So I just booked passage on the ESNTrain, a unique train that will tour Europe for 25 days, visiting 18 countries. I'll be on it April 17th through April 21st. Now all I need is recommendations for what to do during the stopovers:

• 17 hours in Brussels
  (4 hours in Luxembourg in the middle of the night)
• 6 hours in Strasbourg
• 1 hour in Karlsruhe
• 10 hours ( Read more... )

I bought a table!

Went to Amsterdam for the 100 year anniversary of the cooperative housing society in Amsterdam that I’m a member ofAlso, went to a dinner party yesterday, spent ages frantically running around trying to find some flowers or another gift for the host - then it turned out I was the only one who bothered. Aren’t you meant to take something for the ( Read more... )

So I went to Alphen the other day to clean out my old apartment, and among the things to do was to deal with my two bikes there ( Read more... )

Last week I took fuzzie’s laptop to be repaired in Woerden. Due to poor timing, missing a train and not knowing where it was, I spent a total of 2½ hours out, for something which is only 20 km away via the shortest route. So I decided to cycle there to pick up the laptop. Made two wrong turns on the way there, but on my way back I managed to get ( Read more... )

My old laptop died, so I bought a Thinkpad X31 off eBay. It's tiny!

fuzzie and I are considering going on holiday in the UK this summer. Since I've seen most of southern England and Wales (the only major places south of Cambridge that I haven't seen are Plymouth and Brighton), I'm making a list of midland, northern and Scottish places that I'm considering visiting.

• Liverpool
• Manchester
• York
• Birmingham
• Newcastle

I spent a total of two hours today and yesterday trying to fix a blowout on my rear bike tire. It involved taking the whole back wheel off, which is kind of involved because of the in-hub gear system. I had to spend a long time putting the whole thing back on, tensioning the chain and aligning the wheel. Here's to hoping I don't have to do this ( Read more... )

Our flat has sprung a leak, causing much filthy water to drip into our assembled kitchen appliances ( Read more... )

The exam disaster wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, on account of me getting the part of the exam I did manage to finish almost entirely correct. I now have a 6.6 out of 10, so I probably won't bother appealing.