Friends

Aurélie and me. We stayed in touch for years, despite the
age gap of about 8 years!

Isn't it strange how your world of friends change? I never used to have many friends in school. As a matter of fact I only had about three and I think only one was a friend I really trusted. The other two could probably be classed as acquaintances. I was never that outgoing either, so it was quite hard for me to make friends. 

But when I looked at Facebook today, it said I had 60 friends! Sixty! How on earth did that happen? Of course, some of them are colleagues and family. Others I knew years ago and only talk to on Facebook. One of my best friends isn't a friend because I blocked her and don't know how to undo that. There are people I met through blogging (like Kay) and then Facebook and then real life. There are people I never met (most of the people in Canada), and now probably never will. There are people I never met (Norwegians), but hopefully will soon. 

So, do you want to be my friend?

Colleagues

Homeless area in Rome

One of the more pertinent questions floating around ever since I announced I was actually going to move to Norway was: 'where are you going to live?' Mind you, that was also more or less the question before it was certain I had a job: 'do you have a place to live yet?' And every time I had to say: 'no, I don't!' I knew it was going to be difficult, finding a place to live, that would not cost me an arm and a leg, but still had some room to move around in. 

Of course my current colleagues had great ideas: why don't you pack up a big box! Or sleep on the back seat of a bus! And the best one I heard today (as one of my colleagues was being serious. Really!): if you don't get a place to stay, just go to a covered parking lot, pay for a parking ticket and put down your chair, your tv and everything else you own. Hm, not sure how that would go down in Norway...

Fortunately a new colleague of mine had other ideas and contacted me a week ago to ask me whether I needed help! Well, yes, I do! And yesterday he emailed me to say he had found a place. Not too expensive, one bedroom, fully furnished. It will do. At least temporarily, until I can find a place where I can get my own stuff again.

The main thing: I will not be homeless come November 27th and I have great colleagues (both here and there)!

Last day

Originally I had quit my job starting the 26th or 27th of November, but apparently it would be harder to calculate my vacation days that way (!?) and my boss asked me whether I would mind terribly that it be moved to December 1st. And since I had about 9 days left, I didn't think it was such a bad idea. After all, I will then only be without a job for 2 days!

Of course neither of us took into account that I had a day off yesterday and another coming up next Monday so I can meet Kay in Amsterdam. Which means there are only 7,5 days left! So, now I have to work until November 21st. Mind you, if the work load stays like it is now, I should be fine with the packing and otherwise there are always people willing to help me out. 

The upstairs is mostly done now anyway. My books are all packed and I am now working on those niggly things. Which basically means smaller boxes and a combination of things. Of course my desk still looks like a bomb exploded, but even there I am making progress. Besides that, every day I take two more boxes of paper to work to be recycled. 

Next week I will start on the downstairs and I fear I will need a few more boxes than the ones I already have. The amount of glassware, crockery and other assorted kitchen doodahs is quite staggering, even to me! However, I won't leave any of that behind and besides, I have already gotten rid of so much over the years: I had over 25 plates at some point! And nearly 100 mugs!!

Q is for...

Qiuz

Whenever I stayed in London with 'my' school, we stayed in a hotel that was not far from this pub. And this pub hosted a Quiz-night every Sunday. We actually were there one year when they had the quiz and we were (the six of us together) able to answer quite a few questions that night. We hadn't joined though, so we couldn't win anything.

There was a time in the past though, where I did join in. I was actually part of a pubquiz team. And we were the proud bearers of the wooden spoon. In other words: we were always dead last! But then again, someone has to be! We got questions like: what is the fruit of the rose called, what did Danish Ole Kirk Christiansen invent and who was emperor of India in 1890? I knew the first answer, but only in Dutch, which didn't help. I knew the second answer, but my team mates went with a different answer. I knew the third answer and we got that one right (they listened to me). So, without googling, would you know the answers?

This is the letter Q for ABC Wednesday. Why not join?

Take it or leave it

Completely unrelated to this post!
I just liked the image...

Today I found some curtains. No use to me, but I knew the neighbours wanted new curtains for their upstairs. Since we have the same house, my curtains should fit their windows as they fit mine. And I told them: if they don't fit: chuck them out. But I have a neighbour of the very old school: you don't throw anything out, you never know when you are going to need it!

Of course my neighbouress just rolled her eyes. Her shed is full to bursting ever since he moved in with all his stuff and junk. He wants my large plant pots, she so doesn't. He wants my bike rack to saw in half, she doesn't because she knows he will never do so. 

Tomorrow I will take a lot of unwanted (by me, not him) stuff to the second hand shop. They can have it and might even make some money of it. I still have some things to sell, most notably 8 smaller and larger cupboards. So, if anybody is in the market for one, just let me know! Pick up only though, I am not delivering!!

A break

With all the stuff I own that needs packing and all the things I need to do, I tend to spend most of my free time upstairs. At least, until upstairs is finished that is, after that I will probably move downstairs and continue all the fussing there. The things on my list have now mostly been crossed off or started on, so I am making progress. So far I have contacted the IRS, the Pension office, my GP, my dentist, the insurance companies and a few more things besides. 

One thing that I do not have to worry about as much is finding a new place to live. As of the 27th of November (that is 3 weeks from now!), I will be homeless as it stands right now, but last Friday I was contacted by a new colleague of mine who offered his help. And not only his: he got all of his friends and acquaintances involved in finding me a place to live! They know the area and might find something I would never have found. 

