Friday, January 28, 2011

Just Hangin' Out.


It's a fairly typical Friday here in Wienerland,  what with the usual chores and such.  I'm leaning towards the idea of putting up some sort of clothes line inside,  since I'm starting to get a little annoyed with hanging sheets to dry over the backs of chairs.  It's all fine and dandy to put the outside chairs to some good use,  but I could do without the hassle of unfolding and folding them up again.   And with the "dining room"  chairs,  there's always that slight issue of perhaps wanting to actually sit on one of them come supper time.
I put "dining room"  chairs in quotation marks,  since our "dining room"  set is a table and four chairs that I bought at Ikea in the Netherlands for a whopping €70.  The comfort level is pretty much on par with the price.  Meagre.
This is the main reason why I've shied away from scheduling three whole hours with German Teacher Dude,  since it's not the lively banter that's the problem,  but the rather sorry state that I find my ass starting to get to.

(And yes,  thanks for pointing out the poor grammar.  Bite me.)

There is a plan afoot to sew some cushions,  which may help considerably.
We found some cushy inserts last week in a store a few blocks away,  and I rifled through a couple storage boxes until we found some material.  Perhaps in a couple more weeks there will be cushions.   We'll see.
 Sewing isn't my deal.   It might have been way back when we had an old Bernina that could only be destroyed with armour piercing bullets, and which was already a little bit wonky and therefore couldn't be made any worse by me.
No,  the machine that Travelling Companion has these days is worth more than what I paid for my first car,  so I don't go near the thing.
Truth be told,  she was petrified to use it here in Europe,  even with a fancy schmancy 20 pound transformer,  so we bought a second machine when we were in the Netherlands that runs on either 220 or 110.

I don't go near it either.


I might be a little dim,  but I'm not that much of an idiot.



Speaking of idiots,  (time for your weekly segue)  I'm beginning to form the opinion that there are a number of villages in the countryside that are missing theirs.
There's a quite a flock of them here on Mariahilfer.   Some are looking for money,  some are gathering to discuss and solve the world's problems.   That kind of thing.
I'm sure there are many of their brethren in any large city on the planet.   Well,  except for those who have chosen the simpler village life. 
 Had one today approach me to sign up to sponsor a kid in some foreign land.  I've lumped him in with the idiots,  since I'm sure he was a well intentioned individual not stinking of beer or anything,  but approaching people on the side walk is just another form of begging as far as I'm concerned,  and he actually didn't get a word in edgewise.  I had already overheard parts of these conversations over the previous months,  (and months)  so I knew exactly why he was trying to put the bite on me.
I guess they figure people hoofing it down Mariahilfer are in some sort of generous mood?  How does that figure?
Have you seen my picture?  What about my demeanour would possibly give anyone the idea that I'd even be willing to take my hands out of my pockets,  let alone pull out some money too?

Right.

Don't get me wrong,  it's just a matter of perceived value.  I've been known to give quite generously (well,  for me anyway)  if I've at least received some sort of entertainment for my "street experience".   If you're a musician say,  and reasonably good with the ability to keep your instrument in tune then yes,  I just might part with a couple bucks.   Or a couple Euros,  as the case may be. 
However,  if you think getting dressed up in some whacky costume and standing perfectly still counts as a "talent" then no,  I'm afraid as far as I'm concerned,  that's just begging.  Don't care how much you spent on spray paint either.


And at this point I see it's time to toddle off down the street once again to see what I can rifle out of the frozen pizza section of the grocery store.

That would be the extent of my dinner plans.



Note previous reference to "dim".




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Monday, January 24, 2011

Sometimes I complain.

And you're thinking,  "Sometimes?"
 Well,  I try not to but I'll readily admit that I might gripe a little about this or that.   Mostly having to do with people getting in my way or something of that nature.
 On the other hand though,  I feel compelled to point out that there are some things about living in Europe that, for lack of any other way of putting it, simply "kick ass!".

 Let me explain.

 First of all,  I'm pretty sure I've mentioned the fact that beer and wine are considerably cheaper here than in North America.  Actually,  I just might have mentioned this more than once.  Sorry.
Certainly cheaper than in Canada.   And I'm not talking about crap here,  I'm talking about half decent wine that you'd be willing to serve to guests.
When it comes to beer, if I'm feeling really outlandishly extravagant*, I might actually cough up the €.99 for some "premium" beer such as Budweiser,  instead of the run of the mill stuff I have in the cupboard which,  if you buy a case of 24,  works out to something like €.55 a piece.  That would be for a half a litre of beer by the way,  not the puny 341ml available in Canada.

Ya,  that's pretty damned reasonable.  Just doesn't help in the beer belly avoidance end of things though.


mmmmmm.  Budweiser.


Oh,  and that bottle of "Valpolicella"  that you see off on one side of the photo?   That was something like €4,00.     So with the Euro being worth about a buck thirty five Canadian,  that's what?  five and a half bucks??
Oh,  and let's not forget the lack of speed limits on the Autobahn in Germany,  but that's a whole other story.
I think you see what I'm talking about.   There are some things....

Well,  today I'd just like to point out one other thing in Europe that kicks ass,  and that is the postal system.
 Now,  I realise that it has declined over the years,  but you have to understand the starting point from which this "decline" originated.   When I was living in the little village of Opfingen in Germany way,  way back in 1979,  the idea of having a telephone was pretty much out of the question,   but I could put a post card in the mail in the morning before nine a.m.  and it would get delivered to my brother's place up in Baden-Söllingen that night!
 
Nope.  I'm not kidding.

Did it many times.   The note would be something like,  "meet you in front of so and so tomorrow morning at 10".

Couldn't afford a phone,  but didn't really need one.

There was even postal delivery on Saturday.


I'd just like to also mention,  on the "not complaining front",  that it snowed last night,  several inches in fact,  and I'm OK with that.   Used to be I'd start to stress about those kinds of things on a Sunday in my former job,  due to that whole opening the school the next morning kind of thing.
I had eleven entrances to shovel.   Preferably done with a good dose of ice melter before seven a.m.   Such fun.
Sometimes I'd wake up in the middle of the night and look out in the hopes that it was still snowing and blowing enough to warrant a "snow day",  but that happened about as often as a lunar eclipse.

So, even when Travelling Companion very meekly asked if I'd mind driving her to work?  Hey,  no problem.   The car is parked underground,  so no snow to clean off,  and it has a decent set of snow tires.   I sat in traffic a little,  but meh,  no big deal.   Plus,  that gave me a chance to stop by Merkur on Prager Strasse and pick up a couple things that we can only find at that store.
 The only thing is,  I didn't quite suspect that the order that I had placed on Thursday night from Media Markt would already be here this morning at nine!  The tracking number thingie they sent me said it had been shipped out on Friday afternoon,  so I'm thinking maybe I should start wondering by about what? Wednesday?   Even that would seem fast.  Certainly by Canadian standards.
From Friday afternoon to Monday morning isn't even an actual whole day when it comes to shipping time,  now that I think of it.
I'm kind of at a loss for words.


See, the thing about driving Travelling Companion to work is that,  in the best of all possible worlds I can't really make it back here until eight thirty or quarter to nine.   If I also unknowingly stop for groceries,  then that tends to make it a bit longer.  The traffic getting back into the city is usually pretty nasty,  so spending some time picking up groceries is at least more productive than sitting in stop and go traffic in the blinding sun.   So when I came strolling in our front door downstairs at about quarter after nine and happened to notice this box sitting with a few others on a dolly...



I had to convince myself that it was actually for me.
It is only Monday,  right?
I caught up with Postal Dude, after playing a little "elevator tag",  and all I had to do was prove who I was,  and "Bob's yer Uncle",    we now have more space to store media!





I think I kinda like this whole "on-line ordering" thing!

*Please refer to my earlier mention of "extravagance",  and you'll quickly realise "on-line shopping" isn't going to become any kind of a problem for me.   Just so you know.


That pretty well takes care of today's activities.




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Wednesday, January 19, 2011

My second biggest fear.

You may certainly recall that I mentioned (only yesterday)  that one of my biggest fears was that of locking myself out.
 No,  I haven't locked myself out.
My arms are pretty long,  but reaching this computer from out in the hallway would be a stretch.
 OK,  that was a really poor choice of words.


 You'd think that something like flying would be a fear,  but it's not.   Reports are that I do start to get a little crusty when we travel by air,  but that doesn't so much have to do with the notion of a heavier than air metal tube somehow becoming airborne.   No, it's the B.S. one has to go through to get on the metal tube that starts to fray my fuse just ever so slightly.

For example, we could go up in a Cessna 152 say,






and provided the thing is stressed for inverted flight,  any number of acrobatic shenanigans would not faze me in the slightest.

I did discover a few years back however, that I do have some motion sickness issues,  so chances are pretty high that if I don't medicate,  I will blow chunks in and around the cockpit.

Sick yes.

Afraid no.


No, I'm talking more along the lines here of making an assumption of what I fear,  based on some overwhelming evidence that has recently come to light.
 See,  when we first moved to the Netherlands from Canada way,  way back in 08,   (Gawd,  are we coming up on three years???)
it never occurred to me that I would have some difficulty finding certain important items necessary for my own personal hygiene.  We're not even going to talk about the monumental task of having to go out and find these sorts of things for Travelling Companion.

That would be a whole other diatribe.

I discovered early on,  that I couldn't find the underarm deodorant that I've become quite accustomed to over the years.
 Nothing even close!
We did find Miracle Whip in Denmark,  but I'll be damned if I could find proper deodorant anywhere in Europe.
This may explain why there have been reports back from certain office environments that some of the men are shall we say?  emitting a certain fragrance?  Eau de Gym locker,  perhaps?

 Where was I?

So before we turned right around and went back home again to buy deodorant,  (we had to go home for a wedding)  I had to settle for this stuff you see below....



yuk!

Does that in any way look right to you?   Does that look like something a man should use??
 The problem with moving to a new country where you're not quite up to speed language wise,  is summed up in that photo.
 Turns out this stuff was antiperspirant.   Well,  for a long time now I haven't been able to use antiperspirant,  since they put some sort of crap in there that makes me itch.
  So,  smelly or itchy?  What's it gonna be?
 I don't even know why I still have it,  but it probably has to do with keeping something which has some remote chance of one day being serviceable.   This can be a weakness.
In addition to it being wrong for me chemically,  this stuff was some sort of slimy white goop that gets rolled on.   Gah!
 Far be it from me to examine too many men's armpits,  but speaking for myself,  there's a certain amount of hair there.

 I'll just let you think about that for a minute.

 So let's cut to the chase,  shall we?

 Here's what's been happening.   Just about every time that we go home,  and I've pretty well lost count actually,  I stock up on deodorant.  The kind I like.

It was even on my Christmas list.
I know.  The kids were not impressed.   But I was happy.

 So judging by the amount of sticks that I have accumulated,  I have to conclude that running out of deodorant must be my second biggest fear*.






That's no trick photography there folks.   Pretty sure I have another three or four sticks back home too.
That little guy down there on the right could very well be antiperspirant.   How'd that get in there?

Meh, I'm not worried.



So,  if I go through one stick about every three months?   Yikes...I sure hope we've moved back home before then.





*There was that one time when I looked under my vehicle to find out what that noise was,  and came nose to butt with a skunk.  I backed away slowly. 
Now THAT was fear!




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Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Sunny is better.

Looking out over Wienerland.








I'm not reporting on the health of someone named "Sunny" either.   I'm just saying it's a heck of a sight more pleasant when the sun is out.
Can't complain.

Really.

Which makes for really not that much to say on the blog front.
We're just plodding along,  putting in the days.

Which is also why there's been pretty much a week's absence in these parts.   Nothing to bitch about.

 Not only that,  but the weather has been almost balmy,   with temps on the weekend reaching something in the neighbourhood of 12°C.   That's just crazy,  but it works for me.  Today we're struggling to get up to five,  but considering the lousy temperatures back in the homeland,  I'm not saying much.


 I was going to link to an article from a Toronto website,  but sometimes these links expire,   so I'll just quote a few lines.

"Toronto police say the woman, who suffered from dementia, was found frozen to death on the sidewalk near her home. She had gone outside in the middle of the night and was overcome by hypothermia. Neighbours reported hearing a woman's cries but did not realize someone was in distress."

Um...that's not good.

And might I add,  Nice freakin' neighbours!

  I realise that I might have a bit of the "Gladys Kravitz"  going on,  so I'm pretty sure if I heard one of my neighbours crying outside in the middle of the night I'd be able to get my lazy ass outta bed long enough to pull a curtain aside.  Honestly!



Picture doesn't get any bigger.  Sorry.








 They say that right before you freeze to death,  there's a feeling of euphoria, but I'm not really sure how you go about proving that one.



Now,  speaking of "in the middle of the night",   the scuttlebutt is that one of the apartments in the building was broken into on New Year's Eve. 
Seems that there's a certain amount of noise making going on on "Silvester Nacht",  which was a good cover for the dirty buggers who broke in a couple floors below.
Even though they are rather large,  the doors of all the apartments below us are made of wood,  through which drilling with a cordless tool is not that complicated it seems.   They only made off with some money and booze.   Might have something to do with drug addiction?   Just wondering.
 Getting into our place is not a worry,  since our front door has five bolts that go into the frame on the latch side (in addition to the latch,  by the way)  as well as an additional three bolts on the hinge side.
Not only that,  but the whole door is rabbeted around three sides to fit over the edge of the frame.

A rabbet,  in case you were wondering.

 
Freakin' Fort Knox.

 My bigger concern is the possibility of ever locking myself out,  since that would be a disaster. 
All of the older,  easier to break into doors below have deadbolts,  which means having to expressly lock the door behind you.   Not ours,  when it closes behind you,  it's locked.   Yer done!
There would be no "Easter Egg Hunt"  as my daughter puts it,   since the only other possible keys are with the landlord. I guess?   I'm sure.   Wouldn't there be?

 I hope to never find out.   The keys are right there next to the door,  after I pick them up I make sure I open my hand and LOOK AT THEM ever single time before I close the door behind me.   Kind of goofy I know,  but it's worked so far.

No stepping briefly out into the hallway to vacuum the tiny mat or any other such nonsense.

 I better stop talking about this,   since I'm liable to jinx it.

 Kind of like racing on a sail boat and someone pipes up and says something stupid like,  "Oh....looks like we're gonna win",  since that is the precise moment when the main halyard breaks and you come to a dead stop. 

You just don't say those things.

And if you come anywhere close,  you touch wood.   Silly,  yes?


Have a fine week.   (I'm guessing it'll be that long before you hear from me again)



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Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Sometimes things happen.

That can make a person just want to spit.

So happens there were a couple choice words in there,  but they're not fit for print.



 Remember this image?



Maybe you don't.
Whatever.

Took me a while to find it,  since it was way back in the archives.  I probably should delete more photos,  but I don't.   Takes a lot of pics to fill up a half Terabyte of storage space on a  drive.

Even if you're not a big fan of beer,  there is something appealing about the colour and the faint logo.

I know I claim to have enough "stuff" in my life,  which is a true statement, but this particular glass was a sort of a "one of a kind" kind of thing.   It's now in the garbage in many,  many pieces.

 I've broken a few things here in Wienerland, and for the most part they were things that I didn't really give a rats tiny behind about.   Even when I broke an entire bottle of wine there last year some time.   That's another story.   Not going there.  I recall uttering a few choice words at the time then as well.   Difference was,  I just had to go back to the store and pick up a replacement.
And clean up a huge mess.   Not in that order.

 That's not a choice this time.

Anyway,  I guess I'm over it.   Just one of those stupid little decision that one tends to regret at the precise moment that it's made.  Like,  "Oh,  I should wash that and put it away,  but first I'll just do this...."     Then *crash*!   "argh! €@@##!!!.....!"


*sigh*



Other than that we're certainly having a better day here in Wienerland that what I see back in the Homeland.   Don't want to jinx it,  but we might not get any more of the "S" word for the rest of the winter.   Not the case back home.
Somehow I think it's starting to look a bit like this....



It didn't even look like this when we were home for Christmas.  I can handle a little snow at Christmas,  but then it can go away.
Oh,  and that big elm tree out front.  Not there any more....

 I didn't get around to taking a look at the snowblower either,  partly because I had the sneaking suspicion that it would take a wee bit more than a fresh spark plug and some fuel to make it go.  I'm just saying.  It's old and was looking pretty sad.   No pic.  Sorry.   I'm sure you don't mind.
I did find this image out there on the net.  It's actually rather amazing what you can find.  Just can't make it get any bigger if you click on it is all.   This one is very close,  but somewhat spiffier than the one back home.  Sad but true.




Yes,  ours is not as "spiffy" looking as this one.


Other than that I was behind the wheel of the BMW today for the first time since coming back.  Had to take Travelling Companion to the airport this morning for a 7:00 a.m. flight.   That meant revelry at 4:30.

What I live for.

 She sent me a note to let me know she was working in an office with a very nice view of Lac Lémans.   That would be in Switzerland for those of you who might be geographically challenged.
 Driving the BMW was a welcome change from the less than stellar rental vehicle we had when we were back in Canada. 
 Now I don't want to sound like some ingrate or a complete snob,  since the rental car was one that I had chosen specifically since we had one a couple years ago when we were home for my daughter's wedding.   At the time my impression was that it was a peppy little car that had tight feel to it.

 Not this time.

 It was the same model,  a Nissan Versa,  but I think we got the toothless hill-billy version?
  I somehow suspect it has something to do with that once upon a time unholy union between Nissan and Renault?

Just guessing.

 Anyway,  the difference was quite noticeable.  I had become quite used to the BMW,  and getting back into it was kind of like putting on a pair of favourite trousers.

Well,  somehow I can't quite imagine a pair of trousers having that much torque,  so my analogy is a little off I guess.


 Hm...."Trousers with Torque".   Sounds like a helluva marketing scheme.


 On that note,  I'll bid you adieu.



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Monday, January 10, 2011

That was one week.

And we're almost back to some sort of normal sleep patterns.
Not sure what happened there,  and whether it had anything to do with the layover in Amsterdam and then getting in a bit later here to Wienerland when we arrived on Monday,  but neither Travelling Companion nor I have been able to sort out our sleeping habits.
I can tolerate waking up in the wee hours,  (once!) as long as that is followed by then going back to sleep.
Usually right away. Please.


 This past week that hasn't been the case.

 To makes matters worse,  we're pretty much at cross purposes when it comes to some means of getting back to sleep.
It might have something to do with taking a bit of yoga many,  many years ago (don't laugh)  but I can more or less calm myself down and convince myself to go back to sleep.
(Annoys the crap out of you know who)
Provided that is,  that I haven't done something retarded like have a cup of coffee any time after about five p.m.,  or done some other silly thing like flying half way around the globe.


The second proviso is that there is relative quiet....

This can be a problem. 
SOMEBODY,  needs to have the TV on to go to sleep.  I on the other hand,  find that the TV just annoys the crap out of me.
I must be too nosey or something,  since I begin to get way too interested in whatever is on,  and that just keeps me up.
 Even if it's the soothing voice of say David Attenborough all that's going to happen is that eventually I'm going to want to see just which monkeys he's referring to, since of course I need to know the difference between a monkey and an ape.
I mean,   doesn't everyone??
 (I actually wanted to say, "A gibbon and an ape",  but a gibbon IS an ape.   Bet you didn't know that.)

And this,  ladies and gentlemen is why we have more than one bedroom.   

Better to just slink off to another room, pillow in hand and focus on the insides of my eyelids.

Last night we actually slept through the night in the same bed!

Alert the media!

OK,  I did wake up briefly at around three,  but that's not that unusual.  Just some sort of "old man" thing.

The only possible reason that this is "blog worthy"  is that it took us a whole flippin' week to get this sorted out.  In the past we've been able to adjust within a day or two.

Other than that,  everything here in Wienerland is just peachy.  The weather is a bit gloomy but fairly mild.  The word is that it got quite warm while we were away and all the snow melted in the lower parts of the country.   Sad,  I know!   *snort*!
 Don't fret though,  there's still plenty of snow in the higher elevations for the winter types.  They're welcome to have at it.
 Lemme see,  what else?
 Oh, I tried my hand at making home made chicken soup.   The only observation from the critic was that I didn't use quite enough chicken.  Hey,  I bought one package.  I thought that was enough.
Whatever.
We still scarfed it down though, so I don't think it was anything less than fine.

And I suppose that's about it.


 Keep yer sticks on the ice.




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Thursday, January 6, 2011

Merry Christmas!

No,  I haven't quite lost my mind.  Although that could well be a topic for a completely other post.
I suppose if I ever really got to that point,  I'd be slipping into the incoherent bliss of confusion.
I'll stop now, since this could very well turn into an argument with myself.

That would be a sign.

Actually it's the "Feast of the Epiphany" here in Wienerland,  but for our Ukrainian friends,  it's Christmas Eve.

So...Merry Christmas!!


Confused yet?

Wait!
There's more!

When we were in Puerto Rico,  we discovered that it was "Three Kings Day".

Right.

 That was the day on which all the kids got their presents.   Not on Christmas.   Christmas was all about the birth of Christ.  Going to church.  That kind of thing.
Whether you're big into that or not,  at least the name of the day makes sense in the sense of the word.
You know what I mean.

No,  "Three Kings Day"  was when three of the local yokels (almost always kids) would dress up as three kings and all the kids would put a box of grass under their beds at night for the camels.





I'm not making this up. I'm not that creative,  nor have I succumbed to mental condition I mentioned just a few lines ago.



And no,  I don't mean those camels.
That would just be wrong on so many levels.



It wasn't until some time in February that all the Christmas trees were taken down and burnt,  with the ashes saved for Lent.
Yes,  some Puerto Ricans had Christmas trees.   Shipped each year from Maine.
And here you thought Wienerland was "Absurdistan"!


