Finally, finally, finally I landed in the land of England to settle down in this new country and i have to say that I really love it. I started the new job on Monday October the 5th and so far everything has been really lovely. Nice people in the office, good boss and professional challenges lined up for the next future. I'm working for this company as  L3 NOC engineer, speaking 4 languages (Italian, Spanish, French, English) in order to support digital cinema deployment and installations across Europe, did I already mention that i love it?

Obviously job is not the only thing and I moved in with Gerard, these first weeks have been very good and i have to say that being under the same roof makes the things VERY different and much better. He's a lovable person and now I can see how close we are, the feeling is unbelievable and wonderful.

In addition to that we started an healthy run trying to lose weight and so far we have been doing pretty well. I subscribed to the same gym where Gero was going and we've been sticking to a swimming plan, we play tennis together and we share the cardio gym sessions. It makes the things much easier and it's so lovely to see two fat whales trying to work out. We're eating much better too and i'm doing all the cooking managing to put some more mediterranean diet on the table and it is working good. We feel much better now.

Lot more to type but i'm getting tired and time for me to get in the bed and shag like there's no tomorrow sleep a bit.

I have always liked tattoos and I am currently planning for my new one. So far i just have two of them on me: a banshee and a celtic symbol i've chosen for its harmony and meaning. The banshee is on my left arm and the other one is on my back, pics can explain better the style:



I have decided to get another one on my right calf, some sort of a sock. I want to combine part of the italian emblem with a british symbol but i want it done in a colorful way. The source images i am working on are the ones you see below and the tattoo will be done by Alex Binnie here in London. Looking forward to see how he will manage to merge these two main drawings.

Have you ever looked at people with a lot of qualifications and think that you will never be the same, putting yourself down?

Let me specify that this post is not meant to be a sad complaint about life or anything that has been written during a bad mood wave, just a thought i had looking around and reading other people's post.

What i can say is that sometimes i've been listening to people and i've been watching how hard they achieved things and qualifications. In my personal experience i left college and have not been able to catch up with it after a lot of years but i have always felt like that was the right decision to take. Somehow now that decision doesn't sound like the best anymore and it's starting to bother me.

Don't get me wrong, i've ben able to find my position at work and in my life even without a piece of paper but sometimes i feel like i am missing something and when i read about others' big brains i'm taken by a knowledge wave and i put myself in the most proactive mood planning to do this and that and become basically a superhuman. Then my ego comes back to earth and i realize that, yes, i am not graduated but i feel like i've achieved quite a lot already for someone my age. I look at my past, a short one considering how young i am, and i can honestly said that i recorded five albums, i am responsible to few countries in my job, i have become a paramedic and worked on ambulances, i learned four foreign languages and i use them daily, i have managed to play in a big volleyball team when i was seventeen... the same team that in 2009 become the italian champion in the major league, i planned a move to another country and i achieved it, i found a man i deeply love and who is the world for me. Everything before i even became 30 years old.

So, why other people's success still makes me feel envious and jealous? I've come to realize that i am just a very competitive person and i don't like to be second. Can be frustrating but i always want to reach the highest levels and succeed at them, even if when you fall the bruises last longer. The higher you go, the harder it hurts.

Sometimes i wonder: should i lower my expectations and enjoy things more or am i on the right path to become a good man?

I don't know.

At this stage I just need to wait a few of weeks and I will be finally flying to Britain, London. I'm having a lot of mixed feelings if I think  I am leaving Italy in the end. I'm VERY happy to have made this decision and i really believe that it is the best choice I could have taken considering the situation that the "Bella Italia" is living these days (actually I am not even sure I would still consider Italy as "Bella", sounds so old fashioned).

There's a recurrent thought crossing my mind these days and it is the fact that I am sure I will miss my friends here, my family and all the nice contacts I have made so far but on the other hand I think I won't be nostalgic about leaving such an average and corny country like the one I am putting my steps on now.

