “Don't speak Catalan (or Valencian)”, “What?????? I don't understand!”, or worse things. Can't I speak my own language in my own country or what?
On the other hand I've seen foreigners -not a big number to be honest, but still some- not just understanding Catalan but also talking it. And I admire those. Why can't all of them be like that?
You may think very few people think like me. And well, if you compare it with the people that think the opposite, you are right. But we're not an insignificant number. Little by little we are more, and I know we won't stop supporting our ideas and defending our goals, a free Valencian Country, free to be able to decide its future and considering the option of joining our brother countries to be stronger.
Monday, 12 April 2010
Computer viruses - are they fun or what?
Last Thursday, after dinner, I was relaxing in my bedroom and was surfing the Internet for a while, as usual. Nothing strange for the moment. I was checking a website I usually visit, I'm not sure but I think it was one that gives football matches scores live. Suddenly, my laptop blocked. I was surprised...with old computers I've had this wouldn't have been anything new, but since I have this laptop about eight months ago, it had worked fine. Then, there was some kind of flash in the screen. After this, I had a strange program on my desktop, downloaded as if by magic. It was called "AntiMalware Doctor" and was supposed to be an anti-virus *lol*. It immediately started checking my computer and found lots of virus...well, the virus was obviously that program itself. It also closed all the windows I had opened and started charging loads of strange websites. For a second, I thought this was my real anti-virus, because some of the messages that appeared looked very real, looked like "Windows Defender" messages...but no, that idea quickly dissapeared in my mind, because all these messages were in English, and my antivirus is written in Catalan.
I tried to remain calm and simply tried to close it. Obviously, I couldn't. Next, I tried to uninstall it, but as the program was running, I wasn't allowed to to this either. At this moment, my computer was working crazy. It started to show lots of Windows errors and well...I couldn't do much to stop this. I decided to reboot the computer in an exasperated attempt that when I'd turn it on again, the virus would have gone. Evidently again, this didn't happen.
Then I took a sensible decision: I took a couple of DVD's and saved all my important files. After this (it took more than two hours due to the constant errors, the virus, etc.), I turned the laptop off and went to bed.
The following day, I kept trying to delete the virus using my real anti-virus and cleaning programs, but nothing happened. Seeing that I could do nothing about it, I brought my laptop to a computer shop for they to repair it. They told me not to worry because this would be only a normal virus and maybe in an hour they'd had it repaired. Just half an hour later, I had a phone call from the shop. They told me that my computer was "very bad", that they could do nothing to delete the virus and the only thing they could do was formatting it. In addition, I had to bring them by formatting CDs for them to do it, and obviously they wouldn't have it done for that day, and as it was Friday and on Monday (today) it would be holiday, I'd have it for Tuesday evening at least. They told me that all this, plus installing a good antivirus for this not to happen again, would cost almost 200€.
WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?
(Well, I didn't say this but I thought it).
If the only thing that could be done was formatting, I could do this at home. Not in a month of Sundays would I pay 200€ for that. The worst is that when I told the woman that in 10 minutes I'd go to the shop to get the laptop she got angry. She said I wouldn't be able to work with it or anything. I, trying to be polite, said that I knew this, but I didn't want to leave it in that shop a second more. And what a surprise, they made me pay 40€ for doing nothing! "Mininum service", she said. You can guess how happy I was.
In addition, on the way home, I remembered that my laptop didn't include those formatting CDs they asked me for. So, how did they want to do it?
On Saturday, I tried to format the laptop with my brother's computer CDs, but they didn't work. I was waiting for a friend to lend me his since I thought these would be compatible with my operating system. But last night, after reading some tricks and trying them...I discovered that pressing F8 several times when the computer starts running, appears a screen with several options, one of them is "repairing PC" and inside this option, there was another, "Format PC". Eureka! So I clicked on it and only had to let it do...One hour and a half later, the desktop of my laptop looked the same way than the day I bought it, but as I could luckily save everything, nothing happened.
But now I ask to myself two things. The first one is:
What about that shop? Thieves!!! They wanted 200€ and those CDs for something I have finally done by myself, without CDs and without any big effort!
