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Divine intervention or just luck?

I cannot explain this. No matter how much I go through it, in my mind, I simply cannot explain what happened today.

Yesterday, after work, I went to do some food shopping. When I got home, my keys were missing. I retraced my steps, but I couldn't find them. I phoned up my landlady, who came by and unlocked the front door and my room. She then told me she would be back today with a new set of keys.

I went to bed, not sleeping well at all. I lost a set of keys. Both to the house, but also to my mothers place as well.

This morning, I was late getting out of the door. This is where the unexplained happened. I was waiting for the bus, and as I did, a road construction worker came up to me. "Good morning. You look like a nice guy. I was wondering if you could help me with something?"

I'm always up for helping, so my response was "Sure, what do you need?".

"I found these keys, and I was hoping you could get them back to whoever lost them."

I looked down into his hands - he was holding my exact keys, that I lost the day before.

What are the chances, that this guy and me were at the exact same spot, at the exact same time? And that he had my keys? He could have gone about his day, not coming up to me, and I would have lost my keys forever. I told the story today to my coworkers, and one of them went "It's divine intervention, for sure! The Universe has rewarded you. God is with you and He loves you!". It's one of those things that cannot be explained.

I should buy a lottery ticket..

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Oct 2022
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Uncle for the third time - what's up!

My mother, my aunt and me went for lunch at my sister and her fiancé's house. At first it was a regular lunch, but then my sister and her fiancé busted out their surprise:

They are expecting a child. My sister is due in April next year! They don't know the gender, but they think it's going to be a girl, because my family has a bit of a habit of making girls..

My brother has two girls, my cousin has two girls, my other cousin has one girl and my sister's fiancé's brother has two girls as well.. All the signs points to a girl - so I hope it'll be a boy.

I did not expect to be named uncle for the third time yesterday, but I'm excited!

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Oct 2022
in Chatting
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Working in a warehouse has its benefits.

I have been working at the warehouse for about 20 days. Well, 21 to be exact.. Here's a few things I have noticed:

There is a certain tone at the warehouse, that I love. It's not too harsh, but it's not butterflies and cupcakes either. Several times people shout at each other, but in a banter-like way. It took me a few days to get used to, but now I'm joining in their convos and their shouting. Lots of laughs as well.

It's a healthy place as well. Free fruit and all the water you can drink. You also walk a lot, so you'll get your steps in. As I am writing this, I've walked 20.643 steps. My most walked steps are 22.259, which was Thursday last week. I also carry a lot of weight, since some of the items are quite heavy. Up to 22 kilos, or 48 lbs, so I'm getting a workout done every day.

It's also a place that takes care of their employees. Free breakfast every Friday morning, and sometimes there's cake as well. For the 21 days I have been there, I have had four different types of cake... It's mainly been because people have gone on holiday or stops working there. A going-away cake? Yeah, I think that's the right thing to call it. We also got a cake when someone went on vacation. "Hey, we have bought a holiday cake. Dig in", was their exact words. One of the girls in the office had a birthday on Saturday, so she offered us flødeboller. What they are, are small pieces of heaven. They look like this

Some are different than others, but the main ingredients are the same: a biscuit base topped with marshmallow-like filling and then coated in a hard shell of pure milk or dark chocolate. Some more expensive versions use a marzipan base, which gives the treat a completely different flavor.

Some, particularly Danes, will go "Yeah, flødeboller! The thing we Danes are known for inventing"... The only problem is, that it's not true. Some argue that it might be Scottish, because they have something similar there, called a chocolate mallow biscuit. However, waaaaaaaaay back in 1912, a Danish gentleman named Willy Elikofe, came back from the United States, with a recipe for a chocolate treat, that we now know as flødeboller. Bonus info: The literal translation of flødebolle is cream bun, so.. Yeah.. I would call it a chocolate marshmallow treat..

Anyway, I'm getting sidetracked here. Where was I.. Oh yeah.. Someone had a birthday and gave us chocolate treats..

I have already learned so much working there, and I cannot WAIT to learn even more!

I love working there, because you get to meet so many different people, and you learn so many new things! If this is how the first month has been, then I'm sure that I'll remain there for many years to come!

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Aug 2022
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Learning new skills.

At work, five tasks are performed. Picking from the AutoStore, picking by hand, au2parts trips, crediting and innight.

Picking from the AutoStore is as it says on the tin: We pick orders from a huge storage facility. About 43.100 boxes, to be exact. Those orders are divided into red and grey boxes. Red is for delivery with drivers, while grey is for outside drivers to pick up.

Pick by hand is where we go out to our manual warehouse to pick an item. For example, one order will be for an exhaust tube, while another order will be for oil. Maybe a drive shaft or a radiator. Maybe an air condition unit or an alternator.

