Tue Feb 28 2023, 11:02:32 am CET Today is the day. Not only is it the last day of February, we are also getting the solar panels installed. How exciting! I was awake, for whatever reason, at 04:30 planning out the whole day in my head. Why? That beats me.
Our cleaning lady A is also here and J was up in time to get to school in time. It was a nice "lively" morning with a lot of people in motion - the electrician busy installing battery and transformer, the workers on the roof is maneuvering the mobile crane Impressive mobile crane and the workmanship seems promising so far. to get the panels in place.
OK, I have to go back to work again, still a long day...
2023-02-28 19:29:57 CET OK, the solar panels are installed, the app is installed on my phone and everything is sorted and things are put back in its place. I enjoy seeing the revenue ticking on It's great, I love the apps, the cloud services that this installation comes with. It is fascinating to follow the usage and have the level of insight that I now have. (and down back in my pocket) and seeing how well it works.
I have also bought a new domain name (on the request from J and the ongoing project) tStadCards.com (it's translated to something like "the city cards"). At the moment it is just a forwarding to their existing website, but since the realisation of the high production costs, they have to re-evaluate the project. They have to cut down on the costs and therefore redesign the product that they promote. All a part of true business decisions, a great program they follow and lessons they learn for future endeavours!
Did you know that..? I try to find an interesting historical event that occurred on this day. Tue Feb 28 2023, 11:04:02 am CET Did you know that today in 1983 aired the final episode of the TV series "M*A*S*H" Read more about it on Wikipedia., with almost 106 million viewers. It still holds the record for the highest viewership of a season finale.
2023-02-27 13:59:30 CET And, so the week started as brutally as one can expect after holiday. I already had a couple of calls, soon there is another one scheduled. I have 3 to go, it will be a long working day today. A fresh pot of coffee is already brewing...
J left for school earlier and all of a sudden there is very empty here when all have gone back to their normal daily routines.
OK, that was just a quick update, hopefully I will have more soon! Time to fetch the pot of coffee and join the call...
Did you know that..? I try to find an interesting historical event that occurred on this day. 2023-02-27 13:52:02 CET Did you know that today in 1617 Sweden and the Tsardom of Russia sign the Treaty of Stolbovo Read more about it on Wikipedia., ending the Ingrian War and shutting Russia out of the Baltic Sea.
2023-02-25 18:30:08 CET Today was a day that just passed by and I am not sure where it went. What did I do? Investigating and trying to learn Netlify CMS with Hugo and GitHub but I was constantly interrupted by other things popping up. I plan to take some time for writing, but that never happened.
We spent most of yesterday in Antwerp and went to the Anton Corbijn Expo The Anton Corbijn Expo in Handelsbeurs Antwerpen.. It was really interesting in a fantastic location!
J will have friends over tonight and in a couple of minutes I have to leave for a birthday party. No details mentioned...
Did you know that..? I try to find an interesting historical event that occurred on this day. 2023-02-25 18:35:25 CET Did you know that today in 1916 during the Battle of Verdun Read more about it on Wikipedia., a German unit captures Fort Douaumont, keystone of the French defences, without a fight.
2023-02-23 15:35:51 CET I have enjoyed the day so far tremendously. I have taken today and tomorrow off from work and it couldn't have started better. A quick morning coffee before we drove to Antwerp. Due to a blocked exit from the highway, plans changed and we entered into the city from South, had a great parking just next to where we needed to be - the Royal Museum of fine Arts KMSKA - one of the better art museums I have visited. in Antwerp.
We had brunch just across the street from the museum MurniGreat place and we will surely be back. A famous person in Belgium - Jani - was also there together with Imke Courtois (a known ex woman soccer player).. We really needed the energy before the visit!
Yesterday we had to drive to Rotterdam back and forth. No, not an excursion. It was to pick up J and K who had no means to get home in time. The last train from Amsterdam was suddenly cancelled without any real options other than to get to Rotterdam. So, we jumped in the car and did the 1 hour drive to pick up the youngsters. At midnight we were all back home again...
We did some preparation work on Tuesday in the garage. We need to clear up and make some space free for the Solarpanel installation that happens next week Tuesday. I am very happy with the result, hopefully it's enough for the transformer and batteries. Very excited about that.
Did you know that..? I try to find an interesting historical event that occurred on this day. 2023-02-23 15:59:18 CET Did you know that today in 1934 Leopold III Read more about him on Wikipedia. becomes King of Belgium.
