Category: Personal

I used to program for fun. I wrote a few small things that I believe were useful to other people at the time. But I haven’t done it in a long time. A few years, actually. It was easy for me to get sucked into working and training many hours a day. It’s a good excuse if you don’t want to actually face life – you can say you’re working hard, even be very successful, and everyone will accept it and be supportive. But then years go by and you have nothing to show for besides maybe a good financial situation and some muscle.

I guess most people contemplate the meaning of their lives at one point or another. It seems my time has come.

So I decided to make a few changes that will hopefully help me live a more satisfactory life. First, I work out less. Currently 3 days a week, and I only do running. If I manage to keep my current weight and physique I will consider this a success in clearing a few hours a week. Second, I try to work less – if there’s no extreme urgency I will be on my way home after 10 hours of work, which is the de facto standard for hi-tech employees. No more dinners at work just because it’s comfortable. Third, I started putting some order in my life.

Over the past weekend I threw away large amounts of garbage. It’s not garbage per se, but stuff that I haven’t used in a long time. I showed no mercy and now I’m much happier without the clutter in the storage area of my apartment. Now I’m taking care of all the paperwork I set aside over the past year or so. It’s basically just filing, but it’s even harder than sorting out junk – I have to open each letter, read and file it.

All this in hope that I can go back to programming for fun. To do that I need to know I have absolutely nothing else I’m “supposed” to do and then just wait for the right mood. I already have an idea I want to implement and I’m looking into frameworks suitable for the job.

Wish me luck.

When I first created this blog I decided to have my name on it instead of opting for the anonymous approach. Adding personal stuff (like the army story and poems) was hard at first but I knew not too many people read the blog and that there is nothing to fear in terms of exposure. Also, having an anonymous blog always makes you feel like you’re hiding – there’s always the danger of being exposed some day. I didn’t want that.

As more people started following the blog I posted less personal stuff on it. It happened naturally so I almost didn’t feel it. But now, after the trip, I do feel it. A coworker of mine told me he started reading the army story and stopped because he was too embarrassed for me. He also said I should take it down. Taking down a story only makes it harder, not impossible, to find, so I won’t take it down. In addition to that, the army story provides young people who are struggling with the army some comfort in knowing that they’re not the only ones having a hard time in the IDF. I know that because they told me and people reach this blog a lot from Google by looking for the Hebrew terms for military prison and military psychiatrist.

So now I want to go back to writing in a more personal manner. I still wish to keep the privacy of others so that means some of the things I will not be able to post, no matter how much I want to. But there are still things I can write about.

This, I believe, is the last post on the trip. I’ll use it to dump everything trip-related from the last few days.

I landed at 5:30am, met my dad and went straight to work. Luckily I arrived before everyone else did so I had time to put the backpack down and relax. I brought what eventually turned out to be huge amounts of chocolate from Heathrow’s Duty Free shop. Apparently it was so much people complained about it. It was great seeing everyone at work. I was greeted with a few things:

1. During my absence every time someone came looking for me there was a map showing where I was currently in the world (see pictures below.)
2. Another map showing changes of seating arrangements was issued to explain where people are sitting after my return (see picture below.)
3. Since there were a lot of changes in the company (a lot of people moved to a newly built area), a treasure hunt game was created for me so that while following clues to find the contents of my cubicle I will see the new area and learn where people are sitting now (see picture below.)

All these were created by my wonderful teammates and made me very happy.

Everyone tells me I lost some weight but I think I lost mostly muscle. Since the general opinion is that I look better this way, I will focus on aerobics instead of strength in the gym. Maybe I’ll be able to tone down the workouts, live a less restrictive life and have more of the hours of the day to myself. Today I went to the gym for the first time since my return. I just ran 10 km in one hour. It was easy and I’m glad I did it because now I don’t feel like a slob as much.

I also went to meet my mom and Ace (my cat.) She immediately recognized me and showed me her affection, which was great. I really missed her. But then I had to go and she meowed a long time after I left. I think she’s suffering from abandonment issues. I will see her again tomorrow. I’m not sure if I’ll take her back eventually – it’s better for her (and my mom, I believe) if she stays there.

Now that a few days have passed I’m suffering from post-trip depression. You can say I’m at the end-of-trip dump. Hopefully it will pass soon enough for me to get back to a happy life.

Here’s an amazing (professional) picture taken during the last Prodigy show I went to (credit goes to Flickr user “rahul rephoto”. Here’s the original picture’s page):

From The Trip – Day 82

I still haven’t posted a video from the last Prodigy show I went to, so here it is. I know you all wanted to see another one of those :)

This is the index for the (almost) three months trip I did in 2009. About half the posts contain pictures which can also be found on my Picasa Web Albums page. Enjoy.

