franky.web-log.nl

Hi I'm Frank. Welcome to my world


As promised I started a weblog. The goal of this project is to keep you guys informed about me and my life. I can't see you as much and as often as I want and I know some of you worry about me, by visiting this website you can see for yourself that you don't have to worry about me too much. Thanks for carying for me and thanks for thinking of me. Please leave a message and/or a reaction when you have visited my site. I would really appriceate to know your opinion and I'll be glad to answer any of you questions.

I have just started this weblog and for now, there's only an introduction of myself. Soon my journal will appear here as well. So please come back again.

Feel free to read and leave reactions or comments.

Have fun during your visit. Keep smiling.
Frank

Update on health

I know it has been a while since I last posted a story here, so here is an update.

Let me begin with expressing my thanks, for all your support and emails, postcards, textmessages.  THANK YOU!

What can i say about my condition? Well i'm doing a litle better. The recovery process is one that takes a lot of time. At the moment I have gained some weight and strenght is improving too. But maybe the best news is that i'm not completly depressed! Although it's pretty ovious that this isn't the best time of my life it seems that i can deal with it.

Over 5 weeks my next doctors appointment will tell me what the strategy will be for the final part of the recovery process.

Untill then i have to waite and make sure that I take care of myself (don't worry I am).

Sorry for not being in touch lately as I should be. The keyboard of my mobilephone is broken so I can't send any textmessages at the moment.

Franky has been sick

Hello readers.

I know it has been a while since I last posted a story here.  For those who don't know yet, here's  a short explenation.

I believe it was on a Monday, I was in the office and didn't feel right. I called my boss and told him that I was sick and went home. I thought I had the flew or at least a cold. I decided to go straight to bed and visit the doctor a day later. The doctor told me I had a irritated stomache and gave me some medication. Two days laters the paine was even worse, so much worse that I decided to go to the emergency desk at the hospital. They send me to a specialist and took X-ray pictures as well as a CT-scan. After that I was send home with stronger painkillers and a appointment with another specialist. So I had to waite a week.

Within this week I lost a lot of weight. In fact in two weeks time I almost lost 12 KG!!! So when I saw the other specialist he told me I should be commited to/in the hospital as soon as possible. The next day I was commited.

I had to take several tests to know what was wrong with me. Eventually the doctors diagnosed me with Crohn's desease (ziekte van Crohn), this is an inflametory vowel desease (chronische darmsontsteking). They told me that at first they would try medication and see how I would react to it and don't operate.

I was reacting good at the medicati0n (Prednisolon). The pain went away and I gained weight. So after 3 and a half weeks I was allowed to go home. And that's when it really went wrong. After being at home for 4 days the pain came back, but much worse then before.  So much pain I could hardly walk. So I went back to the hospital.

After some quick research they came to the conclusion that I had an abces and it had to be taken out. So the doctors had to operate quickly. After the operation which was just in time there were two of three days of improvement, after that it got worse again and an another operation was nescessary, another abces. After this second operation I stayed in the hospital for 4 weeks. In the fourth week I needed another operation to clean out my inside, this was a minor operation compared with the first two.

Conclusions.

I have Crohn's desease and will have this the rest of my life.

I still have a wound wich needs to heal in time

No vacation for me this summer.

I have the ideal weight of a supermodel.

The next 3 to 6 months will be for recovery.

I need two more operations in time.

I know I have been very sick, but I think (and hope) that things will improve from now on.

In the time I spend in the hospital I got the confirmation that I have some wonderful friends (THANKS for all the support).

Now it's time to answer all those e-mails (over a hundred) so I don't know when my next post here will be. I'll be busy.

Have a good week.

Frank

Franky gives an update

Hello readers,

The last 10 days were very busy for me. So I couldn't write anything here. For those whom I haven't spoken on the phone here's an update.

Two weeks ago, the company I work for was asked to participate in a convention about construction and Urban Renewal. This convention was held from last tuesday untill friday.

Due to projects in weeks before neither my boss or myself had time available to prepare for the convention. So at the last moment we needed to make a decision on our participation off this event.

I knew this could be an important event for the company. So I was in favour off it. The problem was that I had to do all the preparation myself, because of the lack of time my boss had. This wasn't the only challenge, also the role of our company was to be carried out by only me!

So it were a couple of stessfull days before the opening of the convention, but everything came together at the last moment.

Doing the convention by myself wasn't easy. Sometimes I tried to be at more then one place at a time, which didn't work ofcourse.

But I did get some intresting leads and my speech was well received. And as thanks for that I got a chess game made from glass as a gift.

Because of the fact that the convention was held in Amsterdam, I stayed in a hotel for a week. Due to the long days there wasn't any time left to see some more of one of my favourite cities. But the hotel was good, and the staff took good care of me.

It's too early to call the convention a succes for the company. It's up to the magical two weeks after the convention to see if my efforts will be paid off.

Last year we participated in a convention/exhibition and that one was a succes, so i'm hoping for the same results this time.

Last week was busy, stressful, long, but also fun.

So friday after the convention was closed down I drove home. I arrived there at 11.00 PM and was so tired that after a hot showere I went directly to bed.

Saturday I slept untill late. And when I finally got up I decided to go to the shops to buy some new stuff for my appartment.

First I had to go to shop, where I ordered a mirror last week. It's a tailor made mirror with a wooden frame. I did not expect it had so much weight. But after a long strugle it's now in place. I aldo got the idea to buy some flowers. I love flowers, but i didn't have many in my appartment. So i went to the market and bought Lily's, tulips and Narcisses.

The flowers I already had needed to be replaced, so that's what I did.

My last purchase is a wine-rack. It's made off stainless steel.

After doing all that it was time to put my feet up and watch some tv, and that's how i spend my evening.

On sunday I was still a bit tired so I dicided to take it easy that day. I didn't do much, just some DVD to watch and that was all.

I watched Requim for a Dream (great movie) and Crash (also very good).

So there you have it, my update.

Have a good week, take care.

Frank

Franky had an accident

Yesterday I planned a evening just to relax. I made myself a good meal and after dinner I decided to watch a DVD. I had chosen the movie 'Be Cool'. It's the sequel off 'Get Shorty' and it's with the actors John Travolta, Danny De Vito and Uma Thurman. It's a comedy with a thin plot about a gangster who gets into the music industry to become an agent for an upcomming singer (Christina Millian). I bought the DVD because I really liked Get Shorty.

The movie has some funny moments, but isn't as good as the first part. While watching this movie I remembered that I also had bought a bottle of chocolatemilk. And thought it was a good idea to get a glass of it. So I went into the kitchen and got the bottle. On the bottle there was a description which said, 'shake before opening'

So there i was in my kitchen shaking the bottle. After doing this for a while it was time to open it. I pulled the lid off and then in happened. ssssssssssssshhhhhhhhhhhh the chocolate milk exploded out of the botle. Almost my complete kitchen was covered with this brown stuff!!!! Not just my kitchen, but also my clothes, my face everything was covered with chocolate.

So i'm standing there, trying to 'Be Cool' about it.......

So I spend most of the evening cleaning up the mess I made.

Don't worry the bottle wasn't made of glass, so I wasn't hurt. Well not hurt physically that is, but my ego was certainly hurt in this.

Have a good day, take care.
Frank

P.S.
No there aren't any pictures of this accident available!

Franky is setting up home

Now that the majority of the work on my new appartment is finished. A new phase has set in. The phase of changing the house into my home. Ofcourse a big part has already been done with the re-painting, my choice for the color of the paint, my choice for the type of furniture. But it's now time for details. And that's something I also like to give enough attention to.

So it's now time for flowers, art, plants, small furniture. And considering all that has been done, this is probably the most fun part.

So yesterday I bought some candles, some vases and a small square table. I had to search a bit for the right kind of table. The shape of it wasn't what caused the trouble. These kind of tables are at many stores, but what striked me is that these kind of wooden tables, often looked like plastic. And there WILL NOT BE any cheap looking plastic furniture in my house! So I didn't buy it at IKEA, but went to another store which had the table on stock, which doesn't look like plastic, but shows the wood structure, although it's black.

It's back to work for me now. Have a nice day!

Frank

Franky is busy with work

It has been a while since I have written a new story here. The reason why is very simple. I have been busy with work. Many hours 'on the road' so there wasn't time to place a new log. So for the people who worried. I'm still alive! I have just been busy! Busy whith what, you might want to know. Well busy with work I must say. To give you an example, i'll describe my day at work like it was yesterday.

Yesterday started at 5.30 AM (!) It started this early because I had a long drive ahead of me. I had to go to Leeuwarden. This is the capital of the county (or provence) Friesland.

From my hometown, Dordrecht to Leeuwarden is a distance of 216 km. The county Friesland is in the top North-East of the Netherlands. It a charactaristic county with lot's of lakes and agriculture. Some of our dutch counties have a dialect (a distinctive accent) but Friesland has an official language, Fries. I don't speak it, but ofcourse the people overthere also speak Dutch.

After a 2,5 hour drive I arrived at the Tjeukemeer (Tjeuke lake) and thought it was a good moment for a cafe.

This lake is the largest lake of the county.

It's located very near the motorway. But it does have some nice spots to have a cafe. I must admit that the skies above added to the attractiveness of the moment there.

Then is was time to continue to Leeuwarden. I had a meeting with a prospect and after that (possitive) interview, I had to go to Amsterdam.

The distance between Leeuwarden and Amsterdam is 142 km.

When you drive this route you drive the 'Afsluitdijk' or Closure-dike. This is a major dam, which connects the county Friesland and the county Noth-Holland. It's 32 km long.

The construction was finished in 1933. It damms of the North Sea from the Zuider zee (now called IJsselmeer, IJssel lake).

This dam is constructed with large bolders (or rocks).

No I did not count how many of these were used. I can tell you I need a lot more exercise to lift these kind of rocks.

5,000 people worked for six years to complete the dam. And I'm glad I wasn't one of them.

It's still sunny, so the view is clear and if you look closely you can see one the Dutch islands.

And after eating my (homemade) sandwich. I continued my travelling towards Amsterdam.

In Amsterdam was my next meeting. Also this meeting was a succes and the client and I agreed to have dinner in Amstersdam that evening. I thought it was a good idea.

I really love the city of Amsterdam, although I don't know many good restaurents overthere, my client does. So I was looking forward to a good dinner in Amsterdam that evening.

The downside was I had to drive to Rotterdam first, for other business.

The distance between Amsterdam and Rotterdam is 76 km.

The traffic was good for me, so it didn't take too long for me to get to Rotterdam.

The work in Rotterdam was done pretty quick. So I could return to Amsterdam. (again 76 km)

Again I love the city Amsterdam, but what strikes me everytime I go overthere, is the ammount of tourists. I hear all time different languages around me (not Dutch I mean). It gives me the idea, i'm the only Dutch man there. But this is probably the same in other capitals in Europe, which have a great tourist attaction, such as Paris or London (amongst others).

