luckykaa

Drinks with colleagues today. A few of them are off tomorrow so for those it was goodbye drinks. They got me a card and a couple of books about being Dutch, which was thoughtful and touching, (and more than I ever received when I left a permanent job).

I really am sad to be going.

It's that whole "last day of school" thing. A month ago, the idea of staying for another 5 months filled me with dread. I never developed a social life here. It's been way too lonely. But I rather enjoyed the job. Nice bunch at Tomtom, and a genuine belief that they are out to make the best possible product.

I wouldn't have been happy if I stayed but that doesn't mean I'm all that happy to leave.

Dear livegerbil.

Today autumn arrived. It announced itself with a downpour. As luck would have it I was wearing particularly absorbent clothes, so I was soaked to the skin. Turns out that isn't just a figure of speech. Funny think about cycling in a torrential downpour, the rain seems to be blowing in your face whichever way you turn. Decided to take a break halfway home and get a burger. The food was hot and McDonalds was warm and dry.

I also had joined a boardgames meetup group. Six nominal attendees plus a load of people on the parallel group on facebook. There were threat of Monopoly, but luckily there were far too many of us so the rest of us played card against humanity - the Evil twin of Apples to Apples. Having successfully lost all faith in humanity we decided to play a game of Mafia (a.k.a. werewolf, traitor, spy, assassin, alien mutant, whatever). This was fun but 7 people is really an absolute minimum number of players. Did try to grab a bunch of others but they'd just started to play cash and guns.

It was fun, and I now hate almost everyone and mistrust the rest.

So, this weekend I bought myself a new bike. €99 (plus another €20 for the lock). Could have got it for a lot less buying privately, but my time is worth more than that.

Today I took rode my bike to work. Saving me a total of roughly €3.20 on tram fares, and 5-10 minutes in walking and waiting time. It's been a while since I last rode a bike but it's like something similar to riding a bike that can be used as an analogy for riding a bike. Get on it. Wobble a bit. Learn that a cheap bike sure is a lot heavier than the entry level mountain bike I'm used to, but once you're moving it's all about inertia. Glad there aren't any hills in this city. But I head off, and in no time at all I'm cycling like a native. And then detect a squeak. I deal with this later.

Everyone cycles here.The city has cycle infrastructure! There is an actual cycle track network. Bike lanes are everywhere. If you're not on a bike then Amsterdam isn't interested in you. The rare times you get steps (it's a very flat city as we all know) there's a bike ramp. Traffic lights have separate lights for bikes. Bikes dominate.

As I ride I join packs of bicycles. Traffic is not scary.  Cars avoided the vicious cycle packs. Cars get second billing - often third or fourth after pedestrians and trams. At this stage, the biggest danger is other cyclists - especially those on their phones, veering unpredictably left and right. As I get closer to the city centre, I find the only actual obstacle - the bane of all Amsterdam cyclists; The Tourist! Tourists, transplanted from their native environment haven't evolved or learned to deal with the predatory cyclists. They'll aimlessly wander into the road.

I find my way to work, park my bike amongst the others and walk in, feeling like a proper resident.

After work I investigate the squeak. Spin the front wheel. No squeak. Spin the back wheel. No squeak. Only squeaks when moving. Tricky. Eventually track it down to a wobbly back wheel rubbing on the wire supporting the mudguard. Need to get myself a spanner.

I wish every city had this sort of cycle infrastructure. It's a  pleasant way to get to work. There is but one drawback.

Saddlesores.

My bum hurts.

This week, my life has been mostly dedicated to working and eating with a little bit of flat hunting on the side.

It's still stressful.

There are many websites that offer flats.

Part of the problem is requirement to register with the municipal register. Some people insist on registration. Some of them say registration isn't possible and others say registration is a must. Some say registration is included but I don't know if that's a translation issue or if they mean they can deal with the paperwork for me. If I plan to stay more than four months I have to register but some places will only register me if I'm there for a year. If I'm there for less than 4 months I can't register.

I have found a 3 month sublet that seems idea for 3 months. My contract at work is nominally only a 3 month contract so this will be perfect for me. If I get an extension then I'll need to find another place but I expect some decent level of notice if I do get one and I'll have a base from which to hunt. No drugs rule which will probably put off a lot of potential visitors.

Still not quite sure abut Amsterdam. The smell of marijuana is everywhere and I've never felt that's a pleasant smell. I think the main issue though is simply the stress levels. Something that will plummet if I get this apartment. Then I'll just have to deal with one other administrative issue.

Am starting to miss hills. Maybe next time I'll get a job in Switzerland.

So, this weekend... It all started on Friday. I went to hire a car that I'd booked at Hertz. pre-booked. Found the place. All seemed good, if a little slow. Hertz then did a check that I exist. According to the credit agency they use I don't! Gah! So they wouldn't give me the car. Useless lot.

Thrifty were just around the corner. They were nice. Also pretty cheap. Except I couldn't drop it off at the airport. I could have coped with that. I asked to drop it off on the Sunday. They're closed Sunday.

Looked for other places. Phone decided to stop behaving. Reset phone. Found out where Europcar was. Finally got a car! Yay!

Europcar: "So that will be £lots for 3 days and you're covered for damage with a £1000 excess"
Me: "Erm... can we reduce that excess at all?"

So I get a £250 excess which I paid another £loads for but I really didn't want to take that risk.I was now feeling a lot more stressed, and I was an hour behind where I wanted to be. Still, I got the car. Finally! So I ended up with an Astra.

Called Hertz to arrange a refund. They told me there would be a cancellation fee. Uhm... No. You cancelled. I didn't. Rubbish lot. Will never use them again. Or at all.

Drove to LARP. Had lots of joy of traffic because of broken down car in the middle of the road where they're doing work on the M25. LARPed. Will get onto that in another entry. Drove back. Drove to the airport. Where the hell do I return the car? Lucky for me, the chap in the Shell garage gave exact directions. And so I went to the airport.

More stress as the check-in machine refused to print a ticket for me. Realised I left a knife in my pocket (Swiss Army card. I lose a lot of them at airports). Bought an envelope and posted it home. Flight gate wasn't announced until 10 minutes before the gate was apparently closing. It was on the other side of the airport. Flight was actually late. Journey was shorter than expected although did land on the Polderbaan. Schipol's 7th runway that's actually closer to England than Amsterdam. There is a nice plane drive through Holland as the plane makes its way to the terminal.

Got to hotel.

Collapsed.