A real lamer

I'm pretty lame. Practically a cripple really. I've been hobbling around for almost a week now. It got so bad this morning that I actually sprang for a taxi to go and visit the hospital. (for the record, excellent service, so no repeat of last summer's fiasco so far). The doctor thinks I have gout, but is uncertain. She gave me a pile of pills to take, and if it doesn't improve by Tuesday I have to go for X-rays.

It's vaguely amusing to hobble around town. In my big black coat I really do feel like a hold-over from the depression, or a war veteran or something. However, the feeling is getting old enough now. Getting around town on 1.5 legs is not the speediest process, and it hurts a lot. I don't think I'll be eating the peas that I've been using as an ice pack (we don't have any ice).

an unfortunate wind

Brussels is suddenly cold. It had been coddlingly warm for a long time. Unfortunately we're paying for it now. Fortunately my bike was stolen the same day it got cold, so I don't have to bike in the cold. Unfortunately this means I have to take the metro to work. Fortunately, my boss is pretty lax about punctuality, so this isn't too much of a problem (it's slow and often late). Unfortunately, it means I have to get a new bike. Fortunately, my boss has a bike he can loan me. Unfortunately he lost the key. Fortunately the lock is of poor quality. Unfortunately I still don't know how to cut it. Fortunately he knows a bike shop that will take care of it. Unfortunately he has two children under the age of 3 and a full-time job, so he doesn't have much time to do it. Fortunately, this means I won't have to worry about getting gloves too soon. Unfortunately, this makes it hard for me to do groceries after work. Fortunately, my room-mate is unemployed and can do them during the day. Unfortunately he was in Frankfurt this weekend. Fortunately I was here. Unfortunately I had a dodgeball tournament on Saturday. Fortunately it was fun. Unfortunately it meant I didn't go to the market as per usual on Saturday. Fortunately it made me realise how incredibly out of shape I am. Unfortunately I am very out of shape. Fortunately it's winter and everyone else is out of shape too.

obama

it all strikes me as a bit odd

this is a strange country. Exhibit A:

I tried to go swimming the other day. First they demanded that I wear a bathing cap, which I suppose is okay, what with all the hair I'm shedding. However, I was later told (after I'd paid) that you aren't allowed to swim in anything other than a speedo.

Now I don't have anything really against speedos. Well, I do, but I suppose its a properly European thing to wear. Anyway, I asked what on earth could be the possible rationale behind this, and I'm told for health reasons. Now forgive me, but this seems just plain stupid. The idea that people wearing bathing shorts are somehow tracking in bacteria and dirt from the ocean just seems ludicrous. And on top of that, nobody in Canada is ever caught dead in a speedo at the pool, and we're all doing just fine thank you. So I'd be curious what this edict is based on, other than the pool manager being interested in young men, or holding shares in speedo corp. But it seems that logical explanations are not the Belgian way. One doesn't ask why anything is done, one simply does them.

On a related note, we are currently being billed by two electric companies, and between the five parties involved (the landlords, us, the estate agent, and the companies) no one can decide whose fault it is, or what is to be done about it. I expect this to drag on for several months.

don't get carried away now Brussels......

Back in Brussels... living the life of a government functionary... Not a bad life really. Went to a giant blow out party for Barack Obama given by democrats abroad last night. Bit of a mistake. Crowd huge. Tickets expensive. Food more so. Horrible crowd control. The whole thing was way too crowded and popular and degenerated quickly dashing everyone's hopes. Hopefully not a symbol for the upcoming Obama presidency.... Everyone here is in absolute raptures about him. Not that I'm not. Nonetheless, I do worry about expectation management. For now though, it's fun to go crazy with everyone and hoot and holler around town about it.

Also today, the progress reports were released!! This is partially what I've been working on, at least in tangent, for the time I've been here. So, this was an enormously exciting period for the politically minded in Brussels today. Even if parsing the difference between "very serious corruption" and "serious corruption" can't quite compare to the second coming...

It's not the end of the world as we know it

Here's another great column, which I think addresses a lot of the idiocy you hear in the world today.

It's "the end of American capitalism," claimed a headline in the Washington Post. "Free market economics is falling into disrepute south of the border," wrote Lawrence Martin in the Globe and Mail.

With respect, what we are actually witnessing is the crushing stupidity of the stereotypes and labels we use when discussing grand-scale economics.

Imagine a country that has the second-highest corporate tax rates in the developed world. Its agricultural sector is heavily subsidized by the state. And one of its biggest industries -- with 600,000 full-time employees and another 850,000 part-timers -- is owned and operated by the government.

This country is the United States -- the laissez-faire, devil-take-the-hindmost, money-worshipping United States. (That government-owned industry? The military.)

Now imagine a country that ranks third (out of 134) on the World Economic Forum's Global Competitiveness Index. One reason for that ranking is the world-leading ease with which employers in this country can hire and fire workers. This country also boasts world-class private corporations, one of the highest employment rates in the developed world, and corporate tax rates far lower than those of the United States.

This country is Denmark -- tax-crazed, welfare-loving, nanny-state Denmark.

This goes a long way to addressing the simple minded attitudes you hear all over the place. Sarah Palin not withstanding, the United States is not as different from the rest of the world as everyone would like to believe — not least interns at the institutions of the European Union.

Just for the record

Just for the record, I REALLY hope Obama wins. I think I can truthfully say that he's probably the only politician I've been really inspired by.