Driblet: about the small adventures in life...

English blog on hold

2009-08-02T22:45:00.001+02:00

Trying to blog in Dutch and English is causing me to update less frequently as I would like. Therefore I've decided (for the time being) to not update Driblet but to continue updating Drup.

[ hopefully on a frequent basis... ]

English blog pauzed...

So please visit Drup for updates in Dutch, or alternatively follow my random, infrequent, incoherent English tweets...

[ warning: I'm still not a firm believer in Twittering... ]

Day of the Triffids..?

2009-05-27T12:47:00.000+02:00

The end is near! We're all going to die horribly! I think the fierce thunderstorm of monday awoke them!

[ anyone read / seen the day of the Triffids..? ]

It moved quite a bit, luckily it's really slow...

Apparently he didn't like his spot on the bridge, it moved away towards the bicycle lane. Maybe it's hoping of catching a biker passing by (or a dog). Anyway, I'm giving this plant a wide berth...

No-no bear..?

2009-05-26T20:46:00.001+02:00

On my way to work this morning I had to blink my eyes twice before I could believe what I was seeing. Winnie the Pooh was trying to escape through a letterbox...

[ or was he actually trying to get in..? ]

The 'No-No' anti-advertisment sticker apparently doesn't stop bears...

Tweet, tweet, tweet, cute...

2009-05-22T13:51:00.000+02:00

Just like the previous year, a family of blue tits has build a nest in the space between our office and our neighbours. The tjirping can be heard in the office which is cute but a little bit distracting...

[ if you are lucky you can see mom or dad flying by the window... ]

They live at the top, left of the rain pipe...

Today we spotted a young tit on the windowsill outside. It looked inside with interest, but flew still rather unsteady....

K3 chocolate sprinkles

2009-05-20T13:00:00.001+02:00

After the christmas and easter sprinkles I was ready for something new. A colleague bought a package of K3 sprinkles, especially for me.

[ containing real K3 chocolate hearts..! ]

Colourfully pink, but tastes of regular (milk) chocolate...

The package is nearly empty, when finished I am allowed to start on the blue Pete the Pirate sprinkles...

[ with mysterious choco-treasure chests..! ]

Flower dress

2009-05-15T23:55:00.001+02:00

Friends sometimes do strange things, sometimes very beautiful things. This friday was a good example of the latter...

[ congratulations Laura and Rogier..! ]

Nice dress Laura :-)

The great escape

2009-05-10T18:12:00.000+02:00

Argh, birthdays. Good thing the weather was nice so I was able to make a ~~run~~ walk for it...

[ it's starting to become a tradition now... ]

34 kilometer on my 34th birthday...

Milk bomb

2009-01-23T11:04:00.001+01:00

Requirements:

Cup of milk
Cappucino addicted colleague
Microwave
Diversion

With a beautiful 'Ca-Bow' the superheated milk exploded in the company microwave.

[ nice milk drops covered the microwave ceiling... ]

At least the milk was hot enough now...

Afterglow

2009-01-17T10:07:00.000+01:00

Every now and then you look and realize it's beautiful outside. So beautiful you want to stop and enjoy the sight.

[ but also want to hurry and catch a train... ]

Enjoy some red afterglow in the morning...

Bit of luck..?

2009-01-15T18:21:00.000+01:00

Sometimes things are against you, sometimes they're not. When I unlocked my bikes this afternoon I realized I had a bit more luck then my neighbour.

[ or it was a case of a bird that can't aim... ]

Luckily it was only a small bird and not a heron...

Window deer

2009-01-15T10:59:00.001+01:00

There you were, just standing in the window sill looking outside.

[ and christmas is really over... ]

And now the little deer is on my desktop...

Wow..! :-)

2009-01-04T21:06:00.000+01:00

This is fun!

[ and strange, weird, odd, beautiful, nice... ]

Oh, and of course sweet...

750 kata in 2009

2009-01-03T19:24:00.001+01:00

TO make a good start of this new year I took part in the new years training. This years target was 750 iaido kata (practice forms), we had to start early.

[ which means getting up early as well... ]

I had promised to take some stuff along. To make sure I would remember these items with my sleepy head, I left some mental notes...

It helps: I did not forget..!

In Amersfoort we started at the 750 kata. We started at 8:30 begonnen, and at 17:30 the counter reached sevenhundred-and-fifty!

[ and in all honesty, by that time you've had it... ]

Attention drifts to faces in the floor...

Oh, we also raised almost 2,000 EURO for a good cause...