2023-02-20 20:12:27 CET What a fantastic birthday I had. Of all the 50 ones, this was absolutely one of the best ones. Intimate and cosy family excursion, an interesting exhibition called "Swedish Ecstasy" Read more on the Bozar website for details. As it says "Hilma af Klint, August Strindberg and other visionaries"...Swedenborg and Strindberg were my favourites. in Brussels was the highlight. But the very special gifts that I received (from the ladies next door etc), the wishes and kind words (family, childhood friends and old colleagues sharing memories) from near and far overwhelmed me to be honest.
I am still going through everything, today has been a busy half day at work, the we worked in the garage (we have to free up some space for the battery and the transformer for the solar panel installation) which triggers a ripple effect in the garage leading to a lot of "adaptions".
Tomorrow I have a day off for further work around in the house. The plan is that I am back to work on Wednesday and then I am off on Thursday and Friday. Wonderfully planned week! J left this evening to his girlfriend K and tomorrow they are travelling to Amsterdam for a little city-trip with one hotel night. So cool that they love travelling... something he inherited from his dad.
OK, that's a quick summary, more to come...
Did you know that..? I try to find an interesting historical event that occurred on this day. 2023-02-20 19:24:03 CET Did you know that today in 1872 the Metropolitan Museum of Art Read more about it on Wikipedia. opens in New York City.
2023-02-18 11:48:09 CET It's been a nice and relaxed morning so far - nice cups of coffee and cosy breakfast at home the two of us. The last morning as a 40 year old, tomorrow I celebrate half a century of walking the earth.
2023-02-18 14:59:10 CET One of my connections at MastodonSweden.se posted something that really got my attention, namely the ClockworkPi Check this out, I have my eyes on the uConsole. Pity that the A-06 model is sold-out. I just HAVE to take the RPI-CM4 - Raspberry Pi CM4 - version... device. What a cool little handheld device in all-metal casing with a nice screen. Retro-looking too...everything is just too cool about it! Unfortunately there is one think that really suck! I can only order it from US which means I have to pay VAT, shipping and customs costs. The price for the little beauty is $189 and the shipping is $40. That would have been OK. But I will have to pay 39€ and then 21% on top of that. It might be that there are other hidden "handling" costs Ridiculous costs if ordering from outside EU. The legislation is also "clear as mud"... (something called "duane rechten" which I am not sure about) at customs in Belgium. It means that for something that costs $189, I finally have to pay at least 270€. Ridiculous!!! I guess, I can only dream for one...
Did you know that..? I try to find an interesting historical event that occurred on this day. 2023-02-18 11:48:40 CET Did you know that today in 1885 the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Read more about it on Wikipedia. by Mark Twain was published in the United States.
2023-02-17 19:02:32 CET Finally Friday! Not a day too late. But it was a nice work week with an over the top cool thing happening that made up for the complete week!
2023-02-17 20:34:16 CET - check the added image! My son J and I where invited to join my brother-in-law to an Eagle-eye Cherry concert as Christmas gift. The evening arrived yesterday and what an evening it was. A fantastic concert It was a fantastic concert, Eagle-eye is such a professional performer and musician.. It was great seeing such a cool performer, all of us enjoyed every second of it!
J arrived this evening and is now about to leave again for a huge party in Antwerp. The complete Central train station was rented to host this spectacular event. I almost want to go there myself. Hum, maybe I should do a surprise appearance?
2023-02-17 20:47:01 CET I just had an idea for the layout of this site... Of course. Yes, it makes sense! So I am thinking of having a solid 1 month worth of posts before I archive it... The more I think of it, the more convinced I get. OK done, it is decided. I can only find positive things about having it on monthly basis, especially with the current layout...
Did you know that..? I try to find an interesting historical event that occurred on this day. 2023-02-17 19:03:08 CET Did you know that today in 1980 was the first winter ascent of Mount Everest by Krzysztof Wielicki Read more about him on Wikipedia. and Leszek CichyRead more about him on Wikipedia..
2023-02-15 18:29:02 CET It was a tiresome day today. I was tired to start with, which was completely my own fault as we were invited for a Valentine dinner at friends yesterday night. It was a great dinner in Malle with "make your own Pizza" concept. Additionally, it was a challenging day at work today. I am just done actually! Thank god for that wonderful brew called coffee!
J spend the evening and night with K celebrating valentine. From the little I heard so far, it sounded like they had a fantastic time. They are such a cute, romantic, healthy, smart (did I mention cute?) couple! From what I heard until now, J will be back tonight and I'll check with him then (if possible, because they have a get-together for someone's birthday tonight).
After the Migraine ordeal, and luck I did not have it two times, I am back in business. It's always taking an additional day to "get back in shape" and recover completely. It got me thinking , it is something really interesting, interesting how the body is working. Only a fraction of things within medicine is actually known. Something common like migraine is not fully understood. Before we explore other planets, universe and beyond, we should maybe prioritize and put the focus, resources and energy on resolving something very basic, present and actual as sicknesses...
