We Crossed Oceans To Find Each Other

For the past six weeks or so, I have tried to work with my internet service provider to get access to their newsserver. I wanted to start to use the news server again after a few years of absence.

Now… setting up a news server in any mail or newsreader is easier than setting up an e-mail account. Yet, the newsserver of my ISP decided to tell me that my credentials are not right. It was very frustrating. The past few weeks they asked me to try a different computer, they asked me to try different software and what not. Earlier this week I called my ISP to tell them that I was fed up with them. As a last resort they asked me to address my situation to a specific e-mail address. Guess what? No response!

Today I decided to try and force a solution out of them. I talked to a few departments and finally my situation sunk in at the invoicing department after seriously threatening to reverse earlier payments. An engineer returned the call later in the evening and heard me out (he was very customer oriented, which was very refreshing for a change). He concluded that I was a long time customer and that I had been a customer at them from the very beginning (bright guy!). He asked me to try a different newsserver address, which was the address that matches the old set of e-mail addresses. BRILLIANT! I could have figured that out, if it weren’t for my ISP converting most of their other systems to their new name.

In five minutes this whole thing was solved after weeks of frustration. After the whole ordeal the guy asked me if he could do anything for me, so I explained him the frustration I experienced over the past few weeks and I asked him what he could do for me. We’re not paying for any service next month. In return I offered him the suggestion to put his solution on the website, so other could benefit from this.

On a final note he asked me whether I would appreciate it if he could contact me again next week to see if everything is working fine. Excuse me?? Did an employee of my arrogant ISP just asked that question?? I am very frustrated over the arrogance that I experienced in my ISP. My ISP better make sure to pay this guy well and keep him in the company. Customer oriented IT engineers like the guy I talked to tonight are very scarce. I am happy that my problem is solved.

The past few days have been beautiful weatherwise. Today was my day off, so I wanted to go out and enjoy some time outside. I decided to grab my camera and to drive to a town close by, called Medemblik. You’ll find the pictures here. After the pictures I really had sore feet and so did Leann. We decided to go back home. On our way we stopped at a place where I could cast my vote for the city council. I hope that a lot of people will cast their vote. After all, our ancestors have fought over having a democracy here. After voting we went downtown. I had to buy a new train ticket for the month ahead.

All in all a wonderful day. I feel refreshed. Tonight I’ll do my regular scheduled community work.

I just listened to the bits and pieces of the closing ceremony. I missed the first part, though. Hopefully I get to see that, too at some point. The Games have been pronounced excellent and friendly. I recognize Canadiens as friendly, as well. They are a little bit more laid back than Americans are; a little bit more relaxed and at ease. The music in the closing ceremony was nice and it was good to hear Michael J Fox again (I didn’t know he is a Canadian, thouhg). It’s a shame to see what happened to him at early age, needing him to stop acting.

The weekend also came to an end. Today will be back to work. I am not sure how exactly that will work, because I didn’t get too much sleep. One of the advantages of the Olympic Games having ended will be that I’ll get my sleep back . Fortunately it’s just once in the two years. It was well worth it. In two years, the Olympic movement will visit London, which will make things a little easier.

I hope to get a little easier week this week. At least I’ll have my day off on Wednesday. I wanted to visit some former colleagues, but I plan to postpone that a little further. On Wednesday we’ll have the elections of the city council. I also look forward to that, as I am curious to see what the results we’ll be. Now trying to get another hour of sleep.

It’s been a while since I updated and there’s a bit to tell actually. As for work, I have a feeling that my current assignment is coming to an end, so I might have to look around again for a new assignment. We’ll see how that will work. All in all my current assignment was a new experience in which I learned a lot again.

I have been trying to follow the Olympic Games. This weekend will be one of the bigger events: the hockey final between Canada and the United States. I hope I’ll be able to see that game live and I plan to try to go for that. I have managed to see a lot from the Olympic Games, which pleases me to no end. Speed skating has been a little bit disappointing this time, but I do think that everyone has tried their best.

