2008-09-28 21:23:00
Tomorrow we'll be paying a short visit to the Snow offices in order to return most of the computing equipment that I bought on their bill. There's only a minimal amount of stuff that we're buying from them, like the 500gb disk holding all of our backups. Even my first Apple laptop (my modded iBook that's been with us for over three years) is going back since the price tag is just a bit too high for us.
Among the stuff that's going back is an awesome laser printer, the Lexmark E342n. We've had this printer since May of 2006 and it's served us wonderfully! We printed over 25.000 pages on this thing and it just keeps on going. The B/W text quality is great and we've never had any complaints. 25.000 pages of work, school reports and fan fiction. :)
Oh yeah, we're also returning our VW Fox but in return we've already gotten the new car from my new employer.
kilala.nl tags: other tech,
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2008-09-28 14:53:00
So far I'm able to cope in a few languages aside from dutch. I'm fluent in english and still have some skills in german and french, all of which comes in very useful in my daily life. Aside from that I've learnt a few basic words and phrases in japanese, finnish and spanish so I can at least get directions and order some food. Now, out of necessity, I'm learning same basic polish vocab as well.
A few months ago (this thread at GoT puts it around half July) the apartment above us got bought by a polish contracting firm (Dolina Tour). The apartment is home to seven or eight poles who leave for work before dawn and who're home during the weekend. Of course I have no qualms with foreign workers, even though there's a whole bunch of stereotypes against them. So far our neighbors have been quiet and friendly and quite pleasant.
Unfortunately a few weeks ago they started playing music at an awfully high level (Crank it to eleven!). To make things worse they only seem to have one favourite CD, which is the Mama Mia movie soundtrack *ugh* Now, I like me some Abba as much as any other, but the movie versions of the songs just suck.
Anywho... I'm trying to learn enough words and phrases to ask them to turn it down in a friendly matter. :)
kilala.nl tags: studying,
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2008-09-26 12:42:00
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*sigh* I've tried to sew velcro onto makeshift drapes for our linnen closet a few times now. The stupid thing is that I keep running into problems and I just know that I'm doing -something- wrong; I just don't know what. |
kilala.nl tags: creative, annoying,
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2008-09-25 14:01:00
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It's no secret that I like comics. Funny comics, exciting comics, serious comics, to me they really aren't any less than a good novel. So far I've always made one exception though: I've never liked photo comics very much. Today however I ran into one that I rather enjoy: 3 Hoog (Third floor). |
Two of my favourites would be Kamer te huur (Room for rent) and Goede voornemens (New year's resolutions). Yes, the humor is -totally- studentesque and low brow, but that shouldn't be too surprising since the strip gets published in the weekly mag of the University of Utrecht. :)
kilala.nl tags: comics,
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2008-09-25 10:53:00
Of course it speaks for itself that becoming a parent brings on a lot of changes. All of a sudden you're responsible for another person who's wholly dependant on you! However, the past few days I've also noticed a lot of subtle changes, a lot for the better and some for the worse.
+ Our cleaning regimen has never been this good. We're washing dishes every day, as opposed to every two/three days. The lavatory, kitchen and bathroom get daily sanitation and I'm using our nightly awake-time to run laundries during the nighttime tariff.
+ Our eating habits have improved. Marli has taken to drinking at least three liters of fluids every day and I'm cooking whole meals again (as opposed to just meat and some veg).
+ I've become a lot more friendly in public. I don't know why, but these days I'm very polite and rather chipper around strangers :)
- Unfortunately the both of us can get a bit grouchy during our nighttime bouts with Dana. Luckily we know -why- this is happening and we can deal with it, but it doesn't make it more fun.
- I'm still a bit more hyperactive and forgetful than usual. I keep forgetting small stuff like my car keys, my wallet or closing up Dana's romper suit.
- Waking up in the middle of the night is confusing for me. It's happened a few times that I wake up from a dream that involved Dana or Marli and that I got confused and agitated that neither was where they were in my dream. I'd get up from bed and wonder where the heck Dana went, because "I was just holding her". Of course this is rather annoying to Marlijne as well...
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2008-09-22 20:23:00
I guess that with every big occasion at least one screw up needs to be made, right? Well I just made the one when it comes to our baby's birth. Luckily it's nothing to do with Dana herself :)
You wouldn't believe it, but I made a spelling mistake in her name on the baby cards. I proof read the card three times before sending it through e-mail, then I checked the proof three weeks ago and I double checked it today. I happened to notice a missing "s" in the sentence above, but somehow managed to miss the additional "c" in her name. Seriously, how the heck did I get to "Janicque" on the card?! Who's ever heard of a "c" where "ique" is normal?
