Solly as a Rock!!

Why does the winter season always seems to be is longer than autumn, spring or summer?

As I told you earlier, I was hooked on Outback Jack – the TV show, not the guy himself.
Tonight was the finale… and, to my delight,Jack picked Natalie!!! I did not like Marissa at all, and I really considered ‘princess’ Natalie to be the right gal for Jack so… Hooray! May they live happily ever after!

To see if they really did live happily ever after – together! – here’s an update on Natalie and Outback Jack

MyLove finished his internship two weeks ago and is due to hand in his report tomorrow. He typed his a*s off and showed 3 preliminary versions to his supervisors – at his internship company and at college – for reviewing. Not big problems, only small remarks. MyLove handed in another – nearly final – version to his supervisors last Friday. “You study International Fashion Management,” both his supervisors said in their comments – as if they had consulted each other! – “So your internship should be in English.”

What?!
Couldn’t they have told him this, say, at version number ONE?!

“It’s only a translation thing, there’s tools for that on the internet,” one of them dared to say. It is NOT just a ‘translation thing’, you can’t just use a simple ‘translation tool’. It’s not that difficult to write a report in English, yet it IS difficult to translate a Dutch report into English, because you have to change the structure of every sentence. Incredibly frustrating, too.
He spend the past days – including his birthday, no one was allowed to visit – re-writing the whole darn thing.
Progress is slow and he was afraid he would not make it in time, so I offered to help him in the translation-reconstruction process.
One positive thing: I know everything about ERP now…

update 24/02/05 @ 13 PM: We typed all day and all night and we we’re finished right on time. He handed it in this morning, and he just received his grade: 8 out of 10. Pffff. Sleep now…

It’s MyLove’s Birthday today and I don’t have a real present. (everybody gasps out of shock). I really tried to, but his ‘Birthday Present Wish List 2005′ included a car, a beamer, the newer version of Final Scratch, a sound card (and several other computer related bits and pieces) and new clothes. See the difficulties? All of it is too expensive, except for the last item – but buying clothes for MyLove is a very tricky thing. Too tricky.

So this year I give money. Plain, ironed, crisp Euro notes. Romantic isn’t it? I don’t consider a birthday a real birthday if you don’t have anything to unwrap. Therefore, I have wrapped a packet of cigarettes – yep, he still smokes – and the latest issue of his favorite computer magazine. Well, at least it looks better on the photo’s…

My dad installed Acrobat Reader on his own! Well, I had to talk him through the steps by phone, but he did all the clicking and stuff all by himself!

I just showered, had some breakfast and a cup of tea. I’ll brush my teeth and I’m off to bed… It’s been a long night!

update @ 16:00 PM: It was a great techno night at the old ‘Gas-holder’ of Amsterdam! A circular-shaped venue, so a bit tricky to find the toilets, bar or friends (click here for pics. Chris Liebing and Speedy J hit us with some ‘bass in our face’, Chris Hope made me dance when I thought I could dance no more, indoor fireworks, great atmosphere, lots and lots of friends; to name just a few of the highlights. I danced from midnight till 6:30 AM… I was sooo tired this morning. Now, I feel much better, but my legs still hurt like I ran a marathon!

My dad discovers and/or accepts technology a bit later than the rest of the world. He bought a video player in 2000 and his first CD in 2002 – we gave him the CD-player for his birthday in 1995… Anyway, he bought a second hand computer 2 years ago and figured out how it worked last year. Now he’s ready for more: The Internet- yep, with capitals, in his case!

So, like the loving kid and son-in-law we are, me and MyLove installed DSL at my parents place. Then we installed Kaspersky Antivirus and Internet Security, downloaded every Windows Update we could find and configured his Outlook Express. “Have fun!”, we shouted to Dad when we left the place.

Five minutes later my mobile phone rang. Dad.
“What now?” he asked, “How do I get on The Internet?”
“Doh!”, I thought, remembering the mouse-click incident – my dad could not remember if he has to right, left or double click (and with which button, in that matter) – and the ‘How does Word work for absolute and utter dummies’ campaign.
“I’ll write you a manual,” I answered, “You’ll have it by next weekend, and you’ll be able to surf the net safely next week.”

For the past week I have adapted several internet and e-mail courses that were originally developed for the first grades of primary school – which equals my dad’s computer literacy level…- for Dad’s manual. I’ll give it to him later today, so he can read it thoroughly tonight.

I’m a bit curious what he’ll think of it. And when I’ll get the first ‘Help! The manual says this, but I can’t find it.’- phone call…

(I don’t want to brag or anything, but the manual is so clear – it’s written in simple language with lots of illustrations -, that I’m thinking about selling it to homes for the elderly or senior-clubs, so they can learn how to use the internet, too!)

The best thing to start your day with: coffee. The second best thing to start your day with: brand new hair!

Still sleepy you arrive at the hair stylist. “Coffee?”, he asks. You just nod. One shot of caffeine later, his assistant takes you to the washstand. “Take a seat,” and places a towel in your neck. “Tilt your head back, and relax.” He did not have to add “Enjoy!”, ’cause you will, automatically. Nothing beats getting your hair washed by a professional. Thorough shampooing followed by a 5 minute massage of the scalp to rub in the conditioner. You doze away… A towel is wrapped around your head. “Follow me to your seat”. The hair stylist circles around you, without cutting. He lifts up parts of your hair, combs them with his fingers to the front or to the back of your head. “Short or keep it longer?” “Not too short, shoulder length.” He nods. “Trendy, but not extreme.” Then he starts cutting, slowly yet determined. Tiny bits of hair tickle your nose, bundles of hair falls to the floor. You see the shape of your new coupe. You start smiling, anxious to see the end result. He uses the blow-dryer to get rid of the last bits of cut hair. A bit of shaper… He holds the mirror behind your head, moves it around. “Voilá!” You look, and smile. “Perfect!” You pay, and leave the salon.

Nothing beats brand new hair to boost your ego! It is one of the luxeries I won’t give up, no matter how broke I am. A visit to the hair stylist might cost a few euros, but you feel like a brand new person afterwards.

A musical condom has been invented that gets louder as the sex gets more passionate. Different sexual positions determine what tune is played by the condom reports The Sun. The contraceptive has tiny sensors connected to a mini electronic device that produces the sounds. Ukrainian inventor Dr Grigoriy Chausovskiy said: “There is no danger of being electrocuted.” They will cost 20 per cent more than normal condoms. “But people will pay for the extra stimulation,” he added. (source)

I wonder which song it plays…. Any suggestions?

*’My first, my last, my everything’ by Barry White playing*
I’ve circled this date on the calendar.
I’ve added a warning in MyLove’s Outlook-agenda.
I’ve given him hints – very obvious hints.
This morning, when he left for work, I kissed him tenderly and said “Happy Valentine’s Day, sweetie”.
“I thought we decided not to celebrate Valentine’s day this year?”
*sound of needle scratching on vinyl*
“What?”
“After 7 years, do we really need a day introduced by Hallmark to show our love to each other?”
“…”
MyLove kissed me goodbye and left me standing – completely flabbergasted.
His speech better be a decoy of some sort, to make sure I will be absolutely surprised when he returns home tonight with a dozen of roses and a little present.
If not, he’s in trouble. Big trouble!

update @ 6 PM: He’s not in trouble… he is sweet *sighs*.