Sat Jul 1 2023, 9:04:12 pm CET Another month has started. And it started good, busy but good, I must say. I must say that June ended even more busy than July begun... We are just back from Utrecht after a very nice time with our Dutch friends A and P. It was especially nice this time, we can really talk open and freely with them. Very special friends!
It was "planned" on Friday that J would arrive home (somewhere) during the day. He had been away for a couple of days celebrating his girlfriend's birthday. The problem was that I had an appointment in Brussels on Friday to ..ehum.. change tyres. Yes, into summer tyres. It's a long story starting in February of this year with the accident I had that took months to fix, two missed appointments at the garage...let's leave it at that. I left early to be on time for the appointment... it ended that I was 10 minutes late after have been stuck in traffic on the ring of Antwerp for an hour. I was clearly not going to be able to keep the strict schedule so J got picked up by H while I was waiting to get the tyres fitted.
All worked out fine, J and H arrived safely at home. I finally got the tyres and after another 2 hours in traffic (two accidents on the ring of Antwerp going back) I arrived home and could finally hug and connect with J again. Yes, it doesn't stop there. J was going to a friend the same evening where all his friends would come together to catch a very early flight from Rotterdam to Spain the following morning. We had a very limited time to spend some quality time with our son. The final packing for the trip had to be done too. Well, then all of a sudden we had to let him go again. Now he is away again for a week. Tough to be a parent!
Tomorrow we have another appointment with friends. It's been changed, postponed, cancelled, Changed.... for months. Now finally we all meet up at our place for a lunch. There are people there that I have not seen in years...how about 10 years, I think?
I also have to mention something about upcoming plans. It just hit me that next week is my last working week before our holiday. It will start by us going to my home country Sweden for 9 days together with J and K. We have an Airbnb there outside Stockholm, arranged for a rental car for the time to be able to move around freely. Mobility is so important, maybe the most important ingredient for a successful holiday. OK, then after Sweden, we have booked a real close family trip to Greece again. This time to the mainland but with the same travel agency - the concept of Flight, stay and rental car. Again; flexibility and mobility. Mobility!
Well, that is it. Now it's time to zoom out for a second and then go to bed...
Today in ... is the day... Randomly picked historical events that occurred on this day. Thu Jun 29 2023, 8:15:51 pm CET Did you know that today in 1885 is the day when the Congo Free StateRead about it on Wikipedia. One person responsible for a not very nice period in Belgian history... is established by King Leopold II of Belgium.
Thu Jun 29 2023, 8:08:04 pm CET Hey, here I am. I did not forget you... It's just been...well you know, a tad too busy. No worries, all is extremely good but it's just been a lot with everything - at work and privately.
Anyways, I have managed to squeeze in 3D printing. It is important not to forget what inspires and to do what we get energy from. What ever it might be. Like what we talked about in my team the other morning; how getting older gives us a certain distance to things that previously gave me stress. A little a bit of the attitude of "who the hell are you? Well I tell you, you little shit...". That is one of the perks of getting older. I found it, I have found something positive of getting old and wise. "Old and wise", I should say!
Anyway, most of what's happening these days, what we see in the newspapers, are things that I think "what? Is this really what's on stake for becoming a member of NATO", or "is this really what you are fighting for, is it worth committing war crimes for that? For an fantasy picture that someone living still in the times of the cold war..."? It leaves the feeling of "is this reality, when can we leave the imaginary world and go back to reality. Please, come back to humanity and morality".
Anyways, for the other things that happened I will come back on. My other thoughts; for you to think of...
Today in ... is the day... Randomly picked historical events that occurred on this day. Thu Jun 29 2023, 8:15:51 pm CET Did you know that today in 1952 is the day when the first Miss Universe pageant is held. Armi Kuusela Read more about it on Wikipedia. from Finland wins the title of Miss Universe 1952.