Ah well... If this is the only thing I'll screw up, I'll be a very happy man ^_^
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2008-09-21 08:43:00
Sssh! I'm quietly typing this on my iPhone, while Marli is asleep next to me :)
Yesterday Marli was dismissed from the hospital and we were allowed to go home. Of course I was the stereotypical, wishy-washy father so at first I forgot the parking slip, then I forgot my wallet and then I didn't have any cash for the hostess' bill. All in all it took an hour just to get out of there :D
Around two we were greeted by our temp homecare nurse Anouk, from Partula. Anouk got down to business right away and was a bit of a whirlwind about the house. While I was away doing some much needed shopping with my mom, Anouk helped Marli with the feeding and bathing of our daughter, meanwhile dispensing huge amounts of useful information. It was a bit too much to take in, but since Anouk's a loudish and cheery woman it was fun nonetheless. :)
Tonight went better thAn expected. Where the nights in the hospital were irregular, iratic and filled with crying, tonight had a steady rhytm to it! *glee* This rhytm feels good and allows us three hour periods pfsleep between one hour blocks of baby-maintenance. All in all I reckon I'll be able to get five to six hours of sleep on working days. I guess I'll manage that for a while.
Now... It's time for breakfast! >3
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2008-09-18 11:00:00
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Hey everyone, meet our daughter! She was born yesterday (the 17th of september), at 0422. As my previous blogpost mentioned she was a few hours early so we had to skip the scheduled caesarian and went for a middle-of-the-night operation instead.
She weighs in at 3.8 kilos (approximately 8 pounds for those people who still shun the metric system) and measures 52 cm.
Her name is Dana Gabriella Janique.
Ain't she a beauty? :)
kilala.nl tags: baby, awesome,
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2008-09-17 03:13:00
well, at least our daughter has learnt to be on time for an appointment. We were scheduled for a c-section around 0700, but at 0150 Marli's water broke. So here we are, at the hospital, feeling anxious but OK.
Wish us luck!
kilala.nl tags: baby,
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2008-09-13 10:49:00
( I really ought to add a photo to this post )
I've had my iPhone for about a week now and I'm loving it to bits. Phone calls, SMS, e-mail and web browsing all work like a dream! Then today, after putting the phone down while getting out of the car I noticed something weird about the front of the phone.
Next to the earpiece there are three purple / reddish / bordeaux dots, about 3mm in diameter. They were staring me in the face as if they'd always been there, though I'd never seen them before. Not in bright sunlight, not under incandescent light, not under CFC light and now all of a sudden, on a dreary and grey day, they show up! Weird! :D
Anywho, it turns out that these are the proximity sensors used to turn off the touchscreen when you're making a phone call. Mystery solved :)
kilala.nl tags: apple, iphone,
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2008-09-13 07:41:00
Almost precisely three months after the last hyperventilation I've had one again. I woke somewhere around 0100 from Marli leaving the room because she couldn't sleep. At the same time I became aware of a tingling sensation in my lips and arms: the onset of the real "burning" attack (sounds like on of those superpowers from an anime ^_^ "SUPA BAAHNIN ATTAKKU GO!").
I reckon tonight's occurrence was linked to yesterday's stress.
Of course it sucked that I was saying goodbye to some great colleagues. Paul and Nico were the best managers I've had in years and the rest of my team are just a great bunch of guys. But aside from that there was also some hassle with colleagues from Snow, whom I'd pissed off mightily by quitting for a new job without telling them. I've talked it over with one of them (my field manager), but I expect at least some pain from two or three others when I drop by the Snow office for the last time. The prospect of that visit isn't a very happy one and causes me some anxiety.
You see, some would say that what I did was an assholeish and selfserving move; and I would agree with them. I had decided that I'd needed to be a bit greedy and an asshole (read: thinking strictly business, weighing and measuring gain versus losses, minimizing the risks only for me) in order to provide the best for my family. IMNSHO it is generally not a good idea to tell your boss that you're looking for a new job until you've found a new one and signed the contract and most business folks in my direct circle agree. So that's what I did.