The dinner was a good idea. The food was good and the company entertaining. After dinner we went to a local cafe (pub) to have some drinks. So far it has always been fun to get a client drunk !.

After dropping off the client at his home, I drove home (97 km).

Dordrecht was my next destination.

I arrived in Dordrecht past midnight. And after a long hot shower it was time to go to bed.

So yesterday I drove a total of 607 km (all without accidents).

As this isn't a very extraordinary day in my working life, you can imagine why I didn't have the time to write much.

But as you can see i'm doing ok.

Regards
Frank

Winter wonderland

As you could have seen in one of my previous stories here (http://franky.web-log.nl/log/4869746) We have had pretty much snow and ice this winter. Because in Holland we are near the sea the snow usually doesn't stay long.

I think it makes a pretty scenery.

All the houses have white roofs. The threes look a bit magical.

Although snow creates pretty pictures, i'm a bit glad the weather forecast tells me that we are getting warmer temps here, so it could be this was the last snow of the winter. Why am I glad about this? Well snow doesn't improve the driving conditions and it looks like I'll be on the road most of this week.

Have a good week!

Frank

Dutch influence on the World history

Last weekend I had a discussion with a friend, the topic of the discussion was if and how we (the Dutch) had an influence on the History of the world.

The opnion of my friend was 'we are just a small country, so we had a very small influence in the world of today'.

I agreed on the idea that we are just a small country and that we only have litle influence on what happens in the world of today. Surely we have a minor influence compared to the United States, Germany or France, when it comes to rules, laws, United Nations and so on. But I do think we have left a big mark on the history of this world.

I can give some examples.

Some of the stuff we use on a daily bases or items which have enriched our lives were invented by Dutch people!

Everybody, all over the world listens to music. Most music we play at our homes in our cars is music from a CD. We have invented the CD (compact disc).

Nowadays we all have DVD-players, and probably all over the world DVD has replaced the video. Well also the video was a Dutch invention.

Although chocolate was invented by others, the chocolate bar was invented in Holland.

Next time you need to go to the hospital or doctor to get 'something' checked out, remind yourselves that the microscope was invented by the Dutch.

We have inveted al sorts of products to improve the efficiency of our agriculture, which makes us the third best country when it comes to profuctivity and turnover in the agricultural sector.

Due to our experience and logistical systems the Dutch are leading the industry of Flowers. All over the world our Tulips, Lily's etc are enjoyed.

All over the world people enjoy Dutch cheese. Although most famous is the Gouda cheese, it will take you a life time to test all of our different types of cheese.

The above are just some examples and certainly not all, but it does help 'to paint the picture that the Dutch did have a considerate influence on the world of today.

We have achieved a lot. There is also a dutch saying how a small country can be great I think it's true. It also give you litle proudness a being Dutch. Some of things we think is very normal, really isn't when you give it some more thought. (but again isn't that with everything.....)

Frank

Franky made a girl cry

As you could have read in one of my previous stories here (Out with the old) I'm not taking much with me to my new apartment. Firstly I thought about putting everything out with the trash or sell it on ebay. Pretty soon after that I got the idea of giving it away for charity.

I'm not really into charities, surely I have donated money before, but this is different.

I went through all of my stuff and I really mean ALL of my stuff. This really brought back some memories, some good, some not so good.

I divided all the items into two groups. One group with stuff I just can't give away, because I have a special feeling with it or I still need it, which is the small group. The other group has to go away.

The variaty of the stuff i'm giving away is big. It's from furniture to old toys from my childhood.

I looked at it and realised I needed to rent a van to bring it away. And that's what I did.

After I loaded all the stuff into the van I drove towards a home for mentally challenged people. Last year I was sort of introduced with a charity wich organises the special olympics. A sports event for people with the syndrome of Down and others.

Surely I made a phonecall in advance to check if it was ok to deliver my stuff. They said it was more then ok, because they don't have much money to buy items for themselves.
I think that during this phonecall I made a mistake. I didn't tell them exactly how much stuff I was going to bring by.

So when I got overthere I was welcomed by a girl who worked there and she expected that I would just bring a small bag for them. So when I told her I had a van-load for her, her eyes became very big!

So I started unloading the van and she said she couldn't believe her eyes. And I had to keep telling her I didn't needed it anymore and that from now on everything was theirs. And that it would make me feel better if it was still usefull instead of it going to be trash. Well she started crying. Somehow this always gives me the idea I did something wrong. And besides that there is one thing in life off which I'm allergic to and that's a woman in tears. And now I began to think this wasn't such a good idea.

Although I now know she wasn't crying because I did something wrong or hurt her. A girl in tears is just something I can never get used to.

And I know I have to go over there to give the rest of the stuff....

Frank

Franky is confused

I'm confused.

I had a meeting with a client earlier this week. After the meeting we agreed to go the projectsite to get a better view on the present sitiuation. When the girl and I left the office and walked to my car I opened the door for her so she could sit down. When I walked over and got in my car myself. I got a comment. She said, you're more conservative then liberal, not really emancipated. We emancipated women can open doors ourselves! Firstly I laughed because I thought she was joking. But she was absolutly serious! I was stunned. Ik know women are perfectly able to open doors for them selves but what is wrong to open a door for them?

Don't get me wrong. I am supportive of emancipation, liberation and equal rights for women and men. I absolutly agree on this, but what is wrong with opening a cardoor for a girl.

I don't know anymore!!

What is alowed and what not? What will a girl like to see a guy do and what not?

Am I a bad person because I open doors for girls?

I know one thing for certain, girls/women/ladies DO CONFUSE ME!!

Franky goes testdriving (update)

As promised hereby the update on my quest to get a new company car.

Over the last couple of weeks I have driven a couple of the cars from the pre-selection. Here is a short summary of my opinion on the cars.

I have a list of demands when it comes to choosing a new car. I think everybody does, but maybe for me it's a bit different. I'm a heavy car user. I drive aprox 60.000 km each year. So it's very important to make the right decision.

I.e. these are some of the most important demands.

It has to have comfortable seats.
It has to have enough Brake Horse Power for overtaking (and to drive fast).
It has to have enough torque.
It has to have a navigation system.
It has to have a dieselpowered engine.
It has to have good brakes
It has to have enough safty (airbags and so on)
It has to be inside the boundries of the budget.
It's not allowed to be a flashy car.
It has to to five me a good feeling in steering.

The above are some of the demands, ofcourse I have some wishes, and emotional stuff on which you make a decision. And it has to be better or at least as good as the car I'm driving now (Volvo S40)

My conclusions so far.

The Mazda 6.
It is a nice looking car, but I have driven better cars. It has enough luxury, it has enough power (driven the most powerful dieselengine). But the reason why i'm not getting this one, is partly the steering. It's not direct enough.

The Audi A3.
It's a good car. It drives nicely. It looks good. It has enough power and luxury on board. But again I'm not taking this one. Why? Well it's a bit too small for me, when driving longer distances it's better to have a bigger or longer car (weelbases). The secons reason is, if I would choose an Audi, it will be an Audi Quattro. And an Audi A4 quattro is out of the budget.

The Toyota Avensis.
It's also not going to be this one. There isn't much wrong with it. With 177 brake horse power it's probably the most powerful and fastest car, but I don't really like the looks of it. It's a bit too American looking. The interiour is a bit strange. It still has a taperecorder....that's outdatet!
Besides the above I have never seen a man of my age drive a this type of car.

So far my update on choosing a new car.

Franky at the beach

Somehow something went wrong with my previous two stories here. After placing it (last sunday), the font changed and the words looked like something written in Greek. I'm not sure what happened. I decided to delete them, because nobody else could figure out what I wrote. Later this week I'll give you an update on my life over the past few weeks.

So here's a new fresh story.

Today I had to go to to the city Alkmaar. I wrote a story on this city before (click at ... to see for details and pictures). Today I ahd to go over again. The were problems with one of our clienst and the guy who has the account now, could not fix it.

I started out at our office with a meeting with our (new) accountmanager (my former job) and the director. I was informed about the problems and it was up to me to figure out a sollution. It's a long drive from the office to this client. It's 177 km, which would take me about two hours driving. That's enough time to figure out tactics.

Sometimes clienst are very demanding, sometimes they have the right to be. But sometimes they are just wrong. I decided to enter the meeting with a clear view and was prepared to hear their side of the story. I'm aware of the saying 'Customer is king' (klant is koning), but in my book this means the client also has to show some royal behaviour.

The meeting was tough one. On some points the client was too demanding and on other points there were a few mistakes on our side. We decided to have a break for lunch and finish the meeting later that day.

Alkmaar is in the North-West of the Netherlands and it's not far from the coast. So I decided to drive towards the coast and have a sandwich near the beach.

I drove to the litle village Egmond aan Zee. Although the weather was grey and cloudy it wasn't raining so I thought it might be a good idea to have a walk on the beach. It was a good oppertunity to get some order in the thoughts I had of the meeting.

It was very quite at the beach, so it was just me, my sandwich and my thoughts.

I walked up to the tower, which is a great landmark.

behind the tower there is a small church.

It was time to had back to my car. While walking back I took another look at the sea.

It seems endless doesn't it?

I had sorted out my thoughts, when I came over here they were like the shells on the beach.

It was one of my better ideas to go here for lunch and I had a good walk on the beach.

I returned to the client and worked out the problems to everybodies liking. And besides that I was invited to put an new order together for them. It looks like i'm still good at my old job!

All together it was a succesfull day but also a day which made me feel tired. I thinking of going to bed early tonight.

To all you readers I wish you good luck in whatever you do.

Frank

Amsterdam

In one of my previous logs I promised to post a story on Amsterdam. I think now is the time to do so, because i have (finally) some pictures to go with the story.

The subsidiary of company I work for has it's focus on the Benelux countries (Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg). Our headoffice is in the United Kingdom and for four years now it's building up it's name and marketshare in the Netherlands, mainly in the Rotterdam area, but also throughout all other parts of my country.

For a few weeks now my personal focus was on Amsterdam. When I was there for a meeting with prospects I decided to walk around while having a sandwich for lunch. It was near the city's centre and good oppertunity to see some of Amterdams famous sights, which I haven't seen for a while.

I walked alongside the canals with it's caractheristic merchant houses.

Once used for business and warehousing, now living accomodations for the rich and famous.

There is also an alternative living accomondation is Amsterdam, although some other cities have them too, never as many as in Amsterdam. The houseboats.

Amsterdam has many museums. One of my favourites is the Dutch Shipping Museum.

It's located at the harboursite next to the central train station. It witholds a number of famous dutch ships (scale models), paintings of officers in the navy, like Michiel de Ruyter, who has beaten the English Navy!!!

