Tonight The Dutch channel VPRO aired a brilliant documentary called 'Nederland van Boven' (Holland from above). Especially the broadcast about our famous koninginnedag (queens-day) on April 30 shows how some of our public funded TV makes good journalism.
The only link I could produce is here (click on the video named koninginnedag). Dutch only unfortunately...
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Caught Speeding in Germany
This morning I recieved a letter from the German Police in Brandenburg (near Berlin). Apparently, I had committed an 'Ordnungswidrigkeit', driving 133 km/h where 120 was allowed.
We were travelling from The Hague to the farm in Poland, some 1,080 kms. Looking at the picture they took, I'm not surprised. After a long stretch doing approximately 200 km/h I look a little concentrated.
The fine is only 20 euro, far less than Holland.
The evidence is here:
We were travelling from The Hague to the farm in Poland, some 1,080 kms. Looking at the picture they took, I'm not surprised. After a long stretch doing approximately 200 km/h I look a little concentrated.
The evidence is here:
Saturday, October 8, 2011
Steve Jobs: How to live before you die
My fellow Penumbrian Julian Woodward posted this on Facebook, and I couldn't resist doing the same here on my blog: http://www.ted.com/talks/steve_jobs_how_to_live_before_you_die.html
wow.
wow.
Yes we have pictures!
It took me a while to process the 2500 pics we took (mostly on the Canon 550D I bought in Singapore last year), but here they are!
It takes 15 minutes of your life to see them all, so my suggestion is to put on some nice 'Lion King' music and click on the slideshow button (top left).
(here's the link for ipad: https://picasaweb.google.com/wouter.aukema/SelfDriveSafariThroughBotswanaAndNamibia?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCP60oaifnOTLCw&feat=directlink
Look forward to your reactions.
It takes 15 minutes of your life to see them all, so my suggestion is to put on some nice 'Lion King' music and click on the slideshow button (top left).
(here's the link for ipad: https://picasaweb.google.com/wouter.aukema/SelfDriveSafariThroughBotswanaAndNamibia?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCP60oaifnOTLCw&feat=directlink
Look forward to your reactions.
Friday, September 30, 2011
Rainbow over the Victoria Falls
When visiting Vic Falls in Zimbabwe, we took a ride with a helicopter. Much worth the $$ ;-)
Our first Self-Drive in Botswana, part 1
With this post, I will try to describe our wonderful first Africa experience day by day, along with some photo material. As this takes quite some time to produce, I will be posting seperate parts over the next couple of days/weeks.
August 27, 2011
Flight from Amsterdam to Johannesburg with KLM KL591 in a Boeing 777-200. Uncomfortable seats in economy, sober catering and the old entertainment system made it a long long flight.
Spend the night at a Protea hotel near the airport. What a fantastic first experience. Very friendly staff, nice atmosphere and the waiter came to our table with champagne for breakfast! Cost appr. ZAR 750 p.p. sharing.
August 28, 2011
Flight from Johannesburg to Kasane with Air Botswana in an Aerospatiale/Alenia ATR42-500 turboprop 42-74. First time in my life that I flew backwards! (not the plane, just my seat was opposite to my wife's ;-) Cost ZAR 4,072.00 for our 2 return tickets.
Friendly guy from Bushlore who told us he had been driving all day and night to deliver our car in time.
It's a Toyota Hilux 2.5TD DC 4x4, fully equipped with rooftent, camping gear, fridge, gas & water. Marco de Lange from Tongasabi had arranged this car for me. The guy gave detailed instructions, and spend a lot of effort on correctly filling in the paperwork. We dropped him off down-town and bought him some drinks for his return trip.
Did our first shopping at Choppies. Great to experience a supermarket in Botswana for the first time. Trying my best to drive on the left side of the road...
Off to Chobe Safari Lodge, to discover its already full. (you cannot book a campsite in advance, first-come-first-serve only) Hmm, I had not planned to already having to improvise on day one. Especially because the diesel-tank appears rather empty and it's 2 hours before it gets dark.
