The Cultural Divide

Travel and Weather and Such

2007-03-17T07:28:00.000-06:00

It's been a month. I've had some interesting travels, so there's finally something interesting to talk about.
I've been two weeks in Louisville, and past week in Philadelphia. Well actually, the week hasn't past yet, since the bad weather got me stuck here through Sunday.
Louisville, KY (Kentucky) is an interesting place. It doesn't sound right at all, but they call it the "Kentuckiana" area, since it's right on the border with Indiana (Ohio river separates the states). Louisville is a pretty nice city, and bigger than you'd think. There's a Hard Rock cafe, which puts the city on the map for me. First week I was there, they ran out of rental cars in the class I had reserved, so they upgraded me. Can anyone say "Mus-tang Con-ver-ti-ble"? Great car. I'm sure they have to change those tyres far more often then the other rental cars.
The first weekend, instead of flying back to Denver, I flew to Atlanta to meet some friends flying through Atlanta en route from Brasil back to Belgium. They had 11 hours of lay-over, so enough to go visit Atlanta. I rented a car and we ended up visiting the CNN center and the Coke World museum, and got something to eat in a downtown McDonalds, which unfortunately I don't have any pictures of, but it was definitely memorable. Next time you see me, ask me about that.
Monday morning it was back to Louisville for another week of hard labour! When flying out on Friday, my flight was delayed, missed the connection flight and ended up arriving in Denver around 9.45pm, which felt like 11.45 since I'd been on the east coast for two weeks. Spent all day Saturday doing two weeks worth of laundry (and it was gorgeous weather outside!), and Sunday around 3pm I left home, back to the airport to Philadelphia.
Philadelphia airport is even worse than Atlanta! Bagage claim is just way too small, they put multiple flight on the same caroussel, it's just a mess. Unbelievable.
Next, a taxi to the client site. I don't have a picture of it, but some Dutch woman does. This is what my cab looked like driving from the Philly airport to the client site. I've seen this before in movies, but still i was surprised to find myself in a scenery like this.
Now here comes the good part. Thursday it becomes obvious a storm system is moving in, and there's going to be snow on Friday. This is where the consultants and other business travellers get nervous. So joining the frenzy, I call up United to check if maybe I can get a flight out that same Thursday night. Nothing available. To be on the cautious side, I still decide to take an earlier flight (9.30am) out of Philadelphia. $100 change fee.
So Friday morning we board the plane, then sit on the tarmac for about 4hrs, since there's ice pellets (I'm still unsure of the exact translation, but it's somewhere between frozen rain and hail I guess) and no1 can take off. By the time they decide to just go back to the gate (4hrs later), all other flights are canceled, everyone has been rebooked (so all flight are full), and all hotels near the airport are full as well. Only thing left is a room downtown at Courtyard. Taxi ride to downtown $30, Courtyard room downtown $160. I get a new flight going out Sunday afternoon. Well actually they offered me a 7.55am flight out of Philly Sunday morning. At least let me get some sleep. So I ended up on the 1pm flight.
So, to make the best out of a bad situation, my colleague who lives in New Jersey will take me to New York to go see the St.Patrick's day parade. So that will be another post right here.

I just wonder how much this costs to the economy. How many people get stranded, how much it costs to get their hotels, meals and all that paid. Not to mention the air carrier losses. It's amazing when you start thinking about that.
But anyway, I have to run for the train to New Jersey. Adios!

Big thanks to Beth & Michelle for helping me out this weekend.

Circus Is In Town!

2007-02-14T18:50:00.000-07:00

... and it's called: Valentine's Day.
If you thought Valentine was becoming too commercial in Belgium... guess again. Come and see here. The supermarkt is stuffed with big hart-shaped balloons saying "I WUV YOU" and cute little (ok, they're pretty big actually) stuff like that. I went there today to pick up some bread and soup (perfect Valentine dinner for me and my teddy bear), and people are actually buying that stuff! Men, women, and other sexes alike. This one girl, probably around my age, walked out with 3 balloons, one stuffed with... something, and the other big red harts saying "i love you"'. This morning on the radio one guy's girlfriend actually had something like that delivered to his work place! Can you imagine? Flowers, balloons, cute fluffy stuff. God, I would be terribly embarassed!
Sure I've been through Valentine's day, but except for the classic roses and a nice dinner I don't think I've really ever gone crazy. Chocolates and balloons? Puh-lease.
So, to my yet-to-be-found new girlfriend: please don't go crazy on Valentine's. If you wanna buy something, go ahead, but don't overdo it. And formost, pleeaaase, NO BALLOONS.

So what am I doing on Valentine's? I'll be celebrating being single again and being able to do whatever I want! How do i do that? Assuming all those losers have plans for tonight, I will abuse the available bandwidth: get online and play some computer games over the internet with the real men! I will have bread and soup and drink pop all night. Then, with red bloodshed eyes I will go to bed way too late. Tomorrow morning I will look terrible because I haven't had enough sleep, and everybody at work will think I had a rough night. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

Colorado Is The Place To Be

2007-01-28T21:34:00.000-07:00

With some major delay, I have finally put myself behind the keyboard to write some more. I will put it in my calendar to make sure I don't forget to update the blog in the future! I now have a home office with desk, chair, and custom-built computer (yeah baby) so I'm good to go.
As is to be expected, I'm still low on furniture but high on hi-tech. When I brought back my DVDs from Belgium after New Year's, I had to get me a second DVD player to be able to play the EU region code. I figured, since I had a Philips DVD player, I would just get the same one. When in the store, I told the guy that I needed a second player, on which I could switch the region code. According to him, NONE of the players allowed to do that. I told him I'd thought you could do it on all of them, if you only knew the code to punch on the remote. After he goes to check with 'his manager', he comes back telling me none of the players allow to change the region code. So, when back home, I go online, google the whole thing and finally find out I can just disable the region code on the Philips player all together. Hah! Guess I saved some money there.
Meanwhile, temperatures have been up, temperatures have been down, and we actually got above the freezing point last week. Thanks to the sun being out on top of that, some of the ice in my street has finally starting melting, and actually right in front of my house, most of it is gone (at least where the cars drive... where I park I still need to be careful not to break my legs every day). And that makes me feel better, at least the chances of some idiot racing down the street and spinning on ice and crashing into my car have gone down drastically.
And there are definitely plenty of idiot drivers around here. You would think in a state like Colorado that people are used to ice and snow on the road. Noooo sir. 5 times already, I have stepped outside because I could hear a car being stuck. Now you wonder how I can hear that. Well, lots of people here seem to think that, if you get stuck in snow or on ice, and your car has no traction, giving some more gas will actually solve the problem. Hence, 5 times already I have heard an engine scream from the top of its lungs signaling me to try to talk some sense in the driver. Trying to convince them that pushing the car is a good thing, seems to be a difficult task as well. "My car is too big and too heavy for you to push" (duh) and "what good will that do" are the most common responses. With just a little bit of gas and a little push you may just get some traction. But then again, getting people to realize letting down on that gaspedal is going to help is very difficult. One guy was so stuborn with the gaspedal, he was unable to stop on the ice once he got out, and halted his car only inches away from the car across the street.
In other news, the American Idol series is back on! I have only ever watched the first series in Belgium, but I was curious to see the US version since the country's so much bigger and hopefully more talented (*cough*). Now, obviously the first episodes the show the worst of the worst, and in Belgium I figured that a lot of those terrible singers all dressed up in goofy outfits, where probably people that took a bet to get on TV and sing horribly while making a fool out of themselves. Other people unfortunately where encouraged by family they should audition, thereby proving that bad hearing and no musical talent runs through families.
However, here in the US, the different levels of people entering is just... different. All in all, I would hereby officially rename the series to "American Actor". I honestly believe that easily 80% of the stuff being shown is enacted. Either by the makers of the program, or the people coming on themselves. It's a topic I could keep on writing about, but there is one particular piece of this 1 episode I've seen which I found hilarious, and which seem to have been picked up by some newsstations as well. So I thought I'd share this. The head of the jury here is actually a British guy called Simon. One of the candidates who got blown off was getting a little angry and argued how a Brit could possibly decide on an American idol, and he ended his rant by asking for the guy's VISA saying he doubted the Brit actually had a legal immigration status. The sound volume is really low, so krank it up so you can here it. Also, which adds to the fun, notice how he's "tawkin" in his New Yorker accent. Here it is. If they remove it, search google video for "american idol ian benardo".
Other then the great work out pushing cars and heaving beers in front of the TV, I have bought me some regular skis and am back to full time skiing instead of the snow blades. The move back the skis was easier then expected. The amount of people on the road to the ski resorts here however, is not all that pleasant. I guess since the east-coast has gotten little to no snow, everyone just comes here.
But then again, Colorado and Denver in particular is the place to be ;-)

Cool!

