A little thing about the little things in life. - Updated whenever the fuck I feel like it!
Thursday, June 30, 2005
Multiple Questing
Ah. I slept fantastically tonight. I woke up after a very weird dream about giant killer-worms (which, by the way, looked absolutely hideous) attacking some building which I knew but don't know. You know how you sometimes have the idea, while dreaming, that you absolutely know the place, whereas afterward, when you wake up, you think "okay, but, then, where the hell was that?" Luckily, I managed to run from those worms by mounting my weird, ehm, atom-fox. Those were living creatures that consisted of 3 overlapping rings that could move independently of one another, making for an atom-like pattern (hence the name). They would then roll at high speed, keeping their heads (a fox's head, of course) parallel to the ground. It seemed quite practical, actually.*
Dreams can be strange sometimes. I remember once dreaming about a T-Rex in my grandma's backyard. Or a steamboat on a parking-lot, delivering ice-cream. It just makes no sense, but it's worth a laugh if you manage to remember them afterwards.
After waking up, then, it was townward (is that a word, or am I just inventing here?) for me. First stop, the observatory. I wanted to ask the people there about the telescope I've mentioned yesterday. So, the guy looked at the ad, and started analyzing the available data. "Okay. So, it's a reflector, then. What's the aperture? It doesn't say... Magnification: 450x. But, by the looks of it, with a lense that's too small. That would make for unclear images... Now, I'm guessing the aperture is somewhere between 65-75 mm. If it was around 120 mm, it might be interesting, but then, they wouldn't have left it out... No, I think it would be a bad idea to get this one. Now, we have a refractor, opening about 70 mm, which is more suited for beginners. It's a bit more expensive, but I think I can safely tell you that you'll enjoy that one more."
I guess it was to be expected. Like I said yesterday, or, that should be, like I implied yesterday, the aperture lacking, and the low price, should have given it away. Glad I checked into it.
After that, I passed by my father's work-place. The place is being renovated right now, they're putting in a new floor. Looks rather messy. But, then again, it was about time they did something there. It seems the floor wasn't entirely straight, so they had no option.
Next - onto the jobcenters. "May I help you?" Sure, that's what I'm here for. I saw you were looking for warehousemen? I was hoping to get one of those gigs. "Do you have an appointment?" Ehm... No. "Your resume?" Sure. What's the point of going through jobcenters if you don't have your resume? "Well, you'd be surprised of all the people who don't bring one along."
Always nice to know that some people can't think of the obvious. Anyways, after a short talk, she starts about this job she has. Taking in my resume, writing little notes on it ("What are your interests? What? Astrophysics? Evolutionary Biology? Ehm... O-kaay."), it seems she's going to check out the possibilities for me. Fingers crossed, right?
Oh, a bit more info, then. The place is a clothing store, and they were looking for people who could unload, sort, and so on. It also consisted of some additional administrative tasks, and the occasional "helping someone else". So then, it would seem like it's not the same routine all the time. A bit more variation than I had before. Which would also be a good thing.
After that, it was to the VG-store, for me. I hadn't been there for a while. I finally got to meet their newest staff-member. Got a couple of good catches, too. Of games, not staff-members. I'm especially proud of Electroplankton. It's just too much fun to put it in cacophony-mode. Oh, wait. For those uninitiated, Electroplankton is a music-making gizmo. It can't really be classified as game.
The rest is a couple of retro GB color titles and a SNES title. The prices were nice enough for me today.
After that is was back home. I didn't do too much after getting back, though, because the rain was pouring down. Have you ever noticed how rain always comes down? I never caught rain in the act of going up. Why would that be?
Ah yes. I took another couple of blogs from my provisional list to put onto my active link-list. I also added another one in my S/S-section, but beware, for it is in Dutch! I also noticed my provisional list is made on a MS Word document entitled "WatchTower Ch. 1". That's what I did with that file! I wanted to make an analysis of that WT booklet on life's origins to hand over to the JW cleaner at work. I guess its too late for that now. And don't tell me it's not nice to hand him that kind of work to destroy his faith. That's not the idea. The idea was to better prepare him for his evangelizing missions. He can believe whatever he wants. And, he gave me the WT-book to start the discussion with me exactly because of my positions. He had no real interest in evangelizing me, either. Well, he wouldn't have managed anyway, but still.
But I'm dwindling again. I must leave you for today. I'll give you some June visitor stats tomorrow, provided by the nice people at StatCounter!
See ya!
* PureMood: I saw your bit on your dreams, but my bit actually wasn't a reaction to that. I have taken to the habit of writing my post as the day goes on, and publishing it all at once in the end. Hence the increased length of the recent ones. I had that particular bit waiting already when I read your entry. I guess great minds think alike, right?
So then, what did I do today? Well... not much, actually... I kind of took a day off. I'll continue the hunt tomorrow. I did receive three letters today. Three "nopes", all from exactly the same company, containing exactly the same text. Talk about overkill. I would have gotten it with just the one, people!
I had to make some changes in my template. Some people just can't stick to a style, and everybody else just has to adjust. Sheesh. Yeah, you know whom I'm talking about!
I also added a new link, as you can see. There are a couple more pages on my "list of scrutiny", so you should expect some more additions in the near-to-middle future. I'll try to give everyone the credit they deserve, but I first have to make sure their blogging-quality remains high and they fit the profile I seek.
I also noticed, while blog-hopping, there is a considerable ammount of people that uses the same basic template I do. Now, I really don't care. I have no intention whatsoever of enforcing my uniqueness onto people by getting a totally unique layout that no-one understands. I'm just saying that, because it made me notice I have this white bar between my title and my Blogger-bar. It's the only one I saw where this is the case, and it kind of freaks me out. I know not when, how, whom, where nor why this happened. So, I guess, I do have that little touch of uniqueness. Just don't hold me accountable for it, okay?
I had the infinite pleasure of going shopping again today. When heading toward the rear of the store, where the drinks are located, I ran into my cashier heading towards, well, the cashdesk, obviously. Imagine the joy! I got to see her again on the way out, obviously. Usually, people take the shortest line, but I obviously don't. Well, not necessarily, anyway. Sometimes it just happens her line is the shortest, but that's through no fault of mine.
Upon returning to my appartment, I took the time to leaf through my newly acquired tv-guide. I nearly lost it when I saw they had an offer for a telescope. For a mere 99 Euro's! Too bad my birthday isn't for another three months. (Mom, dad, if you're reading this, I'm serious!)
Ah well, maybe I should pass by the observatory to ask them if they think it's a good telescope. I can't seem to find the aperture in the ad.
When my sis got home, and her boyfriend joined later, he started about wanting to get pizza. I, of course, immediately offered to go get them at the shop. I'm nice like that. And I would have had the chance to see everybody's favourite cashier again. But, my sis, somehow, found it unfair to make me go there again. So her boyfriend went. She didn't properly think through the implications of that, I guess.
Then, after eating, I went out for a walk. A nice walk it was. Along the canal, across the next bridge (which leads to the highway if you're by car), and back along the canal to cross yet another bridge. It was a nice walk, about an hour. I enjoy taking long walks. I rarely did that when I had my job, and I just hope I can keep it up when I start anew.