The bottom line is,  here in Wienerland,  it's a holiday.
Not like a holiday we had back in December when only the grocery stores were closed but all the retail shops were open (there's all that Christmas shopping after all) but a holiday when everything is locked up tight.

There might be the odd gas station open,  but I'll never know.  Nor do I care.
I bought extra groceries yesterday,  so we're good.
I only wish our freezer was just a tad bigger,  since keeping bread from one day to the next is nearly impossible.  I'm not buying a stand alone freezer just because of the odd holiday when all the stores are closed.
Billa had these Dr. Oetker pizzas on for €1,79 if you bought two,  and I had to pass that one up since I knew we didn't have room in the freezer.   It's these little things that bring us right back to that whole "crazy" theme.


And there we have it.  "Alpha and Omega"   From crazy right back to crazy.

 Except that I did want to mention that I'm using one of my Christmas presents,   since this will quite possibly be the only time I can get this in without some elaborate segue that would just be too difficult to come up with.
I have been known to grumble ever so slightly about being in the dark for way too many hours of the day?   (And that's the biggest understatement of the year so far).
So now I don't have to worry about juggling a flash light while tending to the grill.   I didn't even know they made hats with lights.  The tricky bit will be keeping it free from BBQ sauce,  since shoving it in the washing machine will be out of the question.
 

look closely at the brim.









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Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Back to Blogging.

Odd to think that "blogging"  has become a verb.  I can just imagine mentioning the word to someone like say,  my father? and then see the look on his face.  Blogging?  Somehow sounds like something to be done with a team of horses.  Sledding.  Logging.  Blogging.   So would that be logging those really BIG logs?


 Was I saying something?

  Right.

 We're back in Wienerland.  Travelling Companion has to go to Switzerland already next week.  Just going back to Canada and coming back here is enough travelling for me for a while.  Quite enough for her too,  but she has no choice.
 The trip was perfectly fine,  in spite of the somewhat long layover in Schiphol.   You may recall that we went with KLM this time around.




 Having some extra space can make a world of difference on a long flight.

We might try Lufthansa for the next go.   We're pretty convinced we'd rather continue to avoid Austrian Airlines if at all possible.   There's even such a thing as "Economy Plus"  on KLM that looks like an option. 

We had a couple little surprises when we got back here.   It's always fun to get a couple Christmas cards waiting for us in the mail.  Received one from our former neighbours in the Netherlands.   Seems the folks who owned the house where we lived are going to move back in.
My guess is there were no takers on the sales front.  It was a cute looking house,  but needed some serious work and they were asking way too much money for the place.
In case you forgot what it looked like.







     The other little surprise was that the heat was still on "vacation mode" when we got here yesterday afternoon, so the place was a wee bit chilly.  By that I mean somewhere in the neighbourhood of 12°C.   Took forever to get the place warmed up again.  That will be the first and last time I do that.   Considering that this place is quite well insulated and was buttoned up the whole time,  there was no real need to put the thermostat on any kind of set back.
The next series of chores will involve setting up one of the new gadgets we got for Christmas.

The Goflex gismo.
 (click the link,  not the lame picture)

  Since we don't have access to cable,  we tend to watch a lot of movies and TV series.   This is presently being accomplished with an ageing laptop and an external hard drive.   The new gismo will avoid the use of a computer altogether and hooks directly to a TV.   Since laptops have a nasty habit of crashing at the most inconvenient times,  this is rather good insurance against that eventuality.

 So,  if I'm going to hook this thing up today,  I need to get at it soon.   The days are in fact getting longer but I'm not fooling myself that I'll have daylight much past five p.m.

I'll be back here when I think I have something to say.


 Keep it between the ditches.



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Saturday, January 1, 2011

The fun of Home Ownership.

Even though Travelling Companion and I don't officially "live here"  (in Canada) we're the ones with the names on the deed.
What that actually means is,  there are things from time to time that need the attention of the proprietor.   Or the "proper iota",  if you're a fan of the goon show.

Let's not digress.

I may further explain at a later time,  but I think this photo should serve to point out the gist of my intentions.




Fun times.

I think you get it.

 We have one more family get together to head off to later this afternoon,  and then that will be that.   KLM flight 692 boards tomorrow afternoon at 17:45.   Between returning the somewhat less than stellar rental car and all that other pre-flight jazz,  I'm thinking we have to leave the house at around three or so.

Can't say we're too thrilled.


Happy New Year.



Behave.




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