Next to the museum is the docking station of the replica from The Amsterdam. This ship was uses in merchant trading with Indonesia and South Africa.

With this picture I end this log.

I have a busy schedual for next week. So i'm not sure when to write again. Lot's of things have happened last week and I'll try to give you an udate as soon as I can.

Have a good week!
Frank

Holland covered in snow and ice

Last week I was in Rotterdam for work. For an hour or so it was snowing hard. Because of the frost the snow was staying.

I have taken the following picture in a residential estate in Rotterdam.

I think the snow definately adds somthing extra to the picture.

I wouldn't have taken a picture from this place without snow. But it now it looks like one my better pictures.

Frank

Sundaymorning in Sculpture Park

Last Sunday morning I decided to go out for a walk. It looked like a good day, sunny and not much wind. When I got outside it was much colder then I expected, it was freezing cold!. Got back inside and didn't come out untill I was fully defended from the cold by a scarf and an extra shirt.

I drove up to Sculpture park in where you some nice views over the rivers. It's nearby where I live and it's a nice place to have a walk.

The above picture is taken towards the old citycentre of Dordrecht.

When it's summer and you come here in the evening you can see rabbits crossing the road. Now that wintertime is here, there isn't much traffic....

As you can see in this park a few sculptures and satues are placed.

It was a good and refreshing walk. I took a last look on the city and went back to have a cafe.

Frank

A weekend ago

Last Friday I got a call from a friend who I haven't seen since a long time ago. We use to hang out a lot together, but both our lives got busier due to all kinds of factors such as school (both), change of employer (me) or children (he) and so on. Which made our contact less frequent by the time. And at the time the phonecall came in all contact was faded to a level on which you can't really remember the date when the last time it was when you have spoken face to face.

When my phone rang, the display didn't show me who was calling. But the when the other person said Heyyy FRANKYY!!! I knew exactly who it was. Just two words spoken on that kind of tone, well there couldn't be anyone else.

We had a short and fun conversation on the phone with lot's of laughter. We also decided on me going overthere Saturday to have a drink. He already invited another long lost caracthers he told me, so it was a sort of reunion.

Saturday evening when I drove over there I was thinking would it be like old times or would we all be so different due to time and lives experience? Ah well at least it would be a good oppertunity to catch up on eachothers lives.

The evening was a succes! It was very good to see them, to talk to have a drink and catching up ofcourse. An evening with good company and enough to talk about (and drink on). Although all of us have different lives nowadays, much is still the same between us. Funny how that works.

We agreed that the next time we would see eachother will be sooner then before. I think it's a good idea I had a very good evening

F

Testdriving

Somebody once told me. The difference between men and boys are the size of their toys....Well I'm not sure this is completly true. And i'm also not sure what exactly was meant by toys...

But I'm looking for a new toy. That new toy will be my next (company) car. Last year I made contact with several car dealers to get an estimate/quote on some models. I had to send them to our headoffice, where they got reviewed. And although with my promotion the budget has increased, they diclined/rejected the estimates/quotes on the Ferarri, Porsche and Bentley.......but they did agree on the others.

Because I'm the person who has to drive it. It's up to me to make a decision on which it will be.

The criterea:
For all the brands and models they need to have a navigation system, enough brake horse power, torque and a diesel engine. Because of the business i'm in it's not allowed to get a car which attracts to much attention. And ofcourse it has to be within the budget.

So I have to choose between the following contenders.

The new Volvo S40/V50

The Peugeot 407

The Toyota Avensis

The Vauxell (Opel) Signum and Vectra

The Ford Mondeo

The Mazda 6

The Audi A3 (3 or 5 doors)

All types of cars will be ok, but my decision will be based on which I feel/think drives the best. Therefore a lot miles testdriving is in front of me. It's very important to make a good decision, because with my job I spend a lot of time driving.

I wonder what your opinion will be, which one would you take?

Which one I will choose, you'll read it here.

Frank

Update apartment

Also on the subject of my new apartment a lot has happend.

My bathroom has got it's makeover. So the awful brown tiles are gone and it looks much better. The new tiles have brighten up the room. The new bath is in place. I'm very happy with my renewed bathroom!

The damaged furniture has not replaced yet. But when i have some luck (probably not) it will be replaced nexth month.

Also next month my new bed with arrive (hopefully not damaged ofcourse). I have bought a huge bed! It's also expensive, but I think it's one of the most important things, to be able to sleep good. Although that has also to do with the state your mind when you want to sleep.....

I'm also involved in a sort of a fight (argument) with one of the furiniture shops. Becaus some of the things they have told me, are simply not true. I.e. they have told me 3 times that they expect the replacements to be there the next week. And well they are still not here! So I went ovethere and told them I was very angry ( or at least I tried to show them i wasn't satisfied with their service) I guess I impresses them, because the director applogised and promised he will personally makes sure I get what was promised and they made it a priority. (and give me a dicount!).

The next picture is of my view outside my new apartment, while it was snowing.

Frank

Update (general)

Hi there,

I have been quiet, my last story was posted on 05-01-2006. The reason why is very simple. I have been very busy at work. I had to subsitute for my director, who was out due to a problem with his back.

To make things complicated for me a number of personell got the flue (influenza). Don't worry not that crazy bird flue! But it didn't made it less busy or less difficult.

I know i can't be at more places then one at the same time. But crazy enough clients do exepct that. Therefore there wasn't much time for me to be close to a computer and to write logs. So i have some time now to give you an update on my life. It's also necesary because my mailbox is full and I don't have the time to send you all a reply today. But I will reply to everyone who wrote me! Thank you for keeping in touch, it means a lot to me. I know you care and I appologise for not writing back soon.

Like I have said, I have been busy. And although I feel tired now, i'm in good health. And it looks like work has calmed down (for now)

Frank

New year

Yes I'm still allive. I just haven't been around a computer and also no time to write anything here. I have a lot to organize for and in my new job. I also have a lot of travelling to do over the next few weeks. I'll try to let you all know how i'm doing. But I can't make any promises on that. The most of you know how to contact me when needed. So there is still a way to keep in touch. (and please do).

Short update.
New years eve.
I had a good party. At friends at home, with lot's of champagne, good people, good food. All together it was a good time.

New appartment.
My new sofa/couch has arrived. NOT damaged. It almost did not fit through the door, but it did and it looks good and sits great! Also my new dining-room-table-chairs have arrived. Also NOT damaged.
It looks like a good start of the new year for my new appartment. Early next week, my bathroom will get it's makeover. The only downside is that the delivery of my new bed has been posponed untill the third week of Februari. So I was forced to pospone moving housed to late Februari or early March.

Work
New job (within the same company). This is a new challenge. And I'm very happy with it. Also a lot to do. A lot to organise and a lot of people to see. I have a full agenda, yet again.

No new car yet. At the end of this month I'll start test driving a few models and make my final descision.

Health.
I'm in good health. Despite my busy agenda I'll make sure that I'll take enough rest and i'll take care of myself

To you readers.
To all of you I wish you a happy new year. Make something out of it!!

Frank

Furniture troubles

I have said something before about buying new furniture. Well the story isn't over yet! It already irritates me that you have to waite 3 monthes before something arrives. I have already mentioned that my Book-case was damaged during transport. Well now my dining-room-table has alos arrived with damage!! I'm not accepting this. I did not buy cheap furniture, so I expect it will arrive in perfect condition!

The bad thing about it is, that when they will replace the product (AND THEY WILL) I'll have to waite for 3 months again!!!

This week my chairs will come in and the first wednesday of next year my couch/sofa will arrive. Please let them arrive in perfect condition.....

Frank

Christmas

I survided Christmas! I used to love this time of year. The whole atmosphere around Christmas is still something i like. Candles everywhere. Ofcourse a christmas tree always gives a room something extra. But this year Christmas was different then in previous years. Due to some 'not so good' family circumstances it wasn't a normal christmas.

Anyway I did have some good times this year. We had a big family christmasdinner at my dads place. The best thing of this dinner was that I was able to meet up with my neice. She lives in Madris, Spain with her husband and children. And I only see her once or twice a year. This year she was in The Netherlands with Christmas. I get along great with her. And I'm always a bit sad when she has to leave again. When she's over we always take the time to catch up on eachother lives. And so did we over the weekend. And as always I was invited to come over, maybe this year (2006!) I'll have the time to do so. Ahh what am I saying, I'll make time for it!

Although I could not see everyone I wanted to see during Christmas. It wasn't too bad.

To all of you who I haven't spoken over the last days. I wish you the best for the comming new year.

There is only one week left in this year. Next Saturday 2006 will arrive. ohhh I'm looking forward to the next year. 2005 hasn't been a very good year, so I think 2006 will be much better.

Maybe 2006 will be my year!! 2006 here I come!!

Frank

Santa Franky or Franky Claus

In the Netherlands it's custom to give your clienst a gift for Christmas/New year. For the past year I have been the accountmanager for most of the clients. So it is up to me to bring the presents to the clients. We have chosen for a case of wine (red, french and wine glasses included) and a card. We have chosen for the case of wine, because some of the clients have an 'intagrity policy'. Which means they are not allowed to take/recieve any personal gifts. This can be seen a bribe. To avoid this policy and sometimes there is even a law. I can drop of the case at the reception and they can devide (read drink) the wine with all the collegues because they also have wine glasses now!

So my lunch-brake is alomst over. I have to go and bring the presents. Now where did I leave that reindeer....... Rudolf come here!!!

To all you readers, I wish you a Merry Christmas.

Frank

In with the new (part 1)

Well the re-painting of my new appartment is almost finished. Which is very well timed, because some of the new furniture I ordered is comming in. Yesterday the new curtains came in. I have chosen for two role-curtains for the two windows in the part in my livingroom which is named as an bow-window (erker). Their colour is créme. For the windows in front of my balcony I have chosen for a type of curtain which is called 'in between'. This is called/named 'in between' because the fabric is sort of between lace-curtains/net curtains/glass curtains (one of those) and curtains which will not let any light trough. In my bedroom I have chosen for the type of curtains which will not let any light go through. I was surprised of the figure on the bill. I did not realise curtains were this expensive. But they are from good quality and it looks good in combination with the new colour off my walls and the rest of the furniture.

The time schedual of the rest of the furniture (which is already orederd) is:

Next Fiday dining-room-table
Next Wednesday dining-room-table-chairs
First week of 2006 new sofa-couch
First week of Februari new bed (it's huge)

In the first week of Januari they will start with the work on my new bathroom. This could not be done earlier. Because of the material which will be used wasn't available in stock, but had to be ordered. This work on my bathroom will take about a week or two. The work which need to be done is in short. Renewal of the tiles ( I now have brown tiles, uuuuuughh ugly), new wash basin, new lights etc.

