The rest of us dont care.

2010-01-17T22:49:00.000-08:00

New years eve has come and gone, A happy 2010 to everybody.
New years was spent in the southern Estonian town of Voru.. very beautiful town close to the Russian border. This Winter has been a record for snow fall in Tallinn since over 100 years, though at this day it has not snowed for about 5 days..;
So.. there for.... Im still here in Estonia with Chopin..
I went out a few weeks ago and bought myself a snow board, while it was Snowing i had the chance to hit the nearest hill for a few runs to try out the board.. as it turns out the following days just got cold and the snow fall had ceased. This cause the snow to freeze and become ice. I did not think about this fact, being the beginner snowboarder I am, that snowboarding on ice is like trying to drive on a frozen highway at a fast speed and trying to take a curve... it just dosent work... more importantly its dangerous. In a nut shell i tried to stop by "going heel side". This act of naive impulse got me into a bit of trouble; The board slipped out from under me and threw me on my back.. landing on the ice (which I hear is harder then falling on concrete, hiting the back of my head, my left shoulder and bottom of my left arm. The result: slight mild concussion that left me dizzy and tired for 2 days and creating nerve damage on my left arm that makes my thumb and first finger tingle :)

Ok, next winter sport.. Cross Country skiing... 2 weeks ago was my first time Cross country skiing ever.. I have been so far 4 times since then and Im starting to get the hang of it.. Thanks to Piret and practice im getting a bit better every day... one im not falling down as much as the first day, and 2 Im actually passing little children (below the age of 7) and adults older than 70 years old.

One very interesting winter sport I had been able to get my feet into was cross country hiking with snow shoes.. 3 hour hike through rivers, marshes, swamps and snow covered forest. Wish I had more pictures bt my cameras battery ran out of life..

40 hour drive and No sleep makes Andrew loo loo

2009-12-26T03:12:00.000-08:00

Now, I know that im not going to be a very modest person on this sentence but that's just the way it must be for this one time.... and with that in mind, I know that I'm a good driver. To show some modesty, I am not a very good speller, and thanks to the invention of spell-check many people do not know that.. but I am, to be more precise a horrible speller... (a blog about the importance of spelling I will cover soon enough, just need to remind myself about it), But back to the original topic at hand, Now to drive from NYC to south Florida it takes me 19 hours record time alone, with no sleep, and very few stops. Normally it will take me the same distance as NYC to Florida (thanks to those preciously preserved national roads through Poland.. They have very few highways) 24-28 hours to go from Brussels, Belgium to Tallinn, Estonia. On last Friday I drove in my car, with Chopin, and 4 different passengers (2 from Brussels till Hanover, Germany and another 2 from Hanover till Lodz, Poland) who I was able to find that each paid a sum of money that well helped my gas expenditures, had taken me a whopping 40 hours of of driving with not one bit of sleep. This extra 14 hours of driving was due to the first snow storm that hit western europe in maybe 8-10 years.

The traffic during the day was not so bad. In terms of daytime weather, it wasn't snowing and was quite clear skies... but as evening approached it was accidents that caused stand still traffic for about 15-18 kilometers. between Duisburg to Hanover, and then Hanover to Berlin.. And then there was Poland...
I know, many people think "its crazy to drive 40 hours with not sleep, and only stops for schnitzel, kielbasas and Chapi-dog food" but the fact is the will has more power then the natural physical.

Although at times the hallucinations happened, not the typical "imaginary ghosts on the road".. this time I thought there was an actual train headed towards my car.. that was exciting...

This was a week ago... Im well rested since that drive.. even went snow boarding at estonias best ski hill (notice i didn't say mountain).

Disengage me

2009-11-30T13:05:00.000-08:00

Disengaged myself from this day because it was too boring, so I thought of what to do.. I put on my jogging pants (the new ones, not the one with the holes on the side) and ran away in my mind.... I thought up some cool things.. like names of wine bars, and wondered why people actually think Twinkies taste good....

The New America Begins Here

2009-11-30T12:16:00.000-08:00

Heres an idea... every country in Europe has an American style (usually 1950's era) dinner, Why not a French 'diner' in the middle of "traditional' America?? you know.. it'll be a regular dinner but instead of the "Waffle House it'll be called 'Maison de Gouffre", (respectively IHOP will then be called IHOC= house of crepes) instead of Hamburgers there will be "Steak Tare Tare" and "Filet American", Big 'old "Flap Jacks" will be be skinny creps (and stuffed creps mmmmm) instead of big coffees their will be cafe normal, cafe au lait (or cafe russe) and then the grand cafe (which is actually the size of a small american cup of joe), eggs sunny side up wont be there, if you want eggs they are "soft boiled", and you get little sticks of toasted white bread to dip into the egg after you crack open the top, and the waitresses will still say morning, but they will end it with "cherie" instead of "darlin"........

mornings should not be spent looking for a parking spot.

