Day to Day Life

After having been back to work for the past 2 months, one thing I’ve not had a lot of is me time.  Something I’ve had nothing but for the past 8 or so years.   I get up in the morning and have to deal with the pets (feeding, walking) and then am off to work.  I get home and I’m …

The new-ish thing for public transit here in Rotterdam is the OV Chipkaart.    It’s a card that you can charge up with credit and use on the public transit to get around the city. In the past we used something called a strippenkaart which was a long paper thing sectioned into blocks or ‘strips’.  Depending on how many zones you …

I have no voice.  If I try to talk it comes out as a painful whisper, or if I really try hard, a croak.  My throat is so sore, I am sucking back Halls (which I’m so glad I brought back from Canada with me!) and Vicks Anti-Flu lozenges like nobodies business.   I even wake up in the middle of …

Yeah, well all hope of it just being allergies is gone out the window.   I went to work this morning feeling slightly crap and by the end of the afternoon I was downright miserable. I can’t stop coughing, my throat hurts, I’m sneezing my brains out and am full of snot.   Those aren’t even the worst bits though.  The fucking …

Ok so get this.   I was just talking to my friend Matt and was telling him that I was watching the latest episode of The Biggest Loser.  Then he told me to pause it because he had something interesting to tell me. You see, Matt and I first met on one of the turtle forums I visit quite a lot.  …

Them meaning, the Dutchies.   I know, I know… I didn’t think it would ever happened either and yes, I did check to see if monkeys are flying out of my arse.   I can’t help it though, even without trying I’m finding things I really love about this place. One of the most recent things is Marco Borsato.  I’m not sure …

One of the things I hated about gaming, and don’t miss in the slightest, is all the smacktalk that goes on.   When you play online games of any kind, you can’t escape the morons who use the games to make themselves feel like less of a loser and spend all their time mouthing off. I haven’t been feeling so well …

Over the past few years I’ve really grown to appreciate the city I live in.   I think I’m becoming a hardcore Rotterdammer at heart.   I can understand why tourists prefer Amsterdam, as it still has more of that historical Dutch look but Rotterdam has some of that too, but with something really cool and modern mixed in. I took these …

Right, so I decided that since I’m a working woman who has a pretty good chance of moving on to a permanent situation (according to my colleagues), I’ve decided to buy myself something shiney and new when I get paid.   I can pay bills and all that crap later, I want satisfaction… in the material sense. So I’ve been looking …

Although this winter hasn’t been nearly as bad for me mentally as other winters have been in the past, I’m still really excited to see signs of spring coming, like this blue sky out the window at work yesterday. The temperatures have been going up slightly and the sun is starting to show itself more and more.   I love it!  …

One (more) thing I love about where I work is the view.   On the 10th floor in the middle of the city, I can see quite a lot.   So if I have a minute it’s nice to watch people out and about doing their thing.   It’s also nice when the sun is going down and we all know it’s almost …