Wed Aug 28 2024, 10:52:40 am CET We are halfway into the week already and today is it exceptionally nice weather. Blue skies, sunny and the forecast says it will be around 30 C later on today. If time allows, I will try to enjoy it during my breaks.
It is a little bit of a premiere here today, I am slightly changing my workflow when posting to the site. This post was actually first published to the new website Have a look at it here, this is the temporary URL, it will soon change from the subdomain new.mathiaspihl.com. to use Hugo workflow. I believe I wrote about it earlier. I did some research yesterday about the final activation steps needed to take in my Cloudflare setup. I think it will happen very soon...
One thing led to another which led to something else, which... Well, you get the idea. Anyway, I started checking AI and AI generated images. I believe it started with a Youtube clip which triggered my interest initially. It is really interesting how AI can be used in content creation. BUT, it is crucial that AI technology is used correctly, namely as a tool, a tool that creates ideas and drafts. ONLY! It is then the idea that the creative person starts the creative process, not use it as the final result and take the shortcut. As an example, I let AI (Claude chat) write the summary of each posts (only visible on the new website) and the title is also a result of AI. But only the draft, I am re-working it into something I personally like. As an example, I used the AI image generator Flux.schnell and produced this image This is the image that AI produced based on the events in the post from the 21:st of August. It is amazing how most of the details are included in this image!. The input to create this image came from my post on the 21:st of Aug Compare the image with the content of this post. AMAZING!.
There are a lot of things happening this week, things like; preparations for H's birthday party (I so hope that certain things I ordered will be in time), coordination with J to match J's study, travelling and plans with K. - not too much at all it is just a challenge not to forget/overlook anything.
I manage to complete the 3D printed bottle cap This is how the bottle cap turned out #D printed in PETG. I liked the semi-see through filament. in PETG. It was a re-print which only took about 1 hour in total time. I am curious if it will fit and if it is heat resistance enough.
Did you know that..? I try to find an interesting historical event that occurred on this day. Wed 28 Aug 2024, 10:40:32 am CET Did you know that today 1973 is when Norrmalmstorg robbery took place. Stockholm police secure the surrenders of hostage-takers Jan-Erik Olsson and Clark Olofsson Read more about him on Wikipedia., defusing the Norrmalmstorg hostage crisis. The behaviours of the hostages later give rise to the term Stockholm syndrome Read more about it on Wikipedia..
Sat Aug 24 2024, 12:27:20 pm CET Yesterday was a nice ending to a busy work week, I was able to handle some needed mediation to mitigate some potential upcoming issues. Nice things yesterday but on the private front was the dinner with our neighbor ladies. Nice talks and laughs with nice food again.
We finally received the new faucet The very nice new and shiny kitchen faucet. Looks amazing! for the kitchen yesterday delivered. It is a similar to our current faucet, but after about 20 years it has to be retired. Rust in peace old companion.
Earlier this morning I finally fixed "the Random 7" webpage As you might know, I have a little mini gallery with carefully selected images to visualize a snapshot in time and of special meaning. - the gallery page I have on this fantastic website.
If time allows today, I will try to 3D print an object that need to be 3D printed again. I 3D printed it in PLA not thinking that it need to be safe for a dishwasher. The water bottle capwas deformed after it was washed, I will try to 3D print it in PETG this time.
Did you know that today in ... is when ... Randomly picked historical events that occurred on this day. Sat Aug 24 2024, 12:17:59 pm CET Did you know that today in 1909 is when workers start pouring concrete for the Panama Canal.
Thu Aug 22 2024, 12:19:37 am CET It's been an ordinary beginning of the week, nothing too exceptionally things to mention. Very busy at work, so nothing really new there. It seems that I am running around and "putting out fires" and have no time for anything new. I am actually struggling these days to find time to drive to the office. I am just too much into supporting 3 timezones - India in the morning, Europe during the day and US in the evening...
I have something to celebrate ! I was rather surprised to learn that I surpassed 10 000 pageviews in July 2024 on mathiaspihl.com . If I may brag a little bit, it was actually 14 000 views I proudly present you with a snipped from the message from Cloudflare with the fantastic news! to be precise. I moved the site to new service not too long ago and I received the statistics sent to me from Cloudflare.
OK, now I have to go to bed. It is really late, but I just wanted to do a quick update. The plan was to take some time earlier for some updates on the site as I was home alone this evening. Instead I got caught up in chores and driving J. to Antwerp. His first exam starts tomorrow - there are actually two of them tomorrow. I am really curious how it will go for him. Anyway, take care out there and "read me soon"...
Did you know that today in ... is when ... Randomly picked historical events that occurred on this day. Wed Aug 21 2024, 11:34:50 pm CET Did you know that today in 1772 is when King Gustav III Read more about it on Wikipedia. completes his coup d'état by adopting a new Constitution, ending half a century of parliamentary rule in Sweden and installing himself as an enlightened despot.
