Stanziliëri

A long time ago, way back in history, my dad became a teacher. And, actually, so did my mom. My mom had a li'l brother, quite a few years younger than her. I wasn't born back then, but let's call him my uncle already anyway. He was so much younger, that my dad in one of his early jobs happened to be teaching his class! Awkward situation. But fun.
My dad explained to the class the principles of 'scale' in math. We always calculate and count things with numbers in a scale of 10. This means we use the numbers 0 to 9, and then they're exhausted, so if we want to count on, we add an extra number to the front. So we get 10, and continue to 19, on to 20, to 29, etcetera... you know the drill. (If not, be worried.) So he explained that sure enough there are other ways of using numbers. Why use 10 different numbers for counting? Why not 8? or 16? or just 2? 2 is the amount of numbers used by a computer internally. So it only uses the 0 and the 1. When it counts it goes 0, 1, and then it's exhausted so it adds a number to the front, 10, 11, etcetera, 100, 101, 110, ...
My uncle was impressed with this. So impressed that he, until this day, 'accuses' my dad for getting him interested in computers and being in an IT job for all his life now.

But the story didn't end there.

When I was like 8 years old, my uncle had a computer at home. It was horribly expensive, but so much fun! When we were visiting him we could 'play' with it. It was like a kind of magic. Typing something on that keyboard... and it would appear on the screen!!! Oh.. my.. Gods.... Me and my brother spent hours at that machine, typing things to each other, while sitting next to each other.
So, now, I am accusing my uncle, indirectly my dad, for getting me interested in computers.

Thing is, that my uncle worked for ABN AMRO Bank. I guess it's because of that, that I got some kind of thing for The Bank, as they called themselves. Especially when they build their brand spanking new head office in the south of Amsterdam. Until this day do I think of that one of the most brilliant buildings of this tiny little country. It's a shame that because of the sell of the bank they have now started to remove the ABN logos from the top.
Every time I passed that building I would think "One day... one day I'll work there."

And guess what? I did. And I do. I got my second contract there now. In August I started on a project that involved integrating the bank with Fortis Bank. But last weekend all of a sudden, because of the credit crunch, the government bought part of Fortis, and there was a decision that integration of ABN would not happen because they would sell it again. This didn't sound good. Atleast not for my job. We were not going to integrate the banks, so what use was I then? I was quite happy that, unlike so many others, I was not yet laid off this week. It caused a good bit of stress.
But then yesterday evening all of a sudden it was announced that the Dutch government has nationalised Fortis Bank NL and ABN AMRO Bank! They bought 100% of all shares and are now the sole owner. They announced they would continue with integrating the 2 banks, and when the market is stabilized again sell it all again.

Wow.
I guess that when I get to work on Monday, there's going to be a crazy situation. But atleast... I think my contract is secured now, and I can continue working at 'my' bank! Woohoooo. This is great news for the bank and all customers as well. The bank is ultimately safe and secured now.

I wonder how my uncle is doing now. He's working for the bank on location in India at the moment while this all is happening.