Crash

My less then 4 months old laptop quit this week. Just when I was working on my blog and had a lot of other things going, my laptop started to do weird things. After closing it down it would not start again. The screen just stays totally blank. I spend an afternoon dealing with it. First a repairguy came by to check it out, but no use. Then I had to call the serviceline to report the problem. They told me they would send a ticket for the repair to my e-mail address! I think they assume that everyone has access to more then one pc with their e-mail installed. Luckily my old pc is still working, though you kind of have to use a pump handle to get it going. So that problem was solved, but I started how my mom would have coped if her laptop had crashed. How on earth would she have found out how to get to her e-mail? I mean, she is doing pretty well for a women her age when it comes to the pc. One of her close friends does not know how to seperate words from each others so she justwritesentanceslikethis. Anyway, now I have to have the laptop ready for pick up tomorrow afternoon. I think it will take an entire morning to find a box in the right size and pack it up properly (see picture). And I had so many other things I wanted to do. I love the modern technical life, but sometimes I wonder why I have become so dependant on it.

Welcome to my life

No, I don’t live in Amsterdam but in a city south of our capital. No, I have not smoked any joints my whole life, nor visited the red light district. But I am Dutch and proud of it. At my daughter’s school there is one kid who has two mommies and one who has two daddies, both couples happily married. I bike everywhere and walk to and from school with my little girl. We walk on normal shoes, btw and not on wooden shoes. So far for all the prejudices against (or for) us. You will find that my life differs from yours in the US. Our country works in a different way and we sometimes think in a different way. But you will also notice that in many ways my life is just like yours. The same struggles and worries, the same guilt and pain. But also the same laughter and happiness, the same feelings of love and friendship.

I came to the idea of writing a blog about this because I share much of my life with a terrific group of women on iVillage. We check in almost every day and ach time I notice how much the same we are, despite differences in culture. I enjoy hearing about their life and getting to know the inside of life in the US more. At the same time I notice they enjoy reading my posts and learning more about life in Holland. So, if you like to learn more about that either, follow my blog. I am also looking forward to comments on my life and thoughts. The beauty of internet: we can bring lives so far away from each other so close.