When it's cold outside, and the air conditioning at work shouldn't be working at all, it feels like we are working in a refrigerator here. But today it's 24C/75F outside, and 28C/82F on my desk.
I have a thermometer within reach, and every half hour one of my colleagues comes asking me if the temperature is still rising.
Yesterday I had another bad allergy day. I was sneezing and blowing my nose all day, feeling exhausted when I finally got home. I collapsed in the sofa and didn't get up again until it was time to go to bed. So today I brought 4 packets of kleenex to work, but although the weather is the same as yesterday, I didn't have to sneeze a single time. Weird things, those pollen.
Thursday, June 16, 2005
Tuesday, June 14, 2005
Been arranging flights and rooms
Let's see, where shall I begin.
The weekend was great. We had 2 beautiful days with lots of sun and high temperatures. So we spent most of the weekend on the beach, getting a tan.
On Sunday afternoon, we had arranged to meet an ex-coworker of Mónica, and her boyfriend. Two very nice people who showed us around in their hometown, Mieres, which we had never visited before.
On Sunday I got the news that my oldest sister, her husband and the two boys will come and visit us in August. So I had to start looking for and writing mails to hotels in the neighborhood, to arrange some rooms for them. Since this afternoon the flights and the rooms seem to be booked and confirmed.
It's the first time that they will visit us in Spain. So they're very curious to see where I live, and I'm sure that Mónica's parents are very curious to meet my sister and the two kids.
And suddenly it wasn't so difficult anymore to decide when I was going to take my summer holidays.
The weekend was great. We had 2 beautiful days with lots of sun and high temperatures. So we spent most of the weekend on the beach, getting a tan.
On Sunday afternoon, we had arranged to meet an ex-coworker of Mónica, and her boyfriend. Two very nice people who showed us around in their hometown, Mieres, which we had never visited before.
On Sunday I got the news that my oldest sister, her husband and the two boys will come and visit us in August. So I had to start looking for and writing mails to hotels in the neighborhood, to arrange some rooms for them. Since this afternoon the flights and the rooms seem to be booked and confirmed.
It's the first time that they will visit us in Spain. So they're very curious to see where I live, and I'm sure that Mónica's parents are very curious to meet my sister and the two kids.
And suddenly it wasn't so difficult anymore to decide when I was going to take my summer holidays.
Friday, June 10, 2005
Holidays
We have been asked to decide when we want to take our holidays this summer. That way our teamleader can check the dates and make sure that always 2 members of the team are present.
I said that I will decide whenever the rest of the team has given their preferences, because we probably won't be going anywhere this summer anyway. Mónica has just started on a new job, and won't have the possibility to take a holiday this summer.
Too bad, because we were both longing to go visit Barcelona this year. We have never been there, and Mónica would finally like to meet the girls she has been in contact with over the internet for many years. They have promised us to be our city guides whenever we decide to go.
But with the nearest beach only 10 minutes away, every weekend can be a little holiday if the weather is fine. And we can always go on a weekend trip to Santander or another big city along the coast.
Well, I'm off to enjoy this weekend as if it were a small holiday. I suggest you do the same.
I said that I will decide whenever the rest of the team has given their preferences, because we probably won't be going anywhere this summer anyway. Mónica has just started on a new job, and won't have the possibility to take a holiday this summer.
Too bad, because we were both longing to go visit Barcelona this year. We have never been there, and Mónica would finally like to meet the girls she has been in contact with over the internet for many years. They have promised us to be our city guides whenever we decide to go.
But with the nearest beach only 10 minutes away, every weekend can be a little holiday if the weather is fine. And we can always go on a weekend trip to Santander or another big city along the coast.
Well, I'm off to enjoy this weekend as if it were a small holiday. I suggest you do the same.
Wednesday, June 08, 2005
About bikes
I'm thinking about getting a mountain bike, because I should get some exercise. And I could make some beautiful bike trips here, Asturias being a natural paradise and all.
But Spain is not like Belgium, when it comes to bikes. There are no bicycle paths on the side of the roads, and the Spanish drivers are not used to share the road with bikes.
I hardly ever see a bicycle on the road here. Which is a real shame, because it could be a great mean of transport in these busy cities.
I remember when Mónica visited me in Belgium for the first time, she frowned and asked me: "where are all those people going on their bikes?". I thought she was kidding me. But for her, a bike was a sports item, not a transport item. She was stunned when she saw a guy in a suit on a bike.
Anyway, I might go take a look at some cheap mountain bikes. I'm only afraid that in a few months it will be oxidizing in our garage, next to those dumbbells that I bought last year.
Have you heard? Blogging might not save your life, but it might catch your killer. That is what happened to 19 year old Simon Ng, who was killed in May. The police found his killer, because Simon had written in the last post of his Blog that his sister's former boyfriend was visiting. Guess who killed Simon and his sister? His last post already has 2800 comments.
Link to the blog Link to the story
But Spain is not like Belgium, when it comes to bikes. There are no bicycle paths on the side of the roads, and the Spanish drivers are not used to share the road with bikes.
I hardly ever see a bicycle on the road here. Which is a real shame, because it could be a great mean of transport in these busy cities.
I remember when Mónica visited me in Belgium for the first time, she frowned and asked me: "where are all those people going on their bikes?". I thought she was kidding me. But for her, a bike was a sports item, not a transport item. She was stunned when she saw a guy in a suit on a bike.
Anyway, I might go take a look at some cheap mountain bikes. I'm only afraid that in a few months it will be oxidizing in our garage, next to those dumbbells that I bought last year.
Have you heard? Blogging might not save your life, but it might catch your killer. That is what happened to 19 year old Simon Ng, who was killed in May. The police found his killer, because Simon had written in the last post of his Blog that his sister's former boyfriend was visiting. Guess who killed Simon and his sister? His last post already has 2800 comments.
Tuesday, June 07, 2005
In today's news
Today Shakira launches her new CD 'Fijación Oral'. You might know Shakira from her worldwide hit 'Whenever, wherever'. I first heard Shakira's music when I was on holiday in Asturias, Spain in 1996.
Since then I'm a big fan of her Spanish work. So I'm curious about this new CD.
On Sunday evening, she performed some of the songs at a free concert in Madrid, to support Madrid's candidature for the 2012 summer Olympics.
The first single 'la tortura', featuring Alejandro Sanz, another great Spanish artist, is already becoming a big hit in Spain. (You can see the video here)
The CD that will be released today is completely in Spanish. In November, the same CD will be released in English to the rest of the world.
And today Ikea opens a store in Asturias. The nearest store up until now was in Madrid, about 5 hours from here. This morning, people were already waiting at the doors of the store for the opening. The first weeks it will be almost impossible to visit due to the crowd.
Oh, and on Sunday, we had a perfect day at the beach.
(Click for a bigger view)
Since then I'm a big fan of her Spanish work. So I'm curious about this new CD.
On Sunday evening, she performed some of the songs at a free concert in Madrid, to support Madrid's candidature for the 2012 summer Olympics.
The first single 'la tortura', featuring Alejandro Sanz, another great Spanish artist, is already becoming a big hit in Spain. (You can see the video here)
The CD that will be released today is completely in Spanish. In November, the same CD will be released in English to the rest of the world.
And today Ikea opens a store in Asturias. The nearest store up until now was in Madrid, about 5 hours from here. This morning, people were already waiting at the doors of the store for the opening. The first weeks it will be almost impossible to visit due to the crowd.
Thursday, June 02, 2005
By the way
Exactly one year and six months ago I arrived in Spain, my car filled with all that it could carry. The start of a new era in my life.
And today Mónica got offered a new job. Since it is better than the one she has now, she decided to take it and is going to start on monday. That is, if she can get away from her recent job that fast without a problem.
Sounds like we have something to celebrate tonight.
Oh, and when you open your wardrobe in the morning, and find all your clothes on the floor of it because the bar couldn't take the weight of them hanging on it, does this mean you have too many clothes?
And today Mónica got offered a new job. Since it is better than the one she has now, she decided to take it and is going to start on monday. That is, if she can get away from her recent job that fast without a problem.
Sounds like we have something to celebrate tonight.
Oh, and when you open your wardrobe in the morning, and find all your clothes on the floor of it because the bar couldn't take the weight of them hanging on it, does this mean you have too many clothes?
Wednesday, June 01, 2005
About RSS, Atom and XML
Every now and then someone asks me: "Oi Chris! What are these RSS, Atom and XML feed things about, and do I need them on my blog??"
You could start searching on the internet for more information on these site feeds, but most of the time you need to be quite a computer freak to be able to understand what the hell they are talking about.
So let me try to shed some light on this subject for you.
Take me for example. Since I am a full-time computer geek and internet addict, I read about 30 blogs on a daily basis. Yes, 30, at least. You might ask yourself where I find the time to read them all. Well, that is where these feeds come in handy.
RSS, Atom and XML are 3 different standards, but theoretically they do the same thing. They create a basic text layout of your blog entries, so that they can easily be imported into an RSS-reader (a program that can import these texts).
The RSS-reader that I use is Bloglines. It has 3 major advantages: it is free, it can read all 3 feed standards and it is an online RSS-reader. This means you don't have to install it on your computer, and that you can check your favourite blogs for updates on every computer in the world with an internet connection.
So how does it work?
You create an account in bloglines. This is totally free and only takes a minute. Then you go to the 'My Feeds' tag, and click on 'add' to add one of your favourite blogs. You enter the blog or feed URL (for example: http://welcomeatthe.blogspot.com) and bloglines checks if this blog publishes one of the 3 feeds. If he finds one or more, you can subscribe to one of them and a link is added to 'my feeds' (The 3 feeds normally give the same result, so subscribing to one of them should do the trick).
Once you click on the link that is created in 'my feeds', bloglines considers the entries that you see of this blog to be read. Now every time you enter bloglines and that blog link is in bold, this means that there is a new entry on that blog that you haven't read yet.
bloglines also has a notifier. You install it, and it creates an icon in the windows toolbar. By right-clicking on it you enter the e-mail adress in the settings that you used to log in to bloglines. Now every time a blog you subscribed to has a new entry, the icon notifies you of this.
So instead of checking each blog every half hour to see if you guys have written an entry yet, I get notified by an icon when you do. That's the advantage of these feeds.
You could start searching on the internet for more information on these site feeds, but most of the time you need to be quite a computer freak to be able to understand what the hell they are talking about.
So let me try to shed some light on this subject for you.
Take me for example. Since I am a full-time computer geek and internet addict, I read about 30 blogs on a daily basis. Yes, 30, at least. You might ask yourself where I find the time to read them all. Well, that is where these feeds come in handy.
RSS, Atom and XML are 3 different standards, but theoretically they do the same thing. They create a basic text layout of your blog entries, so that they can easily be imported into an RSS-reader (a program that can import these texts).
The RSS-reader that I use is Bloglines. It has 3 major advantages: it is free, it can read all 3 feed standards and it is an online RSS-reader. This means you don't have to install it on your computer, and that you can check your favourite blogs for updates on every computer in the world with an internet connection.
So how does it work?
You create an account in bloglines. This is totally free and only takes a minute. Then you go to the 'My Feeds' tag, and click on 'add' to add one of your favourite blogs. You enter the blog or feed URL (for example: http://welcomeatthe.blogspot.com) and bloglines checks if this blog publishes one of the 3 feeds. If he finds one or more, you can subscribe to one of them and a link is added to 'my feeds' (The 3 feeds normally give the same result, so subscribing to one of them should do the trick).
Once you click on the link that is created in 'my feeds', bloglines considers the entries that you see of this blog to be read. Now every time you enter bloglines and that blog link is in bold, this means that there is a new entry on that blog that you haven't read yet.
bloglines also has a notifier. You install it, and it creates an icon in the windows toolbar. By right-clicking on it you enter the e-mail adress in the settings that you used to log in to bloglines. Now every time a blog you subscribed to has a new entry, the icon notifies you of this.
So instead of checking each blog every half hour to see if you guys have written an entry yet, I get notified by an icon when you do. That's the advantage of these feeds.
Tuesday, May 31, 2005
Tag Time
I got tagged by 3 people at the same time today: Thanks Tine, Lien and Dorien.
The problem is that it was a book tag, and that I don't read books. None. Never. Ever. I wouldn't know where to find the time to read books.
I only read the internet. Your blogs. And some more.
If you ever have a tag about movies, you can count me in!
The problem is that it was a book tag, and that I don't read books. None. Never. Ever. I wouldn't know where to find the time to read books.
I only read the internet. Your blogs. And some more.
If you ever have a tag about movies, you can count me in!
Monday, May 30, 2005
Reliving my childhood
Tonight, we will be watching Ferris Bueler's day off. And for the next two weeks or so, we've got these waiting to pass the DVD-player: The breakfast club, pretty in pink, sixteen candles, st. Elmo's fire and Class.
Yes, I'm going to relive my 1980's childhood with these "brat pack" movies that I haven't seen in 20 years. Mónica has never seen them at all, as she was still watching cartoons in the early 80's.
I was still pretty young as well, but I had 2 older sisters who were in love with Rob Lowe and Andrew McCarthy's smile, so these movies were videotaped and watched again and again until the tapes were worn out.
The actors in these movies were being labeled as 'THE' actors of the future back then, but their careers never really got that big. If Andrew McCarthy ever stumbles upon this site while Googling his popularity, he has to explain me why he never became as big as Tom Cruise. But I heard he did many things on Broadway.
I wonder if all these movies are still enjoyable after 20 years. I would of course like to see them in the original version, but since Mónica wouldn't understand much if we did, we will have to see the dubbed versions.
Yes, I'm going to relive my 1980's childhood with these "brat pack" movies that I haven't seen in 20 years. Mónica has never seen them at all, as she was still watching cartoons in the early 80's.
I was still pretty young as well, but I had 2 older sisters who were in love with Rob Lowe and Andrew McCarthy's smile, so these movies were videotaped and watched again and again until the tapes were worn out.
The actors in these movies were being labeled as 'THE' actors of the future back then, but their careers never really got that big. If Andrew McCarthy ever stumbles upon this site while Googling his popularity, he has to explain me why he never became as big as Tom Cruise. But I heard he did many things on Broadway.
I wonder if all these movies are still enjoyable after 20 years. I would of course like to see them in the original version, but since Mónica wouldn't understand much if we did, we will have to see the dubbed versions.
Friday, May 27, 2005
Let's hope for once the forecasts are wrong
Oh lucky us. It's 24ºC/75F outside and the sun is burning. This weekend it will only be 16ºC/61F, and overcast. I'm sure the sun will be shining again on Monday though. Maybe I should take some days off to be able to enjoy the weather. But now that Mónica is working as well, I'd rather wait until we can take some days off together.
The beach was already packed with people the last couple of days. At least we were able to go for a walk along the sea twice this week, after work. How I enjoy living only 10 minutes away from the nearest beach. It has such a relaxing effect. And there are still so many beautiful beaches to explore. And villages. And woods. And lakes. And mountains. But we would like some sun with that.
I'm eager to start taking some pictures again as well. I won't leave the house without my camera this weekend.
I was fooling around with photopaint yesterday, and created this artistic tree from one of my pictures. I uploaded it to Flickr, and within one minute someone tagged it as a favourite. I'm starting to like Flickr more and more.
Have a lovely weekend.
The beach was already packed with people the last couple of days. At least we were able to go for a walk along the sea twice this week, after work. How I enjoy living only 10 minutes away from the nearest beach. It has such a relaxing effect. And there are still so many beautiful beaches to explore. And villages. And woods. And lakes. And mountains. But we would like some sun with that.
I'm eager to start taking some pictures again as well. I won't leave the house without my camera this weekend.
I was fooling around with photopaint yesterday, and created this artistic tree from one of my pictures. I uploaded it to Flickr, and within one minute someone tagged it as a favourite. I'm starting to like Flickr more and more.
Have a lovely weekend.
Wednesday, May 25, 2005
43 things
How I like those nice little internet projects I run into while surfing every day.
Today I discovered 43 things. I had never heard of it before.
I don't know why it gives me this nice feeling. At least I know now that there are 637 other persons out there who would like to, just like me, spend less time fooling around on the net and more time actually working.
Today I discovered 43 things. I had never heard of it before.
I don't know why it gives me this nice feeling. At least I know now that there are 637 other persons out there who would like to, just like me, spend less time fooling around on the net and more time actually working.
