Weighty matters

'New'

2012-01-26T06:00:00.000+01:00

When I first heard this ‘new’ category, I thought, what on earth could I do that would reflect the word new? And then I spent a night at my cousin’s and her youngest daughter had just gotten a new little hamster. Bingo!

On Sunday morning daughter wanted to hold Rose (the hamster’s name), but couldn’t get her out of the cage, so I volunteered to help. I gave her to daughter, but once Rose started moving around, she didn’t like that too much and handed her back to me. So, she moved around on me, I stuck her in my cardigan’s pocket, she tried getting up my sleeve and daughter kept moving about to keep track of Rose. It was adorable, even if she did bite me (Rose that is, not daughter).

Just one thing to remember: when you’ve had any chocolate sprinkles for breakfast (like I did) and you find one after you handle a hamster, don’t think it’s a chocolate sprinkle. I thought it was a chocolate sprinkle, stuck it in my mouth and realised it was hamster poo. Good thing it was tiny…

This is my third entry for Photo Theme for Thursday. Why not join?

Scandinavia Fair

2012-01-22T22:46:00.002+01:00

I have been to several emigration fairs over the last few years and the answers I got to any of my questions regarding finding jobs in Canada and/or trying to move out there, were always met with: Yes, it is possible, but will be very difficult. So, when I did move my sight from Canada to Norway it was very much because the chances were a great deal higher in Norway than they ever were in Canada. And when I went to the Scandinavia Fair on Saturday, I got confirmation after confirmation.

I had rented a car specially, so I could go when I wanted instead of having to depend on public transport and had arrived just after half past nine. The doors had just about opened when I went in and started my hunt for information. Now, most of the stands were by communities in the country side who are dealing with severe lack of people and are trying to find people to come live in their communities. Then there was the European Job Center (Eures) with its Norwegian, Swedish and Danish counterparts, the Social Security Office of the Netherlands, the Tax Office of the Netherlands, some moving companies, some foody type thingiemebobs and some translation companies.

All in all, there were plenty of stands for me to browse and talk to people. I had taken a few cv's with me, in English, so if they wanted one, I could give them one. I filled out forms, talked to people, got brochures and leaflets, filled out some more forms and was very happy about all the positive sounds I got. There was actually one that said (and I quote): "You are a busdriver and a woman? Twice as good!" The only negative sound I kept on hearing was the fact that I would need to speak Norwegian. Well, you good people of Norway: I am working hard on it, don't you worry!

I left just before three in the afternoon, with a bag full of brochures, a head full of information and a happy heart. To be continued...

'Toys'

2012-01-19T09:00:00.000+01:00

When I was about eleven or twelve, all the girls in my class had 'best friends', apart from me and one other girl. So, the other girls set us up on a 'best friend date'. I was supposed to go over to H's house and there we would play. That way we too would become best friends and all the girls in the class were properly set up.

Off I went to H's house to play. But horror of horrors, she wanted me to play with dolls! Barbie dolls! How was I supposed to know how to play with dolls? I never did at home. I played with my brother's lego or his racing set. I read books and I knitted. But most of all I played outside with other neighbourhood children. We roamed the neighbourhood, we played Jail ball, Hide and Seek, Potato in the Pan, Softball, we climbed trees, raced shopping carts, fell in ditches, off bike racks or cycled somewhere. I certainly never played with dolls!

There was however one very important member in our household. It wasn't a doll but a teddy bear. And without this teddy bear I couldn't sleep. My father has turned the car around on one occasion to go get it. We bought a replacement bear that itched. But usually I just made sure I had it with me. And I still have it. It's very battered and bruised and definitely needs to see a doctor, but he's still here. Sitting on my bedside table in his little pink and orange bikini I knitted him.

By the way, me and H never hit it off...

This is my second entry for Photo Theme Thursday. Why not join?

Open wide!

2012-01-17T21:21:00.000+01:00

My semi-annual appointment with the dentist was yesterday. It's always great fun. I sit in the waiting room trying to read at least one comic (usually the Donald Duck magazine), before I am called in to take my seat in one of those uncomfortable reclining chairs. Then the dental assistant starts cleaning my teeth, which yesterday lasted all of two minutes, including me spitting half way through. Then the dentist himself comes over, gives me a sort of limp handshake (it's not quite limp, but it's not firm either, it's a bit wishy-washy), asks whether there were any problems, pokes about in my mouth a bit and sends me on my merry way.

Of course last year followed somewhat of a different course when he found two cavities (for the first time ever I hasten to add), so I even though I wasn't nervous as such, I wasn't 100% certain about the outcome.

So, I read Quest magazine (couldn't be bothered to get up to find the Donald Duck), got called in, got my teeth cleaned and then poked and was sent on my merry way. In the mean time I answered their questions about Norway, I told the dentist I don't grind my teeth at night, but I do chew on breadcrumbs for hours with my front teeth and made an appointment for July. All in the space of 15 minutes.

Dentist schmentist...

Sleuth

2012-01-16T12:30:00.002+01:00

If anybody out there thinks the only people capable of making good television are the Americans, think again! Because the British know a thing or two about good tv as well. As you may know I love Doctor Who since it's rebirth earlier this century and have watched most episodes at least four times now. But this post is not about Doctor Who, it is about Sherlock as in Sherlock Holmes!

This year saw three more episodes (ninety minutes each) of that most famous of sleuths Sherlock. I saw the three episodes last year and when I found out there were new ones on the way, I could hardly wait. Sherlock is played by Benedict Cumberbatch and his sidekick Dr Watson is played by Martin Freeman (soon to be a Hobbit). It's slick, it's tense, it's funny and at times it's downright scary. It's based on the books by Arthur Conan Doyle, but this series is contemporary and modern. The hat of old came back this season as a sort of in-joke, which was really funny and the pipe has been replaced with nicotine patches and an urgent craving for a cigarette.

I know Martin Freeman especially is going to be busy in the near future (what with being the Hobbit and all), but I do hope they will make another series of three next year. I for one can't wait!

Shopping

2012-01-15T16:38:00.000+01:00

The still good home-made socks by my friend Pepperfly

When do you throw clothes out? When they are out of season? Or when you can hardly see the clothes for the amount of holes in them? I tend to veer more towards the second option than the first. But then again, I hardly buy the most fashionable clothes to begin with, so out of season is usually even before I've bought the stuff. Anyway...

My socks showed some severe signs of being very old. Elastic gone, holes in heels and toes and they all tended to be of a somewhat greyish disposition. So, new socks were in order. Then I needed a pair of new jeans, because the ones I do own make me look as if I am waiting for the high water to come in any second. And to top it all off, new bras would also be good, since I could balance a cup of tea on the underwires in the ones I own. Off to the shops I went.

The first shop I went in however did have nothing to do with socks, bras or jeans. Because I was also out to buy myself a new mobile phone. I have a great one, but contrary to what that really nice guy in Airdrie (Canada) told me, I can't use it in Europe. So, a new one. And a simple one at that. I don't want one with a gazillion gadgets and thingymebobs and mindbogglers. I want a phone with which I can phone and text. End of story. So, I got myself two. At a tenner each not a bad deal I thought!

Then it was off to get some bras. Which is difficult for any woman I gather, but when you don't have the smallest size, don't want any funny colours, need underwires but not too high, it's hard! The first shop I went to dutifully referred me to a speciality shop which were able to help me. It was a good thing they were on sale though, because they cost a lot!

For the jeans I thought I would go to a special jeans shop. Makes sense? Not really, since I am not one of the smallest people (width wise) and even the men's sizes didn't fit. In the end I left that shop without jeans and went to the plus size section of our local C&A. One pair of jeans and one pair of trousers. Bingo!

Fortunately the socks were the easiest. So, I decided to make it a bit more difficult for myself and choose some gloves as well. Since I couldn't make a choice between the two, I bought both pairs of gloves and 10 pairs of socks.

The money is gone again, but I can now wear black socks with little white dots without holes, a comfy bra and a comfy pair of jeans. Bliss...

Rabies

2012-01-14T17:14:00.001+01:00

Those are not allowed!

When taking cats (or dogs) from one country to another, it isn't just a case of bunging them in a pet carrier and sticking them in a car. Far from it in fact, since there are quite a few things you have to consider.

You need the right pet carrier. You ordinary wicker basket looks great, but is not acceptable on a plane. For that you need special IATA approved pet carriers made out of metal, which have to be able to be locked. Cost? Way more than your pretty wicker basket.

I don't want my photo taken!

You need a passport, but so does your pet! It needs to contain their name, their owner's name, their last vaccinations and you can even stick a photo in! Cost? Way less than your own passport.

Your pet needs all the right shots. Rabies being one of them. Now, in the Netherlands the only animals still carrying rabies are (according to the vet) bats. I don't know where the nearest bats are living, but I do know my cats have never been in contact with them. For starters, they are at home at night! But, they need the shot anyway. Some countries only want them to have the rabies shot, others (Norway amongst them) also want the proof in the ~~puddi~~ blood. IE, after 4 months, I need to have bloodtests done on both cats to show they have enough anti-bodies against Rabies in their blood.

Hello Miss Greeneyes

Then and only then can I take my cats on the journey to Norway. And of course I could have waited until I spoke Norwegian a bit more fluent or even until I had a job, but that would be silly. Since the bloodtest will be good for as long as they live! So, the day before yesterday I bunged both cats in a plastic pet carrier, drove to the animal clinic and got them both shot and passported (hm, somewhere in that sentence something went wrong). Which means that four months from now, they can have their bloodtests. Two weeks for the results and then I can go on my merry way to Norway. Now, is that clever thinking or what?

'Best of 2011'

2012-01-12T12:01:00.003+01:00

I had the Photo Theme for Thursday on my blogroll on the baby for ages and forgot a bit about it. But when I looked at it again the other day, when I was using the baby, I thought: I have to remember this, because it sounds just right for me. And this week's photo theme is 'best of 2011', part 2. I missed part 1, but never mind, part 2 will be as fine!

I posted it before and it features on my annual 'Over Mara's Shoulder calendar', because I absolutely loved it! It's a hoodoo which are found (amongst others) in the Badlands of Alberta, Canada. An area which I got to enjoy thanks to my great blogfriend Kay who took her dog and her car and met up with me near Calgary. And then she drove us out to the Rockies (day one) which were really nice and then to the Badlands (day two), which made my heart race and my eyes go into overdrive! I absolutely fell in love with that part of Alberta and actually went back there a few days later to enjoy it some more!

My first entry for the Photo Theme for Thursday meme!

Plans

2012-01-08T20:27:00.000+01:00

When dealing with high water, these windmills of old still do their bit to keep part of the country dry!

It was there! I saw it and Anvilcloud saw it too! But alas, it has somehow disappeared into cyblivion, because it's no longer there! Which of course is extremely annoying. It took quite some time to write it and find a nice photo with it. It was all about the water that has been pounding us from all sides (except the south) for the last few days. How in the north people were evacuated because of the rising water. I even made a little joke about if the dykes were to break in the part of the country I live in, my house would be completely submerged by the water. After all: I leave on the bottom of the sea. Literally! But the post has gone. And only Anvilcloud and I have read that brilliant piece of literature, that you will now never get the chance to read. Which of course is a great gap in your life, I know!

Ah well, since that didn't go the way I had planned it, I thought I might as well do something different and hope this one does come off...

Day 3

2012-01-03T17:46:00.000+01:00

Rain, wind and more rain and wind were the words of the day today. And in the midst of all that rain and wind I had to go get myself some groceries. I had run out of bread and I was low on milk. And I just reminded myself I forgot the soap. Anyhow.
I also did some pre-work laundry, so I won’t have to show up to work tomorrow wearing dirty clothes, I watched the Tour de Ski (cross-country skiing) and had another slice of the really nice apple pie I made on New Year’s Eve.
Life is about to start again!

Strange

2012-01-02T16:28:00.000+01:00

Isn't it strange how on only the second day of the new year, you think: it's the same as last year! Nothing is different. The alarm went off at midday exactly (in the Netherlands every first Monday of the month the alarm goes off, so we know the sound and react when it sounds at a different time), the weather is still the same old weather and I still sit behind my computer thinking of all these great ways to spend my time and not doing much about it. It's a good thing it wasn't a resolution or I would be in trouble already!

Tomorrow will be my last day off before I am back to another bout of work. School runs probably and not much excitement. But on the plus side: my head is a haven of tranquility right now. It's actually so quiet in there right now I started having funny dreams again. I always do when I don't have anything to do really. And the one I had going from 2011 to 2012 was a doozy! Dreaming of having dinner with a lot of biathlon stars is always good, but for the first time I also spoke Norwegian in a dream. A good omen I hope...

2012

2012-01-01T14:58:00.000+01:00

When I first starting talking of emigrating to Canada, I was still in the middle of a massive debt. I spent more than I earned and it wasn't until I realised that Canada wasn't going to allow me in with a debt hanging on. So, I mended my ways, got rid of holidays and my car and instead of spending I was paying off that debt. But even when the debt was completely cleared I wasn't there yet, because Canada wasn't going to allow me in without any cash to my name, so the next thing to do was save. Still no holidays, still no car, but the savings added up.

Fast forward to last year. I finally had enough money to go and visit Canada and try to find a job there. I knew it was going to be hard. I knew it was going to be difficult. And I was right. It was hard and difficult. And in the end it proved impossible. The job that I was looking for could be filled by some 18-year old Canadian and then the company wouldn't have to go through hoops to get me the work permit. And they probably would be cheaper too...

The day before yesterday I got an email from my agent in Canada. He had sent my resumé to most of the hotels in Edmonton (no result), had given it to people who knew people working in hotels in Edmonton (no result), was now moving onto Red Deer and still had an option in the work camps up north like Fort McMurray. I sent him an email back saying that due to the incredible response of Canadian employers (would this be sarcasm?), my age and the way things are in my current job, I had decided to say goodbye to Canada and hello to Norway. My last professional link with Canada was severed!

So, 2012 will hopefully see me move to Norway asap. Where it's cold. And dark. And they speak a different language. But, that's only in winter. In summer it's warmer. And lighter. Although they still do speak a different language... My other resolution is to loose weight by hiding it somewhere. I just have to figure out where!

Rest

2011-12-29T15:14:00.002+01:00

Well, hello everyone! Did you miss me? I know, I know, I have been away for over two weeks, but I have a good excuse: it was busy. First it was busy with work and I worked all day every day it seemed. It was quite tiring and I really needed the holiday that was coming up. But when work quietened down, it was home life that was busy. I always make the family newsletter and it's always quite hard to get everybody to send in their stories and things. Which is quite annoying, but in the end I had something that looked quite like a newsletter.

When it finally looked like a newsletter, I had to print it out, staple it together and send it to the family! Which was another day's work and finally on the day before Christmas I was finished with that. Earlier in December there had been plans to celebrate Christmas with some friends of mine, but my head was too full with busyness that I decided to cancel that and just stay home. And apart from the one day where I visited an aunt celebrating her birthday, I did just that: stay at home. Go to bed late, sleep in, eat horrid food (do Smarties count as a food group at all?) and watch television.

For the new year, other things are causing my head to be full of busyness: learning a new language, finding another job, moving to another country, it all needs to be placed somewhere in my head and on occasion I feel it might explode.

Anyway, for now it's quietened down a great deal and if the neighbourhood doesn't go overboard with all the fireworks in the next few days, I shall be fine.

PS: if you were wondering what that photo has to do with this post: absolutely nothing!

Head spinning

2011-12-12T16:52:00.000+01:00

For some reason my boss or the planner or whoever it is that gives me the work, has decided to give me a lot of work. I was off one day only last week and worked both Saturday and Sunday. Long hours as well. On Saturday I had to go to a Yule Market which is big business in Germany. I was headed to Düsseldorf, which is quite close to the Netherlands. I had to leave from a nearby trainstation at 8am and here's how the conversation went when I arrived there:

Woman 1: Is this the bus to Düsseldorf?

Me: Yes it is.

Woman 1: Is this number 21?

Me: No, it isn't.

Woman 1: But this is the bus to Düsseldorf?

