Electronic cigarettes shop say goodbye

In one of my first posts I wrote about my opinion of electronic cigarettes. As I said then, I thought that it wasn’t a good solution for smokers. Obviously, I have to admit that is better to smoke an electronic cigarette than a normal one, but it is still a bad habit.

Another thing I pointed out was that in the last months they opened a lot of shops selling this device. And I advanced that a lot of them will close in a few weeks, because there were too many and I also thought that people would start talking bad about the electronic cigarettes. Every time I saw one of these shops, I told my wife that I was sure it wouldn’t last long. Well, I was absolutely right.  As a prove of it, you can read the  post I wrote a few months ago.

In the last days I have read that about 70% of the shops have –here you have an article  in Spanish- close due to the bad name of these devices. One near home has shut down, in L’Illa Diagonal the stand were they sold them is no longer there... In the past months, there have been different opinions pointing out that electronic cigarettes weren’t healthy for people and, finally, it looks like society has decided it to stop buying them and using them.

If you have a look in the streets, you don’t see so many people vaping. What smokers should do is stop smoking and not using devices that aren’t healthy.

Congratulations, Eibar!

There are a few things in my life that are not subject of discussion. Everybody who knows me knows that I am an Espanyol supporter. It is one of the things that no one disputes me. I always have felt proud of it and I have always clearly shown it, even though we are not a team that wins tittles but we have other features.

However, I have to say that I like a few teams around the world. Athletic Club because my family is from Bilbao and my great grandfather was one of the presidents, Liverpool because my mom’s family is from there and last but not least, Eibar. And you will ask yourselves why I support Eibar. Here is the story.

Some of my best friends support FC Barcelona, but we all started to follow Eibar because we thought that it was worth while what they did. It was one of the smallest clubs in the Second Division but they have managed to stay in said category season after season becoming the team that more times have played in the so called silver division.

It appealed our attention that many of their matches finished drawing or winning by one goal. In Ipurua, their ground, it was very hard to win and even though the way they played wasn’t brilliant, they were able to achieve their aims.

Our interest for Eibar took us to go to Terrassa to watch a match between the two teams. Obviously, the match finished with a no goals draw. For my group of friends, Eibar is the team that put us together.

This weekend, for the first team in their history, Eibar has achieved their promotion to the first category. It is great news for this small team that has been able to fight with other clubs with more money and that have better players.

I think this great news deserve a celebration and my friends and I will have to start thinking in a trip to Ipurua to watch a match. Congratulations, Eibar!

European elections

This Sunday we celebrate the European elections. The pools say that most of European citizens don’t care much about them –more than 60% say they won’t vote-. I imagine that Europe is still far away from us, especially, when we have to fix a lot of things in our own countries.

However, the specialists say that the decisions they make in the European Parliament are more important than we think. Decisions taken in Brussels affect us directly even though we don’t think about it normally.

Despite this argument, a lot of people think that the European Parliament doesn’t have any sense. The amount of politicians that are there and the money it costs us are some topics people repeat and these is a bad publicity for them.

I think I didn’t vote in the past elections, but I am in this one. For me is special because it will be the first time I will go with my wife Jéssica to the pooling station. Now, the only problem is deciding who I am going to vote for.

I don’t like to generalize and I know that all politicians aren’t as bad as people say and think. However, the situation of our country and all the scandals we have found out about them in the past years don’t help. It is not fair to say that all of them are bad, thieves and that they should disappear. I am sure there are a lot of them that spend a lot of hours working, trying to help their neighbours, with the purpose of building a better society.

In the other hand I understand that people don’t believe in them as they used to. I think politicians have lost their prestige through their own fault and now they have to try to fix it. Despite this, it looks as every day they try to do their job even worse.

I have a lot of doubts for this Sunday. I think politicians should put their feet on the ground and see which the real problems of society are. There are a lot of families that don’t have jobs, food and that live in poor conditions. They say the crisis is over but nobody sees any improvement. As I said, I know not all the politicians are bad, but they have to work hard to change the way people think.

Now it is a moment for leaders, for people who have to stand out and not only say nice words; we need somebody that convinces people with words and work, specially. I am sure these elections will not change anything, but politicians should think about it and try to do their best. Society is getting fed up with them and they need to start believing in politicians again.

10 years of the Tram

I remember when politicians decided to build the Tram. I think all Barcelonians thought it was a terrible idea. Most of us didn’t understand why they wanted to recover this old transport along Diagonal, when you could catch the underground or different buses to do the same journey. As usual, it looked like a bad idea and instead of using our money in something useful, the city consul decided to build the tram.

Honestly, I didn’t remember when exactly the Tram started to work in Barcelona and today when I was running I have seen a carriage stating the anniversary.  I have to say that it has become something popular in Barcelona and I think that now we all are OK with the Tram, in spite of how much you use it.

This year we are celebrating the 10^th anniversary, far more years than I ever thought it would last. However, I have to say that I have changed my opinion about the Tram. I have caught it a few times and I think it is not a bad transport system. My wife used it a lot, especially when we were dating and also my parents: my father to go to the RCDE Stadium and my mother when she goes to work. Actually, she caught it four times a day more or less. I am sure she never expected to use it so much.

