This is just too strange. Next time you think you are not that smart just keep this in mind...Have a great weekend!

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'Millionaire' Contestant Makes Worst Use Of Lifelines Ever

NEW YORK - Idaho resident Kathy Evans brought humiliation to her friends and family Tuesday when she set a new standard for stupidity with her appearance on the popular TV show, 'Who Wants To Be A Millionaire.

'It seems that Evans, a 32-year-old wife and mother of two, got stuck on the first question, and proceeded to make what fans of the show are dubbing 'the absolute worst use of lifelines ever.

'After being introduced to the show's host Meredith Vieira, Evans assured her that she was ready to play, whereupon she was posed with an extremely easy $100 question. The question was:

'Which of the following is the largest?'

A) A Peanut

B) An Elephant

C) The Moon

D) Hey, who you calling large?

Immediately Mrs. Evans was struck with an all consuming panic as she realized that this was a question to which she did not readily know the answer.

'Hmm, oh boy, that's a toughie,' said Evans, asVieira did her level best to hide her disbelief and disgust. 'I mean, I'm sure I've heard of some of these things before, but I have no idea how large they would be.

'Evans made the decision to use the first of her three lifelines, the 50/50. Answers A and D were removed, leaving her to decide which was bigger, an elephant or the moon. However, faced with an incredibly easy question, Evans still remained unsure.

'Oh! It removed the two I was leaning towards!' exclaimed Evans. 'Darn. I think I better phone a friend.

'Using the second of her two lifelines on the first question, Mrs. Evans asked to be connected with her friend Betsy, who is an office assistant.

'Hi Betsy! How are you? This is Kathy! I'm on TV!' said Evans, wasting the first seven seconds of her call. 'Ok, I got an important question. Which of the following is the largest? B, an elephant, or C, the moon. 15 seconds hun.

'Betsy quickly replied that the answer was C, the moon. Evans proceeded to argue with her friend for the remaining ten seconds.

'Come on Betsy, are you sure?' said Evans. 'How sure are you? Duh, that can't be it.

'To everyone's astonishment, the moronic Evans declined to take her friend's advice and pick 'The Moon.''I just don't know if I can trust Betsy. She's not all that bright. So I think I'd like to ask the audience,' said Evans. Asked to vote on the correct answer, the audience returned 98% in favor of answer C, 'The Moon.

'Having used up all her lifelines, Evans then made the dumbest choice of her life.

'Wow, seems like everybody is against what I'm thinking,' said the too-stupid-to-live Evans. 'But you know, sometimes you just got to go with your gut. So, let's see. For which is larger, an elephant or the moon, I'm going to have to go with B, an elephant. Final answer.

'Evans sat before the dumbfounded audience, the only one waiting with bated breath, and was told that she was wrong, and that the answer was in fact, C, 'The Moon.'

Caution...they walk among us!

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This one is actually better! (No comments needed!)

Caution... They Walk Among Us!

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And here are some more amazing deductions some amazing people made with their own little "brains";

One day I was walking down the beach with some friends when someone shouted....' Look at that dead bird!'Someone looked up at the sky and said...'where? '

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While looking at a house, my brother asked the estate agent which direction was north because, he explained, he didn't want the sun waking him up every morning. She asked, 'Does the sun rise in the north?'

When my brother explained that the sun rises in the east, and has for sometime, she shook her head and said, 'Oh, I don't keep up with that stuff'

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My colleague and I were eating our lunch in our cafeteria, when we overheard one of the administrative assistants talking about the sunburn she got on her weekend drive to the beach. She drove down in a convertible, but 'didn't think she'd get sunburned because the car was moving'.

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My sister has a lifesaving tool in her car it's designed to cut through a seat belt if she gets trapped She keeps it in the trunk.

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I was hanging out with a friend when we saw a woman with a nose ring attached to an earring by a chain. My friend said, 'Wouldn't the chain rip out every time she turned her head?' I had to explain that a person's nose and ear remain the same distance apart no matter which way the head is turned.

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I couldn't find my luggage at the airport baggage area. So I went to the lost luggage office and told the woman there that my bags never showed up. She smiled and told me not to worry because she was a trained professional and I was in good hands. 'Now,' she asked me, 'Has your plane arrived yet?'

