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Anything noteworthy happen to you today?

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aquagoat - 4-11-2020 at 19:48

Haha, how I understand that, it's important to have a good amount of cuddle. :D

polydigm - 5-11-2020 at 00:16

Amen to that!

BBP - 13-11-2020 at 16:27

So my fraud hunting earned me the Top Gun award at work. What it means? No idea.

BBP - 15-11-2020 at 10:37

Asked our team manager and she said something small is on the way. Still I haven't seen the video announcing it.

aquagoat - 17-11-2020 at 18:45

Something small??? Hum Hum...

polydigm - 17-11-2020 at 22:42

How's it going guys? Things are well with me. Except the swimming pool has closed down again because we just had a Covid spike.

BBP - 20-11-2020 at 07:41

Doing fine, getting a bit stressed out with the St Nicholas shopping...

polydigm - 20-11-2020 at 23:56

Another Christmas already!

Our lockdown is going to end 3 days early at midnight tonight. It turns out that one of the cases admitted to lying about his contacts. He won't be fined, but he'll have to live with having caused a lockdown that wasn't necessary.

aquagoat - 22-11-2020 at 08:53

Glad your lockdown will soon be other, Poly. But damn, how dumb some people can be, sometimes.

Everything's fine, as far as I'm concerned. I'm impatiently waiting for Christmas, though.

BBP - 23-11-2020 at 17:31

Back to work after a weeken. Now to clean the house for the next weekend! BF may be coming over next week.

BBP - 25-11-2020 at 18:32

Hope you're all holding up...

aquagoat - 25-11-2020 at 19:18

We do, we do!!!!

Have a great week-end with your BF, Bonny. By the way, what's his name?

polydigm - 25-11-2020 at 22:49

Back to swimming again this week.

It looks like we'll have Covid vaccinations starting in March next year - hopefully a light at the end of the tunnel.

BBP - 25-11-2020 at 23:51

BF is called Peter. I met him at another internet forum that we still both frequent and we've been keeping it under wraps, they don't know there. :D

aquagoat - 26-11-2020 at 19:16

Quote: Originally posted by BBP  
BF is called Peter. I met him at another internet forum that we still both frequent and we've been keeping it under wraps, they don't know there. :D

Ok. You did well, nobody has to know.:D

aquagoat - 26-11-2020 at 19:17

Quote: Originally posted by polydigm  
Back to swimming again this week.

It looks like we'll have Covid vaccinations starting in March next year - hopefully a light at the end of the tunnel.

Glad you can go back to swimming, Poly.

BBP - 27-11-2020 at 07:43

Top gun award came in. It's a bar of chocolate.

BBP - 29-11-2020 at 19:59

BF's going back home. He was very brave in dealing with the wasp nest that has been bugging us since the end of summer. They have made an underground nest under the conifer hedge - and a few months ago one of them stung me in the finger, which swelled completely and hurt for a week. So I'm very happy he was brave enough to inject their lair with poison.

I hope that's the last we'll see of those buggers!

BBP - 1-12-2020 at 22:32

Haven't seen any wasps around in the last two days. When BF and I checked it out there were two disoriented ones.

aquagoat - 2-12-2020 at 18:48

That's good news, Bonny. I hope they won't come back again.

BBP - 4-12-2020 at 09:12

Primus is organising a livestream and that angel boyfriend I'm dating bought me a ticket <3 !

(The concert is available to stream for 72 hours afterwards)

polydigm - 9-12-2020 at 00:13

Are you talking about about those black and yellow striped European wasps? We had a nest of those in the front wall a while back. They are very aggressive wasps. The Council came and sprayed them with a special powder for free.

BBP - 10-12-2020 at 17:43

I didn't care to take a closer look, but yes, they are aggressive!

Back from BF's, he's so sweet! :biggrin:

BBP - 14-12-2020 at 07:51

Back doing the nefarious AIVD puzzle - spent all day on it and failed on all accounts.

polydigm - 22-12-2020 at 22:48


aquagoat - 23-12-2020 at 09:09

Nope, Poly, no stress here.