Random M&M post

2009-01-02T17:52:00.001+01:00

Since blogging about M&M's appears to attract visitors to my site, I thought it was time to share a random story regarding M&M's.

[ like the fact you can sort them on colour... ]

To proceed laying them in a rainbow-like circle...

Statistics time (2)

2009-01-01T14:00:00.001+01:00

Again a whole year of blogging has passed, time to crunch some 2008 numbers...

[ and compare these to 2007... ]

582 visits (+24%)
395 unique visitors (+63%)
38 countries (+61%)
893 page views (+6%)
average time on site 1:17 (9 seconde less)
Top day: february 6th: 15 visitors
28.69% found site using a search enginge (+69%)
Strangest search terms: "puddle jumping rainboots", "brocolli dessert", "croissant turnover" and "tractor cookie"
17 visits through search term with "M&M" in it
Most viewed page (besides homepage): The big M&M test

Numbers and charts...

[ again a big thanks to everyone that helped create these stats... ]

Have fun in 2009

2009-01-01T00:01:00.000+01:00

I wish evrybody all the best for 2009, may it be filled with beautiful moments!

[ and if there not enough of these, you need to try harder..! ]

Last smile of 2008 in a thin layer of snow...

Winter walking weather

2008-12-29T21:45:00.000+01:00

Beautiful weather outside, no time to stay indoors, had to go out and experience the cold...

[ hey, I'm having a holiday..! ]

Getting out of the city, nice wintery scenery...

Oh, and since I would even say it's fairly cold outside, I was wearing my mittens...

My warm winter wolly mittens...

Ice(cream) age

2008-12-27T22:11:00.001+01:00

It's beautiful wintery weather outside, saw lots of people buying ice skates today. Soon conditions will be right for some proper ice.

[ luckily I'm completely prepared already... ]

Super fudge, Triple cherry and Cookie dough...

Now I just need to wait for someone to help me eat it...

Lalalalala...

2008-12-27T15:08:00.000+01:00

Sometimes you find yourself enjoying something very simple...

[ hurray for the small gifts in life..! ]

A homemade CD with various songs...

Happy holidays!

2008-12-24T10:12:00.000+01:00

Since my blog has been activated again, I can now spread a digital christmas greeting...

[ happy christmas everybody... ]

This year no tree, but an enlighted bogu again...

Rubber duck invasion

2008-12-22T22:13:00.000+01:00

I was a bit puzzled this morning when I discovered a whole flock of rubber ducks in my kitchen sink. I had forgotten about the big 'will they float' test that was conducted the night before...

[ I don't have a bath tub, so I had to improvise... ]

Result: some ducks are top heavy and tumble...

Blog on

2008-12-22T10:41:00.000+01:00

Been busy, really busy. But now Ipve taken the rest of the year off!

[ time to switch this blog on again... ]

On..!

Pole position

2008-07-27T20:04:00.000+02:00

You have to agree with me, the placement of this pole is a bit akward...

[ pedestians are warned..! ]

Don't mess with the poles...

Swimmingpool

2008-07-26T15:16:00.000+02:00

From my balconny I can just see it, the swimmingpool of the neighbours of the neighbours of my neigbours of my neigbours...

[ four houses further I mean... ]

The starnge thing is that nobody is using it. Wait a minute, I think it's the garden of the child daycare centre. They are of course closed today. Would anybody notice if I climb four fences..?

Wear did I keep my swimming trunks..?

Attic office

2008-07-25T08:24:00.000+02:00

This week and the next I'll be in Utrecht. In a beautiful top floor I working on several small projects.

[ fortunately the attic is equipped with an airconditioner... ]

Nice office in the centre of Utrecht...

Pear ice

2008-07-24T18:55:00.000+02:00

Weather is hot, time for icecream!

[ and a simple pear icicle is enough to make me very happy... ]

Mmm, Festini pear ice, nice...

Flowers from the boss

2008-07-21T20:53:00.000+02:00

Today I received another bouquet of flowers in the office!

[ if you like flowers, participante in the 4 day marches... ]

More Gladiolus flowers; the official 4 day marches flower...

I will keep this bouquet in the office, so everybody can enjoy them!

200 km in 4 days

2008-07-19T21:36:00.000+02:00

I completed the 4 day marches in Nijmegen. 50 kilometers a day, 4 days in a row. The atmosphere was great, lots of people were lining the routes, cheering the walkers on.

[ handing out sweets and drinks... ]

Now I'm back home with a nice shiney medal, flowers and a thick right knee.

This is what you get for walking 200 km...

