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Category Archives: work

reconnected!

11 Friday Feb 2011

Posted by azahar in change, home, internet, work

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

españa, internet, movistar

After almost two weeks without internet at home I finally got reconnected today. What a relief. I really needed that high-speed internet connection. Instead I’ve been using my iPhone as a modem, which has been better than nothing, but there was really no reason I couldn’t have had my connection sooner.

They say it takes two weeks to transfer my “package” which includes the television. Why? And well, if I’d known two weeks before moving that I was going to be moving then of course I’d have set the transfer up sooner. But as you know, we only had about five days between signing the new rental contract and moving. I called Movistar immediately to tell them about the situation, and that as I worked from home it was imperative that I get my connection transferred as quickly as possible. This was on a Tuesday and we were moving on Sunday. They said they would put a rush on the order and it should be there at the beginning of the following week. Nobody came. And then my telephone nightmare began. I called them over and over asking when this “rush job” was going to take place and at one point even had a guy tell me they were coming that day, just to get me off the line. When I called later that afternoon I was told that nobody had said that to me. Aaarrgh. Another time I called I was told that there was no such thing as a “rush order” and that all petitions were done mechanically.

Anyhow, this afternoon the technician showed up – and he was the same guy who set up my system at the old place! And he remembered me, asking about the cats and how they took the move. Such a lovely guy. He got my line and modem set up in no time and then I asked him about setting up the television…  and it turns out that they set the line up first and then I have to re-contract the television service. WTF?? So why did I have to wait two weeks because of the f-ing television service??? Well, of course it wasn’t this guy’s fault and he was all sympathy. And so I just got off the phone – yet again! – with bloody Movistar and they said I should have the tv set up on Monday. I then told them I wanted a discount on my next bill and it better not be more than half the usual charge since I missed half a month’s service. We shall see…

 

have crutches, will travel…

09 Wednesday Feb 2011

Posted by azahar in health & happiness, tapas, work

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

life, sprained ankle

Seriously, still on crutches. Well, not at home. There I can shuffle from here to there in a slow and somewhat easy-ish if slightly painful manner. But out on the street I still really need the crutches I borrowed last week from Agustín’s wife, Elena. Weirdly, I find walking hurts my right hip more than my sprained left ankle, which is why I am still using two crutches – I can’t figure out which side would benefit more from just using one!

And so… I have been way too much on my feet this past week, wandering about town, as well as up and down stairs (and tall ladders!) at home. Some people have told me to stay off my feet as much as possible, others have said that gentle use of the ankle will help rebuild its strength. All I know is that I’VE HAD TO GET THINGS DONE. And so I’ve done what’s needed doing, hoping that I haven’t done any irreparable damage to my lovely left ankle, which I love so much…

This evening I have another tapas tour, and an English class at Agustín’s before it, so at least I can ask him to have a look at my ankle and give me his opinion (a week later). Which I hope won’t be that I’d be mad to do the tapas tour, cos well, I kinda have to do it. I think I have to be the most impatient patient ever, which I also discovered after my various cancer ops – I could never “take things easy” as ordered. I was always out and about as soon as I could manage it. Could be that I’ve f*cked up my ankle for life by not sitting around on my butt for the past week, but I reckon that if there is any real damage done then it’s already been done – and tonight I have to work! Will put leg up tomorrow if I have to…

 

sevilla tapas app?

14 Friday Jan 2011

Posted by azahar in gadgets, tapas, travel, websites, work

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

applications, postaday2011, sevilla tapas, smartphone apps

The idea to create a smartphone app for Sevilla Tapas has been suggested many times, but so far I have hesitated to seriously consider it because 1) I have no idea how to go about getting an app made and 2) it always seemed to me that there wouldn’t be much demand for an app just for tapas in Seville.

You may recall that a couple of years ago I was considering doing a small e-book tapas tour guide, but somehow never got around to learning how to do that. And now it seems like this idea is probably a bit passé.

Anyhoo, during my last tapas tour on New Year’s Day, one of my clients was telling me that I really had to come up with an app for Sevilla Tapas because it would be the perfect option for people who maybe didn’t want to take a tour but still wanted to have my tapas blog info at their fingertips – and I’d also make money. But you know, who’d buy an app just for info about one city? Well, my client Mike was convinced that it would be a very good seller. And then today I went to a small tapas bar called La Cantina, which I hadn’t been to for awhile, and the girls there told me that since my last visit people had been showing up saying they’d found out about their bar on my blog. They also said that some of them actually pulled out their smartphones, showed them photos of the food and said “I want this and this”. Cool!

So what do you think? Is it time for a Sevilla Tapas smartphone app?
And if so, how would I go about doing this?

I love tapas interview

11 Tuesday Jan 2011

Posted by azahar in sevilla, tapas, work

≈ 10 Comments

Tags

sevilla tapas, seville, tapas, tapas tours, wikitapas

It’s been quite a week for Sevilla Tapas! First I got a glowing Trip Advisor review from Tara and Christian, who’d been on my Christmas Day tour, and then a new website called Andalucia Direct surprised me by giving me a free listing.

And today the interview I did this past weekend with Rosana Domínguez (aka Holly Cocina) for I Love Tapas went live!

I’ve been given permission to post an English translation here, which you can read below. You can see the original Spanish version here:

Entrevista a Shawn Hennessey y sus tours de tapas Sevilla Tapas

Shawn Hennessey, compulsive blogger, Twitter addict (with 4 accounts) and long-time Foodie, is originally from Canada but never felt she truly belonged there and so moved to Spain (via Bristol England) in 1992, where she finally found her home. After a year in Salamanca she moved south to Sevilla and in April 2007 started the Sevilla Tapas blog. According to Shawn it all happened by accident while she was out for lunch with a friend on a lovely spring afternoon and it occured to her to take some photos not of just the square and the orange trees, but also of the food, which were then posted on her personal blog, casa az. The response was so positive that she started publishing regular “tapas posts”, which eventually led to a separate website for Sevilla Tapas. Aside from running several blogs, Shawn also writes for travel sites such as Slow Europe, Travel Intelligence and National Geographic, and has recently become the Seville Expert for Simonseeks.

Presently Shawn is working on several projects including her very popular tapas tours, working with local restaurants, managing their social media, and organising special Restaurant & Hotel English courses.

Continue reading →

movie making az!

29 Wednesday Dec 2010

Posted by azahar in video, work

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

video editing

I love it when I finally manage to learn something new, especially after several frustrating attempts. The problem with video editing for me when trying to use Windows Movie Maker was that my camera took videos in QuickTime format, which wasn’t recognised by the Window programme. Grrr. And after trying a couple of free format changing downloads I got fed up and gave up.

But after Niko went to hospital and I bought the Toshiba camcorder as a temporary backup camera (along with the Kodak one, both of which have been returned), I discovered that it came with media converter software (!) and so I tried it out… and it still wouldn’t work!! Then for some reason last night I was thinking about the last video I tried to edit and got one of those light bulb moments about what I might have been doing wrong, so this morning I tried it out and… success! Sent the vid off to Victoria this morning to put on her blog – better late than never? Now I just have to remember what I did right and there’ll be no stopping me!

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