Guess who's back, back again? etc.
I am now "home" in Australia for approx. three months in order to avoid about half of the Belgian winter. It's actually not that much warmer here at the moment, apart from a 30+ degree day earlier this week, but it is fairly dry.
The flight was somewhat different to last year. I did manage to get my allotted 3 hours sleep before setting off in the early hours of Wednesday morning to Gent Sint Pieters, bound for the airport. It's actually quite easy, as the train goes direct from Gent to the airport and it's only about 5 mins walk from my place. In 2002, I remember lugging all my gear to Gent Dampoort, which was 1-2 km from my other place, and the bike bag didn't work so I had to carry it. My shoulders were buggered for a week after that.
Even check-in was painless. I got there at 6:15am for my 7:45am flight, and had checked everything in by 6:25am. Oh well, that's one thing in favour of early morning flights. I could then take advantage of the duty free chocolate shop to stock up and spent a large sum of euros on the finest quality Belgian chocolate. Actually, it was probably only middle of the range stuff but don't let anyone know that because they might be getting some for Christmas.
Compared to the trip over in January, the journey home was painless. Everything was on time, the stopovers in Vienna and Kuala Lumpur were mercifully short and I slept a lot on the plane because there weren't too many good movies. The last one I saw was the best - it had Gerard Depardieu and Jean Reno in it, playing escaped criminals. Gerard was a bit of a moron though, and almost drove Reno mad. There were many antics.
I was still pretty knackered when I got home on Thursday arvo/evening, and couldn't even stay awake to do the Tour presentation. Same story on Friday - it was really hard to stay awake in the afternoon, but I managed to keep going until 10pm so I'm sleeping at the right time, but just feeling out of it for most of the day.
I put the Ridley together and went for a short spin on Friday and decided to race at Heffron today. I wasn't expecting a lot, even though I was fresh. My legs felt like jelly - no power in them at all.
There were 15-20 starters and a few new faces so I could hide a bit in the first half. But after we chased down the fourth attack of Luis Trueba, I decided to have a go and hared off the front alone for a lap or two, heart rate going through the roof. I was joined by three others (Luis, Jerzy and Josh Marden) and thought we had a good thing going, but alas it wasn't to be and the bunch caught up.
It got really hard with about 5 to go but we only managed to get the bunch down to 10 or so. Luis attacked again and when we caught him I had another go with 2.5 to go. I was hoping I could get someone to go with me but no, they just let me dangle out there for a bit. With one lap to go the HR was 2 beats below max and it stayed there. Eventually after Hector Morales (Uru) finally did a turn, Luis pulled Matt Lucas and Jerzy up to me. I got on their wheels but Luis sat up with 500m to go and we were caught. Jerzy attacked at the top of the straight and won, while Hector got second and Josh was third.
The speed wasn't that high but I still averaged 179 bpm so I think I have a bit of catching up to do. Probably by next weekend I'll be a bit more back to normal, and in 2-3 weeks I should be going well. That's the plan.
Jeez what a boring race report that was. Still tired - sorry!
We have a new garage too, and that's a miracle. Plus the balcony is being replaced and everything is being painted. She's lookin' good Vern.
The other bit of news is that this blog has had 1000 page views since its creation in May, 2004. That's actually not very many at all. I think we would do that on Cyclingnews in 30 seconds during the Tour...
Saturday, October 30, 2004
Tuesday, October 26, 2004
eindelijk
OK, this better be quick as I have to get up in four hours to catch this silly plane. I hope I don't get an embolism.
Last week was busy. It was good to see Luce again though. We partook in much beer and stuff and went to a good vego restauraaaaa in town with Hedwig. We tried about 10 other places and all of them were booked out. Jeez. But this one was good.
I have acquired the Ridley Damocles, although not in Davitamon-Lotto colours, but still bloody nice - full Campag Record + Cosmic SSC wheels. All carbon, all the time. Testing this should be fun!
Today was an awesome day too - cool but dry, sunny and no wind. Very nice.
Cue Henryk John Gorecki...
