Today, the news came that the past month was the warmest
on record with an average temperature of 7.1 degrees Celsius,
which is 0.9 degrees higher than the previous record. The normal
average temperature for January in the Netherlands is 2.8 degrees.
We still have a predomantly wind from the South West bringing
us warm air from the South.
This evening, Andy suddenly made noise
upstairs. When Li-Xia went up-stairs, he shouted that he had
found Baltasar. When Li-Xia went into his room he showed her
that he had found both Baltasar and Lassie, his favourite
cuddly toys, that were missing since January 13 in an old school desk standing on his room.
Li-Xia had checked it, but apparently he had put them in
very deep.
This morning, Annabel broke
her right front tooth again while eating some mie noodles.
When I arrived home from church I had go with her to a
dentist. At the dentist offers, I was informed about
the fact that I had to pay cash. So, I ran to the closest
cash dispenser to get some cash. When I came back, they
were just about to start the treatment, which consisted
of clueing the piece pack, as it had been done before.
Luckily, this did not turn out as dramatic as when the
left front tooth broke on August 24,
2004.
The device with some blinking light, as shown in the image on
the right, was mistaken for a bomb last Wednesday in Boston.
The device was developed by Interference, Inc as an alternative form of advertizement
for the "Aqua Teen Hunger Force" cartoon broadcasted by Cartoon Network.
Today it became known that Boston Reaches Settlement in Bomb Scare. Half of the $2 million,
the company will pay in "goodwill funds" that will be divided
among the agencies for emergency response training and
equipment and public outreach. One would say that they really
need some training to discern a bunch of blinking lights from
a bomb.
This evening, I went alone to the university to play Go. (Annabel has to stay home, because tomorrow she has
an important test.) There was a lot of noise in the cafe
where we always play. I did not find them there, but in
the hall, where there was considerable less noise. Rudi
was playing against Taco and Ton against Juri. While I
watched the game of Taco and Ton, Edze arrived together
with Marin, who came for the first time. Edze suggested
that Marin and I would play against each other and play
without handicap. It was quite an interesting game, and
it looked like Marin was going to win, but when we counted
he had 92 points and I 116. It seems, I have found someone
of my level again. But it would not surprise me, if he would
outgrow me within a few months.
While I drove home, I listened to my favourite radio station
SLAMFM. And as often
I was thinking about a program to analyse music, to split
a song into individual elements. And some how, I got the
idea of cooling. The problem is finding a minimal solution
that covers everything. In a sense it is much like finding
an Exact Cover.
Yesterday, the KNMI (Royal
Dutch Metereologic Institute) already issued a weather
alarm with respect to heavy snowfall.
This morning, it was about three degrees Celsius below zero.
Just before half past eleven, I was phoned by the school
of Andy, that the taxi busses will leave around twelve,
because they don't want the problems of November 25, 2005 to be repeated. Because Li-Xia is
away, I had to go home immediately. I arrived home around
five past twelve. When Annabel
arrived home, she told me that it started to snow a little.
When Andy was brought home around
one o'clock, it was snowing a little stronger. Andy did
spend some time looking outside, watching the snow.
At the end of the afternoon, there was at most ten centimeter
(four inches) of snow. Rush hour was one of the quiets on
records. The temperatures had gone up and it started to
rain in the evening. I thought that the weather alarm was
a little overdone.
At 15:02 this afternoon, I suddenly saw a faint flash while the sun was shining, which was immediately followed
by thunder. It was also raining, and when raised the
blinds, I noticed a rainbow
just above the roof of
the building on the otherside of the parking place.
And soon thereafter, I noticed the second band, making
it a double rainbow. I quickly took
a picture. One
of my colleagues, who has her room on the otherside of
the hall, came in to inform what was that noise about.
When we told her it was thunder, she looked at us in
disbelieve. However, it was recorded by
rain radar. See
the yellow cross on the right side of the image shown on
the right.
This evening, Annabel and I
went to the university to play Go.
We were the first to arrive, and it took some time
before the others arrived. I was invited by Edze to
play a game. We decided on a six stone advance for me.
Annabel play against Ton and got a nine stone advance.
Their game lasted for one and half our. Several times
she captured some stones from Ton. On time even with
a snap back that she had already had counted. Nevertheless
she lost with 74 points. Ton feels she really got stronger
and is probably stronger than his son Titus.
At one point I made a mistake in my game against Edze
and lost half corner. We analyzed the options and
decided to continue (although I already had resigned)
after making the correct move. In the end I lost with
10 points. I found that much better than the last time
we played.
Ton also told that he with his children was going
to European Youth
Goe Championships on March 8-11, and ask if we were
going. He suggested that Annabel could come with them.
Annabel found it a very interesting idea and at home
we decided that she would be allowed to go. Of course,
we have to apply for a leave from school for her. But
that should not be a problem, because the championships
are regarded as a top sport event.
Today is the first day of the year 4704, a pig (boar) year,
according to the Chinese calendar. The Chinese are expecting
a lot of babies this year, because according some astrologist
they think this is the best year in 600 year to get a child.
Today, Li-Xia and I have decided that we are going to Maastricht
next week and stay there for two nights in the
Van der Valk hotel
in Maastricht. We plan to look visit the places where
the foto's from the book Maastrich 148 are taken.
This afternoon, I got a phone call from Annabel, while I was in a meeting. I thought she was
just phoning about something small, but she told me that
her tooth broke of again, like it did two
Sundays ago. I made an appointment for hour dentist
at four o'clock and went home early to catch Annabel.
We arrived a little early and could right go in. The
dentist clued the piece again.
In the evening, Annabel and
I went to play Go. When we arrived,
Vincent, who we had not seen for a long time, was there. I
decided to play against him with five stones ahead. In the
end I lost with 28 points, after I spoiled a good opportunity
to kill a large group of his. Annabel did not play Go.
Today, the new government was officially installed
by our Queen. It has been 93 days since the elections.
After the election, when it became clear that there
were at least three parties required to form a
coallition, many people thought that the formation
of a new goverment was going to take a long time.
It government consists of two large parties,
the Chritian Democrats and the Labour Party, and
one small party, the ChristianUnion. The ChristianUnion is regarded
as a right wing (that is conservative) Christian
party. It has been a long time since such a party
has been part of the government, and it already
has raised some controversion. Of course, the have
added some of points to the goverment convenant, such
as the statement that civil servant are allowed to
refuse to marry a gay couple.
This already caused at least one civil servant to
be fired in the past.
The gay-movement already has stated that they want
to make a list of civil servants that refuse to marry
gay couples, as they feel that their rights have been
violated. Of course, there are enough civil servants
willing to marry gay couples. Some people already
have been arguing that the ChristianUnion as a small
minority party has been pushing there opinions on
a majority of the people who do not agree with their
opinions. This is a silly argument, because it were
the two big parties who allowed them to include these
statements. These parties could have selected another
party to form a coalition. The vice-minister of
the ChristianUnion, André Rouwvoet already has been marked
as the most reliable person of the government by
an informal poll amongst 22,000 people.
In about two weeks we will vote (indirectly) for
the Senate. It would be interesting to see if the
parties of the government will be able to hold
a majority of the votes in the Senate as well.
Today, Li-Xia and I
went to Maastricht, after we dropped Annabel and Andy
at the places where they will be staying for the
coming days. We decided this last
Tuesday. We arrived in Maastricht shortly
after noon and immediately started to visit the
locations where the photos from the book
Maastricht 148
are taken. For the details see the
detailed trip
report.
This months interesting links