***They Walk Among Us!!!!!!!!** *

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While working at a pizza parlour I observed a man ordering a small pizza to go. He appeared to be alone and the cook asked him if he would like it cut into 4 pieces or 6. He thought about it for some time before responding. 'Just cut it into 4 pieces; I don't think I'm hungry enough to eat 6 pieces.

***Yep, They Walk Among Us, too.!!!!!!!!***

Sadly, not only do they walk among us, they also reproduce !!!!

Another view to Maastricht

Welcome to Maastricht - Example from a local hair dresser

Apparently Maastricht has been an important location as of the Roman time. This bridge is from 13th century

At the river bank there are typical Dutch houses

As always, the river is also used for transportation of material and people

For transportation, the local taxi is quite cool. Just like the town hall at the background.

But in real the locals use bicycles to go anywhere

Hence the parking lot is also busy - yes they are bikes at the river bank.

This guy though parked his tractor at the end of backyard

Poor guys ran out of bricks and had to put a piece of metal to fill the hole

There are several interesting buildings, this one is from a corner of shopping streets

And it has got interesting decoration

Some also have good imagination with the windows

Guess what´s on the sign above the water; "Not drinking water"

Yeah right, click on pic and see if the sign is needed...

However, if you happen to drink it you better run fast to this guy who´s got his reception just around the corner

There are so many other snapshots to show, but you better go there yourself and check them out!

Maastricht - worth a visit / kaymisen arvoinen!

The other weekend on Saturday morning we had to go to Maastricht surroundings for a sports event, so we decided to continue to Maastricht for a tourist trip. It´s worth a visit from many angles.

In Belgium the sales finish at the end of Jan but in Maastricht the sales was still going hot.

Pari viikkoa sitten meidan piti menna Maastrichtin lahelle lauantai-aamun urheilutapahtumaan joten paatimme jatkaa paivaa Maastrichtiin turistireissulle. Kaymisen arvoinen paikka monestakin nakokulmasta.

Keskustassa on monia upeita rakennuksia ja mukavia kujia kauppoineen, ravintoloineen ja kahviloineen. Belgiassa alennusmyynnit loppuivat kuin seinaan tammikuun lopussa, mutta Maastrichtissa loppumisesta ei ollut tietoakaan.

One of the city squares - Yksi aukioista

One of the shopping streets
Yksi kauppakujistaConvenient shopping: Clothes and coffee from the same place
Mukavaa shoppailua: Vaatteet ja sumpit samasta narikasta

They also had the wildest Puma shoes in town

Heilta loytyi myos kylan kuumimmat Pumat

...and a hot blue pattern jacket, that I left in the shop

...ja mahtava sinikuvioinen takki jonka kuitenkin jatin kauppaan

There was also a shop for Finnish design, Iittala. I have seen their shops also in Antwerpen in Belgium and Amersfoort in Holland.

Sielta loytyi myos Suomalaista kamaa, Iittalan oma kauppa. Loytyy muuten myos Antwerpenista seka Hollannin Amersfoortista.It´s also a good place for window shopping

Myos ikkunaostoksia voi tehdaI could not leave some of the stuff in the shops for the price they had. In principle I bought a suit with 45% discount and got on top a pair of jeans, 2 pairs of other pants, a winter jacket - and a cool leather jacket!

Joitain ostoksia ei vain voinut jattaa silla hinnalla kauppaan. Periaatteessa ostin puvun 45% alennuksella ja sain kaupan paalle farkut, kahdet samettihousut, talvitakin - ja nahkatakin!

In this shop though we didn´t buy anything - carneval clothing being the hottest items

Tanne kauppaan sit kaikki kamat jai hyllyyn - karnevaalikamat olivat kuumimmat myytavat

Also restaurants were getting dressed for carneval. Nearby the area where Holland, Belgium and Germany join, February carneval is a must. According to our waiter they don´t sell much food during the carnevals...

Myos ravintolat alkoivat pukeutua karnevaaliasuun. Hollannin, Belgian ja Saksan liittymakohdan alueella helmikuun karnevaalit ovat pakollinen viihde, vahan kuin meidan Wappu. Tarjoilijan mukaan he eivat karnevaalien aikana juurikaan myy ruokaa...

After the shopping it´s important to get some food too, so I had an omelet. House special, 7 Euros but it was a good size. The Coke bottle is 25 cl to compare the size...

