Chapter 3

[Jibralta]

Pericles and Aspasia!

[dias]

14 minutes ago, Jibralta said:

Pericles and Aspasia!

I am impressed! You like history!

[Jibralta]

15 minutes ago, dias said:

You like history!

I do! Also, Aspasia was my Yia-Yia's name. And is my christened name.

[dias]

 

You really wouldn't want to be in the middle of a fight!!

Nature is really tough. 

Notice at the end of the video where you see that everything comes to an end at some point. Also a law of nature...

[dias]

15 minutes ago, dias said:

You really wouldn't want to be in the middle of a fight!!

Or between those jaws...

 

[Jibralta]

They seem so friendly-looking, but hippos are one of the most dangerous animals on earth!

[dias]

Grrrr, I caught a cold...it irritates me. I missed going to the office yesterday which is a shame because some colleagues had their name day and brought sweets and pastries and had a lot of fun. 

Last Friday we went for volleyball as a team bonding activity. Apparently, nobody knew but at least we managed to throw the ball over the net sometimes.  It was pretty fun though. Plus the company paid for after drinks as well...which wasn't the greatest idea as I got drunk lol. I had a very good time. 

Overall I have good colleagues. Of course, I don't like everybody but I always keep as*holes at bay and most of the time everything works alright. Truth be told, aside of the last isolated incident in my last job I never had an issue at work. Generally speaking, keeping stupid people at bay served me well all those years. My decision making skills are not the best but I manage to do this right. At least I manage to do one thing right. 

Now, this is the kind of job when you want something stable with relatively satisfactory salary. Not great money, not bad either, good office environment and working conditions. I do like it. However, you don't go very far like this. On the one hand I am satisfied, on the other hand I feel I will become stagnant in the long term. The thing is, aside from chasing the money as an employee or contractor do I have something better to do? No, I don't have any serious business ideas, my mind is empty. Where is my ambition? What do I do? That's all I will be in life? Just an employee? Is this the best I can do? 

The answer to the last question is probably yes. If I could do something more I would. It seems this is the best I can do. I am very disappointed in myself. 

 

[dias]

Interesting podcast.

Why I don't have any proper innovative idea myself..................? Grrr

[mylolita]

On 11/26/2022 at 6:27 AM, dias said:

Grrrr, I caught a cold...it irritates me. I missed going to the office yesterday which is a shame because some colleagues had their name day and brought sweets and pastries and had a lot of fun. 

Last Friday we went for volleyball as a team bonding activity. Apparently, nobody knew but at least we managed to throw the ball over the net sometimes.  It was pretty fun though. Plus the company paid for after drinks as well...which wasn't the greatest idea as I got drunk lol. I had a very good time. 

Overall I have good colleagues. Of course, I don't like everybody but I always keep as*holes at bay and most of the time everything works alright. Truth be told, aside of the last isolated incident in my last job I never had an issue at work. Generally speaking, keeping stupid people at bay served me well all those years. My decision making skills are not the best but I manage to do this right. At least I manage to do one thing right. 

Now, this is the kind of job when you want something stable with relatively satisfactory salary. Not great money, not bad either, good office environment and working conditions. I do like it. However, you don't go very far like this. On the one hand I am satisfied, on the other hand I feel I will become stagnant in the long term. The thing is, aside from chasing the money as an employee or contractor do I have something better to do? No, I don't have any serious business ideas, my mind is empty. Where is my ambition? What do I do? That's all I will be in life? Just an employee? Is this the best I can do? 

The answer to the last question is probably yes. If I could do something more I would. It seems this is the best I can do. I am very disappointed in myself. 

 

Dias! 

Don't you be talking like this now!

Hey, I'm just a glorified bum since I was 25, 26! I don't have an amazing business idea or some super super skill thing going on here! I haven't done anything to knock anyones socks off!

Just know it deep within yourself. It's not out yet. It's not the time!

