[FR/EN] Ooooops
[FR] Hey les gens, désolé, j’avais dit que j’écrirai plus mais en fait le transfert de connaissance me donne beaucoup plus de travail que ce que je pensais, et quand je retourne chez moi j’ai aucune envie d’avancer mon blog. Et pourtant, il y aurait tant à dire, ne serait-ce que sur ce transfert et sur la façon dont ma boîte (pas ma nouvelle, ma boîte actuelle) traite ses employés… Le 3 mai, je commence mon nouveau travail, donc lundi prochain. On verra si j’ai plus de temps, je ne promets rien; j’aurai surement des journées intenses, au moins au début. Ne perdez pas espoir!
[EN] Hey people; im sorry i promised you i would write more and finish subjects such as Stockholm and stuff; but my knowledge transfer is taking much more time i first thought. And when im back home, i really don’t have any energy to write on my blog. And yet, believe me, there would be a lot to say about a knowledge transfer and the way my company treats his employees… Anyway… On 3rd of May im starting my new job, can’t wait for it, its next Monday! We’ll see if i get more free time, but so far i don’t promise anything; i’ll probably have very hectic days at the beginning! But don’t lose hope!
[FR] Depuis le jour où j’ai accepté le contrat et donné ma démission, je pensais vraiment trouver du temps à consacrer à ce blog, notamment pour vous parler de mon nouveau travail, du monde du consulting et de ce que je pense de l’informatique en entreprise (croyances vs situations vécues). Mais il se trouve que j’ai encore beaucoup à faire : je dois à la fois préparer la personne qui va me remplacer sur mon poste actuel, avec plan de transfert et écriture de divers documents à la clé. C’est crevant et çà me demande d’arriver à 8h le matin et sûrement à partir de la semaine prochaine quitter vers 20h. De l’autre côté, j’ai déjà eu quelques formations avec ma nouvelle entreprise, on m’a parlé de plein de nouveaux concepts/technologies (Liferay, Ibatis, portlets, WML, Velocity, …) que je dois regarder d’ici à mon entrée effective dans l’entreprise (début mai). Autant dire que Avril ne sera pas un mois facile, mais je tâcherai de consacrer un peu de temps à ce blog néanmoins…
A bientôt!
[EN] Since the day i’ve accepted the contract and resigned, i really thought i’d be able to find spare time for this blog; in particular to talk to you about my new job, about consulting/ICT world and about what i think about IT in the profesionnal world (beliefs vs real life). But the truth is, i still have a lot to do : i have to prepare and train the person that i will soon replace me at my current position, which involves a transfer planning, writing some important documents… It’s quite exhausting and it implies my working hours are a bit larger than usually (from 8am til 8pm). On the other side, i already had a few trainings with my new company, they told me about new concepts and technologies (Liferay, Ibatis, portlets, WML, Velocity, …) that i have to check before actually starting in my new company (start of May). So clearly, April will not be an easy month, but i’ll try to find time for this blog…
See you soon.
[FR/EN] De retour / Back on the blog
[FR] Me voici enfin de retour parmi vous! Si j’ai pas été actif sur ce blog ces derniers temps, c’est tout simplement que j’ai passé beaucoup de temps et d’énergie à la recherche de travail, ainsi qu’à d’autres sujets annexes (organisation de divers voyages, …). J’ai donné ma démission ce soir (effective fin Avril), j’en ai enfin fini avec le terrible monde du consulting (plus à ce sujet dans quelques jours), et j’en suis plus que ravi. Comme un poids qui se libère enfin! Donc voilà, je vais à nouveau reprendre une activité normale sur ce blog, finir les sujets non terminés (notamment mon voyage en Suède) et en débuter de nouveau (sur le consulting notamment). A très vite!
[EN] I’m finally back among you guys. Sorry for not having been really active lately on this blog, but i had a very good reason : i was busy looking for a new job, as well as planning some trips i will have go on soon. I resigned this afternoon (effective by end of April), and i’m finally done with the awful world of consulting. I’m very happy about this, it’s like i’m finally leaving something heavy behind me. I’ll tell you more about this, about consulting, very soon. Anyway, this is the occasion to come back on this blog and go back to a normal activity, among which i need to end some subjects (my trip in Sweden) and start new ones (about consulting world…). Stay tuned.
Allez aussi voir…
Si vous aimez Fernando Alonso, les Labello, Moby, ou que vous voulez suivre la vie d’un jeune Lillois, Belge d’adoption, fan de belles voix et de beaux sons, grand aficionado de Formule 1 et utilisateur averti de Google et des produits Apple, je vous conseille le blog de mon ami Joel: www.joelbillaut.com.
Son regard critique mais passionné sur son quotidien, son avenir, ses passions saura vous enthousiasmer. Ca marche en tout cas pour moi.
Il met régulièrement à jour son blog et sa galerie One Day One Picture, et c’est toujours un plaisir de le lire.
Donc allez-y, foncez! Vous pouvez également retrouver le lien sur le côté!
A bientôt
The Zero Euro Experiment
Can you spend 0 euros during 1 day?
Controlling my expenses is one of my main concern here in Madrid. My salary is low (compared to what i used to earn in Belgium and what i could earn in France) and cost of life here in Madrid is high… i’ll come back on this in another post… Plus, i had the great idea to want to live on my own for the first time ever. And i’m in Madrid, meaning im potentially out every night, having a beer or 5 copas.
So yes, i have to control my expenses…
And today, in the metro, i was thinking… is it possible to NOT spend money during an entire day? I mean, 24 full hours?
Im not talking about, let’s say, stuff you pay over the course of a month or a week, like gas for your car, or a metro monthly ticket, or hot water, or your rent. Obviously we indirectly spend money every day, from dawn til dusk, having a shower, watching TV, commuting to uni or work, using the light to read a book before sleeping… We can reduce some of this expenses (go by bike, don’t watch TV,…) but there will still remain some of them. So for me, that doesn’t count, as we need to spend money even just to get the minimum comfort.
What i’m talking about is actual expenses, the ones when you get your little hand in your wallet, and hand out to a machine or a person your debit/credit card or your cash.
Think about it.
You want a coffee? Need to go to the coffee machine and buy yourself a coffee.
You are hungry? Go get a sandwhich at the supermarket on the corner of your street.
You are a social person and want to have a beer with some friends? Go to a bar and get something.
Its the weekend. You can have your coffee at home, your lunch at home, your dinner at home. But maybe, at some point, you will go out, have a walk. If you have kids, very probably they will want a candy or a McDo burger. If you don’t have kids, then you are young enough to want the candy for yourself 
… So during weekends, you would have other opportunities to spend money.
Oh, sure you can always find alternatives. Bring your own jar of coffe in a isothermic bottle. Or prepare lunch the night before. Or invite your friends home.
But to have a expenses-free day, you would have to do all of this the same day… And if you really think about it, its not that common…
I can tell you: since im trying to control my expenses, every day i try to remember what i spent and wrote it down. There are some days that i get very good at not spending… and the only thing i buy is the coffee in that coffee machine. Well, then i lost. I spent money.
I can’t remember last time i didnt spend anything. Just thinking about this makes me realize i could probably try harder, but thats not the point of this article.
So, what do you think about this?
Even without being a person who spends a lot, do you happen to have expenses-free day? Or do you always find yourself spending for something? Do you have any interesting tips for spending less?
Are you ready to take the challenge? Let’s set a day and try to spend 0 euros.
Nicolas.
PS: For those interested, go check out Leo Babauta’s blog. I used to follow it a year ago and its pretty good. You can go read this article called 20 Money hacks: tips and tricks to improve your finances but they are plenty others