Sun Jun 25 2023, 11:18:28 pm CET I have a couple of busy days behind me. Strange, it's been manageable but maybe more mentally busy... if you know what I mean. Brain-busy. Brain is constantly dealing with stuff which affects sleep and the everyday life. Maybe it's due to the heat and everything just simply goes slower...
We have absolutely no inspiration for food or anything else for that matter. I have no inspiration what so ever today in this extreme heat. At this very moment, we are waiting for our Pizzas to arrive. Since yesterday, J is not feeling at 100% and is taking it chill and re-charging.
We are now done with the garden, the hedges are completely trimmed, flowers and plants have been arranged and planted (some re-planted) to their final place. It really was an ordeal in - yes, you guessed it - the extreme heat.
Tomorrow a very busy week starts, I have to keep telling myself to take every day as it comes. Live in the moment. You never know what the next minutes brings. This is something great I heard which fits perfectly now: "There are two days you never can change, those days are yesterday and tomorrow."
Today in ... is the day... Randomly picked historical events that occurred on this day. Sun Jun 25 2023, 7:53:51 pm CET Did you know that today in 1947 is the day when The Diary of a Young Girl read more about it on Wikipedia. (better known as The Diary of Anne Frank) is published.
Wed Jun 21 2023, 8:27:31 pm CET Some eventful days behind me - at work and privately. Very specific and technical at work not worth detailing out here, but just mentioning it was a lot going on. The complete spectrum of "huh? how are you reasoning now" to "oh, that is so interesting"! The complexities continued until late today (and still ongoing as there is no easy resolution), it ended just a few minutes ago.
J did his last exam and completed everything he had to for this semester. There were some unexpected outcomes he did not see coming. Backstabbing from some of, what he thought were his allied in the project, is something he yet has to get some experience in. Anyway, he did the right thing, his heart and moral is absolutely in the right place. We had a very nice and close talk in the car when I picked him up from the tram. It's fascinating to experience his reasoning - meaning of life, !
Something else that I was busy with was AI and especially creating imagines and graphics by AI tools. I especially like Playground AI It's such a fantastic service - you can create 1000 free images per day. Amazing and so much fun!. It's a fantastic service!
Today in ... is the day... Randomly picked historical events that occurred on this day. Wed Jun 21 2023, 8:31:56 pm CET Did you know that today in 2009 is the day when Greenland Read more about it on Wikipedia. assumes self-rule.
Mon Jun 19 2023, 8:17:08 pm CET OK, the workweek started and what can I say, it was a typical heavy Monday. Bucket loads of coffee was certainly needed to get the brain going. The day ended with a, let's say, very interesting conference call. It is fascinating how some people plan (or the lack of) and absolutely doesn't see it and try to blame others.
I am just back from picking up J from the tram station (he did the exam and then a meeting with the "Small Business Project" team) after ending the day seeing his girlfriend K. They haven't seen each other in a week so I am sure it was a very nice meetup! I know he's really missed her, they are so cute together!
Now, the three of us are enjoying the evening together and trying to relax. Sometimes it's difficult to just zoom out after a crazy day. Tomorrow, I have an early call and our cleaning lady A. is here as well. That's as far as I will let myself plan for tomorrow...
Today in ... is the day... Randomly picked historical events that occurred on this day. Mon Jun 19 2023, 8:03:30 pm CET Did you know that today in 1770 is the day when Emanuel SwedenborgRead more about him on Wikipedia. wrote: "The Lord sent forth His twelve disciples, who followed Him in the world into the whole spiritual world to preach the Gospel that the Lord God Jesus Christ reigns. This took place on the 19th day of June, in the year 1770."
