Posts Tagged renovating
Sunday Column (24)
Posted by Volker in house, personal, Sunday Column on August 9, 2009
This week was dominated by my thoughts on customer service and me getting increasingly annoyed with Vodafone. However, it came to a good end on Friday when my new Blackberry Bold arrived. 
I am very happy with the device, but had to completely reinstall the system on Saturday already just because some applications didn’t seem to run on it. Shame. And, the same happened again on Sunday. I am thinking of a certain application causing it and will try to eliminate that before I might have to send the device back 
Hope not. However, at the time of writing I have tried to re-install the software twice unsuccessfully and will soon give up. I guess it is a device fault – shame but nothing I can change. I will call Vodafone tomorrow and get a replacement one, whilst I go back my beloved Nokia 6300 for another few days.
The Bold’s Wi-Fi function is great, surfing at home is just so much easier! Only drawback, and of course I knew that, is that you don’t get many applications for Blackberry. Particularly if you cannot download the “application loader” or “Blackberry Maps” because your device does not have the requirements needed. How can that happen if it is a brand new phone? As you see, I am still playing with it, and I keep you posted!
On Monday I met with my old work colleague for a few pints and had a proper catch up. Good to see that he is enjoying his new job and things are going well for him. On Wednesday I met a current work colleague and we went to have a nice whiskey and a catch up. So this week turned out to be quite social.
Thursday was a mad dash to Tai Chi after work and after visiting the BBC worldwide studies, trying myself as a TV presenter 
Friday was a mad dash to a nice massage, realising that the muscles around my knee are so tight and hence I have the pain in my knee. Nevertheless I signed up for a 5 kilometer run with work in September. But after the DIY this weekend, I will have to cancel that.
The highlight of the week was my wife decorating the living room. Not only was it great to watch her doing it 
– whilst I was babysitting – but more so we realised that we have nice floorboards underneath the carpet. That means I don’t have to put down laminate flooring, or we don’t have to get someone in to do it either. It saves us a few pennies and hassle. Means, if things work out, we can have a wooden floor in a few weeks already. We will publish pictures shortly.
I have a new theme on my blog too, not sure if you noticed it I went back to a two column theme as this is much nicer and tidier and found. Let me know what you think.
That’s all for today. I believe it will be a busy week ahead, and one with me being connected on the go again….if the machine keeps running
Sunday Column (23)
Posted by Volker in personal, Sunday Column on August 2, 2009
I don’t want to start again with how quickly time is flying. So let me express it another way – I don’t believe it is Sunday – again. And, it is August already!
Ok, I stop, here is my weekly wrap up: I truly enjoy my new job. It has been 4 weeks and I am getting to the “busy” state. That is the state where I like to be, however I hope it won’t get too much busier for a while. One step at a time But in all honesty, it is great. The company has great people to work with and I had my first client meeting on Friday which I thought was great too, because we can offer so many things in and around digital!
Anyway, it is weekend. On Thursday I had an MRI scan – that means my head was put in a tube and they scanned it magnetically. It gives you a cool 3D image of your head and the doctor can tell you whether anything is wrong with you. Which, from the first results, there isn’t. Without going into much more detail, some of my blood test results in March showed a high level of sodium (salt basically) and they have been testing me ever since for Diabetes Insipidus. That means, in a nutshell, that I might pass more water than average and feel more thirsty than average, because my body cannot store water as well as “normal” bodies. And, whilst this can be very normal and nothing to worry about, it could be a tumour in my head pressing on a gland that produces hormones – which it isn’t and that is why I had this MRI scan. It is the same gland that produces the growth hormone, so maybe nothing to worry about On a serious note I get all the results in 2 weeks time and even if there was a problem, it is nothing serious. Thank Buddha.
Ok, enough bad news, here come some good news. You remember that last Sunday I donated all my loose change to the Guidedog Charity? They confirmed it was £243.90 I donated. It makes me very happy to see that this money can make a difference to such a great charity. 
So if you haven’t found a charity to donate for, then I can recommend to do so on the guidedog charity website.
Also, whilst talking about charities, work encourages us to take part in Tacheback, part of the Everyman Male Cancer Charity, which seems to be part of Cancer Research UK, raising awareness for male cancers by growing a moustache in September, plus a few more challenges so you can raise money. I keep you posted closer the time, but I think that is something I would like to participate in.
On Saturday our food processor arrived. We decided for a compact design and an unbeatable price Not only can Jenny now make fresh food for our wee boy, but I can also make some Reibekuchen or Kartoffelpuffer with my home grown potatoes.
I found a recipe here, which suggests to add eggs and “Haferflocken” – by the way you can translate them as “Potatoe Pancakes” but they are not potatoe scones but more of a flat roesti. Coming back to the recipe, I wasn’t aware and would not add Haferflocken, e.g. oatmeal, but would try some eggs. Here we go:
* 600 g Kartoffeln (tatties, homegrown are best )
* 2 Zwiebeln (onions)
* 2 Eier (eggs)
* 3 EL Haferflocken (oatmeal)
* Salz, nach Geschmack (add some salt, depending on taste)
* Öl oder noch besser Butterschmalz (oil or better clarified butter)
What else did we do? Clemens and Katie came by and visited us on Saturday. We went for lunch and then they headed back to Germany. It was good to see them, it really has been a while since we all had time to catch up.
Sunday was a challenge. Without really having too much sleep and my wife starting to paint our living room ceiling, I was left with the boy. I managed alright, although did not get as much other things done as I wanted. I love him to bits but he takes up a lot of time. Ach well, there is always next weekend
Roll on another week, more painting I hope so we can put laminate in the living room too. That is the ultimate aim, to renovate the living room and make the house a proper home.
We are giving away – or selling – a comfy chair and possibly a futon. The latter is still to be decided. And possibly a TV since we want to get more space by mounting a flat screen on the wall.
Anyway, you will get pictures and updates as we go along. I don’t expect it all to be finished before September/October anyway.
Have a good week.
Renovating….
If you think I am speaking about the new house, then you have to think again. We had a black wall in our current, rented flat. This is due to our lovely candles we assume. Sooth it is and we tried washing it off yesterday but realised it will never look nice again.
So at 3.45 we made a wild dash to Homebase and got some cans of paint, a brush etc. and now my wife is painting the living room. I am useless when it comes to painting and support with food, wine and refreshments….and ironing.
However, update on the house is that we should get a contract through this week. Means hopefully tomorrow. Today is bank holiday.
I keep you posted, no doubt!
Volker Ballueder
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