That pretty much covers today, though. So, take care of yourself.
As some of you may have noticed, last night I took a little survey about blogging. It's easily done, takes about 5 minutes, and I guess it made me think about a couple of things, such as how exactly I blog. It can be found by clicking this button: As you may also have noticed, I have removed it from my sidebar. It took up too much space down there, and putting it here will cause it to disappear in a couple of days, so I won't have to look at it anymore. I can be lazy like that.
So then, today I passed by the CWI (employment agency). I managed to find the office, but the entrance was well hidden, due to construction works. Finally managing to get in there, I looked for a place to grab my number. This was actually the hardest part of all, for the machine was nowhere to be found. When I asked one of the people there, they told me they'd give me one. Five minutes later I had it. My number was 928, in case you wondered. If anyone here does numerology, tell me what this means. Or, no, wait, maybe that's not a good idea.
When I then sat down to wait in the appropriately named waiting room, there was barely anyone there. Within 5 more minutes, though, it was filled to the brim. I guess everyone wanted to be with me. I have that effect on people.
When my number came up - in a non-grim-reaper kind of way - I was summoned into a little room in the back. This would make some people think up a weird porn-flick kind of scenario, but I had no time for that. I was here to inscribe myself. Sadly, they only do this on appointment, so I'll have to come back next Monday at 15:15. Ah well, I guess being spontaneous is no longer a good thing. And this will give me some more time to properly prepare myself, so it's not all bad, I guess.
Then, it was another nice walk through town. I'm enjoying the nice weather as long as it lasts. Too bad summers only last for 3 months. Ah well. Still, tonight was nice weather too. So I used it.
I went out to try out the park. They recently renovated there, and I took the liberty to trying out everything they had to offer. I started out in the skate-park. Now, not wearing skates, this meant I had a lot of running around to do. If you've ever tried to run up a half-pipe, you know how tiring that is. I ran up and down the place for about five minutes. I guess it's easier to do that when wearing wheels.
Next stop was the climbing-rope-tower-thingy. I used to love these when I was a kid. But, whereas the usual style for these is "radio-tower", this one was slightly different. It consisted of a large(ish) central area, which could only be attained through the use of one of three rope-bridges. This rope-bridge was clearly designed for the nano-human population, though. It's like those river-crossing parallel lines, you know, one above the other. Whereas the idea would be for you to move your feet along the bottom rope while holding the high rope above your head, in this particular case, the high rope was at about waist-level. This meant I had to cross it leaning backwards, as if on a sailboat. Very awkward.
Then onto the castle. This castle is built on a small hill. Getting there wasn't too hard though. There were too sets of stairs up. Once in, however, the trouble started (once again). This too was clearly designed for the same nano-humans I mentioned earlier. I especially noticed this when I tried to climb into the tower. The tower is built in such a way, that, in order to get to the ladder up, you have to enter the building. The opening which allows one to achieve this starts from the ground, and ends at knee-level. In other words, you fold yourself up. Which I did. Upon reaching the top of the ladder, however, I noticed something odd. I thought it was merely an optical illusion, but upon stepping on to the top-level platform, my surprise turned out to be well grounded. You see, I couldn't see over the sides of the tower. Well, I was barely able to, more accurately, but considering the trouble I had needed to get up there, just imagine the view for those who are designed to climb up easily. Sheer wall. Must be worth the trouble, right?
Notice also how I state it's the nano-humans whom are designed for the castle, instead of vice-versa.
In the other end of the castle is a slide. I managed to climb down the tower, and climbed into the slide, which is infinitely more attainable. I slid down. It still slides like it should. I give the slide 4 stars, with the fifth deducted for being too short.
The rest of the items there are less interesting. There is a cabin in which I wouldn't fit if you chopped me to tiny bits. There's a wooden horse that does absolutely nought. There's one of those nauseating spin-around-perpetually things that work by being unparallel to the ground, using your body weight to swing you around (you know what I'm talking about). There's one of those skull-cracking-things-on-a-spring that make you swing violently in all directions (wip-kip for the Dutch), shaped like a snail, for God's sake!
After trying out as much of these as I could, I came back home. And, yes, that should cover my day today.
So here we are on Monday, then. What did I do today? I'm sure you just can't wait for me to tell you, right? Tough luck. I know I'll be -technically- late tonight, so I'll just take my sweet time once again to slowly tell you about all the things you don't really want to know. After all, this is still my blog, and I can write down whatever I want here.
My activities for the day were fairly limited, so I'll just have to go into those tiny little details to fill this post. Deal with it.
10:00. Turn around in bed. Doorbell. Shit. This wasn't supposed to happen. Get out of bed, eyes still closed. Stumble to door-phone-thingy. Grunt something incomprehensible through horn. Hear some vague voice I don't recognise. This better be good! "I forgot my keys!" Tough luck. Go bother someone else. I'm willing to help, but then you should ask for help when I'm awake. Actually waking me yourself is not going to work.
So, I did some more sleeping after that. Or at least, I tried. But, of course, it didn't work anymore. This sort of thing has an tendency to leave me grumpy, so I had to carefully dose my further waking-up activities so as to not blow myself up over someone who forgot his keys. This means I have to take my time, getting me ready later than I otherwise would have been.
I checked the temperature, to see if I needed a jacket or not for my coming trek to the pet-shop. 294 K seemed to say I could go out in total casual-style, t-shirt only mode. That is, waist up is t-shirt only. I am not an exhibitionist. On top of that, running around butt-naked over a path that would lead me through a bunch of schoolkids and their parents seems like an awfully good way to get arrested. Not that I have any experience with running around butt-naked around school-kids, but I'll just make an educated guess on this one. I'm sure you'll agree, though.
So, as I then happily hopped toward the pet-shop, past the kids, crossing the road, walking through the shopping center and eventually arriving at the target-location, I was thinking what I would be getting. For those of you who do not yet know, next Friday, me and my sis will be picking up her kitten, Gaia. So, I went ahead and got some litter. Cat-litter is something you need when you have a cat, apparently. When the shop-working-dude appeared, I used the opportunity to inquire into which was the best kind. Sadly, it appeared to me he was rather new to the job. He didn't really appear to know what he was talking about. Ah well.
After deciding upon a pack of litter, I went on to look around for some toys. I have gotten 4.
A mouse on wheels. Pull back like one of those toy cars, and it'll keep running and running. At high speed, by the way.
Another mouse. Inanimate, larger, differently colored.
A small, soft, pink anti-stress kind of ball.
A hard ball, made of different strains of, let's call it string (it's some hard plastic style thing), with a little bell inside.
We'll have to see which fancies Gaia's tickle the most, won't we?
After that, it was back home for me. I put the litter in my backpack, and was glad to be rid of it when I got home. Why do they only make 543.076 kg bags of that stuff, anyway? Can't they make portion-packs of the stuff?
After that it was some more housework again. This wasn't as much fun as faerie's account I read today, though, so I'll not bore you with the details on that.
