OHRA are good employers, it has to be said. We spent one hour in the afternoon in a meeting room on the first floor, enjoying a live performance by stand up comedian Wilko Terwijn. Not bad at all, even though most of his jokes were the same as the ones he used in the last 'Oudejaarsconference' (a sort of Mock the Year, an institutional show in The Netherlands every December 31st).

After work, it still being National Poetry Day (see yesterday), I met up with Marjo and the 'Poetry Collective' again at LUX. After a few coffees we decided on another poetry performance at the nearby library, though I declined. Well, it had been a long working day. I sat down in the library, started reading a newspaper and kept my mp3 player recording while Marjo, Okke, Sanne and Wouter each orated a poem from between the books. They did so at once, so none of the poems could be heard, really. Still, we met smiles on our way out. We continued at our favourite haunt In de Blaauwe Hand (pictured below). Sanne and Marjo in particular performed naturally, the others including myself didn't do half bad.

I went to my sisters Marjo's home - well, home, the office near the train station she's anti-squatting - for dinner. She made hutspot, which for all you English people means mashed potatoes and carrots I think. She made it quite well. Her poetic friends Wouter and Okke joined us before we went to the Tempelier pub for a chat and, of course, beer.. At midnight, National Poetry Day (January 26) started, and as our throats we're all well lubricated Marjo easily convinced us this occasion needed to be celebrated. She convinced the guitarist at the bar to stop playing for a few minutes to allow us all to perform some poems. Sanne, who had joined us late, acted as the master of ceremonies. Marjo especially had a legendary performance. She had brought her suitcase full of booklets and poems - so she opened it and threw the contents to the crowd. It might have ended up in a row in any other pub, but at the Tempelier the patrons loved her for it. We got excellent feedback and thanks. And we drank. Oh did we drink.

I had seen a pair of Braend boots at a shop in Wijchen, a few weeks ago. Unfortunately, though they were everything I wanted, they didn't fit. Since then I had had to call around shops all over the country to find a fitting pair. Apparently winter boots are hard to come by in winter. Mind you, winter boots - they're not furry at all. Today after work I grabbed a train from Arnhem to Wageningen, then a bus to Bennekom, and found the perfect pair, as expected. On the way back I had to try them on and, despite the pain of fitting wide toes in a narrow point, wore them all the way home. It felt fantastic, their hard heels absolutely hammering the ground shaking beneath my feet. Quite impressive for Italian style boots really!

Evelyn is a lot of fun at work. Our constant mails and chats remind me of working with Gabriela five years ago - but I'm not sure I fancy Evelyn like I did Gab. A conversation with her and Wouter took an awkward turn when I asked them both whether to spell 'uitwijden' (to elaborate) with ei or ij. Evelyn somehow thought of the word 'uithollen' (to hollow out) and thought of a scene in Se7en, where a prostitute is violated with a sharp pointy object. From this point onwards we couldn't stop chatting, blushing and laughing out loud about hollowing out absolutely anything. Feck..

After work I went to the Blonde Pater caff to meet Marjo. She arrived 12 olives and two gorgeous espresso macchiato later than we had agreed, but it was fun talking to her again - and having dinner later at Funkenstein.

Coming back from work I had gotten of the bus at the train station and walked into town. At Kroese I browsed a bit and bought a Nine Inch Nails cd: "The Downward Spiral deluxe edition", their only one with a track list on the back. The guy at the till approved: "What do you think of their newest cd then?". "Err,..." I hesitated, "they're still churning them out then, that's really good to know! I just bought this to re-acquaint myself with their work." Aye, indeed. It's risky buying shit at the shop where they know their shit.

Labels: kroese nijmegen

Yesterday, after writing in my diary, I had forgotten to remove my contact lenses and I fell asleep. So in my morning routine, I panicked when I wanted to put my lenses in and found the container empty.. I suppose I'm really not a morning person! As a result of having had lenses in overnight, I was quite red-eyed and misty all day today.

So I squinted at my computer while the IT staff tended to it. When they upturned it, a cup's worth of coffee spilled over the desk. Despite this, Ayse didn't fire me. She did think however it might be a fun idea for me to apologise and say my goodbyes in a mail to everyone cheekily. I did this nearer the end of the day, stating I wasn't going to come back tomorrow and why - telling everyone how I had enjoyed their company while it lasted. Herman mailed back after half an hour: "That sucks, and I think it's grossly unfair of them to let you go! I spoke to the floor manager and told him exactly that!" Of course, Ayse's superior had not been informed of our little joke, so I nearly choked on today's coffee, almost ruining another computer. It turned out though that Herman had been on to me, thank feck. It's a good thing having smart colleagues, until they're revealed as Smart Alecs..

The 212 bus went only as far as the Uni campus today, instead of the bus stop at the Academic hospital. So I decided to walk home all the way while enjoying my loud mp3 player. "Es war schon dunkel, als ich durch Vorstadtstraßen heimwärts ging" sang Udo Juergens and he was right, while I walked across the leafy campus. "Lager lager lager!" shouted Underworld when I crossed St Anne's Street, and as I walked down my own street Shade reassured me "this is no ordinary love.." Eclectic perhaps, but that's how I like it.

My team leader, Ayse, was alright with me leaving earlier today, as I had to sort out some financial papers at the bank before 5. When I was clearing my desk at 4:15, I knocked over a cup of coffee and noticed neither the mouse nor keyboard would respond after that. Of course I cleared the coffee as best I could, but realised some of it may have gone in the computer, as it has air vents at front. I gave it a hard reboot, after which it beeped a few times and the screen remained black. Obviously, I had ruined the motherboard. Like Stephanie's phone yesterday, it was dead. Ayse joked: "You really are trying to get fired, aren't you?" but if that would happen now it'd be disaster.

Labels: IT

Having to work at OHRA in Arnhem from 12.15 (to 9pm), there's no express bus 212 from Nijmegen like there is in the mornings. The sloth of it's only alternative, 31, is really starting to annoy me now. Not only does it take a massive detour around Oosterhout and Elst, including every little speed bump and backwater, the bus drivers also seem to never rush. Though it's less than 25 kilometres to get to the office, it can take 45 minutes. Late shifts are therefore horrible: I have to grab the 31 going back as well. I won't even mention the wait at the bus stops.

Evelyn wasn't in today, apparently sick - hopefully nothing to worry about. Stephanie didn't seem to have a good day either. While talking to me she shifted in her seat, got tangled in telephone wire and dropped her phone on the floor. It was dead. Later, she joined Herman and myself in a quest to go for a smoke outside. Itgen (managing another team on our floor) saw us grabbing the lift back up, and smiled about it when we were back at our desks. Herman and Stephanie were obviously worried about any consequences, but having known Itgen since school I'm sure it'll be alright. Anyway, surely we're allowed a breath of fresh air while working late?