Last week was busy. It was good to see Luce again though. We partook in much beer and stuff and went to a good vego restauraaaaa in town with Hedwig. We tried about 10 other places and all of them were booked out. Jeez. But this one was good.
I have acquired the Ridley Damocles, although not in Davitamon-Lotto colours, but still bloody nice - full Campag Record + Cosmic SSC wheels. All carbon, all the time. Testing this should be fun!
Today was an awesome day too - cool but dry, sunny and no wind. Very nice.
Cue Henryk John Gorecki...
Tuesday, October 19, 2004
Seven days, approx.
Not that I'm counting. Cue Brian Vaughan Williams...
<Begin obligatory weather mention>
It was stinking hot today too (14 degrees and sunny). I'm going to miss all this good weather when I get back to Sunny Oz next Thursday afternoon at 15:00.
</End obligatory weather mention>
I'm gearing up for the last week of my sixth extended stay here. Wow, that means the majority of my life for the last seven years has been spent in België. I must like it here, even though I Still Call Australia Home (cue Qantas ad). I am looking forward to getting back Down Under and living a life of sloth for two and a bit months, before work takes off again in mid-Januaraa.
This last week is going to be Intense, as my sister should be arriving tomorrow from London where she has been messing up the digital TV in Martin's place, not to be confused with the Sydney GPO. She will be staying for the week so it will be non-stop party action at Jeff's place. Also, Hedwig (no relation to Harry, Ron, Scabbers or any of the other Mötley Crüe. How do you pronounce 'Mötley Crüe' anyway?) is coming up for a coupla days in order to take the next step to becoming a Cyclingnews Jedi KnightTM. Strong in the Force, she is.
Google is going to have a field day with all of this. People will be so disappointed when they search for "Harry Potter Digital TV Jedi Knight" and end up with Jeff's Bilgespot as the number one hit. Tough titties.
Today has been spent cleaning and making millions from the Internet, in that order. Millions is a somewhat nebulous term, and doesn't necessarily refer to money. Think of it as virtual millions, which can be converted into real millions by applying a simple conversion factor, namely 10 to the power of the temperature that Hell freezes over, expressed in Kelvin. NB: This temperature is somewhat lower than the temperature at which the Schelde freezes over. That should give you a Clue.
Having converted your millions into real figures, you can then go about investing them into goods. I recommend blue chip concerns such as Belgian beer, and lots of it. As an aside, I took all of my empties back to the supermarché today and funneled them all through the nifty little machine that you put beer bottles in. I had quite a few and they were weighing me down, but afterwards I felt light of heart and soul as I was given a bon for €2.00 (10 cents a bottle). I worked out with my third year University maths that I must have drunk 357 bottles in the last week or two. No wonder they were weighing me down.
The really cool thing is, you can use the bon to buy even more beer at the supermarché, to the value of the bon! It's a perpetual beer economy system and I reckon it's brilliant. If you're desperate you can also spend the bon on food-related activity programs, including muesli bars and ice cream, which form the bulk of my diet at the moment. Besides beer.
Today I could manage four hours which was great, so I paid a visit to the Paterberg and the Koppenberg for old times' sake. The Paterberg is not too bad, because there's a gutter on the left that you can ride up without venturing onto the cobbles. The Koppenberg is a mongrel. It was repaved a few years ago and was relatively easy to climb, but now all the cobbles have separated again and it's almost as bad as it used to be. There's a bit of grass growing between the cobbles too, which would be a misery in the wet.
Today was dry and even using my 39x25, it was still a bloody grovel. I normally do it in a 42x23, and I really couldn't detect much difference between the two gears. Also, I've decided that in its current setup, the Flandria is not really suitable for cobbles. The wheels are Mavic Ksyriums which are great all-round wheels but they are too bloody stiff on cobbles. I'd use the Topolinos or just normal spoked wheels any day. Despite this, the bike is really good for climbs and I've been consistently faster on it than on my GT up all the hills around here.
But I'll have a new toy to play with when I get home - a Davitamon-Lotto Ridley Damocles. Probably one of the first in the new colours. Phwoar! I'm picking it up next Monday so I'll take it home and test it in Oz. It's a full carbon jobbie and it'll be the first carbon fibre frame I've ever ridden on. Tres nice! Now, what to do with the Flandria...