Life is some crazy ride. Anything can happen. (I just got the theme voice over for the old school cartoon StingRay - "Anything can happen in the next half hour!"). You never know what you'll be walking into a year from now, the year after. Seriously. Don't be down on yourself. Look what you've achieved fitness wise. Hardly anyone can say that, they really can't, and dedicate themselves to it. Very admirable.

I won't hear of it Dias! HA!

x

[mylolita]

PS - looks like we were both drunk Saturday night!

Only difference is, I was hung over at a kids soft play Birthday party my babes got invited to the day after! That was a time, it really was! HO HO HO!

I snuck three of my daughters sausage rolls and felt better!!!

x

[dias]

On 11/28/2022 at 10:55 PM, mylolita said:

You never know what you'll be walking into a year from now, the year after. Seriously. Don't be down on yourself. 

Thank you for the positive reinforcement but there are days (or nights mostly) that it drives me crazy. I will be 31 on Sunday and nowhere near where I wanted to be in life. I can't sleep sometimes, I am fidgety, I am sad, I am disappointed, I am angry... and I shouldn't be because I have no reason to complain whatsoever. If anything I am ungrateful which makes it worse. 

[mylolita]

2 hours ago, dias said:

Thank you for the positive reinforcement but there are days (or nights mostly) that it drives me crazy. I will be 31 on Sunday and nowhere near where I wanted to be in life. I can't sleep sometimes, I am fidgety, I am sad, I am disappointed, I am angry... and I shouldn't be because I have no reason to complain whatsoever. If anything I am ungrateful which makes it worse. 

It’s okay Dias, I realise no platitudes of lil’ ol’ mine are going to mean too much when things aren’t what you expected.

 

Four months ago we had no money and were looking down the barrel at losing the house. It’s all flipped and gone the opposite way, now we’re like, what other houses could we buy?! It’s like the best year my husbands ever had, suddenly turned on it’s head, within only a few months.

 

It just ain’t over till the curtains close my friend, it really isn’t. 
 

What can I say? Don’t feel bad about wallowing. Everyone can wallow, and probably should, from time to time. You have good reason to be disappointed, if you are disappointed - that’s that. 
 

Birthdays are strange reflective times as well, so is Christmas. I personally despise my Birthday which, y’know it’s the 18th, us being Winter babies and all that jazz! 🥲 (Not reminding you but am).
 

Dias, most of my life has been lived only within 4 years. It’s okay! Take off the pressure from yourself. Sometimes things go wrong. You’re allowed to mess up, heaven knows I have. 
 

I don’t want to attempt to pep talk you when it is just seeming like useless hot air and I guess well, that’s like, 98% of everything I say so, I don’t blame ya 😉

 

Are you spending Christmas with family and friends? 
 

I mean, I understand if this is far too personal or private but, where did you ideally want to see yourself now, at 30?
 

x

[dias]

7 hours ago, mylolita said:

It’s okay Dias, I realise no platitudes of lil’ ol’ mine are going to mean too much when things aren’t what you expected.

 

Four months ago we had no money and were looking down the barrel at losing the house. It’s all flipped and gone the opposite way, now we’re like, what other houses could we buy?! It’s like the best year my husbands ever had, suddenly turned on it’s head, within only a few months.

 

It just ain’t over till the curtains close my friend, it really isn’t. 
 

What can I say? Don’t feel bad about wallowing. Everyone can wallow, and probably should, from time to time. You have good reason to be disappointed, if you are disappointed - that’s that. 
 

Birthdays are strange reflective times as well, so is Christmas. I personally despise my Birthday which, y’know it’s the 18th, us being Winter babies and all that jazz! 🥲 (Not reminding you but am).
 

Dias, most of my life has been lived only within 4 years. It’s okay! Take off the pressure from yourself. Sometimes things go wrong. You’re allowed to mess up, heaven knows I have. 
 

I don’t want to attempt to pep talk you when it is just seeming like useless hot air and I guess well, that’s like, 98% of everything I say so, I don’t blame ya 😉

 

Are you spending Christmas with family and friends? 
 