I have to say that I was wrong. I never thought that the tram would become so successful and that the Barcelonians would be using it as much. I think, honestly, that nobody expected to use the tram, but now that is there; why not?

After these years I have to admit that the Tram is good for Barcelona. However, it could be better if the frequency of the tram were more often than at present. Sometimes you have to wait more than 20 minutes and that is too much time, especially when it is late and you want to get home. This is one of the things the city council should improve and give a better service to all citizens.

I enjoy penalties!

Last night Sevilla and Benfica played the Europa League Final. As the match advanced and as I didn’t really mind who won the match, I thought it would be a good entertainment watch a penalty shot. I know a lot of people consider that is unfair and that it is not the best solution to decide the winner, but I think that it is really interesting. I understand that if you are a supporter of one of the teams that is playing, it is a very tough moment and that it is difficult not to get nervous.

 

I know this sentence will sound funny from a person who stands for a team RCD Espanyol that has lost the two UEFA finals. In 1988, against Bayer Leverkusen and in 2007, precisely, against Sevilla. They were two of our great opportunities and after being one of the best teams of the competition, we lost.

In 1988 I was only 7 years and I don’t remember much but I have seen the penalty kicks a lot of times on TV. In 2007, I was at Hampden Park watching that match. We drew with 10 players in the extra time and when it look that we were going to win, three of our players missed their penalties.

I know it is a very though moment and that you have a lot of pressure. But doctors also have pressure when they have to operate and they can’t do mistakes in those moments. Today, everybody is saying that Beto was great. The goalkeeper did his job, but I think that Cardozo and Rodrigo didn’t do their best. As they were running to the ball you could see that they didn’t have any confidence and that they were scared. Of course, the two of them missed their penalties. 

I do feel sorry for them, because I am sure they will never forget. They will always be remembered as the players who missed the penalties. It is not fair, but this is how football works. But I feel really sorry for the supporters, who travelled from Lisboan and have turned sad because of their teams defeat.

Personally, I enjoyed a lot. I liked how some players took their penalties. I like to see the faces, the way the goalkeeper looks the shooters, how this one decides to take the penalty. It is a moment where it is very important to be confidence, to believe in one.  As my father says, the ‘sillonball’ is very easy and that you have to be down there, in front of the goalkeeper, with millions of people watching and hoping that you score the goal. You miss, you fail. You score, you win.

Membrilla

Since I start dating my wife Jéssica, there is a place I have heard a lot: Membrilla. My parents in law talked a lot of their little village and they have explained me a lot of interesting stories. I have to admit that I am very curious and I like to listen, specially, when they explain me things I don’t know.

Encarna, Jéssica’s grandmother, explained me once that her husband, when there were dating, could only talk to her through a window and that she had less time than her sister. Grego has told me that she had to help her father to work and that she couldn’t study. All interesting stories that have helped to understand my family in law and appreciate them even more. They had to sacrifice a lot of things and work a lot to have enough to eat and live. I know it hasn’t been easy for them.

After a lot of years, this Easter Holidays I went to Membrilla. I had the opportunity to see the village where José and Grego grew, where their parents lived and worked, where Jéssica spent a lot of her summers playing on her own until her sisters and cousins were born. I spent time in Encarna´s and Pedro house... As I said to Jéssica, Membrilla is a part of her life and for me was very interesting to discover all this.

Membrilla is a small village with more than 7.000 people. Near you have Manzanares, that is, probably, the most important town in that part of Ciudad Real. I had the opportunity to visit Las Lagunas de Riudera, el Mirador de la Mancha, Peñarroya’s castle, Ciudad Real… It was only three days, but I enjoyed a lot.

I honestly will like to go again and continue finding out more things about how was life there and also visiting a part of my country that is quite unknown for me.

My last ten kilometres

Today I have finished my running season. This morning I have ran, for the second year in a row, the Cursa Dir Guardia Urbana Cursa Dir Guardia Urbana, 10 kilometres from Palau Reial to Selva de Mar. It is a very good race to run fast, because is all along the Diagonal and downhill.

It hasn’t been a great day for me. From the beginning I have felt tired and my legs weren’t in their best moment. However, I have passed the first 5 kilometres better than I thought so I have decided to carry on and see what would happen in the end.

Until the last kilometre I have been able to keep a good speed, but I was so tired in the end that I have lost a great opportunity to finish under 44 minutes. In the end, 44.37, 23 seconds worst than last year but happy because I thought I wasn’t going to do so well.

This has been my last race of the season. This doesn’t mean that I am not running anymore. Obviously, I will continue going out every morning but I am not going to take part in any race until October, probably.

It has been a good season for me. I have improved my mark in the half marathon and I have done quite well in the 10 kms. However, I have to admit that it looks like I have reached my best. Probably, I should train a bit more and do other exercises to get fitter, but I don’t really know if it is worth it. I will think about it.