I could've told Snow beforehand, but that would have impacted the clients I get assigned, my salary and my relations with the people in the company. And that would've gone on until I'd finally found the job I wanted. In my case this took five months, so that would've sucked pretty much. Seriously, why screw up a running contract when you don't even have a new one yet? I need to provide for a family and I can't do that if my employer wants me out. Hence the reason that I don't tell them that -I- want out. There's nothing they could've done to keep me onboard anyway, because once I make up my mind to leave somewhere I will. As I said a few weeks ago I'd lost touch with the essence of the company over a year ago. I just wasn't feeling comfortable anymore.
*sigh* I'd better go and get dressed for grocery shopping. I've demanded that Marli stay at home and in bed seeing how she hasn't had a wink of sleep tonight.
kilala.nl tags: hyperventilation, work,
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2008-09-12 18:00:00
This reminds me an awful lot of what my boss-man Nico told me just a few days ago...
He recounted the story of a friend of his who had taken a few weeks off before the birth of their child. Thinking that he'd still have at least a week left before the kid'd get there he was relaxing, putting around the house and so on. And just when he started washing his car his wife appeared in the door opening and loudly proclaimed that they were going to the hospital. NOW! :D
As I mentioned I pushed my holiday forward by a week and worked my last day at $CLIENT today. This in itself turned a few heads and (AFAIK) pissed a few people off. But right now I'm expecting this decision to come to an ironic outcome, with our kid appearing sometime this weekend.
Why? Because all of a sudden, since yesterday, Marli's body has been giving off signals. Yesterday she hesitantly asked me whether "Honey, is this what they call a 'hard belly'?" and yes it was. And today she's been having on and off pains that could very well be practice contractions.
How exciting! :D
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2008-09-11 17:18:00
It was a bit inconvenient for $CLIENT, but I've decided (after a lot of pushing from Marli) to take my vacation a week early. I was feeling pretty near to burning up and Marli really wanted me to stay healthy before the baby comes. Of course that makes total sense (as a lot of wives' suggestions do), but I do feel a bit guilty about the decision.
Ah well... Come Monday I'll be home for two weeks, allowing me to sleep a lot, to relax and to do some sewing :)
kilala.nl tags: holiday, baby, relaxing,
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2008-09-10 12:45:00
I was redoing my hair just now and I pulled at least five grey hairs from the band tying my hair together. Crap, I'm getting old. I also feel absolutely crappy today, but I'm sure that has to do with a lack of sleep and a bunch of pre-baby stress.
Damn, I'm thinking I'm going home a bit early. *yawn*
kilala.nl tags: rhythm, health, body,
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2008-09-08 22:21:00
*yaaaawn* *stretch* *pop!* Ouch! >_<
This has been a long and hard day... We'd planned a few important baby-things today, after which I borked up and booked some work related things as well. "Tightly packed" is one way to describe my schedule.
I woke at 0530 and left for Snow's new office around 0800. Around 0930 I'd have my exit consult with one of the company's directors, thus taking care of some paperwork that needed to be done. Among them is the huge list of hard- and software that I purchased using my IB. We'll now have to decide what we want to keep and what goes back to Snow.
After all of that I had to rush home because we had an OB/GYN appointment around 1130. The echo shows that the kid's still fine and that she's rather slender with long legs. Estimates are that she's between five and seven pounds in weight. The talk with the gyno went pretty easy and it was decided that we'd go for a Caesarian. Personally my preferences lie with a natural birth, but since things just doesn't look right we'll have to opt for plan B.
After that followed groceries, a run to city hall for some paperwork and some more stuff for dinner.
As if that wasn't enough we also had a two-hour appointment at the hospital again around 20:00. We'd get the whole show and tell story of how the hospital handles deliveries and how the whole show goes down. I found it quite remarkable that the whole room was attentive until the anesthesiologist brought in diagrams. Then it was straight back to bio class in high school, with everyone chatting and noone paying attention. Weird.
Anywho... After tonight we are definitely considering going to the hospital in Nieuwegein instead. Their facilities are more modern and comfortable and their opening hours to husbands are -way- better. In Utrecht fathers are only permitted to visit between 1200 and 2100, while Nieuwegein allows you in 24x7. Nieuwegein also offers more privacy.
Meh... I'm off to bed.
