WeAreMovingToArizona

Pics

2010-06-15T07:32:00.000-07:00

What a coincidence

2010-06-15T07:04:00.000-07:00

U.S. Makes Huge Discovery in Afghanistan, But It's Not Osama bin Laden

War zone

2010-06-06T15:45:00.003-07:00

They delivered our tiles! Our patio pavers will be installed soon!

Ventriloquist Jeff Dunham with Accccccccccccccchmed

2010-06-06T15:40:00.000-07:00

A brief history of the US

2010-06-06T15:38:00.000-07:00

I had to take a history exam this weekend and I ran out of time, so I decided to study this as my American History part of the History exam.

For our visitors

2010-05-17T08:45:00.001-07:00

We will be having a lot of visitors this summer.
Some things to think about:
1. Make sure your ESTA application is completed LINK
2. Shop around when exchange your euros for dollars.
3. Don't forget your credit card if you have one.
4. At this rate: 100 dollars would equal about 80 euro.

Fiat currency

2010-05-16T10:46:00.000-07:00

ATV fun in the backyard

2010-05-16T10:36:00.001-07:00

US War criminals

2010-04-22T09:12:00.000-07:00

WikiLeaks has released a classified US military video depicting the indiscriminate slaying of over a dozen people in the Iraqi suburb of New Baghdad -- including two Reuters news staff. Reuters has been trying to obtain the video through the Freedom of Information Act, without success since the time of the attack. The video, shot from an Apache helicopter gun-site, clearly shows the unprovoked slaying of a wounded Reuters employee and his rescuers. Two young children involved in the rescue were also seriously wounded.

Video contains graphic info.

Nice to see that our taxdollars are well spent ... on fascist career criminals with multi-billion dollar toys.

Dogheaven

2010-04-18T12:31:00.000-07:00

We found 2 dogs and decided to take care of them.

Easter Party

2010-04-18T12:23:00.000-07:00

We went to an Easter party and we had so much fun. Naomi used the pool and we all played in the Eggroll championship 2010.

Fun in a cart

2010-04-18T12:21:00.001-07:00

Japanese Restaurant

2010-04-18T12:14:00.001-07:00

We went to a Japanese restaurant where they prepare dinner right in front of you.

Egg hunt

2010-04-18T12:05:00.000-07:00

Naomi went on a egg hunt during Easter at the local park. (Pacana Park)

Solar panels

2010-04-18T11:55:00.000-07:00

They are working on our solar panels in the backyard.

First they are digging holes for the posts, then they will pour concrete to stabilize the posts.

Avatar

2010-02-28T11:01:00.000-08:00

We saw Avatar in 3D yesterday, and it was amazing!

The story is also very "actual", replace the rock (Unobtainium) with a 3 letter word ...

Too bad most Americans will not have made this link...

"This is why we're here," he explains. "Unobtainium. Because this little gray rock sells for 20 million a kilo. No other reason. This is what pays for the party."

One more week

2010-02-28T10:48:00.000-08:00

And then we will have a well deserved 1 week break: Easter

Solar panels are on the way

2010-02-28T10:34:00.000-08:00

We signed a contract to install a 10 Kw solar system which would give us about 18000-20000 Kwh a year. This is about 85% of our needs and maybe, just maybe, if we can get a bit more efficient ... 100% of our needs.

10 Kw system, 46 panels of 220W, 100m2 of panels, ground mount (not on our roof).

Project will be finished in about 3 months, in the meantime, the solar panel installer will pay for our electric bill in the meantime.

Taking into account all the rebates, and a 3% return on investments of the in solar invested funds, the return on investment would be around 8 years. Which makes this a no brainer. This doesn't take into account the added value of the solar panels to the house value.

Rain in Arizona, the aftermath

2010-01-24T18:39:00.000-08:00

Rancho Belgica will run on Solar panels shortly

2010-01-22T15:27:00.001-08:00

We plan on installing solarpanels on our property to lower our energy bill by 90%-100%.

