the tree planting company said it would like to start talking about my software at the end of January, which means that I will be on this island at least another month. Because of that, and because I cant seem to get good internet from the Greeks (they require a contract with permanent address, or some ridiculous deposit), I paid for another month of my Turkcell 3G internet. So I reparked the truck somewhere near the border and am using their signal that way, even though i’m not supposed to (but how often do I do things I’m “not supposed to”?, heh heh). But its much colder in the centre of the island, not far from the Trodos mountains (where you can ski in the winter), so I’m curious how long I’ll survive here. Will buy a couple of blankets and hang them on either side of me, turning my bed into a sort of tent, and see if it can get warm enough within it so I can survive. Worst case scenario I’ll just drive back to the coast, where I discovered there is a Turkcel signal in one town, although only slow internet. But better than nothing. While in Nicosia, if I will not be getting enough translation work, I’ll look for some local work. But a few jobs seem on the horizon, so hopefully I wont have to resort to that. I kind of feel like one of those tourists who ran out of money in Mexico and had to work for years in some bar or something to earn enough to get out of there. At least its not a horrid place to be, Cyprus, be looking forward to hittin the road again.
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Hi stranger! So where in the World is Karel? What does life find you doing at this juncture? What are you aspiring to do ,planning for, dreaming about…… as yet,one year doth end and another newly begins?
I’m on the Greek side of this island, never planning to enter back into the Turkish side, since I found they expect me to pay something toward a thousand buck for customs duty on my truck. Why on earth should I pay customs on something I’m not selling, or I don’t even have a permanent residence there (they declined that), so I’m not importing it either? These government sometimes seem rather desperate for tax dollars.
Trying to save up enough cash to get off the island from the Greek side (came onto it from the Turkish side) cause I got a friend who offered me a job helping him reconstruct a rubble house on a Greek island. Sounds wonderfully romantic and a good source of backup income as well. I’m also itchin for a movin. Been a lovely stint on this island, feel its time to move on. Part of the big dream.
I take this time, amidst the false illusions of partying as the masses choose to dull themselves in order to end and begin..only to repeat the liturgy of numbing and running from….for me…. I choose to really contemplate my life’s past and anew…….it is serious and deliberate for me………. I prefer quiet…. Your writing to me today suggests great clarity. I loved it! Prague is so beautiful, so surrounded with spirituality…..the “Zoo” existence saddens me so. People can inflict such chaos into life which is or can be so gloriously beautiful and filled with such love and PEACE. Your idea of “God action ” is good. It resounds and duplicates my readings for today……there are miracles abounding …are we but aware?…….and all life’s tapestry is a backdrop for God working in our lives. Synchronicity…….no coincidences…….
Yah, I’ve been coming out of the closet with a lot of my contacts and MY what lethal harsh attacks I can get. But I think I’m planting seeds of thought. After they attack me for a while and feel relieved, they grow to realise I really only meant well, where everyone else just seems pretty darn busy going about their selfish lives to even give their neighbour a second thought. So, in time, they start to appreciate my second thoughts.
My friend, I wish you love, joy and Peace in the New Year…..you know how to find it and where to find it! God’s blessings be upon you…..and as illusive and you are I would love to know where you are and what you are doing there!:) off to do my yoga now!…….fondly, Ann Marie……..
My aunt does Yoga, and I should probably too. Get a better balance. This constant computer stuff can be bad for the back.
Have a good one and always enjoy your feedback. :0)
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my debt to you is near the top of my list. I’m currently still on the south side of Cyprus because I do not have enough money for the ferry to get to Greece, where a job is waiting for me. Once I get to Greece, then I’ll have a good backup income stream and should be able to start paying off some debts. But I owe the guy who will be giving me the job about 2,000$, and then 1,200$ to a friend who lent me money for a plane ticket to go tree planting, and then there are other important debts, but yours is near the top. At least I should be able to make some token payments once in Greece for a few months. During the summer we are supposed to move to Bulgaria to work on some of his projects there. For this job he agreed I can stop any time a translation project comes in, which would always pay more. My pages are still near the top of google for “Czech to English translator” etc., and I get occasional requests, so hopefully things will start to turn around for me now. The tree planting season was too short and didn’t even cover the costs of getting there. Sorry for the delay, but you’ll get it from me once I have the cash.