Oh, on the Dutch version of my blog (Drup) I posted a day by day report, using my mobile phone.

Collected starting permit

2008-07-13T20:08:00.000+02:00

Today I collected my starting permit. Tomorrow I'll be travelling to Nijmegen to start the 4 day marches.

[ I can start walking on tuesday 4:00 am... ]

Startbewijs en eerste knipkaart, nog 200km te gaan...

Oh, if you are happening to be in Nijmegen and feel like meeting up for something to drink, send me a Text message...

[ and I will be able to tell you where I am... ]

Quiet night in

2008-07-03T23:02:00.000+02:00

Today it was time for another quiet night in. First we had a proper curry in the office before going to the Quiet night in event.

[ seeing British comedy sketches all night with a beer and some waffles... ]

British comedy on the big screen...

Homemade strawberry jam

2008-07-01T12:44:00.000+02:00

A colleague made liters of strawberry jam over the weekend. Too much to eat by himself, so he brought a jar to the office.

[ you have to be quick, it's nearly gone already... ]

David, any more jars left over at home..?

Wasp door

2008-06-30T19:23:00.000+02:00

I do not understand why they have to use such an elaborate way to indicate that there is a door. Yes, it's really tiresome if something is blocking the door, the train driver then has to get out through the side door.

[ just let the door open inward and the problem is solved... ]

Behind this door are no nuclear weapons, just a train driver...

It would be cool if the door would slide up or down when opening (with a Star Trek like 'Swoooosh' sound). But no, it's a regular hingeing door...

Favourite colour

2008-06-29T10:13:00.001+02:00

To be honest I do not really know what my favourite colour is. It used to be red, but I've started to appreciate a lot of other colours since then...

[ take blue for instance, blue is a very beautiful colour... ]

But this is really too much blue for my tatste...

I'm doing something wrong...

2008-06-27T19:11:00.000+02:00

It's friday afternoon, the weather is nice and technically it's weekend.

[ so what am I still doing sitting in the office by myself..? ]

Time to go home..?

Split!

2008-06-26T14:14:00.001+02:00

Nice weather outside, warm inside; time for some icecream!

[ this time not a creamy fat choco Magnum, but a simple orange split..! ]

Icecream, also nice with a cup of tea...

A buzz in the ear

2008-06-25T23:01:00.001+02:00

I already listened to it for a whole week on the internet, but when 'með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust' was released this week, I bought a copy...

[ I am of course talking about the new album from Sigur Rós... ]

With a buzz in our ears we play endlessly...

New route

2008-06-19T19:29:00.000+02:00

My regular running route could use a new challenge, so I've added a new detour to this route...

[ good for at least 5 minutes more running fun... ]

My route: to Westerpark, through Westerpark and back again...

Bad luck..?

2008-06-16T18:56:00.000+02:00

A broken mirror is said to bring 7 years of bad luck, but how about wooden spoons..?

[ that can just never be a good omen, can it..? ]

Don't ask me how I managed to break this one...

Course live soccer

2008-06-13T23:00:00.001+02:00

After a long day at work, it was decided to watch the soccer game in the office.

[ using the beamer, move the couch and grab a beer... ]

Using the free Dutch TV EC livestream...

But what can you do when one of your colleagues is in NY and wants to join in. And he finds out that the livestream is only available in the Netherlands..?

[ well, you get creative and find a way he can watch the game... ]

Step 1: You find a webcam put this on the table and point it to the game.

Make sure it's not in the light of the beamer...

Step 2: Connect the webcam to an enormous long USB extention cable and connect to your computer.

My computer was located in another room...

Step 3: Open an MSN chatsession with your colleague in NY and share your webcam.

Might not be a 51 inch screen, but it is live...

And..? Were you able to follow the game..?

Nice monster

2008-06-09T14:31:00.002+02:00

Forget what I said earlier, the 'Gestetner DSc224 PCL 5c' that now lives in our printer room is not scary. With it you can make scans and have the result sent to you by email!

[ very useful and the possibilities are endless... ]

Scanning 3D objects in high resolution...

Touch screen 2.0

2008-06-06T21:29:00.000+02:00

Wow, I have experienced the future: a touch screen with both good auditive and tactile feedback!

[ and using it is strangely addictive... ]

I'm curious when this technology will be available for the iPhone...

Monster in the printer room

2008-06-05T20:20:00.000+02:00

Besides the pictures on the new lunch list, we now have a real monster in our office. A few weeks ago a huge new printer was bought. This 'Gestetner DSc224 PCL 5c' used to be unconnected and in the way, but has become fully operational as of today.