My new bookcase was damaged during transport and has to be replaced. There is no set date yet for when this will happen. Somewhere in Januari it will be replaced.

Almost forgot to tell that my new coffee table has arrived. But there is so much more I have (and want to buy). So my new appartment is far from finished, but I for now I hope to live there from the moment my new bed arrives there. So Februari is the goal now.

Frank

Out with the old, Part 2

In my previous log, I have told you that I was going to throw away a lot of my old stuff. And with old stuff I mean the old furniture and everything else inside my old appartment, which isn't my style of doesn't have my intrest. Well I have changed my mind! Sombody inspirered me to do something else with it. I'm still not going to take it with me into my new appartment, but i'm also not putting out with the trash. I'm going to give it away. Although the Netherlands is a wealthy country we still have less fortunate people amongst the Dutch. So everything which is still usefull for other people will be donated to charity. Somehow I feel stupid for not thinking up this idea all by myself. Especially when Christmas is so close. But it's not too late yet. So maybe I can make some other boy or girl happy with it.

Frank

Out with the old

This weekend I haven taken a look at all my old stuff, stuff such as furniture and anything else. I need to decide what to take with me to my new appartment and what can be trown away. In the Netherlands there was a show on TV on which couples who planned to live together decided what the other was allowed to bring along and what not. This was done to place a green sticker on an item which was allowed to bring and a red sticker on a item which wasn't allowed. I decided to adopt this system. Although I'm not going to live with somebody else. It would be a good system for when i'm going to move houses. So everybody who is going to help knowes what to take.

Well so far I have placed much much more red stickers then green. I have decided only to bring my TV-DVD system, my clothes, some kitchen apliences, books and computer screen. I'm throwing a lot away. Maybe I should place some stuff on e-bay and make some money out of it, I don't know yet.

My new appartment will be something completly me and all me. With all new stuff it would be a good new start. So bye bye old furniture. It's a shame that I have to waite so long on the new, but I think it's worth it.

I'll write some more the comming week.

Have a good week.
Frank

My wine quest (help me!)

In my previous log I have told you about a gift I got for in my new appartment. Well, I'm now posting a list of the wine botles. I know I was impressed of the age of some of them, but should I also be impressed by the quality? Is it good, is it rubbish or just fun to have. I don't know, so please help me. So if there is anything you know, please let me know! History, taste, quality, origin, whatever you find out please let me know.

They are all French red wines.

This is the list with all the information I got from the labels.

1. Chateau Saint André, Pomerol, 1976
2. Chateau Ligogne, cru bourgeois, 1974, appelation Médoc controlée.
3. Bordeaux rouge, 1981, les bonnes cotes de France
4. Chateau La Chapelle, Montagne Saint Emilion, 1985
5. Domaine de la Magdelaine, vin de pays de collines de la Moure, 1988, E.Sicard
6. Chateau Timberlay, Robbert Giraud, 1983
7. Chateau de la goëlane, Bordeaux superieur, A castel proprietaire á Saint-Leon
8. Lusac st Imilion, Appeletion D'origine controlee, Schröder selection
9. Lalande de pokerol, Chateau de Bertineau, 1977
10. Chateau du Chayne, cotes de Bergerac, comte de bosredon 24 pomport, 1981
11. Gran vin de Bordeaux, Maison Rougers, negociants á ste Foy-la-grande, 1976.

I wonder if anyone can help me.

Frank

Wine, wine, wine

Besides work I also spend some time on my new appartment. A friend came over who has not seen the place yet. Well there isn't much to show yet. The appartment is completly empty, but it has already made a huge change. The paintjob is for 90% done. The colors of the walls used to be flamingo-white (read pink) and yellow. Now it's all diamond white. Except for the bathroom and toilet, this will be done in the first week of Januari, when the tiles will be replaced. I have chosen this kind of white, because white is a neutral color. Diamond white isn't very white it'off-white. So the appartment is bright but also calm, so it isn't too white!

21 december the curtains will be placed. The color is cream/champagne. Which will do very good in combination with the color of my floor, walls, ceiling and the rest of the furniture I ordered. yes I took a girl with me to make sure the colors were ok. When it comes to colors and clothing is best to use the natural talent of girls and/or gay men.....So it was a good idea to bring her along.

Back now to the visit of a friend and to explaine the title of this log. After I showed him the appartment, he asked if I had a basement. I answere sure I have, but I haven't paid any attention to it yet. He said it's a good thing that you have one, because I brought you a present, which would do good in your cellar. Oh my... What did you bring me? Well he said, you always come to me when you want to buy wine for a special occasion or a person who is special to you. I thought it was time for you that you owned some special wines for yourself. And with these botles you can now have your own wine cellar....but there is also something you have to find out and explore for yourself. I know you like history and I know you like to explore. So here is another project for you. I'm not telling you anything about these wines, you have to find out for yourself. Search the Internet, buy books and report to me what you have found out.

I thought it was a very good and novel idea, there are just a few problems with it. First I don't know very much about wine, winehouses and the hisrtory, second I don't even own a wine rack!

There are some special wines amongst the botles I got. There is one, which is made in the same year I was born. So I now have a botle of wine (red) of 29-years old!

I better find some help on this project. I'll make a list of the different botles and post it here on my web-log. Anyone who knows something about it, please help.

I also got a form to enter a contest. When you win this contest you get many many many botles of champagne! Well I have to think about this contest and I also have to think about the conseqences when I win. I bought an appartment not a wine and champagne villa!!

So maybe I don't need only help to find out about the wines, but maybe I also need some help drinking......

Help me
Frank

Franky on a crusade...

I have finally found some time to write some new logs. As told in my previous log I have entered a very busy period in work. It seems that all the clienst want new and extra work done before the hollidays arrive. This all isn't a bad thing, because I like my job and the long working days don't bother me much. It's just that there isn't much time left to do other stuff. It's also something which i'm used to by now. Nevertheless I have learned over the year that I also have to take time off just to relax and to socialize with friends

Last week a friend and I went to Utrecht. To see an exhibition of the crusades. This has been a part of history, which intrested me from a very young age. Ofcourse as a young boy the adventures of the knights were very intrested. When I grew older the interest in this subject remains. So to the museam we went.

The museum is located in a former monestary in the centre of Utrecht.

When you walk into the museum you know this is a historic place. Although I don't know much about the history of the museum it looks good. It's small but well organised.

The crusades.

I don't think that it's wise to describe the complete history of the crusades. Otherwise this log will go on forever.

In short the holy places in what we now call Israël were conquered by Moors and Europe (Catholic) ordered knights to go there and reclaim the cities.

When you are intrested, maybe the movie 'Kingdon of Heavon' could be a good one.

This movie shows how the batles were fought back in the days.

The above picture shows a tower which was build and used for a siege on a town, therefore also known as a 'Siege Tower'.

The exhibition was small but very intresting. I think I will read up on the subject and when I have the time I'll travel to some of the historic places to see for myself.

For now it was a good re-start of intresting subject.

Frank

What a week !

It has been a very busy week in work last week. First of all there have been changes made within the company. The two new persons who were hired to expand our salesteam, are now fully operational. I have showed the new accountmanager how 'things' work in the company and made him familiar with all the products, and ofcourse introduced him with our clients. This was all done over the last couple of weeks and last week was the first week, i could focus on my own job. That's something new for me, as I got promoted from Accountmanager to Business Development Manager, which is a good step up the organisation ladder. I'm not a director yet, but i'm getting there. One of my tasks is to get new clients in. Something I like to do and also something i'm not half bad in. For me the new jobtitle and new tasks are very welcome. I can focus more on the tasks I like and the tasks i prefer. Besides that i'm also the the guy who has to solve the problems if our new personell gets them.

This first week resulted in two new projects. Both are in Amsterdam, which is great. Now i have to go to one of the cities I love for so many reasons. I have to visit my new clienst a lot as well as the project sites. So lot's of driving to Amsterdam. One of the benefits is that i get to know this city better and better. Compared to the cities i'm used to, Amsterdam is a lot bigger. I know some of the city and some of it's pretty sights, but I have discovered so many new places and very beautifull places too, as well as fun things to do. There is still a lot to learn for tourguide Frank !!

When I have some more time i'll put up some pictures here. There is also news about my new appartment. I'll write here the comming week.

Good luck to you all, thanks for everything sent last week, I'll reply this week, when business is less mad and i finally have some time off from work to let you all know how i'm doing. Don't worry I haven't forgotten about you.

Frank

To the city Utrecht we go...

For a few months now I have been thinking of picking up a new study. I have my bachelors degree for a few years and I think now is the time to do some orientation on possible Master studies. Nowadays there are many options to get a Masters degree in the area of my previous studies. So I decided to go the Mastermeeting in Utrecht. This is sort of a seminar, where all kind of institutes, schools, universities give presentations about their portifolio of courses and degrees. I have spoken with a lot of representatives and got a lot of information about my options. I haven't read all the brochures yet and I certainly haven't made up my mind, but so far my special intrest goes out to a MBA study or the Master of Real Estate (MRE) study. Both are tough and expensive studies, but also have a lot of advantages. So enough to think about for the upcomming period of time.

The fact that the meeting/seminar was held in the lovely city Utrecht, was a good reason to take a walk into the city. Utrecht has a very nice and lively city centre and the weather was reasonbly good. So the friend I took with me agreed to have a walk and a drink somewhere in the citycentre.

The city Utrecht has the same sort of canalstructure as Amsterdam has. So the scenery is filled with small canals, bridges, bikes.

Also the architecture of the houses looks like the Amsterdam warehouses. The city centre of Utrecht is smaller compared with Amsterdam, but looks great.

The most distinctive structure of Utrecht must be the Dom Church, Cathedral of St Martin, the largest church in my country.

A very intresting fact on this church is that it was partially destroyed by a hurricane in 1674. This hurricane has caused a seperation of the tower from the rest of the church.

The tower is 112 meters high, this makes it a great landmark.

The inside of the church is also very impressive. It has very beautiful glassed windows.

When the sunlights come through the collored (smoked) glass, it's amazing.

Althoug the Netherlands have more Universities the largest is located in Utrecht. The next picture is one of many buildings from that University.

After having a drink it was time to go home. Thanks to the church tower it was easy to find our way back.

Next week or weekend I'll go back to go to an exhibition in a local museum. After reading a brochure I noticed there is a show on my Kingdom. Yes there used to be a kingdom Frank. Intrested?, you'll read it here next week.

Have a good week.
Frank

weather proof Olli

I was searching for some information on the Internet, when I came across this image.

It's a good to see people taking care of their Olli.

