gadgets.. we love them, we need them, we spend all our money on them.

No idea why I love gadgets so much but I know that I have to restrain myself everytime one comes out and Anna usually has to get me back to reason/reality… otherwise I would have a lot more of them things like iPods, nifty cellphones, pda’s, notebooks and so on all around me :)

There is a bird (forgot it’s name) that gathers shiny things that he puts around his nest to lure the female into the nest.. I wonder if some of his genes made it into modern men but isn’t that a rudimentary instinct to gather shiny things around to make oneself more attractive? See jewelery and such..

Of course, nowadays the gadgets are still used for that reason, moreorless. But it is not that we gather them for the other to feel courted, we do it to feel better ourselves. (or did you ever feel good if someone else used your cellphone/iPod/whatever?)
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Siepke hates to travel.

Last time we tried to bring him to friends to take care for him over a weekend, in a cat-box/container. On a distance of ~30 kilometers he made around 27 rotations in his cage, lost bladder control and his paws were bleeding. :(

So I went to the vet to get some pet-tranquilizers, the stuff you give your dog/cat when newyear’s eve’s fireworks drive it crazy.
The vet said: “basically it’s very safe, just makes him drowsy and relaxed.. give it 3 hours before you move. But: every cat reacts different.. give him one and see what happens but test it one evening BEFORE you make the move.”

Ok.. at six p.m. we gave Siepke a pill and waited…

half an hour later I had a mad cat in my arms, the phone to the vet in my hands.
According to him “Siamese can have a little more, usually…” and that the pill works 6~10 hours.
Siepke at this moment more looked like a dog than a cat and gave sounds that I did not recognize as the ones a cat is able to produce. According to Anna he was “totally wasted” and I can only agree to this .

I don’t know what is better when we make the move. A cat on LSD (his eyes.. so spooky) that is on a horror-trip the whole time of the moving or a cat that is in sheer terror the whole time…

It’s snowing. :D In Maastricht snow is falling. This is such a rare spectacle and I just gave a cry of joy :)
You know, when you are out in the coldness and it smells dry and cold.. you can really smell the upcoming snow in the air.

By the way.. I just learned that at my parent’s place it was minus 20 celsius last week.. brrr..
They have used up all the wood for the winter already – oil is very expensive so they produce extra heat with conventional fire in winter. Actually, that makes an incredibly cozy feeling in the house because the oven is installed centrally and connected to all the walls in the house – they radiate the heat from within. :) Makes you want to stay in bed the whole day :D

Anyway, I have to go to work now, just paid the owner of our new appartment in Amsterdam the deposit and the first rent.. the biggest transaction I ever did. :( Now we are broke again :P

Today I went to our vet in Maastricht for the last time.. as we move out of Maastricht, we thought it might be wise to implant Siepke a chip should he get lost on the way to Amsterdam somehow.
That, and something against worms and fleas to get the moving done as smooth as possible together with some tranquilizer for the trip.
Siepke now carries a RFID-chip and is registered at europetnet/BackHome as our pet. I hope it helps :)

She told me that RFID chips are very popular at discotheques for storing money and membership details of the carrier inside it.. she was actually quite scandalized about it. Also the latest idea of Rita Verdonk, minister of immigration and integration in The Netherlands scandalized her, “…to emphasise Dutch identity, including speaking Dutch in the street…”
The whole population of Zuid-Limburg (the wild south of the Netherlands) can not be understood by a person from the north without subtitles.. just ridiculous :)
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moving out is always awkward.

On the one hand it’s exciting because something new is about to begin.. on the other hand, as more and more things are put into boxes (and other things are found in the process) you see once more everything that once was or is precious to you and have to decide if you want to leave it for the garbage or take it with you.

I found things that date back long before I met Anna, things that Tolkien would describe as “fathom” – something that you just can’t throw away even if it just occupies space. :)

Another bad thing about moving away is the next one to come.
By seeing these people come and go and look at what was your home for many years you begin to think about everything in a different light.
Why did I put this there and why not there? Why does he/she look at that in this way?
Did I say something funny?

Up to now there have been here:
– a dutch delicatessen-dealer (never heard of him again)
– 2 dutch girls that didn’t want it because there was only one bedroom
– a dutch woman that didn’t like it so much
– a dutch girl that I’d want to see living here, she will move in with her boyfriend eventually but she doesn’t know…
– 2 german girls, that require seperate bedrooms (pity for them…)
– luckily the girls from cologne cancelled, because I couldn’t see anyone anymore today.

*sighs and falls to bed*

I WANT CHOCOLATE!!!

:(

We all know them, the friendly people that call you up and ask, if you want a credit, a new health insurance, some newspapers, whatever..

These people are specially trained for all your attempts to escape them and follow a script, so they have a huge advantage over you.

But not anymore, it’s time to fight back and beat them with their own weapons:
The EGBG Counter-Skript!

Source: www.egbg.nl
PDF-Download in:
English
German
Dutch

the effect of the counterscript is incredible! Since I have it hanging on the wall no telemarketer has called again. I am truly impressed!

At the moment we are looking for a new appartement in Amsterdam.

This is more stressful than expected, as everyone asks us to be patient and noone gives a clear statement. We found a wonderful appartement on the 13th floor in the north of Amsterdam, gigantic windows to the south and a cat-safe balcony but the landlord really takes his time to make a decision.

I have already announced our appartement in Maastricht for rent so if you are looking for the a cozy studio in Maastricht, write me :) For the rest, exams are coming up and I fear that the moving will take place exactly at the same time that the exams will start.. oh joy!

What we definitely will do is: Sedate Siepke before he will travel in the car again. Last time he went crazy in the cage and I was afraid he might kill himself!