[ I now hardly dare to enter the printer room anymore... ]

When it's printing, it makes really scary noices...

Paper kitchen towels

2008-06-03T18:22:00.001+02:00

A misunderstanding caused us to order too many roles of disposable paper kitchen towels.

[ at least, I think 62 roles are a bit much... ]

Need a paper towel? Look on top of the kitchen cabinets...

If anyone knoews some creative ways to use some kitchen towels (origami?), please leave a comment.

Monster list

2008-06-01T10:11:00.000+02:00

The original idea for the new lunch list was to have new pictures every month.

[ but that proved pretty tough to realize... ]

Some pictures are acurate enough to be scary...

In the end I found fitting images of very cute fluffy monsters...

Tosti perfection

2008-05-30T14:09:00.000+02:00

It took a lot of practice, it was a real case of trial and error (cheese spillage!), but I did it!

[ it's just a matter of turning 90 degrees at the right time... ]

Diamond pattern and tasty too..!

EC 2008 poule

2008-05-29T12:31:00.000+02:00

As many of you might know, I'm not a soccer fan. Besides the fact that they talk too much about it before and after the game in the Netherlands, you have to admit it's a pretty boring thing to watch.

[ only the keeper has an interesting role to play... ]

They are organizing a poule in the office. To make it clear that you do not need to have any knowledge of the game, I'm participating with the serious aim to win.

Predicted 0-0 on almost every game, this is going to be a boring tournament...

Cheese barbarians (2)

2008-05-27T14:21:00.000+02:00

It was to be expected, they did it again...

[ blaming an innocent cheese slicer... ]

This isn't a piece of cheese, this is a miniature halve pipe skate ramp...

Staring at a rectangle

2008-05-25T21:13:00.000+02:00

The last couple of days I've been intensively looking at a black rectangle on a small table. During a usability test, users were observed while using a specific product.

[ I'm sworn to secrecy regarding the nature of the tested device... ]

Interesting shape on a table...

In the test users were asked to place the product inside the outline, allowing us to have a good view and see if everything was clear to the users. From the moment the rectangle was filled, watching it became a lot more interesting...

[ preparing for this test was the reason for my long radio silence... ]

The big M&M test (part 2)

2008-05-21T23:48:00.003+02:00

Over two years ago I conducted my first M&M test. Time for an update I would say, because are all the different colours evenly devided in the bag in 2008..?
After a quick visit to the store I came home with 6 bags of peanut M&M's, over one and a half kilos of candy.

[ either you do it proper or don't do it at all... ]

After opening all the bags, sorting and counting them, this was the result:

	bag 1	bag 2	bag 3	bag 4	bag 5	bag 6	Tot (av.)
Red	15	19	19	29	14	31	127 (21.2)
Brown	22	18	20	18	26	17	121 20.2)
Green	16	19	23	13	20	27	118 (19.7)
Yellow	33	20	20	18	21	16	128 (21.3)
Blue	23	20	23	21	25	13	125 (20.8)
Orange	12	27	20	22	19	22	122 (20.3)
	121	123	125	121	125	126

741 M&M's in 6 different colours...

If you look at my sample you see the colours on average are devided quite evenly. But what should I do now with all the tested M&M's? I decided to put them back in the bags, two bags with only brown and red M&M's, two with the green and yellow ones and two bags with only blue and orange M&M's.

[ I couldn't be bothered to evenly mixing them up again... ]

Thanks...

2008-05-13T21:41:00.000+02:00

...for all the congratulations, cards, e-mails, messages, phone calls, e-cards and presents.

[ and all that without even giving a party... ]

Didn't take out the party decorations this year...

Am now really thinking about throwing a party next year...

NS hiking trip

2008-05-10T23:35:00.001+02:00

The Dutch railroads (NS) set out routes from one station to another. Today I walked from one station to another, but not one that you would find in any official NS hiking book. I started in Amsterdam and via the Pelgrims route (LAW 7-1 for people that are familiar with this stuff) until I reached Nieuwveen. I then took the Marskramer route (LAW 3-3) until I reached Leiden central station.

[ and that will take you just over 11 hours of walking... ]

Beautiful part of the route, just outside Amsterdam forest...

In leiden I took the train back to Amsterdam centraal station. All in all I think this was a suitable walk for my 33rd birthday; 70km is more then enough for a single day...

Pink themed drinks

2008-05-09T20:08:00.000+02:00

With a couple bottles of rosé wine, raspberries and pink-red (mothersday)cakes we celebrated the last day in the office before the Pentacost holiday.

