Archive for April, 2010

Queensday and an invitation to meet Her!

Friday, April 30th, 2010

Well, well, that’s what I call nice timing:

It’s Queensday (Koninginnedag) in The Netherlands today and I just received an email stating that I will receive an invitation in May for a Reception for the Dutch Community in Norway with the Queen during her official State visit to Norway on June 2 2010…nice!!

The internet is for…

Thursday, April 29th, 2010

Hmm, if you also wondered what the internet is actually for, wonder no longer and check out this hilarious Sesame Street clip!

Especially the lyrics at around 2m50s into the song: ‘grab your D… and doubleC….’, hahahaha! 😉

The song originally comes from the musical Avenue Q,  and obviously you can find that clip on YouTube too! 😉

Project ‘Wood’, part I

Wednesday, April 28th, 2010

Project ‘Wood’ has officially started this week when our neighbor offered us half of a big tree that they had cut last weekend. The only condition was that we helped them cleaning up the small branches from the grass (a pretty shitty and time-consuming job actually).

The main goal for the project is to gather enough uhhh, WOOD 😉 to heat up the house coming winter (setting the house on fire is no option! 😉 ). Last year was half a disaster as most of the wood stored in the shed by the house seller turned out to be leftover construction wood that hardly gives warmth, and I didn’t have a chance to chop any wood before winter came.

Well, that ain’t gonna happen coming winter, so Project Wood 2010 kicked off in time: Part I is completed in two evenings, more to come soon!

Lofoten vacation trip booked

Tuesday, April 27th, 2010

Yayyy, we booked our vacation tonight: we will explore and discover more of Norway’s amazing nature during a one week trip to Lofoten in June!

Lofoten is a group of islands between the 67th and 68th parallel North (that’s just inside the Artic Circle!), known and praised for its natural beauty, the picture below says it all I’d say! 😉 (click on it for a larger version)

Let’s hope for some great weather, so we can experience 24h sun…oof, wouldn’t that be special!!

Oh, so far we only booked fights, any tips on where to stay are welcome! 😉

QOTD April 26 2010

Monday, April 26th, 2010
Ralph Waldo Emerson: “Don’t be too timid and squeamish about your actions. All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better.”

I am uncle once more

Sunday, April 25th, 2010

I became a third time uncle yesterday; Willem-Jan and Patricia got their second baby boy, Hidde, born at 13:28h!! The kid already has a great timing; he waited to be born on the 24th of April, avoiding a clash with Patricia’s Birthday on the 22nd or mine on the 23th! 😉

All is good and I can’t wait to see my little nephew!

Koru necklace

Saturday, April 24th, 2010

During the New Zealand vacation three years ago I got a Koru necklace as Birthday present. It symbolizes peace, tranquility, health, personal growth and new beginning…something that was very actual then, as I was about to start a new adventure in Norway.

I have been wearing it ever since (uhh, that is three years and one day now 😉 ) as I consider everyday a new beginning!

Happy Birthday to…me, me, ME! ;)

Friday, April 23rd, 2010

It’s that day of the year; one day makes me a whole year older, aahhh! 😉

I normally don’t make a big thing out of it, so there’s not gonna be a huge party, sorry guys&galls. I *will* celebrate it tomorrow though with a sushi dinner at Nodee, the best Japanese restaurant in Oslo!!

New Facebook Profile picture

Thursday, April 22nd, 2010

OK, OK, You’ve asked and I deliver! 😉 (with some delay though…)

An hour before my 38th Birthday is a good moment to change my Facebook profile picture, life is getting serious and so am I, uuhhhh?!? Well, no more SpongeBob Squarepants (or was that SpongeRay?) for now.

Oh, if I don’t get enough support votes for the new profile pic, I put the hat back on!! 😉

So, which one do you like best?

                            

QOTD April 21 2010

Wednesday, April 21st, 2010
Oprah Winfrey: “We are each responsible for our own life – no other person is or even can be.”

Apple’s newest iPhone ‘found’

Tuesday, April 20th, 2010

For one of the first times, the closed fence around Apple’s new product development ‘bunker’ has been compromised; a prototype of the 4th generation iPhone, expected to be released around June this year, has been obtained by the Gizmodo technology weblog after an Apply employee lost it.

Before returning it to Apple they obviously investigated the unit inside-out and made a full report…look for yourself, this phone is going to be a game-changer, again!

Three times stuck in a cloud of ashes

Monday, April 19th, 2010

The ban on flying caused Robbert’s to be canceled last night, so he got the ‘luck’ of some extra days in Norway (expected to depart tomorrow, that is, *if* the ashes vanish in time of course).

Kissy flew to Bangkok last Wednesday and instead of returning yesterday as scheduled, she was ‘forced’ to enjoy some extra days there! 😉 (she had to stay in/close to the hotel though, due to the violence threat of the ‘Red Shirts’ anti-government protesters).

Four people of my team could not fly into Norway for a group meeting tomorrow/Wednesday, so I canceled the meeting (teleconference instead). Actually, even if they would be able to fly in, I’d probably cancel anyway, coz of the risk of not getting *out* of Norway if things get worse in the coming days, something that was expected to happen according to the news earlier today, but they took that message back.

I guess we all like our ashes in the sky, eh? 😉

A gaming day ;)

Sunday, April 18th, 2010

Oof, that has been a while ago; we’ve been enjoying a full day of hardcore gaming! Chips, cola and kebab for dinner (and that’s only coz we were out of pizza! 😉 ).
A long day that started early this morning with Formula1, a brilliant halfwet Chinese Grand Prix, and mostly FIFA10 on the PS3 throughout the restbof the day…hehe, we’re getting pretty good in this game! 😉

Datarock in concert

Saturday, April 17th, 2010

We’re going three years back in time tonight; the Norwegian band Datarock is playing in Oslo!

We’ve seen them before at Pohoda 2007; they have SO much energy in their performance…good times!!

QOTD April 16 2010

Friday, April 16th, 2010

Steve Jobs: “Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.”

Playstation 3

Thursday, April 15th, 2010

Yay, I am the happy owner of a BlueRay player, which will allow me to unleash all stunning features of the HDTV we recently bought!

Uhh, and *with* the BlueRay player came also a gameconsole, the PlayStation 3…Robbert brought it from NL as a huge surprise gift for me!! WHAT a friend!

Thx dude, you’re the best…GAME ON!! 😉

Metallica concert

Wednesday, April 14th, 2010

Tonight is rock-night; I am going to the Metallica concert in Oslo!! I am really looking forward to it…we all wear black and are ready to ROCK ON!!

New MacBook Pros

Tuesday, April 13th, 2010

Apple (finally) updated its MacBook Pro line of notebooks, *with* the Intel Core i5 or Core i7 processors, powerful next-generation NVIDIA graphics and even longer battery life…what can I say; I have been waiting for this update since November last year, uhhh, I want…! 😉


QOTD April 12 2010

Monday, April 12th, 2010

Madonna: “To be brave is to love someone unconditionally, without expecting anything in return. To just give. That takes courage, because we don’t want to fall on our faces or leave ourselves open to hurt.”

Back from Trysil

Sunday, April 11th, 2010

All good things come to an end (to make room for other good things to start 😉 ); we came back home after a MAGNIFICENT week of skiing with friends in Trysil. I’m not really back yet though, as I still feel like taking my skis tomorrow to fly down the slopes…reality bites, as I know that it’ll be a busy day in the office, followed by a two day training. The 1604 pictures that we took will keep the memories alive though! 😉