Part I – US (and Canada)

• Day 1 – NYC (pictures only)
• Day 2 – NYC
• Day 3 – NYC
• Day 4 – NYC
• Day 5 – NYC
• Day 6 – 38.8 Degrees Heat In Canada
• Day 7 – Toronto, Canada
• Day 8 – Toronto, Canada
• Day 9 – Toronto Canada To Rockville MD
• Day 10 – Washington DC
• Day 11 – Washington DC
• Day 12 – Rockville MD To Columbus OH
• Day 13 – Columbus OH To St. Louis MO
• Day 14 – St. Louis MO, Jerry Seinfeld
• Day 15 – St.Louis MO To Salina KS
• Day 16 – Arriving At Denver CO
• Day 17 – Denver CO
• Day 18 – The Rocky Mountain CO
• Day 19 – Denver CO To Richfield UT, Canyonlands
• Day 20 – Bryce Canyon, Utah
• Day 21 – Zion Park, Arriving At Las Vegas
• Day 22 – Las Vegas
• Day 23 – Las Vegas
• Day 24 – Last Day In Las Vegas
• Day 25 – Las Vegas NV To Merced CA
• Day 26 – San Francisco
• Day 27 – San Francisco
• Day 28 – San Francisco
• Day 29 – San Francisco
• Day 30 – San Francisco, Alcatraz
• Day 31 – San Francisco
• Day 32 – San Francisco
• Day 33 – San Francisco
• Day 34 – Last Day In San Francisco
• Day 35 – Goodbye, USA

Part II – Hong Kong and Thailand

• Day 36 – Hong Kong
• Day 37 – Hong Kong
• Day 38 – Last Day In Hong Kong
• Day 39 – Hong Kong To Koh Samui
• Day 40 – Koh Phangan
• Day 41 – Koh Phangan
• Day 42 – Koh Phangan
• Day 43 – Koh Phangan
• Day 44 – Koh Phangan, Full Moon Party (Full Moon party videos: Fire Skipping Rope and dancing, Out Of Space by The Prodigy)
• Day 45 – Koh Phangan
• Day 46 – Koh Samui
• Day 47 – Koh Samui
• Day 48 – Koh Samui
• Day 49 – Back To Koh Phangan
• Day 50 – Koh Phangan
• Day 51 – Koh Phangan
• Day 52 – Koh Phangan
• Day 53 – Koh Phangan
• Day 54 – Koh Phangan
• Day 55 – Koh Phangan
• Day 56 – Koh Phangan
• Day 57 – Last Day In Koh Phangan
• Day 58 – Koh Phangan To Bangkok
• Day 59 – Scammed In Bangkok
• Day 60 – Bangkok To London

Part III – England (and Wales)

• Day 61 – London To Kexbrough
• Day 62 – Kexbrough
• Day 63 – Kexbrough
• Day 64 – Kexbrough
• Day 65 – Kexbrough
• Day 66 – Kexbrough
• Day 67 – Kexbrough
• Day 68 – Last Day In Kexbrough
• Day 69 – Kexbrough to Cardiff
• Day 70 – Cardiff, First Prodigy Show
• Day 71 – Last Day In Cardiff
• Day 72 – Cardiff To Birmingham
• Day 73 – Birmingham
• Day 74 – Last Day In Birmingham, Second Prodigy Show
• Day 75 – Birmingham To Brighton
• Day 76 – Brighton
• Day 77 – Brighton
• Day 78 – Brighton
• Day 79 – Last Day In Brighton, Third Prodigy Show
• Day 80 – Brighton To London
• Day 81 – London
• Day 82 – London, Fourth And Last Prodigy Show
• Day 83 – The Last Day
• End Of Trip Dump

As I sit at Heathrow airport waiting for my flight, my body still recovering slowly from last night’s show, people start talking to me online – some updates from work, a friend in financial trouble. The person who occupied my apartment for the duration of the trip texts me. I’m starting to feel the heaviness of my normal, mundane life. I’ve been away from all this for so long, I forgot what it’s like to worry about things. Despite being connected with friends and family throughout the entire trip, I was without worries. Even if I knew about things that have been going on, I was far away from them both physically and mentally.

I guess it’s time to reflect on the trip now. It started with me being sick in New York and in Canada. I had fun, but it was a shame not to be able to do everything I wanted to (like skiing) there. I met friends I haven’t seen in a long long time, including one I’ve never met at all before, which was exciting and fun. Then I went on my own to visit some national parks (where I panicked after I couldn’t find my way out), Las Vegas and then the beautiful and fun San Francisco, where I spent 9 whole days.

