August 2011 Archives

While employees of Ramen De Clerck are busy taking out the old windows and installing new ones - they arrived perfectly on time as promised - I've kept busy updating my Linkedin profile, added all the courses I followed over the past ten years and read some mails. In the mean time it's getting rather chilly inside due to my door remaining open and all windows on the first floor being removed, lol.

I already had 2 companies reply to my request for a quote for my roof so far : one has passed the request on to a partner company that supplies material for DIY builders (if that were what I was looking for, I wouldn't have requested a quote for all the work, would I?), the other company replied that their current planning doesn't allow to take another project (as small as it is) and complete it by the start of November 2011.

I'm already starting to see a trend forming here : no one will be interested due to the work requested being too small a project. I suppose I'll have to give the DIY approach a second chance; after all that shouldn't be too difficult if materials required are supplied along with instructions.

Update 15:34 : All windows are installed. All you say? Well... all but one. Apparently, Polypane - the company that makes the glass - fucked up and broke one window while manufacturing. Now, they don't tell that to the people placing it all upfront. No, they just deliver the lot and then when people start installing, it turns out they are short one window. After a call to the company, they admitted breaking said glass and now - as far as I know - they'll be redoing it next week and then have it installed, which I find - quite frankly - unacceptable. It'll leave me with an uninstalled window for how long, a week? Maybe two? Sure enough, the installation crew was nice enough to put in a temporary solution, but what if it were at ground floor? Do they expect me to stay home for the next week to prevent people from breaking and entering?

Another thing just popped up : apparently, the finishing will not be completed today. This crew just installed the windows, but tomorrow - hello, tomorrow? - another team comes over to finish it all off. Mind you, when I ordered the windows, I was told that everything would be installed and finished on the 30th of August. Which is today. Nothing was mentioned about finishing up taking another day of time. I think I'll go send a mail about these two unforeseen facts.

I just finished writing up a mail to ask for price quotes to have a part of my roof done, because the current roof is inadequate (plain old plastic sheeting, no insulation of any kind). I've sent off the mail to 7 roofing companies in the vicinity of where I live and hope to get some calls or requests for information in the coming days. Once some of the quotes are in, I'll compare and decide who gets the job.

Just for good measure - in case anyone has good or bad experiences with these companies, please let me know - here's the list of companies/people contacted :

Dakconcept
Dakwerken Ferket
Dakwerken Matthys
Dakwerken Plaquet
DVV-Repair
Omniroof
Peter De Schrijver

Even though today is my first day off, I've not really slept in : got up at 7h30, took the good old smart for a last spin around the block to make sure it was still in good shape and give the battery a recharge, then parked it in my garage, took off the license plates and drove over to Kontich to hand those in. It was a pretty long trip due to bad weather - rain... now, didn't we have this before? - and on the way back I did some food shopping.

Unloaded the food, cleared space in my kitchen to store the soon to be expected delivery of more bathroom stuff, and I just finished writing up a mail to my insurance broker to request the policy for my car to be cancelled.

Next on the list : do some research on selling a secondhand car, and then give some people or companies a call. It should all be wrapped up by the end of the month.

Is there anything else to report for now? No, I don't think so...

I've got some things to take care of on my first day off tomorrow : I'll be taking off the license plates of my old (personal) vehicle and returning them permanently. Then I'll see if I can find a dealer or export company interested in the car and sell it. I'm expecting a shipment of bathroom furniture tomorrow as well, and I may head in to work - yes, I do have a day off, I know, but I need to finish this in order to make sure things actually keep on running while I'm out - for a short while.

On Saturday I'll be spending quite some time with J&M and little T, already looking forward to it. I'll try to find a good and sunny day - could be rather erm... difficult if the past weather is anything to go by - to head off to the sauna for a nice and relaxing day, and I'll be trying out a new Sushi place in Antwerp somewhere in the next couple of months too.

I've got a birthday "party" coming up soon as well, and then there's a concert in October to head off to.

I've also updated my curriculum vitae to reflect my recent change in job (same employer though) and I've listed all the courses and training I had in 2010 and 2011. I'm not planning on moving any time soon, but I think it's wise to keep it all updated and it'll help my soon to be new employer to realize better who I am, what I'm worth for the company and what I can do for them in the long run. Even though I'm not worried about sudden changes for the worse, I think it's healthy to try and decide where I'd like to be in 5 or 10 years, professionally.

Where I'll be in the same time frame family related or when it comes to housing is much less clear. I do see a place in the sun however... partially as a long term investment, partially as a potential new permanent place to call home one day. I haven't looked into that too seriously though yet, and the list of options and countries still is undefined.

I had heard on the news that the tax administration was really keeping up with all the taxes filed, resulting in them sending out the final verdict quicker, both for people that should get a return, as well as people who are expected to pay extra. So when I received a letter from them last Friday, I really was surprised that they were that fast... But my surprise was even bigger when I opened the letter.

