beater bikes

Of course, one of the things that I love about living in Amsterdam is the bike culture. I think its fantastic that the city centre streets are overrun by cyclists and that everyone rides one, regardless of weather or attire. I still have this enthusiasm for the bike culture even after a couple of good wipeouts, including a very impressive one last week where I was run off the road by a truck on the way to work. (Ban them on the Prinsengracht I say!)

One of the things I like the most is the complete lack of care and prestige that comes from one's bike. You see the most fashionable and wealthy people riding the worst, most beaten up bikes. It's almost a matter of pride that their old Gazelle is still ridable. As long as it rides, and doesn't make noise, it's all good.

Here's a photo of the bike rack outside my apartment. We don't live in a terribly low rent district, but you'd never know it from the junk that's outside.  

A fact I recently learned - the Dutch spend more per household on interior design than any other European country. Yet they ride beater bikes and plain cars. An interesting culture that believes in good design and quality, as long as you don't show it outwardly. 

Signs around me.

I spotted this sign today about a block away from the office. It reminds me of the old SNL First CityWide Change Bank ad, which I can't link to because I live outside of the US and NBC doesn't share well. But if you do live in the US, check it.

I should go in and give it a try, so see if I'd get more than elsewhere. But something tells me they wouldn't have a sense of humour and wouldn't appreciate the thought. 

Ajax = Manchester United?

I'm still pretty new to this town, so I can't claim to be a football fan yet, let alone an Ajax fan. (For non-Dutchies the Ajax are the Amsterdam football team. And the one that I've been told is a good bet to support.) But I do know that if you want to get to understand a city and its culture you need to go to their sporting events. So this evening I went online to try to buy some Ajax tickets.

I tend to use Google Chrome as my primary web browser because it's got a tool that translates all the Dutch pages into English automatically. This is good, most of the time, but it can be challenging because some of the translations can be a little off. For example, yesterday it kept changing the letters UK to NL, which is a rather important distinction. I guess the software has the concept of a country down, but not the idea that differentiating between countries is important. 

So tonight, when I pulled up the Ajax page this is what I found in the ticket purchasing section:

I couldn't figure out why they'd be advertising for Man U matches. But hey, if Manchester was coming to town to play Ajax that's a match I'd be interested in seeing. But then I clicked on the "show original text" button and this is what I got.

No mention of Manchester United at all. It appears that Google Chrome has translated the local football club's name into that of Manchester's storied franchise. Fortunately, I'm not really a fan yet, otherwise I'd likely be apoplectic. This is the equivalent of changing the Vancouver Canucks into the Detroit Redwings, without any indication that some great mistake had been made.

Now, I know not to trust Google for my translations. But UK to NL and Ajax to Man U seem like pretty crucial nuances. One would think that, with all their ridiculous brainpower, they could figure this one out.

Parisienne Signage

Colleen and I spent last weekend in Paris. It was Colleen's first time, so we did all the proper touristy things - The Louvre, The Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, The Pompidou Centre.

I love walking around Paris. It's an absolutely beautiful city, with stunning views and buildings around every corner.

On our adventures there were a couple of signs that I particularly liked. This first one was in Notre Dame. Apparently if you're carrying a lot of sins around with you, then you must be tired and need a seat. If you're not ready to confess, then you'll just have to carry on. (Apologies for the not great photo.)

Then there was this sign at the exit of a parking garage. If you're stylishly wearing a red scarf, hat and carrying your umbrella, then you run a major risk of being clobbered over the head. It's a risk that fashionable people have to take.

Got gas?

When I woke up this morning I discovered that I had no hot water. I had a cold shower and went to work, hoping it would be working by the time I got home. When I returned home this evening my gas was still not working. I realized that it was probably time to figure out what the heck the card from the gas company that I got in the mail yesterday said.


I copied the notice into Google Translate. Here's what I got: 


"Dear Sir Madam,

related work on the pipeline and / or replacing your gas meter, your gas supply has been interrupted. Before you can use gas again, it is necessary for the following acts:

a) close all faucets and open the device at the meter gashoofdkraan:
b) insert the gas, preferably the cooking stove. If there is no gas pressure mustact a. wait 15 minutes and repeat. Then continue with action b:
c) let the gas burn 5 minutes and make sure it really stays on (there is some airin the pipe have been);
d) fire up your other devices

If problems arise, the need to contact the National toringsnummer gas andelectricity, from 0800 to 9009. This number is available 24 hours a day."


With instructions like that for reconnecting your gas line, what could go wrong?

The Punisher - continued

So not only is Gaudi the punisher, but Harley seems to have "appropriated" his image.

I spotted this while walking through the Zurich airport train station last weekend. What do you want to bet that Harley didn't pay full usage rights for this?

To those who wrote me asking "what the hell is the Punisher?" after my last post, I hope this inspires you to go look it up.

Gaudi is The Punisher

Colleen and I had a terrific weekend in Barcelona at the end of June.

One place we visited was one of the Gaudi designed homes - La Pedrera.

In the elevator / lighting shaft in the middle of the house was this window venting system combo.

Which I think looks remarkably similar to the logo used by The Punisher.

Coincidence? I doubt it. I think Gaudi was the original punisher.

(I never promised that my blog posts would all be good and meaningful.)