Recently in Insane Category

It's been way too long since I pointed out that on the internet, everyone (well, almost) knows who you are, no matter how hard you try to be "anonymous". Instead of writing up all concerns, I'll opt to provide a couple of links to articles by Bruce Schneier, one of the top security researchers of which the world has not enough.

Whether you read all of it, part of it, or none at all : don't come crying later on that you didn't know. That no one told you that your search queries would be stored, analyzed and shared. That Facebook would know who you are and what, where and how you buy offline, even though you are not a facebook user (by choice).

"Surveillance and Security Lessons From the Petraeus Scandal"

Facebook tracks you online even after you log out

I'm Being Followed: How Google--and 104 Other Companies--Are Tracking Me on the Web

If that's scary, I agree. Can you do something about it? Yes. Be Vigilant. Don't click on everything you see, read or get shoved in your face. Think twice. Think again.

Install some third party browser add ons that help you get rid of some of the trackers, web bugs or beacons. Here are a few worth considering.

noscript
priv3
Ghostery
Adblock Plus

And if you're really interested in privacy and concerns : Crypto-Gram

As the world is about to slowly awake, I'm preparing to head to bed. I should have been in bed for 5 to seven hours already, but something came up late last night which forced me to reschedule a bunch of shit and skip most of the night altogether.

I'm redirecting the phone and grabbing a couple of hours of sleep, late afternoon I'll be heading off to work again.

I just finished taking down the first shutter enclosure because I'm having my cavity walls insulated next week. In order to prevent the insulation material from just falling through, those need to be closed up. Had I known all that upfront, I'd have asked the guys that installed the new windows last year to close the cavities up as well, but I didn't. Which makes for quite a bit of work to do myself now.

One more to go...

Note : a combination of PU foam and regular silicon sealant on your hands makes quite a mess. Don't know yet how I'll ever get these clean again. It can always wait for it to wear off, lol.

About two weeks ago I ordered a new DC jack for the laptop of my partner, as it clearly was broken. How did I know that for certain? I took the complete machine apart and took a look :)

Well, yesterday the part finally arrived and today I headed over to dad to see if he could help out replacing it. I guess I could have done it myself too, but I lack the proper tools and the experience, and working on a couple of hundred dollars piece of sensitive computer equipment may not be the right way to practice. Anyway, two hours later the DC jack was replaced, the secondary fault in the power adapter wiring has also been isolated and fixed and that machine is back in working order and now charging up. Thanks dad!

On Sunday I picked up my own new machine and promptly installed a ton of updates for it. One of them being a new BIOS upgrade, which is something that I've' done quite a few times already in my life. Always a bit of a risk - if it fails, you may end up with an very expensive brick instead of a computer - but I decided to go ahead anyway. It's better to lose one when not that much data is on it, opposed to brick it when it's full of data.

Sure enough the BIOS update went without a hitch, the machine rebooted - which was expected - and then... it promptly entered the BIOS setup again and complained about a reading error, no matter what I tried (/me shits pants). Erm... yikes! OK, so that didn't work, although when exiting the BIOS setup, the machine boots as expected. Weird? Yes, weird.

Ok, second reboot, same thing happens, it enters BIOS setup mode again, complaining about a reading error - even though it is showing the new BIOS version as being installed (old version : 1405, new version 3506). Well, let's do it again and see what happens, right? One new BIOS update later (same 3506 version) the machine is working perfectly, no more complaints about read errors etc. Good!

Only thing left now is to get rid of the AMD driver complaining about a .dll being missing on startup - AMD driver updates are always crappy - but that's the least of my concern. Everything works nicely and fast too, so I'm happy. I'll look into the driver issue some day :)

Note : for those of you that got slightly worried about last post, don't be. April Fools day 2012, you know? I'm not moving to Canada just yet.

If you recall my previous post - you should, it's only been like two or three days, who keeps count? - you know I was fed up with quite a lot of things and decided to make a couple of changes. Well, it may come as a surprise to some, maybe not so to others but I've taken the first step towards a new and brighter future.

I've thought long and hard about this, and some may recall that I already said years ago that I'd feel like building a log cabin in the Canadian woods some day. Maybe not for permanent residency, but to have the experience nevertheless. Well... allow me to present to you : the plot.

For those of you too lazy to actually click and read up, that link goes to a plot of land in Canada for which I've put in an offer. It's in the woods with waterfront access, in Mattawa, Ontario, just off Old Highway 17. In fact, it's everything I need and according to the broker I've been in contact with, my offer of $169,000 is almost certain to be accepted. I sure hope it is!

Starting May 17th I've taken two weeks off from work and I'll be making my first trip up there! I'm pretty sure it's gonna be quite the experience indeed. I've already been in touch with local suppliers to get some things organized so I can use the first week to build a temporary shelter that'll stand a winter - possibly two - while I use the second week to cut down trees, clear more land and get those logs prepared so they can be piled up and dry. Actual cabin construction wouldn't start before 2013 though as those logs need time to dry before cutting them and using them to build a log cabin. I could just order dried and pre-cut logs from a wood mill in the area, but that would thwart the whole log cabin building experience, wouldn't it?

Okay, so you think I'm insane, right? Well, you probably are not far off the mark, but at least now you know why construction on my current property has been slow to non existent the past couple of months. The house I just purchased last year, was sold in order to be able to buy the land in Canada and have some spare cash to get some work done. It's a bit of a gamble, but mind you... I'm not totally going off the deep end.

We're going through an integration process at work (merger of two companies) and my new employer actually is a multinational corporation that also has branches in Canada. In fact, if I hadn't been offered a position there, I probably wouldn't have taken the decision just yet, but as everything seems to fall into place... why pass up the opportunity? The only downside - well, there are more I assume, but those may only pop up later - is that I need to brush up my language skills as French is not really my native language and it's clear that I'll be working with other people that speak English or French (Canada is bi-lingual, you know?) and as such I better come prepared.

I'm looking forward to the big adventure that starts well... today - if my offer is accepted that is. If it's not, I guess I'll just accept the position in Canada anyway and delay the whole log cabin building for a bit longer till I find another good spot to build my retreat, my quiet space in nature.

I've read up about bear proofing shelters to prevent things from being ripped to shreds, I'm not all that certain I'm ready to actually face on of those hungry animals yet. Once I start getting to know the woods though, I guess they can be avoided and hopefully it will never come to a direct confrontation as that would either end with me being killed, or me having a very nice rug in front of the fireplace and a whole lot of bear meat in the freezer, lol.

See ya, gotta go sign some paperwork and request more forms, visa etc.

I don't know what it is, but apparently shit just keeps on hitting the fan, and frankly, I'm getting tired of it. It's like trying to dam the flood of water from a broken faucet with nothing but a paper tissue and a cracked cup - it doesn't work, no matter how hard you try, the hours you put in or the effort you do.

In fact, I've been thinking things over lately and have decided that things have to change. What or how much needs to change, I have not yet decided, but rest assured that things will change - for the better, at least for me - soon. Some things have been put into motion, other plans are mere ideas or rough sketches and outlines, nothing more. I'll post when I have news, okay?

Off to bed now, need to get up way too early tomorrow :(

It seems everything comes together and Murphy is laughing out loud. Yesterday I book a holiday to Egypt, today my main computer shits itself and won't boot anymore. It was booting up just fine when the power went out - for about an hour and a half - and after some technicians got that fixed, it just remained dead in the water. I've already taken it apart and checked all the connectors, but that didn't help, there were no loose connectors to be found. It has a bright green led on the mainboard flashing regulary, but that tells me... nothing at all. For those who may have an idea - apart from suggesting to replace the powersupply - please feel free to send in your comments/ideas. Oh, we're talking about a Dell Dimension 5150C here, about 5 years old.

Yeah, I know, what am I still doing with a 5 year old computer, it's ancient! I originally purchased it to surf the web, do some light word processing and that sort of thing, and it has served me quite well. I'm no longer buying a lorry to haul the occasional rock so to say, or a Maserati to drive to the supermarket.

Anyway, it seems to be a bad time for computers... the GF's laptop died last week - a spare DC jack was ordered and is being shipped from China if I'm not mistaken - so I may be able to get that revived even though it's a long shot. Today my computer dies, I have people over to make me an offer on wall insulation - which was, truth be said, cheaper then I expected - so I guess I'll have to get my priorities straight.

The trip is already booked and a deposit was made, so cancelling that is out of the question.
The insulation will be paid for by the remaining "Green Loan" that expires around April 15th, and will save me money in the long run, so cancelling that is also out of the question.
Replacing the old SFF desktop with a brand new high(er) performance desktop which would allow me to blast spaceships faster (yep, I play eve online) sounds like a totally awesome plan... but it'll have to wait.

I got new socks and a pack of condoms.

(I couldn't come up with anything more random, lol)

Note : comments should be working again. Feel free to give it a try.

If my name was Alvin, I'd be eating frozen nuts. Damn, it's cold! The thermometer is stuck at -8°Celsius, but thanks to the windchill, it feels like -16. Insane!

In order to find and repair the leak I blogged about yesterday, I took out my shower completely. Which leaves me with no shower, nor bath for the time being. Not as pleasant as I'd like, but one can wash at the sink too, at least for a while.

After finding the leak we decided to take the radical approach and seal off the complete section of water there, since it was just feeding the shower - which I had taken out in order to reach the plumbing, remember?

Once the section was sealed off, we checked for more leaks and turned on the boiler again. Which overheated in a matter of seconds, resulting in seals coming loose, water dripping from joints and steam coming out of my faucet in the kitchen. Ouch! Luckily no one was hurt and we managed to shut it down before really bad things happened. To be on the safe side though, we closed the gas line and water intake to the boiler itself as well, effectively taking it out of service till it can get repaired and serviced by a qualified technician. Which you - of course - have a hard time finding these times of year.

To make a long story short : I went from excessive hot water leaking somewhere under my shower to no shower, no warm water and a broken boiler in under 16 hours. Still I dare call that making progress, I really do. Because, if you look at it from the right angle, that old shower was destined to be taken out anyway, the leak had to be stopped no matter what and the boiler was eventually due for replacement and a servicing at a minimum. It's just all happening at a less convenient time, grin.

Anyway, that seems like a good note to end 2011 on and in 2012 I think I'll do some more construction, replace broken boilers and eventually throw a bathroom party with loads of naked people enjoying hot baths and showers, lol. Well, the bathroom party may not have "loads" of naked people, but I promise that I'll throw a party once it starts looking less like a construction yard and more like a real room with walls, tiles and such.

Stay safe, be healthy, have fun and all the best for 2012!

I just called my customer to check whether it would be OK not to come in to work tomorrow. Whilst that may seem as a nice day off from work, it is quite the contrary. My neighbors just rang my bell to announce that they heard what they though was water running, for the last two hours or so. Since I had used a bit of hot water earlier - I did some dishes - that wasn't too surprising, but since the sound kept on, they decided to come check. I headed off to the boiler room and noticed my heater was on full power, heating water, which shouldn't be happening if no hot water is demanded.

I checked my bathroom and sure enough... there was a bit of a leak visible, but nothing major. However, when I leaned on my shower, the complete enclosure was hot to the touch, so I think I know where the leak is situated : under my shower, excellent. Instead of a slow day at work and a nice and quiet evening later, it'll be an early morning, cutting away a wall - at least partially - to see whether I can locate the leak, then assess the damage and find a way to fix it.

Since I don't know how bad the situation down there is, I'm already mentally prepared to take out the complete shower - which was on the to do list anyway, though not this soon - and replace all of the pipes in order to avoid more issues in the future.

Off to bed early, deconstruction derby in the morning :)

Yes... there is no reason to feel bad, sad, angry or upset about it. It is what it is and I'll deal with it accordingly. I already called in the troops and dad will be coming over in the afternoon to see what we can or need to do. I bet that gift voucher for the local DIY store I got for x-mas will come in handy sooner as I expected, grin.

I don't know what message nature was trying to send me today, but after an 11h long day, I was driving home and nearly hit... a cow. Yes, a cow, in the middle of the road. After assessing the situation, I called the cops and spent another 30 minutes waiting for them, and chasing cows around.

Well, I didn't chase them, and they didn't chase me either, but I did shoo them around a bit, to keep them off the road. They didn't do anything but moo and eat grass.

After the cops arrived, I pointed out where the cows came from and where they went to - apart from the 5 or so that were still on the road - and wished them luck. We all cracked some jokes about the situation and then I headed off home.

It's been a long day, time to hit the bed in a couple of minutes :-)

I've spent this first of November building more wall, and made progress, yes I did. It's time to call it a day though, as I ran out of glue and didn't feel like making another batch. My hands look like they can use a treatment with oils and all those creams and various things women seem to possess, but of course I have none of that. Guess I'll have to plan some shopping later this week, 'coz at the rate my skin is peeling and raw flesh is appearing on my fingers, I'll be called stumpy before the month is through, lol.

I've taken some measurements for the support beams and just because I know I'll forget the paper when I need it, I'm gonna list them here.

Door 1 (slide) : 200x25x15
Window : 250x25x24
Door 2 : 150x25x10
Door 3 (utility room) : 125x25x10

I have no words to accurately describe my mood right now. Is it sad, disappointed, angry, mad, ready to throw in the towel or rather "I-don't-give-a-shit-anymore-and-you-clean-up-the-mess-yourself"? I guess it's somewhere in between all of those, although at the same time I'm thinking "this won't get to me, let's just go on, clean up and look at the future".

Really... it is starting to get very clear that some - and me included probably, although I had no say in the decision when it was made - underestimated it all by a factor ten. Or a hundred, who knows. "Jack of all trades, master of none" best describes the issue(s) at hand.

Unrelated but not helping me increase my mood : if you run a restaurant and require people to reserve upfront, it helps if you pick up THE BLOODY PHONE!

Phew... at least I got that out of my system.

I don't know what is going on today, but suddenly I seem all popular :) While I've been waiting for a call or text from H. to make our morning date for tomorrow "official", I've had texts on my mobile from people I haven't heard in ages, as well as from some people I see/hear more often. It was all rather exciting.

Ok, plans for the evening have been changed, I'll be going out for dinner with J., who is returning from a trip abroad. If he hadn't called, I also had an invite open for a night at a club, but my real friends go for before my "I like hanging out with you, but that's it" friends.

H. just called, our date for tomorrow is on :) [yes, I'm excited, I admit to that much]

So, I had planned to have a couple of more days time off from work, even though I went over to the office yesterday afternoon to get some things sorted out. Today I get a call from our dispatchers that there a a few issues regarding planning, so I'll be heading over there in about 15 minutes to go sort things out. Tomorrow I was scheduled to be in a meeting in the AM, but that too changed from in a meeting in the morning, followed by a late shift in the afternoon.

I'm starting to realize that unless I am abroad, with my cell phone turned off and no internet connection, I'll never really be on holiday and able to leave it all behind. Anyway, I'll be able to read and file some of the over 500 mails waiting for me later tonight.

17h00 and the window guy calls it a day, work still not finished of course. Yes, he's returning... tomorrow. Another day down the drain for a job that was supposed to take just 1 day. Oh my...

Had D. over to check on the roof, he's supposed to send me a quote later today or tomorrow. On Saturday another guy is coming over to see what needs to be done and to give me a quote as well.

The potential car buyers are trying to lower the price by all kinds of means, trying to get me to try to state in the contract that I'll pay part if any big costs show up etc. I'm not going for it, period.

Note : in hindsight, I probably should have taken the car to the inspection for sale before taking off the license plates, lol. It's not the first time I do things the other way round :p

While at the checkout line in the supermarket, a mom and her two kids were standing in line behind me. The two girls were about 5 and seven I think. I watched them help out, talk to each other and mom and generally be kids of that age and my heart ached, a lot. I miss "my" kids :(

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 :)

I'm worried, yes I am. I spent over 1.5 hours in a tile outlet store and I just couldn't find the right tiles to use in my bathroom. In the end I decided to pick one type of tile (Tolda Antracite) for the walk in shower, but to hold off for the floors and wall tiles in the rest of the bathroom.

Even when closing my eyes and trying to picture it, it just doesn't come to me. I don't see my bathroom in front of me, which makes it extremely difficult to determine what color choices to make or type of tiles to pick. I tell you, it's a true nightmare because I see myself ending up with a combination that just doesn't fly.

Usually when I can't envision something, it's a good sign that I've not yet reached a decision, or that it's not meant to be. I just hope that I'll be able to picture this room soon, because decisions need to be made.

For now this is my layout and color scheme :

- walk in shower in gray natural stone (ribbed) floor and walls
- dark (almost black) furniture with white sinks, white bathtub
- floors and walls??? I guess they'd best be white too?

Do I need a contrasting wall in a different color? If so... what color? Which wall? Tiles? Paint? Aaarrrggghhhh!

Today seems like social activity day, or rather "pretty close to social interaction" day. My sister stopped over to drop off some things, even though I wasn't home. In fact, I had gone to work to drop off some things there and get some last minute work done, before heading off to Ikea to pick up some plates and cutlery. Before I went into Heytens though and ordered myself some natural linen American stores, which will be ready for pickup somewhere in August. Which is good, as my new windows are being put in on the 30th of that same month.

I also got a text from an old colleague announcing their first born had arrived, so I gave him a call to wish the three of them all the best. I got his voicemail though, lol.

When I checked my mail, it said that a 48 year old apothecary was interested in my profile on a dating site - she even released a picture. Okay... I was actually hoping the 31 year old I had contacted earlier today would have replied to my mail, but apparently it all fits into the "almost interaction" state the world - or is it me? - is in today.

Anyway... I'm gonna check out that apothecary profile, who knows it's the woman of my dreams?! Or maybe the woman I need. Or the woman I deserve. Or not a woman at all, lol. Life is strange... which probably is why I like it so much. I fit right in!

After playing catch up with recorded movies and TV-shows - I watched entirely too much "A place in the sun, home or away" episodes today, but I like the show and Jasmine Harman is plain hot - I realized that I still have a little project of my own going on and needing some attention, so I hopped into my work gear and cleaned out some more trash. I also inspected the concrete I poured yesterday and it seems quite fine to me. Now was pondering about taking out the rest of the tiles, but I've decided it's not a necessity : I can just work over them where needed.

I also took a couple of measurements and started designing a bathroom (note to self : 230x270). After doing quite a few different set ups, I think I've found a way to fit everything. That is, if I manage to solve the lighting issues, the window issue in the kitchen (closely related to the lighting, lol) and things like that. However, should everything work out, I'll end up with a nice 110x80 sized walk in shower, a two person bath tub and double sink cabinet. No toilet, but I got one on the same floor, so that shouldn't be too much an issue. Maybe I could fit that as well, but I doubt it.

On the list to do this week : look for a 180cmx80cm bathtub (built in, not a freestanding as was originally planned - though that may change still), a shower door (80cm) and I'll need some curtains or drapes for the living room as well. I'll take those measurements shortly. I'm keeping busy it seems. For the bathroom shopping I'll probably end up at X2O again, but for the drapes? Any suggestions, people?

After I went to work for a short time, I got home, changed clothes and went to the DIY store to pick up my third bulky waste bag, which will bring the total amount of waste removed during this renovation to 4.5 ton, lol. I never knew it would be that much and I'm pretty sure I ain't even doing all that much work. Anyway, my back is now aching but 85% of the concrete has been mixed and poured. Yes, I could have pushed it just that bit further but that would have meant another trip to the store and I really didn't feel like it.

It's quite amazing how I get to pretend I know what I'm doing here, rebuilding this house, isn't it? In fact I just read instructions and then do what seems to work and obtain a result that is sometimes spot on, but most of the time more or less vaguely alike what was the goal. Ah well... pretending is fun sometimes.

Off to crash into my sofa now while the concrete dries. I'll pick up another 50kg of mixture later this week and finish the final part. Then I'll have find out how to best proceed, because I need to level the complete floor, then put in insulation, after that I suppose more solid flooring needs to be poured as well as plumbing that needs to be done - don't I need a plan on how I'll be laying out the bathroom by then? - and I think it's time to start building up an inner and outer wall as well.

See... I can see al the steps, but don't ask me if they're in the right order, grin.

Off to the sofa, probably falling asleep straight away!

One day I'll find my own Khaleesi (again), but if it were to be Daenerys Targaryen I wouldn't have to think long about it ;)

If I say I actually kind of like the sound of "Khaleesi" as a name for a daughter, does it sound insane? Well, that is of course if I ever have children. And my first daughter would be named "Bo". Strangely enough I always see myself having daughters, not sons, and it has been like that for ages, for no apparent reasons. Yup. Insane, no doubt.

Last night I spent quite a long time going through all my belongings in order to find some paperwork that is rather urgently needed. I'm sure I have received it a couple of months ago, but due to all the moving places, it probably got lost, or at least misplaced. However I do need it to fill out my taxes. I'll request for it to be resent to me tomorrow.

However, that in itself is not the issue : Due to several rather serious changes that occurred in my housing situation, I'm now facing something I've never had to deal with before. Multiple properties, tenants, mortgages and such. I've got no clue how to file all these things, so tomorrow I'm gonna try and find out who can give me a final answer. It'll be interesting for sure.

Note : A colleague of mine recommended Game of Thrones which is currently airing on HBO and I must admit, it's worth recommending indeed.

Where to start? I really don't know, so much has been going on lately which all seemed important, yet maybe none of it is. Can I talk about it? Do I want to talk about it? Does it even matter in the long run? So many questions, so many conflicting answers, lol.

I think I'll keep this entry a short one, just showing people I'm still alive and kicking. After getting home from work, I stopped at the DIY place and got myself a new big bag to get rid of some building waste, so I can continue tearing down my wall on Thursday. While I was there, I also noticed a nice toilet sink and faucet and I decided to get that as well. Thinking about it, it seems I got a grey one, where I maybe should have gotten a black one instead. If they even had that. I seem to recall seeing it in a folder, but I ain't sure. Yepz, I'm still as undecided as I was when I started writing this entry, grin.

See ya!

Today, someone asked my I don't sleep enough, and truth be said, it's a very good question. Could it be that I just head off to bed too late? (check!) Could it be that I work too much? (check!) Could it be that I'm stressed? (not sure but I think I probably put "check!" here as well) Could it be that I spent too much time digging into Eve Online (check!)

Could it be that all of the above is true, yet none of them in itself would be problematic? Check again. Yes, it definitely is a combination of working long days (9 to 11h a day), spending too much time on the computer, being quite stressed about things I probably shouldn't stress about and rebuilding part of my home that is causing a lack of sleep. Add to that half-assed attempts to build a new social life including dating, and I think I pretty much got most of the reasons. What am I going to do about it? For now, nothing apart from heading off to bed earlier today so I can actually make it through the week.

So, what are the plans for the weekend? Spending time with family, going out with friends, maybe even do some more work on the house and I may even get the opportunity to see a dance rehearsal, who knows. Well, that is if a certain someone actually bothers to call, text or mail me. If not, well I suppose that means what it means.

My date on Sunday was fun, I think we both had a good time and I'm gonna give her a call or send her a mail later tonight or tomorrow saying that I liked it a lot and would to meet up again. We'll see where that leads to then.

These lyrics perfectly describe my 2010 :

Easy come, easy go
That's just how you live, oh
Take, take, take it all,
But you never give
Should have known you was trouble from the first kiss,
Why were they open?
Gave you all I had
And you tossed it in the trash
You tossed it in the trash, you did
To give me all your love is all I ever asked,
Cause what you don't understand is
I'd catch a grenade for ya (yeah, yeah, yeah)
Throw my hand on a blade for ya (yeah, yeah, yeah)
I'd jump in front of a train for ya (yeah, yeah , yeah)
You know I'd do anything for ya (yeah, yeah, yeah)
Oh, oh
I would go through all this pain,
Take a bullet straight through my brain,
Yes, I would die for ya baby;
But you won't do the same

And that's the last I'm gonna say about it. 2010 is gone, and 2011 is here.

It's only Monday evening and already I feel like I've been run over by a truck, a train and beaten up by a boxer that was way out of my league. I'm sure 75% of that feeling is due to mental stress, not so much physical issues, but the result is about the same. My head hurts, neck aches and I can't focus any longer than the average goldfish' attention span (which is said to be around 3 seconds).

But, so much for the whining and complaining. Today I achieved the following in regards to the break up and buying a new house to live in :

I confirmed a date to pick up the last of my things on Friday,
I arranged for some furniture to be available by or around the time I move,
I called my preferred electricity supplier to announce my intention to have them hook me up to the net again,
I have a meeting with the current owners of my new house tomorrow,
We're meeting up with the notary to finalize the separation of the ex girlfriend and I on Wednesday,
I have decided what supplier I'll use to provide my new place with natural gas,
I might have feedback coming up regarding one of the two selected suppliers for windows I've picked.

Yes, that's quite some things already arranged, or in some stage of resolution. It is however also quite stressful as I combine it with 9 to 10 hour long days at work (not including travel to/from work).

Now I'll go play some Eve Online before I head off to bed and wake up in the morning for yet another day. Mind you, I do like my job and life a lot, but sometimes I just want everything to go away and get some much needed rest.

I sure thought 2011 would start differently : Yesterday I went to work a late shift, after spending a very enjoyable evening with my sister, her boyfriend and kid. Excellent food, superb company and a couple of games of "Dominion" made the evening one to remember.

This working I woke up, feeling a bit bloated - not from drinking or eating too much, mind you - and by the time I reached the toilet I knew I had whatever Joco had last week : vomiting and diarrhea, what an interesting combination. It makes one choose between an bucket and a toilet, lol. Combine that with a slight fever - I didn't take my temperature, but I do know my body - and I guess you understand I didn't do much apart from staying in bed, running to the toilet and feeling crap.

Everything hurts but it's getting better : since 16h30 I've been able to keep some water in my stomach, which is a relief. I should feel better tomorrow even though everything hurts, including the few hairs on my head I have.

Plans for tomorrow : take car to garage for maintenance and if time and results permit, to the mandatory yearly checkup as well. Apart from that, little else is planned. I'll be replying to some mails and updating my agenda. Even those few things could prove challenging.

I'm sporting a nice headache. One of those that are annoying but not mind numbing or terribly painful. If I had too much to drink last night, I'd know why, but that certainly ain't the case.

I don't know what to do with my life. I feel lost, and I'm not stuck on an island with a TV crew, a couple of hot girls and some weirdo's. If that were the case, I probably wouldn't even mind and just go with the flow. If I were participating in Survivor, I'd do alright.

Lost is probably not the right word, scared maybe is a better word even, hell, I don't know. The previous time(s) I bought a property it was always with my partner at the time, with a future we'd spend together. Sure enough, that didn't last "until death us do part" otherwise I wouldn't be facing it all alone now, but still... it was comforting to be able to bounce ideas and calculations around, look at interiors together and just dream, decorate and build away. It seemed "right".

Now it is just me, looking at properties, doing calculations and predictions, but not really believing in any of them. I fear making a decision, buying a property - it doesn't even matter which one, as the feeling remains equal - and just realizing that I'll never be happy there. I'll have a roof over my head, but not something to call home, or to feel home.

I've got wonderful friends and family, but they can't take away that feeling, no matter what they do or try, or how wonderful they are. An they are pretty damn awesome, yes they are.

I coded a nice report in excel this morning - something I should have done a while back - and will get feedback from our customer in a couple of minutes, after which I'll probably spend the rest of the day fine tuning it to make it more accessible, usable and with even better reporting before putting it to use starting next week. I should feel proud and good about it, shouldn't I? Well, I don't. It's only work, only a fucking report and I couldn't care less. I'm pleased to have learned a few new tricks in excel, but that's hardly enough to counter the pain I feel inside. Oh, and the headache ain't gone either...

Today, I was asked how I did it earlier when I was still with my girlfriend, seeing as I get home now, eat and fall asleep on the couch, then head off to bed. I didn't do that then - it happened, but not every day. The answer may be surprisingly simple yet complicated : 1. I had things to do to prevent me from just sitting down and falling asleep. 2. I couldn't get away with it. 3. I actually had a good rest at night.

Nowadays I work nine to ten and a half hours a day, and read up on building and decorating when not at work, doing research and gathering information (mostly just by reading though). When I "sleep" at night my body shuts down for 4 to 6 hours, but I don't get the rest I should. I go from being awake to not being awake, but my heart and mind don't stop racing and processing thoughts and emotions. Essentially I went from being awake and active for 17 to 18 hours a day with 6-7 hours of good quality sleep to being awake and active for 18 to 19 hours a day with 5 to 6 hours of crap sleep. In fact, I sometimes wonder why and how I still am able to function relatively well.

Oh, if this seems an awfully dark entry, don't worry. In fact it is not. It's a way of setting things straight for myself, throwing it all out and coping with it. It's improving, slowly. I'll be back, better, leaner and meaner than ever. Well, forget about the mean thing : I'm not a mean person, never have been, probably never will be.

I'll be making a decision this week on whether or not to push through on the house/project in BW. I've tried contacting an architect but already got a reply that the site is too far for them to accept my case. I've found another one that is in the same village, whom I'll try contacting tomorrow. I am however rather surprised by the amount of money some of them charge for a couple of calculations. I'm aware that they can be held responsible in case it turns out they made errors, but still... One of the results I got when performing an online price check was just over €18k - that's simply insane.

It seems the average is around 7% of the total cost in case of a new house, but getting a price for a renovation seems much harder. Anyway, I'll make some calls tomorrow.

Tomorrow I'll also try to mail my ex-girlfriend because I want things to finally come to a conclusion. It's time to move on. I do realize that not everything is in her - or my - hands and that we're still waiting for the notary and bank to file the necessary paperwork, but come on... hurry up already.

While driving home last night, I was suddenly attacked by a vicious suicide bunny that executed his task with vigor and brave. It had probably been laying in wait for several minutes prior to my passage, but when I came within striking distance, it tensed it's muscles, arched it's back and jumped right in front of my car, completing the one goal it had set up to complete : a merciless suicide attack.

The front bender of my car tore loose and I had to take it off a couple of meters further. I'll have to check whether I can reattach it today.

The suicide bunny is probably humping around in bunny heaven, a big grin on it's face in bunny heaven, enjoying the hot furry female bunnies that are waiting in line for a roll in the haystack with the fearless bunny that dared to execute a strike against a car.

You're dead, fool. You won't be fucking virgins, you won't be humping around in heaven. Your torn up body is laying on a frozen streak of asphalt, pummeled by every other car and truck that passes. How glamorous.

(Political Incorrect statements to follow)

Some say that when you die during a vicious attack on the enemy and go to heaven, 40 virgins will be waiting for you.

Why would anyone want to have sex with 40 virgins? Imagine the mess, the tension, anxiety and all! Having sex with someone who's been around and knows what they enjoy in the bed (or elsewhere) is much more fun I'd say.

(End of political incorrect statements)

to a couple of days off, starting Wednesday. Worked 60 hours over the past 7 days, which is enough. Heading off to work early today, but off a day tomorrow. Busy busy busy :)

Date that I know for sure whether or not the property is sold : November 19th. In the mean time, I'll be keeping an eye open for other opportunities.

Got an appointment at the bank on Thursday, called the ISP to have them change things over to her name - will take up to three weeks - and have swapped over a major part of my online identities and e-mail addresses already. Will do the rest during the week. It's always such a hassle, moving in and out. Maybe I shouldn't worry about it all and just let her figure it all out, but I do realize that if I want it all done properly and in the correct order, I better take care of it.

Up next : getting the electricity switched... (call made, they will also be taking the necessary actions)

I finally got a reply from the real estate agent... it seems the property has been sold, pending financing that is. So, unless the people currently interested in it don't get the financing set up, I'm screwed. I've been looking at some other properties in the region and to be honest... no... I so don't feel like starting from scratch again. This year alone I've emptied and cleaned out my apartment, I've redone and moved to the house in Mechelen, and that is plain enough. I really don't want to start all over for the third time this year. I really don't. It makes me freak out.

Truth be said... if the situation were different, I probably wouldn't mind yet another project. I do realize that if you want to own property and not break the bank too much, you have to do a lot yourself. However, that takes time, loads of time. Even though I do feel fine about moving in with J&E, I also know that I'll never be at ease there. That is nothing personal at all, and I know they'll understand should they read this. Just imagine living on your own for over 20 years and then moving back in with your parents... no matter how good they are, no matter how little they expect, ask or interfere, it just doesn't work. Hence, I want to be back on my feet asap.

Maybe I'll find myself some rich old lady that likes the idea of a "young" man entertaining her, even though she knows it would be only for the money or the property. Grin, that sounds so wrong, doesn't it?

This morning she and the kids left for EuroDisney, while I just stayed in bed. I couldn't really bring myself to get out and face them. Last night she told Siebe that they would be visiting EuroDisney and that I wouldn't be here anymore when they returned. He didn't like it, which leaves me with very mixed feelings. On the one hand, I'm glad that he reacts that way, because it shows that I've left a positive impression on those two little rascals the past year and a half, but on the other hand I know it'll leave him confused and sad, which is something I'd rather not see him be.

I mailed the real estate broker to see if I can visit the property I've got my eye on. No reply so far, so if I don't hear back from them tomorrow, I'll be giving them a follow up call. Tomorrow I'll be contacting the current energy supplier, as well as the ISP that provides this place with internet connection and digital TV, to have everything put to her name.

I'll also try to set up a meeting with my banker, to verify that the data I was shown earlier are indeed correct. She conveniently forgot to mention that the mortgage would be for a property abroad, which definitely changes things.

I'm busy, yet not as busy as I should be I suppose. I'm coping, but not enjoying. May move some things out today already.

It seems a certain someone doesn't really care, or doesn't show. Anyway, I'm moving on, that's for sure. It may be a flee, but at least I'm fleeing forward, and not hiding somewhere.

I just ordered tickets for Alex Agnew, whom I really dig as a standup comedian. He's big, bold and bombastic, but it just works. He found his thing so to speak, and I like his style, or lack of it.

Speaking of concerts and shows... Here's what I've lined up for the time being :

Lady GaGa, November 2010*
Lord of the Dance, December 2010*
Alex Agnew, March 2011*

* I will be going to all these shows, and I do have a spare ticket for each of them. I'd rather not go alone, but will not be asking or allowing just anyone to tag along. If you are an interesting female (milfs welcome) that welcomes a night out, feel free to get in touch. I can't promise upfront that I'll pick you to go with me, nor can I promise that I wont (try to) get in your pants, but hey... give some and get some. I'm past caring about the feelings of others for the moment.

Note : the above words might sound sexist. They may be offensive to some. They may... hell I don't really care. It is a joke, yet it is not. I really do have tickets, and I will welcome company. Having huge hooters won't really help you catch my attention. Being witty, funny and honest will. But... I wasn't lying about getting in your pants ;-)

I'd like to cut through the tension here. While we don't really pick or have fights, it has become quite obvious that the tension is so thick that you almost see and feel it. With only a few more hours before I pack up to leave for work, we both know that tonight will be the last evening we spent together. If there is anything left to say or do together, that is the time.

Over the weekend I have been fighting with my Mio Moov 370, Schattie's Tom Tom Go 300, and now I've just told my HTC Hero to get the latest update installed. The Mio Moov I spent 50 euro on to get the latest maps and an activation key, but it fails to install due to some error while communication with the Mio server. I already mailed support - to no avail, of course - so for the time being I'm 50 euro lighter and not the slightest map update further.

The Tom Tom Go claims to have all the latest updates installed, but I don't believe that for a bit.

Just hope the Hero update goes much smoother :)

May report once completed, if I don't forget, that is, lol.

The time of looking at how-to papers is gone and on Tuesday I started digging where the elevated terrace is supposed to be created. If you frown right now, I don't blame you, even though I don't know why exactly you're frowning. Is it because you're not supposed to dig down when building an elevated construction, or is it because it was 28 degrees Celsius on Tuesday and only an idiot would spend close to 8 hours digging in that heat?

Yes, it was 28 degrees outside and I started digging around 9h30 and finished up around 10PM with a very much needed break every once in a while. As for the construction process.. in order to have some stability, I opted to dig out a 5.28sqm zone which now is ready to pour a concrete screed upon/in. Once that's done, we'll have to let if dry out and then attach the wooden tiles to it. The tiles we thought were definitely lost, but after taking them out of the deck that was in when we bought this house, they seem to be rather good after all. Schattie spent quite some time cleaning them up and if they get another good scrub and a new layer of paint or oil, they'll be as new.

Today it's about 33 degrees Celsius outside and I'm at it again, this time digging out the last corner of sand and rubbish the previous owners created. So far 6 wheelbarrows have been filled and emptied and I think I've got another 2 to go. Sweat is dripping off on every side of my body and if someone was to TP me right now, all the paper would stick to me like... stickiness, lol?

Just checking to see what offer the company has made me to deliver 3 cubic meters of concrete screed on Wednesday, and then we should have taken another very big step forward to making this house and yard look better.

Back out into the sun I go... sweat you later!

Just finished reinstalling the faucet in the bathroom for the last time - hopefully.

We noticed that the lighting downstairs was making a strange noise whenever we turned it on, and it turned out to be full of water. Logical conclusion : water was leaking into the floor or wall somewhere and it just made sense to suppose the recently installed faucet had something to do with it. When I took it back off, the wall was wet indeed, so I can only assume that it had been leaking for the past two weeks, which would explain why it took so long for us to notice.

Anyway, problem solved I think, now we just have to wait for the wall and ceiling to dry.

Off to go sit outside a bit, the weather is just too fine to stay inside. Managed to configure my mail client to check various accounts, and looked up some data on becoming a Type A energy consultant. Courses start in September consist of no less than 22 sessions. Really thinking of taking the course so I can add that to my capabilities and preform this kind of job for others as well.

Outside and into the sun I go!

Imagine buying a house and having all utility wiring coming in on one side of the house. It is then decided that everything should be placed on the opposite side. We move everything over, without messing too much up. Two days after our sofa is delivered, the decision is made that the current state of things is not as it should be, and that we're gonna move everything around.

Well, things have been moved around and I've reattached all cables and the TV is functioning as it should. Yes, we've got a damn ugly cable laying on the floor, but I'll see if I can attach that to the walls tomorrow, which leaves us with the following equation :

"2-3 hours of work + a big fat curse + lifting heavy things = happy girlfriend"

The final result is that she's happy and this setup looks good as well...

37 : my age (thanks everyone for the birthday wishes!)
28 : the number of hours I've been awake right now (and counting)
10 : the number of days till we start the Big Move (2 locations to 1)
6 : the number of different addresses/locations I was today
2 : the number of computers I fixed today
1 : number of best friends I spent quality time with today (thanks mate!)

It's been a busy day, but with quite some tiles cut into the right size and placed already, the kitchen is starting to look good. Will need to complete it tomorrow (depending on the weather) and after I've worked on closing up the garage box. I sure hope to get that project finished tomorrow as well, but doubt it. I should get most of it done though (crosses fingers that nothing unforseen pops up).

I'll try to stay awake just a bit longer so I can get a more or less final draft ready for the garage box project tomorrow, but sitting down in the couch makes me soooo sleepy.

Note to Schattie : I love you. It may not always show, with all the stress and busy days, but you can be certain about it... I do!

It's been a busy few days.

Yesterday we signed all the paperwork to call our new house truly ours now, yay!
On Monday the heating problem was fixed and the leaky valve was planned to get fixed today, but that fell through due to some unforeseen problem called "snow".

I left for work at 06h45 and arrived at 10h30, which means I've spent 3h45 minutes just to get to work. It took me another 1h45 to get back home later. No fun, especially since I was (and still am) suffering from a serious case of diarrhea, and it was only thanks to the immodium I took this morning that I made it to work without erm... incidents. It was close though, so I popped in with the medics to score another one to get me through the day.

Last time I took 1 immodium, I didn't feel like using the toilet for 4 days. I'm on my 3rd already today, and it's still flying out as if I was a clay pigeon throwing machine. Either I'm getting used to the drug, or I've something that can't be subdued by it.

Due to all the traffic troubles, the heating technician texted me that he wouldn't make it today, but we're rescheduled for tomorrow.

While I was trying to get to and from work, Schattie managed to put up another layer of paint on the ceiling of Siebe's room, with two kids in tow that were quite energetic after being stuck in traffic on the way to school for two hours. It's quite an accomplishment to get a room painted that fast, let alone take care and look after a 5 and three year old at the same time. Multitasking at it's best!

