A new chapter

[dias]

My housemate's dreams to buy a house in September were shattered with this plummet in the crypto market. This is what happens if you are gambling your house deposit. And he tried to convince me to invest in crypto a few weeks back hahahaha I told him I don't gamble. I know how I want to lose my money. 

See, I prefer to stick to the old school values: work hard, create a successful business, get rich and spend your money on hot women. Plain and simple, good ol' values. The first part is quite difficult though hahahaha. I am not rich yet but the first new paycheck would be good enough to boost the economy via the local strip club. Because what is better than fancy cars? Boobs!!!!!!

 

[dias]

For most people the years between 18 and 23 were most likely their best years. For me, it was the opposite. It was by far the worst period of my life. One year in the Navy (due to mandatory military service) and 4 years at uni studying all day something I abhorred.

The Navy though was the worst. I didn't hate every moment, I hated every millisecond. The fact that it was mandatory and the fact that I had to obey orders clashed with my natural defiance of authority.  It was a nightmare. I am extremely independent nature and I felt so suffocated. I just can't take orders, it's not me. It's not that I fought back, it's that I just didn't obey the orders. I didn't want to hail to anyone, I didn't want to do what I was told. They made me clean all the big litter bins in the base with 40+ Celsius in the summer. That was reek, no kidding...and then in the kitchen scratching burnt omelets from baking trays. The baking trays in the army are my height and the kitchen sink was a whole room. I am still getting angry when I remember it. The only good thing was when I was done with cleaning in the evening I was alone in the kitchen with all the food, I had some good motherf*cking feasts lol. 

Then 4 years at uni I had to study all this stupid nonsense with no practical application. Abstract concepts, computational mathematics, algorithms...which none of them are useful at work. I had so much trouble in the lectures because when I listen to someone speak for more than 5 minutes I tune out. I can't keep up, I can't concentrate. I can focus only when I do stuff.  So I stopped going to the lectures and I had to study everything from the books which was 1000+ pages of nonsense each one. I spent so much time studying alone because I was not able to absorb anything in the class....And everyone was like "big deal you are studying you are not working". This was a good joke as I found out later since working is holidays compared to studying this stuff (and you are getting paid). 

If only I could take back these 5 years.....I would be 5 years ahead now and without enduring depression all those years. 

 

 

[Jibralta]

18 through 23 were tough years for me, too. But not because I was in the navy or anything. Just growing pains, I guess.

[dias]

I know many people (around my age) who say "wouldn't be so nice if we could be teenagers again without any obligations". I am like NOPE. The older I get the better it is because I construct my life the way I want. 

And I still haven't started implementing my childhood dream. The day I will find the first big client for my business (hopefully within the next 3 years) will be the best day of my life. I expect a sign from the universe like in the tales, you know, a dazzling light from the next galaxy or something like this lol. 

Oh man, I love stories and tales so much. I am a kid lol

I love writing stories, I used to write stories as a kid. I was pretty good at it. One day I will do it again, this is my retirement plan lol. In the meantime I am creating and living the story 🙂 Let's see what awaits us in the next chapter. I am curious, I am so excited hahahahahahahahahahaha.

Sometimes it feels like a dream, sometimes it feels like I will wake up in Athens one day as a kid again and all these adventures were just a dream. 

[maritalbliss86]

3 hours ago, dias said:

I know many people (around my age) who say "wouldn't be so nice if we could be teenagers again without any obligations". I am like NOPE. The older I get the better it is because I construct my life the way I want. 

I hated being a teenager.  I'm sure I loved some things, but so much is out of your control, and you feel so constrained or restricted.

Getting older has been something I've truly relished.  We are building our life and our family and seeing all these dreams come true.  And it's been through years of hard work, too, so there's so much satisfaction in it.  So much better than the teenage years imo.  

Glad you love getting older, too.

[dias]

We are having some amazing sunny days here. I am free this week but I spend most of the time studying for a cloud certificate unfortunately.

