The life of an handicap

Good way to get an overview of books you've read

2013-01-19T09:17:00.000-08:00

If you read many books it gets tricky to remember which books you've read, what it was about and what you thought about it. I had this problem but I figured there had to be a good way to keep track of your reading. I found the website Goodreads.

At Goodreads you create a virtual bookshelf where you add the books you've read. If you want, you can rate the books and after you've rated 20 you'll get suggestions about books that you might like based on what you've read and liked.

That's not all, you can search for books by entering a genre or a subject that you want to learn more about. Then you can read reviews written by other users that might tell if the book is fitting your expectations and needs.

La Liga: Agent controlling football Madrid?

2013-01-13T19:39:00.005-08:00

The portuguese super agent manages players in Real Madrid with an estimated worth of approximately $500 millions. However, he's not only managing Real Madrid superstars. He's also managing some of the players in Atletico Madrid, one of them who is also their biggest star, the striker Falcao.

But that's not all. He also manages the manager of Real Madrid. The club who is in a odd situation. José Mourinho, the manager of Real Madrid decides what players he wants to bring in, what contracts to renew, how big salary they are entitled to and so on.

Just by reading this far, you might notice that there's a huge conflict in interest.

If you want to read more about this, you can read the article in Wall Street Journal where I read about this. Just click he link below.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323482504578225474079309426.html

Still waiting for a promotion?

2013-01-13T14:39:00.001-08:00

Are you wondering when your boss will ask you to meet him at your office to tell you that you've been working hard and have deserved to move up a level?

Chances are you will be waiting very long for that to happen. So why not prepare some questions and set up a meeting with your boss and find out what is required to get promoted?

This varies depending on what kind of business you're in. Skills that people have are obtained through hard practice, you can obtain these skills too. You will have to work hard, but if you want to you can.

Ask your boss if you can have a meeting about your career. Prepare a paper with some questions you want to ask. Brainstorm and write down anything you want to know.

Some tips are:

What are the primary result areas that your boss looks at?
This depends on what you're on the payroll to do. What does your boss expect from you? What results do you think your boss wants to see from you in order to say that you're doing good?
If you're a secretary this might be how many meetings you set up, how many calls you forward to the right person etc etc.
Think about this and write down what comes up, then discuss this with your boss.
What experience is needed?
If I don't have the required experience. Can education make up for the lack of it?
Is there a need for someone at the level you're aiming for? Recruiting from inside the own organisation is often preferred over external recruiting.

If you don't know your boss enough to talk to him like this. Then talk to your superior. Ask them what they think about this, should you ask them these questions. Or should you take it higher to your boss?

Consider this:

Am I working hard enough to have the role my superiors have?
Will I be able to handle the increased responsibility?
Is this the career path I want to take?
Can I talk to my boss about these things? Who should I talk to? Perhaps you should talk to your life partner or a trusted friend before you talk to someone at work.

La Liga: Unusual situation

2013-01-13T07:32:00.000-08:00

The spanish football league is usually described as a league featuring two teams who fight for the two top spots, and the rest of the league's teams are below those two. The two teams are the giants FC Barcelona and Real Madrid CF. This is without a doubt how the league table looks like at most of season ends.

However, this season it might be different. Real Madrid is currently number 3 at the league table. With half of the seasons games played they have 18 points up to the leaders Barcelona, 7 points up to the runner ups Atletico Madrid and are just 3 points ahead of Real Betis. Third place in the league means you get the last spot for Champions League. Fourth on the other hand means you still have a chance to play it but you have to qualify.

So this season one of the best teams might have to fight for a spot to qualify for Champions League!

There's still the other half of the season left though. So this situation might change. We will see at the end of the season. Perhaps we have some exciting transfer news soon too?

Current rumours:

Atletico Madrids striker Falcao to Real Madrid or PSG?
José Mourinho away from Real Madrid?
Cristiano Ronaldo to PSG or Manchester United?
David Villa to Premier League?

I don't see any of these transfers happening during the winter window. They are likely during the summer though.

We will see.

