My phone keeps up with how many steps I take in a day, and calculates that into kilometers. Since I have had my current phone, I have walked 423.456 steps, or 296.42 kilometers. In USA measurement, 296.42 kilometers is 184 miles.
How long has my phone kept a tally of my steps? Since mid-may, so I have been walking 184 miles in two and a half months. Let's say I keep this up, just for the sake of making the math easy, I will just count it as 2 months.
The math is as follows: 184 divided by 2. That's 92. Then take the 92 and multiply that by 12. That means that by June 2024, the number of steps I have taken will equal 1104 miles, or 1776 kilometers. For reference: 1104 miles is the same distance from Burkeville, Texas to Dragoon, Arizona. It's quite a distance.
It's important to point out, that this is just a quick average monthly number. It can be higher or it can be lower.
The point is - I have walked 184 miles in two and a half months. Something I didn't ever think was possible, given that I am the laziest person ever. It helps that I have a job that I love.
Does your phone keep a tally of your steps?
We have had a new temp guy at work for the past week. A very nice guy named Mahmoud. He latched on to me the first day he was there, so I decided to train him, and give him the amount of knowledge suitable to be a good worker.
The first few days were worrying. Slow to pick items, not really knowing what to do.. That sort of thing. It was fine, because he was a new guy who had never used a PDA in his life. I did expect him to pick up the pace, though. After a few days of non-stop PDA usage, he got faster. To the point where he would pick an item before I even had a chance to look at the PDA. That was exactly what I wanted! A fast learner who shows initiative.
I then showed him the autostore, which he picked up on very quickly. One day into his autostore training, and he was already picking orders from there, with minimal input from me. Everything was going well - so well, in fact, that I would easily recommend him for a permanent position.
Then, this morning, he told me that his last day would be today. I asked him why that was the case, to which he replied "The money isn't reflecting the amount of work", which I get. My current hourly salary is 144 kroner, or $21,51. It's not the highest amount ever, but it's a pretty good amount.
Does it reflect the amount of work? No. Not by a long shot. But the money isn't why I am doing it. I am doing it because I love it.
Before he left for the day, he told me that I was an excellent teacher and that I would be a fantastic manager, to which I replied that managerial duties aren't really my thing. I prefer to be a regular employee. If I have no other choice - as in "you're fired if you don't take this manager position", I would consider it. But until that day comes - if it ever comes - I am perfectly happy with being a regular employee.
So now we're on the lookout for new temp workers. Hopefully we get someone who wants to stay for several years
Last year, I decided to start online dating again. Giving it a second chance, if you will. I made a Facebook Dating profile, added some pictures and a text that I thought was pretty decent. It included my age, which city I lived in, my employment status and some light humor. Like being a pro IKEA furniture assembler and that I loved to have fun with puns, bad jokes and singing/dancing. I also added a basic requirement for a match: between the age of 28 and 40, and a non-smoker.
At first, the text was in English, because I figured that more foreigners use Facebook Dating than Danes do. I was right.
This, dear reader, is where things go pretty bad.
My first three likes were from Chinese women. I have always been fascinated by how things are in China, so I wrote them, saying "Hello, how are things at your end?". Within ten minutes, I got a reply, which, now that I know, was a GIANT red flag.
"I am not using this software much. Let's chat on WhatsApp". I thought to myself "I have time to kill. Let's see what happens", so I asked for their contact details. The first message was polite. The usual "How are you? I am doing good". After a bit, the conversation started to drift towards investing, crypto currency and "fake money", as I call it. "The market is good today. You should invest. Go on, do it". I then had to explain that I was not interested in it, and I never will be. After that, I was blocked.
Another person straight up asked me, if my family was rich. When I said no, I was blocked.
It's not just Chinese women who are like this. I have had my share of American women asking me for gift cards to Target, Walmart and other places in the US. When I said no, they changed their tone. "F off, creep," was one reply I got. Another one simply replied "drop dead", while a third wished death over me and my family because I said no to sending $1000 to them.
I also had someone impersonate the adult film actress Kenna James. They were out of the business and were looking for love. I played along for an hour or two, until I told them that I was on to them. That they weren't who they said they were, and if they really WERE who they said they were, they would have no problem proving it to me. That's where I got the "I don't have to prove myself to you. If you don't believe me, get lost", followed by a block.
I have also had a woman offer me dirty videos for money,which I have turned down. It's not what I'm looking for, and it never will be what I am looking for.
This is where I ask you this question:
Why do you think so many women are out for money and not love? Why do some women obsess over money and not a real connection?
Why are so many women scamming people? Is it because they know that desperate and lonely people willingly empty their savings and send them the money?