Managed to call a technician to come take a look at the heathing today and he even fixed it, woot! Apparently the circulation pump wasn't broken, just stuck really badly, but a bit of wiggling and a couple of thuds fixed that, so now hot water is flowing through the system as intended.

The leaky valve will be replaced/fixed on Wednesday, which would or should end the heating problem.

The seller - who was exposed to Schattie's wrath on the phone last night - has cleaned out most of the garden of his filth and rubbish as he promised, but he still left some things behind, which will need to be taken out as well. We'll handle that tomorrow while signing the final act though. Go Schattie (apparently she's a Goddess and I'm a Wussy)

The following keywords can be used to describe our day :

kids - school - key - new house - shopping - work - doctors visit - hard work - afternoon - paint - wallpaper - removal - eye - pain - notary - emergency room - french fries - 21h30 - eye specialist - damaged cornea - bandage - eye drops - rest - 2 days off.

That's it for the time being. I'm tired and heading off to bed, once I get my totally exhausted Schattie awake and in bed.

Lost the DSL connection around 17h00 on Sunday, hasn't been up since. Called Base helpdesk, they check my number then ask what type of modem I have. I give them the brand and number, they reply they don't know it.

Next question : "what lights are lit on the modem?"
My answer : "Don't know, ain't home right now, but got DSL signal active for sure"
Next question : "please call us back when you're home, we need to know what lights are on"
My answer : "Who cares? I know DSL signal led is on and you don't know the modem anyway, so what help is it if you know what lights are on?"
Their response : "We really need to know. Please call us back later, when you're home".
My response : "Right, will do". (I was actually thinking : "Fuck you, connect me to the techy guys already and let them figure it out". Boo me, really.)

September is just peeking around the corner and for me expresses Fall. Kids everywhere will be waking up for the first day of school, a bunch of regulations will change and that's all I can be arsed to write right now, lol. It's too early!

Recently it has come to my ears that an official complaint has been launched against no less than 17 colleagues at work. Whether or not I'm one of those is uncertain for the time being, but so far I haven't received any registered letters, or had police officers turning up at my doorstep. Neither was I contacted by my former employer about missing items or things that were not returned.

Yes, apparently it is that serious. Two of my colleagues have already been questioned by police and I expect others to receive the same treatment shortly. What is most amazing, is that this complaint is being launched by our former employer, over 6 months after we've stopped being employed by them. I would suspect that if they had a real case, they'd have filed a complaint within days, not several months later.

Anyway, after talking with one of the colleagues that was already questioned, it turn out that it's practically impossible to answer any question or make a statement when you're not allowed to inform yourself about the actual complaint and specific charges. Hence, should police turn up here, or contact me, I'll be refusing to make any statement but "talk to my lawyer". Which I don't have, lol.

So if anyone knows a good lawyer that is licensed in Belgium and knowledgeable in employment law and security in specific, feel free to forward their contact information to me, just in case. I'd prefer one that is affordable :)

While the fact remains that everyone is innocent until proven guilty, even the slightest hint of investigation can cause serious issues in our line of employment, especially when there are clearances to be renewed, courses to be followed etc.

I'll keep you all updated if I can, either privately or right here on the blog, depending on how the situation evolves.

I really should be heading out the door around this time if I want to be at work on time, but I'm quickly throwing together an entry and gathering stuff around the apartment. The original plan was to be in the apartment for the next three day or so, but plans have changed, hence the never ending packing and unpacking. Didn't sleep all that well last night, so it's gonna be a heck of a long shift tonight, especially since I gotta work till 7AM instead of 6AM. Believe me, that one hour makes a ton of difference.

Off I go!

With the ongoing intense heat I'm really suffering and it's starting to affect my everyday performance and mood. When I can usually keep room temperatures relatively cool so I can get some sleep, I can't do all that now. The heatwave is not the only reason I'm not getting enough sleep though, my mind is processing a ton of new information and feelings every second and that too is wearing me out.

Taking a break or a pause is not something I'm even considering, because others are in an even worse shape and need all the mental and physical support they can get.

Would I do it again, had I known all this upfront? You betcha. In a second I'd make the same decision over and over again if I needed. Sometimes you face rough weather, but as long as the boat is sturdy and manned by a dedicated crew, you'll sail through to calmer waters eventually. And I'm dedicated, let there be no doubt about that.

I've updated my schedule for the coming month of August. Didn't accomplish much more today apart from running the dishwasher - I won.

My head is firmly attached to my neck, my heart is beating solidly in my chest, yet both mind and heart are distracted and so far out of it that they may run into the Star Trek crew, boldly going where no man has gone before.

Early shift tomorrow so I won't make it all that late tonight.

I don't know what it is, but I've been sweating like crazy today - yesterday as well to be honest. It's overcast outside so the sun only peeks through the clouds every now and then, yet I experience the air temperature as hardly refreshing.

I just popped an Aquarius Green Splash into the freezer to quickly cool it and I'll be drinking that in a couple of minutes. If that fails - even if it doesn't - I'll be heading towards a lukewarm to cold shower after that. If that doesn't do the trick, the next step is migrating to the Arctic I suppose.

Oooh, icecream! Maybe that'll help :)

Close to 7AM, time to hit the bed, sleep for a couple of hours and then go steal about an hour's worth of kisses and cuddles and not regret it tonight when the lack of sleep catches up. Yeah, definitely sounds like a plan I'm willing to execute :)

I walked back into the building when my colleague immediately told me that I had just missed two calls on my mobile. Not that many people have my mobile number - I keep it relatively private - so when I'm being called on it, I know something is up. Especially when being called at 04:13 - the wee hours of a Sunday morning.

Spent close to 30 minutes mostly listening, only speaking when I had something to say. I do very well realize that this once again is one of those vague posts that only one or two people will be able to understand, but for the time being, that's how it is. Something finally happened and I suppose it's a step towards something else, but for the time being I have no clue whether it is for better or worse, and even the definition of better and worse entirely depend on whom you ask.

I've just made a couple of small changes to the schedule on the right, as I'll be swapping one extra night shift in and a 10h training day out, though that shouldn't really affect things too much.

Yesterday, I received note from my employer that the two days off I had requested in December - Rammstein concert - were denied due to operational reasons. I don't think I have to explain that I was (and partially still am) pissed off. They are incapable of correctly assessing the operational needs for next week, how would they be able to do so 6 months in advance?

Anyway, when the field manager showed his face and asked me how things were, I threw the letter on the desk and told him that he'd probably could guess, since his name was one of the underwriters of the declined holiday request. He claimed it was the first he heard of it, maybe the other field manager handled it... Doesn't matter to me really, I won't be at work those two days for the following reasons :

• They waited too long to answer my request (+14 days)
• I was not scheduled to work those days anyway
• They have no case to claim operational needs 6 months from now if they can't even assess next months needs correctly.

Should they stick to their decision, fine by me. I'll claim operational needs at home every time they call on me to fill in for someone, work extra hours or come in early. Guess who'll run into trouble first? Karma can be a bitch... too bad she's riding with me, suckers.

update : I received a confirmation by mail that the decline has been reversed and that I'll be having those two days off in December anyway. (Goes to put Karma back in her cage... for now)

Grilled steak, potato salad, grilled mushrooms and beer... all before 11AM on a working day :)

As a countermeasure against all you irresponsible people that believe I should be going out instead of going to bed, I've arranged that I'll get a phone call tomorrow at 4:30AM on both my home as well as mobile phone in case I don't answer the first one.

Sorry, I can't just put aside my character flaws and tell everyone to go fuck themselves (and risk not to show up at work).

Go out on Friday evening/night, all night long, probably have loads of fun, and suffer for it in the morning, or...

Stay home, taking into account that I'll have to wake up at 4AM on Saturday to give training for 10 hours straight (06h00 till 16h00) and that it'll be the first shift of many to come?

Advice anyone?

It's the first day after a full weekend off and already I feel as if I'm working in a home for the old and crippled. If it ain't that, it's just like kindergarten with too many ADHD kids running around and acting like babies. Am I really that difficult a person? The only thing I ask is that people do their friggin' job the way it should be done!

I've got two deaf people, one who keeps on calling in ill and one who's rather insecure while he shouldn't be. What have I done to deserve this?

Time : Monday morning, 6AM.

Situation : One of the busiest days of the year due to it being the 1st working day of a shut down that was started on Friday evening.

Mood : Stressed and tired. Been working 10 days straight (no days off, that's what straight means, folks). Have been dealing with idiots all night long. When people forget shit, they expect us to come up with a magical solution. When I forget things, I tend to find a solution myself or go back home to pick up whatever I forgot. I guess I'm special... wait, maybe they call it responsible?

Guess what? My colleague decides to sleep in and not to show till 7AM. My shift normally ends at 6. Thanks a lot for picking today to tell the world to go to hell and have your beauty sleep. Thanks a lot for making sure I get stuck in traffic and have to deal with a bunch of morons that don't know the back from the front of their car until they had 7 cups of coffee - which they clearly haven't had looking at how they "drive".

Fuck you Pukkie, Fuck you.

If you are looking for something positive in this entry, stop reading, it probably ain't there. Not today, and if things tomorrow are anything like today, not for tomorrow either. I've come seriously close to just deciding to go see a doctor and get a week off from work. The situation is seriously getting out of hand and I'm fed up with being a puppet on a string. They should really consider themselves lucky that it's not in my character to give up, but then again it's not in my character either to take things lying down, or shutting my mouth when things rub me the wrong way.

In the slight hope someone will get a chuckle out of this, time for a video : Slashdance. It explains why Horde will never prevail : we got the nightelves and let me tell you : she is welcome to come dance on my mailbox anytime, raid or no raid!

There's tons of things happening today it seems as I do my best to catch up with whatever is coming my way.

HP has replied to our mail to their support department and I'll be giving it another shot tomorrow afternoon. It will even require uninstalling SP3 from a fully patched Windows XP Home install, so that could be interesting. Let's cross our fingers that it'll resolve the issue for once and for all.

Microsoft released a critical update for most Internet Explorer versions which you should already have installed by now if value the safety of your computer. If not, go do it now! (http://update.microsoft.com)

Mozilla released version 3.0.5 of their Firefox 3 browser and even patched the version 2 branch up to 2.0.19. Please remember that Firefox 2 will not receive any more updates so if you haven't upgraded to version 3, now would be a good time. While you're at it, make sure your Thunderbird client is up to date too. (http://www.mozilla.com)

I've just received an SMS in reply to a mail I sent, and it clearly states that the project we had going on has come to an end. Unsuccessfully might I add, but for the time being, that's all I'll be writing about it. Maybe one day the full story can be found on this blog, but I wouldn't count on it. I'm not one to censor myself or let myself be influenced by others on what to write or leave out, but it serves no greater good, why risk the chance of ruining it for others?

This morning I was talking to a colleague at work and he told me some things that were rather surprising. While I'm an avid believer and supporter of "everyone has to do what they think is best" I was caught off guard. My position in certain negotiations has now moved from "strong upper hand" to "just a slight advantage". Will this affect how I deal with whatever comes next? It very well may. Time to check out alternative options.

Thanks everyone for the encouragement and best wishes, I'm feeling much more alive :) Right now a lot of things are going on, but I can't write about them just yet as none are finalized, and being a rational guy, I like to first have facts and then make up my mind or share the tidings.

I have been caught several times lately answering "we'll see" to pretty reasonable questions. This is not because I'm trying to avoid responsibility or delay decisions, but rather because I know that once I give my word, I'll stick to it. If I make promises based on conditions that are unclear, they'll come back and bite me in the ass. Even if it would be perfectly OK to reverse my view on something when the underlying assumption on which it was based changes, I'd feel bad doing so.

Compared to some of the nicer specimens out there - aka women - I'm a cave man when it comes to emotions or processing them. Luckily, cave men come in handy when chasing mammoth or fighting off grizzly bears. Then again, there's no real need for those qualities these days, is there?

This is a follow up on the Frostsaber Mount post earlier. Let it be known for all humankind that on October 1st 2008 at 2:32AM I turned in my final two quests (giants and ursa/shammy) and reached exalted reputation with the Frostsaber Trainers. I got my mount and even though it has taken me over a week of constant (boring) grinding, killing the same mobs over and over again, it was worth every drop of sweat, every ache and sigh.

I've slain a couple of hundred bears, chimera's, ursa's and shamans, not to mention loads of hard hitting giants. I went from level 61 to 62 just doing this, and this morning I pushed to 63 even (yeah, I was that close). I'll post a picture of me on the new frostsaber mount as soon as I can (done).

Image, taken near Cenarion Hold in Silithus

Now, if I had done this with the hunter (skinning/leatherworking) I would have made a ton of cash while doing it. No, I won't be doing it again - once is enough :)

Those of you that have been playing World of Warcraft will probably shake their head in disbelief, those who don't play they game will certainly do so. I've been working on obtaining the Frostsaber mount, better known as "Reins of the Winterspring Frostsaber".

This is the only epic mount in game that lets you ride at 100% with a 75 riding skill, but it takes ages to build up the reputation with the Wintersaber Trainers, at 850 rep for three quests.

I constantly meet level 70 players that fly through the quests as a knife through butter, but with my current level 62 rogue, it proves challenging at times. The meat for the Frostsaber Provisions quest have a very low drop rate, the furbolgs are being grinded down by every player around and the giants... we'll, they're giants and they hit like one :)

Maybe I should put this on hold for a while and work towards a PvP mount first, to increase my speed and bring down the time needed? But then I'd need to shell out the 600g for the higher level riding skill, which is something I was trying to avoid in the first place, lol. Choices, choices. Good thing I've got another week off - I may make it after all.

I rarely visit a doctor - apart from the mandatory exam we have at work every 6 months - so when I do head over there you can be rather certain something is amiss. When I got home on Tuesday, I felt some pain in my groin and when I took a look it seemed irritated and swollen. Nothing too bad, a bit tender to the touch but not warm. I took a long bath and headed off to bed because I really needed the sleep.

I woke up on Wednesday and it was still irritated and swollen, however, work called so I bit my teeth and decided to head out for another early shift. Walking was becoming quite painful and simple touching the area resulted in quite some pain. Before I left for work, I put some anti inflammatory cream on it, in a "if it doesn't help, it doesn't make things worse either" kind of sense. I added some talc powder to keep the area dry and went to work.

When I got home, I grabbed an icepack to bring the swelling down and it seemed to help a bit, though the tenderness remained. Headed off to bed very early once again, and got up around 3 at night because my back was hurting. I checked and the area most tender to touch has turned blue or even black. Since things are definitely not improving, I'm visiting a doctor at 9 this morning to get a professional opinion and hopefully aid. Once we know what's wrong, we should be able to cure it I assume.

I'll be updating as more information becomes available, unless they rush me to the hospital and tear me apart for a complete overhaul, lol.

Update 10:20 : After spending 45 minutes in a waiting room, I finally got to see the doctor who listened to my description and then took me into the examination room where she told me to drop my pants. She quickly was able to diagnose it as an infected cyst and a slice and dice job accompanied with some (painful) pressure released a bunch of puss. After a bandage and a trip to the pharmacy I'm ready to tackle the coming days. Clean up but make sure no soap get's in the wound, apply cream and cover with gauze. Pop two pills two times a day to stop the infection from spreading and it should all be much better on Saturday. If not, I'll be back for a follow up visit.

Hope you weren't reading this while having dinner, lol!

According to a recent demographic study, Australia is suffering from a shortage of men, and especially the coastal area's (cities) are affected. I always have been interested to visit that faraway country, why not consider moving there? (Link)

Who am I kidding - as if it would change anything, lol.

I had the weirdest dream today, and while I only recall parts and bits of it, I won't hold those from you.

I somehow walked into a large studio and sat down together in a seat with a group of about 10 other people, of whom I knew nothing. Never met them before, didn't talk to them. Don't have a clue how I got to the studio either, but suddenly a production crew turned up and before I knew it, we were in the middle of recording some sort of talk show. I was seriously considering sneaking out, but thought it would look weird or disrupt their recording so I didn't. Then it flashed through my mind that I would just wait and see what happened next.

On cues we had to applaud, and then there was dancing, the complete stage broke down in smaller modules, moved around in order to create a new setup and out of nowhere extra audience turned up. Mind you, they didn't walk in. We were all sitting down, sliding over the stage with chair and all and as we were rearranged, and looked around there was more people.

Suddenly I ended up at the front of the audience and I was handed a toy chicken by one of the crew, so I accepted it and sit with it for a while. In the mean time they were still recording the show - not a clue what it was about and I think it was the umpteenth version of one - and I just sat there with that fake chicken. It was about the size of a real chicken, but made out of white cotton of some sort. Another rearrangement and I was in the midst of the audience, and someone got handed a life sized cotton cat. They started passing this on through the audience and when it passed behind my seat, I had my chicken attack the cat, lol. Don't know why, don't know how, but it did.

Cat and chicken played tag for a while, and then the cat moved on. Rearrange seats once more - still same show, how knows? - and I was handed a fake fox. Not as big as the real deal, but big enough to look impressive and small enough to handle it easily. Wait, this wasn't a fake fox, this was a real one. I took the fox and the chicken and got up - not minding the recordings, none of the crew of the audience reacting to any of my moves - and started walking in between the seats, playing with the fox and the chicken. I arrived at an empty seat and put down the animals on the seat when a woman next to the seat screeched and got up. Not a clue how she looked or who she was, I only recall her long legs. I only noticed those as I put down my animals and when she moved to another seat.

I woke up. If that ain't a bizarre collection of mental imagery, I don't know what is...

Unrelated to the dream, but I'm giving it a strong "thumbs up" rating : the album Multiplicity by Leki. Very enjoyable!

You just can't please some, can you? Don't ask questions you don't want an answer too :)

Woman: If I died, would you marry again?
Man: Definitely not!
Woman: Why not? Don't you like being married?
Man: Of course I do.
Woman: Then why wouldn't you get married again?
Man: Okay, I'll get married again.
Woman: Would you? (Looking all sad and disappointed)
Man: (sighs)
Woman: Would you sleep with her in our bed?
Man: Where else would we sleep?
Woman: Would you change all my pictures for hers?
Man: That would seem like the normal thing to do, yes.
Woman: Would she use my golf clubs?
Man: No, she's left handed.
Woman: - - - silence - - -
Man: Shit

A couple of phone calls later I know what my schedule for the next three days is looking like. I went from "a 9 hour day on Friday and the weekend off" to "three 8 hour days" instead. I love the way things are being communicated, that's for sure. When I compare my initial schedule for April with what it is at now, it turns out I went from 164 hours (planned) to 185.25 hours (effective). And the month ain't over yet, so who knows what will happen in that final week?

Anyway, a schedule for May should be available soon and that should bring some stability into everything once again - as far as such a thing is possible with a fucked up shift system as we have. It'll also allow me to finally communicate and plan the holiday that I wrote about a couple of posts ago.

According to a recent Australian study, males who masturbate and cum at least 5 times a week, have 33% less chance to be struck by cancer of the prostate. The same study claims that having sex with a partner doesn't have the same effect though, as it increases the chance of getting a sexually transmittable disease, which then increases the chance of cancer.

It seems to me that if you have safe sex with your partner, you get the exact same result though?! Anyway, I don't smoke, I hardly drink and now it seems I won't be suffering from prostate cancer either - then what's gonna cause my final check out? I certainly don't know...

I didn't need a study to tell me "Males are apparently clueless when it comes to interpreting sexual intent from females, according to a recent study from Indiana University's Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences", but what's new? I am very capable of misinterpreting every conceivable sign, wink, nod or touch myself. Either by reading something into it that ain't there, or not getting the clue at all. It is sometimes referred to as "social ineptness" I believe. Anyway, you can find the study online here : Decoding Women’s Sexual Intent.

I need a t-shirt that reads "If you like me, tell me - I am male, I don't get clues!", but obvious as it would be, it would just confirm that nobody likes me, lol. See, sometimes it's better to assume and not know, then it is to ask and face the truth. Or is it not?

Oh, I'll be updating my work schedule tomorrow, though it's pretty regular. I'll be working days most of the month due to training that needs to be done. It'll also mean more time stuck in traffic jams, but more weekends at home as well. I think I'll need to call some people to go grab something to eat during one of those rare weekends off.

I had another day off tomorrow, but my site supervisor just called to check whether I could come in and work a day shift, to which I said yes. I could as easily have said no, but as I had nothing else planned really, why not?

Apart from that, I'm currently dealing with a major ethical dilemma that I can't seem to find the answer too. Going out to work won't help me reach a solution I guess, and it may even be a way to push the issue back a bit more. I guess I may hope that things resolve themselves, but I really doubt it. If I follow my heart, nothing gets done and things slowly continue sliding downhill. If I think rationally, I make the difficult decision and protect my investments. If I keep pushing the issue away, I may end up with a bad feeling and a loss of material objects, so all things considered, that could be the worst option.

Crap - once again I come to the conclusion - opposite to popular belief that it's better to have loved and get hurt than to have never loved at all - that opening myself up bites me in the ass, again. Yet cutting everyone and everything out from reaching me doesn't seem like such a good plan either, does it?

(finishes post and mulls over the issue at hand a bit more)

We all know that spam tells the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, right? According to some spam I received last night, shaved pussies sell better.

I rest my case - can't argue with a statement like that, lol.

After watching Cloverfield in the theater - enjoyable, but nothing more - I took a stroll through the city and noticed something remotely funny : a cab driver that looked like Rod Steward, lol! Yeah, I admit I'm easily amused every now and then.

When I got home and parked my car in the garage outside, I noticed the light on in the garage next door. That box is owned and used by my neighbors. At first I just thought "too bad, they're gonna have a slightly higher electricity bill" but somehow something must have tipped me off. I took a step back, then back towards the door and heard a soft sound.

Couldn't yet make out what it was, so I took a couple of steps towards the other end of the door and leaned closer again. Crap! It's the engine of a car running! Leaving the lights on when getting out of your car and closing the garage door is one thing, leaving the car running something entirely different. I sniffed for the smell of fumes but wasn't too certain whether or not I could smell the exhaust. Having gathered enough data, I knocked on the garage door but there was no answer. I grabbed the handle and swung the door open, to see my neighbor laying in his car, engine running. Holy fuck! I'm not the best friends with them - we are just neighbors, we greet when we meet each other in the street - but this is not a situation where you think, you just act. I moved in quickly, opened the drivers side door and shut down the engine. Then I started poking him and asking him if everything was ok. About 30 seconds later he opened his eyes, looking all confused.

We started having a conversation, but his replies didn't make all that much sense. He said he came home about 20 minutes earlier and that he had a bit too much to drink. I asked him several times whether he was planning on something specific but he denied time after time. I told him to get out of the car, into fresh air and upstairs to his apartment, which he did.

The questions that remains now are the following : "did I intervene with a suicide attempt?", "was he just drunk and fell asleep, not realizing that he was still in the car?", "if that's the case, why was the garage door shut?!", and finally "should I talk to someone about it?". The final question could either be his wife, or cops or whatever. (No need to answer that last question anymore, I called a 24/7 lifeline and presented the situation to them. They advised me to talk to his wife first chance I get, which I'll definitely do.)

It's just past 6AM and I should have been sleeping I suppose. Instead I was awake, played games and cleaned out my computer and mailboxes. I can't think of any reason why I should keep mail dated 2005 any longer - it can't be that important, right? I also spotted a couple of mails I should answer so I may do that later today.

While deleting mails, I found an old mail about my EFF membership - that small EFF advocate badge that I got on my blog is not just eye candy - so I renewed it. I had planned to do that last year but probably overlooked it. That's all I've got to write for now...

It's just past 4AM and I'm due to wake up at 5AM. Of course, the simple fact that I'm typing out this entry means that I am already awake. I went to bed relatively early, only to come to the conclusion that I was not falling asleep as I expected - I just kept turning around, hoping that I'd find my place and snooze off. I didn't, so after 4 hours of being annoyed at not falling asleep, I got back out of bed. I don't doubt that by the time I actually have to leave for work, I'll be drifting off into a state of unconsciousness.

Lol, it's close to 16h30 and I gotta be somewhere at 18h00. I've got to take a shower, entertain my cat (done), wrap up presents (done) and drive over there. Why do I make life so hectic?

Anyway, I did get the following accomplished today :
- give orders for two HT matches (first team and youth team)
- complete a stock deal in SL
- get a new customer set up
- call and set up a meeting with someone on Friday evening for computer issues
- have breakfast

Now... it's time to scramble and get things in RL on a roll :)

Yesterday morning as I hopped out of bed, I opened the curtains and opened the window that had somehow almost closed itself. Must have been the draft. Anyway, as I noticed a bunch of droplets of dew on the inside, I poked my finger at them, and they didn't move! Wait, am I truly awake here?

Yeah, I was awake for sure as my finger got colder the longer I kept poking at the drops. Then it hit me : frozen water. Ice. Woooow! Yes, it was that cold outside that the drops that formed on the inside of the window had frozen on the sills. Yet I slept like a baby, never one time affected or even realizing how cold it was. I found it quite funny, so I wanted to share with you all, lol.

And a new day commences *yawn*

After telling people that I would come in today and tomorrow to work a night shift, I went and took a shower, then headed back off to bed for just over two hours. I haven't slept a second during that time. Everything aches and is painful, I'm hot and cold at the same time yet I don't run a fever (37.4° Celsius). I haven't eaten anything but a small breakfast this morning around eight, and I don't really feel like it either.

It'll be one fun night at work...

Thanks for the comments ladies! Ash, glad to hear your still with the agency, but are free from your difficult customer. Apparently you do like your job, and quitting over just one case that's giving you a hard time would be such a loss for everyone else. I guess everyone gains now.

I hope I wasn't too vague in my previous post and that people are starting to think something is amiss with my career or how things are at work. Actually we've gone from a highly volatile and explosive situation that was rapidly evolving into a trench war with both sides becoming utterly defensive and unmovable to a somehow more stable situation where - while not all issues are cleared out, far from - we are all able to see middle ground again. We have become more flexible, they have started to understand our gripes and things are slowly improving, at least that's how I feel about it.

No, the situation I was writing about yesterday was mostly about workload and available resources, with one being very high and the other rather scarce. I'll leave it up to you, reader, to connect the dots. However - and that just shows how quickly things can change - a much larger storm is brewing, in which we will just end up a toy in the hands of other forces.

I won't disclose anything about that yet though, as I don't know what's up, and I don't feel like writing hypothetical stories that end up incorrect, incomplete or exaggerated. Rest assured that if things change and an update is warranted, I'll write about it here. One side of me is definitely looking forward to being part of the game, the other side thinks "crap, I'll be a tiny game piece in a large game of chess". I don't mind a good game of chess, but I'd rather be the strategist behind the pieces instead of one of the pieces myself. On the other hand, it's not my game of chess, why would I care?

Lol, that didn't really make things more clear, did it? I confused myself, hehe. To cut a short and unraveling story even shorter : the fool is the one who is not prepared for what may come.

Yesterday I decided to purchase a new and legit copy of Nero 8 because - I have to admit - I had been using a not so legal copy of Nero 6 before. Did you know that if you buy a new copy outright you'll be paying more than if you "upgrade" from an illegal copy? Yeah, I found it rather strange as well, so if you're thinking about getting yourself a (first) shiny new version of Nero, it may pay off to first hunt down a well known illegal registration code of Nero 6 or 7, and to supply that as the current version owned. The store knocked off 5 Euro from my total cost. Piracy pays?

Anyway, after downloading close to 180MB, I removed my old Nero 6 version and set out to install the new Nero 8. It started with asking me to reboot because "a previous installation has requested a reboot". Yet I hadn't seen any reboot requests, go figure. Ok, so I reboot the machine and go through a ton of configuration steps to finally get to a point where I have the full suite toned down to only install Nero Burning Rom. I don't need all the other crap, I just want to toast CD's.

Installation takes a couple of minutes and as I'm working on other things, suddenly a message pops up that the installation has finished but no modifications to my system were made?! Ok, let's reboot again. I give the installation another try, but this time it complains about being unable to load the shell access manager. WTF is that? I head over to the Nero support pages and somehow end up at an entry telling me to make sure automatic updates are enabled for windows XP. Right, as if that will have anything to do with it. I decide to give it a try so set out to open the services tab in the administrator tools in the configuration panel, and it won't load. A few curses, searches and registering of DLL's later, I am once again able to access my management console. I'm not blaming Nero for messing with my .msc files though. It's very possible that the issue somehow existed before but wasn't manifesting itself as I don't edit or configure services every day.

Another reboot, but before I do that, I grab the Nero General Clean tools, to get rid of all previous versions of the software, hoping it'll make the next install attempt more smooth. After once again rebooting, I run the cleaning tools, only to run into an error about not being able to access the OLE registry (if I recall correctly). No sweat, the cleaning continues and I'm asked to reboot again.

As I've been writing this post, the installation has been running in the back and it just popped up a message : Installation successful, please reboot your system. Will this be the final reboot? Will I finally be able to toast CD's again? Who knows...

Hits "Start" - "Shutdown" - "Restart"

Passion fruit jenever is too sweet for me. So I added a splash of Absolut wodka vanilla and some Cointreau, along with some ice cubes. It is seriously good and you get seriously drunk on it as well. buzetgf vzefg jbkrjbnorgjeropghkr. Right.

We all know our Japanese friends are a little crazy, or do they just have too much free time on their hands? Or maybe they're just a creative bunch of people that think outside the box? Anyway, I came across a collection of video's that I enjoyed watching, and I hope you do too.

If you want more, search for Human Tetris.

Before I post a number of funny quotes I came across on the web today, I gotta wave to Amber and thank her for her Elisha Cuthbert comment. *waves* Hi Amber!

(Note to D. and H. : Yes that's one of the Aussie girls, lol)

Now... I've got a rather "sec" kind of humor and often like jokes that play on and with words, or are surprisingly simple yet refined when you look at them. Here are some quotes that I found today, most are aviation related and taken from the aircraft trouble report that each plane carries. P=Pilot, S=Solution (entry by engineers/maintenance)

P: Left inside main tire almost needs replacement.
S: Almost replaced left inside main tire.

P: Test flight OK, except autoland very rough.
S: Autoland not installed on this aircraft.

P: Something loose in cockpit.
S: Something tightened in cockpit.

P: Autopilot in altitude-hold mode produces a 200-fpm descent.
S: Cannot reproduce problem on ground.

P: Number 3 engine missing.
S: Engine found on right wing after brief search.

Man, I don't even recall when exactly I made the change from enjoying virtual worlds to working in a virtual world. One things is sure though : time zones are killing me. Every time I'm about to head off to bed, a bunch of Americans pop on, requesting help and support and the clock just ticks away, second after second, minute after minute, hour after hour. I managed to log out, finally, about 45 minutes ago. If I were at work, I'd hop in my car now and drive home. Since I'm at home, I'll hop out of my clothes and into my bed.

Public service messages to some people :

Kleine : thanks for the fun evening and I must add that I = QT.
Nadia : find me that article about sleep training, quickly ;-)
Ash : Lol, you know me all too well - sorry for not accepting your myspace invite, I'll have to hunt down my login information and password, which I seem to have lost. I didn't bother looking for it yet, I admit.
Jerome : I've saved your mail but haven't gotten round to actually replying to it. Bad me!
Girls that want me : tell me. Don't assume I'll pick up the hints. Listen to what Ash had to say.
Bed : get ready, here I come!

Just a quick answer to two of the comments left on that previous entry :

Anon : maybe, if you are interested, send me your proposal. My e-mail address is on this blog.
Madame : I agree. There is also another saying : if you can't stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen.

I'm still pondering which one applies more to me... I'm not one that likes heat, but I like cooking ;-)

Ok, something entirely different now. Did anyone happen to see The Girl Next Door on TV today? Or maybe you did see it in the cinema when it first released? Anyway, I'm thinking this : if I was to review this movie, what would I write? Do you think you know? I challenge you to write up a pretty short (4-5 lines, that's all) impression of the movie, which could be written by me. Yes, I'm challenging you to pretend to be me for a couple of minutes, and write what you think I'd write. Those of you that haven't seen the actual movie but think they're good enough to write "my" review based on the information they can find about it on the web, here are some links : The Girl Next Door on IMDB - Elisha Cuthbert

There's nothing to win, but I promise to post my review of the movie later. Here are some tips that may or may not help you :

I like the movie. I won't be focusing on technicalities. I may even compare the fiction of the movie to (my) Real Life, who knows. Or maybe I won't. Be creative :)

ready - set - write!

It's been a long week and I've got two more days to go. For no specific reason I come home and feel burned out, physically tired even though the only physical activity done all day consists of walking from my car to the entrance, cycling to my office, walking up the stairs (1 floor) and all of that in reverse 8 hours later. Maybe that's exactly they problem : a total lack of physical exercise.

A healthy mind in a healthy body, wasn't that something the Ancient Greek already knew? I could make plans to actually start working out, but I know how that usually ends up : a plan, which is soon forgotten, disbanded and thrown overboard. I'm good at resolutions, yet back at actually executing them, lol. There is this one lady at work though that I wouldn't mind doing some physical activity with though ;-)

Out of my league? Possibly. Especially if I keep on playing in the 29th division class I currently play in. Or rather where I act as a replacement or stand in if everyone else couldn't make it to the game. I think I need people skills. There you go, another resolution.

I think I need a revolution though...

Lol, I love it when I'm right. It confirms that I know what I'm doing, and that I either did my homework or that my intuition was spot on. For those of you thinking that this is just (another) egocentric blog entry, you are correct, grin.

I "predicted" that the curse of the blue window was caused by "an old and possibly no longer installed photo manipulation program. After launching ProcessExplorer and popping the Compact Flash card into the reader, a process "agent.exe" started and that lead me to Spector Photo/Imaging. After verifying with the computer owner, it turns out he had that installed long time ago - it hadn't been used since June 2006 according to the installed program list. One uninstall and cold boot later, the mysterious blue window is gone for good.

I'm good. I may not be modest, but I'm so damn good ;-)

I can hardly believe it myself, but I've got a full week off of work, and I'm gonna enjoy it too. Of course I managed to book a couple of long over due tasks into this week off - I just can't seem to "do nothing" - but generally speaking I'll only be doing what I feel like, which could be everything, or nothing at all. It's even more incredible that I'll be doing it again at the end of September. Rinse, repeat!

Yesterday was a looong day. I got up at 4AM, went to work till 12h30 when a colleague took over - thanks once again O. - and left there around 12h45. The next hour and ten minutes was spent in the car in a traffic jam which lead to me arriving at my next appointment with under 5 minutes to spare, but I made it in time. Once I was out of that meeting, I left for B. and H. where I arrived around five thirty (more traffic jams) and then we headed off with the complete group to celebrate my grandma's birthday. When I finally turned onto the driveway leading towards my home, the clock in the car was displaying a time well past eleven PM. I headed straight to bed, and slept like a baby till noon today.

Which leads me to the stunt that Tai pulled off during my long and busy day, followed by a night spent sleeping. When I left home yesterday, I had filled his bowl of water to the brim. I know he likes to drink and play with water, so I fill it up well enough so there's definitely water left to drink when he's done playing. No matter what, I can't get it into his head that water is to drink from, and not to play in. So far all attempts have proved to be water under the couch.

Back to the look on my face when I stepped into my living room half an hour ago : With eyes still slightly closed I greeted him, opened the door to the terrace so he could get a fresh nose and greet the outside world when something struck me. "What the hell was laying into his waterbowl?" I took a few steps back, opened my eyes and burst out into laughter. He had managed to steal a napkin from the kitchen counter - where he knows he is not allowed - and to drag it into his water bowl. Mind you, it wasn't torn apart, but still neatly folded as it had been on the kitchen counter, and draped over the edge of his bowl in such a way that it had sucked out most of the water in the bowl and released it on the outside of it, also known as... my floor.

I've got a scientific cat, who'd have guessed?

I love the Drum n' Bass!

* Just kidding...

I think I just blew a friendship with someone I've only met online, yet whom I like a lot and appreciated as a friend. Distrusting friends is not smart and I should have just given her all the info as it arrived instead of taking out parts. It made her think I don't trust her and to be honest, I've got no clue really why I did what I did. At the time I did it, it seemed right, but looking back at it... Ouch, so wrong :(

I'm sorry, Mizzy. I realize I've offended you and I don't know if I'll ever be able to make it up to you, but I do hope you'll someday accept my apologies and then smack me around a zillion times to make me pay for my stupid behaviour.

Let me guess, you're relatively successful in life, yet you wondered what it would be to live life as a hobo? Is it the freedom, the roaming through the streets or the unexpectedness of their lives?

Find out, and play Hobowars! I've been exploring the city, attacking the Trolley Boy (hey, I need a cart to put all my stuff in) and playing slot machines since yesterday. And... woot, I've even trained in Primary School and gained some intelligence. How's that for an accomplishment? Hop over, create a free account and we'll explore the city together :)

Unrelated and just for my own reference : meeting on August 22nd, 12h15.

That's the best word to describe the plot of Hostel 2. Sure, it's a sequel and sequels are usually "more of the same" but this one really didn't add anything to the story. If you plan on seeing Hostel 2 yourself, stop reading here, coz I'm about to give away a bunch of key scenes, which would take the little excitement the movie has to offer out of it.

Bring in Paxton, sole survivor of Hostel. Off him and show that the bad guys are everywhere. Bring in Axelle, cutie that hooks, lines and sinks new victims, only this time they're gals and not guys. They had to create a new bait character since Paxton ran over them all in the first movie.

Bring in two american males who think they will change and become all feared if they bid and kill a girl in a controlled environment. The "I'm the man" guy cracks before he can complete the job in a proper way, who'd have thought? The "I'm not so sure about this all" guy takes a shot at it and kills one semi dead girl and then bites the bullet when one of them successfully negotiates herself out of her predicament. He just didn't have the balls - watch the movie, you'll understand.

Survivor turns the game upside down and finishes off Axelle, end of movie.

I'm sorry but the original Hostel had suspense and a new and dark environment. The gore, blood and insanity was sort of unprecedented in a mainstream movie. Hostel 2 lacks all of that and replaces it with nothing much. Seeing a girl get slashed over a tub where someone bathes in the blood while cutting her up, I can't say I had seen it before, but it wasn't all that special either.

Which reminds me : didn't "the factory" burn down in the original? If so, how come the movie features the exact same location in the sequel. Don't tell me "they rebuilt it" because sheesh... how lame can it get?

Now, in order to make things at least a bit interesting, here's my question for all of you :

If you had the chance to kill someone knowing very well that you wouldn't get caught or have to face the consequences, would you? Purely for fun, because you can, because you have that power?

Here's my answer (skipping all political correctness) : I won't say I wouldn't do it.

Does that scare you, does that surprise you? I guess some people think of me as a freak now, but admit it : wouldn't you want to know what it's like? In real life I'm quite the calm and non violent person, but I have to admit that I wouldn't know what the result would be if the opportunity was there. How about you?

Clerks 2 was quite a funny movie, but not really challenging on a mental level. Nothing wrong with that every now and then I guess, there is a time and place for mindless starting at a screen, isn't there? On a side note, I thought Rosario Dawson (playing Becky) was totally hot in this movie.

I just had 8 pistolets for breakfast - hey, don't look all funny at me, I wanted to go catch a movie last night and have a meal, but I got caught up in customer support in SL and didn't get to leave in time for the movie - and read the Sunday newspaper outside on the terrace while Tai was keeping himself busy chasing flies and other moving and inert objects, and now I'm ready to take a short nap till about twelve thirty. I hope to go see Hostel 2 tonight, though that'll depend on what pops up during the day that needs my attention.

And now I'm off to a real life dream world, instead of living a second and third life in a virtual computer and user generated world called Second Life. When I wake up I'll take a look at the insane prices people are willing to pay for a full mainland sim - I bid for two sims (Wolf Walk and Earpoint) and I went as high as USD1251 per sim which was my maximum, yet I was easily outbid. Last time I checked the Wolf Walk sim had a high bid of USD2393 and so had Earpoint. Sorry, but that's not worth it for me, I may get myself a privately owned estate/island for USD1675 instead, on which I have full control, and that I can rent out, sell or develop as I see fit.

I admit that I almost forgot to complete and send in my tax form this year, but today I finally got around to it. I'm not too pleased with the results and I'm rather irritated because of all the "promises" made on the folder that came with the dreaded brown envelope.

Let's take a look, shall we?