We will probably install between 8 and 10 Kw system and it would look a bit like this one:

Huge storms in Arizona

2010-01-22T15:23:00.000-08:00

LINK

Our house is still there, however this homeowner wasn't that lucky:

Internet, finally

2010-01-02T19:44:00.000-08:00

After about 3 weeks, we finally have access to Internet (using this provider). We moved into the property on December 12. We have worked very hard over the last few weeks and we are glad with the progress. We also expanded our family.

(pics are not hi-res, taken with my cell E71 nokia)

Our closing date is December 9th 2009

2009-12-03T13:02:00.000-08:00

So we will make the big move the weekend of December 12-13 2009.

Honey, what are we eating tonight?

2009-12-02T04:26:00.000-08:00

Genetically manipulated food, dear.

Disgusting

2009-12-02T04:23:00.001-08:00

The president that promised peace is now sending MORE troups! People voted for him because they wanted these useless wars to END. With a skyrocketing unemployment, one would have thought that the US could use its limited resources at home...

We have started to pack

2009-11-30T04:52:00.001-08:00

and will probably get the keys to our new home by the end of the week!

Epic Movie

2009-11-30T04:50:00.000-08:00

We saw this amazing movie over the weekend: Australia

Dubai Defaults on its debt

2009-11-28T17:16:00.000-08:00

I almost read that the US defaulted on their debt, luckily it was only one of the "richest' countries in the world: Dubai. But the US default is not for now yet...

And who lend their money to Dubai.. the usual suspects: ING, Barclays, ...

The Electric cars are coming

2009-11-21T22:07:00.000-08:00

Plug-in (100% full electric) vehicles, what's coming and when: LINK

This does not look too good

2009-11-18T12:57:00.001-08:00

Halloween 2009 pics

2009-11-18T05:02:00.000-08:00

Originally designed to provide health care for third world countries... stuck in the USA

2009-11-08T08:44:00.000-08:00

LINK

No flu shot for us

2009-11-07T07:28:00.000-08:00

This is an extremely sad story.

At WALMART you can buy EVERYTHING

2009-10-29T13:21:00.000-07:00

don't believe me ... LINK

More pics house

2009-10-25T16:08:00.000-07:00

House

2009-10-19T18:09:00.000-07:00

We bought this French looking villa. If everything goes well with the bank (regarding the mortgage), we will move at the end of November.

Amazing music

2009-10-14T13:33:00.000-07:00

Amazing movie: Changeling

2009-10-14T13:29:00.001-07:00

The police is your best friend...

Air conditioning

2009-10-12T11:59:00.000-07:00

The temperature in Arizona has come down quite a bit. And ... that is a good thing because our electricity bill was $490 in July and $425 in August ... We don't have to turn on the A/C units anymore so that saves a lot of energy (and $$$).

Good times are here.

Homebuying

2009-10-12T08:59:00.000-07:00

Because we don't have anything better to do, we made another offer on a house lol.

All that glitters is GOLD

2009-10-12T08:33:00.000-07:00

Looks like we are all going to be poor billionaires soon...

Endoscopy

2009-10-12T08:29:00.000-07:00

Lisa had a lot of problems with her stomach and the doctors performed an endoscopy last week. Everything went well and we will get the results of the biopsy within the next few weeks.

Weather

2009-09-30T05:50:00.000-07:00

The maximum temperature during the day is about 105-110 F.(+/- 45C) Next week the temperature is going to come down to more reasonable levels +/-93 F (33C). That's when good times are here. We love to ride our bikes when the temperature reaches sub 100 levels. The morning walk to get the mail also becomes a very nice moment of relaxation. (mailboxes are not located at your house)

I feel sorry for the kids that have football practice at our school from 3-6pm.

School

2009-09-29T14:23:00.001-07:00

This our third year at Maricopa's High School.
Our classes start at 7:12 and finish at 2:07. We teach five 54 minute classes and we have a 30 minute lunch.

