Το φιτρί αγόρι (colourful life)

It’s not so late to look back and see what happened during the time I spent (and I spend) in Greece. The main difference I can name is that Erasmus period is over. Therefore my time as a student has come to an end after 5 months in the TEI of Irakleio. I’ve learned a lot of things, mostly about life, and even it can be said “I don’t regret anything I did”, I guess some things I could do them better.

About friends, I made really good friends in Ioannina in summer 2006. I still meet them from time to time (Greece is really small sometimes). And also others from Irakleio during the same summer. The latter ones I find them by chance in the streets, I go walking and you see someone you think you know and…. One of the Greek guys from the Irakleio conferences. It happened twice to me and the same friend was with me, she can ratify it :P. I hope not to loose these old friends. Some times you make new ones and you don’t give to the old ones the time they deserve. I’m sorry. Even for those from Spain, form the university or from the library: many kisses from Athens

About… life status. Well, my life has changed from student, to unemployed, to worker in a big company as a code monkey. I had been working before, but perhaps I wasn’t working in the same way as now. As a teacher you do your time, and in your free time you prepare the lessons as you want. Some days it isn’t so much time, but others you stay until late. Perhaps was that kind of freeness I liked, and now I feel a bit trapped.

As a new life comes, it doens’t come alone, it comes with responsabilities, drawbacks but some advantages. One of those “advangates” is to be able to invite you friends and no so friends to have a coffe in what I name “my place”. So visit me, because I bought teas, and coffes and I cannot finish all of them by myself!

In the picture: Zubi, Kostas (greek hero) and me.

I guess it’s time to write something for all those friends that have a link here or even have me in their RSS feeds. At least to listen to this heartbeat and understand that I’m alive and I haven’t died abroad/here (choose the right for you).

I’ve been 2 months working in an ISP here in Athens. Despite the big company and the really good opportunities I still don’t have a workstation. In fact I have only a box and something you can name “screen”, but no keyboard, mouse, mouse pad or power cable. I work arround 55 hours per week and I get paid for 40, and even with that my work doesn’t get a defined course/direction/objective. Each week I end up tired and blaming myself for being so stupid and not doing anything, but each Monday I find a reason to continue (that gets destroyed by Tuesday/Wednesday).

We don’t use any kind of software engineering process, even we do not document a word (as a rule, lucky you if you find a comment). And we don’t have a really good plan to organize the work: you’re supposed to end an important project for the company one day but at the same time they do not hesitate in changing that idea to: fix something, develop another thing that has been in the shadow for weeks, or answer pathetic emails (pathetic but really really funny). The last thing that scared me is that the managers are trying to define their business logic from the software. I shouldn’t be the opposite? You define the logic and then build the software to support it.

Last week while I was blaming myself for being so stupid to accept those conditions I received a call from another company. I went to the interview and even for the same money (a bit more)… surprise, they don’t do overtime and if we do we can exchange for free time…. But for some of my managers “those companies doesn’t exist” Yeah! the reality of the coder that became codeer (because I cannot call that engineer). So even if now I live 3 minutes far away from my office, I plan to move to a new job 45 minutes far away. Am I stupid?

But I guess I should not come here only to swear a bit about “bad things”. This is also a nice space to talk about nice and great things. Like my small apartment I’ll post more pictures but this is me enjoying the IKEA sofa-bed (yes! you can come to visit me to Athens!) that took 3 weeks to arrive. IKEA sofa with IKEA tables (the 3 you can see), IKEA chair and library. (No, the notebook is not from IKEA, they cannot do something so good). Stella helped me a lot with the house, so this is her space to receive (another) big EFXARISTO!