New Job Offer

It was friday, 4pm, and I was still at work. The office phone rang, and the man on the phone tells me he is the human resources director in Veneto Banca Holding. He tells me he wants to meet up with me for a chat as soon as possible!!

The blog followers already know that my contract ends on the 31st of July, so this was all great news for me.

On the plus side, I was going to go to Friuli anyway this weekend, so I just took monday off to go to this interview.

Upon reaching Veneto Banca Holding, I was pretty impressed by the size of the whole building:

There’s even a stone statue in the entrance hall haha!

I must say that I was quite impressed.

They are offering me a job but I really don’t know for sure what i’ll be doing exactly at the moment. It’s something quite specific involving how all the small banks that are part of the Veneto Banca Holding group work and being given projects, working on spreadsheets, creating budgets… it all sounds interesting and quite hard.

I haven’t signed anything official yet, but from what they told me in the interview, including (when would you like to start, because we’d like you to start right away), I think it’s pretty obvious. We decided it would be best for me to start on the 17th of August, which will give me some time to move my stuff and find an appartment.

All in all, I can’t wait to start my new job in this huge building, and also looking forward to finding my own new place to stay nearby.

So I guess this is where my career starts to lift off. Pretty important step in my life i believe.

Job aside, I really went to Friuli for another reason. It was Roberto’s (a longtime family friend of our’s) 60th birthday, and he had a big party in this beautiful Villa/restaurant. I got to see Luca (his son and my friend since i was 2 years old. Visit his italian Blog: http://www.ipernova.it ), Matteo (his older brother) and I also brought along Gloria, my girlfriend. We had a great time and it was great to remenisce old stories and catch up on new ones.

We also had a wonderful, fish based lunch.

What a fantastic weekend!! Now i have 3 weeks to get all my stuff sorted, friends to see for the last time, packing my stuff, and finding a new house!!!

Oh I almost forgot. I will also have my last ever concert with OSFA on the 25th of July. We will play our old songs/covers. It will be a sad moment for me. Will keep you updated with all that.

o/

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Wallpaper Weekly and Finished Vespa

I’ve been a little sad this week, well, these last 2 days. Firstly because my job is boring me. Knowing that i’m probably not going to get confirmed at the end of the month makes me hate the job even more and makes me less bothered to actually do anything. Secondly because my tamagotchi died… yes he died, and he wasn’t even that beautiful! I took care of him real good, but apparently i’m a bad parentchi!

Back on topic, here’s my wallpaper(s) of the week:

I present you, DANBO!!!! He is a cardboard box robot!! I love danbo, and try to have as many wallpapers of him as possible.  He can show happyness, eeriness, sadness and any other kind of emotion by just standing there. Some of these are really well made.

Fun Danbo facts:

“This toy cardboard robot named Danbo was commissioned by Amazon Japan from Azuma Kiyohiko, the creator of the manga character Yotsuba-chan who lives with her adoptive work-at-home dad, and whose happy-go-lucky adventures are recounted in the popular serial, Yotsubato/Yotsuba&___. [You can read Chapter 28, Yotsuba to Danbo in English. Remember, it goes right to left.]” Source: http://tinyurl.com/l8fzap

enjoy 😀

A quick note also to say that my vespa has finally come home!!! I put pictures up on the usual forums (link is on the left coloumn of this website). But here’s a video of me driving it in the patio haha

Sunday Lake Maggiore Cycling Tour

I have recently decided, with my new workout plan, that by the end of the summer I want to be able to go round lake Maggiore once with my bike.

I’ve been cycling since I was small when my dad first bought me my very own racing bicycle.

This year i’ve been out quite a few times already doing 30-40 km cycling sessions. Usually i manage quite easily without feeling wrecked at the end, so I have decided to set a goal for myself.

This goal is going round the whole of lake Maggiore before the end of summer.

The lake’s perimeter is 160Km long. There’s a ferry that goes from point A to point B on the map below (it’s also the ferry I take every day to get to work).