BBP - 23-12-2020 at 17:43

I'm most definitely way too stressed, but I'm visiting my boyfriend starting tomorrow for a week. Hope it stops the shaking!

aquagoat - 24-12-2020 at 09:29

Why all that stress, Bonny, if you don't mind my asking?

polydigm - 25-12-2020 at 23:08

Merry Xmas guys!!

aquagoat - 26-12-2020 at 09:12

Merry Christmas to you and your family too, Poly . And merry Christmas to you, Bonny and Bonny's family and boyfriend.:bouncy:

punknaynowned - 31-12-2020 at 00:25

Merry XMAS and Happy New Year all!
just checking in saying I'm still existing

...2020 24 hrs to go...:bouncy:

BBP - 1-1-2021 at 20:31

Work and my sister :bald:

A happy new year to all of you!

BBP - 2-1-2021 at 22:02

BF is and continues to remain totally sweet. :biggrin: New Dir En Grey single coming out and all, so in the end it's a good day!


About the most famous case at the office currently was one idiot who had booked a stay on Mallorca while not knowing that's an island. He had arrived as close as he could to Malllorca at 6PM, finding himself unable to travel to the accommodation because no ferry or plane and then he had to spend the night in his car, rather than his villa with pool.

Just encountered the tale of a Dutch woman who chatted on the AirBNB site on one of our accommodations, then placed a booking on our site. With such a short-term booking it's never a booking straight away but a request, so we can verify with the home owner that the stay can happen. She then travelled all the way to Germany to the accommodation, where she was turned down by the home owner - since there is a lockdown in Germany prohibiting all stays for tourist purposes. And then of course her car broke down, according to the client during a snow storm, she was nearly hospitalized with hypothermia and her car had to be towed away and she had to take the cab so she's trying to get her money back for us.

Idiot.

polydigm - 4-1-2021 at 21:50

Happy new year everyone.

Not so happy for those two, Bonny!

BBP - 5-1-2021 at 12:05

The Mallorca man happened two, three years ago. And that's the kind of stupidity that prevents happiness.

Making progress in AIVD puzzle, so I feel a bit smarter now.

aquagoat - 5-1-2021 at 18:42

Happy new year to you, guys. I hope it's gonna be great.

BBP - 6-1-2021 at 18:27

This is making me feel conflicted. It's... cute?
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=lucas+the+spider&ia=videos&...

BBP - 9-1-2021 at 18:15

Sooooo... one new year's resolution was to get rid of my spider phobia.

On day 1 I had some pretty bad nightmares but I'm OK now... i think...

aquagoat - 10-1-2021 at 08:41

Courage, you'll manage to control that fear with time.

BBP - 13-1-2021 at 19:10

Handed in the AIVD puzzle, so back to life now...

BBP - 14-1-2021 at 17:31

Unfortunately there's a Corona outbreak in the nursing home where my boyfriend's grandmother lives. Keeping my fingers crossed...

aquagoat - 16-1-2021 at 08:45

Yep, let's hope nothing bad happens to her.

BBP - 16-1-2021 at 18:36

Snow here! It's beginning to look like winter!

aquagoat - 17-1-2021 at 08:29

It snowed for a few hours, yesterday, but then it got a bit warmer and the snow didn't stand, unfortunately.

BBP - 17-1-2021 at 12:49

Not much here either unfortunately... anyway... Feeling a bit under the weather and am contemplating on buying a new mattress.

BBP - 18-1-2021 at 20:07

My BFs grandmother fortunately doesn't have Corona. She's doing pretty well without visitors - oddly better than with visitors.

aquagoat - 19-1-2021 at 18:51

That's very good news, Bonny. I hope it's gonna stay that way.

BBP - 19-1-2021 at 21:03

I'm having lockdown issues in that I really need a new mattress and am not eager to just buy one online if I don't get to test it before buying.