Last year, I paid an extra 90 euro in taxes, in addition to everything that had already been kept from my paychecks and such. This year I'm looking at an extra bill for 468 euro - how anyone can claim that "everyone pays less taxes" is beyond me.

Here are some of the categories of people that can benefit from the reduced taxes, or increased options to deduct :

- purchase an environment friendly car. I have one, but I can't benefit from it, because it's not "new".
- increased deduction of costs for daycare for kids. D'oh, I don't have kids.
- Increased deduction if you prove work-home travel expenses. Probably my mistake, I think I may benefit from this, if I would have done so. Will need to inquire and prepare for next year.
- Increased limits for scholars working a job during the holidays. Hm... not for me either.
- Increased deduction for pension savings. I should verify and possibly increase my payments.
- A simpler way to deduct mortgage payments for your home - for mortgages after January 1st 2005. Again, not for me.
- Internet for everyone - I've been on the web since the mid nineties people, this comes a bit late, don't you think?

I think it's time to have a professional take a look at my income and expenses, to optimize things. For once I actually tried to read the "manual" that came with the forms - it's supposed to help you out - and I just got more confused. This is insane and even tax administration employees admit that it's become impossible for Joe Average to correctly file their taxes without help. For those of you unfamiliar with how the tax forms look, think Lotto, with one slight drawback : the chance that you actually win on this form is 1 to a gazillion :(

What do you do when Cook says you can't (or shouldn't try to) eat goose, Kleine says you won't find it in regular restaurants, but that it should definitely be edible, Madame thinks you should prepare it like a large chicken, and you feel adventurous?

Nothing - unless if you happen to be in possession of an animal that looks like a goose, is not a chicken and is too large to be a duck? In that case, you simply have to try it... Before anyone throws a fit that geese are an endangered species, protected or whatever : I didn't kill it on purpose. Maybe I didn't even kill it at all. Maybe I don't even have a goose, and all this is yet another one of my stunts that throws everyone off? Who knows!

Oh, keep an eye open for new entries in the photo gallery - once I'm done upgrading it, new content may be added.

Where did the month of April go? Maybe it took the same path as my life : down the drain. Well it can't have gotten far then with the extreme drought here. This is just some pointless entry to let you all know I'm still alive and at the same times hopefully keeps me awake for a couple more hours.

I should be out shopping for food, I should give the car a wash, and I should get some sleep. If I sleep now, I won't be able to get up early tomorrow as I'd pull (yet another) all nighter. On the other hand, if I don't sleep now, I'll probably start doing things that in then end up being expensive and pointless. Last month was full of not enough sleep or no sleep at all nights according to my credit card bill. Ah well... at least I had/am having fun!

Let's play a little game here. I give you all the ingredients for the recipe, you tell me which result is most accurate ;-)

tomatoes - paprika - blender - water - glass - blender top - splash - cucumber - grapefruit - knife - spatula - apple.

Using some - or all - of the ingredients, try to predict the outcome :

Option 1 : broken blender
Option 2 : messy kitchen
Option 3 : shower needed
Option 4 : all of the above
Option 5 : none of the above (come up with your own idea!)

I didn't realize till a couple of seconds ago that I'm scheduled to work tomorrow/today, well Friday. This leaves me with erm... 5 hours of sleep, tops?

Off to bed peeps!

I've met my (new) neighbors a couple of minutes ago, and to be honest, everything about the woman - it's a couple - rubs me the wrong way. As I TP'ed onto my land and I was waiting for it to rezz, I noticed some sort of an explosion in the back. I flew up and decided to check it out. My new neighbors had put up a dance floor and some sort of particle machine. It looked like an explosion from far away.

Anyway, we started talking and everything was fine and dandy till I brought up the fact that I was looking to purchase a 2048m lot that is right next to their and my land. She replied they had also contacted the owner of the land, because they want to make their lot a nice rectangular shape. Mine is a triangle with a missing part. So, being the good neighbor I am, I suggested we both buy a part of the land as needed and everyone would be happy. She agreed and set they didn't want all of it anyway, just a fourth of it, then kept on going how we would be such good neighbors. While this conversation was happening, I had flown up into the sky to check out the shape and size of our land and the adjacent lot.

As I was doing some maintenance on one of the groups, I get another IM asking me if I'm fine. Sure I reply, just doing some maintenance etc, so that's why I'm still in mid air. After all, this is Second Life, so you can hang, fly or be anywhere you like. Then she casually asks - or would demand be a better choice of words here? - if I'm gonna keep it "clean"?

I reply : clean as in "no sex", or as in "no camping"? Her reply was "no sex". Well, all of you that know me in RL, know that I don't like to be told what I can and can't do. Especially if there is no grounds whatsoever to force your opinion onto someone else. I had already taken down the adult room yesterday and wasn't planning on rebuilding it, so I honestly tell her that I'm focusing on the casino instead. She replies that's she's happy because she picked this area because it was clean and this and that. Mind you, we're talking about a game for adults, and a region marked as Mature. To make a long story short(er), I have no problem complying to her demands as I wasn't planning on doing it anyway. Still, it doesn't sit well with me. Alas, let us she where it will all go in the future.

Then I suddenly get more messages in my channel from her. Apparently she's typing in the wrong channel - or was it on purpose? - and the messages intended for her boyfriend/man end up with me. Allow me to give some examples "Did you see how he was staring at us?", "He was hanging in mid air all the time, looking at us!", "oh, good, he's gone now".

Some facts :

- yes, I was in mid air but facing away from them, doing group maintenance, checking plot sizes and shapes and maintaining a conversation with her at the same time. All of that at an altitude that - if I had turned around - they'd be little more than puppets on a dance floor.
- I wasn't staring at anyone, nor would I have any reason to do so. If I wanted to see people, I'd hop into whatever disco or club closest by, and it would be full of people, probably with much less clothes on as they had.
- In game I'm a woman. Why they refer to me as "he" is beyond my understanding, unless the "no sex" paranoia is so bad they can't even tell the external sexual organs on a male and a female apart.

The IM's continued and I reacted to them : "I'm not staring at you now, I wasn't earlier. I was doing three things at the same time (women multi task, remember?) and am lagging as hell, so there is little chance I can move any time soon".

They replied that they were not used to the "attention". Lol... Why would they even be remotely interesting to me? They're fictional avatars in a fictional world. Yet they manage to get on my bad side in less than 15 minutes, which is quite a record in itself. Neighbors, gotta love them :)

It's snowing! Talk about messed up seasons... I'm off to bed :)

Eleven hours of uninterrupted sleep later, I feel human again. Unless I start moderating myself better, I can see this totally going the wrong way. I blame the world as a whole for so much things to do and experience and my human form for requiring to much rest.

Yeah, it's not me. It's everything else :)

Funniest spam mail subject today : "Big natural boobs 80s style hottie". I never realized there was an 80's style for breasts? Or is the hottie in 80's style, and not her breasts? Ah, well...

But I like the dedication and persistence of the person behind the IP address performing the search :

2 hours, 35 minutes ago - 84.196.6.xxx Search: query for ' sex'
2 hours, 35 minutes ago - 84.196.6.xxx Search: query for ' sex'
2 hours, 35 minutes ago - 84.196.6.xxx Search: query for ' sex'
2 hours, 35 minutes ago - 84.196.6.xxx Search: query for ' sex'
5 hours, 21 minutes ago - 84.196.6.xxx Search: query for ' PORNO'
5 hours, 21 minutes ago - 84.196.6.xxx Search: query for ' PORNO'

IP address xxx-ified to protect the "innocent" :)

February 14th, also known as "Valentine's Day", "Happy Humping Day" or "Leave me the hell alone and go die somewhere Day". Since I have no valentine, there is no humping to be done (that I know of) and I'm cheerful enough right now not to make it "Fuck off and die Day" I revert to something you may not have thought about yet : How to Green Your Sex Life?

Remember people : sex is fun, toys are fun, but phthalates are definitely not.

I have no idea how anyone comes up with crazy inventions such as this, but it works. Sometimes. After some practice. Or a lot of it. I don't see any daily use for this contraption, but suppose it fits nicely into the "water sports novelty exercise equipment" category, should it exist.

It was a long day at work, and when I tried getting home I got stuck in a major traffic jam because some people deem it more important to look and see what's happening on the other side of the road than just drive along and keep traffic flowing. Fools, I tell you, fools!

Thus, after a 10 hour shift, I spent an extra 2 hours in the car trying to get home. I'm beat and heading off to bed soon. Tomorrow is a regular 8 hours shift, phew. I'm looking forward to a weekend off at the end of the week.

Instead of going to bed immediately after I got home yesterday morning, I logged into SL and found myself right in the middle of a bachelor party at Dark Angels Night Club. Needless to say, it was way past 8h30 when I finally hit the bed. Got up around three, went to pee and promptly fell back asleep till six. I managed to go back to bed before falling asleep again though :)

Just finished my last night shift for the month, and am working security at the Vampire party - now where did I leave those fangs? I'll have to head off to bed soonish...

I just ran into two Dutch girls in Sarah Nerd's Freebie Paradise building, and they were utterly unaware that they were chatting on a public channel, if their conversation is anything to go by.

annelies123 J. : "you can do so many naughty things here"
Angela B. : "I knew you'd wanna be naughty here"
annelies123 J. : "Was I that much an open book to you?"
Angela B. : "You go girl, no one knows and it all stays in SL"
Angela B. : "What does P. think about it?"
annelies123 J. : "He doesn't like the game and thinks SL sucks. And I'm behind the PC even more now"
Angela B. : "If only he knew ;)"
annelies123 J. : "What about M? Does he know what happens in here?"
Angela B. : "He hasn't got a clue"
etc.

Add at least one "hihihi", or "whahahahaha" at the end of every sentence and you get an idea about the level at which these two were having a conversation. At first I'd guess they were late teens, early twens, but then one said she had to pop out to do some laundry. How many teenagers do laundry on a friday morning? I guess they were just horny MILF's looking for some fun online - which is perfectly fine by me. Remember : in your fantasy (or in an online game), "you can be what you wanna be!"

ServMe Nakamura signing out.

Someone just mailed me this : The Top 2000 in Video and commented that someone had a little too much time. I agree, but really like the effort. Here are three clips/tracks/artists I really liked for one reason or another.

Yes, I am fully aware that I've got a very diverse taste in music. You try picking just three out of 2000 entries. Feel free to leave your three favored videos or songs in the comment section...

I just couldn't leave this one out :

It's quite regrettable, but after analyzing the situation with Hilda - Chief of Strategy - this morning a couple of minutes after 08h00, we decided to throw the towel in the ring and withdraw from the smart-and-the-city driver competition.

A final effort during the early hours of the day worth about 75 more votes resulted in a net gain of 0,0075%. Taking into account that the gap towards the top three positions is over 3% (and closer to 4%) it would take us 30.000 more votes to get to the top position. Even when working in teams and averaging 150 votes an hour per team, it would take over 200 hours to reach that goal.

I can honestly say that we fought with all our might, technologies and logistics available, but we can't beat the odds. We are quite convinced that the Germans are teaming up - and I'm certain I'd do the same thing if the opportunity arose - and a cute face and a nice rack will win from a Geek anytime. I'm not very disappointed - well to be honest, I am a little - but feel like I had a run in with reality. Even if you work hard and give it all you got, there are some things you may not pull off. There is no reason to be sad though, as I think we all learned from it. A lesson learned and an experience richer, we arise proudly.

It certainly would have been awesome to drive around Europe for 3 months in a brand new smart fortwo, meet new people, see new places and leave everything in and around my current life behind for a while. Maybe I could have scored easier or better if I were a woman? Who knows, and it doesn't really matter anymore now, does it? The bell has sounded and ServMe is out of the game.

May the best one win and have a great time. Only thing left for me to do right now is head off to bed and get some sleep after working a graveyard shift. But before I do so, I must thank the following people for all their efforts :

Hilda aka Chief of Strategy - for her enthusiasm and networking skills
Raymond - for setting up technological and support services
Jess, Joco, Hans, Nadia, Marianne, the colleagues and everyone else - for their votes and time invested in this "project"

I'm sure there are tons of people that I'm forgetting here, but please forgive me, I have hardly any idea what strings Hilda has been pulling and who she had enlisted to join the group. Without all of you this wouldn't even had gotten so far. We came from nothing, went all the way to the top, but too early, too soon. It was great being at the top though :)

THANKS EVERYONE!

More updates on the smart-and-the-city contest : I've currently built up a nice lead and most of that is thanks to my Chief of Strategy, Hilda and her cohorts. They've been keeping busy and contacted people all over the globe and set their circles of influence to work.

The contest is about to end on January 11th, the tour to start on January 22nd, which is very soon. Both deadlines are important : the 11th means that if you've waited to cast your vote for me, now is the time to do so. The 22nd means I have to talk to some people today or tomorrow at the latest in order to see what is possible and what is not.

However, now I'm heading off to bed to catch up on some sleep - yesterday was quite a busy day with little sleep and as I'm working graveyard shifts, I need my sleep. It's not a beauty sleep, otherwise I wouldn't wake up till 2015 I suppose!

Absolut Vodka Vanilla + Cointreau + Limoncello + ice cubes in a large Hoegaarden glass makes you lightheaded. And I'm not even halfway through it. Rawr!

Driving a smart in a serious storm - wind speeds of over 100 km/h - is definitely exciting. I got home safely though, and that's what counts.

Just a random quote I found entertaining :

(from TV)
Man filling out crossword puzzle : Man's best friend, three letters?
Woman : Tit?
Man : Tried that...

Yeah, I'm cheap like that. Throw tits or ass into anything and I'll buy right into it :p

I'm currently wearing two t-shirts and a thick hoodie yet am still cold to the core. Yesterday - in my cleaning frenzy madness - I decided to not only wash the sheets, but also the puffy (dekbed). When I tried putting it in the machine, I quickly found out that it wouldn't fit, so creative as I am, I took the manual route and threw it in the bathtub and washed it myself. Hot water, washing powder and my own feet. After about 15 minutes of imagining I was squashing grapes to make wine I had to rinse and repeat. I ended up with a much cleaner puffy which was the idea after all.

While transporting it outside, I wet the complete apartment (yikes!) and thought I'd let it hang out to dry overnight. Being the one who rarely suffers from cold temperatures, I wouldn't really need it, as I had put up some clean flannel sheet and covers on my bed. Man, was I ever wrong. I woke up around five feeling quite cold, and I was already wearing a t-shirt. I usually sleep naked, summer, winter, that doesn't matter. I got out of bed, took a pee and closed the bedroom window. I grabbed a pair of socks and some shorts and headed back off to bed. No way I could sleep comfortably in these temperatures.

Sure, I could have closed the window and turned on the heating, but that would be too easy, wouldn't it? I never turn on the heating in the bedroom and I'm not about to start now.

To end a long story : if you wish to wash your puffy, do so during summer time. Or make sure your laundry machine can handle it. Or use a commercial laundromat as they tend to have larger machines. Don't do it on December 25th :)

Most people are probably regaining conscience after yesterday's x-mas celebrations, but as I was partying on Saturday, I did that yesterday. Which leaves Monday December the 25th for other things to do, doesn't it?

Later today I'll head out to see if the car starts - if not, I'm certain the battery is as dead as a reindeer that crashed into an Airbus 320 - and I've commenced cleaning out the bedroom. Yesterday I was flipping through the Sien & Maria book and after the attic, they suggest starting off with the bedroom. As I live in an apartment, I don't have an attic so I moved right on.

I gave it a quick vacuuming - which they suggest doing after you're done dusting and cleaning, but I figured it would be a good idea to do it before. That way I can clean easily and when done, vacuum it once more. You see, I know myself when it comes to cleaning : I get easily distracted. Using my method, at least the vacuuming part is out of the way :)

Working my way through old clothes and piles of laundry as we speak, and throwing out a whole bunch of things I no longer need, or never use. If I keep this up, one room will be sparkling and new around five PM. Hey, it's a start, right? Once I'm through the laundry, I'll be cleaning the mistress mattress with a damp cloth (water and vinegar) and then iron it, flip it over and put fresh sheets on. I'll sleep like an angel (in disguise) tonight!

A quick look at the news :

James Brown is Dead (YouTube Video)

Disappearing world: Global warming claims tropical island

Ouch - There is not other word to start this entry with. I went to bed around seven AM after spending entirely too much time - and money - in a virtual place titled SL. The drink I had while "playing" probably didn't help either. I seem to have become a land owner in SL. Who knew?

I just got out of bed after less than 5 hours of sleep and it shows. My head feels like it's about to explode and I had to think very hard for more than 20 seconds before I could remember what's the password to log on to this machine. Bad, really bad.

Check the new splash page : www.borat.be.

I got up a couple of minutes past seven this morning, which is too early if you ask me. I'm forcing myself to have something to eat and I drank a few glasses of water as some doctor will probably ask me to piss in a cup in less than 2 hours. Yearly medical checkup by Mensura, which is in addition to the 6 month checkup I take at work. I've never been checked and tested so often in my life!

Anyway, got off work around ten last night, got home around eleven, went to bed a few minutes past midnight. Up at seven, medical from nine to ten, leave for late shift at quarter to one, work till eight, then work a shift including giving N. training on the job till nine at another site. Hopefully home by ten.

Tomorrow up early again, off to Hil to check her PC - diskfrag problems once again - then sauna at one on friday with Joco. On saturday it all starts over when I wake up at four to prepare for work, leave at five, start at 6.

This post was written while a hairy four legged creature tries to steal my attention :)

Note : the FK Challenge #4 seems to be quite intimidating - so far only Hilda has completed and sent in her answer!

I'm not sure many of the FK readers here can truly appreciate the value of this All Your Base video, but it is a classic for sure. Anyway, that was just the intro, this post is about something else. Yeah, I admit I sometimes confuse myself, but stick with me, it'll all become clear in the end.

As I was driving home yesterday, I received a call on my mobile, presumably coming from my operator. Someone working for them wanted to know whether I received their text message about a month ago informing me I could swap my old mobile for a brand new one. I didn't get a text message and said so - this lured me right into their little marketing scheme - and off he went. Blah blah blah, Base network upgrade, Edge technology, old phone, network problems, free upgrade to a Siemens A62 phone, blah blah blah. I said I might be interested and told them where the nearest shop relative to my location was. I can go pick up a new phone starting friday, and it's valid for a month.

Now, let's take a closer look. First of all, they don't know what model of mobile phone I'm currently using, so how can they suggest I "upgrade"? Secondly, they claim the network upgrade to Edge could cause connectivity problems to users of an older phone. However, the Siemens A62 phone they offer me for free...doesn't support Edge technology! It's a very basic phone, and one I wouldn't buy if I had a choice in the matter. I don't think there ever was a text message to begin with in the first place, they just use that to make the customer think they're missing out on something otherwise.

Finally : I can't find anything about this "offer" on the Base website. In fact, the Siemens range is not even represented in their shop! They have Nokia, Sony-Ericsson, Samsung and one NEC model, but no Siemens mobile phone to be seen anywhere.

Now that I think about it, Base may actually know which phone I use, as I had it with me when I first activated it in the shop. Or they could just look at their network and grab all the IMEI numbers and compare it to a list of manufacturers and models I suppose.

All things taken into account, I think I've just been marketeer'd by some company hoping to make some cash of me when I go into the shop and buy another phone, service plan or whatever. I'll keep you posted in case I decide to check out the offer. In the mean time, if you know anything about it, let me know! All Your Base Are Belong To Us!

I got up early to take care of some paperwork that needs to be handed over asap - I wonder why in this day and age of online services and the internet, one has to manually move himself from one place to another to hand something over - and the person accepting it seemed a bit confused.

Not by the documents itself, but when I asked if I could hand over a second piece of paper she squealed "what is that?" and after I explained that it was a document from the organization she works for (duh!) she insisted that it wasn't. It was from "the main branch" and I should deal with them directly. In the end she decided she'd send it on, along with the other paperwork. Why all the bickering in the first place, woman?!

Same thing goes for banks - unrelated as I've not suffered the pleasure in the past 2 months - but if I'm a customer of Bank ABC, and I walk into a branch of Bank ABC, I expect to be able to complete whatever business I have. I don't want them to say "oh, we'll accept this but have to send it on to your own branch". I want customer satisfaction, pronto!

I think I may be a bit demanding...

If you're thinking Britney Spears, hold that thought!

I went to take a dump and the only way to describe the foul stench that ejected from my ass is "toxic". Luckily my body produces nothing but biodegradable waste, but the first line emergency response teams reacting to the no doubt numerous calls from neighbors, will suffocate and die.

Biodegradable toxic or not :)

Time is quickly running out as the end of my holiday comes closer. There's a ton of things I got accomplished the past week, but even more I didn't. Tomorrow is a day off for certain, but today I'll be taking the car apart - again. Yesterday I noticed the dashboard wasn't installed correctly and sits too high. Two extra minutes of checking on tuesday could have prevented me from having to take it all apart again, but it was due to inexperience and being too tired as it got later tuesday.

There is are benefits though : I had a chance to think about how I could improve cable attachments and routing and make sure I won't run into trouble if the dash ever needs to come off for maintenance or repairs. So, as I take it all off today, I will be making some slight alterations. Off I go now...

As I was driving home - this time luckily without traffic jams - I felt mighty tired. It was a rough night, not so much physically as it was mentally. As I got home and stepped inside, Eddy Cochran's C'mon Everybody was playing on the radio and it seemed as all tiredness just disappeared from my body and soul. It didn't last long, so I won't make this too long an entry. Off to bed soon.

I'm wondering if I should thank Tai for the gift he made especially for me, or kick his ass. He somehow managed to puke - on top of the TV. I've got the strangest cat in the world... Sigh.

When I swiped my access card in front of the card reader this morning, I thought "Nice, 10 minutes to six, I should get home early!"

That idea soon vanished though as I saw signs lighting up above the highway stating an accident had happened in the direction I was going. Instead of the usual 30 to 35 minutes it takes me, the trip home was an hour and 20 minutes. 4 out of 5 lanes closed, some vehicules and at least one truck piled up, quite the mess.

Those of you travelling from Ghent to The Netherlands over the Antwerp Ringway, don't bother trying to get anywhere before ten. Believe me.

It doesn't matter how I shake it, look at it, or like it : 4AM is either too early - or too late. Off to work in a few, I hope I get through the day.

Oh, my airscoop arrived just after writing that post yesterday, but I didn't find the time to get it fitted as I was on my way to Joco and Eef to pick up some things. Maybe this or tomorrow afternoon. I also gave the new transformator a quick look yesterday and I think I could convert it to work with the old spot lights, but I'll run it by someone much more knowledgeable to make sure I don't set the place on fire.

Off to work now! Tata...

PS : I just ripped a gigantic fart. The place now smells of rotten eggs. Yum! Hope you read this while having breakfast ;)

I just grabbed my mail from the mailbox and guess what? I find a letter stating I have to pay 367 euro for the intervention from the fire brigade when they cleaned up the oil that leaked onto the road after my accident. I thought that the bill was going to be sent to the insurance company? I'll have to make some phone calls!

One phone call later... the bill is taken care off, I can forward it to my insurance broker and they'll deal with it. Phew!

Yesterday before my nightshift, I worked out for 45 minutes. I normally have a 1 hour session, but it rubbed the wrong way so I changed some workouts around. Instead of cycling and jogging for 40 minutes, I did so for 20 and added some powerlifting to the mix. I feel the effects of the latter today : everything hurts, but it's a sweet pain ;)

This morning around seven I fixed some problem that had been bothering me since the migration to thunderbird. Some of my mailaccounts refused to send out mail over the correct servers and instead used the default, thus resulting in a (soft)fail on SPF checks. That's fixed.

And right now - after a couple hours of sleep - I'm gonna help clueless punters out that were looking for help and somehow ended up at friedkitten.com. Let's take look at the questions they had :

Unknown was asking about "bed and mirror placement" through Google. The answer is simple : the mirrors should go above and near the head of the bed. This will give you and your partner and excellent show when you get it on. Next!

Another Unknown was looking for information about urethral stuffing, also through Google. It's not really something I enjoy, but I can certainly point you in the right direction. BMEzine Hard (NSFW) will have a visuals of what you search for, and wiki.bmezine.com/Sound (NSFW) has more info about the tools used and risks involved. Next!

Unknown in the UK used Ask to find information about dildo. A very short search term, and not really specific. What he or she wants to know about dildoes remains a question. Which one to purchase? ("dildo review" would have been a better choice) Where to buy a dildo online? (dildo +shop +UK) I can't really help here without more specifics. Anyway, the short answer is "yes". Toys can be fun. Next!

Someone else asked Google about Tragger Hippy video. The answer is simple : www.skynet.be/traggerhippy (site is down for the moment). Next!

Finally, someone asked Google what is included in a vet visit? Usually anything you pay for, my friend! I doubt you can get extra fries or a large coke with your visit, but a vets visit should - most of the time - result in an animal feeling happier/healthier.

That's it for now, thanks for all the questions and see you again!

Ah... today I received my new aerials, to replace the functional but butt ugly long antenna on the smart fortwo. It looks slick, so as I got home and found the package in my mailbox, I changed clothes and off I went to the garage to take the old antenna off and put the new one in place. Piece of cake, a walk in the park for a handyman as I undoubtedly am.

I grab the old antenna and twist it counterclockwise. Nothing moves. Ok, maybe I've got a bad grip on the small base of the aerial, so I try again. Whomever tried moving a mountain knows it takes some practice to finally do it. I figure the same goes with unscrewing antennas, right?

I hop in the car and take out the owners manual - which is by the way in french, quite handy - and find a section on how to remove the antenna. Twist counter clockwise. See, I knew I was correct. Happily I jump back out of the car and twist again. Hm... nothing. Maybe some crud has gotten stuck between the joints, so I give it a few taps to loosen things up.

I get my tools out and start working on the antenna, in the process damaging the plastic cover, but that doesn't matter, I'll be replacing it anyway! 30 minutes later, I've hacked my way through more plastic and finally get a grip on the thing : twist, snap, done! I've got an old smart antenna in my hand, phew! And then it dawns on me... it didn't unscrew, it snapped. Now I'm stuck with a bolt embedded in my car, and no way to refit the old antenna, or fit the new one. One point for the car I suppose. I'll see if I can find a replacement connector somewhere this week, and take more parts of the car apart to fit it. Then, maybe, I'll be able to fit the shorter antenna.

I hope replacing the interior mirror stud with a shortened version will be easier and especially more successful. I can already see me having to replace the complete windshield :(

I woke up at 13h46 and immediately realized my carefully planned schedule had turned into a fucked up schedule. I was due at Smart Center Antwerp at 14h00 to do the paperwork on my old and new car, so I called them to say I would be coming in later. No problem so I got dressed, jumped on a tram, then on a bus and off I was.

Did you know that Leen and Peter had a fight last night at a party, and Leen threw a pitta all over Peter because she was jealous of Sophie? Yes, the same Sophie Peter had seen for a month, no wait, two weeks, a day, a couple of hours, and they only kissed. Leen didn't want to appologize because she didn't know why she threw that pitta at Peter, so he apologized to her for whatever he might have said that could have offended her.

Sorry to disappoint you, coz I don't know more details, this is just what I overheard while on the bus.

With that out of the way, I arrived at AMC and we did the paperwork and I made a first payment. The car will be ready on tuesday - monday was possibly maybe also an option but would cause too much "if"'s and "when"'s that we decided to move it tuesday to be certain. Now I have to arrange some things for the weekend and monday, so I'll go make some phonecalls once everyone gets home.

I'm about to crash seriously, but it ain't an option just yet. First I have to stop over at the bank, get cash, go pick up that monster of mine named Tai, look after him, then sleep for 2 or three hours, get back up, get to Aartselaar, pay for the car, get back home, crash.

Too much to do on less that 3 hours of sleep in the past 24 hours. I wonder if I'll make it through the day?

Also on my to do list is shop for D's wedding - I've got NO clothes worthy of a wedding, and certainly no clothes worthy of a wedding with a slight chance of scoring some pussy. Hence, the need to shop, urgently. Oh my... where and when will this day end?

95 euro and 16 hours later, I'm once again in posession of a cat that can pee on it's own. He's already jumped on the sofa and is now scouting his territory again to make sure it's all his. Tai seems to be doing fine, but will be on a diet for the next 6 months minimum. Off to bed for a (very) short nap now!

For a regular thursday - or so it appeared when I started my day at a couple of minutes past four this morning - this entry certainly looks oversized. Bear with me, and keep on smiling. I know I do.

I get up, shower and leave for work. I pack some crackers and an apple for lunch, and head off to the car. I notice my replacement mobile phone is dead, I forgot to charge it and instead left it in the car. Ah well, who needs mobile phones anyway?

I exit the expressway E34/N49 and head in the direction of the harbour when my eyes spot something in the middle of the road, about 5 meters ahead of me. I brake and decide to do the "wise" thing and not pull the wheel and crash into the wall, but instead drive over it. Big mistake! The object turned out to be a steel drain connector of about 25cm diameter, and ripped right through my oil carter, sending oil in every direction, but mostly downward - gravity and all, you know. I immediately pull over onto the side and curse loudly. Not that it would help in any way, but it seemed like the correct thing to do.

I get out, grab my safety vest, and start checking things out. Two men come walking towards me, and they say "some lady just told us there was something in the middle of the road. We're doing some signalisation a bit further and we're on our way to see if we can find it."

"Never mind, I found it" I answer and then it all becomes clear to them. There I am, at 5h20 in the middle of pretty much nowhere with a car that's broken down, oil all over the only available lane and no way to contact anyone. Luckily, one of the workers carries a cellphone and lets me borrow it for a second. I call work and explain the situation, and ask them if they can call D. on his mobile because he may drive past me and could then pick me up. To make a long story short, after some time D. arrives and we see what needs to be done.

We both have to be at work, but just leaving the car is not an option. I borrow D's phone and call 112, and request assistance from police and fire department to deal with the spilt oil. They let me finish the call, then answer I should call 101 instead - last time I checked 112 was the emergency number for all services, not just fire and ambulance, but what the heck - I call 101 and get an operator on line.

They take my call and dispatch a local police unit for assistance. I try explaining exactly where the accident happened, but it ain't that easy when you're somewhere on an exit - do you know the correct exit number of the exit you take every day? I don't - crossing from one highway into another. About 20 minutes later we see a patrol car drive by on the highway, lights flashing, but clearly heading in the wrong direction. 10 minutes later they return and finally pull up behind the car. They got incorrect information as to the exact place of the accident.

They quickly assess the situation, throw their car in reverse and block the exit for oncoming traffic. By that time quite some cars and trucks had passed and oil was spread out for at least 100m. They called for assistance from the fire department to come clean the road.

Cutting this part of the story short, a tow truck arrived, and towed the car off to Smart Center Antwerpen. Then there was some problem as to whether or not that service center was approved by the insurance company, but it in the end it won't matter : I'll have to pay for all damages myself because there is no evidence as to whom lost the object I hit. If I have to shell out a load of money, I don't give a crap is the garage is "insurance approved" or not, they won't be paying anyway!

Hilda came pick me up - thanks! - and loaned me the car so I can get to work tomorrow. Then I'll have the weekend and monday to get something organized for my night shifts monday to friday morning. I made some phonecalls, drove over to work to get my medical checkup and guess what : being in car crashes is good for your bloodpressure. Go figure, but it was better than my previous checkup 6 months ago.

The good news is that I'm not injured and it's just my car that's fucked up. The bad news is that I won't be able to get a quote to have it repaired before monday, as the main tech guy of the garage is off ill.

And for hottie... she smokes and thus I lose all interest in her.

I found this mildly amusing. Really. Honestly! Believe me? Please???

It's a few minutes to four, and time to reflect on my activities so far :

- I got up and drove to Hubo/Selfmade to look for a replacement transformer. I failed, they're closed on tuesdays.

- Continued my drive to P'bos and dropped off somethings I promised to H. and we had a nice chat.

- Got back on the road, stopped at Brico, to look for transformer. Failed, they directed me to Massive.

- Arrived at Massive, enquired and after looking it up, the best they could do was come up with a transformer requiring "only" 35W minimal load. Still no good. When I pointed out they've got loads of led lights using a transformer, they explained they hook up lots of lights to one, thus meeting the minimum load requirement. They gave me an address for a Light and Electricity shop that might be able to help me out. I've mailed them and am now waiting for a reply.

- Got home and started troubleshooting why my main desktop computer doesn't produce sound anymore. Tried various things, including reinstallation of DirectX, still no sound. Stopped troubleshooting to persue other things.

- Accepted a call from Jess and chatted for a while - they're having a good time in Italy.

- Started cleaning out a part of the office desk, throwing lots of things away, and took out one section so I can move the new rack over to the other side. Should make cabling and power much less of a problem.

- While cleaning up, I discovered an old Sagem Coca-Cola mobile phone. It's charging as we speak and after only 2 attempts at entering the PIN code, it works. It'll keep me reachable while I ponder about the problem with the current mobile phone. Tip : don't believe small notes kept next to the phone with a PIN number written down on them. It's probably incorrect.

With all that out of the way - or in the way, as due to all the "cleaning up" I'm mostly moving stuff from one room to another - here's what I still have to do :

- get food
- seduce hottie (but I think she's not working today, so that'll fail)
- move rack after I finishing cleaning
- dry load of laundry (crap, I forgot about that. Need to do that first!)
- get to bed early

Oh my... I blame ebay, but I'd rather blame myself I suppose. After toying around with that HP JetDirect 500X at my dad's place, I really got hooked to new tech toys.

I've so far ordered a HP JetDirect EX Plus 3 printer server to attach to the network - should be arriving next week - which is something I can actually use, I'm really interested in a Netgear FVL328 ProSafe Router/firewall/VPN combo appliance - handy but not necessary yet, and - drool - I've spotted a nice 19" server rack located in The Netherlands. Unfortunately, it's welded and I would need a small van to move it. No way it can be disassembled or fit in that little smart of mine.

I don't know why, but a nice 19" server rack just sends chills down my spine. It comes with a glass front door, metal backplate, powerstrip installed, I'd be able to stick so much extra gear in it - imagine the possibilities! Do I need it? Hell no! But girl... I want it!

If only I knew someone with a small van, then I'd totally bid for it, and go pick it up. I could of course rent a truck to go pick it up, but that would make it quite expensive. The question remains : would it fit in my apartment?

I just got up, and am now searching for something "lighter" as I promised yesterday. Unfortunately, it seems all this seriousness of the past days/weeks/years (?) has made ServMe a dull boy. I could always revert to the old Penguin joke, but it's been posted here before, so that's out of the question.

OK, I'm gonna head off to PB first and when I come back, I hope to have found inspiration along the way.

Note to myself : don't press the pedal to the metal. A speeding ticket for 50 euro showed up in my mail box yesterday. Guess what? Exactly the same location as last time! It's not hard to part a fool from his money...

Marketing sneakers with style and groovy sounds : Fukijama (via eskimokaka)

Let's take a look at recent headlines in the news, and determine the current state of affairs in the world :

North Korea threatens US with first strike. (The Guardian) (Idea : We may scare them away, look tough and succeed.)

Iran, Syrian leaders laud Hezbollah ‘victory’ (MSNBC) (Result : Lots of people killed, nothing resolved. War is not an answer.)

Fire-ravaged Portugal faces erosion (BBC) (Caused by : Nature. With a lot of help from people trying to get very rich.)

The list goes on and on... Apocalyse?

Now... yesterday I was watching "Loose Change 2nd edition" (movie also available at video.google.com, edition with Dutch subtitles at Loose Change, Dutch Subtitles), a documentary about the WTC disaster in September 2001, and while I may not believe everything, even if just 1% of all the claims they make is correct, one thing is clear : we're all suckers and we're being played like pins in a bowling game.

Some people just have it coming, don't you think? Pretty girls try to hook victims via spam email.

Even if you decide not to read the article, the comments by Graham Cluley (senior technology consultant for Sophos) speak for themselves : "Some people need a reality check, and take a long hard look at themselves in the mirror - is it really likely that an unknown young woman would see them on the web and be moved to make contact? And even if it was, would this be the sane behavior of anyone you would ever want to meet?"

"Would you like to meet a 'young attractive woman' that can't write an email without errors?" I certainly wouldn't. There's more to love (and lust) than tits and ass.

If you are looking for entertainment, love, happiness or joy, I strongly suggest you stop reading right now, because it may not be a pretty entry. In fact, I'm about to lay it all on the table and though it may look as a serious package, most is just air. I'm all facade and little bricks.

Midnight Blues, yet it is way past midnight. I can't even get that right, can I?

I'm 33 years old, and I'm seriously wondering what I've got to show for it. I've got a place of my own - well, the bank owns it unless I pay them back every cent I borrowed years ago - I've got a fulltime job that I usually like, but that's about it.

I'm scared to fall in love, yet long for it. I've got no social skills whatsoever - hell, if it were possible to have negative social skills, I'd rank first in my class - and I do things that make no sense in the great "meaning of life", should such a thing exist. Some things don't even make sense the second after.

I go to the movies on my own, I eat dinner alone, I get laid alone - let's call it what it is : masturbation - I get up alone and go to bed alone. Instead of living a life I blog about a fictional one that lasts 24 hours that make up a day, the days that make up a week, month, year and a lifetime. And in the end... I stand before the great nothingness, empty handed. And alone.

Hobbies? None, but computers. Work defines me as a person, defines my life. I don't meet strangers and if I do I say nothing to them. If I do talk, it'll be about business or work, or it is related to it. It's not a social conversation at all.

I'm overweight, have no stamina and am not inclined to do something about it. I feel good with who I am, yet hate myself at the same time. I set high standards for everyone around me, but fail myself time after time. When I start a task, I rarely finish it. I get distracted easily and have the attention span of a goldfish in troubled water. I like disco music more than can be good, my mind dances yet my body doesn't move. If it does, it bursts out in spams of some kind, not looking like anything but spasms.

I yell along with songs such as "Thriller" by Michael Jackson or "Funky Town" by Lipps Inc. but only when alone. Which is quite often. I wouldn't dare it call singing, let that be clear.

Goals in life, I have no more. I live day by day, and time passes. Money ain't a problem, but the dreams are gone. I'm overly realistic, yet dare imagine things unreachable. I do such things to make sure there is no chance I ever get there and then end up hurt because the dream was false to begin with. I could go on and on for a while, but I think this is it for now.

I'm not gonna allow comments on this entry, because what I write here is the truth laid bare, and no matter what someone else thinks or writes can change that. People may want to cheer me up, or share their own sad story, but for once, this is all about me. Not about you, your life, your problems or your story. Did you really think I'd care? I've got problems enough as it is, I don't need yours.

To be continued, maybe.

I've been up for quite a long time already, but I don't think the day is over yet. I feel fine, not terribly tired but I just had dinner - babi pangang - so that might change now I've got a full tummy. Tai is sitting on my lap, trying to give me kisses and generally obstructing my view of the keyboard and screen. The keyboard being blocked doesn't matter as I type pretty much blindly, but I do mess up every now and then, in which case I'd like to see the screen :) Complaints about typo's and other errors go to the Crazy Cat.

Anyway, after a quite uneventful early shift at work, I got home, changed clothes (actually just took off the uniform shirt and grabbed a regular civil shirt) and went off to J. who was suffering some difficulties. The scary "all my texts are gone" issue turned out to be an easy to fix filtering problem. If you ask windows to display all files matching the "MS-Dos with layout" filter, don't be surprised Word documents don't appear. To make a long story short, that was fixed, explained, tested twice by J. and case closed. S. wanted to her computer to be checked as well, and that "free easy virusscanner" installed. Which I did, along with a bunch of Windows Updates, an upgrade for Opera was done as well, and off I went.

While driving around, I got near the place of Vx and M, so I decided to stop over to see if they were home. They were and I spent quite some time there catching up on how life has been for all of us. M hasn't changed a bit and Vx is hotter than ever. When she had to leave at some point, we exchanged kisses - it might have been my imagination - there was more lips to that kiss than a regular friendly goodbye kiss. Which I didn't mind at all.

Lol, she may one day read this and wonder why my imagination runs this wild, or what I was thinking writing this down, but I'm just being honest.

Vx is one super sexy lady and I think that if she were to seriously come on to me, I wouldn't fight her - at all. Vx, if you read this and are offended, think nothing of it. It was my overactive imagination. In case it wasn't just my imagination running wild, call me, leave a comment, whatever.