Every school year we have 11 days that we can take off. We both took 1 day off so we still have 10 left (+ the ones from the previous years). This is the last week of school before students (and teachers) have fall break (Oct 5 - Oct 9). We will be going to Tucson and we'll be staying at this hotel.

Naomi changed schools and this is a link to Naomi's school: Pathway Prep she is doing very well, she had A's and B's on her progress report card.

It's been a while but we are still alive

2009-09-28T13:08:00.000-07:00

We are still alive and kicking.

I will add some new posts over the next few days.

As always, we watched a lot of movies and we saw these 2 amazing ones:
Flyboys

Knowing

From this movie, one of the best scenes I have ever seen:(blu ray and 50 inch Panasonic helps)

First week of school

2009-08-14T05:00:00.000-07:00

Today is the end of the first week of school. It was a tough week and waking up early has taken a toll. School starts from 7:12 to 2:07 so we have to wake up at around 6 am. When we get home we usually take a 2 hour nap.

Naomi is going to this daycare. It's much more expensive than a regular daycare lady but the services they offer are just amazing.

School

2009-08-07T06:08:00.000-07:00

We started school August 1st (meetings) but the kids will show up this Monday ( August 10th).

Hip hip hooray, our school year has begun.

Worst Crossroad in the world

2009-07-27T22:13:00.001-07:00

Pics Newport Beach (Naomi's 10th birthday)

2009-07-27T11:48:00.000-07:00

Pics San Diego

2009-07-27T08:22:00.000-07:00

I mixed the pics up, so they are not in order ;-)

Cali week

2009-07-18T12:32:00.000-07:00

Next week (7/20-7/24) we'll be going to California for Naomi's 10th birthday.

We'll be staying 2 nights in San Diego (our hotel in San Diego) and 2 nights in Newport Beach (our hotel in Newport Beach).

Thank you priceline for the cheap 4* hotels.

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

2009-07-16T07:46:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we went with a group of friends to the latest Harry Potter movie.

We liked the first 5 HP movies, but this one was a total disaster. We were able to stay awake for 90 minutes and then we just left. We watch about 200-250 movies a year, this one was the worst movie we've seen in 5 years. The movie is about 2h30min long but nothing happens in first 90 minutes. What a horrible movie.

But we liked the preview of the movie "2012"...

Car windows Tinted

2009-07-15T12:33:00.001-07:00

We had our car windows tinted. Cost $185, here is the result:

More pics

2009-07-11T10:33:00.000-07:00

May I introduce the $9 Vegas hotel

2009-07-11T07:11:00.000-07:00

Pics Amsterdam

2009-06-29T09:20:00.000-07:00

Pics Belgium 4

2009-06-29T09:11:00.000-07:00

Pics Sluis (The Netherlands)

2009-06-29T09:01:00.000-07:00

Pics Belgium Part 3

2009-06-21T03:48:00.001-07:00

Pics Belgium

2009-06-19T04:02:00.000-07:00

Pics Belgium

2009-06-19T03:53:00.000-07:00

Madoff

2009-06-15T17:35:00.000-07:00

Madoff trial

Quote of the dayCaren Low of Harrison, New York, wrote that her family's name is on buildings at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, the Hebrew Home for the Aged in New Rochelle and the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. She said they are benefactors of Lincoln Center and founders of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles.

She said she went on anti-depressants after she learned what Madoff had done and that now she is looking for work.

"It's absolutely revolting," she wrote. "I guess one lesson learned is not to give away too much money before you die as you never know what can happen."

Incorrect information in the article
Thousands of people lost billions of dollars investing with Madoff, who authorities say confessed to his sons in early December that he had been running a giant Ponzi scheme for decades in which early investors were paid with money collected from later investors.

"Thousands of people lost billions of dollars " that doesn't seem correct:
assume 5000 people lost 1 billion = 5 trillion... and he only lost 50 billion.

Arrived safely

2009-06-15T17:33:00.000-07:00

We had a very nice flight and we are now near the North Sea
Temp: 22 celsius

Pics will follow later.

