I thought long and hard about whether this was a task that could be counted as completed yet.  And when I asked Resident Cloggie for some quantifying ideas I could work towards to count Cloggie Central as successfully he looked at me and said ‘but it is successful, people enjoy reading it, you’ve achieved that one’.  So I started to think about the successes of Cloggie Central and decided that yes, in fact it was a task I could count as completed.  Here is some further evidence, in case you need convincing:

1. Cloggie Central is in its second year.
2. It has had over 1000 visitors during that time.
3. It has readers from at least four continents.
4. It has regular readers, subscribers and visitors.
5. It has received lots of positive feedback.
6. Cloggie Central shows up in several major search engines and people choose to visit it based on these searches.
7. It has opened the door for further writing opportunities and further blogs. 

And if you are reading this and haven’t visited it yet, then why not?  Cloggie Central: www.cloggiecentral.blogspot.com

One of the cool functions of LibraryThing is the opportunity to join various groups.  One that I signed up to is called the 50 Book Challenge.  The aim is to try and read 50 books over a year.  Between all the reading I am doing for my masters I am finding it hard to get books completed so may not make it this year (there is always next year!) but I have already read more books then I would have done just by being part of the group which is great.

I am currently reading Billy by Pamela Stephenson and so far I have read the following:

A Place Called Here by Cecelia Ahern

A Short History of Tractors in Ukranian by Marina Lewycka

The Bookseller of Kabul by Asne Seierstad

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Girl in Red by Gaye Hicyilmaz

The Appeal by John Grisham

Last year I began working on my Masters in Criminology and Criminal Psychology with the University of Portsmouth.  The topic is very interesting, although it is a lot of work and a lot of reading!  The programme lasts two years so I should be finished towards the end of 2009 - well in time for my 1001 day deadline.  Obviously I have my own weekly planning for getting things done but a rough time-table of the remaining work looks like this:

I have always wanted to learn a second language.  When I was young the plan was to learn French and I would buy as many resources that I could get my hands on.  However while in high school I took Latin instead of any of the languages on offer as it better suited my study plans and whilst in Estonia I learned enough Estonian to get by.  But without anyone to practice the language with my skills quickly dwindled.

As an adult I soon learned that French goes in one ear and out the other and instead decided to learn Italian or Swedish.  I was just starting to get going in Italian when I decided to make the move to the Netherlands.  As much as I would like to continue with my Italian studies they seem kinda pointless while living here and Dutch would be a much handier language to know.  However as Dutch isn’t really my language of choice I need a motivator and that comes in the form of the Dutch as a Second Language Exam (Staatsexamen NT2).

The Staatsexamen NT2 comes in two forms - programma 1 and programma 2 - I want to pass programma 2 as this is the level for graduate study and working in Dutch.  NT2 - II has four parts and in total lasts around 7 1/2 hours.  The four parts are speaking, listening, writing and reading.

My aim is to complete the staatsexamen by September 2010 just prior to the end of my 1001 days.  With this in mind I have completed a plan for how I am going to achieve this:

In the UK I had started going to local farm shops to buy all my fruit and vegetables.  I found that it was usually cheaper, nicer quality and a bit more fun to do so.  So when I came to Holland it was something that I was interested in doing again.

Luckily, Resident Cloggie was able to find a local farm shop in Barendrecht near by.  The shop has a good supply of fruit, vegetables, eggs and other extra goodies as farmers from around the area bring their goods there for selling and thus giving us a bigger selection.  We started going every week and for some reason then fell out of the habit, so when I made my 101 list it was something that I decided we should start doing again.  We now go every Saturday and are never disappointed.

You can see information of the shop we visit here.  Live in the Netherlands and want to visit a local farm shop?  Try this website to find a shop close to you.

In completing this task I learned one, very important thing…Think about ditching iTunes.

One of the reasons I was so keen to organise my iTunes music is because when my laptop crashed last year, I had my music recovered and put on cd’s.  Once this was done I didn’t add iTunes to the new computer straight away and thus had no way to update my music supply on the iPod.  The other thing was that I knew I had to get all my music back into iTunes before I could add new music or else what was on my iPod would be wiped and replaced with the current empty iTunes library (a not so handy and much complained about function).