2009-11-09T22:12:00.000-08:00

Its been quite some time since I have written in this blog. A fact that has been pointed out to me just the other day by a very astute friend of mine and so I thought its a good time to write... something quick since I am about to run off to work... I have been living in my new flat for the past 6 months now and i have been working on a few projects, recently it was with a Futures energy trading company here in Belgium and just recently, my newest project is at a Dutch bank here in Belgium. Every day I have been waking up around 6-7am not with the ide of just going to work... but to continuously check if my car is sitting where I left it the night before. No, not scared if someone is going to steal my car, but with fear that I of my car being taken away by a tow truck..;) You see what i did not notice here in this new neighborhood of mine when I first moved in, aside from the amount of garbage that you can find on the sidewalk on a daily basis and weird people constantly staring at me, was the lack of parking spaces. About every other night I have to drive and circle this area for at least 15-20 minutes looking for a parking spot, hoping something will open up.. usually all you find are parking spaces with problems.. meaning they are in front of a garage or a store or a place of commerce (including the funeral home just down the block who calls the police to take away your car if your parked with one tire in front of their building).. normally there is a sign that says no parking from 7:00-18:00 hours.. everyday except sunday... In the evening after coming from work or the gym and it's dark out you don't care but to take one of these problem spots with the idea of running at 6:30 AM to see if your car is still around and then having to find another spot to park before something else happens.... Im just beginning to think if this is a good reason to move (For that I have other reasons as well).. because I don't think i can see life without some kind of vehicle. So now I drink my morning tea (I ran out of coffee), and get ready to run back out of the house to work, after just initially moving my car and then having to do the whole 15 minute drive looking for a spot again once im at work.. only good thing is that on some mornings I can be productive and have the chance of jumping in my car and going to the gym before I run off to work.

2009-03-31T14:24:00.000-07:00

During the past 3 years I have been residing at the same apartment that has been quite an interesting life experience. I must admit, I have had my share of laughs, cries, good times, bad ones and the many moments of; well, lets just say pleasure….. Living in this apartment has accumulated to a rollercoaster of ecstatic success and unfortunate mishaps that has made me realize in the past few months, like with every broken relationship…. Its time to move on.. Don’t get me wrong… Mollenbeek is a fine town (depending on which side of the tracks you live on… No seriously its really like that!) for those who want to start a family and live in Brussels in a quaint area with parks that is close to the highway and the center alike, and for those who concider themselves, a full fledged introvert.. who doesn’t want to have a social life, and not be drenched in the alternative, party, music and arts culture of a, well artist, (I would want to use the word hipster.. but then I would probably shoot myself…)… Molenbeek is a great place… nevertheless if you are a person of ideas, culture, music, art, and enjoy going out to a neighborhood bar, or bistro… or just someone who enjoys being around where the action is, then Rue de la semence, 1080 Molenbeek is not for you.

I have within the past year been looking at different communities to live in.. and I had a strategy even… You can say it is somewhat reminiscent to that of a family with school age children who are looking for a new place to live, except Im not looking at the quality of schools or the property value of a house… This checklist, which reads more like a list of car options on an ’08 Mustang Cobra convertible rather then your moms grocery list (whichever is more important in life that is your own opinion), consists of a few variables that have coerced my judgment to sign a rental agreement at the new flat where I will be taking up residency for the next couple of years…

I split my decision on 2 basic rulings.. Location standards and apartment standards

Let’s take a closer look at how this works, shall we?

I had first decided that I do not want to live in an apartment built during the past 80-90 decades… I feel that I need to live in an apartment with a life, something that has a charming characteristic… High sealing’s and giant doors have intrigued me since i came to Belgium. On the same feeling, since I have been living in a very modern styled apartment for theses past 3 years I need a change.. Not just a change in apartment, but also a change in life… so I decided to begin this change with relocation to an apartment that gives off a very different feeling then where I have been for the past 36 months. In Belgium they are called a “maison de maitre”.. Big beautiful old houses that belong to the upper class, used to hold one family now many of them had been transformed into small apartment buildings with one floor being an entire flat… All though where I will be living is not exactly that, it is close enough in the esthetics category.

Next we needed a neighborhood that would best fit my lifestyle and pathetic social life..