Time to go shopping, then. After receiving the text-message from my sis about her visiting a co-workers place tonight, I had time time to consider what to get for myself. Once I had figured it out, and the time was right, I went out again. This time, the target was the supermarket. I took my time to get what I needed. I seem unable to acquire any kind of structure when shopping. Without exception, I find myself zig-zagging through the entire store at least 6 times, thinking "I needed that as well". But, I guess, that's all part of the fun. As is, of course, my cashier. She seemed exceptionally radiant today. She told me that they had finally received the latest DragonBall. I hadn't found it in the shop, though. I'll have to look better next time. However, I had already picked it up someplace else, so I won't be buying it there anyway. Too bad, that means she'll have less choice of reading material. Ah well. Not much I can do about that, is there?
Came home. Ate. Then, I went for a stroll. I walked along the canal, it was pleasant. People still lying in the grass at this late hour means the atmosphere around is nice.
When I came back home, my sis was back, too. She hogged our bandwith for a large part of the night, which is part of the reason why this post only appeareed this late today. I'll try to fix it tomorrow.
So then, about today. Today, obviously, being Sunday. But, all of you probably noticed the Sundayness of today, without me having to point it out to you. Tele-evangelists in the morning. Churchbells making too much noise for those with normal sleeping habits (i.e. up late, out late). All the joys of regular Sundayism were here. Except for the churchbells. We only have a loud mosque in the direct area. Those minaret-chant-guys can sometimes be loud. Thank our incomplete language skills for not understanding a word of what they're saying, otherwise I'd probably be inclined to actually listen to whatever it is they're saying. And it probably won't make a lot of sense to someone like me.
But that's not what we're here for today, is it. Even though I could go on about this all day, and there wouldn't be anything you can do about it, I feel it wouldn't be nice for me to simply ignore the event I've been warning you about the last couple of days.
That's right. Here comes my in-depth analysis of the drying processes of different colours of paint!
Oh, wait, that wasn't it, was it? Ah well, I'll have to come back on that one later, then.
No, today we talk about that other thing. The lecture I attended. But, as per the usual way, I'll get to that when it's chronologically correct. And it isn't quite yet. For I still want to tell you about the run-up to previously mentioned event. For you see, my typical impatience made me leave for the 16:30 lecture at 14:20. I absolutely detest being late, so I'd rather be early. And today was a meteorologically pleasant day to be early and wait, so I took optimum use of that possibility. Iwent for a nice stroll along Utrecht's moat. With some minor parks running alongside it, these give you an exelent opportunity to relax.
Sitting on a bench behind the observatory where the lecture was to be held, I also had time to enjoy watching various people pass on their little boats, ducks swimming by, and an apparent motorist meeting. Those motorcycle-people were not only numerous, they were loud. They took about 8 minutes to pass by. Imagine the noise. Somehad some pretty nice bikes, though.
Boats are a different story altogether. Now, there are several type of boat (duh), and some of them lend themselves forcomic remarks better than others. Here are a couple of thing I noticed while sitting there.
Tourists can stare out of a window with a look on their face that seems like a weird cross between "I don't really care all that much" and "OMFG!! DID U C DAT!!11 DAT SOOOOO ROXXORZ!!!11!!!"
Never let young kids row a boat. It's been proven to me today that will only lead to a very tight turning circle.
Mid-teen girls in a canoe tend to move diagonally into the side of the water. Upon hitting that side, a large dog will run up to them, bark wildly and scare them, almost causing the girls to capsize.
Whatever you do, when it seems for like for at least 5 minutes you've done nothing else but scoop water out of your boat using a small paper cup, don't panic. Just keep on going about your business. The odds that your boat has actually sprung a leak is too small to even contemplate checking up on where the water came from.
If it seems like you're going to hit the bridge on your motorized boat, make sure you don't evade until the very last moment. You wouldn't want to not scare the shit out of the poor ducks when you suddenly head right for them, not giving them the time to calmly swim away and therefor forcing them to fly strait into your faces. After all, you wouldn't want to miss being angry at them for trying to survive your great boating skills.
People and boats. Ah, well.
Now, to the lecture, we proudly go. Let's sing a song while we're going there, shall we? *Start singing* If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands (clap clap) If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands (clap clap) If you're happy and you know it, then your face will surely show it If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands. (clap clap)
If you're happy and you know it, stomp your feet (stomp stomp) If you're happy and you know it, stomp your feet (stomp stomp) If you're happy and you know it, then your face will surely show it If you're happy and you know it, stomp your feet. (stomp stomp)
If you're happy and you know it, shout "Hurray!" (hoo-ray!) If you're happy and you know it, shout "Hurray!" (hoo-ray!) If you're happy and you know it, then your face will surely show it If you're happy and you know it, shout "Hurray!" (hoo-ray!)
If you're happy and you know it, do all three (clap-clap, stomp-stomp, hoo-ray!) If you're happy and you know it, do all three (clap-clap, stomp-stomp, hoo-ray!) If you're happy and you know it, then your face will surely show it If you're happy and you know it, do all three. (clap-clap, stomp-stomp, hoo-ray!) *End singing*
So then, we had a lecture today. I said "Deep Space Astronomy", but that didn't quite get it. It was more specifically on Gravitational Lensing. Now, disregarding the fact that I was the youngest in there (I actually was twice my age under the group average - educated guess), I can still say to you it was mighty interesting. The professor told us, after explaining the phenomenon, which I'll skip, it was a 2 hour lecture, the uses and conclusions that can be drawn from the phenomenon. You see, using it on deep-space pictures provided by the Hubble, for example, you can theoretically weigh whole clusters of galaxy's by observing the effects of lensing on farther (younger) galaxy's.
At a closer distance, gravitational lensing, through the brightening of stars on the background, we can spot, or, no, logically deduce, the presence of exoplanets. This all was very exciting, especially when he gave us recently acquired data of just such an occurence. Especially when you consider the odds of such an alignment on such an astronomically short distance.
Anyways, after that it was back home for me. I continued some reading on the web after all this, so not much has happened since. However, upon chacking into my blog, I did notice an impressive lengthening in posts since I quit my job. If I'm going on for too long, just say so. I'll probably ignore you, though, but you can always try, right?
Okay. I have some more time now. That means, I can safely take my time to write about things no-one in their right minds would gave a hoot for. So then, let us begin!
**Angels Chanting in the Background**
Some more on yesterday. The hunting for shoes was fun. It took me about 5 shops before I found a pair that was nice, but it was worth it. They also fit very nicely under the new jeans I mentioned in yesterday's post. See how I'm continuing my elaborations on yesterday's news? Soon, I'll be telling you everything about what happened 17 years ago, on that day when I... Oh, I'm losing track again.
The lady from the stand where I bought my bracelet (see, still more on yesterday) was very helpful. I love that little stand, they've got a lot of nice jewelry. I got my ring there, too. But this was about my bracelet. My sis and my friends have seen it, but for those of you who haven't: I now have a nice little collection of human skulls around my wrist. They're very cute, it looks like they're smiling!