Tuesday, May 24, 2005
When catholic priests turn into businessmen
The last couple of days, we have been confronted with hidden camera images demonstrating the malpractice of many Spanish priests in the news and in Spanish television programs.
These priests are telling couples that want to get married that their church has their own exclusive photographer and that other photographers are not admitted inside the church during the ceremony. The price for the exclusive photographer to attend the wedding is about 300 euros.
According to the priests, it's all about respect for the ceremony and for the church. The exclusive photographers know the course of the celebration, and know where to take place to make the best pictures, without disturbing the wedding.
But in fact, the priests are offered a percentage of the income of the photographers.
The hidden video images we have been shown these days are unbelievable. Wedding ceremonies that are suddenly stopped and photographers that are brutally thrown out of the church by the priests.
"This is the house of God", shouted a photographer. "But I'm running the place", was the answer of the priest.
These priests are telling couples that want to get married that their church has their own exclusive photographer and that other photographers are not admitted inside the church during the ceremony. The price for the exclusive photographer to attend the wedding is about 300 euros.
According to the priests, it's all about respect for the ceremony and for the church. The exclusive photographers know the course of the celebration, and know where to take place to make the best pictures, without disturbing the wedding.
But in fact, the priests are offered a percentage of the income of the photographers.
The hidden video images we have been shown these days are unbelievable. Wedding ceremonies that are suddenly stopped and photographers that are brutally thrown out of the church by the priests.
"This is the house of God", shouted a photographer. "But I'm running the place", was the answer of the priest.
Monday, May 23, 2005
Forgetting Dutch
Once every couple of weeks I have an online webcam meeting with my parents.
It's easier and cheaper than calling on the phone, and we can at least see each other again. And since the speed of my internet connection got quadrupled two weeks ago, the quality of the sound and the image are perfect.
Last night we had another meeting. But for the first time, I was actually having problems speaking in Dutch, the language that I have been speaking for 30 years before moving to Spain.
I guess it must have been the sudden switch of having to talk in another language, since I am used to speaking Spanish all the time now. But it felt very strange, having to think for seconds and not finding the words I was looking for, knowing how to say what I meant in Spanish, but not in Dutch.
I never thought this was going to happen.
Amie passed me this baton or meme or whatever they are called: If I could be.
If I could be a poet, I could finally express all those feelings that I can't find the right words for now.
If I could be a chef, I would make the most delicious low-calory chocolate desserts for my girl.
If I could be a psychologist, I would finally know all the right words to say whenever someone needs my support again.
If I could be an explorer, I would be able to visit all those beautiful places in the world that I would still love to see.
But I'm just an average programmer, living from day to day, trying to make the best of it all.
It's easier and cheaper than calling on the phone, and we can at least see each other again. And since the speed of my internet connection got quadrupled two weeks ago, the quality of the sound and the image are perfect.
Last night we had another meeting. But for the first time, I was actually having problems speaking in Dutch, the language that I have been speaking for 30 years before moving to Spain.
I guess it must have been the sudden switch of having to talk in another language, since I am used to speaking Spanish all the time now. But it felt very strange, having to think for seconds and not finding the words I was looking for, knowing how to say what I meant in Spanish, but not in Dutch.
I never thought this was going to happen.
Amie passed me this baton or meme or whatever they are called: If I could be.
If I could be a poet, I could finally express all those feelings that I can't find the right words for now.
If I could be a chef, I would make the most delicious low-calory chocolate desserts for my girl.
If I could be a psychologist, I would finally know all the right words to say whenever someone needs my support again.
If I could be an explorer, I would be able to visit all those beautiful places in the world that I would still love to see.
But I'm just an average programmer, living from day to day, trying to make the best of it all.
Friday, May 20, 2005
I see wild animals, running around like domestic animals
So I'm driving towards the exit of the company last night after work (we are located in an enormous valley), when I take a look in my rear view mirror and suddenly see 4 wild boars(wild pig, see picture) crossing the street!
I thought I was hallucinating, so I stopped the car, looked back and saw 2 full-grown wild boars and 2 little ones running across the street. I never have my camera ready when I need it!
So I thought that nobody was going to believe me when I told my colleagues this morning about what I had seen. But they just said: "Ah, yes. They are always around here. I've seen them several times already."
As if we are talking about the cats of the neighbours.
I thought I was hallucinating, so I stopped the car, looked back and saw 2 full-grown wild boars and 2 little ones running across the street. I never have my camera ready when I need it!
So I thought that nobody was going to believe me when I told my colleagues this morning about what I had seen. But they just said: "Ah, yes. They are always around here. I've seen them several times already."
As if we are talking about the cats of the neighbours.
Tuesday, May 17, 2005
More health problems
As if the allergy wasn't enough already (thanks for the tips, my dear readers), my throat started hurting on Saturday morning. I immediately blamed the damn air conditioning at work, because one of the lateral vents is blowing directly at me.
So I close the damn thing now and then, only to find it opened again a few days later by one of the maintenance workers.
We already had a notice that we are not allowed to close the green lateral vents because of some weird reason, but my hands are sometimes almost freezing from the cold wind blowing in my direction. So I close it whenever nobody's watching.
Anyway, by Saturday evening I had a mild fever. The throat ache got worse, accompanied by a headache and a dry cough. So when I was still feeling quite weak on Sunday night, I decided not to go to work on Monday and to go see the doctor.
My doctor (A doctor is assigned to you in Spain) is an older man. Usually, He justs asks what the problem is and prescribes a few days of rest to get it out of your system.
But when I went to the doctor yesterday, I had to see a substitute. So I told him about the fever, the throat ache and the headache, and he started to examine my throat and respiration.
And then he asked me with a smile: So tell me, what is the problem?
I could only think: Is this man an idiot? I just told him what the problem was!
And he continued: Because I don't see or hear anything wrong. And a grown 31 year old man like yourself should be able to endure a little throat ache, no?
I felt like a complete idiot at that moment, stupified by what he was telling me.
He prescribed me some soluble powders, while I was wondering why I needed those if there was nothing wrong with me!!??
And when he asked me if I needed a note to rectify my absence at work, I told him no, not wanting him to think that I only had come for that.
So here I am at work again, sucking on some tablets for my throat, with the air blowing at me from the left. I have to find a moment to close that damn thing again.
So I close the damn thing now and then, only to find it opened again a few days later by one of the maintenance workers.
We already had a notice that we are not allowed to close the green lateral vents because of some weird reason, but my hands are sometimes almost freezing from the cold wind blowing in my direction. So I close it whenever nobody's watching.
Anyway, by Saturday evening I had a mild fever. The throat ache got worse, accompanied by a headache and a dry cough. So when I was still feeling quite weak on Sunday night, I decided not to go to work on Monday and to go see the doctor.
My doctor (A doctor is assigned to you in Spain) is an older man. Usually, He justs asks what the problem is and prescribes a few days of rest to get it out of your system.
But when I went to the doctor yesterday, I had to see a substitute. So I told him about the fever, the throat ache and the headache, and he started to examine my throat and respiration.
And then he asked me with a smile: So tell me, what is the problem?
I could only think: Is this man an idiot? I just told him what the problem was!
And he continued: Because I don't see or hear anything wrong. And a grown 31 year old man like yourself should be able to endure a little throat ache, no?
I felt like a complete idiot at that moment, stupified by what he was telling me.
He prescribed me some soluble powders, while I was wondering why I needed those if there was nothing wrong with me!!??
And when he asked me if I needed a note to rectify my absence at work, I told him no, not wanting him to think that I only had come for that.
So here I am at work again, sucking on some tablets for my throat, with the air blowing at me from the left. I have to find a moment to close that damn thing again.
Thursday, May 12, 2005
Damn polen
It's another one of those days when my hayfever is slowly driving me mad.
Yes, I'm one of those poor people who pass half the summer sneezing just because the sun is shining and the flowers are blooming.
Today my nose hasn't stopped running all day, I have been sneezing at least a thousand times and my eyes are swollen, red and prickly.
It makes me want to scream and kick, but I realize that that won't help.
The 3 packages of kleenex I had in my drawer were already empty around noon, so I have to get me a supply of that rough, industrial toilet paper every half hour, that makes me look like Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer.
Of course I have a medicine to take, some tablets called Zyrtec, but on days like these even those don't seem to help a lot. And as if sneezing a thousand times isn't tiring enough, these tablets are also sleep inducing. So by the time I'll get home, I will probably be exhausted.
It all started when I was about 16 years old, and since then it has been bothering me every year.
Tests concluded that I'm especially allergic to the polen of birch trees and grasses. And back when I used to smoke, the effect was even worse. I remember studying with tissues stuffed in my nostrils, so I wouldn't have to bother blowing my nose for 2 minutes.
Well, I'm off to get me some more of that terrible sandpaper they call toilet paper.
I'm counting the minutes until I can go home.
Yes, I'm one of those poor people who pass half the summer sneezing just because the sun is shining and the flowers are blooming.
Today my nose hasn't stopped running all day, I have been sneezing at least a thousand times and my eyes are swollen, red and prickly.
It makes me want to scream and kick, but I realize that that won't help.
The 3 packages of kleenex I had in my drawer were already empty around noon, so I have to get me a supply of that rough, industrial toilet paper every half hour, that makes me look like Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer.
Of course I have a medicine to take, some tablets called Zyrtec, but on days like these even those don't seem to help a lot. And as if sneezing a thousand times isn't tiring enough, these tablets are also sleep inducing. So by the time I'll get home, I will probably be exhausted.
It all started when I was about 16 years old, and since then it has been bothering me every year.
Tests concluded that I'm especially allergic to the polen of birch trees and grasses. And back when I used to smoke, the effect was even worse. I remember studying with tissues stuffed in my nostrils, so I wouldn't have to bother blowing my nose for 2 minutes.
Well, I'm off to get me some more of that terrible sandpaper they call toilet paper.
I'm counting the minutes until I can go home.
Wednesday, May 11, 2005
World of photography
When surfing the web today, I stumbled upon this website: http://www.woophy.com.
As I thought it is a remarkable photography project, I decided to upload some of my pictures, and cover some more of the world map. You can find me in Brussels, Porto, Hasselt and of course the north of Spain.
With the help of amateur photographers across the world they strive to ultimately cover every inch of the world map with images that represent the world's beauty and peculiarity from all different cultural perspectives.
As I thought it is a remarkable photography project, I decided to upload some of my pictures, and cover some more of the world map. You can find me in Brussels, Porto, Hasselt and of course the north of Spain.
With the help of amateur photographers across the world they strive to ultimately cover every inch of the world map with images that represent the world's beauty and peculiarity from all different cultural perspectives.
Tuesday, May 10, 2005
All work and no play makes Chris a dull boy
It's going to be a long week.
All of a sudden, our team has been asked to attend a training, starting today and until the end of this week, from 6 to 8 pm.
So they decide to give us a training about something we will probably never use in our job, and to give it in our free time. Lucky us.
And of course it starts exactly the day that Mónica will be home a little sooner.
The poor girl has been working very hard the last two weeks, getting up at 7 am and coming home at 8:30 pm.
I had already written here that she is a saleswoman for the most important radio station of the area now, not only selling radio advertisements, but also creating them. And she is doing better than I had ever expected.
The first few days were a bit chaotic and nervebraking. But suddenly she transformed into this professional salesperson, convincing managers to advertise on the radio and creating advertisements and slogans out of nothing. And she actually seems to like it.
Too bad they don't even pay her half of what she is worth. But it's a start, and she is learning very fast.
All of a sudden, our team has been asked to attend a training, starting today and until the end of this week, from 6 to 8 pm.
So they decide to give us a training about something we will probably never use in our job, and to give it in our free time. Lucky us.
And of course it starts exactly the day that Mónica will be home a little sooner.
The poor girl has been working very hard the last two weeks, getting up at 7 am and coming home at 8:30 pm.
I had already written here that she is a saleswoman for the most important radio station of the area now, not only selling radio advertisements, but also creating them. And she is doing better than I had ever expected.
The first few days were a bit chaotic and nervebraking. But suddenly she transformed into this professional salesperson, convincing managers to advertise on the radio and creating advertisements and slogans out of nothing. And she actually seems to like it.
Too bad they don't even pay her half of what she is worth. But it's a start, and she is learning very fast.
Monday, May 09, 2005
Another weekend flew by
Mónica is slowly starting to understand that the weekend passes by too fast and that it should have one more day.
On Saturday, we spent too much time thinking and discussing what we would do. The weather was worse than we had expected, so enjoying the sun like we had done last weekend wasn't an option. We were both a little tired, and after the siesta and a few rounds of the very addictive game 'crazy taxi 3', we decided to drive to a new shopping mall in a near village.
We checked out the shops, dined in a restaurant with a serious shortage of staff, and went to see 'The Interpreter' afterwards.
The trailer of the movie had looked very promising to me, but it wasn't as good as I had expected. The plot was a little too complicated and the end was rather disappointing. Mónica even fell asleep during the movie.
Nicole looked younger than ever (apparently she has discovered botox), and Sean penn's nose is growing beyond human proportions.
On Sunday we went to have lunch at Mónica's parents' house again. Since Mónica started working, we hardly see them anymore. Of course we watched the Spanish F1 Grand Prix, supporting the Asturian Fernando Alsonso.
After lunch, I made my mom happy by calling her for mother's day. In Spain it had been mother's day last week.
On Saturday, we spent too much time thinking and discussing what we would do. The weather was worse than we had expected, so enjoying the sun like we had done last weekend wasn't an option. We were both a little tired, and after the siesta and a few rounds of the very addictive game 'crazy taxi 3', we decided to drive to a new shopping mall in a near village.
We checked out the shops, dined in a restaurant with a serious shortage of staff, and went to see 'The Interpreter' afterwards.
The trailer of the movie had looked very promising to me, but it wasn't as good as I had expected. The plot was a little too complicated and the end was rather disappointing. Mónica even fell asleep during the movie.
Nicole looked younger than ever (apparently she has discovered botox), and Sean penn's nose is growing beyond human proportions.
On Sunday we went to have lunch at Mónica's parents' house again. Since Mónica started working, we hardly see them anymore. Of course we watched the Spanish F1 Grand Prix, supporting the Asturian Fernando Alsonso.
After lunch, I made my mom happy by calling her for mother's day. In Spain it had been mother's day last week.
Friday, May 06, 2005
Talking about speed
Mónica and I both like playing race computer games. I like all type of games, actually. She mainly likes the racing ones. And she doesn't even like driving in real life.
But everytime we ended up in the arcade hall of the shopping mall, we would play a round against each other.
I already had some racing games installed on my computer, like 'Need for speed underground II' or 'Colin McRae Rally 2005', but without a steering wheel it's just not the same.
So when we went shopping in 'el Corte Ingles' last week, we just couldn't resist the offer they had on a Trust steering wheel, even if we don't have much time to use the computer lately. Less since Mónica started working.
So our 'computer room/recording studio' got a new gadget, and we lose the stress of a working day by driving at 120m/h through the streets of a virtual city.
But everytime we ended up in the arcade hall of the shopping mall, we would play a round against each other.
I already had some racing games installed on my computer, like 'Need for speed underground II' or 'Colin McRae Rally 2005', but without a steering wheel it's just not the same.
So when we went shopping in 'el Corte Ingles' last week, we just couldn't resist the offer they had on a Trust steering wheel, even if we don't have much time to use the computer lately. Less since Mónica started working.
So our 'computer room/recording studio' got a new gadget, and we lose the stress of a working day by driving at 120m/h through the streets of a virtual city.
Thursday, May 05, 2005
We're speeding up
We finally had the great news that our Internet Service Provider is going to upgrade the speed of their client's connections. Just in time, as I was thinking about upgrading my contract to be able to surf a little faster.
Up until now, we only had a 160 Kbps connection at home. But in the month of May it will be quadrupled, to 640 Kbps, without an extra charge.
Broadband internet connections only started to get widely popular in Spain in 2004, and due to the lack of competition, the speed offered by the ISP's was still very low. But since 2005, the competition is getting tougher and the offered speeds are slowly rising.
But still, for the same price I am paying in Spain, I would have a 5Mbit connection in Belgium.
So what's your speed?
Up until now, we only had a 160 Kbps connection at home. But in the month of May it will be quadrupled, to 640 Kbps, without an extra charge.