I mean, I understand if this is far too personal or private but, where did you ideally want to see yourself now, at 30?
 

x

I am happy things turned around for your husband and you, these are the greatest moments in life 🙂

It's not about money per se, I always invested in myself and my skills so will always be able to find a decent job and have good quality of life which is no small feat I acknowledge this, however, I imagined by 30 I would have been running a multi million dollar company in NYC or something. I use money in this case to quantify success in business, as a measurement, like when you say a football player scored X times... it's a huge difference to score 50 times and score 1 time. I wanted to do something big and I am not even close.....and the worst part is, deep down I believe I have the character for this. 

 

[mylolita]

51 minutes ago, dias said:

I am happy things turned around for your husband and you, these are the greatest moments in life 🙂

It's not about money per se, I always invested in myself and my skills so will always be able to find a decent job and have good quality of life which is no small feat I acknowledge this, however, I imagined by 30 I would have been running a multi million dollar company in NYC or something. I use money in this case to quantify success in business, as a measurement, like when you say a football player scored X times... it's a huge difference to score 50 times and score 1 time. I wanted to do something big and I am not even close.....and the worst part is, deep down I believe I have the character for this. 

 

Well Dias as you know, running a multi-million dollar company by time you are 30 would be a pretty out there and incredible thing. It normally takes quite a bit of time and build up for something like that, so if that’s what you wanted, your disappointment should have started in your early to mid 20s! 😜 Because, most people, if they have built a company by 30, were building it in their 20s! Unless, you get some incredible product idea or something or happen to strike incredibly lucky, it’s more like, very hard long hours for many years and then to the outside, it appears like it all fell in your lap but no one saw the 10 years before that! 
 

I mean, you know this, and the things you have accomplished already Dias are, as you say! You should be extremely proud of yourself, you really should. And I know that’s not good enough for you, but that hunger is a good thing, y’know.

 

I mean, I’m no one to talk, I’ve never built anything up in my life. But, I’ve noticed people who are successful, if you want to say financially and also even in their private personal lives, are deeply in tune with themselves and make no apologies admitting what they want, knowing they deserve it and going after it. They play to their unique skills as well, and incorporate this into all areas of life. They also keep going, regardless of set backs. They pick themselves up fast, don’t take it too personally, dust off. And my final observation is, they are risk takers, in some capacity. Not blind vegas risk but, educated, calculated risk. But it is taken, in some way, it’s the only way we move forward, privately and goal wise.

 

Am I just spouting all the cliches here under the sun? Easy for me to say? Being a housewife n’all!? I mean, you go full pelt and dedicated, focused to the max regarding your fitness don’t you Dias? You definitely know you have the work ethic and drive. 
 

Just tell me to shut up 🫡🌝🤣

 

x

[mylolita]

I will add another useless observation you already know as well!

 

I don’t know if you find this, but “business success” seems to be created in a build up. So one thing happens, they try this, then that, then this thing, then wham. It’s normally a building crescendo and all the while, on that curve you come across the dips and learn to handle them, and you learn quick and build on the good things you have, hone your talent(s). 
 

For example, my husband has been a sales person, an entrepreneur from out the womb, and I will say this is the case for nearly all salespeople. At 11 he was three timing the paper round news shops and lied to work the other two delivering three times the papers, and haggled his wages up with all three. Then at 14 he went into “business” with his best friend who was naturally gifted at art. They saved up their money to buy a cd copier which in the 90s I believe was quite new and expensive technology. He would go round the working mens clubs taking orders for illegally copied albums, they would copy them, his friend did the artwork for the covers, and they would undercut the average expensive album price of at the time I believe, £12-£15. At the end of his year of being 15 he left school and the part time glass collecting job he was doing at the same time as the cd sideline, and went in as a cold caller on the lines at a kitchen company.

