2006-05-31

ringxiety

I just stumbled on this: ringxiety. Rather interesting, some people get so addicted to their mobile phone they hear phantom ringtones.

Now, being a professional call taker myself, I can tell you: never happened to me :) What does happen to me regularly though, is the failure to hear a ringtone - depending a bit on who's calling. Anybody a nice word to describe this?

The "ringxiety" story probably signifies the start of what we call in Dutch the "komkommertijd"; the very calm, uninspired period for journalists in summer. Anything goes to fill the papers then...

Anyway, this probably happens mostly to people already suffering from a Blackberry thumb.

Rubbish.

2006-05-23

a cat was lost

and found, in our basement. At 4 AM this morning, more exactly, when our very drunk neighbour woke us up with the doorbell.

I tend to be in quite a nasty mood when I'm violently woken up, so he was lucky there was actually a little black pussy locked up there...

Anyway: two questions:
- why the fuck did he rang at our doorbell (we live at the 3rd floor!), and not on the ground level appartment?
- why did he not even say thank you, as a bit of compensation for yet again a lost night?

Mind you, I like cats. I'm happy the little thing is saved - but it better not happen again.

2006-05-19

location

Rather important information: our new house is located in Tienen. A small town about 20 km north-east from Leuven, on the main highway to Brussels. The house is about 5 min. walking from the train station, 10 min. walking from the city center, and 5 min. driving from the highway.

Some facts:
- 7000 hectare
- about 30000 inhabitants
- last execution with a sword: 1326
- mixed political landscape, with a socialist majority
- best know for, of course, sugar cubes.
- birth place of Praga Khan

2006-05-15

the result

It is done. Last Friday we signed the contract - so now we own some real Property! Well, not absolutely official yet: the contract still has to be ratified by a notary before September, 12th at latest.

The house is a converted farm-house built in 1932, and includes as you see a rather large garage. Very basic layout: house at the left, garage at the right, kitchen (bathroom on top of it) added at the back later on, and at the very back a rather worn-down barn. No garden - we plan to partly dismantle the barn and use it as a sheltered garden. Somewhere next year or so. The outside looks rather dull, but it has no structural damage, and the brickwork looks surprisingly good for having been built in 1932... The inside has been completely renovated at the end of the previous century: new electricity system, new heating (including pipework and burner), new bathrooms.

What remains to be done, from the top down: renew the roof tiles, isolate the roof, update the chimney so we can have a nice useable fireplace (and not those ridiculous fake gas fireplaces), clean the attick, construct a new floor above the garage and in a part of the attick, add some more windows, bring in a new staircase, redo some interior decoration, place a new kitchen, replace the garage door with this. And so on....

Any volunteers are welcome.