The Shed 19

Hi my lovely people of the Shed!

Lurkers, stop in and say hello.
Only on my first cup of coffee and not quite in functioning mode yet. Throws out donuts and other treats to our bush people lurkers.

Wishing all a pleasant day/afternoon/evening!

Spirit Cat Card Reading

Mystery

Meet Esmeralda. She is the sweet unknown and the allure of endless mystery. There are things that are impossible for our humman minds to fully comprehend. The future is often obscured from our view, yet we still must make decisions without knowing the ultimate outcome. The mystery can feel dazzling and full of possibilities, or it can feel ominous and freeze us in our tracks. Esmeralda beckons us to make peace with the mystery. Let the great unknown sit beside you as you wash the dishes and fall in love and write your story and live your strange and winding life.

That's me just back from my wee break down on the Island.


[[[[WIS]]]]

Nice to see our new writers wearing their shiny new badges!! Go SHED!

I'll try and catch up with the rest of the thread now...

G

a reply to: Gordi The Drummer

I just got a whatsapp message from a friend. I say friend, I thought she was a friend....

"Hi, I'm in Felixstowe..." (I have no idea where Felixstowe is but I know it's somewhere in England.)

I wanted to call her all kinds of names but managed to restrain myself. Instead I just shouted "Vinegar!". (A thing that costs 6 times the price here as it does in England, if you can find it at the 3 English shops they have in NL.)

She laughed and told me they asked her if she wanted vinegar. (I'm guessing she said "No!" while ordering Fish and Chips) I didn't tell her I wanted to kill her. Nope. But I do want to kill her. When she gets back and her huge boyfriend is not around to witness the murder.

The Dutch can be quite cruel sometimes... I don't know why I ever moved here!

a reply to: Sheye

Well it is more complicated than moving from one location to another in my case.
I planned this relocation for more than ten years.
The basics were there or so I thought.
I achieved the degree in the field I love and assumed was as reputable as where I moved from.
I saved up enough money. Or so I assumed.
I made a "wish list" so to speak of what the area I chose to live in would provide.
I narrowed down a state.
I made an assessment of the demographics and whether they could meet my criteria.
On all points it measured up, but I didn't into account my own naïve approach.

I never considered, wages, employee benefits, employee rights and fair regulations nor the status of my trade.
I took all this for granted, that the same laws and recognition applied from one civilized western country to another.

On top of all this, that frustrates me, I must emphasize that this is my home, I was born on this soil and moved away at a young age, but the dream stuck in my heart for more than thirty years.
I have never expected easy in my life but I still feel more at home here then any where else.

I will use the concepts I have learned from a more civilized society to change things, in what ever tiny manner I can.
It still sucks.

originally posted by: LightSpeedDriver

* Coupons are non-transferable and person specific.

.

Thank You dear Light for the Hug Coupon.
I have decided to give all my free hugs to any one who may be in need.
Here you go, hugs to one and all. Forever.


(I took the liberty to reduce the size of the pic)

a reply to: WalkInSilence

I'm sorry to hear things haven't worked out so well. I understand you are very skilled in the kitchen (and am envious!) and that your job doesn't offer you the opportunities and rewards you deserve. (I'd be blessed if I could eat one of your meals!)

I kinda fell into the same situation without moving country. I got old (in NL) in an industry that doesn't like older employees that get "fired" (read: contract not renewed) every 2 years. As long as you can pay the bills and keep your head high in the face of stupidity and ignorance you should be proud, if not entirely happy.

I realise how trite the above must sound but I don't mean it tritely.

a reply to: Sheye

I must add, I find the culture in every way confusing.
Most people are passive aggressive and self depricating.
They are "pleasers", they hardly ever express an honest opinion face to face.
They are so fearfull and at the the same time so aggressive.
They are scared of any hting that isn't like "them" who ever that is.

On this continent we are all strangers, so I am utterly "confuseld" by the rigor mortis, displayed.
Some times I want to yell. "I don't want you to be like me or visa versa, I want to learn from you and grow"
Enough of my silly ranting. Any way my spell check clocked out. Hate that.

originally posted by: LightSpeedDriver
As long as you can pay the bills and keep your head high in the face of stupidity and ignorance you should be proud, if not entirely happy.

I realise how trite the above must sound but I don't mean it tritely.

You are a gem. That is my point. All though it sucks at times. I can maintain my integrity. I don't care about happy, I care about pushing myself to the edge. Then I am happy. But when I am diminished I get very, very contrary.
Yes I can pay my bills, for which I am grateful, thanks to a higher power, and if the morons don't want to use my skills. ( Non T&C text excluded)

Hugs and a wee kiss you are in no way trite.
I would love to create a banquet with all of us fooling around in the kitchen for days to create a feast that would last a week.

Hello everyone.
You may or may not have noticed that I took down the video I posted a few pages back for a Shed song I put together.
I felt the video was not very good and distracted from the song itself.
Not that the song was all that great.
But the visuals were bad and what merit if any the tune had were not noticed because your minds were assaulted by the visuals I had provided.
Anyway here is a link to the song without a video.
I hope it seems better this way.

A Summer Sunshine Rainbow Day At The Shed

a reply to: WalkInSilence

I just want to hug you and help you even more in the kitchen! LOL

I like the way you think. Reminds me of me in a way. Uncompromising, take nothing for second best and accept no help. It's hard to do everything on your own but it is often the only way to know that things work out the right way.

I have a friend that did the Chef's course (uh.,..learning program, 4 years long). He lent me (I felt honoured!) his knives once. They cost at least 50 euros a piece. Sharp, precision instruments. He can cut every vegetable without looking at them and hold a smiling and casual conversation. I was flabbergasted. So, he lent me his knives.... I "touched" one of my fingers with one of his expensive knives. I had to halt the food preparation because I was bleeding all over the place. It was embarrassing but thankfully I was alone and nobody saw it. I didn't bleed all over the raw food either, I ran like a baby to the cold running water. 10 minutes later, with a plaster (band-aid) I continued my cutting, more carefully. I was trying to cut the sinews and other white nasty bits out of stewing beef.

If you want to make a banquet I can help peel, but only if you have a potato peeler. Otherwise there will be more peel than peeled vegetables. I want to make a banquet but on my own it's a pointless exercise. I can only eat so much.

a reply to: Errollorre

Thanks for re-posting. Personally I thought the video was creative and great but that's the old hippy in me speaking. Possibly. The music was brilliant.

a reply to: WalkInSilence

I’m sorry that it didn’t turn out well after so much planning and saving. Perhaps over time you can save up the funds to go back to where you appreciate the people and culture more... and you will be happier.

originally posted by: LightSpeedDriver
I am not a connoisseur and have no aversion to export, warm, crappy beer/lager. As long it is 5% alcohol, it's all good. And hey, if you Aussies don't want it I'll be happy to drink it but I only pay 1 euro a litre so that might change things.

Wheee! Here the cheapest is lidl shops, 93 cents for a 0.33 litre can. And lidl is not everywhere, then it can be 1.10 euros for a 0.33 litre can. So, what you are saying here is, that if you have a five euro bill, you can get quite drunk there. What the....? I don't even know how to react, because envy is unknown to me, never feel it, never felt it. Same thing with my sister. I think it is a genetic thing combined with the way my mom raised us.

Pure alcohol consumption among persons (age 15+) in liters per capita per year

Netherlands 9,9
Finland 12,3

So it is not about the prices, strict laws and regulations, it is about the mindset. I see the Netherlands as a civilized European country, much like Switzerland, Germany or Austria. Maybe have a beer with a pizza (great combo, otherwise i don't like alcohol with food) or if there are people gathering somewhere, have a bottle of wine, sip it in a calm way and be happy with that. We here are kind of forest people, suppressing all our negative emotions and using alcohol as a coping mechanism. Not cool.

I did mean tobacco, not the other thing. I turned into a chain-smoker and not because I wanted too. My only real addiction is nicotine and caffeine. I can miss caffeine but a day without tobacco is a day I cannot bear.

Exactly the same thing here. When i was 15 it was cool to smoke tobacco. It had a rebel aspect to it. Did it with friends during breaks from school and after and before school. Then at some point started smoking alone too because i somehow needed it. And now, just like you, i can't go a day without tobacco. Or of course i won't die, but i would be so so so annoying to be with that it would be better to lock me up somewhere until i get tobacco. Luckily i have read news articles that the youngsters of today don't think that smoking tobacco is cool anymore In my teen days, if carrots would have been banned from underage people and also my mom had forbid them from me, then i would have ate carrots secretly and felt like i own this country because i make my own rules.

BOOM!

Lighty also mentioned coffee. In the middle of my second mug here, Spotted a song on youtube with Daron Malakian, the second singer of System Of A Down and then there is Scars on Broadway.

I am completely mesmerized by the dancing and scenery right now, and pumped up by the music!

a reply to: Finspiracy

Sounds like SOAD. It's a shame they split but that's the way it goes sometimes. Added to playlist. Thanks.

Hey Wis, our Owl just made me crack up. He was saying how work life is like emotional constipation. Bahahaha!

a reply to: Night Star

Sometimes it's emotional torture. Sometimes you have a #ty job with great colleagues which makes the work seem less awful. Sometimes you have a great job with #ty colleagues that makes the work seem awful. Sometimes you have a job that takes all day and yet you perform little or no real work. I find it all rather frustrating but the only thing that pays the bills is that job.

Or, like me now, you can live on welfare and do the best you can with limitations and be broke all month every month and have all day to enjoy that fact.

I forget where I heard this line but it did stick. "Life is hard. Get used to it."

Think happy thoughts! (Hope I just didn't depress everyone!)

BTW I have a new neighbour! He seems like a nice guy but then again, they all do in the beginning. I'm hoping for the best. He has a beard, piercings and I think tattoos. I just hope he doesn't have a huge stereo installation.

a reply to: LightSpeedDriver

I forget where I heard this line but it did stick. "Life is hard. Get used to it."

According to searchquotes.com Bill Gates is the author. I'm so sure he has such a hard life. Poor guy.

a reply to: LookingForABetterLife

OK, not my best quote. Slap me hard please!

a reply to: Night Star
Wait...what? You have a talking owl?