Today's been one of those days where I have been wanting to take one of the logistics drivers and kick him out and say "don't come back", but alas - I could not do that, because the drivers are hired by another company. Kind of like FedEx or UPS. In this case, it's a British-owned logistics company, based in Amsterdam. That's all I want to reveal about that.
Anyway.. One of the logistics drivers had a deadline at 1 pm. All the things he needed for his delivery was there, so he was ready to leave at 1 pm.
However - this guy just didn't care. Didn't care that he was late.. When the clock struck 1:10 pm, I told him he was late, and that he had to leave as fast as possible. He looked at me and mumbled something, before turning back to his conversation he had with another driver.
He left at 1:17 pm. Almost 20 minutes late. Was it our fault? No. He had all he needed to have. It was his fault for not leaving on time.
And no, he's not gonna read this blog. Neither is my supervisor or my coworkers, because they don't even know that this website exists. None of the people at my place of employment knows about this site, so they won't be reading this blog.
Anyway.. I told my supervisor that the driver was 17 minutes late leaving, and he went straight to the phone and called the destination where the driver was headed. Hopefully this will stop soon. If anything, it will stop once we hit week 33, which is mid-August. That's when the summer holiday is over and we're back to normal operation.
I love what I do, but sometimes the logistics drivers can be a pain in my backside. If it was up to me, that driver wouldn't have a job at the logistics company. If a driver is late, there is a very real chance that other people will be late, making us look extremely bad.
In hindsight, I should probably have been a little more stern with the driver, saying "You don't have time to talk. You're late - leave now", but that might come across as rude, so I didn't go that far. If it happens again, I WILL be more stern with him, but in a respectful way.
If he's back tomorrow, I will explain to him why it's important that he's on time, every time.
I remember many, many, MANY years ago, the only thing I could cook was frozen pizzas, ready-made lasagna and pasta. I then moved overseas, and then I was forced to learn how to make food, because if I didn't do that, I would starve. Either that or eat out.
Fast forward to now. I run my own food blog, which I started back in April, so it only has 14 followers, but still - it's my own food blog!
On that, I post a variety of recipes and pictures of the food I make.
My first really big thing I made was this
It's a triple cheeseburger, with six rashers of bacon, two on top of each layer of cheese. It was VERY wet and drippy. The juice from the meat combined with the fat from the bacon and the cheese made me feel VERY American (yeeyee). It was glorious!
I then began to make more quick things - like toasties. Instead of ham, I used pepperoni, which made it taste like a pepperoni pizza, in a way.
Today, I made this
The patties are a blend of pork and bacon, with some bbq seasoning mixed in. It was great! I need more of those, so I am buying more tomorrow. The best part is that the patties were 15 Danish kroner for the pair. 15 Danish kroner is $2.26. A bargain!
If and when I find someone, I will definitely try to learn to cook more elaborate meals. I would LOVE to be able to make a beef wellington!
Now I just need to find someone who wants to give me a chance..
I have had a great weekend, full of great stuff!
I went to the cinema yesterday with a coworker to see the new Mission Impossible movie, and it was quite a ride! It's full of action, car chases, insane stunts and a fantastic henchman (henchwoman?). After the movie, I went home to play some American Truck Simulator, while I listening to a true crime podcast called The Casual Criminalist.
Today, I did some grocery shopping and then jumped back into American Truck Simulator as well as more Casual Criminalist podcast. Furthermore, my back has begun to hurt, which I think could be because a nerve is pinched. Hopefully it's gone tomorrow!
I went to a street food market in Copenhagen earlier today, and it was insane just how much different food were on offer. Everything from Afghani to Greek food. I went with a pulled pork burger, that had pork crackling in it. Oh my, what an experience!
The succulent pulled pork combined with the pork crackling gave it a very satisfying crunch! I am definitely incorporating that into my cooking! I also went there last week, and I got a pizza. Sadly, it was so salty that it gave me an upset stomach, so I am avoiding that if I ever go there again.
Tomorrow, it's off to more street food, this time it's in something called Banegaarden, which translates to The Railway Yard. One of the outlets is called PMY. They serve Latin American soulfood from Peru, Mexico & Venezuela, and that sounds like something I HAVE to try!
I am on my 2 week mandatory summer holiday/break from work, and I am already bored. So what better to do than to plan next years holiday? These past few days, I have been watching a YouTuber named Mr Jww, and his experiences in the Mille Miglia Storia, which is a global brand that combines the heritage of the world's most beautiful race with a fun, sophisticated, inclusive and contemporary lifestyle. It's essentially a 1000 mile rally with some of the most beautiful and rare cars in the world. Some take it as a road trip, while others take it VERY seriously.
