Jeroen Sangers

I just noticed that I haven’t written for a while about my job. And since quite some of the visitors of this site are ex-colleagues from MultiSystems/Avalix/Aino, I think that it is appropriate to write some words about my job.

The company I work for consists of three companies: ICG, a company which produces software for shops and small companies, Ricomack, a company which has a shop and delivers technical support, and finally CST consultants.

I work for Ricomack, in the department ‘internet’. This department consists of Xavi and me (and part-time Massimiliano). We handle all work which is related to internet activities and servers. Ricomack acts as a ISP for some companies, we host their web sites and their mail accounts. This is mainly the work of Xavi; he also designs the web sites (he started the one of Ricomack just today, so don’t expect too much from this one).

My main concern is the installation of new servers for clients, all HP with Windows 2000. Besides that I also repair desktops and do a lot of other small jobs. Today Xavi and I decided to make our room more comfortable, so I ended up with a drilling machine to change the TL lights. As I said, I do a lot of different things.

Unfortunately I am not so involved with UNIX anymore. Our internet server runs Red Hat, but furthermore it is all Windows.

[Update 2004.01.21]: Removed broken link to non-existing company 😉

No, I am not going to be the new secretary of Fimcap, but I was present at the unofficial training course. Wim from Chiro was this weekend in Catalunya to talk with Carme, the former secretary.

And of course, if you come all the way from Belgium, you have to see something of the country.

On Friday evening he was shown the wild nightlife of St. Feliu de Llobregat (A.K.A. the town of the single women). On Saturday morning there was a meeting of the exchanges workgroup of CCCCCE, so I took Wim to Barcelona to walk around and show him that I don’t know Barcelona very well.

After that we went with 8 people to Andorra. Why? To swim! Andorra has a really nice swimming pool, of which I already have forgotten the name, and we have spend the evening taking baths. Alveiro had arranged a nice cabin to sleep, in a house full of people who came to ski. I wonder if they knew how wonderful the swimming pool is…

Sunday morning we spent tax-free shopping, and then it was time to go home again. And the training course? Well, I think that Wim will manage…

Until yesterday, we had two cars at home: the Pajero, used by the parents of MJ, and the Opel, used by MJ and her sister and recently also by me. Yesterday, the brother of MJ received his new car (a brand-new Peugeot 307) and so his old car is also available.

This car, a white Fiat Punto, is also property of the family, and for the moment MJ and I are going to use it. This gives some relieve, because it is not always easy to car-pool with three people having a different schedule and working at different places. Sometimes I was traveling (and waiting) for one hour, while it is only 7 kilometers from home to work.

This weekend we will have to clean the car, and we are going to put in some personal thingies. Of course the frog which I once received for my birthday from my three brothers will take it’s usual place in the back of the car…

For those of you interested in my personal collection of airplane tickets, hereby a short overview:

The next ticket I have is for January 26th, returning the 27th. The reason for this visit is only the price. For 50 Euro’s I cannot stay in Alpicat!

The next visit to Holland will be from February 21st until the 24th. Again very cheap!

I know that in Holland the big parties are over, but here there is one more event left: the Three Kings.

(By the way, for those who are interested: yes, I had a great X-mas with a lot of presents and I really enjoyed celebrating the new year in Holland. In fact, I liked it soo much that I didn’t take the time to write about it.)

Back to the kings. Yesterday they arrived in Lleida (and at the very same time in a lot of other cities…) and of course we decided to have a look at them. The streets is the center were really crowded; all the children were anxious to see the guys who were going to give them lots of sweets and presents. Somehow I had to think about Paul Derks, but I don’t know why.

I expected to see three old guys on camels, but the reality was a little bit different. First the was the police creating room for the caravan to pass. Than came some clowns throwing confetti and cheering up all the people. Quite strange, because I cannot remember the presence of clowns in the original Bible story.

After that came the giants and the big-heads. These are traditional figures showing up on all the traditional events. They were accompanied by some traditional music.

After that, the whole festivity became to look a little bit like carnival: a lot of decorated wagons and walking groups passed, all throwing confetti or candy. I remember seeing the shepherds, the camels, the factory which processes all the requests of the children and a wonderful star. Finally the three kings arrived. Each king was preceeded by a wagon with children, and of course gad a beautiful wagon himself. The end of the parade was formed by some big trucks, carrying all the presents for the children. The whole events was good for more than 30 minutes viewing pleasure.

Today, we ate a special “three kings cake” as a desert. Inside the cake were a bean and a small figure of a king, and on top of the cake was a crown. The person who finds the bean has to pay the cake next year, and the person who finds the figure has to wear the crown. Luckily I found neither of them…

In Holland the weather is always the subject of the day, mainly because it is never the same as the day before. Last week, the weather has been the main topic over here as well. Not because it is changing so often (I wish it would!), but mainly because it is so bad. For the people who still think that I am in a warm sunny country: you’re wrong!!! It is f***ing cold over here!!!

