This was a relatively uneventful week. We're falling into a routine, but I'm not sure it's quite the right one. I spent more time at work than wanted or planned. This was mostly due to the September deadlines I'd mentioned. As it turns out, the deadlines are actually while I'm gone, so everything has to get done this week. On top of that, the Older has oral surgery on Thursday, so I'll need to be available to take the Younger to school that day. It looks to be a very busy week, and I may need to reconsider leaving my work laptop at home.

This was a particular busy weekend. The boys and I rode our bikes to the big fields in the neighboring woods and kicked a soccer ball around for about an hour. The real point of the trip was to get the younger out on his bike. He rode very well, except in a few spots where we needed to cross the street. He had a tough time getting started, and we ended up holding up traffic for a long time. The drivers were quite patient, with no honking horns. Of course, since everyone bikes, there's a good understanding of how hard it can be to just be starting out, so this shouldn't have been unexpected.

Later in the day, we went out to see Wall-E. It was quite good, but the Younger was scared by the big picture and the drama. He ended up huddled in my lap covering his ears, but unable to stop watching. This happened the last time we took him to a movie, but that was a couple of years ago, and we were surprised that he was still nervous. In the end, he said he'd enjoyed parts of it, and I suspect that if he watches it again on DVD, he'll really like it. I hope this doesn't put him off the theater for long, but it may be a while before we try again.

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I thought I'd share my typical day with you. I'm not sure anyone else will find this particularly interesting, but it will help me remember better a few years from now.

Here's a typical day in Amsterdam:
6:00 - Alarm goes off and I hit snooze
6:10 - Alarm goes off and I hit snooze
6:20 - Alarm goes off and I get up
I spend this time getting ready for work. I usually spend too much time trying to decide if I should wear a coat or not. Lately, it's been looking like rain, but it's been too hot to wear a coat.
6:45 - Bike to the station
I spend a few minutes parking and locking up my bike and putting a plastic grocery bag over the seat to keep it dry when it rains. I tie my helmet to my computer bag so I don't have to carry it separately. I usually end up bumping into something or someone because of this, as it makes the bag much wider than I'm expecting.
7:00 - Arrive on platform
7:11 - Train leaves for Amsterdam
I always seem to be waiting exactly 11 minutes for the train, no matter when or where I'm going. It's a bit eerie.
7:32 - Train arrives in Amsterdam
I buy breakfast at the AH at the station. Initially, this was usually a chocolate croissant, but lately it's been a ham and cheese croissant (ham met kaas). It's not as good as it might sound because although the cheese is quite good, the ham tends to be some kind of lunch meat. All of this is cooked directly into the croissant. They're definitely better warm, which they usually are at this time int he morning. I eat on the walk to work.
7:45 - Arrive at work, get coffee.
We have an odd seating system in Amsterdam. Officially, there are no assigned desks. You are supposed to be able to sit wherever you want, but the people that are there regularly have staked out their places and lined their desks with pictures and the other personal items most people bring to work. Lately, I've found a seat for myself, but initially, I was stuck sitting in whatever seat wasn't take that day. It's an odd thing, I must say.
8:00 - 12:00 - Work is typically meetings, e-mail and spread sheets. Lately, there has been some new bit of bad news that we run around trying to react to. So, in all, pretty much like any other job.
12:00 - Lunch in the canteen. Somehow, I've fallen into eating the same lunch every day. Two slices of some kind of wheat bread with crab salad, some fruit - usually an apple or banana, but sometimes pineapple, and a candy bar. I don't usually buy anything to drink. Payment is only by ChipKnip (as mentioned in an earlier blog.)
1:00 - 5:00 - Afternoon of work, much like the morning.
If I'm being good, I leave for the train at 5:00. If not, a bit later. I've only once left after 6:30. The direct trains to Hilversum leave at :27 and :57 every hour, but it's a 15 minute walk (or so) so I have to leave enough time. I've found myself standing on the platform just as the train pulled away more than once. Of course, there's always the slower train, which leaves 11 minutes later...
5:27 - Train leaves for Hilversum - I call M to let her know when I'll be there.
5:48 - Train arrives in Hilversum
6:00 - Arrive at home
The timing of the evenings are a little less predictable. We try to have dinner as soon as I get home, but it's often later. After dinner, we often play on the Wii, or play a board game together, but sometimes we just watch some TV.
9:00 - Start to get the boys ready for bed
10:00 - Usually, the boys are in bed by this time. Often, it's early, but occasionally, it's later. We're not good on schedules, unfortunately, which is difficult with so much dependence on trains.
10:00 - ? - M and I stay up surfing the internet or watching TV. I should go to bed by 10:00 with the kids, but we usually need some time awake after they have gone to sleep. My goal lately has been to be in bed by midnight, but, as you'll see from the time stamp here, I don't always make it.

I'll give a example of my day at the R&D site when we get back from Nice.

Sorry for missing last weekend's post. To be honest, I don't really remember what we were up to. I had to go look some things up...

Sunday afternoon, two weeks ago, a friend and colleague of mine visited from the US. We dragged him out to Muiderslot (the castle I visited early in my stay here) and the kids had a great time. Turns out, he was heavily jet-lagged, so I'm guessing it was all a blur to him. After showing him our house briefly, I dropped him at the train station and he went back to his hotel to sleep.

Last week we had visitors from the US. One of M's college friends and his wife were swapping houses with people in Paris, so they drove up here for a couple of days. It was wonderful to have them here, and it was nice to know that we can host at least a little bit. They ended up sleeping on the floor on our (very old) futon, but it was at least workable. Actually, I should probably ask them about that. We may need to consider getting some better sleeping arrangement before parents come over.

Yesterday, we traveled again to the south to visit our friends down there. They took us to the Drielandenpunt (three nation point) where the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium come together. The boys had a good time trying to be in all three countries at the same time. We also went up in a viewing tower and there was a large labyrinth. It took us an hour to find the center of that. Then back to their house for a lovely dinner. We're already arranging our next outing with them.

Work has been interesting the last two weeks. I'm still feeling like I'm making progress, but there have been a lot of bad luck events in the last six months. We have had a lot of crises to clean up, and it shows no sign of letting up. I have some hard deadlines to meet in early September, and to be honest, our trip to Nice does not come at the best time, but it's a huge learning experience. I'm not exactly sure how this will all come out, and it's going to be a bit painful on the way, but I'm still optimistic that I'm doing at least some of the right things. But really, what's the worst that could happen? If they decide to fire me, then Dutch law requires about a year of paper work and such before they could actually get rid of me, then I'd get a really good severance, a free trip back to the US with all my family and stuff, and a huge story to tell on my resume. Not so bad, really.

To be clear, I don't think there's any chance I'll get fired. I'm sure I'm making mistakes, but not as serious as the ones that were made in the past to cause all of these bad events this year. I'm just trying to be less of a perfectionist and cut myself some slack for not avoiding all of these potholes. Not as easy as I'd like it to be, but again, a learning experience.

Now, off to bed. The past week really drove home the point that sleep is a key to my sanity. I felt really good after our vacation, but last week, with all the guests and work, I fell off my sleep schedule a bit and I paid for it as the week progressed. Better to be well rested than to get those few more things done before bed. Again, easier said than done sometimes.