Mr Jww is in the 1st bracket - he's just there to experience it and have fun while driving.
Anyway, as I was watching the videos, I made a decision - I am going to Italy on my next holiday. When is that? July 2024, is my aim. I will not go there alone. I asked a friend if she wanted to come, and she said yes. Now the planning begins.
First, we need to figure out where in Italy we are going to go. I have my eyes fixed on Rome, but Italy is a big country, so I will look around. The next step is to find a hotel. Because I am such a gentleman, I will ask her if she prefers one room together, or our own rooms. That's gonna be up to her.
In any case - one week in Italy next years is gonna be the best thing ever! I have so many things I want to do. Cooking classes, take pictures, relax and eat good food!
There is still a LONG time to go. The flight will be booked early next year, when we have picked a location. Until then, it's time for research.
We're at that time again - my birthday! This year, I am turning 39, but you can't see it. That's what I have been told, anyway.
Work today was okay. We're missing a few people, due to illness and holiday, so we're running a lot faster than usual. Today, I have walked 20.605 steps, which is 14.42 km, or about 9 miles. My feet hurt and my body is aching. Maybe it's because I am almost 40. Either way, I am getting my steps in, which is great.
Tomorrow, I am hoping work will be better. Hopefully one of the people ill will be back, so that will hopefully make things a little bit easier.
I have also decided to throw myself out there, and start using dating apps. So far, I have had a match on Tinder, which ended abruptly, when she told me she would delete her profile. I didn't ask what the reason was, mainly because it's not my business. I just thanked her for the conversation and wished her well. So now I'm back to square one. I'll give it a month. If nothing changes, then I'll delete the apps that I use.
Back when I bought my trip to Washington D.C., I bought the tickets through Lufthansa in their Economy section. The flight was 3658 Danish kroner ($530.43), with a random seat allocation. I decided to spend 628 Danish kroner ($91.06), on picking my seats on all the flights, bringing the total cost of the trip to 4286 Danish kroner ($621.50).
Cheap, but it showed. The quality of the flight wasn't the best.
I will let you all know why I wouldn't pick Lufthansa again!
The trip was from Copenhagen to Frankfurt, and then onward to Washington D.C. A few days before departure, Lufthansa sent me an email where they told me, that they had gotten a different aircraft for my flight to Frankfurt, so I had gotten a new seat.
"alright, no harm done. At least I am going to go on my trip", and that first flight was quick. However - I seemed to be sitting between a company trip, because they all knew each other. They talked. And talked. And talked. Quite loud as well, and even when the safety demonstration was being performed. Very rude, I think.
The food on that flight - if you could call it that - was a bottle of water and a piece of chocolate. Granted, it was just an hour, but still. I was very hungry, and I had a two hour wait in Frankfurt - with no Euro on me, and my card isn't working outside Denmark.
Strike one.
We landed in Frankfurt ahead of time, which was fantastic! It was my first time in Frankfurt airport, so I had no idea what to expect. From the aircraft, we had to take a bus to the terminal, and from there, I had to find my gate for my next flight. Luckily, the gate was easy to find, so I sat down and relaxed until it was time to board.
An hour and a half later, we boarded. We were 350 people that needed to board - with just four people to handle that. It took a bit of time, but once we were situated in the aircraft - a rather old and tired Airbus A330 - we pushed back. The flight to the US was nothing to write home about. Pretty streamlined and pretty boring. The food was good, though. I got a chicken/mashed potato dish, which was excellent. Or maybe I was just hungry.
Just before landing I got very hungry. Luckily, they offered a snack, which I was very excited for. However - the bread was VERY dry - maybe because it had spent 8 hours in the fridge.. You don't put toast in the fridge..
Landing in Washington Dulles was good. We had some minor turbulence, but I wasn't worried. We touched down ahead of time, so it was off and through immigration. That flight was quite smooth, so maybe the Copenhagen to Frankfurt part was a one-off?
No.. The trip home was even worse. We pushed back from Dulles a few minutes behind schedule. That happens all the time, so as long as we landed on time in Frankfurt, I could make my flight home.
An hour into the flight, the captain came on the intercom, saying that some of the screens didn't show the entertainment, so they would kill the power and reboot. That didn't help, so they rebooted it again, which helped.
That was the only real memorable thing that happened on that flight, so fast-forward to landing in Frankfurt. I had an hour and a half to reach my gate and my connecting flight. I made the gate with 40 minutes to spare, so I sat down and relaxed. We boarded about 50 minutes later, and to my delight, I had a whole row to myself since the flight was only half full. That meant that boarding was completed well ahead of time, so we had about 20 minutes to relax, before we were taking off and pointing the nose to Denmark, and Copenhagen.