The night at my friends' place was fun, too. We struggeled to access faerie's PC from my laptop, so we could put some documents on disc (they don't have a burner, I do). After fighting that battle for about 3 hours, we played a game of Carcassone. Enjoy it, we did.
Now then, onto today. The first thing about today came up at about 03:30. Storm. Rain. Oh, was I ever happy to be lying in my bed! It meant the mercury today rose only to a mere 295 K, whereas yesterday, it surpassed 308 K. Such a change in so short a time is not pleasant. You feel like it's cold, whereas it's actually the kind of early-summer weather we usually have over here. Ah well.
After taking my sweet time to wake up properly, I went to the shop to get myself a newspaper. After that, I wrote a couple more applications. Then... Well, I guess this is where I should start filling space with some useless rambling, since that about covers my day.
Alternatively, I could use this space to prepare you for tomorrow's post, in which I'll tell you about the deep-space-astronomy lecture I'm attending. I'm eagerly anticipating it, so I ca only hope I won't be let down. But more on that tomorrow.
Wow. Today I went and bought me two new pair of jeans, a new pair of sneakers, and a bracelet to compladd to my ring-necklace combo. I'm happy.
I also sent a speculative application to Nintendo, just for the hell of it. Seems like a good idea, you never know what it may lead to, right?
Now, I'm visiting jzz & faerie. We spent most of the evening messing around on the computer. Now we're playing some games. And that would cover the full extent of my activities today!
See ya!
P.S. - I'll see if I can make some better work of it tomorrow. This entry was made in a hurry, as you could have guessed.
So then, today I'll make a shorter post. Which shouldn't be too hard considering the eternal ongoings of last night. Now, this is not because I didn't have fun today, for I did. The thing is, I took a bit longer to get started today.
For I did some blog-hopping before anything else, and I came across a couple of interesting little works. The funny little initiative of the Complimenting Commenter, for example. Here's someone who wastes, sorry, fills his time handing out compliments to blogs he feels deserve the support. That's nice, isn't it?
Then, there was this open forum for discussing your problems. It's just gotten started, but it has great potential for helping people. I can only hope the mod doesn't get drowned in work. For, obviously, that would mean there's too much sorrow in the world, and we all hope that's not the case.
But, I know it doesn't make me seem completely normal, the most interesting site I came across today was this work of pure tongue-in-cheek madness. It cracked me up, which may say something about my twisted sense of humour. I know for a fact, for example, my mother wouldn't approve of this one. But I loved it.
That's one thing. After that, I went ahead and left for work. Or, let me restate that, I went and gave them their stuff back. My shirts and shoes are back from whence they came. Especially the shoes. Now, if you're one of my former co-workers, you know what that means. For the uninitiated, let me elaborate. My workshoes were a pair of those "protective-gear" things, with steel tips. Nothing world-shocking here, right? Mine were of a special kind, though, for the tip of my shoes were so used, the steel inside them was actually removable. Sideways. They'll be glad to have those back!
On the road back, I ate an ice-cream. It's been a while since I last had one, so I enjoyed it.
Later, I went into town for a bit. I'll go back tomorrow to buy a pair of jeans and some new shoes, I'll have to take the time to find some good ones, though.
I think that would cover it for today. See, I told you it'd be shorter!
I say apparently, because I wasn't really sure 'till, say, 13:00. This was when I stamped my tramway-ticket, and those stamps tell you what day of the week it is. "Oh, it's Wednesday? Ok, if you say so."
So, going into town, I did a couple of things. Firstly, I got myself listed as "going to be present" for Sunday's 16:30 lecture about deep-space astronomy. I'm going to prepare myself for that mentally later. This is important, for I hope to start a career as amateur-astronomer in the short-to-middle future.
Secondly, I went seeking for interesting-looking papers hanging behind windows, the one that state "Help Wanted". I was merrily scanning for those, when suddenly, out of the thin, blue air, a person appeared. She (for it was a she) started by asking me for a bit of my time. So I asked "How much of my time will you be needing?" Well, not literally, for it would be completely non-sensical to reply to a question asked in Dutch with an answer given in English, but you get the general idea.
Continue the story. Her answer was the usual "Just one minute." I gave her the proverbial finger, not the middle one. She took that finger, and used it to take the rest of the proverbial hand along with it. No, she didn't take my hand. Her hands were full of papers, so she couldn't have physically taken my hand, and still hold those papers without defying the laws of gravity, and several of the laws stated by Murphy.
But I'm losing track yet again.
Her point was, that basically, she wanted me to adopt a Village of Poor Little Kids (c). For the very low amount of only 5 euro's a month, I could Make a Big Difference (c), and if she, a poor little 16-year-old schoolgirl could afford that, than so could everybody else! Try turning that down without her thinking you're a brute. Well then, I'm a brute. So be it.
"Oh, but you can quit whenever you want to!" When they say that, it just starts to sound like a religious cult. "Sure, you can leave. But, my good sir, why? Do you really believe your life will be better without your faith? How will you feel when, 2 years from now, UFO's actually will appear and take our followers?"
I'm noticing that my attention-span is mighty short tonight. Sorry for that.
Where was I? Ah yes.
So when I managed to free myself from her grasp, which I miraculously managed to do without hurting anyone (not bad for a brute), I didn't feel like hunting anymore. So, basically, she ruined my plans for the day. I'll have to tell her when I see her again. Or, no, if I ever do see her again, I'll probably turn around and leave before she sees me. Seems safer. My dwindling off the point is now actually affecting the quality of my typing. And I lost track of the story once again.
So I left for home. I did a couple of things. nothing too interesting, just some basic things one does at home. Those have to be done as well, you know. So I did them. And by them, I meant the things. And by did, I meant "to do" in a non-sexual way. That one's aimed at you, jzz!
Speaking of which, I ran into jzz and faerie today while shopping. They couldn't find the cucumbers. Which should really have been just next to the entrance. Maybe they should have asked someone who works there. Then again, that would be cheating the whole point of finding it yourself. I guess they can live without cucumbers. Then again, can anyone live without cucumbers? Oh, wait, I can. So, that answers my previous question. Which leads us to the next question, though: Can they survive without cucumbers?
I'm doing it again, aren't I?
I know what you all want to know. "How about that cashier of yours?" Well, I guess faerie and jzz (notice I reversed the order of naming them from last time? They're now alphabethized. I wouldn't want them to think I prefer one over the other, so I should keep track of this.) already know the answer to this one, for, as you already know, they were both there (I just realised that I didn't stress that fact sufficiently in my previous paragraph. There, it seemed like I just ran into them at one point, whereas in fact, we did the whole shopping-trajectory kind of orbiting one another). She was there. Yay! However, they seem to insist on taking a random cashier, even though I keep telling them of the superior cashier-skills that my cashier has. It's like, all the others are basically lv. 5 through lv. 10 cashiers, whereas mine is a highly experienced lv. 100 cashier, capable of taking each and everyone of the other cashiers on in a battle of cashier-skills. Imagine, it would be like "American Gladiator", only with cashiers, and my cashier would win not only the one episode, but actually the whole season.