No motivation to blog some days? No problem

2013-01-07T15:33:00.000-08:00

Some days I experience a serious lack of motivation to post new blog entries. I think to myself that it's not important, it's just something I do in my sparetime. And after all, I barely have any readers. So basically no one misses out. But no, that's not a way to think.

I started this blog for a reason, and I want to keep posting entries even if it's hard to write some days. I don't want to see big gaps when I look in the archive. After all, I created this blog to develop my writing and thinking.

So, how did I solve this problem?

As I said, some days I just have no motivation or inspiration at all. But some days I almost drown in motivation and inspiration. So why not make use of that. There's a function that allows you to schedule when your entries will be published. So if you write three entries then you won't have to write something the next day and the day after that if you don't feel that you have something to write about.

Eventually you will miss blogging and start to think about it. And the point of a blog is to post interesting posts. So this is only positive.

What do you think about this?

How do you deal with days without motivation?

A fine gesture by Iniesta

2013-01-06T23:30:00.000-08:00

The humble midfielder Andrés Iniesta made some headlines in Spain when he saved the old the club he played in as a kid by becoming their main shareholder. During a ceremony at Albacetes arena with a new name, "Ciudad Deportiva Andrés Iniesta", Iniesta thanked the club for naming the arena after him and took the moment in act to urge the kids of the club to make use of the facilities. He told them to make use of every moment and do their best to develop and follow their dream to be a professional football player.

He said he was an Albacete fan too and that together they would manage to get through the spanish third division club crisis.

I really like this gesture. It's always nice when you read positive headlines about superstars like Iniesta.

The clubs crest.

Relaxing music

2013-01-05T11:29:00.000-08:00

What kind of music do you listen to when you need to relax? I have always liked classic music for these situations. But I recently discovered classic songs played with flute! Talk about relaxing.

It's very pleasant in situations like in the metro when you just want to shut yourself out from the stressing public and focus on your thoughts or perhaps a nice book.

Maurice Ravel - Flute and piano

Making money through the internet

2013-01-04T16:40:00.000-08:00

The things you can do on internet is growing rapidly. Now you can do your groceries through the internet and someone will deliver it to your door, you can talk to your friends, read the newspaper and more.

There's many ways to make money on the internet. They are not secrets. However, you need to work hard! Most people would really like to be able to make money from their homes. This makes the competition for the income big.

So, how can I make money you might think to yourself. Well, first of all, what skills do you have that might be of use? What experience? What connections? Do you know someone that works with marketing? Do you know someone who works with websites? What might be of use for you? Write this down, brainstorm! Anything that pops up in your head is good.

When you have an overview of what might help you making money through the internet, you will probably have an idea of what you can do to make money. Do you have teenagers who went through a rough time? Well, why not share your knowledge of this subject with others? Do you know how to make websites and manage them? Why not combine the two then?

You can start a blog, this enables you to easily reach viewers interested in the subject you want to talk about. It also enables your readers to ask you questions and discuss things with you! If you interact with your viewers then they will probably come back. When you have some regular viewers, you can put some advertisements on your website. This will give you a small income.

The more you write on your blog, the more viewers you will get! In the beginning it might be boring and you might feel that it's not leading anywhere. This is why you should blog about something that you find interesting, this way the blog is genuine and not only to make money of it. The recipe for a successful blog is an interesting author and the money will come naturally!

If you feel this is hard, then trading on the internet is another option. People are consuming like never before and you can make use of that. Now, I can't tell you exactly what you can make money of. This is not an easy option that will make you millions right away. However, with interest and hard work you can easily make a lot of money with this.

A good question you can ask yourself is "what kind of webshop would make my life more convenient?" It does not have to be goods that you are selling. It can be services. Now again, like in the paragraphs above. What are your skills?

Are you passionate and good at making websites? Why not make use of that? Companies are paying much money to be able to market themselves on the internet, because they know the value of that! You can offer a service where you manage their website, facebook page etc.

