Moving (3)

I bought Mouser a little treat. A radiator bed. It hooks on to the radiator and is soft and plushy. Actually it's for the new house, but I've mounted it here already so kitteh can get used to it. I've put Mouser on it a couple of times, but it jumps off as fast as it can. I think it wants to look out the window, and the bed is too low. Maybe it'll be ideal for in the conservatory.
I've washed the cover to get rid of unfamiliar smells and placed it on the chair Mouser usually naps during the day, so it gets permeated with kitteh's own smell.

Moving (2)

We're selling off furniture via the web. The more we sell, the less we have to move.
We've had lots of interest over the weekend.
Today Dr Livingstone is delivering a bed in Antwerp on the way to a job, yesterday a guy came and took a huge cabinet for A1 paper off our hands, tonight there's someone coming to collect two bed slats and tomorrow there's another drop off of two bookcases.

We're also very keen on getting rid of a high sleeper bed. It's in our way, hardly ever been used and for a very reasonable price we hope to flog it.

So yesterday I packed up a lot of books in some Chiquita banana boxes. Not many left of them now I'm afraid. Used the lid as well, only managed to pack 2 bookcases in 8 boxes.

Tomorrow we're getting a quote from the cabinet maker.

/Drumroll.

Dr Livingstone told me to put the selling of the remaining bookcases on hold for a while until we're absolutely sure we can afford the made to measure one.

So I'll be playing the lottery again this weekend...

Heroine of the week: Kathryn Bennetts

The woman we all love to hate, the chemtrial believing Flemish Minister for Environment and Culture Joke Schauvliege, is really screwing the country around again. Last week she gave an interview stating that a minister shouldn't actually know anything about Culture to run the department. "Je moet als minister van Cultuur geen cultuurkenner zijn. Een minister moet vooral goed beleid voeren"

Quod erat demonstrandum. It is plainly obvious she does not understand anything about Culture: She has announced a series of budget cuts (among many, many others also hitting environmental groups) and will put the Flemish Opera and the Royal Ballet of Flanders under one intendant. Kathryn Bennetts, of the Royal Ballet has resigned forthwith
.
"I do not want to live in a country with that kind of policies. This is an act of arrogance and ignorance. These plans are from a Minister of Culture whom I have never met and has never attended one of our performances. This is utterly shamefull for Flanders" dixit Bennetts in the papers. She had been with the Royal Ballet as artistic director since 2005. This is a very powerful signal. And one not te be ignored, or passed over lightly.

But, knowing Schauwvliege it'll just bounce off her and she'll just go: 'There is a crisis on, everyone needs to get by with less'.
If you hear how she's running (or not running) the Department (less subsidies, more own resources), doesn't that say enough about her non-capacity? The magical words: 'The sector needs to implement their own objectives from the bottom up' are just NewSpeak for 'I don't really know how to do it myself'.

When will the Flemish Minister President Kris Peeters grow some balls and end this catastrophe? Flanders is becoming the laughing stock of the international art world.

Exemption

Good news in my mailbox today! I got word that I got an exemption for one of the subjects on my program next semester. \o/
I also got word that another one was turned down.
I have to take Music History. Not to pleased about that. I've studied Music History at two different institutions before (that amounts to five (!) different courses) but according to the university they didn't have the equivalence to what is going to be teached here. Meh, I disagree. I've seen the course manual. It is the spitting image of what I've done before. Waste of time i.m.o.
Ah, well. The story of my life I guess?

Moving (1)

It has started. Dr Livingstone has taken the first bookcase with him to his workshop.
I had packed the contents into some Chiquita banana boxes two weeks ago. I've already used up five of them. Bugger. I've only managed to score an extra three since the last Banana Box Update. I've not been to the shops every day, and when I did go, there weren't any boxes for me to take home.

Also, the carpenter is going to make a bookcase for the living room. It's going to be huge. 6 x 2,3 meters. Now we're talking. In a nice warm cherry wood. It's going to take him about four days to make the bookcase in his workshop and about a day to install it. We're getting a quote for that later today. My guess is we'll be waiting to have it fitted with glass doors.

I think this weekend will consist of a few runs to the container park. And I need to put all the stuff we don't want anymore up for sale on the internet.

I hope there's a big market out there for the obligatory IKEA stuff.

De Wever word cloud

Here's Bart De Wever's world cloud from the text he posted on the internet for all Belgium to see.

Dahon Eco Folding Bike

Yesterday I went and bought me one of these: a Dahon Eco folding bike, in a nice dark shade; Baltic Blue.
It took me a little while to get used to fold it.
The step by step drawing wasn't very consistent as to how the pedals should be. I'm easily confused.
And Dr Livingstone was watching me from afar and shouting: 'This'll never last. I don't see you doing that in the midst of winter when it's freezing. I'm waiting for the day I get a call from you telling me you're hair's caught in the gears.' etc.
I've got it sussed out now. On the site it says it takes about 15 seconds to fold the thing. I can do better. But the Dr refused to time my folding escapades.
So the plan is to
a) cycle to the station in the morning to catch the train in February when we've moved (busses tend to be slow and also stuck in traffic jams)
b) fold the bike
c) board the train
d) make a complete arse of myself unfolding the darn thing and cycle off to whatever seminar I need to attend.

I still need to buy and über cool helmet at the skate shop.

Not on the busses

Looks like no one is going to be boarding any busses today. Be they über fat or wafer thin.
Drivers are on strike in my area. Can't blame them. There've been schedule changes, they're about 20 drivers short and they don't even have time for a little tinkle. And they've been cutting back on more busses. That's why we're always crammed in the bus like a school of sardines in a tin can.

Looks like I'll have to use the car again.

Morbidly o' bus

People with a BMI of 30 and up should NOT board the bus when I'm on it.
Well, they can, but they are NOT allowed to try and squeeze themselves in the seat next to me, protrude to an unnatural or incongruous extent and then accordingly squash me between them and the window.
I was reading a book and couldn't even move my arms to turn over the page! Seriously. How can you be that fat and not have the slightest inkling of what kind of uncomfortableness you cause others by literally shifting your weight around.
To top it off the fat woman even gave me a 'Move a little will ya'-stare.

Really. One ass per seat please.

Past week round up

- start of telex -

A quick list of things done so far:
- every morning (or indeed afternoon) this past week busses were late, at least 7 minutes.
- attended an animated discussion organised by the Law Faculty on Justice and Media (journalists and investigating judge were seriously getting up each other's nose).
- had minor surgery on Thursday. They put me in Room 101 (again)!
- signed the agreement to buy the house at the real estate guy, met the owners of the house for the first time.
- told the landlord we'd be moving (he seemed very relieved) very soon.
- we're moving at the beginning of December. Hope to be all settled by the 15th.
- won twice with lottery (2,50 €). Not even enough to cover the amount it costs to hand in the ticket...

Now need to sleep.
Worked at the mill today, lagging behind in school work.
Not enough hours in a day.

- end of telex -