The world according to Taquoriaan

I’m so happy today! That’s because today is Friday and I have two days off!! Yay! I really need it! The last couple of days were stormy (quite literally!) .

Job Review
I got listened in this week by my supervisor at work and got a job review. I knew that would happen and was a bit nervous about it, because the first week of answering calls was a disaster. My review wasn’t good either. So I had something to prove, not so much to my supervisor, but to myself. So I was a bit shaky when my supervisor showed up asking me to log out and report to her room. When I got in, she was very friendly and I even got a few compliments. One of them was that I didn’t wait too long after handling a phone call, I jumped back in the queue very quickly to help more people. She also said the information I gave was correct. So I got a plus on the most important topics. I only need to improve my volume of speech and alter the way I formulate things a bit. But that can be learned and I get enough time to do that. She also said she saw no problems when I keep continuing improving like this. I was so relieved to hear it!

Storm Surge
The only bad thing of that day was the weather. I got soaked wet as I biked home. I changed clothes and needed to go out to get some groceries for the rest of the week. It started to storm and to rain again and I got soaked wet for the second time. At home I learned dike watch was in effect at the entire coast line. I was somewhat surprised because that hardly ever happens.
As you might know already, more than half of my country is below sea level, so if the sea level is abnormal high this poses a threat to my country. We had a terrible flood back in 1953 and after that we decided we didn’t want to witness that ever again. So we built the Delta Works. The last structure was completed in 1997 and never really used because severe flooding like the 1953 flood isn’t very common. But I heard all Delta Work structures (all storm surge barriers, locks and flood gates) would be closed and all dikes would be watched. That sounded kind of scary because the last time that happened was back in 1976. I wasn’t even born yet back then!
Last year we had a bad storm too and then it nearly went wrong. We had a sea level of nearly 5 meters above normal in ‘my’ sector (Delfzijl) and the water went over the dike for a moment. In Frisia pieces of land flooded causing a herd of horses getting into trouble. 18 animals drowned and the rest got stuck on a small patch of land.

Fortunately all flood protection worked and nothing really bad happened. This afternoon it rained heavily, I saw showers of hail and debris (branches, twigs and leaves) flying around, battering the windows of our office. Everybody was watching it happening, hoping the windows would hold. It looked kind of scary, so I was glad I was inside, not walking outside being hit by twigs and branches breaking off trees.
Of course the storm was at its heaviest during the time we had spring tide. That was also the reason the dike watch was in effect: a storm blowing from the Northwest with gale force at the time of spring tide, causing storm surges. I had to bike home at 5pm and the worst of the storm passed already by then. I could bike home fairly easily, being thankful for the fact it didn’t rain at all.

Relaxing and the power of ‘Me Time’
At home I decided to stay indoors, take a ‘Me Night‘ and sleep in tomorrow. I try to take a ‘Me Night’ every Friday. It means I eat dinner and have what I want most, even if that’s not healthy. Then I fill the bathtub with deliciously smelling bathfoam and I put out the light in the bathroom. I put up some candles and listen to classical music. I also take a masque, usually one of the Montagne Jeunesse masques. Tonight the Mud Pack was the masque of choice. When I lie in the bathtub I put it on and close my eyes and listen to the classical music. I feel rejuvenated afterwards and very relaxed. I can really look forward to it during my work week!

And tomorrow? Tomorrow I’m going to shop!

Links:

• Montagne Jeunesse
• Relaxing Bath Tips
• The importance of Me Time
• Link to the Betty Boop image