This afternoon, around 16:20, I placed two of our computers,
andy and
a Compaq LTE 5000 laptop,
in a sea container with other electronic equipment at the
waste disposal center South in Enschede.
I went to bookshop De Slegte and, at
12:21, I bought three books that where on sale. I love book sales,
because it makes you look at books that you otherwise would not have
looked at. The books I bought are:
Uit de tweede hand with drawings by Peter Langenberg in a box
together with a drawing by him made on September 22, 2003. No ISBN.
For € 7.50.
This morning, I found a piece of metal in the back tire of my bike,
which is the likely cause of a flat tire that required me to walk
home yesterday from the office. It looks like me to be a piece of
a "snap-off blade" utility knife. I have no idea how it got in my
tire. It is about 4mm (1/6 inch) long, although it might look
larger in the picture on the right.
When I arrived at the office yesterday, I noticed that my front
tire was getting flat. My boss was so friendly to give me a ride
home in the evening. This morning, I inspected the tire and found
two pieces of metal, of which one had caused a puncture. Yesterday,
I also had found another piece of metal, after I reported having
found one. On the right a picture of all the pieces I found so far.
Tonight, I finished reading the Dutch
translation of Last seen in Lhasa by Claire Scobie, which I started reading on last Sunday, after I
bought the book last Saturday. The fact that I finished
the book so quickly shows that it made a great impression on me. The book
is about the travels the author made through Tibet with a strong focus
on the friendship she developed with a Buddhist wandering nun called Ani.
The book also shows how Tibetian Buddhism is slowly dissappearing and
many (secret) teachings are no longer passed on. Even the
Tibetian
language is slowly being replaced by Mandrin Chinese, and with this
knowledge about Tibatian "religious language" and classical religious
texts is disappearing as well. Although I am not a Buddhist, the idea
of this makes me sad. In a way I respect a nun like Ani, who travels
the country as a pelgrim and meditates in caves like a hermit. She seems
to be a free spirit, free to go where she wants, but still she has a
lama (a guru) who she visits every year for counsel. Then also why
should you escape the sufferings of daily life (which is harsh in Tibet)
to endure all kinds of hardships (such as living in cold caves under)
only to spend time meditating? Is meditation indeed necessary to
become enlighted, to escape the wheel of karma (as Buddhist say)? And
is it in a sense not very egoistic to seek enlightenment for yourself?
Yes, she seeks compassion, yet she often lives as a hermit instead of
taking care for others.
This evening, just like every other evening, I was reading to Andy from one of the reports of the weekend and holiday care that he
attends. Today, I was reading from Monday, July 12, 2010. When I was about
half way the report, Andy suddenly shouted: "Where is Jelle" (Jelle is a
Dutch boy name). I had not read about Jelle being at the care, but it
often happens that children come and go. Knowing Andy's excellent
autobiographical memory, I expected that the name of Jelle would come
up. And yes, indeed it did, suddenly he was mentioned in the evening. I
asked Andy when Jelle had arrived. He immediately answered: 12 o'clock
(at noon time) with a big smile. It would not surprise me if he is
absolutely right. Now it must be the case that I have read this report
before in the time in between, but it still it is a remarkable feat for
any person to remember this kind of detail. Andy (now 14) is always
very keen on noticing who is present and not. He is the one who
immediately notices when someone is missing. During the breaks at school
he will often walk up to the teacher of another class to ask where this
and this child is, if the child is not present. I wonder if these kind
of remarkable (almost Savant like) skills are common among people with
Kabuki Syndrome.
Today, at 16:46, I bought the book Misschien tot morgen (See you
tomorrow, maybe), diary 2003-2006 by Leo Vroman (ISBN:9789021485348) for € 2,50 from
bookshop De Slegte.
At bookshop De Slegte they
were selling all the books that were on sale for just one Euro
each. At 12:47, I bought the following books (in random order):
Aan het einde van het Alfabet (The End of the Alphabet)
by C.S. Richardson.
ISBN:9789069748948.
Uit de tweede hand by Peter Langenberg together with a drawing
by him made on September 8, 2003.
Uit de tweede hand by Peter Langenberg together with a drawing
by him made on March 7, 2004.
Of the last book, they had still five in store. Only two had a
drawing that I liked. I think I will cut one of the books (I
already bought one three weeks ago) in loose
sheets and give away the other. Of course, I keep the drawings.
The seller told me that they never sold one of the books for the
price of € 20.
I also bought the book Intimiteit by Willy Pasini (ISBN:9027428220)
for € 6.95.
This evening, a thin layer of snow fell
on the ground. Now more snow has been predicted and the prediction
says temperatures are going to be low the coming week.
Last week they started to install drainage for a natural well
along Hendrik Ter Kuilestraat in Enschede. I reported about
some natural wells on Tuesday, April 7, 2009.
I made mentioning of three natural wells. In the mean time
two of these wells seem to have dried-up. I guess that the three
wells have a common source, and that the newest well (which
occured after reconstruction of the road crossing with Kanaalstraat)
has caused the two older wells to dry-up. In the past years
the new well (picture)
has been causing a lot of problems and several times have
seen some ground work taking place along this area, possibly
trying to find a 'leak'. I guess that they finally have realized
that it is a natural well and that installing drainage is the
only solution.
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Wednesday, January 11, 2012