Tag Archives: rant

Power-Loss

Date of entry 06/08/2015 circa 18:00hrs

The joy of being an aspiring writer or a blogger, is to enjoy scribbling no matter what the situation is.
So here I am writing… during a nation wide power cut, trying to make the most of it.

While I was driving, from my place of work in Ta’ Xbiex all the way to Siggiewi, I was thinking to myself…. I will explain better; I drove through Ta’ Xbiex, Msida, Pieta, Blata l-Bajda, Hamrun…. through which, none of the traffic lights were working. All the cars were driving aimlessly towards one another like it is no one’s business to make it across to the other side of the road. I saw cars becoming a version of a roundabout, and people crossing the busy roads between 17:00 and 18:00 frantically, as if life or death did not matter to them at all.

With this in mind, here are my proposals:

  1. Arterial Traffic Lights should be connected to not just one electricity grid; Meaning, if one electricity source fails, they would not collapse, but use a second source, be it from Delimara Power Station, the Malta-Italy Interconnector and so on.
  2. Invest in Solar Powered Traffic Lights – We boast that we have 300 days of sunshine a year in Malta… why are we not taking advantage of this? I have read that we have a fair amount of solar powered road lights, so why not traffic lights? I am sure that this will help keep these little islands of ours in order during power cuts and more!

solar traffic light

I’m not dead, just been busy

I’m not dead, just been busy… and I am struggling with a massive writer block… A lot has been happening, but instead of writing about it, I am just enjoying the ride…. ….Except that this week has been the feast week in the town I’m living in. Usually the feast week lasts 7 days… but the Siggiewi people have decided on a 10 day long celebration. So every day, I have been struggling and annoyed at:

  • Lack of parking
  • Closing off the town during feast hours
  • Lots of loud music; be it orchestra-like or singers singing at the main square. This, I can hear from my house, even with all windows and doors closed.
  • Fireworks
  • Lots of rubbish left in my street

I am not a fan of feasts… Never was, never will be… So, I just can’t wait until tomorrow is over. Maybe then, I can get a goodnight sleep and even better, park my car close to home.

Where have the eligible bachelors gone?

I am quite a sociable person, and I get introduced to a considerable amount of people of the male gender; some face to face, others over the internet. I must say that the amount of interesting guys is decreasing time and again. I guess this issue is not just with the guys, but also with the gals.

As a person, even though I need to find the guy attractive physically, I think that what is the most important for me is intelligence. Yes I am a Sapiosexual. I love a guy who can talk on various subjects, who can hold a conversation; someone who I can learn a thing or two from. This on top of a guy being fun and funny, and who can make me laugh about the silliest of things, yet he can be mature when the situation requires it. I hate it when I have to mother a guy… I’m looking for a partner in crime. A guy who can live in the moment but can think about the future.
(Then comes the obvious ‘honest, loyal, truthful..’ characteristics, but that’s a given)

know what I want.
Thing is, how many guys out there know what they want?
And out of those, how many would meet my basic requirements?
I wonder… Am I asking for too much?

It’s not like I am asking for a top model millionaire who owns Bran Castle, a beach house and a cabin by the lake in the middle of nowhere.

Of Dogs and Traffic

This morning, like all other mornings during winter, spring and autumn… When kids go to school… I was stuck in traffic. Today I spent 45 minutes in traffic… Yesterday it was an hour and 15 minutes… I guess, not starting work at 7 am is taking its toll on me… Getting to work in 20 minutes made so much more sense…

But at least, this morning, I had a cute sight right in front of me… for almost half the time I spent in traffic:

20150429_071343_LLS_1

That did make me smile. I hope it did to you, too!

Victoria Grayson’s Master Plan [Revenge]

Things are never the same, when your favourite character dies in a series…

I am still under a shock, and traumatised following the death of Victoria Grayson. How and if I will ever get over it is another question. There is so much that I loved about this woman;

1. Her sense of style and the way she portrays herself physically in every single episode… Should I look half as good as her when I am her age, I would be so happy.

victoria dress

2. Her fashion statement was not only her clothes, but also her furniture.

victoria chair

3. Her ability to manipulate people and have several men falling for her

4. Her evilness and her wickedness

victoria gif 1victoria gif 2

5. And most of all, how her suicide (sadly), was her master plan to ruin Emily Thorne’s (Amanda’s) life… Lets see if Amanda would be able to get out of this one! [Read more here]


HA.