Used the wonderful Garmin GPS that Come-Along-Safaries had borrowed us for this trip. Loaded with Tracks4Africa maps and details, it was simple to find an alternative camp site: Senyati Camp, some 14 kilometers south-west of Kasane. (S17 52.362 E25 14.138, email) Rather deep sand road! Elephants! Me nervous! Don't wanna get stuck in the sand! Pff.... we made it :)
The owner is named Lou, a very friendly host. Honesty bar on the deck with a fantastic view on the waterpool some 10 meters away where elephants, baboons and others come to drink. What a great place to be in! Setting up the tent for the first time was easy. 5 Minutes and we were done.
Getting dark, lots of noises. Loud sounds from the elephants at the pool, kind of sounds you never heard in the zoo.
Cooked a lovely diner on the campfire, drank a couple of beers, went to bed at 20.00. Wow, what a first day!
August 29, 2011
Woke up by the sounds of ground hornbills at 6am. Thought it was people marching and singing in the distance! Black man came to make a fire so we will have warm water. Hmm, my wife had a cold shower.Guess that didn't work to well. I'll skip the shower for today... It is so nice here, that we quickly decided to stay a second night. The bread for breakfast is not as nice as I had hoped.
Went off to Kasane to look around, exhange 1,000 of our ZAR's into BWP's and get our 160 liter diesel tank filled. Surprise! We meet the same guy from Bushlore again, chatting with some locals. Seriously wonder if our car ever got driven all the way from Johannesburg. More likely, the previous driver had handed it in in Kasane too... (11 days later this proved to be true... Shame on you Bushlore...)
To be continued (soon)...
August 27, 2011
Flight from Amsterdam to Johannesburg with KLM KL591 in a Boeing 777-200. Uncomfortable seats in economy, sober catering and the old entertainment system made it a long long flight.
Spend the night at a Protea hotel near the airport. What a fantastic first experience. Very friendly staff, nice atmosphere and the waiter came to our table with champagne for breakfast! Cost appr. ZAR 750 p.p. sharing.
August 28, 2011
Flight from Johannesburg to Kasane with Air Botswana in an Aerospatiale/Alenia ATR42-500 turboprop 42-74. First time in my life that I flew backwards! (not the plane, just my seat was opposite to my wife's ;-) Cost ZAR 4,072.00 for our 2 return tickets.
It's a Toyota Hilux 2.5TD DC 4x4, fully equipped with rooftent, camping gear, fridge, gas & water. Marco de Lange from Tongasabi had arranged this car for me. The guy gave detailed instructions, and spend a lot of effort on correctly filling in the paperwork. We dropped him off down-town and bought him some drinks for his return trip.
Did our first shopping at Choppies. Great to experience a supermarket in Botswana for the first time. Trying my best to drive on the left side of the road...
Off to Chobe Safari Lodge, to discover its already full. (you cannot book a campsite in advance, first-come-first-serve only) Hmm, I had not planned to already having to improvise on day one. Especially because the diesel-tank appears rather empty and it's 2 hours before it gets dark.
Used the wonderful Garmin GPS that Come-Along-Safaries had borrowed us for this trip. Loaded with Tracks4Africa maps and details, it was simple to find an alternative camp site: Senyati Camp, some 14 kilometers south-west of Kasane. (S17 52.362 E25 14.138, email) Rather deep sand road! Elephants! Me nervous! Don't wanna get stuck in the sand! Pff.... we made it :)
Getting dark, lots of noises. Loud sounds from the elephants at the pool, kind of sounds you never heard in the zoo.
Cooked a lovely diner on the campfire, drank a couple of beers, went to bed at 20.00. Wow, what a first day!
August 29, 2011
Woke up by the sounds of ground hornbills at 6am. Thought it was people marching and singing in the distance! Black man came to make a fire so we will have warm water. Hmm, my wife had a cold shower.Guess that didn't work to well. I'll skip the shower for today... It is so nice here, that we quickly decided to stay a second night. The bread for breakfast is not as nice as I had hoped.
