No Excuses

Well, it's been almost a week and a half since I've last made an entry, so much for my attempts to blog every day. The day after my last blog entry I was in Amsterdam to see Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals. A fabulous show at the Heineken Music Hall. Since we went with a friend of ours and he was at the venue an hour before the doors opened we already had good seats when we arrived. I must say that the only negative aspect of the whole experience is buying beer. As a word of warning to anyone attending a show at this venue (who may also want to buy beer) it's important to remember that you cannot purchase drinks directly from the bar. One must first buy tokens from various vending machines (which there are not enough of) and then use tokens to obtain drinks. Of course I've experienced similar set-ups in the states. I sometimes think it's a scam because there always seems to be an odd number of tokens/tickets left over at the end of the event. For example, if a beer is four tickets you can be assured that there are only three left in your pocket. And of course, one can only purchase a set number of tickets at a time (often more than one needs). The result is of course that not only have you consumed overpriced drinks but you also now have a handful of worthless tickets/tokens. But hey, that's the price you pay I suppose. I was more frustrated by the fact that the limited amount of token dispensing machines meant that I had to wait in line for 45 minutes just to get the tokens. After that I had my beers within 5 minutes. Serves me right for being such an alcoholic. I say just scrap the whole token thing anyway. There were many more bartenders than there were token machines so it seems like a completely superfluous and unnecessarily complicated process for obtaining a refreshing beverage. But everyone has an opinion. Ben and the Criminals were great! I must also mention that since the Heineken Music Hall is located on the outskirts of Amsterdam it's a bit of clusterf**k getting out of there by public transport. It didn't help that Robbie Williams was playing at the stadium next door. Lots of people, not enough trains. Still, sometimes it's nice to feel the crush of humanity when packed like sardines on an unventilated train, it reminds you what it's like to be truely alive. The next day I helped a friend move some things to his new house in Rijswijk. He's got a small army of Poles replacing all the windows at his place. Saturday would have been restful but I was in a sour mood. Sometimes you just feel like you're in a funk! Sunday it was back to Amsterdam to see another show near the Leidseplein. Dead Cab for Cutie in case you are interested. Kick ass venue in a renovated church. We stayed overnight nearby which would make that only the third time I've actually stayed in Amsterdam. This past week I felt busy even though I can't recall what I got up to. Yesterday I was again helping my friend move. Today I'm cleaning the entire flat from top to bottom in anticipation of the arrival of guests. Kimberlee's aunt, uncle, and cousin are arriving from the states Saturday morning. Her aunt and uncle will only be staying for a couple of days but her cousin will be with us for a month since he is doing an internship with Kimberlee's company. Things are looking better on the job front and I may even end up doing some volunteer work for a human rights organization. My CV is going out to them tommorrow. I just finished cleaning about half of the apartment and now I'm taking a break, scrubbing the toilet really wears me out!