Au2parts trips are as follows: We get an order printed out, and it shows which driver will deliver said order. The way that works, is a number between 1 and 8 will be on the order sheet, as well as a time of day. It could also be an in-warehouse pickup. I then have to put my initials on the sheet, and place it in the appropriate place. Not the hardest job ever. The beauty about the au2parts trips, is that some of the pick by hand and the red box autostore orders go through there.

Crediting is where customers gets money credited to their accounts. I'm told that I'm not going to be doing much of that - if any, but it's pretty nice to know how to do.

Then we have innight, which is all the packages being sent overnight by a freight company. That is quite possibly the easiest task to perform. Four buttons needs to be pressed, and then it's processed.

So now, I'm very well versed in four of the five tasks, which makes me more than ready to take on the challenge on Monday, when the guy training me is quitting.

I apologize if some of the description is confusing. Hopefully you'll get some idea of the work I do

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Aug 2022
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"The manager wants to speak to you..."

As I was working hard earlier today, one of my coworkers came up to me and said those words to me. "Do you know what about?", was my reply. "No idea. He just wants to speak to you"..

Now, one of three things could happen:

One: A peptalk, because I have made a few mistakes.
Two: A general "How are you liking the job so far? Is there anything we can do to make it better?
Or three: We like what you bring to the table. We want to hire you.

We found a quiet conference room, where we could talk. He laid out the facts!

"One of out employees is having his last day on Friday next week, which leaves and open position. We're thinking about giving that to you, if you want it. Your hours will be different, since you are taking over his position. That means your hours will now be 9 am to 5 pm Mondays to Thursdays, and 9 am to 4:30 pm on Fridays, starting next week. Let me know what you think about that".

I didn't need a second, because I accepted on the spot! I love it there, and the job is fairly easy to do. I know a few things now. The AutoStore is one thing, but I now know how to do the following tasks:

Pick by hand.
Sort out orders for trips

Next up will be how to sort out and pack innights and perform closing routines. I got a minor crash course in it today, and all of next week will be spent learning it properly.

So long story short: I am now hired on a permanent basis. Well.. Sort of.. I am still under contract with the temp agency, but next week will hopefully be my last week as a temp worker. If not, I'll be a temp worker for the next three weeks, and THEN be a full time permanent employee at the warehouse!

A bit later, we had a meeting about the situation. The manager started by saying "We have a new hire. It was a no brainer, because he's done very well", to which the others agreed. They all thought I have done a great job for the past two weeks. The were all looking forward to having me on as a permanent team member.

So now I'm looking forward to being an employee there!

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Aug 2022
in Chatting
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Holy moly what a day!

This morning, I came to work at 7.30 am as usual. I met one of my coworkers, who explained to me that the AutoStore had broken down, with no fix in sight. All I could do was stand and look, as they tried to fix the machine.

About 30 minutes later, a supervisor asked me, if I had ever tried picking by hand. I told him no, to which he replied "Okay, let's pick something by hand. You need to be comfortable with that", so he handed me a hand scanner, and off we went. I spent the next two hours picking items by hand, which was surprisingly easy. Meanwhile, the orders kept piling up in the AutoStore, and at one point we were up to about 180 orders. I thought to myself, that when the system was back online, we'd have a busy time ahead of us. At around 11.30 am, the system did indeed come back online, at which point three people, me included, began to empty the order queue. I don't really mind having a lot to do. It keeps me busy. I'm one of those people who LOVES warehouse work. Doing hard labor is where I am at my very best. I love using my body during work.. Anyway, getting side tracked.

At around 2 pm, we were down to the normal amount of orders. That means, it took three people about three and a half hours to clear 180 orders. I'm very proud of that, if I do say so myself.

I am now at home, in my chair, absolutely shattered. I bough a microwave meal, so I'm gonna make that in a bit. Tomorrow's another day. I'm looking forward to that a lot

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Aug 2022
in Chatting
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Back to being employed!

Wednesday of last week, I applied for a temp job at a warehouse. The temp agency called me back on Thursday, to hear if I was still interested in the job. I told them I was, so they asked me some questions. They would then formulate a presentation of me to the company, which would hopefully end in me being employed there.

A few hours later, they called me back. They were very interested in hiring me, and they wanted me to start on the following Monday, to which I said "Yes! I'm so interested!". I have had my first week there, and I really like it. The company had booked me in a form of "try and hire". One month of seeing if I'm a good fit and if I can figure out how to use the system that they have. As it turns out, I'm pretty experienced in the system they have, because they use a system called AutoStore. The last time I used AutoStore was back in March 2020, but I still know how to use it. That meant I was able to start working with minimal training, which helps them in the end.

So.. What kind of stuff am I picking from the AutoStore? Car parts. Everything from small cogs to spark plugs to alternators to brake systems. It's heavy work, but so much fun! The best part of my temp job: It's without an ending date, and, if all goes well, it might result in a permanent position!

Fingers crossed that they'll want to hire me!

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Aug 2022
in Chatting
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I had told myself not to spend any more money..