This sunday, I decided to take on half the “Tour” to see if I can cope with the whole deal.

I went from Laveno ( point A) to Intra (point B) for a total of 70.1Km in 2hours 50 minutes.

It was a great cycle, and a great achievement (xbox360style) at the end when I managed to get there.

The last 5km were the worse. I probably looked like i was a zombie on a racing bicycle… must have been funny!

So in the end I had loads of fun, stopping at random bars along the way asking to refill my water bottle with tap water, but to be honest, 70km is quite a lot and I was really tired at the end. Next up is the northern half, which is about 90km, and if I manage that I think i’ll be content with what I have achieved.

I really do not think i can handle 160km in one session like i intended when I first thought of this. I’d be happy with completing the “tour” in two separate sessions like i’m doing now.

What a workout!

o/

My Vespa is nearly done!!! / Weigh-in

So I had to go down to my mechanic to give him some measurements for the vespa, and also to give him a spare part i had here at home.

I am pleasantly surprised to find out that my Vespa is nearly finished!!!  I couldn’t believe my eyes.

It is absolutely the most beautiful thing i have ever owned.

Enough talky talky…here’s the photos.

The only thing missing now is the “Vespa 150” metal plaque at the front, the rear lights, and mostly waiting for the number plate to come back restored.  It’s just looking amazing.

I have added links to my vespa project forum posts on the left coloumn so if you want to keep following and see what other people thing of the vespa, be sure to click on them.

And i’m also proud to say, that the official saturday weigh-in, is still 84.2kg hehe just like last week.

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Human Resources

It’s the end of one of my most hectic and stressful weeks since I started working.

More responsibility, every important phonecall comes to me, dealing with my colleagues, dealing with my bosses directly, having loads of paper on my desk etc etc.

It hasn’t been easy at all. I’m pretty glad it’s over, but I also know I have a whole other week of this. I’m not as stressed as much as last week anymore because now i’m not solving stuff other people had started, but i’ll solve my own problems. By this I mean that I have mostly learned what I have to do now (my boss’ job, because he’s on holiday), and instead of solving the problems my boss had left me with (all stuff he left me to do before he left for his holdays and that has mostly been solved this week), i now have my own stuff to look after.

On to better news: Human Resources and my boss both wanted to meet up with me to talk about my future at the bank. My contract ends this month so they wanted to speak to me.

To sum it all up, my boss practically told me not to worry, that i’ll be confirmed for sure but we both know it’s no work to catch up, about 120 clients. He said that I didn’t have to worry too much because we’re actually the group with less stuff to catch up!!! Which made me feel better.

The human resources guy told me that they will forward my request of moving to Friuli, in Montebelluna, near Treviso, or ofcourse abroad in eastern countries such as Slovenia, Croatia, Romania etc.

From what i managed to “feel” in that “face to face” meeting, I think that if they are going to confirm me, they’re going to confirm me in Montebelluna, the Corprate Centre Governance of the bank. Corporate Centre Governance… god i would’ve spat on myself 2 years ago for just thinking of workin in a plaec with that name…aaaaaaanyway…

That would be great as, I would be much closer to my girlfriend in Trieste, about 2 hours by car, and really close to my other house in Friuli where I grew up, about 1hour. I would still need to find a place to stay because both these places are a bit too far to commute.

Somehow i feel a bit sad though… I mean I was starting something good here too. I found a great Muay Thai team, and decided to start training seriously for some fights later on in the year, I’ll leave a rent free home, my dog, my cat. I’ll have to find a new Muay Thai trainer down in Treviso or wherever I go, a new gym.

Then again, it’s all for the best. I’m sure i’ll manage to find everything I need.

I’m mostly looking forward to bringing my vespa there haha. 400km on my vespa is quite a road trip!!!

Official weigh-in tomorrow and unless I eat 5 pizza’s tonight, it’s gonna be a positive one!

