July 2004 Archives

it has been so far... I took the tram to Media Markt to go get myself a new mobile phone. I used to have one, a long long time ago, but hadn't bought a new one when it became unavailable to me. I didn't really need it when I was out of a job, besides I certainly couldn't afford it.

Now that I'm working again, and often go to places I've not been before, having some way of contacting the outside world is nice, not to say a necessity. When I got a flat tire on friday, it could have come in handy in case I wasn't able to fix it myself, or if something more serious happened.

So, I arrive at Media Market which is flooded with people and I enquire about the Sony Ericsson Z600, one of the models I found both appealing as well as having everything I desire for a reasonable price. I wanted my new toy to have bluetooth connectivity, as well as GPRS, a camera would be nice but not really needed. Oh, and it should be able to make calls as well, handle SMS, MMS and the lot.

They were out of the Z600 :( and the earliest day for them to come back in was thursday. I decided to go to the shopping center in Wijnegem instead, and get one at the Base shop. They too were out of them! Then I checked with the Belgacom store : no luck at all. Finally, the Mobistar center still had some, but they were 30 euro more expensive as with Base. I tried to get a discount by telling them the competition sells them cheaper, but that didn't fly. Anyway, I got my phone, and then went back to the Base shop - very hot lady behind the counter too - to get the subscription sorted.

After that, it was off to the supermarket to pick up plain water, coz on the way to the shopping center, my car decided to break down and overheat. I luckily noticed it before really bad things happened, pulled over and shut down the engine to let it cool off. I walked the half mile to the shopping center to get water, and after my shopping was done, I walked back with 10 liter of water and a new mobile phone. I was able to get about 2.5 liter into the cooling system and when I drove off, the temperature rose quickly but then settled around it's normal level. I made it home and called my dad to check what I should/could do about it. It's quite handy to have a dad that knows everything about technical things :)

I ran the engine for about 10 minutes, often pressed down on the accellerator to see if I could get it to overheat again, and hopefully spot where and if it was leaking, because in order to fix something, you first have to know what the problem is. Of course it refused to rise above normal temperature levels, so right now it seems ok.

It remains pretty strange though, especially because the wet spots in front of the car I noticed before driving off had appeared during a time when it hadn't been used for a couple of hours. I've got spare water in the car with me, and a phone to call people if needed, so I should be able to handle most things that happen with it now. It's been a stressful day...

Grab all your MP3's and stick them in your favorite player. Randomize them and list the first 10, with partial lyrics. I've done a bonus set of 10 - just for you :)

01. (Bachman Turner Overdrive) - You ain't seen nothing yet
I met a devil woman,
She took my heart away,
She said, I had it comin' to me,
But I wanted it that way.

02. (The Kinks) - Village Green Preservation Society
We are the Village Green Preservation Society
God save Donald Duck, Vaudeville and Variety
We are the Desperate Dan Appreciation Society
God save strawberry jam and all the different varieties

03. (The Mackenzie ft Jessy) - Alive
You make me feel alive
You walked into my life
Made me realise
You were all I'm looking for

04. (Billy Idol) - Shock to the System
Woah yeah
It was a night, L.A., burning bright
Oh what a night
Say yeah,come on

05. (Mnemonic) - Stay
I failed to find the lyrics, let alone transcribe them myself

06. (Fleetwood Mac) - Don't Stop
If you wake up and don't want to smile,
If it takes just a little while,
Open your eyes and look at the day,
You'll see things in a different way.

07. (Jack Off Jill) - Lovesong
Whenever I'm alone with you
You make me feel like I am home again
Whenever I'm alone with you
You make me feel like I am whole again

08. (Annihilator) - Wicked Mystic
All throughout the centuries, existing year to year
Lives on this powerful entity to thrive on pain and fear
A derelict of heavenly gods, a feeling from within
Weakened minds are perfect prey, corrosion will begin

09. (Shaggy) - Freaky Girl
High heels gosh you look sexy
I'd steal a touch if you let me
I'm just dyin' to kick it with you girl
Hey boo show me you're ready

10. (Anastacia) - At the Beginning
We were strangers starting out on our journey
Never dreaming what we'd have to go through
Now here we are and I'm suddenly standing
At the beginning with you

Bonus Tracks (No Lyrics)

11. (Alfred Hitchcock) - Psycho Theme
12. (Front 242) - U-Men (Kampfbereit Bootleg)
13. (U2) - Walk to the water
14. (Santana) - Love of my life
15. (Front 242) - Religion (Live in Bonn 1997 Bootleg)
16. (Buropolitik) - Buro of Politiks
17. (Eurythmics) - You have placed a chill in my heart
18. (Helen Shapiro) - Walking Back To Happiness
19. (The Proclaimers) - I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)
20. (Meredith Brooks) - Bitch

Bored? Basket Shooter

Last night, without even realizing it, I totally crashed and I just woke up a couple of minutes ago. I had come home from work a few minutes past three, goofed around on the computer for a while and then took some advertising magazines that I hadn't seen yet to bed with me. Not to read them while I tried falling asleep, but because my bedroom seems like the coolest room in the apartment during this ongoing heatwave.

I read them and apparently fell asleep next to them, so it cant have been much later than 18h00 or so. The next thing I know it's close to 03h00 when I open my eyes again - which makes sense since I get up around 4 when I'm doing early shifts - but I forced myself back to sleep, and finally got up around 07h30.

I didn't eat last night, I slept for nearly 13 hours... working 8 days in a row seems to have more effect on my body than expected. I'm awake now, so time for an update, doing some things around the house and possibly some shopping.

I've been kinda busy the past few days, but with nothing extraordinary at all, just life I guess. As I was getting back from work today, I suddenly felt the car started to handle differently, so I pulled over and I was right : a rear flat tire. I grabbed the wrench, while trucks, cars and caravans were racing by and kept an eye on the oncoming traffic - it wouldn't be the first accident due to someone not paying attention and moving onto the shoulder - I replaced the tire. It only took me 10 minutes or so, but due to the incredible fucking heath today, I was sweating like crazy.

The funny thing is that I've got this fluorescent safety jacket to wear when I'm doing this kind of things... and I couldn't find it anywere in the car. I should check whether it's still in a closet somewhere, otherwise it's of little use to me. I'll probably head off the a tire center to see if I can have that flat fixed, but not today - maybe tomorrow depending on the heat.

Maybe I should have updated today, or update today, but I'm too tired to do so. I've been at Joco and Eef's place this afternoon/evening, having fun, joking and goofing around, playing chess and things like that. It's still too frigging hot in and outside, with no expectations for it to cool down before friday. That sucks.

More tomorrow afternoon, but I doubt it as I have some things to take care of, and they're going down in a totally different location as anyone expected. This will probably lead to no update either on wednesday, so better keep an eye open for thursday.

Just received a mail from Sara - it appears she was not the lady I was looking for, too bad :( I guess that also means that there is little chance I ever find her back, unless maybe if I make it the the concert on the 4th (have to work till 22h00 though and it starts at 23h00, but when the place is full, I'm fucked) and that she might be there. Oh well... why am I not suprised?

Replaced a photograph of Micky on his site, but the rest of the changes will have to wait till I'm back home for a couple of days. It takes too much digging into code and templates to do between "de soep en de patatten".

This post is funny mixture of dutch and english, which could result in neither understanding a word, but hey... the world ain't always fair, is it?

Zwork : Yeah, I guess I could easily apply at another company, but I do like it where I am now. I think I just have to get the administration fixed once and for all and then everything should be smooth sailing. If they keep on messing up, I can still consider moving around.

[Laughing with spam : Your employer said they can't hire you because you don't have a diplomaa]

So much for working according to planning. I was called this morning around 08h45 to ask me if I could go over to Dock 869 as soon as possible to work till 18h00. Foolish me said yes, packed his things and left to go sit in a container/office type thingy for 8 hours straight, without anyone relieving me of my duty in between. And checking the people that work at the docks is not that easy, as some of you might now.

In the best case scenario, they comply and show ID, other scenarios result in getting a middlefinger, or just look at you and walking straight by. A difficult audience, let me tell you - but sooner or later they'll have to start following the rules and regulations too. We didn't come up with ISPS, but are being told to enforce it.
Off to eat something now, entertain the ferrets and then off to bed to start an 8 day series of early shifts.

[Laughing with spam : Debt Consolidation with a Christian Perspective]

The temperature is much better at this time of day...

A serious thunderstorm is hoovering over my place as I sit here, typing out this entry. I'm all in favor of it though, as it'll bring some more manageable temperatures hopefully.

Just got back from the movies - went to see Shrek 2 - with Halle Berry. Well, not the Halle Berry unfortunately, but with a slightly paler, shorter version of her. OK, I admit, it was with my sister, who now sports a Halle Berry haircut.

Shrek 2 kicked ass, and especially if you know your classics (both movies as well as tales and legends) you'll get even more kicks out of it. The irritating talking animal (Donkey) is once again done by Eddie Murphy and just doesn't stop being funny. I do wonder though whether they'll be able to successfully milk the cast for another sequel - my guess is they can't, unless they come up with brilliant ideas.

Laughing with spam : [Message subject] - it seems some spammers are too stupid to get their software to work correctly.

As I was watching the news on TV today, they had this very new and exciting fact : viruses are spreading rapidly amongst Belgian e-mail systems and users.

They claimed that it all was due to an ongoing war between virus creators, causing a new virus to appear every 20 minutes instead of every 2 hours last year. 4 out of 10 e-mail are infected according to BIPT (Belgian Institute for Postal services and Telecommunication), and when taking spam into account, 80% of all mail traffic is a waste of time and bandwidth.

Where in the first half of 2003 nearly 500.000 computers were infected with one or more viruses, the first half of the year 2004 shows 2.4 million infected machines.

I'm sorry to bring you this new, but the ongoing war of virus creators is not the cause of this all. The constant influx of idiots on the internet is. Everyone should be online, everyone should be connected permanently (either with DSL or cable access) and blah blah blah. The internet is not for someone who just sits around behind his desk, opening every mail they get, downloading executables and files from unknown servers or entering creditcard details on the website because a mail stating :

"We UR bank, and accont verrification is need ed. Pleeze enter ur details and pincode on our webside :

http://www.namefsomebank.ru@giveusyourmoney-fool%%youareanIDIOT

Tank U."

told them to do so. Those people fucking deserve to get their machines infected. common sense is the first line of defense against viruses, scams, phising and trojans. Secondly comes staying up to date on patches, anti-virus software, firewall and the use of alternative programs (browser, newsclient, mailprogram, instant messenger etc).

Until people get that into their thick skulls, we'll see the amount of infections and spam rise exponentially over the next couple of months - and there is no reason to yell "but that won't affect me!" because as long as the idiots remain online and keep doing what they do, your well protected mailbox will keep on being flooded with spam, viruses, spoofs, bounces and complaints from people that claim you infected them.

I am well aware that not everyone is capable, nor interested to properly read and analyse the header of a mail they received, but please... if you don't know what you're doing, get the fuck off again. And please - don't make babies.

I don't get the weather at all lately - we've had tons and tons of rain during July, and today it suddenly heats up to 28 degrees celsius, what the fuck? How about a nice and comfortable 23 or 24 degrees during june, july, august and september? No, we have either nothing, or everything at once. It's either too damn hot, or too friggin' cold.

I went over to the bank to pick up my new CC, stopped at the post office to get some stamps for the rare case where I still have to use snail mail, and got some food for tonight.

[Laughing with spam : Little PeNlS, U Better Have A Huge One service]

Since I get tons and tons of spam every day, I decided to select one message that stands out, and post something about it here. It can either be funny, stupid, proof of the limited creativity of the spammer... I'll never comment on it, but just put it out here and let you all decide for yourselves.

As today is the first time I'm doing this, it's posted as a seperate post, but in the coming days, weeks - maybe even months? - it'll just sit at the bottom of my regular posts.

[Laughing with spam : A vagina - date one today!]

Just got a call that I don't have to come in to work tomorrow - which on the one hand is sweet - an extra day off - but on the other hand also means I lose 10 hours. I still have enough hours this month, but it does cut into my pay at the end of the month.

Mixed feelings I suppose. I'm gonna head off to the movies tomorrow evening with Jess, and Joco might join us as well, depending on how he feels and how Eef and Michael feel, since they're coming home tomorrow. Alex will probably be feeling pretty good, that kiddo just seems to be in a good mood all the time!

It's time to mail a certain little wabbit now, and I'm wondering whether or not Sara got the mail I sent her earlier? Hotmail is a bit flaky sometimes to say the least. So... if you happen to read this, Sara, check your mail - and preferably reply to mine ;)

Lenore, be more specific.
Slippery when wet

Since today is a (or should I say "the") national holiday in Belgium, everything is closed, the old fart sometimes referred to as "King" will be talking bollocks again and no doubt politicians will be making vague and too-good-to-be-true promises. In short, this day is about as normal as every other day in this small country.

I've been up since 7 and have accomplished next to nothing so far - something I'm extremely proud of as well. However, I think I'll check my taxes again and then submit it all. They've got to be filed by July 30th unless I'm mistaken and since I'm bored anyway, why not do it right now?

I just got a call from my sis who just wanted to chat about this and that - so we did.

That is all.

Update : Taxes filed, and a bunch of other administrative chores done as well. I'm all up-to-date now :)

And I thought I was a bit crazy : I just noticed my "across the street" neighbor cleaning her windows at 06h20 in the morning. There are a lot of things one can do at 06h20 in the morning, but I don't consider cleaning windows one of those things. I was rather thinking about sleeping, screwing around or trying to stay awake.

The least pleasant and last thing it exactly what I'm doing today. I start an early shift on thursday, so I'm trying to skip sleep this morning, then go to bed around 20h00 or 22h00 tonight, sleep till 08h00 and then go to bed around 22h00 on wednesday and wake up on thursday around 05h00 to work 06h30 till 16h30. The joys of switching shifts :(

Listening to "Clan of Xymox - Number 1" right now, pretty cool track. I'll have to look into some more of their work I guess.

or how one can have lots of highs and lows in only 12 hours of time. It all started off with my good friend Joco calling me to announce he and Eef became the proud parents of a son - that clearly was a high. I possibly got a message from that one girl I met on Rock Zottegem and I replied to it - another high.

I smacked my car into the divider of the highway while driving to work - this must be a low - but as I got out of it without a scratch, no one else was involved in the accident itself and the only damage seems to be at the front bumper - one could say it's a high. Then, as 05h45 rolled around and I was ready to go home, the guy taking over from me decided not to show up. In fact, we called him, woke him up and he was there around 06h45 - when you've worked a nightshift every additional hour just hurts - so it's a low.

Yeah, one could say I've been going up and down quite a lot in the past hours. I'm off to bed now, and am trying to decide whether or not I actually want to read my mail before? Coz you never know what it'll be : another high, or another low? Or nothing but spam...

I just spent about 45 minutes in the kitchen, preparing most of the food I'll be serving my colleagues tonight. Two weeks ago, my teamleader brought mussels and french fries with him and made those for us, so I figured it would be appreciated to cook something up too. So, what's the menu for tonight?

For starters, I've got fried chickenwings with a bit of salted chinese black beans and the main course will be chickenfilet marinated in a soy and ketjap sauce, with brocolli, mushrooms and some paprika for a colorful touch. All of it prepared in a wok, of course.

I just hope I won't be poisoning anyone with it - it's not because my stomach is used to my cooking, theirs is equally poison proof :)

It almost seems if last night was a few hours shorter as regular nights, it went by so fast! I must have been having fun I suppose. Well, I did have to chase a truck all over the site, as he kept moving around so each time I arrived at the point where he should be, he was gone again. On the third try though he managed to find the correct spot and waited long enough for me to arrive. I agree, it's a bit of a weird game to play at 3 at night, but one needs to do something to keep busy, not?

Off to bed now - oh, I managed to take out the wall completely yesterday afternoon, as well as move my sisters' sofa to the first floor with the help of Johan. I think she was happy, and that's what counts, ain't it?

I slept in a tad bit longer than yesterday - it was welcome. When I checked my mailbox (snail mail that is) I found a document I had been waiting for, so I took the time (about 45 minutes) of writing down everything that was wrong, and I'll hand it over to someone who then - hopefully - will be able to make the necessary corrections.

Off to feed myself, the ferrets and back to work after that.

Yesterday I got a mail from my sister, stating that my grandma was hoping I could tear down a wall in a property that's being sold at the end of the month - in other words "do it immediately". Well, since I'm working pretty much fulltime till the 31st, I decided to go over today to see what exactly needs to be done, and I'll be going back on thursday afternoon to do as much as I can in the few hours I've got between sleeping and going back to work.

The good thing is though that when it's done, my uncle can start rebuilding the wall as the new owner would like it, and nothing should be in the way of signing the final papers later this month.

While I was there, I also helped my sister move her matrass to the second floor, and some box containing pieces of her new bed. The couch however will have to wait till thursday as well as we need an extra pair of hands to do it properly, and I have to leave around 19h00 today. Sorry sister, you'll have to wait a few more days!

Note : I do have a hammer now. I stopped at a DIY store to pick one up, appropriate for the job. Please step back and wear protection - I'm going in!

As everyone is slowly waking up and preparing to leave for work - or just start a brand new day, I'm almost ready to go to bed. I'll try to sleep tight and don't let the bed bugs bite.

How weird is it to say to the colleagues you've just worked with for 8 hours "see you in a few hours"?

It's been nice being away from work for a few days, but tonight I go back for 8 days straight, followed by 2 days off, one day of work, one day off and then another 7 days of work. When I'm done, it'll be the end of July already - time sure flies this way.

I had hoped to get a detailed overview of how they calculated my pay last month, but the statement ain't here yet. Maybe tomorrow? I sure hope it gets here soon because there are still things that need to be corrected, and so far none of my mails have resulted in correcting the errors made. I'll take it up to my chief this time, hopefully he can pull the correct strings or kick some ass.

I just got back from Rock Zottegem, and well... it kinda rocked. We missed the first group though - the skavengers - but caught Mauro and the Grooms partially. Why partially? Because we left after about 30 minutes to go grab some drinks and food. My first impression of the band was that Mauro reminded me of Prince - especially in his moves - and while their set was nice, it was not really my cup of tea.

After the necessary drinks and food we went back in the tent to see Krezip. I don't know much Krezip songs, nor had I ever seen them live, but their enthousiasm and performance were outstanding. Totally worth my time so to speak. Not that I'm a fan now, but still, I know a good performance when I see it.

A good performance was not something that could be said about Anouk. While I was looking forward to seeing her live on stage, I walked out after the third song or so. It was a total disaster compared to Krezip. Either Anouk just didn't feel like giving everything, or that's just the way she performs. Doesn't matter to me, I was seriously disappointed.

Up next was the godfather of Soul himself : James Brown. I don't know what the deal was with them, but either James or his Soul Generals couldn't find the right clothes or something coz they started about an hour late. Up to that point, the shows had been running as clockwork, so it's not that they were all delayed. Anyway, after waiting for 45 minutes, they decided the show up, and while it rocked - wait, is that the right choice of words for James Brown? - it also became pretty boring after 30 minutes. I guess it's the way they perform in the USA, but there is not really a point in introducing every single member of your 13 man strong entourage on stage, and then give them each a couple of minutes to do their thing solo.

I don't think I was the only one to think the same of it, coz when I went outside, there was about the same amount of people as inside the tent. Happily drinking, chatting and eating. Near the end we heared him do some of his hits like Sexmachine, but it was all too dragged out for me.

Then, finally, around 01h30 Front 242 was ready to kick off a set that blasted us away. Body to Body to open with, followed by more older work like Im Rythmus Bleiben and such. A small technical problem did interrupt the set for about 5 minutes, but after that the ride just continued, to end off with three extra songs, one of them being Kampfbereit. The first time I've seen that song being performed live ever!

The atmosphere during the set was very good, even if some idiots just didn't seem to get that violent dancing and pushing is NOT the same as starting a fight, or hitting people deliberately. I can understand that it might be a fine line for non-Front 242 fans, sometimes hardly visible, but the line is there and we will not stand for fighting. Anyway, I think they got the idea after some people intervened a few times to calm them down and after that it was just sweet.

Oh, in case the beautiful tall woman with the curly brown hair (shoulder length) that was dancing next to me during the live set reads this, get in touch! I was looking for an opportunity to start talking to you right after the show, but my thirsty friends decided differently. I went back inside, but couldn't find you anymore :(

Maybe - hopefully - I'll see you on the Lokerse Feesten on August 4th for another Front 242 gig?

and tomorrow I'll be heading to Rock Zottegem to see Anouk perform, and James Brown, but most of all the headlining band Front 242! First concert I catch this year, and overall the 5th or 6th time I'll see them live. It's gonna be a great day I hope, and I'll be having quite some fun.

I might meet up with the lovely Ingrid later this month, or early august for koffie and koffiekoekskes. She just loves koffiekoekskes :)

After the much discussed - and still unpatched - IE security vulnerabilities, Firefox got its share of the troubles as well. Earlier this month, 0.9.1 was released to patch some security holes, and today 0.9.2 was released to patch a "moderately critical" exploit, as it is rated by Secunia.

Those of you that shifted away from IE, and are now running Firefox prior to version 0.9.2, a Mozilla version prior to 1.7.1 or Thunderbird version prior to 0.7.2 on windows XP or 2000, visit Mozilla and download the updated versions, or the patches.

The original advisory can be found here : Mozilla Application Suite/Firefox/Thunderbird security advisory

You are naturally born with a gift, whether it be poetry, writing or song. You love beauty and creativity, and usually are highly intelligent. Others view you as mysterious and dreamy, yet also bold since you hold firm in your beliefs.

What Type of Soul Do You Have ? (brought to you by Quizilla)

It's all true - I'm usually highly intelligent, except for the moments I'm dumbassed, but ain't we all? I don't know if others see me as mysterious and dreamy, I'd guess more boring and antisocial. I can appreciate beauty and creativity a lot, but only when I really let go of myself and step away from the harsh reality check I often impose on things.

I don't know when or how I changed from the care free positive dreamer to the person I am now. It almost seems like I've lost the ability to dream and live the dream, enjoy it. Each and every time I end up comparing the dream with reality, and thus shattering it before my very eyes. Could it be that I no longer have the time to dream, that I am too occupied with "real life" to bother?

Ah well - see? reality check! - some day I'll be able to dream again and in the mean time I'm not gonna chase that ability. Dreams are things that come to you, not something that you chase for eternity.

Just been working a bit on the update/redesign of a site I maintain, and while there are still certain parts I need to tackle, so far it's looking kinda good. Nothing spectacular, but that's just the way I design sites : more content oriented than layout focussed.

I'll have to do some calculations tomorrow and then fire off a mail to the user of the site to tell them what the possibilities are, and what's the pricetag on all options. That way they gain more independence - while still being able to count on me when they need advice/maintenance - and I take some load of my server usage.

there's no other word for it. I had been monitoring a domainname that was to be released today at 18h00, and when I requested a registration for it at 18h01 it had already been registered again. What kind of crap is that? It didn't even appear on the "released" list of domains at DNS!

I think I'll need automated domain registering scripts next time. I'm truely disappointed right now - it just sucks and sucks and sucks even more. Bleh!

I just got back from Joco and Eef's place after an evening with lots and lots of fun and laughter. I went over to play a game of chess with Joco, but we ended up playing Trivial Pursuit instead, so it was the three of us competing against each other.

In the end Joco finished first, followed by me and finally Eef. She had been leading for quite a long time though, so we had to play catch up for a while. At some point in the game, all "rose vragen" became "Roos van Acker vragen" and only seconds later all "gele vragen" became "geile vragen", ultimately leading to all roze vragen being geile vragen as well. Since most non-dutchies won't understand a thing of that explenation let me try finding an english comparison. All Pink questions became P!nk questions and all yellow questions became horny questions, ultimately all P!nk questions were horny questions and vice versa. Not that this explenation makes more sense, but at least I tried. I guess it's one of those "you had to be there" type of stories.

Alex had tons of fun with the gigantic (1.4 meter) long inflatable crocodile I brought with me, and no doubt he'll be playing with it tomorrow as well. Oh, we'll all be visiting Karine & Joeri tomorrow afternoon, as they became the proud mommy and daddy of a little baby girl named Axana.

Instead of postponing getting the new driverslicense till tomorrow, I decided to get photographs taken today, and then stop over at the community center to see if they could exchange my old license for a new one immediately, or whether there was some sort of delay. It turned out they could do it right away, so around 12h15 I had what I needed, so I set for home, made lunch and left for work.

