Examination subject: ME!

Sorry everyone, for my silence. There has just been several things going on that I need to prioritise first, so I haven't had too much time to log in and make a new post. I still have to make a post on Ivy's 30th birthday bash from two Saturdays ago, so I know I am quite behind... .

I've been busy sending out job applications, had an interview last Monday, have another BIG and intense one on Wednesday that I really want/need to prepare hard for, then one with my company on Thursday in relation to the new home-working position...so my hands are quite full.

It's amazing how it feels like I'm preparing for an examination when I prepare answers to highly potential interview questions. The examination subject: ME!

Come to think of it, it was actually quite good practise for talking about me and my achievements during our company's performance appraisal sessions that started 3 years ago. I had to put down in words and numbers my achievements for the year, the goals I had reached, provide concrete examples and proof, talk about my strengths, my weaknesses (or "opportunities", as they call it), etc, etc.

I don't usually like preparing for and going through these appraisals...and especially when I have to talk about myself, it feels like bragging. "I did this and I did that, I'm good at this and I'm good at that, I am this and I am that." It's great to hear people praise us, especially our managers, but it's quite difficult to praise yourself without sounding like you're full of it, isn't it? But well, now I can be glad to have gone through it twice a year for 3 years so that it can now be a sort of foundation in my interview preparations.

Anyway, for the record, I had exceeded my performance 3 years in a row, ever since we started doing performance appraisals at my current company. And hey, I'm not bragging here; I'm just preparing myself for my interviews on Wednesday and Thursday by being a bit "full of it" now ;o).

New job possibility!!!

I have a new job possibility!!! But there's a catch: I NEED YOUR SUPPORT IN ORDER TO GET IT!!!

It'll be perfect for me because if I get it, then I'll start only after December, so that means I will still be able to work here at my current company during November and December like they want me to, and in order to get my full compensation plus bonus for the year 2008.

Please therefore watch this clip in order to make your decision whether to support me or not. Every one of your support counts!

And for those who question my roots, I might as well tell now the secret that I've kept deeply buried for almost all of my life: my birth name was "Pocahontas", and I am more native American (read Red Indian) than the majority of people in America who call themselves Americans, so yes, I am by birth right, qualified for this new job.

Anyway, it's a really different "industry" than the tourism one that I've been in for more than 10 years now, but the key word is *CHANGE*, isn't it? So yeah, that's why I've decided to give this a shot :o).

Thanks in advance for all those who will support me! I love you all! Muuack!

Tallin, Estonia

Am now back from my business trip. It went very well indeed, and it was great fun to have gone on it with my colleague, friend and mahjong buddy, Shi Hua :o). Well, I'll just put up pictures from Tallin in this post because I didn't take anything in Helsinki and Stockholm. Didn't do any sightseeing in either capitals, but I've been there many times before already anyway so it didn't matter to me.

But Tallin - now that was a new place for me to "check out". I had been to Riga before, and Tallin feels quite similar to Riga with the buildings, streets, people and all. And believe it or not, Estonia used to belong to Denmark! Vikings were all over, that's for sure... . Not sure what happened afterwards though, since they're now one of the smallest countries in Europe now, and even though Greenland still belongs to Denmark, it's not quite habitable, is it? Eskimos...or Greenlanders look more Asian anyway... .

We only had a few hours in Tallin, so we walked around only in the Old Town. Had taken a 2hr ferry across from Helsinki to Tallin in the morning, spent the afternoon walking around, then took an overnight cruise from Tallin to Stockholm. Both ferries were operated by one of our major cruise suppliers at work, Tallink Silja.

Here are pictures from Tallin then. Quite a lot, so be prepared.

The ferry from Helsinki to Tallin.


We had the very comfortable business lounge.


Tallin's old town from afar.


Cosy streets


Cobbled and narrow.


A new-ish-looking building in the old town.


This is the close up of St. Olav's church that you see in the earlier picture of Tallin from afar.


City Hall in the town square.


The buildings around.


Some restaurants too.


Up some steps to find a Russian Orthodox cathedral.


Walking towards the light.


Found it! Alexander Nevsky Cathedral.


Russian cathedrals are easily distinguishable by their onion shaped tops.


Inside the cathedral.


There was a wedding going on. What a beautiful couple.





Don't wear high heals to walk in this old town! You'll not get very far walking on these cobbled streets.


Interesting clock in the wall.


At a restaurant's entrance.


One of the many colourful doors in Tallin.


Another one here - Shi's size.


Found another one. So pretty! But wonder why they're all Asian-sized. Did Estonia maybe belong to China at some point in history ;o)?


