Le weekend, pt. 1-

Jack took Friday off due to having worked through the previous weekend, so he made some excellent biscuits for breakfast and we headed out into the world. We went and contemplated shades to replace the curtains I had pulled down in the bedroom, which unfortunately were not the right size so we're back to rigging up the original ones over the window using packing tape and staples. We got a blender and a trash can from a local cheap store, like Wal-Mart except smaller. Both appliances that we've purchased came with a two-year warranty, and that makes me wonder if that's some kind of EU standard. If so, it makes me feel a lot better about buying items that I would normally consider to have about a 2 year lifespan. Even though that's probably how long I need them to last for, it's nice to know that someone's looking out for those who have to buy the cheap stuff for other reasons. I also bought a package of 70 cm-long drinking straws.

Following a trip to the grocery, we went and visited a secondhand shop around the corner from Jack's office. The store had 3 large floors of everything: furniture, housewares, art, games, clothes, beds, etc., etc. I purchased an iron there a couple days before and had been overwhelmed by the sheer amount of stuff they had. So overwhelmed that I had to enlist Jack's assistance to just take it all in. We didn't end up buying anything this time, but he's going to keep an eye on it during the week so we can swoop in and get things shortly after they arrive, because I'm sure the pickings are better at certain times of the day/week.

Later we had lunch featuring gyros, french fries and sodas, and tried out a straw, which turned out to be much too long to be any use. I was thinking that I'd be super-lazy and never have to lift a glass to my mouth again, but the only way I could really get this to work was to lay on the couch at a specific angle and put the glass on the floor, and knowing me like I do, this is not a good idea. I'm sure there's some trick to using them that I just haven't figured out yet, like having a really low table and a really high stool to perch on. Also not a very good idea, come to think of it.

That evening we went to Jack's coworker's house to watch the inaugural games of the World Cup series. It was all "football" this and "football" that. His office had a betting pool going, and Jack had every confidence that the US would clean up until he discovered that the game was actually soccer. Fortunately this occurred before the initial games so he had time to change his entry. The games were pretty predictable (at least for those who follow soccer) and not very animated, as if the presumptive winners were keeping all their flashy moves in reserve for the later games against stronger competitors. There was one extremely tall and gangly player (I forget which team) who was interviewed during halftime and who has a very silly dance that he does when he scores a goal, like the robot dance done by someone who just doesn't "get" the robot dance at all, and thinks that merely moving your arms at right angles to your body would suffice. It was kind of like the worst halftime show of all time, but it was pretty funny.

I brought the straws with me and during the festivities I tried to use one to drink a beer, but strangely the bottle began to foam immediately and spilled over before I could reach the sink. I have no idea what would cause this, since it wasn't a problem with the soda--perhaps the shape of the neck wouldn't permit the carbonation to dissipate quickly enough. Thus ended that little experiment. I guess if I'm ever sick and drinking quiescent beverages I might be able to use them, but until that time I'll just have to come up with other ideas.

We went home that evening excited to hit the road the next morning for Bruges.