Dear SRP friends,

I've been absent for a while now and therefore unable to fulfill my comitments to some of you here. I think about that often... I still have some DE blades to pick up and post to a friend here. But I haven't had nor the time nor the mental availability to do so.
Let me explain.
The last time I was active here was a bit over a year ago. A lot has happened since then. I was in Belgium and returned to Portugal. Did a post-graduate course in European law, finished my masters degree, did a couple more courses in cultural programming and so forth.
My girlfriend was also in Belgium with me and returned to Portugal as well to finish her degree in architecture. In the meantime, the Portuguese economy sunk like the Titanic (only a bit smaller...) and the job finding prospects have been looking rather bleek since then.
While I was busy trying to find a job (still no success, though), my girfriend was busy completing her final project. I was amazed at the way she was working - she displayed amazing tenacity and dedication. But the real motive why she was working so hard only became clear in February this year... During this time we were living away from each other and I did notice a bit of weight gain. And then she told me: she was preagnant! "Bloody hell! - I thought - I'm going to be a father!"
And there you are, my friends: I'm going to be a Dad!
My girlfriend is now 7 months preagnant and life is starting to shape up. I been fighting hard(er) to find a job and I may well be in for a professional internship (paid, thank goodness!) and I'm starting a PhD project with good prospects of a scholarship. In a couple of months we'll be the proud parents of a newborn baby boy - a straight razor shaver in the making.
So... wish me luck! I'm in for the adventure of my life.

I'll try to keep track of what is going about in here.