Sun Jun 18 2023, 7:02:24 pm CET So the weekend is almost running at the end. As always, it was a fantastic time. We spent most of the time in the garden, working on trimming the hedges. It is a project (it's like a love-hate project) every year and you know it if you have seen our hedges - they are about 4 and 3 meters high and running about 25 meters on each side. And they are at least 1 meter deep. Well, it's not so much the volume, but more all the obstacles (all plants that we have to cover and the pond just next to it etc) and things that are in the way (my back is one frustrating factor as well) and the preparation work that adds to the effort and work time. Well, the feeling of satisfaction you feel after it done makes it all worth it!
At the same time during our garden project, J is studying for his last exam in "business law". A ridiculously huge exam and very underestimated in the (teenage) planning ...we will see how that goes...tomorrow!
Another workweek is about to start and I can see in my planning that it will be a very interesting one. Full of calls critical to the future of the projects. I am sure that it will be a big surprise for the parties involved. Especially since I am thinking they are planning to have everyone available during the holiday season - I will certainly not be available in July... Anyway, we in the team have planned for all possibilities. As always!
OK, now time to relax and enjoy the last moments of the weekend...
Today in ... is the day... Randomly picked historical events that occurred on this day. Sun Jun 18 2023, 5:38:04 pm CET Did you know that today in 1858 is the day when Charles Darwin receives a paper from Alfred Russel WallaceRead more about it on Wikipedia. that includes nearly identical conclusions about evolution as Darwin's own, prompting Darwin to publish his theory.
Fri Jun 16 2023, 11:11:25 pm CET Ohhhwieeeeee, it's Friday at last. And we have no real plans for the evening except our dinner with J. and a movie (it will be the new "Top Gun") for tonight. What a treat!
OK, so the exam that J did today seemed to have been OK. It's difficult to say if there was no correction done and J doesn't like to make any assumptions before hand, but still; I was surprised when he said that he thinks he passed it. We'll just have to wait and see how he did. The positive is that he is passionate about it, it seems to be a good direction in his education that fits him well. We also hear about connections and interactions he is making, a lot of it is within music. J has been playing guitar for 7-8 years and has a real talent for it. He's been sharing some of his creations. One thing leads to another and all of a sudden it reaches the right person and... it's how life is.
For the rest, it was a busy working day with some critical conference calls. One, and it just happened to be the last one, was a real eye-opener! More to come on Monday... A new global project will also commence as of next week as well with a lot of focus on. Something big turned immense all of a sudden...
Another thing that I have been researching privately was some artificial intelligence services provided out there. I have explored the extensions available for internet browsers and even the latest Google AI service called Bard... like if that escaped you. It's only available in US and UK, but I have tried it out alreadyHere is a little sneak peak on how it looks....
OK, all of a sudden (not really, we were out watering the garden in the meantime) the time passed 23:00 o'clock and I am completely exhausted. Tired! Let's see if I still can do some reading or/and watching Youtube documentaries...
Today in ... is the day... Randomly picked historical events that occurred on this day. Fri Jun 16 2023, 10:36:31 pm CET Did you know that today is the Ugliest Dog DayRead more about it here..
Wed Jun 14 2023, 7:11:12 pm CET Today was a day full of conference calls. The day ended with a call to inform us about the future of one specific project. It's especially interesting for me as it potentially involves a lot of travelling in central eastern Europe but also in Middle east. It was an interesting call, but we'll just have to see when we get the specific details about the scope etc.
It was another extremely warm day today, no wind and full on sun, at least 30 C. (in the shade). After work I tried to enjoy sitting in the sun but after 15 minutes it felt like I was fainting of heatstroke.
J keeps studying now 100% (he is having sometimes some discussions with his parents on what he need to focus at) of the time without his K. He is doing it so good, the little "skatt" of ours...
Today in ... is the day... Randomly picked historical events that occurred on this day. Wed Jun 14 2023, 7:10:15 pm CET Did you know that today in 1900 is the day when the Hawaii Read more about it on Wikipedia. becomes a United States territory.
