Day 138

.. there's a good game on the telly, and it's in extra time, no time to write, Chelsea leads by 4-3 against Manu..

Day 137

I was 90% sure to be called to interview session for one of the job I applied. But the deadline is now gone and I did not received any invitation.

I can imagine only three possible options why I wasn't called:
a) I'm too old for the position (they might be after a "fresher" person)
b) I'm over qualified for the task.
c) my application was poor and I did not show enough interest for the position.

I'm getting a bit worried actually not been called to the interviews and not been able to find suitable and interesting positions in this area. I have woke up twice lately in the middle of the night and worried about the future, which is not typical for me.

On the other hand, I'm very optimistic person and I'm sure everything turns up just fine for me, just needs to be patient and keep the eyes open and positive mind ! ..and by saying that, I'll will go out and have a fresh cuppa and read the latest news via tablet PC and.. enjoy.

Day 136

We are living in the gadget-world; we have mobiles, laptops, internet connections, GPS, you name it. They should make our life easier, but does they. Lets take an example of the real world.

I live in Pori where I know most of the places, and still I carry my mobile with GPS on, tablet PC with WiFi connection on, The internet connection is always on via 3G network and it's fixed monthly price. Convenient, but could live without ? After all, the city is familiar to me; I know my location and the restarants and places.

One day I travel abroad, like to Budapest. After landing I turn my mobile on immediately, already in a plane of cause not to miss any possible or non possible calls or message or mails. The first set back is the internet connection via 3G, as it is far too expensive to use abroad. I should buy a prepaid SIM, but then I couldn't use my ordinary sim for incoming calls. Not an option.

It would be nice to get familiar with the city via map. I don't have a paper copy as it would be old fashion way and awkward to use, so I use a map via mobile, but that doesn not work because  an internet connection is needed to download the map of my location. So I need to find a place with WiFi to pre-load it. Found a coffee shop with free WiFi. Done, good. I go for a long walk and after 30 min I feel lost. I turn the GPS on to see where I am. But the GPS does not work; tall buildings around, no connection to the satellite. I walk another 30 min and finally GPS turns on, just to inform that I have walked to wrong direction all the time.

I'm tired, need to find a decent coffee shop to sit down and rest for a minute or two. Luckily I have this Trip Advisor application in my mobile and it has all the coffee shops in Budapest. But oh, I need a internet connection to use the application and its nice features. So I need a WiFi again. After 20 min of walk I find one, without any electronic help. I check other coffee shops around via this application, it shows less than 10 of them, in the whole city? Not including the one where I just sit, nor any of those I have already visited. Bloody handy application!

I turn off all the electronic gadgets and trust my eyes and keep on walking...

Day 135

Day 134

jo napot kivanok

you guys couldn't wait, but needed to dump this white stuff everywhere while I was away. Nice. I wonder what you might be upto while I am in UK. but before that I "enjoy" the white surprise for couple of days.

Day 133

the walking route, or the part of it, depends on the GPS and its mood.

The "star" sign is the home base, and the "blue arrow" presents the pub where I'm currently having a pint.

Day 132

I walked around, a lot, and tried to remember places where I have been previously. My first visit to Budapest was 21 years ago, part of InterRail tour with my friends. Travelling was a bit different on that time and buying a monthly train ticket across to Europe was the most convenient way of travelling. No common currency in Europe, no credit cards, but travel cheques, no Internet to check places or GPS for current location, passport checks in every border, and so on.

Has Budapest evolved to better during these 20 years?
We're stopped by the police in the peaceful evening and our passports were checked carefully; the taxi driver introduced a huge knife he has under the seat; we were caught by the inspector of the metro, ticket less, and the pride of 5 finnish markka was enough to let us go after an hour "interview".
 All that have changed since then, or have we  changed? :)

Day 131

a day in :

Day 130

70 days left... to get a job.

Statistics so far (what I have achieved during 130 days):
  * 5 applications sent out
  * 2 general responses: "selection process ongoing"
  * 0 interview
  * 0 personal contact
  * 390 cups of coffee
  * 11 scans of job markets (web)
  * 130 days of life experienced from the another angle!
  * 0 hope (?)