Last weekend

I had a busy weekend not too busy, but enough to do. Last week was vert busy. Business has gone mad! I was working late last Friday when I decided to make some plans for the weekend, which didn't have anything to do with work. I needed some time to relax and I also needed the time to find some stuff for my new appartment. So Saturday I woke up early and went to see some furniture shops. I wanted to do this in the morning before everybody else goes to these kind of shops. Well it was succesfull I bought a dining room table and four chairs to go with this table. I thinks it's the most expensive table I have ever bought. It looks good, it's completly made of oak wood, and is very dark (color), the chairs are black too. I think it will look good with the (diamond)white wall behind it. I also bought some small stuff like new wine glasses, champagne classes, coffee cups and thea cups. I have also bought some lights. The kind of lights you need in a home. I'm not sure what the correct English word for this is. The lights will hang under/on the ceiling. Their sole purpose is to light up the room, so you can see. Lights to create some atmosphere will come later. The lights I have bought now are for the living room and they look like lights uses in a theatre or movie set. So I drove towards my new appartment very carefully with all the glassware in my car. Something I didn't think about was that I could only take one box a time, up to my appartment, So I had to walk up and down the stairs eight times!!!! I have been into sporting (gym) a lot ( a lot for me that is), but I was pretty tired after this.

In the evening went over to a friend, who lives near Rotterdam. We planned to have dinner together and after that we should go to see a movie. At that time we had not decided which movie to go to. Well we had the time to discuss every option. Each time when I get there i'm impressed with the view form his balcony. It's amazing.

Rotterdam at night.

Ok the movie discussing. As said before I was kind of tired from walking up and down the stairs. So I didn't feel much for a 'difficult' 'intellectual' arthouse (filmhuis) movie, or one which has numerous storylines like the movie Crash. So I suggested the movie 4 brothers. I have heard it's quite a good action movie with some humor in it. So it sounded good for my state of mind. But my friend had already seen this one, so it had to be a different movie. We made the decision to go to The brothers Grimm.

In short ( I don't want to spoil it when you haven't seen it yet). Like the movie title says it's about the grimm brothers, who scared the local people in France (during Napoleons time) with made up stories about monsters and demons. Then they make money in chasing away these none existing creatures. When the government hears from this scam, they order them to work on a sollution to for a real curse.
Ofcourse the Grimm Brothers are famous around the world for their fairytales, such as Cinderella a.o. but this isn't a biography on the brothers, although some (part) of their fairytales are in it. It's an epical movie/story with a lot of fantasy elements. I think it's a pretty good movie, not great but it is entertaining. It was a good choice.

Sunday.
I didn't plan much to do on Sunday. I slept untill late and then went to my new appartment to do some small work. There is still so much to do before i can actually live there. I wonder when it's finished. Here is a picture from my view outside.

After that I went to my dads to have a good family dinner.

Considering what I have done over the weekend i can say I had a relaxing weekend, spend a lot of cash on new furniture and have seen a good movie. Besides that I got the rest I needed. So I consider it a succesfull weekend.

I'm almost finished with my coffee brake of this morning at the office. I think some of the personell (at least the secretaries do) appriciate me working on my weblog during the coffeebrake so there is less time for me to annoy them!. But be affraid girls there is enough time left....

So i'm well rested, had enough coffee, so i'm completly ready for this week. It will probably be a very busy week, like I said business has become a litle mad, with some new projects, demanding clients and a lot of traveling (driving) to do this week. But I'm ready for it. So bring it on!!

Have a good week!

Frank

Another day another city

Last weekend I had a discussion with friends about our childhood. What our goals were in life when we were still small boys. We discussed what kind of job we wanted to do back then, the big difference in what kind of job we have now, and if we should have other jobs. It will not be a surprise that most of us wanted to be a policeman or fireman, when we were kids. I wanted to be an fighterpilot. None of us got the job we wanted as a child. And i'm sure that being an accountmanager wasn't one of my childhood dreams.... About what kind of job would be better for me, i couldn't get a good idea. Well i had one, that's more of a fantasy then it will ever be real. But i think it would be cool if I was a magician. Life would be much easier and fun if I had a magic stick....My friends told me I should become a writer for travellers guides. They know I like to travel and they think i can write (because i'm a good story teller) good stories.

Well one of the things I love about my present job, is that i go places. I have an 'outside' job, not an office job. As you can see in previous logs I like to visit cities and see places that are different from where I live my dayly life.

Yesterday business led me to the city 's-Hertogenbosch. The name can be translated into Englisch, it means the dukes wood. This city was founded by Duke Henry 1, duke of Brabant (province Brabant, county Brabant) in 1185. 's-Hertogenbosch was build as a fortified city. This can still be seen in present day. It has a lot fortress walls and towers.

I didn't have much time to walk around the city, but I used my lunchtime to walk a litle through the city centre and had a look at some intresting sights.

The city is very different then i.e. Rotterdam. Rotterdam was bombed by the germans in the secon world war, 's-Herogenbosch wasn't hurt during this time. So many old structures and houses still remain completly intact. So it has a lot of old buildings, fortifications, cathedrals. Which makes it a very beautifull and historic city.

In 2004 the city has been awarded the title European Fortress City of the year, which is an honourary titel to have

The city of 's-Hetogenbosch or Den Bosch has a lot of churches.

Some churches are larger then the other ofcourse, but this city has also a very special church. It's the Saint Johns cathedral (sint Jans catherdraal).

It is a Catholic church and was build in the year 1525 (finished) It's build in Gothic style.

The tower is 73 meters high. The total length is 115 meters

It's a beautiful sight and a great landmark.

The builders/makers had a very good eye for detail. On the outside the church is decorated with many many litle statues.

I guess I had some luck yesterday, because the church was open for visitors/tourists. So I was also able to see the interiour of the building.

Looks great doesn't it?

After my short tour of the church, it was time to walk back to my car and get on with work again.

I had a final look over my shoulder and knew I have to go back and spend more time in this city.

Goodbye Den Bosch.

My coffeebrake is over, time to go back to work.

Frank

An avarage day in my working life

For this log I have chosen to describe a day in my live as an accountmanager for the business i'm in. I will try not bore you with too many names, technical details of which you'll probably never have to deal with.

This is how my day was yesterday and yesterday can be seen as an avarage day in work.

06:00 AM
Rrrrrrrrrrriiiiiiiiinnnnnggggggggg my alarm clock goes off. My first thoughts were: God is it time already? And I need to go to bed earlier... It's time to get out of bed. After a warm shower and shave i put on my clothes. I know i have to see clients today so I put on my dark blue suite and picked out a tie. Some how it still not easy for me to get the tie on the right way, the first time. It's almost every day a strugle for me. But i'm the kind of guy that pays attention to detail, so I want to get the knot right. And after a quick breakfast and a cafe it's time leave the house.

While it's still dark i get into my car. According to my schedual my first stop is in Rotterdam. I have an inspection of work which was done the day before for one my accounts in this city. The estate where i have to go is called/named 'Spangen' this is an infamous estate. Well maybe the word notorious is better for it. It's one the worst estates in the Netherlands. It has many problems. There are very high crime figures in this part of town. Mostly all drug related. During day time it's still reasonable, but you have to be careful. During the night it's a completly other story. When the sun sets a different kind of people will come out. I don't want to be a target, so it's off with the tie and jacket and to put on a sweater when i get there.

It's still guiet on the motorway, not much traffic. So i can get there early, which is good. I take the exit from the motorway and have to stop at the red traffic light. Next to my stops a car of the type Volkswagen Golf. A young guy (aprox. 19/20 years old) is inside. He has his baseball cap on backwards. The noise this cars produces in unbeveilable. BOOOOMMMMMM TSSSS BOOOOMMMM TSSSS hey shory it's your birthday......the guy is playing some hiphop tracks on his audio system. And he plays it so loud that everybody can hear that he is comming. I was only awake for litle over an hour, but i'm fully awake now! thanks to his music!

It's time to enter the estate. I lock my doors form the inside and drive on. I stop to check my file to make sure i got the right adress. I don't want to get lost and drive on and on through this estate. But what does the file say. Only the street name, no number!! So i don't know which house i have to see. I don't like this, because it means i have to park my car and walk the complete street (it's long) and check out every house. This isn't a good idea. So I call the guy that filled in the form to ask for the number. 'Why didn't you put the number in' Oh sorry Frank I forgot, was his answer...... he isn't the most intelligent guy i have ever worked with..... He also said it isn't very difficult to find, just look for some blue houses. Blue houses???? Ok i will, but you better write the number down the next time!!!! Sometimes people who don't pay attention to detail can get me a bit mad.

Hmmm looking for a blue house. I walked and walked but didn't see anything blue. I wonder what i should be looking for, a blue front door? a blue wall? a blue window? i dont't have a clue. I do know i don't see anything blue. And then when a came round a corner it was clear to me. It's a blue house allright.

I inspected the work and filled in my report. Because i lost some time searching for the correct adress i had to speed things up. My next appointment was in the city Eindhoven. This is a distance of aprox 115 km. And I have litle over an hour to get there. Eindhoven is the city of Phillips. One of our (Dutch) largest companies. It's known all over the world for it's lamps, audio and television systems. Although it's not really one of my favourite cities in the Netherlands, it has a beautifull scenery. With this i mean the surroundings of the city, not the city itself. There are a lot of forrests arround there. I decided that when my meeting with the client I'll have a walk through a forrest while eating my lunch sandwich.

I made it in time for the meeting and the meeting itself was succesfull. It looks like another new client for me. So i think i have to get over here more in the future.

It's time for that walk and to eat something. I parked my car, changed my shoes and walked into the forrest. Although the fall season isn't my favourite season (too much rain) it does make a forrest look good. All the leaves get lovely colloured and the leaves are everywhere.

I have chosen a path wich would lead me in a circle back to my car.

While walking here i realise it's different from where i live. Much more quiet. Hardly any other people, not much noise. And a lot of trees.

Although I love these countryside place i'm a real 'cityboy' or 'cityman' (not that young anymore). I grew up in a city and spend most of my live in cities. So a walk like this does me good. Half way my walk I come across this canal. It's in the midle of the woods and it makes me wonder where it will lead to.

While walking back towards a car. I suddenly hear a noise. I can't really place the noise. Is it an animal. I don't know a forrest animal that will make this kind of sound. A car maybe, no that can't be a car not here. It's getting closer and closer. I look around but can't see anything. The noise get's louder when i come closer to what i think is an open field in the forrest. I can see clearly what makes this noise. It's an airplane!!

I didn't realise i was so close to Eindhoven airport. it was so quiet. This airport is very small compared to Schiphol, Amsterdam.

Finished my walk and got into my car again. It's time to get to the office. After I started my engine I get a phonecall. A new client asked me to see him. He has an office in the city Tholen. I told him I would be happy to see him and that i can be there in an hour.