Hope you had nice holidays.
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hey dude, just about ready to launch into your invoices, after I proofread and send off this last job. But just had to share my new invention with one other person, since I’m getting such a kick out of it. I have to chuckle regarding this latest crisis, and how I continue to survive. These local or world economic swings seem to flow over me without my slightest concern, even more so now than in the past, since I do not pay for rent or electricity anymore, and have gotten my costs down to about 10 bucks a day. With the occasional job I can survive a long time. I can even get local work if I wanted to, for lower than Ukrainian wages, and live like a king. But my latest invention of clicking on my own google ads and using proxy servers to masquerade my identity takes the cake. Still in the development phase, but I think I’ll have it figured out that, soon enough, about 15 minutes a day of “work” will be enough to cover all my living costs!
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Haha… That’s pretty funny about those google ads… How much do you make a month with 15 min a day? If you don’t mind me asking.
Yah, when I was leaving Prague and into my truck, I spent about two weeks categorising everything into garbage, recycle, sell, charity, give to my kid, and take with me. Relived my 15 years there with every bureaucratic document that passed through my hands before I decided whether to take it with me or put in the recycle pile. Was a sentimental moment living through all those memories again, but boy did it feel good to get rid of ALL THAT SHIT! It’s nice to be lean and mean, and certainly mobile.
Yesterday (ends 10am my time) I made 6.25 with two click sessions. Will see if I can get three or more in per day. Then I will start experimenting with different proxy servers. Thinking that perhaps I could achieve 20 bucks a day or more, we’ll see.
And that’s great that your expenses are so low! You don’t know how much it hurts me to pay for rent and continue to buy more and more shit for the flat and the office… I feel (we do, both Sasha and I) that with every purchase we get more and more ‘anchored’ to one place and we would like to be more mobile…
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hey, an idea occurred to me. I’ve been walking across to the Turkish side about once a week chewing out Turkcell, really getting in their face, and it seems they finally broke down. Could be a good lesson for you. Anyway, they said either they can give me my money back or give me two months of free internet (2 of the solutions I told them that are possible). Since I’m using the internet I said I’d take the two months free. If and once that is realised, since I’ve already paid for the end of January, it would mean I’d have until the end of March paid for. They said it’s not possible to unlock it, although I think it may be possible. Rather than try to do this, since I’d want to be quickly up and running in Greece (and I’d have a permanent address I could use at my friend’s), it might just be best to sell it, like to you. So here’s a possible deal:
1) if you wanted to buy one, you’d pay 140 lira, plus 70 lira for the first month, if I am not mistaken.
2) with me, I could sell it for maybe 70, and you’d get possibly first two months paid for, depending on when I leave.
Possibly interested?
Yeah, I thought so. On Jan 8, 2009, at 3:18 PM, KENAX – Karel Kosman wrote: Did I bump into you in the middle of the night sometime recently in South Nicosia? yah, I think you were on your way to do some Russian whores while I was stumbling drunk in an opposite direction. Don’t know if I was dreaming or not.
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I have some experience with legal texts but do not really want to mess with them again. I will end up re-writing the translation for free again.
wasn’t asking for a proofread at all but just to look at his work and assess him. Okay if you don’t want to though. He could become my new proofreader, as my other proofreader is too busy now too.
Our cannabizness is developing quite well, I hope we will cover our costs soon and reach the magic “zero”. Of course, times are quite hard now, the investment was too high. And so I approached the last four sinners who owe me money – with exactly the same result as always before.
Yah, I’m a sinner, sorry, but I’m sure you’ll get your money with interest as I said. This is my longest poor streak yet. Usually things turn around for me much sooner.
After seeing all the domains you guys bought, seemed like you were throwing your money around too much. But easy to do when setting up a business. I’ve learned from experience the art of starting slow, lean and mean, and work up slowly from a solid, bottom base. Everything else is hype and too much excitement.
