Archive for June, 2009

The House Hunt is done – we got it!!

Tuesday, June 30th, 2009

It was quite a nerve-wracking day, but with a perfect result: WE’VE GOT THE HOUSE!!

Our bid was upped a tad (pocket money 😉 ) by the owner so that he (or his wife? 😉 ) at least got the feeling that they did well in the negotiations, but the deal was inevitable, and so it was done before the end of the day!

Gjerdrum is the place, the forest with a lake and ski-tracks are literally ’round the corner (50 meter), Oslo center is less than 30 minutes away and the airport just 20 minutes…it’s PERFECT!

(pictures can be found here)

Happy Birthday Willem-Jan!

Tuesday, June 30th, 2009

My brother turns 35 today, so Yo Bro, Happy Birthday…Hurra for deg!

The two of us normally don’t make a big thing out of it, I guess we both have been ‘infected’ by the Aboriginal approach; you only celebrate when you reached a next stage in life, having a Birthday is not an accomplishment as such (you just have to keep on breathing 😉 ), still, I hope you have a nice day!

Househunt; the game is on!

Monday, June 29th, 2009

We just sent in our bid on a house, exciting!!

I can’t say too much on it now, the bid stands until tomorrow 15:00h, so we know more by then. It’s obviously a great house, ha, we wouldn’t bid if it wasn’t! 😉

The way this works in Norway is completely different from what we’re used to in NL; here it’s basically an auction, if you’re interested you place a bid (not too high, as no one wants to pay TOO much 😉 and not too low, coz that could offend the owner). The broker then contacts the other people who are interested and tries to increase the bid. We know that two other couples showed their interest also, and that one of them is on vacation. The time seems right, so fingers crossed!!

Elgato EyeTV

Sunday, June 28th, 2009

I’m gonna get my Elgato EyeTV today, yay! It got slightly delayed as I forgot to bring it with me from NL two weeks ago.

It’s a small nifty device that’ll turn my Mac mini into a powerful TV recorder…my good’old videorecorder died lately (well, not completely, it only decided to eat the tapes 😉 ), so this comes in handy. I wanted to give the EyeTV a chance over a DVD-recorder, it should provide more flexibilty, so I can’t wait to install it and get it going.

No house hunt today

Saturday, June 27th, 2009

Damn, I hate it when people don’t follow up on their promises…I planned to visit two houses today with a carpenter, so he could take a look and tell what additional work needs to be done…all appointments were made for this afternoon and then I get a text message from the carpenter saying that he cannot come ’cause the weather is so nice and he has a bbq!!! Jeez…what’s up with that? I guess these people have way too much work and can afford to behave to this 🙁 , it wouldn’t be my style though!

Michael Jackson – RIP

Friday, June 26th, 2009

There was no way to miss the news of Michael Jackson’s death of cardiac arrest last night; it was all over the media and many websites have been struggling to stay online because of the enormous amount of visitors seeking information and updates on the news.

I was not sure to write a blogpost about it as it would only duplicate what has been written so far everywhere else. Still, the fact of the matter is that an amazing talented musician is no longer with us and that’s really sad. Despite the mixed feelings some may have on the last ten years of his life, let’s remember him for the 30 years legacy of becoming and being the King of Pop, he has been and still is a true icon for many generations.

Michael was the kind of amazing talent that comes along once in a lifetime. He was an incredible recording artist, an insightful businessman, an unmatched performer, and a true icon

QOTD June 25 2009

Thursday, June 25th, 2009

Eddie Cantor: “Slow down and enjoy life. It’s not only the scenery you miss by going too fast – you also miss the sense of where you are going and why.”

Sun, sun, SUN!!

Wednesday, June 24th, 2009

Weather is truly amazing these days; summer is finally here and it decided to stay! Temperatures are up to 25-30 degrees and we have pure blue skies, then add the fact that it’s not getting really dark at night and you have everyone smiling (or is that because of the girls in short skirts? 😉 ).

It’s supposed to be like this for at least the coming 1.5 week, yayyyy!

Go green for democracy in Iran

Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009

The situation in Iran is worrying to say the least. Not only the internal politics (aka corruption?), but even more the effects it can have (has) on international politics and relations in the Middle East region. Some say that the US plans to go to war with Iran (one theory actually expected this to happen just before last years elections, allowing Bush to force the momentum away from Obama…). Let’s hope it doesn’t come that far, war is never a solution, but it’s clear that something needs to happen.

What better than to have millions of people join forces and let their combined energy make the difference? (you would be surprised how powerful this can be!)

