vanishing justice ....

Male Nude – Hamburg, originally uploaded by cromacom.

hi there! nice to see that you're still reading my blog :-) and here's the today report!

I had a court case in Turnhout, that's 2 hours by train and a bit more then 1 hour by car, so I choose the car :-) what else do we have the engine for hehe? I had to be there at 10.30 am, so I could have left the house at 9.15 am.

But I didn't. Because in order to reach Turnhout, I have to pass Antwerp, and that passing is always highly time consuming, with lots of problems and standing still traffic in the morning, especially on a Monday morning. Most of all, because there's a tunnel under the main river (the Schelt), so horrible.

So I left way in advance, at 8.15 am. Just because I was ready and no use in waiting to depart :-)

Guess what happened ... it took me till 10.15 to reach the court house. Fortunately I left in time.

My client was there in time too, he took a bus from Antwerp, where he lives. He's tired of fighting for his rights, and he informed me that his battle in justice soon will be over, the poor lad. I can understand him. Fighting for your rights is a troublesome action, it simply never ends. And for all of us, there comes a day that we don't want to fight anymore. Sometimes, the ideal of justice is simply vanishing ...

I pleaded nicely, I had a good feeling about the to-be-expected result of the court session. Then afterwards, I drove the client back to Antwerp. And guess what? There was a huge accident in the tunnel, direction of Gent, and the traffic around Antwerp in that direction was standing still everywhere. Plain horror.

The client guided me through Antwerp, to an alternative small and old but convenient tunnel. He was happy to be driven back home, and I was happy to have avoided the jam!

This brings me to my basic thinking: by offering the client to drive him back (instead of making him take the public transport) I was not standing still in an hours long jam. That is the essence of my life: by doing good and spreading joy, you will receive much more good and joy in return. Don't you agree?

joyful hugs,
PB
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Centuries old, and almost brandnew

SpringHouse-2, originally uploaded by naked.duck.

Nice picture, isn't it? Just an illustration of the renovation work in the low house next door.

The renovation is almost done! Now we started to buy stuff to decorate the old "new" house. Today we got 2 huge plastic pots, since we will have plants there too. Provisionally they decorate the garden now, but they will end in the renovated house.

BTW, do you know that the renovated house is already many centuries old? It's a miracle that it's still standing there! 

The entrepreneurs should have finished everything by the end of this month, I hope. Then we can start to do the interior painting, and slowly move in there. By the end of the summer, we should live there. That's the planning!

Did you ever move house? If so, did you enjoy it?

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Long Live Long Warm Weekends!

geoffrey1105171, originally uploaded by Luis Machado.

Good evening!

Once again, Belgium is holidayparadise :-) we have a long weekend now, from Thursdag till Sunday !!!! Incredible, isn't it? One might wonder how this country can still function with all those holidays!

Anyway, for me it's work as usual. I prefer not to follow the workflow of the majority ... I cherish to be a minority :-)

This includes also working in the garden! After our long absence, the garden really needs urgent attention. I give it sparsely, since the office needs the same, and the office gets priority !!! Guess why hehehe?

Tomorrow I'll make 2 hours free time to go to Lars (the eldest son of my sister). Next Sunday, he'll celebrate his Holy Communion (which is some kind of rite from boyhood to adulthood), and I promised him to buy a very nice present for him ... and he choose a cellphone! So we'll go cellphone hunting tomorrow, Lars & Howlan & me :-) Let's hope we find some working shops (due to the long weekend, I expect lots of shops to be closed ... or will the financial crisis urge the shopkeepers to be more active and lure as many customers in as possible? Wait and see!)

That's about it for today :-) I don't want to bore you too much with stories about the work hehe!

huggies,
PB
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X1 search engine! I love it :-)

this is by far the best search engine I found on the internet till now! And it's for free (well, the basic version, but that's all I need). In the blink of the eye, it guides you to all your files on your computer, stuff that otherwise would be dormant till the end of times :-)

Free and perfectly working, what more do you need?