2007-01-13T22:51:00.000-07:00

It's been snowing and freezing the past couple of days. While the roads still haven't cleared up from the past 3 storms (it's never gotten warm enough for everything to melt), there's some new freezing rain and ice forming on top. The main roads are never a problem, but it's the residential areas (like my street) that are the problem. The ice is still a fist deep, but where the cars drive, the ice has been melted down. So basically, you got fist deep tracks in the street. So far I've pushed 3 cars in front of my house, that got stuck at the side of the road while letting someone else pass through 'the tracks'. Haven't had any trouble myself so far (my Jeep rules baby!).
Where ice did get the chance to melt last week, it started forming little pools, that eventually turn into pits in the ice. So some streets just have holes all over the ice layer. Other streets that have no ice anymore, sometimes have holes in the street where the snow probably seeped in it and expanded when it started freezing.
And although the main roads and highways are free, the danger still lurks around the corner. Last week, when getting onto the interstate, 4-5 cars in front of me, a Jeep Wrangler gets too close to the side where the snowplows have piled up the snow, and hits an ice patch. The Jeep starts spinning, crosses 3 lanes over and ends up on its side. Rush hour, but somehow the Jeep didn't hit any other cars in its path. I pull up behind the car, and rushed out together with another guy from a van behind me, and we try to open the door and get the guy out. Amazingly, he is unharmed. Meanwhile somebody else had dialed 911, so couple minutes later the fire department arrives, minutes after that the police. And so the party was complete. The jeep lay across two lanes, so traffic was backed up in an instant. Had to give a statement as to what happened and finally got my way around to work.
I did get a freaky warning that way to how dangerous it still is, even when it is not snowing or the road looks fine. I'm pretty careful driving these days, but ever since I keep it extra safe.
On the bad side of this whole winter snowy stuff (ok, the car accident was pretty bad too), it is so freezing cold (-6F tonight here in Denver, that's -20C), that I am not going skiing. I really want to go, it's been too long (couple of weeks), but right now we got "Arctic air" here, so let's just wait until that's blown over. -6 here in downtown Denver at 1600 feet, just imagine what that gives at 10K feet.
I'll just put on my snowboots and enjoy the snow down here (couple of inches tonight), put on some extra layers to keep warm. Cool!

Let It Snow!

2007-01-05T21:22:00.000-07:00

Trying to get to Belgium on the 20th, a blizzard hit Colorado. Since Delta would not change my flight for free (and the fee, since it was an international ticket, was about $3000), I decided to get up at 3am and go to the airport. The blizzard was supposed to start around 6am, and Delta's first flight out was 6.30. So I go to the airport (already started snowing), and was able to get a standby for an early flight. Lucky enough I actually got a seat and we finally took off a little past 7. Lucky me, because plenty of colleagues were not able to make it back to Denver from the customer sites.
Even in Belgium they were showing pictures from Denver with the blizzard. I could only imagine how my car was buried in snow, parked outside of my house, on the street.
Back in Belgium, I was depressed with the weather. The only time the sky has that kind of color here in Denver, is when it's snowing... In those two weeks I spent in Belgium, I saw the sun shine just twice, and only for minutes. It was cold, it was rainy. Yuk! Besides the weather, it was nice to see the friends, see the family, go through the holiday festivities and just enjoy the time off. On top of that, I have no internet in my place in Belgium anymore so no email etc.
A couple of days before my return, a second blizzard hit Colorado. So accumulating snow was piled up here at the house when I got in. And then today, some more snow got in. Although I have to admit I wasn't here with the two blizzards, but I don't mind the snow, even if it's nasty and tricky to get to the office and back. I've had the opportunity to try out the 4x4 LOW gear to try and get out of the parking spot on the street. After the two blizzards, there's an ice/snow layer about 6 inches (15cm) in my street, which is not a major road. Where everybody's driving, there's tracks of 6 inches deep, making it difficult to get out of the track to park the car. Today there was some more snow, and my front lawn now has a nice 20 inches (50cm) of snow walls. Way cool! Some people here have had enough, it's basically been three weekends in a row of shoveling snow. It's going to be really cold the next couple of days, and the ski resorts are going to be packed this weekend.
Let it snow! I haven't had enough yet ;-)

Technological Advances

2006-12-14T22:14:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I've posted, so my apologies for any avid readers who keep on checking the site daily (I know you're out there!). It's been crazy busy at work with a go-live, and the post go-live support hasn't been laid back either. But time comes when a man feels the urge to share some information with his fellow earthlings. So here we go.
To vent some of my frustration, I want to talk about the technological advancement here in the US. Mainly the banking industry has a tremendous technological arsenal.
NOT!
First of all, let me explain the difference between online banking in Belgium, and online banking in the US. In Belgium, you get a little device (and this is different for several banks, but it's usually some device and something you need to do) where you can put in your debet card. When you go to the online banking website, you type in your card number. This gets you a "request" code, which you punch in with your debet card in the device. Next, the device asks for your pin number of the card, you punch that in. This gives you a "response code" to put in the website for verification. You're in. Now with each transaction you try to make, you'll have to go through the same process to authorize whatever you've punched in. Essentially you won't be able to do anything without the device, the debet card, and the pin number for the card.
Let me tell you how it goes in the US: you have a username, a password, and there you go.
Next, let's say you want to set up recurrent payments. For example, when I was still renting a place in Belgium I used to have my rent transferred to my landlord's bank account (at another bank) automatically at the 1st of every month. So obviously, I want to do the same here. After some searching I find out how to add my landlord to the list of people I can pay to, and set up the recurrent amount.
Now here's the hi-tech technology behind the scene: at the 1st of every month, fully automatically, a CHEQUE gets sent out to him with the CORRECT amount. How amazing is that?
I've checked and double checked and triple checked. There is only 1 way to set up recurrent payments. I will have to go to the bank and see if we can somehow connect a wire to my landlord's bank to see if there's a way to get the cheque over to their bank account. Maybe with like one of those vacuum tubes? "Sending a cheque over the wire".
Next, paying a bill. There's nothing like in Belgium, where you can just go to your online banking, punch in the recipient's bank account, type in a payment reference, an amount, and have it transferred and automatically processed. But luckily enough most big companies allow you to go to their website, log in, and just pay with your credit card (of which, as a true US resident, I own 4 by now).
Another thing are the automatic payments, where you authorize a company (like cable, electricity, etc) to take your amount due out of your account each month. This is a HASSLE to set up around here. And then again it's way too easy too. What you basically do, is VOID a cheque (yes, i have cheques here, those paper thingies are still VERY common around here) and send the cheque to whatever company. The cheque contains a "routing number" and your bank account number. That's enough for them to set it up. So if I understand that correctly, anywhere that I would pay with a cheque (which I have not done up until now, and I do not intend to do that), people would be able to use the routing number to get money out of my account??
What happens in Belgium is, you get a paper from whatever company you wish to authorize, with some numbers on it like your account number with them and a payment reference kinda thing. You then fill out the rest of the paperwork, sign in, and YOU bring that to your BANK. Which I understand as being the natural way for you to tell the bank you authorize this company. None of that here.
Kinda feels like the world is reversed here sometimes. Like when I got my car, they run your credentials to check your credit score (see earlier post). I had to sign a paper that THEY would not disclose my personal information. So when I asked the girl if it wouldn't be more logical for HER to sign the paper, and give that to me, all I got was a confused look. But I guess that would leave her with no proof when I would sue them with accusations of disclosing my personal information.