Broadband internet connections only started to get widely popular in Spain in 2004, and due to the lack of competition, the speed offered by the ISP's was still very low. But since 2005, the competition is getting tougher and the offered speeds are slowly rising.
But still, for the same price I am paying in Spain, I would have a 5Mbit connection in Belgium.
So what's your speed?
Wednesday, May 04, 2005
visiting monte Naranco
On Monday morning the weather was quite nice, so we decided to search the Asturian tourist guide for a place we had not visited yet.
The first place I came up with was mount Naranco: a 600 meters high mountain in Oviedo, from where you have a stunning view of the city.
On our way up, we visited two pre-roman churches, constructed in the ninth century. And on top of the mountain, there is the 35 meter high statue of the sacred heart (Sagrado Corazón), that seems to be embracing the city.
We had lunch in the fields overlooking Oviedo and enjoyed the warmth of the springtime sun, until in the afternoon the clouds came rolling in.
By the end of the day, our faces had a beautiful colour.
The first place I came up with was mount Naranco: a 600 meters high mountain in Oviedo, from where you have a stunning view of the city.
On our way up, we visited two pre-roman churches, constructed in the ninth century. And on top of the mountain, there is the 35 meter high statue of the sacred heart (Sagrado Corazón), that seems to be embracing the city.
We had lunch in the fields overlooking Oviedo and enjoyed the warmth of the springtime sun, until in the afternoon the clouds came rolling in.
By the end of the day, our faces had a beautiful colour.
Tuesday, May 03, 2005
So I snapped
Has the climate in Belgium changed since I left?
While the temperature in Belgium reached 30C/86F this weekend, here in the north of Spain we had 21C/70F, heavy clouds and an occasional shower. And I just heard that people in Belgium are having Thursday and Friday off this week, while here only Monday was a public holiday.
Why is the grass always greener on the other side of the fence?
My weekend began with this little story.
In March I bought a new digital camera in the local Carrefour supermarket. It came with a promotion of 100 free picture prints, valid until the 30th of april.
So I rushed to Carrefour on Friday evening, carrying my cd containing 93 of my favourite digital snapshots. I just couldn't find 7 more that were worth a print or that I didn't have printed yet. And I was in a hurry, so I didn't really bother.
When I arrived at the supermarket, I handed my cd to the lady at the counter, mentioning the promotion.
She asked: Are there 100 pictures on the cd?
Me: No, just 93.
That's when she said to me in a silly tone: Then it's not valid. The promotion is for 100 pictures. Not 99 and not 101. Exactly 100.
I looked at her in disbelief and that's when I snapped…
You have to know that this was the fourth time that I went to Carrefour with a promotion, and the fourth time that they told me they couldn't give it to me for some obscure reason. In fact, when I arrived, I was already wondering what they were going to invent this time.
And so I snapped.
I made quite a scene, and I'm not very proud of it. I raised my voice more than 1 tone, told her exactly what I thought about their promotions, took my cd, and left. She didn't even see it coming, and looked at me as if she got hit by a train.
So I went home and told Mónica what had happened.
That's when we remembered that her father had bought the same camera when I had bought it, and that he was going to go to Carrefour also that evening to get his 100 free prints.
So she called her dad:
- Dad? Where are you?
º In Carrefour.
- Did you ask for your free prints yet?
º Yes. They are ready in an hour.
- How many pictures did you have? 100?
º No, just 73.
My mouth fell open.
The only explanation we could find was that my scene earlier had somehow changed the rules, and that now it didn't have to be exactly 100 pictures (We checked the promotion papers at home, and there was no rule saying that it had to be exactly 100).
So we rushed back to Carrefour, Mónica went to the counter to hand over the cd (I wasn't going to show my face again), and this time there was no problem.
1 Hour later they were ready: 93 crispy clean pictures.
Why do these kind of things always happen to me?
While the temperature in Belgium reached 30C/86F this weekend, here in the north of Spain we had 21C/70F, heavy clouds and an occasional shower. And I just heard that people in Belgium are having Thursday and Friday off this week, while here only Monday was a public holiday.
Why is the grass always greener on the other side of the fence?
My weekend began with this little story.
In March I bought a new digital camera in the local Carrefour supermarket. It came with a promotion of 100 free picture prints, valid until the 30th of april.
So I rushed to Carrefour on Friday evening, carrying my cd containing 93 of my favourite digital snapshots. I just couldn't find 7 more that were worth a print or that I didn't have printed yet. And I was in a hurry, so I didn't really bother.
When I arrived at the supermarket, I handed my cd to the lady at the counter, mentioning the promotion.
She asked: Are there 100 pictures on the cd?
Me: No, just 93.
That's when she said to me in a silly tone: Then it's not valid. The promotion is for 100 pictures. Not 99 and not 101. Exactly 100.
I looked at her in disbelief and that's when I snapped…
You have to know that this was the fourth time that I went to Carrefour with a promotion, and the fourth time that they told me they couldn't give it to me for some obscure reason. In fact, when I arrived, I was already wondering what they were going to invent this time.
And so I snapped.
I made quite a scene, and I'm not very proud of it. I raised my voice more than 1 tone, told her exactly what I thought about their promotions, took my cd, and left. She didn't even see it coming, and looked at me as if she got hit by a train.
So I went home and told Mónica what had happened.
That's when we remembered that her father had bought the same camera when I had bought it, and that he was going to go to Carrefour also that evening to get his 100 free prints.
So she called her dad:
- Dad? Where are you?
º In Carrefour.
- Did you ask for your free prints yet?
º Yes. They are ready in an hour.
- How many pictures did you have? 100?
º No, just 73.
My mouth fell open.
The only explanation we could find was that my scene earlier had somehow changed the rules, and that now it didn't have to be exactly 100 pictures (We checked the promotion papers at home, and there was no rule saying that it had to be exactly 100).
So we rushed back to Carrefour, Mónica went to the counter to hand over the cd (I wasn't going to show my face again), and this time there was no problem.
1 Hour later they were ready: 93 crispy clean pictures.
Why do these kind of things always happen to me?
Friday, April 29, 2005
Excuse me??
Maybe I'm just being a snob, but it bothered me while we were shopping in Belgium during our trip. And it didn't just happen once, it happened 3 times.
Imagine that you try on some clothes in the dressing room of a clothes shop, but they don't fit or you don't like them. What do you do with the clothes when you leave the dressing room?
Well, in 3 different shops during our stay in Belgium we were asked by one of the girls who were working there: 'Could you please put it back where you took it?'.
My mouth fell open in disbelief.
Now tell me, am I being a snob and does this sound normal to you?
On another ocasion, I was about to make a picture in a shopping mall, when all of a sudden a security guard comes running to me, saying: 'sir, sir! You can't make pictures here!'
Can they forbid you to take pictures in the passage of a shopping mall?
Imagine that you try on some clothes in the dressing room of a clothes shop, but they don't fit or you don't like them. What do you do with the clothes when you leave the dressing room?
Well, in 3 different shops during our stay in Belgium we were asked by one of the girls who were working there: 'Could you please put it back where you took it?'.
My mouth fell open in disbelief.
Now tell me, am I being a snob and does this sound normal to you?
On another ocasion, I was about to make a picture in a shopping mall, when all of a sudden a security guard comes running to me, saying: 'sir, sir! You can't make pictures here!'
Can they forbid you to take pictures in the passage of a shopping mall?
Thursday, April 28, 2005
We're home again!
Hello again.
We're back home, in Spain. We arrived on Tuesday evening after a very long and tiring trip: an hour and a half to get to the airport in Belgium, 2 hours on the plane, and 3 hours by car again to get home.
It was a good idea to take an extra day off yesterday to rest a little. But today I'm back at work.
Our trip to Belgium was great. The weather got better the day after we arrived, and we had sun and temperatures above 20ºC/68F almost every day.
Our family and friends were all fine, and it was great to see them again after 6 months.
My 2 year old niece Morgane was the star of the week. We had a blast with her. She's absolutely adorable.
My friends all came together for a nice dinner on Saturday night, and after dinner we went out like old times. The biggest news was that my friends Tom and Louisa are expecting a baby.
We visited Brussels together with my parents. But they don't have enough patience for these kind of trips. We saw all of Brussels in about 3 hours. After the trip it felt like we had seen nothing at all.
The communion party of my nephew was fine, but spending five hours eating gets a little boring. They should have organised it a little differently.
Of course we spent a day shopping as well and we even went to club Versuz on Thursday night.
So you can understand that those five days flew by extremely fast, and that we had to plan and calculate to be able to do everything we wanted to do.
But now it's back to reality. Even Mónica is having her first day at her new job today. I'm already curious to know how that worked out.
More pics here
We're back home, in Spain. We arrived on Tuesday evening after a very long and tiring trip: an hour and a half to get to the airport in Belgium, 2 hours on the plane, and 3 hours by car again to get home.
It was a good idea to take an extra day off yesterday to rest a little. But today I'm back at work.
Our trip to Belgium was great. The weather got better the day after we arrived, and we had sun and temperatures above 20ºC/68F almost every day.
Our family and friends were all fine, and it was great to see them again after 6 months.
My 2 year old niece Morgane was the star of the week. We had a blast with her. She's absolutely adorable.
My friends all came together for a nice dinner on Saturday night, and after dinner we went out like old times. The biggest news was that my friends Tom and Louisa are expecting a baby.
We visited Brussels together with my parents. But they don't have enough patience for these kind of trips. We saw all of Brussels in about 3 hours. After the trip it felt like we had seen nothing at all.
The communion party of my nephew was fine, but spending five hours eating gets a little boring. They should have organised it a little differently.
Of course we spent a day shopping as well and we even went to club Versuz on Thursday night.
So you can understand that those five days flew by extremely fast, and that we had to plan and calculate to be able to do everything we wanted to do.
But now it's back to reality. Even Mónica is having her first day at her new job today. I'm already curious to know how that worked out.
More pics here
Tuesday, April 19, 2005
Off to Belgium
Well, this is my last working day of the week. Tomorrow morning, Mónica and I will be traveling to Valladolid, where we will be taking a plane to Belgium in the afternoon. We are going to visit my family and friends in Belgium again, like we try to do every 6 months.
My parents and sisters will be glad to see me again, and we are very curious to see the nephews and niece again. The last time we went, our little niece Morgane couldn't talk yet. Now apparently she doesn't shut up. And she has been practicing with pictures of us to know and say our names. We will also be attending our little nephew's communion party.
I plan to make many pictures and videos, and maybe I will share some with you guys and girls.
So until next Wednesday it will be a little quiet around here. But I will be back with fresh courage and stories. Until then and have a nice week.
My parents and sisters will be glad to see me again, and we are very curious to see the nephews and niece again. The last time we went, our little niece Morgane couldn't talk yet. Now apparently she doesn't shut up. And she has been practicing with pictures of us to know and say our names. We will also be attending our little nephew's communion party.
I plan to make many pictures and videos, and maybe I will share some with you guys and girls.
So until next Wednesday it will be a little quiet around here. But I will be back with fresh courage and stories. Until then and have a nice week.
Thursday, April 14, 2005
Pump it up!
Do you know the arcade machine in the picture? It's an Exceed or 'Pump it up' machine. According to the official website, they can only be found in Spain, Taiwan, Korea, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina and the USA.
Before a few weeks, I had never seen one in my life. Until it suddenly showed up in the arcade hall in the local mall. It was standing alone in a corner, flashing its lights and playing jingles to attract potential gamers.
Two weeks ago, when we entered the mall, we suddenly saw a huge crowd at the entrance of the arcade hall. As curiosity is my middle name, I persuaded Mónica to go with me and check out what was going on. We found out that they were all looking, staring in disbelief was more like it, at 2 youngsters on the machine.
Exceed is a dance simulation game, which consists of a projection screen and a dancefloor with 5 pressure sensitive panels. As the music starts, the symbols that are also on the panels of the dancefloor begin to move up the screen with the music. The player has to step on the corresponding panel on the dance floor as each symbol reaches the top of the screen. That way, the player is sort of dancing to the music.
Sounds easy, doesn't it? Well, it looks impossible, I can tell you. Especially when you see those kids, dancing and jumping to the music at a speed so fast that I couldn't even follow the symbols on the screen. People were looking with open mouths at the spectacle.
So I started wondering where these professionals suddenly came from, as I never had seen anybody dancing on the machine before. That's when I started investigating, and found out there is going to be an exceed tournament at the same mall on the first of may. So apparently, they were practicing for the tournament.
Further investigation led me to the official site of the Spanish 'pump it up' community. Apparently there has been already a tournament at our mall in february, and when I looked at the pictures of the event, there they were, the same youngsters.
If we don't forget about the event, we sure will go check it out. And I'm going to take my video camera, because you are not going to believe your eyes when you see what these kids are capable of.
Before a few weeks, I had never seen one in my life. Until it suddenly showed up in the arcade hall in the local mall. It was standing alone in a corner, flashing its lights and playing jingles to attract potential gamers.
Two weeks ago, when we entered the mall, we suddenly saw a huge crowd at the entrance of the arcade hall. As curiosity is my middle name, I persuaded Mónica to go with me and check out what was going on. We found out that they were all looking, staring in disbelief was more like it, at 2 youngsters on the machine.
Exceed is a dance simulation game, which consists of a projection screen and a dancefloor with 5 pressure sensitive panels. As the music starts, the symbols that are also on the panels of the dancefloor begin to move up the screen with the music. The player has to step on the corresponding panel on the dance floor as each symbol reaches the top of the screen. That way, the player is sort of dancing to the music.
Sounds easy, doesn't it? Well, it looks impossible, I can tell you. Especially when you see those kids, dancing and jumping to the music at a speed so fast that I couldn't even follow the symbols on the screen. People were looking with open mouths at the spectacle.
So I started wondering where these professionals suddenly came from, as I never had seen anybody dancing on the machine before. That's when I started investigating, and found out there is going to be an exceed tournament at the same mall on the first of may. So apparently, they were practicing for the tournament.
Further investigation led me to the official site of the Spanish 'pump it up' community. Apparently there has been already a tournament at our mall in february, and when I looked at the pictures of the event, there they were, the same youngsters.
If we don't forget about the event, we sure will go check it out. And I'm going to take my video camera, because you are not going to believe your eyes when you see what these kids are capable of.
Tuesday, April 12, 2005
Counting the days
Blogger has been acting strange again the last few days, so I wasn't able to post when I wanted to.
Anyway, we got some great news.
Mónica was supposed to start at her new job yesterday. We had been talking about the fact that she wouldn't be able to go to Belgium with me next week. I knew she could use a break as well, and that she would love to see the little rascals of the family again.
So she decided to be brave and mention to her boss the fact that we had planned a trip. He took it quite well, and said that there was no hurry. If she wanted to, she could start working the day we got back.
So she will be going with me after all. It's better this way.
Due to the bad weather we ended up in the shopping mall again this weekend, buying presents and clothing for those same little rascals. And then we decided to go out and celebrate the fact that Mónica found a job.
So we ended up dancing in our favourite bar 'Bulevar' in Gijon and in a beautiful bar we discovered some time ago, Buddha (see picture), until 4 in the morning.
It had been months since we went dancing. When it's that cold at night, we just don't feel like it.
On Sunday we went to have lunch with Mónica's parents, and cleaned the apartment afterwards.
I'm counting the days until next Wednesday. I really need a vacation.
Anyway, we got some great news.
Mónica was supposed to start at her new job yesterday. We had been talking about the fact that she wouldn't be able to go to Belgium with me next week. I knew she could use a break as well, and that she would love to see the little rascals of the family again.
So she decided to be brave and mention to her boss the fact that we had planned a trip. He took it quite well, and said that there was no hurry. If she wanted to, she could start working the day we got back.
So she will be going with me after all. It's better this way.
Due to the bad weather we ended up in the shopping mall again this weekend, buying presents and clothing for those same little rascals. And then we decided to go out and celebrate the fact that Mónica found a job.
So we ended up dancing in our favourite bar 'Bulevar' in Gijon and in a beautiful bar we discovered some time ago, Buddha (see picture), until 4 in the morning.
It had been months since we went dancing. When it's that cold at night, we just don't feel like it.
On Sunday we went to have lunch with Mónica's parents, and cleaned the apartment afterwards.