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the boundaries of relationship

Van Manila-Cebu-Bohol-March2009

It's Saturday night, and from a fresh (15°C) Belgium, I send my best wishes and greetings to you :-)

So many things were on my mind today, but I don't want to get you bored with detailing all of them !!!! Just this little one.

Today we went shopping for furniture for the renovated house. It was fun, we went to Ikea, and to a high-end designer shop. Ikea was cheap and (almost all) boring, the designer shop was expensive and interesting. As HL always says: one price one quality hehe.

Anyway, that's not what I want to write on this blog about :-).

I feel that moving to the renovated house, in a month or two, will have an effect on our relationship. Not yours and mine, but HL's and mine.

We will be placed in a new environment, we will have to decide on new subjects like decoration and what to order for the kitchen, and so on and so forth.

This brings me to the question: how far can a relationship stretch? We are now together since 1997, that's more then 12 years. Our relationship today is different then it was in the beginning, but I think we still enjoy it, both of us.

From the beginning, it was a monogamous relationship. For HL, because he wanted only one lover in his life. For me, the main reason for monogamy was safety. 1997 was the time of AIDS spreading and it seemed wise then to limit oneself to only one lover.

Now we are 2009. Times have changed. Our relationship has changed. We still feel very nice and loving and caring with each other, and I hope we'll continue for the rest of our lives like this. But the question remains: what are the boundaries of our relationship? Should we limit it to only the two of us, or should we allow others to enter it?

The question is particularely genuine, since it is clear for everybody who knows me, that I am attracted to youth. Don't worry, I do stick with legal age, I don't go for underaged persons :-) However, youngsters give that sparkle to my life, that I so much need. They lift me up and make me alive. Nothing much I can do about it, that's who I am.

That being said, it's not necessarily a sexual desire. I enjoy the energy of youngsters, I admire their beauty, I am ravished with their scent and smile and spirit and spontane reactions. That doesn't mean I want to dive into bed with them :-)

But what if I encounter someone that awakens these very natural desires in me? What should I do? Faithful as I am, I will never abandon my bf. Human as I am, should I refrain myself and deny the natural desires?

The question is not imminent yet. But I feel it coming. If the question would arise one day, I wonder how my bf will deal with it. And most of all, how I will handle the situation.

When taking all that into consideration, please don't forget that I have given myself a ten-year-limit (see former blogs). I still have 10 years to live. How will I live those years?

I really look forward to your comments and ideas and advises. Do not refrain yourself from being blunt. Just spit it out. What would you do if you were me? paulbavo@yahoo.com !!!!

sensitive hugs,

PB
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Dental Deterioration and Dawn. And how long?

Van DentalArtist

you! yes you! hehe! do you know I'm 55 y.o. already? Well, I do. Slowly my body is decomposing. Every now and then a part needs to be replaced, like an old car that begs to be guided into the repair workshop.

Lately I have dental problems. 2 teeth were removed, and I need a so-called "bridge" now. I hate it. But no choice, the dentist said that it was necessary. Who am I to discuss?

Today, I went to the so-called "dental artist". He's the one that will decide on the colour of my new teeth. Fake of course, but obviously the dental industry is doing its best to show fake as real as possible.

The guy was checking my teeth (the colour of it) over and over again, sketching and making photographs, my oh my, I thought it would never end! I took some pix, you see this dental artist on top of this blog :-)

All this rambling about my teeth brings me to the following topic. How long will I still be here on earth?

I keep on thinking that my life will end around 65 y.o. I have no idea why, since statistically, males live till 77 y.o. in Western Europe. Maybe the smoking and drinking has something to do with it :-)

If my thinking is correct, I'll live another 10 years.

What would you do, if someone told you that you have only 10 more years to live?

Do tell me :-) paulbavo@yahoo.com !!!

huggies,

PB

Michael Jackson performs AGAIN (now in Malaysia)

who doesn't like japan guys?

gay youtube!

the continuing discovery

Van Budapest[Hungary]-May2009

I was thinking last night ... will we ever return to Budapest? We probably will. I think that, after this 3rd visit, we haven't seen half of the city. So many things still to discover. And HL is ravished by the really good buys he can do here, when it comes to fashion. Top brands at a fraction of the price: the Ukraine maffia at its best. But it's likely that we won't come back to this hotel: it's overpriced, even though the luxury of having an indoor hot spring is tempting. Instead, we should look for a place to rent, although the prices I've seen today (a 3 bedroom appartment costs 100 euro per night!) urges to some more research!