Ok, that's been enough of my penis talking now, lets get from the sensitive bits to the sensible bit called a brain.

Gee, I'm all talked out.

Still can't sleep, too hot. Watching Pirates of the Carribean - Dead mans chest to kill some time. When done I'll kill some sheep if counting them doesn't help me fall asleep.

The new machine was at 50% of it's formatting task when I last checked an hour ago. Starting a format job on three seperate logical disks (one physical disk) of 60GB wasn't the best of options I suppose. Especially not on a SFF machine as the Dell 5150C when room temperature still hovers around 30 degrees celsius. I think I should build myself a server room with some industrial power ventilation and cooling system. Or not. I'd probably kick the machines out and sleep there ;)

I've had about 13 hours or so of good solid sleep over the past 72 hours and I'm about to crash. I managed to stay awake last night, but if I don't get some good fresh sleep today, I'm not to certain I'll get through the night today.

Off to attempt sleeping...

Sitting on a chair, typing on a keyboard : sweat. Standing up : sweat. Just being : sweat. This just too much!

Good news as well though : Zeta Computers just mailed me that the disks will be arriving tomorrow. The car was taken to the garage for maintenance and turned out to be fine. No oil leaks to be found, though I remain confident that there was/is some kind of a leak somewhere. Will monitor that.

Did I mention sweat yet? Pffffft!

Yikes, I'm up already and to be honest I don't even know why. I got home around three thirty last night and then check some mails and headed off to bed around 4'ish. The OLF party was enjoyable last night, but D and I both agreed that we're getting old, and he's 8 years younger than me or something of that magnitude.

It seems the new trend in music is break beat, or that's what I'm gonna call it. You take a song, play 10 seconds - if that much of it - and then play another track. While doing so, you make sure the beats of both tracks do not match! Let's look at an example :

Pom Pom Pom Pom (7 seconds) Boh Boh Boh Boh Boh (9 seconds) Kadah Kadah Kadah Kadah (3 seconds) Pom Douf Pom Douf POM DOUF.

In order to compensate, you turn up the bass as loud as possible, so the audience will no longer hear the sequence above, but only BOM BOM BOM BOM BOM BOM BOM, and they'll go wild. Who said being a DJ was difficult? Now, the Magical Flying Thunderbirds were suffering from the same problem if you ask me, though they did a rather nice set. The audience seemed to like it, and I suppose that's what counts. I had a good evening/night out, enjoyed the party, and will gladly return next year.

Thanks for the invite, S! And now go get some sleep, I think you can use it...

Does this sound too insane to you?

- Get off from work on tuesday around 14h00, get home around 15h00
- Drive to Liege on wednesday for a 4 to 5 hour tattoo session
- Leave for Amsterdam on Thursday morning, fly to Toronto (layover @ Kennedy Intl)
- Arrive in Toronto late on thursday June 29th
- Party in Toronto on saturday, July 1st
- Leave for Amsterdam sunday July 2nd, layover in Cincinatti, arrive on the 3th
- Go to work on tuesday July 4th.

My travel passport is still valid - yeah, I checked - the price of the fare is acceptable, and I've got the time off. I just wonder how smart it is to go sit on a plane for 14 hours after getting inked the day before. Flying 6000 kilometers for a party, does that make sense? Well, in my defence, I've done it before but then I flew into the USA, then roadtripped (10h) to Canada, and that was to attend a BBQ on new years eve.

I think I'll sleep on it for a day or two.

When I got home this morning, as I was parking the car, the BeeGees were blasting through the speakers and everybody was Stayin' Alive. Well, the blasting was relatively mild because I didn't want to wake the neighbors at 6h30, but the fact remains that I was in a very good mood.

I've just slept for 3 hours, and my mood is definitely less good now, though that probably won't last. I'll be feeling better in no time. How would you feel after a long nightshift and only a couple of hours of sleep? Right, with that settled, let's move on to the next issue, shall we?

When I opened my mailbox a couple of minutes ago, I was pleasantly suprised : it was filled with stuff! I normally don't get that much mail, so today's number of things inside really was refreshing. Some things that have been on my internal "when the hell is it gonna show up"-list for a gazillion days were present, and the ratio of "interesting vs. bills" was quite acceptable too, so I can officially declare this Good Mail Day. There you go, happy everyone?

Now, does anyone know the expansion rate of water when going from liquid to solid/frozen? Last night at work we were having a little discussion and during the course of the talks, we needed to know how much water would expand. Needless to say, none of us had a clue, so we called someone at 3h30 that should know. The benefits of working in a 24/7 industrial environment, I suppose. Well, he couldn't tell us right away, but could look it up. We declined the offer and focussed on the more practical issues of our energy producing idea we had. However, today I recall we still don't know the expansion ratio of water, so I just looked it up :

It is usual for liquids to contract on freezing and expand on melting. This is because the molecules are in fixed positions within the solid but require more space to move around within the liquid.

When water freezes at 0°C, at atmospheric pressure, its volume increases by about 9%. If the melting point is lowered by increased pressure, the increase in volume on freezing is even greater (e.g. 13% at -20°C).(source : Explanation of the Anomalies of Water)

Now you know, though I must admit I have not checked the above statement. 9% is quite a lot more than we expected as we were "working" with a 3% expansion ratio. D., if you happen to read this, this really improves the efficiency of our idea :)

I've really got my doubts about this idea, and it seems I'm not the only one...

ST. PETERSBURG, June 12 (RIA Novosti) - Sevmash shipyard company will sign a contract with state-owned nuclear power generating monopoly Rosenergoatom to construct and test a floating nuclear reactor on June 14, the president of the Kurchatov research institute said Monday.

"This week, we, together with Kiriyenko (head of the Federal Agency for Nuclear Power) will be in Severodvinsk where a contract on construction of the first floating nuclear power plant will be signed," Yevgeny Velikhov said.

Sevmash has won a tender on the floating nuclear reactor for a low-power thermal and electric power plant in May this year.

"The first station will provide electric and thermal energy to Sevmash [shipyard in Severodvinsk]," the company said. "It is planned to construct such plants in remote regions of [Russia's] Far North and Far East."

The project to construct a low-power nuclear power plant was developed under a federal target program on effective energy usage.

The Sevmash plant in the Arkhangelsk Region is also building two Borey-class nuclear submarines to be equipped with Bulava missiles. The first submarine, the Yury Dolgoruky, will be commissioned in 2006 and the second, the Alexander Nevsky, in 2007. (source : RIA Novosti)

My internal thermometer doesn't go past 22° Celsius - anything above that and it reads "Bloody Hot". That's the temperature outside, or at least it felt like that when I opened the terrace window to kick Tai out for his sunbathing session. He was nagging me all the time while I was taking a shower and giving myself a summer haircut. I've got a blind date kind of thing later this afternoon, but we're not calling it that. Which is good because if it were a blind date, I'd have to bring a blindfold and a white stick. And I ain't good with white sticks. Blindfolds on the other hand...

I've got some clothes in the laundrymachine and I hope they're done by the time I have to leave, otherwise I'll have to show up naked and everyone that runs into me will wish they'd been on a blind date :p

OK, a quick stop at the supermarket for food and necessities, and then it's out into the blazing sun. Aaaargh, my eyes!

Which reminds me : buy solar protection at the supermarket, or I'll end up fried and crispy.

Where did the night go? It seems I "forgot" to sleep last night, although that's not really correct. I did head off to bed, but then started tossing and turning so I turned on the light and decided to read a bit. After a couple of pages, on which I couldn't really focus, I decided to go check up on some things on the web, so I went over to the living room, grabbed the laptop and headed back to bed. when 8 'o clock rolled around I got up - tired by that time - and off to the bakery it was.

A couple of "koffiekoekses" and reading the Sunday paper later I really kicked off my day by being mad at Tai because he turned his drinking water into a swimming pool again, and then I started taking apart the ferrets cage which was still firmly planted in my living room. How many months has it been now, since I lost my last carpetshark? It doesn't matter, the mere idea makes tears well up in my eyes.

Anyway, today was true closure time I suppose, by removing all the extra fences around the cage - because back in the days, Tisha was an escape artist - I can now clean it very well and then either store it, or give it away to the shelter. I've not yet decided what it'll be. I still have ferret food as well, and even though Tai seems to like it, it also upsets his stomach, so I've been fishing ferret food out of cat food for the past month. I acted a bit hastely when I decided to mix the both because Tai liked it, or so I thought.

Next thing on the list : wake the neighbors by drilling a hole in the wall and attaching a nesting cage to the wall of the front terrace. Hey, it's past ten already, they should be glad I waited that long to make a noise. I could have done it at 02h30 last night!

I wonder how (long) I'll get through the day? How do you do it, on no sleep?

French artist Philippe Meste is working on a new international work of art, called Spermcube. It consists of 1 cubic metre of frozen sperm, equalling a thousand litres (264 US gallon for the American readers) in a transparent cube.

Make sure to request your donor kit and give generously ;)

I'm way too much into british humor it seems : Black Books - the complete series (preordered), Coupling Series 1, 2, 3 and 4 (ordered). My wallet will hate it, but I'll have hours and hours of laughs! First have to finish Hornblower, then may rewatch Bottom before these new DVD's arrive!

And for those who don't realize it yet : Sarah Alexander = hot!

I just checked my mailbox and noticed an envelope addressed to "Playstation Owner". Yes, the Network Access Disk, finally. I've written about it before and finally, after a couple of weeks of waiting, it arrived. Nah, don't get your hopes up too soon. There was a DVD in the envelope alright, but just a Demo Disk labelled Demo Disk 10 (Old).

Nice marketing I'd say. Sending customers a free DVD labelled "Old", 22 days after they registered. Now, the "old" may refer to the 16+ rating printed on the DVD, but why not just label it "16+" on the disk as well, or "adult". Well, maybe Sony doesn't want to come near an Adult label on any of their products, but still... "old" is a really bad choice.

Anyway, still no NAD for me thus, and considering this package took 22 days to process and was sent from the UK, I wonder what happens is the network access disk is produced and shipped from Australia, Malaysia or China? It will arrive just in time for the release of the PS4, in 2009 or 2010. But then - of course - it would be ancient.

Is there any rule against drunk blogging? No? Good! Too bad I don't really have anything to write about, hips.

This shit just keeps getting crazier! I've blogged about the weird dreams I've been having lately before, but last night, I had another one that pretty much can be summed up by this : "oh my, they're gonna have to call me dad now".

Yeah, don't ask me how, why or with whom, but in my dream I became dad of a young baby girl. Some random bits and pieces of the dream are still going around in my mind, but they make no sense now. I wonder if they made sense earlier?

Man, Media Market (the shop) is pure evil, I tell you. I went over there to replace my cordless phone with a corded phone - I seldom used it as a cordless phone anyway - and I walked out with the following :

1 DVD box (The Complete Hornblower series. All 835 minutes of it!)
1 CD (Pink - Try this)
2 PS2 Games (The Getaway and The Getaway Black Monday)
1 nose and ear hair trimmer (had been looking for that though)
1 Premier Livorno telephone (phew... something I had to get)
1 VOIP US Robotics USB Skype Phone (for the laptop)

See what I mean? 1 (or two) things I intended on buying, and I got home with 5 extra purchases. And to make things "worse" : I already own that Pink CD. Go me...

So, friends, relatives and readers : who want's a free Pink CD (and some FK stickers, as always)? And those who know me personally, a Topcom Butler 130 cordless phone is also available for free (including batteries even!). You arrange pickup for the phone. The CD will be shipped internationally for free. Note : you can't get the phone and the CD as well.

Let's make it real simple : if I know you personally and you want the phone, give me a yell (or send me a mail). Update : the phone is gone (to Hilda). If you are a reader (location not important) and you want that free "Pink - Try This" CD, do the following :

Leave a comment with a valid e-mail address so I know where to contact you in case you win. In the comment you write 1 word you associate with the word "pink". It can be serious, funny, totally unrelated (but then I'll ask you why you associate it with pink) or gross. I don't care. The idea is that I can have a laugh and get rid of an extra CD I've got.

The catch? None. E-mail addresses will not be used for anything but to contact the winner. The winner will be announced on this blog on April 20th 2006. I decide who wins, no complaining allowed. Only one entry per person, so better make it good.

A stewardess is making her rounds through the plane and asks a passenger if he'd like something to eat.

The passenger replies "what choices do I have?"

"Yes or No" the stewardess answers.

That joke had me laughing for 5 minutes flat. So simple and stunning... Thanks Viv!

I was reading some articles in a PS2 gaming magazine and decided to see if it was possible to get it online. Not that I own any games with online functionality yet, but still... it seems interesting enough. First, register yourself, your playstation 2 and pick a nickname. Not too difficult, even for an old fart as me.

Registration done, now let's see how I get that thing online. Uh, I need a Network Access Disk? Where the hell did I put that? Do I even have it? Erm, no. It seems you first have to register online, and then wait up to 8 weeks to have your Network Access Disk delivered at home by snailmail. That kind of invalidates the online registration I suppose, especially for the "instant gratification" generation that doesn't like waiting for anything. I'm a proud member, I tell you. If I decide to go online "now" I expect it to take less than 10 minutes to actually "be" online. Not 8 weeks to wait for a dumb CD.

Since everyone that wants to go online with the PS2 is required to have broadband anyway, why not offer a direct download of the Network Access Disk, encode all the gamers information into it and let them burn it to a CD themselves? That would take 30 minutes, give or take a bit, to download it, burn it to CD, install and play.

8 weeks? Sheesh!

When I woke up this morning, I looked outside and noticed it was snowing. Snow? Was that predicted? Not to my knowledge, but hey, I may just have missed the announcement. Anyway, I stared out for a couple of minutes, taking in the impression of the flakes and thinking it all looked nice. Then a second though struck : "snow??? How will this affect my hattrick match later this afternoon?" I just checked and I think it won't affect the performance of my team, which I will be telling to play it cool (PIC) anyway, so I recover faster from last weeks MOTS against Lîch.

Off to walk through the snow now and get some bread.

Showered, shaved, trimmed, washed, cut, sliced, diced, brushed, and inspected : ready to date. Ow, wait.

Crap. Work.

Next thing you know, people coming whining that their internet access at work has been revoked, limited or is monitored. However, I like the idea : officepirates.com - I hope they figure out the flash movie streaming though, because several of the movies online (served by vitalstream) were very slow to load and broke up constantly. It could be a local issue here (which I doubt as all other stream work fine) or a temporary overload on the systems, but it makes it a less than enjoyable experience than it could be.

Today was a bit of a slow day at work, which wasn't bad. I've got 4 more days to go, of which 3 are with another team. I don't have problems working in (or with) another team, but it's just not the same, you know?

I just got a mail from my sister that she and her boyfriend joined Hattrick, lol. More teams to play against, I'm looking forward to it! That concludes today's update, which I'm only posting because I'm waiting for the download of the new Thunderbird version (1.5) to complete (55% now), but the server seems a bit sluggish.

Lately I've been wondering about things and some people have said to me : "it's not the destination, but the journey", and I can agree to a certain extend. However, without a goal, is there a journey? Running around in circles, moving forward and back at the same time, that's not a journey. It's called wandering hopelessly.

There really ain't another way to describe today's weather conditions. A strong wind that seems to strike from all directions at once, combined with rain, make it less than enjoyable to be outside. Which is why I am inside, grin.

If the weather is similar for you, go do something interesting or neccessary. You could leave some comments here, or you could go and visit windowsupdate to install the latest security patches for your windows box, you could take a look at my wishlist and suprise me with an interesting book, or a lovely DVD box. See, there are tons of things one can do while remaining inside!

Update : I decided to make a nice scrambled egg with some cheese and "herbes de provence".

I'm glad this session of nightshifts is over, I really didn't get along with work this week. I was hoping for a nice and quiet shift last night, but it turned out quite different. At least time flew and before I knew it, it was time to pack up and pass the stick to someone else. Off to bed for a few hours, to get back into a more normal sleeping schedule.

Oh yes, today is "touchy feely love everybody is happy" day. Well, allow me to tell you that if you're not "touchy feely lovey happy" it either sucks or it's just another regular day. I don't know yet what I'll decide upon this year. I recall I got into a flame war with some blogger chick last year, but I don't even doubt that I can top that if I feel like it.

I just got home from a long day at work, followed by a serious traffic jam and now I'm sitting in my comfy sofa, blogging while eating some coconut. I promised someone that I'd pop in, so I better not get too comfortable in this sofa of mine. I should get food for tonight as well, and something for tomorrow during the day, and tomorrow evening there's a meeting I have to go to.

My feet hurt like crazy - ain't it weird that when you actually "feel" a certain part of your body, something is wrong? - and I'd rather sit and watch the second DVD of the "L-Word", or finish the last DVD of Allo Allo, but in a few I'm off again. I seem to be busy all the time, yet accomplish nothing. I wonder what would happen if I actually had a girlfriend who'd want some time and attention as well? Luckily, there is no chance of that happening anytime soon ;)

Oh, how I love thee, sarcasm...

a cheapass B-movie...

Plot : none
Script : do we really need one?
Cast : loads of sparsely dressed girls
Props : blood, blood, blood and coconuts
Budget : €5.000

As I was driving home this morning, I notice something on the road, looking like a small box of paper of some kind. I steer clear of it, but apparently not enough, so I hit it. It turns out it wasn't a paper box, but a large stone! The result is one flat tire at 06h30 in the morning, in the middle of Antwerp. I drive on a bit, find a place at the side of the road to park and take a look at the damage. Sure enough, the front left tire is totally flat, so I start searching the car for a spare tire.

I open the trunk, grab the spare tire, and start jacking up the car after turning on the handbrake. Up up up, take off the flat tire, and then it happens : the jack slips to the side and my car slides down onto three wheels, resting on the brake system of the wheel that I just removed! Crap and double crap, I tell you!

Anyway, after a good curse and some fiddling I managed to get the jack back into place, and replace the tire without too much additional dificulties. I drove home very slowly and will head off to bed for a few hours now, then it's off to get the flat tire fixed or replaced. I'll have to check the rim as well, although it looked fine, but it was dark and I'm tired so nothing is certain. I really don't want to have to replace that!

Off to catch some Zzzz's now and then off to the tire centre, then I have to see if todays events influence my sheduled trip to Knufjuf tomorrow.

Today at work was rather easy going for the first couple of hours, but then we ran into some troubles and we all needed to kick it up a couple of notches. Once we got an idea of what exactly the problem was and what could be done about it, we took control and kept things running rather smoothly, all things considered.

I just finished eating some pizza, and I'll be off to bed in a few as I'm getting sleepy. I may finish reading "When someone you love is kinky", but if I'm too tired, it'll be something to do tomorrow morning. Tomorrow night I'm gonna visit one of my grandma's, and then it's off to Dimi's party.

We managed to get home from the autosalon, though it wasn't so easy. You may wonder why, so allow me to explain. We arrived, parked the car after searching for a spot for about 10 minutes. We chatted and walked towards the entrance. The show itself wasn't all that fabulous, and there were very little noteworthy (read cute) hostesses around. The only girls worth mentioning were present at the Chrysler booth. I didn't get pictures though, but then again, I didn't get pictures of anything.

We walked out after about 2 hours, planning to hop in the car and go home. But where did I park it? None of us had paid attention to the row when we got out. It took us close to an hour to locate my little smart, and not being used to looking for it doesn't help either. I'm still used to search for a large blue volvo, and since my smart is now parked safely, I don't have to go looking for it somewhere in the streets. It was a good walk on the parking lot, lol!

And with "that" I mean the title of that post I made earlier. I got the hood open, located the reservoir for the windshield wiper cleaning liquid and started filling it up. When I was able to dump 5 liter into it I was already quite suspicious, as I couldn't even get that much in my volvo tank. I closed the reservoir and tried the wipers. The wiper at the back sprayed cleaning liquid, the front ones don't. I get back out and hear a drip. More than just some excess liquid dripping down. I look down and under the car and what do I see : I'm flooding my garage with windshield cleaner!

I parked the car out for the time being and tomorrow it's off to have it looked at. Great start, that's for sure.

The photographs I made turned out to be too dark. I'll see if I can make better ones tomorrow. Off to bed now after I fed and entertained the carpetsharks, because I've got my work laid out for me in the morning.

I just got out of bed, jumped in my pants, threw on a t-shirt and a coat and went outside to check on road conditions. It seems the temperature has risen considerably, as most snow has been turned into a pile of slushy wet stickiness. I had the car running for 5 minutes, and now am updating this blog. Instead of sleep, I tossed and turned all night, and then I finally gave in and grabbed a book, till the alarmclock told me it was time to get up.

Off to fix a quick yummy breakfast - probably bacon and eggs with some whole wheat bread - and I'm leaving for work.

Bed, early shift, up at 4 AM, blog entry at 1AM, hot (a fever?), -3° Celsius outside, window open, still hot, threw away covers.

Today's shift and day is gonna be a long and hard one... that I know already.

Who ever thought entertainment could make one feel stressed? I for one never did, yet when I look at all the books, magazines and DVD's I need to read/watch, I feel stressed. Currently on my list are :

Magazines :
1. Last weeks Humo (finished about 50%)
2. This weeks Humo (arrived today)
3. CT Magazine (only flipped through)
4. Maxim (featuring the lovely Tanja Dexters, about 30% read)

Books (random order) :
1. On Fear (currently reading, at 30%)
2. Brass
3. On Killing - the psychological cost of learning how to kill in war and society
4. Gynomite, fearless feminist porn
5. Rescue Ferrets at Sea
6. Alternatives to economic globalization
7. Air Ferrets Aloft

DVD's (arriving soon) :
1. Kung Pow - Enter the Fist (Hilarious, thus ordered.)
2. Ali G, in da USaii (I'm still missing one of my earlier Ali G DVD's... who has it?!)
3. Battle Royale (know the movie, now ordered the DVD)

I suppose the trick is to replace "need to read/see" with "will read/see when I feel like it". That should take off the pressure, right? Oh, I took out a subscription to "Inked magazine" a couple of weeks ago, so that one should start arriving somewhere in 2006 as well. Yay!

Around eleven I suddenly met the man with the hammer, reminding me that 6 hours of sleep is an absolute minimum before heading off to work. I'm not 18 anymore and it's starting to show... the wear and tear of an everyday busy life I guess.

While driving home, I think all the idiots were unleashed and trying to do the dumbest things one can do in or with a car. Not using your blinkers before changing lanes or direction doesn't only annoy other drivers, but will sooner or later also guarantee dents in your personality, and probably much sooner dents in the body of your car. Not exactly knowing where you're going is a good one as well - if you don't know, signal, check for traffic, head over to the side of the road, stop, read the map, ask for directions or look for the manual of your idiot-proof GPS system frantically. Don't do any of it while driving. This does also include talking on your mobile phone, unless you're ordering a ambulance for yourself, then it serves a good purpose.

As I got stuck behind a large truck, one of my windshield wipers decided to give up. Not the one on the passenger side, that would be too convenient, right? On a dirty road, behind a truck loaded with mud/sand/crap/whatever, in a drizzling rain : the best time to have the wipers quit on you. Anyway, when I got home, I opened up the hood, checked to see what the problem was, but didn't see anything. I unscrewed the screw - thats what you do with those kinds of screws - tried getting the blade itself off but failed, so I just put the screw back on, tightened it firmly and there we go : as new. I think it equals to rebooting your computer after it shit itself.

I'm glad it's solved, yet on the other hand it would have been the perfect reason to just go out and buy a new car. I've been thinking about doing that for the past couple of months, but have delayed it each time. I don't like spending money on something I don't really need right away, but on the other hand, it would be nice. A small new car, probably a diesel with a low consumption and who knows, maybe even the possibility to run on PPO.

Thanks to my technological prowness though, today is not the day I go out to buy a new car. So be it :)

Now I remember why staying up an hour and a half after my regular bedtime when working early shifts was a bad judgement call yesterday :it hurts like hell the day after. Luckily Reign of Fire was entertaining enough to make it worth it.

I've had some weird and sometimes even disturbing dreams before, but the one I had just before I woke up was too bizarre even for me. It is beyond description, so I won't even attempt to capture the elements let alone the tension and atmosphere in sentences while the images escape my consciousness.

I can tell you it had a very strange mix of work, pleasure and conflicts mixed into it, though they were unrelated. I just went from one situation to another, and then suddenly back again, a bit like an episode of "24" or "Lost" where different stories and angles all intertwine and come together in the end.

Who knows what was the trigger for this dream? It may have been the low temperature in my bedroom playing tricks on me, or just a very vivid imagination, or was I subconsciously dealing with issues I (yet) don't know exist?

This is entry 2390 - not that it it terrible important, or even slightly important, but I felt like mentioning it. I just joined some sort of online dating site (number 2, actually) and this is what 10 minutes of filling out tests, questions, psychic profiling and stuff like that resulted in :

0 women selected out of 3459 active members.

From their FAQ : It's possible that we won't propose any candidate to you (we estimate this will be the case for about 8% of our members), maybe 10, but a maximum of 20.

My take on things? Yay, I'm part of a small group of people that are impossible to match! It's a very mixed feeling though, I tell you. They suggested changing my preferences, but I've got two problems with that. I can't change who I am, and I don't want to change who I am. Am I really that demanding and difficult? I probably am, it's not the first time I've been told something like that...

was the idea I had today when I got home. When I checked the mailbox, I noticed I had received two things : 8 mile (the DVD) and Need for Speed Underground for my PS2. Checking the mailbox wasn't a bad idea, but popping NFSU into the PS2 was. It's just past three now and I'm still playing. Bad, ain't it?

Worse is the fact that I about an hour ago I said I woudln't go to bed before I finished another race in first place. Which seems much harder now then it was 3 hours ago. Must be the fact that I'm playing it on a harder level, or the fact that I'm getting pretty tired. Ah well, I hope to be off to bed before 4 :)

I just got a call from the above number on my cellphone. My number is unlisted and only has been handed out to close friends and relatives, and none of them is in Thailand as far as I know. That is, if the country code is indeed "66", but then the area or city code doesn't make sense, since there is no city with code 51 in thailand as far as I was able to trace online.

The international dialling code can't be "06" because that one doesn't exist, nor does "665".

Conclusion : I'm being called on an unlisted cellphone number from a mysteriously vanished city in thailand in the middle of the night (for them, not for me). If you happen to be able to know or verify the number above, feel free to forward details my way.

I'm off to the theatre tonight with a whole bunch of people, it'll be tons of fun. Before I leave though, I have to shave, shower, get dressed, entertain and feed the ferrets, shop for food, stop at the bank to withdraw some money and probably more things I don't remember.

And all of that should be completed in the next 90 minutes. Off I go!

I haven't been doing much today, slept in till twelve, then was woken up by the doorbel and a neighbor telling me a package had been left in theirhallway which was for me. He put it in our hallway where I then picked it up. After doing that I got my laptop and played games for a couple of hours while staying in bed. When I got up I seemed even more tired than when I woke up at first. Beds are weird things, I tell you.

Got up, felt a bit dizzy, so I quickly ate two apples before heding off to the store for food. My plans for the night include watching some series on DVD, and then switch to "The Naked Gun : From the files of Police Squad" on VT4. I always liked the utterly absurd humor of Police Squad, so this one should be good.

I was watching Schoon en Meedogenloos while having dinner and picked up on a tip that seemed so weird to me. In order to get a dirty sink clean, they sprayed it with shaving cream, let that sit for about 5 minutes and then they rubbed the surface with a cloth/sock. Wash away all the shaving cream and give it a sparkling shine with an old piece of newspaper. Sure enough, that looks spectacular on TV, but does it work?

I just gave it a shot - even though my sink wasn't nearly as filthy as the one they had on TV, it had lost some of its sparkle - and much to my suprise... it works! Just one tip though : don't use newspaper on wet surfaces... you'll transfer the ink to the surface, and that ain' the idea I believe.

Aw crap... I'm so tired I'm almost falling asleep, and today was just day 1 of four early shifts, followed by a 10 hour day shift. My nose is not yet dripping, but I'm been "sniffy" al day and my eyes hurt. I'm probably spreading bird flu like crazy, and you better be certain it is the deadly H5N1 type ;)

I think I'll head off to bed real soon and skip dinner altogether.

But I don't like being a bastard.

I just picked up the phone and called D. because something that should have been done days ago still wasn't. Not too hard I'd say, and I decided to use my recently gained "assertiveness" techniques. Introduce myself, come straight to the point, explain the expectation, repeat the excuse if the other party comes up with one, request a deal and have that deal confirmed. It all sounds so easy, doesn't it?

Here's how my conversation went :

Me : "Hi D., it's S. and I'm calling you in regard to ..."
D. : "Hi S."
Me : "I came along last week on thursday and we agreed that you'd do ... but this hasn't been done yet."
D. : "Ah, hasn't it? I thought it had been done already. I'll do it tonight, for sure!"
Me : "Ah, ok then."
D. : "Bye."

Exactly why did it fail? I had all the steps mentally laied out before I even started the conversation? Why didn't I take her excuse (I thought it had been done already) and made it mine, showed understanding for the situation and prosposed a deal, which she then had to confirm? You tell me! I think it was because I was immediately looking for a reply to her "oh, I forgot" excuse, and that's wrong. She fucked up, I didn't. I need to just take her excusse and turn it around.

I think I've got a looong way ahead of me if I want to get better at this.

Yesterday I went to bed as late I could manage, which was around 2AM. I had been up since that morning 6:30AM. Tonight I start a 10 hour graveyard shift, yet this morning I got out of bed at 09:30. It's gonna be a long and hard shift I fear.

Got some things to do today, small things but they may prove to be important. Success is part determination and part having eye for detail.

Oh, I'm removing a word from my personal dictionary. As of today, the word "try" is no longer available.

Todays training was fun and educational. I went to it yesterday without expectations as I had little to no idea what it would be about, or what we were expected to learn, but with an open mind. It proved to be the right way.

I learned some interesting techniques concerning communicating with people and now it's up to me : either I work on them and start using them which will make my life harder at first, yet easier in the long run, or I forget all about them and go for short term results. I think I'll do the first.

Unrelated, but also important : Microsoft released 8 (or 9?) patches for windows today. Hop over to Microsoft Update and patch your system before some trojan, virus or ad/spyware starts (ab)using these exploits to infect your system and you end up with tons of popups, and worse (spam anyone?).

On a side note : Katrien (the actress working with us during training today) is hot.

If you were single and had to opportunity to (possibly) "advertise" "present" yourself in a national magazine (and thus "out" yourself as single and searching) would you do it? Would you consider it a good move, as good as for instance going to clubs and bars in the hope to run into that special someone, or does "how sad" pop into your mind instantly?

And what do you think about "dating sites"? Any ideas about those? Are those acceptable, dumb, sad, or fun? Have you used them (seriously, not just to make fun of others) and if so, were they worth your time?

Feedback is as always much appreciated. Not that it'll probably change my mind, but I always like to hear different opinions and be informed.

Note : Updated on the 9th, replaced "advertise" with "present" for that's a better choice of words.

It's a few minutes past 4AM as I write this and if I look outside my window, it's hard to see the other end of my balcony due to a very dense fog. If I took a knife and slashed out in the fog, there would be little cubes of fog falling down, that's how thick it is. Could be interesting to get to work.

Work itself may be interesting as well, due to the call for a national strike organised by one of the unions. One of their targets is the harbour, you can bet on that, and even if I don't work in the harbour itself, we're close enough to it.

So, my friends, I sign off early this morning and head out, look for my car and see if I manage to go somewhere.

I just called WorldPack (again) to check the status on my shipment. It again took me close to 5 minutes to get someone on the phone and then I gave them my reference number.

WP: "When did you return the information we requested?"
ME : "Last week, by fax on wednesday".
WP : "Ah, then it'll be delivered somewhere this week, but I don't know when yet".
ME : "But you got the fax alright?"
WP : "Yes, no problem"

Pretty bizarre, don't you think? First they ask me when I provided all info, then they tell me everything arrived fine. If you know it's all there, you don't have to ask the customer when they supplied said information, correct?

Anyway, fingers crossed that they will indeed show up at my door this week. Probably the one day I won't be home in the morning :(

Well, I mean "hit me" atually. Next time I do stupid a thing such as agreeing to go somewhere at 08:30 on a sunday morning when I'm working late shifts, will someone please remind me that it's a bad idea?

Bleh, getting up early when there really is no good reason to do so sucks. Off to shave and stuff, then fuck around with a computer a bit. Hopefully back in time to go to work.

Update : Just got back in time to have a quick bite, then off to my regular job for an 8 hour shift. Life is chaos.

I don't know yet who will be doing control room duty with me today, but I sure hope he's up to some fine music :

The Best of the Seventies (4CD)
Disco Classics (2CD)
Het Gevoel van de Seventies (2CD)
Scooter - Back to the Heavyweight Jam
Pink - Can't take me home
Pink - Try this
Pink - Missundaztood

Tomorrow I think I'll take a totally different style of music with me. It usually depends on my mood right before I leave, and today, I feel disco, baby!

Last night was just wonderful : after getting inked and poked for over 4 hours, we went out and had the best pizza ever and the best company one can wish for. To make a long story short : I enjoyed myself ;)

Got home around 00:15, gave the new ink a first wash and applied some cream. Today it's all feeling a bit tender which is to be expected and raising my arm (thus stretching skin) is a bit painful. It looks gorgeous though!

Big Pimpin' Style Marisa says I'm "hardcore" now, lol...

Note : this tattoo is an original piece, designed by Daniel DiMattia in cooperation with me. If you decide to copy it and I find out, I'll slaw a copyright lawsuit on your ass. If you think tattoos are free to take, read these articles by Marisa Kakoulas and rethink your strategy : Fighting Back: Enforcing Tattoo Copyright (2004) and The Tattoo Copyright Controversy (2003).

And off I go... I'll be back somewhere later tonight.

Just to avoid any "dumb" questions upfront :

Didn't that hurt?
Of course it hurts. If you can get thousands of holes poked into your skin without feeling anything, something's wrong with you.

Why?
Because I like it? Do I go around asking you why you had your face lifted, your bum sucked or your boobs enlarged? Believe me, there is no difference and if you think there is, think again.

Does it come off?
Yes. If you rub it really hard. It'll also grant you one wish (just like the genie) : the wish you can outrun me, because if I get my hands on you, you'll be mighty sorry for rubbing my new tattoo really hard.

Yay! I'm on holiday, or rather in vacation mode. I'm not going anywhere, but not being at work will be a nice change nonetheless.

My first match of the new season in Hattrick went quite well, as I won 4-0 and that victory put me first place in the league as well. Sure enough, this was only the first match and I've got some quite tough matches ahead of me, but it is a good start. If only more people had come and watch so I'd made more money. Money is starting to become a real issue and will possibly even result in the team being declared bankrupt if things don't change fast. I've fired two players recently to cut back on wages and two of my support staff were let go as well.

I'm not counting days anymore, but hours :

In 49 minutes I'm off to bed.
In 6.5h I'll be awake and getting ready for work.
I have to work 8 more hours and then I've got 168 hours off.
In 24h I'll have come up with a detailed schedule of things to do and deadlines set for those goals.
In 24h the ink on my fingers should come off (new stamp=messing with ink).
In approximately 36h I'll be getting inked by Daniel DiMattia of Calypso Tattoo.
In 48h I'll start working towards accomplishing those goals and move things forward.
In 300h (give or take a few) my new tattoo will be healed.
Over the next 11.280h I will meet a nice girl and have fun - and maybe even sex?

I just got my balls bubbled for three hours, and I feel rather relaxed. Just popping in to check my mail and then off to bed. Tata!

I don't know if it's "wise" to get really pissed off at 03:30AM, but I'm about to explode. Why, you may wonder? Because people promise things and then don't follow through.

I wanted to give some examples but then realized I may be too harsh. It's just that I don't like waiting for things to happen and rather make them happen. In this case, I can't. Maybe all of it will be resolved when I get home from work later today, and if not... I'll just go and relax in the sauna for a couple of hours and try to push any negative feelings away.

And my day hasn't even started yet... still, here is an overview of pending cases and the direct monetary value involved :

€135 : Payment (September 14th 23h26) - Status : shipment arrived
€13/month : Helpdesk ticket (September 14th 04h48) - Status : answered but unresolved. (update Sept. 18th : under investigation)
€350 : Payment and bill confirmation (September 10th 10h48) - Status : no answer yet
€11 : Payment (September 06th 15h00) - Status : shipment arrived

Am I too demanding?

Didn't get too much accomplished today. Worked 8 hours on my regular job and am still trying to pinpoint the reason IMAP doesn't work on the new account. Apparently something is really wrong because yesterday I managed to log in with the account using password A and POP3, but when I gave support Password A they replied it didn't work at all.

When I got home and read their message, and tried again myself, it failed on me too. Strange things, I tell you. I recreated the account and tested POP3 successfully, so a new reply from the helpdesk is to be expected soon I hope - after they tested logging in with the new account/pass combination.

While not essential, I hope to get it figured out and solved as that would be one thing to take off the list. In the mean time, I've set up a deal with an Italian photographer, so I'm really making myself make this work. Did that sentence make any sense?

I just got a revised bill for an order I placed two days ago, and the freight/shipping is 10 times as much as originally quoted when placing my order. The reason? The shipping quote on our site is only for domestic US shipping, not international. Arrrrgghhh.

Anyway, I confirmed the order and just hope things work out fine. If not, it'll be a USD400 mistake that I made, but I'll have learned from it I suppose.

't is fucking heet
't es mor da get weet
'k kannekik zoa nie sloape
deze nacht wakker zen
en tegelijk zitte goape

oge nie open te houe
houdt a smoel dicht
ge zet mor ne flauwe
ge moe zo nie zeike
nu da't zon endelek doorbreike

The heat combined with me listening to 't Hof van Commerce (Ezoa en niet anders) results in the weirdest postings on this blog. Still, there is a lot of truth in those lines.

Dad 'n Me

Game time people.

Dad's Home
Walk-Smash-Walk
There she is!(Bunny loves Kitty. Bad for Kitty) (excellent description by crickie)
There she is! (step 2) (Will kitty make it to bunny’s birthday? Will he fight off the scary ninja bunnies?) (description again borrowed from Heather)
Egg

Movie time people, seriously.

Someone said he would be keeping it to play with this thing while doing shrooms, but as I don't do any kind of drugs, I toyed with it while being totally 'there' :

http://www2u.biglobe.ne.jp/~macopism/noct/data/

(I think it's called Macopism Interactive Vol.3, but I ain't sure)

Land of the Dead wasn't bad, but can be summed up in just a couple of words : "lots of zombies and lots of fighting". A true no-brainer, but entertaining nonetheless.

As I wrote before, I have been looking at web-advertising and more specifically micro-ads over the past few days. Since I'm bored out of my skull right now, I'll just install an adserver and see how hard it is to just run my own. If it works, good, then I might keep it and possibly one day open it up for others as well. If it doesn't work, I'll have learned new things and had fun for a couple of hours.

Note : I should have been asleep about an hour ago, but this adserver thing is totally cool! I think I've only grasped 25% of all the possibilities so far, and it has tons of things I don't intend to use anyway, but man... it's fun!

It seems I wasn't the only one with the uglyfuck.be idea : or so this post at Da Holy Homeboys suggests.

Better luck next time, homies ;)

I'm wondering how much sense of humor the marketing boys of a leading telco here in Belgium have. They just launched a new product line for mobile connectivity : If they have none, I estimate I'll receive a take-down notice in my mailbox before the end of next week.

Alternatively, they may just not care about my little parody, or even know about it.

Anyway... if people are negligent enough to type the wrong URL in their browser, well, that's not my fault, is it? It's not as if I'm hosting adult content there, so they better be glad :)

I should have known that trying too hard wasn't the way to go. But, let me start right from the beginning : Joco messaged me earlier today that he was going to the store to check out a laptop, with wireless access. I told him to pick me up, since new geeky toys always are an interest of mine. To make a long story short, we both walked out with Fujitsu-siemens Amilo L7300 machine, sporting a Celeron M processor. Not top-of-the-line machines, but pretty good for some browsing, some wordprocessing and stuff like that. Definitely not game boxes! Joco also picked up a USR router that I thought would do the job, however I had set my mind on a Linksys WRT54G or GS router. Which the store didn't have.