...But now it is time to prepare (everything was already prepared, I just have to heat it up. Luxury!) my dinner.
Did you know that..? I try to find an interesting historical event that occurred on this day. 2023-02-15 18:36:02 CET Did you know that today in 1923 Greece becomes the last European country to adopt the Gregorian calendar.
2023-02-13 08:47:36 CET I was just trying out the search function for this webpage and it worked out great. I was searching for "migraine" and made an interesting finding Here is my post 8 months ago about when it last happened., last time I had it was 16th and 17th of June last year. I think I have never had it twice, two days after each other...
I did not search migraine for fun. Yes, I had it yesterday as well. 8 months since last time, for me is that not so long ago. Normally it goes years between the attacks. I guess, I can be happy if I don't have it again soon (it was a strange one yesterday, it didn't hit me too hard, but enough to ruin my complete Sunday)...
Anyway, I better get started here. We never know what the day will bring...
Did you know that..? I try to find an interesting historical event that occurred on this day. 2023-02-13 08:48:29 CET Did you know that this week it is the freelance writers appreciation weekRead more about it here..
Fri Feb 10 2023, 11:34:50 am CET It's been medium-busy at work, had some late calls with US again about one of the bigger global projects. I do not mind the late calls when the topic is interesting and relevant (with relevant participants).
It's also been busy arranging everything after the car accident. From administrational paper work to practical things arranging the replacement car. It's now all done, I finally have the replacement car from the leasing company. The body repair shop informed me that it will take until beginning of March to get my car fixed (ordering parts and teh fact that there are 30 cars to fix before mine, adds to the time)...
2023-02-10 19:32:35 CET What a wonderful evening it is. Not jinxing it, but it's been some time that it was possible to stop, take some time and enjoy the moment. It is Friday, we are enjoying a glass of wine and the company of each other (J arrived home this evening and seeing how happy and content he is is absolutely fantastic) is what really counts. Then what happened, such as car accidents (as long as there are no injuries) or the daily struggles, doesn't really matter too much. Just some random thoughts I can share here...
Tomorrow, we are looking forward to finally meet with M and A. M who helped J with Chemistry and A who's got the prettiest name there is...
Did you know that..? I try to find an interesting historical event that occurred on this day. Fri Feb 10 2023, 11:39:19 am CET Did you know that today in 1502 Vasco da Gama Read more about him on Wikipedia. sets sail from Lisbon, Portugal, on his second voyage to India.
2023-02-08 20:09:30 CET Today was an ordinary, what ever that means, workday. A lot of calls of which one was late in the evening to cover the US (west coast) time zone.
I will have the loan car for a long time it seems, my car will be fixed only sometime in the first week of March. I will have to return the car I currently have tomorrow, that was from the toing-/road assistance company. A very nice BMW that I didn't mind driving. Let's see what I will get from the leasing company for the remaining time.
This evening seems to be more of a relaxed one. J is home and hopefully we can enjoy "Last of Us" Read more about this fantastic serie on IMDB together. Looking forward to that...
...Techie tooltip text goes here... Just as a little side note (searchable memory notes for me); I have started exploring NextJS (built on top of React) and GraphQL (Hygraph) as new web application technology. It really is interesting technology. I have created a test application in NextJS that queries Hygraph (previously known as GraphQL CMS) CMS system. Today I got it running fine for the first time. Really cool!
Did you know that..? I try to find an interesting historical event that occurred on this day. 2023-02-08 19:16:58 CET Did you know that today in 1885 the first government-approved Japanese immigrants Read more about it on Wikipedia. arrive in Hawaii.
2023-02-06 13:50:28 CET It was somewhat a busy start of week this morning. I was busy with calls the whole morning and then J who starts a new semester today and needed a little "nudge in the right direction" this morning. Lucky us that his grandfather could help out...
J was just back and now he is gone for the night again. We could hardly enjoy the time with him, nor hear the stories properly, before he is gone... This is how it must have been for my parents thus...
Some developments concerning this site; it will now work better on mobile devices such as phones and tablets. I did a small update to cope with various device widthsI added the meta tag for viewport. What a difference just one line of code can make. I knew that it had to be done, but I always forgot about it. It's easily overlooked when it's something easy... and screen resolutions. It's a small thing, but I had to do it for all almost 400 pages. Something that I have put off...
