Nearly two months later (at least one month and a half) I finally made some time to update this journal. While I did a lot this summer, frankly, I had no time off but more about this later.

- Business is stable, better than it used to be in the first half of this year. If everything goes as planned, it should only go up by the end of the year. There are a few factors that might change everything, time being one of them, but I hope I will be able to keep everything stable.

- Went to a Nikon event in late August. Truly something worth attending. I did not have my camera since I did not want to carry it all the way to Bucharest, therefore no shots.

- Been riding in August. Went to Lucina, an old mountain resort which right now is rather deserted. However, there are about 400 horses there and horse-riding lessons were available. I could not help myself but ride my own for about half an hour or so. Beautiful sights there, nevertheless, I advise against going there in winter. It's hard to reach in the middle of summer, not to mention winter.

- Been on Rarau peak a few weeks ago (1400m or so), caught some interesting sights from up there too. Unfortunately, the light was rather annoying from where I was standing therefore most of the shots were contre-jour and you can barely distinguish a few trees here and there. However, I managed to get a few shots down the road (dreams of September 1 and 2).

- Getting a new camera somewhere in late November. I won't say what since I want to keep it a surprise, but I am quite excited by it I will probably sell my old D50 by then and will buy a new lens. I think a fisheye would suit my needs best, but it remains to be seen, since fisheyes can be rather pricey.

- Planning a short trip in mid-November (I hope after my camera arrives, but nevertheless). I hope it will be in Austria or The Czech Republic, but again, it remains to be seen. I have been so busy this summer that I had no time to relax and my brain is flying around like airplanes. Hopefully, then I will manage to put my thoughts in order (and hopefully by then my head is not going to explode).

Finally, I will be moving these following two weeks, therefore I will probably not submit any new deviations. I hate this whole moving process, I hate having to move my books, my stuff from one place to another, especially since I have no idea where I'm going to move. Nonetheless, once I am done, I hope to take a short breath of fresh air.

Okay, it's been two weeks from my previous update. Managed to buy another subscription (yay!), therefore the skin is back . Other than that, I have some small, uninteresting updates

- Business has gone good, finally. I am working harder than usual, however, right now I enjoy my work.
- I dropped the idea of a Nikkor 105 until winter probably since it seems pointless to buy one now when I have different priorities (maybe a new camera)
- Planning some go-away-from-it-all trips this August, however, I will still be online in that timeframe (yes, most of holidays involve work, which is kind of a paradox)
- Started watching Top Gear a few weeks ago, and I'm quite glad since I wanted to do this for quite some time (i.e. March or April). I used to download the episodes, and then, due to lack of time, delete them, download again, delete etc. This time I actually watch them.
- Having a few interesting projects on my mind, but I would rather keep those under my hat until they will be ready for release. (by interesting I mean really interesting)

- back for a very short while, from my hectic summer holiday. Not necesarily going bad, however, many things to do, many issues to take care of. I can't wait to see the end of it all.
- looking forward to a trip in August, maybe then I will manage to unwind a little because afterwards it all goes back into the same rythm.
- some new photos in my gallery, I also managed to update my membership.
- planning to sell my Sigma 105, and exchange it for a Nikkor 105 (really!)

short post, not that much to say.

Got my new lens 16-85 VR is here, and I don't think I have any reason to take it off in the next few months (maybe with the exception of the 105mm - for macro). Since I'm always on an update line, I plan on getting a D300. D700 does not justify my current needs even if the full frame sensor does have quite an appeal. I surely need a new tripod (the old one's busted, yeah, darn). Enough with photography updates.

Other than that:
- courses completed (for some time now if I think of it), some exams will follow soon.
- full summer ahead - I got rid of the whole Amsterdam trip idea, and I plan on going to interesting places here, in my own country (Transfagarasan anyone ?). Seaside's first, then come the mountains.
- work's going bad these days, mostly because of lack of time, got a few bad ratings these past few weeks but I'm going to get back in the saddle again as soon as possible. (most probably after this particular exam period).
- the weather is simply unbareable - temperatures that exceed normal limits in the morning, not to mention in the afternoon make it impossible to do anything. This is why I can't wait to go to the seaside immediately after exams (waaateer)
- watching CSI: New York, finished Lost, and waiting for all the other tv shows to come back.

Just another two weeks till my new lens arrives, and I can't wait to get out and test it. For that matter, I can't wait for August to go away on a trip outside Romania and really push my lens to its limits. Basically, this is why I am aiming for that 16-85 VR, I can do both wide and rather close shots with the same lens, making it a must-have. Since I mentioned something in regards to my August trip - still having no idea where I want to go, for some time now I had my mind on Amsterdam, however, now I keep wondering.

Aside from that, what else is new?
- Aiming for CCNA courses this autumn. After I completed my original Cisco courses (you can read about 5 journals on that subject) I decided I will continue those courses one day, however, apparently that day is closer than I thought in the first place. The reason? Frankly, I found the courses quite interesting, and they seem to be a 90% match with my interests (at least at the moment)
- Longing for that damned vacation in late summer. However, knowing myself I'll stick to my internet connection, no matter where I shall be.
- Work's finally going better, I'm looking up to bigger projects as of the beginning of June, which will make my life a lot easier since I will not have to jump from one small project to another anymore.

That's all for a while now. I'll be quite busy in the next few weeks, therefore you will notice low or no activity in my gallery. However, as soon as I'll have something interesting, I'll upload it