I'm counting the days until next Wednesday. I really need a vacation.
Thursday, April 07, 2005
Spain's worst shame
Spanish security and social experts have expressed great concern over the surge in incidents of domestic violence after 13 Spanish women lost their lives in the first quarter of 2005 in domestic violence incidents.
In 2004, 60.000 women lodged complaints against their husbands or partners.
Spanish authorities say the figure is much higher, given the number of women who suffered various forms of domestic mistreatment but never complained officially. Thousands reportedly stay in abusive relationships because, they say, there is nowhere else to go.
Further worse, 72 women were also killed, including 67 by their husbands or ex-husbands in 2004, according to the statistics released by the Spanish Observatory on violence against women.
They also revealed that 170 women were killed out of domestic violence during the last three years. Feminist groups, however, put the number of victims at 350.
Feminist groups blamed Spanish authorities for dealing with the complaints less seriously than they ought to. They regret the authorities hear from the mistreated women without writing down their complaints.
The government of Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero has pressed for a number of measures to deter domestic violence since coming to power in March last year.
The measures include allotting 200 policemen and 250 Civil Guard members to intervene immediately to save women facing threats by their husbands, ex-husbands or partners.
Abused women now get financial compensation, and could call a government-run hot line to deliver their complaints.
Zapatero recently described Spain's domestic violence record as the country’s "worst shame" and an "unacceptable evil".
In 2004, 60.000 women lodged complaints against their husbands or partners.
Spanish authorities say the figure is much higher, given the number of women who suffered various forms of domestic mistreatment but never complained officially. Thousands reportedly stay in abusive relationships because, they say, there is nowhere else to go.
Further worse, 72 women were also killed, including 67 by their husbands or ex-husbands in 2004, according to the statistics released by the Spanish Observatory on violence against women.
They also revealed that 170 women were killed out of domestic violence during the last three years. Feminist groups, however, put the number of victims at 350.
Feminist groups blamed Spanish authorities for dealing with the complaints less seriously than they ought to. They regret the authorities hear from the mistreated women without writing down their complaints.
The government of Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero has pressed for a number of measures to deter domestic violence since coming to power in March last year.
The measures include allotting 200 policemen and 250 Civil Guard members to intervene immediately to save women facing threats by their husbands, ex-husbands or partners.
Abused women now get financial compensation, and could call a government-run hot line to deliver their complaints.
Zapatero recently described Spain's domestic violence record as the country’s "worst shame" and an "unacceptable evil".
Wednesday, April 06, 2005
Boredom
I'm a little bored on the job.
There is very little new work coming in lately, so I'm taking it easy on the work I still have assigned to me. A little trick everybody on my team is applying these days.
We don't want to get in the situation where we have no work at all and nothing new is coming in.
So what does a person do all day when he is bored? That's right, surf the web.
I see a lot of strange, great and funny things on the internet in a day. You should see the list of favorites I have gathered in a year.
To avoid this growing list of senseless links but still be able to recall some things I've seen, I decided to place some links here.
It may be just a temporary thing, because I created it out of boredom. But as long as it lasts, whenever YOU are bored, you could check out some strange things I've seen.
There is very little new work coming in lately, so I'm taking it easy on the work I still have assigned to me. A little trick everybody on my team is applying these days.
We don't want to get in the situation where we have no work at all and nothing new is coming in.
So what does a person do all day when he is bored? That's right, surf the web.
I see a lot of strange, great and funny things on the internet in a day. You should see the list of favorites I have gathered in a year.
To avoid this growing list of senseless links but still be able to recall some things I've seen, I decided to place some links here.
It may be just a temporary thing, because I created it out of boredom. But as long as it lasts, whenever YOU are bored, you could check out some strange things I've seen.
Tuesday, April 05, 2005
A special day
We had some great news today.
Mónica has been offered a job at last. She had done a job interview last week, and the recruiter had said that the people who would get selected for the job would receive a call on Friday. Last Friday. But on Friday nobody called, so Mónica was a little sad all weekend.
Today they finally called. I had told her they were still going to call, but she was convinced they weren't.
She has to go sign her contract and meet her colleagues tomorrow.
She will be selling and making radio advertisements for a national radio channel.
The bad side of the news is that this probably means that I will have to go alone to Belgium at the end of the month, when I will go visit my family. For one week it will be like old times again, me living in Belgium and her living in Spain. Calling, chatting, webcamming and missing each other. She would miss seeing my nephews, I'm sure. And I will be bored most of the time.
Mónica has been offered a job at last. She had done a job interview last week, and the recruiter had said that the people who would get selected for the job would receive a call on Friday. Last Friday. But on Friday nobody called, so Mónica was a little sad all weekend.
Today they finally called. I had told her they were still going to call, but she was convinced they weren't.
She has to go sign her contract and meet her colleagues tomorrow.
She will be selling and making radio advertisements for a national radio channel.
The bad side of the news is that this probably means that I will have to go alone to Belgium at the end of the month, when I will go visit my family. For one week it will be like old times again, me living in Belgium and her living in Spain. Calling, chatting, webcamming and missing each other. She would miss seeing my nephews, I'm sure. And I will be bored most of the time.
Monday, April 04, 2005
Just a thought
Won't it be strange when another pope will be elected?
I've only known one pope in my life.
Now 'the pope' is going to be another guy.
I wonder if this is going to change the Vatican's vision on some important worldly themes, like anti-conception.
I've only known one pope in my life.
Now 'the pope' is going to be another guy.
I wonder if this is going to change the Vatican's vision on some important worldly themes, like anti-conception.
Friday, April 01, 2005
Dad's sending pictures
My dad always tries to act as if he knows as much about computers as I do.
He even sends me links that he thinks I might find interesting.
So I giggle when he sends me a link, tells me he discovered a nice program I should try, and I find out he is talking about 'ad-aware'.
Recently he bought a digital camera. Today I finally got the mail I had been expecting since a few weeks.
Apparently he's trying to send me 900 KB pictures, and he's wondering why it is taking so long and why they are not getting through. He will try sending them one by one.
So how do you explain your old man he should resize those pictures before sending them.
I started Googling and I found the ideal program. I tried it out and it is the easiest thing I've ever seen, resizing images with just one click. Check it out: photogadget
Today at 18:00 European time, a new Belgian Groupblog will open its doors. Some 20 bloggers will try to make a difference in the Belgian blogworld. I've been asked by the creators to join in and be their reporter in Spain. Belgian newspapers and radio stations have already mentioned the blog, so if you understand any dutch, check it out, starting this afternoon: www.struikgewas.be
He even sends me links that he thinks I might find interesting.
So I giggle when he sends me a link, tells me he discovered a nice program I should try, and I find out he is talking about 'ad-aware'.
Recently he bought a digital camera. Today I finally got the mail I had been expecting since a few weeks.
Apparently he's trying to send me 900 KB pictures, and he's wondering why it is taking so long and why they are not getting through. He will try sending them one by one.
So how do you explain your old man he should resize those pictures before sending them.
I started Googling and I found the ideal program. I tried it out and it is the easiest thing I've ever seen, resizing images with just one click. Check it out: photogadget
Today at 18:00 European time, a new Belgian Groupblog will open its doors. Some 20 bloggers will try to make a difference in the Belgian blogworld. I've been asked by the creators to join in and be their reporter in Spain. Belgian newspapers and radio stations have already mentioned the blog, so if you understand any dutch, check it out, starting this afternoon: www.struikgewas.be
Thursday, March 31, 2005
I'm the man!
Whenever I have to talk in spanish to someone I don't know, I get a little nervous.
I have been living in Spain for 1 year and 3 months now.
Before that I knew very little about the Spanish language. But fortunately I seem to learn languages very fast (I speak and understand 5 different languages now).
My colleagues and my girlfriend tell me I speak Spanish almost perfectly, and I even think and dream in Spanish as well.
But there is always some insecurity when I have to speak to someone I don't know.
Will I be able to understand the person? (People from the South of Spain are very dificult to understand, even by Spaniards from other regions)
Will I be able to express what I'm trying to say?
Mónica even tells me that I speak with a different accent every time I talk to someone that I'm meeting for the first time. It must be nerves.
Yesterday, one of the bosses in the U.S. gave me a call in the afternoon, saying that he needed me as a translator. He had to call to Mexico, and wasn't sure if these people were going to understand him. And because I speak English and Spanish fluently, I needed to act as a translator.
I got an instant panic attack, fearing that I was going to blow it if I was not going to understand the mexican person on the other side of the phone. They do have a peculiar accent overthere, wey.
But I did just fine. I understood what they were saying, explained what my boss wanted without a problem, and everything was arranged in 2 minutes.
Afterwards my boss wrote me a message on the instant messenger, saying: you’re the man!
I have been living in Spain for 1 year and 3 months now.
Before that I knew very little about the Spanish language. But fortunately I seem to learn languages very fast (I speak and understand 5 different languages now).
My colleagues and my girlfriend tell me I speak Spanish almost perfectly, and I even think and dream in Spanish as well.
But there is always some insecurity when I have to speak to someone I don't know.
Will I be able to understand the person? (People from the South of Spain are very dificult to understand, even by Spaniards from other regions)
Will I be able to express what I'm trying to say?
Mónica even tells me that I speak with a different accent every time I talk to someone that I'm meeting for the first time. It must be nerves.
Yesterday, one of the bosses in the U.S. gave me a call in the afternoon, saying that he needed me as a translator. He had to call to Mexico, and wasn't sure if these people were going to understand him. And because I speak English and Spanish fluently, I needed to act as a translator.
I got an instant panic attack, fearing that I was going to blow it if I was not going to understand the mexican person on the other side of the phone. They do have a peculiar accent overthere, wey.
But I did just fine. I understood what they were saying, explained what my boss wanted without a problem, and everything was arranged in 2 minutes.
Afterwards my boss wrote me a message on the instant messenger, saying: you’re the man!
Tuesday, March 29, 2005
Back to routine
Here I am, back at work. With more fatigue than before, thanks to the daylight saving time that started on Saturday night. I always have trouble getting used to that one hour change. But I don't seem to be the only one, because some of my colleagues look like walking zombies as well.
Mónica and I enjoyed the long weekend, although it went by very fast. Time runs fast when you're having a good time.
We had a nice 5 kilometer (3 mile) walk along the shore of Santa Maria del Mar and went to see some more of the Easter processions. We went to visit the sanctuary Covadonga, a very nice place with many souvenir shops. And on Saturday we went shopping. On Sunday afternoon I went reinstalling Mónica's father's computer.
If you clicked on one of the links, you already noticed that I uploaded most of my pictures to my Pbase galleries. They can be accessed as well by clicking on the camera button in the left column of this website.
Yesterday evening I bought myself a new digital camera. So I hope to be adding many new pictures soon. I'm not a photographer as profesional as Tine, but I enjoy making pictures. And sometimes I get lucky and they turn out rather well.
Mónica and I enjoyed the long weekend, although it went by very fast. Time runs fast when you're having a good time.
We had a nice 5 kilometer (3 mile) walk along the shore of Santa Maria del Mar and went to see some more of the Easter processions. We went to visit the sanctuary Covadonga, a very nice place with many souvenir shops. And on Saturday we went shopping. On Sunday afternoon I went reinstalling Mónica's father's computer.
If you clicked on one of the links, you already noticed that I uploaded most of my pictures to my Pbase galleries. They can be accessed as well by clicking on the camera button in the left column of this website.
Yesterday evening I bought myself a new digital camera. So I hope to be adding many new pictures soon. I'm not a photographer as profesional as Tine, but I enjoy making pictures. And sometimes I get lucky and they turn out rather well.
Wednesday, March 23, 2005
Have a happy Easter
Well, I'm off for the rest of the week, to enjoy a long Easter weekend.
I suggest you do the same.
We're not having any plans yet for the following days. What we'll do will mostly depend on the weather, I guess.
We will go watch the rest of the Easter processions, maybe visit the beautiful place Covadonga, and I urgently need a haircut as well.
Have a happy Easter.
I created a PBase gallery, where I will upload all my future pictures.
The older pictures will move to this gallery as well soon.
The pictures of the Easter processions of the last 2 days are already there:
PBase gallery
I suggest you do the same.
We're not having any plans yet for the following days. What we'll do will mostly depend on the weather, I guess.
We will go watch the rest of the Easter processions, maybe visit the beautiful place Covadonga, and I urgently need a haircut as well.
I created a PBase gallery, where I will upload all my future pictures.
The older pictures will move to this gallery as well soon.
The pictures of the Easter processions of the last 2 days are already there:
Tuesday, March 22, 2005
Semana Santa
Most part of the Spanish population is still very Catholic. Therefore Spain still has many religious traditions.
In Spain this week (the week between Palm Sunday and Easter) is called 'Semana Santa'.
In every city and village in Spain, daily processions are being held that represent the passion of Christ. The impressive religious statues of the processions (called 'pasos') are being carried by people belonging to religious confraternities.
They are the so-called penitents. They are not allowed to talk during the procession and are unrecognizable by their uniforms to be able to bring their sacrifice without vanity.
Pictures of the processions will be uploaded during the week.
In Spain this week (the week between Palm Sunday and Easter) is called 'Semana Santa'.
In every city and village in Spain, daily processions are being held that represent the passion of Christ. The impressive religious statues of the processions (called 'pasos') are being carried by people belonging to religious confraternities.
They are the so-called penitents. They are not allowed to talk during the procession and are unrecognizable by their uniforms to be able to bring their sacrifice without vanity.
Pictures of the processions will be uploaded during the week.
Monday, March 21, 2005
No time to waste
We enjoyed every moment of the weekend, and did more than we would normally do in 3 weekends.
It began on Friday night, when we went to the Corte Ingles supermarket in Gijon to buy our groceries and have a look at the new Spring clothes collection. After dinner we cuddled up on the couch and watched some tv.
On Saturday we got up much earlier than we would normally do on a Saturday morning, and went skiing in San Isidro. I gave Mónica some skiing lessons, until she had enough and decided to get a suntan. I skied some more on my own, and by the end of the day we both had a nice summer colour.
We made a romantic dinner at home and finished the day watching the movie 'Trapped' with Kevin Bacon.
On Sunday we got up early again, and after finding out that Asturias's pride Fernando Alonso had won the Malaysian Grand Prix, we went to visit the sunday market in Gijon. It's the biggest market I have ever visited.
After lunch we visited the Park 'Isabel la Catolica' and had a walk along the shore to see the statue 'the emigrant's mother'.
For more pictures, you can click on the camera on the left.
It began on Friday night, when we went to the Corte Ingles supermarket in Gijon to buy our groceries and have a look at the new Spring clothes collection. After dinner we cuddled up on the couch and watched some tv.
On Saturday we got up much earlier than we would normally do on a Saturday morning, and went skiing in San Isidro. I gave Mónica some skiing lessons, until she had enough and decided to get a suntan. I skied some more on my own, and by the end of the day we both had a nice summer colour.
We made a romantic dinner at home and finished the day watching the movie 'Trapped' with Kevin Bacon.
On Sunday we got up early again, and after finding out that Asturias's pride Fernando Alonso had won the Malaysian Grand Prix, we went to visit the sunday market in Gijon. It's the biggest market I have ever visited.
After lunch we visited the Park 'Isabel la Catolica' and had a walk along the shore to see the statue 'the emigrant's mother'.
For more pictures, you can click on the camera on the left.
Friday, March 18, 2005
Have a nice weekend!
It's Friday, it's 22C/72F outside, and tomorrow we're going skiing.
So let the weekend begin!
I've got a friend back in Belgium who always writes me a mail to tell me about the great parties he has been to and how drunk he was.
Oh, please. I'm living every Belgian's dream! And I'm loving it!
Oh, and this is way cool: Flood my site (You can play with the settings at the top)
PS: give it a few seconds or you won't see a thing
So let the weekend begin!
I've got a friend back in Belgium who always writes me a mail to tell me about the great parties he has been to and how drunk he was.
Oh, please. I'm living every Belgian's dream! And I'm loving it!
Oh, and this is way cool: Flood my site (You can play with the settings at the top)
PS: give it a few seconds or you won't see a thing
Thursday, March 17, 2005
What happened to true love?
Last weekend, we saw the television movie "The princess and the marine". The movie tells the true story about Bahraini princess Meriam Al-Khalifa who fell in love with former US marine Jason Johnson.