Went off to Kasane to look around, exhange 1,000 of our ZAR's into BWP's and get our 160 liter diesel tank filled. Surprise! We meet the same guy from Bushlore again, chatting with some locals. Seriously wonder if our car ever got driven all the way from Johannesburg. More likely, the previous driver had handed it in in Kasane too... (11 days later this proved to be true... Shame on you Bushlore...)
To be continued (soon)...
Friday, September 23, 2011
Sunspot in Zimbabwe
Enjoying a lovely dinner (ao. a good piece of warthog) at the Victoria Falls Safari Lodge in Zimbabwe, I took this close-up of the sun setting down in Zimbabwe. To my surprise I noticed that I probably captured a real sunspot (wikipedia):
At first I thought this was caused by some dust or dirt on my lens. This was not the case.
Would be great if someone with more experience could confirm (or explain what this is)...
Would be great if someone with more experience could confirm (or explain what this is)...
Thursday, September 22, 2011
African ATM Out of Order
Unfortunately I could not locate a mouse or keyboard ;-)
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Recognize this?
Giraffes are wonderful animals. Take a look at this close-up that my wife shot, isn't it cute?
Now imagine we're (game-) driving that very same morning, just a couple of hours later. We spotted a hyena that was walking in the field at about 200 meters from us, carrying something big in his mouth. So I immediately drove up there to get a closer look:
Several days later, we had driven through some rough terrain and opened our fridge to get a nice cool beer. It appeared that a bottle of ketchup had exploded. I couldn't resist to add this picture, to make the giraffe story even more dramatic:
Crossing Third Bridge in Moremi, Botswana
Thank you Roger Beeckman for shooting and sending me this great picture of our Third Bridge crossing!
A while later Roger had to help out another self-driving couple who got stuck in the sand.
A while later Roger had to help out another self-driving couple who got stuck in the sand.
As a first timer, I'm proud that we never got stuck ourselves (at least not in the sand, but that's a different story) ...
Bridge washed away in Botswana
This is why we couldn't travel from Toteng to Maun, on the 'normal' road:
For the local pedestrians, some people had improvised a ferry:
For the local pedestrians, some people had improvised a ferry:
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Preparing for our Safari in Botswana
Busy entering waypoints into the Garmin GPS, here's where we're going:
With a tented 4x4 that Bushlore is going to deliver to us in Kasane, we're going camping during our two week safari in and aroung the Okavango Delta. Hans (owner of Come Along Safaries) provided excellent help in organizing our trip, and was so kind to make the Garmin available to us.Without his help, I would never have been able to organize all this myself. If ever you have plans yourself go and use him, serious.
Here's some video (sorry for the google ad):
Will be posting more once we're back... (and we're back!)
With a tented 4x4 that Bushlore is going to deliver to us in Kasane, we're going camping during our two week safari in and aroung the Okavango Delta. Hans (owner of Come Along Safaries) provided excellent help in organizing our trip, and was so kind to make the Garmin available to us.Without his help, I would never have been able to organize all this myself. If ever you have plans yourself go and use him, serious.
Here's some video (sorry for the google ad):
Will be posting more once we're back... (and we're back!)
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Wie zit ernaast, NOS of CBS? Of misschien ikzelf?
Beste NOS,
Bij het lezen van een bericht op nos.nl (dit bericht: http://nos.nl/artikel/253897-bevolking-groeit-naar-166-miljoen.html) kreeg ik spontaan de neiging even de StatLine toepassing op het CBS te gebruiken. Ik vind StatLine (en hun gelijknamige iPhone app) een geweldige toepassing.
Tot mijn verbazing lukte het mij niet om de cijfers van het NOS artikel te matchen met die uit de StatLine toepassing van het CBS (http://statline.cbs.nl).
Ik zal proberen het punt voor punt toe te lichten.
Punt 1:
De NOS zegt: "De Nederlandse bevolking is de eerste 10 jaar van de eeuw met 700.000 mensen gegroeid tot 16,6 miljoen inwoners. Dat blijkt uit cijfers van het Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek (CBS)." Dit is volgens mij onjuist.
