On Kitchens and Camping!

It's hard to believe that we are already nearing the end of June. That is half the year gone!

It seems just a couple of days ago that we were signing for our new kitchen and I was thinking: 8 weeks!  That's a lifetime away! (I've never been any good at waiting for things...)

Well the time flew past, in about a week the builder comes to start ripping out the old kitchen (and a few other bits of the house that we don't like).  Then we have a week of the plasterers, plumbers and electricians working to get the room ready for the new kitchen to be fitted at the end of the week.

I say almost as there are still a couple of things that need to happen before we have the kitchen of our dreams.  The first is the new work top.  It can't be fitted until the new units are in and everything has settled as it's stone and can't be cut on site.  Then the kitchen shop will come in and remeasure everything to ensure that it fits perfectly.  Thankfully we are going to get a temporary worktop until the new one is cut and fitted!

And of course the colour of the kitchen :)  When the builder has finished everything is going to be plaster coloured - not really what we are after...  So we went paint sample picking yesterday.  40 minutes going through every single colour in the DIY store picking the ones we liked (and joking about some really nasty colours) and then leaving with a handbag full of sample sheets to take over to the kitchen shop and compare against the sample worktop and cupboard blocks.

We knew what colours we needed - something neutral to match the other walls as the downstairs of the house is open plan, and something to match the grey of the counter top and the white of the cabinets.  Both of us were thinking of an off white to smooth the colour transition of the counter to the cupboards.  We had also got some sample for when we repaint the bedroom and just for a laugh I threw it in. Wow!  It worked perfectly!  And what's more Mrs Stace thought the same thing!  So there is going to be come colour in the new room, art-deco style!  Now, the shapes of art-deco have never really appealed to me - at least not for interiors, but the colours I love! I'm now even more exited about getting everything finished and looking good.

The camping? That is how we are going to be cooking for the week whilst we have no oven or hob (or sink, or water downstairs!) We brought a griddle pan for the Weber BBQ in the garden so that we can grill food, or make pan dishes, and have we a duel burner camping stove in the attic that we can use making rice or noodles.  All in the great outdoors, well back garden anyway :) And it couldn't have happened at a better time!  June in Holland is a wonderful month of sun, low winds and outdoor eating!

Well it should be... However, today I cancelled my run as it's tipping it down with rain and the outlook for the next week is not much better.  Thunderstorms, strong winds and a subtle lack of sun do not give me a positive outlook cooking in the open air!

Finally, how to make a Mac useful!

About 12 months ago I brought myself a 13" MacBook Pro to replace the Sony TZ 21 that I ruined by dropping a sheet of metal on the screen (DOH!).

For the last 6 months or so it's been languishing in the spare room, unused and unloved as I have come to hate the thing.  And hate OSX even more.

What's more Mrs Stace hates it even more than I do so I couldn't even give it to her.

What to do then...  Well after trying it again this week and wanting to throw it through a window within 20 seconds of starting it I decided I had to give boot camp another go.

So...  I'm typing this on a Windows 7 MacBook Pro :)

And...  First impressions are not bad.  Performance is acceptable (actually better than it did under Lion) and I can live with the screen (though it's still not great - why people rave about the non-retina Apple screens I don't know).

But...  It does feel like a workhorse again, rather than toy.  Now for the Visual Studio and SQL Server tools and I'll be ready to go!

Sugar, Sugar

Over the last month I have started to get get into some kind of routine - from going running again, cycling and building my own machines.

One of the cycling trips that I did over the last couple of months was to visit an old sugar factory and try to get some nice shots.  It had been a while since I have really tried to get some nice pictures and I was really happy with the results.  I hope you like them too :)

I was playing with HDR for the first time here.  I love how the clouds have come out.  This is a cycle path next to the Polderbaan runway at Schiphol what we had to travel to get to the factory

This time I was looking for something akin to the plates that you get in 1950's and 1960's books

Different angle, same building and going for a more 1970's feel

No one at work believes me that this is just from playing with Saturation .  No HDR or other PhotoShop  trickery :)

The old sugar factory chimney juxtaposed with the new 'Sugar Silo' office centres being built to  regenerate the area

Honestly, I have no idea what these buildings are, I just liked the shot through the reeds :) Though my knees and back didn't!

How much!

After living in the house for 7 years we have finally got around to rebuilding the kitchen - the old one is 15 years old and...  Well it's not that it's starting to look shabby, it's past that now and is just dying on us.

The laminate is falling off of the cupboards, and the equipment is starting to fail - the dishwasher broke a few weeks ago (and was replaced instantly!), the oven door doesn't like to stay closed all of the time when you are cooking and the extractor fan needs a bit of 'Onslowing' whenever you turn it on (for those who haven't seen 'Keeping up Appearances' that means that when you turn it on you have to hit it to stop it making horrible noises!).

We picked a new one out a few months ago and have been going through the various processes that you have to do to get the new kitchen since then.  So someone came around and checked whether the house was square (it's not) and if everything was measured correctly by us before we went to the kitchen centre (we did!).

And then we started the upgrade roundabout.  Well, OK, I started the upgrade roundabout, it's not fair to include Mrs Stace in that sentence :)

In the town where we live Siemens has a special showroom (pretentiously called 'The Siemens Experience') where you can see all of the equipment that they make to ensure that you like it in reality - as the kitchen showrooms just do not have enough space to show everything from each company, and it can be quite different in real life to how it looks in the book.  We decided to upgrade the hob, extractor fan and fridge freezer at that point.  For not much more we decided that we would be much happier with the better kit (and if we hadn't, then we would of course be spending the next 15 years wishing we had!)

But...  They had a beautiful hob in there, so much space for cooking, 5 induction zones so you can use more pans and just an amazing looking piece of kitchen equipment.

But it needs power, lots of power - Tim Allen levels even.  Our current induction hob already has two groups in the fuse box dedicated to it, this one needs three.  Gulp.

We needed a builder for fitting the new kitchen (well the fitting was free, but the plaster work etc wasn't!) and decided to use the one that would be sent from the kitchen place as he has all of the qualifications etc to do everything.

He took a look in the electric cupboard and said something I was not expecting.  In order to use three groups for one appliance you need three phase power into the house (something that most Dutch houses seem to have anyway, just not wired in).  He would find out what the cost for that is as the electricity companies themselves have to do that for you, and then include it as a separate point in his offer.

It came back at just under our max budget for the work...  So we went and ordered the hob from the kitchen place (where it was only half the increase in price that we were expecting - a nice surprise!).  And then someone in the office gave me a wonderful question.

"So what will you pay for your electricity now?"

Say what?  I had not thought of that question, you have to pay for what you use surely, why should I need to pay more just for having the option of using more?

Getting a little scared I though that I had better check with the electric company, just to settle my nerves.

Called them up, told them I was getting 380 volts into the house for a new kitchen and asked if it was going to cost more.  "Yes," came the response, "180 euros a month in transportation costs, because you need 3 * 80 amp capability for that system."

What!  A month! 180 euros!

I asked what my current costs were... "18 a month."  A tenth of what it is going to cost.

Holy crap!  Whilst trying to find support as my knees were collapsing on me, I tried to think about how to cancel the new hob before it was too late.  2000 a year!  It's a nice hob, but 2000 a year nice before you turn it on?  I don't think so!

I double checked with the woman on the phone "2000 a year just for a kitchen hob!  I guess I need to cancel it!"

She disappeared for a couple of minutes.

"I've just checked, for a kitchen appliance you don't need 3 * 80, you only need 3 * 25.  For that you don't pay any extra.  Sorry!"

Phew!  My heart started to slow down again and the panic drained.  I guess my Dutch still needs some work if it can still cause this type of confusion!  I'm glad I checked a bit instead of just accepting it and cancelling everything :)

So now we just have to wait for the kitchen to be delivered (and hope that our mortgage company pay tyhe kitchen company on time!).  Fingers crossed that by the middle of July I'll be posting pictures of the nice things I'll be making to try out the new kitchen!

The good side of insurance

After the bad experience with life insurance that I posted about yesterday, I thought that I would also post the good experience that I had when renewing the car insurance for my spitfire yesterday afternoon.  The car is insured with Footman James in the UK and they were fantastic!

At first off the woman on the end of the phone assumed that I was the wife of the insurance holder - as the renewal and policy is still in my old name, something that is always nice to hear.

And when I explained the situation and that I needed to change my title and first name on the policy it was changed with only one question: Sure, what does it need to become?

Why all companies can't be as easy I have no idea!

The hard side of insurance...

For the last few years Mrs Stace and myself have had our life on hold.  No major purchases and no plans made.  Now we are starting to make plans again, and starting with the major purchases that we have delayed until now.

The car was one of those purchases, and a new kitchen is the next.  As the fixed period for the mortgage was due for renewal we decided to look at using that to do the work on the kitchen.  We needed to look for a new provider, as ours was just too expensive.  That part was easy.  Go to an advisor and ask about a new mortgage for our situation.  Simple.

But...  We needed a small life insurance to get the mortgage. And that is where the fun started.

I have been seeing a therapist for the last two and a bit years.  I am also taking medication on a monthly basis now. And am under medical control of a hospital long term.

Life insurance companies really don't like hearing this. So you have to get extra information from the therapist, hospital and my GP.  OK, I can do this, and I can see that they would want some kind of information as to why I'm doing all of those things.

Even when I had to run around last minute as they asked for the wrong information originally.

Still.  Everything came back green.  I am perfectly healthy and there is no reason not to insure me.  Woot.

Hahahaha.

When the insurance company took too long to get back in touch (considering they knew that my mortgage company was pushing for the insurance green light!) I called them back.  'You have all of the information?' 'Yes.' 'Great, so you can get the OK for the insurance out today so I can get it to my mortgage company?' 'Oh! No, we won't be insuring you'.

WTF!

It turns out that as I am likely to have an operation in the coming years they will not insure me, full stop - no matter what the different medical reports started.

So why the hell did they get me to run around for a week going from health care provider to health care provider for proof that I am healthy when it had nothing to do with the actual outcome!

I called my work (I work for an insurance broker) and the guys in the life insurance department worked they butts off trying to sort something out for me.  4 of the 6 that can provide policies in the time frame I needed said no immediately (due to the operation clause) - seriously WTF?  Whilst I can see that it does raise your chances of dying, it is nowhere near the statistical chance they attribute to it (unless it's true that 10% of people die having this surgery...).  But at least they were not wasting my time!

Two others said send us all of the information that was sent to the first company - we will, but against an increased price.

2 hours later one of the two were out as well, and Mrs Stace and myself were busy stressing out completely!

That was on a Friday afternoon and the last company would not give us an answer until Monday morning.

Tick tock

On the Monday I had leadership training, something I was looking forward to but had trouble staying with.

Then at lunch I got the call I wanted!  The last company had got back and they *would* insure me (I was expecting the opposite answer!) but against a premium that was 4x standard for the first 5 years, after which they assume the process will be over and it will fall back to the standard premium. I worked it out and the amount they are charging me in that first 5 years is 10% of the amount being insured!
 If they insure 10 people they have covered the cost of one person dying. Not counting the fact that they will be investing the money I pay them and making even more...

But, I'm not stressing about that!  We got the insurance and the mortgage advisor could stop trying to organise emergency measures that would allow us to take the house without me being insured.  That it is going to cost more is annoying, but in the grand scheme of things doesn't rate very highly.  Being refused full stop - that would be a different matter!

Ironically though... The Friday that this all happened I had to go to see the endocrinologist at the gender clinic so that I could start testosterone blockers.

I am 178cm tall.  Weigh 69 KG's dressed - putting me slap bang in the middle of the healthy BMI range.

All of my blood work came back perfect.

My blood pressure was 140 over 85 (seriously, after the day I had had with the insurance company how can it be only 140!)

The doctor said I was an extremely healthy person.

I just struggle to get life insurance :)

Things that make me tick!

I was just reading Lynn's weekly blog, this week it's a bit of an insight into what makes her tick.  Well at least in three catgeories:

• Hobbies - Things i actively take part in, That i actually do in real life. 
• Interests - These are things i think about often, but haven't put into action (yet!). 
• Dis-Interests - Things that i used to do, but now i either don't do, or i don't enjoy. Dare i say these are 'Hates?' 

So I thought I'd taker her up on the challenge to do a bit about me.  Sorry :)

Hobbies:

Cooking

I love cooking!  From baking to trying to come up with new variations on meals to make life a bit more interesting.  Christmas is my busiest time - I make my own mincemeat, and of course the pies to put them into and my own Christmas cake.

Sometimes I can get quite creative, and sometimes it's just trying to come up with a healthy variant on something we have eaten before.  One thing that I try to do is work out what goes into herb mixes for various dishes (TexMex or Nasi are ones that allude me!) to try and get the same flavour without the shovel of salt that is normally in the sachets.

Reading

We both love reading, and in the spare room we have somewhere close to 500 books (and have even read most of them!) and generally add 30 or so a year; one of my excuses of changing the V50 to a V70 :)

The mix is a bit eclectic, with all types of fiction in there from chic lit to classics to every adult Discworld (and most of the younger ones too).

Photography

Hmm...  Should this go in interests or hobbies.  That was a difficult choice, but as I have the camera, lenses, tripod and the camera bag to break my back when I leave the house I thought I'd include it here even though I don't do as much as I would like to.


I love interesting shots, whether of people, objects or the world in general doesn't matter.  Sometimes I try to make nice shots (and fail :p) and sometimes I'm just lucky.


One thing that we have managed to do is ensue that we have a photo each year to use as a Christmas card the next. We've done this for the last few years, it's fun to do, Mrs Stace gets involved as she can do the DTP far better than I can and in the end it feels something really special to send out.


And of course I have more shots from Assen TT races than I care to think about! :)

Listening to Music

Quite how music manages to bring about so many changes in mood I don't know.  When I'm sad I can retreat inside myself with some mellow Crowded House, when the sun is out and you have reverse flu some Zoe, Texas or Will Smith can bring a smile to your face.

And when you want to relax nothing beats 'Air on a G String' for me (Cliche I know).

We have a few hundred CD's, and are still growing the collection and we have a Spotify Premium subscription to search what they have to offer too!  It's great discovering new artists or songs!

Interests:

Playing Music

I always wanted to play the guitar, piano and learn to sing.  I never quite got around to it.  We have a piano in home, and Mrs Stace plays wonderfully! Me, I love playing it but haven't had the patience to sit down and learn to play it properly yet...

Writing

I have some amazing stories in my head.  And that is where they will stay because I useless at trying to get it out of my head and onto the paper...

Disinterests:

Fanbois-ism of any kind

Ug...  Nothing is worse than a fanboi.  I don't care where from.  Android, Apple, MS, Linux.  They are all tools to do a job, not the job itself.

Gardening

Er, we have just a few square meters of garden that is not patio.  And it's too much.  Sitting in the garden, great.  Spending time removing weeds and trying to make sure the plants don't die again...  Not so much :)

Fashion

I like clothes, and clothes shopping.  I like web sites where you can put together an outfit and try to see what you like. I don't like someone telling me what to wear just because...