12:41:03 CET The last day of April. In Sweden we celebrate Walpurgis NightRead more what it is on Wikipedia. today. It's been a long time since I celebrated that properly.
Visiting the office yesterday was all good. Nice to see some of my colleagues again and the driving back and forth went perfectly (massive traffic jams though).
OK, will try to do some more updates later today. "Auf Wiedersehen" for now.
Did you know that..? I try to find an interesting historical event that occurred on this day. 16:23:38 CET Did you know... that today in 1993 CERNRead more on Wikipedia. announces World Wide Web protocols will be free.
16:17:15 CET I am back... feels like it was ages that I last wrote here. So much is going on, crazy much for everyone but the most annoying is that J is not feeling 100%. Like most of his friends. There are also a lot of teachers absent. But really a lot, which bring the students into problems as there is a lot of material to go over before the exam period.
Tomorrow I have to drive to the office to get my new laptop - the "HP EliteBook 840 G8"A google search to get an idea of what it is. Looks nice.... I will certainly not miss the one I had - the "Microsoft Surface" . It will be interesting to see the office again and experience the morning traffic (traffic jam).
OK, will try to do some more updates later today. "Au revoir" for now.
Did you know that..? I try to find an interesting historical event that occurred on this day. 16:23:38 CET Did you know... that today in 1947 Thor HeyerdahlRead more on Wikipedia. and five crew mates set out from Peru on the Kon-Tiki to demonstrate that Peruvian natives could have settled Polynesia.
13:51:22 CET The week starts... well, what can I say about that. A typical Monday so far with a lot of coffee needed. For J it continues with; not one, but two additional math tests for next week. Why not just add a couple of more to the rest.
Like I mentioned yesterday, today was the official release date of the new webpageFollow this link to the post about my new web page - https://www.jmajhemela.eu.. I noticed that I had to fix the Google Analytics tag and now the statistical data is getting reported correctly. Other than that, all looks good so far.
OK, will try to do some more updates later on today. Sayonara for now.
Did you know that..? I try to find an interesting historical event that occurred on this day. 13:51:53 CET Did you know... that today in 2007 it was Boris Yeltsin's funeralRead more on Wikipedia.. The first to be sanctioned by the Russian Orthodox Church for a head of state since the funeral of Emperor Alexander III in 1894.
22:56:52 CET The last couple of days have been packed with things happening. For what ever reason it's all coming at the same time.
The dinner yesterday - celebrating the good news about neighbour lady D - was brilliant. It's always a treat having the neighbour ladies over. So glad I could offer lady D her favourite Whiskey, the correct Chivas RegalThe original 12 year old Chivas Regal bottle - read about it on Wikipedia. bottle. Anyway, it was a great evening and J was also present for a while before he'd leave for his, let's say, obligations...
As one of their punishments (another was a short essay about Abraham Lincoln), J had to help out at a quiz evening due to being late for one appointment in Barcelona. I have my reservations about that, but let's just say that they all agreed to play along and do it. J and his friends had the best evening. It was also a bonding time between the involved teachers and students. It will be something he takes with him for the rest of his life for sure...
Some more stuff happened the last days, I am collecting it all for the day when I have some more time. I have photo proof of it, it's not forgotten. But I was just going to let you know that we published the new website of my mother in law's music school called Atelier Voor Muziek - JheMelAI am really proud of this website. It's been in the making for some time and I found a nice solution I think. It's new and modern, bold design and still easy to work with. I like to work with smart frameworks, like this one is based on Bootstrap and Fontawesome - plain HTML, CSS and Javascript - is the best!.
OK, much more is coming, nice stuff, but now it's time to head to the bed.
Did you know that..? I try to find an interesting historical event that occurred on this day. 23:02:44 CET Did you know... that today in 2011 WikiLeaksRead more on Wikipedia. starts publishing the Guantanamo Bay filesRead more on Wikipedia. leak.
18:29:22 CET So, two days passed and it feels the time just passes by faster than one says "hang on wait a minute"... Today the coffee was especially appreciated, an early start kicked-of; some calls and things to finish before the weekend.
The last couple of days I have actually taken some pictures thinking that I will use them for posts here. I just didn't have the time yet. The effort is not lost, I will use them for sure.
