So, I was in the midst of a redesign when my hard drive went absolutely kerploof. Twelve hours of rescue-and-restore later and it appears that it is hanging on just enough to allow me to boot directly from the hard drive itself and connect to the internet through some Paleolithic web browser called Opera. As I've told some, I'm not even going to waste my time taking this to a Dutch repair shop - they'd probably drop it out of a 3rd storey window and then try to charge me for repairing the sidewalk. Instead, I've chosen to see this as a sign.
Since 2007 I've been craving a MacBook. Back then, I had to go with a Lenovo so that I could take the bar exam, so its biting the dust feels somewhat symbolic and particularly ironic in the last few days. So anyway I finally bit the bullet and ordered a MBP and whoa nelly, am I excited about it. I think I shall christen it "Knife". After all, it is Sinatra season. ;-)
I'm also thinking that this is a sign to put a pause on the blog. Maybe I'll be back with a different focus in a while, maybe not. Two years ago I set this up as an alternative to group emails, but two years later, I'm a full-fledged expat, and there's only so much griping about the Dutch that can be done in good fun. (Okay, for us veterans, maybe not.) Added to that, trial will be ramping up here very soon, and I obviously won't be able to discuss anything related to that, though I will put a link here when we do start.
My hope is that pausing here will result in a stronger impetus to follow through on one of my resolutions for 2010: to do a better job of staying connected with my non-DH friends, whether abroad or back home, be it through email, gChat, Skype, or Facebook.
For now, I'll leave you with one last story from Hollandia:
So, I have this routine that twice a week on my way to work, I stop at the coffee shop around the corner from my house. They'll make you a large, American-sized cup of coffee for "takeaway", and it turns out that the cup fits perfectly in between the rungs of my bike rack. Away I pedal, and there's little that feels more like home than walking into work with large paper cup of coffee. It makes me happy. Over the summer, a friend and I met there in the mornings, and we'd always giggle about the latte-making process. Seriously. Do they start making your drink while you dig through your wallet to get the money? Heck no. Do they multitask and steam the milk while the espresso is brewing? Of course not. Far better to pour the espresso, leave it steaming on the counter, heat escaping, while you steam the milk. Perhaps you misjudge the amount of milk required to make a large sized latte, so you have to steam another pitcher after you've poured the first, which is again left steaming on the counter. All of this takes approximately 10 minutes.
So imagine my surprise this morning when the guy started making my drink *while* I fumbled for my change. As I said to my friend, I hope I didn't look too doe-eyed, because after all, he was Dutch. Can you imagine? "So, what first caught your attention about Geert?" "Oh, I was just completely bowled over by the way he multitasked when making my latte. I mean, he just displayed such a striking level of independent thought. . . ." Scheisse.
On that note, sayonara sweethearts. It's been real. And I hereby promise to email.
xo
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