Our Furfriend Nina: Just an Update

Hello Guys!
How you´re doing?
I´m doing great. I have a great cat life.
My master got me this great office chair, like hers, really great for naps :)
You see, I got my own house in the balcony but, when master´s in a good mood, she lets me stay inside and have great naps in the couch or, near her, in my office chair. I just adore this chair, I clean myself, stretch my legs and just relax while master plays with that black thing with buttons.
See you :)

School Nostalgia

As I mentioned before, I finished my Psychology degree last Winter.
Once I finished with 16 as average grade, I could begin a Masters the same year but due to my financial situation after breaking up I had to quit this idea and look for a job.
In University of Algarve, a Masters is the second cycle of "Bologna" which lasts for two years. The second year includes a Master´s Thesis and Academic training. In my area, this second cycle, or a professional training period, is essential to become professional.
Oh...I miss my school days. I had a lot of work to do but I enjoyed every bit of it. I remember spending long hours researching websites, looking for articles, scientific magazines, PDF paperwork published online on that topic found trough a pdf search tool, doing Power Point presentations and 50 pages of literature revision, case studies, etc.
When I do something I really enjoy, I don´t get sick of it that easily. What excited me the most was learning trough research, maybe the learning process itself or the "insight" and realizing new knowledge would enrich my thinking. Saying in other words, putting my neurons working. I think I´ll be forever a student, a sponge... absorbing. It´s a pity I can´t follow my studies right now, maybe someday I´ll be able to return. Until then, I´ll put my neurons working trough blogging :)

Music: Coldplay

My new car doesn´t have a CD player!
Shh.. that´s something I used to have in previous cars. That´s what you get for changing a 2004 Ford for a 2000 BMW :)
Before my CD´s era, I managed to gather a good number of tapes which, most, I still have. I even have most of the vinyl music & story records I used to hear in my childhood. No, I´m not old...I´m just from pre videotapes and 48k game computer era, lol.
So..once I get a bit bored of hearing the radio all time, yesterday I went trough my tapes and selected a few to hear in the car. I picked Cold Play and Eric Clapton.
Tonight, I was wondering if Coldplay have new musics and checked their official page. I guess there´s nothing new from them but I came across this "Lost" version I hadn´t seen before... I tend to look for live videos first.



Good Week :)

Blogging Projects

In the past weeks, I´ve been thinking about my my current blogging goals and trying to reach some decisions I´ve been delaying.
Two of my blogs need to be reformulated, both need a new direction that will influence not only it´s content but also it´s current link structure.
In one of the blogs, I didn´t perform any changes yet because of SEO purposes but I´ll have to do something about it very soon. My plan is to delete personal posts and create a new content direction using a good part of the content that I already have there.
In the other blog I need to renew the domain, change the template and go back to it´s initial content focus. Both tasks require some time so I predict some night hours of work for the months ahead.
I´m expanding my Portuguese blogs as well. I already have two blogs of totally different topics that require some work but I´m thinking about starting a third one in the "saving money" niche. I´ve been researching it´s search engine optimization possibilities and I think it could be a good project. I enjoy blogging about Personal Finances topics and in my language there´s a reasonable number of monthly searches and low competition. I already wrote some content and now I think I´m ready to start the blog. It will require time but without work nothings is easily achieved, right?

Blogger Status & Trivial Stuff

Hello everyone!
This week, I can say TGIF :)
After a week of different schedule shifts, I´m having a whole weekend off. A weekend off from my job and from my parenting role, my daughter is spending this weekend with her father.
Summer is arriving to Algarve. I already wear t-shirts and, during the day, I don´t use a jacket anymore. In my opinion, the weather here now isn´t hot enough for swimming in the sea. Well, some people already do it but not me, I get too cold. Right now, I´d rather go to the beach to catch some some sun or some shellfish, Conquilhas ou Berbigão, as we call it.
A day at the beach or a picnic sounds like a great idea for weekend plans but with the pile of clothes I have to iron and sort out, I´d rather stay at home. Looking to my shift´s schedules, next week will be a tough one as well so I must do my house-chores and all the cleaning before it starts because I´m sure I won´t have much free time during week days.
Once the night already ended... it´s almost morning, I guess I will sleep a good part of Saturday. Due to my night owl online sessions, this week I felt tired. I´ve been waiting for this break the whole week to turn my phone off, specially the alarm clock and just...hibernate...ha!
Good Weekend to all!

