Archive for March, 2008
banking tribulations
I’ve said it before: the Dutch banking system is not the shining jewel of the nation. Or at least, not the PINpas (bankcard) portion of it. Rudder and I both had our bankcards replaced several times in the one year we lived here. When I got here this trip, I hadn’t even gotten out of […]
snow!
It’s not that I haven’t been writing lately, just that it’s been over on the other site. It’s been snowing or sleeting now and then since late last week, but without any accumulation – it’s been wet snow and the ground has been just warm enough to melt it all. This morning when we went […]
the Railway is rerouted for today
I had written these yesterday for my Spoon River Railway project, but not quite finished. I went to post them there, but realized the LJ Content Strike has started. I hadn’t decided unti now whether I was going to participate, but find I just can’t bring myself to cross strike lines. I think it’s partly […]
links, opinions, and comparative climbing
I’m pleased to note that the Match It for Pratchett website has now made it easier to donate to Alzheimer’s research. Via their tip jar, you can donate via Paypal, which allows you to give without entering lots of information and also to give amounts as small as $2. They still have a link to […]
separate cars: a Good Thing
I seem to be putting on weight (I mean, in terms of visible fat: I don’t care much about pounds) but my jeans are quite loose. I suspect this just means they’ve been worn too many times between washings. Not sure why on the fat: if naything I’ve been walking more and snacking less than […]
riding down the river
The following was first posted on Avontuur. I’ve thought better about crossposting stuff here from LiveJournal: a lot of what I post there is vey brief, or memes floating around LJ, or aimed at the particular community there. It turns out that cycling along beside a canal in spring in Holland is fun, too. The […]
Well, thank goodness *that’s* done
Stringing pearls is incredibly tedious. And what’s worse than stringing pearls? Stringing pearls in a hotel room without any of my beading gear. Specifically, the two pair of needlenose pliers, the beading tray and maybe some foam where I could rig a stationary needle point up would have been helpful. Instead I improvised: I have […]
busy!
Was I complaining too much last week about spending my evenings alone? Oops. On Monday night, three of the women from my old department took me out for my birthday. (Dutch colleagues, Chinese food, ironically.) On Tuesday night I went out with several of the Taiwanese people here on business for someone else’s birthday. Wednesday […]
sort of like a bad hair day
I am having a bad stuff day. This morning I put on a pair of khaki pants. Now: I’d tried to wear these Monday, only to have a button pop off. Not having time to effect repairs, I changed to other trousers for the day and affixed the button that night. Tuesday I decided to […]
Boat name
I’m going to name the new boat Moonrise 嬋 娟 號 It will be silver, with some navy blue. The first two Chinese characters are taken from a famous poem and mean means “beautiful moon” or “full moon”, because apparently Moonrise is not really a word in Mandarin; the last character doesn’t really mean anything […]