Joco and Eef dropped me off at home, I booted the laptop and let it commence installation while I went to the city in search for my router. Didn't find it anywhere. Finally got back home - tired - and jumped in the car and drove over to the Wijnegem Shopping Center to check out two more stores. Score! I found a WRT54GS router and bought it, came back home and started installing the thing. It didn't take too long for me to get pissed because the brand new laptop didn't wanna find the wireless network. Well, if I had opened the manual I would have known that Function + F2 is the way to go, but I found out eventually.

However, getting the ADSL modem (with built in router) to talk to the Linksys router was another thing. I failed so far and in the process I thought it would be a good idea to update the firmware of my modem to the latest version, leaving me with NO internet access on my main box right now. Certainly not what I hoped for, let me tell you.

Anyway, the laptop now finds my wireless router, but that doesn't mean shit as it refuses to talk to the modem. Which even if it did would mean nothing since the modem can't connect to my ISP right now. I hope to be able to solve that by downgrading it again and uploading the older firmware and profile. If that works, I'll have access again and more options to find a solution to get both routers set up correctly.

The result? Joco was surfing wireless in the back of his garden 30 minutes or so after he got home and nearly 6 hours later, I'm writing this post on a hijacked wireless network connection of one of the neighbors I guess. It's a good thing some people have no idea about security, otherwise I'd be out of connectivity for real. I hope to get everything sorted before the weekend is over, as next week(s) will be busy with work. And rest assured : my network will be secured :)

Update : I just received a reply from Mike, who was the distributor of the brand of ADSL modem I have, and this is in short what he had to say : Can't help you on the modem problem. That's a closed book for over 2 years now. I suggest you call the Dutch office and ask for "name removed". Company "name removed" has either gone bankrupt or has been taken over by "name removed".

Which means I'm pretty much on my own I suppose. I can try calling them in Holland, but fear I won't be getting much help or support. I'll send them a mail first and see what happens.

We just had a thunderstorm pass through and the results are clear : my bedroom has drops of water dripping from the ceiling again, wetting the place all over. I had this happening once before (in 2002 if I recall correctly) and even though it's less serious this time, I want it solved permanently this time. Last year we all paid quite a serious amount of cash for a new roof, even though the neighbors were to blame for the previous leak, but inspection shows that our roof was in a bad shape as well, so that was replaced. And now this?

Let me see if I get this correct : the building next to ours has serious waterleakage, which results in my bedroom almost flooding itself. We replace our roof even though it is not involved in the leakage, but we do it to make sure anyway. Now, the neighbors roof is once again to blame for water problems - at least that's what I suspect very much - so they clearly didn't take precautions to stop it from happening again. Makes them really bad boys if you ask me!

Gotta talk to my building supervisor in the morning and if need put a lawyer on it. Which I hate to do because it costs a lot and takes precious amounts of my time as well.

Unrelated : you may have been following - or heard about - the legal fight between Cisco and security researcher Michael Lynn about disclosing some rather serious vulnerabilities in Cisco IOS. At first Cisco tried to prevent Lynn from talking at BlackHat USA 2005. They threw a lawsuit at him and tagged up with his (now ex-)employer, ISS. As a result, Michael Lynn resigned from his job and went ahead and presented his findings anyway. The case seems to have been settled for the time being, but just in the spirit of the free flow of information, I'll provide a link to his speech at BlackHat '05 (PDF Format, 1.9MB) hosted at infowarrior.org, but I've made a copy of the file available here as well : Michael Lynn vs Cisco 2005. Lots more info over at Bruce Schneier's blog of course.

Don't come crying that you "forgot" to go to bed tonight, or get frustrated because you can't get past level 1 even though it seems so easy. I give you : Grow!

The 1991 Persian Gulf War, New York attacks on September 11th 2001, US invasion in Afghanistan (October 2001), Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003, Madrid Bombings on March 11th 2004, London Bombings on July 7th 2005

All of this, yet a movie made in 1983 (close enough?) may have had the answer :

"A strange game. The only winning move is not to play."

The question that remains is : how far in the game are we and where is the damn reset button?

You know what, I'm terribly shy. Of course you don't believe me, I know, but still, it's true. Allow me to present you with some proof :

Just a couple of minutes ago, while shopping I ran into three hot girls. No sane man would try to approach a wolfpack of girls. In group they're even more deadly and ferocious as they are as single predators. But these girls were not a group. It was three instances of running into a different hot girl in the timespan of 25 minutes or even less. What do I do? I acknowledge their presence and continue shopping. Not a word, a wink, nothing.

As I was walking home I was reflecting my behaviour and going over everything I have to offer to someone, and I realized it's all quite balanced :

Why people would avoid me :

I'm honest, sometimes even too honest. I know what I want, yet at the same time I don't. I'm smart and witty, but can't find my words at the correct time. I've got an average dick and an average life. I've got a good job, but it also leads to a hectic life and not being home often. I'm a serious guy, yet kid and joke whenever I feel like it, often to avoid a really serious conversation. The latter has not occured in a long while though, due to no really serious conversations happening lately. I've got my fuzzbutts and love them with all my heart. This also means you'll have to share me with them, and they may at times even come before any possible partner. I love technology, but don't understand it, and most sports are of no interest to me. I'm much into computers, but I'm no better than a good amateur.

Why people would like and love me :

I am myself.

So I wonder... why?

I should be in bed, really, but as you can read, I'm not. Instead I'm being mighty productive : playing Global Insanities, updating websites, proofreading entries for a blog soon to emerge (not one of mine though), contacting a woman about a recent thesis she did about tattooing, contacting EFF, things like that. Everything but sleep. I guess that's a side effect of coming from a nightshift...

Took a ride with Joco in his brand new silver porsche carrera yesterday evening and it was lots of fun! Damn that's one powerful car...

Update July 19th, 11:10 : I ended up working all through the night, and am of course paying for it dearly right now. I did get some thing accomplished though, so it wasn't all a waste of time. Doing laundry right now, off to shower shortly.

My new roomie has arrived. I'm charging her right now, so later tonight I should be able to fire her up and have my place cleaned. I opted - at least for the moment - to install the base station in my bedroom, so the fuzzies can't attack it or decide to chew on leads etc. Not that they do that a lot, but I'd rather have them not test the edibility :)

I wonder what to name my new roomie? I have decided that it's a "she" (don't ask me why, it just looks like a she-bot) so if you've got good suggestions, feel free to leave them in the comments. Geeky and/or techy suggestions much appreciated. Right now, I'm leaning to naming her "Olga". Short, powerful, yet a bit mysterious.

Full review after a first complete test-drive! A couple of pictures of Olga in action below. I need to charge batteries more now. First impression is good, the noise is very acceptable, and much less than my regular vacuum! Since it'll mostly clean when I'm gone, that doesn't even matter much. Quite impressed with it's subject avoiding intelligence though, fun to watch it find its way around various things in the house. More later...

Lets start off this entry with a little joke :

Maurice, aged 75, visits his doctor for his yearly medical checkup. All tests come back with good results. When Maurice later on steps back into the office to discuss those results, his doctor says that he's in great physical shape. "How are you doing mentally and emotionally, Maurice?" his doctor asks. "Are you pleased with your life, how is your relation to God?

Maurice says : "I've got a superb connection with God. He knows my eyes ain't the best anymore and when I got up tonight to take a pee, he made sure the lights went on when I needed to go and it turned itself back off when I was done."

"Wow, that's quite amazing" the doctor replies. Later that day, he calls Rose, Maurice's wife. "Maurice is in excellent physical shape, but I wanted to ask you some questions about his relation to God. Is it true that when he needs to go take a leak at night, that the lights go on and off automatically?".

"Goddamn! That old fart has been peeing in the fridge again!"

So much for the jokes. I've started playing Global Insanities, a free online game that lets you build provinces, buildings, do research and ultimately the goal is to conquor the world I suppose. How you do that, is completely up to the player. Starting fights and wars with other players may be an option, but through economic means one can get loads of influence as well. I'm still a relatively new player, and I'm not yet sure what route I'll go. Probably a peaceful one with economic growth but while having a firm stick around the corner if needed.

That's about everything I have to say right now. If anything fun or special happens, I may let you know :)

Early this morning starting at 08h49 bombs went off in central London, wrecking havoc on metro and buslines. Most public transportation in the London area has been suspended for the time being - more info can be found on the Transport for London site.

Hundreds of traffic cams that monitor London have been shut down and show a "This Camera is unavailable for operational reasons" notice when requesting their image. While I think that keeping the public informed is essential, I can understand not providing camera streams without proper information to go with it.

From a terrorist point of view, I must say the attack was a beauty. Sure this may sound harsh and as if I don't care, but that impression is wrong. Understanding what and why it happened is key to learning and possibly preventing it in the future.

Most resources are tied up with the G8 summit going on and loads of security related organisations are focussed on keeping protesters out, and international leaders safe. They G8 summit results in increased tension everywhere and loads of people entering and leaving the greater London area.

A first bomb is set up to disrupt a metro line, and explodes at 08h49. At first everyone thinks about an accident, a powerfailure but not of an attack. Minutes later two more devices explode, taking out other lines. Since metro lines connect most of London, disrupting important lines makes people flock to alternative public transportation. People could take cabs, but they can never make up for the influx of people needing transportation. Hence busses - that are also very frequent in London - get more crowded. An additional explosion on a bus further creates chaos and takes more lives.

Do you see the ingenuity in that? Disrupt transportation method A to shift focus to the alternative, B, where you then strike again, aiming for more chaos. It's like throwing a brick through the store front window and then taking off with all the loot through the back of the building.

Bruce Schneier just posted about the attacks and want to put up a short quote of his post : We need to resist the urge to react against the particulars of this particular terrorist plot, and to keep focused on the terrorists' goals. Spending billions to defend our trains and busses at the expense of other counterterrorist measures makes no sense. Terrorists are out to cause terror, and they don't care if they bomb trains, busses, shopping malls, theaters, stadiums, schools, markets, restaurants, discos, or any other collection of 100 people in a small space. There are simply too many targets to defend, and we need to think smarter than protecting the particular targets the terrorists attacked last week.

I made a first tax calculation yesterday and while I'm very pleased with the results, I don't believe them. There must be an error somewhere. Got to have my outcome verified by someone who actually knows what they're doing I guess.

In the news : Belgian Anti-Piracy Foundation with support from the Computer Crime Unit bust a LAN party in De Pinte on May 6th. Over 50.000 mp3 tracks and over 2.500 illegal movies were found, 18 HD's have been confiscated. Sending out invites by mail, listing the titles of illegal content that would be available at the party, doesn't seem such a good idea anymore, does it?

In the news : Riots breaking out at the start of the G8 summit in Gleneagles (Scotland). While I remain convinced that violence is not the correct way to reach acceptable solutions, one has to wonder why these summits aint democratic happenings? Wherever the big players such as the World Bank, G8 etc meet, complete cities and areas are sealed off, fortified and normal life disrupted. Criticism seems illegal during these meetings and whenever someone tries to get too close, they'll be arrested and detained. Ain't it becoming clear that people are fed up with some conservative incrowd deciding what's best for the world?

Can anyone guess what was waiting for my in my snail mail box this morning? You can't? Well, I couldn't believe it either!

Finally my employer got around - only 125 days late - to delivering statement 281.10! They even included an apology with the statement, once again blaming technical problems for being retarded the delay. In regard to the apology, I say : Fuck Off. I don't need no more apologies, I want my stuff on time and without multiple recalculations. It's a good thing we got 2 months extra to file our taxforms, so I can finally complete those and send them in.

4 night shifts and I'm a wreck already. At least my back and shoulders don't hurt terribly. My head is a mess though, especially inside. Off in a few minutes, gotta go save the earth!

As time passes, I'm getting more confused about yesterday, or at least so it seems. I've not been analyzing anything on purpose, quite the contrary, but idea's, feelings and emotions keep racing through my head.

Right this moment, I'm doubting everything, especially myself and I know that can't be the solution nor the state of mind I should be in. If I allow this to happen it would depress me, and I'm not into that.

On the other hand, why am I expecting to feel some specific emotions anyway? It was a first time, I should just let it all come to me and deal with it as time evolves. If I started writing an experience now, it would be totally different as if I had written it earlier today. Maybe it ain't such a bad idea to write both the positive as well as the negative side of the story down. This suspension ritual is much more powerful than I ever imagined, and it's shaking my world.

I won't be processing images nor video until I am ready to do so. Sorry for those who'll have to wait to see more footage, but I have to deal with myself first now.

Yesterday was intense. I didn't accomplish everything I wanted to, yet I didn't fail either. I just didn't succeed yet. The atmoshpere was superb, the crew and people involved and attending were so supportive, no matter what happened and the weather couldn't have been better.

Now I have to let everything sink in, think about it and learn what there is to be learned. It ain't a competition and that is something I like. I took a quick look at the 127 photographs I shot and the 29 minutes of video that was made. Over the next days I'll start editing them and release them to the people involved. Due to the content, they probably won't appear on FK though. If you want to know more, I suggest you keep an eye open on the TSS gallery at BMEzine, bodymodification.be and possibly suspension.be. The latter depending on my descision to either decentralize specific content, or bring it all together in one spot. For now, I'm off to enjoy the sun and work a nightshift later.

Spent 2.5 hours in a traffic jam yesterday while temperatures of 34° Celsius were reached - no doubt it was even hotter inside the car. I don't have AC in it, but I sure would have loved some coolness. When I finally got home, it got up to 28° inside and even though I opened every door and window overnight, it still was 27° when I got up this morning at 4AM. If there are no winds at all, it's hard to drive the warmth out of your place, and it'll take days for it to cool down. That is IF outside temperatures start dropping to more managable levels.

Hopefully it won't be as hot on sunday.

As excited and stressed out I was about going to work yesterday, as much I wanted to go back to bed today. Even though I usually wake up and poof, I'm awake like that, I fully admit that I considered turning around and sleep more this morning. However, that would result in problems for colleagues and not solve anything really. I can sleep in on saturday (I hope). Which means I've got three days to look forward to : sauna on friday afternoon, sleeping in on saturday and TSS meeting on sunday, Yay!

I haven't done much interesting today. Received a new book this morning which I can/should review for my other site (www.bodymodification.be), went shopping for food (yummy fruit and veggies) and that's about it. Oh, wait... I also got myself some slippers as I need some on friday. I got a nice bathrobe yesterday, and it ahs some sort of a story attached to it.

I'm walking the store, looking for a bathrobe in my size and finally find some. They've got the regular white ones, blue one, some with a colorfull checkered pattern on them, the works. As I'm going through the white robes, I find one my size and I notice it has this nice looking tribal dragon on the front. Cool! The price is right, the size is fitting and off to the register I go. I pay and head home. When I get home, I clip off the label and other various crap they attach to clothes and I notice a "Peanuts" tag being amongst them. Ain't Peanuts related to Snoopy? Ah well... I pay no more attention and drop the thing in the laundromat for a first wash.

When it's done I grab it and put it on my drying rack when I notice the front of the bathrobe : that ain't a tribal dragon! It's bloody Snoopy. I admit, Snoopy is cool, but still... I still have no clue how I managed to change Snoopy into a tribal dragon while I was browsing. My mind must have been elsewhere I guess. Anyway, if you run into me while I'm wearing my bathrobe, keep this in mind : "My Snoopy has tribal instincts and breathes fire!".

Todays temperature totally sucks - way too hot for my liking, and due to it I "sinned" yesterday. I had some icecream. It's not specifically on the list of things I shouldn't eat, but it would match 'candy' I suppose. Ah well... too bad.

I really hope things cool seriously down later tonight or during the week, because I don't feel like being sweaty every second of the week!

Guess what : today I received a letter from my employer! It contained an individual statement of all payments done in 2004. However, to my knowledge, it's not a statement 281.10, so I doubt I can use it to file my taxes. I'll go and seek help on those tomorrow afternoon and have them checked. I usually am able to do them myself, but with all the shit that went on last year, I don't want to "just give it a shot" and then find out I totally messed up.

Yeah, I admit, I'm in a whiney mood today. The heat is getting to me - in such a way even that I almost stopped my car in the middle of the highway while trying to get home to beat the crap out of some loser that figured that running people off the road was a good idea. If you pass me on the left side while you know there is a traffic jam and you then have to merge into the right lane - where at that point I've been sitting for something like 20 minutes, hardly moving at all - if I don't leave a gap, there is a reason for it. Don't force your way into it. Next time you may not be so lucky, especially when I'm in plain clothes. I dread violence and aggression, but even I can blow a fuse, when people piss me off on purpose, in this heat.

So, driver of the grey Mercedes Vito with licenseplate GMM930 : you officially suck.

It's bloody fucking hot outside. That's all I have to say for that matter. Tomorrow could be even hotter, yikes!

DragonflyBlade21: A woman has a close male friend. This means that he is probably interested in her, which is why he hangs around so much. She sees him strictly as a friend. This always starts out with, you're a great guy, but I don't like you in that way. This is roughly the equivalent for the guy of going to a job interview and the company saying, You have a great resume, you have all the qualifications we are looking for, but we're not going to hire you. We will, however, use your resume as the basis for comparison for all other applicants. But, we're going to hire somebody who is far less qualified and is probably an alcoholic. And if he doesn't work out, we'll hire somebody else, but still not you. In fact, we will never hire you. But we will call you from time to time to complain about the person that we hired.

<mage> what should I give sister for unzipping?
<Kevyn> Um. Ten bucks?
<mage> no I mean like, WinZip?

<xterm> The problem with America is stupidity. I'm not saying there should be a capital punishment for stupidity, but why don't we just take the safety labels off of everything and let the problem solve itself?

<Beeth> Girls are like internet domain names, the ones I like are already taken.
<honx> well, you can stil get one from a strange country :-P

<Eticam> I was in biology class once, and the teacher said there was sugar in sperm
<Eticam> And a girl asked why doesn't it taste sweet then
<Eticam> When she realised what she said her face became red like a spanked monkey ass
<Eticam> Then the teacher said, because you taste sweetness with the front of your tongue, not the part of your tongue back in your throat
<Eticam> The girl started crying and left class

I just finished cleaning out the ferrets cages, while they played around. I also cleaned their ears, and nailclipping was done earlier this week. Bono still hates having his ears cleaned, resulting in a mess all over the place. Tisha and Max on the other hand don't mind it that much, phew.

My taxform is still not filled out due to missing information. When I received a letter from my employer I was hoping it would contain the missing statement, but instead it had a memo included : due to switching to a new system, extra checks need to be done, and this poses an exceptional delay. We hope to be able to start sending out missing statemens on the 13th of June.

Mind you, they've been pulling the "new system" scapegoat for the past year, and still they can't get it right. In case they indeed manage to get statements out on the 13th - which to be frank, I don't buy - they'll probably arrive on the 15th or so. Which leaves everyone with just 15 days to complete their taxforms. Nice, I tell you. Maybe I should check if employers are not legally bound to deliver 281.10 documents before a certain deadline. I only found one article stating a date of March 1st, but I can't find any official documents about it. Maybe if someone working in a fiscal environment reads this, they could point me in the correct direction? Confirmed through a link given to me by Joco, thanks mate!

Off to work the nightshift later... see ya!

I doubt that this post is readable at all, even for those that may have an idea about today's events. Give it a shot :p

Today I went to work in D. After finishing my shift, I called H. and drove over to E. where I met H. and Z. We had a good time and good talks. After B. arrived I left E. to go to K. - where I was to meet up with J. and M. However, I only met M., whith whom I then drove to L. to pick up things. After things were loaded on a truck, M. and I left L., got back to K. where I parked my car. M. then drove to S. to meet J. and unload the car. I drove to D. where I'm writing this post. I'll wake T., M. and B. in a second and entertain them.

As I left for work I was under the impression that things were going quite smoothly, so I happily took a spot in the very slowly moving traffic jam that the ringway around Antwerp has become. By the time I passed the Kennedy Tunnel, I had already lost 10 minutes when compared to my regular schedule, but figured I would be able to make up for it and still arrive in time. Boy, was I wrong!

Right after the tunnel, the exit I needed was completely saturated and then a nice sign above the highway announced an accident in St-Anna. Shouldn't be too bad, once I can get myself on the left hand side of the road I can pass the others that are blocked by the accident. So I carefully and gently move over to the left side, and then I notice all the blue lights. The accident ain't in the direction of St-Anna, but in the direction I have to go! Crap!

To make things even better, the firedepartment and cops decided to close the road down completely, forcing everyone off in the wrong direction (at least for me) and more trouble was brewing - I just didn't know it yet. When I finally get of the expressway, I start figuring out what route to follow to head back in the right direction. Sounds quite easy : follow the exit, take the first right till the traffic lights, go left, cross road and off we go. Well, first of all you can't do that when a route can swallow about 100 cars an hour and now has to deal with 700 cars an hour. The figures are probably wrong, but you get the idea.

So I slowly continue and then suddenly we're blocked again. A truck attempted to take a left hand turn and got stuck, blocking half of two roads. More joy! To make an already long story short : I arrived at work 45 minutes late and after 2 hours of travel. I hope things will be better tomorrow.

I just put Skype to the real test : I called Ash in the USA, on her mobile phone. I first tried the home phone, but she replied to a chat message that it has been disconnected for like a year, which explains the "this number is being checked for trouble" message that I got. So I switched to the mobile and a couple of rings later, I had Elise answering the phone. (Hi Elise!) You know what? Skype works. The connection wasn't always superb, but what do you expect from a call spanning something like 3000 miles, originating in Belgium and connection to a mobile phone in Michigan?

I finally received my taxforms, so I took a quick look at all the documents required to fill them out correctly, or at least attempt to do so. It appears to me that each year things get more difficult instead of easier. This might also be due to the fact that I think I'm still missing some things, or I might have misplaced them although I don't think so.

Usually when official documents related to taxes etc comes in, I file it in the correct dossier right away, to avoid having to hunt it down when the deadline tightens. Could it be that I'm still missing a paper from my current employer in regard to what I was paid last year (document 281.10) as well as an overview of the mortgage payments for my apartment? I'll give it another week to see if they come in or not, and if I don't have them by then, I'll verify with colleagues. After all, I've got about 30 days to complete this task, and unfortunately, there is no option called "should you choose to accept this mission" in these matters.

Why can't the weather be normal in Belgium? One day you're freezing your balls off, next day they melt! A temperature of 23 degrees Celsius is just fine for me, I'll even go as high as 25 if it's summer but anything above that is plain torture.

The heat just seeps into your place, and then hangs around for days on end, even if it cools down again at night. It makes sleeping quite impossible when you wake up and think "damn, I've got a leak in my water bed" and then realize you don't have a water bed! Bloody insane, I tell you...

Strangely enough, I feel the sudden drive to work out. I tried sitting down and waiting till the feeling passed, but that didn't work. If I still feel the same in the morning, I'll take my gear with me and use the gym at work after my 8 hour shift. Yeah, I'm a real hard ass like that, grin!

I'm not feeling all too well - snotty nose, headache (again one could say?) and quite tired. Not good if you gotta leave for a nightshift in 30 minutes. I don't know what it is with me these past week(s), but I just can't seem to get it under control. Maybe I should get away from everything for a while? I wonder how I should accomplish that...

What I think is going on is this : due to the new work schedule we have effectively zero recuperation time, whereas earlier on we worked a long 7 days shift and then had minimum 2 maximum 5 (in very rare cases 7!) days off. That allowed us to "step away and not think about work" for a while. Now we've got 1 day off, sometimes (although rare) three. In this "off" period we're usually switching shift which mean adapting to a new sleeping schedule.

Mark my words : if this doesn't change soon, we'll start seeing people either leave or call in ill, possibly for extend periods of time, which then of course only results in more load for those that remain.

I just received the Dr. Phil test from LWW and I took the 2 minutes it takes to complete it. I scored 39, which means that according to Dr. Phil this description should fit me.

Others see you as sensible, cautious, careful and practical. They see you as clever, gifted, or talented, but modest. Not a person who makes friends too quickly or easily, but someone who's extremely loyal to friends you do make and who expect the same loyalty in return. Those who really get to know you realize it takes a lot to shake your trust in your friends, but equally that it takes you a long time to get over it if that trust is ever broken.

Well, does it?

If you want to take this little (fun) test yourself, grab it here : Dr. Phil Test. Feel free to leave your score in the comment.

I've been dreaming things that are quite disturbing if you ask me. I'll try to give you a peek into the dream I just had, just be glad I have no way (yet?) to transfer the images during the dreams to another form, so I can post them on this blog. If you're easily grossed out, I suggest you stop reading now. Remember that these were dreams, and characters fade in and out, sometimes remain quite vague.

I'm together with my dad and we're checking out why a dog is limping his front paw. Rover obviously has some sort of pain, so we pick him up and check the paw. Nothing is visible, so I squeeze the paw, which suddenly becomes my left hand. When I push, a very small layer of loosens up and there is a white head in the center. As I think it's just some infection that I didn't notice before, I squeeze harder but nothing happens. My dad gets a needle somewhere and we prick the layer of skin. Junk comes flowing out and the more I squeeze - to get everything out - the more seems to appear.

The initial tiny spot has by now become an area of about 1x1 centimeter at the top of palm of my hand, just below where my fingers are attached to my hand. This doesn't hurt at all - probably because of my leather like skin, I think - and I realign my fingers to squeeze from another angle. This goes on and on for a couple of minutes, each time squirting new yellow pus onto a paper towel that my dad is holding. Neither of us are grossed out, but instead just dealing with the situation. The more comes out, the larger the infection seems to get and soon enough I'm pushing puss out from the edge of my palm towards the middle. This thing is getting large.

After a while we get less puss, so we think we're almost done. One last squeeze to get the final bits out and then we see a whole new consistency of puss appear. Shiny even, as it were wrapped in cling film, and it has gone from yellowish to darker red. We look at each other, wondering what is going on. A nod and we both figure out there's more vile stuff in the palm of my hand, underneath the now very loose skin.

When I push again, the skin ruptures in the middle and a tear appears and with the next squeeze we get a mixture of maggots and puss. Weird, I think as I push the maggot onto the paper towel. Maybe this is a bit worse as it seemed at first, but we continue our work. The rupture grows larger and soon enough the top 50% of my palm is one large open - raw - wound, covered here and there with patches of skin under which I can look. Only to see more larvae in there, some even crawling around. Some have the regular black head, white michelin guy type body, others have a reddish skin. We start pushing each one of them out from under the skin, while saying things like "Look at that one at the left, and over there, near the top". Seven, ten, I don't know how many we remove but then I realize that I'm getting close to getting the last ones out. I look up to my dad, as he's handling some paper towel, and when we both look back down, the next thing that falls out is a dried - cocooned - maggot. Soon followed by a spotted lady beetle with a maggot in it's front paws, obviously eating it.

The last one is out and there I am, a completely messed up hand, but there is little to no blood to be seen. Quite the contrary as one would expect when things like this happens. I ask for my dad to get some some disinfectant while I try to open my hand completely, to test mobility and to see how much the raw flesh is pulling back after all this exposition to air. It doesn't hurt, but I feel a clear tension when trying to stretch completely, but I know inside that it won't pose a problem in the long run. Dad comes bak with disinfectant and I ask for something to clip off the patches of skin that hang around, with red and bloody flesh beneath them, covered with black spot here and there. Dad tells me to leave the skin alone and disinfect it as it is, whereas I think it would be better to cut it all off to nice and clean edges, to facilitate healing.

Both options have their pro's and con's we agree, so it's really up to me, and it doesn't matter as long as we can get my left hand cleaned and fully disinfected. I never know whether or not I cut away the layer of skin, because I woke up at this point. Disturbing enough for you?

is 66.67% Female and 33.33% Male (according to this "What gender is your brain?" quizz)

My brain leans female - I think with my heart, not my head. I'm sweet and considerate, a giver. But I'm tough enough not to let anyone take advantage of you!

So there you go. The one thing my brain is right now, is tired, so I'm heading off to bed because I'm working an early shift tomorrow.

As I woke up and headed for the mailbox - don't worry, I got dressed first - I knew in advance the new Humo would be waiting for me. When I opened the box, it also had a letter from the Federale Overheidsdienst Financien - Belasting en Invordering - Administratie van de Ondernemings en Inkomensfiscaliteit. What's in a name, wouldn't you say?

Since the envelope wasn't the all too familiar brown color, nor the regular envelope they used over the past years, I was really wondering what was up and why they mailed me a letter. While going back upstairs, I ripped it open and peeked inside. Phew... good news! i'm not being asked to come in for a verification, nor do I have a ton of extra money to pay. In fact, they're giving back money, which is always welcome. And much to my suprise, that amount was about 30% higher as previous years - no doubt due to being out of a job most of last year, as well as optimizing a number of things that offer tax benefits.

The "extra" money is quite welcome, and I'm thinking about either just saving it (boring but wise), spending it all on myself (fun but a waste), looking further into investing it in property (not likely, as the investment and possible return are too high/too low) or do some home improvement around the apartment. The latter would - if considered carefully - also lead to taxcuts coming year.

Or I could just buy a digital videocamera and use that to tape hot chicks having crazy kinky insane sex with me and each other. What? Hot sexy chicks are not included when you buy a digital videocamera? Then what's the point?!

They've only just started closing down highway exits in preparation for commencing the maintenance on the ringway around Antwerp, and already they managed to close down the wrong ramp for a couple of hours. I can't stress how much I'm looking forward to 6 months of traffic insanity. Joy joy.

Off to work I go - If I still have a way to get there that is...

I decided to take a short nap today instead of a full cycle of sleeping and I'm paying for it in hard cash. I went off to bed around 8AM and got up just past 1PM and think I got about 4 hours or so of sleep. My head hurts, I'm still very tired and I feel like crap. I just hope that the little nap will allow me to stay awake till this evening so I can sleep tonight. Working shifts - and changing shedule all the time - sometimes really sucks, believe me.

After my little post about "remote physical device fingerprinting" I seem to have lost most of my readers, so I think I won't even go near a recent case of DNS cache poisoning that's affected quite a few high profile websites and was used as a delivery system to install mal/spyware onto systems. Instead I'll just point to these links for those interested : DNS Cache Poisoning on SANS, Symantec Gateway Security Products DNS Cache Poisoning Vulnerability. Especially the last link once again shows the need to stay up to date on hotfixes and patches, as the vulnerability was made public and patched in June 2004!

OK, enough (boring) technical entries for now. I'm off to play some BlogShares and get virtually rich.

Not many readers of this blog will understand this joke in dialect, but it certainly is quite funny!

Zegt den Camiel tegen z'n wuf: "Zeg keppe, ist goet dak em e keer in jen oore steekn?"

Zegt zien wuf doarip: "Joamo Camiel, gok ik ton nie doof worden?"

Den Camiel: "mo be neije, ik steekn em al 15 jaar in je muule en je zwiegt nog nie!!!"

This entry will contain various bits and pieces, unrelated to each other.

Tonight I should be getting my schedule for the coming month, so I'll know for sure what days and nights I have to work. Which is good because there are some things I have to plan.

West : In the state of Alabama, selling sex toys remains illegal, based on a law dating from 1998. The Supreme Court refused to consider the appeal against the law, as filed by some users of these toys as well as salesmen. According to Alabama legislators, the free sale of sex toys would lead to prostitution and other "undesirble sexual acts". ACLU backed the people appealing the law, based on the assumption that the law interferes with acts committed between consenting adults in their private and intimate life. The Supreme Court apparently owns you in the USA.

East : In the Dutch city of Tilburg (The Netherlands) sex toys can now be purchased through a vending machine in the wall of a pub. At first the council advised against it because it wouldn't fit the neighborhood, but after the vending machine itself was altered to fit in, they approved. The machine disperses vibrators, sex toys, lingerie and lubes. In order to prevent minors purchasing articles, the vending machine only accepts bankcards.

I wonder who leads the healthiest sexlife? The people of Tilburg or the Alabama posse?

The Google ads that I've been serving in the navigation menu on the right side seem to match my content quite well. At first there were tons of ads for ice-cream machines (I wonder where they got that idea) but lately they've shifted to spy and adware removal tools, green energy, ecological resources, wind and water power and such. Which makes me happy as I consider it an easy way for readers to find out some more about things that I write about. The web is complex and often hard to navigate, but there is so much information out there...

Oh, I almost forgot : Firefox 1.0.1 has been released. Go grab a copy, as it contains mainly security patches and some bugfixes as well.

If you're running windows XP (Home or Pro) SP2, install the http.sys hotfix that prevents your machine from crashing with a Stop 0x05 (INVALID_PROCESS_ATTACH_ATTEMPT) error in some cases. The following versions of windows are affected as well : Windows Server 2003 (all editions), Windows XP Media Center Edition SP2 and Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2005.

While I was having a nice and warm bath, I was called twice. I refused to let those calls interrupt my bathing, so when I finally got out of the bath, I dialled 1919 to know what number tried to get in touch with me. Sure enough, it was Joco & Eef's number, so I called them back.

Sheer coincidence - what else can you call it - made me interrupt them as well, while they were erm... doing a little number of their own (Going at it like rabbits? Doing it doggystyle? 69 anyone? Who cares? I interrupted.), but that I couldn't know. Well, if I had turned on the webcams maybe I could, but I didn't^*.

Joco's PC somehow got a little infected while Eef was browsing images on the web last night, and he couldn't remove one of the files because the system didn't allow him access. My first idea was that the virus was planted on the system using a GDI+ exploit that I wrote about months ago, although I'm not sure. It's hard to diagnose virusinfections over the phone. I told him to get back to work on his lovely lady and that I would send him a mail explaining how to please her turn off system protection and get rid of the infected file.

^* I'm kidding about the webcams, really. Webcams are so last years' news. Streaming high quality video is the thing you're looking for, if you're not invited to the party. DSL or a Cable connection with some clever setup will usually deliver nice and crispy images for your viewing and other pleasures.

No, serious. They don't have webcams in their bedroom. I think. Even if they did, that's their business, not yours or mine. Really. Think about it.

Note : Everything that was written down in this post is the truth, but some parts may be slightly exaggerated, mystified or added for effect. It's all in jest, I tell you! Enjoy this FK entry.

Just by leaving 1 comment on a blog. I agree it was a slightly "evil" comment, but it was partially in jest and partially because I was irritated with the "shiny happy people mood" around the world that day. However, I don't feel like I attacked anyone personally, what can hardly be said about the owner and some of their friends replies.

(from karma, the blog owner) 'ServMe': who is interested in getting anything from you? - you are definitely more pathetic than me - or else why would you be a lowly security guard while I am a senior executive? Leave your shit in your own doorway, asshole (or in it).

Well, dear Karma : I actually chose to be working as a security guard, after a career in IT. It seems you, as a "senior executive", should know better as to judge people by their job, but appartently that quality is absent from your book. Namecalling never helped anyone, and only looks bad on those participating in it.

I deal with higher and top management on a nearly daily base, and I agree that there are assholes amongst them, but most don't look down on people working for them and those that assure they can perform their management job without worrying about other things.

While you may find your job as a "senior executive" more important than mine as a "lowly security guard", I can assure you both are needed and neither of them are possible without the other. Do you also look down on mailmen, garbage collectors or the people filling bags in the supermarket? None of those jobs might be desirable or high profile, but they get done and need to be done. "Fire them all" I'd say but please, be prepared to collect your own garbage, stuff your own bags and let's not even think about reading, writing and sending out letters.

I just edited and checked close to a 150 older posts of mine, changing some URL's around and putting them all in the correct category. While I was doing so, I came accross this old joke :

A penguin is driving through Melbourne on a hot summer day when he notices his oil light is on. He gets out of the car and sure enough, it's leaking oil all over the road. The penguin drives around the corner to a service station and asks the mechanic to take a look at it. The mechanic says he has a few others to look at first, but if he comes back in an hour he can tell the penguin what is wrong with his car.

The penguin agrees and goes for a walk. He finds an Ice cream shop and thinks a big bowl of vanilla ice cream will really hit the spot since he's a penguin and its Melbourne in the summer, after all. He sits down at the Counter and starts on his ice cream. Of course the poor bastard has no hands so it is rather messy. By the time he is done he has ice cream all over his flippers and his mouth - a total mess.

He waddles back to the service station and says to the mechanic, "Did you find out what is wrong with my car?"

The mechanic replies, "It looks like you've blown a seal."

"No no", says the penguin. "it's just icecream!"

I don't know what you've done this morning, but here is what I did. I stopped working at 05h45 and left work at 06h05. Arrived at the technical check-up station at 06h35 and they openend at 07h10 (yes, they were 10 minutes late, bastards!). Left the station with a clean bill of health for the car at 07h35 and stopped at the bank to pick up my statements. Got home just 5 minutes ago, and while I took a long overdue piss and dump, I checked my statements and verified recent payments. In the mean time I was thinking out this entry and my PC was connecting to the internet.

Now I'm off to bed - see you all in a few hours. Preferably at least 7 or 8.

There is little more that pisses me off than false or misleading advertising. Let me give you an example. Yesterday evening (around 17h00) I find the new promo folder of Carrefour Hypermarkets in my mailbox, and I notice something that interests me : a cupboard of pretty much a nice size that I could use to store my books in my "office". Mind you, this leaflet contains promotions that are valid from 09/02/2005 till the 15th of February.

On the 10th - today - I go to the Hyper Carrefour of Borsbeek and check the complete store for that cupboard, but I can't find it anywhere. Upon verification with someone of the store staff, the answer is quite stunning : "Oh, we're out of those and they won't be coming in anymore". To which I reply "Oh, they're sold out quite fast, wouldn't you say?" and the answer is a sheepish grin. Last time I checked, a store had to have a "reasonable" amount of stock for promotions, and if that stock is sold out in less than 48 hours, I doubt that was the case.

In the mean time I still have no good way of storing my growing collection of books :(

I think I'll have to write myself a little mail to the management, coz right now my conclusion is Hyper Carrefour sucks!

If you're - at last - fed up with the irritating Schnappi song, maybe you'll not want to hear this Rock Version : Schnappi Rock FK (MP3, 1.25MB).

I just read this article on SecurityFocus and they grabbed it from AP :

The FBI said Friday it shut down an e-mail system that it uses to communicate with the public because of a security breach. The bureau is investigating whether someone hacked into the e-mail system that hosts some accounts that end with fbi.gov. The e-mail service is provided by a private company, the FBI said in a statement. "These accounts are used for non-sensitive, nonsecure communications and do not impact secure internal and external FBI e-mail accounts," the statement said. The FBI's computer system that is used for case files, classified and sensitive information is unaffected, the statement said. The e-mail problem has no apparent connection to other FBI computer problems, including a $170 million Virtual Case File project that FBI Director Robert Mueller acknowledged Thursday might have to be scrapped because it is outdated and inadequate. (source : The Associated Press Feb 4 2005 1:13PM)

If wonder how much my Special Agent Philip Snow experience is related to it? Those mails appeared to come from the fbi.gov domain after all - it's not too hard to forge though - and I filed a complaint with the Feds on January 27th. They close down a public mail system on February 4th, about a week later. It does make sense, you know?

Very tired and suffering massively this morning. Felt like just turning around and sleeping in for once. Luckily this is my last sunrise shift today and tomorrow it's saturday, which means that I can sleep in till 07h30 or so. Coz I agreed to go and help Nadia move her stuff to a new place.

Maybe sunday I can get some more rest?

What's the hype about U2 tickets??? People seem to go crazy about their new tour, way before it even started. My sis tried getting tickets on saturday but failed. She'll be attempting again today, either for the Dublin concerts, or their gig in France. Sure, they're good, but come on!

I was about to write all kinds of things, yet I don't recall any of them right now. I got a call from Joco, and was so focussed on what he had to say, that anything else really didn't matter anymore. I think it's something he'll have to learn too : you matter, nothing else matters as much. Yes, that sounds harsh and even a bit strange, but look at it like this : If you're doing fine and feeling good, you can have a positive impact on the lives of those you love. If you put other things on top, you'll personally suffer from it (in either the long or short term) and thus will be unable to give what you deem important to those you love.

It sounds like a catch 22, but it really is not. Don't think about it though, it'll only confuse you and stress is the last thing you need right now. It'll come to you one day, and then you know.

Worked a bit on the blog of lilfunky1, but it was mostly behind the screens, so there is little to show off. She'll need to upgrade it herself :p

Lots of people were looking for "No More Bush Girls Video" according to my search engine referrals, and the video I posted was funny, but not by the NoMoreBushGirls. By the way, those babes had a site at NoMoreBushGirls.com, but it seems to be gone and was replaced by some advertising/link farm. That's why I don't link to it, see? Search google for the term in quotes above, and you'll probably find what you were looking for.