Last Week´s Resume: Pope Visits Portugal & Some Politics

After a small hiatus, I´m back. Needless to say...busy working & my crazy shifts.
I don´t blog much about politics but sometimes, like today, I feel like making a few sarcastic comments about the state of things.
Last May 13th, the Pope visited Portugal and, in the same week, while people were distracted with the celebrations, government raised taxes and made a cut in unemployment monetary help. Two remarkable events Portuguese won´t forget so soon...
Well... the Pope was very welcome in Portugal. Rest assure because he was much better received than Dalai Lama. The Government even gave some public workers a day off.
In the past years, with the economical downturn, things have been pretty difficult for Portuguese people. Public workers wages have been frozen, 11% unemployment rate, factories closing and many layouts, specialized workers and people with degrees (like myself) doing non specialized jobs and earning the minimum wage, negative inflation. As consequence of this situation, and the reigning consumerism spirit, many families are in over-debt or having a hard time paying all bills.
This non popular "tighten your belt" measures for low and middle class workers only confirms the theory that it´s the poorest which pay the crisis. We´ve been in Europe´s tail for a long time and not only by the country´s geographical position. I guess we won´t leave this bottom position so soon.
In this sunny corner of Portugal, I´m having another busy week at work.
A good week ahead for all Night Clicks fellows!

Image - Santuário de Fátima: Cesar Redondo

Nothing as Planned

My weekend was very different from what I had in mind. Friday was cloudy but in Saturday rained all day. So, no beach for us...this time around. I spent my days off at home, cooking, resting & some other family stuff :)
My working week started Sunday. The day the red football club became this year´s national champion.
This week started with rain and it looks it will continue. It´s not cold but it rains, kind of a tropical weather. Our weather is not what it used to be...ummm, topic for a huge post here.
I´ll only have a day off next Thursday, an important day as well. Today, I have a morning shift, I should be asleep by now but these shift changes are like this...never sleep enough.
See you soon :)

Personal Information

I gave my identification to a certain company which sells catalog clothes and became their client. At the time of my subscription, I forgot to check the little square that comes in the page bottom. This section is about sharing the data provided by clients with third parts.
My data became a part of a telemarketing list. Telemarketing lists are provided by companies which specialize in direct mail and telemarketing needs. If a certain company needs to do a mailing campaign, most times they use lists and client’s contact as main resources. The data is then classified in different types of lists, for example, a mortgage mailing list.
Now my data is a part of some financial products list. I already received a few calls from marketing agents trying to sell me credit cards and different types of insurance. I´m not that itchy about this type of marketing. For me they are just people doing their job and most times I hear their offers but others they call me in the worst occasions.

Blogger Status & Weekend Plans

So... it´s four in the night and I´m still awake, doing one of my old times night owl online sessions, um...mainly updating my Blogs. I´m having two days off in a row thanks to a change I made with a coworker and will only return next Sunday afternoon. After mini vacations two days off in a row during the weekend are a blessing :)
In the past days, Algarve´s sky has been a bit like this:



In spite of that, tomorrow I´d like to meet them during the day:



Mr Sun & Mr Sea :)
Good Weekend to all!

What Kind Of Dog Do You Have?

Last weekend, I was surfing websites about pets and came across a very interesting video about dog DNA testing. The video covers recent developments in dog DNA testing and shows that now it´s possible to know, with 95% accuracy, a mixed-breed dog's genetic heritage.
When I lived in Vilamoura, my father had a huge, gentle and very playful Giant Schnauzer called Jim. He had black fur and too many white spots to be a simple Schnauzer. We always wondered what kind of mixed breed composition he had. Maybe he was a Schnauzer crossed with Dalmatian.
Knowing our pet´s breed can be just a curiosity for some people but it´s true that it also provides useful information to a dog´s dedicated owner. With the exact breed information dog owners can learn more on how to provide them better health and training conditions. Once each dog has it´s own temperament and characteristics, the more owners and Vets know, the better they can take care of them.
Currently, there are two methods of collecting a dog´s DNA: blood testing and saliva samples. The first method is the most intrusive of the two. If inquired about this two options, probably most dog owners would prefer using the second option because a dog´s saliva sample can be easily collected using cheek cell swabs.
Apex DNA is a company that provides such dog DNA test kits in the form of cheek cell swabs. This company´s services is present in US and Canada. The test developed buy this company allows users to find out their dogs exact genetic make-up. If you visit their website, linked above, you´ll also find a list of cat´s and dog´s breed names plus other useful resources, news and funny videos about our fur-friends.
I now know my Nina is an European. I surely would like to know more traits of her breed. Guess I need to research more about this topic and write another post sharing my discoveries.