In mijn beleving omvat de periode "de eerste 10 jaar van de eeuw" de volgende jaartallen: 2000,2001,2002,2003,2004,2005,2006,2007,2008 en 2009). Op 31-dec-1999 bedroeg de totale bevolking 15,865,950 mensen. Op 31-dec-2009 waren dat er 16,574,989. Het verschil is 711,039, niet 700,000.
Enfin, wellicht is 700 gemakkelijker om te lezen dan 711. Ook is het mogelijk dat de NOS per ongeluk 2001 t/m 2010 hebben genomen als periode, maar in dat geval is de groei 667,904 en dus niet 700,000.
Punt 2:
De NOS zegt: "Migratie speelde in Nederland relatief een kleine rol: 22 procent van de groei komt door migratie...". Dit is volgens mij ook onjuist, want de rol is beperkt tot 15%. In de totale periode zijn 1,077,974 mensen ge-emigreerd en 1,186,197 mensen ge-immigreerd. Totale saldo bedraagt dus 108,223 mensen (meer immigratie dan emigratie dus), Op een totale bevolkingsgroei van 711,039 is dat 15.2% en niet 22%.
Waarschijnlijk maakt de NOS een denkfout want als we kijken naar het aandeel van geboorteoverschot t.o.v. de bevolkingsgroei, dan kom ik uit op 78%. De NOS concludeert dat de rest dan maar toegeschreven moet worden aan migratie, maar dat klopt niet. Als ik de cijfers voor migratie-saldi en geboorteoverschot bij elkaar optel, kom ik namelijk niet uit op de groeicijfers die het CBS publiceert. Gemiddeld mis ik een paar duizend mensen per jaar, en een totaal van 49,270 over de gehele periode 2000 tot en met 2009.
Ik zet het maar even op een rijtje:
Aantal Percentage
Migratie Saldo 108,223 15.2%
Geboorteoverschot 553,546 77.9%
Missende cijfers 49,270 6.9%
Totale Groei 711,039 100.0%
Bij het lezen van een bericht op nos.nl (dit bericht: http://nos.nl/artikel/253897-bevolking-groeit-naar-166-miljoen.html) kreeg ik spontaan de neiging even de StatLine toepassing op het CBS te gebruiken. Ik vind StatLine (en hun gelijknamige iPhone app) een geweldige toepassing.
Tot mijn verbazing lukte het mij niet om de cijfers van het NOS artikel te matchen met die uit de StatLine toepassing van het CBS (http://statline.cbs.nl).
Ik zal proberen het punt voor punt toe te lichten.
Punt 1:
De NOS zegt: "De Nederlandse bevolking is de eerste 10 jaar van de eeuw met 700.000 mensen gegroeid tot 16,6 miljoen inwoners. Dat blijkt uit cijfers van het Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek (CBS)." Dit is volgens mij onjuist.
In mijn beleving omvat de periode "de eerste 10 jaar van de eeuw" de volgende jaartallen: 2000,2001,2002,2003,2004,2005,2006,2007,2008 en 2009). Op 31-dec-1999 bedroeg de totale bevolking 15,865,950 mensen. Op 31-dec-2009 waren dat er 16,574,989. Het verschil is 711,039, niet 700,000.
Enfin, wellicht is 700 gemakkelijker om te lezen dan 711. Ook is het mogelijk dat de NOS per ongeluk 2001 t/m 2010 hebben genomen als periode, maar in dat geval is de groei 667,904 en dus niet 700,000.
Punt 2:
De NOS zegt: "Migratie speelde in Nederland relatief een kleine rol: 22 procent van de groei komt door migratie...". Dit is volgens mij ook onjuist, want de rol is beperkt tot 15%. In de totale periode zijn 1,077,974 mensen ge-emigreerd en 1,186,197 mensen ge-immigreerd. Totale saldo bedraagt dus 108,223 mensen (meer immigratie dan emigratie dus), Op een totale bevolkingsgroei van 711,039 is dat 15.2% en niet 22%.
