Gerko's Weblog

Tuesday, September 21, 2004

 Driver's Licence. License. Licence. agh.

As some of you may be aware, Gerko finally has his driver's licence.

((Driver's license/licence ? Oh, for crying out loud - can someone, somewhere, please figure out which one it is ? licence or license ? Make up your bloody mind.))

You know how they say "three times' a charm" - for me it was five times. And because it was my fifth time, this examination wasn't conducted by someone from the CBR (Central Bureau for Driving Skill Certificates), but by someone from the BNOR (Bureau for Further Investigation of Driving Skills) - Which really wasn't any different. I just didn't do anything too grotesquely wrong this time. So yay!

Don't have my own car yet, no real plans either. And since I started studying again, with unlimited free public transport on weekdays, there's no real need either. I am happy that the ~150 euro/month drain is gone, though. Getting a car would soon enough gobble up that wee bit of financial freedom again. So no thanks. Not just yet.

 Flashback to Scott Stubbs

Greetings

Instead of writing this entry, I should probably be busy writing one of the many assignments I still haven't completed yet. But I'm on the train and still suffering from self-proclaimed writer's block.

When I mentioned to one of my teachers yesterday that I was having difficulty writing things down, she warned me against talking myself into a writer's block. HMPH. I'd rather have some advice on how to talk oneself out of one, since I figure I talked myself into a sporadic writer's block more than a few years ago. Oh well.

I figure I have to do something, though. And considering I'm not doing my homework anyway - here's a blog entry instead.

Where do I begin ? Where did I leave off ?
Meh. Early summer will do. So, I had my rather uneventful birthday. A few weeks later, though, I had a guest to take care of. Scott Stubbs, who I may or may not have mentioned here the past two years, was one of my first online aquaintances, dating back 5 or 6 years. We visisted the same message board (before such things were called 'forums'), got to know each other a bit over ICQ (pre-MSN days!), and ended up in the same "Fallout Clan" as well. I'm pretty sure I mentioned that before - The Order.
Scott left TO a few years ago, and generally spent less time online. Which is probably a good thing. Heh. Anyway, we did keep in touch every now and then, and when he announced plans for a trip through Europe, and I wasn't about to decline his request for some compagnionship and a place to stay for the duration of the trip spent in El Dutchyland.

I won't bore you (or myself) with all the details regarding his trip. Something about joining two of his real-life friends who were touring the 'entire' globe for their duration in Europe, and how after getting split up somehow Scott's friends got stuck in Spain on account of getting their gear stolen the night before heading to the Netherlands. (And leaving me walking around clueless at the airport.) In any case, I was expecting three Americans, turned out to be only one, and we had a pretty good time.

Spent some time at home-home, at my student-place-thingy in Vlissingen, went to see Shrek 2 together with my sister. (I'm assuming Scott managed to ignore the subtitles.)
Another day, my dad took us (Scott, my siblings and myself) to Rotterdam and Amsterdam. This included a visit to my comatose grandmother in the hospital († Aug 16th ... ), a climb up the Euromast (contemplated buying a t-shirt which read EURO MAST URBA TION), hung around a "Kwakoe" festival to meet up with my dad's (at the time) girlfriend. After that, it was one to Amsterdam, where he duly gave us a tour of the infamous Red Light District. "Us" still meant all of us, including my sister who had turned 12 years old a mere few days earlier. Some dad, huh ?

Ofcourse Amsterdam had to be revisited on our own - without parents or younger siblings to thwart our plans. (Though, with my passive nature, I still held Scott back somewhat.) Once there ourselves, we mostly walked around sight-seeing adn such. Visisted one musuem, had a tour through the ... um ... "Grachten" ... canals ?, browsed some stored. Ofcourse the Red Light District had to be revisited, but it wasn't really anything more interesting than the first time 'round. Still somewhat embarrassed I actually went there, but oh well. :p

The "Leidscheplein" couldn't be skipped either, with its 'outdoor cafés' and street performers. It was also on the Leidscheplein where I went into my first coffee shop. To order coffee, mind you. As I threatened I would. Still have the reciept somewhere.

We also went to see Boom Chicago - the very place I had my first (and only) 'non-date' with Larissa back in January. (Larissa and I aren't talking anymore. Something apparently went wrong when I asked her to come over for my birthday. She said she would, but didn't - and never talked to me again. Anyway, come to think of it, she was the first person from 'online' I met face-to-face, Scott was the second, and the third should be upcoming. Planning to take this third person to Boom Chicago as well, though probably not on our first meeting. I suppose there might be a pattern here.) After two days, I had to head home again - some stupid appointment with the unemployment office. Scott opted to stay in Amsterdam for a few days more. (Finally free from that Passive Slacker, he could persue his dreams!)

I think the next day was the one when I jumped off the nearby bridge. Merely two meters above water level, so don't get any silly ideas about suicide or anything. (Though it could be seen symbolically, I suppose.) All I know is that feeling of triumph - climbing out of the water, wringing out my clothes and subsequently walking home - was pretty darn good. Hadn't felt that good in a long time, and haven't so far.

But I digress.

Although plans to meet each other before Scott's departure existed, it didn't happen. However, he did still have some gear laying around at my place. And he still had my crappy tent. Crappy or not, I wanted it back.
So we arranged to meet at the airport. Scott, however, had already checked in. He'd left my tent in one of the lockers. How I finally managed to get his gear (packing into my own new backpack) on his plane is still a bit fuzzy to me, but it included walking from one information desk to the other more than once, and something about security as well.
He got his gear back, though, and my backpack is currently en-route back to the Netherlands from California, USA. Unless it got lost in the mail, since it's been a while.

To make it short (TOO LATE!), I had a good time. He's a pretty cool guy in real life as well as online and I've had quite some new experiences.

Wednesday, September 08, 2004

 's not funny how much I still have to tell.

Suffering from severe writer's block - so bad that school is suffering from it.
Must kick self more. Or talk about it with someone or I don't know.Will have to get rid of this or I'll end up back in the dumps. (again?)

Once I get out of this rut, though - expect a recap with some important notes. (Scott, driver's licence, funeral, school etc.)