Last Thursday I went to a cafe where a political party meets every Thursday. Next Wednesday we’ll have the elections for the members of the city council and I wanted to meet the party that I plan to vote for. I talked to some potential members and we exchanged ideas and views. I am very happy having those people respresenting me in the city council. I hope they’ll stay as accessible as they are now. I would want to stay in contact with them.

Today I read that the Euro might weaken a bit more. I am disheartened by newspapers spreading this news. The US Dollar is by definition stronger during the first two quarters in the year. Usually later in the year the US Dollar will come down again. I expect that it won’t be anything less this year.

I am looking forward to the baseball season. Yesterday I learned from the website of our local baseball field that training will start next weekend again. That’s awesome. I suspect that MLB training will start some time soon, as well. I have to start reading up the MLB website again. These are signs that Spring is starting. Oh… speaking of Spring: I saw that snow crocuses have come out in our garden. Yay!!!

It’s been a very bad day for The Netherlands as a nation. Today’s Olympic programm was the 10,000 metres ice speed skating. The Dutch have mastered that event as well as the 5,000 metres. The two favorits were Bob de Jong and Sven Kramer. Sven was skating in the final race and… he made a very bad mistake in changing lanes which disqualified him. The worst news is that he was on track to sharpen the Olympic record by another 6 seconds and getting the gold medal for sure. The saddest part is that the coach probably sent the skater to the wrong lane. The rule is that the student always obey the coach, so…. the coach has some issues to work out. He looked beat!

Someone on Twitter commented that this news probably has more impact than our Government going down. I think this person is right. It’s a sad day…. then again… it’s part of the sport.

Today I was baffled by this article. Unfortunately it’s in Dutch. You’ll find a (bad!) Google translation here.

The bottom line is that Dutch women in their late thirties may lie over not using anti conception. They are deliberately looking for pregnancy, either from a onenightstand or a relationship coming to an end. These cases end up in court and because of a law from 1998 the women succeed in enforcing paternity on the guys involved.

I am fully aware that it takes two to make a baby. Guys are stupid not using a condom in the first place. Yet, thinking that some women obviously are like that makes me sick as heck! This is the sick world that we live in! They have a word for sick women like this and it ain’t pretty. Among many other thoughts and ideas that a lot of Dutch women have, this is a straight example why I married a woman from outside The Netherlands.

/end rant!

The English version of this entry will follow later after the cut.

Het kabinet is gevallen over de kwestie Uruzgan. Ik ben teleurgesteld in het kabinet de afgelopen periode. Er zijn heel veel belangrijke onderwerpen waarvan er een aantal prioriteit hebben. Het belangrijkste onderwerp: de economische crisis. Wat mij bijzonder stoort is dat het kabinet maar liefst en niet minder dan 20 commissies hebben ingesteld om te bezien wat er op lange termijn nodig is om het begrotingstekort weg te werken en Nederland gezond te houden. Die commissie zou binnenkort verslag uitbrengen en ik was toch erg benieuwd naar de resultaten. Nu is het geld voor dat onderzoek waarschijnlijk verloren gegaan, omdat iedere partij nu weer ruimte heeft en krijgt voor nieuwe inzichten. Misschien dat de commissie hun werk kan afmaken en dat partijen op basis van de resultaten van de commissie toch standpunten kunnen innemen.

Ik vind het beschamend dat partij politieke belangen belangrijker waren dan het landsbelang. Had dat nou echt niet anders gekund? In mijn beleving zijn er bij het aantreden van het kabinet afspraken gemaakt. Ik ben van mening dat als men het niet eens kan worden over nieuwe (voortschrijdende) inzichten in ieder geval de gemaakte afspraken nagekomen moeten worden. Gemaakte afspraken zijn per definitie NIET altijd beter, maar ze scheppen wel duidelijkheid voor iedereen; niet in de laatste plaats voor het buitenland (bijvoorbeeld onze NAVO partners).