Me: Yes, it is.

Woman 2: Is this the bus to Düsseldorf?

Me, Yes, it is.

Woman 2: Is this number 24?

Me: No, it isn't.

Woman 1: But this is the bus to Düsseldorf?

Me (getting quite exasperated by now): Yes, it is.

Woman 1 and Woman 2 simultaneously: So, is this number 21/24?

Me: NO, IT ISN'T!

Man 1: Is this the bus to Düsseldorf?

Me (grinding my teeth by now): Yes. It. Is.

Man 1: Is this number 21?

Me: NO!

Woman 3: Is this the bus for FNV to Düsseldorf?

Me: Yes, it is! Welcome.

Man 1: But you're going to Düsseldorf?

Me: Yes, with the union.

Man 1: What's that?

Me (being helpful even though I was fully fed up with them): Which company have you booked your trip with?

Women and Man: GEBO.

Me: This is Connexxion Tours. (and I won't write down what I was thinking at that point, but I give you a clue: it had something to do with sods)

Anyway, the trip went off without a hitch. I was early everywhere and the return trip was good as well. On Wednesday I am off to Cologne. Another Yule Market!!

Did I tell you?

2011-12-08T22:48:00.001+01:00

I am learning Norwegian and at the moment I have a vocabulary of about 400 words and phrases. I know what a 'bil' is (car), I know how to count to a hundred, although it does take some time to get the Norwegian answer to Norwegian sums and I am about to learn about verbs and their perfect tense and the past tense and the other tense that uses to have. And I can tell you: it's not easy!

So far, the words I have learnt (with a few exceptions) have something to do with either English, German or Dutch and sometimes it's completely alien. And then there are verbs. Those dreaded verbs. And having to learn about those tenses is in some cases the complete opposite to Dutch.

So, today I set myself a task. Every single verb I should know by now I had to write down the present, past and past perfect (is that it?). The first page was more red lines than any other colour, by page two I had figured I was doing it all wrong and went with my gut. By that time the red became less and less.

To prove to you that I have learnt something more than 'God Jul' and takk (which means thanks): here's a little story about me:

Jeg heter Mara et jeg bor i Nederland. Også har jeg bodd i Frankrike, Italia og England. Jeg er førti år. Jeg har to katter som heter Wuppie og Linette.

Easy! Right?

Nothing

2011-12-07T20:47:00.001+01:00

Just so you know I am not lying dead in a ditch somewhere. But I don't really have much to say right now. It's busy at work, the weather is awful (wind, rain and more wind) and I spend most of my time off learning Norwegian, doing laundry and watching television. I was supposed to go to Brussels this weekend and planning on contacting Gattina to see if we could meet up, but that was changed this morning, so unless Gattina wants to come to Düsseldorf in Germany...

Friends

2011-12-02T23:48:00.001+01:00

Grateful for friends who make me laugh! Even if it makes for wobbly photos!!

Well...

2011-11-30T21:30:00.001+01:00

I did it: I sent my resumé to a Eures consultant in Bergen, Norway. I don't know what will come of it, but I am keeping my fingers crossed. Wish me luck!

PS: I am having severe problems with uploading photos. On occasion it works fine, but most of the time it just doesn't. As you can see, I did add a photo to this post, but it should have been included on another post! Which didn't work... Anybody any ideas on how to solve it?

Birthday

2011-11-27T12:59:00.001+01:00

And there I was on Friday, sitting in church when all of a sudden my phone went off. Fortunately it happened before the service and I turned it off immediately (others hadn't been so clever or thoughtful). When I finally remembered I had received a text it was well after the service and it was from my sister-in-law: whether I would like to come to the birthday party of her youngest. Which of course I had completely forgotten about, since I forget about a lot of birthdays.

Anyway, I phoned my parents yesterday morning to ask whether they were taking the train or car and when it turned out the were driving, I asked them to come pick me up as well. So, off we all went to my brother and his family.

My youngest niece had turned three and was very happy to receive all those gifts. Although at first she was a bit confused 'because she hadn't put her shoe out the night before'. In the Netherlands we celebrate St Nicholas on December 5th and in the weeks leading up to that day, children all over the country will put out their shoe, containing wish lists, carrots and hay (for his horse) and the next morning there will be a little present in said shoe. But she wasn't one to shy away from presents and when there were none more coming, she found a mug and some wrapping paper to make her own present! So cute...

Unfortunately my parents couldn't drop me off at home at night, so I took the bus home, which of course had left five minutes before I arrived at the busstation! Or so it seemed to me. Never mind though, I had to get some money, find a toilet and I wanted something to drink anyway. And I did make it home in time for my favourite Saturday show of the moment: Strictly Come Dancing. Yea...

Laurens

2011-11-25T20:50:00.001+01:00

Late August a colleague of mine went to see a doctor about some swelling in his groin area. A few days later he was diagnosed with colon cancer. Unfortunately not in the early stages, because it had already spread to the blood and bones, but the doctors still gave him 9 months, more if the medication would work. His weight kept dropping though, since he couldn't keep his food down and he was admitted to hospital with severe dehydration.

While in hospital they discovered it had also spread to his brain and the nine months was quickly changed into a couple of weeks. He passed away on Monday. Today all the colleagues from our lot said goodbye to him for the last time. He will be very much missed.

Busy

2011-11-23T13:16:00.001+01:00

A few weeks ago I was told by my manager that I wasn't working enough! Since we don't have nine to five jobs, it sometimes makes it harder to actually reach the 173,3 hours of work needed in a month. Especially when work is very thin on the ground. But to then blame me is a bit much I thought and I told him so as well: if you want me to reach the hours, plan better! I will work!!

So, over the last few weeks I have been working more than 'normal'. Last week was a six-day week for me, filled with school runs, army rides, more school runs and yes, even more school runs. This week it was going to be more of the same, even if today is an easy day: just the hither in the morning and the tither in the afternoon.

To top it all off, it has been extremely tiring to drive lately: we have had a persistent fog for about a week now and on Monday especially, it was hard going: visibility going down in some cases to less than 50 meters! Very tiring on the eyes, even if I do sport a fancy yellow pair!

Whenever I have a few minutes in between runs or even during a run, I am cramming my head with Norwegian words. I thought it would be easy, but I don't know whether I underestimated the language or overestimated my ability to learn a new language, but it is proving to be harder than I thought. The reading and writing and even the hearing are okay, but the speaking? Ten words on paper and you can just hear one single sound! Incredible. I've found a solution though: Norwegian radio and every time I recognize a word or phrase I whoop. Not much whooping yet though, but it will come! After all, I only know about three hundred words so far! And according to the dictionary I just got there are a few more out there!!! Just a few...

Anyway, my head is just about swimming with Norwegian words, fog and work and (og) unfortunately (dessverre) there hasn't been a lot (mange) of time to write (skrive) my blog or read (lese) any other blogs.

144

2011-11-19T00:15:00.001+01:00

We have a new emergency number in the Netherlands: 144 to save an animal. If, for example, you see a horse in a ditch, you can phone them and they will put you through to the emergency service needed.

So, when I saw a horse in a ditch, I phoned 144 and was put through to the police. I told them where I had seen the horse in the ditch and that I didn't think it would be possible for the horse to get out of said ditch by itself, since the banks were too high. Fortunately I wasn't the only one who had phoned in and I hung up, relieved something was going to be done to this poor horse.

When I got back at night I wondered what had happened to the horse and after a bit of searching I finally found it. Now, I phoned at 11.15am or thereabouts and somebody else had already reported it before me. The fire department got notified at a little before midday! Anyway, the fire department made their way over to the horse, where a car rescue service and highway patrol were already on site. The fire department tried to put a harness on the horse, but that didn't go as smoothly as they had hoped.

Then the owner of the horse arrived and told the fire department that he didn't need help, he could do it himself. First he used a rope to get the horse closer to the field, then the harness was put over the head and using a tractor, the horse was pulled into the field. However, the horse was quite dizzy and actually fell back into the ditch! So, the farmer tried again and this time he was successful! The fire department did not assist and distanced itself from the method used by the farmer.

If you click on this link, you can see the photos that were taken.

Admitting defeat

2011-11-15T19:33:00.001+01:00

Those are two of the three words I know in Norwegian. But it's not something you can use in every day life of course, unless it's Christmas all year round (it means merry Christmas)! So, I have ordered a Norwegian course to learn the language, so I won't have to say God Jul all day every day!!

And the reason I did that? Well, I think I can safely say Canada is a no-go. I always knew it was going to be extremely difficult and that the chances of me finding work there were always slim, but I tried my best and in the end... I failed. I talked it over with my mum and even though she feels sorry I haven't reached my goal, she is secretly (and not so secretly) really happy Canada is out. Norway is of course a. closer and b. it's closer and most importantly c. it's closer.

Now before you start thinking any strange things about how I can suddenly shift my focus from one to the other, it's not so sudden and it's not so different. Let me explain...

The up sides about Canada: it's roomy, the weather, nature, they speak English, the cost of living is somewhat lower and according to some who shall remain unnamed (Kay, you know who you are), there are wild animals roaming free!

The down sides: it's far, it's hard to emigrate to, I wouldn't be able to do my preferred job and I would earn a lot less than in the Netherlands.

The up sides about Norway: it's roomy, most of the weather, nature, I would be able to do my preferred job, I would earn more, it's easier to move to and it's closer. Oh, and biathlon is one of the national sports!!!

The down sides: the cost of living is higher and they speak Norwegian, which is a language I don't speak (yet).

All in all, weighing up the pros and cons (there are a few more, but I don't want this to become one of those mile long posts), I think Norway would suit me quite nicely. As long as I get that language learnt of course. Fortunately I have a knack for languages, or so I am told and I do speak Dutch and German and English and I understand Frisian, so it shouldn't be too hard (she says...).

So, now you know.

PS: I just thought about this tattoo thingy. If I were to make my new life in Norway, there is no way I will get a troll tattooed on my shoulder!

The winners

2011-11-12T07:25:00.001+01:00

Venice in the '90's. Not in the calendar!

Ah, that give-away from last week. Filled with photos from my travels. It would look fantastic on anybody's desk, but it is only won by two. So, drumroll please...

Debby (@Just Breathe) asked for an extra day next year and guess what: she got it! Especially for her, I put an extra day in. I stuck it in at the end of February, which now has 29 instead of 28 days. An extra day to just breathe and live life to the fullest!

Cry (@Thru My Minds Eye) gave a little ditty that didn't rhyme, so we can safely say she has the modern poetry down pat! I've given her the extra day as well, so she can do some more modern poetry!

Congratulations to both of you, the calendars will be heading your way asap!

I should have known

2011-11-10T18:26:00.001+01:00

Remember when I told you I was feeling a bit under the weather? Well, I should have known it was a precursor for what was to come. I should have realised a hint of a headache means a headache is coming. I should have known a cold is not just a cold anymore. I just... should have known!

I had a beer on Tuesday. Nothing strange about that at all. And normally they are fine. And this one was fine. But on Wednesday morning I woke up with a headache. Which was a bit annoying: can I not have a single beer anymore? However, the headache persisted and persisted and instead of just fading away, it seemed to be getting stronger. Until at about 9pm it clicked: it wasn't the beer. It's the sinusitis. Again!!

So, paracetamols in my bag and off to work I went this morning. A day filled with primary school children and noise. Fortunately they were all reasonably quiet after I told them to be quiet because I had a severe headache. One school actually whispered all the way home! But alas, the headache didn't abate. It actually got worse and worse. Until I realised that working tomorrow would be a pain (no pun intended). I phoned my boss who was able to change my shift. I should have done an all-day trip to Germany and back, I now have to drive high school kids to school and back. A lot better. (By the way, the colleague who took over my job is off tomorrow, because the whole trip was cancelled!)

I am feeling fine(ish) now. The headache has lessened somewhat, although I know that doesn't mean it's gone. My mum got me some steaming stuff (bowl of hot water, steaming stuff and a tea towel are involved in this) and nasal spray and fortunately I still have some paracetamol. Hopefully this episode will pass soon enough!

PS: if you still want to have a shot at winning one of the desk top calendars I am giving away: go to Over Mara's Shoulder and leave a comment!

One of those weeks

2011-11-07T06:43:00.001+01:00

As I wrote on Facebook the other day: I am tired. And not so much tired as in sleepy, but tired of everything. Of waiting to hear back from any of the 26 hotels I sent my resumé to last week (two so far and they have both put me in the pile to 'hang on to for three months'). Tired of doing the laundry that seems to keep coming back faster than I clean it. Tired of my television that has decided to not give me the sound I should (which makes it difficult to watch a region 1 dvd: I have to sit two feet away to actually be able to hear anything). Tired of the weather that still has summer temperatures, even though it's now November. And even tired of work. Because that last thing tends to be the same every day: pick up children and drop them off at school in the morning and do the reverse in the afternoon. On occasion we do the swimming pool run, which isn't that different.

On Saturday there was a bit of change from the normal: I had a football run! A local ladies' football team were playing against a team that was a bit too far to drive to themselves, so they hired a bus. It wasn't so bad. The girls were friendly, the weather was good and I managed to find the venue first time round and was able to park there without any difficulty. They won and we drove back.

Today is another break from the normal: I have to pick up a group of people at some resort or other, drive them to a town on the other side of the country, where they will visit a brewery and then tonight we will drive back. Hopefully they won't be completely drunk and will be on time.

Perhaps I just have the autumn blues, perhaps I just feel ick (yes, I spelled that right) because I am getting a cold. Either way, I hope I will win the lottery this week so I can go and have a nice holiday in some nice and warm and sunny country. Ooooohhhh....

PS: If you still want to have a shot at winning a lovely desk-top calendar, leave a comment on the following post: Over Mara's shoulder

Coffee Klatch 3

2011-11-04T20:53:00.000+01:00

A bucket list she asks for! A bucket list!! (imagine my voice going up a bit now) But then again, it was easy for me this week, since I've got a bucket list all ready and waiting to get out of that bucket. Which is a weird thing to say in the first place. Bucket list. Anyway, here's mine!

This is more my size of horse!

Learn how to tapdance
When I was younger I was allowed to take tapdancing classes, but unfortunately I had to go to bible class. Since they were on the same night...

Learn how to ride a horse
Even though the horse I have been on was huge, I think there must be smaller ones out there. A shetland pony or something similar!

Do a sky-dive
Not really sure about this one, but once I get over the fear of jumping of the high board in the swimming pool, I might give this one a try.

Do a bungee-jump
See above!

Have tea at the Ritz in London
Ever since the doorman at the Ritz saved my life (or so it felt at the time, he only pointed me in the direction of home), I've wanted to go there some day and take tea! With scones and sandwiches and such...

Have a professional photo-shoot
Fancy clothes, great make-up, possibly a handsome model to pose with, what's not to like?

Learn how to play a musical instrument
I've tried the recorder and I've tried that Irish flute, but the only sound I have produced was a high screechy sound. I won't be playing in the Boston Philarmonic any time soon...

Emigrate to Canada
If you don't know this by now, you haven't been reading my blog at all and I suggest you go back to all the posts about me wanting to emigrate to Canada!

Own a bright pink car
And I mean properly pink. None of that baby pink for me.

Get a tattoo
I did! I got myself a tattoo!
Go mud-flat hiking
One of the great mucky things to do that sounds like it's great (albeit cold) fun. One day though, one day...

The next question was about my favourite candy. Well, when I was younger I used to love liquorice all-sorts, although I tended to pick those awful coconutty jobbies out of there: yuck! Nowadays, jellybeans I love, but since my stomach doesn't...

If you want the chance to win a desktop calendar, please leave a comment on my previous post! Click here to get there.

Over Mara's shoulder

2011-11-03T06:00:00.000+01:00

Yes, it's that time of the year to give something away again. And like last year, I will be giving a desk top calendar away. Which is full of photos I took on my travels in Europe and Canada this year.

If you want to have a shot of winning one of two calendars, just leave a comment on this post! Easy peasy. You've got a whole week of thinking of a great comment, closing time is Friday, November 11th at midnight (GMT).