Image: Jnarin.

Music: Pearl Jam

Pearl Jam is one of the bands announced to play next July 10th, in Oeiras, Lisbon, as a part of this year´s "Optimus Alive concerts".
Pearl Jam is my favorite "Grounge" band. In 1992, I bought their first album "Ten" and later "Animal". I was offered "Vitalogy" as a birthday gift and now that I´ve stopped buying music CD´s, I follow their recent albums in Youtube.
Pearl Jam already played here in several occasions but I´ve never had the chance to watch them live so I would not mind going to this one...Oh no!
By clicking the link above you´ll land in this event´s official website page which announces other bands expected to be present in this three days event such as Skunk Anansie, Faith no More, Alice in Chains and Moonspell.

Remodelling Projects

Since last winter, I have been thinking about remodelling projects I need to do in my apartment. My priority was replacing balconies´ tiles and painting, which I did before the year end.
This year, I was planning remodelling my kitchen. Once I recently decided to pay off my previous car loan and upgrade paying cash, my kitchen remodelling project will have to wait. I debated for some time if I should pay off the car loan and upgrade or use the money for home improvements but I didn’t resist the car option.
My bathroom also needs new bath vanities and to be painted. If I could put these two home improvement projects in practice, I would add value to the apartment and also give it a more modern look.
Now that I´m almost debt free, I don´t want it back in my financial life. Once I already asked quotes for the first project, I know exactly how much money I need to carry it out. I´ve decided to put my remodelling projects in stand by until I save enough for them. I can avoid paying monthly instalments and interest rates. With some focus, maybe I can save for this goal in one year.

Mother´s Day

Today, in Portugal, we celebrate "Mother´s Day".
Mother´s are special everyday... but once there´s a special day for them why not use the occasion to give her an extra hug, an extra kiss or spend some quality time with her.
The picture above shows the gifts my daughter made at school for Mother´s Day with her teacher´s help. It´s a soap with glitter hand-painted flowers and a postcard with a flower´s shape. The postcard has a special message too, it says:

"Mother: As you know, the honey is sweet and sweet is good. Your heart is as good as the honey and I´ve always loved you.
You are simply: Kind, Beautiful, Fantastic, Wonderful, Pretty and Intelligent."

Happy Mother´s Day!

Birthday Gifts

In April, I celebrated my birthday in a simple way. It was a working day and I was attending a course at the hospital. I was so busy that I didn´t have time to prepare or buy a birthday cake. Me and my daughter had dinner out, took a walk in Faro´s Marina and came home early because, in the next day, we had to wake up early.
The picture above shows what I got as birthday presents, except one item. It seems my closest ones remembered it was my birthday. I received a perfume box from my daughter and S. and a small make up bag from friends. I replaced my 6 years old broken Sumsung cellphone by a new LG with the help of TMN point system and my pocket.
The only item in the picture that isn´t new, but should be, are my sunglasses. After buying new eye glasses, I now need new to buy new sunglasses. My 4 years old sunglasses are broken and it´s lens have many scratches. New glasses would be a gift from me to myself. When I´m driving, sunglasses are an indispensable item for my sensible eyes, specially with our hot Summer sun.
I´ve been checking glasses prices online and found that know brands are very expensive for what I´m willing to spend. A new pair of glasses from known brands can cost a few hundred euros and I´m not willing to spend that much. I have to look better in different shops to find a deal that suits my wallet, meanwhile I´ll still be wearing the old ones.