Blood on the ceiling

Attention everybody. If someone ever needs DNA from me, go to my bedroom, look up and find two red spots and voila! Blood on the ceiling. This morning I slaughtered two mosquitos that were resting on my ceiling and yes, they had feasted on my blood during the night. For the last week or so they have done their best to disturb my nights and make it difficult to sleep. I didn't know that only female mosquitos suck blood which makes it even worse. "The female mosquitoes locate their next blood donor victims primarily through scent. They are extremely sensitive to the carbon dioxide in exhaled breath, as well as several substances found in sweat and various body odours. (cum anyone?) They are believed to be able to track potential prey for tens of meters. Some people attract more mosquitoes than others (I know...grrrr), apparently based on how they "smell" to a mosquito. Mosquitoes can also detect heat, so they can find warm-blooded mammals and birds very easily once they get close enough." Tonight I 1) will do a thorough pre-sleep inspection of my bedroom and kill as many enemies as possible; 2) am going to apply liberal doses of insect repellent and 3) will hide myself under the blanket as much as possible. (fortunately it is only 8C at night) How come men can fly to the moon but have not yet invented a working anti-mosquito system? To me this is proof that evolution has not been completed yet.

One year ago - a fairy tale

So exactly one year ago a man was home alone late on Sunday evening. He had had a nice day, having lunch with a friend and dinner with another friend, but something was missing: sex! This is a modern fairy tale, so he went on-line to his favourite site and browsed the personal ads. He chatted with another man, who said: "why don't you come to my place?" The man answered "but it is so late already and tomorrow I have to work", but anyway he decided to take a taxi all the way to Ang Mo Kio. When they met each other in person, they were both immediately stunned by the extremely good looks of the other man. They both felt so lucky to have met such a handsome guy, they immediately decided to meet again the next day. And again the next week, and the next week four times, and soon they couldn't see enough of each other. When they went shopping in Orchard Road, passers-by would turn and look at them, and even the most conservative heartlander would stare, turn to his wife and comment "wow, look at that handsome gay couple, it is time that our government would be more accepting". Pictures were shown to the Minister Mentor, the Senior Minister and other friends and family, and laws were in the process of being changed. That is, until half of the handsome couple was called back by his company to far, far away land. Word soon got around that the "couple of models" could no longer be seen every weekend, and the city soon returned to its old-fashioned and anti-homosexual self. The handsome couple was sad to be split, and couldn't forget the beauty that they had seen. And now the old ladies tell their grand-children that "as soon as the couple will be together in our city, the flowers will bloom with more colour, and with stronger fragrance as ever before".

The Dutch are well-hung

Concertgoers at a festival in the Dutch town of Lichtenvoorde were treated to an unusual sight Friday: a pink hot air balloon 38.7 metres high, shaped exactly like a condom, drifting lazily across the sky. The balloon, with the words "Vrij Veilig" - Dutch for "Safe Sex" - emblazoned on it, was launched by the public health service in the eastern district of Gelre-IJssel, near the German border. Organisers said they plan to submit the balloon to Guinness Book of World Records in the category of "World's Biggest Condom."

Stress

So is it normal that I wake up at 3am, and twist and turn dreaming about a work deadline until the alarm clock rings?

Family ties

So it is Sunday afternoon and my mother and her friend have just left after a visit that started on Friday afternoon. My late father used to say: "friends come and go, so cherish your family as they will always be there for you". I don't totally agree with him, as I (think I) have at least some friends that I will always be in contact with, but experience tells me that indeed, friends come and go throughout one's life, and family is important. Anyway, we went to the Scheringa Museum for Realism yesterday where they had a special exhibition of works of Dutch painter Jan Mankes (so-so) but also nice works of more famous artists such as Botero (picture), Salvador Dali and René Magritte. After the museum we went to the beach at Egmond aan Zee where my mother spent childhood holidays in the 1940's. A BBQ in the garden completed a nice day. This morning I showed them my new office and we toured around Amsterdam a bit. Good to have them visit and happy that they are both healthy and enjoying life.

This is what happens when you fall asleep on the "road"

At the same time I was driving home last night, the captain of a cargo ship fell asleep near Grouw, Friesland province. His ship sailed straight into a home where a family was sleeping. Nobody was injured.

Dangerous driving

Yesterday, after work I drove to the fair city of 's-Hertogenbosch to meet JM and EL who are on their summer vacation in the Netherlands from Jakarta. We had dinner in Restaurant In de Bossche Eetkaemer and chatted about many serious and some not so serious topics. Service was a bit slow so only around 1145pm did I return to my car to drive home. I was very tired from working hard, not sleeping enough all week (I woke up very early all week - I think I am beginning to get stress from work....) and the intensive conversation. The highway was fairly empty so I drove fast......to suddenly realize I fell asleep for a few seconds and am already on the shoulder of the road. I hit myself hard in the face, turned the radio volume up and managed to get home safely.