Tomorrow I'll probably be starting by cleaning the ferrets cage, vacuuming the complete apartment and then on wednesday give it all a good scrub. The joy of being home and spending your time cleaning - looking forward to it already, not

I just got home from late shift number 7. Tomorrow I've got one more shift to pull, then I'll be able to relax for a while. I walked three rounds today, took the ambulance for a ride - just an equipment check, not an emergency - and we had mussels with fries (or bread) for dinner. It's quite enjoyable to have colleagues that also like eating and cooking.

Someone stopped by to deliver some clothing items, but the pants I ordered weren't in this delivery, and the pair of safety boots I asked for were a low model, where I specifically requested a high boot. I've got a low cut shoe, and they wrecked my feet in a matter of hours.

with the newest 0.9.1 release of Firefox. I had been running 0.8, then 0.9 and decided to install/upgrade to the 0.9.1 version that was supposedly a bugfix release. Instead of fixing bugs, it introduced some as far as I can see. Installation was a breeze, but after trying to have other applications pass data to Firefox, it always complained about a file not being found, yet it opened the requested URL just fine.

Some digging in the forums helped, as it seems there sometimes is a problem on how Firefox registeres iteself as the default browser in windows XP. This results in extra windows being opened, complaining that some file is missing and so on. Here's how to fix it (Firefox 0.8/0.9/0.9.1 on Windows XP!) :

Open Explorer
Pick the Tools Menu, then Folder Options
Select the File Types tab
Search for Extentions:None Filetype: URL:HyperText Transfer Protocol
Click Advanced
Select the Action "Open" option and click the edit button
If there's something like %1",,-1,0,,,, in the DDE Message field, clear it
Hit OK, and OK again.

Repeat steps for URL:HyperText Transfer Protocol with Privacy

You should now be able to enjoy Firefox again as it was intended. Surfing the web with an "alternative browser" is not always the easiest thing to do, but the Nerd/Geek factor makes up for it easily, and I've not one day regretted switching away from IE and towards Mozilla.

A small history of my browser usage :

I first started off using IE, but only to download and install Netscape 4.08, back in the days. I've used that one for nearly 2 years, and then switched to Opera. I've been using Opera for quite some time and then gave the NS6 beta a try. That one sucked majorly and as a result I threw out all Netscape products and went searching for something else. I stumbled upon Mozilla and started using Mozilla 1.3 if I recall correctly. I still kept Opera around and up to date though. Upgrading releases up to Mozilla 1.6 when I learned about Firefox 0.7 and gave it a chance as well. Within a couple of days I was convinced, and I've been using Firefox every since.

The only other browser left on my system is IE, and the only reason is that Microsoft refuses to open up http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com to non-IE browsers.

get mayonnaise
toothpaste + new toothbrush
food (sat/sun/mon)
water
bread
have new photographs made
get new drivers license (monday or tuesday)
call joco (wasn't home, try again tomorrow)
defrost spaghetti sauce

Off to work now, I gotta run!

I'm probably the only person excited about this, but yesterday the wonderful folks at Hosting Matters rolled out upgrades on all their webhosting deals. Another 4GB (19GB allowed now) of traffic/month to burn, a total of 325MB space to launch or expand current projects and a free extra MySQL DB. And they totally redesigned their site...

Oh, I've changed the date/time format on this blog from the silly AM/PM notation to a 24h notation - I think it makes much more sense. Those of you that have no clue what I'm talking about, it's really easy : 11AM equals 11:00 and 11PM equals 23:00. Not too hard, right?

Slight change of plans for tomorrow. I was supposed to go to work tomorrow around 13h30 - and start at 14h00 - but I was told to report at the medical examiner at 13h30 instead. It seems someone was able to pull some strings and move my appointement to tomorrow instead of on August 13th.

This could mean I get the results either tomorrow as I leave, or maybe early next week so I can get my drivers license adapted as well. Another step in the good direction. Only thing left then is a First Aid course I believe. I've done First Aid when I was a scuba diver, but I never got certified in it.

So I'll just head over to work after I finished all my tests.

Ah, a new month. Doesn't time fly when you're having fun? It's the holiday season for a bunch of people, but I'm gonna keep on working, and then take off a few days in september for our yearly Durbuy weekend with the friends.

I kept myself busy this morning organising some paperwork, calculating expenses and signing a changed insurance contract - I'll still have to send it back though. Of course, now it means that I'll leave for work in a few minutes and I haven't gone to the store yet, so I'll grab a sandwich on the way I think.

Bye!!