Getting to know each other

I have been...indirectly tagged on Anastasia's blog, so here goes:

If you've been tagged or you are reading this, you have the honor of copying all these goofy questions, writing your own response, and tagging 25 other victims. You have to tag me so really you just need 24 more people. To do this on Facebook, go to “notes” under tabs on your profile page, paste these instructions in the body of the note, type your title as "Getting to know each other!", tag 25 people including me (tagging is done in the right hand corner of the app) then click publish. To do this on Blogger, copy and paste this in a new post and tag as many people as you like.

1. What time did you get up this morning? 6:00 am

2. How do you like your steak? well done

3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? Fifty dead men walking

4. What is your favorite TV show? Everybody loves Raymond.

5. If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be? India

6. What did you have for breakfast? a cup of tea and tost

7. What is your favorite cuisine? Greek and Indian

8. What foods do you dislike? sushi, beans, frogs legs, spinach

9. Favorite Place to Eat? To Kafenio and 48 The Restaurant

10. Favorite dressing? caesar, blue cheese, olive oil & lemon

11.What kind of vehicle do you drive? A silver mercedes

12. What are your favorite clothes? casual, blazers and shirts

13. Where would you visit if you had the chance? Patmos island

14. Cup 1/2 empty or 1/2 full? 1/2 empty

15. Where would you want to retire? At Galaxidi

16. Favorite time of day? morning

17. Where were you born? Athens, Greece

18. What is your favorite sport to watch? Basketball

19. Who do you think will not tag you back? Not sure

20. Person you expect to tag you back first? No idea...

21. Who are you most curious about their responses to this? All of them

22. Bird watcher? No

23. Are you a morning person or a night person? morning

24. Do you have any pets? 2 dogs and 1 cat

25. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share? I'm off on holiday as from next week!!!

26. What did you want to be when you were little? Fisherman

27. What is your best childhood memory? My grandmother's cooking

28. Are you a cat or dog person? both! I love both cats and dogs.

29. Are you married? No, I'm divorced

30. Always wear your seat belt? YES!

31. Been in a car accident? Yes

32. Any pet peeves? violent sports, lies

33. Favorite Pizza Toppings? salami, pepperoni, mushrooms, corn, extra cheese, tomatoes

34. Favorite Flower? lillies, daisies, poppies

35. Favorite ice cream? chocolate, lemon, strawberry

36. Favorite fast food restaurant? Goodies

37. How many times did you fail your driver's test? Never failed

38. From whom did you get your last email? from my daughter

39. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card? ???? Attica

40. Do anything spontaneous lately? Sent flowers to my girlfriend

41. Like your job? I love it

42. Broccoli? Not really.....

43. What was your favorite vacation? Last summer at Sifnos

44. Last person you went out to dinner with? My brother and his wife

45. What are you listening to right now? Nothing

46. What is your favorite color? blue

47. How many tattoos do you have? None

48. How many are you tagging for this quiz? Open

49. What time did you finish this quiz? 9: 51 am

50. Coffee Drinker? Yes - greek coffee and espresso

A Virtual Cruise to the Greek Islands

It's been unbearably hot these last few days in Athens with the temperature going up to 40C yesterday. In the city centre, it felt like over 40 at about 2 pm mainly due to the many buildings made from glass, concrete and metal which tend to create a burning hot air mass. Unfortunately, I had to drive to the centre as I had an important business lunch. Otherwise I'd have certainly driven to Galaxidi where it is much cooler. The city of Athens is practically empty today as most people went off to the beaches or the nearby islands for the weekend. I've still got 2 weeks at work before I go on holiday for 3 weeks in August. I wish I could take 5 weeks off like last year, but due to the recession and some new contracts at work, I can't allow myself this luxury. At the moment, I'd rather stay indoors in the air conditioning and dream of the Greek islands! So let me take you on a virtual cruise to some of my favourite islands.

The island of Ikaria - Valeta

From Greece

The island of Amorgos

From Greece

The island of Astypalea

From Greece

The fishing port on the island of Sifnos

From Greece

Artemonas on the island of Sifnos

From Greece

The Power of Will

There are times in our lives when we feel wreckless and depressed because of various circumstances that affect our peace of mind. Consquently, we develop a low self-estime and think that there's nothing really that we can achieve. There was a time in my life when I felt completely useless and unable to resist temptations like surfing the internet, chocolate or simply eating too much and mostly fattening and unhealthy foods. With the help and support of some good friends - one of them is a very successful psycholigist - I started to seek ways to strengthen my willpower and self-discipline. This did not happen from one day to another but it was a slow and gradual progress depending on perseverence - a topic I talked about in a previous blog.

Perseverence helped me to stick to my goal . So I gradually started cutting down on the internet, on chocolate and on food - my three main addictions I was unable to resist to. Physical exercise and meditation kept me going. I went on a diet and lost weight while at the same time I adopted a healthier eating pattern, I stopped bringing chocolate home - I used to consume a bar every day! - and also cut down on the internet for my entertainment. There were times I really felt like giving in to one or more of the above temptations but in the end I managed to control them instead of letting them control me. It was certainly not easy to achieve these goals, it took time but in the end I learned that when there is a will there is always a way.