This really opened my eyes. Luckily I didn't pursue a career as a classical pianist, otherwise I would have become embroiled in this dark, drug-crazed world. It gives "performance enhancing" a whole new context. Imagine if you knew Brendel's rendition of Beethoven's Opus 106 was drug-assisted. You'd feel cheated and swindled, wouldn't you? Admit it, deep down, you know it's wrong. What a farce, I tell you! It's got to stop. Just Say No.
And while we're at it, we may as well ban all drugs. Let the sick fend for themselves. Survival of the fittest and all that. If they can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen and other well-worn clichés. Note: well-worn cliché is a cliché too.
I have sent an email to Mr. Brendel asking him if he ever used performance-enhancing drugs. If he doesn't respond (or is dead) then I'll brand him a drug cheat and burn all my CD's. I'll have to burn this laptop too, which will mean I won't be able to produce any more bilge until I get another one. Quelle tragedy.
What's more, no beer has been consumed during the course of the evening. Amazing, but true. I'm saving it all for Lucy's Visit.
<Begin obligatory weather mention>
It was stinking hot today too (14 degrees and sunny). I'm going to miss all this good weather when I get back to Sunny Oz next Thursday afternoon at 15:00.
</End obligatory weather mention>
I'm gearing up for the last week of my sixth extended stay here. Wow, that means the majority of my life for the last seven years has been spent in België. I must like it here, even though I Still Call Australia Home (cue Qantas ad). I am looking forward to getting back Down Under and living a life of sloth for two and a bit months, before work takes off again in mid-Januaraa.
This last week is going to be Intense, as my sister should be arriving tomorrow from London where she has been messing up the digital TV in Martin's place, not to be confused with the Sydney GPO. She will be staying for the week so it will be non-stop party action at Jeff's place. Also, Hedwig (no relation to Harry, Ron, Scabbers or any of the other Mötley Crüe. How do you pronounce 'Mötley Crüe' anyway?) is coming up for a coupla days in order to take the next step to becoming a Cyclingnews Jedi KnightTM. Strong in the Force, she is.
Google is going to have a field day with all of this. People will be so disappointed when they search for "Harry Potter Digital TV Jedi Knight" and end up with Jeff's Bilgespot as the number one hit. Tough titties.
Today has been spent cleaning and making millions from the Internet, in that order. Millions is a somewhat nebulous term, and doesn't necessarily refer to money. Think of it as virtual millions, which can be converted into real millions by applying a simple conversion factor, namely 10 to the power of the temperature that Hell freezes over, expressed in Kelvin. NB: This temperature is somewhat lower than the temperature at which the Schelde freezes over. That should give you a Clue.
Having converted your millions into real figures, you can then go about investing them into goods. I recommend blue chip concerns such as Belgian beer, and lots of it. As an aside, I took all of my empties back to the supermarché today and funneled them all through the nifty little machine that you put beer bottles in. I had quite a few and they were weighing me down, but afterwards I felt light of heart and soul as I was given a bon for €2.00 (10 cents a bottle). I worked out with my third year University maths that I must have drunk 357 bottles in the last week or two. No wonder they were weighing me down.
The really cool thing is, you can use the bon to buy even more beer at the supermarché, to the value of the bon! It's a perpetual beer economy system and I reckon it's brilliant. If you're desperate you can also spend the bon on food-related activity programs, including muesli bars and ice cream, which form the bulk of my diet at the moment. Besides beer.
ObRideReport
Yesterday was Deinze sub-TT day, and I broke my record 'cos there wasn't much wind. Basically I go hard for two hours without going much above 160bpm. It's a good aerobic workout but because you're still a fair way off your threshold, you recover quite quickly. I was a bit sore today, but not drained. Door to door I did 70 km in 1hr49, with the middle 66 km in 1:41:30 - about four minutes quicker than last week, when it was admittedly a lot windier. Also, not having ridden very hard on Sunday helped.Today I could manage four hours which was great, so I paid a visit to the Paterberg and the Koppenberg for old times' sake. The Paterberg is not too bad, because there's a gutter on the left that you can ride up without venturing onto the cobbles. The Koppenberg is a mongrel. It was repaved a few years ago and was relatively easy to climb, but now all the cobbles have separated again and it's almost as bad as it used to be. There's a bit of grass growing between the cobbles too, which would be a misery in the wet.