Green is the color of this movement and the ‘fight’ takes place on the Web (mainly on Social Networks like Twitter and Facebook)…people around the world are changing their Twitter avatar to have a green overlay, I just did mine:

Check out http://helpiranelection.com, a single click there will change your Twitter avatar to have a green overlay…show your support for democracy in Iran!

Twitter has proven to be a great way to get real-time news distributed, check http://iran.twazzup.com for updates!

What a wonderful world

Monday, June 22nd, 2009

I saw a small deer coming out of the forest behind the house yesterday, nature is so close, I’m gonna miss this place! Then again, I know that there’s a new place waiting ’round the corner, with the same beautiful nature around it! 😉

Watch this video; the cat looks a LOT like our cat Kwibus…and the deer? Well, that one’s waiting for him in the forest, what a wonderful world!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BuPP_eXINw

QOTD June 21 2009

Sunday, June 21st, 2009

H. Norman Schwarzkopf: “You can’t help someone get up a hill without getting closer to the top yourself.”

iPhone OS v3.0 – it’s on!

Saturday, June 20th, 2009

Yesterday the iPhone Dev-Team released the updated version of their Pwnagetool, which is capable of activating, jailbreaking and unlocking my original iPhone 2G while running the latest and greatest iPhone OS v3.0.

I couldn’t wait and spent some time last night to perform the upgrade. A relatively easy and straightforward process, however quite some time went into creating and restoring the backup, I guess I have too many applications (100+). 😉

I’m gonna spend the coming days playing with the new goodies, yay!

Ready for some house hunting

Friday, June 19th, 2009

There are exactly 6 weeks left to find a new Palace before the big move out of the current house, and that means that it’s House Hunting time again this weekend! We just came back from a sneak peek at two houses, and there are still some more to follow I’m afraid…;)

WordPress 2.8 – installed

Thursday, June 18th, 2009

It’s geek-time the coming days; Apple released iPhone OS v3.0 and WordPress, my blogging tool, released their new version 2.8.

I decided to wait with the iPhone OS upgrade until the weekend (the heros of the iPhone Dev-Team plan to release their unlock/jailbreak tool on Friday), but I did upgrade my WordPress software.

It was the first time that I used the automatic installation process, it worked flawlessly and took just some minutes, great…everything is running smooth!

Båttur / boat trip

Wednesday, June 17th, 2009

It that time of the year, June, where a lot of companies in Oslo arrange a summer event. For my company this is always planned on the third Wednesday in June and it means we’ll have a boat trip on the Oslo fjord. I have enjoyed it a lot the past two years and it’ll be great again this year since the sun is shining! So, ho-ho, off we go!

A day filled with emotions

Tuesday, June 16th, 2009

Today was the funeral, as to be expected an emotional day. People share the memories they have and make them live on together with everyone attending.

One also thinks back to your own friends and family who passed away, it’s important to keep memories of them alive too…the older you get, the more there will be…as said, a day filled with emotions.

New Marilyn Manson album: The High End of Low

Monday, June 15th, 2009

Since I am staying in NL until tomorrow, I am missing out on the AC/DC concert tonight 🙁 (luckily I was able to sell my tickets).

I bought myself a small compensation today; the new Marilyn Manson album, The High End of Low. The album is out for some weeks now and I already ‘found’ it on the internet so was able to ‘try-before-I-buy’…I liked it a lot which should be no surprise for people who know me! 😉

The lyrics of The High End of Low are about “having my soul trampled on by women, but is also something that makes you laugh.” (according to the man himself/woman herself/it itself in an interview for Revolver Magazine) 😉

Knackered after my mothers party

Sunday, June 14th, 2009

We celebrated my mothers 60th Birthday today. It was planned to be a party outside in the garden, but rain this morning made us change that plan. Luckily the house is big enough and in the afternoon sun appeared again so all was good, we even ended it with a BBQ, yay!

We just finished cleaning up, it has been a long day…I am toast, no energy left and off to bed!

A little bit of everything

Saturday, June 13th, 2009

A little bit of everything, that sums up my day today…

A nice last night in Winterberg (slept pretty shitty thx to a leak in the air bed), waking up before 8am (way too early, oof 😉 ), a pretty long drive back (we got stuck in more than an hour traffic jam 🙁 ), helping my parents at home with the preparations for tomorrows festivities (mum turns 60), a quick surprise visit to my high school reunion (great to see some old classmates, would have love to be there longer), and then ending the day with a nice and quiet dinner with our best friends (amazing food btw.!), letting our emotions jump up and down…love is all around!!

QOTD June 12 2009

Friday, June 12th, 2009

Plato: “Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something.”