A lot of times I read on italian newspapers about the "fughe di cervelli" a term that defines people with a huge culture and the most respectable professional background who decide to leave the country because they can't find any sign of progress or chances to develop a career here in Italy. Personally I don't consider myself one of those individuals but the feeling of living in a stuck country kept up only by the historical strength and pride that came from ancestors  (and that it has already been forgotten by a flock of filthy politicians) is something I am experiencing on my skin on a daily basis every time I have to deal with the concept of technology, my job.

( Cut For Brevity - Hard Complaints )

Oook, i know i already spoiled it on my last post but now it is 200% official. Last week i had a flight to Uk to meet the new employers and to run a final technical interview. Three people in front of me placing technical question and i really think i nailed them. I kept myself quiet and answered to everything, more or less. After that Session i had a chat with Hr representative and my new boss about the general traits of the role and all the details.

After: 
- One phone interview
- Spoken/Written french test
- Spoken/Written spanish test
- Technical Windows system/servers/network test
- Linux Administration test
- Technical interview with VP Operation, VP Engineering, Head of it

 

 

I can finally call that job mine. The offer has been done and i have already accepted it.
I will be a L3 Multilingual Support Engineer working in the digital cinema industry, how cool.
Last but not least i converted the monthly gross salary in euro (from british pounds), calculated the taxes and then made a comparison with my current net salary. After this simple proportion made in absolute value i realize i got a 63% raise. Though London is more expensive than Milan but it's still a bloody 63%!!!

What to add... I'm VERY happy.

Seems like the office is the perfect place to write a new post especially if the office has become a place where i am slacking around since i resigned from this position just a few hours ago. I feel liberated and very good, this company drained me and the last months have been terrible with a constant feeling that i really didn't like to work here, no more. I gave my letter and explained the situation, politely, but in side i was screaming something like: "FUCK OFF", or something similar. I spent the last three weeks in London and finally a new job came out: i'm going to become a L3 Engineer supporting MS systems and bespoke digital cinema softwares and infrastructure. The company installs cinemas across europe, provide worldwide streaming facilities and support, manage the encoding from the studios (American and independent ones from other locations) and more and more. I will probably start the first week of october and will have to stay away for four weeks in order to be trained in about topics related to digital cinemas and its infrastructure and management. Not to mention that i am very happy about it considering also a big increase in the salary, during this bad times it helps a lot. Last but not least things with Gero are going on great and i am really looking forward to move in with him. This three-weeks-in-a-row test trial went very good and i am looking for more now. Wish me luck! 

It has been a while since my last post and there are many many reasons. First of all the time, i have been very busy with my studying for the Ccna certification (which i failed... sigh). I have been hospitalized for a small issue with my throat but it is all fixed now. Last but not least i left my apartment in Milan and moved back to my family in Piacenza, my city of origin. I spent the whole day packing and moving things between my own apartment and the family house. It has been a very long day started at 6.30am and i am very happy that it is finally finished. I am sitting on my former bed in the room where i grew up, the same room i left three years ago to go living on my own. I can say after all that it has been a wonderful experience that has given me a lot to learn. I tested my independence and my limits and even if sometimes it has been hard i am very glad i did it. After all i didn't move back with Mom and Dad (and Emanuela, my beloved sister) to stay here forever. I am moving to London in the last part of September and i decided to come back here in July to save some money and to spend time with my family for a few months before leaving to another country and finally be together with my handsome man. Step by step i'm getting very closer to that date and it really feels good. Now i just need to relax a bit since i can barely keep my eyes open, tomorrow will be good instead to go swimming and from monday i need to get my head on the books again in order to study more and fix the issues that caused my failure in yesterday's exam. Already booked a session in London and hope to do much much better. So far, all good and no complaints :)))

Sometimes ago someone within my friends posted a link about a site that displayed silly self shot gay pics with horrible backgrounds...

Link anyone? 

Time for a change. After few months of honored services part of my goatee became redundant and decided to re-organize my face. Not a big change and not a great post either but i was bored and had to tell :))) 
Have a lovely week end.

Ouch, i was stepping close to an Ice cream truck and i lost my wallet. I had to duck to get it on the floor and when i got back to my standing position i hit my head against some sort of a steel net he had hanging close of the tiny truck itself. As a result i got two long cuts on my head that kept bleeding for twenty minutes before i could feel the pain soothing a bit.