 

He said it was brutal and soul destroying. You got put in front of a phone book and got told to start at the letter “A” and secure appointments for strangers to have new kitchens fitted. Within another year he was running the whole team there at 16 with the most sales ever made by a new employee, and the Director had him going around the country giving prep talks and telling others how to make the sales, along with writing the sales scripts, he ripped the old ones they were given originally up, and it worked as well! Even people who weren’t natural sales people, with his sales script, were increasing their sales.

 

Then he moved up to join director position, but then due to his hot headedness, fell out with the owner of the company. 
 

Then he jumped to a company that sold private number plates, back down to square one. And once again his sales spoke for themselves so the owner promoted him twice in a couple of months. But he didn’t want to sit on phones for the rest of, or in an office. So the year before this he had been going to antique fairs, and retro toy car boot sales, and had started selling these on eBay. EBay was still fairly new then. He was surprised by the mark up. He ensured after the year was up his small business was making enough then quit. He used to walk to car boot sales in the pouring rain, he used to bring everything back and hand wash it and photograph it.

 

Through a fluke he saw something at a fair once that gives hint to what he does now, which is so niche if I told you you’d be able to look us up. Anyway, through the years he increased his price, got bigger and better and upped the quality and prestige of what he was selling, hired admin staff and professional photographers, a proper web designer. He runs two websites now. 
 

All I am trying to highlight is, 20 plus years later, he started his official business, but has been grafting and honing everything since probably before he was even 15. 
 

And he will get comments like, I wish I could be home all the time. It does appear that way sometimes, because he mostly works from home. And he’s always said, anyone who has money is “always home”. It’s mostly true. But then he’ll go away when he has too, and do a concentrated very hardcore slog of hours. Actually, the main thing that has pulled him back I would say is having the kids. He naturally wants to be with them so much, so once the babies started coming, the drive to plough through everyday with work and what not, drained away a little. I think his priorities shifted, and that’s a good thing, it’s good. Because to be wildly successful like that, most people can’t have a happy work/home life balance. They often just aren’t there for their wives, their children. They are in later years but, I always say, you can’t have everything at once. I know people disagree with me saying that, but the more I observe, the more I come to that conclusion. 
 

x

[mylolita]

I will just say this, for my closing statement, not to spam your journal Dias and get on your ta tas 🥴 but that, success is doing what you set out to do.

 

The person who wanted to work their way up in a company and did it, is successful. The person who wanted to reach peak physically fitness and did it, is successful. The girl who just wanted to be a mother, and did it, (oh, mwah?!) is successful. The person who just wants a quiet simple life and enjoys themselves regardless, is successful. 
 

I don’t mean to be corny, but I think it’s true. I know plenty of people will hold me up to a yard stick and say well, she’s not “successful”, she doesn’t have a career or education. Well, I never set out for that and rejected it all before I even started. Have I done what I wanted to do, am I living how I want to live? Yes, 90% near to 100, yes. I am living out my dream. Our ambitions naturally shift to more and more, that is what it is to be human. I used to want a big gorgeous house and luxury items. I got that. Now I want land and a drive with roe deer that takes 10 minutes to get to the front of the house. Oh yeah?! You will naturally turn to other things, you really will. Part of the human psyche is to never be fully satisfied. I think if you are, I seriously envy that, and I want that golden advice actually! Because I think that lies in personality, and some people just are inclined to have that spiritual enlightenment sussed! 
 

I will definitely shut up now!

 

x

[dias]

Ok 31 today! Hmm 31 sounds a lot more serious than 30. Am I an adult now? I can't have fun with my playmobil anymore lol? 

It was quite a year I have to say. Many unfortunate things happened, many good things happened, it was a full year, it was productive and it wasn't, I traveled a lot, I learned a few things about life (I need to be more careful when I break the rules hahahaha), about my self (there are aspects I need to become more mature) about people (during difficult times there is no helping hand, plan ahead if you think things can go awry),  but in the end I would say it was quite a year!

Bro is in Singapore now, he sent me some photos, seems nice, I thought it would be more glamorous from what I had heard, maybe he didn't take photos of the fancy places who knows. Anyway, the good thing is, he is in the process of getting his green card and it seems (I haven't verified this yet) I as his brother could be eligible for a green card too or at least something which could open the US door. Now, I always keep my expectations low because usually things do not turn out the way I want so I am not getting excited. For the time being, I am staying in Athens and in a year or so I am planning to return to the UK. We will see, nothing is set in stone. I may end up as a Bedouin in Sahara desert lol

In the meantime I am looking for small apartments closer to work, well, mostly because I can't stand my parents intruding into my life. I want peace of mind for my thirty first year. And strippers, and sex lol. 

Cheers!

 

 

[mylolita]

58 minutes ago, dias said:

Ok 31 today! Hmm 31 sounds a lot more serious than 30. Am I an adult now? I can't have fun with my playmobil anymore lol? 

It was quite a year I have to say. Many unfortunate things happened, many good things happened, it was a full year, it was productive and it wasn't, I traveled a lot, I learned a few things about life (I need to be more careful when I break the rules hahahaha), about my self (there are aspects I need to become more mature) about people (during difficult times there is no helping hand, plan ahead if you think things can go awry),  but in the end I would say it was quite a year!

Bro is in Singapore now, he sent me some photos, seems nice, I thought it would be more glamorous from what I had heard, maybe he didn't take photos of the fancy places who knows. Anyway, the good thing is, he is in the process of getting his green card and it seems (I haven't verified this yet) I as his brother could be eligible for a green card too or at least something which could open the US door. Now, I always keep my expectations low because usually things do not turn out the way I want so I am not getting excited. For the time being, I am staying in Athens and in a year or so I am planning to return to the UK. We will see, nothing is set in stone. I may end up as a Bedouin in Sahara desert lol

In the meantime I am looking for small apartments closer to work, well, mostly because I can't stand my parents intruding into my life. I want peace of mind for my thirty first year. And strippers, and sex lol. 

Cheers!

 

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DIAS! 

Last wish could ping true, I’ll call the girls up - LOL! 
 

X

[mylolita]

Just dawned on me you’re the same age as my sister! 
 

(She’s one month older than you - ancient I know).

 

x

[dias]

2 minutes ago, mylolita said:

Just dawned on me you’re the same age as my sister! 
 

(She’s one month older than you - ancient I know).

LOL. Yes I remember. And you are the same age as my older brother (1989 right?) but his birthday is in June. Interesting coincidence. 

[mylolita]

4 minutes ago, dias said:

LOL. Yes I remember. And you are the same age as my older brother (1989 right?) but his birthday is in June. Interesting coincidence. 

Well not really LOL! Only joking Dias only joking! 
 

Yes December 1989 - year of the winner with super looks of course, oh wait, am I talking about your brother or someone else? 🤣

 

Age is just a number darling! 
 

x

[mylolita]

Ever did the Myers Briggs personality test?

 

Who’s invited to your party? 🥳🤣

 

x

 

 

 

 

[dias]

28 minutes ago, mylolita said:

Ever did the Myers Briggs personality test?

 

Who’s invited to your party? 🥳🤣

 

x

 

 

 

 

Hahaha you will always be the first one babe 😘 

[mylolita]

19 minutes ago, dias said:

Hahaha you will always be the first one babe 😘 

LOL! ENFP bringing the literal 🤣🥳🥳🥳

 

Well! I am honoured 🤩🥳🤩🥳🤩🥳

 

Must be an appropriate tune for your Birthday morning at the gym hahaha! 
 

x

[dias]

34 minutes ago, mylolita said:

LOL! ENFP bringing the literal 🤣🥳🥳🥳

 

Well! I am honoured 🤩🥳🤩🥳🤩🥳

 

Must be an appropriate tune for your Birthday morning at the gym hahaha! 
 

x

I didn't hit the gym, I did a bit of calisthenics at the park. I did manage to do human flag the other day, just for two seconds but it still counts!