I am too Greek, I love the sun a bit too much. I go for a run in the afternoon along the river, shirtless of course now that the weather is good😎 Moments like this are when I would prefer to be at a beach bar on a Greek island crammed with sexy tanned girls in bikinis 😎 The sun (and money lol) increases my testo, I want hot tanned girls in bikinis and a yacht😎 

[hidden_kitten]

Meanwhile I’m a typical pasty Scot who can’t handle the heat or sun so I’ve been hiding indoors enjoying it through the window 😄. Temp was in the late 20s earlier!

I like summer evenings, when it’s still pleasant but not unbearable and the light is all hazy. Hope you get to enjoy it some time this week Dias!

[dias]

Aaaaa come on, you are wasting such glorious days inside? Unacceptable! You need some vitamin D 🙂

How can I take you with me in Monaco if you can't handle 23 Celsius lol

My housemate invited his friends yesterday for a BBQ and I spent some time with them enjoying the sun in the garden. I go for walks, at least once a day, I already got a nice tan 😎 and I let a 3 day stubble these days, you know, just to be cooler😎

[dias]

Just returned from the ophthalmologist. If you follow the private route (200 pounds) everything is so easy, not like the public sector....

Fortunately the floaters and black dots I see are benign, they are quite visible because of my myopia (which is the normal if you have myopia). However, my retina is fine and the floaters were not a sign of retinal detachment. No issues at all!!!Yayyyyyy!!!!! 

🙂 🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂

[Jibralta]

2 hours ago, dias said:

However, my retina is fine and the floaters were not a sign of retinal detachment. No issues at all!!!Yayyyyyy!!!!! 

Why were you worried about retinal detachment?

[dias]

8 hours ago, Jibralta said:

Why were you worried about retinal detachment?

Floaters and black dots might be an indicator of retinal detachment. I've been seeing floaters a lot more frequently recently and I was concerned because my father got retinal detachment twice in his life. Since I inherited his myopia I have to be careful. You can go blind pretty fast if it happens and it needs to be treated as soon as possible (within the same day preferably). My brother's wife got retinal detachment a couple of months back out of nowhere. So I am a bit cautious about it. There is a direct correlation between myopia and increased chances of retinal detachment.

The doctor told me 90% of the population sees floaters, however, they are more visible when you have myopia. These are the benign floaters and don't indicate any injury in your retina. 

[Jibralta]

3 hours ago, dias said:

The doctor told me 90% of the population sees floaters, however, they are more visible when you have myopia.

That was my understanding, as well. I've always seen them floating around, but they really became noticeable when I was in my mid-20s. I'm not myopic or anything, but I've always seen them.

Anyway, I had great insurance at that time in my mid-20s, so I made an appointment with an eye doctor to see what the deal was. She basically said exactly what you are saying, and also explained about the structure of an eyeball. 

3 hours ago, dias said:

I was concerned because my father got retinal detachment twice in his life. Since I inherited his myopia I have to be careful.... My brother's wife got retinal detachment a couple of months back out of nowhere. So I am a bit cautious about it. There is a direct correlation between myopia and increased chances of retinal detachment.

That explains a lot!

[mylolita]

On 6/1/2021 at 1:55 PM, dias said:

We are having some amazing sunny days here. I am free this week but I spend most of the time studying for a cloud certificate unfortunately.

I am too Greek, I love the sun a bit too much. I go for a run in the afternoon along the river, shirtless of course now that the weather is good😎 Moments like this are when I would prefer to be at a beach bar on a Greek island crammed with sexy tanned girls in bikinis 😎 The sun (and money lol) increases my testo, I want hot tanned girls in bikinis and a yacht😎 

Evening Dias!

 

A big congratulations! I am very happy to see you flying, and not just due to coffee or the treadmill!!! 
 

All the best, keep it up, and, looking forward to hearing about Monaco in a few years time 😉

 

Crazier things happen on these journals regarding wishes!!!

 

Lo x

[mylolita]

PS Dias,

 

Since I class you as one of those people who know the ins and outs of computer “stuff” that I am totally clueless on... I am thinking you know something regarding this cryptocurrency?

