Archives for March 2005

Pipes, scans, fame

22 March, 2005
Posted in: Belgium, Princess, Reading etc.

So, other news from the Waffles. They are replacing the lead
water pipes on the street. This is particularly good news for
those of us who choose to drink the tap water in Belgium.
On the minus side, they begin digging outside our bedroom window at 7.00 and tend to cut off the water at random intervals during the day. This is scheduled to continue for a couple of months.

Today the Princess is being taken for a scan. She won’t like
that. It’s at lunchtime and she can’t eat for three hours
beforehand. She won’t like that either. I am nervous and I
can’t feel that this counts as “taking it easy”. Sniff.

I missed a major opportunity for fame. A friend is a journalist
on a magazine here and he asked would I be prepared to talk about my blog for an article on Belgian blogging. “Oh yes, new readers” I salivated but alas due to constant meetings at work (ref para 1), I missed the all important interview slot and didn’t make the article. Am gutted.

Comments

poggle

on 22 March 2005 at 11:23

Can I have your autograph?
And good luck with Princess/scans and lazing about …..

Peggy

on 22 March 2005 at 13:51

I am Belgian and I read you regularly. Feel better?
Too many readers destroy the pleasure. You’ll feel like you shouldn’t disappoint people and it won’t be natural anymore.
If you agree I’ll link you on my blog, I’m far from famous but that should attract more “francophone” readers for you.

Friar Tuck

on 22 March 2005 at 18:02

The cure for what ails you, and as luck would have it, the way to increase readership is to floss more often. Oh, sorry!

Angela

(Homepage)

on 23 March 2005 at 03:03

You will be missed.
Best wishes to you on your road to recovery!

belgianwaffle

on 23 March 2005 at 10:18

Jack, do you think, I dunno, I think fame would have suited me. Pog, join the orderly queue. Peggy, je suis tres contente, moi aussi je ferais un lien vers ton site! FT less of it from you. Tried to mail you a number of times but looks like your email is down. Speak to Messrs Peak Peak. FP, you mistake, I am promising more blog now that I am taking it easy, not less!

LRB personals

23 March, 2005
Posted in: Reading etc.

Nothing in this world makes sense. Apart from Sphenodon punctatus, last survivor of the reptilian order Rhynchocephalia.

If only there were a woman like it Â– cold, efficient and brutal in
love, but also able to feed off small animals, inhabit the breeding burrows of certain small petrels and be in possession of a vestigial third eye. Zoologist M (51), possibly a little too close to his work. And his mother. Box no. 01/05

Comments

NorahSplog

on 23 March 2005 at 12:08

I like him.

lauren35

on 23 March 2005 at 12:50

I feel so uncerebral in comparison

belgianwaffle

on 23 March 2005 at 15:41

And people, there are lots more where this came from.

LRB personals

23 March, 2005
Posted in: Reading etc.

I like my women the way I like my kebab. Found by surprise
after a drunken night out and covered in too much tahini. Before too long I’ll have discarded you on the pavement of life, but until then you’re the perfect compliment to a perfect evening.Â Man, 32. Rarely produces winning metaphors. Box no. 04/08.

Comments

dmts

on 23 March 2005 at 15:58

it makes you wonder why he thought the LRB was a suitable medium. I may be intrigued enough to meet him because of that. Adding swiftly, that it would only be an idea given that I’m a respectable married woman and wouldn’t do that sort of thing. Well, I’m married.

Kate_Sith

on 23 March 2005 at 15:59

But I’m not, Heather, and he sounds like my kind of guy.

belgianwaffle

on 23 March 2005 at 16:02

Yes, HJB, I know, appalling. Kate, am duly appalled. A kebab lover?!

Kate_Sith

on 23 March 2005 at 17:38

I’m duly hanging my head in shame. But am still strangely drawn to him.

belgianwaffle

on 24 March 2005 at 08:02

Kate, snap out of it! Now, quick, before you turn into a kebab.

Kate_Sith

on 24 March 2005 at 09:48

Argh! When you put it like that…

jackdalton

on 24 March 2005 at 09:51

What’s wrong with kebab, Kbabes? 😐

Kate_Sith

on 24 March 2005 at 12:44

Nothing really, but I wouldn’t want to be one.

Friar Tuck

on 24 March 2005 at 15:47

A prize to the first person to use the word “skewer” in his/her comment.

belgianwaffle

on 29 March 2005 at 20:35

No Kate, you wouldn’t. Down Jack. FT, there’ll be trouble – have you fixed your email yet?

Friar Tuck

on 04 April 2005 at 04:18

If you fix your e-mail, would it then be called an e-unuch?

belgianwaffle

on 05 April 2005 at 08:37

Look, is it fixed or not?

Friar Tuck

on 06 April 2005 at 20:11

Oh, sorry. I’ve a new address. Didn’t you get my email?

belgianwaffle

on 09 April 2005 at 14:10

No. Resend please…

Touched by greatness

23 March, 2005
Posted in: Mr. Waffle, Reading etc.

Mr. W: Your cousin lives in Luxembourg?
Younger Colleague: No, he was working there for a couple of weeks. Actually, he was making a film. They have great film making facilities in Luxembourg.
Mr. W: Really? What was the film? Would I have heard of it?
Y. C.: Maybe, it was “Girl with a Pearl Earring”.
Mr. W: Oh yeah, I actually saw that. Who was your cousin?
Y. C.: Um, the painter guy.
Mr. W: Sorry, your cousin is Colin Firth?

Apparenly yes and he hates it when people come up to him and talk about “Pride and Prejudice”.

Comments

Mikeachim

on 23 March 2005 at 17:42

By ‘eck.
I’ve never understood the Pride & Prejudice wet shirt thing.
(But then I’m male. Apparently you have to be female).
Can anyone explain it?

lauren35

on 23 March 2005 at 18:09

Mikeachim : the primal act & animal energy of diving into a natural pool, the haughty but piercing & troubled look at the woman he loves, the strength of the body revealed by the clinging white shirt … need I go on?

NorahSplog

on 23 March 2005 at 18:13

Mmmmm Colin Firth.
When they make the film of my life, Mr Splog will be played by our Col.
Why’d he have to be called Colin though?

belgianwaffle

on 24 March 2005 at 08:03

Um, judging by the comments, it doesn’t look like he’s put P&P behind him, does it? Very good point about his name, Norah.

jackdalton

on 24 March 2005 at 10:01

Is there a ‘natural pool’ anywhere within striking distance of any stately home in Britain since the time of Capability Brown? Just wondering.
Anyway, I think he fell in because he was on drugs…..

belgianwaffle

on 29 March 2005 at 20:34

Ah Jack, you’re just jealous.

Belgians and Rashes

24 March, 2005
Posted in: Belgium, Boys

Which is worse?Â The fact that the workmen start at 7.00 outside our window giving residents an appreciation of what it’s like to live in a war zone or the fact that they appear to give up for the day at 9?

By the by, please see photo which proves, if proof were necessary, that Belgians regard parking restrictions asÂ pplying solely to others.

There is still no floss in the supermarket.

My parentsÂ’ boiler has been repaired.

And would you like some information on my mystery illness? The touching concern of some friends following my recent post makes me think I should put them out of their misery. There are a few things wrong with me. Starting with the most banal:Â– I have a rotten cold. Let’Â’s move on to more exciting things. About two weeks ago something started biting me. Could we have fleas?Â But we have no pets and are reasonably clean and nothing was biting my loving spouse.Â An extensive examination of the sheets revealed nothing.Â Â They were changed and the mattress hoovered nevertheless. The biting continued.Â My husband started to worry about me as I crept into the bedroom, pulled up the duvet and pounced on what always turned out to be an innocent piece of fluff (where is all this fluff coming from anyway?).

So it went on.Â And the bites got worse and worse.Â And, finally, last week, I consulted my tame medical advisor who, ever one to provide comfort, said that the spot distribution sounded like smallpox, but it was unlikely to be that.Â Since the tame medical advisor lives in Cork, he suggested it might be worth seeing someone locally who could actually inspect the damage. By this stage, my legs were red, raw, weeping
and swollen up in a most alarming manner and the rest of me was pretty itchy.Â Walking was painful and difficult.Â So on Monday, I went to the dermatologist who, conveniently, is a couple of doors down from my house.Â The result was most gratifying.Â She called in a colleague.Â They both oohed and aahed and tut tutted that I hadnÂ’t been to see them earlier.I
held my breath for a photo in the Belgian version of Â“The LancetÂ”. They’Â’re not sure what it is and yesterday they sent me off to another dermatologist who isnÂ’’t sure what it is
either.Â And I have had lots of blood tests and a biopsy which has left two stitches and a glamourous bandage on my neck.

Because of further complications which will be revealed in due course, they havenÂ’’t really been able to prescribe anything except rest but IÂ’’m going back at lunch time to be hovered over by two dermatologists and two other doctors will be phoning in to give their tuppence haÂ’penny worth.Â More details to follow in due course. By the by, I’d like you to know, they say itÂ’s definitely not flea bites.

Comments

jackdalton

on 24 March 2005 at 09:47

Sounds like an allergy perhaps to something like fabric conditioner….?

NorahSplog

on 24 March 2005 at 10:32

Poor Waffly – sounds nasty.
I hope they get to the bottom of it and fix you soon.

poggle

on 24 March 2005 at 10:34

Poor you, waffly …
(FT hasn’t been bringing any little friends with him, has he? You know how scabrous his hands always are ….).

Friar Tuck

on 24 March 2005 at 15:41

Hey, I resemble that remark!

on 24 March 2005 at 18:45

Further complications? Unable to prescribe. Hmmm…..mini waffle? Hope you get better soon!!

Beth

(Homepage)

on 25 March 2005 at 00:26

Possibly it is scurvy? I have no idea what the symptoms for scurvy are, but have always thought it sounded like an excellent illness to have.

on 29 March 2005 at 18:16

Hmm…yes, it would have been easy to make flea jokes, but that acually sounds quite annoying and a wee bit serious. Anything that requires stitches can’t be good. Poor you. Feel better soon.One other thing, is it just me or does that peugeot look quite small compared to the two lads near it? Do they make mini-peugeots?

belgianwaffle

on 29 March 2005 at 20:38

Oh Heather, a sweetie, you are kind. Yes, JD, quite possibly, the experts are baffled. I am so proud. Thank you Norah. Thank you Pog, and yes, I have my suspicions about FT also, though I note he denies all. Thank you Sarah, you will be bored by details of my progress. OOOH Beth, maybe it is, cool. Locotes, feel much improved hearing from you – how nice that you are about. Will you come back full time when you’ve finished your degree?

Locotes

on 30 March 2005 at 16:46

tsk, you should know I had my degree ages ago, your memory of me obviously faded quite quickly! 😉
This is my MSc I’ll have you know – the path to oodles of cash! Well, I can dream…
As for the full time, only time will tell – I’m trying to put a stint in now, but of course that could also be because I’m avoiding work. Maybe. Possibly.

belgianwaffle

on 01 April 2005 at 20:09

Yes I know you already had one and were getting a second for the hell of it…do keep avoiding work.-

Locotes

on 01 April 2005 at 20:32

Oh I will, don’t worry. All part of the studenty job description. Glad you had a nice time in Ballycotton by the way – though surely Rocky Bay can’t be beat?

Rash in Cork

29 March, 2005
Posted in: Boys, Family

All in all a little tiring. On Thursday afternoon following three medical consultations, I decided to go with the majority and risk travelling.Â I paid a fortune to get to Cork over Easter and I wasn’t going to let a rash stop me (no poor puns, please).

You will be delighted to hear that my rash has improved enormously, thus, obviously, vindicating my decision to travel. This morning I had the stitches taken out of my neck so I spent today loping around the office like Frankenstein’s monster. It is, of course, absolutely forbidden to cover up my scars with a scarf or a polo neck. Snort. Also, I can’t get my neck wet for 48 hours. Good lord. And all this to find out that they don’t know what it was but isn’t it good that it’s getting better of its own accord. Double snort.

So, epic journey to Cork. It took us the best part of a day to get there and the same length of time to get back.Â My sister who came home from Chicago actually got back there faster than we got to Brussels. Of course she was actually flying for most of her trip whereas we spent the vast bulk of ours sampling the many delights which Dublin airport offers.

Actual time in Cork was very pleasant with babysitting services on high alert and significant food supplies laid in to meet our needs. On Easter Sunday, Mr. Waffle and I abandoned the Princess to her loving grandparents and went for a walk on the beach and a drink in Ballycotton. All very civilised. We also met the heart surgeon and her husband and their lovely month old baby whom they are managing with alarming efficiency. They have already been to play tennis three times while the infant watched from the sidelines. And they have been to the cinema. I am impressed beyond measure. Alas, they are moving to Burlington, Vermont in June so, I fear, we will see a lot less of them after that. Though, of course, it is probably as easy to get from Brussels to Burlington as it is to get from Brussels to Cork.

Comments

belgianwaffleon 01 April 2005 at 20:10

Am glad to hear that you had a typical trip to Ireland pog. Weather was surprisingly clement over Easter though.