Goodmorning Neuch

This morning I wanted to share with you the beautiful beginning of this day. The rising sun projecting a warm glow on the brick walls of the room. Not only did it light up my morning, but also the face of my dear, who was preparing to leave. I have to admit I was still waking up from below the warm eider-down, my eyes peeping just above the cover awakened by the rising sun. She was greeting me with her lovely smile, glowing in the rising sun. The next moment she's gone and I'm left with a warm bed, the rising sun and not enough courage to start another day of studying for my two flying exams of next week. 

Yesterday we had a heartwarming goodbye party for a good friend (Gg) at which I showed my clown-side in several bad ways. We had aces of fun, but of course when joking around I did some stupid things as well. We were throwing Ahmadinejad from one side of the room to the other (Ahmadinejad being our little stuffed chicken which has a little bag serving as an egg-warmer; as a pilot I love to give it flying lessons). Then my opponent decided to hide behind a colleague with a glass of beer. Guess where Ahmadinejad touched down? Again, Christa, I apologize! 

After a couple of little more successful landings, several home-made pizza's, some stove top cinnamon apples and a big Tiramisu prepared by my dear, I discovered my activity for next Thursday evening: La Soirée Concours de la CCA at Théâtre du Pommier, Neuchatel. I've never been there, but they're playing a couple of short-films of which one is made by Valentine. I hope to have fun tomorrow!

And it's free! ;-)

iNR

M-i-Essence

Today, I thought it was time to introduce "my dear" a little bit more. That said, I should tune down your expectations before they go through the roof, which would be completely justified by the way. Just focus on three elements of my dear: lips, feet and hair. These three combine to be her essence or in Apple-terminology her iEssence. And she's "mine" ... hence the title of this post. So, that's done! You know enough...

Now, to change the subject completely; for some time now I have been walking around thinking over the use of habits. You know: the good, the bad and the ugly... Some good habits: looking left ánd right before crossing the street, not wearing your underwear inside out the second time,... Some bad habits: doing your dishes with the tub water after taking the bath, selecting the wrong network when publishing your birth pictures on Tweetdeck,... Some ugly habits: wearing a tweet jacket to go water skiing, eating your nails,... and not to split hairs, but "de-splitting hairs" fits this category as well.

I guess that at this point the train has left the station with you still on the platform, so let me explain. Try to find a girl - you may look for a boy if you like to go against the odds - and observe her at a moment she has nothing to do. She will go for her hair and start playing with them. Now, if you're lucky you'll have picked one with long hairs so instead of just fudging in it, she will start to inspect them in front of her eyes. This is the moment! Look at her eyes! Completely cross-eyed!

Jaiks!

iNR

PS: Thank you my dear for being so dear to me! You're M-i-Essence!

The day I should call

Today is the day, the day I should call. If you read yesterday's post then you recall how my dear and I hit rock-bottom discussing about when I should make the call. The conclusion remained vague so the consensus, if any, could be that I would call today.

We had a pasta at Mezzo, Neuchâtel

At the time it is just over one in the afternoon and I haven't called yet. It's funny: I want to call, but at the same time I don't want. I know that it would be so much easier if I had called already. Not only would I feel much more relax; it would make my dear happy; it would advance the issue related to the call; it would make me happy because it would get things moving again... and yet: I don't want to call. It must be some kind of inertia. A nag for stability. Or maybe just a stable instability, because let's face it: our situation only seems stabilized. Yes, we are married. Yes, we spend a lot of time together. Yes, we are still able to eat and do what we like (more or less). Yes, we are able to study. Yes, we are happy... but there is just one more "yes" that will divert the shit to the fan: Yes, our money is running out fast!

So, I guess in the end it would be better to just make the call. And maybe it would be best if I stick to the word "end" and really make the call upon ending this post. So, you all know what I'm doing for the next 5 minutes... (after I went to the "loo", hehe)

iNR

Frustration Day

I wish to you all a Happy Frustration Day!

Today, it seems to be frustration day. Nothing like Indignado, Arabian Spring, Anti-nuclear transport, etc, but just plain frustration.  

I tried the whole day to concentrate on the topics for my exams of next week. Without any success. I did like a couple of tests to see where I am, but withstanding the positive results, it frustrates me only more. Let me try and briefly explain it to you: 

I'm studying to get my Airline Transport Pilot License (ATPL). Until now I passed all my exams, but now they did an update of the questions and subjects on the exam. They also updated the online system that allows us to study, but because I started my exams in the old exam-system, I have to continue in this system. The fact that they updated the study-system and deleted all old subjects, results in the fact that I'm not able to study the old subjects that I'll get on my exam. And that I have to study the new subjects which I won't get on the exam.

Nevertheless I stayed at the library the entire day. Trying all the tricks I know - after all, I am a psychologist - I was hoping to get the rush going, the concentration flowing, but all in vane. Then, my dear comes back from her second appointment. Merely sitting down she asks me if I called the lady of the consulting company? I keep calm and say: No, but I'll do it tomorrow; thinking that tomorrow my headache will have disappeared, my patience will be recharged and my energy levels in general might be just a tad higher than tonight at the end of this marvelous gray day at the library. Unfortunately, she doesn't know that today is Frustration Day, nor is she aware of my train of thought (better that she can't read my mind, right?). Equally unfortunate, however, is that she keeps pushing to call today. So, what can I do: I gently promise her to call tomorrow, but that's it. She then want me to say "tomorrow morning" - you know, as a binding promise, but I refuse. After all, I'm a responsible guy and it is already five to five pm, so "tomorrow" should suffice. If you're single you think at this point that it is solved - to be honest, you probably thought it a couple of times before - but regretfully I can inform you that in married life things are ever so slightly different: Now, the real bargaining starts: "afternoon" I say; "morning" she says; "early afternoon" I say; ... slowly we dig a hole looking for the more profound levels of the ridiculous stage, until we arrive at rock bottom: "between 12 and 13" I say. She replies: " Yeah, of course, that's when everyone is to lunch" and she goes back to tomorrow morning. And with that we reached rock-bottom of my patience: " Ok, that's it, I won't call her". That puts things back in perspective, because after all, all she wanted for me is to make the call. So, now I go back to work, and if I call tomorrow, everything will be fine...

And that my friends is called: negotiation on Frustration Day.

Let's bring this day to a peaceful rest...

iNR

Editing

Hey, I guess everyone already asked someone else to correct or edit a text he/she wrote, at least once. I often have the problem when I ask my dear to help me check and correct my French in emails or letters. Although I only have had enough classes in french, I missed practicing for a couple of years. So, because of this I have to shape up when it comes to punctuation or the use of the subjonctif for instance. Anyway, all good reasons for me to ask her to go over some of the texts I wrote.

So, from time to time I ask her, but then I encounter the small problem that she changes more than just spelling or grammar. She changes the style of the text. Which is understandable, because sometimes things are said in French just a slightly different way then in my head. Not only that, the Swiss French has conclusively a more formal style than the Belgian French.

Now, when I correct a text in English I have the habit of carefully marking the difference between the corrections based on spelling/grammar and those on style. In the latter case I add a small note explaining that this or that is said in another way in English. A third kind of corrections are those where I have the feeling the writer wants to tell something which is either different from what he/she is writing, or it is not absolutely clear for the reader. Until now this has produced good results and feedback from the writers. They say it helps them a lot when I make these distinctions and that's what the correction is for, right? More even, it helps to give them some insight in the corrections.

Why did I write this? Oh yes, my dear... In a clumsy way I just wanted to thank her for her help in correcting my French and also apologizing because it is not that simple to correct my text. I'm quite the pain in the ass, especially if I don't get the kind of feedback that I expect/need/want/... I put the bar quite high up there. Fortunately I have a dear who has the patience and curiosity to discover my "delicacies". A big thanks to her.

iNR

i - Relevant

There is an iPod, an iPhone, an iPad and an iCloud. That's all important, but what's the common element between all these marvels of modern technology? I mean besides Apple or the late Steve... I is the linking concept. Well, this blog is mine and about what I find relevant or irrelevant: Hence, the title: i-Relevant. Up to you how you read it...

While writing this I'm watching my wife, lying on the bed. Sexy as she is - hey I married her for a reason ;-) - she's diverting my attention from writing this blog, but not the way you might think. No, she's sniffing away. I just gave her a bunch of placebo-pills to swallow which magically stopped the hissing, sniffing and coughing. So now she's reading the book Dialogic Learning, trying not to fall asleep. And that is, for all of you who know my wife, a lost struggle. Fortunately her nose is keeping her awake. 

But, hey, back to me!

I, after all, am the topic of this blog. I want to share my thoughts, my ideas, my observations, but at the same time I realize that it might not be that simple. Hey, let's face it, I already have difficulty writing my more distant friends in a somewhat regular manner. Nevertheless writing can be therapeutic, I guess. Like writing in a diary, but in a way more in tune with modern social media. As a psychologist I can see the therapeutic usefulness of this blog. As a husband I can also see how this might contribute to our relationship. Me concentrating on studies and work, my wife concentrating on her studies - well, I have to say that at this moment she's more concerned with the splitting of hairs then with the book in front of her. More, we are both communicating in a language that is not our mother tongue. So, let's face it. The fact that we survived for 100 days already is a miracle on it's own. Life is a challenge, right ;-)

See, you next time for more...

iNR