 

I remember having a conversation about Bitcoin with a friend at a party 10 years ago. I guess if we’d put a grand in then we might’ve done okay! BUT! Zero crypto investments from us. Just don’t know anything about it. Gut feeling is, what on earth IS this?!?! I can’t get my head around it. Such a fiat money girl! 
 

Anyway, what do you think about it?

 

I ask this now also because, someone who works for my husband but is also kind of a friend, bit of a dreamer, well, understatement - he skipped in high as a kite to tell us he’d been left some money all of a sudden and he’d put it all into cryptocurrency and he was saying we need to do the same and that he’s sure he’s going to be easy rich very soon.

 

Now, don’t get me wrong, we don’t know anything about this! Nada! And, I also wish him eternal wealth and I hope we see him in 5 years time flipping us the bird driving by in his Aston - but what’s your take on this?

 

Anyone we know who has serious money isn’t dabbling in this in a big way - they are either too old school and used to turning profit the old school way or this has slipped them by? I do realise there are people somewhere who did make a big profit through luck or infancy in this or whatever but I cant’ help but feel suspicious.
 

Anything that claims; get rich fast, get rich quick, is normally not true. Too good to be true normally equals, it is too good to be true. But there are rare exceptions to the rule! Do you think this could be one of them?

 

What’s your gut feeling about all this? 

 

Lo x

[dias]

 

4 hours ago, Tonight.majestic said:

About a year ago, I started fasting because I put on weight. That helped A LOT. But I had to be super strict with myself. I did that for a solid 8 months. It got boring, painful and tiring because I constantly had to literally starve to keep myself 10 lbs lighter than what I'm at now. I used an app and that helped A LOT. Perhaps try using an app? It's childish but it really worked for me to see my progress. 

This is so wrong.....

Intermittent fasting has absolutely nothing to do with losing weight. It's calories in - calories out, kilojoules in - kilojoules out, energy in - energy out. There is nothing else despite what scammers in the fitness industry say. 

If you don't eat anything one day and then you consume double the calories the next day, you are not going to lose weight. Period. It does not work like that.  

You don't starve yourself because you are going to binge later on no matter how disciplined you are. It's normal, I am the most disciplined and dedicated person I know and it's the same for me. 

What works in the real world is: you replace trigger foods with low calorie dense foods. If you cannot live without sugar (or anything else) you must find low calorie dense alternatives. Replace sugar with sweeteners for example. Caesar salad which has a ton of calories with normal salad without 3 spoons of olive oil or extras. All these "extras" have a ton of calories, more than the actual food itself. 

Now, I am the odd person who can eat plain chicken and broccoli everyday for the rest of his life. I understand though most people can't do that, they want taste and variety. You have to find low-calorie dense alternatives. Don't use a lot of "extras" though and when you do choose the ones with the less calories. 

At some point, no matter how perfect your diet is you still need to apply some discipline. The low-calorie dense alternatives don't magically make you lose weight. It means you are satiated; you do not starve yourself and you do not have cravings. However, you need to apply some discipline and up your game if you want results.

The average person consumes a ton more calories than he/she thinks and then complains that diets do not work (like my housemate). Yes because you under-report half of your calories lol.

Then it is the other funny excuse: "but I eat healthy". This is the best one hahahaha. Eating healthy or unhealthy does not make any difference when it comes to weight. It's calories in - calories out. If your daily maintenance calories are 2000 for example you can eat 4 chocolates all day and nothing else OR you can eat Greek yogurt, salad, fruits, meat and other low calorie dense foods (there are plenty and tasty low calorie dense foods, believe me). Can you survive with 4 chocolates all day? of course not, nobody can, you would be starving all day. Besides, weight aside, you need nutrients and vitamins to properly function and be healthy, not only energy. As you can tell, the second option provides energy, satiation, taste and nutrients whereas the first option provides only energy, taste, cravings, hunger and 5 minutes of (not for me) pleasure. 