Waarschijnlijk maakt de NOS een denkfout want als we kijken naar het aandeel van geboorteoverschot t.o.v. de bevolkingsgroei, dan kom ik uit op 78%. De NOS concludeert dat de rest dan maar toegeschreven moet worden aan migratie, maar dat klopt niet. Als ik de cijfers voor migratie-saldi en geboorteoverschot bij elkaar optel, kom ik namelijk niet uit op de groeicijfers die het CBS publiceert. Gemiddeld mis ik een paar duizend mensen per jaar, en een totaal van 49,270 over de gehele periode 2000 tot en met 2009.
Ik zet het maar even op een rijtje:
Aantal Percentage
Migratie Saldo 108,223 15.2%
Geboorteoverschot 553,546 77.9%
Missende cijfers 49,270 6.9%
Totale Groei 711,039 100.0%
| De spreadsheet met raw data is hier: https://spreadsheets.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0ArbwWe2DZHaNdGxnZUlVZmk4Unc3VENHbURkMTBzaEE&hl=en_US | |||
| Ik ben werkelijk benieuwd wie mij kan uitleggen waarom 6.9% van de groeicijfers lijkt te ontbreken. | |||
Friday, June 17, 2011
Fixing a complex corruption in PostgreSQL
Since many years, we have been using PostgreSQL as the backend to our DNA Analysis solution. And very successfully so; we now have approximately 10TB of statistics in almost 500 schema's.
In order to backup a particular schema or table, we use pg_dump. However, this week it started to produce a nasty error, see below:
THE PROBLEM:
C:\Program Files\PostgreSQL\8.3\bin
>pg_dump -f c:\tmp\out.back -i -F p -v -a -h d2host -t ibmmat0001_sta.sta_db d2dna
pg_dump: reading schemas
pg_dump: reading user-defined functions
pg_dump: reading user-defined types
pg_dump: schema with OID 2613175388 does not exist
pg_dump: *** aborted because of error
With the help of google, I soon discovered we may have a corruption in one of the vital tables: pg_class.
Analyzing the problem, I first identified which tableor schema we have an issue with:
executing "select oid, * from pg_class where oid = 2613175388" shows we're dealing with a table named ls_tmp1. I know we have some of these tables in several schema's.
Next, I executed "select * from pg_tables where tablename = 'ls_tmp1'". The result is shown in the screendump below:
Notice how the troubled table does not belong to a schema (it should!). Hence the trouble reported in the pg_dump.
THE SOLUTION:
In order to repair this corruption, I created a new schema named "for_corrupt_table."
I then looked up the OID for this newly created schema.
create schema for_corrupt_table; -- its oid became: 2613195672
Next I updated the relnamespace column to make this troubled table point to the new schema:
update pg_class set relnamespace = 2613195672 where relnamespace = 2613175388
Refreshing my pgadmin window revealed the new schema and the existing table.
In order to backup a particular schema or table, we use pg_dump. However, this week it started to produce a nasty error, see below:
THE PROBLEM:
C:\Program Files\PostgreSQL\8.3\bin
>pg_dump -f c:\tmp\out.back -i -F p -v -a -h d2host -t ibmmat0001_sta.sta_db d2dna
pg_dump: reading schemas
pg_dump: reading user-defined functions
pg_dump: reading user-defined types
pg_dump: schema with OID 2613175388 does not exist
pg_dump: *** aborted because of error
With the help of google, I soon discovered we may have a corruption in one of the vital tables: pg_class.
Analyzing the problem, I first identified which tableor schema we have an issue with:
executing "select oid, * from pg_class where oid = 2613175388" shows we're dealing with a table named ls_tmp1. I know we have some of these tables in several schema's.
Next, I executed "select * from pg_tables where tablename = 'ls_tmp1'". The result is shown in the screendump below:
THE SOLUTION:
In order to repair this corruption, I created a new schema named "for_corrupt_table."
I then looked up the OID for this newly created schema.
create schema for_corrupt_table; -- its oid became: 2613195672
Next I updated the relnamespace column to make this troubled table point to the new schema:
update pg_class set relnamespace = 2613195672 where relnamespace = 2613175388
Refreshing my pgadmin window revealed the new schema and the existing table.