Hoe nu verder?
Ik maak mij zorgen over het economisch herstel binnen Nederland. Voor economisch herstel is een daadkrachtige regering nodig. Ik verwacht niet dat we in de komende zes tot negen maanden een daadkrachtige regering krijgen. Ik maak mij ook zorgen over de vorming van een daadkrachtig kabinet na de landelijke verkiezingen. Er zullen zeer waarschijnlijk minimaal vier verschillende partijen nodig zijn om een regering te vormen. Wat mij betreft mogen PVDA en CDA geen aanspraak maken op het kabinet. Een sprookje? Waarschijnlijk wel.

Ik heb begrepen dat Balkenende zojuist weer tot lijsttrekker van de CDA is uitgeroepen. Wat een farce. Eén ding moet Nederland bespaart blijven: nog een keer JP Balkenende als premier. Die man kan geen leiding geven aan een kabinet. Dan zou ik liever zien dat Pieter van Geel of Maxime Verhagen dat stokje overneemt. Wanneer CDA dan toch moet regeren dan met Maxime Verhagen als premier en een paars kabinet dat al eerder goed is gewerkt. Ik weet alleen niet of Rutte ervaren genoeg is om als vice-premier te dienen. Voorlopig heeft deze combinatie mijn voorkeur. Hopenlijk dat deze combinatie voldoende zetels haalt en dat het CDA zich nog een keer bezint op het lijsttrekkersschap van Balkenende.

Laatste vraag: hoe groot wordt de PVV? Het enige voordeel: Wilders heeft ervaring in de politiek en gaat niet over één nacht ijs. Was hij niet zo radicaal, dan had hij misschien meer sympathie van mij gekregen.

Ik vind politiek belangrijk. De komende maanden zullen er meer van deze entries volgen.

Last Thursday a new daily has been started. The most famous daily that is available in more countries and that brings news is Metro News (link to US variant). The new dailey is called “Tietenblaadje”. They advertised with the punch line: “The daily that noone dared to ask for arrived!”. The other punch line they use is: “Make something special out of your working day and add a bit of beauty to your daily routine.” The cover is actually blank and just says: “Tietenblaadje”. There is a reason for that, though to which I have come now: inside the latest news consist of women lifting their shirts showing their titties (the translation of “Tietenblaadje” in fact is “titties magazine”).

Think I am joking? The link to the article in a nationwide newspaper is to be found here. The actual paper is found in the PDF link printed just over the picture. You’ll get to the “Tietenblaadje” faster by clicking here. Happy reading!

In other news: we got more snow! It’s getting really, really old. We actually went to the mall in a city nearby. After getting a few things, I decided that it would get too dangerous to stay at the mall, since the roads would get slippery. We managed to buy a BIG load of Caprisonne. This is Leann’s favorit drink and also our friends Diana and Larissa like this drink very much. So, with 4 cartons of 10 packages, we have enough for now. We also had our wedding rings and Leann’s engagement ring cleaned.

Kruidvat offers their chocotlate Easter eggs again. The reason for mentioning this, is that the eggs are so good and yet really cheap. I bought two BIG bags, so we’ll have enough for now.

There is more news: our Government decided to quit! So, we’ll have new elections some time soon for a new national Government. I am disheartened. I’ll write more about that in a separate entry.

This morning I got up early to watch the summaries of the Olympic Games from last night. It was nice being able to watch the Olympic Games that way. I also had a dentist appointment. One of my fillings needs to be replaced so this morning the dentist took out the old filling and cleaned the whole thing. In four weeks I will get the replacement filling. Right now I am walking around with holes in my teeth. The dentist said that I don’t have to worry over it.

