Shaken

Watching the regional news on Monday night I saw and heard a flash of the unveiling of a placque for a man who had been killed with his family, his wife and two teenage children, in a car crash last November. Just in those few seconds I realised I have known this man, and I didn't know about what happened to him. The item has been haunting me, and I’m not sure why. I knew the man slightly, he was involved in one of my projects and I met him only a few times. He seemed like a nice man, young, lively, driven, ambitious, dedicated.

It is such a weird idea that this man has gone, and that his whole family were killed with him, two generations gone in a second. The other thing that I find hard to understand is that I didn’t even know, and he was killed almost a year ago. Have I been so unobservant, or don’t my colleagues know either? You read or hear these stories of accidents, young people or families getting killed, but now I can put a face to the story. That is on my mind and I can’t seem to shake it.

Cycling and Cycling

I cycled down to Delft this weekend, there and back in two days. I guess it is about 90 kilometres one way, not too much for a trained cyclist, but I wouldn't call myself a trained cyclist exactly. I cycle in the city, and just outside, but I don't usually travel such distances by bike. But the conditions seemed perfect, dry, not too warm, not such strong winds, just the kind of weather you need for cycling.

It isn't a bad route to cycle, and I had done it before, but this time I didn't take quite the same route. Down to Amstelveen first, where I could have a look at the area where my new project should be developed at some point. Then into the green, mainly farmland with the odd bit of nature in between. Lots of small villages to pass through, all with similar new developments along the edges. There isn't all that much variety really.

Not too many bigger towns, just Alphen, but there is a short way through, which is not bad. You do end up on a roundabout called "Care Square", where you find all kinds of medical shops and facilities, an interesting place from an urban planning point of view.

You also go through Zoetermeer, well, you do if you take a wrong turn somewhere. Which I did. By this time I was thirsty and I could do with a break, but I ended up in the suburbs, and there was no cafe, just a lot of streets and houses, all very similar, where you would get lost. I know this is not unique to Zoetermeer, this happens in many towns, but I feel it is dehumanizing.

After Zoetermeer I get onto familiar terrain, passing through Nootdorp, where I have my family history. I cycle past the house where my grandparents lived, even though the area has changed completely. When I used to go down there to visit my grandparents it was all farmland, nowadays it is a builtup area.

Cycling back today I took a different route, cycling past the Starrevaart, a good birding area just east of Den Haag. There always is a lot to see there. Unfortunately, the bird hide that was there was burnt down in June, which makes it a little harder to sit and watch the birds.

Coming back always seems to go faster than cycling down, even though it takes just as long. There was no strong wind, so cycling was quite easy. I got back to Amsterdam at the end of the afternoon, not bad going really.

Clean Air and Traffic Lights

Time for a rant. I am, on the whole, one of the more law-abiding cyclists here in Amsterdam. I indicate when I intend to turn the corner, I give way where I have to, and I stop at red lights. Always. Well, almost, even though I seem to be the only one who does.

Just lately I have taken to going through the red light at the end or the entrance, depending on which way you look at it, of the park. The system of the lights has changed so the air here in Amsterdam can become cleaner, that is cars don't have to wait quite so long at the lights anymore. Trams always get priority anyway, so as a cyclist you sometimes have to wait for a long, long time, while you see the lights changing again and again for the cars and trams. After a while I get fed up, especially if there is very little traffic. I'm all in favour of clean air, but why is it that the kind of traffic that is the least polluting has to stand and wait the longest in this air polluted by those who get to go first. I honestly don't understand.

Getting Wet

Well, they did say the weather was going to be changeable today. I cycled into work through the pouring rain this morning. I stopped in the park to put on my weatherproof trousers, but they turned out, as I already knew, not all weather proof. Not proof against real rain, for example. Shortly afterwards I ended up taking shelter for a few minutes, but I could already feel the water coming through around the knees and some other areas.

Shortly after I reached the office, as I sat at my desk, finding out just how wet I got, I looked out the window and saw blue skies and the sun shining. Then I got a rainbow, a nice shower, another rainbow, and then solid grey skies and another shower. Meanwhile, I was slowly drying up, but it took quite a few hours. I was alright for much of the time, or rather as long as I remained sitting down, but getting up and sitting down again made me realize it takes a long time for jeans to dry.

What I also noticed along the way was the Paradiso Fringe. When did Paradiso get a fringe? I like that idea. When I checked later I saw that there is a fringe festival starting here in Amsterdam tonight.

Surprising Voice

I just finished listening to a radio adaptation of “Busman's honeymoon”, one of a series of adaptations with Ian Carmichael as Lord Peter Wimsey and Sarah Badel as Harriet Vane. I love the stories, and I enjoy listening to the radio dramatizations. I’ve listened to them all more than once, so I was surprised, catching just the last part of the credits properly to hear the announcer say: “Second removal man - Alex Jennings”. I usually recognise the voice when I hear it, but not this time. Not surprising really, as he only had a couple of lines, and it was some serious character acting. Deep voice and strong accent. I listened to the episode again, just to actually hear it. And I did hear the second removal man.