Shopping Area, City Centre, Rotterdam

I believe this is what is called the 'Koopgoot' (sounds like 'Cope Goat') or 'Shopping Gutter'.  It would appear to have once been under water, perhaps a canal or even a small haven.  That last wouldn't have surprised me.  Rotterdam is full of these small inlets and many of them are now built up -- underground parking, or shopping areas, or other.  This is very close to our temporary building.  I don't feel like calling it school because it isn't really school, but you get my point.  Shot this after I was done with work.

Parked again at my sneaky spot.  So far so good.  I think I'll push it for what it's worth, at least for now, as it's SO convenient.  Had only one class today (Block 3 is a short, light block) and used it to give my students a mock exam.  They scored average but I hope some questions woke them up and convinced them to pick up their books, for a change.

Once back home, went back to my own work.  I haven't mentioned that I've begun another MOOC, this time not on the FutureLearn platform but through another, EdX.  It's very different from FL, less 'convivial', but maybe that's just a matter of getting used to it.  The MOOC is all about Tourism and Travel Management, something that I accidentally discovered and thought worth a shot.  I haven't paid for an upgrade yet but the deadline for that is 31 Jan, and I want to actually finish the course first to see if it's even worth buying an upgrade for.  The course seems well organized but I still want to wait till I'm really done.

Hubby had an announcement for me -- the buyers want us to remove the asbestos in the garage and shed first before they sign the papers.  It is a bother but I can see their point.  Hubby phoned the real estate agent and he knows someone who can do this for not too much money.  We will hear from him shortly.

Another issue is our backyard fence, which got a bit damaged during the storm of two weeks ago.  Hubby wants to collect from insurance, and the insurance company wants to see a quotation first, so hubby had an appointment today with a builder who's willing to take it on.  This time, he wants more than just a wooden fence, thinking of the future.

This brings me to a third issue -- what we like to call our 'waterfront'.  It's that furthest end of the garden close to the water, which I don't want to call a pond as it is actually a canal.  Our property only extends up to about two meters away from the water, so hubby wants to buy these remaining two x six meters, so that he can organize the backyard all the way up to the water without fear of doing something illegal.  The new fence will extend up to the water as well.  That little triangular bikini piece, as I call it, is actually owned by the Municipality of Breda and we already told them some six months ago of our interest in buying it.  They are very pleased that we want to do this and so now things have been set in motion to prepare the paper work.  We've already put an amount down as 'bond' and the rest will be paid as soon as the other house is formally sold.  Not that this little piece will cost much.  I could pay it with a month's salary but, well ... now why should I do that?

In short, several things are going on right now.  To top it all, there's the new connection with my stepbro.  Now THAT is something I certainly did not anticipate.  Looks like we'll be visiting Manila again in about five weeks.  Is this what 2018 will look like?