The heating

2011-11-02T13:36:00.000+01:00

The heating was fixed and the showers were nice and hot again. But there was still a problem: every other day or so, I had to refill the heating system because it was leaking. So, on Monday I made another phone call to the company who fixed the heating system and yesterday another man came out to fix the thing. And he replaced the same thing the guy replaced last week! You've got to wonder.

Anyway, since yesterday the water level in the system stays at the same point, so I can safely say the leaking has stopped. I wonder what will be next to go...

Mr Pumpkinhead

2011-10-30T23:29:00.000+01:00

When I was in Canada, the stores were filled with all things Hallowe'en, which was both great fun and a shame. The great fun of course was seeing all that stuff that I had previously only seen in films and on tv since we don't celebrate Hallowe'en in the Netherlands. At least not to the extent they do it in North America. The shame was about it not being Christmassy stuff that was out. Although that might have delayed my plans for moving a bit longer, since I would probably have needed another suitcase for all the stuff I ~~might~~ would have bought.

Anyway, as I was walking through one of the stores one day, I came across this one stand with all these outfits on. Witches and warlocks, ghosts and ghouls and of course pumpkins. But they weren't for you and me, no, they were for our little furry friends! And even though the outfits were quite pricey, I couldn't resist to pick out the pumpkin suit for the smallest dogs. I thought Mathilda would look grand in it, but of course she never got the opportunity to show it off. But I then realised Wuppie might look fantastic in it too, him being on the orange side already. The only question was: would it fit? Well, it did and there was room to spare.

Happy Hallowe'en everyone!

Coffee with friends 2

2011-10-28T06:00:00.000+02:00

List ten things you have done! Should be easy (well, easier at least). Here goes:

Just a prop! I swear!!!

I got a tattoo. Oh yes, I did. Last year and it didn't hurt nearly as much as I had anticipated. It's of a little orange tulip and is on my right shoulderback.
I wore a wedding dress once. Not my own, my Mum's and she cut it to size so I could wear it. I wore it for the five year anniversary of my primary school during the neighbourhood parade. My teacher wore the matching groom's outfit. Well, the top anyway, the bottom was soccer gear!
I have smoked. Or should I say, tried to smoke. Twice! The very first time I was quite sozzled (not to say pissed as a fart) and actually stuck the burning end in my mouth. My colleagues got that ciggy away from me in no time! The second time I wasn't quite as sozzled and tried one. At first I didn't think it was so bad, until I tasted it properly: like licking out an ashtray! And before you ask me how I would know, when I was about 2 to 3 years old I ate all the cigaretty butts in the ashtray while my parental unit wasn't looking. He looked when I started throwing them all up again though!

I have been inhuman twice in my life. Not that I grew tentacles or horns or anything, but according to two people I was inhuman. The first because I didn't want to sleep with him, the second because I wasn't willing to give up my bed to a small child (for reasons that were her fault and then she blamed them on me).
I have taken five driving tests. Three for my car licence and two for the bus. I tended to drive like a wet flannel when having a test. As soon as I stopped telling people I was having a test I would drive like a dream. And pass of course...
I have kissed a German and a Frenchman and an Italian and an Irishman and an Englishman and a Zimbabwan and even a Dutchman or two. Oh, the memories. But I don't kiss and tell...

I've gotten lost in a wood with my bus. For some reason I missed the right turning and ended up driving up a sandpath that got narrower and narrower. Then it turned into a bridle way, crossed a very steep train track, became muddier and wetter and I was getting more and more nervous and scared. In the end I exited the wood via the cycle path which was barely wide enough for me!
I have knitted paintpots and champagne bottles. I have knitted since I was six, but never had much time for sweaters and the like. When living in England I got hold of some books with small figurines in them and have knitted those ever since. I even knitted a nativity scene including the Baby Jesus!
I have met three blogfriends (so far). Carolina helped me get my garden in order last year, and this year I met Kay twice and Jackie, a Dutch immigrant to Canada. I could have met another one if she and I had known we were within twenty minutes of each other! Alas, we didn't and we never met (still sorry about that Ginnie Marie).
I've been in prison. Well, I actually worked there for about three days. I had to check the prisoners' food and during lunch hour I had to serve in the staff restaurant. I got into a disagreement with the manager though and didn't have to come back (the same thing happened at the court house by the way).

The second part is supposed to be an autumn recipe. Go to your kitchen and find the biggest mug you can find. Make a nice hot chocolate (and I mean nice), add a good splash of Beerenburg (a Dutch Schnaps), some mini marshmellows and a great big dollop of whipped cream. Then sit on a nice comfy couch and enjoy!

Hot and cold

2011-10-26T10:32:00.001+02:00

I wanted a nice hot shower. But when I stepped into the shower, I found the water wasn't warm. It wasn't exactly cold either, it was just sort of inbetween. Luke warm, tepid. And it would have been perfectly alright in the middle of summer. It's not summer though, it's the autumn and the temperatures outside don't go that high up anymore. So, getting out of a luke warm shower means I am freezing my behind off.

I had another problem as well. My heating. It just wouldn't turn off. So, I had taken to closing all the radiators at night, since I hate sleeping in a warm room. Unless it's summer of course, which it isn't!

Yesterday the man came to fix it all. Well, I say man, but teenager would probably be more appropriate. Perhaps early twenties, but that was it. Anyway, he opened the kettle thingy up, saw a valve was set to heating and not to hot water (it was broken), went out again and came back two minutes later with the new part and fixed it. So, that shower last night was heaven. And when I came down this morning I found that the heating worked properly again as well: I turn it off at the thermostat and it just stops.

But the best thing? Since I live in rented accommodation, the housing association pays for repairs like these. Brilliant!!

Coffee with friends

2011-10-21T13:15:00.004+02:00

I've been wanting to join a meme again for a long time now, but hadn't really found one I wanted to join until I read Flamblogger's blog. Coffee klatch sounded great, so I will try and join every week if possible, today for certain!

Tower of London

Today's question is to list ten things you have never done. So, here goes:
I've not managed to learn Japanese. Not for lack of trying though, I've still got the books at home, but jellybeans, is that language a tough one! Nothing is like any of the languages I speak and I had to give it up in the end.
I've never used drugs, not even a joint. Knowing my tendency to get hooked onto something reasonably fast, I think it was wise never to use any, although I do wonder what it would feel like to be all high. However, this DOES NOT mean I will be trying any!! I'll climb a tower to feel high...
I've never travelled the world. At some point in my life I really wanted to see the world and go backpacking, but as I've grown older I don't think I missed much. Besides I know I like my creature comforts a bit too much as well to be roughing it in some hostel in the outback of Australia!

I've not had any children. I have got a nephew, two nieces, a goddaughter, a sugar daughter and a sugar son though. And of course my monsters who are almost like my children.
I've never ever played truant. I wouldn't have dared! The look my father or mother would have given me would have been too awful!
I've never cheated on any test. I remember once a class mate had actually gotten hold of the test and had copied it for the entire class. I was the only one who earned that grade fair and square because I refused to do it that way. My father and mother, you get the drift.

I've never seen 'The Day After' about the aftermath of the atomic bomb. I could have, I probably should have, but I refused and spent the periods when it was shown in religion class in the cafeteria of our high school. Me refusing anything was a sign that I was serious, since I usually went along with a lot.
I have never eaten mushrooms willingly. It's not so much the taste as the texture of them. Slimy, slippery, gross and they are grown on horses' poo! I will pick them out of my food. Ooh, even thinking about them makes my skin crawl!
I have never ridden a motor cycle or moped. When I was younger, the first thing I wanted to learn when I was old enough was how to ride a motor cycle. The only thing I have done so far is sit on the back and that was not the success I thought it might have been: a sore and wooden bum!
I haven't ever ridden a horse. I've been on one, but it has always been stationary. Oh, and I had to be hoisted on by two colleagues!!

Then there's a question to be answered as well: please share with us something that you do to prepare for this changing weather. Well, the thing I do is try and get my heating system to work again. It has a mind of its own after a summer of not being used and now it's quite temperamental, heating when it's not even on! But I will get it tamed before the really cold weather sets in. Or just wear thick socks!

For more Coffee Klatch, please go to The Tapestry of Life and join in!

More Canada

2011-10-20T22:39:00.001+02:00

Farmland with Rockies in the distance

Before you ask: no, I haven't heard anything back from either my agent or the hotel manager. I have to be patient now, because it can take up to two months before the LMO is being issued! Which isn't all bad though: it will give me a chance to add to my rather depleted savings again! A question I have been asked time and time again is why do I want to move to Canada? And it always has been hard to put into words. But I will try to give it a go.

Presbyterian Church in Banff

I have never felt that the Netherlands was the end destination for me. I had lived in several other countries during my late teens and early twenties and two of those countries were seriously considered by me: France and England. In France I was thinking about becoming a tourguide on a coach (this was way before I could drive a car, let alone a bus), but I never went through with that. And then in England I just thought I wouldn't mind living there. I don't really know what I would have done though, probably something in hospitality: waitressing or hotel reception. But in the end I moved back to the Netherlands at the grand old age(!) of 24.

Jasper National Park

I have always wanted to go someplace I wasn't: for the journey or for the greener grass or for the I don't know what. At some times that bug was dormant, at other times it was very much awake. And then about 6 years ago that bug woke up and this time I didn't want to stay in the Netherlands, I didn't even want to stay in Europe! I was fed up with European rules and regulations and wanted a big change in scenery. Of course finances were a bit dire, but after a lot of scrimping and saving I not only managed to pay off a massive debt, but also saved enough!

Jasper National Park

Choosing which non-European country was a bit random really. I didn't want to learn a new language if I could help it, so most countries in Asia, Africa and South America were out. I wanted proper summer and winter seasons. Not those wishy washy things we call seasons over here. There was no way I would put my cats in quarantine for up to 6 months (Australia and New Zealand). And I wanted some semblance of social security. Which left Canada really!

Many pine trees have fallen victim to the pine beetle

I then started doing research. And found out that Canada not only had all of what I wanted, but heaps and heaps more: nature, space and a very positive feeling towards immigrants. Warm summers, cold winters. No quarantine. They spoke English (and French), both languages I do already speak to some degree. And according to many immigrants a really nice and good place to live.

Well, at least I saw a gorilla!!!!

Of course I still wanted to see it for myself and when I did, there was only one small disappointment. Yes, there was! I had after all been promised bears and elk and moose and the likes and one chipmunk, two deer and three mountain goats do not make one bear! I have come to the conclusion that the Canadian tourist board is just putting that rumour out to have tourists come and spend bucket loads of money!

Absolutely glorious!

Other than that though I loved it. The Rocky Mountains were great, but my heart skipped a beat when I saw the Badlands and the farmlands (I still can't wait to show my sister some time soon). The houses looked so unlike the houses we have in the Netherlands and the cars, lorries and shopping centers were ridiculously large. I will learn to love hockey (see how I skipped the ice already?), since I like it already. And overall, I thought I hadn't made such a bad choice! I can't wait to book my flight...

The weird and wonderful

2011-10-15T06:00:00.006+02:00

I promised a post about 'Canadianisms' and other assorted things that surprised and confused me, so here it is. And from the moment I first landed in North America there has been much to surprise and confuse me...

Restaurant in Calgary

Let's start with one of the things that is always on my mind: toilets. Or as they say in North America: bathrooms, washrooms or restrooms. People please: if there's no bath, it's not a bathroom, a washroom just sounds as if you wash and a restroom is just ridiculous: if I were to spend an hour lying on the floor resting, security would be gotten and I would end up at the nearest police station! So, toilet it is. And the first thing I noticed as European is that the toilet bowls are full of water. There's enough water in the toilet bowl for a family of ducks to swim around in and there still being enough room for a crocodile! And I had heard about North America being on the prudish side (compared to Europeans), but even I don't want to bare all when I'm using the toilet. You could drive a truck through the gaps between the doors and a toddler wouldn't need to crouch to get underneath the door either!

Once I had arrived in Edmonton and had rented a car, it was difficult to remember which car was mine. Especially if it was parked in a parking lot with a lot of other silver grey Chevrolet Impalas. All facing forwards. Because for some obscure reason (don't ask me please), Alberta numberplates are only found on the back of the car! What's the deal with that? Fortunately I never parked it in a parking lot with a lot of other silver grey Chevrolet Impalas all facing forwards. And I had written down the numberplate. Somewhere!

Now, if I had rented that car in the Netherlands it would have been considered to be a big car. There was enough room for 5 and you could sleep in that boot (albeit a bit curled up). Over in Canada, that car was deemed to be small. Well, perhaps not small, but definitely not big!

3 Ave S meant Third Avenue South of the River Bow

In Europe we're used to streetnames that do make some sense, with the emphasis on some. If you're in Market Street, you are usually somewhere in the center of a town or village, if it's got a funny name of a composer or a colour or a tree or anything like that, it's usually out in the newer suburbs. But in Canada it's completely different, since it's all in a grid. Quite easy though, just count and you will be fine. And I even grasped the house numbering in Edmonton. 10325 88th Avenue (East-West) means it's close to 103rd Street (North-South). Which took me no time at all to figure out (perhaps I should add, I had read about this some time ago)!

West Edmonton Mall

Then of course there are the really shiny apples, the tax not included in the sales price, Hallowe'en (although it was probably a good thing the Christmas stuff wasn't out yet: I would have needed another suitcase), the fixed showerheads and the motorways that aren't really motorways (stopping on the hard shoulder, are you kidding me?) plus a gazillion things I won't find out until I've actually moved there!

Overall though, I quite liked Canada and wouldn't mind moving there...

Letting go of Mathilda

2011-10-14T07:52:00.000+02:00

26th May 1998 - 13th October 2011

Back home

2011-10-13T14:08:00.001+02:00

Three mountain goats. THAT WAS ALL!!!
I will have to come back now...

I've been home now for just over two days and I am still getting used to Dutch time. Especially on the day I arrived, I was able to sleep standing up, I was so tired. But first things first...

On Sunday I had decided to go and see Jasper. I had all those promises of bears, moose and elks in my head and was determined to snap a photo of any of those. There was one small problem with driving up to Jasper though, since it was quite far, I wouldn't have a lot of time to spend there, because my car had to be back in Edmonton by 5.30pm! But the promise of critters was too much to ignore and I headed out anyway. I started the day at 7am and drove up the long and not so winding road towards the West. I entered the park around 11am and was in Jasper about half an hour later. I had already chosen my destination: the tramway up the mountain, which was located just a few km south of Jasper.

The Jasper Tramway going down

Even though the tramway was quite dear, it was a brilliant thing to do. We went up the mountain in this little basket and we arrived at the top station in about 5 minutes. From there you could take a walk to the top of the mountain, but my outfit didn't really go with the conditions: it was lightly snowing and I wore a summercoat! Besides, I had my timing to think of. After looking around for about 20 minutes, taking photos of the snow, having photos taken of me in the snow and chatting to some people, I made my way down the mountain again. I left almost immediately again, since I had to drive for another 4 hours to get back to Edmonton.

Monday morning saw me rise really early again. My agent was going to pick me up at 5am to take me to the airport. Fortunately I had already packed my suitcase the night before and didn't need much for breakfast, so by the time he arrived (ten minutes early), I was ready to go. The line at the check-in desk wasn't too long, even though us peasants weren't seen to at all: it was first class passengers only it seemed! Very annoying, but in the end we all made it on to the plane. I had a windowseat and was able to look out over both Canada and the USA as there wasn't a lot of cloud covering.

Me in the snow on top of the mountain

In Houston I had to wait for three hours, but I didn't have to pick up my luggage or change terminals. I had another window seat and enjoyed switching between the country side below and the film in front. We arrived in Amsterdam just after midnight Canadian time. Unfortunately Dutch time is 8 hours ahead, so it was already gone 8 in the morning! I was home by ten thirty Dutch time and was met by my parents.