Sun Aug 18 2024, 7:50:30 pm CET The second half of the work week was really good, especially since Thursday was a public holiday where I live, which made the week shorter. Friday however took some time to get into, if you know what I mean. Due to circumstances ("an health alert" for mother in law), H. left for a family gathering earlier today while I am home keeping the fort going as it is a rather long drive there. After the health examination, it turned out to be under control for her, but it is better to be on the safe side.
J. studied last week and had a welcomed break yesterday for a couple of hours and enjoyed a date night with his K.. They met up and could enjoy each others company at a restaurant in the beautiful city of Antwerp. Now they will be apart for a while again while K. will travel and J. continues studying.
We spent some time oiling the hardwood floor This is the product that I have to remember, it worked out great! and the wooden staircase. The result was actually great and I have to remember the product for future treatments. Yes, we really need to do it more frequently to have it better under control.
Yesterday turned out to be a great day, even though I missed being all of us together. In the evening, after J. was done studying and I done with the chores, we decided to go to the driving range to practice the golf swing. After that I went back to start preparing the dinner - time for spareribs. The night was great when everyone was reunited and we enjoyed the daily stories, the dinner and the TV series we follow together!
Today has been a nice a relaxed day, I did some contemplating over the weekly catch-up call with my parents in retrospective about life and family. I could also take time to write a bit today, some chores done and now we can enjoy the Sunday evening together. We are yet to enjoy the dinner and our movie evening, perfect ending of the weekend to be able to cope with an upcoming busy week...
Did you know that today in ... is when ... Randomly picked historical events that occurred on this day. Sat Aug 17 2024, 2:07:56 pm CET Did you know that today in 1783 is when a huge fireball Read more about it on Wikipedia. meteor is seen across Great Britain as it passes over the east coast.
Tue Aug 13 2024, 1:56:14 pm CET There were a couple of days before I wrote here, almost a week. It is just that "life came in between", a lot with everything. J. is in his study period, it took some time to settle in after all the travelling, but now he is well into the routines. It been very warm here lately, yesterday was 36 degrees and today it is "only" 29 This is a snapshot of the weather forecast... (but it feels worse today, like there is no oxygen in the air).
Even if it is a lot to do, the small breaks are important. Like when we walked to the golf course just to hit a bucket of balls on the driving range The driving range at our local gold course. It is a really nice place to go to just get away for a short while. to do something else. It is perfect activity to just zoom out and clear our heads.
Some other other small projects that I manage to squeeze in were to do some 3D printing and do some investigations on how to grow tobacco. I have managed to do 3 3D printing projects, namely a golf tee, tobacco pipe stand and a laptop camera cover. I think I already wrote about the bicycle valve dust caps Check it out here, this is the 3D printing files that I downloaded from Printables.com that I 3D printed earlier. When it comes to growing tobacco I needed answer on first was if it is even possible to grow it in Europe and to harvest it? The short answer is, "absolutely. As long as it is for personal use". I found out that it is possible to buy the seeds from Amazon, you can even chose the different kinds of tobacco leaves, like Virginia, burley etc.
I also invested some time on how to migrate the existing jmajhemela.eu The music school of my mother in law. site to a cheaper hosting alternative. I will still keep the domain registration with Loopia.se but move the content to another place. OK, now it is time to get back to work and an upcoming conference call. I had my short break...
Did you know that today in ... is when ... Randomly picked historical events that occurred on this day. Tue Aug 13 2024, 1:56:00 pm CET Did you know that today is the National Prosecco Day Read more about it here..
Tue Aug 6 2024, 7:20:23 pm CET Finally the youths are home. They arrived around 16:45 after a long and tedious trip from the airport of Brussels - they missed the bus due to yet more delays and took the train to Antwerp and then the tram to Merksem where they were picked-up by a parent (yes, this time we were not available for once). The cancellation of the flightput the whole group in an additional hotel night in Prague after a little bit of a "drama moment". Completely understandable if it is the first time it happens and also the timing was the worst possible as it is in the critical period of studying for upcoming exams.
Anyhow, I have endured the worst, at least I hope so, workday of the week. I had constantly conference calls today with only sporadic breaks. This while I know what the youths are going through without the possibilities that I can step in and help them. It surely added to my frustration. On top of that, I had some drastic news about organisational changes happening in the company. It could potentially have a direct impact for my team. Let's see what will come in our way...
I think that is the biggest things happening, I am sure I forgot something that I wanted to share. Now I am looking forward to the dinnerthat I started to prepare with the youths and H.
Did you know that today in ... is when ... Randomly picked historical events that occurred on this day. Wed Aug 7 2024, 7:21:08 pm CET Did you know that today in 1890 is when Anna Månsdotter read more about her on Wikipedia., found guilty of the 1889 Yngsjö murder, became the last woman to be executed in Sweden.