I still think you should consider moving somewhere where you can make some money…
yah, everyone jumps to the same conclusion, but my arguments are always the same:
– for 15 years that I lived in Prague almost all my work was through the telephone or internet, so I see no reason why that should change. I’ve always worked from home and never met my customers, except for a few isolated cases when I totally ran out of money
– now I don’t have to pay 14,000Kc/month rent, plus electricity, gas and heating etc. It’s inevitable that things should turn around for me, seeing I can now survive on 10 bucks a day
– if I WAS to consider moving back to the cold and out of my truck, first I’d have to get there, then put down first and last month’s rent, then have some survival money to last me a while until I found some work. Then I’d work like every other asshole, in some stupid office, paying high rent, drinking lots of beer, and barely putting anything into the bank at the end of the day. So I’d probably owe MORE money, and take me longer to pay everyone off. Essentially out of the question. Not to mention that I would be absolutely miserable.
– and if I wanted to work in some geezard office, I could probably find something locally in the sun, wherever I am, considering it’s all EU and I’m EU etc.
But this construction gig in Greece could be good. Would still live my bohemian lifestyle, and wouldnt have to pay for food anymore, so my daily costs would become essentially zero. I’d have a good backup income, and can stop working if any translation or other work comes in . So win win I’d say. Now just to get there.
Have a good one bud.
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Trema was a French company, which was bought by somebody else, which was bought by Wall Street Systems: jason @wallstreetsystems.cam
Well, hope his address doesn’t eventually change to jason @insolvencybust.com, heh heh
Jason used to get flown to Paris for work. Now it’s Manhattan. He loves it. Lotsa tiki bars and karaoke every night. I don’t know if he’s back from his recent trip to N.Y., but this email is his work email. He left Prague in mid December, so he should be in Prague by now. Laterooni beach bum………….
You hotdog you! Looks like a nice flat. Unfortunately I’m not on the beach anymore. Long story but I’m in Nicosia on the Greek side, close enough to the border to catch the Turkish 3G signal. To ridiculous to try and get an internet package on the Greek side. About the only good parking spot I could find, which catches the most rays during the day while getting a good internet signal. Parked next to two schools, young kids walking around my truck all the time. Waiting with trepidation every day when the police will show up and ask me what the hell I am doing here by these children…
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Wow, I definitely like it; are you writing a biography? I think you’d make a bestseller. Frankly, there are not many people that had your courage – to go from a successful company to a “van”. Although it sounds you’re down, I don’t believe you, Karel, I’ve known you having ten times energy than me. If you’re not sailing yet, it’s just a question of catching the right winds.
hey dude, you can check out my blob through kenax.net/travel. Been trying to improve the writing over the years and people seem to be happy with it. I like how I am much more productive on the road. In Prague I’d constantly be “hassled” by friends who wanted a beer/smoke/sports etc. buddy. There were many reasons why I wanted to leave Prague, and the smoke and beer were one of them. I just love the stuff too much and need to run away from it. I too think that things will eventually kick in, but have settled to just happily working away (most of my time is spent developing, which I enjoy) and waiting until it does. Being able to survive at about 10 Euro a day makes it easier to sit out the quite times. But being on a beach on a beautiful island certainly also makes it easier to sit out any quiet times. Lately I came to the conclusion that God must be holding me back while he works on my soul, because it just seems too odd that I have not seen greater success.
On the other hand, I think I know a bit your feeling. I took over a company with debts and practically no assets and had to kick out 2 of my, although smart, but lazy partners and for 2 years have been resuscitating it out of scratch next to my demanding family…
you got littlle ones now? Cool stuff.
Have a good one! k
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> So you’re in Nicosia, eh?
yup, but just had to move to a new parking spot, where the internet connection is slightly weaker. That’s one thing I don’t like about the Greeks and one reason why I spent most of my time on the Turkish side is because the Greeks can be the interbreeding little runts that I have started to call them and who will call the police out of envy. Or maybe its generally just a western culture or something. Where everyone stands on their porch with shotgun in hand ready to blow off someone’s head in defense of what is “theirs”. Or maybe it’s just a guilt thing, since the Euro white trash has essentially stolen all this land from the original natives all over the world and introduced this concept of property rights.
So now I’m parked in some mud by a construction site, and we’ll see how long I’ll be able to stay here. Difficult to find a clearing where I’m not parked in the shade of some building or trees for hours out of the day, and to get a good internet signal from the Turkish side.