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2008-09-07 17:41:00
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It's well known that I love stories set in the forties/fifties or WWII that involve magic, steampunk or other scifi elements. These days I'm anxiously awaiting the day that First Squad starts running on TV in Japan. |
I heard about this series from the Japan Probe weblog who also show the trailer on their site. The music and artwork shown are fscking awesome and I'm really hoping this show will rock. :)
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2008-09-05 23:00:00
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What's the first Internet meme that you remember? You must've seen at least one! Those jokes that travel around the Internet and the world and show up everywhere? Recently we've seen Silence! I kill you!,the ever-present LOLcats and WHAARRGARBLL!, to jog your memory a little. |
kilala.nl tags: geeky, internet, fun,
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2008-09-05 22:55:00
Just a few minutes ago I got an SMS from my bestest friend Menno who's on a rock climbing holiday in France.
Hey how you doing? I'm fine, again. Had two very exciting days. We were caught unawares by a thunderstorm while on a wall. Had to bivouac on a ledge 80m above ground. Tried to climb further after a very cold night but was dehydrated, malnourished and exhausted. We called for help and were extracted by a rescue chopper. Now I'm leaning back, relaxing and enjoying the sun.
Holy shit dude! Don't scare us like that! I'm glad you're okay though... Wouldn't miss you for the world! ^_^
kilala.nl tags: friends, sports, holy shit,
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2008-09-05 22:38:00
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This afternoon I got a call from my friend and new boss Dirk. We'd planned on me driving to his place this weekend to take care of the paperwork. Knowing about Marli's condition and willing to save me a lot of travel time he suggested that he drop by this evening instead. |
kilala.nl tags: career, macbook, iphone,
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2008-09-03 11:04:00
Around 0630 this morning we paid a three-hour visit to the hospital for an additional checkup. The baby hadn't moved noticeably for a full day leading us to worry a bit.
Two heart films and an echo later we had learnt the following:
* The baby's probably been sleeping a lot.
* The baby is moving less than before.
* The amnion is getting tighter and is losing amniotic fluid (ie moving space).
The fact that there's less amniotic fluid than a few days ago could be a signal that the placenta's decided that enough's enough and that the baby's almost cooked. Based on this the gyno warned us to expect an early delivery; at least earlier than originally predicted. In the mean time everything seems to be okay with the little lady.
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2008-09-01 12:35:00
Q3 and Q4 of 2008 will see some hectic changes in our private and professional lives. We'll have our first child, Marli will possibly quit her job and I'll be geting a new job with a whole new set of responsibilities. While my new job brings a big fat paycheck (meaning "money++") the new baby and the possible loss of Marli's income will definitely mean "money--". I'm fairly sure that my increased income will be able to cover the loss of additional income and the drain formed by the baby. However, to be safe I'm scrounging left and right to make sure of it.
I just cancelled my subscription to GamesTM, which I've had for a few years. On a yearly basis it's not a big expense, but I haven't paid real attention to the mag for quite a while now anyway. At least not as much attention as I used to pay
I also called Ziggo, our ISP+Telco+Cable company, in order to consolidate our products. We currently use their Z1 TV, Z1 Phone and Z1 Internet packages, plus the extended DTV package. By rolling the three Z1 packages into their all-in-one package (and taking the 800 kbps hit in bandwidth) we'll save about ten bucks a month.
Other things we're looking at for savings are our weekly groceries (which we ought to be able to keep at sixty bucks a week once the baby's here) and our monthly utilities bill.
The one thing we can't save on and that forms a steady drain on our money are taxes and Marli's college loan. They're rather annoying insofar that we don't see the direct benefits of them, but we're still paying them :) Ah well...
kilala.nl tags: money,
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2008-09-01 10:01:00
Marli's in her 37th week, meaning that she's about ready to pop. In about a week the baby's completely done and she'll just be waiting to come out. We'll be having gyno appointments each week from now on, to keep monitoring the baby's health.
This morning's appointment confirmed something we'd been "fearing" for a few weeks: the little one's sleeping in a breech positing and she ain't budging either. While everything in there is in perfect shape, it seems that there isn't enough amniotic fluid for her to move around in. Compare it to sleeping bags if you will: it's easy to move around in a big one, but if the bag's tight around you, you ain't going nowhere. As I suggested this isn't anything to worry about and mom + baby are totally healthy.
It does look like we'll be doing a Caesarian, though we still have some time to make the decission.
In the meantime we've enrolled at an uber-short labor training with Van buik tot baby. Normally these trainings take a few weeks, with numerous sessions. Unfortunately all of those were either booked solid, or they'd start way too late (due to the vacation season). It took a lot of haggling, but we managed to convince one of their trainers to take us on for two two-hour sessions, so we can at least get some basics down.
Busy busy busy! ^_^
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