Tue Jun 13 2023, 10:21:54 pm CET Today was a classic working day, with some exceptions of course! Interesting calls (I especially looked forward to speaking with my colleague Sandrine) and other no so much. More a feeling of what a %#$% waste of my time. Anyways, it's all in my working descriptions apparently.
I received the Remote Control that I had to send back to be repaired. I received a new one (not sure if it's a new one or something that they have repaired already) but after some initial issue (they did not properly insert the connecting cable between the RC and the mobile phone) to get it connected with my drone, a software update and finally an acknowledgment of a new device that is connected to my drone (I actually thought that is amazing) I was able to do a little flight over the rooftops (even with a small video recording of our solar panel installation) today. Oh, how I love it!
J was studying good today, H met with some colleagues for dinner and I managed to throw something together (a vegetarian paella mix together with a lot of left-overs which made it certainly not vegetarian anymore). I was happy with the result! Before I took all the pillows in for the night I could enjoy the summer evening with a nice Achel Trappist beer. It was really a moment of full enjoyment! I came to the mental realisation that all is actually extremely good! It was one of those micro holiday moments...
Today in ... is the day... Randomly picked historical events that occurred on this day. Tue Jun 13 2023, 10:08:43 pm CET Did you know that today is the International Axe Throwing DayRead more about it here....
Mon Jun 12 2023, 1:37:46 pm CET So the work week has started, the first day is already half gone in fact. I certainly enjoyed the much needed coffee this morning.
The Pizza dinner with the youth yesterday was great. J looked tired and maybe a little bit nervous for the exam today. It's been a lot of catching up in the few days he had to study. It's certainly not been the easiest in this heat-wave that we are having at the moment, it was still 28 C at 23:00 o'clock yesterday.
I got the scare of my life yesterday night when driving home from Antwerp (after have dropped off the youth there). I was riding in the right most lane and all of a sudden the car in front of me throws himself into the other lane on the left. Only then I noticed that there was a car maybe 50 meters in front of us standing still in our lane with the Hazard warning lights on. It was too late to brake, there was a car close behind me, so what I did was only possible with the Polestar 2 (dual motor, Long Range with 408 hp), I hit the "pedal to the metal" to accelerate enough to clear the car left of us. Only then I could change the lane to avoid (only by centimetres) an accident. I think it took me about 5 minutes before I could breath again..!
Mon Jun 12 2023, 2:21:04 pm CET I was just reading my posts here and what I wrote exactly one year ago Rest In Peace Frank.... It's very interesting to go back and check what happened, what we were doing and learn where my thoughts were. Anyway, I read that it was this time last year that Frank - my ex manager, my colleague and friend - passed away. Rest in peace Frank!
Today in ... is the day... Randomly picked historical events that occurred on this day. Mon Jun 12 2023, 1:34:25 pm CET Did you know that today in 1550 is the day when the city of Helsinki, Finland (belonging to Sweden at the time) is founded by King Gustav I Read more about him on Wikipedia. of Sweden.
Sun Jun 11 2023, 5:48:55 pm CET It's been a typical cozy Sunday, the youth studied most of the day; and still they are. Poor them, not easy studying (or doing anything for that matter) in this heat. No oxygen and we all are feeling very flat. We are enjoying every second when the youth (son J and girlfriend K) are here, so therefore the parents are feeling little bit blue since they are soon off to Antwerp and the week begins.
It's been a great and productive weekend, we did a lot of work in the garden. Really fantastic being out and doing some physical work. Very satisfying seeing the nice result. The little gray cloud on an otherwise a clear blue sky is the pain in my back. Well, it is something I have to live with and take into consideration in anything that I do. But sometimes it's very frustrating!
OK, we are about to go and get some Pizza's to enjoy together before we drive them into Antwerp.
Today in ... is the day... Randomly picked historical events that occurred on this day. Sun Jun 11 2023, 5:49:25 pm CET Did you know that today in 1770 is the day when British explorer Captain James CookRead more about him on Wikipedia. runs aground on the Great Barrier Reef.