Today was dry and even using my 39x25, it was still a bloody grovel. I normally do it in a 42x23, and I really couldn't detect much difference between the two gears. Also, I've decided that in its current setup, the Flandria is not really suitable for cobbles. The wheels are Mavic Ksyriums which are great all-round wheels but they are too bloody stiff on cobbles. I'd use the Topolinos or just normal spoked wheels any day. Despite this, the bike is really good for climbs and I've been consistently faster on it than on my GT up all the hills around here.
But I'll have a new toy to play with when I get home - a Davitamon-Lotto Ridley Damocles. Probably one of the first in the new colours. Phwoar! I'm picking it up next Monday so I'll take it home and test it in Oz. It's a full carbon jobbie and it'll be the first carbon fibre frame I've ever ridden on. Tres nice! Now, what to do with the Flandria...
Doping is everywhere
Forget cycling, let's clamp down on those drug cheats in the music industry! And I'm not talking about regular pop music either. Oh no, look what the classical musicians have been getting away with for years in this New York Times article. (Sorry, you may have to register with the NYT to read this, but it's free)This really opened my eyes. Luckily I didn't pursue a career as a classical pianist, otherwise I would have become embroiled in this dark, drug-crazed world. It gives "performance enhancing" a whole new context. Imagine if you knew Brendel's rendition of Beethoven's Opus 106 was drug-assisted. You'd feel cheated and swindled, wouldn't you? Admit it, deep down, you know it's wrong. What a farce, I tell you! It's got to stop. Just Say No.
And while we're at it, we may as well ban all drugs. Let the sick fend for themselves. Survival of the fittest and all that. If they can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen and other well-worn clichés. Note: well-worn cliché is a cliché too.
I have sent an email to Mr. Brendel asking him if he ever used performance-enhancing drugs. If he doesn't respond (or is dead) then I'll brand him a drug cheat and burn all my CD's. I'll have to burn this laptop too, which will mean I won't be able to produce any more bilge until I get another one. Quelle tragedy.
What's more, no beer has been consumed during the course of the evening. Amazing, but true. I'm saving it all for Lucy's Visit.
Saturday, October 16, 2004
Forgot
This was meant to be part of the last bilge but somehow it got censored by my delete key. Fancy that. My mind is like a sieve so what follows will not be a verbatim replication.
I noted that there was a local government election back in sunny Oz last weekend, which, unfortunately I couldn't attend. Get me out of here - I want to vote! I couldn't find the necessary authoritaa to sign my postal vote so I didn't. Sorry.
After reading some reports on the SMH, it appears that the existing government (Shooting Party) got back in with an increased majority. Oh well. The alternative (Silly Party) was not up to it, once again. Oh well. I would have voted for the Raving Loony Party anyway. They didn't get much of a look in either.
Please explain?
So today I set off after Patrick "De Witte" and a couple of others at exactly the same point as last week - at the very top of the hill, halfway between Gavere and Zwalm. The bunch did give chase and it was less than 10 seconds behind me when I finally caught Patrick. I sat up for a bit but Patrick had a better idea and did another turn, so I followed suit and we opened up a gap. That was the last the bunch saw of us until we turned around for the second lap at Zwijnaarde.
Patrick wisely stopped working at the foot of the Molenberg, leaving me to do a 40km TT with him tucked in safely, shouting words of encouragement occasionally :-) We picked up a few more along the Schelde - Jules, Karl and eventually Lucien. That was a long turn! But it was good training, as I could keep it about 5-10 beats below threshold on the way back. All up it was 55 km (first bridge -> Zwijnaarde) in 1:28:00, which is nowhere near the best time (about 1:22:00) but it will satisfy me. We weren't going hard at the beginning.
