From RTHK Online:

Asian earthquake may have caused slight wobble to earth’s rotation
2004-12-29 HKT 10:55

The deadly Asian earthquake may have permanently accelerated the Earth’s rotation and shortened days by a fraction of a second according to U.S. scientists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion laboratory in California. Richard Gross, a geophysicist with the lab theorized that a shift of mass toward the Earth’s center during the quake on Sunday caused the planet to spin 3 microseconds, or one millionth of a second, faster and to tilt about an inch on its axis. Gross added that changes predicted by his model probably are too minuscule to be detected by a global positioning satellite network that routinely measures changes in Earth’s spin, but said the data may reveal a slight wobble in the earth’s rotation.

Three more working days to go and then we should be ready.

Still to do are installation of lights in all rooms, installation of three drop ceilings (kitchen and both bathrooms), changing of all electric outlets / switches, touching up paint on walls, and installing bathroom accesories.

Also the kitchen builders will come by Thursday for the last bits: the countertop plus replacement of two cupboards that they had wrongly manufactured (2 cm too high…).

So by Friday we should be sorted

The renovations are nearing completions. It doesn’t quite look finished yet, but the remaining work will all be done over the next week. We should be finished before the christmas weekend - although the paint will probably still be wet during our Xmas diner.

The flooring is now being laid, all throughout the place. We chose Lapacho wood, which is imported wood from Suriname and is particularly hard and durable. The finish is dark brown with a hint of red.

It’s that busy time of the year again in the office. Seemingly all projects are coming to the same deadline and everyone is struggling to keep clients happy.

In the midst of it all, the building management of the office we lease has decided to put up the Xmas decoration. That’s fine, however, this year - as a bonus - they also decided to change the elevator music and the music you hear in the washrooms…

NOW WHAT’S THE BLOODY POINT IN THAT?

Does the building management really think that listening to “AVE MARIA” and “THE POWER OF LOVE” and other sentimental touchy feely Xmas songs will make the people feel better in their daily work?

Think again please.

Cheers,

Marc

We’re moving into a new place and for the first time need to buy all sorts of stuff we’d never thought of before.

What is such a revelation is that the choices one has for all these things are just flabbergasting. Ever wondered how many different types of toilets there really are? Or how many different type of shower sets? Gee, I’ve seen simple tap and shower sets ranging from 1000 HKD all the way up to 45,000 HKD!!
And in toilet seats we saw a Philip Starck model priced at HKD 32,000 while a lot of toilets that look quite similar go for 1,500 HKD.

HAVE WE ALL GONE MAD?????

I like good brands and for some things like sunglasses, watches, jeans, shoes, handbags etc. I can see how one would want to spend extra bucks there. But where are we going if your toilet seat is a particular brand that cost you a small fortune? Are you going to tell your guests to use your toilet and ask them about the amazing feeling it gave them when taking a leak??

The toilet as status symbol?

Nou de dingen beginnen op te schieten.

Alhoewel nadine en ik ons regelmatig zorgen maken om de voortgang, vindt de aannemer dat onzin en zegt nog steeds klaar te zijn op 21 December…

Maar we zitten dan misschien wel zonder keuken!! Dat komt omdat de keukenboer waarschijnlijk niet alles op tijd klaar krijgt… Onze keuken wordt als ik dit schrijf ergens in een fabriekshal in China gezaagd, bewerkt en in elkaar gezet. Daarna moet de hele zooi op transport naar Hong Kong, en dan kan het bij ons het huis in.
Het lijkt erop dat het meeste nu wel rond de 20e aankomt, maar in elk geval het keukenblad gaat langer duren…

Maar goed. Wat is er deze week weer allemaal gebeurd: tegelwerk in alle badkamers (jaha, wel twee!) en in de keuken, badkuip gezet, airco’s opgehagen, electrawerk gedaan.

Zie onder de fotoos…

goet,
Marc

Hier hangt het toekomstige verlaagde plafond langs de zijkant. Er komen halogeenspotjes in.

Dit zijn de vloertegels in de keuken. Goh is dat marmer? Nou ja het lijkt erop.

Een wandje getegeld. De rest hoeft niet, want daar komen kastjes te hangen, en een glazen achterplaat.

Dit is in de tweede badkamer. Badkuip zit er al in. Toilet en wastafel komen deze week (ik heb ze net eergister geshopt).

Dit is de wand in de ‘masterbathroom’. Mooi tegeltje dachten we.

Dat hek voor het raam hebben we eruit gehaald. Hier komt een stuk glas voor in de plaats.

De aircons hangen al, en we zijn ook met plamuren bezig. Komende week beginnen met schilderen.