[ together with my almost birthday... ]

The wine was cool and very enjoyable in the sunshine...

Outdoor lunching

2008-05-08T12:51:00.000+02:00

With the beautiful weather we're having you just cannot stay inside during lunch. Yo just make yourself a whole pile of sandwiches and go outside. To the other side of the canal (the sunny side), sit down with you feet just above the water and look at all the boats going by...

[ and the attempt of some coots trying to build an impossible nest... ]

Lunch with a view in the sunshine...

Blue bruise beauty

2008-05-06T22:49:00.000+02:00

The wonderful thing about bruises is that they only reveal their true colours after a few days. My elbow currently features a very nice blue-purple band.

[ with a hint of yellow around the edges... ]

Am I the only person that appreciates the beauty if this..?

It is a pity that you have to go through a world of hurt to create a piece of art of this magnitude...

Zaandam

2008-05-04T19:35:00.000+02:00

I really only set out to go for a short walk, but when I encountered a sign with 'Zaandam' I became curious how you would get there...

[ and my rib wasn't protesting... ]

Zaanstad, with the ferry...

Since I ended up in Zaandam surprisingly quickly, I decided to continue my journey. Via the Zaanse schans to Neck and Purmerend.

[ and then a bus back to Amsterdam... ]

It's a gift...

2008-05-02T17:55:00.000+02:00

I haven't found any practical use for my newly discovered ability, but it's bound to be useful for something. It has now been the 6th time I have found a package of mushrooms with a barcode that appears to be unscannable at the checkout.

[ wonderful, wouldn't you agree..? ]

This barcode refused to be scanned...

Vacuum rings

2008-05-01T14:49:00.000+02:00

The repavement of a street around the corner means I'm bringing in a lot of sand into my home. Time to let the vacuum cleaner do its work. And with a bright sun outside, it becomes a merry experience...

[ vacuum cleaning, something that is hard to do with a broken rib... ]

Beautiful rings of light, reminded me of my faucet...

Queensday 2008

2008-04-30T21:49:00.001+02:00

Didn't do a thing today. And that was what I needed, that rib has gotten me down...

[ more so then the previous days... ]

So I didn't go out to see if I could get any bargains on the free market.

This spot was stil free...

Take it easy

2008-04-28T20:12:00.001+02:00

After a pretty intensive trainingsweekend I am taking it easy for now. Not because I want to myself, but because my GP adviced me to...

[ cracked rib, 6 weeks of rest... ]

Ben (dog of the trainer) was smart enough to take it easy the whole time...

Really curious how that goes, taking it easy. I'm not really the 'easy-taking' type...

Cheese barbarians..!

2008-04-23T12:55:00.001+02:00

Often I have to watch in utter horror how my colleagues are manhandeling the cheese. The art of skillfully producing nice slices of cheese is an art missing in most of them. Today we hit a new low...

Ploughed up cheese, barbarians!

Besides abusing cheese, a different type of cheese disaster occurs: overloaded tostis...

[ but those disasters are quite nice... ]

Cheeeeeese spillage...

Running on music

2008-04-22T21:42:00.000+02:00

The weather was nice and I was in need of some natural opiates. Time to go for a run. I have a fixed course I run and I always play the same music. Very energetic music, beats running in silence...
When I get home I can see from the number I'm listening to how long it took me to complete my course.

[ some calculations required, but it seems pretty accurate... ]

Running to some tunes...

And today it went extremely well, I managed to knock almost 3 minutes off my best time. Arrived home a whole song early...

[ but what am I listening to during my run..? ]

Football is war

2008-04-20T14:41:00.000+02:00

Something I saw at the trash in my street made me think of this quote...

Foosball table massacre..?

I wonder whether someone after losing a game smashed up the foosball table, or whether the table was destroyed during a fierce game...

[ why isn't there a special rod with a referee..? ]

Cooking with herbs

2008-04-19T20:46:00.001+02:00

What do you do to really flavour your curry? Right, add some fresh herbs! And I'm not talking about those pathetic small amouts you buy at the supermarket. No, for some real herbs you go to your local toko!

[ they even are a lot cheaper... ]

A whole handful of coriander, 45 cents...

I'm in...

2008-04-17T08:15:00.000+02:00

Since this week the follwoing message is displayed on the website of the 4 day marches:

The second registration period for the 92nd Four Days Marches is closed. The number of registrations in the second period did not exceed the limit of 45,000. Everyone registered in the second period is allowed to participate.

