Journal Entries
Swimming in the North Sea
Posted Jul 25, 2003
OK, I know. This is another one of these things. You know which ones I mean... The ones that if someone told you 5 years ago that you will do one day you would look them straight in the eye (with a touch of sympathy in your look) and tell them outright that they must have lost their marbles, and "NO WAY JOSE, am I ever doing something like that!"
Well, one of these things happened to me (again). Last Sunday (20th July 2003), I was at Bloomindaal beach with a friend of mine from LSE (we studied there 8 years ago), and at the end I decided I should venture into the brown coloured water!
I knew it was not dirty of course, but it didn't look inviting either! But on the other hand I simply had to try. And if I didn't go into the water it wouldn't count as a 'swim' it would just be some hours under the sun with friends.
So I did it, and now I know how it feels. It was not warm, it was not my kind of set up (I could not dive head first into the sea, but had to walk for about 500 meters before the water came up to my waste), and I didn't enjoy it much. But I have tried it now, and I am sure that I prefer the MED! 
Cheers,
Ariadni
Discuss this Journal entry [1]
Latest reply: Jul 25, 2003
Life, e-Business and Everything
Posted Dec 8, 2000
2nd December 2000:
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Well, it has been so long since I last visited h2g2 (I know I should not be admitting this) that the whole thing has changed look & feel, I was no longer instantly recongised (instead I needed to put my password - which I did not even remember that I had let alone remember what it was) and generally I felt really bad.
I did manage to re-register (or should I say get a new password because it was obvious to the big minds behind h2g2 that I was an existing researcher, albeit they might have already started the countdown for the 7 years before they could legally declare me dead and shut down my account) and now I am here in 'My Space' writing for the first time a Journal Entry. That is how bad and guilty I feel about it all!
On top of that I spent a whole hour yesterday listening to the presentation that Douglas Adams gave last May in my company's big conference in Vienna. Unfortunately I was not 'worthy' enough to be there on the day, but I made sure I got the CD of the conference and listened to the 'man' speaking about "Life the Universe and e-Business". It was of course everything I had hoped for (funny, interesting and to the point).
I really enjoyed the biscuit story Douglas, well done. Apart from the fact that the story was generally very funny (having lived in the UK for the past 5 years I know exactly what you mean about the British not being at all prepared for a situation like that) it was also the perfect example of the successful presentation.
You tend to hear all about how a presentation needs to be structured in any Consulting Skills Training Course, and they all agree that you should start with a funny story or a joke that would break the ice but would also be relevant to the subject and after having presented the subject and covered everything that you wanted you should be able to close by referring back to your starting joke/story.
So, although I did enjoy every single minute of the presentation, while I was listening to it there was that nagging thought at the back of my mind keep coming back to me annoying me: "So how does the biscuit story fit in all that?" I just could not see it at all, until you did actually close the presentation with the most obvious link from the subject we were discussing (Internet giving companies the power to capture the information about why something 'did not work' as expected and that simple fact being the determining factor of success in the New Economy) back to your personal biscuit story.
I guess what I am trying to say is that once again I bow to your imagination and perfect presentation skills. I do realise that is your job after all, but it is still a shining example of what we could all achieve.
Discuss this Journal entry [5]
Latest reply: Dec 8, 2000
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Ariadni (Keeper of Dolphins and Cinnamon Incense)
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