Day: August 26, 2008

A side-note from Amsterdam

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I was going through the stuff I brought back from Amsterdam and came across this. It’s a snippet of conversation I had after smoking along the banks of the Gentlemen’s Canal with Michel:

Me: We’re like one big cliché here. It’s like a bad mix of When Harry met Sally and Thirtysomething: two old friends, on a trip to Amsterdam, get high and reminisce about all the times they had and their fears for the future.
Michel: You write it up, you sell it to Hollywood, you make millions.
Me: Who would you get to play you in your movie?
Michel: Forrest Whittaker.
Me: The big, black guy???
Michel: yes.

For some reason (besides being high), I found this hilarious. Still do :)

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HUPO wrap-up and the days that came later

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I made it back from Amsterdam in one piece and no drug-related incidents. I was mildly concerned that there might be dogs and they might have objected to some lingering scents from my clothes (oh come on, this is Amsterdam we’re talking about here!) but we made it back home with no problems. In fact, it was probably my easiest customs clearance in Stansted in memory. There was no queue. The buggers did change the layout of the landing card though, which made me waste a bit of time, having to read it.

I worked from home on Thursday and took Friday off sick cause I had a lingering headache that took its sweet time to go away. Yesterday was a bank holiday so all in all, it was a 4 day weekend. I could use more of those, even if Katy and I did spend it watching waaaaaaaaaaay too many episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Yes, we are sad. Yes, we know it.

We did get some grown-up work done; laundry and groceries and the such. We’ve started buying nappies and baby wipes. One of the books mentioned that if you start buying that stuff before the kids are due and you’re still on full pay, it can really help ease the burden of low maternity pay. We stared, slack-jawed, at the wall of diapers in Tesco and we kept asking ourselves which ones to get and if more expensive really is better. In the end, we went for a brand name that was on sale. We’ll get more of the same in the following weeks. This mildly freaks me out.

We also managed to get some fun stuff done though. We had a BBQ on Saturday where we went completely overboard on the sausages. We went to Cafe Rouge on Monday, just for the hell of it. We wanted to catch a movie as well, but Katy was feeling a bit tired. The last few weeks have been emotional for her and it seems to have caught up with her. There’s the whole Rita issue, for one. She’s decided – and I support her decision – to simply cut all contact. Drastic, but it’s at the point where she’s getting more negative than positive from the whole thing and it’s time to call it quits and move on. I had something similar happen with Seb, years ago, so I do understand where she’s coming from. People change…

The plan for the next few days is work, work and work and then Ikea. I also need to start going back to the gym again. It’s been way too long and I’ve gotten in horrible shape. All the good work that I’d done for the wedding is long gone. I’ve not gained too much weight, but the muscle turned to flab and must be dealt with now. Blergh. Don’t wanna, but need to. Such is life.

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