Capital letters: O U C H ! ! ! 

Well, it seems like the time to make a change has come and i finally decided to resign from my house rent to prepare to move to Uk. I called my landlord a coupe of days ago telling him that i will keep the apartment until the last week of July, just before i go to London for three weeks to check the last things i need to focus on before the final move. I admit i had some sort of a panicky evening after that phone call and i was getting a bit nervous. I know that it won't be a jump in a pitch-black horizon but was a bit scary and exciting thinking that in less than three months i will be in a different country with a brand new beginning. I am sure i deserved this change and i'm happy to think that lots of good things are due to come in the next weeks. I had a chat about that with my family and they seemed to be happy for me, they already knew i wanted to leave Italy so it wasn't a big shock for them. The only who who seemed to be a bit down about this decision was Mom but in a typical Italian-mommy stereotype i wasn't surprised as i know her and i know that she sticks to the common image that everybody has about our "Bella Mamma". My father, instead, seems happy about my change and i am sure i know from what that feeling comes from. When he was young he was offered to move to Belfast, Northern Ireland, but my grandad didn't want him to leave so he denied him the chance to move and i am quite sure he now doesn't want to to the same he had to experience with me. I will have to fix the job situation soon giving in my notice period but i will provide more details about that in future, Mom is in the kitchen preparing something nice for his baby and who am i to let her wait? :)))

Sometimes i would like to be able to read other people's mind in order to understand which are the thoughts that generate some behaviors. I've been noticing something bothering, at least in my opinion. I've seen a few people that suddenly quit talking to me just because i am partnered. I mean, ok that we were living in two different continents and ok that it was cristal clear that we would have never met in the short term, hence no "action" or such. On the other hand why quit speaking to someone just because you feel you have no chances to get laid especially if the both of you two spent many years chatting almost on a daily basis? I'm sure i've been clear enough since the beginning about my intentions and i'm always surprised when things like these happen. Sometimes i really can't understand people and i wonder what's inside those tiny little heads that claim to have a brain inside. After all i'm happy and i don't think it was my loss.

So, one year passed since i met the man who popped into my life and made me a happier person. March the 30th 2008 gero came to Italy for the first time and i think that it was love at first sight, at least for me :))) Since then a lot of things happened even if one year is not a very long time-frame. We went through a lot of very good things and some down-moments too but who hasn't them? I took Gero to the Theme park as planned and we had a great time- It was just so lovely to see him amusing himself and smile all the day. We basically spent the day hopping from a ride to another and it's funny that the only picture we decided to buy was the one on a rollercoaster where nobody else sat on our coach... afraid of screaming gay couples? Just after the rides i tok him to a thermal resort and i was amazing. View on the lake, Jacuzzis, hot water in the pool, a nice breeze outside and holding my man hand to hand most of the time. We definitely relaxed and enjoyed. I loved to watch Gero completely asleep aside me on the drive back home, he looked so cute and chilled. After the full day out we spent most of the time at home and relaxed dining out in nice restaurants and meeting my friends. I really loved every single minute of it, but that's  not a big news :))) Today we're having a slow day and we're enjoying some easy time at home playing videogames and such. I'm also trying to find a good site where Gero can learn the basics of the Italian Language. He's trying to get involved in my language and i have to say he's doing good for an absolute beginner. I also gave him a couple of baby books in order to remember the alphabet and the very first words one can face (no, cock is normally not included). As i type i am watching him playing some Battlestar Galactica on the Xbox360 and it's funny to see how he can get lost whenever a sci-fi related topic comes out, whatever it is. My precious little geek :)))

Hello crowd, please welcome on LJ my boyfriend Gerard (babwl ). He decided to open an account and start type something (not sure he published something already). Please be gentle or be dead :)))

I'm currently late and need to run out, a longer post with some good news in on the way! Cheers

It's always very good to be able to keep a nice sunny sunday for yourself, innit? I woke up at 9am this morning and decided that i wouldn't have done much with my day today. Nothing more than the regular chores one is supposed to do when living on his own at least. The washer is going and i'm here on my bed under the chilly breeze moved by the fan. Outside is very hot today and even if i'd like to grab my bicycle and have a ride in the park i think i will skip it :)))

Yesterday was my last lesson and i can finally say i finished the course i started back in November. Now i need to put a lot of efforts in the next three weeks and prepare myself for the certification exam. Want it to be a good one, my job career relies on that piece of paper too.