*SLAP* Keep your mind on the story!
So, having talked to her for a bit about the sudden appearance of a name tag on her uniform (new since Monday), and other useless things, I once again got conned into a free-cinema-ticket-ticket. I was conned, for I was not, once again, legally entitled to one. And once again, I didn't have the quick thinking skills to say something among the lines faerie advised me as a comment in a previous post. I'm sorry to say I'm more of a "deep" thinker than I am a "quick" thinker. It really bothers me in times like these.
I also noticed that she scanned my TV-guide twice, and unscanned it after that. Stuff like that makes for speculation (jzz:"She didn't want you to leave!"), but speculation can lead to very bad things, so I'd rather not get into that. Then again, speculation is also something that can make you a lot of money, if done correctly, on the stock-market. So, maybe I should indulge just a tiny little bit. And I'm losing track yet again.
Anyways, after that, jzz and I agreed that I'd come over to his place (his place actually being their (jjz & faeries/faerie&jzz's(I shouldn't insist too much on this inversion thing(And I shouldn't talk too much about useless things(And stop using too much brackets in a row(Like I'm doing now(Stop it!))))))place) on Friday, so I'll do that.
After which, I went typing another application form. And posting it. I could have done this tomorrow, but posting it today would lead me past the store, and I could thusly see my cashier again in a fleeting moment while walking toward the post-office. And, by the way, on the way back from the post-office, which, logically, leads me past the same store. For otherwise, I wouldn't be able to return home. So I had no choice, really.
What is it with me tonight? I've been typing this entry for 50 minutes now, and I'm still not done! And to top it all off, most of it is useless talk about nothing of any importance! I'm genuinely sorry to put you, my loyal followers - I mean readers - through all this.
So anyway, back on track. After dinner, I left for the park. I figured, "It's a nice day, it'll still be light for a couple of hours, and I have a book. There's a park across the road. What the heck, I'll cross that road, and read in said park!" So, as I said, I left for the park. To read. A book. Now, the book is rather interesting, if somewhat complicated. you see, it's a book about time. What is time? Why do we need it? What would happen if we had no time? Funny little questions like that. It's the first work focussed on that particular section I read, so I hope to learn something more than the general things I got from other books.
But that's not the point. The point is, while reading, suddenly, out of the thin, blue air, a guy appeared. People apparently have taking a liking to appearing out of thin, blue air around here. I don't know how they do it, though. I was never taught to do that at school. Where does one learn the skills required to do that? How long must one study? What kind of jobs can one do, using such a skill, that would be impossible for anyone else to perform? And why the heck am I asking all these non-sense questions when I should be telling you what was so special about the guy who mastered that art?
So, back to the guy. He asked me for advise. First thought: "WTF?!?" First reaction: "Sure, why not." What followed was a long story about his life. He had some serious problems. We went for a walk, I gave him the best advice I could - which, sadly, wasn't much more than the usual, not-helping, so-called wisdoms - and I noticed he really felt better after talking. You know, the kind of "glad to get it off my chest" relief one feels after telling something that's been bothering you. I was glad to be of assistance, and I hope he gets to feel better. It saddens me to see what some people have to live through, you know. And I know, I've been there too.
But anyways, that should cover my day. It's now 00:17, a full one hour and ten minutes after I started this post. I just hope you won't mind too much. Tomorrow will probably be a lot shorter.
Weather was pleasant. It inspired me to go out and clean the windows. You know, after posting some applications and passing by the insurance company. One has to do something, right?
Tomorrow I'll go into town, hunting. That is, assuming the weather is good, otherwise I'll focus on some more housework first. But enough about that.
Today was pretty calm on a large. So this is about everything of importance.
Well, I wished for a bit more sleep than I was able to get this morning. At my father's place, the curtains aren't sufficient to keep out the sun's light. And boy, did that little star feel like shining today! Just wait for 6 billion years, after you get through your red-giant phase! You'll teeter all the way to white-dwarfdom, and you'll never be able to wake me like that again! Hah, see, the last laugh will be on you, you round, yellow blob!
Anyways, while I'm on the subject, it would help if he actually decided to warm things up over here in winter times. That would help his personal relationship with me. If he really wants to do me a favour, there's one he should consider.
Other than that, the day was rather uneventful. I took a bit of rest, I have to get a couple of things done tomorrow (insurance company, some letters to post, etc. etc.), so I limited today to some minor household things. Bigger projects to come later.
In any case, I'm glad to finally have taken a day of rest, it's been about 8 months since I last had some genuine, not-official-holiday time off. It was nice resting for a bit, especially since this weekend was rather busy by my weekend-standards.
So there you have it. Since it was not so busy a day, this is not so large a post. I hope this'll do, though.
Father's Day today. I'm waiting for his arrival at his place - he's playing cricket today. He'll be here any minute now. He's just Belled in to ask me to get him some cigs. After watching the modern version of Wacky Races (Formula 1 - Indianapolis), I ran to the shop to get them. Now I'm going to watch "Alien Planet" on the Discovery Channel. A documentary about life on other planets. This should be interesting.
My dad's here now, I'll post this and more later!
23:00 continuation:
So far, the documentary is pretty interesting. They thought up some pretty impressive looking beasts, that's for sure. Only, with my father in the room as well, making phonecalls to Morocco, putting me on the phone etc. etc. etc., I seem to be missing quite a bit of the speculation going about. Luckily, Disc. Ch. has a habit for repetitam ad nauseam, so I'll run into it again. It's fun to see they called their hypothetical planet Darwin IV.
Further talks with my father should follow his phonecall, so I'll have to splash the dirt on that tomorrow. This post is being posted on time.
So, today was my sisters birthday. It was a busy day. First I was supposed to get up at the unholy hour of 09:30 in the morning. This was the hardest part of the day, but a necessary part nonetheless. Completing any task today would have been hard without leaving the comfort of my bed, so I just had to get out of there.
My sis, her boyfriend and me then went to Ede, to meet up with my mother and her hubby. There the five of us continued our journey for Burgers' Zoo. Now, this isn't just any zoo. Once you get inside, the zoo contains a set of Greenhouse/Biospheres which are supposed to represent several different types of environment. First, we went into the Bush, which had an impressive set of plants growing. Birds were flying free all over there, along with a couple of fruit bats (we spotted those high up in the trees). Some of those tropical birds really had beautiful plumage, in different coloured patterns and everything. They had a couple of large turtles swimming in their miniature river, which made them look even more impressive. There were even crocodiles. We wondered if they were fake, because they can stay perfectly still for a long time. Then they moved, proving their authenticity.
Next up was the Ocean. Now, necessarily, this consisted of an impressively large basin, with a pathway running all the way through. Seeing the underwater wildlife in their very well recreated coral-environment was very impressive indeed. Fish can be wonderfully beautiful animals, and the ones "selected" for this aquarium were a feast for the eyes. The different shapes and colours, the varying sizes, it was all beautiful to see. A lot of people were impressed by the shark-pool, complete with shipwreck. Personally, I preferred the very last bit, where you walked beneath the surface, and manta-rays were passing by overhead. This gave a very nice effect, where they raced past constantly, showing you a side you don't normally see, namely, their underside.
