I was reading a note from a classmate the other day stating that a Jeep dealer in Greece gives you the following deal: If you buy a Jeep car from the dealer, you can return it after 3 years and they will pay you back the amount of money you paid for it. Good deal huh? Well, maybe not! If we assume that you pay 20,000 Euro today to buy the Jeep, then you will get 20,000 Euro in three years. Assuming that inflation will be around 5% per year for the next 3 years, then that means that you pay 20,000 Euro today, you use the car for 3 years and you return it for what it would be an equivalent of about 17,241 Euro. Still pretty good deal huh? Definitely, if it works out. But the chances are that with the economy, in 3 years you will be driving with your Jeep to the dealer to give it back and receive your money, but you will probably not find a Jeep dealer there any more. The dealer would have probably sold out his inventory, got his cash, paid off his loans and is probably taking a vacation somewhere in Hawaii..or maybe he opened a restaurant.
American Express in the United States is paying $300 to account holders to close their credit accounts. They are scared that people will not be able to pay back after they use their AMEX cards. Problem is that this only applies to special customers..i.e the ones that owe money. So if you owe $1000, the deal is that you pay us $700 and you close your account.
Blockbuster’s stock took a big dive today. It is only a matter of months or even days before the film rental company closes down operations. Maybe if they were not as static in their business they could have achieved something. How did they respond to NetFlix? How did they respond to On Demand Television movies? How did they respond to downloading movies? Well..they are rumoring to have hired a bankruptcy agency to help them go bankrupt.
2009 and 2010 are said to be the worst years for MBA hiring. Even in my class one can feel the recession. A lot of companies have taken back their job offers, a lot of companies have postponed the start date and the majority of students have no job. Still the B-schools are recruiting more and more students. After all, somebody needs to make money.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Story of my life - My family: Chapter 3
I could write a lot of pages for my family, but I will try to leave it short and sweet. Every time I think about my life, I consider myself lucky to have grown in such a loving, affectionate and caring family. The patience, love, advice and support of my parents made me who I am and brought me where I am today…close to completing my Master’s degree and starting for well my career.
Sometimes I feel that I have not shown my appreciation and my love to them as much as I should, but I am one hundred percent sure that they know how much I love and respect them. They believed in me and that has helped me a lot.
A lot of people call me Mama’s boy. I am not going to deny it. I have always liked and still like to be close to my mum. I like to talk to her and I feel secure when I do. Even at my worst days, just talking to my mother makes me happier. She has always been there for me and she will always be. I know it hurts her that I am so far away from her, like it hurts me, but I also know that she has always been very supportive, helpful and compassionate with my life decisions.
I own my approach to life, my mindset and the way of thinking to my dad. A lot of times when I hear him talking or see the way behaving in a social situation, I think that “this is exactly what I would do”. My dad has always been the person I looked up to the most. Respectful, caring, loving, affectionate, successful, friendly, and devoted but rarely demonstrating his feelings...just like I do.
Growing up, I always wanted to be like my brothers. They were and still are my heroes. I do not remember a single time denying any help I asked from them. Whether that had to do with school work, life decisions or even “taking care” of other people. I love them and respect them, and I hope that someday I will be able to give them back what they have given me. That includes extending the family with their two beautiful, wonderful wives and the two most adorable nephews.
I would not be able to close this chapter without referring to my grandmother. I might be biased, but I firmly believe that she is the most wonderful, loving, caring, strong person that I have met in my life. She has marked my life with her strong will to live so that she can help raise her grandchildren. She still takes care of me even today when I am in my late 20’s, but I can’t deny it. I love it and I love her!!
This is a short story for my family. As I said, I could write many pages about them, but I will not make this any longer. I will just conclude by stating that my family has raised me to respect other people, to love and care and I really appreciate them for that. Those values have also shaped my goal for life…”to be able to give my kids, half of what my family gave me”.
Sometimes I feel that I have not shown my appreciation and my love to them as much as I should, but I am one hundred percent sure that they know how much I love and respect them. They believed in me and that has helped me a lot.
A lot of people call me Mama’s boy. I am not going to deny it. I have always liked and still like to be close to my mum. I like to talk to her and I feel secure when I do. Even at my worst days, just talking to my mother makes me happier. She has always been there for me and she will always be. I know it hurts her that I am so far away from her, like it hurts me, but I also know that she has always been very supportive, helpful and compassionate with my life decisions.
I own my approach to life, my mindset and the way of thinking to my dad. A lot of times when I hear him talking or see the way behaving in a social situation, I think that “this is exactly what I would do”. My dad has always been the person I looked up to the most. Respectful, caring, loving, affectionate, successful, friendly, and devoted but rarely demonstrating his feelings...just like I do.
Growing up, I always wanted to be like my brothers. They were and still are my heroes. I do not remember a single time denying any help I asked from them. Whether that had to do with school work, life decisions or even “taking care” of other people. I love them and respect them, and I hope that someday I will be able to give them back what they have given me. That includes extending the family with their two beautiful, wonderful wives and the two most adorable nephews.
