I am now certified to operate a motor vehicle in the Netherlands and within the European Union. Pretty cool, considering I still have no idea what most of the signs mean. The Dutch bureaucracy came through, in less time than they advertise. Even though those bitches at the regional office Read more…
My god. Two days is all it took. Two days without water, food, and electricity. In two days a vibrant, bustling city of almost a million was reduced to a flooded, lawless wasteland where people shoot at the authorities they criticize for not coming to help them. Where thugs loot Read more…
The Table of Contents didn’t do so well at tonight’s pub quiz in Rotterdam. We finished with 52.5 points (out of 90), 10th out of 14 teams. I guess since we only had 4 people, and not 5, we could say that we actually increased our points per capita from Read more…
In Dutch it’s called “Dordt op jou bord”. Literally translated it’s something like “Dordrecht on your plate.” Actually, Ann and I didn’t even know about it until we stepped out of the apartment at 2pm (something I would not have done had it not been for Ann’s prodding). But we Read more…
Bush says now we are staying because leaving would weaken the US. Huh? *scratch of the head* Were we any weaker BEFORE we put 130,000 US citizens there at the cost of hundreds of billions of dollars that could have been spent actually fighting terrorists?
I had to mention this. The latest reason we are staying in Iraq: to honor the fallen dead. I’m sure the ghosts of all those who died would want exactly that, for more of their comrades to be killed by the people they are “liberating”. I actually am not in Read more…
As cynical as I have become about the Bush administration and the war in Iraq, there are certain milestones in the development of a new nation that make you stop and question for a second if it may have all been worth it. The first moment like that for me Read more…
Another trip to the “Regiokantoor” (Regional Office). Here’s what I needed to gather this time: My declaration from the driving bureau The letter from the tax office saying I was getting the 30% ruling The letter form my company that they sent to the tax office explaining how special I Read more…
So this turned out to be a rather surreal evening. It starts with a beautiful day. Rarer than a male under six feet tall here in the Netherlands. Sunny, 72 degrees, slight breeze, just perfect. And it just so happens to be the first day of official ultimate practice. For Read more…