Next up was the desert. The most interresting thing about the desert, I found, was the variety of cacti. The heat was barely tolerable (my mother was baking in there), the animals were passive (logically), and basically not very interesting to look at for a longer period of time. Some of them were pretty hard to spot, too, for they obviously spent their time in the shade.
Leaving the desert, we went for an ice-cream. Can't beat that for refreshment, can you?
Next stop - the Mangroves. Just a bunch of trees growing with their roots above the water, really. Though they had a couple of nice animals in there (some turtles, an iguana and nice birds), I was glad it wasn't too big a place.
The safari is where we went next. The problem with safaris is, the animals are given all the space they need. This is great for the animals, but less so for the people trying to spot them. Thankfully, most of the safari-area consisted of a bridge-like passage, so you could see way off in the distance. We missed the leopards and lions due to the former, but the latter allowed us a great view on the rhino's, zebra's and giraffes. And the gnu's. Never forget the gnu's.
After strolling around the zoo a bit more then, we went back to Ede. At my mum's place, we then took a drink, before taking off to eat. Destination: Steakhouse. But, getting in, there were complaints from the female members of our travel-party about the place being a steakhouse. So we left for another restaurant.
The dinner-conversations in my family always tend to get wacky. We're weird like that. But we grow on you. Like foot-fungus.
Enough about that.
This should cover to a sufficient amount my day. If you have any questions, ask ahead. I'll try to answer as many as possible, just don't ask for the meaning of life or anything!
I've been waiting for this day for quite some time now. Today was my last day at work. I finally left behind me the mess that was my job. Now, on to find another job!
I couldn't sleep at all tonight. I went to bed at 03:30, but barely managed to sleep. And, for a change, I was wide awake at 06:30. I just couldn't wait to get today out of the way.
So, bouncing to work (quite literally), I was gladly thinking ahead of what I would do today. Which turned out to be not an awful lot. I talked a lot to my now ex-colleagues. Reflecting on these past years (I've worked there since Sept. 25th, 2000), and discussing my views on the future. After officialy tagging off for the last time, I took a last round around the shop, saying bye to the people. Somewhere along the next week, I'll bring them their shirts, and that'll be the end of it. It's over! YAY!
I left for home, not looking back. No, really, I didn't. I still had a couple of things to do. My sis had received a package from her father, containing a webcam. I had to pick it up at the P.O., and had to explain how come we don't have the same name (different fathers, same mother). I hate it when I have to tell that story, so I settled for the "byte-size" version of it.
I also had to buy her a present. It's her birthday tomorrow, so I had to get her something. I got her the Rocky DVD-collection. All 5 movies in a nice little box. She loves those movies. She jumped for joy when I gave them to her tonight.
I also surfed around a bit, checking out the Darwin Awards. Black humour, always fun. It's unbelievable how some people can be so... Stupid...
The movie tonight was Robin Hood: Men in Tights. I personally find Mel Brooks to be a genious, but then again, my tastes can be a bit strange sometimes.
Tomorrow is going to be a busy day, and I'll tell you all about that tomorrow, as I should.
Penultimate day at work. I only have to work untill 13:30 tomorrow, so I'm almost freed of my current set of chains! Hurrah!
The day went by remarkably easy. Before I noticed it had started, I was already halfway through. Nice that was. At about 18:00, my sis came by at work, for she had forgotten her keys when she went shopping. I gave her mine, which, as I later remembered, wasn't all foolproof. It made me unable to get into my locker...
So, I'll have to gather my stuff tomorrow. Both my NDS and the book I'm currently reading are in there.
After I got home, I put on a DVD, a documentary about the Earth Mark I - Orpheus collision, which supposedly formed our moon. Very interesting, it was.
And now, I'm awaiting my final half-day at work. After that it's CELEBRATION! Woopee!
I'll probably give you all a long rant tomorrow, so I'll leave you for now.
The week seems rather uneventful at best so far, so if my posts are lacking "content", I apologize in advance.
I should start by saying that I didn't notice anything from work today: it took me until at least 16:00 to properly wake up, and from there it was merely a free-wheel to the end. Now two more days and I am liberated. For good.
By the way, my boss asked me if, in case I hadn't found a job yet, and he needed some help in the future, he could ask me for help. So, I politely said that, at least I would want the first two weeks off, and then he can phone and ask if I'm available. I'm nice like that.
I can already tell you I won't be available though. Even if I won't actually have anything yet. It might have to do with the whole reason I quit being me not wanting to work there anymore. You've got to praise their fanaticism, right?
And it seems my cashier has the week off. That's the best explanation I have for her not being there today yet again. It makes the week less of a celebration than it should have been.
Does it sound like I miss her? When did that happen?
Ah well. I watched Kate & Leopold with my sis tonight. I know it's a girls-flick, but I don't care. It beats the reality-shows they otherwise show on television.
After that I pretty much started this post, so that's where I'll leave you today.
Okay, first things first: I'm cheating here. This post is being written on Sunday the 12th, but hey, I can, so I will, right?
This thing, International Bloggers Day, is a funny little initiative. And since I am new to blogging, I decided to take on the first request they made:
1) Why did you start blogging, how long have you been doing so, and why have you continued?
So then, why did I start blogging?
Well, it all sprang from boredom, actually. I was roaming around a blog made by someone I know off this forum, from there I started bloghopping, using the ingenious "Next Blog" button in the top-bar. At one point, I decided to click the button next to that. The one that says "Create your own Blog", and the rest, as they say, is history. All this started on Tuesday the 17th of May, so that's almost one month ago now.
Then the all-important question of why the hell I'm still doing it. For starters, it's a nice and handy way to keep my "friends" informed of what it is I'm up to. It also makes for a nice little diary-like thing, even though it's less private. But I like the idea of people from all over the world being able to read what's going on in my life.
Getting comments from people you've never met is also something that I found very satisfying. I admit, it only serves to promote my ego, but a good feeling is something everyone could use, regardless of how they get it.
Now, I'm relatively new to all of this, so there's no telling how strong my faith in blogging proves to be in the future. All I can say is that right now, it pretty much feels like an addiction. I feel like I need to blog everyday, otherwise people will worry about me. Or they will be dissapointed by my absence.
I think that just about covers my two cents about the International Bloggers Day. I'll have to end it here now.
Well, the first day of the last week is now over. It'll start getting better everyday now, I'll soon be relieved from my current job. Then it's on to "insisting" to find another one.
Apart form work, all I can say about today is, my shopping trip was kind of disappointing. I mean, why wasn't my regular cashier there? Why am I never informed of this in advnce? It's not fair, I tell you. Ah well...
Traffic over here was tremendous these past days, with a very productive weekend. 18 hits on Saturday may seem like little, but the 40 I had on Sunday, followed by over 30 today, makes me happy. I can't wait to see what happens tomorrow.
