Thursday, August 30, 2007

Third more powerful force in the universe

"Timing is everything... it's the third more powerful force in the universe, behind gravity and inertia!" -- M. Biggerstaff

Saturday, August 25, 2007

There and back again...

Aside: this is a rough entry and very late. I've been busy lately. :)

OK, so a few things have happened since my last post. As I left it in the last entry, I had gotten kind permission from my (former - nice foreshadowing, eh?) employer to visit Sofia and work remotely for 4 weeks. That went very well both professionally and personally. I'm not sure everyone on my team knew I was working 8 timezones from then, since I was already working as a telecommuting employee.

After I returned from my four week trip to Sofia and to be with Lili, I had to decide: play is safe and stay in the states or take the option for "Love and Adventure." Hmm: decisions, decisions.

...

I arrived in Bulgaria July 31st, 2007, packed for a long stay. I had 90 days on a tourist visa so I had 90 days to find a job and get a work visa so I could say.

On August 3rd, 1 hour before a job interview, I fell, broke at least one toe (complex break) by falling on them and hyper extending them until, literally, the breaking point. Despite the break, I got to the job interview and landed a consulting job while working towards a work visa. To be fair, I had been working on this job opportunity for a few months.

By the next day, the swelling and bruising of the foot started. It's still healing as of this entry.

Lili and I took two trips out of Sofia, first to Trivarna (spelling?) to the north of Sofia and then to Devin to the south of Sofia. We also did a fair amount of work getting Lili's new flat habitable. While we still don't hot water (we don't take a bath, we take a bucket!), we have doors that close, a kitchen that works, internet that is pretty speedy and just got cable TV today. Soon, "the hot water must flow..."

I just finished my first week of work as a consultant with my new employer. It's a bit "lose and free" of a work environment but the purpose is to work. (This is contrast to a few jobs in my past which were overly corporate hierarchical in nature and made ineffective use of time, people and skill sets.)

OK, that's enough to let people know that I've not fallen off the ends of the Earth. I'm just a short 22 to 25 hour plane ride(s) way.

Note: speaking of planes, if you fly through Paris, check to see if the French teenagers on school fieldtrip to the US will be returning to Paris on that flight. If they are, rebook the flight or you won't get any sleep.

Another note: the airport in Paris isn't not user friendly. I'd advise flying through Amsterdam: at least they have signs to direct you and you don't have to guess as much. In Paris, I almost walked out the airport entirely due to lack of properly placed signs.