BBP - 20-1-2021 at 14:12

Bought one online since my old mattress (approx 25 years old) has started to bite back.

aquagoat - 20-1-2021 at 19:10

25 years old? It's done its time, indeed. You're gonna like your new matress.

BBP - 20-1-2021 at 22:12

You think that's old? My dad's current mattress is one he's had since the 70s.

aquagoat - 21-1-2021 at 18:18

:forumsmiley10::forumsmiley10: Yes, but, in the 70's, things were still built to last. I guess. :lol::lol:

BBP - 21-1-2021 at 19:01


BBP - 24-1-2021 at 12:28

Mattress needs to get used to.

Back at playing chess, which is great fun.

BBP - 24-1-2021 at 21:22

Today two protests (Pegida and anti-corona measures) in Eindhoven were supposed to be held, but they were forbidden bu the local mayor - what followed was violent protest, riot, pillaging and vandalism. I'm in utter shock seeing this in my home town of 35+ years.

https://www.omroepbrabant.nl/nieuws/3330862/zo-verliep-de-ch...

aquagoat - 25-1-2021 at 18:34

Quote: Originally posted by BBP  
Mattress needs to get used to.

Back at playing chess, which is great fun.
I should go back to playing chess. I haven't played that game since I was 13. that was a long time ago.

Yep, a new mattress needs to get used to, it can even, sometimes, be uncomfortable in the beginning.

It's Bad But It's From The Heart

BBP - 25-1-2021 at 22:45


That is my town. That is the sleepy little place we used to joke about.

"You? A tourist? And you came here?"

It's the city where I'd walk hand in hand with my father as we went to the library, waiting at the busy zebra crossing until we could finally cross. That street that is a pedestrian zone now, where the kids play in the fountains on hot days.

Where the little honeycomb shops stood, now all gone. The ones a friend of a friend designed the art for.

Where there is a monthly record market where on one glorious day I found a Tim curry vinyl.

The Chinese restaurant with the giant dragon mural that scared me so badly as a toddler. Where I later learnt raged a huge fire in the seventies that killed some 30 people.

The station, with the huge windows, the restaurant behind it that I always wanted to visit.
That station where I rushed in and out several times a week as a college student. Where we'd wave goodbye to Granny whenever she went back home.

The station square where Philips held its 100th anniversary exhibition where I first encountered touch screens and smell-o-vision and CD-i.

The concert hall where my life changed three times. Where I saw my first rock concert - converting me to Primus and bass guitar.

The hard pavement where I waited in line to see Dir En Grey live, with some friendly German ladies - within hours I looked upon them as sisters. When I was named Visitor Of The Month for being the only Dutchman waiting in line, and won tickets for that concert I asked someone I only knew online to come with, not knowing that was the start of a beautiful friendship.


The Light Tower square, where my boyfriend and I first met. "You didn't see the Mediamarkt?"
The concert hall where he first held me when I fainted.

That little corner where the Cardboard shop used to be, where you could get anything provided it's made from cardboard.

The Piazza square - now with roof but without the sculptures - where I made the first photo that was genuinely cool and artsy. With the large rectangular artworks that were lost to us in a storm.

The bunker where I used to sit and draw the people walking by.

The little street with the book store I loved to duck into.

This town - hideous and bare to some, but full of memories of special moments. The town where I was born and bred, the town where I have lived for 35 years.

I saw this town on fire today.

How can people do this? How can people ruin the station piano? How can people throw fireworks at a police horse? How can people throw bicycles through advertising boards? How can people set cars on fire? How can people rob the convenience store and thrown in the windows on the first floor restaurant?

But the biggest question is why? If anyone wanted to protest a curfew the last thing you'd do is something that warrants a curfew. Why would you protest the Corona measures because of what it does to local entrepreneurs - then throw in the windows of those local entrepreneurs?