Win Some, Lose Some

2006-12-04T18:26:00.000-07:00

Travelling for work is tiring. Usually, I try not to make too much contact with the people next to me. Not that I don't want to socialize or care not to know who's sitting next to me, I just don't care to spend 3hrs listening to somebody's life story. And the problem is, once you start talking, there's no going back. If you have a chatterbox next to you, one word is enough to trigger that waterfall.
So, the same happened last Monday. I was lucky enough to get upgraded to first class. Once I got rid of my bag in the overhead bin, I sat down, looking out of the window to avoid getting into a conversation I may not get out of for the rest of the flight. So, next to me sits this guy, wearing a leather jacket when he comes in. Takes off the jacket, revealing tatoos on his arms. The guy seems to be there with his wife and daughter, later I hear he has two more kids in the back. Anyway, as rough as he may look, he says a friendly hi to me. After a stretch of silence, a conversation starts building up. He asks me what I do for a living, I explain I'm a software developer, heading out to a client. So I ask the guy what he does for a living. He's a musician. I ask him what he does exactly. He explains he is a guitarist, and he plays in a band called "3 Doors Down". Three Doors Down? I know that band! Can't think of any songs right now, but yeah, I know your band.
An interesting conversation follows, about live on the road as a rocker, dealing with slow record sales and the impact of illegal mp3 downloads, and even the impact of LEGAL mp3 downloads (in the 'old days', you had the buy the CD to get the 2/3 songs you like... nowadays, you just get the one song you like for 99 cents!). We talk about Europe, the US, Belgium, the festivals he's played at (never played at Werchter?! I'll need to call 'De Schuer'!) Interesting man, really.
Flying this morning I had an older woman next to me. The conversation was not bad, but again, even when looking away, turning your shoulders away to make sure you make clear you're done, over, basta. She just kept on chatting. No way out. When I got to the hotel tonight, I saw her sitting in the lobby when I was checking in. Uh-oh. I just got my key and got to my room. Once is enough.
I will need to buy me a set of headphones, those expensive noise canceling ones. That seems to be _the_ way to shut yourself off. But again, then you don't get to meet to occasional interesting rock star sitting next to you. You win some, you lose some.

RIP

2006-11-26T20:59:00.000-07:00

As part of my education to become a fully licensed American redneck, my friends here have been so kind to take my out to a shooting range. Never having shot a gun before in my life, let alone had one in my hands, I did not really know what to expect, but I was looking forward to it. Anyway, Friday afternoon we went to Cherry Creek State Park to their shooting range. So, first we went out to use the rifle. I had no clue what to expect, I knew their would be a big recoil but the whole shooting was nothing like I had expected. It's more the loud noise of your first shot then the recoil that surprises. Even with ear protection, it's pretty loud. And opposite to what you may think, having a scope to aim does not mean it's easy to do. I barely managed to hit the target, and even then it was just in the outer ring. Forget about the long range. Then again, I'm right handed but my right eye is short sighted. Let's just use that as my excuse (at least for the long range). Next, the shotgun! As expected, the recoil was heavier, and the sound louder. How he uses that to go hunting the whole WEEK, I don't know. Saturday my shoulder muscles were sore. Anyway, with the spread on those bullets, there's not a lot of problems hitting the target (ok, when hunting it's moving, and we were pretty close to it). Up next, the hand gun. Again, a lot more difficult then you'd expect or what you saw James Bond do in all of his movies. He probably has had more practice then I have, but still. The recoil is surprising too, although not as big as the rifle or the shotgun obviously. I did manage to hit the target multiple times but it's still pretty hard. At the end of the day, I'm sure the CSI team could have used their spray on my hand and find gunshot residu. Overall I'm glad they invited me and it was a really nice experience. Redneckification In Process (RIP)...

Black Friday

2006-11-24T11:02:00.000-07:00

Champagne, wine, turkey, pumpkin pie and all that. I survived Thanksgiving (maybe I need a t-shirt for that)! I never seen a Turkey being fried in oil like this, but it's kinda cool to see. I guess for a big piece of meat like this, you need something big to cook it.
But anyway, about Thanksgiving... It wasn't magical, it wasn't fireworks, just a good time with good food. And the Denver Broncos disappointing again, but let's not talk about that. To everyone's credit, the people I talked to knew about Belgium, couple of them even visited Brussels or travelled through Belgium going to Paris, so it was all good. Funny enough, nobody realised my English was pretty good until someone brought up the subject. I guess I blend in fine ;-) After the disappointing football game I got back home around 10pm. It was my best Thanksgiving ever. (Really!)
So, today is "The Day After Thanksgiving", otherwise known as "Black Friday". I'd heard of Good Friday, but Black Friday sounds a little synister. What it really is is the start of the shopping spree for the holidays. Thanksgiving is about the only day around here that all shops are closed. The day after Thanksgiving, shops are having big sales, they open up at 5 or 6 am (!!) and offer even extra discounts for people coming in before 9 am. It's crazy, and people actually do get up that early. Search youtube.com for "black friday" and you'll see more of the madness. Anyway, even the women at the dinner table agreed yesterday that Black Friday would be the worst day to go out shopping. Ever. And honestly, I've been checking the 'leaked ads' online, and there's some good deals, but like any sales, all the shops are just trying to get rid of their old or less quality products. So except for maybe checking a furniture store for a bargain on a coffee table (to go with the sofa they're about to deliver here), I'm not setting foot in any stores today. There's plenty more days to go crazy on holiday shopping!

Tis The Season

2006-11-20T19:24:00.000-07:00

Thanksgiving week means no travelling. At least, not outside of "town". I'm driving up to this customer way up north, so there's still an hour drive one way. But no planes or trains, just automobiles.
This leaves me some time to spend a couple of working days (I was about to say work week but that's obviously not true) at home, so that also means I could go grocery shopping and cook at home. But, since it's Thanksgiving this Thursday, the grocery store was pretty packed, people buying Turkeys, etc. I've never seen so many Turkeys. In fact, I'm not sure if I've ever seen the big birds being sold in one piece before. It's big and heavy. I will let you know how they taste.
It should be an interesting night. AND the Bronco's are playing Thursday night. Wooptydoo.

All of this is kind of funny. Thanks to today's television, it's all so familiar, but in fact we've never seen it. Thanksgiving, Halloween, Santa Claus. We know it, we've seen it. Kinda know how it goes. The world's become a small place. That's why I'm not necessarily amazed by the things I see, because I've seen it. It looks familiar. I guess I'm just walking around in a movie.
Happy thanksgiving!

Severe Weather Alert

2006-11-14T20:43:00.000-07:00

While I am in Kentucky, a blizzard is blazing in the Rockies in Colorado. There's fronts moving in from the Pacific coming over California into Colorado. Now this storm just keeps on moving east through the US, and tonight there's a severe weather alert for the plains. They are expecting a heavy tornado possibility through some of the plain states. If I understand it correctly, there can be as much 12 to 30 tornados tonight going through the 'tornado alley'. November 15th seems to be about the time of year that there's heavy chance for these conditions.
It's funny how the weather is so much different in the US then it is in Europe. Especially in Belgium... we don't have any tornados, no snow blizzards, even earthquakes... we had a 3 on the scale of Richter when there was this earthquake in Germany, but that's about it. All we know is overcast and rain, and two days of snow and two weeks of hot weather. Ok, this summer there was some nice weather.
I just hope this weather stuff cools down by Friday when I need to travel. Last week I got into Denver around 10pm, and I have the same flight this week. I don't want any delays, it's bad enough as it is. 10pm is midnight eastern (Kentucky time). I was dead tired last week when I got home. I have another 30-40 minute drive home from the airport.
Before I leave Louisville this week, I want to get a t-shirt from the Hard Rock cafe.This city of horse races has a Hard Rock downtown, about 5 blocks from the client site. Last week the guys here insisted on taking me to 'Krispy Kreme'. They apparently have great donuts, but this place has a production line which they deliver from throughout the states. And they insisted we go there and have warm donuts 'off the line'.
Me not being a donut fan altogether, kinda dragged along just to give them the pleasure of taking me there. To my surprise, these donuts were not the doughballs I've had before, but they rather reminded me of our beignets (smoutebollen) which you can get at carnivals throughout our country. They were pretty delicious.
According to a colleague there is a Krispy Kreme in Denver too. I'll have to check that out. There's no carnivals here, but I'll get some Krispy Kreme donuts 'off the line' and go to Sixflags Elitch Garden, which is close to downtown. You just need to adapt. No mardi gras (except in New Orleans), but just dress up for Halloween. No beignets at the carnival, but get donuts at Krispy Kreme. Next week I am invited for Thanksgiving dinner with a big family (if I understand about 30 people or so).
I am being 'emerged' in the local traditions. That should make for some good blog posts ;-)

Weekend! Oh wait, it's gone.