This needs no comment

2009-06-11T15:42:00.000-07:00

The new GM

2009-06-09T22:55:00.001-07:00

Weird hobby

2009-06-08T23:07:00.001-07:00

Belgium trip

2009-06-08T21:28:00.000-07:00

Lisa is already in Belgium, Naomi and I had to wait for the passport and we will be arriving the 13th of June.

The internet doesn't stop to amaze me.

We will all be returning on the same flight. Using the continental website and using the type of plane and http://www.seatguru.com we are able to determine which seats are good / bad.

The real good seats are mostly gone but I was able to select a seat with some extra room.

Seat 41 A is ours!

Inflation = Default

2009-06-08T08:37:00.000-07:00

The headlines are scary.
Standard and Poor's warns that UK gilts (British Treasury bonds) may lose their AAA rating and indicates that U.S. government bonds may also be downgraded. Bill Gross, PIMCO's "bond king," says emphatically that the U.S. will eventually lose its AAA rating.

What does all this mean? Is it possible for the U.S. government to default on its own debt?

Technically, the answer is "no." The government can always print the money to pay its obligations. But from an economic standpoint, the answer is "yes," since printing money causes inflation and pays off bondholders with depreciated dollars.

Link

Hugh Hendry

2009-06-08T00:52:00.000-07:00

This is 1929 all over again when we had a +50% rally from the "initial" low.

Naomi in the pool

2009-06-07T18:24:00.000-07:00

MTV Cribs post crash style

2009-06-06T19:36:00.001-07:00

Un-Broke: The Seth Green Cribs Edition - watch more funny videos

And this is the mentality that got us into this mess, but I think it sums up the American Dream quite nicely: 2007 MTV Edition:

Pontiac Eczema - Buick Pedophile - Oldsmobil Piece of Crap

2009-06-06T19:27:00.000-07:00

So where did the $20 000 000 go, we gave (bi)GM(ess) 6 months ago?

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

M - Th 11p / 10c

BiG Mess

thedailyshow.com

Daily Show
Full Episodes

Political Humor

Economic Crisis

Ron Paul's Da man

2009-06-06T19:20:00.000-07:00

The Irony

2009-06-06T18:38:00.000-07:00

Records show Geithner (Treasure Secretary of the US) and his wife, Carole Sonnenfeld Geithner, paid $1.602 million for the home in 2004.

A few weeks after the asking price was dropped to $1.575 million, the home was rented for $7,500 a month on May 21, said the agents, Scott Stiefvater of Stiefvater Real Estate and Debbie Meiliken of Keller Williams Realty New York.

LINK

Oh man, I hope he will be foreclosed on his house. That would be the coolest thing ever. The loan balance on the home is about 1.1 million.

PS: Don't forget the property taxes on that property of $27 000 ...

Naomi Cheerleading

2009-06-04T20:21:00.001-07:00

Virtual Wealth

2009-06-03T10:09:00.000-07:00

It's a bear market rally. I was going to say I don't think S&P 500 will see new highs. But I have to quickly temper that by saying against the dollar because the S&P 500 could triple from here if they print enough money and the value of the US dollar collapses, then S&P could go to 50,000, Dow Jones can go to 100,000.

Which is one reason why I am not shorting stocks right now. Because there is a possibility of this sort of a thing. There is a possibility that stocks could go through unheard of levels, but would be in worthless currency.
Jim Rogers

Sounding very much like Marc Faber, also an advocate of farming, who recently said he's 100%(!) sure that the US will experience Zimbabwe-like hyperinflation.

LINK

Valkyrie

2009-06-02T10:24:00.000-07:00

One of the best movies of the year: Valkyrie.
I was always intrigued by the 1944 July 20th Stauffenberg plot to kill Hitler. It was THE best prepared plot from the 15 assassination attemps on Hitler.
These were BRAVE men.