According to my calculations, I'm set for a tax return. Well, that of course is not exact science so it could as well end up in my having to pay extra, but that's besides the point for now. I took a look at the letter inside and quickly noticed they're expecting me to cough up an extra 415 euro. Okay... so my calculations were seriously wrong one would expect?

Then I started looking at all the information, not just the final numbers and it turns out that... they decided to recalculate my income made in 2008! Somehow - I have no clue why, how or when - they decide to look up my filing of 2008 and now charge me extra. It's bloody 2011 people!

Since there is little to be done about it, I just looked up the new calculations and put them next to the data I filed back in 2009 (income 2008) and apparently they have found some money I didn't declare (about 2000 euro worth). I just hope it remains at that and they stop pulling expensive albino rabbits out of their hat for my tax filings of 2009 and 2010, otherwise I'll be much less pleased.

I've just ordered a gigantic financial institution to transfer funds to another financial mastodon to make sure the economy keeps on going. Yes, I have that power. Well, at least for as long as I can tell my bank to move funds from my account to the government without running out of funds. One can only nod, smile, bend over, take it and move on.

But please... no more silly surprises like that, ok tax man?

Using a sharp knife is very enjoyable when cooking - it is less enjoyable when slicing open your fingers. Ouch. Yes, it happened to me. I'll survive though, no bits actually flew off or got lost, lol. It's just a bit painful and a lot stupid :)

It all comes together nicely... well, maybe not all, but some things certainly do. Today I was able to pick up my new (and first) video camera, and the SD HC card I ordered for it turned up on my doorstep as well today. Nice, that means I can actually shoot some video's over the (long) weekend.

What I am lacking though, is a hot girlfriend to do naughty things with while taping it all. Hell, if Paris can release - oops, I mean leak - a sex tape, why can't I? ;)

(If you feel like joining me for some naughty fun on cam - or even without the cam, grin - contact me. However, I won't be posting my e-mail address here... I don't want to be flooded with requests :p You'll have to work for it a bit.)

In life, everything is about balance. If something goes well, another thing goes sour... just to keep things in balance. The trick is to have slightly more things go well, so that you are close to that tipping point, yet not actually crossing over. That way you achieve slow but steady improvement.

Take today for example : I installed my new american stores and I'm mighty pleased with them. They look absolutely stunning and they fit the colors of the rest of the house nicely, if I say so myself. Good. +1

I have been mailing with a woman back and forth for a couple of days and over the weekend she asked me to release my profile photo to her online. I replied and I did so. Even though she has been online since I did, and she has read my message, she has yet to react. I either said some awful things (which I think I did not) or I really am not her type. Bad. -1

And there we have it... balance achieved!

Note : it's a bummer to be in touch with someone who then suddenly breaks off contact. Then again, she doesn't get to enjoy my new window decoration. Her loss :D

It doesn't really matter what newspaper you open, where you watch the news or what radio station you are tuned into, the headlines are all similar : "a crisis is upon us".

Well, let me tell you that I singlehandedly solved part of the crisis by going out on a shopping spree this morning. First I got gifts for you people getting older, and I treated myself to some nice CD's and DVD's as well (Sons of Anarchy season 2, two triggerfinger CD's, the True Blood soundtrack and Free Souffriau's "Gewoon Free"). As I was about to head out the store I realized that I actually also needed a new vacuum, so I picked up a new AEG Electrolux T8 Bagless one. No clue whether it's any good, but it'll beat the old Ufesa which is about 7 years old for sure.

Then I paid for and picked up my American stores, hopped over to Ikea where I got a low TV cabinet that should fit under the flatscreen, and when I dropped all of that off at home, I went to pay and pick up my shower tiles and necessities.

I tell you... that so called crisis no longer has a chance of setting in :)

Loading up the car now and heading off to the party... here I come!

Some days you walk into the office, having planned and laid out the day, meetings, reporting, evaluations, you name it. And then suddenly the bomb drops and before you know it 15 minutes later you're en route to a national meeting with the complete operations team, CEO's, COO's, HR etc. Today was one of those days. While the news itself is rather surprising, I am handling it like any other issue that I face ever so often : calm and without panic.

What the future brings will remain to be seen, but I am rather optimistic for now and I see a load of opportunities ahead. Oh, and challenges :)

The first ever iBoot Hunt I was manage to pay a bit of attention to. Saw some interesting things come by, but they were either considered too expensive, nice but not necessary, or sold out in a matter of minutes (if not seconds). I did order a Panasonic SDR S-70 camcorder though, hehe.

I should also get myself a new photo camera as well, since I seem to have lost my golden olden Canon Digital Ixus (with not that many mega pixels to be honest) quite a while ago during all the moving I did the past two years.

Who knows, maybe a good offer shows up soon... the iHunt is on!