This apartment comes with a very cute little red vacuum cleaner. It has
cartoonish big wheels. It's one of those vacuums you pull behind you
(non upright) and has several attachments. It's supposed to anyway.
This one only has one. It worked surprisingly well for a while. It's a
Philips vacuum, so my expectations were set low. But to my surprise, it
worked very well. It had suction power strong enough to pull up all of
charlotte's fur and that's no small task cos it is spring and therefore
molting season.
I changed the bag on Chuckie and that's when the cute little vacuum
cleaner turned into a monster. There is no logical reason to explain
why changing the bag on the vacuum cleaner would cause it to stop
working. It would turn on, but there would be no suction coming through
it. And worse, after a few seconds, the little light indicating the bag
needed to be changed would come on and the thing would make a hideously
loud noise as if something had become detached. I got into "Figure it
out" mode and started to disassemble the vacuum cleaner as far as I
could to find out the source of the problem. I wasn't able to.
Michael was here for a visit on his spring break. I asked him to fix it
and he wasn't able to either. He is an electrical engineer and a very
smart guy all the way around. So now I know that my vacuum cleaner is
for sure a sadist. We were able to conclude that if you took the
attachment off, the suction power became mighty indeed. But when you
put it back on, it stops. As far as we can tell, there is nothing
blocking the passage way in the attachment. The vacuum cleaner is just
being an asshole.
It has been sitting in the corner of the living room for a few weeks. I
am hoping it will just heal itself. In the meantime, the cat hair on
the carpeting is becoming measurable like snowfall.
I am again on the back balcony. It is warm and summery. Too warm for
this time of year. Last night was also very warm and unbearably
pleasant. Everyone on my canal was having a little party. The cheerful
chatter of late night conversation rose from the street. The crappy,
weathered boat houses moored within my view becaume illuminated and
tranquil. It was not the first time I thought that, at least for me,
this city is paradise....with the excption of the aforementioned lack
of selection in beauty products.
You may have noticed I have fallen way behind on regular blog postings
and I can't promise it will change. I do regret how many striking
insights and wondrous witticisms you have all missed out on as they are
all long forgotten. And now you'll have to suffer through a quicky
recap. But work, and the traveling thereto and from, is taking up more
of my time that it should. But, work is good. I'm happy going there
every day, especially when it is nice enough to ride my bike to the
trainstation.
The happiest week of my time here so far was when Michael came out for
a visit. I worked from home as much as I could but did have to go into
the office sometimes. He was free then to roam around the city
getting lost and frustrated. A rite of passage. We had dinner at
Arend's house. I fell in love with one of his paintings and demanded to
buy it on the spot even though I can't really afford it. Luckily, the
impoverished Arend told me I could basically put it on lay-away. But he
is not hesitant on reminding me I need to pick up my painting.
Michael and I went to Den Haag and spent the night in Scheveningen. A
resort town with an impossible-to-pronounce name the that Dutch used as
a muster-test to determine the origin of the person pronouncing the
town's name. A fool-proof way to ferret out Germans in WWII trying to
pass as dutch. Like all beach-side resort towns, it's cheesy and
overpriced. But it was exactly what we needed, which was some downtime
with nothing to do but relax.
We had a religious experience in the Hague. Michael wanted to find the
Groot Kerk (big church) in the center of town. As we were navigating
our way there, we heard the irresistable call of the Boom Boom. Someone
was playing techno music somewhere and we had to find it. Turns out, it
was in this church. All the pews were removed. There was a DJ set up at
the altar, and on the floor was a break dancing competition. This is
what church should be like. Fantastic music. Bodies moving in
miraculous ways (I saw a boy jump into the air off his shoulderblades.
Can you imagine using your shoulder blades like knees?). It was cool
and fun and there was genuine commeradery there. I tried to take good
pictures but the best moves happened too quickly so I mostly got shots
of the boys doing hand stands.
Pictures of Me 'n' Miks:
Michael had to leave early on the morning that he left. We stayed up
pretty late the night before which was good because it made me too
tired to be sad. I don't know when I will see my husband again.
Last weekend was easter. At work, we were given these glorious
chocolate easter eggs that were the size of toy footballs. Inside were
even more easter eggs made of the most rich european chocolate. I held
out for a good long time before i cracked into mine. The one Jewish
guy in the office was not there the day that they were being handed
out. When people asked where he was I said "He's at home observing
passover." My colleauges asked "What's passover?" The dutch might have
founded New York, but Manhattan this is not. Easter weekend is a
four-day holiday. They take Easter friday off and also the following
monday which they call "Second Easter Day." I thought this was a
joke. The city explodes with tourists over this long holiday.
It was also the 10th anniversary of Awakenings, which is this
organization that throws huge dance parties for thousands of people.
One might call them raves if we still used that word. It was a
three-day event held in the Gashouder which is this arena just west of
central station. Michelle and I went to the saturday show and left at 6:30 in the morning when the place was still packed. To commemorate easter, I wore a shirt to the awakenings party with a bunny on it.
After many months of fact gathering, risk assessment, and consultation
with Michael, I have decided to buy an apartment in Amsterdam. I won't
be able to afford something huge, or maybe even nice, but it is so easy
to buy an apartment in amsterdam (You can finance up to 125% of the
value of the house), the tax advantages are so great, there is just no
reason not to. I have a meeting with a mortgage broker on Tuesday to
see what I can afford.
The eastlake house will be on the market again unfurnished and
available for rent so if you know anyone....it's a great place for a
couple.
And after many, many months. I finally cut and colored my hair, with
mixed results. I had been eyeing this one hair stylist in a shop I pass
by every now and again. Turns out my dutch teacher goes to him and
loves him so I figured I should trust my instinct and gravitate toward
him. He got the color just right, but he overtexturized the ends which
is explicitly what I told him not to do. Also, he is very, very chatty
and while he has great energy, he is sort of like the B.B. King of
hairstylists: can't cut and talk at the same time. So I was in his shop
for 2.5 hours, about 1.5 hours of which I was just sitting there while
he was excitably telling me about his favorite South Park shows, or
showing me pictures of his 9 month old daughter on his phone. He also
cut about two inches off my hair. It needed to go, but I'm sad right
now to not have my long hair. The most enjoyable part of the afternoon
was talking to his other customers who came and went while I sat and
processed. I was also treated to a complimentary deep conditioning
treatment which I enjoyed while reclined in the shampoo chair facing
the street. Great people watching on the Negen Straatjes.
Today I am going to catch a train the Utrecht and visit with my friend
Marleen. I have not seen her yet, and I have never been to Utrecht. It
is sunny and beautiful again. I will enjoy another nice afternoon. And
in the meantime, my aparment is so messy it is starting to look like a
dorm room.
