Bakker Bugle Blog Say it three times fast. In Luxembourgish.

2 April 2010

Census Sadness

Filed under: expat,usa — Anita @ 14:50

Both of us read a lot of US news, even while following the local Luxembourg headlines. So I am well aware of the upcoming US census (http://www.census.gov/), from the anger over the Super Bowl commercial , to the return rates, to the questions on the form and whether they are reasonable.

But what I didn’t realize until about a week ago: we will not be counted in the census. Intellectually, I understand the reasoning. We don’t live in the US. Why should we be counted in the US numbers? But emotionally – I don’t want to be left out! (more…)

31 March 2010

This week: A Dog’s Life

Filed under: entertainment,luxembourg — Anita @ 14:43

The excitement this week? Taking care of a friend’s dog, who we’ll call Sylvester (to protect the innocent).

The dog in question is an adult labradoodle, and he is a very well-behaved and friendly companion for walks and playing catch.

There are dog parks all over Luxembourg City, but they are the kind of muddy, befouled mess you’d expect for early spring. Still, it was great fun to play catch without a leash. (more…)

26 March 2010

The Ducks are Back Around

Filed under: mental state — Anita @ 18:57

After a long winter of sticking to their pond, the ducks of Parc de Merl have spring fever!
Flying Ducks
They’re flying all over our part of town, taking long walks around the park, and even naps on the grass. They always travel in twos and threes, unlike their stay-at-home nature the rest of the year. (more…)

5 March 2010

Remain calm and exit the building

Filed under: culture,luxembourg — Anita @ 11:00

I had to run an errand today at the Notary. As I was leaving the building, I found myself behaving like a student at the Midvale School for the Gifted. As I walked back to the office, it occurred to me the reason that I might have failed so spectacularly at opening a door was that the fire code in the US has building exits opening to the outside, never to the inside.

So I challenge you, Bugle Nation, to pay attention to building exits over the next few days. See if my defense of self holds true: It’s not that I’m slow, it is that I have been culturally trained to push a door open when exiting.

12 February 2010

Luxembourg News: 12 Feb 2010

Filed under: luxembourg,news — Anita @ 13:07

First up: The Bakker household now BelgiumTraffichas expert advice to support its plan to stay home and stay semi-prone this weekend:

TRAFFIC WARNING
Drivers are being urged to avoid travelling this week-end if at all possible. The start of the half-term holidays means heavy traffic as families head off for winter-sports breaks. The ACL says people should leave on Friday morning if they can or wait for Sunday. The combination of heavy traffic and difficult driving conditions, could make for extremely long journeys, especially for those headed for the Alps.

(more…)

8 February 2010

She’s got the whole world in her hands

Filed under: consumer,entertainment — Anita @ 18:54

It wasn’t easy – but we’ve finally put our world together. It took two more marathon sessions, but we finished our puzzleball globe. When you last checked in, we had completed Antarctica and the surrounding waters, and we’d managed to hook up with South America.

Next, Will managed to connect Australia and some of south east Asia to the main section.

Globe Partial
(more…)

5 February 2010

Luxembourg News: 5 Feb 2010

Filed under: luxembourg,news — Anita @ 12:39

It’s time for another survey of the week’s news in Luxembourg. As usual, we owe the good folks at ARA City Radio in Luxembourg for the news reports, which we hear in the dulcet voice of Mark Weedon almost every morning during Phoebe Winter’s breakfast show.

Filed under “Overkill”

HELICOPTER NAILS SHOPLIFTER
The police helicopter was in action in Ingeldorf on Saturday afternoon. It was hunting down a man who’d stolen a shell suit from a local shop. He had run off after staff noticed him trying to smuggle the stolen gear out of the shop in a black bag. He was eventually tracked down hiding behind a hedge in a barnyard, and is facing charges of shoplifting.

The follow-up story, filed under “CYA”

WE WILL NEVER KNOW
The Police say their helicopter was not called to track down a man who stole a shell suit in Ingeldorf at the week-end. (more…)

19 January 2010

Regarding my unwarranted skepticism

Filed under: administrative,consumer,entertainment,ireland — Anita @ 10:11

To Whom It May Concern:

At several social functions during our recent visit to the US, my spouse Will told a somewhat humorous story involving the shooting of a movie in the Wicklow Mountains of Ireland. I would like to address my remarks on those occasions. (more…)

15 January 2010

Globe construction progress report

Filed under: entertainment — Anita @ 7:56

The work of building our world continues apace.

I thought you might enjoy seeing the progress after the first evening of solid puzzleball work.

Antarctica came together pretty quickly. (Truth in puzzling – the half-dozen bottom-most pieces came attached to the black circle.)
antarctica (more…)

7 January 2010

My husband gave me the world for Christmas (twice)

Filed under: consumer,entertainment,ireland,luxembourg,usa — Anita @ 10:55

Two years ago, one of my Christmas presents from Will was a globe. After spending more than a decade with me, he knew better than to actually buy the globe. (I tend to be a bit fussy.) Instead, he gave me an awesome paper globe he hand-constructed to stand in for my real globe. In the next month, I was to shop in Ireland to find the perfect globe.

As it often happens with these things, the actual purchase of the globe was constantly delayed. The globe store had limited hours; I didn’t like the colors that I saw; and so on. Globes are expensive so I wanted my globe to be perfect.

Christmas 2009 arrived and I had not yet gotten around to buying a globe. Will was fed up with my antics and decided to take matters into his own hands. He reached into the interweb and, once again, found something to hold me until I find that perfect globe.

So I am now the proud owner of a Ravensburger Puzzleball. (more…)

« Newer Posts — Older Posts »

Powered by WordPress