2006-11-12T20:27:00.000-07:00

Weekend just comes and go, and you've barely noticed. So I do try to maximize the time, and get some highlights so I can say 'I had a weekend'.
Saturday morning Comcast installed my cable, so I now have TV and internet at home. I am still camping out though, I now have a folding table sitting in the living room in front of the tv, with a folding chair. The tv sits on it's original cardboard box. But then again, since I will be out next week as well, there's no hurry to spend a lot of money.
Anyway, the installation of the cable is not as easy as it's in Belgium. Since this neighborhood still has most of the wiring running above the ground, there's all sorts of wires running from the pole in the back alley to the house. So that's electricity and who knows what else. Apparently the previous tennants had satellite, so the Comcast guy needed to get yet another cable over the backyard to the house. So after the whole thing was finally done, I did more shopping. Got me a wireless router for the internet, and went out to check some more furniture. Desk for the back room, living room furniture, ... I decided nothing.
So, to make the weekend memorable and get some fresh air this Sunday. took the car and drove up the mountains to go skiing. I left late and it was snowing up in the mountains. It was about 20F (-6C) but I had enough layers on for that. However, the snow with the gusty winds made for an icy combination, my cheeks were freezing up and I decided after a couple of hours and a couple of runs to call it a day.
However, the weekend isn't over until it's over, so after getting home and watching the last quarter of the Broncos game, I drove back to the furniture store, made a decision and ordered a sofa and a recliner. Oh yeah, a recliner! It always reminds me of that Friends episode with Chandler and Joey and the recliner seats and the big TV.
Anyway, I'm calling it a day. Have to get up at 4.30 tomorrow morning. Expect another post tomorrow.

Kentucky baby!

2006-11-06T21:45:00.000-07:00

Howdy y'all! Nah, Kentucky isn't all that bad. I'm in Louisville at a client site. The hotel is pretty nice actually, but it's kind of like a freak show. They have all sorts of artwork sitting all over the place, some of it is nice, other stuff is... bizar, to say the least. For example, above the reception desk they have 3 or 4 sculptures of kids of different races. They look amazing, but they're all naked. That is the FIRST time I have ever seen a public display of nudity in the US. I'm not sure if I need to congratulate anyone for not being offended or anything, but then again... in Kentucky of all places.
Anyway, they have some cool stuff here too. For example, I've been here only since tonight, and I have almost missed the elevator twice already. The reason is, they have this camera filming you in front of the elevator, and they project your picture up on the wall. Then, virtually there's letters coming down on 'you', and you can kinda bump em and catch em with your digital self.
The room itself is pretty neat. There's a BIG Philips plasma against the wall opposite to the bed, and the alarm clock is an iPod station, INCLUDING the iPod, earpiece, etc. It's pretty cool.
Apart from the cool stuff there's some psychedelic features as well. For example, the hotel bar features the head and torso of Bacchus on the corner of the bar table. And the roof of the hotel (basically we look down on it from the opposite building where the client is), is filled with red pinguins. On the other hand, the other corner of our office room looks down on the river with its bridges. That's kinda nice.
Welcome to Kentucky.

Downtown Discoveries

2006-11-04T18:38:00.000-07:00

I am getting used to my house. Had a lot of problems with the old lock at the frontdoor, but I found the best way to open it up. It's all in the wrist. Getting used to the noises. Woke up the first two nights from some train far away from here. Problem is here in the US, they like to blow their whistles. Doesn't matter if it's the middle of the night. And I tend to wake up easily from strange noises, but I'm getting used to it.
Friday I ordered the cable and the cable internet. They will set it up next week Saturday. Meanwhile I am still using the unprotected wireless internet from someone in the neighbourhood. Whomever it is, thank you and sorry.
Today I did some more scouting, looking around for some living room furniture, tv, that sorta thing. And to top of the day, I drove downtown to check it out. It's more than a year ago since I was there. Actually I found out there's a Hard Rock cafe and a Coyote Ugly bar downtown. Didn't know that. Denver's even cooler then I thought ;-) Pictures are up at the picture gallery.
So things are shaping up around here. Haven't met my neighbours yet. I guess I haven't been home enough for that. And it's not like I can invite them over for coffee, I have 1 folding chair and that's about it. And my bedroom furniture, but that would be a little straightforward for a first visit...
Not sure what I'll be doing tomorrow. I could drive up the mountains again for another skiing round, but not sure. Options, options.

The Great Move-In

2006-11-01T21:40:00.000-07:00

Today I checked out of the hotel and moved into the house. I spent yesterday night and the night before moving stuff I had bought out of the hotel and out of my colleague (Al) his living room (which started to look like a sell out of some appliances store).
So anyway, this morning they delivered my bedroom furniture and put it together. It looks really nice in the room, I was a little afraid of the color, since it is oak, and the floors are hardwood too, and the doors are dark wood. But it turns out really nice.
Now, the problem was the matress. Since it wasn't available in the warehouse they were delivering out of, I needed to pick that up myself, at another warehouse. After taking a good look at my car I decided it would never fit. However, Al drives a station wagon, so I was hoping it would be long enough for the matress. After driving down to the warehouse, it was obvious the matress would never fit. The only option is to tie it on a roof rack of a car. So, Al calls up his wife and we go pick up her SUV at work (obviously I have an SUV too, but my car was further away). The guy at the warehouse starts to tie up the matress to the roof rack. Jokingly I ask him: looks like you've done this before. So, he jokes back and says: yeah, just a couple of times.
Now here's the funny part.
We drive off with the matress on the roof, and just outside the parking lot I come up with the great idea to open up the sunroof so we can see the matress. Not even 20 seconds after I open the sunroof so we can see it, the matress starts to catch wind and makes a dangerous flying manouver. So, not willing to give up, we decided to just hold the rope and drive like that. Needless to say in these temperatures even at low speed, my hands were freezing after half a minute. And just so you know, we had about 10 miles (16km) to go, including about 5 miles of highway.
So Al comes up with the great idea to use his wife's scarf on the backseat, and use that to pull down the rope that's supposed to hold down the matress. And off we go. At 40 miles an hour on the interstate (speed limit 65/55), with a matress on the roof, holding it down with a scarf. So all of a sudden I see this label on the scarf saying it was made in Paris, France. I must say, it was excellent quality. After the whole adventure was over, you couldn't tell we had even touched it. Of course Al was fair enough to inform his wife.
Using the scarf as a strong rope, I remembered this legend where they say wet cloth is the strongest fiber around. As it goes, prisoners used to strip down and pee on their clothes and sheets, then twist the clothes and put them around the bars. Then, after keeping on twisting and twisting, they would eventually bend the bars. I kindly refused Al's proposal to pull over so we could pee on the scarf. We've been laughing all the way down to my place.

We got here safe and sound, and I'm about to take my first night's sleep on the matress! Thanks so much Al. If you ever need help (like wetting your clothes to break free), make sure you let me know!

2006-10-29T18:01:00.000-07:00

After the snow storm of the past week, it was time for me to take out the skis and test the slopes! Not a lot of resorts are open, but one which I have access to with the season pass is (Arapahoe Basin). So, this morning, taking advantage of the winter time change, I got up at 7 to prepare. On the way up, I finally was able to take a picture of that sign on I-70. Been wanting to do that for almost a year now, when I first saw it. This time I was prepared with the camera in my hand! I just think it's funny, yet informational... Very cool sign indeed.

Anyway, the ride up the mountains was ok, and after a stop for breakfast and coffee, I finally arrived. Problem is, although there's more slopes open thanks to the snow storm, there's still only 2 lifts open. Which means... long lines. Especially after 12, the higher lift was just too crowded. Well, maybe not too crowded, just a long wait. So I decided to stay on the lower slopes for a while, since most people wanted to take the higher ones.
Anyway, I had a good day. Even won a free hot chocolate by catching the teddy bear they were throwing into the crowd waiting at the lift! It was a good warm-up for the ski season, and I'm really sure I'm gonna feel it tomorrow. Anyway, I had a great day, the slopes were pretty good already. Next week Breckenridge will open (a week early thanks to the storm), and I'm curious how many slopes they'll have open. It's not very far from A-Basin so I'm guessing the amount of snow will be about the same.
So, let's hope for more snow in the mountains soon. At least I got my first skiing of the season, the first use out of my pass, the first mountain trip with the Jeep and the first sour muscles.
The pictures from the trip (just a few though) are up on the picture gallery, starting at page 2 from the 06-10 album.