However - that was not to be for a while.. Read my next blog to find out why that was, and why I will not be flying Lufthansa again..
This is part 2 of my absolute nightmare of a trip home from the US. In the last blog, I detailed the trip to Germany and the US, and the trip back to Germany.
Now it's time for the absolute biggest annoyance with air travel: Delays!
We were sitting in the aircraft, all buckled up, ready for takeoff, when a van with two people came up to the side of the aircraft. They wore helmets and vests. "Oh boy, this can't be good", was my thought. About ten minutes later, the captain came on the intercom and explained that we had to disembark, because the aircraft had a malfunction. However, we already had a new aircraft, and all we needed to do was find the new gate. We would then be off shortly.
However, when we reached the gate, we had to wait for an hour and a half to be allowed to board. By then, the boarding time said 7:40 am. The flight was originally scheduled for a 7:15 am takeoff, so we were already 35 minutes late. 7:40 am came and went - no boarding yet. A few of the passengers went to the desk to hear how much longer it would take. No answer. Only that they were working on it. By then, the time was 8 am
New boarding time was put on the monitor: 8:20 am. That made one of the passengers so irate, that he asked the staff member to cancel his ticket, which the staff member did. Very little information was given to us. It was a mix between "sorry for the delay" and "we have no information yet".
8:20 am came and went - still no boarding. I am usually a very calm and positive guy, but even I was reaching the point of having enough. Finally, at 8:45 am, a full hour and 5 minutes after the 7:40 am boarding time, we boarded the flight. 20 minutes later, we were ready for departure. Takeoff was at 9:18 am and we landed in Copenhagen at 10:18 am. Originally, we were scheduled for a 8:35 am landing, so we were almost 2 hours late. I found my suitcase, and went home.
That whole delay in Frankfurt single-handedly made me swear to never fly with Lufthansa again. Some good experiences cannot outweigh the bad. I know it's a low-cost airline, which I definitely experienced. My next flight will be with SAS. They have a direct flight to Dulles from Copenhagen, and I will definitely spend a bit more to get a better class. I am thinking Premium Economy, since I don't really have the money for business class. One more strike for Lufthansa was also when their app suddenly locked me out, with no way to change the password.
Pro: The food on the flight from Frankfurt to Dulles was good. Smooth flight as well. The flight from Dulles to Frankfurt was, despite a reboot of the in flight entertainment, pretty smooth as well. We hit some turbulence on the way, but it wasn't extreme.
Con: The "food" from Copenhagen to Frankfurt, the sandwich before landing in the US, the delay in Frankfurt and the app shutting me out
Three pros and four cons. It wasn't all negative, but I am still not going to recommend Lufthansa. If they had been more open and transparent about the delay in Frankfurt, I wouldn't have minded that. However, because they gave so little information, they go on the cons list.
Overall, I give the flight, as a whole a 5/10.
I self-diagnosed covid, but after going through all the symptoms, I am now under the impression, that what I have is a very bad cold. How do I know that?
Well.. Cold sores, or o*al herpes. They always present themselves when I have had a particularly bad cold, so the fact that BOTH my lips had them, it's pretty safe to say that I don't have covid. I'm just dealing with a monster of a cold. That type of cold that makes your voice turn into a croak, at times. I also have that extremely annoying cough, that just will not go away.
So yes - no corona for me this time, thankfully. Or.. Well, I MIGHT have it, just not Covid-19.
"But Philipsen, what do you mean when you say you might have corona?"
An excellent question. You see, although the common cold is usually caused by rhinoviruses, in 15% of cases the cause is a coronavirus. The human coronaviruses HCoV-OC43, HCoV-HKU1, HCoV-229E, and HCoV-NL63 continually circulate in the human population in adults and children worldwide and produce the generally mild symptoms of the common cold. The four mild coronaviruses have a seasonal incidence occurring in the winter months in temperate climates.
If it was covid, I wouldn't have as much energy as I do now, and I probably wouldn't have cold sores either. I mark this down to a change in climate. It's the only thing I can think of that would give me a monster cold. Or maybe that I didn't sleep a lot during my flight home from the US. The next time I am going there, I am taking a direct flight so I don't have to stress with changing flight, and it makes me more relaxed as well.
But for now, it's time to relax and enjoy this extended weekend. It's a public holiday today, and tomorrow, every person at my job, who is paid by the hour, is off. I do not fully understand why, but it suits me well. It gives me more time to recover from my cold.
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