My parents and I had agreed to meet on Wednesday, so to see them at my place on Tuesday was quite a surprise. And not a good one as it turned out to be. My neighbour who always looks after my cats had found Mathilda on Friday, sitting in a corner and being in quite bad shape. Mathilda is normally the first one to meet you, together with Wuppie, so to find her sitting in a corner is a big sign something is wrong. She phoned my parents, who weren't home and decided to leave it one more day. On Saturday she could see the situation hadn't gotten any better and after phoning my parents once more (who still weren't home), she decided to take Mathilda to the animal clinic. Where they discovered she was very dehydrated. It turned out, she wasn't eating or drinking at all anymore.

Finally on Sunday my parents got home and phoned my neighbour. And then on Monday my parents picked Mathilda up and decided my mum was going to stay at my place for the night, looking after the monsters. Mathilda had to be force fed every two hours, using a syringe and some heavy duty food (ie high in energy). Unfortunately after I arrived she didn't get any better (which the vet had hoped for, thinking it might just be homesickness), only worse. She couldn't keep the little food she got down and when my parents arrived yesterday, we took her to the vet again. After feeling and touching and measuring and doing all the things vets do, it was decided to do an echography (like they do on pregnant women) to find any underlying problem in her belly.

Which they found. A thickening of the colon wall indicated a high probability of colon cancer, which would of course explain all the symptoms. Normally food passes from one end to the other, but if the colon is obstructed, it has to come out the same way it went in: the mouth. So, if we feed her using the syringe, at some point her stomach is full again and it will have to come out, causing her to throw up. She has lost quite a bit of weight due to all this and keeps hiding in places she never used to go, like under the dresser or in the little scratch pole box.

Amsterdam from above

Today the vet will be phoning me again, since the oncology vet wasn't in yesterday. What to do? An operation and perhaps not getting all of it out or chemotherapy, which can take months and months and isn't a cure, it just slows it all down. Either way I have to think of her age: she is 13 1/2, which would be about 94 in human years and I want to move to Canada. If it all goes as speedily as I hope, the chances of her being considered healthy and being allowed to come to Canada are slim at best. So, the best option is probably letting her go.

Ah, so, yes...

2011-10-08T18:39:00.000+02:00

Shelly, the soft-shelled turtle at Royal Tyrrell Museum in Drumheller

Okay, so I promised to tell you about the job right here at the Best Western Inn & Suites South Edmonton (can I just shorten that to BWISSETON?) and whether or not I got it. Well... I don't know! Let me explain how it works for me.

In contrast to people who arrive in this country with a permanent residency and are able to then do whatever the jellybeans they like, I can only enter this country on a Temporary Work Visa. This has to do with the points system used to get a PR and for which I never get enough. I believe right now you need a total of about 67 points which are made up of age, languages spoken, education, line of work, work experience and a few more things. And even though my languages push it right up there, my lack of education plus my line of work and work experience just leave me short one or two points. I am of course the nicest person in the whole wide world and am willing and able to do a lot of things, but that won't help me get accepted with a PR. So, I need a TWV.

Calgary

In order for me to get a TWV, I need a job. Of course my preferred job would be something in the bus industry like a busdriver or a scheduler, but both those jobs are low-skilled (don't ask) and even though they are much in demand here, especially further up north, I wouldn't be able to change my TWV into a PR after a few years. Which is my goal. So, I have to go back to an earlier job of hotel receptionist or front desk agent, which is also low-skilled. However this job would enable me to change the TWV into a PR after a few years. And once I've got my PR I could whatever I like.

Getting back to the Temporary Work Visa though. Because I need a job for that. A guaranteed job. Which means I've been job hunting for the first time in over a decade, pounding the pavement of Edmonton and Red Deer, handing out resumés and hoping some good will come of it. And as you know I had a short meeting with the manager of the hotel I am staying in. I could tell he was interested, after all, I am the nicest person in the whole wide world and willing... you get the drift. However, him being interested isn't enough. He has to offer me a job. And in order for him to offer me the job we need one more thing: a Labour Market Opinion or LMO for short.

Garden at Government Building in Banff

When a company wants to hire me (or any foreigner), it has to apply for an LMO which basically is an official piece of paper stating that the company hasn't been able to find a Canadian to do the job I would be willing to do. It takes between 1 and 2 months to process an LMO, but basically, if a company is willing to try for an LMO, I've got the job and it would then give me between 1 and 2 months to get everything sorted in the Netherlands.

So, what does all of this have to do with the BWISSETON? Well, the initial interest is there, but the manager has to pass my details on to the owner of the hotel to see if he is willing to submit for an LMO. They have done in the past, so at least that is a good thing, but now they would have to do so for me. If the owner is willing to apply for an LMO for me, I can quit my job and my home, start packing, get the monsters a health thingymebob, get the tickets and sort everything else out as well. Once I've got the LMO itself I need to go to the Canadian Embassy in Berlin (another trip, yeah) to get my passport sorted, fly out here and get my stuff validated and then I can work for as long as the TWV is valid. If however, the job proves to be awful and I would want another job, I would need to through the whole thing again: switching jobs with an LMO is a massive no-no!

So, that's it in a nutshell, albeit quite a large nutshell. Any questions?

When in doubt

2011-10-06T20:36:00.000+02:00

For all you Dutch speakers: this is how I felt yesterday!!

Yes, doubt! Because I am to be honest. Is it a good move to come over here and earn about two thirds of what I'm earning now? Go back to two weeks vacation a year (I'm on 5 now) and start a whole new life? All because I want change and more room and space. Asking my sister didn't help: she had the choice of being unemployed in the Netherlands or employed in Northern Ireland. Easy! Asking other immigrants doesn't necessarily help: they usually have more education ie more chances ie more money than me!

And then I think, well, I am clever enough to work myself up in an organization and earn more money in time. I am nice enough to meet new people and make new friends. And holidays? Come on, this is the first time I actually went away in about three years! Most of the time I spend at home doing sod all (excuse my French)!

Hotel Chateau Lake Louise

My feelings came in large part from the fact that yesterday didn't work out the way I wanted to. I know job hunting isn't something that is over and done with within two days, but it still grates when it doesn't. I would so love to come back to the Netherlands and say: I did it, I got a job, I can quit and start packing (horror), but the reality is that there is a very big chance that might not happen. However much I wish for it.

Then, later yesterday afternoon I had a phone call from my agent. He had spoken to a hotel manager who was looking for a receptionist and was willing to meet me this morning. So, I got up early, spent some time finishing my sudoku, went for breakfast and after breakfast I went to this meeting. And not even ten minutes later I was out of the meeting again. With a promise that I would know for certain tomorrow! I then travelled back up in the lift and back to my room (yes, it's the hotel I'm staying in right now, which for some reason never surfaced as a hotel to work in!).

Gattina wished me a sac de merde yesterday (which I am quite ambiguous about to be honest), but I just hope you will all cross your fingers and your toes and everything else you can cross, just for luck!!!

Interviewing

2011-10-05T18:17:00.000+02:00

I saw my agent Henk yesterday and together we looked through a databank of jobs available in Edmonton and immediate surroundings. We selected about a dozen jobs and then I started phoning the hotels to ask for information. In one case the number wasn't correct, a few other hotels didn't answer at all and then there was the voicemail. I think half of my phonecalls ended up in voicemail land never to be answered. Well, apart from one, because a lady did call back to tell me the position had already been filled.

The ice rink in the West Edmonton Mall, later that evening there was hockey practice as well

After all that, I left the Dutch Consulate (where Henk works) and drove to a hotel I hadn't phoned, but Henk knew the manager etc etc. When I got to the hotel, I asked to speak to the manager and lo and behold, I got to speak to him! He looked at my resumé, we talked for a few minutes and he said he was going to pass my resumé and information on to the manager front desk and if there was a position she would call me back today!

A pirate ship

I then went to a nearby hotel that had advertised and had to fill out a application form. However, I didn't speak to anybody. Then, I went to a hotel where again Henk knew the manager. He had moved to a different location though, but I was asked to fill out another application form. This form contained questions about my best and worst job and what job would I like to do if I were to win $5 million! That last question was easy of course: I wouldn't want to do anything, I would want to travel! When I returned the application form to the front desk however, the lady in charge of hiring front desk staff was there and she asked me several more questions. Whether I would consider working in Fort McMurray (which even according to the girls behind the desk was nearly the worst place to live in all of Alberta) or any of the other places they had hotels in. Well, provided an LMO would be gotten, I was game.

The large pool at the WEM

After all that I went to get a bite to eat at the WEM (West Edmonton Mall) which is supposedly the biggest shopping center in the whole world. It also contained an ice rink, a pirate's ship and a large swimming pool. I really had to keep track of where my car was parked and how to get there though, because it would be easy to loose your way: hardly any signs to indicate where you were or where you had to go! They just want you to shop I guess...

Today will be more of the dropping off resumés and hopefully talking to people.

A quiet day

2011-10-04T16:59:00.000+02:00

A type of house I love, Drumheller

Yesterday was my first full day in Edmonton and since Henk hadn't planned any interviews, I was able to do as I pleased. Instead of going to see the sights I decided to just drive around a bit and see where I would end up. See what the housing looked like and the shops. So, I got into my car and started driving. Turning left and then turning right and I ended up at a supermarket. While in Airdrie we had also visited that supermarket and as long as I can remember Kay's phone number I can get a small discount. The only drawback: I get called Miss D a lot! But, that's a small price to pay for a few cents off...

Fire hydrant, Drumheller

For some reason I then exited the supermarket somewhere else and I found myself in a shopping center. I walked around looking at a lot of shops and finally wound up at a 'Zellers' (correct me if I am wrong), which seemed to be selling almost everything: from jeans and sweatshirts to barbecues and vacuum cleaners. Looking at some of the prices I was on occasion quite shocked. I mean nearly $500 for a barbecue? Pre-tax?? Are they joking here? And then I realised these weren't bbq's like the ones which are sold in the Netherlands, these were state of the art kitchen-like jobbies!

I did like the hoovers though. They were extra powerful to deal with pet hair. Of course they could just be saying that, but I have never seen something similar on the hoovers sold in the Netherlands. Mind you, I don't think I ever really went hoover shopping either...

Tim Hortons, Edmonton
More about him/it soon

I got back to the hotel fairly early and as I took my phone out, I realised I had had three texts. Henk (my agent) had arranged for me to meet a Dutch immigrant, who happened to be in the area. So, I drove up to meet this man and spoke about two hours with him. He is a truck driver and has been here just over 4 years. His experiences are quite different to those Jacky and her husband lived through, but it was good to hear them. He came here on his own and is a truck driver in heart and kidneys (as the Dutch saying goes), loving the open road and thinking all Canadians are bad drivers!

So, my day was filled with experiences and learning moments (Oprah moment here) and today it will continue. I will keep you posted...

I just had to!

2011-10-03T03:46:00.000+02:00

I just loved this cowboy dino inside the largest dino in the world!

Yes, I've been away for a whole day(!), but don't worry, I am not lying in a ditch somewhere, unseen by any of the three cars that pass in one hour. Nor did I have to be taken by a Canadian ambulance to a Canadian hospital where they diagnosed me with Dutch Rickets (whatever that may be) which required isolation from the the computer. However, I did get back to the hotel at 1am in the morning and was tired enough to head straight for bed.

See, I was inside!

So, what did I do? Well, as I said in the title: I just had to go back to Drumheller and the Badlands (Kay, stop whooping). I didn't think I had seen nearly enough and the other choice (Dinosaur Provincial Park) was just too far away and wouldn't leave me with a lot of time to look around. Since I had to be back quite early because I had an appointment with some Dutch immigrants. Anyway...

A stegasaurus?

I went back to Drumheller and even with the threat and later the reality of rain it was as beautiful as the first time around. This time I did get the chance to get into the largest dinosaur of the world (at the cost of $3) and I climbed the 106 steps to the top. The inside had been decorated with dinosaurs and a spider and other things related to the Badlands. After that I headed out for the Royal Tyrrell Museum, which was worth every penny I would normally have paid: $11. However, I didn't pay a cent (or dime or whatever the expression is), since it was free! Yippee.

Hoodoos

Now, the RTM is a museum about dinosaurs, since those are found a lot in the Alberta Badlands (hence the Provincial Park as well) and it was stuffed to the ceiling with a lot of different dinosaurs. It was absolutely fantastic and I took tons of photos. After walking around for about two hours and marvelling at all those bones, I grabbed something to eat before heading out and doing a 1km loop around the badlands. It came with information boards which told me a lot more than I already knew.

Me in the Badlands

At 3pm I left the museum and headed back. I was meeting up with Jacky and her husband. They immigrated with their two sons a few years ago and I was keen to hear about the hows whys and whats. Well, we talked before during and after dinner and I finally left at midnight. In that time though I had heard about the good differences, the bad differences, the same things and a lot more. They showed me their house and we wondered at some of the Canadianism which we find pretty weird, strange or downright hilarious (don't worry, that will be a post of its own).

By the side of the road

And today I had to leave Airdrie and head back to Edmonton. But not before I got myself a cell phone! The first one I ever owned (I don't own a cell phone in the Netherlands, I use my company phone). Of course I am completely digitally challenged and when I went to get my top-up, they offered to get it set up for me and all. I then noticed it actually had a camera as well! The joys of a new phone...

Grain silos by the railtracks

Right now I am in the hotel in Edmonton, with a tv that actually has sound and my suitcase is unpacked. I will get something to eat in a minute and then decide what to do tomorrow. My agent will get in touch with me tomorrow as well to make some appointments, either for interviews or for meetings with other immigrants. Exciting!!!

Going it alone

2011-10-01T05:50:00.000+02:00

View from the glass platform of Calgary Tower
I stepped on very very carefully and didn't really like it!

Since Kay went home yesterday, I had to do things by myself today and I had decided on seeing Calgary. I had asked for directions to the center of town because I wanted to do one of those hop on/hop off tours of the city. The girl at reception was very kind and had printed me the route to Calgary Tower and its information office. I would just have to find somewhere to park.

You can see the Rocky Mountains in the distance

Apparently it is quite expensive to park in downtown Calgary, but since I didn't have a clue as to where I should park (it wasn't that well signposted for someone who is still getting used to Canadian signs and traffic rules), I ended up quite far away at a spot where I wasn't allowed to park. But in my best British accent I think I might have sweet talked the attendant and he told me I could leave the car there. And it was free as well! However, since I parked quite far away from the tower, I had to walk all the way back.

Fort Calgary Museum

Once I got to the information office, I found out the Cowboy tours hadn't been running for a few months! Which meant no tour of the city, I just would have to do everything myself. Fortunately the girl behind the counter was very helpful and told me where to go and what to see. My first stop was going to be a sports shop, because I wanted to get tickets to tomorrow's football game between the Calgary Stampeders and some team from Saskatchewan. It was sold out! I was told I might find them at the stadium, but the game was a very big game (Real Madrid against Manchester United big) and chances were slim. So, now I had not only missed the chance to see a hockey (the skating variety) game, I also missed a football game!

Traffic lights and signs. Quite confusing at times!

But I didn't let that dampen my spirits and I made my way slowly towards Fort Calgary Museum which basically showed the humble beginnings of the town. Mounties, Canoes, Trains and a lot more. It was really interesting and I spent about 2 hours there. After that I walked along the Bow River for about half an hour until I reached Prince's Edward Island. I then turned back to get something to eat, before heading back up the Calgary Tower for another look of Calgary's surroundings. After that it was quite a trek back to the car, but it was still there! I knew how to get out of Calgary (sort of), but did manage to take a few wrong turns before finally making it back onto the motorway and back to the hotel!

I missed my sister

2011-09-30T02:17:00.001+02:00

A lovely and quaint hotel in Beiseker

In the past I have been on several holidays with my sister. We went to Belgium and Luxembourg, we went to Ireland, we went cycling in the Netherlands. We think very much alike, we like a lot of the same things and we know each other quite well. And I missed her today. Because I knew she would have just loved what I got to see courtesy of Kay! It was absolutely stunning! I had heard about the Alberta Badlands, but hadn't really seen any photographs, so didn't really know what to expect. Which of course was right up to Kay's street, since she was watching me closely to see how I would react when I saw the Badlands.

A coulee

We started off driving through farmland. Mile after mile of ~~corn~~ grain (which had been harvested by the way): yellow fields that stretched as far as the eye could see. And after a while those coulees started to appear. Hollows between the fields where nothing was planted or harvested. Probably because it would flood during the spring when all the snow would melt and it would take a while to drain away again (this is purely what I am thinking, not what I know). And I thought those coulees were beautiful and tried to take photo after photo.

The Badlands

But I was quite stunned when I saw the badlands. It was like driving in the mountains but completely different. Because where the mountains push up from the earth, the badlands are basically below the earth. Over tens of thousands of years of rivers flowing and eating away at the sides and natural erosion eating away from the top, the prairie that once was had great wide valleys running in it. You could see the layers that make up the earth, you could see the coal (coal mining was very prominent during the early and middle part of the 20th century) and it was so unlike anything I had ever seen.

A hoodoo

Part of that erosion had also created the hoodoos. Basically it's the outside that is being eaten away by rain, snow, wind and unfortunately in more recent years humans, while at the same time, the top which is made of rock stays. Until the whole hoodoo has been eroded and the rock falls off. The ones we saw were a lot bigger a century ago and I guess that if people were to come back in a hundred years time the would be gone altogether. However, we also saw new hoodoos being formed! So, it's not all bad.

Me holding on tightly on that supsension bridge

Another thing we did was go and see and pass some bridges. The first bridge was a suspension bridge. I had never crossed one before and I can't say whether it was a success or not. It was very windy and even though I was all alone on that bridge, I held on tight with both hands because it was moving and swaying! And then we went to see the eleven bridges towards Wayne (a small village). They are actually in the Guinness Book of World Records for some reason (the most bridges on the shortest stretch of road covering the same river?), so we had to go and see them. As we were nearing the 9th bridge I happened to see a Dutch flag! The odds...

I might even get to work here some day!

After having crossed all eleven bridges we decided to go and have a bite to eat at the Last Chance Saloon. And when I asked who lived in the house with the Dutch flag, it turned out to be the owner of the Last Chance Saloon, whose mother had come over from the Netherlands in 1926! Anyway, we had a nice meal (buffalo burger) and a nice chat, I left my details and got some details back and then we drove back to Airdrie because Kay had to drive home again as well.

From its mouth it was supposed to be a great view of the Badlands!

There was only one little drawback to the day: I couldn't get into the largest dinosaur in the world (in Drumheller), because the stairs had just been painted and weren't dry yet! So, I will have to come back some day...

I need to get myself a dog!

2011-09-29T03:45:00.002+02:00

One of the many freight trains we saw

Even though it was quite chilly today and we even had some rain en route, it was absolutely gorgeous in the mountains. Our first stop was a little lake on our way to Banff, where Lindy (who is Kay's dog) was able to roam about a bit. After that we drove on to Banff where we had another stop and a little walk around a government building with a nice garden. But the main stop was Lake Louise. A tiny village with a massive hotel on the side of a nice turquoisy lake with a glacier.

Getting married on the side of a very chilly Lake Louise!

Kay had warned me this morning that it might be cold today, so I had put on a nice thick sweater and I was glad I had listened! Because it was quite chilly in the mountains, especially near that glacier! I would have loved to put on gloves, but since they are at home in the Netherlands, that of course was out of the question. After a lovely walk and a lot of photos, we made our way back to the car and drove back to Banff for a bit of (belated) lunch.

Lake Louise with Lindy

And if you're wondering why I need to get myself a dog (a statement my monsters of course will not agree with on any level): I tended to hold the leash to Lindy for quite a bit and the attention I got from a lot of people was just incredible! Old people and young people and people in between would come up and pet or take photographs or ask questions about her. Of course the attention was mainly aimed at Lindy, but still...

The only moose or elk or deer that I saw!

Now, Kay had promised me(!) wildlife on the way. And we did see some as well. A small pack of dogs crossed the road at one point. And I saw a chipmunk crossing the path at Lake Louise. But the best animal I saw was a moose. Or an elk. Or perhaps it was a deer. Because I basically saw its antlers and that was it. As we were driving along Highway 1 we saw a man stand up on the side railing/barrier taking photos. We of course wondered what he was taking a photo of and when we passed him, I could see the head of a large animal and a large set of antlers. Unfortunately we were too fast at that point and there were some vehicles quite close, so we couldn't stop. Then a while later I saw a sign that said 'watch out for wild life'. I took a photo of it and it turned out to be the French version. Which said: drive with care...

On the road

2011-09-28T00:45:00.000+02:00

En route from Edmonton to Airdrie.
Most of the route was filled with sunshine!

The bed was as comfortable as I thought it would be, but even that didn't help me to have more than 6 hours sleep. However, I felt a lot better than yesterday and wasn't too worried about it. Perhaps tonight another early night and I will be on top form again.

As I was driving up to Airdrie (near Calgary) today I needed to pick up the car. But I didn't read the directions my agent had given me until after I arrived in Airdrie and managed to turn a 15-minute walk into an hour. It was nice weather though, so it wasn't too bad. I had the choice between big bigger and biggest and decided to be modest (as always of course) and go for the ordinary car and not take some huge monster truck out onto the road! My suitcase was rattling about in the boot as it was...

After filling the car up with petrol, which turned out be a case of "please sir can you help me: what petrol do I need? (there were three different types!)" I made my way down to Airdrie where I arrived about an hour ago. I am meeting Kay here, together with her dog Lindy and we will be staying here for two nights together while she will act as my chauffeur, tourguide and of course friend during the next two days. She is taking me to the Rocky Mountains tomorrow and Drumheller the day after. And then I will stay on in this hotel for a few nights more to give me the opportunity to see a bit of Calgary and hopefully meet up with some immigrants I know from blogs and facebook.

Well, that's it for now. More tomorrow!

Wait a minute here!

2011-09-27T08:12:00.001+02:00

The plane from Amsterdam to Chicago

Well, if it had only been a minute I would have been quite happy, but unfortunately it seemed that today I did nothing but wait. And sit in an uncomfortable chair. For hours and hours on end. While my brand new mp3 player packed in half the time!! But I made it in the end. 28 hours after waking up I am ready to sleep standing up, but since there is a really nice looking bed in my room, I think I will be trying that!

Tunnel underneath Chicago airport

I waited for an hour at the airport this morning. Then a further two hours before going through the gate. The flight was over 8 1/2 hours and by hour number 5 I was well and truly extremely fed up with it. Despite the onboard films. And then the biggest horror of them all. I was told that the American customs could take absolutely ages checking everything and it could take hours before I passed from one terminal to the other. It took me thirty minutes. Which left 6 1/2 hours for waiting. But fortunately I was told which terminal to go to. Number 1 and gate C27. Where I dutifully sat for about an hour and then looked at my paperwork. Which said terminal 2.

Pepperfly's handiwork. The kept my feet nice and toasty on the cold plane

So, I asked and was told I had to go to terminal 2. I hopped on a small bus to the other side, got off, asked(!) and was told gate E2a. Which doesn't sound at all like C27. After a lot of waiting I had to go do something for myself and when I returned I noticed that Edmonton was finally listed. Departing from gate F12d. In the end I managed to get on the flight though and after (apparently) quite a rough flight I arrived in Canada just before 11pm. It's now an hour later, I am in my hotel room, knackered to the bone, dirty and grimy and looking forward to my bed. (According to my laptop btw, it's 8am, long live timezones...)

The big C

2011-09-24T09:37:00.000+02:00

As my life seems to be getting ever better and going my way, not so the life of two of my colleagues. Yesterday one of them was told that his colon cancer was too much advanced to be healed, it had spread to his bones and blood already. The only thing left to do is slow down the cancer to add perhaps a few more years.

And as I was making the rounds of ex-colleagues who would surely want to know, I talked to our former mechanic. Who happened to be in hospital with half of his skull in another one. Literally! He too had been told he had a tumour (in his brain) and they had given him a year. Fortunately for him it had turned out to be "only" an abcess and they had removed it completely. He was now recovering and hoping to have a complete skull again sometime soon.

Life!

Dreamin'

2011-09-23T12:37:00.000+02:00

As you know I love the Eurovision Song Contest and thanks to my friend Pepperfly I now have more than 1200 songs(!) that have been performed during any of the over 50 contests. There are some proper gems that never made it big.

This is Eddy Friel for Ireland. Ireland had already won three times in a row and RTE (the national broadcaster) was getting in a bit of a financial meddle, since staging a show like the ESC is fairly expensive! So, for 1995 they sent a song that some considered okay, but not brilliant. But I love this song to bits and can listen to it over and over again. Which I sometimes do as well...

Ehm...

2011-09-21T01:08:00.001+02:00

Gougane Barra, Ireland

No, I haven't been too busy preparing for my upcoming trip. I have however been quite busy working. Three days of hither/thither, one bad night at a really nice hotel and two more days of school runs. And in the mean time I had to prepare for my upcoming trip. Which wasn't easy. But I know have most things more or less sorted.

The hotels are sorted. The car will be sorted this week. Most of the paperwork is sorted, only a few copies remain to be made. Tomorrow I will go for a haircut and dye-job again and I will have to go to the pet shop to try and find a catsitter for a week, since my neighbour has decided she wants to have a life too and can only look after my monsters for one week! Her timing couldn't be worse (insert smiley here)!

Five more nights and I'm off to the other side of the world. Well, in my view anyway, since I've never been further west than Ireland. I'm getting really excited now...

About time

2011-09-14T11:56:00.001+02:00

It's been rather quiet from my side of the computer. Mainly due to the fact that not much has happened this week. Yes, I had to work, but it was the basic hither and thither driving, so not much fun. Yes, I got caught in the rain. Twice! Both times thinking I would make it in time or that it looked like it was letting up. It did both times, as soon as I had arrived. To make matters worse, I'd started carrying my rain suit with me and didn't put it on!

Regarding the stitch in my side: it has subsided a great deal. Whether that is due to the meds or because it was due to that anyway is of course anybody's guess, but at least I'm not doubled over in pain anymore and don't wake up two to three times a night. It has been replaced by another ache which I know the origins of and I also know how long it will stay (about two days) and when it will return (in about a month's time).

The monsters are all doing swimmingly. Without the swimming of course. They get out whenever the weather is in any way looking reasonable, which isn't that often, and spend their time indoors lying as close to me as they possibly can. It seems they have calmed down a great deal since Sophie passed away.

My preparations regarding my upcoming trip oversees are going fine. I found my health insurance card, cleared my credit cards and will be getting an international driver's license tomorrow. Which is absolutely ridiculous, but I've been advised to get one. What do I know? I was going to take the bus and train to the airport and the same back home, but due to roadworks, the bus doesn't pass my house until December. And walking to the busstation at 5.30am with a heavy suitcase is not really top of my list, so I opted to book a taxi to and fro. That way I get picked up from home so no lugging luggage about at all and it will drop me off at the airport. Since I have to be there quite early, we should even beat Monday morning traffic!

Friday and Saturday will see me at the (almost) annual Airforce Days doing the hither/thither again. But as opposed to other hither/thither trips, you get to see quite a lot, since most of it is up in the air! So, that should be good. Especially since day two will see me finished at about 1pm, leaving some time to actually visit the site myself. Which of course I've never seen (ahem)... Then Sunday more hither/thither, this time runners who will be running from Zaandam to Amsterdam in the so-called Dam to Dam race (aren't they inventive?).

So, there you have it, a little update from me.

I'm in stitches

2011-09-09T11:51:00.000+02:00

Don't worry: I didn't feel the pea. I just couldn't get down anymore!

And it's not a good thing, because I need ibuprofen to get through the day! Last Monday I woke up with a massive stitch in my side. Which was very painful. During the afternoon I took some pills to get rid of the pain. I thought at first I was constipated, but a few trips to the bathroom soon proved I wasn't. Then on Tuesday it was the same thing. So, I took two lots of ibuprofen during the day. Wednesday and Thursday it was more of the same and I started to get quite fed up with it.

My mum was urging to seek medical help, because it wasn't normal of course. So, this morning I made an appointment and saw my gp for the second time in three weeks. He prodded and pushed, felt and listened and I had to pee in a cup. The pee was good, he didn't feel anything, and it didn't hurt when pushing from the outside. He then prescribed some ibuprofen that I know have to take three times a day. And next week I have to go see him again for a check-up.

Life starts at forty they say. I think they mean Life starts to hurt at forty!

Do I function allright?

2011-09-08T12:49:00.000+02:00

In Gescher, Germany for my first trips abroad

Every year I should (with the emphasis on should) have an evaluation talk with my manager. So, when I got my work schedule for this week and saw that I was supposed to be at the office today for a meeting, I figured that was it! And when I asked, he said there were some things to discuss about how I function and all!

Touring through the Netherlands and Belgium for 4 days out of their 6!

Fast forward to today. I arrive after my morning shift and ask him whether we could push this talk up, since I am already there. He says he has an errant to run and as soon as he's back we will start. Then a colleague walks in. He also has a meeting with the same manager. At the same time! Curiouser and curiouser!

One of the many many hotelrooms I stayed in over the years

Well, the manager gets back from his errant and invites me and everybody else in the office to that meeting! By that time I had already cottoned on though, since one of the drivers/office workers (she does both) had congratulated me on having worked for the company for 12 1/2 years. The errant the manager had had to do was to get some flowers for me and my colleague and cake. Yum...

Parked in Winterberg

So, for the past twelve and a half years I've knocked over lamp posts, totalled two cars, hit several other cars (including a porsche and a police car). I've parked in the sand and had to be towed out by a four wheel tractor, I've parked on top of a small pole (not meaning a Polish person). I've lost a few mirrors here and there. I've had Americans, Japanese, Scots, Italians, French, Germans and Dutch on board. I've been to Ireland, England, Scotland, Italy, France, Belgium, Germany, Sweden, Denmark and of course the Netherlands.

Twelve and a half years. It's like a life time!

Volare

2011-09-04T10:37:00.000+02:00

When I was scanning old negatives last week, I found some negatives that most certainly didn't belong to me: for a start I didn't have a clue who the people in it were. But there were two photos on that little strip that I did like and actually wanted, because I had never seen a photo like them.

As you may know I worked on Sicily (a lifetime ago) and did a lot of things: I drove a little electric train and tamed tigers, but I did a lot more as well: I was in shows, both in and out of the water (more on that later), I looked after children from 8am to 10pm and I entertained the guests. When any guests would arrive from the airport of Catania, we GO's (Gentle Organisers) had to welcome them by being happy and bubbly and friendly. We had to clap to a certain song that would sometimes play for over half an hour! Needless to say that song brings back so many memories whenever I hear it. I used to hate that song for a long time: overexposure will do that, but now it's the memories that take over and wondering what happened to everybody!

Anyway, I found those two photos and I had a real close look at them. I think I am in the second photo, somewhere on the right, chatting to my colleagues and clapping when any of the GM's (Gentle Members) arrived. And if you want to know what great song it was that got us so happy and bubbly (Yeah right), it was Volare! Originally by Domenico Modugno and sung at the 1958 Eurovision Song Contest, where it came in third! The version I've included is the one most probably used and is done by the Gipsy Kings.

PS: I am definitely in the second photo: I am the 6th person from the right, wearing the white t-shirt and the black shorts.

Oooh, aaah...

2011-09-02T10:18:00.000+02:00

Something I learned while driving my coach yesterday: it's not nice to have to listen to a woman in a porn movie. And while at first the men on the coach were making fun and all, at a certain point I found it to be eerily quiet. Apart from the Moaning Minnie of course! (Who moaned the same in German and Italian. They checked!)

Fortunately I had the radio on in the cabin and was able to drown out most of it. Almost...

PS: the photo was taken in 1991 and is in no way a faithful reflection of what happened during the trip yesterday. Well, apart from me being up front that is...

CV

2011-08-30T12:00:00.000+02:00

Don't you hate making a cv (or resumé)? Listing all that you have done in the past and realising that you have been working for a long time? When I made a cv at the beginning of this year, it was filled with everything that was needed to be a good coach driver and tour guide. Everything from checking the oil to handing out keys and giving information about a certain region. And then I had to change it.