More and more answers treacle into the mail slot, into the newspapers. How my sleepy little home town got in the global news. How the miscreants are rioting youngsters aged 15-25 in black hoodies.
How people who are at best "naive" and at the worst "complete morons" think that just because they have a camera they feel the need to go out and film the riots when the police have officially ordered everybody to leave the town centre - and then complain they've been hit by the police water cannon on a cold day.

BBP - 26-1-2021 at 22:54

Punky said at the Zappa forum he was having login issues (that may be because of the cookie thing) - he sends us all his regards.

BBP - 29-1-2021 at 22:47

Rough day today - backlog got to me - but I now have a two day weekend!

...Away from my boyfriend due to the curfew and the riots...

BBP - 1-2-2021 at 18:40

I'm doing my best to post more but unfortunately there's not much happening... I'm still scared of spiders...

Also trying to knit gloves. And yesterday I had an issue when I went for groceries. A shampoo bottle (of the Shampoo For Men kind) I bought opened in my backpack and consequently there was Musky Glob all over its contents.

Plus my backpack now smells Manly. Yuck.

aquagoat - 2-2-2021 at 09:24

Quote: Originally posted by BBP  
Punky said at the Zappa forum he was having login issues (that may be because of the cookie thing) - he sends us all his regards.
Say hello to to him for me, please.

aquagoat - 2-2-2021 at 09:31

Quote: Originally posted by BBP  
I'm doing my best to post more but unfortunately there's not much happening... I'm still scared of spiders...

Also trying to knit gloves. And yesterday I had an issue when I went for groceries. A shampoo bottle (of the Shampoo For Men kind) I bought opened in my backpack and consequently there was Musky Glob all over its contents.

Plus my backpack now smells Manly. Yuck.
Ha, it happened to me once. My billy can opened in my backpack in the morning, but I only noticed it when it was time for lunch. All the smoked chicken and ratatouille was scattered at the bottom of the bag. I was seriously pissed off. And the backpack reeked of smoked chicken.

Don't worry about the spider thing, it takes a looong time to master your fear.

BBP - 2-2-2021 at 22:54

Today I went sprinkling baking soda everywhere. I knew it was both good for cooking and good for cleaning, but seeing on the website what else you can do with it... Making clay, bath bombs, paint... List is seemingly endless. Weird.

BBP - 7-2-2021 at 00:23

Pretty tough week but finally a two-day weekend... with snow!

BBP - 7-2-2021 at 15:45

Snow! Snooooooow!

aquagoat - 8-2-2021 at 08:33

Snow here too. So no work today.

BBP - 8-2-2021 at 17:20

I did have to work, but only half day. spent the other half cleaning the pavement and going to the supermarket for 10kg bag of potatoes.

Was a bit precarious.

aquagoat - 9-2-2021 at 08:45

I suppose it was. Be careful when walking on snow. IT didn't snow much here, but it's too cold outside for me to work with zinc, it would break, so today is home again. Probably the same tomorrow.

BBP - 9-2-2021 at 14:25

Hope you can enjoy your time off!

Swept the pavement again. Good exercise.

aquagoat - 11-2-2021 at 10:09

I do enjoy it quite a lot, actually. Thanks.

Yep, sweeping the pavement is good simple exercise.

aquagoat - 11-2-2021 at 17:57


BBP - 12-2-2021 at 10:51

That's so cool! Seems dirt cheap for a 7-string Ibanez, good buyer skills!

aquagoat - 13-2-2021 at 09:11

Yes, it's a very cheap one, and since the strings buzzed all over the fretboard and they didn't want to adjust the neck relierf, etc, they sold it almost for nothing.
Yesterday, I completely disassembed the guitar and straightened the neck. The truss rod works perfectly fine, which is cool.
I'm gonna sand the body and refinish it. Haven't decided yet what kind of finish I'm gonna use, though. Maybe I'll do something like that:

or what I usually do:

BBP - 14-2-2021 at 18:26

This got a chuckle out of me!

Attachment: key.jpg (42kB)
This file has been downloaded 210 times

aquagoat - 15-2-2021 at 18:31

Nice.