I put in the adress in my navagation system and think ohhh me and my big mouth. it's 110 km. Which means i have to drive fast. Driving fast isn't a problem for me, it's actually something I enjoy. I drive a fast car with a lot of brake horse power and massive torque, but the motorway I have to take is infamous for all it's speedcamaras.

I turn on my radio and hear 'the Sugarbabes' sing that somebody had to 'push the button'. It's an up tempo song which sounds good and usefull when you plan to drive fast.

Again I got there in time.

Tholen is a lovely small town on the border of the counties 'Brabant' and 'Zeeland'.

It's an old town and in the past most people were working in the fishsery/fishing industry. Nowadays it's more of an touristic place in the summers. It's the same as in many towns in Zeeland during the summer it's invated by German people.

It's also a very religious town. It has a lot of churches.

This is the largest church in town.

It has a lovely market square. The wooden structure you see in front was used to place horses a long time ago.

This is how the city hall of Tholen looks like.

I had a good meeting overhere. The client is very intrested in our productline. It seems that I have to go back here next week.

It's time to head back to the office. Which is in the city Etten-Leur. I have to do some administration work (uuuughhhh) but it has to be done. I also need to dicuss some work with my boss.

My boss and I decided to get dinner together, so we could talk. We had an early dinner in Etten-Leur. We sat down in a restaurent in the city centre.

The resaurent is at the marketsquare. It's not really a square, but it's named a square. Why? i don't have a clue. There was probably a square here, a long time ago.
The restaurent is directly across this church.

I had a very good steak, and some good wine. Thre dinner was yummy and i got the information i needed as welll as some good advice from my boss.

After the dinner it was time to go home. Normally I go back to the office to do some work, but this time I didn't feel like it. It's 19:00, or 7.00 pm and i feel a bit tired and it's still an hour driving, before i'm home. So I decided to make a short stop at the office, to get my mail and fax some papers. And then decided to end this day at work.

21.00 or 9.00 pm
Home.

This is the end of an not so exciting, not so adventurous day at work, but it was a productive day. And tomorrow (Friday) i have the morning off so i can get some extra sleep.

My next log will be here, the next weekend. If I have some time. I have a busy schedual on Saturday, i'm going to shop for curtains, chairs and look for a new bed for my new appartment. If or when i buy something, you'll read it here.

Have a good weekend
Frank

Surroundings of Franky castle part 2

Last week has been a busy week. A lot of work has been done on my new apartment. The ceiling and walls are all painted now. Thet used to be yellow and pink! And there you have one of the reasons why I haven't posted any pictures of the inside of my new apartemt. Pink can you beleive it? How can a NOT gay man live in a pink apartment, well NOT me! I have chosen to paint everthing in Diamond white (Histor). This is a kind of white, which isn't too white, I hope this makes any sense.

Today was another good weather day. I still have trouble in with these tempratures. It's october and it is still sunny and warm! So I decided to take a walk through my new estate/neighbourhood. And I came across some wonderfull sights.

This is a water fountain, enclosed with all hedges and benches where you can sit down

This is a water fountain, enclosed with all hedges and benches where you can sit down

Before you read on I have to tell you that all of the next pictures were taken during a small walk. All sights are within 7 minutes walking of my future home.

That's also on of the things I like of Dorecht. The city centre is small. Although I like Amsterdam very much, compared to Amsterdam, Dordrecht is tiny!

Dordrecht does have some similar sights as Amsterdam. Canals, bridges and old warehouses.

Besides the size of the city centre there are a lot of differences between Amsterdam and Dordrecht. I don't know what the best way to express these differences are, but to me it feels like that Amsterdam (although it's our national capital) is a country on itself. Although other cities look a litle like Amsterdam. The people and landscaper are very different in the rest of the Netherlands.

The next picture is city hall in Dordrecht

And this is 'the long iron bridge' (lange ijzeren brug) which passes over on of the marinas. I'll park my million dollar yacht in this marina, when i get it.......

One of the good decisions off the local government council is allow pubs and restaurents to place chairs and tables ouside of the building.

At this terrace I had a very good cappucino.

I'm not sure i'll be able to post more logs this week. I'll be very busy with work next week. And in my spare time i'll have to check up with the work on my new apartment. If I have some time left I'll post the other pictures and finally work out a better structure and lay-out for this site.

Have a good week
Frank

the surrounding of Franky Castle

I'm waiting for a client who is late as he is stuck in traffic. There isn't much I can start up (regarding to work) while waiting for this client. So to make best of this waiting time. I have decided to do some litle work on my web-log.

Yesterday I made some pictures in the estate/neighbourhood of my new appartment. This way you can see a bit of the part where i'll be living early next year. It's a big difference from the the big impersonal appartmentbuilding I live in now. But maybe the biggest difference is the estate/neigbourhood where i'm going to live. I now live in a modern , boring subburb (buitenwijk) and i'm going to move to the lively, historic city centre.

This first picture is taken in a street very near. It has lot's of litle shops and restaurents.

The second picture is taken on the 'Vriesebrug' a bridge which is also very near and it shows a good looking flower structure.

Also very near is the entrance of a 'hofje'. This hofje is build in 1755. It's a sort of courtyard as we have many in our older (dutch) cities.

When you walk through the gate. The inside is shown.

It looks good, doesn't it?

As you can see the location is very different from where I live now. It's all different anyway, when you keep in mind that this time it's all up to me as in, choosing the location, but also all the decisons that are going to be made concerning the interiour of the appartment, colours, furniture. It's all up to me. It will be decorated and painted competly like i want it in the style i want. So it hasn't got the size of a castle it will definately be Franky Castle.

Shopping Sunday in Rotterdam

When I finally got out of bed this morning, I opened the windowcurtains and saw the sun was shining. After a grey week with mostly clouds and some rain the weather looked promising. I decided to go to Rotterdam to make some use out of my final free day. It's back to work next monday for me. I realised i needed new speakers for in my new appartment. The system I use now for music and the sound for DVD isn't that good anymore. In Dordrecht there aren't many shops to go to. So Rotterdam is best destination from where i live.

When driving towards Rotterdam from the south. You can choose between 2 routes to get to the city centre. I decided to drive through the part "Zuid" (rotterdam-south) and cross the Erasmusbrug.

I think the bridge not only looks good, but the vieuw from it is also amazing. In the second world war most of the city centre was bombed by the Nazis. So along the river 'Nieuwe Maas' appartment and officebuildings were build. It has it's own nickname as in 'Manhattan at the Maas'.

The bridge itself is 808 meters long. And the top of it reaches 139 meters high. The structure was finished in 1996. The bridge is named after Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam. A famous theologian, who promoted a more open catholic church.

After I parked my car I walked into the city centre for my shopping sunday. I didn't buy a new dvd system, but got a pretty good idea on what's available. I think I'll go for the small speakers and a bigger subwoofer. The smaller speakerset would attract less attention, and the sound quality is very good. I did buy new clothes (not really needed them, but i was there anyway) 2 shirts and one tie. And a CD with said JAZZ-Lounge. It's playing now, it's sort of laid back kind of jazz. And it sounds reasonably good so far. I guess if you never try something new, you'll never know what it's like.

I decided to go drive back from Rotterdam. I took another route back. Which first led me to the 'Euromast' . You can see it in the back of the picture of the 'Erasmus' brug.

The Euromast was build in 1960 and is 186 meters high. On 100 meters high there are two restaurants located. From the top of this landmark you have an magnificent view. It has been said that when the weather is clear you can see over a distance of 30km.

While I had almost left this city behind me i took a picture of another bridge. The 'Hef'. This bridge is no longer in use. It was build in 1927 and used as an railroad bridge, but has been replaced by the Willemthunnel in 1993. Now it's a monument, a reminder of the place wher the trains used to enter the city.

Frank

to organise, to shop, to clean

It has almost been a week now since I bought my new appartment. It has been a busy week for me. Although I was free from work there was a lot to do.

First of all I had to do a lot of cleaning. The previous owner of the appartment was'n a very clean person. There was so much dust in the place unbelieveable. I have spend two and a half day cleaning and still it isn't very clean. I think it is clean enough now, the painting and construction work will get it messy again. But at least the kitchen is clean, so cafe can be made and some food can be prepared.

Cleaning wasn't the only thing i did ofcourse. I have walked for miles in furniture shops! But so far I haven't bought everything. I did buy my new couch/sofa, a new closet for books and a thing (don't know the exact word in English) where i can place my TV and DVD in.

I have found out that it isn't so easy this furniture shopping. I have some ideas in my head on how I want to decorate my new appartment. But it isn't easy to find the furniture to match with my ideas. Somebody once told me / gave me the advice 'When you buy something, make sure it's posh' . Well I guess my new appartment will have a posh interiour. At least that's what people tell me about what I have already bought. Now i'm still looking for a dining room table and chairs, i know i need more (a lot more), but that's a priority now. I have also got some help form friends with choosing furniture. I like to take one particular friend with me when I shop for furniture. It's easy to explaine why. When I have doubts on buying an item. I ask her if she likes it. When she says 'Yes i like it or Yes i love it' I'm sure that i'm NOT going to buy it........

I haven't made pictures of my new appartment yet. Because I don't like the internal part yet. I'll make some pictures when it's (almost) finished. So far i can tell you that the walls and the ceiling will be in a light color and the furniture will be dark (except for my couch/sofa it's red), so it will be mixture of dark and light. I will not buy or paint anything in flashy colors one red item will be enough so far. I want my appartment to have a restfull/relaxing, classic (and a litle posh) atmosphere. And so far i think it's going to work out, it just needs a lot of work and time. My prediction of living there from 1 januari 2006 still stands.

Frank

Got It!!!

My plan worked!! I'm now the owner of the appartment. It has been a stressful week, but in the end it all worked out. Thursday I got the final ok from the bank. Friday the last inspection and after i signed the final documents i was handed the keys. Very happy with that!

Time to celebrate.
In Holland champagne is normally and only drunk on special occacions or celebrations. This was a very good oppertunity to open some botles and celebrate the purchase of the appartment, which is going to be my new home. So friday evening i had a few friends over to show them arround and have a glass of champagne on this good result. For those who are intrested in champagne there was Moët & Chandon Brut, Moët & Chandon Cremant Demi-sec, Mumm Cordon Vert Demi Sec and Laurent Perrier Brut. I had only 1,5 glass there, because I still had to drive.
We decided to go somewhere else were we wouldn't have to drive, but also where we could continue to party...Well it was a fun and intresting evening after a very good and succesful day. We talked for hours made up some plans, for the work that has to be done before i can actually live in the place.

The appartment doesn't need too much work. But still it needs work. For example new paintjob of all the walls and ceiling, new tiles in bathroom and so on. So no major reconstruction work, but all these minor things also add up. And after making a schedual of all the work that has to be done it became quite a challange. In addition to the construction work, i have also decided to get all new furniture. Out with old and in with the new! I also have to set up home in my new place and decided to decorate it with only new furniture and not move over any of my old. When you know that in the Netherlands it's custom that when you buy designer furniture it takes up to 8-12 weeks untill you have it in your house. So it will take some time before i'll live there. In the mean while the construction work can take place. When this time again everything goes like i have planned it, maybe i can live there before this years christmas or at least celebrate the comming of the new year there. Already looking forward to that.

I have taken four days off from work. Yes I know that's hard to beleive for some of you readers...but it's true. The next few days I have to work out all of the details of my plans and start organizing. And ofcourse go shopping for new furniture. I need the days of to make a good start and i'm sure I will. I'm in high spirit and very motivated, so watch out furniture sellers here I come...

And today i'm just taking the time to relax

Cheers
Frank

fighting a deadline....

What an important week is this. I have untill friday to get everything done, regarding the purchase of my new appartment. So i'm switching between the emotions of excitement and nervousness. Just 4 days to go.......and still so much to do. The contracts are made up, but still a few adjustments have to me made. If everything goes according to plan I'll be the OWNER of the appartment I want and on the conditions I want. But uuhhh these texts from lawers, sollicitors are not easy to read and there are so many of them. It's easier to read and understand books from Goethe or Nietsche. And then there is the role of the selling party.....actually the negiotianions with them were easy. I'm a good debater and a good salesman so they weren't really a problem for me. ha.

All banks in the Netherlands are used yo the fact that clients do what the banks want, and every now and then a client (like me) comes along and he wants it in a different way. Sometimes this makes them panic, as in these economical hard times, you don't want to loose a client, who has no debts and pays his bills in time. They also know that if i don't make a deal with bank A i'll go to bank B, to get the deal there.

The situation at the moment is that I have two possible good deals with banks. But they have to make some adjustments in the terms of the mortgage. I know that the appartment, which i'm about to buy, will not be the place where i'll spend the rest of my life. So I don't want a mortgage with a duration of 60 years. So I told them they have untill tomorrow 12.00 to let me know if they agree on what i want.

Then there is still the survey on the foundation. The final results will be in on Thursday.

So if everything goes to plan. I'll have the appartment on friday. And i'm excited about living there. It's not a very big appartment, but it's big enough for me. It's located/situated on the edge of the city centre. I'll have all the shops and the pretty, historic sites (and sights) in just a short walking distance. It doesn't need very much work (but it does need some work). I will not have high maintenance costs and if the mortgage plan goes like i want, i can easily afford it and have enough cash left to live a life like i want.

Next friday i'll be very happy or very sad. What it will be, you read it here.
Frank

Night on the town (Dordrecht)

Saturday evening. The time of the week to go out and do something fun. No difficult, mind braking challenges for me this night. Just fun! We (the dynamic duo) decided not to go far but to stay in Dordrecht. That means we decided to go walking so both of us could get a drink (or two, or more...).

So Dordrecht it's going to be. One of Dordrecht landmarks is our main church, which has a huge church tower. This tower has special lights directed towards it, which makes it a pretty sight at night.

We didn't really discuss where to go and what to do exactly yet. So we sat down on a bench.

To discuss our possibilities of tonight. As we set down fog started to get around again. Which makes the above picture a bit blury. It didn't only made our sight blury it also made us wet, so we decided not to waste any more time here and just to go and see where we would get a drink and play some pool billiart. As this is our home town how difficult could it be to find a decent place.

It was a busy night in the city. So we had to waite for a pool table at the bar. It was a good to catch up on eachother lives, regarding what we did in work and our families during the last week. And then it was our turn to play some pool.

I still haven't mastered the game, but I do have a lot fun playing. Sometimes it seems that I have lost all control of these balls i'm playing with (pool balls that is, don't get the wrong idea....).

We had some good drinks and a lot laughs that night. It was a good night out on the town. At the time we had enough of the game, we decided to call it quits for tonight, knowing we still had some walking to do....

It seemed that fog had grown while we were inside the bar. And we had to walk for a while, try to imagine a walk while you have had some drinks and you have this view.....

It's not easy I can tell you that!

Well it was also an oppertunity to make an 'arty' picture. This one is without 'photo-shop'

It was an almost perfect evening/night just as we planned with a lot of fun and a lot of laughs. As all great nights, this one also came to an end. We are out of here, 'peace'.

Frank

Difficult driving conditions can lead to...

new destinatons.

Last week i was driving from a projectsite in Rotterdam to our office in the county Brabant. At the departure in Rotterdam everything was ok, but the driving condition soon became worse. Fog was comming up and while I was getting closer to the lake 'Haring vliet' the fog became thicker, i couldn't see much anymore. So I decided to take the next exit from the motorway and stop for a cup of cafe in the next town. I could use the cafe to keep concentrated for driving as the conditions needed a concetrated drive.

The traffic sign told me the next exit would lead me to the city Willemstad. So Willemstad it would be. I did know the place by name, but couldn't remember much from my last visit, which was more then 15 years ago. Well, i think i shouldn't have waited that long before my next visit. Willemstad is very nice place! It's a very small town, just a few thousand (2,000) people live there, and it has an amazing city centre. Small, but very beautiful. It's build around a fortress. This stop at Willemstad was a total coincedence, but again after the city Leiden, the city Alkmaar this city had also a big role in the history of the war with Spain (80 year war, 80 jarige Oorlog). The fortress was build and used in that period of time.

I sad down at the harbour, which is in the midle of the fortress to get my (BIG) cup of cafe. Not only tasted it great, it gave me time to relax a bit and look around. This city looks great and i know hardly anything about it, now how is that possible??

Also the place where I had my cafe, with the view over the lake. Well view.....it probably looks good without fog.....

The fog seemed to began lifting, so it was time to get my camera.

This is where you enter the fortress at the harbour of Willemstad. The picture is taken from the bridge at the port of Willemstad.

As I said the fog was beginning to lift, so I decided to take a small walk into the town.

I hope that my decision to enter the city was a good one and that the people of Willemstad like me, because it looks like they take unwanted visitors seriously........

I decided to climb the fortress wall to have a good overview of the historical harbour in this town.
While climbing the stairs the fog lifted almost as quickly as it arrived. The sky is all grey, so no sunny pictures this time, but luckily it didn't rain either.

Overview of the harbour

As i was standing there on this wall my eye came across a particular building which seemed to stand out of the other buildings.

The building in the midle of the picture is the arsenal of the town. In which all munition was stored when the fortress was still operational. And no the yacht in front of it isn't mine...

As you could see in the pictures the fog had lifted so I headed back to my car. I still had to go to the office. While i was walking back I passed the windmill. I guess a real dutch town isn't complete without one. Here is a close up picture from the Willemstad windmill. It's huge.

Like i have said Willemstad is a city with many pretty sights in a very small area. I have spend not more then 30 minutes walking around here. Walking around here was very intresting, what else can you say if you walk through streets like this.

I definately have to come back to this town. At a day when i have more time. The city centre witholds several bars, restaurants and I have also seen a hotel, so I can stay and have a drink!

As I was leaving the city centre begind me and while I came closer to my car, I passed the marina.

The summer is over and fall has started, so there wasn't much activity in the marina. But it's a sign that this town is busy in the tourist season. Another reason to come back again. In the summer of 2006 i'll visit again and maybe spend a weekend overthere, i'll definately will come back here.

When I arrived at my car. I took a final look over the lake and saw that a sailing yacht had just left the marina.

A thought came to mind how it would be like to just pack your bags, lift your sails and head for the unknown......ah well maybe one day. Now it's time to start my car and head for the office. I know it's a lot less adventurous and exciting, but work is also a way/means to make the money and pay for travelling and others what makes our lives more beautiful and to make in affordable to do the things we really want to do. And I don't have reasons to complaine about my job, I like it and that's even without the aspect that it gets me to places like Willemstad.

Frank

business trip to Alkmaar

This week business led me to the city Alkmaar. To Dutch standards Alkmaar is long drive from where I live. It isn't the distance (125 km) it's more the time it will take you to get there. I have to pass Rotterdam, The Hague, Amsterdam airort Schiphol. At all these places traffic is horror during rushhour. If you have bad luck it will take you hours to get there. So I had to get up and leave at very early to make sure I would arrive in time. The first appointment was at 9:30, so it was a very very early morning for me. Well this day something happend that seems to happen frequently with me. When i think traffic will be bad, it isn't...So i arrived too early in Alkmaar....ah well it gave me some time to explore this city a bit. So here is my story on the city Alkmaar.

It's still early in the morning as i enter the city centre. The sun is just comming up.

It's still quiet, the water in the canals and harbour is calm,not much traffic yet, no clouds yet to see. It's a good start of a new day.

It looks like Alkmaar is my kind of city. The city centre of Alkmaar looks good with lot's of pretty sights. A city with a long history. Officially founded by Count Willem II in 1254. It's situated at crossing of rivers. And therefore it became a market town. Due to taxes and and the business in town, the city expanded. The next picture shows the building the "Tax Tower (Accijnstoren)" here taxes had to be paid before entering the city.

Alkmaar has some similarities with Leiden, the city from my other log. Alkmaar plays a significant role in the war against Spain, the'80-jarige oorlog'. Actually in 1573 it was Alkmaar who won a battle for the Netherlands It was a turning point in the war and therefore in Dutch history. It was the start of the Dutch victory!

I think that probably for most Dutch people Alkmaar is known for it's cheesemarket. I know that in other countries Gouda is best known for cheese. Well the Alkmaar cheese market is very Dutch. It's quite spectacular too! Those who have trouble believing this, you just have to come and see!! This morning there wasn't a cheese market, but it's clear for everybody this is a 'cheese' town. The following picture shows a narrow street. It's about 150 meters long. Guess how many cheeseshops are in this litle street.

There were 8 cheeseshops!

Let's see if the city centre of Alkmaar has more to offer then just cheese...

Here is a picture of the largest church of Alkmaar. The 'grote st Laurens church' The people finished building in 1520 and is build in 'Brabant Gothic' style.

Inside this Catholic church there is a miniature of the ship form the famous Dutch admiral de Ruyter, who beat the English in Catham in the year 1667.

Did the Alkmaar do more then go to war and eat/sell cheese? Yes they did the following the build 'The Waag' in this place poor travelers could stay for free. As you can see the dutch have a heart as well. Well at least some of us do.....

The Waag was build in 1884 and is in renesaince style.

After the Waag i passed city hall. This building was finished in the same year as the Catholic St Laurenskerk, 1520. And it's completly build in architectural 'gotic' style.

After city hall it was time to go back. After all I was here for business in the first place. I'll do my best to get a project starting here. I would love to come back here and see how the place is when i'm not just one of very few people who is awake...

Frank

Short roadtrip

Sunday.

I had a good night sleep. It was late untill i got into bed, but slept all night. I looked outside and saw the weather improved overnight. It was sunny with a few clouds. I didn't want to stay inside with this weather, but also I didn't have much to do. So I decided to make a short roadtrip. It's also good way to show where I live. I have already paid some attention to Dordrecht, the city I live in. Now it's time to show some of the countryside.

I was lucky to find my car back yesterday, so this was all still possible.

I know it's not the best looking car I know, but it will do, certainly untill the company will give me the new one at the end of the year. Up till now they are keeping it a secret, as in they (headoffice refuse to tell my which brand car it will be. Although I'm not sure my 'weirdo' car strategy worked, i'm 100% sure it will not be the Ferrari I asked for.....

I thought it was a good idea to drive to the most touristical sight in the area just outside Dordrecht.
Which is Kinderdijk, this is Dutch for Childs dike. The name comes originally from a story of the flood in 1421. A lot of dikes broke then, at this place a wooden cradle washed/came a shore. A cat was on top, jumping back and forth keeping it in balance so no water could come in. When it came to the river shore, somebody looked in the basket and there was a healthy baby inside.

Why is this the most touristical sight. A part of this small town has been placed on the UNESCO list of World Heritage sites. And there's just one reason for that. WINDMILLS and lot's of them.

The town is situated in a 'polder' between the two rivers Noord and Lek. A polder is a an under sea-level lying piece of land enclosed by dikes. To draine the water out of it, there were 19 windmills build (around 1740). This is the largerst string of windmills in the world.

No wonder you'll see a lot Asian tourists with enormous cameras walking around here. After seeing them here. I decided to take a scenic tour along the river Graafstroom. Here you see the typical Dutch country side scenery.

So far for the short tour of the 'Alblasserwaard'. I think most of us look for those special places far away from where we live. Those places we dream about at night and think one day I'll go there. Surely I have also places I dream to visit one day. And I WILL one day. Untill that day will come I think it isn't wrong to look around where you are now and see how special those places, really are whom you (I) take for granted, see as normal, which actually attract people from around the world. I hope other think the same way when I say Holland is a beautiful country!

I enjoyed this litle roadtrip, actually I enjoyed my whole weekend and am ready to go to back to work tomorrow.

Signing off for this weekend.

Frank

Dynamic duo celebrates the deliverance of Leiden

And then it was friday. What to do? First I went to the local snooker and pool centre to have a drink with some friends to play some pool billiart. This game seems to grow in popularity...It was a fun evening, the drinks tasted good and I wasn't too bad at the game. It was also a good time to make some plans for Saturday. There were some good ideas. Finally the decision was made to fo to the 'Leiden Onzet festival' (Leiden's Deliverance Festival) in the city Leiden.

Leiden is a small town with around 120,000 people living there. It's situated in the Western part of Netherlands, between Amsterdam and The Hague. It's a beautifull city with lot's of historic buildings and houses from the 17th-century. The city centre looks like a small version of Amsterdam. It has less canals and less houses, but the style comes close, as you can see.

The city beholds a few good museums, which isn't strange because it was the birthtown of Rembrandt van Rijn, The Lakenhal Municipal Museum has works from Rembrandt, but also from other famous painters from Leiden such as Jan Steen.

The festivities of October the third has also everything to do with the history of the city. In the 16th century, the Dutch rebelled against the Spanish empire. Back then Calvinism came up. With the 'Beeldenstorm', this is when Calvinists entered Catholi churches and destroyed satues of saints the spanish ampire sent in their troops to evenge this, and a war had started that would continue over a period of 80-years. A large battle took place at the borders of Leiden, the siege of Leiden.

Leiden was besieged for almost a year in 1574. When the spannish withdrew, the Dutcha army entered the city. They gave the starving inhabitans bread, cheese and haring. So this date is celebrated every year with a big party and many festivities in the historical city centre.

Not that I really needed a reason to party......I now even have a historical motviation to go and party!

So we decided to go to Leiden, which is a 40 minute drive, when traffic is good. I still needed to do some necesary stuff at home, such as some cleaning and grocery shopping. So it would be better to go in the evening. We drove away around 20.00. When we finally got there we were amazed by the amount of cars parked everywhere. Even at busstops! We drove a couple times around the centre to finally found a spot. In the meanwhile it had began to rain (HARD). So we parked the car and alomst ran to the first bar for shelter and a drink. This bar had a band who was playing, they weren't that bad, but when the rain stoped we went into the city centre where all the action would take place. And action there was. At almost every streetcorner there was something to do. Lot's of music throughout the city. Also a lot of different music, from popular to hard rock, from hiphop to house. It was a very lively and loud event!. There was even a Luna Park build. The only downside was the weather. It kept on raining for almost the complete evening. A good thing that all the outside bars had a roof. So you could drink and stay dry. We had a good time in Leiden and decided to go home and it was then at that spot we knew we made a mistake......we forgot to pay attention to where we parked the car....well we found it back ofcourse only it took a very very long time. I hardly ever felt so stupid. I was the one driving home, so everybody ended the night safe at home.

If the weather is better next year I'll definatly will go back. I had a very good time.

Frank

busy but good week so far

This time a log without pictures. This has a simple explanation, I just didn't see anything that was worth it to take pictures from. So far it has been a busy week. Busy in work, but also with the purchase of my new appartment. Sometimes it seems theres no end of the paperwork, negotiations and everthing else you need to do and must do in order to buy a house. And that's just before you own the place! For some of all this extra work it's my own responsebility, the salesman in me wants a good deal. Not just on the price of the appartment but also on the conditions of mortgages and so on. So far it all looks good and I can own it around half of next month. It's just not all final yet. I'v only signed for the option so it still can go the other way. But I'm staying in a postive spirit and believe everything will work out like i want it. The research on the foundation of the appartmentbuilding came up with possitive results. Although it's not complete yet, i don't see any new complications come from that area.

The rest of the week will be one with long working days. Some new projects have started this week. And it will be intresting to see how they will develop. It all looks promising, but there still has to be a lot to arrange before everything is 'up and running' at a quality level I can be satisfied with. Which means i have to invest/devote a lot my time into work the next two days.

Next saturday will be an intresting day, because i haven't schedualed anything yet. I know I'll undertake some action. That's in going somewhere, there just isn't a destination set. After a week like this, I just have to do something to either 'let off some steam' and/or just to relax. A well....
I have two more days left to think up something. Whatever it will be you will probably read it here.

Frank

Dynamic duo hits Rotterdam again

Last week work was a bit crazy. As in crazy busy. I had to go to a seminar and this seminar was held at a location where my mobile phone did not have any signal. So I had it very busy when I got the signal/reach back! Well it finally became weekend and after a busy week like that. I thought it was a good idea to go out and party! After being very serious for a week I needed some time to just have fun, play, laughs and drinks. So where to go? So my friend Bob and I decided to go to Rotterdam once again. Rotterdam being the biggest city around there must be something to do for us. So the dynamic duo hits Rotterdam again!

We decided to start at the old harbour. This place is in the midle of the city centre and has a very good atmosphere. It's a historic place within a very modern city. It has some good bars and resaurents and most important at this sunny day. You can sit outside by the harbour and enjoy a drink in the sun. In the next picture you can see the red Willems bridge which is a small version of the famous Golden Gate bridge in the U.S.

We also attracted some intention of the animals overthere. A swan swims over to say hi.

As said before this is one of my favourite places in Rotterdam. You can see the cubicle houses in this picture taken from the terrace.

Although 'the old harbour' is a good place to be. We decided we could use a bit more action and so we moved to the square in front of city hall. This is a much more lively area. This square is surrounded with bars. Some of them have live music. Because the wheather was still good we decided to remain outside and enjoy the sun and just relax.

As you can see in the next picture the alcohol began to work.

I really enjoyed this day in Rotterdam. Sitting at terrace drinking a drink and just chill.

I could't come up with a better idea then to get away from all the work related stress.

Brussels visit

Last week I had to go to Brussels for business. Although I have been to this city before. I could not remember much of it. The last time I visited this city I was only 5 or 6 years old. So it isn't that strange that I could not remember much of it.

With me it's business before pleasure, so did all the work related stuff on my first 1,5 days overthere and added half a day to my stay to act like and be a tourist.

So I started out at the big market square. The first picture you see is the city hall.

This square is a lovely place. It's surrounded with majestic buildings most of them build around 1400.

This square is also a good place to have a beer (or 2). It has some good cafés and the wheather was nice and sunny, so I could sit outside and watch Belgian people pass by.

The picture below looks like a big castle at first citle, well don't let it fool you. It's just one tower... nowadays it's used as an art gallery. There was a display with modern art, which was so ugly I regret the 5 minutes I was in there.

The next picture is from a church I discovered in Brussels centre. To me it looks a lot like the Notre Dame cathedral in Paris. I looked for him but no I didn't see a guy with a humpback.....

Franky & Bob at Rotterdam

After a long week at work, finally it was weekend. What to do? that was the big question. The only thing I was sure of was that I was going to take it easy, very easy!

I didn't do anything special on Friday and Saturday. The weather was very bad overhere, so I decided to first do the necessary stuff as cleaning and personal administration. Which was a lot more then expected. After that I went to the local Snooker Centre to meet up with some friends and play some pool billiart while having some drinks.

I met up with my friend Bob and discussed what we could do. Because we were both a bit tired we decided not to do much on Saturday evening, but to go to Rotterdam the next day.

We drove to one of my favourite restaurants that Sunday. The reasons why it's my favourite besides the food (great Argentinan steake) it's the location and the view. It's located directly at the river Maas. You can see all the tall office towers and appartment buildings in the distance And see all the ships pass by. When you sit outside on the terrace the view is brilliant.
The first picture is the view when you look to your right. The bridge is named after the famous Dutch proffessor Erasmus, who was born in Rotterdam. So it's the Erasmusbrug. That's the official name. The unofficial name is 'de zwaan' / the Swan, this is because of the shape of the bridge.

When you look to your left (from the terrace) you can see the Euromast (Europole), a park and the start of the main shipping port of Rotterdam

Behind the restaurant stands a beautifull historic building. Hotel New York. This is also the former headoffice of the Holland-America line. Which is the dutch most well known cruiseline. Nowadays it's a Hotel and restaurant.

Although the the company moved their headoffice, this part of the harbour is still used as cruiseterminal. The next picture is taken almost a year ago when the new Queen Mary docked here. (no it isn't QD1....)

Although it was a hot and humid day without much sub for me it was a great idea to just relax and chill in Rotterdam. And according to the smile of Bobs face I think it was for him too.

Bob (and his smile)

And that's my log for this week. Hope you enjoy it.
Frank