Shoppailu tekee nalkaiseksi joten ruokaakin tarvitaan valilla. Talon omeletti oli hyvan kokoinen, hinta 7 Euroa ja kokovertailuna kokispullo on 25 cl kokoa... Kylla, join kolajuoman.

As an option we could have taken 2 Euro soup and bread from bakery shop by the market.

Vaihtoehtona olisi toki ollut 2 Euron keitto ja leipaa torivarren leipomosta.

Only afterwards we found this La Bodega, which seemed to have good Spanish tapas. Well, that´s for the next trip.

Ja tietysti vasta jalkeenpain loysimme Bodegan josta olisimme saaneet kunnon Espanjalaiset Tapas annokset.

One tip for your shopping though;

Also here the security guards are guarding the people at some shops. I suggest to take it easy with them. This is though the only one we saw but he was pretty wild.

Kaytannon vinkki shoppailijoille;

Myos taalla joidenkin kauppojen ovilla on turvamies. Suosittelen olemaan rauhallinen heidan kanssaan. Tama on kyllakin ainoa jonka talla reissulla naimme, mutta han olikin hieman villimpi tapaus.

For next story I saved some nice photos from around the city - again some of them from a bit different angle. Here is an example of something old from Holland (the building) and new imported (KFC).

Seuraavaa tarinaa varten saastin muutamia hyvia kuvia kaupungilta - jalleen osa hieman erilaisesta nakokulmasta. Tassa on esimerkki jossa on jotain vanhaa paikallista (talo) ja uutta muualta tuotua (KFC kanaputka).

And we made it home in good hours to make some pizza

Ja kotiinkin ehti hyvissa ajoin pizzan paistoon

If you decide to go there, their tourist office has got pretty good web site http://www.vvv-maastricht.eu/vvv_maastricht.html and they organize guided walking tours, also with bicycle or a kick-bike. The one I organized few years back was very good so I can recommend them!

PS The shops in Maastricht are open every first Sunday of the month!

Coming back to the reality with the flat tyre

Ladies and Playboys, would you like to put your life on the line and start changing a tyre while the trucks keep coming-and-coming-and-coming-and-coming...?

The coolest rubber boots - Mageimmat kumisaappaat?

There must be more opinions then heads to say what are the coolest rubber boots on the globe. Well, I tried to express my opinion by posting a photo of boots I spotted in Paris, as well as showing what kind of shoes I find "extraordinary" - like Adidas Koby2 shoes that I never admit having seen in my life :o)

OK, let's cut the crap & get back to the boots / shoes;
I must say BIG thanks to Mrs White for her boots - she claims she found them in London but I bet she bought them for 1400 Eur / Kilo at the neighborhood chocolate factory at our street - just like the rest of the stunning chocolates they make...

During her weak moments - non-alert for yellow papers - she said it is okay to publish the picture of her boots so here it is:
Just wait and see when I have a chance to get a snap shot of Finnish (!) Marimekko rubber boots in action - ja Mr.Brgstm, ei kannata innostua liikaa ennen ku kumi vingahtaa ;o).

Don´t get a flat tyre in Brussels!

I have a tip for you;
Do NOT get a flat tyre in Brussels!

This needs to be taken into account particularly in following circumstances;
- It is rush hour

- It is +3C and raining sideways

- You need to stop at a busy highway where is only a narrow shoulder before a metal fence

- You drive a car that you have no idea how to change a tyre

- Calling your insurance company´s 24/7 emergency call service you can not get through even you try the following queuing times:
30 mins, 27 mins, 22 mins, 1 hrs 30 mins, and when you after another try get them to answer you are, without a proper reason, connected further to 6 different people in "customer service" (as an assumption do not expect to get a proper customer service in Belgium).
You should also prepare as an outcome to call another number to get the help you need and are recommended to call in case of issue.
...Oh, you wanna know what company?
AXA

- Search of towing service from yellow pages offers you tyre shops and repair services, not towing service

- The only towing service you reach gives you 2-3 hours waiting time for anyone to arrive

- If you ask a local "AAA" road service car (Touring.be) in 50 meters to help you, you are told "NO I can not help you because you are not a member" (and no, do not expect to get any further advice or options, even if you would find out later they do serve non-members, just for an extra fee)

- Law says you have to leave the car and put on a yellow vest and stand behind the fence waiting for the help (for obvious safety reason), and you can not hear a thing on the phone over the traffic

- You are not prepared to spend 5-6 hours to with a tyre problem


However, there might be also some positive things to smoothen such situation;

- Do not wear a suit, but sports outfit for morning exercise
- Charge your mobile overnight before leaving
- Have a big umbrella in the car
- Don´t book meetings for such a day
- Have a good network for plan B´s, C´s, D´s and E´s

- You know the company Standard Pneu nv

...Remember that you are lucky to drive a car, it might be tougher if you would ride a donkey that looses a leg and you don´t have a gun...

