Archive for the “History” Category

I would say that it doesn’t take awfully much to annoy me. As somewhat of a perfectionist I take a moody disposition towards flaws and inconveniences, particularly where the ingredient of unfairness or incompetence is tossed in.

While I would say that I am one of my own harshest critics, I would also say that collective entities such as institutions bear a significant degree of the brunt of my scathing perspective also.

It was no different this morning as I negotiated the mish-mesh of streets in the heart of Paceville. Even though I’ve done it hundreds of times before, the disappointment and eventual frustration of being unable to find a legal parking space is a special kind of feeling that often tests the boundaries of that which I would call rage.

Circling in and out and about and in again, multiple passes, varying route, extending my search area further and further outwards as the second hand ticks down the minutes to the hour of appointment. All being told it took around fifty minutes to finally settle for a parking space fifteen minutes walk away from the intended destination. The brisk walk down and up the valley slopes long choked by urbanization was, by comparison, a relief.

It turned out to be worth my while however as even though I did arrive minutes late that which followed was for the most part a positive experience. Perhaps the end of an era of (official) idleness is upon me.

This would conclude this chapter of seeking that has spanned many months. While I would have said that I am frankly surprised that the search was not concluded long earlier, I cannot truly say that I am. After all, the national unemployment figures were up 2,597 persons to a total of 7,680 persons unemployed (link).

Sometimes it is external forces that determine how the next chapter of your life plays out. This was true for a very good friend of mine who had to leave the Islands for an indefinite period in order to help sort out some family issues. It was my privilege to be entrusted with the task of looking after his apartment, particularly his pet rabbits.

It turned out to be a very interesting period. The weeks stretched to months. It was an ideal opportunity to escape to a place of solitude, and I took advantage of this opportunity very regularly. This, combined with the availability of a Wi-Fi connection, would also have been a good opportunity to revive this web log – except that it clearly didn’t happen.

This period followed rather tightly upon the heels of the dissertation saga, the month of June slipping by and the murcury rising. As such between looking for work and tending to small fuzzy creatures I spent most of my time either watching the television or playing games while listening to the radio. Both generally helped to take my mind off my relatively idle status.

I did find some time to indulge in some self-taught skills however. While I did not really manage to get my head around coding in a more practical language than those taught in the Maltese education system I did become somewhat familiar with some aspects of computer aided design as well as rabbit care.

That pretty much sums up the period until the near year-end when this friend returned to reclaim his home, life and pets. It was certainly a more relaxed time than the preceding months had been and I do not recall waking up from half-hour power naps to slave at a deadline.

It is the beginning of March and it is as good a time as any to get things back on track. It may as well begin on a slightly personal note, bringing readers up to speed with the past 18 months – the period this web log has been idle.

Well first a bit of context. As of around the time I logged my final post I was getting set to tackle the final academic year of the course I was reading at the University of Malta. I was also wrapping up my summer role as welfare officer and getting set to take on further work by night.

My decision to take up the offer to continue working was probably a mistake on my part and that choice did come back to haunt me later on, compounded as it were by a couple of setbacks that ultimately served to sap my will. It was just a year ago today that I respectfully resigned from my work position.

By that point things were looking rather bleak. It didn’t help that I had been working on my confirmed dissertation topic for just a few months following the scrapping of the foundation work done on earlier prospective topics.

I’ll admit that I did lose composure at times but it would have ended badly were it not for the several persons who were very supportive. Good advice, encouragement and tolerance of my repetitive (and depressing) play list at 4 o’ clock in the morning all served to grant me doses of inspiration and motivation. If it weren’t for such individuals I likely would be in much poorer shape today.

Thankfully that phase is over and done with. I’d consider returning to expand upon it, but I think that an informal note would be more palatable for the foreseeable future.