2023-06-09 19:25:42 CET I especially enjoyed the coffee this morning, the fantastic pot of coffee was shared with J. He studied most of the day and shared his plan to go for the exam of Financial Management and not wait with it for next term. It's a baldly move since he also have the exam for Law and order to study for. Anyway, it's nice to see how he plans and learn. J and I picked up J's girlfriend K at the tram station, just before some interesting calls I had to attend. I was glad to get out and enjoy the fantastic warm and sunny weather - it was 30 Celsius today.
Today I also did a 3D print, a request to 3D re-print an existing old object, the two part soap dish. Both parts were 3D printed in white PLA and then the post-process was done with applying Epoxy layers. I printed the tray part today in Golden PLA This is a great PLA, the brand "REAL" always deliver with great filament.
Now the youth is out enjoying themselves in an idyllic surrounding, the parents will enjoy a glass of wine and some homecooked meal and our TV show streaming on Netflix or Prime at the moment. Could also be a downloaded Swedish series. It's Friday, we will decide...
Today in ... is the day... Randomly picked historical events that occurred on this day. 2023-06-09 19:25:21 CET Did you know that today in 1922 is the day when Åland's Read more about it on Wikipedia. Regional Assembly convened for its first plenary session in Mariehamn, Åland today, the day is celebrated as Self-Government Day of Åland.
2023-06-08 10:29:06 CET It's already 8th of June, the month just started and BABOOOM we're almost in the middle of the month.
I was looking forward a relaxed pace this morning, but then we remembered an appointment we had made for this morning, a last minute booking done at the hairdresser. I could forget about the "relaxed morning". Luckily I was able to have the conference call I could do in the car went fine, so that's good.
2023-06-08 18:51:18 CET The earlier post was written some 8 hours ago... Something came in between that I had to jump on and then there were some more conference calls and work to do. Again, KAWABOOOOM, it's evening again. And that how the days passes by.
So what's happening the last couple of days? I finalized the network setup; I decided to bring all the Raspberry Pi:s onto the new subnet IP range. Work great. But, I am just starting to get annoyed on how slow our "family computer" (an HP all in one computer) is. Is it due to the new internet/network setup?
The DJI customer support experience has also been a pleasant experience so far. So, I discovered that the controller stopped working (in short) and I contacted online support (friendly person who I started chatting with online) who recommended to send it back. It's always a weird thing to pack it in and send it by post. It's like, "will I ever see it again", kind of feeling. I mean, it's gone and a very (expensive) important thing. Without it I am not able to fly my precious drone It is an absolutely fantastic drone. The complete concept of the drone - the flying capability, the software, services and the overall experience is fantastic! Have a look at this clip to understand what it's all about... I love it! . It is a very satisfying feeling when I get all the emails from DJI support/customer service ensuring me that it's "all good". I have received messages saying that "we have received your controller and currently doing the investigation". Then earlier today I received the message that, "...all is good. The result is that we will fix it and send it back to you for free". It continued today when I received emails (in German of course... good that I am practically fluent in German) from DHL that is handling the logistics. So far, it's been spotless!
Today in ... is the day... Randomly picked historical events that occurred on this day. 2023-06-08 20:05:08 CET Did you know that today in 1984 is the day when the homosexuality is decriminalized in the Australian state of New South WalesRead more about it on Wikipedia..
2023-06-04 20:06:14 CET Today was a different day, not sure where it went. Completely crazy how fast it went! On top of it, or maybe just because of it, it's a Sunday and that why it felt even faster. Enough with the theory. The weather was again brilliant today which was nice to enjoy but made it difficult for J to focus on studying.