...and today after work; H's colleague P delivered J's moped. It's been welded and since we could not get a shock absorber was an rubber placed in the old suspension placed so that J can use it before the new one arrives. It's not easy to find as I tried to order one upfront without success. It proved to be similar issue for a craftsman - and the right measurement is 300 mm long, no more no less. Which is not a standard apparently.
Other things around the house; J is off on a birthday party this evening, tomorrow study for Physics, guitar lessons and later in the evening he needs to do service at a party as a collective punishment because being too late to an appointment while being in Barcelona. Life is hard...
That is just until Saturday; enough for now. There is so much going on at the moment. Life will soon drastically change and we simply enjoy all that there is still. One thing is for sure, it will never come back so why not enjoy it while it lasts!
It's been a lot more and I hope remember to share all my ideas here soon. With that said, I better aim for the bed. Need to be ready to tackle the next thing popping up... Polestar issues (luxury problems with pigeons and USB-c), the lawn, water quality in my pond, office and work related news, Swedish passport related, J school and summer plans, back with work related travelling, new responsibilities at work, Netflix and TV shows we've discovered lately ... the list is long!
Getting tired and need to go to bed...
Did you know that..? I try to find an interesting historical event that occurred on this day. 18:35:47 CET Did you know... that today in 1970 the first Earth Day is celebrated.
22:27:02 CET Another day passed fast like lightning. The biggest news is that I finally got around to book a time at the police - offices for administration - to get my passport extended. I have dreaded it for some time. When I last tried to do it the waiting time was just unreal. I read in the news about huge waiting times now when people are applying for passports after Covid. I finally saw that the Police implemented a mandatory authentication step when making reservations, I thought I just had to do it as well. Before it's getting even worse. I almost spilled my coffee when I saw that the first free slot is in January 2023 !!!!!
After a couple of searches, I found a freed up time on the 2nd of September 2022. I will monitor any earlier times that are freed up (that's the tip from the Police) as they will work to have more available. Apparently there wasn't a real control on what people booked, and that's the reason why it's much stricter to reserve a time since yesterday. The validity of my passport and the Swedish ID card are ending mid June, hopefully I will get finally a time around that... Time will tell.
Now it's time to go horizontal...
Did you know that..? I try to find an interesting historical event that occurred on this day. Today I had a lot to pick from, such a lot of things happened this date... 22:27:29 CET Did you know... that today in 1999 the Columbine High School massacre Read more on Wikipedia about this terrible deed! happened. Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold kill 13 people and injure 24 others before committing suicide at Columbine High School in Columbine, Colorado.
18:39:55 CET It was the first working day today, back in working routines again. Early start, coffee. Lots and lots of coffee . Since the "stupid moped" is still in parts (Hum, I wonder if I wrote about the last developments? But it's getting welded and a new shock absorber to the back wheel is getting fitted) I dropped J off at school in the morning. Then it all started, loads of backlog in emails after a week off. I didn't even peek into emails during my holiday. My holiday was fantastic!
It's been a busy day. I tried to work through items and had add-hoc calls in a prioritized fashion as much as possible. I also had to deal with some emotional issues that arose during my absence. Overall the situation is under control but it's always the flipside of holidays; coming back for damage control. A luxury problem for sure !
Did you know that..? I try to find an interesting historical event that occurred on this day. Today I had a lot to pick from, such a lot of things happened this date... 18:31:13 CET Did you know... that today in 1987 the Simpsons Who doesn't know The Simpsons, I included the Wikipedia link anyway. Interesting reading! first appear as a series of shorts on The Tracey Ullman Show, first starting with "Good Night Read about the first episode on Wikipedia.".
18:30:13 CET Today was another magic day outside with perfect weather and inspiring things to do. This time was things to do in the garden, namely scarify the lawn. It's always hard work but with the use the right equipment it's done with more efficiency. Great result This is the after picture of our garden. Colours are still great and we have installed the CD's reflection things to scare off the pigeons. The damn pigeons again! after a whole day's work.
I also took the time to prepare the pond - the filter and the pump were cleaned thoroughly. The filter doesn't have to be cleaned too often, but when it's needed be sure it's a lot of work. Cleaning the pump is so much easier with the filter (intake) that I once 3D printedThis is the link to show you how I 3D printed the filter for the pump.. It's really one of my absolut most satisfying and best design-/3D print projects I have done.
