Sunday, May 27, 2007

The Secret


You still do not know about The Secret? Have a look at it at the following link:)

The Secret

Hungry?

Finally I managed to get myself to make these lovely and tasty pancakes. Although I could not find the real fresh cheese here in Brussels, I used the Belgian fresh cheese (which is more or less similar to sour cream) in combination with Mascarpone and sour cream. I added vanilla sugar and pieces of plums and raisins soaked in whiskey. Pancakes are of course without eggs and milk.

Mmmmm...

Thursday, May 24, 2007

My village





Have you ever heard of a small village called "Drenov Grič"? Probably not, but let me tell you something about it since 11 May was European Mineral Day and my village has a lot to tell about minerals, among other things:)

There are about 500 enhabitants, number increasing, living in the village of Drenov Grič. The name of the village comes from "Dren", which is the name of the bush that used to grow here, but I never saw it. In English "Dren" stands for "dogwood" and "Gric" stands for "a hillock", as the dogwood has grown on the hillocks surrounding the village in the past. According to the pictures of dogwood I found on the internet, it looks like magnolia (at least to me).

In Drenov Grič you can find two inns, one small shop, fruit and vegetable shop (One can even pay with a mobile phone!), two bars, a cash machine (It was an achievment and a half to get one), football, tennis and basketball playgrounds, an elementary school, a bus station, a former train station, American blueberry orchards (where I spent a lot of my teenage time picking up blueberries, earning money, but also filling my stomach with the tasty blueberries), horseriding facilities , several SMEs (Small and medium entreprises) and a firefighters brigade in Drenov Grič.

With a budget or aproximately 4.000 Euro a year, the village improves its appear, however very slow and most of the time on the costs of the villagers. I think that a traffic lights has been foreseen in the next ten year. However, if I want to get to my house, I still need to take the small bridge, which will fall apart soon as too heavy truck drive over in order to build more houses for people coming from the capital.


The village is located on the spot where a lot of limestones and dolomites can be found. But not just ordinary limestone. This limestone is black, therefore also the name black limestone.

Actually I think I should be more proud of where I am coming from. Not only we have black limestone in our village, but about 2 km from my village the oldest wheel was found.

A text about the sculptures in the protected limstone area of Drenov Grič (in English, don`t worry) Unfortunately I do not have any pictures of the sculptures, but that gives you just one more reason to visit my village, no? To see with your own eyes:)









More about Ljubljana moor (in English, German, Italian and Slovene)

Thursday, May 10, 2007

Buy local

I buy local.

The other day I ran out of toilet paper and as it was Sunday and all the shops closed as we woke up after noon, I decided to pay a visit to the Turkish fruit and vegetable shop opposite of my apartment that virtually sells anything. With this I mean anything.

There I was looking at which toilet paper should I buy, when I noticed familiar words. It said "toaletni papir" (toilet paper) and "Paloma" (the name of the company that produces toilet paper among other things in Slovenia). It took me about a minute before I realised that I was looking at Slovene products in a Turkish shop in the middle of Brussels! Wow, great, no more dilemma which toilet paper to buy. And goodbye homesickness, here comes Paloma!

Wednesday, May 9, 2007

Our beloved computers

It happened the other day again that I was trying to explain to a colleague that computers are sensitive creatures and they need to be caressed and loved just like pets and flowers.

Somehow the computer went blank and did not want to do what the person behind it wanted it to do. I asked him "Did you caress your computer today already?". All I got was a strange look. But the moment I touched the keyboard, the computer started working perfectly.

Another day the printer stopped working. I was asked to have a look at it (and I am not IT expert) and the moment I only touched it, it started printing.

Of course I remember days when I would only walk into a room full of computers and all of them would froze at once. It happened several times. After that I decided that it might be better to wait for my friend outside the computer room:) But that is "passé".

There is much more between our minds and computers than we think or acknowledge. Next time when you have problems with your computer, just speak to it nicely and I am sure it will start working again. Remember, as long as you give them what they need, they will be happy and so will you.

I will try to find some articles about this on the net. Pls read:
Mind over Matter
How to crash LAN

We all know we can influence our lives, other people`s lives, why could not we influence computers?

Wednesday, May 2, 2007

Pledge bank

Did you ever wish to do something good, but you felt alone and frustrated when all you needed was some support?!

Then put you pledge into the Pledge bank, add a deadline and ask people to support you!

Nice idea, but do not forget, you can do good deeds on your own as well:)

Tuesday, May 1, 2007

Fruits vs. IT technology

IT technology is something that I will probably never be acquainted with enough. I can still recall my amazement when I first heard of an Apple and it was not connected to fruits:) Some time ago I crossed a Blackberry and the astonishment appeared again. When did the fruits become IT components?

Children do not even know anymore where the fruits are coming from. They see them as something you buy in the shops. If you show them the fruit-trees they get confused.

I never had an Apple or a Blackberry, at least not yet, but I have eaten many apples and true wild blackberries:)