Switching to low-calorie dense diet is 50%, the other 50% is burning calories in some way. Lifting weights does NOT burn enough calories. Don't listen to the dumb*ss average personal trainer. It's easy to say "building muscle will help you burn more calories" because this is what the clients want to hear and you to make money. But this is non-sense. First of all, building muscle requires years and years of serious training and diet (unless you involve chemistry which is another story). So, if you train seriously for a decade you will have more muscles and you would approximately burn 200-300 calories more without doing anything. That's it, 200-300 calories, 2 bananas more per day. Lifting weights is NOT the way to burn calories. 

You need cardio. A very common trap is trying to find the OPTIMAL way to burn calories. I fell into this trap when I started exercising 11 years ago. You DO  NOT want the optimal way, you want a way which is sustainable forever, a way that you don't have to "suffer". You don't need to run because it burns more calories than walking if running is hard for you. NOPE. Stick with normal walking for about 45 min-1 hour per day CONSISTENTLY. I love walking, you burn calories easily and you do not have to be focused. You can ponder about life, daydream, chat with someone etc. Take a friend or your family so you have company. Again, some level of discipline is required for the consistency part. You like bike-riding, bike-riding it is, you like swimming, swimming it is, you like sex, sex it is (but you have to do the actual work lol). 

Another stupid thing people make is that they decrease the calories a bit too much. Yes you want to eat less calories but not to the point of starvation. Example: you need to be in a calorie deficit of 400 calories per day. You decrease your calorie intake by 150-200 and you increase your calorie expenditure by 200-250 via exercise so that the total is 400. This is extremely important because yes calories in - calories out but the body needs a certain amount of calories to function, it needs a normal calorie intake. Thus, you increase your energy expenditure through exercise. 

I was overweight in high school, I’ve walked the walk, I know what I am talking about. You can cite 1000 studies that prove whatever you like, you can listen to the average personal trainer or dietitian, however, what I wrote above is what works in the real world. Billions are spent every year for health and fitness, it’s a big industry, and it’s mostly built on lies, funny if you think about it, people want to hear lies. All it takes is discipline lol. Too easy to be the key, isn’t it? Hahahahahahahahahahah

I should be studying for my cloud certificate instead of writing fitness advice, I am not disciplined enough LOL

Have a nice day people!

[maritalbliss86]

The intermittent fasting can mess up female hormones, too.  Although I don't think all women are affected by that, some can get away with it.  

Keto can also mess with female hormones, yet if a woman is very overweight, keto can actually bring them more to a balance with their hormones (make them fertile again even).  But that may also be due to them tracking their food and eating in a deficit 🤷‍♀️.

Good advice though, Dias... I wish more people would think like that.

[dias]

20 hours ago, mylolita said:

Evening Dias!

 

A big congratulations! I am very happy to see you flying, and not just due to coffee or the treadmill!!! 
 

All the best, keep it up, and, looking forward to hearing about Monaco in a few years time 😉

 

Crazier things happen on these journals regarding wishes!!!

 

Lo x

Thanks a lot my dear Lolita, I appreciate your encouragement 🙂

Well, Monaco is in the far future, a couple of decades away hahahaha but I will definitely invite you 😚😚

20 hours ago, mylolita said:

PS Dias,

 

Since I class you as one of those people who know the ins and outs of computer “stuff” that I am totally clueless on... I am thinking you know something regarding this cryptocurrency?

 

I remember having a conversation about Bitcoin with a friend at a party 10 years ago. I guess if we’d put a grand in then we might’ve done okay! BUT! Zero crypto investments from us. Just don’t know anything about it. Gut feeling is, what on earth IS this?!?! I can’t get my head around it. Such a fiat money girl! 
 

Anyway, what do you think about it?

 

I ask this now also because, someone who works for my husband but is also kind of a friend, bit of a dreamer, well, understatement - he skipped in high as a kite to tell us he’d been left some money all of a sudden and he’d put it all into cryptocurrency and he was saying we need to do the same and that he’s sure he’s going to be easy rich very soon.

 

Now, don’t get me wrong, we don’t know anything about this! Nada! And, I also wish him eternal wealth and I hope we see him in 5 years time flipping us the bird driving by in his Aston - but what’s your take on this?