Rocky Mountain High!

2006-10-26T22:09:00.000-06:00

Last night and this morning a blizzard came through Colorado. Basically you get some cold fronts, hot fronts, and if they meet each other at YOUR front, you get a surprise.
Anyway, when I got up at 7, there was probably about 6 inches (15cm) of snow outside. And still snowing. I thought I'd wait until it stopped snowing before I drove to the office. By 9 o'clock I realised it was not going to stop snowing for quite a few more hours, so I decided to venture out. Anyone who's given me comments on my Jeep, y'all can come and try driving a sportscar out in this weather! Anyway, it wasn't icy at all, just a lot of wind and a lot of snow. Good thing is though, you can just brush the snow off your car, there's no scraping. It was pretty amazing how much snow has fallen out. Because of the wind, packs of snow were just sitting on the side of my car (see picture on the left). I'm disappointed in the pictures, because it was far more impressive. It doesn't really show how much snow there actually was. Anyway, after brushing off I got in the car, and for the first time I grabbed the 4x4 poke. I had some trouble getting it in the gear the first time, but I got it in finally. I must say I was impressed how well the car handles on the snow. It did not skid at all. Not even on the hotel parking lot where the snow was still packed. The roads were ok, except for some lonely backroads (stupid me took the usual backroad to skip traffic) where they hadn't cleared the snow at all. But again, there was no ice, just the snow, and the car did really good. And let me tell you, this snow is perfect skiing snow! It was heavy wet snow, and very sticky. Actually, when brushing the snow off the hood of my car, it would just 'break' off in big chunks. I took one piece on my hand to give you an impression of how much snow was actually on there. This is not ice, just snow. But sticky enough to stay in big chunks like this one.
By 1 o'clock in the afternoon it had finally stopped snowing. There was some more snow around 3, but by the time I left the office around 5, there were already some stripes of blue sky getting through the overcast, and by 6 it was all blue and sunny. Now, obviously the snow had started melting already, especially on the roads where everyone drives. So since the clouds are all gone, by the time it gets dark (pretty early here, since the sun dives behind the mountains) it gets really cold. Melted snow + cold = ice. Yes indeed, when I was driving back around 9.30 tonight, there were quite some patches of ice, and some backroads where there was still snow, had turned into ice as well. Time to put the Jeep back in 4x4.
The good news is, some of the ski resorts that aren't open yet announced they'll be opening next week (a week early) because of the snowfall. The resorts that had a couple of slopes open will be opening up more soon. Remember those 8" we got in total here in the metro area, is nothing compared to what the mountains got. They had upto 16" (40cm) and more! Who knows, I already got my skis out of my colleague's basement. I'm ready!
I'm guessing tomorrow morning will be scraping time, and I have some big windows on this car... But hey, nothing can put me down. I love this weather. I love Colorado!

P.S.: By popular demand, I have opened up the comments for everyone (don't need to register anymore). There's a small counter-measure for spam though. We'll see how this goes.

Deliriant isti Romani

2006-10-24T20:36:00.000-06:00

Now that I own a car, let me tell you about the drivers. Obviously the US is big, and I'm sure drivers aren't the same everywhere. But my driving experience in Colorado, Wisconsin and Ohio.... oh boy.
As most people know, the speed limits here in the US are pretty low in general. That is not necessarily a bad thing of course. The fact that the miles are not intuitive yet helps me in not realizing how slow I'm going. So I've never really had a problem with those speed limits here, despite my driving style in Belgium sometimes.
Now what does bother me here, is the way people are just scared of each other. I've learned that, if you want to be polite and give other cars the opportunity to slide in, you have to leave place for at least 3 cars. I said this before and I'll say it again, people are apparently afraid of each other. I made the mistake once changing lanes where there was only place for 2 cars! Oh no! Result was flashing lights and honking of the SUV behind me. I should be filed with roadrage.
Let me tell you about aggressive driving here. Last week, when I was trying to find my way to the furniture store, I suddently realised I need to go up one lane to the right, to make a turn on the next traffic light. However, an SUV is driving in that lane, about a car and a half behind me. So, in the spirit of American driving, I patiently just turned on my blinker and waited for a 3 car space to be created for me to fill with 1 car. However, this fanatic roadrage driver, upon my signaling, closed the gap to only 1 car! My god, the horror!
Anyway, took of the American hat, put on the European hat, and just put my car into the 1 car gap. Hey, I can't deny my roots. Anyway, result behind me was some light flashes and I could see the woman in my rearview mirror shouting, and making a fist. Right. Take it as a, err, woman. Europeans:1; Americans: 0;
Seriously, I would like to see these people driving rush hour on the ring around Brussels. First of all, the speed limit is the same as only a few interstates around here: 75 miles (120km). Second, if you leave enough space for 0.75th of a car, trust me, there'll be someone squeezing in. At 75 miles/hour! Ok, I admit that that very situation resulted in my very first (and until now very last -holding wood-) car accident. I'm not saying people here should take an example to that. But come on, it's pretty ridiculous the way American drivers are scared of each other.
Although I've heard other stories, I didn't have to parallel park or any other maneuver when doing my driving test. Just driving two blocks, making sure I knew I needed to stop for a stop sign and a red light. In Belgium, I was taking my driving test in Leuven around noon, with students on bikes on the right, on the left, pedestrians ignoring the red light, etc. 'Nuff said.
But for some reason, I adjusted. I just turn on the blinkers and wait. I don't get mad, I just laugh and think: "silly American drivers".

3-Week Recap

2006-10-21T22:58:00.000-06:00

I've been here for 3 weeks now, and things have been moving fast. Basically, I think I've got through the most painful parts of administration, and it's down to the details. Picking up my car today was probably the first step to cooling down and moving on with life itself.
This morning, the world was bright and shiny again. There's been some considerable snowfall overnight Friday, and everything was white as can be. By the time I got out around 9.30, the sun was out, beautiful blue sky, ... Although it was just over the freezing point, I sat outside Starbucks with my coffee, and took off my jacket because it was quite warm in the sun. I must say, I really enjoyed the moment there. The snow everywhere, the mountains in the background white... During the day the snow just melts away, and all that's left right now is some white piles left or right. But, I just checked and some new slopes have opened on the hills. I give it one or two more weeks and I'll go up. Now that I have my Jeep... Bring it on!!

As a recap for my past 3 weeks of posts:
1. For everyone still out in the dark: the license plate PLSTXMD stands for 'plastics medical doctor' aka the guy was a plastic surgeon. Hence the Mercedes-Benz I guess.
2. I am STILL getting extra soap. They tend to not give me new soap bars for one or two days, then decide to give me some more. I guess there's a hotel policy to give guests new soap every day? That kinda makes sense since no1 in their right mind would stay in a hotelroom for as long as I do. Longest time I've stayed in a hotel room was last year march-april-may, staying almost 3 months in the same hotel room. Is there a Guiness World Record for that? Or just a 'go straight to the nuthouse and don't pass start' card?
3. I've done more of the food boxes and eating it the night after in the hotel room. As per the numerous comments I got on that: Yes I think it makes sense to not waste food you've paid for anyway... And yes maybe I am getting some American traits. I'll try to take the best of 'both worlds'.
4. As some pointed out, yes, getting a Jeep is probably not good for the environment, or at least it could be better. But seeing that Colorado does not seem to have any laws on sorting trash anyway... Empty batteries, paper, plastic, food waste, even empty (glass) beer bottles: all in the same bin! I guess this one doesn't count for the 'best of both worlds'.