Then there was Hong Kong, which I really liked, for three days. After that came three weeks in the beautiful Thailand islands, where I did absolutely nothing except for going to parties on the beach. I got conned in Bangkok just before leaving Thailand, but it doesn’t affect my feelings towards the places I liked or the amazingly nice locals I’ve met. I also traveled with Neil, a cool guy from England, for almost 10 days, which was fun.

And finally – the UK, where I met Katz, my ever-travelling friend, yet again (we previously met in the UK in 2002.) We stayed at her friend’s place, who I previously met on his visit to Israel. I saw a bunch of new places I haven’t seen before and also saw The Prodigy, my favorite band in the world, four times on their tour. I also met up with another friend from school at the end and he joined me to the last two shows, which was fun and a proper way to end the trip.

I now realize how much I wish I could continue the trip.

Again a rainy day, so I went for some indoor activity – London’s Science Museum. The museum is great, offering many galleries where you can see, hear and touch many artifacts from the past, present and possibly the future. While I enjoyed the museum a lot, it was packed with visitors, many of them kids, and my mind was busy thinking about The Prodigy’s show tonight and the flight back home tomorrow.

The Prodigy gave another amazing show. This one was pretty much the best of all four. The Prodigy keep evolving the show and it flows better between songs. Also, the London crowd was really enthusiastic, more than the crows in the previous shows. Maybe someone will post a video I’ll be able to include in a later time.

I can’t believe I’m going back home. I completely forgot what my daily routine of gym and work is like. In a way it’s good – I don’t feel bad about going back to work and am looking forward to see my family and friends. On the other hand, if I had the choice, I would have definitely continued this trip. Probably would have left the UK for the rest of Europe or something like that. But that will have to wait for a different trip.

I’m not ready to reflect about the trip yet – I still have one more day! I might not get to reflecting on it at all, but we’ll see.

It was rainy today, but I decided to make the trip to central London despite the bad conditions. It was a good decision – after about two hours of walking around I met my friend Adi (who will join me tomorrow for the second time to a Prodigy show) and we had lunch together and walked around. He showed me nice, less tourist-oriented places, which I really liked and afterwards I went to a comedy club. At first it seemed like a crappy club but the show turned out to be very funny.

I have very few pictures because I was afraid to ruin the camera with the rain, and I wasn’t so keen on taking pictures of London anyway because I’ve seen it before.

I felt crushed as I got up this morning. I managed to wash the clothes from last night’s show in preparation for the next one in two days and then took the train to London. I nearly fell asleep and missed my stop, being so tired and exhausted.

I got to the hotel near Wembley Arena, went to a pub for a late lunch and later went back to the hotel to sleep for about 3 hours. I’m still a little tired and hopefully tomorrow I’ll feel refreshed after a good night sleep. Because tomorrow I plan to go early to central London. Then I’m meeting Adi for lunch and he’ll show me around a bit. I’ve seen London before so we’ll probably go to Camden Town, where there are nice markets to walk around in.

Here’s a video from yesterday’s show, just to give you an idea how crazy it gets:

Another relatively sunny day in Brighton, so I went outside to walk again. Neil notified me that he wouldn’t be able to make it to the show so I had to quickly call up Adi, my friend who lives in London. All these arrangements took some time.

Then I went to see if I can get lucky and actually meet The Prodigy. And I did!! After waiting outside the venue for about 3 hours they finally came in with the tour bus and I got to shake Keith Flint’s hand for the second time in my life (first time was in 1997 in Tel Aviv harbor.) I was very happy but I don’t think they liked it too much. Anyway, I didn’t ask for autographs or pictures. Liam was very cool about it and nodded at me as I was shaking Keith’s hand. It was very exciting. Maxim walked right in, not really noticing me (all three signed pictures for two other fans who were outside waiting for them.)

Adi and I went to the show. Brighton Center is a small venue, so it was great to see The Prodigy there. The show was a blast and I got to see the stage closer than ever simply because the place is so small. That was fun by itself and will stand in contrast with the next show in Wembley Arena in three days.

Tomorrow I go to London, the final destination of this trip. I’ll be staying near the Wembley Arena. It’s not in central London, but there’s always the underground (or “the tube” as they call it here) if there’s anywhere I want to go. Adi will hopefully show me around at least one day and will be joining me to that last show as well.

I’m dead tired and my body hurts in several locations. Also, I can’t hear too well. That’s how you know you had a good day :)

Finally a sunny day in Brighton for me. I just walked around again and went to a movie again (Knowing with Nicholas Cage. Meh.) It was fun, but there’s not much to report.

Tomorrow is the third Prodigy show! I’m actually excited again. Neil will be arriving as well, which would be awesome. I might try to be a true groopy and wait to see if I can meet the band before the show.

Oh yeah… no way I’m trying shopping again. I just don’t have it in me.