And the second one...The hackers or the people who create these virus...do they think it is fun? Why do they make this? I suppose there aren't much reasons, they enjoy fucking people...but well, I suppose their lifes are boring and they have got so much free time thay they do this! And they achieved their point, because this annoyed me a lot, but at least I could leave things like if nothing happened, I just was without laptop almost three days...I could get over it! :D
I tried to remain calm and simply tried to close it. Obviously, I couldn't. Next, I tried to uninstall it, but as the program was running, I wasn't allowed to to this either. At this moment, my computer was working crazy. It started to show lots of Windows errors and well...I couldn't do much to stop this. I decided to reboot the computer in an exasperated attempt that when I'd turn it on again, the virus would have gone. Evidently again, this didn't happen.
Then I took a sensible decision: I took a couple of DVD's and saved all my important files. After this (it took more than two hours due to the constant errors, the virus, etc.), I turned the laptop off and went to bed.
The following day, I kept trying to delete the virus using my real anti-virus and cleaning programs, but nothing happened. Seeing that I could do nothing about it, I brought my laptop to a computer shop for they to repair it. They told me not to worry because this would be only a normal virus and maybe in an hour they'd had it repaired. Just half an hour later, I had a phone call from the shop. They told me that my computer was "very bad", that they could do nothing to delete the virus and the only thing they could do was formatting it. In addition, I had to bring them by formatting CDs for them to do it, and obviously they wouldn't have it done for that day, and as it was Friday and on Monday (today) it would be holiday, I'd have it for Tuesday evening at least. They told me that all this, plus installing a good antivirus for this not to happen again, would cost almost 200€.
WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?
(Well, I didn't say this but I thought it).
If the only thing that could be done was formatting, I could do this at home. Not in a month of Sundays would I pay 200€ for that. The worst is that when I told the woman that in 10 minutes I'd go to the shop to get the laptop she got angry. She said I wouldn't be able to work with it or anything. I, trying to be polite, said that I knew this, but I didn't want to leave it in that shop a second more. And what a surprise, they made me pay 40€ for doing nothing! "Mininum service", she said. You can guess how happy I was.
In addition, on the way home, I remembered that my laptop didn't include those formatting CDs they asked me for. So, how did they want to do it?
On Saturday, I tried to format the laptop with my brother's computer CDs, but they didn't work. I was waiting for a friend to lend me his since I thought these would be compatible with my operating system. But last night, after reading some tricks and trying them...I discovered that pressing F8 several times when the computer starts running, appears a screen with several options, one of them is "repairing PC" and inside this option, there was another, "Format PC". Eureka! So I clicked on it and only had to let it do...One hour and a half later, the desktop of my laptop looked the same way than the day I bought it, but as I could luckily save everything, nothing happened.
But now I ask to myself two things. The first one is:
What about that shop? Thieves!!! They wanted 200€ and those CDs for something I have finally done by myself, without CDs and without any big effort!
And the second one...The hackers or the people who create these virus...do they think it is fun? Why do they make this? I suppose there aren't much reasons, they enjoy fucking people...but well, I suppose their lifes are boring and they have got so much free time thay they do this! And they achieved their point, because this annoyed me a lot, but at least I could leave things like if nothing happened, I just was without laptop almost three days...I could get over it! :D
Monday, 29 March 2010
It's so difficult
It really is.
You're young and people will tell you that you are crazy, that you needn't feel like that, that you still have a lot to live and see. And possibily -let's hope it- they're right. But it's difficult anyway.
You live in a small town, it isn't a crowded place. It isn't your fault anyway! And you even like living there, but for this issue, it's difficult.
You feel it's always the same old thing. And in fact it is. It seems one has to be perfect. It seems 60 kilometres is a great distance to these who live in that big city. Or even closer. Or further, because if they're from the other big city, they probably won't know where your town is. And for the rest of the things they want, the answer is also no. You don't have a six pack.
You don't want what most of them want. That would probably be the easy way, but you haven't been lucky if you have tried it some time.
You feel different from them. And you really are, or at least it seems you are. Your behaviour is different. You don't look like one, and you don't like it. You have different hobbies. You rarely have something in common. In addition, you also find lots of them who will discriminate you because of your mother tongue. It seems you can't speak your own language in your own country. And if they know your political ideology, then run away! Definetely you are different.
You try it. You have hope. But hey, it doesn't change. It remains the same. That's what is frustrating. There isn't any little change. Isn't there anybody different, like you? It seems not, but no, there must be...But where? You don't know. That's why it is so difficult.
You're hidden. It's not a bad thing, it's just the way you want to do it. And it's not because of this that it's difficult. It may help, but really, it's not because of this.
I feel like this. And it's so difficult.
You're young and people will tell you that you are crazy, that you needn't feel like that, that you still have a lot to live and see. And possibily -let's hope it- they're right. But it's difficult anyway.