Tomorrow should be easier, if indeed there's a bunch. Last Sunday I had to do the whole ride solo, so I went a different way. I have yet to do the Paterberg and Koppenberg on the Flandria, but I will. It's really fast on all the other hills that I've taken it over. Oohlala.
Then Lombardy. Nice race! The Kid (Cunego) won, and is looking like the next big star. Basso was a little frustrated, and probably did too much work. He didn't have quite enough for a killer solo attack on the last climb. Boogerd rode well, given that he was sick for most of the week. Evans and Nardello...well what can you say? Two T-Mobiles in the break of five and they finish fourth and fifth. Admittedly, there weren't many kilometres to play with.
Bettini took the World Cup after psyching out Rebellin in the finale. Rebellin couldn't shake Bettini off his wheel so he cracked. Nice going Il Grillo!
I noted that there was a local government election back in sunny Oz last weekend, which, unfortunately I couldn't attend. Get me out of here - I want to vote! I couldn't find the necessary authoritaa to sign my postal vote so I didn't. Sorry.
After reading some reports on the SMH, it appears that the existing government (Shooting Party) got back in with an increased majority. Oh well. The alternative (Silly Party) was not up to it, once again. Oh well. I would have voted for the Raving Loony Party anyway. They didn't get much of a look in either.
Please explain?
Training
The worthy burgers of the Schelde aren't too interested in going hard any more, as it's October and the cyclo-tourist season has finished. I don't blame them either! I had my "off season" in September but am now trying to bash myself into shape for the crits in Oz.So today I set off after Patrick "De Witte" and a couple of others at exactly the same point as last week - at the very top of the hill, halfway between Gavere and Zwalm. The bunch did give chase and it was less than 10 seconds behind me when I finally caught Patrick. I sat up for a bit but Patrick had a better idea and did another turn, so I followed suit and we opened up a gap. That was the last the bunch saw of us until we turned around for the second lap at Zwijnaarde.
Patrick wisely stopped working at the foot of the Molenberg, leaving me to do a 40km TT with him tucked in safely, shouting words of encouragement occasionally :-) We picked up a few more along the Schelde - Jules, Karl and eventually Lucien. That was a long turn! But it was good training, as I could keep it about 5-10 beats below threshold on the way back. All up it was 55 km (first bridge -> Zwijnaarde) in 1:28:00, which is nowhere near the best time (about 1:22:00) but it will satisfy me. We weren't going hard at the beginning.
Tomorrow should be easier, if indeed there's a bunch. Last Sunday I had to do the whole ride solo, so I went a different way. I have yet to do the Paterberg and Koppenberg on the Flandria, but I will. It's really fast on all the other hills that I've taken it over. Oohlala.
Then Lombardy. Nice race! The Kid (Cunego) won, and is looking like the next big star. Basso was a little frustrated, and probably did too much work. He didn't have quite enough for a killer solo attack on the last climb. Boogerd rode well, given that he was sick for most of the week. Evans and Nardello...well what can you say? Two T-Mobiles in the break of five and they finish fourth and fifth. Admittedly, there weren't many kilometres to play with.
Bettini took the World Cup after psyching out Rebellin in the finale. Rebellin couldn't shake Bettini off his wheel so he cracked. Nice going Il Grillo!
Tuesday, October 12, 2004
2 weeks
Not that I'm counting. Cue John Rachmaninov...
The autumn weather has been good though: Beautiful sunny days, getting up to 20 degrees sometimes. I hope it continues for a bit longer! My sister Luce is coming for a Visit next week, having just flown across the pond to Londres on a plane. She should be able to experience the wonderful Belgian weather.
I don't think much of this Augustijn Grand Cru. It's probably off. What a waste of a 9% beer. I'll drink it anyway just in case it isn't off.
Back to beautiful sunny days and sleep. I should mention the Flandria again, because I'm really enjoying this bike. Been riding it lots, as per Eddy Merckx's training recommendation. The bunch is getting smaller though, probably because all the (alleged) dopers are being caught. Actually, Verhagen only joined the bunch after he was caught, and I haven't seen much of him lately anyway. Mr. Yates, J. has gone home, but hasn't explained his high testosterone levels to the Belgian feds yet. And now, Mario De Clercq has (allegedly) been found with growth hormones in his house and markings in his diary relating hematocrit levels to the taking of unspecified products! But they were supposedly fictitious and merely part of his research for writing a novel one day.