I'm allowed to start, now I have to find some place to stay...

Yeah, music!

2008-04-15T23:00:00.004+02:00

Last song, for now anyway:
Clap Your Hands Say Heah - Is This Love?

[ rumour has it the band didn't like this clip... ]

This song is guaranteed to make me instant happy, puts a skip in my walk and a smile on my face.

[ don't understand why the clip ends in such a depressing way... ]

Music, music, more music!

2008-04-14T19:20:00.000+02:00

I've been blogging music all week, so why stop now:
Explosions in the Sky - Your Hand in Mine.

[ did I mention how incredible last.fm is..? ]

Got around the umbrella

2008-04-13T22:46:00.000+02:00

Last night I woke at 02:00 AM from cat sounds from my balconny. I have no idea how Conny got around the umbrella, but getting onto my balconny clearly was easier then getting off again. After a short and loud fight he was able to return to his own balconny.

[ time for a better anti-cat barrier... ]

Get around this...

I still kept the 'for sale' sign of my house, which was just what I needed. I did turn it inside out, don't want the neighbours to think I'm leaving...

Golden oldy

2008-04-13T19:30:00.000+02:00

This one is just amazing:
Sigur Rós - svefn-g-englar.

[ clip is certain to give me goosebumps... ]

Did someone say music?

2008-04-12T20:30:00.001+02:00

Since I'm at it:
Joy wants Eternity - From Embrace To Embrace.

[ discovered this band all by myself with last.fm... ]

Cat attack

2008-04-11T19:15:00.000+02:00

Now it's really, really, really over! It appeared to go fine between me and Conny for a while, but today I was attacked on my very own balconny!

[ the anti-conny umbrella is back in place... ]

If you look carefully you can see Conny being extremely mad at me...

I'm really disappointed by this turn of events, maybe I should get a cat myself. A nice one that will allow me to stroke it and can meow and purr in the cutest of ways...

Beautiful music

2008-04-11T17:30:00.000+02:00

This clip makes me go completely silent:
God is an astronaut - Fragile.

[ this song is oh so beautiful... ]

Silence be gone

2008-04-10T19:11:00.002+02:00

Woei, more music, just because we can:
pg.lost - The Kind Heart of Lanigon.

But why does the cameraman decide to walk to the other end of the room during this song..?

[ maybe he needed to get a beer or something... ]

More music?

2008-04-09T18:50:00.002+02:00

Yesterday a song, today something else:
Yndi Halda - Illuminate my heart, my darlin.

[ unfortunately no fancy clip, but an energetic live performance... ]

Hidden kitty

2008-04-09T09:21:00.001+02:00

Ah, there you are...

[ now I'm wondering whether you didn't always hide there... ]

In the corner, under a table, behind a crate...

The last sighting dated all the way back to February...

Care for some music..?

2008-04-08T22:20:00.001+02:00

I do not feel like writing something right now, time to listen to something:
iLiKETRAiNS - Terra Nova.

[ reminds me of something, don't know what exactly... ]

Free groetjes

2008-03-30T23:03:00.001+02:00

Yesterday I got a small present at a birthday party: a whole collection of return envelopes!

[ so I sent seven companies my kindest regards (groetjes)... ]

Return envelopes, just sent them back for free with some of your kindest regards...

All I have to do now is post them and my 'groetjes' will be transported to places such as Hillegom and Apeldoorn...

Stone cold and blue

2008-03-28T17:31:00.000+01:00

Why are the Smurfs blue..? Very simple, they are just extremely cold...

[ and they should be after smurfing a couple of hours in the freezer... ]

Where do Smurfs come from..? From the freezer!

Night snow

2008-03-25T01:56:00.000+01:00

I was just about to get ready to turn in for the night, when it started snowing. Big beautiful flakes were falling that colored the streets and the night white. Time for an evening walk...

[ you should really try this, looking at snow fall in the dark... ]

Snow at Easter, again next year..?

I think I've been away for an hour, long enough to discover a new benefit when walking through the snow...

Easter taxes

2008-03-24T16:35:00.000+01:00

How better to spend your free second Easter day than by filling out your 2007 tax forms..?

[ well.., you could have been doing a nice walk... ]

All in all it went rather smooth...

Easter snow

2008-03-23T03:40:00.002+01:00

Just back home from a party, had a nice bike ride through a fresh ans silent Amsterdam...

[ with a cheerful wintery atmosphere... ]

Vrolijk Pasen: Happy Easter!

