When we get distracted from work – what do we usually do? We start searching over the Internet different things that cames into the mind.

Today I searched my own name and it brought over 3 pages of Google Results. From one point it seems quite impressive, but from other point – I haven’t been active enough in the net.

I have heard a lot of people that blogging is a good way to get publicity. Well, I’m writing a blog now – but there is not much publicity. Why? Because my blog isn’t mentioned anywhere except twitter and irish web awards.

How do I make my blog presence bigger into the web? I should post comments in other blogs! So simple and so time consuming. I’m really amazed for those people who do it daily.

And I don’t search for publicity.. I’m casual blogger.

As I saw this morning little van with sign “Dublin on Ice” I decided to lookup over the net. Last year I went skating in RDS and it was lots of fun (though my kid was falling and falling and falling…).

I came up with two choices:

• 7UP Christmas on Ice is taking place in RDS, Liffey Valley Shopping centre and Letterkenny (all of them are opened already)
• Dublin on Ice will be opened in Smithfields on 21st of November

Last year there were skating also in Booterstown, but their page goskate.ie opens with text “not found”

Today I finally got my head around stamps and seals. I’m really happy about it now.

Every company has to have company seal. We didn’t got ours because we registered our company ourselves. And nobody told us that we have to have one.

Now after one year of company registration, we wanted to get company stamp. One of our contractors needed it. I read article over Irish Business Women forum, which said that company seal is the same as company stamp. I called my legal adviser and he provided us with official company who creates seal. So on Monday I got seal. And of course it wasn’t stamp. So I still couldn’t put stamp on the contract.

I called my accountant and he was very surprised that we didn’t get seal at the company registration. I said that now I need stamp for sure. He led me to Vista Print company and there was about 50 different stamp kinds. I remember from Latvia that all the stamps where red and round. I couldn’t find any like that on the site.

I talked with accountant again and he said that company stamp isn’t legal thing as anyone can order it with the same details. It should be rectangular and have to have companies name and address (optional reg.no.). So I ordered the simplest one and maybe this week I will be able to put stamp on that contract. Companies stamps however are requested by banks and some other legal institutions.

I’m wondering – is it only me who got confused over things or there really isn’t enough information out there?

Update: due to my blog coming up everytime someone searches for “company seal” I added picture for better clarification on how does company seal look like.

I just read post in Silicon Republic about online sales increasing over Christmas. A lot of people who owns shopping sites doesn’t realise the problems there might occur because of this. If you are an owner of such service please overview the things below:

1) Traffic will generally increase. This would mean that your server must be able to handle a lot of requests per second. It shouldn’t slow down the site otherwise clients won’t return.

2) A lot of people will be accessing at the same time. From technical point of view you must ensure that tables aren’t locked so they can access same data. Also there will be need of multiple database connections.

3) Don’t delay updates till Christmas do it now. Most of the people shop month before Christmas or even earlier. You should put your new offers on the site now.

4) Ensure page can be found by search engines. Just go and google your site after different keywords. And see where it comes up. If it doesn’t, something is wrong and you have to fix it up soon.

5) Ensure you have enough stock or ensure that clients can’t order on the site more than you can provide. This is a great mistake when you charge people, but can’t provide them with goods.

6) Put few payment methods on site. Few people use Paypal, few credit cards, laser cards and other payment methods. Think twice who are your customers and which method is the best.

7) Think about advertising. If your site is popular, put some banners up and earn more money over Christmas.

Automatize your site. Don’t do your billing and stock management in Excel sheets over Christmas. You will get insane. Make it automatic over the site. Don’t stress yourself, Christmas is time for you to relax.

9) Don’t make your site look like it is never updated. Put discounts on front page. Place some nice Christmas design over your site. Make people want to return there.

10) Get nice photographs. One of the most important things for shops online is for photos to look nice. If it is amateur made, nobody will buy it. If there is no photo, nobody will buy.

The weather is getting pretty cold and it’s not like we can play outside much anymore. So I did some research over internet, what can I do with my kid indoors.

She is 5 so not too big and not too small. Currently when I’m busy she plays computer games, but it’s not the thing I wish her to do all weekends.

