Tuesday, May 01, 2007

Say no to dictatorship of the thieves!


New bike
Originally uploaded by amsterboy.
It is Labour Day. But unlike the rest of Europe, the Dutch work on 1 May. So I found myself today in situations when I called a colleague abroad only to find them either drunk or just otherwise disoriented. Well, the Netherlands has never been a flagship of the proletariat. They believe firmly in ownership.

Was just watching the Finnish TV news. Covering 1 May is nearly as exciting as working on a domestic news in July. "Shall we write another story on weather? Or how about alcohol today for a change, we have not written about it for like two days now."

As the rest of Europe is showing their dedication to the neverending battle of the working class, the Dutch go wild for the monarchy. Queen's Day was once again a nice carnival although someone should tell these people that orange does not look good on anyone.

My other reason for celebration next to Queen Beatrix was my new bike. After my bike was stolen some weeks back, i have postponed the decision to get a new one until this Saturday when I realised that i need to get this thing sorted. So rather than going for a bargain (rational consumption never been my thing), I walked to a closeby store and bought a used Peugeot. (see pic)

My flatmate told me when my bike was stolen that I should learn from my mistake of buying a bike that stands out of the crowd. My previous bike was bright green. I decided not to follow his advice and may end up paying for my stubborness but until then I am going to enjoy my fantastic new steelblue fiets (Dutch for bike). Down with the tyranny of the bike thieves!

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