Yawn

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

12th May 1999 - 19th July 2011

Festivals

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!

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

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?

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

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

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...

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

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!