I found few games over net I probably should buy:
– Carrom (Indian game with moving discs. Haven’t seen it, but sounds fun)
– Ludo (I played similar game when I was small. It always made me sleepy)
– Bingo (when I was small it was called Lotto. Good for kid to remember numbers)
– Twister (haven’t played it, have heard of it, I want it)
– Tower (you build tower from small wooden blocks and try to pull out without breaking tower. Should find where I put it)
– Cards (I used to play sooo much card games when I was small. Have to ask my mom send over card game book)
– Uno (also card game, but it is simple and fun for kids)
– Lego (which kid doesn’t like it? I haven’t bought much Lego for my daughter, but probably should cause she loves building houses from everything else)

And few more ideas for myself to remember:
– Music lessons. My family loves singing and I know a lot of traditional English and Latvian songs.
– Cooking lessons. It’s always fun.
– Geography lessons. Spend one day related to one country. E.g. read about Italy, go to Italian restaurant, play Italian games etc.
– Exercise. I was thinking about buying Wii, but then I have to buy Tv as well (yep, don’t have any). Maybe then just switch on music and dance?
– Games like “Can you be a … snake …?” and let kid to do it.

And in worst case scenario I will allow her to play games. Currently she plays NeoPets and Nickelodeon. They both has a lot of fun and educating games.

If we get out of the house to some indoor activities, I would want to go to following:
– LeisurePlex. There is 3 of them in Dublin, however I find them very loud and tiring.
– E.N.R.G. – haven’t been there that’s why I want to see it. Seems big enough for few hours fun.
– National Aquatic Centre is quite a far from our house, but it is a great place for full day fun.
- The Ark – also haven’t been there, that’s why I want to go there
– Imaginosity is close to our house and it is great for kids.

And there are few more places, that I’m not interested at the moment, but you can take a look.

I went to doctor today for health check and I’m really sick of the health system in Ireland. I had to wait for 1h 40min though appointment itself took only 5 min And I don’t like doctors in Ireland. If they can they prescribe you antibiotics (for kids also Calpol or Neurofen). When sickness doesn’t allow any of those (e.g. stomach problems), doctors send you home and tell you get better yourself. I don’t even want to know what would happen if I get serious illness.

In Latvia it was complete opposite. Doctors used to write so much drugs that you can get bankrupt buying all of them. At least some helped

I’m sometimes wander what books other people read. I do love novels and it’s hard for me to find new books to read. There is just too much in bookstores and most of them are crap. Anyone knows any good recommendations? In book stores I can wander for hours and don’t find anything. Lately I’m looking over amazon.com and then look up books in stores.

Last year I went to few book meetups, however people talk more about general things than books. So I got discouraged.

The day before yesterday I finished Terry Pratchett’s “Hogfather” (it took about 6h flying there and back to Latvia). Nice book, but it didn’t become one of my favorites. Not enough love in book, huh? But I do enjoy fantasy books as well. “The Mind Parasites” from Colin Wilson are one of my favorites in this genre.

When I read it doesn’t matter if it’s English or Latvian because when you start, you just can’t stop…

So here is my top list (they are all love stories):

- The Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austin

- The Ladies’ Paradise by Emil Zola

- Chalikushu by Reshat Nuri Guntekin

- The Blue Castle by Lucy Maud Montgomery

- Ralph’s Party by Lisa Jewell

I’m actually a bit unhappy that I don’t have much books in Ireland. My mother has a big library of books and I read them every time I visit her. She never ever throws books out so some of them are unique with ideas of Soviet Union and communism. Those can’t be found in libraries any more.

Ok, I’m off – searching for new book to read again…

I went to Latvia last week. Though it was only 3 days it took a lot of time to prepare for it. I enjoy going back to Latvia twice a year. Lately I’m going alone without family. I get some of my own time and relax without worrying about things.

My reason for visit was my best friends baby 1 year celebration. He is quite adorable.. Also I get handle of situation in Latvia when I talk with friends and family.

Everyone knows that there is economic crisis all over globe. Latvia is no exception. And I think it even worse because there is a lot of really poor people in Latvia. There is a big depression everywhere. People are loosing jobs, don’t have enough money and it is very hard to find new job.

When Latvia stepped in EU 2,5 years ago, prices started to raise. Now groceries prices are the same as in Ireland. However salaries never grown as fast. The minimal wage is still around 170 EUR. The salaries are going down again because of crisis and unemployment. I don’t like companies using people with small salaries just because they know that those people can’t find job elsewhere.

Government institutions are letting go people as well. And I completely disagree with it. There still will be work for government and there will be more work for employees.

People still believe that government should fix everything. I think that is quite old thinking. Especially if government is quite corrupt and there is bureaucracy everywhere. I would expect people to start doing something themselves.

However nobody can take loans, mortgages or credits in Latvia. Banks just don’t give any. Nobody is building houses any more and the prices are still falling. Rent prices are just unbelievable low. A lot of people with big mortgages try to rent apartment at low prices to get at least some money back.

I’m happy to be home again but I’m worried about my family in Latvia. I hope my description about things here isn’t too bad (it’s really hard to explain something in not native language). Though there is a big problems in Latvia now, it is still very beautiful: