Cheryl on the Web

Oh yeah, uh-huh, ooo baby! Got my new passport today with my new last name (big smile). Photo on it doesn’t look too bad either, so that’s good since I’ll be using it for the next 10 years.

Tonight I started trying to get all my “documents” updated. I was slightly disappointed that the city didn’t find it necessary to give me a new residence permit, and just hand-wrote my new last name on my old permit - makes it look so much less official. And the department for drivers licenses was closed when I was at the city tonight so I will go back early tomorrow to see about that. Not really sure I want a German drivers license but don’t have much choice. The one I have now is Dutch which is way cooler; once I have a German drivers license, the doormen who check my age will be very confused if they hear me talk.

A week or two ago, Tim put a dimmer switch on our livingroom lamp. He was very proud of the accomplishment until he realized at the very end that the switch front was too big for the switch plate that goes around the switch! We’d bought the dimmer switch without measuring it, everything looked standard so we didn’t expect a problem.

In the end, the only place we could find a switch front that fits in the kind we have here was on Ebay. Today in the mail we received the dimmer switch I ordered off Ebay, and the good news was that the front fits perfectly onto the switch that Tim installed already - so we didn’t have to reinstall the whole thing! It works beautifully, does squeak a bit when turning but I think I will WD40 it.

Hi all, it’s 02:51 (AM) my time, and we’re approaching the end of the 3rd quarter in the Super Bowl (Chicago Bears vs Indianapolis Colts). I am actually wide awake and enjoying myself, more than ever before watching the Super Bowl in Europe - I think that has to do with the fact that this year we are able to receive the Super Bowl in good ole’ American English over our digital cable receiver, as opposed to having to watch the standard Dutch- or German-narrated versions, which generally put me to sleep before half time.

Another reason I’m still awake might have to do with how I spent the 1st half, which was meticulously shortening the curtains in our livingroom and sewing a hole in Tim’s jacket pocket shut. (Bet that’s not anything like how you spent the first half!) I haven’t had 2 hours sitting on the couch to fall asleep, so I think I’ll manage to see the end of the 2nd half.

Of course, the game itself has been unusually interesting which keeps my attention. There have been something like 6 turnovers, lots of penalties, and some interesting calls and plays; I can’t complain, I am getting value for my .. nighttime minutes. I’m rooting for Indianapolis because of my roots in the state of Indiana - my grandparents live there and many of my relatives on that side of the family live there or used to live there. Go Colts!

In his college days, Tim auditioned at a talent bureau and was asked every now and again to do small roles in movies or commercials. Recently, as part of his job, Tim’s been involved in the making of Nintendo Wii commercials - and it appears he’s still got it in him, as he’s featured twice in the official “Making Of” of the Wii commercials.

Check out his blog post to view the video online in Quicktime, or you can download the video to your computer.

In the move aftermath, Tim and I are working to eliminate as much unused stuff as possible. One of the things I ran into in the search for junk was my old Zip disk drive from Iomega - a very stylish, 2nd-generation one I must say - and about 10 old disks that go with it. I’m going to give the drive away, or sell it, but for privacy reasons I want to destroy the disks before disposing of them at the dump. That’s because at the dump, disks like this are recycled separately and there’s a reasonable chance someone would try to salvage them and perhaps look to find what was on them.

So, what do you think is the most effective way to physically destroy the disks? Forget burning - too dangerous - and no, I’m not going to install the Zip drive on my computer and buy expensive software to wipe the disks. So far I’ve left them in a bucket of water for 2 days!