[helene_t]

Tuesday Nov 21 (Leiden, Amsterdam, Rotterdam)

Unable to fall asleep I went up at 6h30 on my last day in Leiden, to do the final cleaning of my apartment. Just before noon, the new resident called and told me that she finally decided not to take over my wooden floor, so the landlord would have to remove it at my expenses (EUR 350). Towards 14h00 I mentioned it to a neighbor, Els, who got upset about it. She offered to remove it with the help of some other neighbors. We found two others who had time. The idea was to start the job just to show to the landlords inspector that they were capable of doing it so if he gave them one more day .... but when the inspector arrived 35 minutes later, we just finished the job. "I never earned EUR 350 that fast" was one remark. It did cost us several splinters in our hands, though.

I booked a flight on Wednesday so that I could enjoy just one more evening at the bridge club. Opps bid
---- 1♣
1♥-2NT
pass
and I lead the smallest diamond from QTxx (I had a side entry). Two small appear in dummy and declarer's jack win. Later, p gains the lead and surprises me with ♦A, under which declarer drops the king!

Scoring: MP

(Declarer is East, I am South)

---

And this is why I rate myself as "intermediate" although I think of myself as decent bridge theorist. This is such an elementary unblock situation that it could appear on the novice pages of the BF magazine (except that they would not confuse the readers with the question of why on Earth p duck the first ♦ trick). Yet in the heat of the battle, I switch my brain off and play an economic small card ....

I went to the birthday party of Ilonka (Athan010 whom some of you will meet in Coventry), arrived at midnight, and after the other guests went to bed and/or went home we continued keeping me awake with coffee and cola (Ilonka is a night raven) until I had to leave at 6h00.

Wednesday, Nov 22 (Rotterdam-Schiphol-Manchester-Lancaster)
I brought four bags with me, only payed for 3 when booking, so I had to pay EUR 15 for one extra bag. Just didnt notice on the conditions that you also have to pay EUR 6 per kg in excess of 20. I had 52 kg of luggage ....

Arrived in Lancaster at noon, there was an ADSL modem already in the house so I could plug in my laptop and check for new forum posts before taking a shower and going to sleep (hadnt slept for more than 50 hours). Woke up a few hours later, logged into BBO and played an ACBL tourney with Athan010. What a disaster, ended 14th of 16! I made the most incredible mistakes. Athan010 said she's happy when I make mistakes so that hers dont stand out. So she will try the same trick in Coventry she promised, keeping me awake for 50+ hours and making me carry 52 kg of stuff for half a day, should do the job.

Thursday now 22 (Lancaster)

Got a haircut, went to the bank to open an account, to the townhall to register for council taxes, to the tax office to register for income tax, made an appointment with the public health insurance, went to campus to chat with new colleagues, and home to bake bread. Then I went to the bridge club just before the session to see if they by any chance were an odd number. The TD phoned a substitute who arrived 15 minutes later (the first two boards I played with someone whose partner di not show up). Thanks to BridgeMate it was a barometer session. After 26 of 27 boards we were leading by 0.94% more than the runner-ups. They were a minute ahead so I could see that we needed 60% on the last board, when I picked up (love all)
Kx
Axx
AKxxxx
Ax
Partner deals and passes, RHO opens 1♣. For some reason I decided to try a 3NT overcall. Not something I can justify, the situation doesnt really call for undisciplined action. P tabled
xxx
JTxxx
x
Qxxx
I guess I got the dummy I deserved. Anyway, opps didnt realize that my overcall must be based on long diamonds so they set up my diamonds before setting up their own spades. 3NT= was 100%. We agreed to play together again tonight. (I will try to bid a little more disciplined then, although it is contrary to my nature).

I think I will like this country. The people I dealt with at the bank and various government offices have been extremely friendly and efficient, and the bridge club was really amazing. Calling a sub for a stranger that shows up five minutes before the session, what more do you want. And they never blame mistakes on their partners, always on themselves.

[Codo]

Helene you are a true poet, please keep writing for us.

And good luck in your new city. But I know that nice people like you fits everywhere, so there will be no problem.

[Fluffy]

I hope you play online enough so you can remember how good 5 card major is .

Thx for sharing your tiny spare-time with us!.

[blackshoe]

helene_t, on Nov 23 2007, 04:50 AM, said:

Tuesday Nov 21 (Leiden, Amsterdam, Rotterdam)

Unable to fall asleep I went up at 6h30 on my last day in Leiden, to do the final cleaning of my apartment. Just before noon, the new resident called and told me that she finally decided not to take over my wooden floor, so the landlord would have to remove it at my expenses (EUR 350).

Great story, Helene! I just found this part a bit bizarre. What was under the wooden floor? Around here, if we don't want the wooden floor, we just cover it with carpet.

[helene_t]

blackshoe, on Nov 23 2007, 07:43 PM, said:

helene_t, on Nov 23 2007, 04:50 AM, said:

Tuesday Nov 21 (Leiden, Amsterdam, Rotterdam)

Unable to fall asleep I went up at 6h30 on my last day in Leiden, to do the final cleaning of my apartment. Just before noon, the new resident called and told me that she finally decided not to take over my wooden floor, so the landlord would have to remove it at my expenses (EUR 350).

Great story, Helene! I just found this part a bit bizarre. What was under the wooden floor? Around here, if we don't want the wooden floor, we just cover it with carpet.

Yes, that's a completely idiotic Dutch rule. Landlords generally demand houses left completely naked, with nothing on the raw concrete floor. So when you leave an apartment you typically spend a few hundred euros removing the old floor (if you have carpet everywhere it's cheaper, generally, although removing carpet glue can be a chemical-requiring pain in the butt) and subsequently the next tenant can spend thousand euro on a new floor.

[Aberlour10]

A nice blog, Helene It had to be pleasure to work in Leiden this old dutch charming city, I wish I had more time to "discover" this town during my last year visit in Netherlands.

Robert

[zman102]

Great story.....keep us posted.

Never had to replace a floor (or tear one up).

[Winstonm]

Best of everything, Helene - thanks for all the wonderful input on such varied topics.

[gwnn]

♥

[jtfanclub]

Nobody told you you were supposed to lose your first tourney at the new club, so that they think that you're a fish? Now they know that you're a shark!

Enjoy England. I'll try to get over there sooner or later....