The pair began their relationship after meeting in a Bahrain shopping mall in 1999, incurring the wrath of Ms Khalifa's family.
Mr Johnson arranged for his lover to be smuggled out of Bahrain, disguised as an American with false military identification documents.
He was penalised by the military for his actions and discharged from the marines.
Ms Khalifa was eventually granted political asylum in the US and at the age of 19, married her 23-year-old marine lover in Las Vegas.
We liked the story because it seemed like a fairytale about true love and it reminded us of our own fairytale, knowing how hard it is if you can't be with the one you love.
But what a disappointment when I searched Google for their story and the first thing I found was:
Princess and ex-marine to divorce
Bahraini princess Meriam al-Khalifa and former US marine Jason Johnson are to divorce, ending a marriage that scandalised her blue-blooded family.
Doesn't true love exist anymore?
The pair began their relationship after meeting in a Bahrain shopping mall in 1999, incurring the wrath of Ms Khalifa's family.
Mr Johnson arranged for his lover to be smuggled out of Bahrain, disguised as an American with false military identification documents.
He was penalised by the military for his actions and discharged from the marines.
Ms Khalifa was eventually granted political asylum in the US and at the age of 19, married her 23-year-old marine lover in Las Vegas.
We liked the story because it seemed like a fairytale about true love and it reminded us of our own fairytale, knowing how hard it is if you can't be with the one you love.
But what a disappointment when I searched Google for their story and the first thing I found was:
Bahraini princess Meriam al-Khalifa and former US marine Jason Johnson are to divorce, ending a marriage that scandalised her blue-blooded family.
Doesn't true love exist anymore?
Wednesday, March 16, 2005
Our first beachwalk of the year
Yes, yesterday evening we had our very first beachwalk of the year.
We were afraid it was going to be too windy out there, but the weather was just great. And it only takes us 10 minutes to get there.
I even remembered to take the camera.
You can click on the picture for a bigger view.
We were afraid it was going to be too windy out there, but the weather was just great. And it only takes us 10 minutes to get there.
I even remembered to take the camera.
You can click on the picture for a bigger view.
Tuesday, March 15, 2005
El botellón
If you have ever been to Spain, you have probably seen them: the groups of friends that flock together in parks or around a car on a parking lot on Saturday nights, bringing plastic bags filled with bottles of liquor. It seems to be a typically Spanish phenomenon, and they call it 'el botellón'.
It's a way to relax, meet people and be able to talk without being bothered by the crowd or noise in a bar. But the most important reason for the success of the 'botellón', is that it is simply a cheap way to get drunk.
Spaniards are used to consume long drinks when going out in the weekend (not like the Belgians who almost solely drink beer on a night out). Therefore, having more than 2 drinks in a bar could lead to a very expensive night for Spanish youngsters.
The 'botellón' however leads in many occasions to complaints about noise, alcohol and drug abuse, and vandalism. That's why many Spanish cities are creating laws to prohibit drinking in the streets.
The government's hope is to reduce alcohol misuse among Spanish young people and to stamp out 'el botellón'.
I think I'm going to have to teach them how to drink beer.
It's a way to relax, meet people and be able to talk without being bothered by the crowd or noise in a bar. But the most important reason for the success of the 'botellón', is that it is simply a cheap way to get drunk.
Spaniards are used to consume long drinks when going out in the weekend (not like the Belgians who almost solely drink beer on a night out). Therefore, having more than 2 drinks in a bar could lead to a very expensive night for Spanish youngsters.
The 'botellón' however leads in many occasions to complaints about noise, alcohol and drug abuse, and vandalism. That's why many Spanish cities are creating laws to prohibit drinking in the streets.
The government's hope is to reduce alcohol misuse among Spanish young people and to stamp out 'el botellón'.
I think I'm going to have to teach them how to drink beer.
Monday, March 14, 2005
Spring is in the air
The weather is finally getting better! Now the billboards of the 'El Corte Ingles' shopping malls are starting to make sense: "Ya es primavera!" (it's springtime already)
By the end of the week the temperature will rise up to 22C/72F.
It's incredible how a little sunshine can change a person's mood.
A short update on the case of the red box:
The television comercial turned out to be a company's introductional video.
Mónica had great fun recording the video, although she ended up with a bad cold.
She had to do more than just hand a red box to another person, the red box being some sort of symbolic thing by the way.
And apparently she will get paid for it.
So it was a positive experience. She was all excited when she got home.
By the end of the week the temperature will rise up to 22C/72F.
It's incredible how a little sunshine can change a person's mood.
A short update on the case of the red box:
The television comercial turned out to be a company's introductional video.
Mónica had great fun recording the video, although she ended up with a bad cold.
She had to do more than just hand a red box to another person, the red box being some sort of symbolic thing by the way.
And apparently she will get paid for it.
So it was a positive experience. She was all excited when she got home.
Friday, March 11, 2005
11 M, one year ago
Church bells have been ringing all morning across Spain, in memory of the 191 passengers that were killed in a series of bomb explosions on 4 Madrid trains, one year ago today.
The bells of about 650 churches in Madrid were struck at 7.37 am, the precise time that the first of the 10 bombs went off.
It was al-Qa'eda's most lethal attack in Europe and led three days later to the fall of the conservative government.
Islamic militants claimed responsibility, saying the attack was in retaliation for Spain sending troops to Iraq and Afghanistan.
All over the country, people held 5 minutes of silence at noon, in memory of the victims.
Thursday, March 10, 2005
Playing the spoons
If you ever feel the urge of wanting to play the spoons (you know, hitting 2 spoons on your upper leg to the rythm of the music), you better take precautions.
I think it was 1998, and I was still studying. I was living in a dorm together with other students, and a few nights a week we would go to a party.
That night it was German night, complete with big foamy half liter beers and a german band playing hum-pa-pa music in lederhosen on stage.
I felt they were missing a spoon player, so I grabbed two spoons from behind the counter, jumped on the stage, and started playing the spoons.
Now you might think that I had drunk too many of those foamy half liter beers, but sometimes I don't need to be drunk to make a complete fool of myself.
The band was happy to see that I liked their music (although that was not the case), and encouraged my spontaneous guest appearance.
But since I didn't have a microphone and they did, I was hitting those spoons like Animal from 'The Muppet Show' would hit the drums, just to make sure everyone would be able to enjoy my newly discovered talent.
Next morning, I woke up with not only a headache like I normally would, but also with a peculiar leg ache.
My both upper legs looked like two raw steaks that had been dried in the sun, and hurt for more than a week. So take my advice and don't get too excited with those spoons.
I think it was 1998, and I was still studying. I was living in a dorm together with other students, and a few nights a week we would go to a party.
That night it was German night, complete with big foamy half liter beers and a german band playing hum-pa-pa music in lederhosen on stage.
I felt they were missing a spoon player, so I grabbed two spoons from behind the counter, jumped on the stage, and started playing the spoons.
Now you might think that I had drunk too many of those foamy half liter beers, but sometimes I don't need to be drunk to make a complete fool of myself.
The band was happy to see that I liked their music (although that was not the case), and encouraged my spontaneous guest appearance.
But since I didn't have a microphone and they did, I was hitting those spoons like Animal from 'The Muppet Show' would hit the drums, just to make sure everyone would be able to enjoy my newly discovered talent.
Next morning, I woke up with not only a headache like I normally would, but also with a peculiar leg ache.
My both upper legs looked like two raw steaks that had been dried in the sun, and hurt for more than a week. So take my advice and don't get too excited with those spoons.
Wednesday, March 09, 2005
The case of the red box
W00t!
I finally managed to have my blogger comments show up in a pop-up window. Sweeeet!
And it all just depended on some Blogger settings.
Mónica has been going to the gym since a few months, a women only gym. That's right, no men are allowed. Men sweat and smell and stare and show off, and these girls don't want any of that.
Last week she told me that a television production company was going to do a casting at the gym. Apparently they needed people to figure in television commercials.
As she is still looking for a job, she decided to have a go at the casting on Monday afternoon.
They just made some pictures of the women that were interested in appearing in commercials, and asked for name, age and contact information.
Yesterday, Mónica called me at work, all excited. She had been called by the people of the production company, and she will be shooting a commercial on Friday. I asked her what the commercial will be about, but due to the excitement she forgot to ask.
Mónica's mother was already worried that this is going to be some sort of scam. That's what mothers are for.
So we started fantasizing and laughing about commercials for inflatable beds and sensual lingerie.
Today the production company called her again, to verify if she can be present on Friday morning at the shooting location. Now she didn't forget to ask what she will have to do.
The lady told her not to worry about anything, that she won't have to say a thing, and that she will only have to give a red box to another person.
A red box. Hmmm, I'm intrigued.
I finally managed to have my blogger comments show up in a pop-up window. Sweeeet!
And it all just depended on some Blogger settings.
Mónica has been going to the gym since a few months, a women only gym. That's right, no men are allowed. Men sweat and smell and stare and show off, and these girls don't want any of that.
Last week she told me that a television production company was going to do a casting at the gym. Apparently they needed people to figure in television commercials.
As she is still looking for a job, she decided to have a go at the casting on Monday afternoon.
They just made some pictures of the women that were interested in appearing in commercials, and asked for name, age and contact information.
Yesterday, Mónica called me at work, all excited. She had been called by the people of the production company, and she will be shooting a commercial on Friday. I asked her what the commercial will be about, but due to the excitement she forgot to ask.
Mónica's mother was already worried that this is going to be some sort of scam. That's what mothers are for.
So we started fantasizing and laughing about commercials for inflatable beds and sensual lingerie.
Today the production company called her again, to verify if she can be present on Friday morning at the shooting location. Now she didn't forget to ask what she will have to do.
The lady told her not to worry about anything, that she won't have to say a thing, and that she will only have to give a red box to another person.
A red box. Hmmm, I'm intrigued.
Tuesday, March 08, 2005
Learning how to bluejack
I'm feeling a bit numb today, because I'm having a bit of a cold. My throat hurts a little, I'm slowly losing my voice, my nose doesn't stop running and my head is a bit drowsy.
All billboards in the streets are showing posters of Gisele Bundchen in summerwear, saying: "Ya es primavera en el Corte Ingles!" (It's springtime already in the Corte Ingles), a yearly campaign by the Spanish supermarket. But it's still freezing cold outside.
By the end of the week temperatures would finally reach 12C/54F again. Let's hope that will be the official end of the cold. I can't wait untill Spring really arrives.
I learned how to bluejack today. I had never heard about it either, don't worry. But it seems it is getting quite popular lately.
Bluejacking is sending anonymous messages to people, using the bluetooth connection of your mobile phone. Now, normally you can't send messages via bluetooth, but they have found a little trick for this.
Here's how you do it:
You just create a new contact person in the phone book of your phone, but instead of the name of the contact person, you write the message you want to send, for example: 'Hello, how are you doing?'. Apparently, all phones with a bluetooth connection have the option to send the details of a contact person via bluetooth to another phone.
So, you enable bluetooth on your phone, go to the option to send via bluetooth the details of the contact person you have just created, search for other bluetooth devices within your range, and send the contact person information to the other devices found.
The other person will now see your message on his phone, but won't know where it's coming from.
This could be fun in theaters, in the disco, in school, or wherever there is a big crowd.
All billboards in the streets are showing posters of Gisele Bundchen in summerwear, saying: "Ya es primavera en el Corte Ingles!" (It's springtime already in the Corte Ingles), a yearly campaign by the Spanish supermarket. But it's still freezing cold outside.
By the end of the week temperatures would finally reach 12C/54F again. Let's hope that will be the official end of the cold. I can't wait untill Spring really arrives.
I learned how to bluejack today. I had never heard about it either, don't worry. But it seems it is getting quite popular lately.
Bluejacking is sending anonymous messages to people, using the bluetooth connection of your mobile phone. Now, normally you can't send messages via bluetooth, but they have found a little trick for this.
Here's how you do it:
You just create a new contact person in the phone book of your phone, but instead of the name of the contact person, you write the message you want to send, for example: 'Hello, how are you doing?'. Apparently, all phones with a bluetooth connection have the option to send the details of a contact person via bluetooth to another phone.
So, you enable bluetooth on your phone, go to the option to send via bluetooth the details of the contact person you have just created, search for other bluetooth devices within your range, and send the contact person information to the other devices found.
The other person will now see your message on his phone, but won't know where it's coming from.
This could be fun in theaters, in the disco, in school, or wherever there is a big crowd.
Friday, March 04, 2005
More trouble
On Tuesday morning the mechanic came to fix the heating.
On Tuesday night, when I was cooking dinner (I love cooking), the boiler of the central heating suddenly started making a hell of a noise, like if some animal was trapped inside of it, trying to get out. After the noise stopped, the boiler was dead again.
We had already been heating the house enough to be able to spend the night without freezing to death, but on Wednesday the mechanic didn't show up yet. Even some angry phone calls didn't do the trick.
So on Wednesday night we went to spend the night again at Mónica's parents.
Yesterday the heating got fixed again, and until now it still seems to be working. Let's hope it won't break down again, and definitely not in the weekend.
Today we got some troubling news at work. It seems that some high chiefs in the United States have decided to not longer assign us the kind of programming jobs that we have been doing up till now. Apparently, the Indian teams are less expensive than we are, so all the future jobs will be assigned to India.
The future of our team seems a little insecure at the moment. Let's hope they will find another project for us.
On Tuesday night, when I was cooking dinner (I love cooking), the boiler of the central heating suddenly started making a hell of a noise, like if some animal was trapped inside of it, trying to get out. After the noise stopped, the boiler was dead again.
We had already been heating the house enough to be able to spend the night without freezing to death, but on Wednesday the mechanic didn't show up yet. Even some angry phone calls didn't do the trick.
So on Wednesday night we went to spend the night again at Mónica's parents.
Yesterday the heating got fixed again, and until now it still seems to be working. Let's hope it won't break down again, and definitely not in the weekend.
Today we got some troubling news at work. It seems that some high chiefs in the United States have decided to not longer assign us the kind of programming jobs that we have been doing up till now. Apparently, the Indian teams are less expensive than we are, so all the future jobs will be assigned to India.
The future of our team seems a little insecure at the moment. Let's hope they will find another project for us.
Tuesday, March 01, 2005
Murphy's law
So what happens on the coldest night of the year? That's right, the central heating system in our apartment stops working.
When I came home last night, the bad news was already waiting for me. Mónica had already called the company to send over a mechanic, but these things all seem to fail at the same time, and no mechanic was available until further notice.
The last time this happened, the mechanic came over, had to push just one button, presented the bill and left. So I started pushing all buttons I could find yesterday evening, but this time it was of no use.
We decided to pack our bags and go over to Mónica's parents to spend the night.
We had dinner, watched the movie 'Runaway Jury' and ended up watching the pictures of when we met for the first time on holiday in 1993. We both looked so young then. And it seemed unbelievable again that it all started with those four days together in Tenerife, now almost 12 years ago.
This morning, the mechanic already came over. And this time he didn't just have to push a single button. But the most important thing is that we have got heating again, and we can cuddle up on the couch again tonight under our warm blanket.
When I came home last night, the bad news was already waiting for me. Mónica had already called the company to send over a mechanic, but these things all seem to fail at the same time, and no mechanic was available until further notice.
The last time this happened, the mechanic came over, had to push just one button, presented the bill and left. So I started pushing all buttons I could find yesterday evening, but this time it was of no use.
We decided to pack our bags and go over to Mónica's parents to spend the night.
We had dinner, watched the movie 'Runaway Jury' and ended up watching the pictures of when we met for the first time on holiday in 1993. We both looked so young then. And it seemed unbelievable again that it all started with those four days together in Tenerife, now almost 12 years ago.
This morning, the mechanic already came over. And this time he didn't just have to push a single button. But the most important thing is that we have got heating again, and we can cuddle up on the couch again tonight under our warm blanket.
Monday, February 28, 2005
Finding 'Finding Neverland'
It's freezing cold, even in Spain.
On Saturday night we actually ended up in a little snowstorm on the highway. And this morning it was snowing at sea level, which is very extraordinary here in the north of spain.
we went to see 'Finding neverland' on Saturday night. And it took some effort.
