Tag Archives: Friend

Nature’s Wonders

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If you wonder where I’ve been… Well besides being busy I had to come to terms with a few issues so I needed time to reflect. Things have been slightly rough again lately or perhaps they still were: I might have been a bit in denial for some time and were forced to face it over the last few weeks. I had some kinda wake-up call and I’m not so sure yet if I should be happy about the situation or not. Actually there are a few, not just one…

Some things can make me feel extremely helpless and leave me frustrated or upset. I see someone close and dear struggling and I see someone else being completely absorbed by a relationship resulting in losing identity. In the first situation it happens long-distance so I can’t do anything about it except being there when I’m needed and I seem to fail doing so because of my own needs, making it hard to juggle. This one is passionate and slightly complicated…

In the second situation I just found out that the person might not be aware or is just blissfully in denial. I can see change in character because of the influence of a partner. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been in a similar situation so I guess that’s exactly why my radar picked it up. Again I can’t say or do anything about it but sit this one out and when it does I better have the Kleenex and a spare room ready. I just need to figure out a way to deal with it in the meantime…

Now picture my chauldron filled to the rim with the above ingredients including an equal measure of my own concerns which aren’t exactly rosy at the moment either. Let it stew for a while… And after making a real meal out of it, the result is something that then needs to be consumed while it doesn’t really look tasty at all: a bit burnt even. Then after consuming there’s cleaning to be done so you might understand what all of this is heading for in the long run.

I’m in serious need of a time-out, so I’m taking one and only focus on the job section for now until that is all sorted. Yes it is kinda tough to me because I find it difficult to put myself first and it feels like I’m running away from others but I figured out that if I don’t put myself first I can’t be there for anyone else. So it will always be a Catch-22 if I don’t decide to do what is best for me. I’m a fast learner but a slow achiever neither is good/bad, just extremely inconvenient at times.

Last week’s other activities involved chasing up someone in the US about an order that I placed a month ago, voting for the first time in London and discovering a most beautiful art deco library [polling station] five minutes from where I live, finishing complex time-consuming flash animations, getting frustrated about recruitment agencies and their inconsistent terms of folio sizes and CV formats, I have twelve different versions of both: the number is still increasing…

So yesterday was May Day in the UK, my parents’ Wedding Day, Liberation Day in the Lowlands and a day for me to relax and clear my head. It was sunny and perfect to go for a stroll in the woods. Today will be another day of annoying recruitment registrations… At least my parcel from the US finally arrived this morning. A creative gift: something I wanted for years, to brighten my day and hopefully someone else’s when I will use it… and I’m eager to!

© Gijsbrechts My gift… ‘And she started writing her love a letter each day’

The Search for Transition

My Source

A New Beginning

Things are not always what they seem

My Tree of Wisdom

Fragile but Strong!

The Move [part II]

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I’m back from a hectic trip to the Lowlands which was absolutely draining and I’m still recovering from all the stress and lack of sleep. Friday AS. and I left at 07.45 to go and pick up the van, we had to be there at 08.00. About half an hour later we were on our way to the tunnel where we arrived way too early [10:50]. That wasn’t an issue because we could take an earlier train since the ticket was a so called ‘Flexi Plus’ ticket which gives you priority check-in on the next available train…

People just pitch up normally and see if there is a spot available and since the train is hardly ever fully booked it’s quite easy to get a spot. We took the first train which would leave at 10.39 which seems like a long time to wait but they start loading the train 15 minutes before departure and everything is slightly rushed in a way. The system is brilliant and within 15 minutes from loading point the train will leave exactly on time and it only takes about 35 minutes to get to the other end.

We arrived in Calais – France at 12.10 and had to go to Antwerpen via Brugge and Gent, from there Breda, Utrecht, Amsterdam which would’ve taken about 4.5 hours at the most, if we would’ve been earlier that is. I’d totally forgotten that it was Friday afternoon, so first of all it was Friday-before-the-weekend rush hour and secondly there was way too much truck traffic on a four-lane road which goes all the way from Calais to Antwerpen. While their speed limit is mostly between 80 and 110 k/h there is no point in overtaking one another on a busy road.

But they did… and each time they did, it would cause cars to queue up in the left lane, because it takes them about 15 minutes to overtake. I’m sorry but I’m missing the point of doing that and holding up all other traffic. If there would’ve been a third lane, yes, go for it… but this doesn’t make sense to me. By the time we were near Gent we were stuck in solid traffic jams all the way to the North of Antwerpen and again between Breda and Utrecht. So we arrived at the storage in Amsterdam 1.5 hours later than planned at 19.30.

AS. and I started to load the van straight away, later joined by TH. and CH., the job was done in 1.5 hours. We went to CH.’s place to unwind and have dinner: a lovely meal of smoked eel and salmon, salmon potato salad, shrimps, fresh bread and of course herring: I only had six of them that evening *hehe*. The next day CH. and I went shopping for all the stuff that I can’t get in the UK. CH. bought me a really cool gift: a Moleskine City notebook [I collect cool notebooks], something I’ve had an eye on for ages but it’s quite expensive.

View Korte Prinsengracht, in the distance the Westertoren

View Herengracht taken from Brouwersgracht

It was a lovely day to go for a stroll around the city and this time I didn’t leave without taking some pictures for a special someone. I had to go to my favourite shop to get some tiny things there: de Hema… I’ve never had such great service as to this day and I wasn’t the only one who noticed, then again at the Xenos where I had to look for some cooking equipment I got the same excellent service. Thank you people for making my day when I was in a rush to get all the things that I needed, you’ve been fantastic: I left both places with a huge grin on my face!

A typical Dutch street organ

My favourite shop, they might come to the UK *yay!*

CH. and I had a drink at a coffee place next to the famous Flower Market enjoying the view and making fun of tourists. While we walked back home [we had walked around for five hours], we passed a church where they’d organised an antique market so we went in to have a look. Some of the stuff, that was for sale for ridiculous prices, is still to be found in my mums cupboards… I think I will go over some day and ask her if I could have some pieces, not to sell but to use it, she still has some Chinese crockery: rice bowls, spoons. All collecting dust…

The Flower Market: flowers [and bulbs] for special tourist prices: waaaaaaaay to expensive!

Having a hot chocolate and a ham/cheese tostie

We went out for a meal that evening at the Northern Star, a typical Amsterdam cafe which serves Dutch pub grub. The next morning we left at 08:15 and drove all the way to the Belgium border in one go where we took a 10 minutes break and hit the road again to Calais where we took the 12:50 train. We arrived at the storage in the UK at exactly 15.30 and got help from DB. and LB. JM.’s two sons. All was done an hour and a half later. Unfortunately when we went to fill up the tank, AS. dented/scratched the brand new van when he hit a low wall that was impossible to see.

Typical Amsterdam cafe

Typical Amsterdam cafe, I don’t drink cat piss beer but this was nice *hehe*

It will cost him the deposit, however the storage guy said it was his second van that was damaged by that same wall so he’s going to have a word with the owner of the petrol station. It’s been a hectic three days and I’m busy again working on a freelance assignment involving Flash at the mo that needs to be done by the end of this week so I won’t have much time to post on here. I’ll be busy over the weekend sorting out boxes and throwing out stuff that I no longer need. I need some structure in this chaos! How’s yours?

Parallel to Dubbeleworststeeg [Double Sausage Alley: don’t you just love Dutch names? *hehe*]

The Royal Palace with Atlas carrying the Globe

Driekoningenstraat

The only street in Amsterdam where the lights have crowns…