It came by surprise. When I was in Holland it suddenly started snowing. And because that hasn’t happened the last decades, they are not prepared for it. Therefore it took while before they got all the material from other provinces. As a result, I was forced to spent the night in Barcelona last Sunday, because the road between Barcelona and Lleida was still blocked and it was too late to take the train. Fortunately Carme and Marta were so kind to buy already a ticket for the morning train and to pick me up. Thanks a lot!!!!!!!

At this moment most of the big roads are cleared, but the world is still very white. And to be honest: I am getting quite fed up with this weather. After all, one of the reasons I came here is the sun.

At this moment it is already a week ago since I was in Holland. Yes, I have been a litlle bit busy this week (indeed, I slept a lot).

Anyway, I can say that I really enjoyed my short visit. The wedding of Paula and John on Thursday was really great. But OK, free beer is always great, isn’t it? It was great to see everybody again. And in such an atmosphere, it doesn’t matter that the band made all the songs sound like René Froger.

Friday was another highlight, the concert of De Heideroosjes. It was a pleasant surprise that we went with 27 persons. At the busstop I found out that I was by far the oldest: The second (Jos) is 6 years younger!!! At least it shows that I am still young of heart. The body however was having some more problems. I had to go to the side a few times to get some fresh air. The concert was as I am used to.

Saturday and Sunday I have spend with my family (indeed, sleeping again). My room at home has really been transformed by my parents. They bought a new bed for me and removed the old computer desk. A think they want to tell me this way that MJ and I are always welcome.

After hearing a lot of times that having fog every day is not normal, and that it is only the case here in Lleida, I decided to check it out myself.

So last Saturday, MJ and I decided to spend one day on the beach, hoping to see some sun. We woke up early (at least for us), prepared all the stuff for a pick-nick on the beach and got into the car.

Although it was not as sunny as we hoped, the weather was good enough for a pick-nick. We found a nice spot on the beach to sit down and eat our sandwiches and our salad and drink some red wine. In the mean time we could enjoy the view of the sea in front of us. We were just in between Salou and Cambrils. After the pick-nick we walked to Cambrils to get a cup of coffee. Cambrils is a pictoresque little town with a lot of nice shops and restaurants. Unlike Salou, it hasn’t got bars and discos, and as a result the atmosphere is much different.

The 6^th of December is an important day: it is the birthday of ‘Sinterklaas’ (yes, I know it is Paul). Every year the old man leaves Spain to visit Holland for a few weeks and to give presents to all the Dutch children. As you can imagine, the Dutch children are very pleased with his visit.

But I have to warn all the Dutch parents: DO NOT TRUST THIS GUY!!!!!!! I haven’t found out yet what is wrong with him, but it is a fact that the Spanish people are really happy because he is out of the country for some time. The party here is even bigger than in Holland: here everybody receives an official free day, only because Sinterklaas is out of the country. You can imagine how much they hate him…

To celebrate our free day (día del constitución), I went out with my colleagues yesterday. It is very common to visit a restaurant with your colleagues in December. Before that I visited a pub with two others. I hoped to get to know another pub, but they decided to visit Scrub. OK, it is a nice pub, so I was not complaining.

The supper was really good, although the others were complaining a little bit about the price. Here 4000 pesetas (Fl. 53,-) is a lot of money for a meal, but for me it is a quite normal price. Afterwards we visited some pubs. And yes, the very first one (O’Sullivans) was the one where my sweet darling MJ and here friends happened to be… At 4 o’clock I met here again in River Café. She came to see me, because I had the keys of the car… 😉

This weekend MJ is in Lithuania for a Fimcap meeting. I better say ‘was’, because she is almost back again. In a few hours I will take the car and pick her up in Barcelona.

Of course I could have used this weekend to have a big party (after all, the b**** is gone…), but I decided to have a quiet weekend. Of course I went to drink a beer yesterday, but most of the time I was sleeping, reading, watching television or studying Spanish. Today we also celebrated the birthday of Cristine, MJ’s sister.

The weather here is alright. During the day it is sunny, but in the morning and after five (I had to check at the window…) there is one problem: FOG! Not a little bit, but really a lot; sometimes you can see only ten meters. That is also one of the reasons why I have decided to leave really early to Barcelona. The other reason is that I expect a lot of traffic, because this weekend the winter sport season has started. There are some places where the entrance to the pistes was free this weekend (yes, in some ways the Catalans are like Dutch).

By the way: did you know that Catalonia has over 300 pistes? Me neither.