Ah... Dimi asked about Mr. Snow. Well, let's just say that after I got back to him, he became quite silent. In other words : it must have been a scam after all and the fact that I informed him about the complaint I filed probably scared him away for once and for all. I guess that's the end of the story so far, but if something happens, I'll post about it for sure Dimi!

To finish this long-assed post that had a bit of everything and lots of nothing, here's another video : Will you ask for directions, please?! (Apple Quicktime format, under 2MB)

Oh, and listen to the hot accent the lady got... wonderful!

I just came accross this little advertising clip that I really enjoyed when it was first aired on TV. Hope you enjoy it too!

Blondes have more Foon (TMF)(3.6MB, MPG)

For readers that don't understand or read Dutch, the text message on her mobile says "don't forget the cat".

This joke popped back into my mind a couple of days ago, and I decided that I just had to re-post it. You know, for all of you that didn't know it yet!

A koala bear and a hooker go back to her place and they get undressed. The koala bear goes down on the hooker ... for 3 hours straight. She has multiple orgasms ... after 3 hours he stops, gets up and puts on his clothes.

The woman is hanging back huffing and puffing from exhaustion.
"Oh God, that was great! Now I need my money."
The koala bear just looks at her and shrugs.
Then the hooker says, "No, I need my money. I'm a hooker and this is how I make a living."
The koala bear just looks at her and continues to put on his clothes.
Then the hooker gets up and runs to the bookshelf and grabs a dictionary and thumbs it to "hooker."
She hands it to the koala bear and it reads:

HOOKER: "person who has sex for money"

Then the koala bear turns the page to "koala bear" and walks out the door. The hooker reads:

KOALA BEAR: "eats bushes and leaves"

This reminds me of the statement Hillary Clinton made when Bill was ignaurated : Read my lips, no more Bush (Apple Quicktime Format, 6.35MB)

Note : As far as I'm aware, the "Read my lips : No More Bush" ignauration statement is a hoax.

I've been digging a bit deeper into the life of SA Philip Snow, and this is what the web told me.

Technology Forums refers to him and has a short bio online as well. This is what they've got on him :

Special Agent Philip Snow

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)

Special Agent Philip Snow has been with the Federal Bureau of Investigation for over two years. During his time with the FBI, SA Snow has been assigned to the Washington Field Office’s criminal computer intrusion squad at the Northern Virginia resident agency. His investigative experiences have included investigations into wireless hacking, malicious code, phishing, unauthorized system access, and spam.

His educational background includes a Master of Business Administration degree with an emphasis on Advanced Information Systems and a Bachelor of Science in Management Information Systems from the University of South Florida. Prior to becoming an FBI agent, SA Snow owned and operated an Internet Development company. SA Snow also has experience with code writing, system architecture, and PC/Network support.

And according to that site, he presented a course on "Conducting Wireless Cyber Investigations" on January 12th 2005, covering a case study about a recently completed investigation of an individual who was using wireless networks to facilitate a scheme to extort seventeen million dollars from a victim company. The techniques the extortionist used, as-well-as the techniques used to catch him, will be discussed. You will learn that you can never underestimate a cyber criminal.

I'm starting to think that these mails are more legit than they seemed at first. That of course still doesn't explain the open proxy use in the first mail, and I'll continue being suspicious until I receive a formal response - if any - from the FBI, but the more I research, the more all pieces of the puzzle start matching. I'm sure you'll understand though, Mr. Snow, that I can't just accept everything that ends up in my mailbox.

I suggest you give me a call, I've left my home phone number in the complaint filed under the number mentioned in my previous post. I've got the utmost confidence that you'll be able to see that is an international long distance call you'll be making, as I'm not in the USA. Therefore I won't be calling you, but please feel free to call me.

Update : I went ahead and replied to his mail - I'm curious, I admit it. If I suddenly disappear mysteriously, at least you all know where to look.

I just received your latest mail, and it seems that you are actively monitoring this website. I've also noticed that you are no longer using an open proxy to send mails, which is a start. For those interested in my communication with "the men in black", please find a transcript below (headers stripped).

I assure you that this is a real email and I am asking for your assistance. If you are not interested in helping, that’s ok. Otherwise, please call my field office number then ask for me.

Thanks, Philip

I think this proves with some certainty that he's reading and following what I write here. Interesting, wouldn't you say? Most spammers/phishers don't go to such great extends to lure their victims in, nor do most spammers/phishers target people that have shown at least basic understanding about internet security, mail fraud and mail headers.

Anyway, Special Agent Philip Snow... I've submitted all information gathered so far to your agency through their official website. I guess I'll know soon enough whether or not you're legit. If you want to look up the case using the complaint number, feel free to do so : I05012717148263.

Hope to hear from you soon!

I just received this mail, and I wonder if it was related to some earlier posts I made here, here, or maybe here? Hell, just search this blog for it and you'll find lots more related entries. Now, onto the mail :

Subject : I have a question for ServMe from friedkitten.com

My name is Philip Snow. I am a Special Agent with FBI and came across your friedkitten.com web site during the course on an investigation I am currently working on. I work on criminal computer intrusions cases as well as phishing and spammer cases. I am requesting your help and am interested in talking with you about a particular post you made. It appears you have done a lot of research and your assistance on my investigation would be much appreciated. I can be reached at 202-278-2000 (Ask for SA Philip Snow) or I would be happy to call you.

Thanks for your time and consideration,
Philip Snow
Special Agent
Federal Bureau of Investigation
Washington Field Office/NVRA
202-278-2000

Now... let's be clear about this : This ain't a real mail from the Feds. Yes, there is a local Washington FBI Office, and yes the phone number in my mail matches the one listed for that office. But since that information is public anyway, anyone can pull such a trick. Then how do I know?!

Because I doubt the FBI sends mails using open proxies, in this case one at IP address 64.241.37.140. Anyway, in the rare case this mail is legit (yeah right), I'm sure the men in black will find an alternative way to contact me, won't they?

Now... another video for your enjoyment : State of the Union (Quicktime Format, 14.1MB)

Remember the 70's? If not, click here. (Apache, 18MB in WMV Format).

Remember why taping yourself when doing dumb shit is funny? No? Click here for a reminder. (Huge file, MPEG format)

To remind everyone who really rules the world, take a look at this. (5.6MB, WMV Format)

A friend of mine asked this question in his latest online diary entry, and now I'm stuck with it. The question in itself is simple enough, but I fear the answer is quite the opposite.

How to you explain "red" to someone born blind?

I'd love to hear/read your ideas!

As I went to check on my mailbox a few hours ago, it was totally empty. The doorbell was just rang and when I picked up the intercom, it was the mailman. So I ran down (well, I took the elevator), expecting it to be the book I bought on e-bay about three weeks ago, but it was not. The mailman had our free energy saving lightbulbs with him, and as I seemed the only one home, I accepted and signed for the neighbors in my block as well. After all, I do know all of them, so why not?

Just for the heck of it, I checked the mailbox again and much to my suprise, there was a card in it that said "I tried to delived a package on the 17th, but you were not home. You can pick it up at - insert address - on the 18th after 9AM."

Excuse me?! Today is the 18th, and I'm VERY certain that card wasn't there when I got home yesterday afternoon, nor was it when I checked for mail this morning. So, either he made a mistake when it comes to the dates, or he's full of bullshit. Well, that last statement is true anyway, as I've been home all morning, and he didn't even try ringing the bell to see if someone was in. I can understand that having to deal with payments and such is a hassle, but please dude... do your job! Now I'll have to go running around because you're too lazy to do your work properly.

Anyway, it seems customs had their way with the shipment as well, and have been putting charges on it. This means it'll cost me a ton of money to actually receive the book I already paid a lot of cash for. The only thing I can hope for now, is that the seller didn't mention the real amount of money I paid for that book anywhere on the package. Then customs might just tax it as a regular book for an average price.

Off to work in about 30 minutes, and on friday my first time "alone".

Up quite early today - for a day off that is - and I'm having spaghetti already. What can I say, I was hungry! The very yummy sauce was donated my my sis to the "FK 12-12*" fund, and I must say that it's very good too.

Plans for today include erm... nothing. Wait, I gotta go shopping for food, should clean the place up a bit and run some errands.

* The "FK 12-12" name originates from the fact that I think about food aproximately 12 seconds per minute. The other twelve is the amount of time in seconds thinking about sex per minute. A quick calculation shows that I've got 36 seconds to spare per minute to think about other things. Which is way to much, so I'm working hard to add at least 12 seconds of blogging to that timeframe. Based on the quality of this entry, I've got a long way to go.

As I was emptying the mailbox today - I was hoping for either two work related letters, or one book I ordered from Ebay last week - I noticed it was quite stuffed. Two magazines, one of them Humo, the other one stuffed in a shiny silver cover, hiding the contents (must be an erotic kind of thingy), one advertising pamflet that was addressed to someone living in a completely different street with the same number, and one bill.

I really wonder if their mail turns up at my address, where mine is going? I was correct about the shiny covered magazine : it was a "last chance" catalogue of Pabo, some erotic shopping post-order outlet. As I browsed through it, I really was wondering what the point of it all is? It's full of erotic lingerie for women, the "sexy" clothes for men are not something that either fits or becomes me, and I really don't fit in the "free sexy string with shiney beads" that was included. Besides the fact that I don't like wearing strings, this was a female model too. No way I could wear it and keep all my stuff inside!

So... if anyone feels like they have use for a nice black string with a ruby-chain on the backside (image here), gimme a yell. First one to mail or leave a comment - address not needed to be public, just mail it to me - gets it! I have no clue what size it is, but as it stretches it should fit XS to M. Update : it's gone. Joco seems to like strings ;)

Last night, I was watching some telly and stumbled upon one of those date-by-SMS programs that cost you 0.75 euro a message. I browsed the profiles on teletekst and gave it a go. What a load of crap is that? I think someone just makes up profiles so everyone can find something they like, and throws it on TV to make (lots of) money. Have you ever replied (first reply) to a complete stranger messaging you with the words "baby", "honey" or "sexy"? Especially if my originating messages had nothing of even the slightest hint to sex, erotica or whatever in them?

I need to get out more, really.

Appointement with the vet made for 14h30 this afternoon. CD written containing various printer drivers and tools, in case my USB stick is not supported. If I recall correctly, one of the machines that I'll be working on in a few minutes is still running windows 95. No USB support there!

My right thumb hurts. I somehow hit it yesterday while working and it seems a bit infected. Squeezed out all the yellow gunk and it already feels better. Will scrub it good before I leave though.

Next on the list : wash, get dressed, leave.

As 2004 is really coming to an end soon (just over 24 hours left) I should or could start working on an end-of-year wrap up, but I figure most of it worth mentioning was written right on this blog over the year.

Maybe I'll pull something out of my high hat - or ass - tomorrow, but I won't make any promises, let alone claim that it will be humoristic :)

Buy prepared food. Throw in microwave. Nuke*. Eat.

* Note : sometimes removal of the container/wrapping/box is necessary before nuking and/or consumation. Will be covered in Advanced Cooking - Singles Style.

It's frigging snowing outside. Sure, it was expected (either a very tiny amount of snow, or rain) but still... it'll probably ruin whatever traffic advantage there was due to most people having time off and thus not clogging up the roads.

I just made some slight financial alterations to streamline expenses, prepared all files for next year and a filed away statements. That should be easy when 2004 finally comes to a hold and 2005 is fired up.

Now I should go out and get some food, coz I'm all out of everything and when I got home last night - after an 11 hour shift - I figured I'd find a place that sells fries open, but both were closed. It strikes me that even in the year 2004 little consideration exists for people that work outside of the regular nine to five jobs.

This years FK blog award in the category "Best Irregulary Posting Blog Author With A New Kitchen And A Piece Of Bread For A Friend" (BIPBAWANKAAPOBFAF for short) goes to (drum roll, exciting music, dimming lights) :

GeekMan of The Mighty Geek!

Now, let us hear the acceptance speech, GeekMan...

Sundays are not meant to get up at four AM.

As I was driving to work this morning, I noticed a small van in front of me with a website advertised on it. I've got no clue what the company does, but you gotta admit that the name "Morgan Blue" sounds like a porn name and nothing else, right? I bet Morgan Blue is the nephew of "Jack Strong" and starred in "Hard Bargain 69" or some other flick.

Got back home, read mail and got pissed off twice. Someone I don't know finds it funny to mail me to urge me to vote for them in some contest, and as this is already the second time I receive the mail in the past two weeks or so, I got really fed up with it. I contacted one other recipient on the list (someone I do know personally) and asked him if he knew the sender of the mail. I got some vague answer about someone with a similar e-mail address being known to them, but that the owner of that address didn't know anything about a contest.

To make a long story short, I filed another Spamcop report, contacted the abuse departement of the senders ISP and filed a complaint with Virgin Express, the organizers of the contest. I already received a request for more info from Virgin Express and hope to see the spammer account closed. I know I may waste my time with trivial things like these, but once something has reached a certain irritation level, there is no holding me back and I go for it till the finish.

The other thing that pissed me off slightly was actually done by someone who means very well, and I'm not yet sure how to react to it. Technically speaking he didn't do anything wrong - especially since the idea behind it all was to "help" me - but I kinda feel pressed/violated anyway. Maybe I'm just in a mood that triggers irritation more easily and I am quite certain that if both things had happened seperately - on different days - I might not have reacted to either of them. Let's just consider it "wrong place, wrong time" bad luck for at least one of them.

Now, more important things : today my godson Alex is celebrating his 3rd birthday already. Damn, that kid is growing up fast! I'm off to a small celebration party in a few minutes... Happy birthday Lexi!

Time for pancakes! Yay...

Bad idea : dissecting your hairclippers (tondeuse) at 6 in the morning. I'll probably spend most of the afternoon - after returning from work - reassembling it. The good thing is though that I didn't lose any part of it (yet), and I only took it apart after I was done removing hair here and there.

Note to self : whole cream milk sucks when you're used to demi creamed or non-creamed milk.

Just got home about 15 minutes ago, took out the trash, collected my old paper and put that outside as well and now I'm downloading some mixes I missed when they were released earlier on. I'll probably go to bed around 8, sleep till three and then get up, to go to bed again around midnight. All of that of course depends on work calling me to come in tomorrow as well for a few hours - I volunteered - if they need to fill some gaps.

It's weird how I work seven days straight and then the one day I'm off, I volunteer to come in as well. The mind of a genius works in mysterious ways... or was that the mind of a fool?

I do recall having a very bizarre dream yesterday, involving people getting killed and sex (of course), but I have no clue whether those elements were connected to each other or not. I do remember waking up briefly with a very disturbed feeling though, but I turned myself around and dozed off again and woke up with the mind of innocence.

Update : Got the call. Will be working tomorrow as well.

need sleep. Need girlfriend. Need food. Need fun.

Sleeping will solve the first need. Going to the store and buying food will take care of number three, and enjoying myself is the answer to number four. It's just number two that keeps on giving me a hard time.

Don't mind me. I'm tired and have no clue as to what I'm writing. Ignore me. I'm used to it.

I was under the impression that after getting screwed over bigtime - the Big Bankruptcy - in 2003, followed by tons and tons of paperwork, limited payouts and general hard times, that I was done with all the crap. However, according to a letter I received today, I'm not. The RVA wants me to pay them back 232.08 euro, due to a recalculation on their side.

Sure, it's not much, but the simple fact that 18 months after it all commenced, they find a way to reopen the whole matter. It makes me wonder how long I'll have to carry this crap with me, never knowing when someone decides to just throw it all back on the table. It seems like it'll never end.

I'm gonna call the person listed as contact on the letter and ask them for a detailed recalculation statement. Otherwise there is no way for me to check their claims. Demanding such a document will probably end up in me having to go over personally to defend/look at my case - wasting my precious time - but I hate it when their is a significant imbalance between two parties, resulting in one having to take all data for granted.

Off to get some food for this afternoon - I'm having spaghetti tonight after I get home - and then at 13h00 off to work after entertaining the fuzzies for a while. Cleaned out their cage completely yesterday coz they made a mess out of it.

Heard a very funny story yesterday evening in the pub, it's a good thing my best friend Joco knows me very well, or I might be in trouble :) Allow me to explain :

Joco and Eef have two kids, Alex and Michael. Alex will be three this year and is talking quite well already. Over the week, daddy asked him what happens when daddy goes to work, and what does the little rascal answer?

"Uncle ServMe comes over."
"Ah", says daddy, "so he comes over to play with you?"
"No," Alex answers, "he comes over for mommy. And they go upstairs (to the bedroom)."

Oops... damn kids ;) You can imagine the trouble I could have been in for something that ain't even true. Phew. This reminds me of another story, but I'll keep that for some other day.

I bought one of these delicious nuts a couple of days ago and decided that it was time to open it up today. I brought out the hammer and gently started pounding on it to crack it open and first extract its fluids. To my surpise, it did crack all the way round without the nut itself being damaged. I lifted off the top half with some effort and was looking to an intact coconut. The bottom half was hammered a few more times so it cracked in three different places as well and I had a shell-less coconut in my hand!

Very nice and much easier to eat as well. I'm a happy camper, chewing away on my coconut :)

Warning : if you can't handle real life situations with a less than happy (hollywood type) ending, don't continue reading. Stop reading here, I'm NOT kidding. Keywords for the true story below are things like cute animals, blood, gore and guts.

I guess you've all heard about the "Everytime you masturbate, god kills a kitten" image/banner that has been floating around on the web. Well, I wonder if it works the other way around too? In that case, god should his/her freak on, shake that booty, work that wonder.

Why? Coz today I killed a kitten. Yes, it unfortunately is no joke, although I'm not sure whether or not is wasn't dead before, nor could I do anything about it. Allow me to explain.

We've got two of these rolling bands to transport luggage that people can use when they enter the building. They're only in use when lots of people come in at once and are turned off the rest of the day. Today I had duty there, so I arrive at 05h30 or something like that and happily chat along with the colleagues. We also go outside to see if the cats are around and we notice they're all there except one : the little black and white kitten ain't there.

As people start coming in, I check their bags and after a while as the flow of people increases I reach for my keys and turn on the transport band. It opens the gate and starts rolling. As it's rolling for just a couple of seconds it suddenly runs off its regular path so I immediately press the emergency stop and reverse it to see what has happened. It returns to its regular path again, so I switch direction again and notice a little red spot on the band itself. This is quite strange as it had not yet been used today so no luggage could have leaked.

I stop it again using the emergency stop and do a step back when I notice something terrible : apparently the missing little black and white kitten somehow managed to get into the mechanism and I'm looking at a part of a dead kitten at 06h10 or so in the morning. On an empty stomach.

I manage to call in a colleague to check what and if we can do something about it, but it's quite clear that there is no way the little kitten can still be alive. Going by the smell that now surrounds the transport band, I think it might even have been in there for a while, possibly even dead before I started the thing.

There is little we can do apart from try to contain and control the situation, especially if we expect a few hundred people entering right besides the location of the accident. I grab a few paper napkins, pick up some bloody parts, and rearrange some things to provide as little direct line of view to the kitten as possible. I doubt anyone noticed anything - apart from the transporter not being in service - as they entered and I checked their bags.

After most people had entered and it calmed down significantly we had two technicians come in - they had been called already - to disassemble the transport band, get the kittlen out and clean everything. Not their most favorite work, that was clear but after a few hours most was cleaned up and disinfected. The smell however remains and the impression will remain branded in my brain for a long time. If only I had seen the kitten - which was impossible - or had not started the transporter - something I had to do.

Yes, I am very sad about it and I wished it hadn't happened, but there is little I could have done to prevent it. Should I rename this blog to Crushedkitten instead?

After this wonderful start of the day, things only went downhill and sucked majorly. I'll be happy when it's friday afternoon and I'm away from all this for 2 days.

Nothing much new to post or write about here. Or at least not things that I can/should post about at this time. Been working on my x-mas wishlist a bit and worked hard yesterday and today. I'll spend most of my days on a bike the rest of the week and then the end of the month is coming closer already.

Gotta go grab some food now - I'm having chicked and potatoes - and then I'll watch some TV and go to bed. Yes, my life is terribly exciting :)

Sorry, I'm only providing the dutch version of this article, because it is related to the book ("De Cholesteroloorlog - waarom geneesmiddelen zo duur zijn" by Dirk Van Duppen) I'm currently reading.

De verwachtingen of zelfs eisen van de pati�nten kunnen het voorschrijfgedrag van de artsen be�nvloeden. Iets waar de farma-industrie handig gebruik van weet te maken. Zo was recent op televisie een spot te zien die opriep om bij schimmelnagels een dokter te raadplegen. Deze campagne wordt voorgesteld als een initiatief van de VZW Hodie Vivere, maar in werkelijkheid wordt de hele zaak gestuurd door Novartis. Dat is de producent van Lamisil (terbinafine). De tabletvorm van dit geneesmiddel wordt vandaag beschouwd als het meest afdoende middel tegen schimmelnagels ("kalknagels"). De VZW Hodie Vivere heeft vroeger ook infocampagnes opgezet rond zwaarlijvigheid. Toen zat daar de firma Roche achter. Juist, de fabrikant van Xenical, product om af te vallen!

Lamisil in tabletvorm is een geneesmiddel op voorschrift. Publieksreclame is dus verboden. Wat doen farmaceutische bedrijven dan? Reclame maken voor de ziekte! Bijvoorbeeld door de aandoening "schimmelnagels" in de aandacht te brengen. Niet meteen een ziekte die wegens onderbehandeling doden maakt of voor veel leed zorgt. Schimmelnagels zijn onschuldig en hoeven maar zelden te worden behandeld. Wie echter het afschrikwekkende TV-spotje heeft gezien, zal meteen naar de dokter hollen en een behandeling eisen.

Een goede arts zou moeten uitleggen dat een behandeling niet per se noodzakelijk is (tenzij in zeer speciale gevallen) en de pati�nt wijzen op de bijwerkingen van Lamisil: vaak onschuldige, maar in een aantal gevallen ook vrij erge bijwerkingen. De meeste artsen zullen echter gewoon meteen het middel voorschrijven, zo werkt dat nu eenmaal. Te meer dat Novartis alle artsen heeft gecontacteerd om hen op de "voorlichtinsgscampagne" te attenderen. Kortom, via een op het eerste gezicht neutrale informatiecampagne kan een geneesmiddelenproducent zijn omzet flink vergroten. Novartis is hiermee niet aan zijn proefstuk toe. Zo zorgde een gelijkaardige campagne over kalknagels in Nederland voor een verdubbeling van de omzet van Lamisil. Lamisil is een terugbetaald geneesmiddel.

In Belgi� bedroegen in 2002 de netto-uitgaven wat de verplichte ziekteverzekering betreft voor de geneesmiddelen tegen schimmels bijna 16 miljoen euro, waarvan Lamisil 78% voor zijn rekening nam. Deze "info-campagne" kan het Riziv dus een aardige duit kosten. Het ergste is wel dat het hier gaat om gemeenschapsgeld dat wordt gespendeerd aan een aandoening die absoluut niet levensbedreigend is en heel vaak alleen een cosmetisch nadeel geeft ("het oogt niet fraai"). Dit terwijl er geld te kort is voor zware aandoeningen.

Deze campagne is een schoolvoorbeeld van de wijze waarop farmabedrijven het verbod op publieksreclame voor geneesmiddelen op voorschrift handig omzeilen. Het resultaat blijft voor hen gelijk: er wordt meer van het middel verkocht, en daar is het hen om te doen. Of ook de volksgezondheid daar bij gebaat is, is een andere zaak. (Bron : Test Aankoop)

I'm sure you've all had them as well, one of those days when you go to the bank to withdraw Plenty of Money™, go shopping and come home with No More Money™, yet you still don't have what you needed in the first place. To make things worse, while shopping you've pledged to Spending Even More Money™.

Yes, it's been one of those days. But... the good thing is that it'll bring me - and others - great pleasure. And that's much more worth than a couple of euro.

Does anyone remember the song by Cliff Richard "Lucky Lips"? Mine are not that lucky it seems. In fact, right now they're pretty numb but starting to hurt as time goes by. What happened you might wonder?

Let us just say that putting a fork that has been in a hot frying pan for a couple of minutes in your mouth is not a good idea. I was frying some meat and left to go check something on the telly and when I returned I picked up my fork, and did the dumb thing described above. As I heard the sizzling of my flesh when it came into contact with the hot metal, I knew something was quite wrong and even though I sucked on an icecube for a couple of minutes, the damage was/is done.

Good thing I now know - thanks to my first aid course last week - what first, second and third degree burns look like and how to care for them. Knowing what they look like is quite different from experiencing a first degree burn though, and to be honest, I wasn't really counting on having such a first hand experience. Ouchie.

101. Gotten a tattoo
102. Found that the texture of some materials can turn you on
103. Rafted the Snake River
104. Been on television news programs as an "expert"
105. Got flowers for no reason
106. Masturbated in a public place
107. Got so drunk you don't remember anything
108. Been addicted to some form of illegal drug
109. Performed on stage
110. Been to Las Vegas

111. Recorded music
112. Eaten shark*
113. Had a one-night stand*
114. Gone to Thailand
115. Seen Siouxsie live
116. Bought a house
117. Been in a combat zone
118. Buried one/both of your parents
119. Shaved or waxed your pubic hair off*
120. Been on a cruise ship

121. Spoken more than one language fluently
122. Gotten into a fight while attempting to defend someone
123. Bounced a check
124. Performed in Rocky Horror
125. Read - and understood - your credit report
126. Raised children
127. Recently bought and played with a favorite childhood toy
128. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
129. Created and named your own constellation of stars
130. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country

131. Found out something significant that your ancestors did
132. Called or written your Congress person
133. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
134. ...more than once? - More than thrice?
135. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
136. Sang loudly in the car, and didn't stop when you knew someone was looking
137. Had an abortion or your female partner did
138. Had plastic surgery
139. Survived an accident that you shouldn't have survived
140. Wrote articles for a large publication (depends on what you define as large)

141. Lost over 100 pounds
142. Held someone while they were having a flashback
143. Piloted an airplane
144. Petted a stingray
145. Broken someone's heart
146. Helped an animal give birth
147. Been fired or laid off from a job
148. Won money on a T.V. game show
149. Broken a bone
150. Killed a human being

151. Gone on an African photo safari
152. Ridden a motorcycle
153. Driven any land vehicle at a speed of greater than 100mph
154. Had a body part of yours below the neck pierced
155. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol*
156. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
157. Ridden a horse
158. Had major surgery
159. Had sex on a moving train*
160. Had a snake as a pet

161. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
162. Slept through an entire flight: takeoff, flight, and landing
163. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours
164. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states (not that hard since I'm not from the US)
165. Visited all 7 continents
166. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
167. Eaten kangaroo meat
168. Fallen in love at an ancient Mayan burial ground
169. Been a sperm or egg donor
170. Eaten sushi*

171. Had your picture in the newspaper
172. Had 2 (or more) healthy romantic relationships for over a year in your lifetime*
173. Changed someone's mind about something you care deeply about
174. Gotten someone fired for their actions
175. Gone back to school
176. Parasailed
177. Changed your name
178. Petted a cockroach
179. Eaten fried green tomatoes
180. Read The Iliad

181. Selected one "important" author who you missed in school, and read
182. Dined in a restaurant and stolen silverware, plates, cups because your apartment needed them.
183. ...and gotten 86'ed from the restaurant because you did it so many times, they figured out it was you
184. Taught yourself an art from scratch
185. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
186. Apologized to someone years after inflicting the hurt
187. Skipped all your school reunions
188. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
189. Been elected to public office
190. Written your own computer language

191. Thought to yourself that you're living your dream
192. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
193. Built your own PC from parts
194. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn't know you
195. Had a booth at a street fair
196: Dyed your hair
197: Been a DJ
198: Found out someone was going to dump you via LiveJournal
199: Written your own role playing game
200: Been arrested

To make up for my long assed boring technical entry before, here's a long assed less technical boring entry. Lists lists and more lists. Everything I've done is in italics. Things I plan on doing somewhere next year have an asterisk next to them.

01. Bought everyone in the pub a drink
02. Swam with wild dolphins
03. Climbed a mountain
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid
06. Held a tarantula
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
08. Said 'I love you' and meant it
09. Hugged a tree
10. Done a striptease

11. Bungee jumped*
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Stayed up all night long, and watch the sun rise
15. Seen the Northern Lights
16. Gone to a huge sports game
17. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
18. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
19. Touched an iceberg
20. Slept under the stars

21. Changed a baby's diaper
22. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon*
23. Watched a meteor shower
24. Gotten drunk on champagne
25. Given more than you can afford to charity
26. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
27. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
28. Had a food fight
29. Bet on a winning horse
30. Taken a sick day when you're not ill

31. Asked out a stranger*
32. Had a snowball fight
33. Photocopied your bottom on the office photocopier
34. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
35. Held a lamb
36. Enacted a favorite fantasy
37. Taken a midnight skinny dip
38. Taken an ice cold bath (it was in a swimming pool, does that count?)
39. Had a meaningful conversation with a beggar
40. Seen a total eclipse

41. Ridden a roller coaster
42. Hit a home run
43. Fit three weeks miraculously into three days
44. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
45. Adopted an accent for an entire day
46. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
47. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
48. Had two hard drives for your computer.
49. Visited all 50 states
50. Loved your job for all accounts

51. Taken care of someone who was shit faced
52. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
53. Had amazing friends
54. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
55. Watched wild whales
56. Stolen a sign
57. Backpacked in Europe
58. Taken a road-trip
59. Rock climbing
60. Lied to foreign government's official in that country to avoid notice

61. Midnight walk on the beach
62. Sky diving*
63. Visited Ireland (nothern ireland, actually)
64. Been heartbroken longer then you were actually in love
65. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger's table and had a meal with them
66. Visited Japan
67. Benchpressed your own weight*
68. Milked a cow (lol, I did attempt it once... and failed)
69. Alphabetized your records
70. Pretended to be a superhero

71. Sung karaoke
72. Lounged around in bed all day
73. Posed nude in front of strangers
74. Scuba diving
75. Got it on to "Let's Get It On" by Marvin Gaye
76. Kissed in the rain
77. Played in the mud
78. Played in the rain
79. Gone to a drive-in theater
80. Done something you should regret, but don't regret it.

81. Visited the Great Wall of China
82. Discovered that someone who's not supposed to have known about your blog has discovered your blog
83. Dropped Windows in favor of something better
84. Started a business
85. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
86. Toured ancient sites
87. Taken a martial arts class
88. Swordfought for the honor of a woman*
89. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight
90. Gotten married

91. Been in a movie
92. Crashed a party
93. Loved someone you shouldn't have
94. Kissed someone so passionately it made them dizzy
95. Gotten divorced
96. Had sex at the office
97. Gone without food for 5 days*
98. Made cookies from scratch
99. Won first prize in a costume contest
100. Ridden a gondola in Venice

I'm a sexy biatch - I just don't always recall that fact.

Crap - Forgot what I was gonna write. Firefox 1.0 has just been patched to 1.0.1, go grab your update. My own (work) shedule has been updated as well.

Oh... I got this spam mail that had a hilarious opening line if you ask me. It went like this :

"Hello, a conclusion is just something you reach when you're tired of thinking."

Could life be that simple?

Has anyone seen this ad on TV maybe? I believe I saw it on the tube but I ain't sure - it's about a razor specially crafted for shaving your head, and I was pretty convinced it was called "Head Racer 2", but under that name I can't find anything on the web. I also tried Head Razor, but that just gets me a page that sells hair extentions in flashy colors, lol!

Head Razor 2, Head Racing and multiple variants of it didn't get me anywhere either. Why is it that the single time I actually pay attention to advertising on TV, I can't find the product it promotes?

As I was reading P-Magazine at work two days ago, I stumbled upon their "Lezeres voor de Lens" section. Basically they shoot one of the magazine's female readers and publish some photos of her in the next edition. I was totally blown away by this months shoot of Sophia Osier. (Photographs are not yet available on the P-Magazine site as I write this entry, but I'll link/post some when they are!)

Not only does she look simply stunning, then I started reading her "data sheet" so to speak. She's 26, has animals (exotic fish, a cat) and lives in the same town as I do. She's got a son that takes up quite some of her time resulting in her not being a total party animal and her sign is Pisces. She either goes with the flow, or goes directly against it. About her character she says : "I'm very easy going and fun to deal with, but if you cross the line I can really come down hard on you."

She's currently in a relationship :( - and has been so for 3 years and looks kind of innocent which helps her hide her true nature (those are her own words).

My ideal guy has brown hair, and is a bit rough on the edges, and that can be quite extreme too. I like a guy with lots of tattoos and piercings, as long as he's got a great sense of humor too!

Why don't I meet lovely ladies like her? She seems to have it all... And she reflects the Pisces sign very well, I'm exactly the same.

Keeping in mind that I got up kinda early on monday (round 12h00) I lacked sleep already and met the man with the hammer early this morning around 04h00. Luckily my last round woke me up again, so I got home safely. Upon arriving home, checking mail and preparing to head off to bed, I suddenly heard a fearsome noise : someone was using a powerdrill at 08h00 in the morning. This continued until well after 09h15 while I tried to fall asleep.

Around 10h05 the phone ran, so I snapped out of my dozing and picked up the phone. Some stupid lady that "thought" she had the wrong number. Well, I could have guaranteed her that she had the wrong number but instead I remained civil. Back off to bed.

12h05, the phone rings again. I once again wake up, walk over to the phone and pick it up. Some crappy telemarketeer trying to convince me to switch to another carrier (Tele2). I gently tell the lady to piss off and go back to bed.

I just fail to fall back asleep it seems and give up around 14h45. I think I've had about 3, maybe 4 hours of solid sleep... this is gonna be bad.

Luckily, Pandora still likes me, or at least the "place". Thanks for the kind words, I think they might help me thtough this day and night.

I - finally - received the details for the paycheck I got on september 8th, splitting up every hour worked and such in August 2004.

However, it wasn't just that... The envelope also contained :

a revision for the statement of July 2004
a revision of a revision for the statement of May 2004
a revision for statement of April 2004

In other words, I got 1 regular statement and 3 revisions, try getting a clear view on that! I just spent about an hour going over all the changes and updates and as far as I can see, it's all correct(ed) now. I do expect getting a revised version of August with the statement of September though - not because something is wrong as far as I can see, but because they're used to it :)

Now I'm off to the bank to deal with them.

Thanks everyone for the numerous book suggestions I received over the past days! I was barely able to wrestle myself through the huge pile of suggestions, all in all amounting to extactly ZERO, nill, nada.

No comments, no suggestions, just a lot of nothing. Either you people can't read - in that case I really wonder what you're doing here, you don't care - again I wonder about your presence here, or you just are too lazy to lift a finger or kickstart a braincell.

I just ordered myself three new books, so at least someone is doing something interesting. I could write what books I ordered but I doubt it would register in your pea-sized brain, let alone trigger a reaction, so I'm not even gonna waste time doing so.

I can recommend one book though for you : Life for Dummies.
Chapter One : Breath and Breathing. Breathe In - Breathe Out.

On second thought I'm not gonna recommend it to you and in fact let the problem solve itself. Yes, I am that bitter today... It's a true wake-up call to have proof that 95% of the readers of this blog are morons or lazy fucks that care about little more than their soap on TV.

The drink on the left, combined with Eminem & D12 (My words are weapons), Eminem ft. Dido (Stan) and things like Elton John & Kiki Dee (Don't go breaking my heart), Enigma (Principles of Lust), Epsilon Minus (Double Trigger), Eurythmics (It's alright, baby's coming back) and Sisters are doing it for themselves can only mean one thing in the middle of the night :

I'm drunk. Well I'm not yet, but I might be soon. Why? I dunno coz being drunk doesn't really mean a lot to me, but I just felt like having a nice ice-cold large Cointreau Ice Tea... (and a second one - I'd have a third one too, but I ran out of icecubes) in a Hoegaarden pint nonetheless!

You know what's fun to do at night? Pissing three stories down from your balcony, facing the street and standing in broad view of a street light that stands almost in front of your apartment. It's less fun when the cops drive by and stop to ask all kinds of questions.

Go me!

OK, so the cops didn't stop to ask questions. They drove straight on, they probably weren't looking for the mystery balcony pisser. Phew!

I received this spam mail with the subject "You can help yourself" so I spanked my monkey till it puked. Only then did I realize it was advertising for some mortgage crap. Nowadays you can't even trust spam anymore :(

Oh, if you want/need a gmail account, leave a comment you sicko. I've got a couple more to spread.

I really feel like going back to bed and not caring who's gonna be influenced or pissed off about it. I think I'm suffering from a chronic shortage of sleep and I'm not really catching up. Sleeping 5 to six hours maximum and working 8 to 10 hours, something is wrong with that comparison.

I'm really not looking forward to today, but in the end, I'll survive. Tomorrow is another day of work and then I've got till monday night to get caught up. I've got other things to do too though, so it won't be just sleeping, unfortunately.

Hey, there is good news too... the carpetsharks are back home since yesterday!

It seems that not even Volvo batteries survive when you leave the headlights of your car on for over 12 hours. Well, at least that's my experience as I found my car totally dead this morning around eleven. Not a squeek, dashboardlight, nothing.

I called over to Joco's place and luckily enough he was home - although that luck seems to be relative as he was still experiencing erm... excretions of an less favorable kind - and he had a pair of starter cables in his car. Unfortunately, Eef was out shopping with the car and she didn't have her mobile phone with her. Anyway, Eef showed up - thanks a lot for that! - a few minutes past twelve and within minutes my car was revived.

I thanked her, drove over to my place, left the car running, ran inside, grabbed my work outfit and ran back outside and drove over to work. By the time I got there the battery had recharged enough to safely stop the engine and be able to start it again later.

What a day...

have a better sense of humor than others. Take a look at this image, which was put online to facilitate the sale of a property located 117 Tuscany Way - Danville, CA 94506.

Sure looks classy, doesn't it? Not really my kind of decoration but I can imagine that some people like it like that way.

Now look outside the window (click image to enlarge) :p

I just ordered some excellent chinese food at the local restaurant called Mei Mei House. I've been ordering from them for the past 6 years or so, as they've got good prices and superb food - and now I'm off to pick it up as they replied "ovel een kwaltieltje?" when I asked how long it would take to prepare.

It's too early to get all irritated by the lack of response of a certain company. At least now I know it took them nearly 11 hours to read the mail I've sent them yesterday around noon, but that is all. They read it, but chose not to reply to me.

Off to work.

After getting up way early, I've slowed down to an almost negative pace. The past three of four hours I've done exactly nothing and I think I might be exaggerating :)

Sent off a mail for information about some things, but go figure that they fail to reply to me now. Yes, I admit it... I'm one of those broadband people that demands instant satisfaction, replies and gratification.

I think I'll either go to the shop and make a ton of spaghetti sauce later on, or vacuum the apartment. Both thing need to be done, but I'm quite convinced I'll only do one of them - or none if I don't feel like it. (I have vacuumed a part of the place so far, AND reclassified 13 books. I have to find a solution for all my books though)

However, first I'm gonna reply to a mail that someone sent me a while ago and tell them that he can go fuck himself. Just for fun, really. (Done!)

Bleh, so much for good intentions, ain't it? I'm still awake and don't seem to be able to break out of my be-awake-at-night rythm. I tried not sleeping yesterday after work, so that I would be tired as hell in the evening, but just had to catch a few hours of sleep around 10, and it was of course 15h00 when I woke up again.

I'll have to give it another shot today, although I could go to bed now, and then already wake up around noon. That would give me about 5.5 to 6 hours of sleep - enough to be awake during the remainder of the day, yet too little to stay up too late at night.

Good idea, I'll try that. Pounds himself proudly on the chest, caveman like...

Yo, all you peeps out there, do you recall the catch phraze from FK?

For those who don't, I seriously hope you're not having breakfast while casually browsing this blog. If you are, and you click the links, feel free to send me photographs of the breakfast table after you've puked all over it :)

What the hell is up with the weather today? Where is the incredible thunderstorm that everyone expected? You know, the mother of all thunderstorms, the bringer of insane amounts of rain, lower temperatures and reviving everything that has been smothered in this blistering heat?