To Credit or Not To Credit

2006-10-19T21:15:00.000-06:00

I'm getting used to it and getting tired of it at the same time: credit checks. Here in the US, anything you buy can get financed, postponing you payments, getting a loan, all of that (... leasing a car ...).
Apparently, all the financial institutions keep like a giant database where, every time you get a loan, get financed, pay your credit card bills, etc, they update your information for all those institutions to see (bank secrecy??). So, whenever you want to get financed in some way, they check that database for your 'credit score' or your credit history. Since my name has just popped up on the grid, and I only have a US bank account since a couple of weeks... I have none of that all. So every time they do a check on me, I get rejected.
Now, like the furniture I went to buy tonight, there is no way around it. Problem is, if nobody ever allows you to GET credit, you can obviously never ESTABLISH credit. Sooo, depending where you go, you can get bits and pieces to build up the credit.
For example. The car yesterday. Cars are apparently the easiest to get financed, even with bad credit. Furniture on the other hand, is one of the hardest things. The reason is easy to explain. These credit companies assume the worst, obviously, in this case meaning that you won't be able to pay. Now with a car, although it loses its value over time, they can easily re-sell it. Furniture however, is not easy to sell second hand, hence the difference.
So how do you build credit? Well, the car lease I'll have running is the first step. Second step is getting approved for a credit card at the bank. For every dollar you want on that credit card, you need to 'secure' that dollar. So basically, for a credit card of 300 dollar, you need to 'secure' 300 dollars. If after a year you've paid your bill right on time, you'll get an unsecured credit card, and your 300 dollars back. You have established some credit.
But for all of this to happen, they need to know where you live, how long, where you work, how long, where you lived and worked before, how much money you make a month, your social security number, your driver's license number, copy of passport and visa, letter of employer stating you are working for them and earning this much. And a copy of your rental agreement for the apartment/house helps too.
So now here's the question: in this country where the government sniffs all sorts of data and tracks all sorts of things their citizens do, why do privacy organizations make such a big deal on that?
I'd rather give my info to the government then to average frustrated dead-end job John Doe trying to sell me a rocking chair. Identity thefts? No wonder!

It's All About The Money

2006-10-18T22:17:00.000-06:00

This morning was the first ice-scraping of the season. Brushed off the snow, scraped the ice off. I'll probably get tired of it soon enough, but I thought it was pretty cool. Anyway, the sky was as blue as can be, sun was shining, everything was white including the trees. Lovely.
Arrived at the DMV for the scheduled driving test. Against all odds, there wasn't any issue taking the test with the rental car. As long as it was on my own name and insured. The test itself took maybe 15 minutes, if not less. Drove two blocks, and back again. A turn on red, couple of stop signs, that's about it. How people could ever fail on the written and/or the driving test around here, beats me. My advice: don't go driving in Europe ;-)
So now I hold a temporary document that says I'm allowed to drive here. Not sure when I'll get the license card, but at least I have a driver license number and have proof of having a license.
On to the insurance, got some quotes in today, for renter's and car insurance, will have to review tomorrow and pick one.
Then, tonight after getting a call from the dealership to invite me back over to have a talk, I went back there. Apparently, something I've never thought about and apparently so didn't the sales guys, I am not allowed to buy the car. The financing has a 60 month term, and my visa is only valid for 3 years. Basically no company is crazy enough to do 5 yr financing for someone who's only going to be here for 3 yrs. So... leasing is the only option, although I'd convinced myself buying would be cheaper in the long run. So anyway, after they review the numbers and come up with something cheaper, I kindly said goodbye and told them I would review it (you should see those people's faces when you just get up and say you'll review and let them now... they're DYING to sell!).
Once I get back to the hotel, I realise the price has already got better, I call them up and tell them a price and say, if you can give me this price, I'll come back right now and sign it. That must have convinced them.
10 minutes later they call me back with a price, not far off what I asked them, and I accepted.
So yes, one step closer to being an American: the SUV! Seeing I need to close the insurance and do some other paperwork, I will have all that done by Saturday and be driving the car out of there!

So maybe I can test drive it up the mountains on Sunday to go skiing, hmm. Choices, choices...

Red Tape In The Snow

2006-10-17T18:05:00.000-06:00

Let's start with the red tape... This morning I drove to the DMV to get a US driver's license. First apparently my Visa is insufficient. They need proof of me working for the company. Yesss weeelll, it does show the name on my visa, but it doesn't say it's in Colorado. They need a written statement.
Drive back to the office, get a fresh copy of my contract, have it signed again, drive back. Yesss weeelll, the date on the contract is September 15th, today's October 17th, so that's not within the month time frame... I guess the look on my face gave it away. "I'll go ask the manager if it's ok" she says. Luckily the guy agreed because it was only 2 days off. Phew.
Next, the Belgian driver's license is useless. Cannot be validated, transferred, anything. I'll have to take a written and a driving test. Yeeha. After some more paperwork, I get a test in front of me. Let me tell you, compared to what we have to endure in Belgium, this was peanuts. Either way, I pass the test from the first time, get an eye test, everything clear. But oh wait, your work statement says it's an offer! I say well, the bottom says: for acceptance, sign here... and I have signed it. Hmmm, yeesss weeelll, will have to check that with the manager. Verdict: it's good for this time, next time bring less vague and dubious evidence.
The funny thing is... now I have a TEMPORARY driver's license. But obviously, I am still allowed to drive on my Belgian license. Now this is where the fun part starts... I call the scheduling department, to schedule for the driving test (compared to Belgium, you can just do the whole thing in a couple of days...). Scheduled for tomorrow morning at 9.15. The very unfriendly lady at the end says: "make sure you bring proof of insurance of the car". So that reminds me to ask her if it's ok to take the test with a rental car. "Absolutely not" is the answer. According to her, rental companies do not allow driving tests to be taken. I thought, sure whatever, I'll just call the rental place. I explain the ridiculous situation, since I am allowed to drive anyway. The rental company agrees, since for them I am a valid driver, the car is on my name, I am insured on it...
So I call back to the DMV. The first agent was prepared to listen as I explain the weird situation. He says: "you know, we're just told to say no because we don't get into trouble, but you can probably show up here and show your paperwork". But to make sure and since I insist, he transfers me to the scheduling lady again. Damn, the same one. She has absolutely no ears for me telling her I HAVE a driver license, am allowed to drive and that the rental company told me there was no issue at all. She keeps interupting me and telling me that it is NOT allowed to drive a rental car for the exam.
So anyway, I'll take the guy's advice and just show up tomorrow with the paperwork. If they don't accept it, I'll have to reschedule the exam and find someone who has their car insured for anyone to drive it.
If I do get to take the test, it will be pretty funny. Even if I fail, I'm still allowed to drive. Again, ridiculous situation.

By the time I get back to the office (arrived at the DMV at 8am, was back at the office around noon!), it started snowing lightly. By the time I left the office a little after 5, there was probably over half an inch (1.5-2cm) of snow on my car. Maybe to get away from the red tap and all, I'll gear up next Sunday and drive up the mountains to go skiing. How does that sound?

A small step for mankind

2006-10-16T21:05:00.000-06:00

Sunday was furniture shopping day. Seeing the specific size and spacing of the living room, which has basically a divide between the dining and the living part, and that kind of makes it hard to shop for couch and other furniture without the exact measurements. So, the most important pieces will be the bedroom. So that what Sunday's shopping was for. With American female advice on my side, I decided on the bedroom furniture. The sales man in the last store where I decided to take the furniture was a very nice guy, very helpful with good information. With a big smile until the end. Until he found out that... I have no credit...
Whenever you want any kind of financing, in the US they do a 'credit check'. It basically comes down to whether or not there is record of you paying your bills in time when you had a loan or any type of financing. Which I, only having a bank account in the US since two weeks, have not.
Once I will have car payments and even this furniture financing, my 'credit rating' will drastically go up and I'll be ok for any future stuff. But right now, it's all about trying to work the system to get that financing.
Saturday I also went into a car dealership to get some quotes on the Liberty. I'm in luck, since they're wanting to get rid of the current models, there'll be a new 2007 model. Trying to defeat these sharks of salesmen, I got out without agreeing to anything. So, this morning, I get a call from the dealership, asking if I've made a decision yet. I said no, since I have to get insurance BEFORE I can get the car (opposite to how it goes in Belgium). Surprisingly enough, around 5 o'clock, he calls me BACK. Asking if I've arranged the insurance yet. This time, I made clear that I'm at work and trying to do my job and have little or no time to do stuff like that.
I'm sure he will call me back tomorrow. This time, I will make him a proposal. I'll tell him my price and see if he bites.
Anyway, it's been a really busy and interesting weekend. The duplex, the furniture, getting close to the car... A small step for mankind, but a giant leap for me!

