Saturday, November 1, 2008

The Beetle experience

In the morning we went car hunting again. It had been disappointing so far but that turned around today! The first dealer we went to was the Volkswagen dealer. We looked at the Golf and the new Beetle. I could drive the Golf but it was still not too big. And then I entered the Beetle. It was a sensational experience. I can actual stretch my legs almost completely in the passenger seat. In the driver seat I have no real problems either. The sales rep. told us we could take it for a test drive immediately since it wasn't booked for that time. So we took it for a spin and the drive was just really, REALLY good. It's a diesel and it took us up in to the hills in fifth gear (the Hyundai can't use 5th gear when going up in the hill, it would die) and still had enough power left to take over slower cars. It also stuck to the road like glue which made handling very enjoyable.

The inside only has the most common features, which results in a uncluttered design (see above photo). I do like it a lot. I can only say that this car was very enjoyable. And if a Mercedes A180 CDi would not exist I would have already made the choice.

Hence we also went to the Mercedes dealer. We forgot to take pictures there unfortunately. I did sit in the A180 and the driver's position felt even better than in the Beetle as I can totally stretch my legs in it. I was almost perplexed. Also the seat is higher up so getting in, even with its smaller four-door was super easy. Actually it's the only car I know so far that allows me to sit down first and then swing in my legs. In all other cars (including the Beetle) I have to actually step inside with one leg first, sit down and then pull in the other leg.

Today I will make a comparison chart and look up car insurance prices for the Beetle and the A180. One difference is that the Mercedes is $10,000 more expensive. But you can see where that goes.

When we drove home we passed parliament house where protesters were protesting against plans of the Australian Federal Government to install mandatory internet filters to be able to filter 'bad' content. It makes me feel I immigrated to China. I will write letters to members of parliament today and send them out soon. They have currently budgeted $44,000,000 for this and it's a total waste of money to spend it on something that people do not want and need.

When we came home I took Mason for a walk. For one third of the walk I also took Mason's shit for a walk until the first bin.

Some amazing plants are flowering at the moment. Stuff you don't see in Europe really.

Bottle brush flowers.

In the evening we went over to Deb and Richard for a BBQ. Here we see (left to right) Debbie, Greg, Debbie's mom, Gianna and Nicole.

The BBQ master: Richard.

Nicole and Gianna.

We played 8-ball and later on a 'small' version of snooker. Here we see Greg doing complicated things at which he is quite good ;-)

Richard also knows how to handle a que quite well. We had a most enjoyable time and had a lot of laughs.

No Clean Feed - Stop Internet Censorship in Australia


The Australian government is about to spent $44,000,000 on research on and and implementation of two internet filters. One filter is to protect children from 'bad' content and the other one is to protect all of the Australian population from 'bad' content.

Parents can opt-out of the kiddie filter but the other filter will be mandatory allowing the government of the day (which can become left-wing, right-wing, too religious, too liberal, too dumb or too anything else) to put any site they classify as 'bad' on a black list that will be kept secret.

The (automatic) filter will do the following:
  • Slow down internet traffic by 30-80%
  • Put misjudged sites on the black list and no one knows how to get them off again
  • Decide for YOU and your children what you can or can not see
In a time where the Australian government seems committed to improve Australia's poor internet capabilities of today, these measures do not fit as they will throw us back in to the internet dark ages. 

The $44,00,000 dollars could better be spend on education about the internet to parents and improvements to the network.


Visit http://www.nocleanfeed.com/ for more information!

Friday, October 31, 2008

Family photo

Walking through town during lunch.

These birds are standing in the little walk way where I had lunch yesterday.

After work we went to the central market.

We were not alone...

Nic buying 5 mln dollar oil of some kind. Probably too fancy for my barbaric taste buds.

I wanted to take a photo of this street sign ever since I saw it about a year ago and today I finally remembered. It's my mom's name.

In our garden the birds were sitting in the nectarine tree.

Pretty soon the whole family was together. Mom and dad on the outsides and the babies on the inside. Well, they're not really babies anymore.

Thursday, October 30, 2008

One year Vincent Mobile Blog

Today my blog is exactly ONE year old! That means there are 365 days of my life in pictures. That's a lot. I hope everybody is still enjoying reading up on my daily life. Sometimes I feel like it's becoming the same old now that I'm working etc. but I still enjoy making the photo's and putting them up here. I hope it's not getting too boring.

This link will show you the very first week of my blog, which was one of my last weeks in The Netherlands. All the way at the bottom is my very first post.

And now for today's REAL stars:

Early morning the bigger one of the two baby doves flew out of the nest, straight in to our Apricot tree. (You can click the photo for the big-ass version)

Mama dove (who just had her bath) was watching all of this with great interest.

The smaller baby dove wasn't sure yet. But while we were driving from work late afternoon, we were informed that early evening, this little one also flew out. Straight in to our walnut tree.

When we came home, the nest was empty. I hope we can see them tomorrow morning.

I discovered a new place for a nice, cool and quiet lunch. It's in a little passage next to a church. This was my view straight ahead.

View to the left.

I discovered I was sitting in front of this little round window and I had to think of Kees' Mandala-head photo (which I still think is absolutely magnificent!).

The view to the right.

After work I walked to PJ's where I had a pint until Nicole picked me up to go to the cinema. We saw "Burn after reading". Very entertaining and the actors get used in different roles than you normally see them. Nice story line too. Well done Coen brothers.

Kees: This is a more modern Ute. The one on yesterdays blog is a bit more useful I would think.

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

The webcam

These little guys are not really little anymore. They're getting ready to fly out.

This is their mother or father. I think it's their mother.

I took this picture for Kees. A proper Australian "Ute".

During lunch I stood on Victoria square and Nicole could see me through one of the Adelaide City council's webcams. I'm the little guy all the way at the front.

After work I took the O-bahn again, down to Modbury.

Our team won the third game out of four tonight. I didn't play too well my self though.

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Checking out the Civic

After work I walked to the Honda dealer in town. I passed this theatre.

I wanted to sit in a Honda Civic. The hybrid was out on a test drive so I tested a 'normal' Civic. It looked a LOT better on the inside than the Prius but there was only a little bit more room for my legs. Our current Hyundai is still lots roomier. So we don't know now. I think I'll do more research but I think we're out of hybrid options...

Monday, October 27, 2008

I just got bitten by a mosquito damnit.

Christmas decorations are starting to show up every where. Even next to my work. I can't believe I'm already labelling Christmas stuff. Time has gone very fast.

Monday night = PJ's night. It was spent outside. No garlic bread anymore but instead more healthy bruschetta. Can't believe I ate nearly a whole tomato and I liked it!

Sunday, October 26, 2008

It's all beautiful!

Beautiful tea at Chocolate @ No. 5 in Hahndorf.

An even more beautiful chocolate cake at the afore mentioned place.

The lutheran church in Hahndorf. It's an old German settlement so I guess Lutheran makes sense.

Beautiful little birds. Getting more beautiful every day.

Beautiful flowers.





One of the most beautiful dogs I have ever seen; Mason.

Making my pants beautiful again.