I am going to visit my parents later today, but I'll first try to get some sleep. Wonder if the snow will still be here when I wake up...

Easter depression

2008-03-21T13:04:00.000+01:00

Wow, what a magical combination. A while back I bought Heima, a music DVD from Sigur Ròs. Today I thought it was a good friday to put it on.

[ and all of a sudden it started snowing in Amsterdam... ]

Intimate performance in the heart of Iceland...

If the Spring hadn't started today, I might have allowed myself to get lost in a wonderful Easter depression...

Coffee tower

2008-03-20T14:22:00.000+01:00

What do you do if you do not really drink coffee, but do like Nespresso..?

[ you'll built a tower out of it... ]

Jacco started, honestly...

Smurfs

2008-03-18T17:09:00.000+01:00

Since we smurf our shopping at the Albert Heijn, we managed to smurf a whole collection. And what can you do with all those free blue puppets? They are now stored in a not very smurfable corner in our printer room.

[ I think I will smurf them through the whole office... ]

Where did all these Smurfs come from..?

If you'll smurf a Smurf somewhere, I'll desmurf everything...

Party

2008-03-16T17:36:00.001+01:00

Yesterday evening I couldn't be bothered to cycle home after a great party. The weather was just to good and I still had some energy left...

[ the DJ didn't play the kind of music that makes me dance... ]

What do you do? Well, you run...

My bike looked likes this, too vague to use...

Ojh for the record, Wibautstraat - Home: 23 minutes...

Green garden gnome

2008-03-13T22:05:00.000+01:00

What do you give a colleague that leaves the company..? A jolly green garden gnome of course!

[ he'll never be able to forget us now... ]

I hope he gets a nice spot in your garden in Abcoude

Warning..?

2008-03-12T11:05:00.001+01:00

Yesterday I noticed one of our office phones was trying to draw my attention by repeatingly displaying the same message.

[ warning, warning, warning, warning, warning... ]

It seemed a very important message, but what is it warning me for? I tried to answer the phone in the hope it would tell me what's wrong, but besides the 'warning' message it didn't have anything to say...

Warning, this phone will self destruct in 10 seconds..?

In the end I just removed the batteries. This didn't solve the emergency (whatever it was), but at least it stopped the blinking message...

Registered...

2008-03-11T20:31:00.000+01:00

I just registered for the 4 day marches in Nijmegen. Since I've never participated before, I had to register in the second period. This registration period is open until the 11th of April in which 19,046 tickets are available.

[ I hope to get one of those... ]

From 15th to the 18th of July I'm going for a walk...

Wet to the bone

2008-03-10T22:51:00.000+01:00

When I arrived at Amsterdam Central station this evening it was raining slightly. And I'm a firm believer that a little bit of rain won't get you wet.

[ I'm right as long as the drizzle doesn't turn into a heavy shower... ]

When I arrived home, dry bits of Martijn were hard to find.

This images gives a idea of the intensity of the downpoor...

UPC cookie jar

2008-03-05T16:20:00.000+01:00

There already is a UCD cookie jar, and UPC will have one as well shortly. After returning my Digitale TV box I was left with a spare return address sticker.

[ and if you've got it, you'd better use it... ]

A couple of weeks back I bought a new cookie jar (with cookies) for our office, so it seemed fitting to send one to thank Jasper of the UPC webcareteam for his spontaneous help...

Jasper, please let me know if you've received it...

Surprise hike

2008-03-02T22:19:00.000+01:00

OK, it did storm a bit, but that was no excuse not to go for a walk.

[ especially if it's a surprise where you are going... ]

We started in Amersfoort and ended in Hilversum, when are we going for a new trip..?

Piece of heather near Hilversum...

Birmingham Airport

2008-03-01T23:07:00.002+01:00

Today I arrived home from Wales. In the morning I took a short walk over the golf course. The first part of the 18 hole course was quiet, but some holes later I encountered some golfers. Fearing for my life I left the course as fast as I could.

[ golf balls go really fast and they seem to appear on the course out of nowhere... ]

A part from the danger, the surroundings were beautiful...

[ I took the train to Birmingham International Airport... ]

Upon arriving on the airport, my flight was announced as delayed by approximately two hours. Too bad I had to hand back in the mobile modem, otherwise I could have done some surfing.

KL1430, 3 hours of patience...

[ oh, as you can see I've posted the pictures... ]

Bridgend...

2008-02-29T22:05:00.001+01:00

I cannot surpress a big smile while walking through this hotel. They have booked a room in a golf resort in Bridgend. My room has two kingsized beds and a complete setting corning overlooking he first hole of the course.