For the rest, we are on our last hours of the Easter holiday. For me it was a special time with a lot of different things done. We didn't travel, but did a lot of daily trips - Antwerp, Yerseke, Amsterdam, Brussels, study and we also had Covid to recover from. Strange but inspiring and interesting times!
We have also started watching the series called Reacher on Netflix. It's a recommendation.
Did you know? I try to find an interesting historical event that occurred on this day. 18:31:13 CET Did you know... that today in 1999 Wayne Gretzky plays his final NHL game.
11:50:45 CET Yesterday was a great day in Brussels - we went to the Horta MuseumVery interesting reading about this house built completely in Art Nouveau style by Victor Horta.(learning about Victor HortaRead more about Victor Horta on Wikipedia. and Art NouveauRead more about the Art Nouveau style on Wikipedia.) and then Villa EmpainRead more about Villa Empain built in Art Deco style by the Swiss architect Michel Polak.(interesting about Art DecoRead more about Art Deco on Wikipedia. and Michel PolakRead more about Michel Polak, the swiss architect who built the spectacular Villa Empain house.).
I took a lot of pictures on both of the visually spectacular visits yesterday. As a bonus we also did a quick stop to visit Abdij Ter KamerenRead more on Wikipedia about the abbey attached to a park in Brussels. Rather spectacular since it's located in an unlikely valley like place in the middle of Brussels.
19:10:57 CET The day really turned out great, blue skies and full sun. The garden The garden in the evening, prepared for the night. We spent a complete day in it - from the morning until the evening! is prepared and we can just enjoy the blooming explosion, the last couple of days of the holiday. We had the morning coffee, lunch and leisure time together - studying, writing and reading!
I am hoping for a equally as nice day tomorrow. Am I aiming too high? Only the future will tell. But, never the less I hope to have as relaxed time as today.
Hunt for the annoying pigeons! 20:18:58 CET OK, we are now relaxing enjoying the last glimpses of the day - day is turning into evening by the setting sun - with a glass of wine. Contemplating the day that was. I am looking out the window and noticing all the action happening in the tree outside - above my beloved car. BUT, my master plan It's me putting the car cover on... Yes, a cover for the car was purchased and it's been working perfectly so far! By the way, it's captured by my Raspberry Pi motion detection camera mounted to capture everything happening outside... was already put into action.
Did you know? I try to find an interesting historical event that occurred on this day. 11:51:11 CET Did you know... that today in 1969 Sirhan SirhanRead more on Wikipedia. is convicted of assassinating Robert F. Kennedy.
14:46:54 CET The little holiday has been great so far. I just can't believe how fast it's going...
We had a complete day in AmsterdamGreat times in Amsterdam. This picture is on the roof top restaurant (not the best food, but who cares with this view) above the NEMO science museum. yesterday with brilliant weather, we had the best of times. We saw a lot, ate nice (but it took a long time before we found something. Ended up being at the Hilton bar restaurant. I understand why there are so many Dutch people in Antwerp where you have more choice on food and type of food restaurants). It all went as planned, driving there for about 1 hour and 45 minutes and then I found a parking spot (in the Oosterdok parkingPerfect parking with 60 places for electric charging. It worked out perfectly, I could charge it while parked!)
It was truly a fantastic day yesterday. Brilliant time with nice talks and a wonderful holiday feeling.
Did you know? I try to find an interesting historical event that occurred on this day. 18:33:19 CET Did you know... that today in 1865 President Abraham Lincoln dies after being shotRead more on Wikipedia! the previous evening by actor John Wilkes Booth.
10:29:44 CET It's a gray day so far today. Pleasant temperature, I could still enjoy my coffee when inspecting the garden this morning. Again I was reminded that I have to clean the water pump and filter of the pond.
What really, really bugs me and what's been on my mind the last days are the f...ing pigeons that litter my car. The situation went from bad to terrible! I hate those critters, those flying rats! So, a couple of days ago I washed the shit of the car for the millionth time and to my disgrace I noticed that I must have caused scratches when trying to remove one of the concrete-like "piles". I don't understand how it happened, I've been really careful. Anyway... not fun!