PS Yes one needs to feel lucky that tyre doesn't explode at speed of 120 km/h but flattens somewhat smoothly!

New Gadget

I added a new gadget of unnecessary info to the right side - hope it's of any entertainment in cases I don't have new posts! It changes every time you reload the page.

PS I've got something coming up from today's Maastricht visit...

Runebergin Tortut - Runeberg´s Tart

For English version, scroll down.

Aiemmin tällä viikolla rakas serkkuni toivotti Runebergin päivää. Ollessani reissussa jouduin toteamaan että jäänee tortut väliin ja oletin näin käyvänkin. Niinhän mä luulin...

Tullessani himaan tunsin heti ovella hyvät tuoksut, osin intialaiseen tyyliin mutta seassa oli makeakin vivahde. Ja se osoitttautui todeksi;
Kanaa intialaisittain ja jälkkäriksi Runebergin torttuja!

Erinomaisia! Koska olen hulluna makeaan, voisin toivoa ainoastaan enemmän hilloa ja sokerikuorruketta...

Jos luulet ettei ulkomailla asuessa voi järjestää myös suomalaisia herkkuja, kannattaa ottaa askel taakse. Kaivat vain keittokirjan, netistä ohjeet tai otat talteen suomalaisista lehdistä reseptejä - ja eiku kokeilemaan! Kaupoista ei tietenkään löydy aivan samoja kamoja kuin Suomesta, mutta vastaavia tuotteita on ja niitä on myös Suomesta (tai Ruotsista) tulevien vieraiden helppo tuoda... Jos taas olet Belgiassa, täällä on useampi paikka josta saa Suomalaisia tai Skandinavialaisia tuotteita.
Siinä kuvien kautta maistiaisia. Mikään ei muuten estä tekemästä Runebergin torttuja kesällä tai syömästä laskiaispullia marraskuun pimeillä hetkillä.

So, what´s this all about?
We had one of the Finnish special days on Thursday: Johan Ludvig Runeberg´s Day. To check who he was, visit
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johan_Ludvig_Runeberg

We have a special tart named after him - and habit is to eat them only around this date:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Runeberg's_tart

We made them ourselves (or S made...) - and again it was proven that you can bake or cook also Finnish food and goodies even living in another country. You just need to find the recepie using cook book, online or save them from magazines. Ingrediens might not be exactly the same as home, but you can get also in Belgium Finnish or Scandinavian stuff from several places.

No matter how far you are from home country, you can still make it home and enjoy familiar stuff from home land!

Shoes and Basketball - Kenkiä ja Korista

Today I was in a basketball game and saw another pair of shoes that I categorize "different". And that is not bad, it's just different.

Eli tänään näin jälleen kenkäparin jonka luokittelen "erilaiseksi". Ja se ei ole huono asia, vain erilainen. Kiitos omistajalle julkaisuluvasta ;o)

Yep, Converse.

Enhän minä voi kenkiä liikaa arvostella, olenhan jopa pelannut Adidaksen Koby II -kengillä jotka vat aivan laskettelumonon näköiset. Rumat kuin mitkä mutta toimivat...

No, I don't dare to reveal that one in English...


Another interesting point there was a young girl who played with a scarf and long pants under her shorts - most likely due to her religion. I think it's great that she played no matter of the extra clothing, particularly when it's a mixed team with boys and girls. Still I find it hard to understand the reason for such "rules"...


Eli tänään olin korismatsissa jossa toisella joukkueella oli pelaaja joka ilmeisimmin uskonnollisista syistä piti päässä huivia ja shortsiensa alla pitkälahkeiset verkkarit. On hienoa että hän pelasi huolimatta ylimääräisistä varusteista, varsinkin kun kyseessä on sekajoukkue eli tyttöjä ja poikia. Silti minun on vaikea ymmärtää todelliset syyt moisille "säännöille"...