I feel like rambling, and everyone's gonna listen, dammit!!



ramble #1: library coolness

I visited a library of a larger town than mine today (the Deurne library to be more exact for you Belgians out here), and stumbled upon a magical something: the library actually lends out pc games.... That means FREE games for all!! a wondrous discovery that will undoubtedly change my life in a variety of ways. There was a remarkable thing too (if you're me, that is): the game i had been looking for for ages, fifa 98 (and eventually bought from some brit over ebay), was there, screaming to be lent out! If only i had checked the library more often; but then again, i might have never gotten round to actually subscribing to ebay either, and i'm relatively enjoying it by now (ebay), so who will tell if it was for the best or the worse?


ramble #2: soap poltergeist?

There was a strange soap in my shower today. I don't know how it got there, but i've never seen it before, of that i'm sure. It looked kinda purple and smelled like flowers. So: either i have a soap poltergeist, or my senses have systematically screwed up over the past few years. Or maybe just today; but can you actually smell MORE than there is? As opposed to smell less. I would think not, but it's worth pondering if you've got way too much time on your hands, like some ppl who writing this ramble.


ramble #3: king of the tram-degenerates


A week ago, i noticed something relatively remarkable when i was taking the tram in Antwerp. I had to stand up, cos all places were taken, but i had a pretty good overview of the entire tram as i was standing way at the back. Now, i'm tall, but certainly not very tall (6 foot/1.83m), and i noticed that i was by far one of the tallest ppl in the entire tram. So, i started paying attention to it on other occasions, not only on trams within the city, but also on the busline that goes from antwerp to my hometown. And guess what: i was almost everytime one of the taller ppl, if not the tallest. That made me think of a study i once read, which said that tall men are more likely to succeed in life than their shorter gender-members. Which then, of course, made the link to the fact that ppl that take buses and trams are usually not really succesful (as they would own and drive a car of their own). Who takes trams and buses over here? Schoolkids, retired ppl, illegal immigrants, some students, and apart from that in general losers. So, i think this is worth studying. Meanwhile i'll just bask in my greatness on public transport.


ramble #4: where do all the sandwiches go?

So, i'm strolling thru Antwerp (once again), and i pass by De Laet, a famous butcher shop at the Astridplein, not for their butchering, but rather for their super-duper sandwiches.( i bet they make half their profit on those, they even have a speically designed sandwich-counter that is directly accesible from the street) Anyways, it's almost closing time; and i'm ordering my sandwich. They make entire batches of sandwiches at once and then refill the stack (at its biggest there are about 100 sandwches i estimate) at the counter. But; as they were closing, they were taking the sandwiches away on a platter, inside the kitchen. I was just about gonna ask where she (he buthcher's wife who was stacking the sandwiches on her paltter) would take them, when the cashier gave me my sandwich and i had to reach inside my jacket for spare change. So i never got to ask it; but i'm really wondering where the sandwiches go. They can't re-sell them the next day, or the bread will be hard. But they can't just throw it away either, i would think, that's just plain waste. Some 25 or more sandwiches just in the garbage bin. MAybe they give it to a shelter for the homeless, dunno. I should really time to get here just before closing time again, and now make sure i get to make my "where do them sandwiches go?" smalltalk on. Maybe they REALLY throw them away, then i might make a deal with them. We'll see.


ramble #5: i hurt my head


As i was walking down the stairs of my basement, i tripped over my own feet on the last step. I fell forward with my head onto the concrete wall ahead. Got a bump, but it's better this than fall off the stairs at the top step. (it's a stone stairs with concrete walls around it)



ramble #6: i love train stations


One of my favorite time-killings in Antwerp is to walk inside the central station and sit in the huge train hall, watching ppl come and go. It's one of the finer things in life. Nothing better than watching everyone while holding a good drink (like a small milk bottle *drools*. There's also a bar on the floor where the big hall is, but i usually don't sit there when i'm on my own, too crowdy. The bus stop i'm usually taking is just outside the station too, so that helps. It's one of the few places in antwerp that i love.

front:
http://home.conceptsfa.nl/~martens/Images/7.jpg

huge train hall
http://home.conceptsfa.nl/~martens/Images/2.jpg
(yeah yeah, it's an old pic, but couldn't find better atm)

income hall
http://www.pienternet.be/pano/c-station/foto5.jpg



ramble #7: juice is confusing me

i was in the supermarket a few hours ago, and i got mightily confused. I was looking for a pack of some fruit juice, but the only thing they packed in a pack of 8 cartons was red grapefruit, so i chose that one. But then i saw a carton saying "orange nectar". I though "well, it's prolly just orange juice with a fancy name"; but then i also saw "regular" orange juice, from THE SAME FIRM! So, it was something totally different, something....challenging, defying my will and beliefs. I ended up buying the red grapefruit juice, plus some cartons of the orange nectar, plus a few cartons of red orange juice. The latter just cos it's delicious, the former (the nectar, not the red grapefruit) cos i'm desperate to find out the difference. I didn't dare taste it today, ate way too much french fries and steak; and the fry-and-steak flavored burps could take away some of the subtle differences...oh mysteries of the world.




w00t. I'm going to bed. I really shoukd get a blog or something, so i don't use up Satis' bandwidth with this shit hehehe.

Ha nice post Ox. Very interesting, youve had an eventful week. (or an uneventful night).

The Soap poltergeist: Maybe you saw it after thinking "I need my yearly shower". And couldnt remember the last time you saw it. Smelly tramp!

I would really like to know where those sandwicthes go aswell. maybe they go up on ebay, after all you did they they are famous. Or maybe theres something more suspicious.... maybe they are feeding and sending supplies to the Secret Belgian Armed Forces. aka S-B-A-F. Something sinister is happening in Antwerp.

Anyway, ill post you my daily journal:

Woke up 15 later this morning because i was tired, which reulted in me being 5 minutes late for my 9:00 Copmuting class, (which i am in now)

Other than that, i need to go into town later and have a look at job agencies and submit some job applications.

Right, lets get back to working.

Oxy, you are such a random bastard....

I just have to say this about the tram thing...if you're the only tall person on there...and tall people are usually the successful ones...doesn't that suggest you're a loser?! hehe

well my day in brief:

get up. go to crappy Graphics lab. I haven't understood Graphics since I started it in September. Stare blankly at some VRML pics (that i could rotate). Found the rotation mildly amusing for a while. Got bored. Read a few VRML tutorials. Realised i was in fact staring blankly at the screen. Buggered off to town to meet Mole to buy our router (go the the Technical forum if you wanna know about this hunk of junk). Got home. Spent last...4 hours getting severely pissed off with it.

I foresee a few more hours getting pissed off, followed by either a) an unlikely but welcomed turn of events where I go hooray! it's working! celebrate having networked, broadband sharing comps, then go to bed or b)the most likely where i shout ARRRRGH so loudly i don't need to type it on here for you guys to know, and throw either myself, mole, the router or any combination of the above, out of the window in front of a bus/lorry/flying elephant.

Oh my what an interseting topic.

On the soap, given the fact that it smelled like flowers, the question arises, where did the chick go that left it? I would certainly never buy soap that would smell like flowers.
An other option is that your mother popped by, smelled you, and decided to leave a hint.

I forgot a moan: i banged my elbow on a stone wall and was dying of pain for ages. it was all stiff and i couldn't eat my mcdonalds properly due to the pain! :'( the mcdonalds!!!!!

meh, on a lighter note, i've got fed up with my day so left mole sorting out my comp and stolen his in order to kill shit online.

I know! The fries, i tell ya!!! *cries*