We bought our tickets, entered the theater and started looking for our seats. When they seemed to be taken, I concluded that the couple that was sitting next to us had taken the wrong seats. So we took the ones that were still free.
The lights went out and the trailers began to show. We took off our coats, and got comfortable in our seats. Then the movie began, and after 10 seconds I already realized that what we were looking at could not be 'Finding neverland'.
So I looked at Mónica and said: "we're in the wrong theater!! This is another movie!"
She: "Are you sure? So what is this?"
And the moment she finished her question, the screen showed in big capitals: "CONSTANTINE".
Now, you have to know that the first 3 minutes of "Constantine" are already quite shocking. So we were looking in disbelief at what was going on on the big screen, as we were expecting some romantic drama situated in 1904.
So Mónica looked at me and asked: "now what?"
- "now we go!"
So we got up, made our way past the people in our row, stumbling upon feet, walking down the stairs in the dark, trying not to fall.
Luckily our movie had not started yet. So we didn't miss a thing of this great movie, and had some time left to laugh about our little adventure.
On Saturday night we actually ended up in a little snowstorm on the highway. And this morning it was snowing at sea level, which is very extraordinary here in the north of spain.
we went to see 'Finding neverland' on Saturday night. And it took some effort.
We bought our tickets, entered the theater and started looking for our seats. When they seemed to be taken, I concluded that the couple that was sitting next to us had taken the wrong seats. So we took the ones that were still free.
The lights went out and the trailers began to show. We took off our coats, and got comfortable in our seats. Then the movie began, and after 10 seconds I already realized that what we were looking at could not be 'Finding neverland'.
So I looked at Mónica and said: "we're in the wrong theater!! This is another movie!"
She: "Are you sure? So what is this?"
And the moment she finished her question, the screen showed in big capitals: "CONSTANTINE".
Now, you have to know that the first 3 minutes of "Constantine" are already quite shocking. So we were looking in disbelief at what was going on on the big screen, as we were expecting some romantic drama situated in 1904.
So Mónica looked at me and asked: "now what?"
- "now we go!"
So we got up, made our way past the people in our row, stumbling upon feet, walking down the stairs in the dark, trying not to fall.
Luckily our movie had not started yet. So we didn't miss a thing of this great movie, and had some time left to laugh about our little adventure.
Thursday, February 24, 2005
Almost Friday! Stay calm and keep breathing
Every time that I think that everything looks fine and that I can relax a little, some new problems come up.
When I came in to work this morning, I already had a mail from Australia, saying that there was a big problem with a program. And since people in the US don't start working until it is 3 PM in Europe, I can start cleaning up the mess, guessing what would be the best way to fix things.
On top of that, I had to attend some instructional meeting about ergonomics this afternoon, while I didn't have any time to lose.
But I had one good notice today. It seems I still had half a day off pending from last year. So tomorrow morning I'm going to sleep late, and finally get my address changed at the town hall. Because officially I'm still living in with Mónica's parents, back from when I moved to Spain and we didn't have an apartment yet.
Hmmm, I wonder what institutions should all be notified of my address change.
And now that I want to access the database to request my holiday, it won't let me in! Why does everything always happen to me??
When I came in to work this morning, I already had a mail from Australia, saying that there was a big problem with a program. And since people in the US don't start working until it is 3 PM in Europe, I can start cleaning up the mess, guessing what would be the best way to fix things.
On top of that, I had to attend some instructional meeting about ergonomics this afternoon, while I didn't have any time to lose.
But I had one good notice today. It seems I still had half a day off pending from last year. So tomorrow morning I'm going to sleep late, and finally get my address changed at the town hall. Because officially I'm still living in with Mónica's parents, back from when I moved to Spain and we didn't have an apartment yet.
Hmmm, I wonder what institutions should all be notified of my address change.
And now that I want to access the database to request my holiday, it won't let me in! Why does everything always happen to me??
Tuesday, February 22, 2005
The ghosts of the Windsor
I'm having a lot of work these last few days.
Some program changes need to be up and running by the end of the month. And due to all the administrational work involved with our programming, one week is very little time.
Sunday was the Spanish referendum concerning the European constitution. 76% of the voters said 'yes' to this constitution. A big victory for Europe.
And in the meantime everybody is wondering what the hell happened last week when the Windsor building in Madrid completely burned down.
The cause of the fire has yet to be found, but videos grabbed by people living in the neighbourhood of the office building show people walking around calmly inside the building at 3 am when the fire was extending, turning on and off lights, and it seems the fire started on different floors of the building at the same time.
Some people are already referring to 'Watergate'.
Some program changes need to be up and running by the end of the month. And due to all the administrational work involved with our programming, one week is very little time.
Sunday was the Spanish referendum concerning the European constitution. 76% of the voters said 'yes' to this constitution. A big victory for Europe.
And in the meantime everybody is wondering what the hell happened last week when the Windsor building in Madrid completely burned down.
The cause of the fire has yet to be found, but videos grabbed by people living in the neighbourhood of the office building show people walking around calmly inside the building at 3 am when the fire was extending, turning on and off lights, and it seems the fire started on different floors of the building at the same time.
Some people are already referring to 'Watergate'.
Friday, February 18, 2005
The European Constitution
Spanish voters are preparing to go to the polls for the EU's first referendum on the European Constitution - an event that will kick off a tough 18-month ratification battle with nine countries expected to follow in Spain's footsteps.
With polls showing around 80 percent of Spaniards in favour of the Constitution, the government's biggest fear is that the turnout on Sunday (20 February) will be embarrassingly low.
A very low turnout would be a blow to Socialist Prime Minister José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero and could prompt calls for a re-run.
But it will not be for want of trying on Madrid's part. It has showered the population with copies of the 465-article document, had Big Brother contestants discussing it and handed out a 'referendum' drink.
The government has also been telling Spain how much it has benefited from Europe via the millions of euro it has obtained in regional aid handouts.
(www.euobserver.com)
I'm very curious about what is going to happen on Sunday.
Have a great weekend!
With polls showing around 80 percent of Spaniards in favour of the Constitution, the government's biggest fear is that the turnout on Sunday (20 February) will be embarrassingly low.
A very low turnout would be a blow to Socialist Prime Minister José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero and could prompt calls for a re-run.
But it will not be for want of trying on Madrid's part. It has showered the population with copies of the 465-article document, had Big Brother contestants discussing it and handed out a 'referendum' drink.
The government has also been telling Spain how much it has benefited from Europe via the millions of euro it has obtained in regional aid handouts.
(www.euobserver.com)
I'm very curious about what is going to happen on Sunday.
Have a great weekend!
Thursday, February 17, 2005
They're not all that bad
A few quotes from my boss (head of our programming team):
We're going to make cardboard images of everyone of our team and are going to place them in our seats. Every week only one of us will come to work, and this person will do the work of every team member. This way we will have to work hard for one week, but we will only have to come once every six weeks.
We will have a team meeting later, but since Jose is sick we will have to go to his apartment to have the meeting.
We're going to have a meeting in the cafeteria outside the premises. Take your coat and act naturally. (whispering, because he knows we're not allowed to)
Nobody I know works on a Friday afternoon until 6. Only we do. This is inhuman.
Damn, I have to go to this boring meeting this afternoon. I'm so gonna fall asleep. Does anybody want to go in my place?
If they tell you that they want it done by tomorrow, just tell them it's impossible. If they insist, tell them to call me.
They asked me if I wanted the mobile phones for the team. I said no. Imagine that they start calling us in the weekend.
I saw that this job shouldn't be done until 2 months from now. So take it easy.
We're going to make cardboard images of everyone of our team and are going to place them in our seats. Every week only one of us will come to work, and this person will do the work of every team member. This way we will have to work hard for one week, but we will only have to come once every six weeks.
We will have a team meeting later, but since Jose is sick we will have to go to his apartment to have the meeting.
We're going to have a meeting in the cafeteria outside the premises. Take your coat and act naturally. (whispering, because he knows we're not allowed to)
Nobody I know works on a Friday afternoon until 6. Only we do. This is inhuman.
Damn, I have to go to this boring meeting this afternoon. I'm so gonna fall asleep. Does anybody want to go in my place?
If they tell you that they want it done by tomorrow, just tell them it's impossible. If they insist, tell them to call me.
They asked me if I wanted the mobile phones for the team. I said no. Imagine that they start calling us in the weekend.
I saw that this job shouldn't be done until 2 months from now. So take it easy.
Wednesday, February 16, 2005
Pocholo in Africa
A Spanish television program is creating quite a fuss lately.
'Aventura en Africa' (adventure in Africa) is one of those pointless reality shows where some people have to survive in the wilderness of Kenia. The participants of the show are 'famous' people who need exposure, and unknown people who would do anything to be famous.
When a participant needed to abandon the contest because of health problems a few weeks ago, the organising television channel decided to send Pocholo as his substitute: a famous Spanish rebel, former actor (was in 2 episodes of miami vice) and DJ who is linked to several bars and clubs in Ibiza, who talks like a grumbler on speed and is famous for his crazy one-liners.
Suddenly the ratings of the show started rising and more and more people started watching the show, just to see what crazy Pocholo was up to this time.
Pocholo however knows he is loved by the public and decided to play a little game. He started announcing that he would only stay a week. When the week was over and he was about to leave, the organization talked to him and offered him a serious amount of money if he would stay.
So now Pocholo is enjoying his little holiday in Kenia, hated by his colleagues and loved by the public for being a rebel and having the organization eating out of his hands.
'Aventura en Africa' (adventure in Africa) is one of those pointless reality shows where some people have to survive in the wilderness of Kenia. The participants of the show are 'famous' people who need exposure, and unknown people who would do anything to be famous.
When a participant needed to abandon the contest because of health problems a few weeks ago, the organising television channel decided to send Pocholo as his substitute: a famous Spanish rebel, former actor (was in 2 episodes of miami vice) and DJ who is linked to several bars and clubs in Ibiza, who talks like a grumbler on speed and is famous for his crazy one-liners.
Suddenly the ratings of the show started rising and more and more people started watching the show, just to see what crazy Pocholo was up to this time.
Pocholo however knows he is loved by the public and decided to play a little game. He started announcing that he would only stay a week. When the week was over and he was about to leave, the organization talked to him and offered him a serious amount of money if he would stay.
So now Pocholo is enjoying his little holiday in Kenia, hated by his colleagues and loved by the public for being a rebel and having the organization eating out of his hands.
Tuesday, February 15, 2005
Enjoy your lunch. I won't.
A few weeks ago, without any notice or explanation, the prices of the menus in our company restaurant got raised. And not just a few cents. At least 80 eurocents (about 1 dollar) for a menu.
Now, if the quality of the food would accord with this raise, I wouldn't be complaining about anything. If they had given us a raise at the beginning of the year, I wouldn't be complaining about anything either.
But here I am every afternoon, with stomach aches, repeating for hours what I have been eating for lunch.
Do I really have to get up earlier in the morning and start cooking, to be able to bring my homemade lunch to work and have a decent meal? Some of my colleagues have already started doing so.
One of the biggest companies in the world could at least make sure that its employees can have a decent and healthy meal for a reasonable price.
Now, if the quality of the food would accord with this raise, I wouldn't be complaining about anything. If they had given us a raise at the beginning of the year, I wouldn't be complaining about anything either.
But here I am every afternoon, with stomach aches, repeating for hours what I have been eating for lunch.
Do I really have to get up earlier in the morning and start cooking, to be able to bring my homemade lunch to work and have a decent meal? Some of my colleagues have already started doing so.
One of the biggest companies in the world could at least make sure that its employees can have a decent and healthy meal for a reasonable price.
Monday, February 14, 2005
Valentine's day
There are people who love it, and there are people who hate it.
It may be true that it is an invented and overly commercialised celebration, this being the number one reason why many people hate it.
But it has never hurt anyone to give a little present or a token of love to the one who deserves it. And maybe that is something that some of us just don't do often enough.
You don't have to buy an expensive gift to touch someone deeply. A few simple words, straight from the heart, already can make someone feel the happiest person in the world.
It may be true that it is an invented and overly commercialised celebration, this being the number one reason why many people hate it.
But it has never hurt anyone to give a little present or a token of love to the one who deserves it. And maybe that is something that some of us just don't do often enough.
You don't have to buy an expensive gift to touch someone deeply. A few simple words, straight from the heart, already can make someone feel the happiest person in the world.
Friday, February 11, 2005
Let's all comment
I just noticed that Blogger has changed the commenting system!
That is good news. And now you don't have any excuse to not leave a comment!
We decided to accept my colleagues invitation for tonight. So we will go have dinner at his place. The last time we went, there were too many people. Therefore there was too much noise (The Spanish talk loud!), and when they were talking on the other end of the table, we couldn't understand a word they were saying.
I heard tonight there will only be 7 invitees. So we will probably be able to understand all the conversations.
It's Mexican night tonight, by the way. Complete with Margaritas and Tequila.
Last night I went to buy Mónica her favourite perfume before going home. We had decided not to buy anything for Valentine's day this year. The poor girl being broke has got everything to do with that decision.
But as I knew she wanted the perfume and couldn't afford it at the moment, I decided to buy it for her anyway. And as it wasn't even Valentine's day yesterday, the surprise was even bigger.
Now all try that new commenting system! Have a great weekend!
That is good news. And now you don't have any excuse to not leave a comment!
We decided to accept my colleagues invitation for tonight. So we will go have dinner at his place. The last time we went, there were too many people. Therefore there was too much noise (The Spanish talk loud!), and when they were talking on the other end of the table, we couldn't understand a word they were saying.
I heard tonight there will only be 7 invitees. So we will probably be able to understand all the conversations.
It's Mexican night tonight, by the way. Complete with Margaritas and Tequila.
Last night I went to buy Mónica her favourite perfume before going home. We had decided not to buy anything for Valentine's day this year. The poor girl being broke has got everything to do with that decision.
But as I knew she wanted the perfume and couldn't afford it at the moment, I decided to buy it for her anyway. And as it wasn't even Valentine's day yesterday, the surprise was even bigger.
Now all try that new commenting system! Have a great weekend!
Wednesday, February 09, 2005
Let's talk about sex
I had been reading a lot on the internet about the latest Sensoa campaign in Belgium.
Sensoa is the Flemish center for sexual health and HIV.
Every couple of years they launch a new 'talk about sex' campaign. The idea behind it is that there is not enough communication about sex between partners: communication about birth control, personal wishes and personal borders. This leads to sexual abuse and unwanted pregnancies.
'Talk about sex, because good communication makes good sex', is their motto.
So Sensoa launches campaigns that are explicit enough so that people WILL talk about them.
They create posters and publish advertisements in magazines and on television.
I hadn't seen this years' advertisements yet, but I had read that they had created quite a political discussion in Belgium. Now that I have seen them, I can understand why.
(be careful, they are not really safe for work)
advertisement1
advertisement2
tv ad
I don't think the advertisements should be this explicit to be effective.
I can't imagine advertisements like this in American magazines. Or how about a Sensoa Superbowl ad?
Sensoa is the Flemish center for sexual health and HIV.
Every couple of years they launch a new 'talk about sex' campaign. The idea behind it is that there is not enough communication about sex between partners: communication about birth control, personal wishes and personal borders. This leads to sexual abuse and unwanted pregnancies.
'Talk about sex, because good communication makes good sex', is their motto.
So Sensoa launches campaigns that are explicit enough so that people WILL talk about them.
They create posters and publish advertisements in magazines and on television.
I hadn't seen this years' advertisements yet, but I had read that they had created quite a political discussion in Belgium. Now that I have seen them, I can understand why.
advertisement1
advertisement2
tv ad
I don't think the advertisements should be this explicit to be effective.
I can't imagine advertisements like this in American magazines. Or how about a Sensoa Superbowl ad?
Tuesday, February 08, 2005
5 seconds of fame
A famous credit card company has put a huge billboard in Brussels. There's nothing special about that, I hear you think.
But you can upload your own picture on their website, they send you a mail when it is uploaded on the billboard, and five minutes later, when you look at their webcam, you can see your own face on the huge billboard in one of the most crowded streets of Brussels.
Too bad the webcam image isn't very clear when the sun is shining on it. Maybe it is more visible at night.
On the image, that's Mónica and I on the billboard.
This reminds me of my first 5 seconds of shame, about 15 years ago.