I would not be able to close this chapter without referring to my grandmother. I might be biased, but I firmly believe that she is the most wonderful, loving, caring, strong person that I have met in my life. She has marked my life with her strong will to live so that she can help raise her grandchildren. She still takes care of me even today when I am in my late 20’s, but I can’t deny it. I love it and I love her!!
This is a short story for my family. As I said, I could write many pages about them, but I will not make this any longer. I will just conclude by stating that my family has raised me to respect other people, to love and care and I really appreciate them for that. Those values have also shaped my goal for life…”to be able to give my kids, half of what my family gave me”.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Story of my life: Chapter 2 - Salamina
Salamina: Chapter 2
I grew up at a time (1980’s) and in a place (Nicosia) where you were either Omonoia or APOEL fan..the two big teams of the capital. I still remember in elementary school, in my class of 31 students the teacher asking how many students support Omonia. When she counted the hands to be 15 she immediately made the assumption that there are more APOEL fans in the class (16). Little did she know that a little boy would raise his hand and in his shy yet determined voice would say “Kyria, sygnomi alla egw eimai me ti Salamina” (Ms. I am sorry but I support Salamina).
I still remember the first ever game I attended. It was a friendly game between Omonoia – Salamina and my uncle, my favorite uncle Andros took me. It must have been late 1980’s, around 1987 if I would have to guess. I was only 7 years old. That is when this unconditional love between me and a team started. Three years later, Salamina won their one and only title. And I wasn’t there. I missed it so I could go to a friend’s birthday…biggest regret of my life… I still remember that day like it was yesterday. I remember listening part of the game on the radio on the way back from the birthday party, my mum driving and my friend Marios in the car with us. I remember listening the end of the game on the only radio we had in the kitchen of our house. I remember how much I regretted that I was not there.
Since then, I would almost go to any game that my uncle would go. My brother and my grandfather would almost always follow. Almost 20 years later and the tradition continues, still going to Salamina games with my brother and uncle. I am sure that my grandpa would be proud of us since he was a follower until he couldn’t go any more.
I have been disappointed many times. I thought about giving up. After all, supporting a mid-low strength team gave me more disappointments than I can ever count. Countless weekends being in bad mood, almost speechless. Countless times of going to a game with high hopes and returning home disappointed. As hard as I have tried, I can’t give up. It is something that it is hard to explain, but the time when Salamina plays is the only time in the world I feel free. Free from everything, happy, away from the real world even for 90 minutes. It is the time of the week that I am looking forward to the most. Maybe things will change in the future, but there are no guarantees. I will still have to suffer those defeats every weekend. I don’t mind though because as my brother always says “Winning builds confidence, losing builds character” - ours has more than matured by now -
I grew up at a time (1980’s) and in a place (Nicosia) where you were either Omonoia or APOEL fan..the two big teams of the capital. I still remember in elementary school, in my class of 31 students the teacher asking how many students support Omonia. When she counted the hands to be 15 she immediately made the assumption that there are more APOEL fans in the class (16). Little did she know that a little boy would raise his hand and in his shy yet determined voice would say “Kyria, sygnomi alla egw eimai me ti Salamina” (Ms. I am sorry but I support Salamina).
I still remember the first ever game I attended. It was a friendly game between Omonoia – Salamina and my uncle, my favorite uncle Andros took me. It must have been late 1980’s, around 1987 if I would have to guess. I was only 7 years old. That is when this unconditional love between me and a team started. Three years later, Salamina won their one and only title. And I wasn’t there. I missed it so I could go to a friend’s birthday…biggest regret of my life… I still remember that day like it was yesterday. I remember listening part of the game on the radio on the way back from the birthday party, my mum driving and my friend Marios in the car with us. I remember listening the end of the game on the only radio we had in the kitchen of our house. I remember how much I regretted that I was not there.
Since then, I would almost go to any game that my uncle would go. My brother and my grandfather would almost always follow. Almost 20 years later and the tradition continues, still going to Salamina games with my brother and uncle. I am sure that my grandpa would be proud of us since he was a follower until he couldn’t go any more.
I have been disappointed many times. I thought about giving up. After all, supporting a mid-low strength team gave me more disappointments than I can ever count. Countless weekends being in bad mood, almost speechless. Countless times of going to a game with high hopes and returning home disappointed. As hard as I have tried, I can’t give up. It is something that it is hard to explain, but the time when Salamina plays is the only time in the world I feel free. Free from everything, happy, away from the real world even for 90 minutes. It is the time of the week that I am looking forward to the most. Maybe things will change in the future, but there are no guarantees. I will still have to suffer those defeats every weekend. I don’t mind though because as my brother always says “Winning builds confidence, losing builds character” - ours has more than matured by now -
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