When I walked outside my front door this morning I was greeted with about 2 feet of leaves. We live on a corner where they seem to socialize, have a few drinks, and then reproduce more leaves in rapid succession! So, as not to look like Sanford and Son (anyone remember that awful show? Anyone?) I grabbed a broom and started "city raking" them up.
Of course once I got started I just couldn't stop! So I scooped up the leaves from my neighbor's front door and sidewalk. Then I ventured around the corner and scooped up my other neighbor's avalanche of leaves. She opened the front door while I was doing this... We don't know each other well, but we know that we are neighbors versus strangers breaking into our respective homes. This level of recognition is pretty deep in my Dutch neighborhood! Not everyone is on this friendly status!
So she opens the door and I say hello. She asks what I am doing. I tell her that once I got started at my place I just couldn't stop. She asks me if I intend for her to pay me for this. I kind of thought she was making a joke (the Dutch have a very dry sense of humor, so one can really never be sure...) so I replied that she probably couldn't afford my fee. She closed the door in my face.
Ooops.
Friday, October 28, 2011
Friday, October 14, 2011
Eavesdropping
It isn't polite... but we all do it! A little sampling of what I picked up throughout my day:
Lunch
Little cafe down the street - me with my nose in a book and a salad that will take the better part of an hour to consume. A table to my left is full of international women, clearly congregating to meet the newborn of a fellow co-worker who is still on maternity leave. The new mom halfway through lunch says something to the tune of "and can you believe that I am actually thinner now than before I had the baby?!?" - to which I could actually feel the seething of her table mates. The mood certainly changed at the table, but the new mother was totally oblivious. She also reached over and took the salt and pepper off of my table shortly thereafter. I joined in on the seething.
Park
When the sun is out, we hit the park. It keeps both myself and the dog sane. Today, both of us were feeling especially social - so there was lots of stopping and sniffing of other dogs (of course I only watched this spectacle!) One dog was pure white with a smattering of pale brown polka dots on the ears - very cute - almost like freckles. This cuteness was not lost on anyone... as a small group of dog owners gathered around to marvel at the cuteness of this particular dog. Of course, the spots were mentioned and even complemented, to which the owner said "yes, but I have often thought that if I had a child with spots on their ears no one would think it was cute." The woman makes a compelling point.
The list goes on, but the material they gave me was too dull to report on.
Lunch
Little cafe down the street - me with my nose in a book and a salad that will take the better part of an hour to consume. A table to my left is full of international women, clearly congregating to meet the newborn of a fellow co-worker who is still on maternity leave. The new mom halfway through lunch says something to the tune of "and can you believe that I am actually thinner now than before I had the baby?!?" - to which I could actually feel the seething of her table mates. The mood certainly changed at the table, but the new mother was totally oblivious. She also reached over and took the salt and pepper off of my table shortly thereafter. I joined in on the seething.
Park
When the sun is out, we hit the park. It keeps both myself and the dog sane. Today, both of us were feeling especially social - so there was lots of stopping and sniffing of other dogs (of course I only watched this spectacle!) One dog was pure white with a smattering of pale brown polka dots on the ears - very cute - almost like freckles. This cuteness was not lost on anyone... as a small group of dog owners gathered around to marvel at the cuteness of this particular dog. Of course, the spots were mentioned and even complemented, to which the owner said "yes, but I have often thought that if I had a child with spots on their ears no one would think it was cute." The woman makes a compelling point.
The list goes on, but the material they gave me was too dull to report on.
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
The October Syndrome
This seems to happen to me every October in Amsterdam... the rain starts and the annoyances pile up. I have really been trying to focus on the good (last post was in July, so guess how that worked out?) But I am overflowing with complaints - to share with lucky you!
The burglar's best friend (aka: our alarm system)
A funny thing happened 2 weeks ago. The night before we flew out to Mexico our home intercom / door lock / security gizmo went on the fritz and started beeping non-stop. It also got stuck on the "unlock front door" mode. Not good! So Dan disconnected the system and we contacted the property manager for an appointment with an electrician. Fast forward to us getting back and having it repaired yesterday - and last night the beeping and magical door-unlocking started all over again - FUN! I contacted the property manager today and this is what I got: "apparently the electrician ordered the replacement part late and didn't have it with him yesterday, can he come back when he has the part?" Are you kidding me? The electrician put the old system back in and just hoped for the best? Will wedge a chair under the front door knob before we go to bed tonight.
Zeros - not as universal as you would think (aka: wtf?)
Since the rainy months are upon us, I am sporting my house shoes pretty much 24/7 these days, which I think warrants an upgrade. So I picked out some oh so ugly and oh so comfy Ugg slippers today to put a spring back in my step. Not so quick! Uggs are display items only it seems (at least at my local shoe store - that stocks Sergio Rossi mind you - so they know how to move an expensive shoe) - no, Uggs are to be ordered once your selection has been made. Alright, I kind of get it, and really - what can I do? So I filled out the order form and when the sales associate read back my phone number she stopped dead on the zero. It went something like this: "what is this?" "oh, it is a zero..." "really?" "yep." and then she traced another circle over my circle... and then drew an arrow to it and put down another circle.
Why do they make it so hard for me to thrive here? I want to like it. I try to like it. I just don't like it.
The burglar's best friend (aka: our alarm system)
A funny thing happened 2 weeks ago. The night before we flew out to Mexico our home intercom / door lock / security gizmo went on the fritz and started beeping non-stop. It also got stuck on the "unlock front door" mode. Not good! So Dan disconnected the system and we contacted the property manager for an appointment with an electrician. Fast forward to us getting back and having it repaired yesterday - and last night the beeping and magical door-unlocking started all over again - FUN! I contacted the property manager today and this is what I got: "apparently the electrician ordered the replacement part late and didn't have it with him yesterday, can he come back when he has the part?" Are you kidding me? The electrician put the old system back in and just hoped for the best? Will wedge a chair under the front door knob before we go to bed tonight.
Zeros - not as universal as you would think (aka: wtf?)
Since the rainy months are upon us, I am sporting my house shoes pretty much 24/7 these days, which I think warrants an upgrade. So I picked out some oh so ugly and oh so comfy Ugg slippers today to put a spring back in my step. Not so quick! Uggs are display items only it seems (at least at my local shoe store - that stocks Sergio Rossi mind you - so they know how to move an expensive shoe) - no, Uggs are to be ordered once your selection has been made. Alright, I kind of get it, and really - what can I do? So I filled out the order form and when the sales associate read back my phone number she stopped dead on the zero. It went something like this: "what is this?" "oh, it is a zero..." "really?" "yep." and then she traced another circle over my circle... and then drew an arrow to it and put down another circle.
Why do they make it so hard for me to thrive here? I want to like it. I try to like it. I just don't like it.
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