2 trailers:

Here is a documentary about Valkyrie: (part 1/5, the rest of the episodes are on youtube)

Great Songs

2009-06-02T10:00:00.000-07:00

Some more pictures

2009-05-29T05:12:00.001-07:00

Our offer was accepted

2009-05-29T05:07:00.000-07:00

That was the easy part lol, now we have to make the financing work... and with tight credit and because we have only been here for 2 years... that will not be an easy journey.

We made another offer

2009-05-25T13:52:00.000-07:00

We made a full price offer for this property in Chandler on 1.4 acre (5600 m2). Home is 350 m2, 4 car garage, pool and spa(in the courtyard are covered by the wooden and a metal construction).

Bucket List

2009-05-22T11:28:00.001-07:00

We will be going to Belgium this summer, on our bucket list:
Not in order of priority
1. Watch an episode of FC de Kampioenen (it has to be a rerun)
2. Visit Rome (It)
3. Visit Goes (Nl)
4. Visit Versailles (Fr)
5. Eat mussels at least once a week
6. Eat in a 3* Michelin restaurant (Hof Van cleve or Comme chez soi)
7. Visit the NOXX discotheque
8. Visit Dinant

No Intelligent Design after all ...

2009-05-19T21:14:00.000-07:00

Scientists Unveil Missing Link In Evolution

Please disregard the 15 second commercial

Scientists have unveiled a 47-million-year-old fossilised skeleton of a monkey hailed as the missing link in human evolution.

Sir David Attenborough said Darwin "would have been thrilled" to have seen the fossil - and says it tells us who we are and where we came from.

"This little creature is going to show us our connection with the rest of the mammals. This is the one that connects us directly with them. Now people can say 'okay we are primates, show us the link'. The link they would have said up to now is missing - well it's no longer missing."

Worst Planner in the world

2009-05-12T08:48:00.001-07:00

I must be the worst planner in the world. Apparently Naomi finished school June 9th ...

Coming soon to a country near you

2009-05-12T08:14:00.000-07:00

Visiting Belgium

2009-05-07T05:10:00.000-07:00

We are definitely planning on visiting Belgium, but we have passport problems for me. My Belgian passport just expired and I have to get a new one, and that has to go through the consulate in Los Angeles.

This short sale, foreclosure thing is getting out of control

2009-05-03T06:40:00.000-07:00

Morality? euhm
LINK

The most stupid sport EVER

2009-05-01T19:43:00.001-07:00

X-arm

Waterboarding

2009-04-30T16:51:00.000-07:00

Torture Queen Rice

What about that

2009-04-29T21:17:00.000-07:00

"Boss"napping

2009-04-29T05:54:00.000-07:00

Right on

2009-04-29T05:47:00.000-07:00

Post Housing Bubble

2009-04-29T05:43:00.001-07:00

SuperStar of Britain's got talent

2009-04-28T18:52:00.000-07:00

I wasn't able to embed the video so here is the link to watch the performance of Susan Boyle

Lisa's Birthday

2009-04-28T18:42:00.002-07:00

2009-04-28T18:42:00.001-07:00

Britain's got talent

2009-04-25T23:53:00.000-07:00

The BEST

and...
the WORST

One down

2009-04-22T11:54:00.000-07:00

Acting CFO of Freddie Mac commits suicide

VIENNA, Va. -- The acting chief financial officer of Freddie Mac, David Kellermann, has apparently committed suicide, Fairfax County Police tell WTOP.

One down, a lot more to go. LINK, nice house...

Piss away that money

2009-04-22T11:48:00.001-07:00

WASHINGTON – The top 10 recipients of the government’s $700 billion financial bailout spent about $9.5 million on federal lobbying during the first three months of the year.

The biggest spender was bailed-out automaker General Motors Corp., which devoted $2.8 million to lobbying in the first quarter of 2009. It has received $13.4 billion in government loans and could get $5 billion more, according to a government report released Tuesday.

that my tax money is being used to lobby for GM is beyond comprehension

Easter Egg party pics

2009-04-16T05:28:00.000-07:00