I will make a more in-depth guide in the future. Remember that this is just the surface of the ocean. There's truly a lot of ways to be able to make money online. However, please remember that it will probably require you to work hard and it will probably not make you rich straight away. Give it a try though!

What would you do with your life if you had...

2013-01-04T07:34:00.000-08:00

...10 million dollars? You could do anything you wanted with the money. You have all the connections you need to do what you want. But, you'll be dead in 10 years.

Thinking this way might be good, because then you know what you truly want to do with your life!

What's the point of owning things when the biggest feeling you have is the fear of losing what you've got. I think life should be enjoyed without thinking about the material stuff. Traveling the world, talking to people new people, learning languages, cooking sounds more fun than having a nice car!

And haven't most of us at least once thought about some kind of company you would want to start up? Haven't a nice idea popped up in our heads at least once? But we stopped thinking about it because it would be to hard to follow through without money and connection? Well guess what? You can get the money. And the connections.

Happy new year!

2013-01-03T14:39:00.001-08:00

Hey dear readers!

How was your new years eve? Mine was fantastic! I spent it with my close friends. We had dinner, some drinks and just had a good time together.

My new years resolution is to eat healthier. I know, I know. But I think it's a really good resolution!

So, anything else you want to say to us? Like why you haven't posted anything in 6 months?

Yes. I'm not in a wheelchair anymore. I can walk again and I'm not considered a "handicap" or "cripple" anymore. Feels great!

I've been enjoying life to its fullest during the last 6 months. It's been truly amazing.

spain won!

2012-07-05T19:10:00.000-07:00

Yay! Spain won EURO 2012.

Were they the right winners in your opinion?

Holland out of euro?

2012-06-13T17:54:00.001-07:00

Hi, Holland was one of the favourites to win the whole EURO 2012 campain, but with 1 game left they're still at 0 points.

In order for them to go through they have to beat Portugal and score 2 more goals than they concede, while Germany beats Denmark. Is that possible? Will Denmark clutch again and beat the Germany who looks really strong? Just some thoughts.

New MacBook 15"

2012-06-12T15:10:00.001-07:00

Just ordered a new MacBook 15" with Retina display. Will take a couple of weeks for it to get here, I am excited! :-D

Like EDM?

2012-06-12T11:04:00.002-07:00

If you like Electronic Dance Music, then you should definitely check these two sites out.

http://www.beatmyday.com/

BeatMyDay blogs about all kinds of stuff, new songs, previews, mixtapes and a lot more!

http://www.upcoming-soon.com/

Upcoming-soon is pretty much same, but they give attention to producers that aren't so well known too.

EURO2012 so far...

2012-06-12T10:46:00.001-07:00

...has featured some bad and some really good matches. The team I like the most, Spain, didn't play that good against Italy and only managed to get 1 point in the 1-1 game.

The teams that have impressed on me the most are Denmark for beating Portugal and Russia for being so good offensively when they beat Czech Republic with 4-1 and could have scored a lot more goals.

Two of the biggest disappointments so far are Netherlands and Portugal, they have to play better to go through.

Poland - Russia in an hour, I think Russia are too strong for Poland but I hope Poland can win.

About my future

2012-06-08T20:38:00.000-07:00

You know the name of the blog, this might have to change in the future. Right know you could call me handicaped, however I'm working hard on rehabilitation and I will be able to walk and use my legs again just like before the accident.

That means this blog won't be about some handicaped guy. It will just be about a guy. So, I'm thinking about renaming the blog as I would like to continue blogging. I admit though, I haven't been as active as I would have liked to be. But I think it's more fun to blog now and I probably will enjoy it more and more.

It's kind of stress relieving as I can write about whatever I want and just read it through and reflect about it. There's some major subjects to write about after the orthopedes statement. What to do in the future?

What I know for sure is that I got to study hard to get a interesting job with a good salary. The problem is what I want to work with.

I will think about this for a while and do a follow-up.

2012-06-08T20:28:00.002-07:00

Live set

2012-06-08T15:25:00.001-07:00

EURO2012 has started!

