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An interesting January

An interesting January

That was an interesting January!

Some history first: I started working full time when I finished my military service in 1994. Between 1994 and 1998 I had two simultaneous jobs. From 1998 up to 2000 I had one job and I was studying for my MSc part-time. Starting 2001 and up to 2007 I had again two jobs while from 2007 up to 2010 I had one full time job and was studying for my MBA (distance learning).

Hiking

Hiking

Continuing my autumn trips, I went hiking over the last weekend of September which happened to be a long one in Czechia. This time I went to the Krkonose Mountains which are the highest and most visited Czech mountains. I booked a great hotel.

All in all it was a great and relaxing experience the highlight of which was a 20 kilometer hike at ~ 1.300m height.

Sailing as an infosec lesson

Sailing as an infosec lesson

Last Thursday I took my CRISC exams and - the restless person I am - I had already arranged to take sailing classes over the weekend. I always wanted to take sailing classes, and I had gone sailing once several years ago when I was still living in Greece. My idea was that when I grow old I will buy a small sailing boat and sail around my beloved Crete.

Happy gardener!

Happy gardener!

I think it's more than 20 years since I last planted tomatoes. It must have been in my second year when I was studying Agriculture in TEI of Heraclion. Since then many things have happened, among which the fact that I now live in a completely different country.

The idea to grow tomatoes in Prague was intriguing, so I got some Greek tomato seeds from my father, a small glass structure for the flat to pretend it's a greenhouse, and put them there. Some (several) months later, I'm happily eating my huge tomatoes. No pesticides of course, and only a little bit of organic calcium to deal with calcium deficiency resulting to blossom end rot.

Whiners will be whiners

Whiners will be whiners

I think we have all recentrly received one (and probably more) of these wonderful mails stating "we have your data, if you want us to keep talking to you let us know". In case you were wondering, this is a side effect of GDPR; and in my opinion an excellent one. Yet many people - including some respected and high profile GDPR experts and "experts" - take the opportunity to attack the senders. But I think this is the wrong reaction.

Books or movies

Books or movies

When I was younger I used to read many books. So many that I would get lost in them. I was reading everything, depending on my age; from colorful comics, to Ivanhoe by Walter Scott, to almost everything written by Jules Verne, to Alexandre Dumas and the count of Monte Cristo, to some Robin Hood, to Victor Hugo and Les Miserables, to John Steinbeck and The Grapes of Wrath, to Arthur Conan Doyle and Sherlock Holmes. Of course the Greeks that were considered classics for my generation: Stratis Mirivilis, Alexandros Papadiamantis, and (again) almost everything written by Nikos Kazantzakis.

I still remember my mother chasing me, and me hiding these books inside the covers of the school books; something that did not really help my grades so much...