Peekaboo!

Mason spent the day at our place today and he got a treat.

My bonsai is sick mon. For some reason it's dieing since 2 weeks now. I can't bring it back to life. Unless this is normal and it's just dropping leaves coz it's getting colder now. But I don't believe this type of tree should do this. It's a bit of a pity.

The mandarins are coming along. When we came here 6 months ago they were dark green and pea-sized. Give them another 3 months and I guess they can be eaten...

I have to make a prototype of a part of my coffee table train track. I'm not very experienced with these things and I want to prepare well. At least I know how to operate this machine so that's one worry less.

I cleaned up a bit in Tony's workshop. I like to be tidy. I even swiped the floor when I was done. Something they taught me in school and I feel better in a tidy workshop.

In between we went to Bunnings for supplies and then to Office works and then to the mall where we saw this car.

I needed to draw big circles. Hardcore DIY-ers will tell you to use a piece of wire. Or to get one piece of wood with a nail at one end and a hole for a pencil at the other end.

Somehow those solutions sound too shonky to me and therefore I decided to make a giant compass. It took a few hours and details can be viewed here. It works perfect and it was fun to make!

This photo is for Kees. He recently inquired if I took this hat with me or if I ditched it before flying here. Granted, I could have taken something more useful with me on my journey but hey, I like the hat :-)

Peekaboo!

Hello big office

Mason was stunned when I told him I had to leave...

Today we had both kinds of Dutch weather in Adelaide...

... wet, and grey.

Arriving at my new office the moving truck was unloading. (The old office is about 500 metres away from our new one...

Someone was making pictures of me while checking out the truck.

The first steps into our new office. This is the reception area. Very spacious. Nick, our IT guy from Perth was working hard to get our connection with the mothership back online.

This is the view most colleagues have out of their front windows.

Or this view. It's nice when you can look outside. In The NL, the law actually states that every employee should have direct outside light coming into his or her office. You can't lawfully be put away in a room without a window, not even in prison I think.

So this is the view that I and 2 other colleagues have. The door post. No windows.

Now that I'm writing this I think I know why that alcove is there. We can hang up a poster inside and make it look like a window! I know, I'm a genius.

This is my colleagues Marc's desk. He's sitting behind me. The beautiful blue walls are supposed to create a more "personal" space for us. It's not quite like cubicles. Just as ugly nevertheless. I do not think they are contributing in any positive way really so I may start a little chat about that.

Don't laugh, this is my desk. It's temporary! Only until the desk they ordered for me comes in.

And then it was time for me to go home again. I waited for Nicole to pick me up.

On the way home we stopped at our local Italian restaurant to get a pizza.

Bye bye little office

I walked through Rundle Mall during lunch looking for a software shop. I found none.

Today was our last day at this office. It's way too small and we are desperate for more room.

So we had to pack up. I hardly gathered anything during my first 3.5 weeks here so my box stayed pretty empty.

Other people had more boxes but I'm not jealous ;-) You can just see my colleague Ben on the right. I told them I made photo's for my blog but they just thought it was all pretty funny.

This is the building we're leaving. It looks great on the outside but inside it really needs a BIG renovation.

After work taxi "Nicole" picked me up again. It's a very reliable taxi service!

The taxi driver doesn't just drive you home, she also cooks you dinner and does so extremely well!

This is her. Cabby and chef at the same time :-)

Early morning photo's

The amount of cars is insane sometimes. Checking them out it's mostly people sitting in a car al by themselves. What a waste of space. And then there are lots of parents bringing their kids to school. It's handy to have so many schools in the city...

This is a very old hotel (= pub) called "The Royal Oak Hotel". Quite a beautiful historic building.

Beef and green bean lunch

Early morning and the masses try to reach the other side of the street.

Lunch time. There's a Thai take away close by. Very decent food.

I don't have any plants on my desk yet so I made some artificial ones using Windows desktop pictures.

In the evening I worked on my design for a coffee table that is to harbour a model railroad one day. I think we're talking about at least 2 years from now ;-)

The chimney fetish people

Close to the square where I lunch, there is another, kind of hidden little square where only people with a chimney fetish seem to be allowed to go. They sit there in the sun, puffing away big silver clouds of smoke, sometimes it looks like a thick fog.

This is my prison cel view. Hopefully it will be over by Friday when we're planning to move. My manager thinks it can be done in 1 morning. I'm taking bets. The odds for a successful move in 1 morning are 1:100 :-)

The magic mushrooms

Sunday is garden action day! Nicole mowed the back and I did the front. It's quite nice with our little hand mower.

I found 2 little mushrooms in the front garden, hiding in the grass. This one is tiny but for some reason it makes me think it's poisonous. The photo doesn't show well but it was bright yellow and shiny. That's begging to be licked.

And there was also this mushroom that I unfortunately drove over before I saw it (yeah, I felt it bump up the mower ;-P ). It looks more eatable than the other one.

In the afternoon Stephen and I crossed our tennis rackets again. Contrary to last Sunday, today victory was mine! We left it at 2 sets in my favor: 7-5 (come back from 0-3) and 6-2. It was THE best match I have ever played. Steve, it's OK if you want to blame it on the mandarin ;-P Thanks for a great match, it was most enjoyable!

In the evening we drove to Henley and Vili's. That way I got in some good night-driving time. If any of you readers ever come to visit us, we'll definitely take you to this magical place of food stuffs :-)

When we came home I Skyped with my mom.

I bought her flowers which my dad got for me, thanks dad :-)

Mother's day 2008 - Special edition

It's not a bad thing to remember who gave you your start in life and care and support and education that for the biggest part (at least usually, and in my case definitely) made you the person you are today.

My mom (and dad) worked hard to give me the opportunities that enable me to live the comfortable life I have now. I think I've come out as a pretty good guy for which I definitely have to give my mom a BIG thank you. (Dad, you have to wait until Father's day ;-)

Thanks for everything, mom :-)

(and thanks to Nicole for making this fantastic picture)