Here is where the checklist comes into play…

1) There must be a large population of youthful thinking, characteristic and energetic people who are (or pretend to be) open-minded and have that passion of life that is a unique quality for some… but a necessity for most.

2) The average bar must at all times have at least 3 people reading something (just to give an impression they are intellectual).. or writing in some pathetic journal that nobody cares to read because it will never be published as a cool blog such as this one here that you have been feasting your eyes over these past 5 minutes.

3) Must have an adequate park that will give Chopin enough space to run and make his mark wherever he so chooses to do so.

4) Girls and Girls with dogs.. (Chopin needs to get some to) Yes, I am a young hetero adult male who is very much interested in the opposite sex… I for one never went to an all boys school therefore much of my attention since an early childhood has been checking out the female perspectives…. (IM A GUY.. DEAL WITH IT)

5) And I suppose that having a decent weekend market wouldn’t hurt either.

6) Friends… I don’t live close to any of my friends … Before I didn’t think it caused a problem, but being able to walk to a friends place is quite nice and walking never hurt anybody.. so I thought that it would be a splendid Idea to see where about my friends live and find a good central location that would be in the general area of some people im already acquainted with..

From this little list I narrowed it down to about 4 towns in Brussels that constitute to having most of these characteristics,

A) Brussels center 1000

B) Ixelles or in Flemish Ellsen, or as I just like to say X.L!! 1050

C) Saint Gilles 1060

D) Etterbeek 1040

I regarded the list and started to look for apartments in all of these towns.. I thought it would be cool living in the center close to where I normally spend my evenings, but thought that I would just see too much of it and go, well, nuts….

Etterbeek, Well that I crossed off my list when I realized I would probably feel a bit awkward, you see there are too many non Belgians living in that area, and although I like diversity, I don’t need to be swamped by every other person who works at the European commission.

So, I tossed it up between Ixelles, and Saint Gilles… Both areas meet my criteria of accessibility, culture, friends, and parks..I had a bit of trouble deciding… Then I left it up to the apartment search to decide….

I looked and I looked and I looked…;

I first tried 55sq meter apartments… Too small… I thought I would suffocate, then I checked a few apartments that smell like a dead cat.. to be honest, I’m sure that’s exactly what it was…

Then my hunt took me up to 65 sq meters thus raising the price criteria as well… I actually found an apartment that was going for 586 euros in the center of Brussels.. I thought I should take it, but considering the shower and the sink was in the bedroom, and the bedroom itself barely fit my bed.. plus the terrace was the size of the back seat of my car, I thought um… better leave it.

I then realized that I should not look for anything smaller than 70sq meters… And with good reason might I add…

I saw a few basement apartments (aka “entre sole”) .. some apartments that are 3-4 floors up… but still I really wanted something on the first floor.. making it easy to access those late nights when i come home early in the morning from the Center…

That’s when I stumbled upon an apartment in St. Gilles.. that blew my mind away.. it was like the perfect girl.. Sweet, well kept, smelled pretty, elegant, yet very creative and indulged with culture..

I found it… and took it rite away… :)

Oh except, I don’t think my green carpet will fit… :)

Babby Boom

2008-10-23T09:11:00.000-07:00

Every where I look
Someone has one,
Someone’s gonna have one,
Someone’s trying to have one....

Be my baby????

Its come to my attention that life is running.. fast.. and now its time that people from my.. Yours... our generation... those crazy adolescents called generation X are popping out kids every where you look... We aren’t just those damn kids any more.. or are we kids having kids... are we the grown ups that our parents were when they were our age?? or are we still forever the party-goers, ravers, punks, bohemian, that we have always been and just nature has taken control and we are just doing what our bodies are naturally telling us what to do.. ie; procreate??

Join the work force

2008-10-07T02:01:00.000-07:00

Yes! .. I did it :) Say good bye to social support, late mornings, 11:30 dog walks, 1:00 workouts, 2:00 saunas, and 3:30 solariums...... (Who needs that type of life anyways?)

No more long days sitting on my terrace, sipping ice tea, playing guitar with Chopin by my side..... Envision some small farm house in the back woods of Virginia with its paint fading away.. and in the distance you can hear a freight train passing by... A warm autumn breeze floats through the air and the leaves of the maple trees are beginning to change their color from brilliant green to a bold orange, purple, brown and blue.... now in my head, that’s where I’ve been, but in reality... it all occurred in Molenbeek, Brussels.... The wake up call has come... and its called the alarm setting on my cell phone.
J-O-B.... GLORRY BE!! I FOUND A JOB... weekends are once again meaningful.