In the afternoon we had an appointment at our bank. I am not very happy with the way the conversation went. I have nothing to go with, which annoys me. Hopefully things will go smoother after I filed some documents. The conversation with the real estate agent went a lot better. Right now we have a bit of time to make things work and to decide. Therefore we have decided to postpone the final decision for two months for now.

After we came home I saw a pile of old paper for pickup. Every other Wednesday a truck will go through the streets to pick up the old paper. Between the pile of paper I saw unwrapped commercial flyers that a paperboy should have delivered. It annoyed me well enough that this paperboy (or girl) didn’t do their job as they should have, so I contacted one of the companies from which the flyers came from. I let them know that I found a big pile of their flyers that have not been delivered. I took pictures and e-mailed that to them, as well. Someone will be talked to in a very serious way, I think.

That’s pretty much our day in a nutshell. In a bit I will go over to the voluntary work.

First of all Happy Valentine’s Day to everyone. I hope that you get lots of messages from your secret admirers!!

Last night I watched the first day of the Olympic Games. We brought in our first gold medal. Our speed skater, Sven Kramer, won the 5000 metres speed skating. This is really amazing. The guy is 23 years old and the Dutch people demanded that he would win this event. Actually he also demanded this from himself. I find that a bit too much pressure for a 23 year old guy. Then again: the past four years he has not lost any 5000 metres race. He did it after all. I also watched the ski jumping event. It didn’t have any surprises, either.

Back to the snow… we got some more snow… again!!! Does it never end? It’s not really nice, because besides Valentine’s Day we also celebrate Carnival. Today a BIG parade is being held in our village. Although I do like the parade it simply is too cold to stand outside for two hours and getting cold. That’s really not my cup of tea. We’ll probably skip on this.

Yesterday afternoon my parents visited us for tea. I actually planned to visit them this morning, but I guess we could sleep in (well… Leann can! ). Before writing this entry I finished preparing Dutch classes for tomorrow. I hope I’ll be able to start work early, so I can leave a little earlier, too.

Due to spam I have been forced to tighten the security in the weblog again. I don’t think anything changed visibly for our weblog readers. I would appreciate it, if you would report issues that you might come across, though, so that I am able to look into it. If you can’t report your issues in the weblog, please e-mail me at mickel[at]e-controller.eu or use the contact form.

Happy reading!

This morning I was inspired by the song Hallelujah sung by K D Lang during the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games. I decided to sing my own version. Believe me: K D Lang does this way better than me. That’s why she wins Grammy awards and I just have fun

On good news: we just learned that Leann’s Uncle Henry woke up from a coma again. We are very happy and hope for a full recovery.

I just finished watching the re-run of the opening ceremony. From what I remember from other opening ceremonies, this one was not really remarkable. The reason for me not really feeling the ceremony might be because I don’t understand all parts of the ceremony, who knows. The ceremony did have spectacular effects and elements in it, though like the whale scene and how the ice broke into parts. Those parts were well done.

The best part of the show (aside from the formalities) was the song “hallelujah” by K D Lang. She has an awesome voice. I hope that next time someone else will advise Nelly Furtado in dressing… sheesh.

Even it’s far into February today I still see Christmas lights left and right in our area. I have no clue as of why and why people decide to keep them around. I have to admit that I still enjoy to see the lights, especially because of the loads of snow that we had and that we might still get. In other “lights”: I can tell that spring is around the corner, because the days are getting longer. The sun comes up earlier and sets later. I am ready for the spring; without snow, if possible.

Work remains a challenge. I find it difficult to put a few things into the right words. Recognize this feeling: “You know you’re right, but you can’t convince others”? That’s what happens to me more often than I want to. It cost a lot of energy. Today I finally managed to convince others. Instantly things went better for me.

I have lined up some appointments to find out what it takes to buy our house. I have a feeling that we’ll have to postpone this plan, unless the corporation decides to withdraw the offer. The appointments are for next week Wednesday, so I look forward to that. We’ll see how it goes. NOt much more to report.