Where's Waldo?

2006-10-14T22:16:00.000-06:00

The decision is made. I'm taking the duplex. It is exactly in the neighborhood I wanted, it has 2 bedrooms, and a little backyard even. I will be moving in November 1st. So I have 2 more weeks to go furniture shopping and some other basic stuff.
I have a pretty nice kitchen there, but seeing how much I was using the kitchen back in Belgium (well I was, it was just basic things all the time)... It will be nice though not having to eat out all the time. Not that I don't like it, but after 2 weeks you've pretty much seen it all. But then again, you starting to know the places you're going.
For example, the girl at Applebee's at the bar (I usually sit at the bar since getting a table all by yourself is pretty sad, and I only go at Applebee's when I just want an easy and quick bite when I'm by myself). Anyway, anyone coming in there, she calls them 'honey' or 'sweetie'. And no, she's not the old lady of the house, she's just a bartender, probably about my own age. Always reminds me of those road movies with the highway diners and the female servers talking with a southern accent and calling every guy in the diner sugah or darlin'.
Other restaurants I've learned to ask for a knife. Some of the restaurants here (usually Chinese or other Asian restaurants I've found) just give you a fork. I don't really care how you eat, but it kind of strikes me that I am usually the only one in the restaurant, holding a fork in my LEFT hand, and a KNIFE in the other. If I'd only use the fork at home (holding it in the right hand as most people do here), I would get slapped on the fingers for sure. Etiquette people, etiquette!
So if you're ever in a restaurant in the US, go for the "Where's Waldo" game and see if you can find, not the guy with the red and white striped outfit, but the one in the restaurant eating with a fork and a knife. He's probably a foreigner...

Soap, soap and... soap?

2006-10-12T21:57:00.000-06:00

Yesterday has been a pretty exciting day. Basically, I found two places that I really liked, both of them being totally different. One's a duplex, the other's a condo. In Belgium, a duplex is usually an apartment or a bungalow with a second floor bedroom of some kind. Here (and I've heard in the Netherlands they have the same idea of a duplex, apparently), a duplex is basically a house split in two. What we would call 'tweewoonst' (=dual-house) in Flemish.
After getting some input from different people, and a second, much appreciated, opinion, I have pretty much decided. There's still some negotiating involved but rest assured this weekend the deal should be closed. For now, y'all have to wait! (Oh no! The suspense!)
It will be great getting out of the hotel. Not that I dislike it here, but you're inside a box, and it feels more like you're living an artificial life. Getting your own place to live after being here feels like being set free, back into the real world. And apparently, besides the language barrier I have talked about before, there seem to be more communication problems with the hotel staff.
First, the silverware I borrowed from the hotel restaurant and have used for my much talked about football dinner (I never got so many remarks on my blog then the post about the left-over box I took from the restaurant and ate on Monday). The fork and knife I had placed very clearly on the countertop of 'the kitchen' (there's a fridge underneath and a microwave on top). After 4 days, they are still there.
Next, after buying soap and shampoo at the grocery store, I am obviously not using the hotel soap and shampoo. Although my shampoo and shower gel are sitting on the bathtub, I keep getting new hotel soap and shampoo every day. So, to make it more obvious I don't need/want any more, I started piling them up, to let them know I have enough. I've never met the cleaning crew close upfront or else I'd think they're trying to make a point. But really, it's me who's trying to make a point.
Apparently, Mexicans are on a different frequency then I am.

Not Good Enough! Bad Judgement!

2006-10-10T22:21:00.000-06:00

Today I decided to do a different search for apartments. Basically, the area I want to find something is just expensive. Finding a 2 bedroom apt there below the 1200 is pretty hard. So I decided to start looking at some 1 bedroom places, and had a first viewing today. I must say, there's some big 1 bedroom places out there, that I suspect to be bigger than the 2 bedroom apts!
So, tomorrow I'll go view some more 1 bedroom places. Anyone who wants to come over and stay at my place, I'll make sure I get a comfortable couch! ;-)
On a totally different note, there's upcoming elections for congress here in the US. In contrast with how this works in Belgium, there's plenty of ads on television. And what's even more interesting, there's ads running against some candidates! Some are even presenting evidence to prove some points! "Jane Doe did not pay her taxes for FIVE YEARS, but wants to raise yours!" Other ads are presenting cases of prisonners released that commit crimes a couple of weeks later, and pointing the finger at the politician who signed for the release... (for the Belgians reading this: sounds familiar doesn't it?) Bad judgement! 152 cases!
Anyway, some of these ads are pretty confronting but it is absolutely hilarious to see some of them! Finally there's some fun to getting so many commercials in between your favorite show.
So to close this post as the policitians close the ads:
My name is Joris, and I approve this message!

A Box?

2006-10-09T21:50:00.000-06:00

Last night I had dinner at a Mexican restaurant with a colleague. As usual here in the US (at least for now but I'm going to try to keep it that way), it was way too much for me. So after the waiter's realised I'm not going to eat any more of it, she comes over and asks me if I want a box. I think I can remember the first time they asked me that. A box?
Honestly, I just think it makes sense that you get a box to take the left-overs home. I mean... I pay for them, and the restaurant would be throwing it away anyway! What a waste! I just don't understand why it's such a big deal back in Europe. Is it the pride? Is it the hassle? I just don't get it. Especially with all the extra taxes on garbage disposal and all of that...

Anyway, it made for a cheap dinner tonight for me. Tonight was "Monday Night Football" and guess what, the Denver Broncos were playing their 4th game of the season. I have a fridge and a microwave in my hotel room, so what else do you need? Took out the mexican food from yesterday, warmed it up. And, voila! Monday night football! A beer would have been nice but I didn't think of it before, and it's not really the weather to go outside if you don't really have to. Last Friday and Saturday it was still a warm 80F outside (25C), but Sunday was cold and a little rainy, and today it just went down to 40-50F (5-10C) and raining almost all day.
In fact, they'd said we may get snow tonight, even during the game. That didn't happen but tonight may still be bringing snow. I don't really care, but in the mountains there'll be falling some snow tonight for sure! Bring it on!
FYI, the Broncos beat the Ravens' tough defense in a thrilling game 13-3, which breaks the Ravens' 4 game winning streak. Welcome to Broncos Country!

Mul-ti-pass?

2006-10-08T20:12:00.000-06:00

Spending a weekend in a hotel is usually not much fun. Not that I'm getting bored, I've been busy all weekend; it's just that you're trying to sleep in and there's always something that wakes you.
Saturday morning after the night out with the live bands, I first woke up pretty early (probably still a jetlag residu) and realised I had forgotten to hang out the 'do not disturb' sign. So I got up, put up the sign, went back to bed and fell asleep again. Not that it mattered much, because I woke up by a weird scratching sound a little over an hour later. Apparently the cleaning lady thought that, if she couldn't clean the inside, she'd just clean the outside! So she was just cleaning my door! Whether it was total ignorance or some payback for having her stay later to clean my room, I don't know. I've had plenty of similar experiences, in this and other hotels, where they would start vacuuming the hallway etc. "Good morning sir!"
Not that I expect much of a good morning from these people, rather a "buenos dias". Most if not all of them are Mexican, and they barely speak English, some of them don't speak English at all. Thank God some immigrants learn English before they enter this country! ;-)

Today I also spent a decent amount of money on my skiing season pass! Yes, that's right. Read it and weap. I now have a pass so I can go skiing anytime I want! Every morning when I get outside and look to the west to the mountains, some of the peaks have changed. Usually they've gotten whiter. I've been told that by the end of this month, I'll be able to go up! I now have unlimited access to Breckenridge, Keystone and Arapahoe basin, and 10 days of choice at Vail and Beaver Creek.
Yeah baby! Mul-ti-pass! (quote)

Weekend in Metro Denver!