On Friday evenings after school, we always used to go to this bar called Clapodium, because they held a happy hour every week. So we used to go drink a few beers to forget about school and start the weekend.
One Friday evening, a camera crew entered the bar and started filming the crowd. Everybody started singing and dancing to draw the attention of the camera crew. Big mistake.
One week later, I saw myself on tv, on a program called 'Adolescents and alcohol abuse' by the (in)famous Belgian journalist Jambers. And although my face had only been visible for about 3 seconds, everybody I knew had seen me!
When did you have your 5 seconds of shame/fame?
But you can upload your own picture on their website, they send you a mail when it is uploaded on the billboard, and five minutes later, when you look at their webcam, you can see your own face on the huge billboard in one of the most crowded streets of Brussels.
Too bad the webcam image isn't very clear when the sun is shining on it. Maybe it is more visible at night.
On the image, that's Mónica and I on the billboard.
This reminds me of my first 5 seconds of shame, about 15 years ago.
On Friday evenings after school, we always used to go to this bar called Clapodium, because they held a happy hour every week. So we used to go drink a few beers to forget about school and start the weekend.
One Friday evening, a camera crew entered the bar and started filming the crowd. Everybody started singing and dancing to draw the attention of the camera crew. Big mistake.
One week later, I saw myself on tv, on a program called 'Adolescents and alcohol abuse' by the (in)famous Belgian journalist Jambers. And although my face had only been visible for about 3 seconds, everybody I knew had seen me!
When did you have your 5 seconds of shame/fame?
Monday, February 07, 2005
Indigestion
On Saturday evening we went to have dinner at one of our favourite Italian restaurants.
Thinking that I had completely recovered from my illness and that I had to gain the lost kilos of last week, I ate until I had an indigestion. It seems my stomach wasn't used to eating that much yet. So my tummy hurt all Saturday night and Sunday morning.
I had already eaten enough after the main course, but they have this irresistible dessert called chocolatisimo, and I just couldn't say no.
Mónica's mother had said that she was going to make frixuelos (Asturian pancakes) with hot chocolate topping for us on Sunday afternoon, but we had to cancel the invitation and will go another day.
We went to see 'meet the fockers' on Saturday night. It was indeed a very funny movie. Too bad that my stomach started worrying me and that the sound volume was a little low. But we both enjoyed it very much.
On sunday afternoon I had a webcam chat with my parents. My mother only kept asking me if she didn't have to send me some new underwear. I kept telling her that if I needed new underwear, I would buy it myself.
But she doubted if they had the same quality in Spain as in Belgium.
Mothers, they will never change.
Thinking that I had completely recovered from my illness and that I had to gain the lost kilos of last week, I ate until I had an indigestion. It seems my stomach wasn't used to eating that much yet. So my tummy hurt all Saturday night and Sunday morning.
I had already eaten enough after the main course, but they have this irresistible dessert called chocolatisimo, and I just couldn't say no.
Mónica's mother had said that she was going to make frixuelos (Asturian pancakes) with hot chocolate topping for us on Sunday afternoon, but we had to cancel the invitation and will go another day.
We went to see 'meet the fockers' on Saturday night. It was indeed a very funny movie. Too bad that my stomach started worrying me and that the sound volume was a little low. But we both enjoyed it very much.
On sunday afternoon I had a webcam chat with my parents. My mother only kept asking me if she didn't have to send me some new underwear. I kept telling her that if I needed new underwear, I would buy it myself.
But she doubted if they had the same quality in Spain as in Belgium.
Mothers, they will never change.
Friday, February 04, 2005
Hey, it's weekend again
All my weeks should be like the one that has just finished. 3 days at home, 2 days at work. But without the sickness.
I'm still a little weak, but the virus has gone. I haven't eaten yet like I'm used to, and I haven't started drinking coca-cola yet either. Hence the weakness.
For someone who is used to drink 1,5 liters of coca-cola every day, complete abstinence sure means a decrease of daily sugar and cafeine consumption.
I hope to be completely recovered by Monday.
We don't have any plans for the weekend yet. The weather is quite bad, so I suppose the only thing one can do here is visit one of the malls again.
Mónica just let me know that the movie 'meet the Fockers' is already playing in the theaters here. So I guess that means she wants to go see it this weekend.
Thanks to a DIVX DVD player and a broadband internet connection we normally watch movies at home. Now I enjoy an occasional night out to the movie theater even more.
I'm still a little weak, but the virus has gone. I haven't eaten yet like I'm used to, and I haven't started drinking coca-cola yet either. Hence the weakness.
For someone who is used to drink 1,5 liters of coca-cola every day, complete abstinence sure means a decrease of daily sugar and cafeine consumption.
I hope to be completely recovered by Monday.
We don't have any plans for the weekend yet. The weather is quite bad, so I suppose the only thing one can do here is visit one of the malls again.
Mónica just let me know that the movie 'meet the Fockers' is already playing in the theaters here. So I guess that means she wants to go see it this weekend.
Thanks to a DIVX DVD player and a broadband internet connection we normally watch movies at home. Now I enjoy an occasional night out to the movie theater even more.
Thursday, February 03, 2005
Feeling better and groundhog day
I have been sick for a couple of days. But Mónica took good care of me.
It all started with a headache and fever on Saturday evening.
But by Sunday morning the virus had already affected my digestive system.
The doctor ordered me not to eat anything at all on Monday. I was only allowed to drink water, and a lot of it. By Tuesday I could start eating some rice and yogurts.
I lost 2 kilos in 4 days.
But I'm feeling better now, and can start eating normal again.
And feeling better means having to go back to work. So Mónica is probably feeling very alone today, after we have been together all the time for a couple of days.
I noticed today that yesterday was Groundhog day. People who have seen the movie 'Groundhog day' know what I'm talking about, the others have to run to the local video store and rent it.
What many people don't know, is that the event with Punxatawney Phil in the movie actually takes place every year on the 2nd of february.
And since the success of the movie, the place gets thousands of visitors every year.
On February 2, groundhog Phil comes out of his burrow on Gobbler's Knob - in front of thousands of followers from all over the world - to predict the weather for the rest of winter.
According to the legend, if Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow, there will be six more weeks of winter weather. If he does not see his shadow, there will be an early spring.
(official groundhog site here: http://www.groundhog.org/)
It all started with a headache and fever on Saturday evening.
But by Sunday morning the virus had already affected my digestive system.
The doctor ordered me not to eat anything at all on Monday. I was only allowed to drink water, and a lot of it. By Tuesday I could start eating some rice and yogurts.
I lost 2 kilos in 4 days.
But I'm feeling better now, and can start eating normal again.
And feeling better means having to go back to work. So Mónica is probably feeling very alone today, after we have been together all the time for a couple of days.
I noticed today that yesterday was Groundhog day. People who have seen the movie 'Groundhog day' know what I'm talking about, the others have to run to the local video store and rent it.
What many people don't know, is that the event with Punxatawney Phil in the movie actually takes place every year on the 2nd of february.
And since the success of the movie, the place gets thousands of visitors every year.
On February 2, groundhog Phil comes out of his burrow on Gobbler's Knob - in front of thousands of followers from all over the world - to predict the weather for the rest of winter.
According to the legend, if Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow, there will be six more weeks of winter weather. If he does not see his shadow, there will be an early spring.
(official groundhog site here: http://www.groundhog.org/)
Thursday, January 27, 2005
Winter has finally found us
It has turned rather cold the last couple of days here in Spain. We are having maximum temperatures of 5ºC(41ºF) in the afternoon. That means that the temperature has dropped about 10 degrees in 10 days time.
In the south of Spain it has been snowing in regions where it hadn't been snowing in the last 50 years. And mountain villages have been isolated due to the heavy snowfall. Living at sealevel close to the sea protects us from the snow.
But still I have been arming myself with gloves and a scarf lately.
And then I get these comments from the jokers that are my colleagues: "Aren't you from up North?? You should be accustomed to this cold! But you are dressed warmer than any of us."
The bad thing is that with this cold we are not having any courage to do anything useful after work. So we have been staying at home, watching tv. And that always gets me down a little. After watching 2 hours of tv, I'm already fed up with it and start getting bored.
And I thought Spain was that country where the sun was always shining.
In the south of Spain it has been snowing in regions where it hadn't been snowing in the last 50 years. And mountain villages have been isolated due to the heavy snowfall. Living at sealevel close to the sea protects us from the snow.
But still I have been arming myself with gloves and a scarf lately.
And then I get these comments from the jokers that are my colleagues: "Aren't you from up North?? You should be accustomed to this cold! But you are dressed warmer than any of us."
The bad thing is that with this cold we are not having any courage to do anything useful after work. So we have been staying at home, watching tv. And that always gets me down a little. After watching 2 hours of tv, I'm already fed up with it and start getting bored.
And I thought Spain was that country where the sun was always shining.
Tuesday, January 25, 2005
poor bunnies
Life has surely changed in 20 years
We saw the movie 'Thirteen' this weekend.
Tracy, a thirteen year old girl, desperately seeks the acceptance of Evie, the most popular girl at school. When they become close friends, Tracy discovers a world of alcohol, drugs, sex and petty crime.
The movie is said to be partially autobiographical, and tells the story of Nikki Reed's rebellious life (the actress who plays Evie) as a thirteen year old. Apparently she did have quite a disturbed childhood.
I don't think that the average 13 year old adolescent has to deal with all that happens in this movie. But even if only a part of it occurs, I certainly hope the mother is not as naive as Tracy's mother.
Tracy, a thirteen year old girl, desperately seeks the acceptance of Evie, the most popular girl at school. When they become close friends, Tracy discovers a world of alcohol, drugs, sex and petty crime.
The movie is said to be partially autobiographical, and tells the story of Nikki Reed's rebellious life (the actress who plays Evie) as a thirteen year old. Apparently she did have quite a disturbed childhood.
I don't think that the average 13 year old adolescent has to deal with all that happens in this movie. But even if only a part of it occurs, I certainly hope the mother is not as naive as Tracy's mother.
Monday, January 24, 2005
On the parking lot
Mónica got her driving license about 8 years ago. But as she never had her own car and went everywhere by bus, she never drove a car again after getting her license.
Now she doesn't remember anything about driving, and she's afraid to get behind the wheel again.
But as she is looking for a job, her parents and I were thinking that she should get used to driving again.
I told her many times that we could go to a big parking lot on a Sunday morning to practice driving, but she was never very fond of the idea.
When she woke me up yesterday morning, she was already dressed. So I asked her what was going on. And then she said: Well, the weather is very nice, and I was thinking that maybe we could go to that parking lot that you said, so I could practice driving a little.
So I jumped out of bed, got dressed and we got on our way.
I explained her the basic rules, we changed seats, and she started practicing. I decided not to give too many comments, because I knew she was a little nervous.
And in 10 minutes she was driving around the parking lot without any problems.
I thought it was so brave of her, deciding that it was time to do something about it.
Now she doesn't remember anything about driving, and she's afraid to get behind the wheel again.
But as she is looking for a job, her parents and I were thinking that she should get used to driving again.
I told her many times that we could go to a big parking lot on a Sunday morning to practice driving, but she was never very fond of the idea.
When she woke me up yesterday morning, she was already dressed. So I asked her what was going on. And then she said: Well, the weather is very nice, and I was thinking that maybe we could go to that parking lot that you said, so I could practice driving a little.
So I jumped out of bed, got dressed and we got on our way.
I explained her the basic rules, we changed seats, and she started practicing. I decided not to give too many comments, because I knew she was a little nervous.
And in 10 minutes she was driving around the parking lot without any problems.
I thought it was so brave of her, deciding that it was time to do something about it.
Friday, January 21, 2005
I have felt the pain (not for the weak of heart)
It was 1992.
A little bone in my hand had splintered by hitting a hard object.
The operation had been carried out under local anesthesia.
I was lying awake on a hospital bed with my right arm stretched out, while 2 doctors were cutting open my hand and discussing their actions. I was trying to concentrate on the ceiling.
The operation was successful.
Only, a few days later, my hand began to swell, hurt and turn blue.
It seemed that there had been an internal bleeding after they had closed up the wound. They had to open it up again and remove all the blood that couldn't get out.
But as this was just a 5 minute intervention, they were not going to anesthetize my arm for this, if I didn't mind. It was going to hurt, but as a grown man I should be able to handle it.
So I laid down on a bed, they cut open the stitches, and began to push my hand to get all the blood out. Blood and blood clots splattered all over the bed, the doctor and the nurse, while I was trying not to faint.
The windows were opened to let in some fresh air, I was put a wet cloth on my forehead. Two people were pushing my hand to get all the blood clots out.
The wound was being stitched again.
After the operation, my legs trembled non-stop for about 10 minutes, to get all the accumulated stress out of my body.
Then the doctor said: "Now you know the kind of pain a woman feels when having a baby. You did well."
In my imagination, I kicked him in the b...s.
A little bone in my hand had splintered by hitting a hard object.
The operation had been carried out under local anesthesia.
I was lying awake on a hospital bed with my right arm stretched out, while 2 doctors were cutting open my hand and discussing their actions. I was trying to concentrate on the ceiling.
The operation was successful.
Only, a few days later, my hand began to swell, hurt and turn blue.
It seemed that there had been an internal bleeding after they had closed up the wound. They had to open it up again and remove all the blood that couldn't get out.
But as this was just a 5 minute intervention, they were not going to anesthetize my arm for this, if I didn't mind. It was going to hurt, but as a grown man I should be able to handle it.
So I laid down on a bed, they cut open the stitches, and began to push my hand to get all the blood out. Blood and blood clots splattered all over the bed, the doctor and the nurse, while I was trying not to faint.
The windows were opened to let in some fresh air, I was put a wet cloth on my forehead. Two people were pushing my hand to get all the blood clots out.
The wound was being stitched again.
After the operation, my legs trembled non-stop for about 10 minutes, to get all the accumulated stress out of my body.
Then the doctor said: "Now you know the kind of pain a woman feels when having a baby. You did well."
In my imagination, I kicked him in the b...s.
Thursday, January 20, 2005
Dream on
I have been living almost one year and two months in Spain now. Before that, I was living alone in an apartment in Belgium for one year.
But lately I have been dreaming almost every night that i'm still living with my parents in their house in Belgium. And it is having dangerous consequences.
The other night, I woke up in the middle of the night after having a dream, and I was convinced that I was lying in my old bed in my parents' house, alone.
A few moments later, Mónica made a sudden move in her sleep. Her movement freaked me out and made me hit her.
At the moment that i was about to hit her, I realized where i was and that it was her, and i managed to control my power. She didn't even notice that i hit her.
If i had not realized in time who she was, I think i would have kicked her out of the bed.
But lately I have been dreaming almost every night that i'm still living with my parents in their house in Belgium. And it is having dangerous consequences.
The other night, I woke up in the middle of the night after having a dream, and I was convinced that I was lying in my old bed in my parents' house, alone.
A few moments later, Mónica made a sudden move in her sleep. Her movement freaked me out and made me hit her.
At the moment that i was about to hit her, I realized where i was and that it was her, and i managed to control my power. She didn't even notice that i hit her.
If i had not realized in time who she was, I think i would have kicked her out of the bed.
Wednesday, January 19, 2005
What's in a name?
Do you remember that terrible song called Macarena, by those 2 Spanish grandfathers?
I found out the other day that Macarena is actually a Spanish girls' name. I just never listened to what they were singing. You can't blame me for that. And I thought Macarena was the name of the dance.
Imagine the stupid commentaries all the girls named Macarena must have heard after the song became a worldwide hit. Who calls their daughter Macarena anyway?
One of my colleagues' name is Inmaculada (Immaculate). How do you come up with a name like that? It's a good thing that she insists that we call her Inma. (She would kill me if she knew I was writing this)
Anyway...
The Spanish have the strange habit to translate names. Some examples you all know:
The name of the pope in Spain is Juan Pablo II. Christopher Columbus is called Cristóbal Colón.
Prince Charles of England is called Principe Carlos, and his son William goes by the name of Guillermo. Harry, the one who thinks a nazi is the same thing as a clown, is just Harry.
But imagine us watching the news:
I: Who are they talking about?
She: Carlos of England.
I: Carlos? Who the hell is Carlos?
She: The Prince of England, Prince Carlos.
I: Do they have a Prince Carlos in England?? (and then his image is shown)
Ooooooooooooh, CHARLES!!