Very interesting; I have updated done the latest software update in the car. It's now version 2.0, a major release. Some fixes and stability updates, details are available hereDetails about the latest software release here at Polestar..
Did you know? I try to find an interesting historical event that occurred on this day. 22:34:24 CET Did you know... that today in 1997 Tiger WoodsRead more on Wikipedia. becomes the youngest golfer to win the Masters Tournament.
22:33:20 CET Today was a fantastic day, we went on a little excursion - crossed the border into The Netherlands. We invited the parents in-law to come with us - father in-law had other plans but mother in-law accepted. The plan was to drive to the restaurant OesterijVisit the website of the great seafood restaurant called Oesterij. (in a place called Yerseke, located in the Netherlands in the very South west corner) and have lunch. It's a fantastic place with all fresh seafood - Oysters (they are actually breeding them right there. Can not be more fresh!), lobsters, shrimps etc. A very nice lake-front place.
Yet another very nice day is about to end. Hopefully I don't forget to share some pics of it tomorrow.
J is meeting up with friends tonight ...and I am off to bed to get some rest.
Did you know? I try to find an interesting historical event that occurred on this day. 22:34:24 CET Did you know... that today in 1961 the Soviet cosmonaut Yuri GagarinRead more about Yuri on Wikipedia. becomes the first human to travel into outer space and perform the first crewed orbital flight, Vostok 1.
23:06:25 CET I couldn't have asked for a better Sunday I just had. It was a great sunny day with crisp blue skies in Antwerp today. We could enjoy it fully and wander around checking out the antique shops and markets. Then we had a fantastic lunch at Ernest BistroFantastic food with brilliant service at Ernest Bistro! - fantastic food and great service!
Friends of J's are here closing off the first Easter holiday weekend. Some of them are just back from travels and from what I can hear they have missed each other.
Did you know? I try to find an interesting historical event that occurred on this day. 23:09:55 CET Did you know... that today in 1912 RMS TitanicRead more on Wikipedia. sets sail from Southampton, England on her maiden and only voyage.
10:10:00 CET J and I were at the hairdressers yesterday. I was back to a place I used to go to when I came to live in Brasschaat (from Brussels) almost 20 years ago. It was interesting to see that the place looked exactly the same. Except from the gray hair, the owner looked the same as well. It spawned some memories for sure...
Then in the evening we all went to a delayed (due to Covid) birthday dinner. It was a very nice evening and it felt great to finally being able to get out.
Today there are some chores planned - cleaning up the garden, high-pressure cleaning of the terrace and cleaning the veranda roof. It a recurrent sign that spring is here.
22:37:53 CET It was a nice day working in the garden. Nice to feel that the body has been working (especially my back). Cosy time with J as well. Later in the evening we could enjoy a movie together. We have just started watching Black Crab on Netflix. Looks decent, let's see where it takes us. So far there are nice scenes and unusual story line. Feels very close to what's happening in Ukraine though.
Had some issues when charging the car. I tried 3 times to get it going, to charge longer than 1 hour. It ended and indicated that there was an issue with the provider. I have seen it before and I did contact Bluecorner (charging provider which I have written about before) before. Just before the travel to Norway, I got the message that I have to restart the charger by restarting the main fuse. I did so today as well and it seems to have helped this time. So far....
Tomorrow morning we will be going into Antwerp to check out the antiques scene. We use to do it almost every weekend when we came to live here. It's really nice to wander around checking out antiques, drinking coffee and enjoy the city of Antwerp .
Did you know? I try to find an interesting historical event that occurred on this day. 10:25:17 CET Did you know... that today in 1967 the first Boeing 737Read more on Wikipedia. (a 100 series) makes its maiden flight.
22:28:32 CET Today just flew by, a lot to do at work and it was one of those days that just passed by. Tomorrow is my last day before Easter holiday, I took the next week off. Looking forward to it enormously.
J is enjoying the evening with some friends and his parents are trying to stay awake. Still feeling tired. It's like today was a worse day then yesterday - it feels like the tiredness, mucus and cough was worse today. OK, I am so ready for bed now.