While I am unemployed, I am on government benefits. That means limited spending on things that aren't bills. I make a HUGE batch of a certain dish (this case, sauce for pasta), and then I take 4 scoops of each, and bag it. I then let it cool down and place them in the freezer.

The last time I did that, I had meatballs for a month straight.

Anyway, I try to limit my spending as to not run out of money. Nothing worse than running out of money 5 days before payday, with nothing to eat.. I have avoided that every month by cooking a huge batch and freezing it. This month, it was going well. Until I remembered my family's annual Easter lunch. 15 people will partake in the feast, and we each have to bring an item of food. I am in charge of bringing the most important thing - bread. With the inflation hitting here, everything gets more expensive. From fuel to food. Thanks, Biden.. Anyway.. The price of bread has skyrocketed these past few weeks, so it gets expensive to buy bread for the entire family. I ended up with seven packs of bread, which took a sizeable amount of money. It HAS to be enough. If it isn't, there's a McDonald's right next to where we are having our Easter lunch. But generally, I am pretty good at judging how much bread I need to get in order to make sure everyone are well fed.

Will I spend more money before the end of the month? Well.. It depends.. I have enough food for two weeks, which makes it close.. I have a bunch of chicken wings in the freezer, as well as some one person meals. Even those one person meals have gone up in price. They are usually super cheap, but in these inflation times, everything is expensive.

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Apr 2022
in Food
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Making plans for the USA! (part 3)

I'm slowly getting things in order for my trip to the USA next year. I've sorted accommodations, which gives me the kind of calm that I need when there's so much to plan.

I asked my friend straight up, if I could stay at her place for the week. She lives in a 1 bedroom apartment, but if I can handle the couch, I am more than welcome to stay at her place. Immediately, my answer was "I'll take the couch for the week!". That frees up more money to spend on things, which is extremely positive.

So now, I just need to save up for the spending money, and I'll be ready! 272 days 10 hours and 14 minutes until the plane takes off! Super excited!

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Aug 2022
in Travel
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I haven't been feeling good..

For the past few days, I've been extremely uncomfortable. Nausea after eating, headache and a light fever. This resulted in me booking an appointment at my doctor. Hopefully it's not something serious.

One of my friends actually had a good explanation for that: Lack of water. I drink a lot of sodas, but not enough actual bottled water, so maybe that's why I'm feeling so awful. Maybe I need to drink a LOT more water. So tomorrow, I'm gonna drink nothing but water. No soda. No energy drinks.

Water

If that helps, I'm gonna be happy, because I hate feeling awful.

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Jul 2022
in Chatting
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Danish police say several dead after Copenhagen mall shooting.

Earlier tonight, notifications came on my phone, that a shooting took place in a shopping mall. "Oh, another shooting in the USA", was my immediate thought.

But no. Not this time. This time, it was a bit closer to home. It was in a shopping mall in Copenhagen. A 22 year old Danish guy decided to open fire, killing several and wounding others. At a presser, the police would not rule out that it was terrorism, and they had launched a manhunt, as a precaution. They could not rule out, that it was an act of terror. The 22-year old has been arrested.

Public transportation was stopped, and people were not allowed to leave. Likewise, a concert with Harry Styles in Royal Arena was cancelled, and people were not allowed to go to their cars or check into any hotels. I get why they weren't allowed to go to cars or to hotels: The area hadn't been cleared.

So now we enter the sad statistic of mass shootings. The last time we had one, was in 1994, which was a school shooting. Since then, weapons have been banned for private ownership.

However, this lowlife could easily have bought the weapon from some criminal. More information will be available as the investigation progresses.

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/reports-shooting-shopping-mall-copenhagen-danish-police-2022-07-03/

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Jul 2022
in Chatting
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The results are in..

Long story short: My cholesterol is too high, which means I will have to change my diet, as I suspected. That means limit my intake of sugar, cut down on the fat and generally be a healthier person. Maybe get rid of some of my weight will help as well.

So what now? Well.. Now I will have to revisit what I eat. Luckily I have a brand new cook book, which contains a LOT of healthy food, so I'm gonna have a look in that. I want to make food that is both filling and tasty, which hopefully will be easy to make. Cooking in general is pretty easy, if you know what you are doing.. Anyway..

Lower my cholesterol is my immediate goal, and I will do whatever it takes to get it done!

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Jul 2022
in Health
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This is a list of Philipsen's Blogs. Click here for Philipsen's Blog List

online today!Philipsen Blog (557)

Divine intervention or just luck?

Uncle for the third time - what's up!

Working in a warehouse has its benefits.

Learning new skills.

"The manager wants to speak to you..."

Holy moly what a day!

Back to being employed!

I had told myself not to spend any more money..

Making plans for the USA! (part 3)

I haven't been feeling good..

Danish police say several dead after Copenhagen mall shooting.

The results are in..

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