Tue Aug 6 2024, 7:20:23 pm CET For just a while ago we learned that J.'s and K.'s flight from Prague got cancelled! They were supposed to be home with us tonight around 22:00 o'clock. But, thus that is not going to happen. The flight was completely cancelled due to technical reasons Here is the initial information I discovered some time before it was known by the group... note the time of the screenshot 18:13 o'clock.. Now, they - all 9 (one of them had booked with another aviation company) of them - are looking for a hotel for the night and it seems they will enjoy another night in the area of the castle of Prague. Maybe not the most practical solution, but let's see how it goes... the benefit of a doubt, as they say.
For us, the parents, we have prepared and done some stuff around the house. I even took some time to do some 3D printing today. I have investigated and printed replacements of bicycle valve caps for my father in law and also something (a surprise) to give to J. when he is back as a symbol on what to come. J. has now an extreme tight schedule to follow to study for his exams. The tight schedule is even tighter with the cancellation of the flight, he is loosing two days in reality.
When we where in Stockholm it just happened by chance (really strange as well) that I found the shop called Brobergs. It is really a "gentlemen's" shop selling cigars and pipes (with all accessories). It just happened that I bought some pipe tobacco. I don't really know why, but it just kind of happened...and here OK, so by chance I bought this one... it is. It is really becoming a new hobby of mine. I love looking up new pipes and tobacco, the philosophy of pipe smoking is something that really attract me. Am I getting old? Well, I feel that it is something that really is me.
We also have enjoyed some unpretentious, mini excursion on Sunday. You have to see it as a micro-, even macro-, holiday. Even if it is a walk in your garden, it can be a mental holiday... Once you do not see the magic in the little you have serious problems. Take your spouse and the loved ones by the hand and guide them out in the magic of nature. Once that stops your life is over. No question. In our case, we were invited for a breakfast in the castle of Rivierenhof by my parents in law. The walk in the park after the breakfast was mentally transformed into a little macro holiday which is exactly what was needed before the busy work week.
Did you know that today in ... is when ... Randomly picked historical events that occurred on this day. Sat Aug 3 2024, 3:00:00 pm CET Did you know that today in 1661 is when the Treaty of The Hague Read more about it on Wikipedia. is signed by Portugal and the Dutch Republic.
Sat Aug 3 2024, 3:01:47 pm CET We arrived back from the Sweden trip, I worked two days (Thursday and Friday of last week) and the youths already left on another trip to Prague. The month of July passed by so quickly, it is already August. I am pretty sure the fantastic holiday we had has something to do with it.
With the delayed flight from Sweden, we only arrived home very late, we finally crawled in bed at around 02:00 on Thursday morning. I was working a few hours later... On Friday morning we had to get up at 03:40 to drive the youths to the airport in Eindhoven. Luckily it went very smooth without any issues to speak of. Other than the fact that we were all very tired...obviously. We have had the first update from them that all the friends - all 10 of them - arrived to the destination safe and sound.
We have been busy unpacking, cleaning and doing the practical things that must be done when returning home after being away. Not always the most fun things to do, it is like coming back to work from holiday and having to deal with all the emails etc. One of the things I did was off-loading all the pictures from the phone, you then see the pictures and remember back to the times and places they were taken. We have done so many nice things but it feels like ages ago... I will share some pictures to give you an idea about the times on the fantastic island of Madeira and the great times we had in Sweden. Here is the first, showing the beautiful little cottage This is the cottage called calhau grande (it means "big rock") where we stayed. Note the fantasttic terrace; all the flowers and the colours in the garden. It was great coming out on the terrace every morning enjoying the coffee and the spectacular views. where we stayed in Madeira. I will for sure contemplate many times back on this holiday! More to come, be sure!
Sat Aug 3 2024, 4:18:34 pm CET Something on a more technical, IT related level I thought I would share with you, is that I am testing a new browser. It has been around for a while for MacOS (with MacOS version dependency) but it was recently released for Windows as well. The web browser called Arc Browser Read more about this new fascinating webbrowser here. by the company called "The Browser Company". Yes, that is really the name of the company. So far - I only installed it yesterday - it looks very interesting and promising as I am more for the minimalistic and streamlined approach. Another web browser that I am using - mostly on Linux (it is actually my default browser on my Linux Mint, Cinnamon installation) - is the streamlined Thorium Browser My default browser on my Linux machine..
Did you know that today in ... is when ... Randomly picked historical events that occurred on this day. Sat Aug 3 2024, 3:00:00 pm CET Did you know that today in 1527 is when the first known letter from North America is sent by John Rut Read more about him on Wikipedia. while being at St. John's, Newfoundland.
