Benespection

Things are going well, albeit slower than I would have hoped. Starting a business in Belgium is a lot more tedious than in other countries, but then again they have a much lower rate of failure for small businesses here.

I didn't manage to post a “benespection” at all last year, and to be honest I've been keeping my head down and getting things done so I haven't spotted much worth taking a photo of, let alone actually taken the photo.

After a bit of time off work recently (a long weekend to recover from financial year close), I couldn't help myself and caved in and bought a TV. For years I've been saving my money and not really buying anything, but with this whole “global recession” thing not really shifting, it's time to push some money back into the economy. Things are pretty cheap for the time being, too. Well, and the move into a bigger apartment may have had something to do with it.

I like my movies, and we're sitting several metres away from the screen, so after lots of debating I opted for a Samsung UE55C6700 (55" LED “smart-TV” with no 3D junk) which arrived this time last week which will go nicely with the Pioneer VSX-920-K we picked up for dirt-cheap last week. I'm heading back over there to watch some movies on it now, but in the meantime you can enjoy a brief bit of benespection.

Visiting Port Arthur in Tasmania? Stop off in Doo Town (Eaglehawk Neck), in part to check out their blowhole. We visited on a whim (and because we were amused by the Navigon's pronunciation of “blaew-hole”), but soon discovered the real reason to visit is probably to see a tiny town with a healthy sense of rivalry and humour…

Things have been pretty busy, and despite these benespection posts taking a little time to prepare it's easier than summoning the effort to start ranting about things. Here are a handful of things “benespected” (am I taking that too far now?) over the last few months.

Work has been hell since returning from holidays, and it looks like it's only going to get worse. I hope you enjoyed the tiny selection of photos taken while there enjoying the sun and the relaxation.

I have hundreds of photos to sift through now, but I think I presented the most interesting photo of each day.

I don't have much to post lately. Sorry folks.

If you're a regular reader, you've probably noticed that I've had a terrible time lately trying to update the blog. Things have been ridiculously busy for me lately, to the point where my spare time has completely evaporated.

I am trying to change the situation, but until then posts might be a little later than usual. That doesn't mean that I still haven't seen some odd stuff around the place, so it's time for me to use my invented word again; it's time for another (tiny) dose of benespection.

Earlier this month, I came across Ommegang as I was heading home one evening. This has now become an annual event here in Brussels, and I had heard rumours of its existence.

Essentially it's a medieval festival, with many re-enactments. The event also has daily jousting on the Sablon! On this particular evening I decided to follow the parade on it way through the city as I walked home.

At the rear of the parade was free beer, courtesy of Charles Quint, and very nice beer it was, indeed!

With my birthday coming up in a few days, I've been struggling to find some time for myself. I keep inventing projects for myself, but never actually have the time to dig into them and make any satisfying progress.

One example is that I still haven't made any progress on my appalling level of French, and there's no hope in hell that I'll be running in the 20km of Brussels half-marathon this year.

I suppose I need to keep in mind what Ferris Bueller once said, “Life goes by pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”

It's been quite a while since my last little Benespection post, and considering it recently snowed for the first time this year — surprisingly just as winter officially ended — I thought I might share some snow pictures with you all.

Being Australian, I tend to have a slight fascination with snow, but on this particular occasion some of us were actually trapped by it…

Another busy month has passed by, and it's not long before the year has passed by completely. It does seem that 2007 is flying past and it's starting to really irritate me as I cannot find any major personal accomplishment this year. There are accomplishments there, but nothing spectacular.

Lately I've watched everyone around me fall ill as we move into Autumn and finally succumbed to a particularly nasty cold about a week and a half ago that's done a fantastic job of drowning my brain-cells in snot. I still managed to take photos of a few things however, and I thought that I should once again wrap up the month using my invented word.

Life rolls on…

Lately I realise my life is amazingly out of balance. I'm now forced to play catch-up with everything going on around me, not only at work but in my personal life; Everything's out of kilter, and this is why I haven't had time to return phone calls, answer emails, scratch that bloody mozzie bite on the side of my arm, or write blog entries.

I've started to write about several things, but they've never really gotten anywhere beyond simple statements. As most of these are inspired by something I've seen, I thought that the best way to deal with them was to sporadically compile a little post that was somewhat closer to a photo-blog. In a moment of weakness, I unfortunately invented a little word for this; Apologies in advance.