John | Keys Corner

Message Etiquette

By John, on September 30th, 2011

I am obviously getting disconnected from what are considered to be the correct social norms. I realised that when I read this article on LifeHacker about when it is acceptable to call someone and leave a voicemail message instead of texting them. The truth is, no matter what kind of message you leave, some . . . → Read More: Message Etiquette

Garden plans

By John, on September 29th, 2011

Part of the garden plans, showing the front of the house(wall to the street on the left, garage and house on the right)

María, who you will have seen a lot on the later photos of the house in Picasa, has been going to the site most weeks and working with Antonio and . . . → Read More: Garden plans

Progress in Spain

By John, on September 29th, 2011

The kitchen units being installed

I was in Spain again at the beginning of the week – Ruth had to work, so I took lots of photos of the progress of the house to show her. I’ve uploaded some of them to Picasa – click the picture above to see them. Pedro, the . . . → Read More: Progress in Spain

National debt per citizen

By John, on September 25th, 2011

I had been asking myself how on earth the Greeks could have amassed debt of €30 million per citizen until last night talking to someone in German (and using “Milliarden” the German for US-billions) I realized I had been working in British billions instead of American billions.

The actual debt per citizen is . . . → Read More: National debt per citizen

Invasion of the flying spaghetti monster

By John, on September 21st, 2011

Cable spaghetti coming out of the walls, everywhere.

I think all the cables for power and light have been installed now. I hope so, as the house is beginning to look as if the flying spaghetti monster has set up home in the walls. Now the sockets and light switches need adding. . . . → Read More: Invasion of the flying spaghetti monster

Going, going… gone!

By John, on September 13th, 2011

We were lucky with the weather, yesterday. The remains of our furniture and other possessions moved into storage until the house in Spain is completed. The previous day it poured all day, but the sun shone for the move. Everything expect the piano and a couple of plants was sealed in a container brought . . . → Read More: Going, going… gone!

Good timing Amazon

By John, on September 11th, 2011

According to El País, amazon.es will be starting up on 15.09.2011.

That’s good news for us, as we buy quite a lot from Amazon, not just books, but also electronic and kitchen equipment, and were going to miss them once we got established in Xàtiva! Spaniards have waited for 16 years, but it . . . → Read More: Good timing Amazon

The Oktoberfest has already begun...

By John, on September 8th, 2011

… in Valencia, in the Plaza de Toros (the bullring)!

Oktoberfest 2011 – Valencia

The Spanish Oktoberfest finishes on the day that the “real” Oktoberfest in Munich starts (17th September 2011). As you can guess, I have been to see how the house construction has got on during the holiday month of August. . . . → Read More: The Oktoberfest has already begun…

Incompetent

By John, on August 29th, 2011

The Daily Telegraph, yesterday:

Euro bail-out in doubt as ‘hysteria’ sweeps Germany German Chancellor Angela Merkel no longer has enough coalition votes in the Bundestag to secure backing for Europe’s revamped rescue machinery, threatening a consitutional crisis in Germany and a fresh eruption of the euro debt saga.

Merkel is – in my . . . → Read More: Incompetent

Burg Kronberg

By John, on August 22nd, 2011

Yesterday afternoon we decided to take a break from the work on our two removals and explore Kronberg. We walked to the castle, which is about 3.2 km from our flat. We hadn’t realised that Kronberg has connections to the British Royal Family – Queen Victoria’s daughter (Princess Victoria, also know in Germany as . . . → Read More: Burg Kronberg