Did you know? I try to find an interesting historical event that occurred on this day. 22:34:25 CET Did you know... that today in 2017 a man deliberately drives a hijacked truckRead more about the terrible deed in Stockholm 5 years ago on Wikipedia. into a crowd of people in Stockholm, Sweden, killing five people and injuring fifteen others.
17:33:30 CET Today was officially the first day back from the Covid quarantine (but still tired, a lot of coughing and mucus everywhere). Work wise I was back some time ago... practically I never left. It was a busy day with a lot of important calls, ground breaking day, in fact. New developments when it comes to projects that I am directly involved in, but also new technology and strategies that the company I work for evolves towards. Interesting times!
Other interesting things are how things are developing in Europe. If you talk a lot with people in all parts of Europe - people from Spain, Italy, France, Bulgaria to middle Europe like Germany, Hungary, Belgium (of course) to the most northern parts; the Scandinavian countries (of course). It's clear that we all share the basic opinion; how crazy the world has become! Pandemic (figures are not looking good), brink of 3rd world war (despicable Russian war crimes ), energy prices (petrol, electricity reaching ridicules levels)... where are we headed? But I am sure the good will prevail. Sounds like the worst marketing catch phrase for a Hollywood movie . But it's exactly what it is, completely unreal!
Did you know? I try to find an interesting historical event that occurred on this day. 18:19:54 CET Did you know... that today in 1992 the Bosnian war Read more about another terrible European conflict on Wikipedia. begins.
11:47:12 CET Seems that we are slowly but steadily coming back to the living. I am doing as much work as possible. Maybe I overdid it yesterday, I thought I would work through the backlog. After a complete day I was still not ready... Maybe too much?
Today is officially my last day of quarantine and I am planning to do a self-test this evening. I would be very surprised if it would be still positive.
Did you know? I try to find an interesting historical event that occurred on this day. 11:58:37 CET Did you know... that today in 1946 Soviet troops end their year-long occupation of the Danish island of BornholmRead more about Bornholm on Wikipedia..
11:58:12 CET Another night of coughing, the coughing is the worst, all day and all night. Might sound strange, but as a back patient it's especially tricky as you have to be in a good position when coughing otherwise you can strain yourself. Not very good as it can lead to a hernia... On a positive note; I feel that some energy is back, now I can complete the stairs in one go.
J did a negative Covid test this morning. I was surprised by the result, it must be due to the fact that he had it once and have the best protection - fully vaccinated and "natural" protection on top. Nice for him to start the Easter holiday, put all the school stress behind him for a while and enjoy some time off.
The Clonezilla backup routine 12:42:24 CET Something long due that I have to do is the recurrent backup routine - backing up all Raspberry PI:s with Clonezilla to my NAS and also to the second mirrored storage location. I have started doing it, the most critical are already done. Perfect Covid activity...
Did you know? I try to find an interesting historical event that occurred on this day. 11:58:37 CET Did you know... that today in 1972 actor Charlie ChaplinRead more about one of the greatest actors ever lived on Wikipedia. returns to the United States for the first time since being labelled a communist during the Red ScareRead more about the Red scare on Wikipedia. in the early 1950s.
11:27:55 CET And we are in April. No April fool's, but it's been snowing during the night and this morning we woke up to a winter wonderland!
Crazy, half of 2022 is almost done. J will have his Easter report - grades - today. It will be more of an indication on how he is doing. It's his last day before Easter holiday and they had a big Physics test today. Why? I really don't understand it since it's not included in the grades they get for this period. It's very difficult subject and no one is motivated so the result will be terrible. Nice start they give for the next semester to the kids. Nice done.
Hate them shitty pigeons. I have officially declared war against pigeons in the tree above that are "dropping unwanted excrement's" on my parked car. I have been thinking on what could be the best solution; I have seen fake owls and snakes that would supposedly scare the pigeons away. Or, and probably the most efficient, is to simply cut off the branches above the car... I just can't keep cleaning the car daily not to have it looking like this It's not normal. How can they produce that, it's like concrete...!!!! The hunt has started...
OK, that's it for now...
Did you know? I try to find an interesting historical event that occurred on this day. 11:41:16 CET Did you know... that today in 1977 Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak found Apple ComputerRead more about Apple on Wikipedia., Inc.