A little bit of this and a little bit of that

• There's currently a new internet hype in Belgium. We're all logged on and staring at an elephant wandering around nervously in its room here. We're watching it so massively that the server gets overloaded now and then and zoo asks to log off when we go and do some shopping or cleaning or so. "If we want to be certain of good views, we must go to the big screens on some square in Antwerp". Even the Dutch news is now broadcasting the fact that so many Belgians are staring at Phyo Phyo the elephant.
  
  So why are we all staring so much and checking if there's more slime coming out of her ass. Why are we checking so much if she is still crossing her backlegs all the time? Well she's expected to deliver an elephant calf any moment now, or in the next 24-48 or more hours.
  
  It's the first time an elephant is about to have a baby elephant in Belgium and the director of the zoo is a bright marketeer who has managed to attract the population's involvement. A few months ago already the zoo keepers got interviews as she was due any moment (they didn't know exactly when she had conceived as the male elephant had visited a couple of times :p) and we all could vote for the future name and start watching webcams.
  
  And on Friday the newspapers reported that the delivery had now truly started and the baby calf is expected sometime this weekend. And so we are all watching while nothing is happening so far, but we all hope we are behind the screen when the 100 kg baby will floop out ...or maybe not floop out as easily. Hell has anyone ever seen a live birth of an elephant? That's why it's so interesting and fun to go back.
  
  
• I've spent a lot of time at home over the last weeks. Because I can't sit in a car, my world has shrunk to the dimensions of our house and the surrounding streets. So anything happening in front of our door is very interesting all of a sudden.
  
  Last week we heard a lot of hoofs clicking...only to notice a dozen horses and wagons coming by. Apparently a historic immegration to Germany was being relived by a big tour "starting in Brugges , crossing most of Flanders and ending in a couple of weeks in the German region "Fläming" . And they came by in front of our door as well!
  
  
• Last Thursday a van had parked in front of the door and a man was hauling with some carts back and forth all the time. I figured someone was moving but much to my surprise he started putting out billboards next to the road with big Coca Cola balloons. It turned out Coca Cola was doing some sampling of Coke Light at the crosspoint here.
  
  The guy was very eager to give me some whenever I dared to come out of the door but had no clue whether this Coke Light was any different than before. He dutifully repeated all the time "No sugar, no calories". Right, wasn't that already not the case for the last 10 years?
  
  Either it's new after all, either I am totally used to Coke Zero by now as I thought the taste was horrendous. And the poor neighbour pharmacist doesn't drink Coke either and every customer wanted to please her by bringing in one of the sample cans :p. She had a whole counter of cans already.