Monday, March 28, 2011
Tableau with Exact Compact 2000
Today, I managed to connect Tableau with our Exact Compact 2000 application (accounting software).
Again proof of Tableau's superior capabilities to visualize virtually any source of data.
Must admit that I could have made the dasboard a bit more appealing. But my main point is that it works, without any hassle!
My next mission is to reverse engineer the data model within Exact a bit deeper, so I can start to make really appealing dashboards! (this example -of course- is giving me a life view on the entire book keeping).
Drop me a message if you;re interested in more of this stuff.
Again proof of Tableau's superior capabilities to visualize virtually any source of data.
Must admit that I could have made the dasboard a bit more appealing. But my main point is that it works, without any hassle!
My next mission is to reverse engineer the data model within Exact a bit deeper, so I can start to make really appealing dashboards! (this example -of course- is giving me a life view on the entire book keeping).
Drop me a message if you;re interested in more of this stuff.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Pros and Cons of the new T-Loc Systainer from Festool
While working on my new kitchen cupboard (see this post) I decided to buy a DTS 400 at my favorite store in The Hague: Van der Toorn en Stolp. This is when I learned that Festool had introduced a new T-Loc model for their systainers.
About the New Systainer:
The new model has a cool new feature that makes life a lot easier: systainers can now be stapled with just one convenient turn of the single green handle on the front of the systainer; the T-Loc.
What's not so cool is the fact that I own a big tower consisting of traditional boxes only. This new systainer is not 100% compatible with these traditional models. What it means is that you can only use the new model with your 'old' tower, when you place the new one all the way at the top. Not somewhere in the middle. For me this is a disadvantage, because I want my most frequently used tools on top.
What's the problem? The picture here shows my existing configuration, with my Protool Quadrive and Centrotec on top. The systainer of the Quadrive has a powerful feature that allows me to store many attributes in the lit of the systainer. Notice on the left how efficient it is that all bits can be accessed from the top of the systainer. 
Oh, and bytheway: my new DTS is fantastic!
About the New Systainer:
The new model has a cool new feature that makes life a lot easier: systainers can now be stapled with just one convenient turn of the single green handle on the front of the systainer; the T-Loc.
(zoom)
What's not so cool is the fact that I own a big tower consisting of traditional boxes only. This new systainer is not 100% compatible with these traditional models. What it means is that you can only use the new model with your 'old' tower, when you place the new one all the way at the top. Not somewhere in the middle. For me this is a disadvantage, because I want my most frequently used tools on top.
What's the problem? The picture here shows my existing configuration, with my Protool Quadrive and Centrotec on top. The systainer of the Quadrive has a powerful feature that allows me to store many attributes in the lit of the systainer. Notice on the left how efficient it is that all bits can be accessed from the top of the systainer. There is no way you can place the new systainer in the middle of your tower. It will connect from the bottom, but there's no way you can connect it to the one above. And unlike traditional systainers -that stand relatively stable even if you do not connect them with the handles, this new container does not offer that same level of stability. See below:
My opinion:
I understand why Festool came with this new innovative T-Loc Systainer, it's great and much more efficient than the traditional ones.
What I'm a bit disappointed about is the fact that these new systainers are not backwards compatible. I would have preferred to have my new DTS shipped with the old systainer. Why doesn't Festool offer this option?
I understand why Festool came with this new innovative T-Loc Systainer, it's great and much more efficient than the traditional ones.
What I'm a bit disappointed about is the fact that these new systainers are not backwards compatible. I would have preferred to have my new DTS shipped with the old systainer. Why doesn't Festool offer this option?
Oh, and bytheway: my new DTS is fantastic!
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Lotusscript Classes within an Application Landscape
Analyzing the source code in all applications for a customer, I was wondering how we could visualize our analysis results in such a manner that it would actually make sense. For LotusScript classes, here's what I came up with:
The radar plot above shows separate colors for each type of design element, and how standard LotusScript classes have been used in the source code of all applications within this IBM Lotus Domino environment. Custom, self-developed classes can of course be displayed in a similar fashion.