Well, theoretically if you invest 1000 pounds in every new "big thing" (in the tech industry), at some point you will get rich because 1 out of the 10000 new big things is going to work eventually. 

I don't know much about the cryptocurrency market except from what my housemate and his friends told me. I am not the best person to ask, actually I might be the worst person to ask lol. My understanding is that cryptocurrencies were invented so that there is a currency outside of any government's control and a currency that won't be affected by inflation etc. I am pretty sure I am missing many pieces here but in a nutshell I think this was the grand vision initially. 

I believe now we are at this point where it's like the stock market. People gamble and try to get rich fast. Yes, 1 person out of 10000 will get rich, this is in fact true. But 1 out of 10000 got rich via the stock market too. Personally I would place it under the same category. Nonetheless, I am not an investor nor do I care to invest in anything except from my own business or in real estate. I believe there is a good chance of making some money if you buy now, hold and sell in 4-5 years, like the stock market pretty much. 

Your friend might be the 1 out of the 10000 people and give you the one finger salute from his Aston, however, chances are he would come back driving a Lada Niva begging for his job. 

Can you make money? of course, there are winners in every game. 

20 hours ago, mylolita said:

Anyone we know who has serious money isn’t dabbling in this in a big way - they are either too old school and used to turning profit the old school way or this has slipped them by? I do realise there are people somewhere who did make a big profit through luck or infancy in this or whatever but I cant’ help but feel suspicious.
 

Anything that claims; get rich fast, get rich quick, is normally not true. Too good to be true normally equals, it is too good to be true. But there are rare exceptions to the rule! Do you think this could be one of them?

What’s your gut feeling about all this? 

The tech industry is kind of a unique industry because it changes constantly and very fast. There are two types of companies: 

1)Service based companies: they provide some sort of services/support to other businesses usually, B to B mostly. This is the safest and more traditional way of doing business. You don't try to innovate or build new products, you provide services. I would say this type of business scales like any other business in any other industry (if successful of course). 

2)Product based companies: they try to create new innovative products which do not exist in the market or if they exist they try to create a better version etc etc. This type of business model is tougher because you shoot in the dark pretty much. Timing is the most important factor in this business model so there is a lot of luck involved as well. Plus the very clever hardworking persistent people behind the business of course. Now, if all the planets align which is extremely rare (chances of this happening must be way less than 1%) it will scale like crazy, the famous unicorns as they say. Amazon is one example of that. If only I had invested 1000 pounds in Amazon in 1994 lol. That's why tech magnates are the richest people in the world and have unlimited power (if you control technology and energy you control everything)

Cryptocurrency was one of those crazy unicorns. Did some people get rich by investing in bitcoin early on? Yes and some became millionaires. I don't know anything about the cryptocurrency market but I will tell you who the real winners behind the cryptocurrency market are: those tech entrepreneurs who created the first cryptocurrency exchange platforms like Coinbase https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Armstrong_(businessman) They are the winners, they became billionaires within few years. 

If you think about it they were the smartest people in this situation/opportunity. Let me explain how I see it. I will give you an analogy from the past. Have you ever heard about the Klondike Gold Rush? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klondike_Gold_Rush . Many hopeful prospectors moved to Yukon in North Western Canada in order to search for gold and get rich fast. The next big thing of the time. The prospectors in our case are the people who invested in cryptocurrency during its infancy. Some succeeded, many failed. Now, someone provided/sold equipment to the hopeful prospectors/pioneers during the Gold Rush, right? Imagine these merchants who sold the equipment to the miners and didn't gamble their lives searching for gold are those in our case who created the cryptocurrency exchange platforms. They provided the means to the hopeful pioneers who wanted to get rich, they very cleverly exploited people's hope and need to get rich fast in other words. Nothing new. 

Maybe it's not the best analogy but this is how I see it. I am sure I am wrong because I am missing a lot of information but this is the conclusion I drew based on what I heard. Dunno.

