Sunday, October 26, 2008

Everything in perspective


Thanks Ocean, maybe my blog is in the essence a way to put thoughts in perspective. In my native language we say wie schrijft die blijft. It is a saying originally from business administration meaning that it's necessary for the continuity of an organisation to keep the books in a proper way.

At present the expression is used also to say that a writer remains (well)known after death. Of course it's used in relative sense, but it's absolutely true. If one does his work properly he can stay.
Last week I had my RGW and it was worse than the previous one in December 2006. My team leader and I have a different opinion on how to deal with work that has to be done. I can do better maybe.

I'll change some things but what can't be changed, can't.

Yesterday I've had a time trial at the end of the season of the Sunday club-cycling.
The result wasn't good at all. I rode as a sack potatoes on a bicycle. I couldn't make the real speed which is needed on a small distance of 10.4 kilometer. Maybe my season was too long? More people complaint that they had no power. Well, now we'll have a long period to recover.

And of course there is the financial crisis. In fact, months before the real crunch of the stockmarkets in the world France was warned by their economists.
I photographed in June '08 one bilboard in Avignon announcing a debate about the financial crisis and the impact on the real economy.
Did I have a feeling on that moment that things would go this way? No. I didn't.

It's time for a change!

Ocean, Sarah, Caren and all the others, our generation has to do things different!!We got to think out of the box, think local and act global. We got to learn from eachother more.

Monday, October 20, 2008

736th post

I'm blogging 4 years and 3 months now.
I've written 735 posts and used an average of 150 words. I used per post appr. 30 minutes. That makes 360 hours. That equals 10 working weeks of 36 hours.
Per year I could save 2.35 weeks of vacation if I didn't blog. But I do.

I could do the same with cycling. 4 years cycling with an average of 6,000 k a year equals 24,000k. With an average speed of 28k/hr it means I rode 857 hours in 4.25 years.
Per year I could save 5.6 working weeks if I didn't bicycle. But unfortunately I do.

This week I'll have a newspaper again. I didn't have one for some time now and it felt good. But lately I bought again a daily paper called NRCNext. It's a readable newspaper with all the news, though a little brief. When I received a letter of the publisher to have a free subscription I couldn't say no. It's without obligation so why not?
Exactly at the right moment a few weeks before the US presidential election.

My neighbor isn't doing well. I told you a long time ago about. The cancer worsened. The tumors spread to her liver. A few months ago she was told she would possibly not be alive at the end of the year.
Last week she was told that her life expectation is only 5 to 7 weeks. The day before yesterday she told me. She can't believe herself that it goes so quick. Last week she told me she could still wash herself but now she needs help. She isn't tired with life at all but she is tired of being in her house for so long now. She can't do so many things anymore as she is really weakened. She made a list of the things in her house she'll give away to some people. She checked her testimony, her will.
Now her friends will come at the nights, which she fears most, to sleep and watch over her. This week a hospital bed will be brought. They made a schedule who will sleep in her house. Those are the practical things.
Psychologically it's hard for her too. She has to let everything go. She gives her belongings away, mostly paintings, sculptures and things used in other cultures she collected on her journeys a long time ago.
So she follows almost the path of Taoism. I told her to let the things go. Yes, she said till now all my travels were going somewhere but now I'm going to somewhere which is unknown. I agreed, this will be your biggest journey so far.
Okay, we talked about daily life too. About dog's tax. And we laughed.

Saturday, October 18, 2008

science versus myth

October 7 2008, an Air France-KLM airliner saw an asteroid exploding several kilometers above the ground. The plane was 1,400 kilometers away.
The pilot and crew saw at the estimated time 2 or 3 light pulses which lasted 1.5 seconds. More about this event on eumetsat.

What did people on the ground in Northern Sudan and Arabia see from the spectacle in the sky? Nothing? It can't be. It happened at 02.45 UTC, early in the morning local time. I don't think nobody saw it.

How do they explain the event? Will this be the basis of a new myth?
It might that people who don't know anything about world economy will link this event with drying up of the help of NGOs and UNHCR.

Sunday, October 12, 2008

Burning World

Well, well, well, what's going on? Sarah is not gonna marry (I'm puzzled), the world still has it's financial crisis and smart people say the worst part is over.

Why doesn't anybody except Sarah take it all serious. Of course the world is burning, however you don't see it. It's like a fire in the moor. Under the surface the fire hides waiting for some oxygen.

The burning world also stands for human beings burning fossiles as their energy. It's time for change. Time to choose Obama.

I'm tired; cycled 200 kilometer this weekend. Tomorrow I got to wake up early, so adios.

Sunday, October 05, 2008

Bad weekend

This I found on Sarah's blog, LOL



So I could laugh this weekend. hahaha= that means lol laugh out loud

This weekend started with a statement of our Government that Fortis and ABN Amro are bought by the Government. Due to the credit crisis Fortis had liquidity problems. ABN Amro was part of the problems because Fortis bought that bank which they couldn't afford really.

As ABN Amro is my bank I had a bad week, with some worries. Thursday I transferred some Euro's to another big bank/insurer ING, mainly because they made me a good offer.

People of the US, and other individuals, you made a mess of the worldwide financial market and you know why.. You buy to much you can't really afford. You make war which you have to win at all costs.. And poverty in the US and the world is sky high.. there is no balance.. The Netherlands were going that way. Hopefully this credit crisis will be stopped by legislation because what can happen will happen.

The world has to stop the irresponsible self enrichment of (businesses and) private persons (former Prime Minister Wim Kok said it already 10 years ago) because it will bring down the fragile balance there could be on this world.


Another sad thing was the "collission" between my teamleader and I.
We had a conversation about work. I was irritated and negative about a lot of things.
Maybe another time I tell more about it. It's 11 o'clock already.