Today we strolled in the area of the Astoria metro station: mostly Racoczi Ut. In the sidestreets, the red light district is developping (we didn't visit it), and it's an enchanting alternative area.

This is our last full day here. Tomorrow afternoon we're off to good old Belgium! Thanks to the Danubius card we have a late checkout (at 3 p.m., then the taxi comes and brings us to the airport at a promised price of 25 euro, roughly double the normal cost).

See you then and there!
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adam's costume

Van Budapest[Hungary]-May2009

The program of today contained only 2 topics:
* see if an upgrade at Malev was possible, and
* walk in Vaci Ut + windowshopping.

Entering the Malev office is like entering a plane in first class, really nicely done. Unfortunately, a relatively friendly lady explained us that upgrading was not possible, we should have done it in Belgium before using the tickets, according to her. Well, we didn't put our hopes to high hehe!

Then the metro to the center, and from there a nice sunny walk along Vaci Ut, so many nice houses there, in lots of styles. HL quickly jumped in his favorite Designer Outlet store, and got himself a white pants, much nicer to wear in this springtime sunshine!

And then by tram 2, along the river, back to the bridge, jump on the bus (fortunately the bus was there, because suddenly it started to rain!), and back to the hot spa in the hotel! It will be a cosy evening :-)
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presents and goodbyes

Van Budapest[Hungary]-May2009

yes yes yes, everybody was present in good health today :-)

We had our usual long walk, and at 3 p.m., we said goodbye to the familymembers, off they went! Johan & Patricia offered HL a Swarowski flower, and the present by Liesbet & Freddy was a 55 euro coupon by Fnac. Happy birthdayparty to myself!
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Methadon

Van Budapest[Hungary]-May2009

Catastrophe !!! Volkwin drunk from (what he thought was) a bottle of water, and he poisoned himself: it was not water, but Helfrich's Methadon. Result: the whole day, Volkwin was sick as a dog, vomiting everywhere (fortunately in a plastic bag) and expressing his feeling bad in a demonstrative way. And on top of that, it started to rain in the morning!

Apart from that, our family-outing today was a success: we managed to do all the highlights of Budapest, although it's clear that a second day is sufficient.

Liesbet & co stayed in Budapest, I don't worry about them: they will find their way back to the hotel. Johan & co returned to the hotel by our bus, discussing wether it was necessary to call in a medical doctor. I hope Volkwin makes it till tomorrow, then they'll fly back to good old Belgium :-)
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how to knot a tie :-)

Van Budapest[Hungary]-May2009

Johan and Liesbet arrived, Raf couldn't make it, and husband and wife and offspring join the party! They clearly like it here, Lars and Arne couldn't wait to conquer the spa. After setteling in the rooms, we took off. The guide explained us that we'd better avoid Budapest today, because of the festivities in the city on this day, and the political manifestations, and several roadblocks. So off to Szentedre, an artistic village 20 km north of Budapest. Packed with fellow tourists, it was nevertheless a nice walk there, HL compared it with Plovdiv (Bulgaria) but he found that one more authentic (which it is). The couleur locale came alive when a carriage with horses passed by: marriage in the local style! In the pictures, look at the lovely way the tie of the boy near the car is knot: I'd love to know how they made such a lovely knot!

Then back to Budapest, uphill in the Gellert district. It's our first time that we see the statue of freedom from this close, so we enjoy it too. And the views of Budapest from this high hill are absolutely spectacular on this sunny and bright day!
Going back downhill, we spy at the Gellert baths (Danubius Gellert hotel), it's really an artistic building, and the setting is breathtaking, too bad there's so much traffic around the hotel.

After the 4 hours tour, everybody's exhausted, except for Johan's kids: they plan to dance the night away in the discos in the city ... I hope to see them alive and well tomorrow!

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