Language: English

The real news is you!

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Sharon Lee - Most Versatile 'Hobbies'

These days, there’s a lot of buzz in the media about a politician in Romania, which used to be prime minister, now offered a „warm job” – a well-paid position for which, the media says, that person might not be the most suited candidate. I won’t link to any news on that, I would do the Internet a bad service.

The news is mostly that:

  • „If I were the person naming X in that position, I would have chosen a better candidate”.
  • „I’m a much better person than X, I deserve even better than X in life”.
  • „Political party Y, now in power in Romania, is not that trustworthy”.
  • „In Romania, things go wrong”.

While I would understand most people’s reactions for feeling disappointed by a political party, now governing, I think most of the reactions in the media (in various forms) were due to two main reasons:

  • „I’m better than the person naming X, why am I not in that person’s shoes?”.
  • „I’m better than X, why don’t I get a good position?”.

To me, the things above are not the real news. To me, the real news is that society (in which you, the reader are included) is so preoccupied with this issue that this is even news.

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Redescovering Romania

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Reto Fetz - Home Sweet Home

I’ve seen some countries until now – Bulgaria, Germany, Turkey, England, Ireland, Hungary, Serbia. To a lesser extent, Austria and Slovakia. I lived in London for more than a year.

I read one thing on a forum today which made me think – once you visit/live in another country, you look at your original country with different eyes.

I also look at Năvodari differently, based on other experiences I’ve had.

It made me rediscover Romania, Bucharest, Năvodari. Even Pârjol, where I was raised in the first years of my life, looks differently.

Strangely, I like it more. You might think that going from Năvodari to Bucharest would make me look with a poorer look at Năvodari, but the contrary happened. Similarly, I liked Bucharest more after living in London.

The thing is, what’s on a higher level than London? :)

Note – this doesn’t mean I don’t like London or Bucharest anymore. It’s just that I appreciate other places more than before.

“No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it’s not the same river, and he’s not the same man.” ― Heraclitus

 

“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” ― Maya Angelou

Also see:

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Allow your kids to go through adversity, but not trauma – Brené Brown

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Khánh Hmoong - Trauma

I like this (approximate) quote by Brené Brown (via »):

„Allow your kids to go through adversity, but not trauma”.

And a definition by Merriam-Webster:

Trauma = „a disordered psychic or behavioral state resulting from severe mental or emotional stress or physical injury” (via »)

How do I interpret this?

  • Limits are OK, „You shouldn’t do this, you should do this”. They can be framed as „This has some advantages, the other thing brings some other results”.
  • On another hand, what is trauma? Something that can leave a mark, bring trouble, and is, all-in-all, unwanted. Yes, something that doesn’t kill you may make you stronger, but after some degree, it’s just too much.

In conclusion, do set boundaries, but don’t transform them into inner limitations, don’t force things that cut others’ wings.

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Space, the final frontier

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longreach - People 5498

Following up on a question by Carmen Cucul, a question arises: what’s important when choosing a location from where to work remotely?

To me, space matters little. But, boy-oh-boy!, does being around other people matter! If I have a big or small office, a comfortable or ergonomic chair, all of these matters little. On another hand, spending some time around other people – now, that’s important.

The complete introduction, spoken by Patrick Stewart as Captain Jean-Luc Picard at the beginning of each episode, is:

Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its continuing mission: to explore strange new worlds. To seek out new life and new civilizations. To boldly go where no one has gone before! (Where no man has gone before – Wikipedia)

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Joker is a part of life

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Două filme - Joker + Parasite

A lot of times, when I think of Joker (2019), I consider it a strange person in a normal world.

It might be wrong.

Perhaps Joker fits perfectly in this world.

Perhaps weirdness is a state, we are all weird.

Joking looks bad, while it does bring happiness it’s also considered aggressive.

But, perhaps, this, too, is part of life.

The thing with joking is that it changes the system.

You laugh at the system, the system moves from A to B. It causes a big shift.

One step in changing an issue is acknowledging that this is, really, an issue.

But when you laugh, two things happen:

  • You acknowledge there is an issue.
  • You either accept it, and it shifts, or you refuse it, and, again, it shifts.

Laughing changes the system.

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Entrelancer vs. Corpobusiness

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my favorite photo, Turkey

I’m always surprised to see the big differences between small business entities (entrepreneur, freelancer) vs. large ones (large companies, corporations).

In a large corporation, at some point, you, as an employee, might be tempted to ignore some things, to avoid putting your heart one, to give less than 100% in your efforts, to care less and to get involved less.

In a small company/freelancer business, you’re all soul. You care deeply, you get involved, you’re motivated.

For example, when I take photos, I look for emotion. I take more than a photo, and try my best to only choose the ones which transmit a message (most of the time, of course).

I’ve seen some photos made by professional photographers which have much better technical characteristics, but, to some degree, lack the emotion.

There’s no laughter, cry, or happiness.

Take, for example, my favorite photo, shown below.

It’s not perfect, but, to me, it’s the most beautiful photo I’ve taken.

There are others, also »

Of course, a corporate business has its advantages, I’m not saying every entity should be a small enterprise.

I’m just comparing the enthusiasm.

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Google Maps free embed code vs. paid Google Maps API

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Google Maps

Google Maps has two large options for use on a website:

  • If you must use an API, if you have no other option than that, you must pay to use the API for anything larger than 200$ / month. Details »
  • If an API is not mandatory, you could just embed a Google Maps, by going to https://www.google.com/maps, and embedding a map (hamburger menu -» share or embed a map -» embed a map).

More details on the second option, here »

Can I get Google Maps for Free?

In short, yes.

Google Maps provide a free embed code that you can copy/paste onto your website totally free of charge – or for now at least!

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