I have concentrated on a job market of Satakunta so far. There are not many vacancies open to be honest. I have excluded Pirkanmaa, and will continue to do so, until end of the year. If the situation continues to be too challenging, I will adapt my actions accordingly.

Day 129

The change... coming soon..

Day 128

Many bloggers are earning a "good" money, says YLE news today. Especially fashion bloggers get some extra, or even solid monthly income, via corporations and enterprises.

So now on, my blogs will follow a bit different style:

My Samsung mobile woke me up today and I enjoyed a breakfast with Satamaito milk and Fazer rye bread topped with Saarioinen ham. I scanned some local news by Satakunnan Kansa via Acer PC and popped in to Tutkimustoimisto Puosi web page to check, if any new eye movement studies done, and many other good pages like http://www.shoptravelfood.blogspot.fi/. I played two rounds of floorball, first int the morning and then in the evening, and my Excel stick worked nicely around the ball. And now I write my blog using Logitech keyboard and the Panasonic plasma TV delivers crispy picture of YLE news in the background.

.. and now the money should flow to my bank account, right?

Day 127

..Tottenham Hotspur - Chelsea FC .. West Bromwich Albion - Manchester City .. Norwich - Arsenal ..

huh huh.
It have been a long day with football; I'm knackered. First game at 3pm, then at 5pm, then at 7.30pm. It's quite demanding to watch all games in a row.. But N-I-C-E !

 

I lost 20 euros due betting and I have also been eating all the time. Not that N-I-C-E

Day 126

Would be nice to reach the interview stage one day.. and use the line above :)

Day 125

.... " Underlying operating profit at NSN jumped to 323 million euros from 6 million a year earlier, with cost cuts and rising sales helping to beat all analysts' expectations in the Reuters poll. The venture is in the midst of chopping annual costs by 1 billion euros, including 17,000 job cuts "

Hmm. And it was the best ever profit (during one quarter) in Nokia Siemens Networks history (~5 years).

I'm sure that Mixu, Ville and Jari will be treated with a huge cake served by the company tomorrow.  :)

More in English
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/10/18/nokia-results-idUKL5E8LIAX520121018?type=companyNews

and suomeksi
http://www.mtv3.fi/uutiset/talous.shtml/2012/10/1638085/analyytikko-nokiasta-ristiriitainen-tulos

Day 124

I've been planning a trip to Europe for some weeks not knowing where do I exactly want to land for a week or two. It would have been easier to decide, if Virpi would have some time off from work, but some of us must bring the money in.

Initially I had a plan to travel to Spain or south part of the France, but couldn't find the "best price" flights. The plan was to travel around the coast by train once down there.
Another plan was to have a flight to Budapest and stay there couple of days and few days in Croatia, again by train.
And the third plan is ALWAYS London! It's no need to have any specific plan once there, just live.

After days of battling I eventually picked up the safest option, London, again. Luckily I managed to get one ticket to Chelsea game, and will travel to some other parts of England, just outside of London though, not further. (I'm only staying 7 days). The target is football, and coffee shops and pubs. That's it.

I also booked the flight to Budapest; that's next week. Me and my daughter will visit my sister and her boyfriend for a 5 days period. It's a "cheap" option as we can stay in their house. And Buda is always nice and relaxing place. Target: just cool down, walking around, enjoy the atmosphere.

Day 123

It was a stormy weather today; perfect for staying in and for reading. Still I felt uneasy to stay in and forced myself to go out. I end up jogging, but it felt awful and I stopped after 25 min and turned back. And only after that I let myself to lie down and read, which continued till end of the day.

It's funny that I still feel uneasy to do nothing after all these weeks and months as unemployed; I'm not that bad as I used to be, but still way to go..

Day 122

Hahaa, I managed to get last minute ticket to Chelsea UEFA Champions league home game:

 

 

It's now sold out, but wasn't in the afternoon. Not the best seat in the stadium, but never mind. Now I need to flights and hotel in London. JIHUU.



Day 121

I finally jogged. It was great to see to be able to run without.. dying. I only did 6km, but it was a good start, no problems, pretty easy, boring though. Apart from my toes were in pain, more likely due to too small trainers. Lost another nail. Already have lost two due to floorball, it just happens to me when playing, always the same. Need to buy another pair of trainers, annoying, I would rather spend my money to something more sexy, like electronic.

I had some music in the background, Disco Ensemble. Great stuff this new record "Warriors". Try it, needs more than one or two rounds to get it. These guys are from Ulvila, which is close to Pori.
Disco Ensemble – Second Soul is the new hit, although it's not the best song in the album.
(YouTube server  is down so I can't attach link here).

Day 120

it's rainy evening, ässät won yesterday but lost today, leikola was fun whole 90min, received my certificate, done nothing today, planning a trip to south europe,staying home with virpi tonight, sauna, hospital visit, and.. tomorrow is another day.

Day 119

Friday 12 of October

Sorry again. I missed the day... and the blame goes to Maj Karma.. and Mr Ylppö... and then Juha Tapio.. via Spotify.. u c the pattern..  good night.. ZZZ

Day 118

Angry Birds are everywhere. We have three (3) Angry Birds parks for kids in Pori (Yyteri, Kirjurinluoto and the market square). Peter Vesterbacka (Marketing Manager of Rovio)  is from Pori, so basically it means that Pori is the home of Angry Birds, right? (Logical, isn't it.)

Day 117

When was the last time you laughed ? Not smiling, but having a good laugh?
It's my turn to have a laugh tonight:

I'll pick up Virpi after floorball training and we'll have some fun.

Day 116

08.30
woke up. News via tablet PC and telly, enjoyed together with a morning coffee. A strawberry smoothie. One kid has left to school, another one sick in bed (a restless night behind).

09.30
cycling to the public swimming pool, 8km. Swimming for an hour.

12-13.00
Coffee with friends between.

13-14.00
Cycling back to home via grocery.

14-15.00
Hoovering, laundering and cooking (smash potatoes with fish fingers).

15-19.00
Relax.

19-22.30
Giving a lift to my sister and her boyfriend to Turku airport.

Now,
back at home and watching telly.

Day 115

I haven't received any job offers or calls to interview so far, so I wonder, if I could start a new career as a.. photographer.. I could wander around the forest and take photos of the nature and its wonders.. with my Samsung phone.. and sell the photos to.. you..with a reasonable price... please

Day 114

It has been a very wet couple of days, actually the rain started on Thursday and it keeps pouring down, is it ever going to stop? There are some pictures in a local newspaper, if under your interest
www.sk24.fi and
 http://www.satakunnankansa.fi/Satakunta/1194770675367/artikkeli/tulvat+kiusaavat+satakuntaa+katso+lukijoiden+kuvat.html

I'm not too bothered, let it rain, I can stay in. Or, it wasn't that cool to cycle to the grocery at eight pm with all that rain and complete darkness.. so I'll change my mind and peg rain to stop.

Day 113

I didn't find me university certificate anywhere - I looked from the garage, attic, even under the bed. no sign of being maisteri. Eventually I made a call to the university itself and asked them to help me out. They kindly promised to check they records and send the missing certificate. Problem solved?

We visit my parents tonight and met my dear sister and her boyfriend there also.

btw, i did not eat those cheeses, they are not good, even though all the others were saying opposite..

Day 112

Friday 5th of October.

I didn't skip the day. But it was a busier day than usually and I missed the blog. There was a birthday party, ice hockey, friends.. and so on.

Day 111

I said "no more late evening snacks" couple of days ago. To be honest, I tried and next day with a great success! Day after.. not that good. And now, well, we only have one life and if I want to eat late (and get that "hey-look-I-have-a-football-in-my-stomach feeling) then fu** it and enjoy.

Day 110

October 3rd was like.. any other October 3rd... no comments, no news. Oh, the weather was good, there was a sun for our pleasure, a nice surprise..

Day 109

I found another pretty interesting job nearby. I called them and sent application out. This time I would expect to reach next stage, the interview. Let's wait a week or two.

I also reached my ex-boss and got some references from him; will be visible in my LinkedIn profile soon. Thanks Michael (if you ever are reading this blog) !

I still haven't found my old certificates of university, and some other education related. I must go to the garage and attic to check each and every box I find.

Day 108

1st of October.
Let's Ismo to say it:

Ismo Alangon Radio – Lokaa Ja Kuita for Spotify users (good sound quality)

and for those without Spotify:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmjcz1Rsqmg&feature=related