2012-06-08T15:17:00.001-07:00

Finally the EURO 2012 tournament has begun! The first game was Poland - Greece which was played in the polish capital Warsaw. In the first half it looked like it was going to be a piece of cake for Poland. They had many good chances and finally scored in the 17th minute, and on top of that, a greek defender got his second yellow card and was sent off in the 44th minute. it looked very good for Poland. It all changed in the second half though, Greece scored and the goalkeeper of Poland was sent off. 1-1 was a good result for both teams after a game like that.

The second game of the day and tournament was Russia - Czech republic, I didn't watch the whole game but when I did it looked really easy
for Russia. The scoreline suggests the same. Russia won with comfortably 4-1.

Are you following the tournament? Which teams do you like? And which team do you think will win?

Where I want to study pt. 1

2012-06-08T13:51:00.000-07:00

Previously I have talked about studying at university, I still want to do it but I'm still not sure what and where. There's so many alternatives. So I thought I'd list some of the universities that I've considered.

This entry I will list universities abroad. Here we go:

University of Barcelona/Universitat de Barcelona

A good looking university in Spain with over 85,000 students in the town where my favourite team of football plays. Offers a vide range of bachelor's degrees in many subjects. I have been in Barcelona and I know it's a nice town with many things to do if would have spare time. Heard there's a good club life there as well.

University of Stockholm/Stockholm Universitet

Sweden has always caught my interest. Sweden is a well developed country and Stockholm is a very nice city with a good club life. If I seriously consider this alternative, I'm going to Stockholm to check it out first.

Goethe University Frankfurt/Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main

A big university in the nice town of Frankfurt in Germany. Has over 40,000 students. Offers some nice economics degrees.

Of course there's more that I'm considering. I will probably change my mind a thousand times before I decide. In the next

Looking for a new car

2012-06-04T09:28:00.000-07:00

With all the good news recently, I am looking for a new car for the future. Because the one I own now is customized for people who can't use the throttle and brake with their legs I am better of with a car without this kind of customization when I'm able to use my legs again.

I really like Toyota so I'm looking at their models first and foremost, if I don't see something that attracts my money I will look at other brands. I have some money to spend on a car too, so that's really nice.

Just a song

2012-06-03T18:48:00.001-07:00

Just a really good song, that I will play a lot during the summer!

Update

2012-06-03T18:46:00.001-07:00

Hi!

In my previous blog entry I explained shortly why I've been inactive for a while. However, what matters is that I am back, right?

So, I've got some super great news, which is obviously a part of why I've been inactive for a while.

I will be able to walk again, very soon.

It will require hard work, but if I continue working like I have been lately, I will be able to walk and have almost full functionality in my legs again. My doctor said there's approximately a 75% chance that I will be able to walk again in the next 6 months.

So, this has made me think about my future. What do I want to do in the future?

I want to study, travel, meet new people and be grateful for my life.

I want to get a college degree, I am very interested in studying to be a doctor, after all a doctor has helped me finding a lot of joy in my life. And I would love to have that ability.

Studying will have to wait until I decide on what college and what education I want.

Right now, I am excited for the european cup in soccer that's coming really soon. I cheer for Spain and really think they have a good chance to win the whole thing.

I am back.

2012-05-27T18:51:00.000-07:00

Hi, I've been away from this blog for a long time now, as you might have noticed.

This was due to lack of motivation to blog. I've missed blogging though so I am going to pick up that again.

Summer's approaching which means there'll be tons of stuff to do outside in the nice weather, I look forward to it. I really enjoy just chilling in the sun, it's a nice feeling.

I've been working on rehabilitation which I was supposed to talk about before I took this break, there's so much to talk about so I won't be doing that in my first entry after a long break. I've met some new friends, been travelling a bit and just enjoyed life.

Now that I've regained my desire to blog I will try to talk more about what the doctor's been doing and how I've been working with an orthopede.

So, tell me, what have you been doing the past months

Which soccer team...

2012-05-22T05:58:00.000-07:00

Do I follow and love?

Some people have been asking me this since I've told you before about how I love football/soccer.

Well, here's the answer;