Right now, it is still as hot as it was yesterday night when I went to bed : 28 degrees Celsius (inside the apartment that is). I tried sleeping but instead tossed and turned for nearly four and a half hours. And now I'm up and looking at working 10 hours straight - I tell you, this is not going to have a happy end.

I curse this stinking weather and the fact that it's either too cold or too hot over here. A nice and common sense average is plain impossible.

Those about to melt with the asphalt, greet you. Medic! We need a stretcher, an ambulance and two cute nurses to take care of this patient. Wait, forget about the nurses... it's too hot to even think about sex!

it's already monday, but to keep things easy and in line with what my body tells me, it's still sunday. I'm off to bed as I just feel like I've been hit on the head with a dhuge wooden hammer.

Working 7 days in a row always seems to wear me out, and I've got only one day to get enough energy to work 10 hours on tuesday and 10 on wednesday. Then - hopefully - I off for a whopping 4 days straight after which I start 7 night shifts.

I've just watched the movie that has just one subject : fastfood consumption, and they targetted MacDonalds, however if you ask me, there is no reason to believe other fastfood options wouldn't result in the same devastating measurements after a month.

If you even have the chance to watch this movie, do so. I do suggest you go grab a huge fastfood meal at the fastfood outlet of your choice first though, as it might very well be the last time you did, and I'm sure it'll add to the experience when you starting feeling quite unpleasant during the movie.

I don't think I'll walk into one of them in the near future, that's for sure.

IMDB entry for Super Size Me.

Things I gotta do today :

shave - shower - shop for food - get flat tire fixed - stop at bank - work late shift - entertain ferrets - take out trash.

Update : Instead of being able to just get the flat tire fixed, it was a total loss. As they couldn't see any visible defects in it either, they put pressure on it and it got bumps and tits everywhere. According to the guys there, that's due to extreme heat and that could make sense as it was too fucking hot on friday. If I hadn't pulled over so soon, it would have exploded with possibly worse results than slaving in the blistering sun for 15 minutes to replace a tire.

Final outcome? I had to get two new tires, since the automobile inspection here in Belgium has become very strict when it comes to having the same brand and type of tires. If you drive around with different brands/types, they won't certify your car, simple as that. So, why couldn't I just get one tire replaced? Because the Goodyear GT2 that I had right now, is not being made anymore, but has been replaced with a GT3. Yes, even such a simple change is enough to piss off the people at the automobile inspection. For just over a 100 euro I got two new tires, balanced, fitted and all. It could have been worse.

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]

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!]

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...

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"?

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.

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 still have 7 years in Tibet on tape - taped it last week, and today I recorded Shaft, and on wednesday I'll be taping Boogie Nights. The only problem so far seems to be a lack of free to watch all these excellent movies. I still recall that I though 7 years in Tibet would be some stupid mellow romanticised story, but when I finally caught it on TV, I was blown away by it. So I didn't waste my chance to tape it so I can watch it again someday.

Shaft I ain't seen yet - or maybe I have? - but Boogie Nights I've seen like 3 times already, and it still rocks. Somehow most Disco music just makes my body want to sing, dance, move and groove. Utterly out of rhythm of course, let there be no doubt about that :)

that looks like shit, but should serve its purpose. After all, building a birds nesting cage is not exactly rocket science I believe. I'm not really pleased with how the roof is attached to the body - the screws that came with the hinges keep getting loose - but for the time being, I'll leave it at that. I'll improve it when I start building version 1.1.

I think I might build a few more of those, if people are interested in them. I don't promise architectural top of the bill creations, but as I build more, I'll should get better at it. At least all the measurements are correct and these nesting cages should be appropriate for Blue Tits (Pimpelmees - Parus Caeruleus), as well as Great Tits (Koolmees - Parus Major). Attach them at a height of 1.5 to 1.8 meters and preferably out of reach of cats, squirrels, weasels and such.

And then I forgot to post pictures, lol. Here they are.

If you've got a garden, or a spot to hang one of these wonderful friedkitten.com creations, place your order in a comment.

So, I've got this small problem : I've got 12 bottles of Smirnoff Ice (Black Ice and Red Ice) and it's ice-cold. Well, not yet, but it'll be ice-cold by tomorrow afternoon/evening, or sunday depending on the weather.

Since I don't drink (that much), I'm looking for a couple of friends to help me finish those bottles, and I think I've got a bottle of wodka around as well that needs to be emptied. The thing is that I don't have the space - or the drive to clean this pigsty - to welcome guests. So, if you've got the place, I've got the booze.

Anyone interested? Leave a comment below, so we can get in touch.

So, how confused are you when looking at dogtoys and adult toys? Do you often think "This could be used for more interesting things" or "Damn, this is worthless, better let the dog chew on it" when you've got an object in your hand?

Find out now : Dog toy or Marital Aid (link thanks to Zoe)

I scored a nice 12/14 in the easy round and 9/14 in the difficult one. A thing to keep in mind, according to Jenny : "Mental note. Pet store is probably cheaper than Sex store."

Now I'm off to Fnac to get a ticket for Rock Zottegem on July 10th, where Front 242 will be headlining.

Last night, my sister called me around seven thirty I think. I picked up the phone and must have sounded like a complete retard, as I was soundly asleep when she rang. Honestly, for the first 5 minutes or so, I had no clue what time it was, whether it was morning or evening, or even what day.

She was talking about how she and some family members were gathering at my dad's place around 9 and if I would like to come over too. I was totally confused, looking outside, seeing the sun rise, thinking it was sunday morning, and that she was talking about them gathering on sunday evening, while in reality it was saturday evening, and the sun was setting, not rising.

She tried explaining it for a while, but I just couldn't kick my brain out of sleep mode and into gear to understand a word she was saying. It must have been a really funny conversation I bet. As we finished talking, I went straight back to bed, skipped having food at all, and slept straight till a few minutes ago. A few minutes ago meaning 4 AM'ish on sunday morning - I think.

A small collection of things that struck me as noteworthy, funny or intriguing :

Lake Chesterfield (Missouri) disappears in a matter of days. So much for having a nice view over the lake, right?

First European nudist cruise to set sail from Barcelona. At least they don't have to worry about tan lines!

Regular sex helps (students). Good thing I'm not studying anymore, I'd fail completely :(

Everyone has heard about the monstrosities committed by US military personnel in the Abu Graib prison in Iraq, hell, it's been all over the media. I can imagine that those in power don't want those things leaked to the public, because it'll force them to dedicate time and money to clearing up the mess, or coming up with even more shocking material to divert attention (Nicholas Berg video, anyone?).

One of the ways they can accomplish such control over media is to control and limit the freedom of non-US journalists that visit the USA. Here is one such story (dated May 3rd 2004), and believe me, it'll make cold shivers run down your spine.

Welcome to America - When writer Elena Lappin flew to LA, she dreamed of a sunkissed, laid-back city. But that was before airport officials decided to detain her as a threat to security ...

Related links : IFEX (International Freedom of Expression eXchange) - Indymedia (Independent Media Center)

My day sa far in a few words - and pictures :

running errands - shopping - returning to store for more shopping - sleeping in - dealing with spam - dirty hands - dirty mind (although that's not just today) - sun - lottery tickets

Yeah, I think the abundance of sun has affected my mind... ServMe planting green stuff, often referred to as plants?! That's something new! Especially since I know as much about plants as I know about women : nothing.

Wait, that wasn't totally correct. I know nothing about women, but less than nothing about plants. Phew... glad I was able to correct that slip of the tongue keys.

Weird. I just heard my phone ring two or three times and then it stopped. That in itself is not weird, but weird is that it happens at 01h40 at night. No one would call me at that time, unless it was an emergency or it was my work calling me.

I was too late to pick up the phone because I was brushing my teeth, so whomever called me, will either have to call back before 02h00 or call me again tomorrow. I'll see if I can find out who it was though, providing I can find the correct code to list missed calls on the Belgacom site.

(I found the code, it's 1919, but it tells me no number has been registered, so that doesn't tell me much. It's too late to start calling random people to ask if they called me though.)

It's the end of the month, and although it doesn't mean much, I'm somehow glad it is. I just got home from work - while most other people had a day off I presume - and I'll be off to work again tomorrow at 07h15 at the latest. That leaves me 9 hours to do the following : eat (2 times), prepare food to eat at work (1), sleep, take care of the ferrets, shower, brush teeth, read mail. Let's break that down :

Sleep : 6 hours (if possible), so that leaves me 3 hours. Eat twice and prepare food : 45 minutes, leaving 2 hours and 15 minutes. Shower, brush teeth etc : 30 minutes. Time left : 1 hour and 45 minutes. Take care of the ferrets : 2x 30 minutes minimum, leaving 45 minutes to read my mail, and do all kinds of small chores I didn't even think of yet like taking the trash out, emptying the dishwasher etc.

I gotta run!

The mailman just rang my bell, because he had a registered letter for me, so I had to sign for it. Why wasn't I suprised to see that it was another letter in regard to the European and Flemish Council elections on June 13th 2004?

Yes, they did it again. After having been "elected" last year to spend a couple of hours in a school building helping out with the elections - read last year's post(s) - they were so considerate to think of me again this year. How nice of them, not?

Listen idiots, I have done it once and I wonder what makes you think I'm willing to do it again? Last year I was unemployed and even though I didn't feel like helping out, I guess it was a fair question from society. This year I'm employed and working +180 hours a month, so the few days I'm not working I actually like doing things I like. Getting up at 07h00 to look at wrinkled old farts that have no clue how a computer works, which side up the card goes, or what party they have to vote for is somehow not very high on my list.

I think I'll go call my boss and make sure I gotta work on sunday, June 13th.

The yearly event where 24 countries try their hardest to make themselves appear as morons has once again started. I've not heard any song - apart from the Belgian submission fo course - before, and I'll be judging las I did last year. However, this time no detailed comments on all entries, but rather some words about those songs that I think "worked".

The first entry that caught my ear in a way was that of Serbia & Montenegro. I this there was still something missing, but at least it wasn't as crappy as all the contestants that performed before them. Next thing that I noticed was the Ukrainian contestant, Ruslana. Man, what a vivid show, and the complete group just breathed power. Definitely a top 5 ranking, if they don't win. Too bad about the obviously fake tattoos, but I guess you can't have it all :)

This is also something that struck me as interesting. Quite a lot of performers had piercings or tattoos. I think I even noticed some stretched lobes (Tie Break) although they might have been fake. There were various artists with eyebrow piercings, I noticed multiple lobe piercings and possible a rook and labret as well.

More updates as the contest continues.

Xandee (Belgium) just performed and while not bad, I doubt we'll get much higher than a top 10. The act itself was something you'd more expect in a disco somewhere, not on Eurovision. Oh, and that mouth of Xandee, it's HUGE! She could easily have stuck the micro in completely and still be able to sing. She reminds me of Julia Roberts (the female Mick Jagger) and that ain't a good thing.

Update 22h31 : other noteworthy songs were brought by Greece and Poland. I wonder though why the Cyprus artist wanted to look like Barbara Streisand? And what's up - generally speaking - with the style breaks that seem so popular this year? Artists start singing in one style, then suddenly break into another one for a few lines, and then they pick up the original one again. Especially the southern styles seem popular somehow.

Update 22h43 : Sweden is also a contender for a top half ranking, even though the song is not too special, it has everything a Eurovision song requires.

Televoting starts now, but here is my top 5 :

1. Urkaine - Ruslana
2. Poland
3. Sweden
4. Belgium - Xandee
5. Serbia & Montenegro

It's way too early to be reading this blog. Go back to bed, enjoy the warmth of your partner next to you.

*waves as I leave for work*

because it obviously decided to hate me too today. It started off kinda normal but when I arrived at work everything decided to take a turn for the worst. It seems that some people like arriving at work, separated 2 to 5 minutes apart, so that the period of time it too long to stay around and wait for them, and to short to walk over to your - far from comfortable - chair and sit down. Thus you end up walking back and forth all day long, thanks to a bunch of idiots.

After that "rush" is gone, it was dead calm... for 15 to thirty minutes and then once again everyone was arriving at the same time. People wanting to go in, people wanting to leave, cyclists joing both the incoming and outgoing stream (they require manual processing, no matter what), trucks arriving, waiting and departing, weight measurements to be taken and badges that had incorrect privileges. In short : total chaos!

Anyway, I survived so far and was able to untangle the fucked up mess. Now my feet hurt and my back aches, and tomorrow is another day of the same torture. When I tried getting home, I ended up in a traffic jam - one would say I better get used to it, but I refuse - that seamlessly flowed into the next traffic jam. If I'm correct, I'll be having these kinds of problems every day now, and the bad news is, is that there is NO backup route as far as I know. It's just "we're working on this road for the next couple of weeks/months and if you're fucked, too bad".

When I finally got home and stopped at the store, they didn't have any baskets left at the entrance, so I carried my purchases around in my arms, and when I left it was impossible to find a parking spot near my place. After a couple of tours round the block, I found one not too far away. When I was right in the middle of the street, the pack of water (6x1.5 liter) decided to rip and break, dropping bottles of water all over the place. Go figure... that was the final drop I think : the world hates me today, although I've got no clue what the fuck I did wrong?!

I'm off to see if I can patch up my feet for more torture tomorrow, and I'm hiding for the rest of the evening. Maybe I'll go catch a movie tomorrow evening, since I've got a late shift on wednesday. Anyone wanna join me?

It's a good thing that people don't reach the age of 60 every year, as it would be deadly. Yes, yesterday was the "suprise" birthday party for Hilda, and although she definitely knew a lot was going on, I'm convinced she still was suprised to see what exactly it all was.

We (the organising team that is) arrived around 17h00 and started preparing everything for the party. Some people were putting up decorations, filling up balloons and while the band (Understatement) was unpacking and testing all their material, Dimi and I were busy installing two laptops, and setting up the beamer for the continuous slideshow with photographs of Hilda.

While normally they always arrive late, last night Bobke & Hil arrived at least 20 minutes early so they ran right into the soundcheck I was doing with the laptop. Ah well, it was working fine so it wasn't a problem to skip most of it and go right into the playlist with "easy listening music" while the guests arrived.

I'm not going to write out everything that happened, but we got a nice show from the band - about 2 hours of (rock) covers, if you're interested in booking Understatement, check their site! - and a friend of Hilda had prepared a little sketch as well. Fun fun fun, although some of the older people were complaining : "too loud - what's all that noise - does this go on much longer?" about the band. Well, I guess that's the generation gap because I enjoyed it and most "young" people did if you ask me.

Hilda gave us a very nice show on stage too (Peter Koelewijn and His Rockets anyone?) and around 00h30 we finally dove into the "prehistoric" part of the evening with Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra and Chubby Checker. It was kinda hard to keep the oldies rolling (both on the dancefloor as well as from the laptop) but it didn't matter much because Hilda enjoyed it. By 01h30 or 02h00 most people were leaving and we switched to a mixture of mostly 70'ies and 80'ies music. Taking everything down and packing up took almost an hour and we closed the doors around 3.

By that time some people were wasted and even beyond wasted so I gathered all of them in my car and dropped them of at Puldercity where some were still alive enough to start unpacking the numerous gifts, whereas others crashed in the nearest sofa and drifted off into Lala land.

I'm up already because I gotta be asleep again in less than 12 hours, but first I'm gonna check the 62 photographs I made, delete those that are crap and then upload them - not in the FK gallery though, as I'm running out of space.

This reminds me I also have to mail the pictures of the band to that cutie who gave me her e-mail address.

This is bloody insane, what else can I say?

I should have known things were going too well to be true. Just as I walked into my kitchen, I noticed that both my sinks had a tad bit of water in them. Nothing major, but still suprising as I haven't let any water run for the past few hours.

As I went to check if the neighbors had been using excessive amounts of water, it had risen considerably, now both sinks are halfway filled with dirty, hot water. It turns out my neighbor across the hall had been using her dishwasher, and it seems the drain is blocked so when it starts pumping out water, it floods ours sinks. Nice, very nice. Especially since that exact same problem occured about three months ago, two floors down. It cost a smack of money to get it solved, it took three weeks and they had to partially destroy one of the owners kitchen floor.

I'm so not looking forward to the same thing happening in my kitchen. However, does anyone remember the day I was ready to leave for the UK? One hour before I had to leave to catch my flight, I saw water seeping out of my bedroom wall.

I'm starting my new job on thursday, and I'll be working shift (nights, days and weekends) so I'm not really looking forward to having plumbers over all day as they try locating the problem and fixing it. Ah well... such is life I guess.

I doubt anyone really noticed, but Lybia seems to have disappeared in the big void, at least when it comes to internet presence. This article in The Register has more on it : Libya disappears from the Internet.

If this is a political move of some kind, it won't be long before the rest of the world will have had enough of this system where one (American) institution controls pretty much all of the internet. Either alternative systems will be presented and used for the "Free World", or each country/region will develop and use their own implementation, quite possibly resulting in incompatibility and lots of problems.

Let's all hope there is a good technical explenation for this, otherwise the web is in deep shit.

Going to bed early - if 01h00 is what one considers early - and then laying awake till 02h13, that's the last I remember, only to wake up as tired as one went to bed. This is a really bad way of preparing to start working again. Tomorrow morning I'm expected at the office 09h00 for more instructions and on thursday I start for real.

I just hope that the mailman decides to deliver a signed contract today (or they've got it at the company tomorrow) and my official guard ID card that's certified by the Ministry of Interal Affairs. If I've got those before thursday, I'm a happy camper.

OK, what's on my to-do list for today?

Check why my DeskJet printer is behaving erratically (it seems to print fine, so the problem is probably image related, not printer related) - pick up some tools - get food - meet with Little Wabbit (yay!) - do all kinds of chores (laundry etc) - dentist appointement

Update : OK, I managed to get some things done even though a letter from ABVV told me to come in within 8 days to reconfirm some things. It's a waste of time coz I start working on the 15th, but I decided to get it over and done with. Better keep everything tightly organised instead of having to run and search for papers later on.

Now : mailman, where is my Humo? - CM, where is my refund? - Almighty thing up there in the sky, where is my girlfriend? (Oh yes... I forgot. I don't believe in almighty things in the sky. Damn!)

I've got no clue so far how they do it, but Subservient Chicken rocks.

Ask the chicken to :

- fly (it's quite funny)
- lay an egg
- throw the pillows
- break the TV
- ...

Around noon I stopped at the bank and withdrew exactly 140 euro (about USD170).

Then I went out and got some things I needed, or needed to get done - follow me :

Stop 1. Petstore, to pick up food and litter for the fuzzies (30 euro)
Stop 2. Oilchange for car (35 euro + a 1.5 hour wait)
Stop 3. (while waiting for the oil change) Picked up a blanket I needed (29.55)
Stop 4. Got a card for a special someone and bought a book (Stupid White Men) (14.49)
Stop 5. Had something to eat (9.15)

Total : 118.19

Things left to do : Appointement at the vet later tonight and get fuel for the car. I don't think I'll make it with the 21.81 that remains. Back to the bank I guess, I better start working soon!

While I'm off to the dentist, I give you Bohemian Rhapsody : Pixelated (Flash plugin required - and turn up the volume).

As some of you might have noticed, I pulled a little April Fools day joke out of my hat yesterday. I've had 2 mails concerning it, and I know of at least two more people that were a bit confused with the page I served them instead.

If you didn't happen to see it, take a look here : April Fools Day 2004 at friedkitten.com.

Now, what did I really do today, apart from making up silly geeky jokes and pages? I got up around 09h00 and read my mail, constructed the silly April Fools Day joke and then went shopping. It's not like I really needed stuff, but the fridge was empty - apart from a mouse that's long deceased due to starvation - and I thought about getting some new clothes for the Launch Party tonight (links in a previous post somewhere).

I did end up getting myself two new t-shirts (that I didn't really need, but I just love t-shirts) and I got myself a very nice new watch. Take a look at it here : Sector 200 Date Gents. It was a little more expensive than I was planning on spending, but I had been looking at various models for close to an hour, and this one was the only one that I found simple, yet appealing. All the others had either a multitude of knobs, buttons, functions and colors, or were massive chunks of steel, and shiny as hell. I don't want such a watch, I want one that tells me the time and the date, and is simple yet stylish.

Then only thing I didn't figure out yet, is what button I gotta push or turn to get dates with women - I guess it's burried deep into the multilangual manual.

Which leads me to the next thing that happened. I went to the Lucid Lights Launch party in Carr�, and I was kinda disappointed with it all. Sure, they were experiencing lots and lots of technical difficulties that caused a delay of about 1.5 hours, as well as them only being able to show 25% of the systems capabilities, but if they can fix those issues, they have something pretty cool. I think especially advertising could benefit from it, the marketing boys will just love this product.

What I did miss though, was the bunch of invited celebrities, the cool chicks, the on-stage dancers and things like that. No Miss Belgium to been seen anywhere, no Tanja Dexters either :( Sure, there never was any confirmation that they would be there, but still... one can hope, right?

Tomorrow - although technically today - I'll be signing my death sentence contract and in the afternoon I'll be meeting with a client. Friday evening I'll probably go out with the friends of the course. Saturday I should catch up on what I neglected so far this week (scrubbing floors) and on sunday we celebrate my dad's birthday.

Oh, and I've got an idea for a new website, but it's nothing more as a vague plan in my head so far.

An elderly couple is vacationing in the West. Bob always wanted a pair of authentic cowboy boots. Seeing some on sale one day he buys them, wears them home, walking proudly.

He walks into their hotel room and says to his wife "Notice anything different, Martha?"

Martha looks him over, "Nope".

Bob says excitedly, "Come on, Martha, take a good look. Notice anything different about me?"

Martha looks again, "Nope."

Frustrated, Bob storms off into the bathroom, undresses and walks back into the room, completely naked except for his boots.

Again he asks, a little louder this time, "Notice anything DIFFERENT?"

Martha looks up and says, "Bob, what's different? It's hanging down today, it was hanging down yesterday, and the dang thing will be hanging down again tomorrow."

Furious, Bob yells "AND DO YOU KNOW WHY THE SON-OF-A-GUN IS HANGING DOWN, MARTHA? IT'S HANGING DOWN BECAUSE IT'S LOOKING AT MY NEW BOOTS!!!"

To which Martha replies, "Shoulda bought a hat, Bob".

I've just come across this nice article : Doc backs nose picking and I don't care what you think about it, I think it makes sense.

I've totally forgotten about my dream this morning - well, it's still there but I'm too lazy to start looking for the correct words to both express my feelings and moods as well as the facts and things that happened in it. Let's just keep it at "it was a weird dream and I woke up before we could/should/had to save to world".

Oh, I passed my exam. Two fellow students failed (one of them quite badly, the other one has to retake one class) and everyone else passed with rather good grades, although none of them came close to my 89% grade. I know grades don't matter and only a pass is needed, but still... it's nice to know :p

Damn... Just got back from the dentist and I thought he'd actually do some work today, but it turns out this was just a damage assessment visit. 6 cavities sounds like quite a lot, and I agree... it is a lot, but when taking into consideration that the last time I've seen a dentist was about 5 years ago, it's not so suprising if you ask me.

Anyway, on tuesday we start working on everything needed and will continue for a couple of weeks. If I can manage to get it all done sooner, I'll definitely push for that option though. I'd like to waste as less time as possible, because that really is the only reason I always postpone visits to the dentist : time. I don't mind the actual work, and those who yell "but it hurts!" are either wussies, or have a bad dentist. The worst part of it all is the actual sedation being applied, and the rubbery mouth afterwards.

He gave my teeth a quick tooth plaque cleaning though, resulting in my teeth looking even worse as before my visit. Pretty strange if you ask me. Anyway, my point is this : a job where you can charge 51 euro for under 30 minutes of work, I'd like one of those ;)

It's been quite a long day... getting up at 05h30 had something to do with it I'd say, I hope I don't have to do that again anytime soon. I'm so much more an evening/night person instead of a "get up at sunrise" dude.

This morning we've had lots of theory about fire, what different classes of fires there are, and how to deal with them (basic stuff, nothing big at all - we're being trained for first minute fire control and not to be professional firefighters) and what kind of extinguisher to use on which type of fire.

Have you ever thought about the 4 different types of fire? I certainly never did!

Class A fire : solid goods
Class B fire : liquids
Class C fire : gasses
Calls D fire : metallics (magnesium, natrium and such)

and they all have their recommended fire fighting solution. In the afternoon we went out in the field to turn the theory into practice. We started off by handling/ending a kettle of burning oil, and after we all successfully completed the task, got a demonstration of what happens when you use water to try and extinguish it : disaster!

Then we moved on to extinguishing solids (in this case a computer that was burning, although helped a bit by gasoline poured over it and being lighted) for which we used CO2 extinguishers. That wasn't too much of a problem, although you need to "get" the technique to do it properly.

After that, we moved onto handling a firehose (a 45mm one, so it's pretty small and has low pressure) to know what it feels like. Then a quite large bassin filled with water was covered in gasoline and set aflame. Damn hot, and very spectacular as well. We use power based fire extinguishers to end the fire, and once again we were shown what happens when you try to handle burning liquids with water. Two volunteers took the 45mm hose to the bassin, and tried using it to put out the flames. While it seemed to work at first, it soon proved to be rather hazardous because the flames kept on crawling back towards them, often totally unforseen. The blazing fire was then put out using foam.

Final in-the-field exercise was getting stuck in the "smoke room" where you later on had to find your way through and exit. It looks easy, but it certainly is not. I made it through the room alright (I did notice the other door in the room when we first entered it) but in the corridor after the room, chairs and tables were place strategically to throw us off guard. When I reached the end-point, I somehow managed to completely miss the door that lead to the exit. So I returned on my steps to check if I had missed something vital in the corridor itself.

While going back, I met up with a colleague who was also proceeding in the exercise, and we exchanged a few quick words to make sure we didn't miss any exits along the way. I was convinced I didn't miss anything, to I started going the same way again, and when reaching the end, I did find the exit this time. It wasn't scary at all, and gives you a good indication of what it is to be in a room filled with smoke, although it's still far from the real thing.

It's been a busy but enjoyable day, where I did learn some very good and usable things!

Oh, did you know that during a fire, not the flames themselves are the most dangerous element, but the smoke is? It might sound a bit strange, but believe me : after your been in the smoke room and seen what the result is of an overflash during a fire, you'll think about smoke in a completely different way.

I don't give a flying shit what anyone says, or for whatever reason it is, but waking up at 05h30 is way too early, period.

*Rubs eyes and still doesn't see anything. How about turning the lights on? I'm so smart.*

I really don't feel like going to class today - if it were "optional" like it was back in the days when I studied, I'd turn around and sleep in. Unfortunately, it's not an option.

Why the title? See for yourself :

Monday : 6 hour class in criminal law
Tuesday : 6 hours of self defense (painful)
Wednesday : starts at 08h00 in Asse. This means getting up around 0h530
Thursday : dentist appointement
Friday : nothing torture like planned so far... but I still got time!

I wanna go back to bed, but being the good boy that I am, I'm going to class.

Your body is a strange thing, ain't it? You know that you've got limbs, toes, fingers, a back, arms, head and such, but unless you hit your finger with a hammer, you don't experience it's existence in a fysical way (apart from when you are using it of course). What I mean to say is : you always have your body and it's there but you don't realize it that often.

I just got back from a training in what is often referred to as "self defense", and believe me : I know that I've got a body, it consists of a lot of small parts, and each and every one of them hurts.

I'm off to bed early, believe me, but now that I just got home, I'm gonna have a long shower - if I can stay on my feet that is - and tomorrow I'll count all the bruises, nicks, dents and scratches all over me. Self defense training is fun, don't get me wrong, but throwing in a nearly 5 hour long session if you have no recent background in it, that hurts.

Did I learn something that I can use if needed? I probably did, although it's hard to tell right now. All the moves, grips and actions should be a second instinct if you want them to be useful in case of problems - a full day training doesn't do much else but give an insight into what is and is not possible.

Shower, here I come!

This is early to be awake! Off to the shower.

Did anyone see a gigantic billboard somewhere that lists my phonenumber with a plea to call me tonight? There must be something like that out there though, as I've been bombarded with phonecalls so far :

Call 1 : Diane, asking why MSN Messenger starts automatically, even though we turned that behavior off last time
Call 2 : Raveman, asking something about a failed harddisk
Call 3 : Diane, to complain that she can't get on the internet
Call 4 : Diane again, to ask how she had to close the dos window that I had her open during call 3
Call 5 : Filip, asking for an update in regard to the bankruptcy of ICT Assistance

Who'll be next? I hope it'll be this nice chick (another picture here), because she can call me anytime! Sure, she wears "fake tattoo" clothes, but that can be turned into a nice real full body suit. Yummy

It's still dark outside! I want to go back to bed!

(open curtain)

Oh my god! It's not dark outside at all! (Heads off to get windshield of car replaced)

*This post was brought to you by sleepy bedhead*

Update : windshield successfully replaced, although it turned out that there was quite some corrosion under the old windshield when they removed it. They cleared up the corrosion and applied an anti-corrosion coating before placing the new windshield.

Update 2 : just checked the status of my UPS shipment and it turned up this error, should I worry?

Mar 3, 2004 - 8:56 A.M. - PHILADELPHIA, PA, US - PROCESSING ERROR AT DESTINATION SITE;PKG HAS BEEN REROUTED TO DESTINATION.

They better don't fuck it up!

Update 3 : Just got a reply from someone I thought was working for UPS, it turned I was wrong... ;)

No I work for Fedex but I know what it means. Your package has joined the ranks of 20%+ of airline luggage and gone to da wrong place hehe. Rerouting means they discovered the error and have corrected it. You may get a fancy shmancy lable that says "Priority Routing" or something like that (not sure what UPS does) but it's just for show. Hope you get your package soon, and thank you for choosing FedEx Home Delivery. :P

Note to UPS : DON'T FUCK IT UP!

I just finished watching The Lone Gunmen, a spin-off from the X-files, revolving around the team of hacker/wizzkids that sometimes help out Mulder and Scully in the X-files. Well, I suppose the title says enough about my first impression about it.

Sure, the X-files was unbelievable sometimes, or really impossible to even grasp what they were intending, but The Lone Gunmen is just a joke. Just read the following :

We gotta hack into the DoD (Department of Defense) mainframe. Moments later they're in. They start looking for a file called Scenario 12-D, and they find it within seconds. When they start downloading the plain text file someone at the DoD starts tracing the intruders (them). In a fraction of seconds they are identified by IP address and connection method (DSL). Yet the download of the text file takes minutes to complete, get real!

The DoD starts more agressive investigations, and starts scanning all the files on the computer of TLG, finds a file called userdata.ini and starts reading it. Oh no! We can't let that happen, they'll know our address! Let's compromise the cookie! (Finally they end up pulling the power cable to avoid detection).

TLG supposed to be wizzkids, hackers, whitehats? ROFLMAO! Over a DSL connection even downloading 500kb would only 2 or 3 seconds, and a 500kb text file contains a huge amount of data. Cookies have got nothing to do with the thing they were trying at all, and a file called userdata.ini? Provided it would exist, what a sorry excuse for a hacker would you be if you allowed it to contain your true address? No to mention how stupid you'd have be to not prevent anyone from scanning files on your computer?

If you want to hack into a secured system, there are a few ways of doing it, but all of them take at least a few hours, unless you want to get caught within 5 minutes after starting. You could social engineer yourself into the system, as in quite a lot of cases the human is the weakest link, or provided you'd go for a brute force or exploit based attack, you'd always want to put some systems between you and the target system.

A possible route would be (I don't know the DoD nor the setup of their systems, this is just logical thinking) : hack into the fire department systems, then hop over to the local police systems, from there one go up a level to federal police and finally access the DoD systems.

Go from an unsecured or weak system and use those as a base to start attacks to systems that'll get you what you need. This takes time and/or preparation, and while I know you can't show all that in a TV series, this just tells people that computers are unsafe or hackers can do anything they want. Both statements are false.

The series is a joke, really. Unfortunately, that wasn't the end of it... A plane was being hijacked by means of remote control, because someone uploaded an incorrect flight plan into the automatic pilot, and it couldn't be overruled. What do our Lone Gunmen do? They send a fax to the airline company and suddenly have a carrier into the flight navigation system. Right. Why not?!

They start hacking the system to enable the manual override commands, but they can't break the code because their systems ain't powerful enough. Luckily, another hacker had stolen a brand new chip called Opticon IV (which has lots of data and privacy intruding measurements built in, apart from lots of gigiflops of computing power) so they get her to give them the chip, and thanks to that manage with seconds to spare to hand back control of the plane to the pilots, who scrape the top of the World Trade Center.

How original. Apart from the fact that the Opticon sounds suspiciously like the Operton although I think they tried to make a reference to the Pentium IV, planes flying into towers doesn't fly too well with certain parts of the world I think. And slamming a totally new processor into your old system to get increased computing power? Sure, again : why not?

The Lone Gunmen serie is a friggin' joke for anyone who even has the slightest clue about technology and computers. Good thing for them that I ain't on a review board that decides about pilots of shows to be...

I just almost shit my pants while reading BOFH: We who are about to dial salute you (Episode 7). Maybe I shouldn't get out of IT and support at all?

I just finished watching The Messenger : The Story of Jeanne D'arc (aka Joan of Arc), starring the incredible Milla Jovovich as Jeanne. Wonderful movie, that must say. I bet that when you see it in a theatre it's even more impressive as it was on my small TV.

Certain images and shots of Milla reminded me of Tanja Dexters, a babe that really appeals to me. She's got a certain look that I totally dig so to say. Well, Milla had that same something in Jeanne D'arc sometimes.

Apart from that, the movie and story is quite interesting to say the least and one thing has become quite clear to me : the one who controls religion, controls people. After all, religion is nothing but a tool to have people do what you want them to do, as there is no objection possible, unless you can to be cast out of whatever you think you're part of.

If you think for yourself and are a true believer in yourself instead of some shady character that exists only in myths and legends, and to whom various prophecies are attributed, you are far more dangerous to those seeking the power to rule the world than anything else. Because you (can) see past all the fabrications, facts and spins - something they'll try to avoid at all times.

Mark my words : this world is heading for a new war of the religions, whether it'll be Islam versus Christianity, Christianity versus Judaism, Hinduism versus Taosim, or Buddhism versus something else. It doesn't really matter. Free thinkers will always be a thorn in the side of those who aim to use religion as a tool for world domination.

Preparations have been going on for quite a while and you should have noticed that instead of moving people together, everything and most people move more to the extremes, leaving no more room for negotiation or even acceptance of other ideas. You're either for or against, there is no more middle ground and reason.

I was thinking about taking the car out and do some things that I gotta do anyway, but after taking a look outside, I'll be using public transportation for at least one thing, and walk for another. I'm not risking my set of wheels in this weather unless I really need to.

All my friends, family and other peopel I care about : if you gotta go out today, please BE CAREFUL!

Snowy update

Apparently the photo's that I shot from my balcony are not telling everything. When I stepped outside I was really suprised to see how much snow was actually covering the roads and pavements. This was not the typically Belgian 5cm of snow, but rather 15 to 20cm! Instead of heading off to the tramway I decided to check on the car first and clear that of most snow. It even started after a while so I let it run for a few minutes while I plowed myself through more snow. The car is not snow free at all, but at least it's available now in case I decide to use it later today - something I don't plan on doing though.

After chatting with the neighbors for a while and greeting other people in the street as I headed to the tramway, I noticed something very odd : no trams to be seen anywhere. I let my eyes wander over the tracks, or rather the lack thereof : no tram has passed here in the last few hours, while they normally run every 10 minutes. Scratch that plan I guess... I'm home now, gonna do a quick check on the site of the public transportation company to see if they have any announcements, and depending on that, I'll take out the bike or walk my ass off.

The number to call for updates on service availability is not busy, yet rings twice and then is connected with the eternal bitbucket it seems. In other words : get connected, but no answers. The site itself says nothing at all about problems. Off to check the newspaper (online) now to see if they have anything on it.

Yay for snow, not?

Heiko Hebig wrote this on January 24th :

Please, can someone explain to me why 90 per cent of all females in social network communities are "committed", "in a relationship" or "married"? That's no fun, girls. Can we have a social network for, uhm, people without friends? Not like that would lead to anything... well, you get my point.

Well, this brings up another point : where the hell do you go to meet someone, being a Geek yourself? You either meet them at a non-Geek event and you'll probably end up chasing them away, or bore them to death, or you meet them at a Geek event, where the male to female ratio with some certainty is 100:1, and then - providing you come in contact with a compatible unit - you do Geeky things, but romance or something like that is far, far away.

Geeks power and advance technology, but they will become (or already are) the dinosaurs of society - soon to be extinct. What consequences are there for society as a whole, should the Geek species be wiped of the face of the earth?

If we agree to the statement that Geeks power and create advancement in technology, the disappearance of Geeks will slow down technological advancements to a crawl, or even to a grinding halt. Technologies that humanity needs to save itself as the general population keeps on expanding. This leaves us with two options :

1. over the next 25 years the world population stays equal or starts to shrink,
2. population expands at a much faster rate as technological solutions, resulting in the demise of mankind until a new balance has been reached.

So unless Geeks are accepted as a part of society, and they have the option to procreate and produce new Geek units, only option 1 seems possible. If you - non-Geek - want to have kids some day, expand your family and give them a "good" life, make sure your friendly neighborhood Geek is accepted and has sex - preferably plenty of it.

Save the world - have sex with Geeks!

^{Female applicants should send me an e-mail with the following data : age, IQ, mention one recent event that you found interesting and explain why (science, political, social, personal, it doesn't matter).}

I just ran into the question "What's on your computer desk right now" at tine's blah blah blog and decided to play along. Prepare for a long list. Remarks : I've started going from left to right, as I sit in front of my screen, and I've not moved things around to reveal things under other things... yeah, it's a bit of a mess.

Set of screwdrivers (small)
Stack of CD's and two boxes of CD's
Address book on top of that
More CD's (boxed this time)
18 DVD's stacked on top of the boxed CD's
Even more CD's, empty jewel cases and a bunch of stickers and trading cards.
Coins, mostly american (from my trip long time ago)
Empty CD spindles, webcam on top of them
Two loudspeakers (flat models) with 17" screen in between.
Two puppets on top of screen (penguin & sheep)
Bunch of pens, markers and notes in front of screen, and a golf ball (?!)
Keyboard
Phone, and mobile phone (not in use anymore, don't even recall code)
Printer (HP LaserJet 6L)
Mice (yeah, I got two attached)
Microphone (unused I think) and compact flash cardreader
Two more stacks of CD's, notes and PHP and MySQL book on top
Bank statements
Project notes
Analog modem, ADSL modem, on top of UPS in need of replacement
Bunch of business cards, car keys

Quite a lot, don't you think? That's actually only the first part of the desk, as it extends itself over the complete length of the room. I won't go into so much detail there though : More notes, Printer (HP DeskJet 610C), visa statements, more CD's (assorted this time and properly filed), desk lamp, huge stack of CT magazine, posters, box of motherboard (empty as in "without motherboard" but with drivers etc in it... I think), light duty outdoor casing with webcam, bunch of bank statements (properly filed etc), number of boxes with forms, contracts and general paperwork, a joystick (hasen't been used in 8 years?), and finally a huge stack of neatly folded and cataloged administrative things.

Let's not go into what's under the desk or stacked against the other wall. I've got a small office/room and too much stuff :)

Is it an indication of being a Geek, if you find posts like this funny?

I just managed to mess up my installation of osCommerce again while installing some mods. I really should learn to backup files before I edit them, even though it all looks like very simple copy/paste operations.

Ah well... at least I'll become very proficient at installing the thing. Too bad I messed up my config file, it would have saved me a lot of hassle if I would be able to recall what I filled out where.

I guarantee you : some day, I'll learn... some day. maybe

* Local Muslim leaders in the district of Dyamir, Pakistan, had 7 schools for girls set on fire on saturday. The leaders seemed convinced the foreign charities that founded and funded the schools were against Islam.

"I think you don't like me or my religion, so let's burn things!" I wonder, are there other ways to make even more of an idiot of yourself? I guess not. Instead of fighting education, they should be promoting it. Maybe that's just a little to much to ask from people that consider themselves "leaders"?

* Campaign leader for Howard Dean, Steven Grossman, has announced that unless Dean wins the primaries in Wisconsin tuesday (today), he'll step out and offer his services to John Kerry.