It will be cool to have Gerard coming over this week, missed him quite a lot and i'm planning a few nice things with him (yes, those too, might be in the list... you dirty minds!!!).

Enjoy your Sunday, i am surely doing it :)))

Edit: At the end i decided to take my bicycle and have a ride in the park. Spent about one hour and half and i'm happy i did it. Outside was probably the hottest day we had so far but it was pleasant, even if now my legs are sore...

In about a week my big man is going to arrive here and so i'm trying to arrange something nice. We both like theme part hence we'll enjoy a day at the Gardaland park. I'm more than sure that we will have a nice time there. Considering that the park is near one of the nicest Lake we have in northern Italy and knowing that it closes at 6PM that day i decided to look for something to do during the evening. The lake is wonderful and the natural enviroment if just as great: i decided to take him to a thermal resort where you can enjoy jacuzzis and a huge warm pool until midnight. You can have a nice relaxing bath and enjoy the night scenery provided by the lake. I think that would be very lovely. See some pics below.

Once again it's Monday and i hate it as always, what a news. Arrived here at the office around 7am because i wanted to avoid the rush hour on the train and was more than willing to have a quiet commute, even if it's only 20 minutes. My week will be quite busy as i'm starting to prepare for the final run about my certification class (i'm attending a Cisco Academy Class to become a certified network engineer, wish me luck). The final exam is set for June the 13th and i want to stick to that date. It would be a big mess if i delay it, and i don't want to.

I spent the week end in a very lazy way at home: downloading tv series, checking the internet, studying and eating. It wasn't the best week end either as i had a small argue with Gerard but nothing major and i'm sure thing will be fixed today after a good talk. We had more difficult times and this is really nothing compared to other things, good communication always works wonders :)))

I know i am late but i never followed television that much hence don't be surprised if i say i have watched a couple of tv-series during the week end for the first time: Dead Like Me and Dexter. Both brilliant even if in a different way. First one was very funny and i really liked it while Dex instead is truly wicked, hence i loved it more! Need to catch up with those two a bit in my spare time. If i only had spare time.

Last but not least today's my sister's birthday and i think i'll end up with a long phone call with her during the day. My little precious.

Well, it's 8.36am and i think it's time to get my hands dirty and do some proper work. Enjoy your day too, wherever you are.

It has been a while since i sat here and made a proper post so it's time to move my fingers and type something consistent. Now that the Spring came out and the weather is getting better i am feeling more willing to do things and i would say i've passed the Winter apathy that i normally get during the cold months. I'm starting to go to the gym again but i am definitely not anal about it, i'd rather prefer to have a walk outside and enjoy a move in other ways, outdoor. I'm trying to walk a lot as it's also good to keep my blood going and it helps with my attempts to lose a bit of weight. fortunately enough i'm not morbidly obese but i am sure that a little less weight on me would surely help (for the record i'm 6'2 x 260lbs, or something very close to that). What i really need to focus on is to train myself to eat better and it's funny that i'm challenging Gerard to do the same. Ever watched a program called the Biggest Loser? We've put our slimming process on a challenge, just to laugh and to motivate each other. On the job side nothing much happened lately as i am still working for the same company but unfortunately redundancies took place here too and all my friends are now gone. I am working alone in a whole empty floor and it's not the best way to manage your day to day time. On the other hand i am trying to move to Uk and it's seems that my efforts are paying off a little bit: i'm starting to receive job offers or at least interviews invitations, time will tell. It's also very nice that i got my annual leave plan approved so now i can book flights and manage my time off being sure that it won't change. I'm very pleased to know that i will have three weeks in a row off this summer, which is great news... now i just need to check with Gero if there's any destination we want to hit together!

No Explanation Needed.