BBP - 17-2-2021 at 07:20

Going to the bright Steve Vai look for your guitar?

aquagoat - 17-2-2021 at 18:35

I'd really like to try a swirl, one day. Something like this,for example:



But I think I'm gonna go with something like the first pic in my other post. I received the spray paint cans today. Base coat will be silver, and other layers will be red, orange and blue. I'll see what it looks like. If I like it, cool, otherwise I'll try something else.

BBP - 17-2-2021 at 19:49

Nice!

BBP - 18-2-2021 at 22:31

Cat versus guitar:
http://www.catsvscancer.org/2021/02/kitty-isnt-ready-hear-gu...

(check out the site - for every video you watch a small amount of money is donated to a good cause!)

aquagoat - 19-2-2021 at 17:15

Excellent!!!!!:D:D:D

BBP - 23-2-2021 at 10:57

Been a bit quiet here since BF came over. He's still here being utterly adorable.

BBP - 24-2-2021 at 19:16

Guess what? He could stay an extra two days! :biggrin:

aquagoat - 24-2-2021 at 19:28

That's good news!!!!! Enjoy, darling.;)

polydigm - 27-2-2021 at 00:47

Hey guys. It seems my last post here was to wish happy new year on 5th January. I remember reading Bonny's post about the Corona outbreak in the nursing home where her boyfriend's grandmother lives and typed a reply, but somehow it didn't get posted. Anyway, I've caught up with what I missed.

That riot in Eindhoven is freaky. Having been there it seems even freakier. It must have been pretty upsetting, Bonny. Those riots are orchestrated by right wing extremist groups. They're totally hypocritical as pointed out by that article you posted. Looting the small businesses that they claim to support against the deprivations of Corona lock downs.

It's not enough though, to throw labels like "right wing extremist" around and use fancy concepts like "ideologies" and so on. Close up, simple common sense psychological analysis of these people shows that they are basically disaffected sociopaths that have adopted makeshift excuses like "it's dog eat dog, man", to behave like complete assholes. It's like the term fascist, whatever deep analysis that implies, fascists are basically just jumped up bullies.

Anyway, on a lighter note, I saw you're working on a guitar rebuilding project, Aqua. How's it going?

And, long time no chat, how are you both going in general?

aquagoat - 28-2-2021 at 09:06

Hey Poly, glad to see you back. Life's pretty good, as far as I'm concerned. What about you?

The guitar project is going well. I've removed the frets, and started sanding the body. It should be done pretty quickly if the weather remains shiny.

BBP - 28-2-2021 at 15:00

We've had pretty freaky weather here in the past two weeks: -10 (Celsius) one week and +19 the next. It feels like spring and two weeks ago I was still clearing snow from the pavement.

Just waved goodbye to my boyfriend, who's going back up north. We had intended for him to stay until Wednesday because I had the weekend off and Tuesday I was on leave due to dentist appointment, but since I had Thursday off as well, and a short working day on Friday, we could make it until Sunday afternoon. This because the car has to be back Monday and there is a curfew here. (which I know is worse in France than it is out here, it's 9PM to 4:30AM. All the same it means he can't have dinner here because he wouldn't be back in time.)

I've never had BF stay here for so long, over a week. Quite refreshing. There isn't much to do here at the moment but we went on walks, played computergames, watched some Baumgartner Restoration videos and Tod Browning's Freaks together.



aquagoat - 1-3-2021 at 18:40

Bonny, if you don't mind my asking, why don't the two of you just live together? You've been together for quite a while, now, perhaps it's time for you to move in?

BBP - 1-3-2021 at 21:14

We're both somewhat stuck to the location where we live, due to work and family. Plus neither of us is earning at top capacity - house prices where I live are towering and house prices where he lives may be affordable, but I'd have to learn to drive.

Watched Tod Browning's Freaks again with him of course, which was great fun. We rarely watch films together due to the distance, and I noted to him that we have primarily watched cult films (others are Clue and Kung Fu Hustle).