Yes, visa problems and the sort from Cosy Kozy. I learned that I was supposed to pay 60 Lira for every month my truck was on the island, meaning over a thousand Lira by now. Bullshit bureaucracy and they can shove that deep up their arse. Escaped the north using my Canadian passport, and essentially got out illegally, but they just let it slide and it will definitely be the last time I drive across there. Although I walk across all the time, just for fun, with my Canadian passport into the north, and with my EU passport back into the south. Just to make a farce out of it all.
Jimbus stayed for a month and we mostly hung out on The Farm, as my and Tomas now like to call it. He drives up to party with me in Nick’s about once a week. Jim just wanted to relax on the beach and play tennis and drink beer every day. Suited me fine.
Berlin sounds fun and will hopefully drive through there at some point. Not sure when I’d be able to make it into Iran. k
I understand the internet situation, but lucky me; I’ve had easy wifi access everywhere I’ve lived and traveled. I’m assuming the reason you’re not catching the signal on the Turkish side (which you said you prefer) is that there’s something wrong with your Kuzey Kibris insurance or the visa ran out…? Enjoy the kebabs. Actually tons of Turkish fast food in Berlin. It’s very cheap and makes up half my diet these days. Been caving it through the Berlin winter, playing video games, watching movies and drinking beer. Well, actually I do that year round…. How long did Jimbus stay and where did you guys go?
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Last divided capital/city in the world – certainly will want to document it. Have a good Sunday! well enjoy your well-deserved day off. You’ll notice all the big signs “No Photography!” so don’t go get yourself thrown in jail, haha! I tried, in some spots I stood up on a wall of a parking lot, had a great view of bullet-ridden walls and crushed, abandoned cars in the Green Zone, but the fellow in the little shack was watching me closely so I couldn’t. That French film crew I met, you remember, we actually went out one evening, sat at an outside table of a restaurant a just before the Green Zone, had a cup of tea, I pretended to read the menu while he put his camera on the table and filmed the wall. Never got to see how it turned out. I am finished almost everything, it will probably take about an hour tomorrow to get it done. I’m not going to do it now because I’m really tired and have started to make mistakes. So I guess your question is answered: I sent you the listing forms, you can see the very last few tidbits of information. You have all the Species, all the Products (including sizes) and the Shake & Shingle form (different list of Products). For the clicky boxes. If you want to wait until I send you absolutely everything tomorrow (the rest of the mill lists I mean), then launch into the super-boring work of cleaning up the .rft files, and flowing the info into the database that’s OK. Don’t forget to figure out what happened with those email addresses on the sample you sent me first!
Yup, will try to double check all that, and you can as well before we finalise everything. Will import into Access first, so we can both double check things, and then into sqlite.
Oh, by the way, don’t forget that I sent you a bunch of files to double check on certain things before I commence with the conversion. Not the first big batch I sent you, but the individual files I sent you after that. Shouldn’t take you long to do those files. Maybe you could finish those before finishing the other stuff, so that I can proceed with the conversion. Will probably be piddling around with that for a bit still.
Concerning the border, should probably make an interesting blog entry, and I will definitely write about it, but the police and military have been getting in my face four or five times on different occasions because I was parked so close to the buffer zone (need to catch internet from the Turkish side). When I mentioned the internet thing, they became horrified that I was catching a signal across their sacred buffer zone, and immediately assumed (and mentioned) that I must be “collaborating” with the Turks. I tried to explain these bozos 6 times how the internet works and that just because I’m hooked up to the internet on the Turkish side doesn’t mean I’m collaborating or even emailing with anyone in that country. I was getting in their face, and a long yet hilarious story which I will write about later. But after that was over I was tired enough with those clowns and decided “screw’em”. I took a picture of a dilapitated building bordering the buffer zone RIGHT in front of the guard as he was staring at me. Did’t take a picture of him or the sign that said “no pics”, but at 90 degrees angle from that sign. If he said even a peep I was going to get so in his face it wouldn’t be funny. But that’s just me traveling, heh heh.