2006-10-08T09:22:00.000-06:00

Weekend's upon us so that means trying to get in touch with some of the nightlife in Denver. I got invited to a partynorth of downtown. Amidst warehouses and other weekendly-abandoned housing there were some artists exhibiting their work, and a friend of a friend lives there and decided to throw a party. Since not too many people decided to come see the exhibits, there wasn't really many people at the party either, so the collective guestlist decided to go see this band playing live in a bar a couple of blocks down. We all hopped onto a bike and (some more conscious then others) drove a couple of blocks down.
The band was pretty nice, they played this soft rock, kinda Coldplay alike. The singer was mostly at his keyboard while he was singing, so Coldplay was definitely a big influence for these guys. The band's name was 'Meese' by the way.
After that, we drove to another bar where they had an all-girls band playing. Man, they rocked! The two guitarists they had were just absolutely amazing! Unfortunately I didn't catch their name so I'll need to figure that out in case they're playing again somewhere else.

Apart from the partying, I went to see the first apartment in the Capitol Hill area. Although Capitol Hill is supposedly cheaper than Wash Park, I thought the neighborhood was still pretty nice. It's just less convenient for work, since it's less central then Wash Park, and I'm guessing the commute will be heavier. On the other hand, it is RIGHT on the edge of downtown, and pretty close to Lo-Do (lower downtown) where all the bars and nightlife is.
My preference would still be Washington Park though. Plenty of time to decide.

1 + 1 = 4

2006-10-06T08:09:00.000-06:00

Yesterday I had another viewing of an apartment. I must say I really loved it, but again, it's pretty expensive. Now the problem I'm having here in the US, is how to compare the prices!?
Sometimes, the rent for a place includes utilities such as electricity, water, heat. Sometimes you have a washer/dryer in your apartment. Some apartments have facilities inside the building such as a pool, fitness. Other have a parking garage, inside or outside.
Now, the apartment from Wednesday and the one from yesterday have exactly the same rent, but they are totally different!
The Wednesday apartment had a washer/dryer in the unit, it had BIG rooms and a big living room, the kitchen was completely new with granite tops and stainless steel appliances. It included everything in the rent except electricity.
The one from yesterday had a washer/dryer room on the main floor that could be used by anyone. It was overall smaller, but it had a pool and hot tub in the building. It also had a large balcony where you can easily fit a table with chairs, and the balcony had a view on the mountains, the park, and downtown (the skyline). The utilities included everything except heat, which according to the bills they showed me averages out at $25 a month.
I thought the one from yesterday was more charming, and being less than a block away from the park is pretty cool.
But still, how do I compare when 1 + 1 = 4?

plstxmd!

2006-10-04T20:27:00.000-06:00

I survived the milk this morning, thanks for asking. I have to admit the milk tasted pretty good but it was more the flakes that tasted different...

Today and tomorrow I'm at a customer site about 40 miles north of where our office and where my hotel is. The commute takes me past downtown and more towards the mountains. I must say, the views during the drive are awesome. Since there's some hills once in a while, at some point my whole rearview mirror is covered with the downtown Denver view.
I had to leave the customer early today because I had my first apartment viewing at 5pm today, and it's about an hour drive during rush hour. I must say the location was perfect, exactly what I was looking for. However, the rent is just a little high. It was a two bedroom two bathroom apartment with a beautiful almost new kitchen with stainless steel appliances. But again, a little too pricy for my taste. I have another viewing tomorrow and one on Saturday. I'm hoping to score some more viewings maybe for Friday and definitely for Sunday. The hunt is on!

When driving back home, I took a picture of this guy. Custom license plates are pretty common around here, and sometimes there's real stupid ones, sometimes they're pretty funny.
But this guy got me puzzled for a minute... Although I can't be 100% sure, I think i know what it means. Place your bets in the comments ;-)
PLSTXMD!

Got Milk?

2006-10-03T19:46:00.000-06:00

Today I went to the grocery store to get me some decent soap and shampoo, since the stuff they give you at the hotel, well, it sucks.
Anyway, as a true immigrant I got lost in all the brands I'd never heard of before, but luckily I found some Dove and Garnier Fructis products. Picked up some water and orange juice, which by now I know the ones I like and the ones I don't. Water's not really a problem but oh my watch out for the orange juice! Most of them aren't even called "juice", and many others don't actually have oranges in them. Anyway, I found that out the hard way in the past year so I'm sticking with the Tropicana brand. Not sure how much "real" orange and/or juice is actually in there, but at least it tastes familiar.
Next, I got adventurous and decided to get me some corn flakes so I can have a quick breakfast in the morning. I have yet to taste it, but I expect that Kellog's are the same all over. Although it may be sweeter or "further enriched" then it is in Europe. Anyway, I found my favorite "Frosties" (which by the way are called "Frosted Flakes" over here). I must say that the "Tony The Tiger" boxes in Belgium look far better! This one's pretty dull!
Now, to eat those flakes you obviously need some milk! 3 words: Too Much Choice! As with the orange juice, I expect to taste big differences. Luckily I found small cartons of a little less than half a liter so I got two different ones so I can experiment without being stuck with a big carton. Anyway, I got the cheapest and the most expensive one, both "half&half ultra-pasteurized". The expensive one is "organic" milk, with the box saying it's produced without the use of antibiotics, growth hormones or dangerous pesticides. The cheap one doesn't have any of that on the box, and I'd rather not think about that much further. The cheap one is basically the grocery chain's milk (Albertsons FYI... no particular reason except Albertsons is the closest to the hotel).
Also got me a bowl for $2 and going to get me some utencils in the hotel restaurant before I go to sleep. Tomorrow morning I will start out with the cheap milk and see how that tastes.

If you don't see me come online or no new blog posts, please point the police to this blog post.

Day 1: first things first

2006-10-03T10:32:00.000-06:00

Yesterday I managed to get the social security number applied for, and bank accounts set up. Those were the most important things.
In the afternoon I started browsing the web for a place to live. Around the Washington Park area where I'd love to live, there were some nice small houses and bungalows. Unfortunately since the area is pretty popular, I was too late on many of them. It's also quite expensive to live there. I'm going to go and see just two places in that area this week. End result is I'm expanding my search to include some other neighborhoods as well. Capitol Hill for example, which is a more vivid area and less expensive. I found this cool Wikipedia article on the Denver neighborhoods.

At the end of the day, I was beat. Never had so much trouble with the jetlag. I guess it's because of a lack of sleep the last couple of days. I got back to the hotel around 6pm, and fell right asleep. Except for waking up around 4am for about an hour, I slept until the alarm went off at 7. What a beauty sleep!

Final Destination: Denver

2006-10-01T21:16:00.000-06:00

This is it. I'm dead beat but I'm here. 9 hour flight to Atlanta, 3 hour lay-over and another 2.45 hour flight to Denver. Didn't get much sleep on the plane, a little bit on the Denver flight just because I was too tired. Didn't get an upgrade so sleeping wasn't really comfortable.
The guitar looks and sounds ok, will have to hear when I plug it in to see if the electrical parts are allright.
The rental car is a Pontiac this time, a grand-prix. Didn't have any issues with it so far, although a little more power seems to be in order. I'll have more testresults after a couple of days ;-) Pictures will follow.

More news tomorrow... I'm heading for the shower and then... straight to bed! *yawn*

Almost there!

2006-09-28T08:50:00.000-06:00

Dinner here, lunch there, a drink somewhere else. But I'm almost there. Most of the stuff that has to go along is packed, and tomorrow I'll be getting some stuff out in a box for shipment. Today I bought a hard shell guitar box so I can take the electrical guitar with me. According to the airline I can check that as excess baggage, just like I've done before with my skis. It should be handled with care (and seriously, the fool who doesn't see there's a guitar in there...) so I'm hoping the guitar will make it through the whole trip without any damage. At least my skis weren't damaged before so that gives me hope :-)
The work agenda is getting full for my first week as well, so it's going to be busy. I'm hoping I can do 'normal' working days so I have enough time at night to get some things done. I guess the most crucial things are getting the bank account and applying for an SSN. Next on the list is an apartment and a car. Together with the apartment, furniture would be nice too. So plenty of stuff to do once I'm across the atlantic.

To anyone that I haven't been able to have a drink with or say bye to in person: I'm sorry but I hope you understand it's been a pretty busy week and unfortunately I cannot visit everyone I know before I leave. It's nothing personal, trust me :-)

Keep an eye on this blog, I'm sure it'll get more interesting than this.