Most lines of code were found to exist in notes agents, script libraries in second place, etc.
Notice how script libraries in Lotus Notes tend to use more back end classes, especially NotesName, NotesDatabase, NotesDocument, NotesItem and NotesLog. Agents and forms are the most frequent users of the front end classes NotesUIWorkspace, NotesUIView and NotesUIDocument.
How useful is this? I'm not sure, just think it looks pretty ;-) What do you think?.
Zoom In
The radar plot above shows separate colors for each type of design element, and how standard LotusScript classes have been used in the source code of all applications within this IBM Lotus Domino environment. Custom, self-developed classes can of course be displayed in a similar fashion.
Most lines of code were found to exist in notes agents, script libraries in second place, etc.
Notice how script libraries in Lotus Notes tend to use more back end classes, especially NotesName, NotesDatabase, NotesDocument, NotesItem and NotesLog. Agents and forms are the most frequent users of the front end classes NotesUIWorkspace, NotesUIView and NotesUIDocument.
How useful is this? I'm not sure, just think it looks pretty ;-) What do you think?.
Monday, March 7, 2011
Fun with Festool
Enjoyed working on our kitchen during the last couple of weekends, for several reasons.
First of all it is quite a challenge to create something that looks as if it is part of the 'real' kitchen we bought several years ago. Secondly because I had to squeeze this into a non-kitchen-standard space of our 90+ year old apartment.
And
I am really happy with the end result.
I am particularly proud of my garbage can. Using the material from the drawer of the desk I used to work at while employed at PDVSA 20(!) years ago, I was able to make an extremely elegant solution. The result is this garbage can that smoothly slides in and out its place underneath the cupboard.
Some detail: panels for the door are made from MDF, so material cost was close to nothing. Using my router cms module I was able to create panels that are identical to the rest of my kitchen. The frame in this picture is 15mm. and the panel 12mm. Can't tell you how much fun it is to create all these parts with such precision that it feels your actually making Lego yourself ;-)
First of all it is quite a challenge to create something that looks as if it is part of the 'real' kitchen we bought several years ago. Secondly because I had to squeeze this into a non-kitchen-standard space of our 90+ year old apartment.
And
I am really happy with the end result.
I am particularly proud of my garbage can. Using the material from the drawer of the desk I used to work at while employed at PDVSA 20(!) years ago, I was able to make an extremely elegant solution. The result is this garbage can that smoothly slides in and out its place underneath the cupboard.
Some detail: panels for the door are made from MDF, so material cost was close to nothing. Using my router cms module I was able to create panels that are identical to the rest of my kitchen. The frame in this picture is 15mm. and the panel 12mm. Can't tell you how much fun it is to create all these parts with such precision that it feels your actually making Lego yourself ;-) Oh, and not to forget: the beautiful paint job was done by my wife. She too enjoys my Festool gear...
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Goed begin vd dag: parkeerwachtertje plagen in Den Haag
Vanochtend -zoals gebruikelijk- rijd ik in mijn auto naar kantoor. Voor mij rijdt een busje van de dienst verkeershandhaving, met daarin twee parkeerwachters. Zij 'pleuren' hun busje werkelijk midden op de stoep, tussen anti-auto paaltjes door aan de overkant van mijn kantoor. Geen mens die er nog normaal langs kan. Zal wel een reden hebben denk ik, terwijl ik 20 meter verderop mijn auto in een officieel parkeervak schuif waar genoeg plek is voor wel 5 auto's.
Terwijl ik naar kantoor loop zie ik hoe twee parkeerwachters uit het busje stappen uit en lekker bonnen gaan schrijven in de Anna Paulownastraat. Een werkelijk schandalige vertoning.
Ik kan hier dermate slecht tegen, dat ik besluit om een goed klevende sticker van lekker groot formaat uit kantoor te pakken. Die sticker plak ik lekker stevig vast op de voorruit van hun busje, ter hoogte van de bestuurder. Op de sticker staat: SCHANDALIG! Geen ontkomen aan.
Mijn irritatie verdwijnt snel, als ik na een kwartiertje vanuit mijn kantoor zie hoe de twee wachters weer instappen en willen wegrijden. Na 30 seconden stapt de bestuurder uit en zie ik tot groot genoegen hoe zij kennis neemt van de tekst op mijn sticker. Ik schiet nu echt in de lach als ze ruim een minuut moet pielen en pulken om die sticker er weer af te krijgen. Inmiddels stapt de andere wachter ook uit. Tot mijn verbazing blijkt hij een echte agent te zijn. Zowel de vrouwelijke parkeerwachter als haar passagier de agent, kijken beteuterd rond. Wie zou dat nou gedaan hebben? Inmiddels ben ik in de schaterlach geschoten.
Met zo'n goed begin van mijn dag, kruip ik achter mijn laptop om hiervan verslag te doen op mijn blog.
Er wordt op aan de deur geklopt! (dit gebeurd zelden). De agent staat voor mijn kantoor (niet mevrouw de parkeerwachtster want die heeft immers geen strepen) en hij kijkt erg streng. Ik open de deur, met een brede glimlach. Hij toont mij een handje vol kleverige stickerresten en vraagt me of ik misschien weet wie dat op hun voorruit heeft geplakt. Oppassen dat ik niet in de lach schiet nu.
"Jawel, dat ben ik geweest. En zal ik u uitleggen waarom? Omdat ik het ronduit schandalig vind hoe jullie je auto daar midden op de stoep pleuren om vervolgens parkeerbonnen te gaan schrijven. Maar ik vind het wel sportief dat u even bij mij aanklopt om uw excuses te maken."
Ik ben benieuwd wie de strekking kan raden van het gesprek dat hier op volgt...
Terwijl ik naar kantoor loop zie ik hoe twee parkeerwachters uit het busje stappen uit en lekker bonnen gaan schrijven in de Anna Paulownastraat. Een werkelijk schandalige vertoning.
Ik kan hier dermate slecht tegen, dat ik besluit om een goed klevende sticker van lekker groot formaat uit kantoor te pakken. Die sticker plak ik lekker stevig vast op de voorruit van hun busje, ter hoogte van de bestuurder. Op de sticker staat: SCHANDALIG! Geen ontkomen aan.
Mijn irritatie verdwijnt snel, als ik na een kwartiertje vanuit mijn kantoor zie hoe de twee wachters weer instappen en willen wegrijden. Na 30 seconden stapt de bestuurder uit en zie ik tot groot genoegen hoe zij kennis neemt van de tekst op mijn sticker. Ik schiet nu echt in de lach als ze ruim een minuut moet pielen en pulken om die sticker er weer af te krijgen. Inmiddels stapt de andere wachter ook uit. Tot mijn verbazing blijkt hij een echte agent te zijn. Zowel de vrouwelijke parkeerwachter als haar passagier de agent, kijken beteuterd rond. Wie zou dat nou gedaan hebben? Inmiddels ben ik in de schaterlach geschoten.
Met zo'n goed begin van mijn dag, kruip ik achter mijn laptop om hiervan verslag te doen op mijn blog.
Er wordt op aan de deur geklopt! (dit gebeurd zelden). De agent staat voor mijn kantoor (niet mevrouw de parkeerwachtster want die heeft immers geen strepen) en hij kijkt erg streng. Ik open de deur, met een brede glimlach. Hij toont mij een handje vol kleverige stickerresten en vraagt me of ik misschien weet wie dat op hun voorruit heeft geplakt. Oppassen dat ik niet in de lach schiet nu.
"Jawel, dat ben ik geweest. En zal ik u uitleggen waarom? Omdat ik het ronduit schandalig vind hoe jullie je auto daar midden op de stoep pleuren om vervolgens parkeerbonnen te gaan schrijven. Maar ik vind het wel sportief dat u even bij mij aanklopt om uw excuses te maken."
Ik ben benieuwd wie de strekking kan raden van het gesprek dat hier op volgt...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)