Ok...here's an interesting street name, because in Danish, "pik" is a slang for the male anatomy that females don't have, and this one is size 50(cm?). Does size matter ;o)?


And here's another interesting street name. "Piss copy"?


Cute plant holding thingy at a pork restaurant.


Who said I can't drink?


Took M/S Romantika (the white ship) to Stockholm.


Yeah, size really DOES matter!


Our buffet dinner onboard.


Yummy... .





Dessert - the best part!


Cheese should not be under the umbrella of "dessert"!


A more professional entertainment show that we watched for ½hr after listening to young, drunk Estonians singing karaoke in another bar area.





Not Jack Sparrow!

That's all folks! It's good to be back! Btw, Denmark won Malta 3-0 in yesterday's group qualifying match for the World Cup! Woohoo! They're top in their group still. On a sadder note, Portugal didn't beat Sweden :o(. Score was 0-0, so they're 3rd in the group. Don't like that because I want Denmark and Portugal to be the top 2 and qualify. Anyway, there are still many games to go, so things can still change.

Need sleep... .

I have to get up at 06:15 tomorrow to catch my flight to Helsinki, yet I am here blogging at 23:22. My body refuses to accept that tonight should be different from any other night, but it is going to regret being so stubborn when the alarm rings tomorrow at the ungodly hour of 06:00.

Anyway, will be in Helsinki tomorrow for a meeting with a supplier, spend the night there, then take a fast boat (2hrs) over to Tallin, Estonia, spend a day there, then take the overnight ship from Tallin to Stockholm, then straight to the airport to fly back to Copenhagen on Saturday.

And back to Copenhagen on Saturday I must, because Denmark is going to play against Malta in their next World Cup qualifying match, and I have an invitation to that game at the stadium :o).

Well, it's 23:40 now, so whether my body likes it or not, I'm dragging it to bed. It'll thank me for it tomorrow.

New Presidential Poll

It won't make any difference to the real voting in America come 04 November 2008, but I'm curious to see who my blog readers will choose between the 2 candidates if they could. There is no option called "neither of the above" in my poll because it's kinda understood that if you won't vote for either of them, then there's no need to make a vote ;oP.

I don't normally make a vote on polls that I create, but I'll make an exception on this one and be the first to vote OBAMA!

I'm late, I'm late, I'm late!

I overslept a whole freakin' hour today!!! And I didn't even know it until after my shower! I almost couldn't believe it, but after checking with other clocks in the apartment, they seemed to be agreeing with each other so I had to accept the reality.

But seriously, I still don't remember snoozing the alarm clock that many times. The bedside clock is 15mins ahead of time, and it always rings (or to be more precise, plays a radio channel) at 08:15hrs "Sheila time". I usually snooze it, then it "rings" again 10mins later (08:25hrs), so I snooze it a 2nd time, then it "rings" again at 08:35hrs, then I give it a 3rd snooze, and at 08:45hrs, that's my real "wake-up" time. Sometimes 09:00hrs. That's the typical weekday morning routine.

So this morning, I only remember snoozing it 3 times as usual, not more. I turned the alarm off at 08:47hrs (or rather, I only saw the "47" part of the time, but then again, without my glasses or contacts on in the morning, a digital "9" could very well look like a digital "8"). I took my shower, came out at the "usual" 09:05, looked at my wristwatch on my dresser (with contacts on by now) to see how much time I've got, saw that the minute hand was showing "05", then had a rude awakening when I saw that the hour hand was pointing at "10"!

Stared at it a couple of seconds more to be sure I wasn't imagining things, checked the alarm clock, and it was also showing "10"! Checked the time that was set for the alarm, and it was correctly showing "08:15" (so it wasn't that it was set wrongly). Woke Martin up yelling "IT'S TEN O'CLOCK!!! I OVERSLEPT!!!" Called in at the office to inform that I'll be very delayed (yes, I told them the truth - that I overslept).

So yeah...I got ready for work at my usual pace, made it to the bus at the "usual time plus 1 hour", and made it to work by 11am. If we could just set our clocks back 1 hour to winter time today, I would've been right back schedule ;o).

It did also cross my mind that if I was already working from home (based on the new contract at work, if I accept it), then hey, I could have just started working while still wrapped up in my bath towel and not panic about being "late" for work. That's something to consider, ain't it ;o)?

Anyway, I still have a few overtime hours to clear at work before the end of this year, so I'll just deduct my 1hr late start from that.

And I still remember only snoozing 3 times instead of 9 or 10 times... . This is too spooky.