She: Si, Carlos.
I found out the other day that Macarena is actually a Spanish girls' name. I just never listened to what they were singing. You can't blame me for that. And I thought Macarena was the name of the dance.
Imagine the stupid commentaries all the girls named Macarena must have heard after the song became a worldwide hit. Who calls their daughter Macarena anyway?
One of my colleagues' name is Inmaculada (Immaculate). How do you come up with a name like that? It's a good thing that she insists that we call her Inma. (She would kill me if she knew I was writing this)
Anyway...
The Spanish have the strange habit to translate names. Some examples you all know:
The name of the pope in Spain is Juan Pablo II. Christopher Columbus is called Cristóbal Colón.
Prince Charles of England is called Principe Carlos, and his son William goes by the name of Guillermo. Harry, the one who thinks a nazi is the same thing as a clown, is just Harry.
But imagine us watching the news:
I: Who are they talking about?
She: Carlos of England.
I: Carlos? Who the hell is Carlos?
She: The Prince of England, Prince Carlos.
I: Do they have a Prince Carlos in England?? (and then his image is shown)
Ooooooooooooh, CHARLES!!
She: Si, Carlos.
Tuesday, January 18, 2005
The sea inside
The beautiful and touching Spanish movie 'The sea inside' (in Spain known as 'Mar adentro') has won a golden globe for 'best foreign language film' yesterday.
The movie tells the true story of Spaniard Ramón Sampedro, who fought a 30-year campaign to win the right to end his life with dignity, after being completely paralyzed by a diving accident.
Despite his wish to die, Ramón taught everyone he encountered the meaning, value and preciousness of life.
The director of the movie, alejandro amenábar, also directed the movie 'the others' with Nicole Kidman.
The story is still very much alive here in Spain. The woman who helped Ramón to die in 1998 by preparing the cup with cyanide has only this month revealed her identity. Ramóns family accuses her of killing him, the investigation of his death is being opened again and the discussion about euthanasia is very much on-going again.
The movie tells the true story of Spaniard Ramón Sampedro, who fought a 30-year campaign to win the right to end his life with dignity, after being completely paralyzed by a diving accident.
Despite his wish to die, Ramón taught everyone he encountered the meaning, value and preciousness of life.
The director of the movie, alejandro amenábar, also directed the movie 'the others' with Nicole Kidman.
The story is still very much alive here in Spain. The woman who helped Ramón to die in 1998 by preparing the cup with cyanide has only this month revealed her identity. Ramóns family accuses her of killing him, the investigation of his death is being opened again and the discussion about euthanasia is very much on-going again.
Friday, January 14, 2005
Asturias, patria querida
When Europeans think of spain, they probably think of: vacation, bullfights, flamenco, sun, paella and the mediterranean cost.
We live in the northwest of Spain, in the principality of Asturias. In a natural paradise that is very different from what Europeans know of Spain.
Asturias is well known for its green landscapes, and just at a few kilometers from high mountain peaks there is the Cantabric coast with the most beautiful beaches and fishing villages.
It is limited by high mountain ranges, Cordillera Cantabrica, where you find some outstanding natural preserves such as Picos de Europa and the national parks of Covadonga and Somiedo.
Major attractions are the Way of Santiago with its numberless monuments and the Ruta de la Plata, "silver route", which both lead through Asturias.
Asturias too is the home of ancient rites and beliefs with celtic influences, and this region's popular customs are among the most interesting of Spain. Artisany and gastronomy are of high reputation, you may try excellent sea-food along the coast and, in the mountains, typical dishes such as Fabada, made of a special sort of beans, blood sausage and various cheese specialities, together with a glass of cider.
Just to let you know.
We live in the northwest of Spain, in the principality of Asturias. In a natural paradise that is very different from what Europeans know of Spain.
Asturias is well known for its green landscapes, and just at a few kilometers from high mountain peaks there is the Cantabric coast with the most beautiful beaches and fishing villages.
It is limited by high mountain ranges, Cordillera Cantabrica, where you find some outstanding natural preserves such as Picos de Europa and the national parks of Covadonga and Somiedo.
Major attractions are the Way of Santiago with its numberless monuments and the Ruta de la Plata, "silver route", which both lead through Asturias.
Asturias too is the home of ancient rites and beliefs with celtic influences, and this region's popular customs are among the most interesting of Spain. Artisany and gastronomy are of high reputation, you may try excellent sea-food along the coast and, in the mountains, typical dishes such as Fabada, made of a special sort of beans, blood sausage and various cheese specialities, together with a glass of cider.
Just to let you know.
Thursday, January 13, 2005
You are appreciated here
It's nice to see that the visitorscount of my blog is slowly increasing, even without surfing blogexplosion. People are actually starting to find their way to this blog. And there are people who are actually coming back and are commenting on posts. I appreciate that a lot. Now I only have to start writing some decent posts, or I will bore you girls away.
I even found some links to my blog on other blogs that I didn't know about. Thanks for that. I have to update my links too one of these days. Get rid of that scrolling thing on the right that I liked so much in the beginning, and make me a nice list. Because that scrolling thing doesn't give you the respect that you guys and girls deserve.
(a thought that just crosses my mind: Do girls read more guys' blogs and guys read more girls' blogs?)
Google however keeps ignoring me and my archives. I sometimes check this, using this great link popularity tool. I have tried to submit my site several times to the 'open directory project', a submission that is valued highly by Google bots, but the editors don't seem to be updating regularly, and my blog doesn't seem to be listed yet.
I have been thinking about yesterdays post. I don't want you people to get the wrong idea. Mónica and I have a wonderful relationship and adore each other. And I'm not a bad guy. She would confirm that.
Us living together was not that obvious at the beginning, as we didn't know each other that well personally due to our long-distance relationship.
We saw each other 4 days in 1993, 2 weeks in 1996 and 2 weeks in 2003 before going to live together in December 2003. All the rest was writing, chatting and webcamming.
But we were soulmates since the beginning, and now we can't imagine our lives without each other.
I even found some links to my blog on other blogs that I didn't know about. Thanks for that. I have to update my links too one of these days. Get rid of that scrolling thing on the right that I liked so much in the beginning, and make me a nice list. Because that scrolling thing doesn't give you the respect that you guys and girls deserve.
(a thought that just crosses my mind: Do girls read more guys' blogs and guys read more girls' blogs?)
Google however keeps ignoring me and my archives. I sometimes check this, using this great link popularity tool. I have tried to submit my site several times to the 'open directory project', a submission that is valued highly by Google bots, but the editors don't seem to be updating regularly, and my blog doesn't seem to be listed yet.
I have been thinking about yesterdays post. I don't want you people to get the wrong idea. Mónica and I have a wonderful relationship and adore each other. And I'm not a bad guy. She would confirm that.
Us living together was not that obvious at the beginning, as we didn't know each other that well personally due to our long-distance relationship.
We saw each other 4 days in 1993, 2 weeks in 1996 and 2 weeks in 2003 before going to live together in December 2003. All the rest was writing, chatting and webcamming.
But we were soulmates since the beginning, and now we can't imagine our lives without each other.
Wednesday, January 12, 2005
The day after
I've been a bit down lately, tired as well. I keep thinking the doctor should have given me some kind of treatment when he discovered that the ironlevel of my blood was low about a month ago.
Last night, when I got home after work, I went to bed immediately and slept for an hour and a half. I didn't want to get out of bed, because I didn't feel like doing anything. I was bored and irritated by everything, and needed my alone time.
The bad thing is that in moments like this the person closest to you is always the one who has to deal with it. So we ended up fighting by the end of the day. I could see it coming from a mile away.
When I am in this kind of mood, I'm an unfair fighter. My words hit where they can, and nothing seems to bother or hurt me. I get invincible.
It's time to heal the wounds.
Last night, when I got home after work, I went to bed immediately and slept for an hour and a half. I didn't want to get out of bed, because I didn't feel like doing anything. I was bored and irritated by everything, and needed my alone time.
The bad thing is that in moments like this the person closest to you is always the one who has to deal with it. So we ended up fighting by the end of the day. I could see it coming from a mile away.
When I am in this kind of mood, I'm an unfair fighter. My words hit where they can, and nothing seems to bother or hurt me. I get invincible.
It's time to heal the wounds.
Tuesday, January 11, 2005
surveillance cameras exposed
Many blogs and message forums are talking about the discovery that some simple Google searches permit access to over 1000 unprotected streaming surveillance cameras around the world, some apparently without their owner's knowledge.
Searching on certain strings within a URL finds networked surveillance cameras that have Web interfaces, permitting their owners to view them remotely, and even direct the cameras' motorized pan-and-tilt mechanisms from the comfort of their own desktop.
You can try the following search strings in Google:
inurl:"view/index.shtml"
inurl:"axis-cgi/mjpg"
inurl:"MultiCameraFrame?Mode="
inurl:"ViewerFrame?Mode=%"
liveapplet
Some people have been creating pages with all the surveillance cams they found like this. Like
http://www.undertree.us/allcams.html
http://www.opentopia.com/hiddencam.php
Internet Explorer seems to have a problem with opening the links on these pages. But there is a solution. Right-click on the link and choose: “open in new window”. As soon as the new window opens, click the stop button of the internet explorer menubar quickly. Now you see the link in the address bar. Delete everything after the IP address, and press enter.
(found on BoingBoing)
Searching on certain strings within a URL finds networked surveillance cameras that have Web interfaces, permitting their owners to view them remotely, and even direct the cameras' motorized pan-and-tilt mechanisms from the comfort of their own desktop.
You can try the following search strings in Google:
inurl:"view/index.shtml"
inurl:"axis-cgi/mjpg"
inurl:"MultiCameraFrame?Mode="
inurl:"ViewerFrame?Mode=%"
liveapplet
Some people have been creating pages with all the surveillance cams they found like this. Like
http://www.undertree.us/allcams.html
http://www.opentopia.com/hiddencam.php
Internet Explorer seems to have a problem with opening the links on these pages. But there is a solution. Right-click on the link and choose: “open in new window”. As soon as the new window opens, click the stop button of the internet explorer menubar quickly. Now you see the link in the address bar. Delete everything after the IP address, and press enter.
(found on BoingBoing)
Monday, January 10, 2005
My brand new machine
As I said in my last post, I was looking out for a new computer, because the one I had was getting old and slow and started to show some annoying defects.
I had been comparing prices and technical specifications since a few weeks, to find a computer with the best price/quality ratio. And this weekend I came across a great offer for an even greater computer. An offer I actually couldn't resist.
So now I am the proud owner of a brand new Packard Bell desktop computer, with a Pentium 4 HT processor at 3.2 GHz, 1024 Mb of Ram memory and a hard disk of 200 Gb.
The speed and stability of this machine are amazing, compared to my old one.
Now I only need more time to play with it.
I had been comparing prices and technical specifications since a few weeks, to find a computer with the best price/quality ratio. And this weekend I came across a great offer for an even greater computer. An offer I actually couldn't resist.
So now I am the proud owner of a brand new Packard Bell desktop computer, with a Pentium 4 HT processor at 3.2 GHz, 1024 Mb of Ram memory and a hard disk of 200 Gb.
The speed and stability of this machine are amazing, compared to my old one.
Now I only need more time to play with it.
Friday, January 07, 2005
time to clear up the Christmas decorations
We are having some very beautiful weather lately, with temperatures up to 16C and not a single cloud in the sky. So as I expected, many kids were playing in the streets with their new toys yesterday. Especially the radio controlled cars seem to be very popular this year.
The three kings (all named Mónica) brought me this really cool mp3 player. Oh, how I love gadgets.
I watched the three kings procession in Aviles this year. It was not half as spectacular as the one I saw in Asturias's capital Oviedo last year.
And yesterday we visited the Christmas market in Oviedo for the last time. Next week, there will be nothing left of this cozy Christmas atmosphere.
Now that the three kings have brought their presents, it's time for the January discount period. The malls will be so filled with people for the next three weeks, that you would think the shops are giving away everything for free. Especially the women's clothes shops will look like a hurricane has passed through them recently.
I will be comparing prices of computers the next few days. And hopefully I will soon have this brandnew shiny pentium 4 machine at home.
The three kings (all named Mónica) brought me this really cool mp3 player. Oh, how I love gadgets.
I watched the three kings procession in Aviles this year. It was not half as spectacular as the one I saw in Asturias's capital Oviedo last year.
And yesterday we visited the Christmas market in Oviedo for the last time. Next week, there will be nothing left of this cozy Christmas atmosphere.
Now that the three kings have brought their presents, it's time for the January discount period. The malls will be so filled with people for the next three weeks, that you would think the shops are giving away everything for free. Especially the women's clothes shops will look like a hurricane has passed through them recently.
I will be comparing prices of computers the next few days. And hopefully I will soon have this brandnew shiny pentium 4 machine at home.
Wednesday, January 05, 2005
The Three Kings
Tomorrow is a very traditional holiday in spain, Three Kings day (los Reyes Magos). It is the day on which the children get presents, delivered by the Three Kings of the East (or so they think). Santa is not very popular in Europe.
Tonight every city in Spain will have a big procession to celebrate the arrival of the Three Kings. Last year I was impressed by the procession, with elefants, camels, sheep, beautiful wagons with hundreds of lights and three beautifully dressed kings and their helpers throwing tons of sweets. The thousands of children in the streets were all singing and cheering.
On the 6th of january, you can see the kids in the streets playing with their brandnew toys.
Today, a special cake, roscon de Reyes, is made and sold all over Spain. It is a ring-shaped pastry, covered in sugar and fruit flavoured jellies.
The cake contains a little plastic figure of a king. Whoever finds the figure is named the new king and will be blessed with good luck for the new year.
Tonight every city in Spain will have a big procession to celebrate the arrival of the Three Kings. Last year I was impressed by the procession, with elefants, camels, sheep, beautiful wagons with hundreds of lights and three beautifully dressed kings and their helpers throwing tons of sweets. The thousands of children in the streets were all singing and cheering.
On the 6th of january, you can see the kids in the streets playing with their brandnew toys.
Today, a special cake, roscon de Reyes, is made and sold all over Spain. It is a ring-shaped pastry, covered in sugar and fruit flavoured jellies.
The cake contains a little plastic figure of a king. Whoever finds the figure is named the new king and will be blessed with good luck for the new year.
Tuesday, January 04, 2005
Never again
I am bored today. I don't feel like doing much, although I should be working.
But I decided to try to make a '100 things about me' list (Here it is), and it made me remember many funny things about my past.
For example, no. 86: I wash my car not more than twice a year.
I once went to a carwash, and after they were finished cleaning my car and I was ready to leave, the owner of the carwash shouted: See you next year! (and it was April!!)
I was so offended by it, that it ruined my whole day.
I never went back.
But I decided to try to make a '100 things about me' list (Here it is), and it made me remember many funny things about my past.
For example, no. 86: I wash my car not more than twice a year.
I once went to a carwash, and after they were finished cleaning my car and I was ready to leave, the owner of the carwash shouted: See you next year! (and it was April!!)
I was so offended by it, that it ruined my whole day.
I never went back.
Monday, January 03, 2005
And it starts all over again
Back at work, as if nothing happened. Only the calendar has changed, and I've got 23 holidays again to consume over the next 365 days.
New Year's Eve was fun. The food was good, we danced until our feet hurt, and we practiced our favourite sport: observing people (not what you thought, was it?). It's amazing how energetic some older people still are, dancing until 7 o'clock in the morning.
Oh, and I actually managed for the first time to eat the 12 grapes of luck before the clock struck 12 times.
I was lucky on Thursday as well. I got up in the morning to look at the weather and snow report of the San Isidro area, and saw that it was going to be a sunny day and that the ski slopes were in a perfect condition. So I was able to go skiing and had a wonderful day.
New Year's Eve was fun. The food was good, we danced until our feet hurt, and we practiced our favourite sport: observing people (not what you thought, was it?). It's amazing how energetic some older people still are, dancing until 7 o'clock in the morning.
Oh, and I actually managed for the first time to eat the 12 grapes of luck before the clock struck 12 times.
I was lucky on Thursday as well. I got up in the morning to look at the weather and snow report of the San Isidro area, and saw that it was going to be a sunny day and that the ski slopes were in a perfect condition. So I was able to go skiing and had a wonderful day.
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