So when I set out to complete this task one of the first things I attempted to do was to put my music back into iTunes.  Unfortunately this was not as easy as I had thought.  Firstly, some of my music was missing or unplayable and secondly, you are only allowed a certain amount of times to re-access any music you purchased from the iTunes store (I believe it is currently set at 5).  Initially I had bought quite a lot of music from iTunes so wasn’t very happy about losing out opportunities to re-access it and nor was I keen to wipe of my iPod music that was working but that couldn’t be re-transferred back into iTunes.  Oh yes and one other thing…I had lost all my playlists.

If I am starting to not make sense, then I apologise and let me explain in more simpler terms…I was about to:

1. Lose music that was currently playing fine from my iPod
2. Lose all of my Playlists
3. Limit the amounts of times I could access music I had paid for through iTunes
4. Cause myself a headache

I knew that there most be a better and more user-friendly way to do this so I did some google searching and came across a lovely piece of software called Anapod from Red Chair Software.  Anapod helps you move your music in both directions, both to and from your iPod, meaning you can keep hold of all the music you currently had and still have the opportunity to add to your collection.

Downloading the software is super easy (thanks to Super Friend who bought me the software for my birthday!) and once you get over the initial shock of the new programme, navigating isn’t too hard either.  Here is what I have managed so far:

1. Ditch iTunes
2. Transfer all my music from my iPod to my external hard-disk, making sure it is super safe.
3. Added some new music to my iPod

If you are thinking about all those podcasts you signed up for…well I realised I don’t listen to most of them anyways and I can always locate them online and subscribe that way.

The other key thing I learned about organising your music is you need to keep your tags and playlists up-to-date.  And a piece of software that is handy for turning your cd’s into mp3’s is called Audiograbber. 

Okay, here was my thinking for getting a plant for downstairs…Resident Cloggie and I live in an apartment building.  It seems to be Dutch tradition that apartment buildings are pretty well kept and ours is no exception, with plants on the windowsills, pictures on the walls and just a general friendliness.  Downstairs where you walk in, has no apartments on that level and the foyer, while decorated at Christmas time tends not to have many, if any, plants in it.  So I thought that I would buy one and look after it making the environment just that little bit nicer.

Resident Cloggie and myself found a nice plant at the local supermarket and brought it home.  I found a nice spot for it on-top of the mailboxes inside where it had a nice window to look outside of and admire the world.  Here is my post about it from Cloggie Central:

No. 54: Purchase and take care of a plant for downstairs.

RC spotted a good value and attractive looking plant at Albert Heijn which was on sale with our bonus card. The plant itself came in a nice little white pot and is lovingly placed on top of the mailboxes downstairs so that he has access to the window and thus sunlight.When I was working with kids it was always their responsibility to name the plant so without a readily available naming service I have decided to give the plant a Dutch name. So ”Beneden” it is. Beneden is the Dutch word for downstairs and the only ‘B’ direction word I can never remember (Buiten = Outside, Binnen = Inside and Boven = Upstairs). At the moment Beneden seems quite happy although I am worried that he will become a bit cold so will have to watch carefully for any sign of plant sniffles. The next time I have my camera with me downstairs I will take a photo of him.
 

I never did manage to take a photo of Beneden and it was with great concern that I noticed one day that he wasn’t looking his usual perky self.  I brought him upstairs (RC suggested his name should then be changed to Boven van Beneden = Upstairs from Downstairs) for some sunshine, warmth and TLC but it was not to be, as poor Beneden went to the big plant nursery in the sky a couple of weeks ago.  At first I was distraught, thinking how I had let the little fellow down and what that meant for my 101 list.  Then I thought about substituting him for another plant…I mean no one ever saw his photo but then common sense prevailed and I now know that downstairs is just too, too cold for a plant.

In Beneden’s honour I have decided to decorate the house in many plant varieties and have decided to always provide a plant for the windowsill on the landing before our flat, where it is just a tad bit warmer.  It is still pretty cold on the landing so I can’t always guarantee that the same plant will be there but I will do my bit by ensuring there is always at least one there.

