May 1, 2008
Two weeks of fun and relaxation ~ California
Well I've been back now for a little over three days and here is the proof that indeed I was there:
Posted at 12:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
April 30, 2008
What time is ~ Philosophy and poetry
Way back in the fourth century or thereabouts, St. Augustine had been struggling many years with the concept of time, when he wrote the following:
"What is time? If no one asks me, then I know. But if someone questions me about it and I try to explain it, then I no longer know."
Posted at 2:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
April 17, 2008
Dry lake ~ Golf
My first round of golf while back home was just next door at the Laguna Seca Golf Ranch. What a fantastic course it is and quite challenging to say the least. I played with Kevin and Mike who were a couple of nice guys, just as much addicted to golf as me (if that's possible).
By the way, in case you were interested "laguna seca" is Spanish for "dry lake."
There was alot of wind and the greens were really fast, making three or even four putts a higher risk. In fact, although the greens were in perfect shape, sometimes I felt like I was putting on a pool table slanted slightly at 15 degrees. The ball just never stops rolling, rolling, rolling.
Laguna Seca Golf Ranch.
Posted at 12:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
April 5, 2008
Wet fairways ~ Golf
Because it rains an awful lot in Holland, the golf courses tend to be really wet, sometimes even soaked to the rim.
Even if I hit a fantastic tee shot right down the middle of the fairway, the ball plugs into the ground and doesn't roll at all.
The ironic thing is that if I hit the green right next to the flag, the ball does bounce further, sometimes even off the back of the green.
Frustrating to say the least.
Posted at 1:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
March 28, 2008
Battle of Wesnoth ~ Internet
Here's a cool game and it's for free. It's called Battle of Wesnoth, and it definitely worth trying out.
I've played it for many hours now and am afraid that I am slowly but surely becoming addicted to it.
Good stuff while commuting on the train and there is nothing else worthwhile to do.
Posted at 7:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
March 27, 2008
Biking in Amsterdam ~ Travel
Not everyone is familiar with the idea that in Holland bike paths are everywhere, especially not foreigners. In Amsterdam they are all over the place, which is good because one can pretty much bike easily from one end of the city to the other.
The foreigners are unaware of this and walk along the marked bike paths thinking that they are designated pedestrian walkways.
So I'm walking back to the train station from my work, and this old guy on a bike wings by, ringing his bell in continuous spasms screaming at the top of his lungs:
"Get out of the way, can't you see that this is a bike path, watch out!" And continuing in Dutch he proceeds to cuss and offend kind folks because he's too much of an idiot to understand.
He gives no regard to the poor unknowing pedestrians who are innocently trying to find their way to the nearest place of interest, and almost runs them over. In fact, he glances off of one older person nearly knocking him over into the canal. People run for cover as if some complete maniac is doing who knows what.
I simply continue my way to the train station, knowing that no matter what my opinion is, it doesn't really matter and will not change things. Better to accept those demented bike maniacs and continue on your way.
Posted at 7:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
March 24, 2008
Buddhist golfer ~ Golf
I would like to become a Buddhist golfer, but first I have to figure what that means exactly.
From inside I feel that I have a relatively good idea, naturally being one with nature, internally controlling ones emotions, and externally making the ball fly straight and into the whole.
Let's start by pursuing the middle path, meaning that I hit the ball consistently right down the middle of the fairway.
The golf ball is actually an illusion, but through it's connectedness with the rest of the golf course, it becomes an expression of my very essence.
Watch out for those nasty sand traps.
Posted at 10:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
March 23, 2008
Things do exist ~ Spiritual
In the Sanskrit pratitya samutpada is a direct reference to "dependent origination," or in other words: things do exist in some way but nothing exists on its own, and nothing can be its own cause.
Everything is in some way interdependent with the rest of the world and what the world is trying to achieve with us being around to observe it all in the first place.
The so-called external things can only exist in relation to one another, never in and of themselves.
All visible and invisible characteristics of natural phenomena are defined only through relationships.
One relationship leads to the other giving the appearance of being connected, conditioned and in turn conditioning.
Posted at 5:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
March 22, 2008
Snowing on the links ~ Golf
Today marks yet another first in my golf career, namely playing golf in the snow.
At one point the snow was falling so thick I could barely see where the ball was going.
Posted at 4:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
March 8, 2008
First birdie ~ Golf
After all these years I finally had another birdie which felt really great.
I had a nice solid drive to the 6th hole, which flew cleanly over the small creek and landed a mere 50 yards to the left of the green. An easy chip bounced twice on the green and landed just short of the pin, slightly uphill.
After checking the lie of the green front and back, I removed various leaves and twigs blocking the way. Holding my ping putter ever so gently, I struck the ball with confidence, watching it roll upwards, before it turned left with a slight hook right into the middle of the hole.
The sound of the ball falling into the cup and bouncing around gave me a fine feeling inside. Birdie!
De Hooge Bergsche
Posted at 5:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
March 1, 2008
Too much wind ~ Golf
So it's finally my first chance as an official club member to go out and play a round of golf, something which I was eagerly looking forward to the whole week.
Alas, powerful winds from the North Sea are pounding the coast, knocking over trees and power lines, making it impossible to play golf outside.
Oh well, I discovered a huge golfing store in Rotterdam, so I'll be going there with Maarten and look around some.
Posted at 11:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
February 24, 2008
Ready to join ~ Golf
After having waited impatiently a number of months, I'm now top of the list to become a member of Golfbaan de Rottebergen.
Next step is to negotiate down the price for the membership certificate to an affordable amount, get an official handicap, and it's life as a happy Dutch golfer for me.
It'll be good for me to be out in nature, network and meet new people, and improve my golfing techniques.
My new goal in life is to get a hole-in-one.
Posted at 1:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
February 19, 2008
Connection dropped ~ FreeBSD
One of the aggravating issues I still have is that my wifi connection will get dropped once in awhile, and the only way to reconnect is by manually running this script that I created.
Ideally I want to have this happen automatically, but much investigation and googling has turned up little information.
Someone mentioned that wpa_supplicant might offer a solution, so I'll have a look there when I get more time.
Posted at 8:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
February 9, 2008
Queen's birthday ~ Dreams
Surely it was not only an honor but a pleasant surprise as well. Who could have ever imagined that I'd be invited to the Queen's birthday?
One can therefore imagine how nervous I felt when the palace door opened and she appeared no more than ten feet away. The one and only Queen Beatrix! She nodded to the crowd and then proceeded up the aisle towards me, shaking each and every hand along the way.
All of sudden she was standing right in front of me. Her famous smile turned into a frown. Her gaze was hard and true. She spoke out angrily so that everyone could hear, "Next time you will have to brush your teeth better, they are awfully brown. Please do something about it."
I had let down the queen.
Posted at 9:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