You live in a small town, it isn't a crowded place. It isn't your fault anyway! And you even like living there, but for this issue, it's difficult.
You feel it's always the same old thing. And in fact it is. It seems one has to be perfect. It seems 60 kilometres is a great distance to these who live in that big city. Or even closer. Or further, because if they're from the other big city, they probably won't know where your town is. And for the rest of the things they want, the answer is also no. You don't have a six pack.
You don't want what most of them want. That would probably be the easy way, but you haven't been lucky if you have tried it some time.
You feel different from them. And you really are, or at least it seems you are. Your behaviour is different. You don't look like one, and you don't like it. You have different hobbies. You rarely have something in common. In addition, you also find lots of them who will discriminate you because of your mother tongue. It seems you can't speak your own language in your own country. And if they know your political ideology, then run away! Definetely you are different.
You try it. You have hope. But hey, it doesn't change. It remains the same. That's what is frustrating. There isn't any little change. Isn't there anybody different, like you? It seems not, but no, there must be...But where? You don't know. That's why it is so difficult.
You're hidden. It's not a bad thing, it's just the way you want to do it. And it's not because of this that it's difficult. It may help, but really, it's not because of this.
I feel like this. And it's so difficult.
Sunday, 3 January 2010
Hi 2010!
Yes, 2010 has arrived. It sounds like too far away, doesn't it? Well, I was born in 1991 so this year I'll be 19! God, I'm getting old it seems * lol*.
Well, my group of friends -six people- decided, at least, to give it a good welcome, and we wanted to do something special, not just buy overcooked chickens or pizzas and eat them at somebody's house like last years.
But New Year's Eve was near and we still hadn't taken a decision. A friend of mine had the idea to rent a house in the mountains. We searched this on the Internet, but the ones we could afford weren't available for the days we needed. Finally, in a Spa and camping resort in Peníscola, -a little town in the Azahar coast, 70km at the north of Vila-real- we found that they rented bungalows with good offers for New Year's Eve, and we didn't hesitate to call and ask for more information. Finally we decided to book a bungalow for two nights, the 31st and the 1st, and there we went.
The resort was a nice place, with nearly 30 small bungalows and a space for caravans, and also other facilities like a small football pitch, a mini-golf, a paddle ground, a mini-golf, and obviously the spa centre. The bungalow itself was a cute place as well, with a small terrace outside with a table and some chairs. Inside, we had a room that was kitchen and living room at the same time, and also a small bathroom with a shower, a room with a double bed and another one with a bunk.
The kitchen had a fridge, a sink, a microwave, and a small glass-ceramic hob. In addition we had all the kitchen accessories, like the cutlery and the glasses, plates, etc.
In the living room there was a table, some chairs, a sofa bed and a little TV, and in the bedrooms there wasn't anything else except the beds and a cupboard in each one.
So we arrived at the resort last Thursday (31st) after lunch, we took the bungalow's keys in reception and we left our luggage and food in, placing some things in fridge if necessary. After that, we went to have a walk around the resort, and we discovered the football pitch. We didn't doubt a second to take our ball and start playing...we played for more than an hour, and finally a group of small children joined us. I had a really good time. Later, as it was already dark, we returned in the bungalow and started to prepare things for dinner. We had seafood salad -cooked by me!-pork fillet with sauce and several kinds of cold meat like ham, salami...and also cheeses and paté with bread. For dessert we had crepes with chocolate, and obviously, later, we ate the typical twelve grapes to welcome the new year. While dinner, one of my friends who was already a bit...well, let's say “happy” took a lot of photos, specially of himself, and after the calls and/or text-messaging to friends and relatives, we celebrated new year turning music on, dancing, drinking a bit and being crazy -but no breaking things, for sure!-. I went to bed at five o'clock in the morning, more or less.
The next day, New Year's Day, we were quite tired and obviously we woke up late and had lunch late too. Our friend Eric made us some nice spaghetti, and after this, some people went to sleep again, some watched TV, and I watched a film for the worksheets on my laptop. Later, I washed the dishes and we played a board game, Party & Co, until it was time for dinner. We had more or less the same than the night before since we had a lot of food left over. After dinner, I was really tired. I watched TV for a while, had a shower and went to bed.
Finally, on Saturday we had to woke up earlier because we had to leave the bungalow at 12:00. We arranged the rooms, threw things to the rubbish bin, cleaned a bit the bungalow in general and left. I had a really good time these two days with my mates, but the only thing I didn't like was that a couple of people didn't do much of the housework, whereas I and another boy made almost all of it and also it was me and this boy who cooked everything.