My gut feeling is that cryptocurrencies are here to stay. Would I advise you to invest? If you can afford to lose a few thousand, yeah, play a little bit for fun, why not, maybe you can make some money. I wouldn't bet more than that. But if your friend gives you the middle finger don't blame me lol. 

[dias]

Oh dear God, this latte was from another planet. God bless my 3,3% ancestors!

[dias]

The neighbor's little boy waves at me every time he sees me in the garden lol. 

For someone who does not want kids, they like me too much. I love kids too to be honest. I can't have a family if I want to live the life I want though. Having a family is a game changer, you are not only responsible for yourself but for your wife and children too which makes everything much more difficult. 

Now I can do whatever I want. Quit my job, travel the world, whatever I want. I can take as many risks as I want because even if things do not go well, it's only me I have to take care of, the only thing I can lose is comfort which I don't care about it in the first place. Even if I was thrown in the middle of a jungle or was homeless I could still work things out. When you have a family though is a different story, their needs first above yours + you have to take care of them which means you have to be very careful before you act (which is not me lol). I know successful entrepreneurs who started their first business in mid 30s with a family. It must be insanely stressful, I can't even imagine, because the reality is most businesses fail. And ok your wife is an adult, she can cope, what about the kids though? Kids need stability and time. 

Nonetheless, I do believe it would be cool to have a son, to teach him everything I know (not now since there are a lot of things I still have to learn myself) and to instill in him my values. A daughter would be fun, she would definitely be a daddy's girl no questions asked lol and she would have as many hugs as she wanted, hugs all day long lol. 

 

[dias]

The water pipe which both bathrooms use broke at midnight on Saturday out of nowhere. Suddenly, massive amount of water started seeping through the walls. The bathroom downstairs became a swimming pool within minutes.

The water pipe was inside the wall and the valve to turn the water off was inside the wall too and sealed. I unsealed it and switched the water off, however, the pipe broke further down so this valve didn't do anything.

We were picking up the water with buckets for an hour until my housemate turned the water off from outside in the garden (the switch for the whole house). We couldn't find this switch initially because it was hidden underneath the roots of a tree and it was dark. The neighbor spotted it fortunately at some point. Yeah she joined the operation too for a bit lol. 

Thankfully, the property manager lives next door and she called an emergency plumber. We finished at 2am. It was fun, better than a night out lol. I am learning plumbing as well now. I assume the plumbing system won't be much different in yachts lol. 

The next morning I went outside to throw the garbage and the door shut behind me due to a sudden gust of wind. I didn't have the keys with me and nobody was in the house. Fun stuff lol. We keep the bathroom window open and although it's quite small I managed to sneak in. I have a future as a plumber and a thief. I am learning new life skills lately lol

I thought about knocking the neighbor's door and jumping the fence from her garden but it was the last resort. She is a very good piece, I didn't want to look that stupid lol. 

[Jibralta]

Hopefully when you have your yacht, you won't be doing the maintenance yourself 😉

[dias]

9 hours ago, Jibralta said:

Hopefully when you have your yacht, you won't be doing the maintenance yourself 😉

I don't hire people to do what I can do, it's a matter of principle regardless of how much money I have. 

You see, the "I am rich and can hire someone else to do the dirty job" attitude is the attitude of rich kids who inherited money from their parents or people who somehow made money easily. If you are like me, you just learn to do what needs to be done. Whether it's coding, math,  plumbing, sales or breaking into houses lol is the same to me. What I don't know, I learn it. Totally different mentality. 

 

[Jibralta]

I'm a do-it-yourself-er myself, but at a certain point opportunity cost determines what projects I'm going to take on, and which I'll pay someone else to do. But it's your yacht, you get to enjoy it the way you want to enjoy it. If plumbing's your thing, more power to you. I think the plumbing systems in boats rely a lot on pumps, by the way (not just gravity). 

[Jibralta]

I guess if you're floating around in luxury 365 days a year, a little labor feels like a vacation 😂

[dias]

2 hours ago, Jibralta said:

If plumbing's your thing

Women is my thing😎

But now that I am thinking about it, it does not really differ. In both cases you need to ensure a smooth flow in the pipes. 😎