Speaking of which, I feel we (Bloggers) should be given an official day off work for the occasion. But that's just my opinion.
Anyway, I'll leave it at that for today.
See ya tomorrow: I have a rather substantial post ready and waiting.
As with last week, I did absolutely not much. I don't feel like saying I did nothing, for that is a claim easily proven wrong by the fact that I did actually do something. And here I go rambling again. Should I shut up? No, why bother, it's my blog, right?
But, like I said, I didn't do a lot. I spent all morning in bed (somehow, I have no problem sleeping between 08:00 and 12:00), did some online reading of the usual type, and cheated this blog by preparing my entry for next Tuesday. I just wanted to take the time to make it a good one.
But you'll find that one on Tuesday.
Besides that, I did a bit of, ehm, rearranging my bedroom. It's a work in progress, but at least it's not the hell it used to be when I was a kid. Although, hell is not a word I used. I could always find everything in there.
My mom visited my blog today (she phoned, and I hadn't given her the URL yet), and she told me about a blind link in my wishlist post which should now no longer be on the main page. I fixed it now. But you probably don't care about little stuff like that, do you?
Also, thanks to a bit of help I advice in a comment, I also managed to cetralize my footer! YAY!
Well, the weekend is for resting, so I started that today. After taking a couple of hours to "wake up", do some laundry, take a nice, long, hot shower, and some minor washing up, I felt I had gained enough strength to go do some shopping. So I did. A man's gotta eat, right?
Food was not the only item on my purchase-list, though, I also went to get some magazines. On the list were Zenit, a Dutch astronomy mag, Scientific American, an interesting, well, scientific magazine from, well, America (or, more precisely, the United States thereof), and, last but not least, NGC Magazine (for which I wouldn't know a URL off the top of my head), a British magazine for Nintendo consoles.
So, a wide variety of reading material, then. I'm still waiting for the next installment of Dragonball (in Dutch) and Astronomy Magazine, but that'll have to wait untill next week, then.
After that, I did another host of minor template changes. Now, all I'm looking for is a way to put my footer on the centre of it's space. That would be nice, although I really wouldn't know how to actually do that.
I would also like to thank PureMood for her thoughtful contributions to my comments. I should have done that yesterday, but I forgot. So here: Thank you.
Friday started well. I went to bed at around 03:00, and my alarm-clock went off at 07:30, so just imagine the sheer joy of waking up I felt this morning. I just got up too early, once again. People keep telling me that I go to bed too late, but that's just non-sense.
After that, I had to drag myself to work, in a half-asleep kind of way. Luckily, my radar works like a charm, so I survived the long, perilous trip. Thankfully, the day was the ultimate day of the penultimate week fulfilling my current employer's orders. I can sense the end is nigh. Don't worry; I don't mean in a Biblical sense.
Speaking of Biblical stuff, I found a nice little piece of work: The Bible illustrated in Lego. Very funny. Otherwise, the night was fairly unproductive. No major changes to my blog, although I did add another link in my newly renamed Science/Skeptic section. Nothing like the 11:11 deal form earlier this week, though. But I'll keep fine-tuning, I promise.
Well, just one more day 'till the weekend. I need the rest, I fear my leg still hasn't recovered fully. After that, only one more week of work, and then it's job-seeking for me. No, not Seaking, you Pokemon-loving freak (Talking to myself here).
having survived an uneventful day at work, I find myself once more doing nothing really important. Therefor, today will be another small tale of nothingness, which will leave you all blank as to what the hell is going on with me. Aren't I the greatest?
I received my first visitor from Germany, today. I'm growing to be an international star, soon. Where will this blog bring me? It seems the possibilities are endless...
Any way, I don't feel like writing to much useless info today, so I leave you with my biggest question to life right now - and, yes, I am an anime fan, by the way:
Wow. Today I had to get up early, for I was called upon to assist on another department. Today I was allowed to bitch at truck-drivers, which is always a nice little thing to do.
This, however, meant that I had to set my alarmclock to the ungodly hour of 6:30, which is, as you all should know, Evil. It's a good thing that I can get some sleep tomorrow-morning, when I start at the more humane time of 12:00. I don't care if it means getting back home later, I need my rest in the morning.
Shopping today was fun as usual. The usual nitpicking from my cashier made me cheer up. She has that effect on me. Even when I'm feeling angry, or just plain annoyed, she manages to soothe my mood. If only she could do that on a more regular basis.
I made some useless aesthetic changes to the blog today. Some fine-tuning which makes no practical sense, but I found it rather pleasing, so I went ahead and did it.
Traffic was insane today. I got over 30 hits, and the visitor-locations are really beginning to vary. I have now gotten visits from: the Netherlands, United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Malaysia, Spain, Australia, Sweden, Kuwait, Singapore, Switserland and Portugal. On top of that, I also have a couple from a place "unknown".
This makes me happy, too. Now, if only they would stay for more than 5 seconds, that would be nice...
Well, today was just one of those long days. Work was followed by that sales-course thing again, so I had to stay 'till after 21:00. But hey, it was interesting. Albeit pretty pointless, if all goes well.
Coming home today, I found a very cute thing. You should check it out. It made me smile. Apparently, I'm too good for this world!
Besides that, once more, not much news. I'm currently wading through this website, which is interesting. I like reading stuff like this. Knowledge is a powerful weapon, apparently.
Otherwise, my leg is getting better. It's very tiring to walk on it all day long, but I feel the improvement nonetheless. So we're getting there.
And lest I forget, tomorrow, the 8th, is Jeske's 24th Birthday. So, even though she probably never will read this, happy birthday, girl!
So, today was Monday (no shit, man!). After getting up this monrning, I felt I still couldn't bend my right leg completely. That seems to be mostly gone now, but I did spend all day crippled, so it's about time! Work wasn't easy this way, it was really tiring. Luckily, the idea of having only 9 days left is something of a plus, so that's a nice thing to keep in mind.
After work I went shopping again. It's the sole reason why I still tolerate Mondays. Sadly, I once again couldn't present my cashier with anything to read, even though I really tried. I feel like I failed her. However, she did give me one of those "second-cinema-ticket-for-free" coupons, although you technically had to spend at least 20 Euros, and I only got to around 13,50. So, it seems she's not angry.
By the way, I read that the chain she works for is starting experiments with self-scanning and other automated systems. If this means that in the long run, cashiers are going to be obsolete, that is not something I can support. It will take away the whole fun of shopping.
Anyways, that was just about it for today. Not much goes on in my life, as you can see. But then again, a daily updated blog is not something you should expect all too much form, right?
Well, I slept a lot today, so not much on the newsfront. All I can say is, my leg still hurts, although it seems to be getting better, and my toe is still blue, but otherwise, I seem pretty much okay. A few sore muscles were to be expected, since I don't get a lot of exercise, but all in all, I'm booking progress.
Otherwise, nothing of importance is to be noted today. I'm sorry, but that's just the way it is.
Today I had that soccer-tournament with my colleagues, you know, the one I mentioned earlier. It turned out to be quite the adventure, in which everything went well right from the start.