You see the lengths people will go to do win the sprint? I think they are all afraid - very afraid - of Guido, and well they should be! He was in very good condition over the last two months and that probably cracked De Clercq, who couldn't even bring him back last Sunday week.
I have thus decided to write a novel, maybe about my fantasies of winning the Schelde sprint against these guys. I have been writing notes in my diary, relating the amount of muesli bars, chocolate and beer consumed on the previous day to my sprinting speed. There is a clear, but totally fictitious correlation. e.g. three beers at 9%, 5.2% and 4.8% = a slight hangover, dehydration and 57 km/h.
Note 1: Augustijn Grand Cru (9%) needs to be washed down with Palm Speciale (5.2%) just in case it's off. I don't think it was, but I had to make sure. I now have Doubts about the Palm Speciale. If these Doubts continue, I will need to restock the Beer fridge. There have been shocking depredations in that department of late. I must check the fridge again - I could have sworn there was more beer in there five minutes ago...
Back to ogling train timetables from Gent to Zaventem luchthaven...
The autumn weather has been good though: Beautiful sunny days, getting up to 20 degrees sometimes. I hope it continues for a bit longer! My sister Luce is coming for a Visit next week, having just flown across the pond to Londres on a plane. She should be able to experience the wonderful Belgian weather.
I don't think much of this Augustijn Grand Cru. It's probably off. What a waste of a 9% beer. I'll drink it anyway just in case it isn't off.
Back to beautiful sunny days and sleep. I should mention the Flandria again, because I'm really enjoying this bike. Been riding it lots, as per Eddy Merckx's training recommendation. The bunch is getting smaller though, probably because all the (alleged) dopers are being caught. Actually, Verhagen only joined the bunch after he was caught, and I haven't seen much of him lately anyway. Mr. Yates, J. has gone home, but hasn't explained his high testosterone levels to the Belgian feds yet. And now, Mario De Clercq has (allegedly) been found with growth hormones in his house and markings in his diary relating hematocrit levels to the taking of unspecified products! But they were supposedly fictitious and merely part of his research for writing a novel one day.
You see the lengths people will go to do win the sprint? I think they are all afraid - very afraid - of Guido, and well they should be! He was in very good condition over the last two months and that probably cracked De Clercq, who couldn't even bring him back last Sunday week.
I have thus decided to write a novel, maybe about my fantasies of winning the Schelde sprint against these guys. I have been writing notes in my diary, relating the amount of muesli bars, chocolate and beer consumed on the previous day to my sprinting speed. There is a clear, but totally fictitious correlation. e.g. three beers at 9%, 5.2% and 4.8% = a slight hangover, dehydration and 57 km/h.
Note 1: Augustijn Grand Cru (9%) needs to be washed down with Palm Speciale (5.2%) just in case it's off. I don't think it was, but I had to make sure. I now have Doubts about the Palm Speciale. If these Doubts continue, I will need to restock the Beer fridge. There have been shocking depredations in that department of late. I must check the fridge again - I could have sworn there was more beer in there five minutes ago...
Other stuff
Had lunch with the Elder Sunderlands today in a somewhat trendy little spot in Gent centrum. Took about an hour to get food due to having only one chef but that was ok because it left time for idle chatter. The decor was noteworthy - the bottom half of the restauraaaaa was all modern, but the top bit was original XXXth century with painted wooden beams and bare bricks and stuff. Interesting combo - on the one hand it looked as if the workmen had left it half done and gone off for a (slow) lunch break, but on the other it actually worked. So I now know of a place to have lunch in Gent where it takes an hour to get food.Back to ogling train timetables from Gent to Zaventem luchthaven...
Wednesday, October 06, 2004
Today is Woensdag
Cue Carl Beethoven...