But with all of that, I still needed a bit of a break. You can only make so many lists! So, after having collected my medical history from my GP (not a lot), went to the dentist to ask for the same, I decided to take advantage of the nice day and have a hot chocolate with whipped cream and a lovely sandwich. There is this café in the center of Emmeloord that serves wonderful sandwiches and I have had this one ever since I first went there. Fried egg, bacon, onion, tomato, lettuce served with some curry sauce on a lovely bun. 

After having enjoyed that sandwich, I went shopping. The shoes I own are perfect for nice, but with the colder weather on its way here too, they aren't good enough. So, I got myself a new pair of shoes. I got hold of the salesgirl and I told her: black, with laces (probably), leather and sturdy! Oh, and not grandma-ish!! The first pair she showed me were ick, then she showed me some suede boots (with snow: right!) and then she showed me a pair that looked nice and sturdy. I tried them on and was resigned to pay nearly 140 euros for them, after all, it's hard for me to find good shoes, when she told me they were for sale: 100 euros only!

There is still a lot to do at home, but with some Christmas music everything moves along quite nicely and I am revigorated again.

Up north (or down south)

When I lived on Sicily working a summer season for Club Med, I got the job offer for the winter season: somewhere in the Caribbean! Whoever thought of having summer all year round is mad and I decided to decline. Instead I found my way to Tignes in the French Alps during the Olympic Wintergames of 1992. And I loved it! The snow, the cold, the snow. The only thing I did miss were trees, which I didn't see for almost four months! 

The Netherlands are not known for their snow. Ice? Yes. Snow? Less so. And if it does snow, everybody seems to get into a panic from second one. Public transport stops and traffic grinds to a halt. However, I like snow. That is actually one of the reasons I picked first Canada and then Norway as my new home. Moving North. Towards the snow. And when I look at the weather maps of the BBC, which just about show the Norwegian coast, it shows snow in the air at least. 

People seem to think I will be living all the way up north as well. Like complete darkness north. Well, I am not! I will be living at 59 degrees North. Which also passes through Alberta in Canada (yep, the same region I was planning to move to...), northern Scotland, Alaska. 

The map at the top of this post shows you where I will be living in that big country called Norway. The province is called Rogaland and is highlighted in red. And Haugesund is situated at the top left of the red bit. So, I will actually be living in the South!

Fed up!

Dear food and cuddle giver!

I am not too difficult I think. I like my food on time. I like stale water. I looooove steak (you could get me more than you do now!). I enjoy a good bask in the sun, preferably outside. I like sleeping on your lap, in your bed, on your office chair, in your clean laundry. I hate the vet! See, easy!!

But what you are doing now is annoying me very much. When I sleep in your bed, that thing goes off and I have to leave the room. When I refuse you get the big noisy sucky thing and chase me out! When I sleep in your clean laundry you decide to get it all folded and stuff and I have to find another place. When I then find another place: your office chair, you need the little box and chase me off again....

Can you please make up your mind! 

Paws and cuddles,

Wuppie

PS: if you could stop putting stuff in all those boxes, so I can sleep in there, I don't mind either!

Good morning!

Taken from my "office" window

Last Monday I thought it was arriving, but since I didn't have any paracetamol at the ready, I didn't take any.  The headache didn't materialise. 

On Tuesday again it felt like the onset of a headache. But even though now I had the paracetamol at the ready, I didn't take any. And again the headache didn't materialise. 

However, on Wednesday it did. And despite the paracetamol it got worse during the day. Which was a pain (no pun intended), since I had to work in the evening! Football supporters, not my favourite. I managed to get the short trip back that night and then had to drive home. I felt sick and I started to get tired, so I stopped halfway to get some air and reinvigorate me for the remainder of the trip.

On Thursday the headache had worsened still. The visitors came and went, but unfortunately they didn't take the headache with them.

Now, don't worry too much: I know why the headaches. Other women get grumpy (apparently), I get headaches. Which in turn make me grumpy... Being a woman is a great thing!

So, last night I went to bed ridiculously early: 9.30pm! Which is ridiculously early in my book anyway. I knew of course that that would also mean I would wake up ridiculously early and I was not mistaken. Just over 8 hours later I woke up and I am glad to say, the headache has almost gone.

Good morning everybody!

Visitors

I was up early again this morning. This seems to happen more often now: when I am off and basically have time for a lie-in, I wake up early. Very annoying, but alas. Anyway, since I was up anyway, I thought I would tackle some of the laundry that had been gathering for a few weeks now. I had just plugged in the iron when the doorbell rang: my neighbour! He had locked himself out, whether I had a spare key? Well, no, I didn't. Turns out his wife had gone to take the car to the garage and they would meet at the supermarket. But he has great difficulties walking the distance and he needs a mobility scooter. Which was inside his house!

I phoned the supermarket to get them to find my neighbouress and tell her her husband was at my place and not to wait for him! In the mean time my neighbour told me all about short wave radio (never knew it could be so... ehm... dull), until the doorbell rang again and the couple were reunited. With keys!

I managed to get some ironing done, but also needed some food before I could pop some painkillers (it's that time of the month again), when the doorbell rang again. This time however it was expected: the man from the housing association to check out everything. He was here for over an hour, measuring, checking and telling me what I needed to do in order to avoid some pretty heavy costs! If I am lucky I will get some people mobilised to get rid of all the carpets, clean the place to a shine and get everything done before I shuffle of to the airport.

Because of yesterday's Hallowe'en

This afternoon another visitor is due: my social worker 'Miss Vavoom' will be making her final visit to me. All in order for me to deal with the accident which seems a lifetime ago! This time we will most likely talk about my upcoming move most of all. And we will do some evaluating or some such. I guess...

Other than that my day will be filled with more laundry, more packing and hopefully less headache!