For you see, after having wrestled my way out of bed, eating, and going to the workplace, we first had to wait for everyone to be there. However, one of our players, apparently living in a house with no windows, phoned in to tell us that the rain, which had been going for quite some time by then, caught him by surprise, forcing him to return home to get some dry clothes, and show up better prepared. So our teamcaptain asked someone else to pick him up and bring him over later.
On our way from Utrecht to Nieuwerkerk aan de IJssel, we then missed our exit, ending up too close to 's Gravenhage for comfort. We tried turning around, but got caught up in roadworks. Basically, we were pretty much fucked. Although, through some miraculous piece of lick, we managed to find something that looked like the correct path just in time for our team's first game.
Which we then lost 5-0.
Settling down a bit, we took the next game to a 2-2 draw, and then went on to lose our third Round 1 match 2-1. So we ended the group in last place, but not before witnessing a fight between two other teams, right there on the pitch. One of these two later withdrew from the tournament, leaving us with a final group of 3 teams, instead of the supposed 4.
That meant one less game for us, then. I can tell you, a lot of our people were relieved. After last years tournament, some of our players (me included) needed 3 whole days to recover. One less game meant less fatigue, so we would all still be in pretty good shape after the tournament. Or at least, I hoped so.
For you see, the first match of round 2 was a bit of a dead end for me. I was playing in defense, against a guy twice my size, which isn't too hard considering I'm just a short lad, and our contacts were often heavy. At one point, he hit my thigh with his knee. Being thickheaded, I thought: "Well, it's just a small bump. I can run it off, and then it'll all be over." It didn't work, and the next 5 minutes I was kind of hopping around.
Then came yet another clash. He had just broken through defense, and I ran after him. Trying to get him away from the ball, I made a sliding just as he shot at goal. He landed his full weight right on top of my foot. I looked up at our goalkeeper, who was standing there like a statue, and here is what he told me right then:"Why were you running after him? The umpire blew his whistle..."
I then barely managed to stand up, and felt immediately that something was wrong. I asked to be substituted, took off my right shoe, and saw my big toe becoming blue. Which was my sign to start limping toward first aid. Now, I had that thigh thing going so I could barely bend my rught leg, and now I had my toe turning blue as well! Imagine the sheer feeling of joy when I finally got a pack of ice around my thigh! The fysio there also sprayed some of that weird sport-spraycan-ice-thing on my toe, and, just for the hell of it, because I had a tiny scratch there, also put a bandage around my knee.
After lying there with my thigh on ice for about 5 minutes, I thanked the guy for helping me, and slowly started limping back toward my teammates. I told them then that I was done playing for the day, it seemed like the reasonable thing to do.
I took a nice shower, of the kind where you have to push the button for 3 seconds of ice-cold water to shoot at you high-pressure style. I got dressed. I tortured myself by putting on my socks, and tying my shoelaces. For the remainder of the day, I limped around the grounds, just to keep my leg slightly flexible.
It turned out, that fourth game was a 1-1 draw. Only one game left now. I watched it from the side. And suddenly, be it because I wasn't playing, or because they were already all boozed up (we had a brake of an hour and a half, due to the other team leaving), they trounced the opponent 6-0. And then they all went back to drinking beer.
I took the first opportunity to get out of there. Once I was home, I put another pack of ice on my thigh. Currently, I am limping around a lot, my toe is slowly turning purple, and I can't wait for the feeling with which I'll wake up tomorrow. That just has got to be fun.
Today is Friday, in case you hadn't noticed. It started out typically for one, as I had to go to work. Only two more weeks left, by the way. We're getting there, we are!
Whereas nothing special happened at work, all the action for today came in the aftermath. However ominous that may sound, it wasn't all that bad, luckily.
For you see, I had to go shopping for food tonight. Just for the night, so I didn't need to get all that much, but I had to go anyways. So, taking my sweet time to get to the shop, imagine my surprise when I saw my cashier again, even though she doesn't usually work on Fridays. Why do I know this, you ask? Well, you shouldn't be surprised, by now.
Anyways, seeing her again made my whole weekend. I didn't even mind the rain anymore. Imagine a third time in 5 days time. Unprecedented, that is. Can you imagine the sheer joy? Can you? Can you?
So, with that joyous piece of mind, I went home again. I ate. It was great, super-fantastic food. I had pizza.
After that, the doorbell rang. It wasn't important. Just some guy telling me about some meeting from the owners club of my appartment. I don't care too much for those, so I decided to pull an /ignore on him. That'll teach them to interfere with my Friday-night great high!
After that, though, the doorbell rang, yet again. This time, it was our common friend jzz. He asked me to come over. Take along my laptop, take along my GameCube, and have some fun for the night. Now, tomorrow, if you remember, I have the soccer tournament with my colleagues. But I thought, fuck them, they don't need me to be wide awake, they need me only to stand on the pitch, acting as if I'm chasing a round thing. So I joined him, and together we quested toward the other side of the street. He lives across the road. Don't believe the lies he's spreading in his blog about us being neighbours, we are most definitely not! If we were, I wouldn't have been able to spy on him as easily as I can now...
We spent a couple of hours playing Mario Kart Double Dash, followed by the almighty Wario Ware Inc. Mega Party Game$, and now, we are posting useless info on our respective blogs. Or, at least, I'm posting. He's suffering from a fatal writer's block. Poor him.
Anyways, I feel I should be leaving you now. Gotta make some more template-changes, if you hadn't noticed the ones I made these past days.
All of those look perfectly reasonable, if you ask me. He said he'd work on it. I'm patiently awaiting the results.
After work, I ran into my neighbour bloggers. That's the third time this week. A new record! Let's see if it's upkeepable, or whatever you call it if you want to keep something up. I usually tend to isolate myself, you know.
That just about covers the important bits for today. I'll leave you be now, and wish you all the best of luck!
Here we are. Wednesday. A day one looks forward to for at least, well, a day. I mean, how can one not look forward to Wednesday, when one knows that Wednesday means, after ones work, one goes shopping. And one needs to shop. If not for ones food, at least for ones cashier, right?
Enough of the pretentiousness. Yesterdays post was a mess (I read it again and again, but today it just didn't make any sense anymore), so I'll try my best to keep things slightly, well, linear. Which, I just realise, I'm failing miserably, by the way. Bad me! Wicked, naughty me!
Well, I must say, I once again don't really know what to write, so that may have something to do with it. So then, what did we do today.
I posted another application today. Fingers crossed.
Work was work. That just about covers it.
The shop was busy. I had to get in a reasonably long line, for a change. Others geve me a surprised look when another line opened, but they just don't understand my motivation to stand in the line I'm in. Well, it's none of their business anyway, so there. I can stand where I want to, right? I'm a paying customer.
And on top of that, today I did have some reading material. I couldn't not let my cashier make witty comments about my reading habits, now could I? I ask you!
Ah well. Two more days this week, two more weeks after that, and liberation is here. On Saturday we have a soccer tournament with the people at work. That should be fun. After that it's a sprint 'till the end. And that'll be the end of it!