[ the taps are gold plated and the corridors adorned with suits of armour... ]

My cosy bedroom...

Yesterday I took an evening walk over a dark golf course (had a real Blair Witch feeling to it). When I came back at the hotel, all doors were closed.

[ luckily I found a bell to ring and they let me back in... ]

Because the hotel is not near any other facilities, I stayed in the hotel-pub to have some dinner. Having difficulty choosing which dessert to take, I', going to try them all. Yesterday I tried the white chocolate cheesecake and the apple pie, today I'll go for the lemon tard and the sticky toffee pudding...

Sticky toffee pudding, mmmm...

Cardiff

2008-02-28T08:55:00.001+01:00

Arrived in Cardiff yesterday afternoon. Unfotunately no time to do any real sightseeing, I had some work to do.

[ just enough time to quickly check out the city centre... ]

Cardiff castle, only seen from the outside...

The good thing of being out on your own is that you can choose the spot where you are going to do the work. The hotel I'm staying appears to be from a Ikea catalogue, don't feel like sitting there the whole evening. Luckily Cardiff has enough smoke free (!) pubs where I can settle quietly in a corner and do some work...

Working with a meal and a pint...

Am currently at the new test location, ready for the third day of testing.

In the train

2008-02-27T12:03:00.002+01:00

Today I've spend a large part of the day in the train. From Colwyn Bay to Cardiff. Luckily I had a direct connection, so I could just sit down, relax, read and even do some work. To make sure I would be able to run tests at all the locations, the gave me a mobile modem.

[ nice device, but I keep forgetting it is not my mouse... ]

The white thing sticking out is the mobile modem...

I can now even use the internet, e-mail and blog on the train...

English tea

2008-02-26T22:51:00.001+01:00

I skipped the complete English breakfast this morning. Although I like to eat lots, I do not really want to do so in the morning.

[ tea and toast was more than enough for me... ]

I am familiar with the English style of tea and I have learned to directly remove any teabags. I was a bit surprised to find three teabags in the small pot...

Three teabags for very black tea...

After the tests I walked back home to the hotel. Despite the strong wind the weather was good, and Wales is just to beautiful not to explore by foot. Back in the hotel I quickly left my stuff and headed to the beach.

[ unfortunately it was complete dark when I arrived... ]

Just readable in the dark: to the beach...

First day of testing

2008-02-25T22:32:00.001+01:00

One day down, three more to go...

[ the test went fine, no surprising results thusfar... ]

Directly after the last test I moved to the next location (Colwyn Bay). Checked into a hotel that can best be described as 'Faulty Towerish'.

The room had carpet everywhere, even in the bathroom...

Day of travel

2008-02-24T22:21:00.002+01:00

Today I spend the whole day to travel to Wrexham, Wales. The day started with a pleasant surprise, I ran into an old highschool friend at the airport. She was just about to leave for the States for 2 years to do research into what it's like to be a daddy mouse in California.

[ good luck and have fun Trynke..! ]

After a short flight to Birmingham I changed from one small train to the next. Boy o boy, they have some strange timetables here.

[ small diesel powered trains that go every three hours... ]

The service from Chester to Wrexham isn't very frequent...

Tomorrow is the first of a series of user tests. The rest of this week I'll be traveling to different location in Wales for more tests. I mostly see the Welsh countryside through a train window...

I was treated to a beautiful sunset on the way...

Lunch list

2008-02-22T13:00:00.000+01:00

I take my role as lunch coordinator very serious. Beside calculating the monthly lunch expenses and providing cheese slicing workshops, I'm also responsible for the lunch list.

Joining us for lunch? Put an X by your name!

A normal list would be dull and colourless, but not this one. I brightened it up by adding a pictures of eating colleagues.

[ am still surprised everybody allowed me to take a picture while they were eating... ]

Full moon..?

2008-02-21T19:55:00.000+01:00

The total lunar eclips this week might not have been clearly visable through the thick layers of clouds, but at home I have my own little moon. And everytime a put the kettle on, I create my own miniature lunar eclipse...

[ and that is special, would't you say..? ]

My own moon look-a-like gas nozzle...

Feeding the ducks

2008-02-20T12:02:00.000+01:00

What should we do with the ~~dronken sailor~~ stale bread in the office..? Feed the ducks in the canal of course! And bacause ducks are individuals too, we gave them names.

[ bread for Pim, Mina, Tessa and Thijs... ]

These are not the ducks we feed, but they are colourful...