My new cv has less of the technical stuff in and more about my hotel experience and any experience that might have to do with hospitality. But as I am going through all of my old photos, I started wondering: should I include tiger handler as well?

When I lived and worked in Kamarina, a Club Med resort on the island of Sicily, one of my duties was to teach the children theater acts. Silly songs and even sillier dances. And then there was the circus show during the summer. And I was the tiger handler, leading the tigers into the arena, making them do somersaults and jumping through hoops. Right at the end I was supposed to put my head in one of their mouths and invariably got mauled! Very Siegfried and Roy!!

Canada

2011-08-29T12:13:00.000+02:00

1990: while working in Yugoslavia
Don't I look fancy?

I am going to Canada! Of course I have been talking and writing about it for a long time now, but it's finally going to happen. The only downside? It's a return ticket! I will be going for two weeks only and those two weeks are probably going to be cramped full with meetings with hoteliers looking for front desk staff or even waitressing staff (hopefully) and of course sight-seeing. Plus I would hope to be able to meet with a few people who have already moved to Canada. So, it's going to be busy busy busy.

I am looking forward to it though, it will be the very first time ever that I will be out of Europe. It's a good thing I have a new passport: plenty of room for stamps! Mind you, there was plenty of room left in the other one as well, but it was about to ~~perspire~~ ~~aspire~~ ~~retire~~ the one that sounds like that but means going invalid!

I won't be leaving for another month (exactly) and in the mean time I will try and work as much as possible, earning plenty of money. I will also try and get rid of this sinusitis, but that's another story!

Fusspot

2011-08-27T22:39:00.000+02:00

1988: my new big shirt. With lions...

I am incredibly fussy when it comes to clothes and shoes. Nothing too fussy, too flowery, too buttony or too zippy. Nothing too wide or too tight. And shoes should be flat, leather and black. Which makes shopping quite an ordeal at times. Especially when it comes to pj's.

Now, I do own a few pairs of pj's. Nice thick ones that are so cozy and snuggly and perfect for a cold winter's night. But I don't sleep in them. I wear a vest and a pair of shorts to bed. Otherwise I will float out of my bed due to perspiration. Finding a vest is easy: look in the old lady's department of any store and you will find vest upon vest. Finding a pair of pj shorts however is another matter altogether.

For years I've been wearing the same pairs and they are getting decidedly thin. The elastic has been replaced on most, I've had to close quite a few holes with needle and thread and overall they are past their prime. So, I needed new ones. Which proved to be virtually impossible! Even if a shop did carry a line of shortamas (as they are also known), they were invariably too small. Of course you might also say I am too big, but let's not!

In the end one of the shops I like to go to (Ulla Popken for your information) suggested I try their online store. Which of course didn't stock them anymore either. But the internet is big and I kept on trying. And lo and behold: I found some! Just one problem: I didn't really understand the sizes. Not because they were American or British, but because they were man's sizes! I did give it a go though and when I got back from work today, one of my neighbours told me there was a package for me: my shortamas!

Well, since I had to guess the size, it was of course a bit of gamble whether or not they would fit. But they did! The smaller size anyway, the other one is going back asap. The site I got them from now also stocks lady's shortamas as well, but with my new pairs I should be able to keep going for another 5 years at least! This internetthingy is great!!

Aha!

2011-08-26T19:51:00.001+02:00

1988: Don't ask me who they are, I just took their photo!

Over the years I have taken lots and lots of photos, starting really when I went on my first holiday alone with my cousin. One week of training through the Netherlands, staying with family and in youth hostels. As the years got on, I got more and more photos and even stuck them in albums. For a while I waned a bit, but once the digital camera arrived I was hooked: I would take a photo of almost anything.

1989: While cycling through Germany I had to take a photo of a German potato field!

Apart from loosing nearly all my digital Ireland photos (which hurt), I still have all those old photos and more importantly possibly: the negatives! And when a colleague of mine had a negative scanner I could have, I was over the moon. Unfortunately his negative scanner was so old, not even internet itself was able to come up with the necessary software. So, I got myself a brand spanking new one!

1990: The night after my first hangover. Ever!!!

It took me a while to actually get going, even though I had plenty of time on my hands, but I finally made a start a few days ago. And the photos I've scanned so far are fantastic! So, I've decided to use them on my blog, even if they have nothing whatsoever to do with what I'm writing about. Otherwise I would never use them at all and that would be such a shame...

PS: the photo of me with the Shetland ponies was taken in Lipica, Yugoslavia (current day Croatia I think) in 1990.

Reliving May

2011-08-26T13:34:00.000+02:00

Another case of sinusitis has headed my way and I think I may have been suffering from it for about two to three weeks now. Without actually realising it of course!

It started off with a strange smell emanating from somewhere in my living room. But on closer inspection under the sideboard, behind and under the chair and the sofa, I still couldn't find anything. On top of that, I didn't smell it all the time. But when my friends were here two days ago I smelt it again. My friends didn't! And that's what first gave me the clue.

I thought back to last week when I had a bad case of headaches for two days. When I returned from Germany on Tuesday I really the area below my eyes was really painful and it spread to my nasal area. And then yesterday another case of a severe headache, nausea and slightly feverish. When I spoke to my Mum for a couple of minutes last night (about 67), I promised her I would try and see the doctor, so this morning I got up early to phone and make an appointment. This time I wasn't immediately prescribed anything and actually got to see him.

He checked my blood pressure (good), he checked my ears for fluids (none), he checked my nose and I had to say Aaaa while he looked down my throat. His verdict: light case of sinusitis! I am to use nose sprays to keep my nose open and try to get rid of all the mucus in the jaw cavities, I have to use camomile steam baths for the same reason and I can use paracetamol for my headaches. If by Monday it hasn't helped at all and I am feverish again, I have to phone and I will get antibiotics.

Isn't this fun?

Only three

2011-08-25T10:51:00.000+02:00

If you're looking at the photo closely, you might be forgiven if you think that I put on this spread for all my colleagues. I didn't. There were only three of us! Me, my friend C and my friend Pepperfly. Needless to say, we didn't finish everything...

As you know we try and get together on occasion. Preferably to go the sauna, but when womanhood or finances throw spanners in the works, we do something else, like going bowling or making dinner. In the case of the latter, each of us makes a course and we usually come together at my place (since I'm the only one without a car, it's easiest). This time however, we decided to do it a bit differently and instead of dinner we planned an afternoon tea! With scones and sandwiches and biscuits and cakes and of course tea!

My friend C had cheated since she had forgotten all about it and she was due to bring the scones and half the sandwiches. So, she went to the local tearoom and got it from there! Pepperfly had not forgotten and had made the other half of the sandwiches and the quiche-like cake. I made the biscuits and the cake and the brownies and of course the tea!

Well, I think it's needless to say we finished everything. NOT!! But that's never a problem, since both my friends have family at home who never say no to a chocolate biscuit or brownie or a piece of cake! Hm, brownie...

Gotta go

2011-08-20T11:01:00.000+02:00

Getting off the buses at Lowlands

For the past two days I've been driving festival goers from the trainstation to the Lowlands festival. And the first day especially was very bad weather wise: a lot of rain. Yesterday it cleared up considerably and even though the wind picked up, it at least remained dry. Today is a day off for me and then tomorrow we will make a start in getting the festival goers home again.

Hanzeborg, Lelystad

Yesterday also saw me running on several occasions. And before you ask: no, that is not normal. But if you have to go, you have to go. And I had to go. A lot! I was worried for a moment it might be something more sinister, but in the afternoon I was a lot better (not running anymore for a start) and could go for longer without needing another bathroom break.

You might have to embiggen to really see the amount of cars

As I did my last tour of the day, I took some photographs of the parking lot: both for cars and for bikes. Most cars would contain about 3 to 4 people and we were carrying busload after busload of people, so you can imagine how many people were going to the festival (around 25,000). I was lucky though: I didn't have any doped-up people on board that needed medical attention, nor did I have a doped-up idiot who tried to break down the bus and needed police attention! I just had the normal run of the mill ordinary people. With tents. And sleeping bags. Food and drink. And even a guitar on occasion.

Push bikes and scooters (and an occasional motor bike)
Locals come like this and go home every night

As I said, tomorrow will be the start of the going home. And on Monday it will be the big exodus. At one moment there will be about 5,000 people waiting to get on a bus and ten minutes later the place will be empty. Because I will be doing something else then, I won't be able to partake in all that fun(!).

The last day

2011-08-17T22:10:00.000+02:00

Moomin shopwindow in Copenhagen
(Moomin is Finnish by the way)

It was my last mobility day today. My parents will return from their holiday tonight and want their car back. Which is a shame, because now I will have to cycle to work again. I didn't do as much as I could have, but that was mostly because last week it was autumn over here: rain, rain, wind and more rain. I did however visit a friend and I visited my brother and his family on Sunday, which was really nice.

Today I visited another friend before taking the car back to my parents' and then taking the bus home. I kept falling asleep all the time, sometimes in between stops! Good thing I wasn't driving!!! After I got home I did my last bit of shopping so I could make a really good looking treat. But in the end I didn't: the strawberries had gotten legs in less than a day and I had to throw them out. I will wait for next week when my two friends will come over and we will try and make a proper afternoon tea for us three (my friend C makes the scones because they always turn out flat if I make them).

Tomorrow I am back to work: one of the biggest festivals of the country with about 25,000 people needing to be transported from two different train stations to the festival site. Together with tents and other assorted luggage! It should be fun. I even have to sleep in a hotel tomorrow, even though I live only half an hours drive away!

Smile!

2011-08-16T13:03:00.001+02:00

Five years ago I got a new passport. It was my third or fourth and for the first time ever I wasn't allowed to smile in the photograph. Nor was I allowed to wear my glasses. So a very grumpy looking person looks at me from my passport. And then about two weeks ago I got a letter from the council: my passport is about to expire and I need a new one.

First thing this morning I made my way to the photographer to get my passport photo taken. And guess what: I was allowed to smile! And I could keep my glasses on as well. When I got to the town hall I only had to wait a few minutes before it was my turn and then I handed over my old passport (so they can see I am the genuine Mara) and my new photo. And then I had to leave my fingerprints. First a few from my left hand and then a few from my right hand. I handed over some money, got my passport back and a letter and was told to come back next week to pick up my new passport.

As you can see, the passport at the top is an older one still. I actually have all my old passports: holes punched in them or large chunks cut out of them!

Just because

2011-08-14T01:01:00.000+02:00

As anyone who has read my blog for a while knows, I love the Eurovision Song Contest. And the other day one of my friends said she had all the songs from 1956 right up to 2005. I think I was drooling when I heard that! Anyway, Pepperfly is a good friend and just before she headed to the warzone commonly known as London, she sent me a cd with all the songs on. And after going through them, I only miss two! Out of more than 1000 songs, I think that is not bad going!

But listening to all those songs (and I don't think I've even heard half of them), produced some real surprises and one of them is this entry from Luxemburg from 1980. It's the original version, in French and if you look closely you can even see the orchestra! Because back in the day, every singer/band also had a live orchestra!

Enjoy!

Whose socks are they anyway?

2011-08-09T10:21:00.000+02:00

I've got a car for a week. My parents won't need it and I always do (I am naturally lazy), so I could use theirs. It's brilliant, because now I can visit friends I haven't seen for a while. Which I did yesterday afternoon. We had a great time and she presented me with some socks. I knew she had the socks on the go for me, but had forgotten all about it.

After I had hung around for long enough to be asked to stay for dinner, I left for home again and put the little bag with the socks on the kitchen counter. As I sat down in the living room, I heard some rustling in the kitchen. Wuppie! He loves the smell of new hand-knitted socks (and everything else hand-knitted) and was dying to get in! I managed to distract him for long enough to get the socks out and put them at the back of the counter.

When I went to bed last night, the socks were still on the counter. When I woke up this morning, the socks were right beside the bed! You've got to love that cat!!

Human

2011-08-08T10:51:00.000+02:00

Wow, two days of early starts really makes your head hurt. At least it does mine! But everything went smoothly, despite some confusion at the start, some more confusion at the end, a driver who forgot to take the turning towards Malmö and some drivers who didn't have a clue how our coaches worked!

I was picked up early Saturday morning by my colleague to go to work. I then drove to the next pick-up point to pick up two more colleagues and then we drove to the main pick-up point to be picked up by the coach that was going to take us to Sweden. I did manage to get a front seat (I can get sick in the back) and even managed to get about an hour and a half of sleep somewhere. When daylight started, so did the road works, but because it was still early it was also quite quiet on the road so we didn't loose much time over that.

The Twisting Torso Tower of Malmö (Sweden)

We arrived early in the afternoon and then there was the debate of going to sleep first and then for dinner or dinner first and then sleep. I opted for the second choice (I think I came up with it, but that might just be me being very bigheaded) and in the end most of us did. Me and my three immediate colleagues went to a small Italian restaurant and after a very nice and tasty meal we went back to our hotel. I took a few photos along the way and was in bed by 4.30pm.

The church in Kristianstad (Sweden)

Even though the room was absolutely boiling I was one of the few ones who actually got a good amount of sleep in: around 8 hours! So I was quite fresh when we had to pick up our troops at 2am! Yes, another early start, but since so many had to leave that day, an early start was probably for the best. As soon as my troop was on, they went to sleep and most of them never saw any of the films I played for them. I was in the second group to take the ferry crossing towards Germany and arrived at the changing location at about 11.15am. Which is where I said goodbye to my troop, was presented with one of those sew-on badges and went to the hotel.

We left the hotel again at a quarter past nine at night and I was home at 1.30am this morning. Forty-eight hours after leaving. What a weekend!

Oh nice!

2011-08-05T15:26:00.001+02:00

As you may remember I brought a troop of scouts to Sweden last week (via Denmark). Well, that troop (and hundreds more) will need to go back home again this weekend. Originally the plan was that they (the Dutch contingent) would leave Sweden around 10am on the Sunday. But due to the large number of troops all leaving or wanting to leave, they have pushed the time up to 1.45. AM!!! Which also means it's no point going to bed today, since I will be picked up extremely ridiculously early!

We will be staying in a hotel in Kristianstad in Sweden which is about a 20 minute drive to the Jamboree and from there we will be leaving for Denmark and Germany. In Germany there will be driver's change: we go to a hotel and the new (and fresh) driver will take them to wherever they came from in the Netherlands.

Am I looking forward to it? I am not sure...

PS: for some reason my blog won't let me add photos from my computer: it keeps saying security alert! Very annoying and that's why you see Viking Mara again. Any help is greatly appreciated!

More randomness

2011-08-04T12:05:00.000+02:00

As I was going through all my old photos the other day, I saw so many photos that needed an outing into the www, I realised another random photo thingy was in order. So, here they are!

The photo at the top was taken some time in early 1992 as I was working for Club Med. Me and a couple of others were 'impersonating' the B52's, a great sounding band that was quite popular at the time. I was supposed to be one of the lead singers and for that reason my hair is so high. It hurt like awfully though trying to get that hair down again though and it would usually give me a splitting headache! It looked good though...

This second photo was taken when the primary school I went to back in the day celebrated its 5-year anniversary. We had a parade through the neighbourhood and everybody came dressed up. I was dressed in my mother's wedding dress (cut to size). I was teased a lot with that, because our teacher was dressed as a groom. The top anyway, the bottom was a football (the proper version) player!

The third photo that needed an outing was taken only a few years ago. As you may know two friends, my sister and I love to go to the sauna. Unfortunately, with four women it's sometimes really hard to find a day on which each and every one is okay to go to the sauna. So, we may set a date and find out later our bodies don't cooperate. Which probably was the case this time, since we went bowling and then out to dinner. Now, I may look great in this photo (modesty is so not my middle name), but I remember feeling incredibly bad. I had a massive attack of the migraine, probably due to coffee or chocolate or beer or all three combined and was almost constantly popping pills (which didn't help either). Despite all that though, I did fine on the bowling and supervised the others while they were eating.