After many months of bureaucratic sluggishness (is there any other kind?) I became an officially legal member of Belgium today. That is to say, I got my ID card. The process started back in April when I applied for the thing, had to wait a month while the police came to check that I actually lived here. I do in body, at least. Then I needed to go back and sign a whole lotta papers before they at Dienst Vreemdelingen Bevolking gave me a temporary ID card.
Note: each time you visit the Dienst you need to take a number and wait for two hours because there are only four service windows, with generally one of them actually serving. I tried to go to the Belgian bevolking dienst on the other side of the building, which had 10 windows and zero waiting time, but I was ordered to go and wait with the Turks. I marvel at the efficiency of this place.
Anyway, I still needed to prove that I had a job, so that took more months because the Tour and stuff got in the way. I finally returned triumphant in September, employer's attestation in hand, and gave it to the worthy folks at the above Dienst. They were very generous in handling my query because I missed my number being called by about three microseconds and was frowned upon. It wasn't enough to get the final ID card though - I had to come back in a month, by which time it had all been approved.
So today I went back, waited for two and a half hours (it was actually half an hour after closing time by the time I got served) and paid €7 to get my final ID card. Woo hoo! I was so proud. Another week and I would have had to re-apply. What a riveting tale.
At the moment I am still tired but also bored. That's a bad combination, but doing nothing for two and a half hours this arvo was probably a good idea. I was going to write something else, but upon re-reading the above I realise that it will be even more tedious so I will refrain. On second thoughts...
Google and other search engines are now finding this bilge because there are now more than 35,000 words on it. Hell, that's not too far short of my Ph.D thesis, and it's somehow emerged in about five months of very part time beer-fueled contributions. I conclude, therefore, that my Ph.D thesis should have been a blog.
In a few weeks, you'll be able to type in "beer" and "Ph.D" into Yahoo!, Google or MSN, and this bilgespot will probably be third on the list. That's scary.
After many months of bureaucratic sluggishness (is there any other kind?) I became an officially legal member of Belgium today. That is to say, I got my ID card. The process started back in April when I applied for the thing, had to wait a month while the police came to check that I actually lived here. I do in body, at least. Then I needed to go back and sign a whole lotta papers before they at Dienst Vreemdelingen Bevolking gave me a temporary ID card.
Note: each time you visit the Dienst you need to take a number and wait for two hours because there are only four service windows, with generally one of them actually serving. I tried to go to the Belgian bevolking dienst on the other side of the building, which had 10 windows and zero waiting time, but I was ordered to go and wait with the Turks. I marvel at the efficiency of this place.
Anyway, I still needed to prove that I had a job, so that took more months because the Tour and stuff got in the way. I finally returned triumphant in September, employer's attestation in hand, and gave it to the worthy folks at the above Dienst. They were very generous in handling my query because I missed my number being called by about three microseconds and was frowned upon. It wasn't enough to get the final ID card though - I had to come back in a month, by which time it had all been approved.
So today I went back, waited for two and a half hours (it was actually half an hour after closing time by the time I got served) and paid €7 to get my final ID card. Woo hoo! I was so proud. Another week and I would have had to re-apply. What a riveting tale.
At the moment I am still tired but also bored. That's a bad combination, but doing nothing for two and a half hours this arvo was probably a good idea. I was going to write something else, but upon re-reading the above I realise that it will be even more tedious so I will refrain. On second thoughts...
Google and other search engines are now finding this bilge because there are now more than 35,000 words on it. Hell, that's not too far short of my Ph.D thesis, and it's somehow emerged in about five months of very part time beer-fueled contributions. I conclude, therefore, that my Ph.D thesis should have been a blog.
In a few weeks, you'll be able to type in "beer" and "Ph.D" into Yahoo!, Google or MSN, and this bilgespot will probably be third on the list. That's scary.
Tuesday, October 05, 2004
Four non-blogs
Jeez that was a crap band. Give me Caspar Carl Beethoven any day.
Enough of the pleasantries, it's time to put finger to keyboard again for the sake of the all powerful Bilgespot.com. It behooves me to state that the World Road Championships and the Madness of General Franco (the Vuelta) are now officially over for another season. That is a good thing, because four weeks of fun in the sun has been too much for my lobotomised brain cell to handle. I won't go into details, but I had to drink all of my beer one night when things got outta hand. It worked surprisingly well.