2023-02-06 21:02:56 CET So, I have been doing some 3D printing. . I have done my own design in OpenSCAD Here it is, finally done. I solved the issue for the internal magnet inserts and it worked perfectly when I finally inspected it in the slicer. It's a medium time project, almost 5 hours print time, but it should not be too complicated and it is progressing The new Octoprint theme is fantastic! I can really recommend the plugin called "UI Customizer". fine so far, but I had some struggle with placing the magnets since, for what ever reason, the print job did not pause...
Did you know that..? I try to find an interesting historical event that occurred on this day. 2023-02-06 13:51:02 CET Did you know that today in 1988 Michael Jordan Read more about him on Wikipedia. makes his signature slam dunk from the free throw line inspiring Air Jordan and the Jumpman logo Read more about it on Wikipedia..
2023-02-05 14:33:35 CET Is it possible to go back to Friday? Friday evening? Or maybe if I could turn back the clocks and start over from 11:00 on Saturday to be more precise... No, I guess not. That is not how it works and I am sure I learned something and that there was a universal purpose somehow...
Friday evening was great, we decided to end the week in a very nice Syrian restaurant in Antwerp south called Dilbi If you have the chance to visit, I can strongly recommend it!.
On Saturday morning the new car was delivered. Very exited to finally get the chance to see it and drive in it. I was very pleasantly surprised. Very nice little SUV indeed!
Then, still Saturday, we decided to visit Antwerp (luckily not with the new car), have lunch and then visit the Plantin Moretus museum. It was to celebrate the new car and all the nice things that happened lately. But then destiny had other plans... We were in a car accident. I don't have the energy and mood to go into the details just yet as I am still processing it. The good thing is that there were no injuries and the everything went really smooth. In all the misery... I'll see how the administrational paper work and insurance process goes in the week.
2023-02-05 18:44:36 CET J is back home with us after the trip with his friends to the Ardennes. Nice to be complete again and hearing all the stories how good it was.
Did you know that..? I try to find an interesting historical event that occurred on this day. 2023-02-02 12:05:15 CET Did you know that today in 1907 Belgian chemist Leo Baekeland Read more about him on Wikipedia. announces the creation of Bakelite, the world's first synthetic plastic.
2023-02-02 11:54:57 CET I am enjoying the freshly made coffee and trying to get something installed (not easy, it always gives issues. Installing Oracle client and the SQLTools demands a lot of tweaking) on my work laptop. For what ever reason it keeps failing (I love the random error messages ).
Yesterday we ended up in our little local Italian restaurant Our little local Italian restaurant. It keeps delivering great food and atmosphere. Doesn't look much, but don't let the webpage fool you... , we decided to have dinner out on the first night home alone. It's nice when you plan to go somewhere but it absolutely doesn't happen according to plans and you end up in a place much nicer in the end...
I have a funny story to share. It's funny now after it happened, but when it happens you are really stressing out. At 01:40 J calls and in our sleepy state we miss the call. We try to call back but it takes some time before we actually get hold of him. That is the time when you stress out and imagine all sorts of things... When he finally answers, he is asking if we know where the toothbrush is. Can you imagine?!
Did you know that..? I try to find an interesting historical event that occurred on this day. 2023-02-02 12:05:15 CET Did you know that today it is the Groundhog Day Read more about it here. Interesting is that today is also the National Hedgehog day... and it was first introduced in 1887 Read more about it on Wikipedia..
2023-02-01 18:10:14 CET ..And shmackabooom, we are in February all of a sudden! It's been a more relaxed day at work than yesterday when I had a whole day of remote "workshop". Following a meeting via webcam and headphone for 5 hours is not what I dream about...
J and K were also staying here yesterday while I was 95% of the time busy in the meeting. But what matters is that they had a nice time together. It was the last time they could meet before spending a week apart - she is travelling to London and J to the Ardennes with friends. At lunch J left with a friend who drives the whole way there which is, as parents, always a worry! But he texted me saying that they all arrived there fine. Waiting for pictures now...
I discovered that my little order for the Prusa mini+ 3D printer arrived. I'd ordered heat nozzle sock Something like this is how it looks like. (a heat protection made of silicone) and a Wifi-module for it. I have already fitted the heat-sock on there and it fits perfectly! I started preparing for the Wifi-module; first step is to upgrade the firmware. The firmware and the bootloader were successfully flashed to the 3D printer. Now I just need to fit the hardware into the controlboard.
Did you know that..? I try to find an interesting historical event that occurred on this day. 2023-02-01 17:43:20 CET Did you know that today in 1713 the Kalabalik or Skirmish at Bender Read more about it on Wikipedia. results from the Ottoman sultan's order that his unwelcome guest, King Charles XII of Sweden, be seized.