I was busy most of the day trying to resolve the issue with my network which happened after the technician was here from Proximus. It took some time before I figured out what the root cause is, slowly but steadily I could tick off the issues from the list. Satisfying on one hand, but frustrating at the same time as it's very time consuming thing to work with. Long and complicated story, but all came down to that my private network was moved to a different subnet, with a different network mask. If the technician would have told me, my life would have been much easier. Basically, I was busy fixing the conflicts, moving my devices into the correct IP range, fixing local web applications (Opendocman Read more about it here on the homepage. was especially a struggle), setting up the media computer with all its dependencies and services.
Luckily I could alternate the geeky stuff with enjoying the weather sitting in the garden, study support to J and doing some chores around the house and other planned obligations.
Tomorrow is a big day for J, he has his first exam (something like within business financial) for this period. It seems he has a good understanding of the content, but again with no margin over and his plan is to study until the last second. I really hope he does well, he deserves it! If he would have followed some of the plans from us he would not be in such a stress now... Sorry, just saying.
Today in ... is the day... Randomly picked historical events that occurred on this day. 2023-06-04 19:58:19 CET Did you know that today in 1783 is the day when the Montgolfier brothers Read more about it on Wikipedia. publicly demonstrate their montgolfière (hot air balloon).
2023-06-03 23:23:55 CET What beautiful days we're having here, the weather is fantastic.
Friday ended with spending hours to fix out home network and internet as I had to get a technician over from Proximus to resolve the issue that I struggled with most of the day. It resulted in a new modem/router and also a brand new Wifi "booster". We should have great coverage now! What the technician forgot to mention is that I have now a complete new internet service, new network with completely new IP ranges and LAN services. Probably he didn't know my network setup. Not a lot of people have this setup at home. We never stop learning...
We enjoyed an absolute fantastic evening last night with son J and his girl friend K. We received the great gift from K (how cool is that) of a "candle light concert". Indeed, what is that? It's a trio playing classic instruments and this performance they covered Queen songs with their normal violin, an alt violin and a cello. Imagine all this happening in a church hall covered with live lights. Absolutely spectacular! The experience only got better with the fabulous interaction that they had with the crowd! Later, when we walked back to the car through the city of Antwerp, it was pure magic. The parents went back home together with a huge smile, J and K stayed. We both enjoyed a perfect evening, a memory for life!
I have just completed a very satisfying 3D print, a bag clamp. It only took 1 hour with a perfect result. Another very satisfying thing was that I send away the remote control to get my DJI remote control repaired. Not sure if I mentioned it, but it just stopped working and I can not for the life of me understand why it happened. I am very curious how that will work out...
Anyway people, I really have to go to bed. Last night was very late, I could not enjoy the bed before 2 am as I was trying to fix some of the network issues I still struggled with after the Proximus technician was here...
Today in ... is the day... Randomly picked historical events that occurred on this day. 2023-06-03 20:11:51 CET Did you know that today in 1844 is the day when the last pair of great auks Read more about them on Wikipedia. The question I have, who killed the last bird...? is killed.
2023-06-01 09:59:45 CET I am enjoying a nice pot of coffee, the very first morning in June.
I was cleaning up and freeing up some additional disk space on one of my Raspberry Pi's - the one that is running a surveillance camera like system. It's based on the Python solution referred as Picamera The fantastic Picamera Python solution.. Basically a picture is taken and stored every time a movement is detected. Once the predefined folder size (where the pictures are saved) reached I am triggering a process that will take all the images and compile them into a short movie. The movie is moved into a folder acting as a temporary holding location on the SD card. Now and then I have to archive these short movies to my hard drive on the PC to free up some storage. To have these recordings has proven to be very useful, now and then I have a look and detect interesting things. So, the other day I saw myself There I was, trying out the car washing accessory for the high pressure cleaner. It worked really well! how I used the high pressure cleaner with the car wash accessory.
Today in ... is the day... Randomly picked historical events that occurred on this day. 2023-06-01 09:57:59 CET Did you know that today in 1495 is the day when a monk, John Cor, records the first known batch of Scotch whisky Read more about it on Wikipedia..