Of HayFever and Fun

This weekend was not an eventful weekend, mostly cos I had a lot of my plans cancelled due to a losing battle against my nose aka hayfever.
I started off Friday feeling miserably sick  so decided I should stay in. I spent my Friday swallowing pills and gutted that I had to miss an event happening at Razzett l-ahmar. When I woke up Saturday morning I felt almost as good as new. The plan was to go to Valletta with my mum to pick up our passports. Turns out we got delayed and found the passport office closed. I would have never guessed that they’d close at 11am on Saturday! We arrived only a few minutes late and we were devastated. I guess I know what I will be doing next Saturday morning!!
In the evening me and two friends went out to Coconut/Remedy which is the only alternative and metal pub still standing in Paceville. There was a live event of Martyrium and afterwards a goth/ebm event.
20150418 -  Where the light DIES (Martyrium Gig @Remedy) (6) copy
The gig itself was awesome. I was very impressed with their new material and some of their cover versions, mainly Dimmu Borgir. The party afterwards was a let down as no one would dance and most people vanished straight after the live music was over.
But our night was not over… We went downstairs and enjoyed 80s music and Rammstein music for the rest of the night. It’s my favourite music style anyway so I was not really gutted about the ebm party.
20150418 -  Where the light DIES (Martyrium Gig @Remedy)
On Sunday, my hayfever decided to take over again so I spent my day being lazy. I watched the most awaited first episode of the new season for Orphan Black and then straight after I watched ‘Secrets and LIes’ – a series which I recently discovered.

Why use TripAdvisor?

Some of us do not see the purpose in Trip Advisor and think that saying your thoughts about the service you have received in a restaurant is like you are attacking them personally, or attacking the employees. The way I usually end up rating a restaurant is with regards to various aspects:

  • The food
  • The atmosphere
  • The service
  • The value of money considering all the above

Most often than not, before making a complaint on Trip Advisor,  I try to talk to one of the employees; let them know I am disappointed or that something was not as expected. If they choose to not do anything about it, then it is no longer my problem. I have tried, and I got nothing out of it. And I feel like it is about time to share this with the Trip Advisor society, to warn them on things they can expect. When something goes wrong, I would still when possible mention the good sides of the place I have visited. And just because I see something as wrong, it does not mean that everyone should agree with me. It is only my point of view.

At this point I have given almost 200 contributions to this site, and I have received over 40 helpful votes; I think I am doing something right. I’d say, that even if in Malta it is not yet as popular as it is in any other country, the tourists are looking at it to decide on the best locations and services

So before you complain about a negative rating, learn from it and fix things… Reply with concern to negative rating.. That way a customer feels like his review was read and dealt with.. Especially if the negative comment is ‘voted up’.

Then, move on.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/members-reviews/SteffiGrimm

Car Wheels Displeasure

You might already have guessed it, but today’s post is going to be one of those rants….

On Saturday early afternoon, I found one of the rear car wheels punctured… I’ve always wanted to learn how to change the car wheel, but the screws are always so jammed and rusty, that I could never for the life of me unscrew them. Usually my father has a bit of a hard time, but one way or another he manages. Not this time round. Not even my brother who trains attyre the gym on a daily basis could. What the hell is going on? We oiled them.. and nada. We called a garage which fix punctures and it closed at 2pm. Unlucky, I thought. Turns out it was a slow  puncture so at least my weekend was not entirely ruined.

The Saturday night I met a friend in Msida and we walked to KickStart, which is a rock bar in Santa Venera area. We had a great time, but while walking home a bit after midnight, rain started pouring. First slowly and pleasant, then heavily and unbearable. Thankfully it was not windy so we waited it out for roughly 30mins under one of the house balconies. I drove my friend home and was driving in Msida valley. I had no idea that after 30mins of rain the valley is already dangerous for average sized cars. I had to reverse all the way back to take another route. Made it home, end of story.

Sunday I had a guest over so I did not bother with the car.

Early Monday morning, first working day of the month; the busiest day at work… And I find another flat tyre. If I was not busy, I would have started laughing. Who would believe you, two flats in two days? Both of the screws were jammed right in. In order not to waste more of my precious time, I enjoyed an hour and a half trip by bus to work, and another back.

Tomorrow morning I have to find a way to take my car down to a tyre garage. Wish me luck!

PS. Thank you Transport Malta for your excellent service and ensuring the roads are safe for driving with minimal damage possible!

//end rant