On the Monday After, I suddenly hit a complete black hole and found myself watching the end of 12 Monkeys instead. Odd movie by Terry Gilliam which really bakes your noodle with a time travel loop.
Today (Tuesday according to the Julian calendar) presented a ripe opportunity to go for a longish ride on my new Flandria CSS-1 bike with Campagnolo Veloce 10 Speed Phwoar and mismatching pedals. After much humming and har-ing I decided not to amputate both feet. Only time will tell whether I made the correct choice. Suffice it to say that this is a bloody nice bike to ride, and I barely had to make any adjustments to it once I hopped on.
I managed to get four hours in today for 140km, and for the first time in ages I felt good for the whole ride. After I left the rather modestly sized bunch at Zingem, I did a few hills and even some of the cobbles at Mater, although I cheated and rode on the bike path, as you do. It was such a cool ride, and I could even ignore the drizzle for the last 25km.
On to more pressing news. It has come to my attention that we are in October, and that means that it's only three weeks and approx. 2 days until I return to the sunny shores of Oz. Woo hoo! A ticker-tape parade will not be necessary, but a welcome home buffet at Charles Kingsford-Smith Airport would certainly go down a treat.
Speaking of airports, I saw The Terminal with Tom Hanks and Catherine Zeta-Jones, a relation of mine. They were in the movie too which was kinda cool. It was almost completely filmed inside an airport terminal set, and wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. One scene really cracked me up, and the effects of that can be seen here. I won't bother giving away the plot or the suspense will be ruined.
October weather has been kind so far. Despite a complete lack of sun, the temps haven't been much below 15-20 degrees. I remember a day in October last year when it was minus goddamn 5 in the morning and I had icicles forming on my nose. Oh well, there's still three weeks so give it time...
I will write more when it happens.
Enough of the pleasantries, it's time to put finger to keyboard again for the sake of the all powerful Bilgespot.com. It behooves me to state that the World Road Championships and the Madness of General Franco (the Vuelta) are now officially over for another season. That is a good thing, because four weeks of fun in the sun has been too much for my lobotomised brain cell to handle. I won't go into details, but I had to drink all of my beer one night when things got outta hand. It worked surprisingly well.
On the Monday After, I suddenly hit a complete black hole and found myself watching the end of 12 Monkeys instead. Odd movie by Terry Gilliam which really bakes your noodle with a time travel loop.
Today (Tuesday according to the Julian calendar) presented a ripe opportunity to go for a longish ride on my new Flandria CSS-1 bike with Campagnolo Veloce 10 Speed Phwoar and mismatching pedals. After much humming and har-ing I decided not to amputate both feet. Only time will tell whether I made the correct choice. Suffice it to say that this is a bloody nice bike to ride, and I barely had to make any adjustments to it once I hopped on.
I managed to get four hours in today for 140km, and for the first time in ages I felt good for the whole ride. After I left the rather modestly sized bunch at Zingem, I did a few hills and even some of the cobbles at Mater, although I cheated and rode on the bike path, as you do. It was such a cool ride, and I could even ignore the drizzle for the last 25km.
On to more pressing news. It has come to my attention that we are in October, and that means that it's only three weeks and approx. 2 days until I return to the sunny shores of Oz. Woo hoo! A ticker-tape parade will not be necessary, but a welcome home buffet at Charles Kingsford-Smith Airport would certainly go down a treat.
Speaking of airports, I saw The Terminal with Tom Hanks and Catherine Zeta-Jones, a relation of mine. They were in the movie too which was kinda cool. It was almost completely filmed inside an airport terminal set, and wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. One scene really cracked me up, and the effects of that can be seen here. I won't bother giving away the plot or the suspense will be ruined.
October weather has been kind so far. Despite a complete lack of sun, the temps haven't been much below 15-20 degrees. I remember a day in October last year when it was minus goddamn 5 in the morning and I had icicles forming on my nose. Oh well, there's still three weeks so give it time...
I will write more when it happens.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