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cool, say hi to Alison for me. As “check out my site”, you mean the movies? I can give you the details for that. Requires login, so I don’t get sued by the big boys like Sony, which obviously are not making enough money. Got lots of flicks up there and others are uploading too, so it’s a nice trade zone. Stef and Sara apparently want to go on a road trip with me through Bulgaria, so that’s something to look forward to. If ya ever wanna cheap vacation with your hubby or whatever, you can always find me near the top of google for “cheap travel Europe”, or “cheap travel europe tour guide” etc. Or heck, just write me an email, heh heh.
Not having to go to work. Hmm, think I’m a veteran at that, but I’ve reached a new and exciting cusp in my career as a vagabond – php. I’m learning about dynamic web design and can now make sites like expats.cz and anything I want. So the aim is to take things to the next level. My present level is lying on my back in my truck while parked on a beach with my lovely 3G wireless internet, servicing customers and doing this and that. But servicing customer can sometimes be a major pain, dealing with bozo secretaries who don’t know anything, or dealing with the heat of some boss on a time schedule. But with dynamic webdesign, I can create interesting projects on the web and eventually stumble on something which brings in cash. Did one for tree planting and have different ways I can make money from that. I have unlimited webhosting space and bandwidth, and these days you can by some domain.com for about 10 bucks a year, so I simply point that to my webhost server account and I’m ready to rock and roll. So now I’m working on severing this bond with customers and I can be parked on my beach in total peace, and do whatever the FK I want, heh heh.
Beer by 2012 sounds good. latergator
Well you never really know afterall- we better get together some time before 2012. Happy birthday by the way. Alson had a Vsechno Lejlepsi for you, a couple weekends ago. I am taking an upholstery class, trying to find a way to not have to wake up and go to work. Not sure if this is the right thing for me yet. I will have to check out your site. Ann Subject: doomsday heydo, just watch a documentary about the Mayan culture which I thought might interest you, since they seem so advanced with calendars and reading the stars. You can download it from my server, where I’ve got a bunch of other flicks too if you like. In any case, makes me wonder, perhaps we should get together for at least one last beer before Dec. 21, 2012, heh heh.
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Well that sounds like a good idea. Don’t most sites like myspace, facebook make money by selling advertising. I guess you just have to discover your niche.
Yah, I was using google ads for a while, but got frustrated at the small amount of pennies I made, I was getting hungry, and started using proxy servers to click on my own ads. Was making 20 bucks a day and could have easily made more, but didn’t want to push my luck. At total costs of only 10 bucks a day, this strategy secured my survival, while I would go about my other work with ease. I was even starting to chuckle that, “hmm, I guess crime really DOES pay.” But google is god and I shouldn’t have underestimated it. They blocked my account, took 60 bucks from me, and now I wont use them anymore. Anyway, I’ve already been approached by some to put ads on my sites directly and I’ve made WAY more than google could offer, so I’ll use that approach from now on. But I want to make a lot more cash than from ads. Well, we’ll see.
You can get ermine cheese in the states? Craig told me he had a real problem with that, since he’s such a smazhead. My latest masterpiece: there are four wonderful and boasted growing seasons on this island, and I can have an entire artichoke dinner for about 5 Euro. Stuff myself and cleanse and nourish my liver at the same time. The artichoke heads are almost two fists big here. Get a pot, put in tinfoil to seal in the juices, cut the chokes in quarters and slice out the annoying hair (soaks up the delicious juices and you cant eat it), then layer in tons of olive oil, big chunks of garlic, quarters of two lemons (one at the bottom with rind down, and one at the top with rind up), and then salt, black pepper balls, thyme and a bit of oregano. Real easy. Just make sure to seal the tinfoil so none of the juices escape, and turn down the heat to help prevent the juices from escaping. Let it sizzle away for 20 minutes or more. My sis showed me this when she visited me and we did in on the edge of the fire. The leaves of the chokes turned to crispy brown on the bottom and they were delicious and edible! Will have to put this on my site at some point. But I gather chokes can be expensive in your hood up in the mountains?
I meant your site with the “How To” I have a hankering for some nakladany hermelin.
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We are a family operation managing private custom boat tours in the beautiful Palawan area, and are happy to help travelers with their plans through the Philippines, having traveled a lot of it ourselves and planning to visit it all. These pages in this section cover my various solo travels through Europe before meeting my wife.