Looked into Johnny Eck after it - he's the one without legs and who polishes his gun in the ending) - he was a Baltimore guy like FZ, a keen artist, photographer and model builder. Together with his twin brother of normal stature Robert, he joined an illusionist in 1936 to perform with the ultimate maiden-sawed-in-half trick. Robert would heckle the illusionist, who would then call him onstage to use in his next trick. During the trick Robert would be swapped with Johnny and a midget in a suit that's just trousers - after the "sawing", Johnny would exclaim "I want my legs back!" after which the "legs" would run off, with Johnny chasing them - sometimes even into the audience. They'd be joined and swapped with Robert, who'd storm off angrily threatening to sue the illusionist.

I would have loved to see that!!
And here's the Johnny Eck-museum!
http://www.johnnyeckmuseum.com/

aquagoat - 4-3-2021 at 18:22

Ok, I get it.

Freak is an awesome flick. I should watch it again. I didn't know about Johnny Eck, though .It must have been a cool variation of the trick. I, too, would have loved to see that.

BBP - 5-3-2021 at 22:18

Work's exhausting...

polydigm - 6-3-2021 at 17:30


BBP - 7-3-2021 at 14:14

No, I work for the company behind Belvilla (nowadays that's Oyo Vacation Homes).

We are a link between home owners and people who want to rent a holiday home. Besides from our own website (belvilla.com) and our other brands, we have over a thousand partners that work with us - travel agencies, and web partners like Booking.com, Trivago, Locasun, HomeAway, and also AirBNB,

AirBNB is a horrible site - we don't communicate our prices to the client because they pay more for ABB - ABB terminates all possible contact with a client after two weeks and ABB clients tend to be the poorest informed about costs on site and such. Now that Corona is making itself known it's shocking how many people book without looking into the restrictions of the country they're going to.

Within The Netherlands it's very well possible to have a stay in a holiday home - especially for a family it's a safe and comfortable way of staying out - Belgians can still book within Belgium, the French within France... Germany and Austria are completely locked tourism-wise.

That said, I don't think this company will be around much longer, primarily due to mismanagement.

The demand is much lower of course, especially now it seems that this is the second Easter high season we miss.

BBP - 10-3-2021 at 18:37

In good news my spider phobia is calming!

polydigm - 12-3-2021 at 15:33

Bonny, are you trying anything in particular to deal with your spider phobia or just toughing it out?

BBP - 12-3-2021 at 16:19

Looking up a lot of information and studying them in their natural habitat, moving forward to the point I can hold any of the spiders which freak me out but which aren't dangerous (notably Pholcus phalangioides, which are very frequent in my home and which scare me badly - partly because they have the same colour and "stringy legness" as my own hair. I have gotten scared of my own hair thinking it was a spider. And vice versa.

BBP - 19-3-2021 at 20:56

Whoa, has it been a week? I can barely think of anything that happened to me that's worth mentioning this week.

aquagoat - 20-3-2021 at 07:56

Time flies so fast. I barely saw that week pass. But I managed to hurt my right shoulder and my left knee at work, and one of my co-workers has to take the covid test cause he's apparently been in contact with someone who was in contact with someone who was in contact with... etc, etc.

And I'm bald again, no more hair on my face and head. :D

BBP - 20-3-2021 at 11:17

:bald:

Sorry to hear about your injuries... I hope that your colleague's COVID free.

Enjoying a 3-day weekend. Think I'll do some more Excel classes.

polydigm - 21-3-2021 at 04:23

Julie's dad has been in care for a while and has just taken a turn for the worse, so he probably hasn't got very long. It's very difficult to get clear cut information at this distance. We had a surprise visit from our eldest son this weekend, which was lovely. I've just entered a composition competition - music appropriate for dance. The winning entry is then used in a choreographer competition. The winning composer and choreographer then team up to produce a work for a performance by the Royal Academy Of Dance in 2022.

BBP - 21-3-2021 at 11:17

I'm sorry to hear about Julie's dad... all the best to you two!
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