The last photo I wanted to show was taken during the only Hallowe'en party I ever organised. It was a bit of a flop, but the people who did come were all dressed up, so that was good. My sister and I had cleared my parents' living room with the help of my Mum and then draped sheets over the remaining things. We had made blood filled profiteroles (don't you just love food colouring?) and other creepy edibles and as a little scare I had used some fishing line to hang a spider in the toilet bowl. A big black spider! Well, it certainly did get a massive reaction. At one point a blood curdling scream came from the toilet. Unfortunately it was me... I had forgotten all about the spider!

Excitement

2011-08-02T14:42:00.000+02:00

No, I haven't turned to farming
2008

And there I was getting all excited! Because as I was making a back-up, I thought about all those other back-ups I've made over the past few years and I figured I might ~~inadvertent~~ ~~inadvertantl~~ ~~inadver~~ by accident have saved some photos of long ago. So, I dug up the old discs and started getting through them. I should have realised...

The very first time I started making back-ups was after my knock-out fight with my laptop. I knocked, he was out! And I mean out, really out. His light went out, he rolled over and he was dead. As a doornail (or should that be doorsnail) dead. I took it to two different people and both of them said he was beyond cpr. One of them said it might be possible, but that it would cost me an arm and a leg (I would like to keep both, thank you very much).

So, the only thing I found today were a few video's I hadn't realised I still had, one with the amazing lenght of 1 second!! Blink and it's gone. I deleted it.

Ah well, that's life...

Kiss

2011-07-31T10:48:00.000+02:00

So, you wanted to see the frog I bought in Denmark? The one by Royal Copenhagen? Well, this is it... It's white on a grey stone and has a lovely red kiss on its back. It took some time finding this photo (apparently I deleted my own copy), because it was in the 2007 collection. But I love it!

Sarah's Key

2011-07-30T14:22:00.001+02:00

The blurb: Paris, July 1942. Sarah, a ten-year old girl, is taken with her parents by the French police as they go door to door arresting Jewish families in the middle of the night. Desperate to protect her younger brother, Sarah locks him in a bedroom cupboard - their secret hiding place - and promises to come back for him as soon as they are released.

Sixty years later, Sarah's story intertwines with that of Julia Jarmond, a journalist investigating the round-up. Sarah's Key is an emotionally gripping story of two families, forever linked to, and haunted by, one of the darkest days of France's past.

The first time I started reading this book, was when my dad handed me a Dutch copy he had borrowed of a friend. But, I don't like reading in Dutch and I couldn't get past the first chapter. Fortunately Pepperfly then gave the English version to me and I sailed past the first and subsequent chapters.

The story is a mix of real events (the round-up, the Vélodrome d'Hiver, the camps) and fiction. One story follows Sarah, a ten-year old Jewish girl, the other follows Julia Jarmond, an American journalist married to a French man. But at some point those two stories become one, because the place where Sarah lived, later became the home of Julia's French family. She then wants to find out exactly who the people were that lived there, where they went and how they ended up.

This certainly isn't a book for a lazy afternoon on the beach; I couldn't keep my eyes dry! But it is a very good and certainly very confronting book. It could have done with a little less relationship trouble for Julia, but I guess in the end it is necessary for the story.

My verdict: definitely worth the read!

Random photos

2011-07-29T17:52:00.000+02:00

I thought I would include some random photos of things I saw during my week in Denmark. At first I didn't really understand the first photo. Or why it was placed in the toilet (bathroom for you overseaers), but a closer look revealed all. This little box is meant for needles, razor blades and safety pins. Now I can understand the needles (drugs, either prescription or not) and the safety pins, but the razor blades were a bit of a mystery. Unless someone wants to kill themselves inside the toilet and I doubt very much they would then throw the blade in the little box!

The second photo was taken on our way back from Sweden. I had seen this sign for a while already, but it didn't quite dawn on me what it meant. Let me explain. The Dutch name of the capital of Denmark is Kopenhagen and the English name is Copenhagen. However, in Danish it's København. And for some reason I just didn't get the fact that in Sweden they use the Swedish name: Köpenhamn!

Photo number three was taken in Copenhagen (let's just use the English spelling) and is of a thermometer. When you look closely you can also see the weather woman at the top: ready to come out with her bicycle, of which there were plenty around. As you can see it's about 18 degrees Celsius at the moment I took the photo.

And the last photo is of something we could see both on the crossing from Sweden to Denmark and from Denmark to Germany: wind turbines in the sea. There were lots and lots of them! They do like green energy a lot in those countries.

Home again!

2011-07-28T14:49:00.000+02:00

Did I ever tell you I hate traveling on a coach? When I'm not driving that is? Well, I do. Just so you know!

The floor in the bus!

Yesterday morning I was in the first of four groups to pick up the Dutch scout troops to take to Sweden. I left on time at 08.30am and arrived at the World Jamboree at 12.15pm. Everything was so well coordinated we only had to wait for two minutes before I was able to drop them off. They left my coach in a right state, but with all the rain and muck and mud of the past week, I was prepared. And since I was in the first group, I had a lot of time before the last ones would be there to actually clean the coach. At least brush the dirt out and make it look presentable again.

The toll bridge from Sweden to Denmark

We then had to wait for all the coaches to arrive, which took about four hours and finally at a quarter past four, all the drivers (bar two who were staying behind to look after the coaches) piled on one coach and left for the Netherlands. We passed through Sweden at a good pace, seeing coach after coach filled with scouts from all over the world. We then had to cross the toll bridge and tunnel to Denmark and came back to familiar territory again.

There was a train on the ferry!

We kept driving through Denmark until we reached the ferryport of Rodby (with the diagonal line again). We knew we were late for our ferry (it had left twenty minutes earlier), but managed to catch the next one, so we only lost half an hour. From Puttgarden (the German side of the ferry), we drove towards Hamburg, which I completely missed, since I slept my way to Bremen. We had a short stop to switch drivers and then drove on towards home. Our pick-up driver had to wake up extra early, because according to the planners we were about 2-3 hours early! We just thought there was no point hanging around for nothing!

I made it home at five in the morning and was in bed half an hour later. My own bed...

The White Cliffs of Mon?

2011-07-26T22:07:00.000+02:00

Mon should be written with a diagonal line through its o, but since I can't be bothered to find it on my computer you will have to do without. Anyhoo...

Today we had a lovely sunny day and we dropped off 1,000 scouts at the geocenter on Mon (with the line). While we were waiting for them to do their things we were parked about 3 miles further at a great looking farm. But I wanted to see the cliffs and so did some of the others, so we got on the coach and headed towards the center. After parking me and my colleague needed to decide from what angle to watch the cliffs: from the bottom or the top.

In the end we decided on the top: that way we were going up first and down later instead of the other way around. It was a big climb and since I have the condition of a hibernating sloth, I was panting my way up! I did make it though, because I didn't want to miss out on the view. It didn't disappoint: it was gorgeous! I took lots of photos, my colleague took a few of me and we treated ourselves to an icecream when we got back down again.

Tonight we dined with all the colleagues that are here now: 27, plus the wife of the coordinator. We had a nice dinner, good company and we found out what is going to happen tomorrow. I have to leave in the first group at 8.30am, completely loaded to the rafters with camping gear, luggage and of course scouts. We hope to arrive in Sweden a few hours later (it's not that far from here) and make it through check-in at a reasonable pace. Yesterday it apparently took over 3 hours for one coach to get checked in and shown to their site. Tomorrow there will probably be hundreds of buses arriving! The horror.

I will be off to bed now, but I have included a few photos I took today (or were taken of me today). By the way, the photo I showed yesterday was taken in Copenhagen which has a big elephant herd roaming the city in aid of the Asian elephant. How could I resist?

The big event!

2011-07-25T22:35:00.000+02:00

Today was the day of the big event. We had been awaiting it for some days now and today it finally happened: it stopped raining and the sun came out! Hesitatingly at first but at the end of the day the temperature was a bit more summer-like than the past few days (it was 11 degrees Celsius yesterday). Of course this sun immediately took my mind of the road and I got on the motorway going west. I needed to go east!

Other things happening today were very few. I finished my book, took only three photos and chatted to my colleagues. Tomorrow the weather is supposed to be good again and we're going to some cliffs. I am hoping for some nice photos there.

Rain

2011-07-24T22:37:00.000+02:00

The path was like this all throughout the museum!!!

It rained almost full stop today and I must say, even I got a bit fed up with all that wetness. According to the weather people, the rain should stop tomorrow or the day after (see how exact they are?) and that is very much wanted by every scout on board. They are nearly always wet and cold now and the only time they are drying out are spent on the bus! Where they sit with muddy boots and shoes, making a mess of it all.

Add to all that mud from the camp ground more mud. This time from the medieval open air museum! Since I don't travel to Denmark on a weekly basis, I had decided I wanted to see it as well and it didn't take long before I was covered in mud as well! I nearly slipped on two occasions, but fortunately I managed to grab hold of some colleague or other. It would have been a right sight if I had fallen flat on my face there!!

Where are the other four?

The medieval museum was quite good fun, despite all the mud and goo and what have you. They had a huge katapult they used and which I missed of course, a lot of different houses where you could go in and touch things and there was a small wooded area with vampyres, werewolfs, goblins, pixies, elves, hell horses, three legged sheep and other weird and dangerous creatures that were out to snatch you. And before you ask: no, there wasn't a viking in the whole museum!

A new day

2011-07-23T18:53:00.000+02:00

Up the road without a paddle

The new day came with fresh rain. Which we were very happy about of course (not)! But today it was dry more often than wet and anyway, those children didn't mind anyway: they were out in the water all day! In the mean time my colleagues and I went to the center of the town and looked at some shops and had a coffee.

After our coffees my colleague A and I went out shopping and already in the first shop I found the perfect little statuette: a frog that had been kissed! It was quite dear, but it was made by Royal Kopenhagen (a china manufacturer), so I decided to go for it anyway. But when the salesman took it down I found it had been reduced in price! So, not only did I get the perfect frog, I also got a better deal: I was a happy girl!

When we got back to the coach I set about repairing the broken microphone system and by accidently breaking something I managed to do just that: I fixed the problem. I may not be a technically minded person, but sometimes the luck is with the dumb (as a Dutch saying goes)...

Tomorrow we are going to a Medieval museum with knights and joustings and a lot more. I am really looking forward to it, but I do hope that infernal rain will stop!

Dora in the rain

2011-07-22T23:20:00.000+02:00

The little mermaid

For some strange reason part of the kids on board has decided to call me Dora. Either because they couldn't remember my real name, or because they think it's a better name (which I don't agree with by the by). Anyway...

Today was Kopenhagen and it rained. All morning it came down, rain, rain and more rain. I was getting quite fed up with it all, but I wanted to see the town, so me and two colleagues hopped on one of those hop on/hop off buses and did the tour. We got off at a castle, walked around that for a while and then decided we would walk to the mermaid, since the bus was really hot and muggy and it had stopped raining. Well, for ten minutes anyway, because then it started again and we nearly got soaked. We sheltered somewhere and when I tried to take a photo of my two colleagues, I tripped and fell flat on my face. Fortunately the only thing that got bruised was my ego, but I felt quite silly with my face down in the street!

One of the many elephants dotted around town.

After about four more showers we finally managed to get to the mermaid and guess what: the sun came out for just a second! I took photos from nearly all angles (it's situated in the water, so I wasn't going in there to take more photos). We then hopped on the bus again and got off at the 'new harbour' which was basically one massive bar! It looked really festive and fun and by then the rain had ceased completely as well. A quick and very expensive drink later we hopped on again and took the last part of the tour.

I must say, Kopenhagen is a lovely town and I would love to go there again to see it properly. In the sun preferably! Another one on my list of 'must-sees'...

Yawn

2011-07-21T11:35:00.000+02:00

View of the Baltic Sea at 5.25am

I started work last night at 8.45pm and finished this morning at 9am. In that time I picked up a lot of scouts, I drove through Germany, saw a lot of 'Baustellen' (roadworks), took a ferry, met up with colleagues and finally dropped the scouts off again.

It's the World Jamboree next month in Sweden and the Dutch contingent have decided that the jamboree wasn't long enough and have added a week in Denmark. Which is fine by me, since I haven't been to the part of Denmark we're in now. We're going to Kopenhagen, we will be visiting a medieval museum and we go to some cliffs. They will also do some geo-caching and something with water somewhere.

A non-pooping seagull flying overhead

This morning however we arrived an hour early which was good and after we had parked our coaches and had taken the luggage to our rooms, a colleague and I went in search of a bank to change our Euros into Danish Kroner, since they didn't join the Euro zone back in whenever. The first bank we got to opened at 10. It was 9.30! So we went to the next one. Which also opened at 10. After having seen a lot of banks which all opened at 10, we took out some money of our own and went back to the Konditorei to enjoy some Danish pastry and a cup of tea. When we finally went to the bank, we went to the only one that opened at: yes, you guessed it: 9.30!!

Right now it's time for bed though. It's nearly midday and I need to get some zzzzz's in before dinner tonight. So, I will say goodnight. Or goodday as the case may be...

Letting go of Sophie

2011-07-19T23:11:00.002+02:00

12th May 1999 - 19th July 2011

Festivals

2011-07-18T13:17:00.000+02:00

Apparently the summer is the time to go to some sort of festival and there are plenty of them to go around in our little country. Yesterday there were three to choose between. The Black Cross, The Free Festival and another one. I had to work as well: ferrying young people back and forth from train station to the Free Festival. Which by the way wasn't as free as the title would make you think. You can buy tickets to guarantee entry and if it's not sold out, then everybody and his aunt get the chance to go there and get in for free. Of course, you have to pay for the bus which takes you there and the drinks are not too cheap either, but the music is fantastic.

Well, the music is fantastic to those people going, because to me it sounds a lot like 'thump thump thump thump thump!' Enough to give anybody a splitting headache, let alone hearing problems! Especially because they will stand about an inch away from the speakers! I was lucky I only had to drop them off and could head straight back to the station to pick up another load of half drunk youngsters! I found several cola bottles that were filled with something that was definitely not cola, unless of course cola now comes in a orangy colour as well! I needed to empty those bottles, because I was taking them home (you get money back on large empty bottles) and the smell that came from the bottle confirmed my suspicions. Definitely not cola!!

You have to love festivals and there are about four more to come. First I will head to Denmark and Sweden however: the World Jamboree! Forty scouts asleep on the coach (hopefully) and off we go at 11pm! I have seen their programme and I won't forget my camera: I want a photo of the mermaid of Kopenhagen! First a week in Denmark and then we drop all the scouts off in Sweden, before heading home again. I am looking forward to it. I will take my Baby as well, so I hope to be able to post as I go...

Yeehaa!

2011-07-15T13:13:00.000+02:00

Yes, it's working again! Yesterday it was supposed to be the modem that was acting up. Today it was the router that was doing the bad things. So, I unplugged the both of them, plugged them both in again and now I'm online again and enjoying the www.

The picture at the top I got from the www yesterday and was the one I wanted to include that one in yesterday's post. Which didn't work. So, I put it in today because I know you were wondering...

Conspiracy or stupidity

2011-07-14T16:35:00.001+02:00

Why oh why am I having computer trouble again? And this time with Finn! My lovely new giant of a laptop is giving me grief in large amounts. And it's bugging me big time. I don't know what I am doing wrong and there's bound to be something that I did wrong. Or perhaps it's some garden gnome not too happy about the photo I placed of his family not too long ago. Either way, it's hard to be online and stay online what with all the 'can't find the site' nonsense popping up all the time. Talking about my modem not working (it's working fine) or something within the computer itself. Why can't it just be nice and easy and work?

And do you remember the gasmen from last week? Well, apart from being ridiculously young, hitting my electrical cables and scaring my cats, one of them did do something good for me: he told me I needed to refill my hotwater thingy. Which I did with the help of the neighbour and a huge spanner (I think, it might have been something else). But I had forgotten all about the tap. I had closed it. So, when I tried to do my laundry this morning: no cigar! I blame it on my parents. I must have the blonde genes from someone after all...

PS: and now I can't even include the blonde joke! Stupid Finn...

Did you ever?

2011-07-09T10:53:00.001+02:00

The pool I was in on Thursday was somewhat on the freezing side! Brrrr

As the gasmen were leaving on Wednesday, I saw some black rubbery thing on the kitchen floor. I asked whether it was theirs, which it wasn't and then threw it in the bin. Fast forward to Friday when I put something on the stove cover and found it was wobbling. When I looked, I realised a black rubbery thing was missing. The one I had thrown in the bin!

So, after I got home from the morning shift at work, I dug up the binbag and dove in. Well, not literally of course, but it felt like it. Fortunately with all the recycling we do in the Netherlands, there wasn't much in the binbag, but I still had to look for about 5 minutes in this dirty binbag to find the little black rubbery thing.

I put the binbag back in the bin and then started to wash the thingy and of course my hands. Because even if the bag wasn't anywhere near full and there was no left over food in there, it still felt pretty gross! But at least now the stove cover isn't wobbling anymore and everything works again as it should!

After the gas

2011-07-08T12:38:00.000+02:00

Last Sunday I celebrated the fact that I've now joined the big four o club. Unfortunately I invited everybody a bit late, so most people weren't able to come due to prior commitments, but some managed to come. One of my friends was supposed to come with her boyfriend and her two children. But when they were halfway, they turned around and went back home. Not because she all of a sudden had decided she didn't want to know me anymore, but because the children were ill and one of them had just emptied her stomach near a big tree! She still managed to come at night though, all by herself. That action didn't earn her any good points in the eyes of her daughter though: she had wanted to come see Auntie Mara as well.

Then this week, the boyfriend celebrated his birthday and because I hadn't seen them all in quite a while, I decided to go over and stay the night. Which was a huge hit with the children, even if at first they didn't quite believe me. I took the little girl to school in the morning, had a very late breakfast with my friend who is going through some tough times right now, got into the icy cold pool in the afternoon and in the mean time I also managed to get some ~~plaster~~ make-up on my face for the video. Yes, I finally made another video.

At first we were doing it out in the backyard, but every time I started to speak, so did the dog next door, so in the end we gave up and went inside. Where it wouldn't have mattered if I had worn clown's make-up, since the video ended up being quite dark! But after about a gazillion tries, I finally had another presentation video, ready to send across the pond!

After dinner last night my friend drove me home again and I spent a quiet evening with my monsters.

Gas

2011-07-06T08:33:00.001+02:00

Several years ago, the housing corporation decided a big renovation of the area I live in was in order. They were right. Because the rent in this area is the lowest of the whole town, people with a small purse can rent here. The corporation really got stuck in: the houses would be painted: light green, light blue, yellow, white and pink (my house), new kitchens would be installed as the inhabitant at that time required, new bathrooms, new insulation both in the roof, the walls and the floors and to top it all: new windowframes and double glazing. The tore down some houses, the put up new fencing round everyone's back yards and generally made the place look a whole lot better.

This morning three gentlemen got into my home: one carpenter and two gasmen. Because the gasline needs replacing! I had to change my work schedule, my cats are in a right tizzy with Mathilda and Wuppie outside and Sophie and Linette locked in my bedroom and especially the gasmen don't seem to be old enough to be out of school.

They had to drill some holes first of all: one in the kitchen, one in the living room and one in the hallway. But for some reason when they drilled in the living room, the drill gave up. They broke it. They were saying to each other about the crap (sorry) equipment they received to work with, it being the third one they broke and all I could think of was: perhaps it's you! When they got it working again, they hit another snag. Literally, since they touched the electrical cable and now the washing machine and the dryer don't work anymore!

I hope everything will go smoothly from now on, no more hiccups when it comes to the electrics and definitely no hiccups when it comes to the gas, I don't want to be found in a smoldering heap!

And the winner is...

2011-07-02T11:12:00.000+02:00

Isn't it always fun to try for a prize, whatever prize that may be? Perhaps you submitted a joke and hope it will be the best joke in the world, perhaps you bought a lottery ticket and hope for the jackpot or perhaps you commented on my blog and were hoping to get something along the lines of Netherlands footwear! And since there were only 8 comments, the chances of winning were certainly better than winning the jackpot!

So, today I put the numbers 1 to 8 in a random number generator and number 5 came up randomly! And when I looked at the comments I could see number 5 was Gattina! So, congratulations and I will send you an email with the details today!

Of course you all want to know what the prize is don't you? If you hadn't already guessed it of course. Well, it's a pair of Dutch clogs. What else?

Short

2011-07-01T23:14:00.000+02:00

Before

She phoned the main shop in the center of town to ask for my details. And then she was told: wash her hair with care and don't brush too hard. They really know me! Even if the last time I was there was over a year ago and I now go to the small shop half a kilometer away from me.

Because it was time to get my hair cut again, I decided a more grown up do was in order. I had been dithering and dathering about it for a while now, but I could only wear my hair in a plait on a daily basis and if it hung loose, I looked like a hippie. Minus the flowers in my hair and the bell-bottoms that is!

I felt a bit like a chicken, ready to go in the oven!

So, I went to the hairdresser, got my hair washed with care and the girl didn't brush my hair too hard either. And then the scissors: snip snip and my long hair was once more a thing of the past. Then both the girls were trying to figure out which colour would be best for me. Since I wanted to get rid of the old-blonde that was creeping in at an alarming rate. I know I am forty now, but really, that is no reason to go old-blonde at speed!

After

And now I sit here, with my hair loose, two shades lighter and fairly short. I like it!

14610

2011-06-29T06:00:00.001+02:00

Photo taken at the Open Air Museum in Arnhem

That's how old I am today. In days that is. In weeks it would be something like 2087 and in years it would be 40. Minus one day of course, since my birthday isn't until tomorrow.

And when I celebrate my birthday I like to treat my passengers of the day. Which I won't have, since I am off tomorrow. So, I decided to treat one of you. With a give-away.

So, what am I giving away this year? Well, I'm not telling you yet, but I will give you a hint: it has something to do with footwear and the Netherlands.

What you need to do you wonder? Simple: leave a comment and on Saturday I will go to the psychic random selector thingy page and have it psychicly randomly select one of you! Isn't that easy??

Quiet

2011-06-28T09:54:00.000+02:00

Photo taken at the Open Air Museum in Arnhem

It's quiet in my home. I don't have the radio on, Wuppie stopped miaowing, for a few minutes anyway and even outside the only thing you can hear is the leaves rustling. And then there are the beeps. In my home. I haven't got a clue what produces those beeps, but I can hear them. I know the washing machine and the dryer are both off and the only other electrical thing I've got upstairs is the hot water boiler/heating thingy. Which probably beeps just to annoy me! It sounds like morse code! Perhaps there's a garden gnome that got stuck and is looking for help, but since I don't read morse (yes I know)...

Thinking of garden gnomes: did you ever see the film Amélie? A fantastic French film that was a world wide hit a few years ago. And she helped her father by sending his garden gnome all over the world. If the garden gnome could do it: so could he.

I'm rambling about things now and nothing sensible comes out. So, I'll stop.

Aaargh!

2011-06-25T11:45:00.000+02:00

Photo taken at Open Air Museum

For some reason I have great difficulties getting online and staying online. I cannot get on Facebook, I can hardly get to my email and just surfing is out of the question. For a moment I thought it had something to do with Finn being new in town, but when I tried Baby, I had the exact same problems. So, now I think it might have something to do with the modem or the router or some such. And since I received a new modem about three months ago and never bothered to install it, I think it might be time I did. And hopefully then I can get online properly again without me getting very frustrated about things not working.

The internet not working is not the only thing: I am not working either! I worked three days this week, which is completely ridiculous, especially since they called in outside help for this weekend! Ah well, a few more days off isn't so bad I guess. I can relax, sit in the sun... oh wait, it's raining today and expected to rain until tomorrow!

*Sigh*

Explanation

2011-06-23T17:31:00.000+02:00

Photo taken in the Open Air Museum in Arnhem

So, those Iranians last weekend, what were they all about? Well, as someone said in one of the comments: they probably were refugees and that is correct. A few Iranians didn't think staying in Iran was good for their health and they left home, hearth and family behind to try and make a new life in Europe. They tend to end up in refugee camps where they are thrown in with people from Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, Tunisia, China and whatever other country refugees come from.

After a while they start to be 'processed', basically: someone verifies the person and the story to come to a conclusion that a. they are genuine refugees and have the right to stay in the country they are in at that time or b. they are lying through their teeth and will be send back to the country of origin at the earliest possibility or c. anything in between. This process can last up to ten years! In which period the refugees are not allowed to work and can only go to school up to the age of 18 (in the Netherlands).

Of course many of the refugees would like to return 'home' to their families and friends, to their jobs and their own culture. But, in the case of Iran, sometimes the country they come from has not changed (enough) to allow for a smooth transition back home. The minute they step off the plane in Teheran (the Iranian capital), there is in many cases a serious threat of being arrested and ending up in jail for years!

Enter an Iranian charity that paid for the venue, the hotels, the buses and the food so all those Iranian people from all over Europe could come to Paris and meet and wave some flags and do whatever else they did.

Awake

2011-06-22T13:28:00.001+02:00

Well, after the weekend I had, I hope you will forgive me when I didn't immediately post again, although I did have to work. And since it's busy this week (according to the office that is), I have a three-day week! In June!! Which is the month where you should work the snot away from your eyes as the Dutch saying goes.

Anyway, after two days with two different school trips I have a couple of days off to finally recover completely from the trip and the coffee I had. On Monday I drove 4-5 year olds to a giga rabbit hole and before you ask: yes, that's what it's called! They had a great time playing in that indoor playground. Then yesterday I had a lot of 11-12 year olds on board to visit the open air museum my parents and I went to two years ago. I managed to get some more really nice photos as well. On Friday (the only other day this week I have to work) I have to take a group of high school students to Delft, a town I've never been to, so I will be following my colleague all the way.

In the mean time I will do my laundry and the housekeeping, look after my kittycats, get some groceries and watch telly. Not too shabby...

Beer at 08.15am

2011-06-19T17:48:00.000+02:00

Did you ever have a beer at a quarter past eight in the morning? And I don't mean it being one in a long line of..., but starting at? Well, I did. This morning to be precise. And number two followed twenty minutes later. Now, before you start planning an intervention and sign me up for AA, don't worry, I needed and even felt I deserved them. Which of course doesn't sound that good, but I had been up since eight in the morning. Yesterday morning to be precise!!

Last Friday I left with a coach load of Iranians and friends from the Netherlands and headed to Paris. A town I've only ever visited by train and had never driven a coach in. Let alone a much longer than normal coach. During rush hour! Did I tell you last year I loved Paris? I stand corrected: I hated it!!! Well, the traffic anyway. I have driven in Rome and the South of Italy and I've driven in Ireland, both countries that aren't that well known for their driving prowess. Paris was worse! There were about a gazillion lanes on this massive roundabout and people were trying to get from one end to the other, occasionally scraping past each other or even facing each other.

Mind you, the look of the Eiffel Tower made up a bit for it again, but after our hour stay near said tower, I had to face the whole thing again! I was not a happy bunny I can tell you! When I finally made it to my hotel (which was different from theirs), I just wanted a drink and something hot.

Saturday morning I picked them up and we went to a massive exposition place north of Paris. There must have been about a thousand coaches filled with Iranians there: from the Netherlands (about 60), Germany (over 200 at least), Poland, Sweden, Belgium, Italy, Britain and of course France. I dropped my people off at midday and then I had to wait for several other drivers so we could go to our day hotel for our nine hours rest. After I had finally gathered everybody we drove up to the hotel where we would stay until about 10pm. We ordered 15 pizzas and drinks and at a quarter past ten at night we were back at the exposition halls. Most coaches had already left, the only ones still there were the Dutch ones!

I could leave at eleven and decided to make a straight line to the Dutch border, not bothering to stop anywhere along the way! Tiredness permitting of course, because even though we had been at that hotel for several hours, I had not slept a wink and had ended up watching (first) a programme about the 'Bois de Boulogne' and then the French Countdown (cijfers en letters) with some Pink Panther thrown in for good measure.

Well, tiredness permitted and at 3am I had made it to the border, where it was absolute mayhem, since the normally one way traffic was now two-way, because of roadworks and the detour after leaving the service area was well sign-posted, if you saw all the signs that is! I didn't and several others (coaches and articulated lorries) didn't and we would be send back into this system of detours, one way streets, blocked roads and what have you! But I made it back to the lot at around half past seven having only yawned once. Perhaps it was the smell emanating from the toilet that kept me awake, because that thing smelt something awful! Instead of using service station toilets, everybody had decided the on board toilet was best! Yergh...

By the time I had finished clearing the coach and parked it, it was just past eight in the morning and I felt I deserved a beer. Or two! Cheers!

PS: after I came home I didn't want to go to bed, but I was nearly asleep standing up, so I gave up and went to bed for a few hours. I feel a lot better now.

My last post

2011-06-16T16:53:00.000+02:00

Noooooo! This is not going to be my last post, don't worry, I was just referring to my last post named: What's in a name. Because I was about to look for a name for my new (and might I say brilliant) laptop. But as I was writing my Dutch blog it hit me. Figuratively that is.

As I have a baby laptop (generally called Baby) and my Cyberian prison laptop was big I called that one the big laptop (with me so far?). But this new one is on the giant side. It's certainly bigger than the big laptop and then I figured: Finn! Of Finn McCool fame. He was a giant. He fought other (even bigger) giants and he created the Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland. And if you don't believe me, just read this post I wrote quite a while back. And since my new laptop is cool as well...

So, from now on, if I refer to Finn, I will talk about my new giant laptop. Just so you know!

What's in a name

2011-06-15T17:06:00.000+02:00

So. I have a new laptop. No, not a desktop computer, but a laptop. Again. I couldn't see how I would get a complete desktop home, since I only have my bike, so I went for a new laptop again. With a seperate number pad. And a lcd screen. With room for cd's and dvd's. And usb-sticks.

But I think the most important thing today was the fact that even though my external hard drive was fried, it wasn't the hard drive at all. It was the wiring that had burned. So, I will try to put up a lovely photo from my old ehd in a new casing into this post. Here goes nothing!

It worked, it worked! I now have a photo of a baby hippo that I took more than a year ago. I thought it was lost in the deserts of cyberia, but I was lucky! Yippee...

Itching powder and frogs

2011-06-15T11:02:00.000+02:00

They look so small here, but small doesn't mean docile!

Last Friday I picked up the group from Northern Ireland. They would be here for the weekend to play a football tournament and needed a coach (as in bus) to take them to their accommodation. I was going to stay in a hotel for three days and pick them up every morning and drive them back every evening. It was a hard job!

The driving however wasn't the hardest part, the children were. Now, in the Netherlands children are getting more and more used to seatbelts and bus-etiquette. Those boys from Northern Ireland clearly weren't! They would not sit still for more than a minute and were continually getting up to punch someone in the face. On two occasions I've even seen them wrestling in the aisle! What was all that about? Don't get me wrong, the adults did shout at them to sit down. Every two minutes in fact, but... did you read the title? They must have had some of that in their underpants...

The empty half of the Irish team, on the first day the goalie actually texted during the games!!

Other than that, they were a nice enough group, I certainly had some laughs, even though I declined the offer of some craic, which probably was a very wise move, since I saw the dads the next day and they looked as if it had been a great night with a lot of alcohol (which turned out to be true, especially since the alcohol had been free at some point).

The boys actually won all of their games and of the nearly thirty teams in their age group they came first! Which was great of course. And even with my very limited knowledge of football, I know they were quite a good team.

The hairdo of this linesman must be the next big thing. It must be...

The result of all this was that when I had dropped them off at the airport on Monday, the coach looked as if a herd of cows had lived in it: cola, fanta and beer all over the floor and seats, the toilet was just gross and needed a massive hose down and in general it was very dirty. How 13 boys (and 8 men) can make so much mess is a mystery to me, but they did and before I felt it was good enough for the cleaning crew to come in and clean it, it took me over an hour to get it to that state!

Next, I will be off to Paris...