 In Honour of Beneden: One of our new plants

Learning my mobile phone number is always one of those tasks that I procrastinate on for ages, when in fact it is one of the most useful things for me to know by heart.  Otherwise I have to spend my whole time finding my phone to look it up and/or attempting to convince Resident Cloggie (RC) to look at his mobile phone-book and tell me what it is.  I’m obviously not going to share it here with you, but rest assured I do know it and in both Dutch and English…so there’s impressive for you!

One of the websites that I got from that original 101 list that I stumbled upon was LibraryThing.  Of all the websites I found, I think this may be my favourite.  Ages ago I used to keep all of the books I owned, even to the point where I was keeping books because I was trying to get all from a certain author even though I knew I would never read the book again.  Somewhere down the line I realised that this was very silly, to me at least, as I had all these books I would never read again and therefore less space to bring in all those wonderful books that are published each and every day.

I know this is a big bone of contention for some people, with many people wanting a record of all the books they have read.  So this is where LibraryThing is a great invention.  On one site you are able to catalogue all of your books and write reviews, rate them, get suggestions from other readers or even join groups.  Membership is free for up to 200 books and then is only $25 for life-time membership allowing you to input as many books as you would like.

I am now a life-time member and have pretty much all of the books I own on there, including loads that I have now read and given away, allowing me to keep track of all the books that pass through my life - it’s just a shame that I didn’t know about it sooner!

Also a quick word on giving away books…I don’t ever throw my books into the rubbish and I am a bit adverse to give them to charity shops as I have heard that if they don’t sell them or run out of space they dump them in the bin.  If you are like me or have decided you want to turn over a new leaf and not keep as many books then can I recommend the following for you, there are many more similar sites available as well - just do a google search.

Ways to Get Rid of Books Without Throwing Them Away

1. Try the local library - they will almost always accept donations and if they don’t need your book they will sell it for a small price to the community.
2. BookCrossing- release those books into society and track them online to see where they end up.
3. Try local sites such as Craigslist, Ebay, Amazon or Expatica (for you Expats)
4. Bookhopper - Let those books just hop away.  Don’t see your country on the list?  Be a leader and set it up!
5. Book Swapping Sites - There are loads of these, different for each area - just search!

I have lots of memories about starting puzzles when I was young but for some reason I have none about completing a puzzle.  Perhaps this was because I never actually did complete a large-ish puzzle or perhaps this was because I just have no memory of doing so and this was something I wanted to remedy.  In addition, when I was living in the UK I had asked for a puzzle board as a Christmas/Birthday present, as the cottage was too small to have a dinning room table in.  I got the puzzle board (thanks mum!) and some puzzles but I don’t think I ever finished a puzzle there either.

Completing a 1000 piece puzzle was one of the first tasks I decided to work on.  I considered it would be pretty inexpensive, something enjoyable and I had just recently come across the puzzle board.  However my attempts at first appeared to be thwarted as I couldn’t find a single puzzle in either the basement or anywhere else in the house.  So I decided to buy a new puzzle.

I hadn’t realised how expensive puzzles were now-a-days so was a bit surprised when looking in the local toy store but luckily I still had some left over birthday money.  At first I had in my hands a nice scenery puzzle and then I spotted ‘Destiny Wasgij?’.  These puzzles are a unique twist on the traditional puzzle as the picture that you make is not the picture that is on the front of the box.  Instead you use the picture on the front as a hint to what the picture is (knowing that the puzzle will be a future scene related to the picture on the box).

As you can see from the pictures, the picture on my puzzle box was one of a picnic proposal, and you can also see the outcome.  I didn’t keep track of how many days it took me to complete the puzzle but it wasn’t too long and quite quickly became an obsessive task.  I am looking forward to eventually unpacking my other puzzles and I will definitely be buying another Wasgij puzzle.

Well obviously I have completed this task as you can see the full list on the right.  However, as they say, always praise yourself for the achievements you have completed thus far.  I actually thought that this would have been one of the easiest tasks on my list but it was actually pretty hard.  Coming up with 101 things you want to do is not as easy as it sounds.  If you don’t believe me why don’t you try it?

As the days have passed, I realised that I was paying less attention to my 101 list then I needed to if I was ever going to complete all those tasks before my 1001 days ran out.  While my list is on my original blog, Cloggie Central, I feel that it needs its own dedicated space and a more generous area for update posts so I have decided to open a new location for full focus on the 101 list and here it is….Cloggie In Training’s 101.