How “laspas.gr” came to be

Late last century, in the days of the “dot com bubble” (circa 1999), I decided I wanted to have a website, and so I started looking for a catchy name for it. Being the modest type that I am, I decided I would go with my last name, “laspas”!

So I went on to check the availability of “laspas.com”, naturally. Surprise, surprise, it was taken!! Apparently, there was a company based in Los Angeles, California, which specialized in… hot tubs, a.k.a. “spas”!!! Ergo, “LA Spas .com”.

I thought that was funny enough, so I wrote them a humorous email, letting them know basically, that their company effectively had my last name. I actually got back a reply. In the reply, I could see that the email had been forwarded, like 20 times within the company! In the end, it was the International Sales Manager, who replied to me. I don’t remember his name, though I remember it sounded Indian (not Native American, actually Indian), and I do remember what the good man wrote, and I smile:

Dear Mr. Laspas, if there’s anyone in the world who deserves a discount on our products, it’s you! And, I would like to add, we currently don’t have a sales representative in Greece, so let me know if you’re interested!!

I have to admit, I think about it some times… It does have a nice ring to it, doesn’t it?

“L.A. Spas, by Stratos Laspas” ;)

Well, the rest, as they say, is history… I snatched “laspas.gr”, but never really got round to starting a blog until 10 years later, in 2009.