Now I ask to myself...what will 2010 be like? I don't really know, I hope it improves a bit from 2009 in some ways, like the economical crisis and some other problems...I'd also like my studies to go well, I'd like to be able to travel -you already know where- next summer, I evidently want my family to be all right, I want my friends to be fine, I'd like Vila-real CF to do well and it'd be great if we won a cup, I...well, I'd like so many things. And I could also make a list of good intentions for this year, but I'll keep that for myself. I just hope the most important ones will come true, the rest can wait. And so I think this is reaching its end for the moment. But who knows, maybe we'll see soon...Anyway, good luck for this 2010!
Well, my group of friends -six people- decided, at least, to give it a good welcome, and we wanted to do something special, not just buy overcooked chickens or pizzas and eat them at somebody's house like last years.
But New Year's Eve was near and we still hadn't taken a decision. A friend of mine had the idea to rent a house in the mountains. We searched this on the Internet, but the ones we could afford weren't available for the days we needed. Finally, in a Spa and camping resort in Peníscola, -a little town in the Azahar coast, 70km at the north of Vila-real- we found that they rented bungalows with good offers for New Year's Eve, and we didn't hesitate to call and ask for more information. Finally we decided to book a bungalow for two nights, the 31st and the 1st, and there we went.
The resort was a nice place, with nearly 30 small bungalows and a space for caravans, and also other facilities like a small football pitch, a mini-golf, a paddle ground, a mini-golf, and obviously the spa centre. The bungalow itself was a cute place as well, with a small terrace outside with a table and some chairs. Inside, we had a room that was kitchen and living room at the same time, and also a small bathroom with a shower, a room with a double bed and another one with a bunk.
The kitchen had a fridge, a sink, a microwave, and a small glass-ceramic hob. In addition we had all the kitchen accessories, like the cutlery and the glasses, plates, etc.
In the living room there was a table, some chairs, a sofa bed and a little TV, and in the bedrooms there wasn't anything else except the beds and a cupboard in each one.
So we arrived at the resort last Thursday (31st) after lunch, we took the bungalow's keys in reception and we left our luggage and food in, placing some things in fridge if necessary. After that, we went to have a walk around the resort, and we discovered the football pitch. We didn't doubt a second to take our ball and start playing...we played for more than an hour, and finally a group of small children joined us. I had a really good time. Later, as it was already dark, we returned in the bungalow and started to prepare things for dinner. We had seafood salad -cooked by me!-pork fillet with sauce and several kinds of cold meat like ham, salami...and also cheeses and paté with bread. For dessert we had crepes with chocolate, and obviously, later, we ate the typical twelve grapes to welcome the new year. While dinner, one of my friends who was already a bit...well, let's say “happy” took a lot of photos, specially of himself, and after the calls and/or text-messaging to friends and relatives, we celebrated new year turning music on, dancing, drinking a bit and being crazy -but no breaking things, for sure!-. I went to bed at five o'clock in the morning, more or less.
The next day, New Year's Day, we were quite tired and obviously we woke up late and had lunch late too. Our friend Eric made us some nice spaghetti, and after this, some people went to sleep again, some watched TV, and I watched a film for the worksheets on my laptop. Later, I washed the dishes and we played a board game, Party & Co, until it was time for dinner. We had more or less the same than the night before since we had a lot of food left over. After dinner, I was really tired. I watched TV for a while, had a shower and went to bed.
Finally, on Saturday we had to woke up earlier because we had to leave the bungalow at 12:00. We arranged the rooms, threw things to the rubbish bin, cleaned a bit the bungalow in general and left. I had a really good time these two days with my mates, but the only thing I didn't like was that a couple of people didn't do much of the housework, whereas I and another boy made almost all of it and also it was me and this boy who cooked everything.
Now I ask to myself...what will 2010 be like? I don't really know, I hope it improves a bit from 2009 in some ways, like the economical crisis and some other problems...I'd also like my studies to go well, I'd like to be able to travel -you already know where- next summer, I evidently want my family to be all right, I want my friends to be fine, I'd like Vila-real CF to do well and it'd be great if we won a cup, I...well, I'd like so many things. And I could also make a list of good intentions for this year, but I'll keep that for myself. I just hope the most important ones will come true, the rest can wait. And so I think this is reaching its end for the moment. But who knows, maybe we'll see soon...Anyway, good luck for this 2010!
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