That makes sense, doesn't it? You're a campaign leader for a candidate that manages to lose in all primaries, so you offer your services to the candidate that has won 14 out of 16. Why do you think he'd need a campaign leader with a bad record like yours? He obviously has a good one!
Note : I'm well aware that there is more to it than just campaign leaders, but that is beyond the scope of this post.

* The Departement of Finance has made plans to "abandon" 54 buildings in the province of Antwerp, Belgium. This is only a part of the 272 buildings that would be freed in the country in order to centralise services and personnel. "This is a one time operation to get extra funds" seems to be the underlying reason. However, renting new centralised buildings would "eat" the income of this operation entirely within 8 years.

And those idiots are allowed to run the financial operations of a country? No wonder we've got a deficit of 265.08 billion euro for only 10 million inhabitants in Belgium. Every single living human over here carries a debt of € 26.508 - from the day you are born.

is how I'm currently standing at my PC. I just got into the shower when someone tried reaching me on the phone. While I do posess a cordless phone, it is hardly waterproof so I didn't try taking it into the shower with me. I jumped out, grabbed a towel and ran over to my office to get the phone. It seems like Murphy was awake already : fractions of a second before I picked it up, it stopped ringing.

Drip drip, wet wet. Don't call me this early, and especially not while I'm showering, unless your name is Little Wabbit and you're calling to tell me you're coming over to shower with me.

I just go down to empty my mailbox and there's a letter from the guy responsible for the building in general. He kindly asks us to pay an additional € 150 (about USD175) before the 16th because "some bills got in at the same time and the current savings won't allow them to all be paid". Well, well well...

Sure, things like that can happen, but I'm definitely less than pleased with it! What's it gonna be next time? In december we all (9 households) paid around € 675 to make sure the roof could get fixed, we all still pay € 100 each month for general maintenance and costs, yet the available amount of cash is not enough to take care of bills? It's weird, let me tell you that.

I doubt that he's scamming us or doing less than legal things, but stil, I don't get it. I've been living here for nearly 5 years or so, and my monthly payments have always covered the bills so far, in fact there was always money left. At the end of last year I had paid € 400 more than my expenses were, so I didn't pay for two months to bring it back to only € 200. I know for a fact that others have also paid too much so we should have plenty of extra cash.

Sure, the plumber that's been working on a leak at the end of December needs to be paid too, but I don't accept the fact that he claimed to have fixed it 3 times, yet it kept on leaking. I'll be paying the extra cash, but a note of it has been made and when the time comes to review the bills and expenditures at the end of the year, I'll dig real deep.

Sorry to disappoint you, but the background wasn't as "exciting" as one might have hoped. In fact it was a photo of her mother and her new boyfriend. Hubby didn't like it too much, so I was called in to get rid of them - well, background wise I mean.

As I was there I had to do some other checks, cleaned the PC of spyware, updated on patches and virus signatures etc. The full maintenance run, you know. As I was going through pictures on the PC because we were looking for a specific one she said "just browse through them all, there are no sex photographs of us/me in there" - you think I should have given a witty reply like : "so, then where do you keep them?" or "let me go grab my camera and let's get nasty..." or maybe even "video is so much better these days".

Ah, maybe I should have. Who knows to what it might have lead :p

I'm off to Joco's tonight for a friendly visit as it's been a while since I've seen him. He's been quite busy and when I called him two weeks ago he wasn't home, on friday I was at soccer competition but he wasn't due to a injured shoulder, and we just seem to keep on missing each other. It's not like I've been avoiding him, but things just didn't syncronise.

I wake up this morning - those guys are still working on replacing the roof, so I can forget a quiet snooze in bed - and log on. I check the site stats. 58 hits so far.

I continue my morning routine and then I rub my eyes. Look at stats again. What? Impossible! It seems the search engines have picked up my Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake halftime performance on the recent Superbowl post that I made 2 days ago. And there are lots of people out there looking for "information" about the "clothing malfunction", the pierced nipple with the nipple shield.

In fact there are so much people looking for it that I'll gently point them to the close ups and video files I put online in the original post - it'll save them some time looking for the correct content :

Whahaha! (aka Janet shows pierced nipple on Superbowl)

Luckily my hosting allows for this kind of extravagant increases in traffic.

Halle Berry as Catwoman (Quicktime 3.5MB)

Drool! One sexy lady, don't you agree?

I just got back from puldercity where a good and enjoyable evening was had - the one thing missing was Dimi, Jess & Johan for a full family reunion. As promised, I cooked and even though some people were not too enthousiastic at first, they all told me that they liked the food quite a lot. Those things please me :)

We worked at the car, hopefully managed to seal off the rear light (after three attempts) but only time will tell I suppose. I've taken my dads suggestion and took out the carpet in the trunk to put it in the garage so it can dry. If the trunk remains dry, that's one less thing to worry about.

We also fixed the steeringwheel that was a bit strange (also three tries to get that straightened out) and looked at the water problem in the front, but so far, that remains a mystery. First signs show no leakage of the heating installation, although I'll have to check water levels over the next days to confirm. The problem is of course, that if that ain't the cause, what is?

Two steps forward (rear light and steeringwheel), so we had to take one step back : as a serious storm developed over Belgium, windspeeds really picked up. While we were inside we suddenly heard some sounds that weren't normal. That low heavy duty plastic garden chair that was "parked" on the terrace, got scooped up by strong wind, and thrown down... right onto the hood of my beautiful car :(

Three (are you seeing a similarity here?) dents in my car hood and one garden chair that is ready to be thrown onto a pile of garbage.

Car vs Garden Chair : 1 - 0

Of course both Bob and Hilda were very sorry that it happened, but they shouldn't worry about it. Shit happens and if it were a 15 day old car, I'd mind. But for a 15 year old car that only should take me from point A to point B in a reliable and dry way, I don't give a damn. The paint ain't scratched, it's just dents. No chance for rust developing there, so what's the problem?

A hunter steps into this pub that's wellknown to all hunters, and its walls are covered with huntingtrophees. He starts talkign to all the other hunters in the pub and suddenly he makes the bold statement that he can identify - blindfolded - what animal was killed and how it was killed, just by feeling the fur.

Impossible the other hunters claim, so they decide to take him up on his bold statement. Each time he is correct, everyone in the pub pays him a round. If he fails, he's gotta pay everyone in the pub one.

A blindfold is produced and a piece of fur is pressed into his hands. After some touching and feeling he says "Grizzlybear" and after examining the shotwound with his finger "Smith & Wesson, double shot"

The other hunters are dumbfounded and the man drinks all the free booze. As there is some doubt, they decide to test him again. One of the hunters walk over to his car, gets out a freshly shot fur and hands it to the blindfolded man. After more touching and feeling, he says "Bengal tiger, Magnum .44".

The crowed cheers and the man drinks himself a delirium on all the free drinks. Totally wasted he gets home and sneaks into the bed, next to his wife. He wakes up with a serious hangover, and when he looks in the mirror he notices huge black eye. He says to his wife that he know that he had quite some to drink mast night, but that he didn't bump into something or got into a fight.

"That's correct, " says the wife "it was me who gave you that".
"Why?" the hungover hunter wonders.
"Because once you got into bed, you starting feeling me up, and once you got to my pussy, you suddenly said : "Skunk, killed by an axe"."

They gotta be kidding me! I just took a look outside and it's bloody snowing. Not just a little snow either, but big bad large frozen water flakes too. This sucks balls, especially since I would have liked not to take a car that I'll be driving for the first time today out in these weatherconditions.

It's been somewhere like 10 months since I drove - well, there have been drives with other cars in the mean time, but nothing serious - so I suppose that I might have lost some of the traffic "sense" that you need and have when you're out there every day. It could be a very interesting afternoon - at least I'm insured :)

Well, I'd say : S e r v M e would be a good attempt. I took a short break from my online things that I was doing because I suddenly realized I'd have to pick up some food if I wanted to eat today. Stepped out into a bit of rain, but nothing major. After I had taken about 5 steps I realized that this wasn't just a bit of rain. I was walking through a mixture of rain, melting snow and lots of wind. By the time I got to the supermarket I was soaked and freezing.

All because I thought I'd have to get food *now*. I could have waited because there was enough time before the store closed, but no... To make things worse, I bought two bottles of ketjap sauce at full price instead of one bottle of ketjap and one bottle of soy sauce at a discount. I rock, don't I?

Anyway - tomorrow I'll be getting the car. If weather permits, I'll put up some photographs tomorrow evening.

Damn, this insurance thingy could get slightly more difficult as I expected. I just got back from a DVV office to see what conditions they'd give me, but they of course asked for a history from the past years in regard to car insurance.

I explained to them that I had been insured in my own name in 1996-1997, but afterwards always have driven company cars that were leased. So, they asked me whether the company would be able to give them an overview, but since the company is bankrupt, that's gonna be hard. So now they'll get in touch with the leasing company - and those won't be too happy with it I guess, as they've been fucked for even more money as the employees were - not to take into account that all the accidents I had when I was younger will probably completely mess up my chances to get insured now.

I'll see what happens and in the mean time also get in touch with the insurance broker that insured me when I started driving my first car, an austin Mini back in 1996 (I believe)

Whoa... I just had the weirdest dream ever as far as I can remember. It had something to do with the clouds and what they are. I was looking out the window in a room (I think a motel room) and suddenly noticed that although the pattern of clouds in the sky changes all the time, the individual clouds themselves didn't. They'd rotate, and move in the x and y axis, but never lose their unique shape - when I told someone who was in the room with me, they told me I was insane. I told them again and now someone moved over to the window to take a look with me.

I believe it was my dad and while I said "look at the horizon, go slightly up and you see that specific cloud over there?", he nodded. "Now keep an eye on it", and while we both did we saw the cloud rotate, move, tumble but never lose it's structure.

After looking at the clouds for a while, we seem to have left the room because when we returned to it, I was dicussing another fact with him that had struck me as strange : all the clouds moved in the same direction and while he was giving me a scientific explenation for it, I said to Hilda "frozen water, electrons and ions... I don't care, I've never been good at chemistry!" and we opened the door to the motel room. As my dad and I set foot inside, we noticed it had been trashed so we told the others to remain outside while we took a look.

It was like there had been a burglary but when we noticed my dads wallet on the floor, I picked it up and a quick look revealed that everything was still there. The others came in and started discussing things. Then someone made this remark :

"Wow, it must have been two thunderclouds, instead of regular winds." Before we left, someone reached outside, opened and closed their hands, capturing a part of a cloud and released it inside as a hoke. Somehow this ran a bell with me and I walked over to the first window to open it.

Nothing happened, but when I slid open the other window, I saw a bright spot move against it. I very slowly and carefully moved my hands around the spot and then it materialised : I had the smallest bird ever caught in my hands. It had a bright white appearance with a purplish shine to it - like a blacklight that had been turned on. I slid the window open even more and opened my hands. The bird looked at me, and flew off.

Then I noticed a second bird that somehow got trapped between the two panes of the window so I slid it close again, carefully grabbed the other bird - which looked just the same as the previous one - opened the window again and the bird just sat on my hand for a few seconds, looking intensely at me. It then flew away but immediately returned and landed on the palm of my hand. It started picking at some bandage I had been wearing on my wrist and I helped it by undoing a small part of it. It picked once more, got the loose end and then the bright bird removed all of the bandage for me. It dropped it on the window ledge and flew off.

I stared after it - I had come in touch with something that most people wouldn't even believe in : the spirit of a cloud. I backed away from the window, closed it and walked, almost stumbled, over to the bench in the hallway where I collapsed, crying and full of emotion when everything sunk in. People asked what was wrong with me... that's when I woke up, crying.

Pretty weird dream, don't you think? Actually seeing and feeling the spirit of a thundercloud, holding it in your hand - wonderful experience.

Although I've been connected to the web for quite a few years - over a decade actually - some things still amaze me every now and then. I often review experiences and articles and there was this one submission that made me wonder.

It all started off quite normally with a guy describing how he got his eyebrow pierced but near the end he suddenly said something like this (translated from Dutch) :

"I said goodbye and walked back to the car. Of course my mom had to see the piercing before we went back home. It seems that I made a very good choice in jewelry because she thought it was very sexy. When we got home she got so horny that she followed me to my room, undressed me and started sucking my dick. It was her birthday gift to me : she deflowered me. I didn't say no of course. It was simply fabulous. After having fucked her (also pierced) pussy I put my 20cm dick in her ass and fucked her hard and deep. When she felt the vibrations in my dick, signalling that I was about to come, she turned around and started sucking my dick again. I sprayed my cum all over her face and in her mouth and she swallowed it all."

Now, what a story, don't you think? If you ask me, it's fake and the guy is just phantasizing about his mom sucking his dick and letting him fuck her cunt and cream her face, but the funny thing is that he submitted that thing under a real name and e-mail address. So I set out to see what I could dig up. In a matter of minutes, I found his homepage, phonenumber, address and all. Not a picture of his mom though, lol.

I decided to send him a mail to see if I can get him to confirm his statements in regard to his adventure with his mom - yeah, I'm that evil - while at the same time letting him know that I don't buy it at all. I'm curious to see how or whether he'll reply ;)

It's snowing!!! And not just in my head :) The person that called me a few seconds ago, please call again. I'm available now.

Well, that title couldn't be more "off" from the truth, could it? I'm not lean, in fact I'm several kilos overweight, I definitely ain't mean although I sometimes look a bit like a bully, I've got a heart of gold. I like fucking, but not like a machine, that's for sure. How about passionate sex with a twist of kinkiness instead?

You gotta give it to me though : "Slightly overweight mean looking dude with a heart of gold makes passionate love with a twist of kinkiness" that's not a title for a post, right?

But hey, I'm clean! No drugs, no smoking, I do drink but always moderately and I know when to quit.

click to enlarge

Ladies, year 2004, everyone, watch out : here I come!

As reported in various newspapers (link, link and link) as well as a lot of blogs, the US is thinking about making armed sky marshals a requirement for flights going into the USA.

Maybe I'm dumb, but I really wonder what the benefit is of bringing guns onto a plane? Do you really think that a group of determined terrorists are scared by a few armed marshals? If they are able to pass all security checks and bring explosives on board, a couple of handguns will not stop them. A plane filled with 300 passengers is cruising across the Atlantic Ocean when a sky marshal starts firing shots in a crowded plane because a passenger refused to follow his orders to sit down. It's just an example of course, but even with special ammo that "can't" pierce the plane structure, I see havoc as a result.

Why? Because that armed sky marshal is not recognizable, and why would anyone obey orders from someone that is not allied with the cabin crew of the flight at first sight? Yes, the sky marshals will travel as regular passengers, so nobody knows they're there.

After the USA forced every other country to comply with their overly harsh "pre-screening" regulations, they are now forcing guns on planes. How about we stop flying to the USA? I'm rather certain that would trash the US economy so badly they'd stop pressuring everyone to comply with their demands. It's probably the American Way of solving problems - as has been proven in the recent past : if we have a problem, lets throw guns at it.

Aarrgh, another e-mail address down the drain? I just got a virus infected mail at an address that is shielded from 99.9999% of the internet population - I think less than 10 people worldwide know about the address, let alone use it.

But now it seems some AOL dumbass managed to get infected with the Ganda (aka W32/Ganda.A@mm, WORM.SwedenSux, Myzli) virus... which means I can probably kiss that address goodbye real fast :(

I'm quite certain a lot of folks have wondered about it before. After all, it's not the first time humankind has send probes to Mars in an attempt to find out more about the mysterious planet.

Only days ago a proble called Beagle 2 reached Mars after travelling towards it for 205 days and covering a distance of approximately 400 million kilometres. After successfully orbitting around the planet, Beagle II was scheduled to touch down on Martian soil a few hours later, but so far NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter, has not been able to get in touch with the Beagle 2 probe.

On December 26th, the 76-metre radio telescope dish at Jodrell Bank Observatory, UK, tried to detect the 5 Watt signal from more than 157 million kilometres away, again without success. Later on during the day contact will be attempted again through the Mars Oddessey orbiter, followed by attempts by the large UK dish. If all that fails, the Stanford University radio telescope will also join in the effort on December 28th.

In the first week of January, Mars Express will fly over the landingsite of Beagle II and try to contact the probe. While this seemingky means we have enough backup plans in case we can't get in touch, it turns out that only Mars Express was been tested and designed to transmit and receive signals from Beagle II.

Earlier on, there have been numerous attempts to land on Mars, let's take a look at some data :

In 1975, a US mission referred to as "Viking 2" was launched and a probe landed on Mars. It remained there from september '76 till 1980. The USSR lost "Phobos 1" en route to Mars in august '88, and "Phobos 2" bit the bullet in March '89 near Phobos. The "Mars Observer" mission, conducted by the U.S. lost their orbiter just before arrival on August 21st, 1993, whereas the orbiter "Mars Global Surveyor" arrived in Martian orbit in september 1997, where is still hangs out.

A wrap up of other missions, conducted after 1993 is as follows :
USSR - Mars '96 (Orbiter and landers) : launch vehicle failed
US - Mars Pathfinder (Lander and Rover) : landed june '97, last transmission september '97
Japan - Nozomi (Planet-B) '98 (Mars orbiter) : currently in orbit around the Sun with Mars arrival delayed to December '03 due to propulsion problem.
US - Mars Climate Orbiter '98 (Orbiter) : lost on arrival at Mars september '99
US - Mars Polar Lander/Deep Space 2 '99 (lander/descent probes to explore Martian south pole) : lost on arrival December '99.
US - Mars Odyssey '01 (Orbiter) : currently conducting prime mission of science mapping (orbiting).

So if we take a closer look at all the data, from 1975 till today, 2 landers/probes made it to the Martian surface successfully, of which one lasted less than 3 months. And now ESA possibly loses Beagle II...

I think we can stop sending landers, orbiters and probes to the Red Planet. If they still don't understand the reason behind this all, let me point out the obvious :

There is life on Mars - and they keep on pressing the OFF button on those landers.

What more proof do you want?!

Just got home from a very fun X-mas party at my dad and Hilda's place. Going by the amount of smiles, expressions of joy and similar things, I think everyone had a lot of fun! A slightly larger update tomorrow probably, after I've had some sleep.

Photo's will be placed in the FK Gallery when I get them myself - I forgot my own camera, typical.

Fun, fun, fun, what else can I say? Oh, and a lot of booze, but we can have fun without booze as well, let that be clear.

While most people on this earth experience that the global climate is changing, and quite a lot of people agree that this is probably caused by human activities (I know, there might not yet be hard proof, but there are a lot of pointers in that direction), some just don't get it.

What do I read today? The Bush administration has reversed a policy instated during the Clinton era which protected the 9.3 million acres of Alaska's Tongass National Forest from road building. This change in plans will open up 3% of the area to roadbuilding and possible logging - expect to see 300,000 acres of wood disappear.

The change could ultimately result in the Alaska Tongass National Forest - also referred to as "the last pristine temperate rain forest" in the United States to disappear completely over time. The Tongass comprises 16.8 million acres.

Opening up 3% of the area to roadbuilding is defended by stating that "this step reinforces the 1997 plan for managing the Alaskan forests (protecting 95% of the area), while paving the way for some wood harvesting - enough to support the surviving timber industry in southeast Alaska."

Do the math, I ask you. The 1997 plan protects 95% of the area. The new regulation opens up 3% of the area. Where's that missing 2%? I wouldn't be suprised if that was openened up later on, without anyone crying "fire" over it.

It's harder to push a 5% loss of forests through as it is to do the same with only a 3% figure. Adding another 2% later on, will still get you the 5% you wanted, but without that nasty opposition to it, or even the public knowing about it.

Finally a good chainletter. In comparison to "normal" chainletters, this one doesn't cost a thing. You can only win!

What do you have to do?

It's very easy : first put your wife/girlfriend under narcosis, put her in a large box (don't forget to put holes in the box for air, preferably before stuffing her in there) and then mail off the box to the first person on this list.

Add yourself to the bottom of the list, and send this mail to five very good friends of yours, that are at least as potent as you are. Soon enough, your name will be in the top position of the list and you'll receive 823.542 women by mail!

According to statistics, at least 0.5 of them will be Miss Belgium, 2.5 will be a model, 463 of them are wild nymphomaniacs, 3.234 are attractive nympho's, 20.198 of them are women capable of multiple orgasms and 40.198 will be bisexual.

Which amounts to 64.284 women that are hotter, tastier and more open to things than that old bat you just mailed off. And the best thing is that the old bat is guaranteed not one of those you'll receive!

Warning : don't break the chain under any circumstance!

An unidentified male who only mailed 3 instead of 5 friends, got the old bat returned to him in the same ugly pyjamas, with the same everlasting migrane and constant nagging. The same day the Brazilian bisexual supermodel - that he had been living with since the day he mailed off his wife - left him and went to live with his best friend - whom had not received this mail!

While I relay this mail to my friends, the dude 4 positions above me has received 837 women, and he's in the hospital suffering from exhaustion. In front of the door of his hospital room another 432 new boxes are waiting for him! You simply have to trust this mail!

This is a unique opportunity to reach a satisfying sex life - no expensive invitations to restaurants, no conversations that drag on for hours about topics that only women are interested in, just to have sex with her. No obligations, no irritating mothers-in-law and no chilling suprises like engagement or marriage.

Don't hestitate and send 5 very good friends this letter today!

PS : If you don't happen to have a wife, you can also mail a vacuumcleaner. It amounts to the same thing.
PS2 : Linking or backtracking to this post will not be considered the same as mailing your wife/girlfriend to me, although it'll help you reach the number one position sooner, because more men will join the chain. Don't waste time, get the women of your dreams now!

A Chinese couple that both work in a restaurant are getting married. She is still a virgin and when their first night as a married couple comes along, they lay in bed, naked, cuddled together.

"Deal," he says "I know this is youl filst time and I'll be vely caleful with you. I want to give you evelything you want, just anything you'd like."

She says "Then I'd like a 69 please"

After which he stares at her, very suprised, and says "You want flied peking duck?"

Thanks for the great one, Dad! Don't like me laughing with the Chinese? Oh well, too bad. Tell me a better joke then :)

I probably am, and people that know might quite possibly agree that I often have more than one loose screw - but it doesn't seem to hinder me a lot.

So, why the obvious title? Because I just downloaded the Expedition Robinson 2004 contender application form and filled it out. Tomorrow I'm gonna write a page long explenation why they should pick me, and on monday I'll send it all off by mail.

Am I a robinson? Who knows, but it is certainly something I am more than willing to give a shot - worst case scenario, I don't even make it to the selections - best case scenario, I get on those islands and meet myself. Now that I think of it... that certainly is a scary thought!

It's once again time to point my anger at things that infuriate me. If you are not willing to read through my rant - and sometimes subjective point of view - you better go read another blog.

US Congress pass anti-spam bill is the first thing that caught my eye. Why should that get me all worked up, ain't anti-spam regulations welcome? Oh yes, they certainly are, but not if they fail to accomplish anything except giving spammers the legal right to spam.

(I gotta run quickly to check on some things. I just got a call from Little Wabbit and she was very very disappointed about things. I need to see if I can cheer her up first, and hopefully have some good news.)

What do I mean with "give them the legal right to spam"? Allow me to point out the differences between the anti-spam laws in the European Union and the USA.

Europe : businesses cannot send you UCE unless you have a priior relationship with them (are their client, have requested information etc)
USA : businesses can send anyone UCE, unless the customer requests to be taken off the list
Europe : anyone can sue the perpetrator for damages from receiving their spam
USA : only ISP's can sue spammers

The big difference is that Europe uses the OPT-IN system, whereas the USA wants to go with the OPT-OUT system. European anti-spam laws prevent spam by making it illegal except in strictly defined cases, whereas the USA allows spam except in strictly defined cases.

If you wonder why, here's my answer : Europe suffers from spam originating from inside the EU, from the USA and wellknown spam havens like China, Korea, and South America. However, over 80% of its spam originates in the USA. What can our laws do against it? Nothing, because it doesn't come from within the borders of the EU. This accounts to US businesses and spammers remaining virtually unrestricted.

In other words : this US anti-spam act does nothing to fight spam, but is only a deception to throw off the people that want to enforce strict regulations against this infinite stream of harassment. If they had opted for the same OPT-IN laws, spam could have been stopped - or at least slowed - on a global level.

What else? Ah, let's talk about A bacteria resistant to antibiotics killing 18 in France. Apparently, in various hospitals in France a total of 18 people have been killed by a super bacteria, immune to antibiotics. The source of this is the french Departement of Health, so I guess it could be correct. Now, if you wonder "why" antibiotics fail the answer is simple : because we use too damn much of them! Feeling under the weather? Pop a pill, gobble down some syrup or get a shot. Having a cold? Do the same.

Bacteria also evolve and should be seen as an organism that's trying to survive in a hostile environment. The more it faces antibiotics, the more it'll change to become resistent to it. The solution? Stop popping antibiotics for the slightest infection, desease or problem and let your body deal with it. Humans are much better at fighting off infections as you might think when going by the ever increasing use of medication. Get some rest and fight it off yourself - you'll be glad about it in the long run.

Right now, these songs are cheering me up (played in random order) :

Dead or Alive - You spin me round
Dee Lite - Groove is in the heart
Dusty Springfield - Son of a preacher man
Bj�rk - It's of so quiet
Creedence Clearwater Revival - Suzie Q
Every brothers - Wake up little Susie
Falco - Jeanie
Falco - Rock me Amadeus
Human League - Don't you want me
Inkubus Sukkubus - Pagan Born
Kim Wilde - Kids in America
Lipps, Inc - Funky Town
Lords of Acid - Spank my booty
Missy Elliott - Let me fix my weave
Modern Talking - Brother Louie
Mel & Kim - Respectable
Metallica - St-Anger
Michael Jackson - Blood on the dancefloor
N.E.R.D. - Lap Dance
Negativland - Christianity is stupid
OMD - Enola Gay
OMD - Talking loud and clear
Pink - Respect ft. Scratch
Paolo Conte - Max
Paul Oakenfold - Starry-eyed suprise
Paul Young - Love of the common people
Sugababes - Round round
Survivor - Eye of the tiger
Santana - Jin-go-la-ba (live)
S'express - Theme from S'express
Smoke City - Underwater love (Morales Underwater club mix)
Soft Cell - Tainted Love
Stan Ridgeway - Camouflage
Tom Jones - Ghostriders in the sky
Tatu - 30 minutes
Tatu - They're not gonna get us (russian version)
The Animals - House of the rising sun
The Eagles - Hotel California (unplugged)
The Proclaimers - I'm gonna be 500 miles
Within Temptation - Ice Queen (live at leidse kade)
Warren G & Sissel - Prince Igor
ZZ Top - Sharp Dressed Man

I'm up and awake - these two conditions are not always connected - early today, although I had a very hard time falling asleep last night. My condition seems to be improving, if you consider the flow of snot being diminished to a small stream every now and replaced by a sore throat an improvement. A few more days and I'll probably suffer from infected lungs, followed by racekak and spetterpoep (slang for a common spray-the-place-diarrhea) and after that I'll be fine again. I hope.

So, why am I up this early? I haven't got a frigging clue to be honest but the weather looks fine though a bit on the cold side, but clear and dry nonetheless. Has that even influenced my decision to get up early, I doubt it. It was just something I felt like mentioning - you know, make conversation and stuff.

I'm off to sniff snot, cough as if I'm dying and do some work that has been pushed back this weekend thanks to the lousy state I've been in.

If this entry ain't cool enough for you, undress and step outside. You'll have enough cool for the both of us in a matter of seconds. Chill people - FK out.

[Listening to "DJ Testosterone - u shook me all n8 long", and downloading two new mixes from her spot at Anal0g]

I wonder how many of the friedkitten.com readers think "gay" is a bad or dirty word - so bad that they would punish a kid that uses the word in school?

Apparently a teacher and a principal of Ernest Gaullet Elementary School think of it as very bad. When the 7 year old Marcus McLaurin was talking to a classmate in school who has asked him about his mother and father, Marcus responded he had two mothers because his mother is gay. When the other child asked for explanation, Marcus told him: "Gay is when a girl likes another girl".

A teacher overheard the conversation and told the boy to go see the principal who ordered to kid to write "I will never use the word 'gay' in school again." several times. When the principal phoned the mother to inform her of the "problem" he said the 7 year old used such a dirty word that he couldn't repeat it over the phone.

Hopefully to be continued, as the ACLU now requests for the case to be removed from Marcus' file and apologies to be made both to the kid and his mother, Sharon Huff.

So much for the Land of Milk and Honey, Home of the Free and the American Dream.

that it's incredibly early for a sunday morning, but I am indeed awake. I'll be off to Hasselt in 45 minutes and probably won't make it back until eight or nine tonight. Talk to you all then!

This time the scammers pretend to be retired employees of the OCBC bank in Singapore. I know for certain this is the same gang behind the African scams as well, as they use the same rediff mailer, although this mail had - suprisingly - almost no errors in it. They are offering me 2 million USD as a share of the USD 25,500,000 they can get if I agree to be the next-of-kin to a deceased account holder.

I've put up a textfile of their mail as well as my reply online.

As usual I'll be playing with words, names and locations... and their ass of course :)

I've just had the weirdest dream ever, and not because of what I was dreaming, but more because it almost wanted to show me what the future has in store for me. In my dream someone - maybe it was me, on a subconcious level - was telling me what I should do.

I can't go into too much detail right now, and those that might know what I'm talking about I'd like not to comment on it yet. The dream involved much of my friends and acquitances and I was helping setting up a major event. I haven't got a clue what event it was, but there was a lot of construction going on and there were problems everywhere that needed attention or be fixed. While I was helping to prepare some kind of floor, I was needed in the dining part were this big dude was preparing tables for guests.

When I asked him if everything was ok, in spanish - a language that I don't speak, he started taking me through details about all tables, not exactly who would be sitting where, but more where the imporant people on the table would be seated. It was like "head of table : here" while he pointed at the chair, then moves onto the next table and do the same. I must say that I immediately noticed some weird things so I requested some people that were working elsewhere to get their ass into the dining area to help me visualise what would happen when guests started arriving.

That's when I woke up and when I realised that I've done these things a few times in my life, even if not at major events and certainly not so complicated. What suprised me most is that I instantly realized that I like doing these things, almost like be a supervisor between the people, not above. Fixing things by doing logical thinking, seeing the big picture and not panicking if something is mising, going wrong or proves difficult.

Taking charge of the situation when needed and lending a helping hand if required. And for the rest remaining on the background while still making sure that I know what is going on everywhere, or checking various things to make sure that it's all going according to plan. I really gotta think hard during the weekend - which reminds me that I'll be working on the setup of a fair/exposition booth on thursday and manning the booth itself on sunday, answering questions, helping where needed and beind everywhere and nowhere at the same time.

Oh yes... this dream is trying to tell me something.

I just got a letter from the supervisor of the building announcing a new meeting with all owners - nothing special about that since we have such a meeting every year. However, when I dove into the the attached documents that have details about all costs involved in living here, there were some bizarre things that I noticed.

Heating costs for this year have increased from 2.940 euro/year to 7.050 euro/year. That's almost +140%, which is totally insane. Even with a harsh winter of 2002-2003 that remains rediculous. We did change from a fuel powered to a gas operated system, but even then it shouldn't be that much higher... I think. After all, isn't gas supposed to be more environmentally friendly and about as expensive as fuel?

If anyone has a clue about this, please comment!

I jut got the newest Humo in my mailbox, and it came with a chocolate flavored condom. I'm still waiting for the day they start supplying girlfriends with their publication!

I just received another 419 scam mail, this time from a guy called Johnson Tanigaroro. Unfortunately, mister Johnson has a small problem with CAPS LOCK on his keyboard, and I'm not up to wrestling myself through a shouting e-mail this minute. I might reply to him tomorrow though.

Two things that are noticeable though :

- They mailed from rediffmail.com, a remailer also used in that other 419 scam I received recently, which leads me to believe that it's the same scammer.
- They mailed me at [email protected], lol. First of all, that's a non-existant mailbox, secondly KFC is Kentucky Fried Chicken, and if there were something like Kentucky Fried Kitten I would probably be in trouble with all the cat lovers in this world.

More about this story as it unfolds.

I'm back, can't catch any sleep. I've been tossing and turning for a few hours now, read some papers I hadn't seen yet, but nothing helped me falling asleep. I could try counting sheep, but they all went to bed already and I don't want to wake them up for such a trivial thing as not being able to fall asleep. Off to browse the web a bit.

Does anyone remember this entry me posting something about an official complaint I made against a spam mail I received from an IP address located in Belgium? I was sure I blogged about it, but now that I went searching for it, I can't find it. I guess I didn't post it after all.

Anyway - I filed an official complaint with the "Federale overheidsdienst Economie, KMO, Middenstand & Energie", and provided them with full headers of the spam I received, as well as a detailed Spamcop report. I turned on the "mail read confirmation" - something that I rarely do - and send it off to them, not expecting a reply of any kind. Well, much to my suprise, the mail was read by two people within 24 hours. It was then forwarded to two other employees of said ministry, and then everything went quiet. No replies, no more forwards, no additional questions.

I thought it was the end of the story and proof that even though spamming is officially prohibited in Belgium - unless it complies with certain specific rules - no action would be taken at all. Just another law not being enforced.

However, today I received a mail, stating this :

Dear Sir,

As a result of your complaint dated november 4th, 2003, I can hereby confirm that I've ordered my administration to conduct an official investigation into the matter.

Kind regards,

(name witheld for privacy reasons)

Can you imagine my complete suprise? Even if this all turns out to be a shot in the dark and a feeble attempt to come down hard on spammers, it also means that some people seem to be willing to uphold the law and investigate complaints. Thumbs up all the way!

I wonder what the result of the investigation will be, and when I'll hear about this again?

You were born on a Friday under the astrological sign Pisces.
Your Life path number is 3.

The Julian calendar date of your birth is 2441757.5.
The golden number for 1973 is 17.
The epact number for 1973 is 25.
The year 1973 was not a leap year.

There are 117 days till your next birthday and 35 days till Christmas!

The moon's phase on the day you were born was waxing gibbous.

The number 3 Life Path is one that emphasizes expression, sociability, and creativity as the lesson to be learned in this life. Here we are apt to find the entertainers of the world, bright, effervescent, sparkling people with very optimistic attitudes. A truly gifted 3 possesses the most exceptional creative skills, normally in the verbal realm, writing, speaking, acting, or similar endeavors. The lesson to be learned with a 3 life path is that of achievement through expression. The bright side of this path stresses harmony, beauty and pleasures; of sharing your creative talents with the world. Capturing your capability in creative self-expression is the highest level of attainment for this life path. The characteristics of the 3 are warmth and friendliness, a good conversationalist, social and open. A good conversationalist both from the standpoint of being a delight to listen to, but even more importantly, one who has the ability to listen to others. Accordingly, the life path 3 produces individuals who are always a welcome addition to any social situation and know how to make others feel at home. The creative imagination is present, if sometimes latent, as the 3 may not be moved to develop his talent. The approach to life tends to be exceedingly positive, however, and your disposition is almost surely sunny and open-hearted. You effectively cope with all of the many setbacks that occur in life and readily bounce back for more. It is usually easy for you to deal with problems because you can freely admit the existence of problems without letting them get you down. You have good manners and seem to be very conscious of other people's feelings and emotions. Life is generally lived to the fullest, often without much worry about tomorrow. You are not very good at handling money because of a general lack of concern about it. You spend it when you have it and don't when you don't.

On the negative side, a 3 may be so delighted with the joy of living that the life becomes frivolous and superficial. You may scatter your abilities and express little sense of purpose. The 3 can be an enigma, for no apparent reason you may become moody and tend to retreat. Escapist tendencies are not uncommon with the 3 life path, and you find it very hard to settle into one place or one position. Guard against being critical of others, impatient, intolerant, or overly optimistic.

Typically, the life path 3 gives an above-average ability in some art form. This can encompass painting, interior decorating, landscaping, crafts, writing, music, or the stage, or all of the above. You are apt to be a happy, inspired person, constantly seeking the stimuli of similar people. Your exuberant nature can take you far, especially if you are ever able to focus your energies and talents.

Do the thingy yourself : Birthday Calculator

[Blasting through the speakers : Front 242 - Never Lost (Riley) from the CD PULSE]

I just got a failure notice - it seems them scammers ain't even smart enough to configure a mailserver correctly :(

Return-Path: <address-stripped-for-privacy>
Received: (qmail 3555 invoked by uid 510); 18 Nov 2003 01:25:12 -0000
Delivered-To: mailabachafamily.com/[email protected]
Received: (qmail 3546 invoked from network); 18 Nov 2003 01:25:11 -0000
Received: from unknown (HELO mailserver-stripped-for-privacy) (IP-stripped-for-privacy)
by mailserver with SMTP; 18 Nov 2003 01:25:11 -0000
Received: from name-stripped-for-privacy (IP-stripped-for-privacy [IP-stripped-for-privacy])
by mailserver-stripped-for-privacy (mailserver-stripped-for-privacy) with ESMTP id 618h91AI1S9c01
for <[email protected]>; Tue, 18 Nov 2003 02:28:09 +0100
(envelope-from <address-stripped-for-privacy>)
Message-Id: <ID-stripped-for-privacy>
X-Sender: address-stripped-for-privacy
X-Mailer: mailers-stripped-for-privacy
X-Priority: 2 (High)
Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2003 02:28:08 +0100
To: "MRS.MARIAM ABACHA" <[email protected]>
From: "address-stripped-for-privacy" <address-stripped-for-privacy>
Subject: Re: CONFIDENTAIL
In-Reply-To: <[email protected]>
References: <[email protected]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: multipart/alternative;
boundary="=====================_483211761==.ALT"

Dear Miss Mariam Achaba,

I'm very sorry to hear about the loss of your husband! I hope you are doing fine after he was arrested in his cadillac on the 8th of June 1998. I never knew Nigeria had cadillacs, but I think that your late husband being the general of a military state, it allowed for extra privileges.

(snip)

I suppose that means the end of this 419, unless they manage to fix their mailer and start sending again.

You all know I like to toy around sometimes, don't you? Well, tonight I received one of those illustrious scam mails also knows as a 419. And you know what? I'm gonna answer them scammers and see how far and long I can push them around - for funsies. And it'll all be documented right here, because at friedkitten.com, we believe entertainment can be in the smallest things.

Here's the original mail from Miriam Abacha (edited for layout). Hit it!

Date: 17 Nov 2003 22:21:40 -0000
From: "MRS.MARIAM ABACHA" <[email protected]>
Reply-To: "MRS.MARIAM ABACHA" <[email protected]>
To: [email protected]
Subject: CONFIDENTAIL
FROM MARIAM ABACHA.

Complement of the season. I hope you will not be embarrassed when you get this mail.I am Hajir Marian Abacha, wife of late Gen. Sani Abacha ex-military head of state of federal republic of Nigeria. Who died mysteriously as a result of cardiac arrest on the 8th of June 1998.I am making this contact because of the urgent need of your assistance, though my family has no previous relationship with you. Since after the death of my husband, family has never had rest of mind because of intimidation and harassment, with lots of negative reports emanating from the present democratic government and press about my late husbands regime. Our bank accounts both local and abroad has been frozen by the government and my eldest son is still being detained by the government for more interrogation about my husbands assets and some vital documents. My movement is restricted and my traveling documents seized, including my international passport which was seized by the government security agent.

Following the recent discovery of my husbands bank deposit with Swiss Bank, in which the huge sum of US$120 million and Dutch Mark 96Million was lodged, I decided to contact you to assist me to transfer the sum of US$26.5 Million to your country. Since the government has ensured that our bank accounts are frozen and all assets seized.

This money was meant to be used for my husbands re-election campaign. It was lodged in one of the leading security companies in Nigeria in defaced form and in vaults / Boxes. The only person that knows about this transaction is my late husbands personal attorney, whom he confided with the relevant document papers relating to this transaction before he died and would be the one to handle this transaction on behalf of my family.

Considering the circumstances now, we cannot claim the money here in Nigeria. We have concluded all arrangement with an offshore Security Company to move this money through diplomatic means to a country where it could be directly transferred to your nominated account to ensure absolute safety and risk-free transfer of the money

After a successful transfer, 20% will be for you for your assistance, while 75% will be banked for my family on trust, pending on when we would decide on suitable business to invest in your country.You are free to visit this websites:
http://www.vanguardngr.com/articles/2002/columns/c128022003.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/africa/newsid_741000/741506.stm