OH! I almost forgot. I got a black eye yesterday from training. We were sparring and i got hit. Didn’t even realise but yeah, scared a few colleagues at work today, had a nice laugh about it eheh.

A happy man

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Email Blog Post TEST / 1959 Vespa Project

As my internet is pretty much blocked at work, even more than communist china would filter, i’m testing to see if I can make blog posts by email.

It’s hell at work as usual, with just 3 of us working, and me having to do stuff i’ve never done before.

I guess i have to keep at it the best I can so I can show my superiors that even though i’m only 23 and with one and a half years of experience in the bank, i can do my boss’ job hehe.

I’m sure this can only be a positive message towards the renewal of my contract.

It’s very stressful though and i’m starting to feel it all after a few days, both physically and mentally.

I also have a third muay thai training session tonight which will destroy me but maybe it will relieve me from all this stress too.

Anyway just for testing purposes, here’s a pic:

That’s what I look like when someone asks me something these days.

o/

Edit: It worked! huahauhauhau

Apparently, my 1959 Vespa is nearly ready. For those that did not know, i am restoring an old 150 cc Vespa. I’ve been at it for a year now and finally it should nearly be done!

It’s just missing small details, like the Vespa 150 metal plaque on the front, and small bits and pieces. On saturday i’m gonna go down to my friend/mechanic to make some photos and give him the measurements for the metal plaque.

This is how the vespa USED to look:

My vespa "originally"

If anyone is interested in seeing what it has now become, I update my vespa project as much as i can on these websites, where you can keep up to date with what is going on:

Italian: http://www.vespaforever.net/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=14112

English: http://www.omgbruces.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4251&start=0

They are long posts, but as I said before, i’ve been working on the vespa for a year now.

Cannot wait until this Saturday to get it running and have a ride on it!!!! WOOO

Training now! Bahbye!

Weekends and Nuclear Bunkers

Weird title i know, but everything will be explained.

On Sunday, i went to visit my sister, in her new appartment. She lives in Switzerland where she works (Switzerland is just an hour away from where I live).
She found a very nice little home, literally 100m from lake Lugano.
It was a beautiful day and we had lunch and then went for a walk around the lake. Should really have made pictures so i could’ve posted them!

Anyway, while conversating with my sis, she tells me that her cellar is actually a nuclear bunker! WHAT!?!?!?
Yes that’s right! In Switzerland, companies that build appartments had to include a nuclear bunker in the building by law!!! I don’t know if that’s still the case, but the building is pretty new so i guess the law still stands.

I beg her to show me her cellar, so we take the elevator.
I was really curious to be honest because i’d never seen a nuclear bunker in my life, and suddenly there it was! A 50 inch thick metal/concrete door, with huge handles and swivels underneath a 5 storey building! Haha!
It was pretty amazing. That door weighed like 6 tons, it was incredible. I’ll upload a picture as soon as my sis sends me one.
She says she always runs in and out of it quickly when she needs something in it because she’s scared she’ll be locked inside forever!
Inside the “vault” there’s also some smaller doors that look like you can crawl inside that lead towards the mountain? maybe a bigger vault? Maybe vents? Who knows! Love these things haha!

Funnily enough, it reminded my geek soul that i still had not given Fallout 3 a shot, so as soon as i got back home i started playing, and finally… I have realised what an amazing game it is. Really really enjoying it.

Today was also my first day at work without my boss, and me taking up most of his duties. It was actually quite stressful, and i had a few problems but i managed to solve them quite easily. First day is gone and we’ll se how the rest develops.
Luckily, Chiara (my mentor that left last friday), said she will come help us next week as there’s only 3 of us working there atm and we need any help we can get. It was very nice of her to offer and I can’t wait for her to arrive and lend us a hand.

Right, time to stuff some food in my face and then go to training.
Over and out.

Oh my sister sent me photos woo! Here they are: