what a way to start the day,

or even the week...

We woke up at 5 a.m. this morning, Icky left for work at 6, I left the house with the kids at 6.30, took the bus to Ilyas' childminder at 6.45, left there at 7.10, took another bus at 7.20, then changed bus at the Grote Markt at 7.26, arrived at the afterschool care at 7.37, took another bus to the station, on the bus I was doubting to be lazy and take it directly to Antwerp, since I had enough time for doing so, but I told myself not to be lazy and take the train and have a walk. Damn, did I regret that choice... The station was absolute chaos, there had been an accident and all the trains were either delayed or cancelled, so I ended up taking a bus after all, but half an hour after I got off the bus in the first place.
two hours and a half after I left home, I arrived at work, I could have made it to Paris or London in that time...
Good thing the elevator decided to work for a few hours
when I wanted to take coffee, the machine was broken, which was the worst thing...

Normally things like these don't happen to me on Mondays, Monday is usually one of the best days of the week for me...

my life is one big pop quiz

but unfortunately there doesn't seem to be a price to win.

Some examples:

at work:

"Goodday, belgacom helpcenter, this is Karen speaking, how may I help you?"
- "can you tell me if I dialed the right number?"
"euhm, it depends..."
- "what is the right number then?"
"that depends, which department are you trying to contact?"
- "the one that can help me"
"and what is the problem"
- "you tell me, because I don't know"

"Goodday, belgacom helpcenter, this is Karen speaking, how may I help you?"
- "my tv is not working"
"I see, but you do not have a contract with Belgacom for your tv"
- "no, I don't"
"then you'd better contact the company who owns your contract"
- "who is that?"
"we do not have that kind of information"
- "but why is it not working?"
"we can only check our contracts, I am sorry, you'd better call your provider and they will be able to help you"
- "what's their number?"
"I don't know, who is your provider?"
- "I don't know, why can't you tell me?"

It's been like that the entire day today...
I've spoken twice to the TV-lady and she has spoken to three other operators today, all telling her we cannot solve her problem

But in my private life it's not different...
"mum, who is that?"
-"euhm, sorry boy, I don't know all the people in the world"
"why is she wearing a green coat?"
-"euhm, I don't know"

"what's that?"
- "what?"
"that"
- "what? where?"
"the thing on the thing"

what can ruin my good mood

Don't you just hate the people who nearly kill you to make sure they can wait a bit longer in front of the red traffic light!? Or the ones who nearly drive you off your socks, so that they can block the pedestrians crossing, whilst waiting in the autoqueue?
Fun, isn't it, when they speed up in a 30kmh zone, whilst you are walking on the sidewalk and they suddenly realise they've passed the point they needed to be and just drive onto the sidewalk and park in front of you, not even caring the fact that you have to walk on the street with your three children since they are fully blocking the sidewalk....

No wonder agression in trafic is growing on a daily basis...

La vie en rose

What's the deal with pink these days!? It's like the bloody colour is turning up everywhere, is it not enough that it is the chosen colour for little girls and women who believe they are little girls... nooooooooooo, they started using it for men's clothes as well, probably because they believe it gives the men who wear it this image of the "new man".

Pink shoes, pink shirts, pink caps, pink coats, pink sweatshirts... aaaaaaaaaaaarrrggghhhh

Now they have a brand new line: pink laptops, pink nintendo DS lites, pink mobile phones, pink toaster, pink fridge, pink oven, pink water boiler, pink senseo

Do we really want to live in a Barbie world!?

personally I don't....

that's not funny...

I'm currently at work haha, funny isn't it!?

Personally I don't see the joke, but apparently one of the customers did. It's a rather busy Sunday, and there are just two of us here, there are some colleagues in Kortrijk as well, but you don't see them, so you forget about them and feel like you have to take the entire queue with only two people. So I answered the man's call as I always do and he then said: "you are working on a Sunday!!??"
K: "yes, we work on Sundays"
customer: "hahaha, that's amusing, isn't it?"
K: "euhm..."

He actually had no real reason to call us, he just wanted to check if we were working, since his sister had a problem with her telephone and could not reach her operator, and he found it rather amusing that he could reach us...
I really appreciated him laughing in my face for me having to work

Excitement on a Tuesday

who'd have guessed that a Tuesday could be as exciting as this one is!? Today there was a hassle with a customer, which kept a few operators and a coach busy. Nothing really new if you work at a helpdesk.

 

However, in the afternoon, my coach got a phonecall from security that there was a woman who claimed to have an appointment with him. It turned out to be the customer who got into a fit and drove to our offices, forced her entry by following another car coming in. She refuses to leave the office before she gets her problem solved today. She's got an appointment for tomorrow.

 

LOL, it caused some excitement here! :D

NEVER!

Today one of our colleagues came to the office with her one month old baby boy. He's absolutely adorable, like most babies. So we all went to see him and coo and ooh over him. Of course that brought the never ending funny joke amongst everyone. I have to respond to the "so, when's the fourth one coming" on a weekly basis, but had the question 9 times in only 3 minutes, so for once and for all: there is no fourth coming, having three children in just over three years is enough, thank you! And I would appreciate it if the question was directed in other people's direction... thank you!

My mobile

I absolutely adore the mobile phone I have now, it's a Samsung E330, and I have it for nearly three years, it's the first mobile I've had for that time, my elder ones either broke down, were forgotten in cabs, got wet and rejected service, etc. But this one's been my companion for the past three years, he's joined me in fun times, he's laughed with me, he's joined my whilst talking to sad friends, he stood by me in hospital, so I was not fully alone, he's seen most things I've seen and taken pictures off. He's recorded loads of things, like Ilyas' snoring, laughing, Soufyan and Yaesseen's singing etc. And now he's about to have his last breath. :'(

All my phonenumbers are saved on the phone, so I've started writing them down on a piece of paper, since it's impossible to copy them to my sim, but I cannot write more than about 15 numbers a time, before the screen starts to black out and then I give him some rest, because I'm still not able to say goodbye to him.

I'm sure that there will be no phone like my Samsung...

Antwerp's Central Station

They have been working at it for years, they started it in 2000 and they are still not quite finished, but they are getting there... Antwerp's Central Station will be three times as big as it once was. Now some of the trains already arrive and depart in the tunnel. Which is quite nice, but it takes you longer to actually get there.

F.I. I had "early" late shifts this week, meaning that I started at 12.30 and finished at 21.00. I've been leaving for work rather early to make sure I had time to get a bite to eat and I had to run some errands and I never really know how long those will actually take. Monday I took the 10.59 train from Lier to Antwerp and I was outside the Station at 11.20. That train stops on the platforms on the first floor, so I only needed to take the stairs down, and I walked. On Wednesday I caught an earlier train in Lier, the one at 10.55. And I was outside the Central Station at 11.22, which makes a 6 minutes difference. Both trains are stoptrains, which stop at the same stops, take the exact same route and none of them ran into a delay on the way getting there, so it really made a difference that one of them stopped in the tunnel. 6 mins might not seem like a great deal, but it really makes a lot of difference if you're running from work to get home and need to catch a train. If we finish at half past an hour, we can catch a train at .43 (which stops at the first floor) or one at .46, which now stops at -2. We used to just have to run to a different platform if we missed the first, but now there is no way in hell of making the .46 one if you just missed the other one, so then you have to wait till .14, so that's half an hour gone...

They suddenly changed all the platform numbers, some of them are now numbered 21, 22, 23, which I first didn't get, I had no idea where the train was stopping :) I know it's all about getting used to that again, but rush hour suddenly became even rushier... :(

is there really nothing on

the net anymore? I've been surfing the entire day, but have the feeling I've seen it all...
pfff and I've got an entire week of late shifts to go
what to do?? when there is nothing on the net??
all ideas, tips, etc are more than welcome (especially e-mails...)

Did I hide it that bad??

Yesterday morning I went to the Laundrette, I kind of enjoy some off time when I'm there, just listening to some music, reading a book, waiting for my laundry to be done.
So, yesterday wasn't any different, I just sat there in a corner, on a chair, reading my book, listening to some music, then this lady interrupted me, telling me she was there to do her laundry. OK, I'm not a genius, but I'm not that daft, I can add up one and one, if you are in a laundrette with a bunch of dirty clothes, I would not even dare to think you are there to do some shopping... So I gave har a sheepish smile and said OK, and my attention went back to my book. Then she started again about how her husband was not there with her because he didn't feel like it. Ok, how do you react to that? Well, when I was thinking about a reaction a bit friendlier then "can you blame him?", it turned out that I needn't have worried... she went on anyway, about her boy still living at home (her husband was 84, I don't want to know the ago of the little man), and that she hoped that he would wait a bit to have children of his own... ok... that was my call to quickly skip outside. So I did, and came back in through the other door and sat back down with my book and MP3 player.

I admit, next time I should hide my interest better, because she immediately saw through my cover that I was really interested in knowing every little detail. Some months ago she bought black socks for her son, but the poor thing's toes got infected, so she changed back to white socks, and just like that his toes were in a normal state again. And when we were folding up our clothes, I really didn't mind folding up hers, no, and I really didn't mind taking her laundry outside, and the fact that it took me about half an hour longer in the bloody laundrette, no, of course I didn't care. I really enjoyed her talking about her poor little son and her husband who didn't feel like joining her (who could blame him!? but next time I run into him, I WILL!!!)

Next time I'm going to the laundrette I'll be waring a paper bag over my head, maybe then I'll be covering my interest in other people's lives a lot better...

Would I be waiting for a bus

if it were my car??

Yesterday I was waiting for the bus to take me and Ilyas home, but the bus was late and I stood there for about 15 mins. There was a man standing across the street, by a car. After about five mins he asked me if the car was mine. It was clouded and chilly, the man lives across from the busstop, he's seen me waiting for the bus dozens of times, if it were my car, would I stand outside with my child for 15 minutes???
Then he said he'd seen one of his neighbours with the car, so maybe it's their car... if you know the car is your neighbours, and if you know I am not one of your neighbours, do you then actually think the car is mine!? I wanted to shout, but instead I asked if the car was really in his way, ok, it was parked in front of his house, but it was not falsy parked, there were no cars in front nor behind it, so I really didn't get the deal about the car. He then said that his son was coming and needed to park his car (two double trucks could park there...) I really didn't get the deal.

No, I don't want to know

Some people think I want to know certain details, I don't...

I need to get some of my frustration off my chest, and you guys are my humble victims ;)

Here's a list of things I don't want to know:

- I don't want to know about anyone's bowel movements, I don't care how long you were on the pot, how it smelled and what it looked like, I just don't care, it disgusts me.

- I don't want to know what it sounds like when a train hits a person, I really don't want to know, and don't look at me oddly when I run off to the toilet to throw up, no, I'm not pregnant, I only lost a friend under a train, and don't want to know what he went through.

- I frankly don't care about how many times you came last night

- If you were drunk and threw up, please don't tell me what it looked like, do I honestly look interested??!!

 

This list is not finished, but I'll let you all off the hook for now... ;-)

Four seasons in one day

 

The weather is undoubtedly female. And I think it's the time of month for her, because she's as moody as any other female. And she's quite unsure wether it should snow, be sunny, should rain, be sunny, should snow some more, be cloudy, sunny.... and so on and so on, but she never really sticks to one option for longer then say half an hour...

 

 

 

Last Friday

I tried to post a message saying that I was inspirationless, since everything went the way it should be going. However, I could not get it posted, and should have taken that as a sign, because at that point everything starting going kind of weird.

Ilyas' childminder had to take the day off for a personal reason, so Ilyas went to another one, for the first time and I did not have her phonenumber (clever me, thinking that I would not need it). When we were about to leave for work we were informed that there was a bombalarm going on at Antwerp Central Station. So I decided to opt for the sure (but slower) option, and take the bus, but on the bus we heard the dispatcher inform the driver that there had been an accident and he had to take another route.

OK, at last we arrived at our destination, just in time, afterwards my decision turned out to be a good one, because the trains had delays up to an hour... so the bus was still faster. But it was quite a stressful way to start the weekend off... next time I cannot post a message I'll be prepared for the worse ;-)

Why do those prankers always decide that Friday afternoons are the ideal time to give out a prank bombalarm? Is it that amusing to get commuters stuck right when they think the weekend has started?? Why not doing so on a Tuesday morning, so that they cannot make it to work?? (just an idea for the future... )

Spielerei

It's amazing how many foreign words have made their way into the language we consider ours (Flemmish), even though it's not an official one, but a bastard version of Dutch.
Up until now I've mostly noticed French and English words, but for a really odd reason people have started to use more and more German words. It's amazing how many times I hear the word 'Spielerei' during a week. What does that mean anyway? Ok, I know what Spielerei means, but why don't we just use the words we have?? What's gonna happen to the language our ancestors fought hard for???

Gorillas gave us lice

According to today's Metro, and an article I found on the internet, and which you can read here, Gorillas gave people pubic lice. So if you are ever misfortunate enough to catch the buggers, you might as well assume your partner has brought a wee visit to the zoo and slept with the gorillas ;)

The scream

Everyone knows the painting named "the scream", yesterday I ran into an amusing parody, which I couldn't spare you guys.

how to get me annoyed in 14 mins

It's probably not the best idea I ever had, but still I need to get this off my chest, I'll take the risk of this information being abused by certain people ;).

Last Friday we had to take a crowded train, so Icky and I ended up sitting with a man who had taken the entire table to himself. Ok, that's not too bad, since he sat there before us, but still the man managed to get me extremely annoyed in less then 15 minutes (since our trip by train takes us 14 mins). He started off by tapping the table, had a cough, and coughed in my face!? then he got a wee hunger and decided to eat his apple (nothing wrong there), but no one has told the man it's nice to eat with your mouth shut, and that the people around you don't enjoy it if you continue to tap the table whilst chewing with your mouth open... and cough in their faces...
Ok, he finished his apple, thank heaven for that, phew,then he had to cough another time -the poor man obviously had a cold and a sore arm so he wasn't able to put his hand in front of his mouth- but then he got a bit tired, and it was time for his wee nap. No harm there, until he started snoring...
Boy, was I happy to arrive in Lier!

How come commuters keep annoying each other!? This morning as well, there was this lady talking in this monotone voice, who kept repeating the exact same story, I've heard how many figurines and paintings her mum has four times, not kidding, but she tried to inform her friends who weren't listening to her, who can blame them!? So we ended up with the information, whether we liked it or not...

What will your friends say

if they catch you reading a pink blog??? hahaha