I have taken on the role as business analyst for an American company in Belgium who create financial software....
It's now time to wake up early, go to bed at a reasonable hour, limit partying and social gathering to Thursday, Friday and Saturday, rather than 6 days a week (choice of days optional), act responsible and focus on doing the best job possible.

Come to think of it... why am I blogging at the moment????? I have a deadline to meet!!...

Apartment feeling empty? Plant some carpet

2008-09-27T12:50:00.000-07:00

Recently I have noticed that my apartment was a bit empty... as I had looked around at my living room trying to figure out what standard and non standard artifices I have installed in ma crib, I cleverly figured out the pinnacle of comfort that was missing from my floor...... that large, sometimes rectangular, sometimes amoebic shaped fluffy piece of material called carpet.

Now, as I had learned in this most recent experience of furnishing my flat, there are certain criterias that must be taken into account...

1) Color; Pick something that says you are an individual.. a color that fits the motif of your apartment.... I chose GREEN... Although such an idea turned out to be a slight laughing matter later on.

2) Size: Yes.. don't be fooled.. It does matters.

3) Price; Budget is always important.. especially for the unemployed.

4) Shape; pick something that doesn't shock your friends.. but hey.. its your apartment.. do what you want.

5) Material; Soft is nice. Think about this.. do you really want to "do it" on burlap?

DONT PICK CARPET THAT MIGHT LOOK AS IF YOU HAD PLANTED GRASS IN YOUR LIVING ROOM.....

I had picked for my living room a green fluffy carpet. I thought the color and the tone it gives off was a feeling of comfort. To my surprise it looked as if I was reseeding my floor... A huge rectangular patch of green twisted threads appears as if your living room can be considered as a nice spot for an afternoon picnic... or better yet.. a putting green of a golf course.

The first person I had showed it to (who happens to deal with color schemes on a daily basis) couldn't stop laughing at the site of my living room, with the center of attention focused on the 'Incredible Rug' .. sitting so innocently yet looking so irregularly. (I knew at that moment we weren't "doing it" on this carpet..).
I cried a bit, she hugged me.. said it will be ok... swore that I will get used to it....
It will grow on me...like ... grass.

After moving things around and trying different positions I have been able to counter the green grassyness of my decision... and now i sit comfortably on my sofa, as I run my toes through the grass, I mean carpet, and watch my dog Chopin's confused face decide where he is going to make his next mark.

Temporary Unemployment; Self enrichment or one long weekend

2008-09-25T05:42:00.001-07:00

As I have been out of work for nearly 3 months I keep asking..... What have I been doing with myself? has this time off been a fruitful experience in my on going saga called life? Im a Business Analyst with skills that should help me to also analyze how my time should productively been spent. At least this time off has been during the summer so we can consider it a long vacation and not realy "unemloyed" (although technicaly thats what I have been)

In regards to my abundant amount of time off, what have I done to better myself, have I gained any new skills, did I achieve any goals that I had in mind or begin any projects that I never intend on completing... questions I intend to realise the answer to within due time... (not like the ridiculous question of why we are here...)

For some people its great... a bit of time off never hurt anyone.... rite? for me it's like my outlet of creativity is being taken away.... (no work = boredom)....
So I have tried in every possible way to keep myself occupied by doing a bit of globe trekking, learning something usefull and attempting to unleash my artistic creativity on the world.

some examples;
Take a painting and drawing class; It was a great experience... I now know how to measure depth and create shadows.... (im wicked with a paint brush)
Enroll in a language course; I chose Dutch, or here in Belgium we like to say "Flemish"
the outcome.. learned a few words in this amazing language (just enough to impress people) before running off to Estonia...
Run off to Estonia; ... pelmanies, vodka, saku, friends, and sauna... never can get enough of that place...

Learn some new songs on guitar;
Write some new songs on guitar;
Read some books; I reread the jungle, as i am now older since the last time I read it (I think that was 14 months ago), it gives me a whole different perspective...
Purchase a nice camera and call yourself an amature photographer; Trust me, people actualy think I can take good pictures... all though it's been said my techniques are that of a second year university photography student (I won't mention your name :P ).... but I will take that as a complement :)
Start a BLOG; as you can see.. we are getting somewhere.. (but what to write about..)

In the long run I suppose I have been able to accomplish and begin a few things during my hiatus, not necessarily accomplish the new things I begin, but at least I can say that if you have such time.. take advantage of it.. when you go back to work you wont have the time to do everything at once...
At least weekends will be more exciting again