An alien abduction?
Tuesday 2001-02-06
I've been so busy that I haven't had time to update my web site. I apologize for that! I'll try to describe what I've been doing for the past 3 weeks. And I promise to update the site more frequently!

I'm working with my Dutch friends Saxwin, Alex and Harry on a programming project. It's a browser-based application for doing project management and time tracking. I'm working on a Macintosh, using a database application called 4D to provide the database and web server. I'm working with Dreamweaver to design the HTML for the web pages. I'm also hand-editing a lot of the HTML.

Their office is in The Hague, which is about 45 miniutes south of Amsterdam. It's a very nice new office and it's literally next door to the train station, lots of restaurants & shops and across the street from a nice park. I'm staying in a private room at a hostel that is about a 20 minute walk from the office. I've also got a bike and it takes about 7 minutes to ride to work.

The capital of Holland is Amsterdam, but the seat of the government is in The Hague. The Hague is a very stately city. It's also very quiet compared to Amsterdam and Rotterdam.

The weather has been pretty cold... from about 25 to 45 F. It has snowed twice. And it rains a lot. Holland is the kind of place where if you don't like the weather you just have to wait for 15 minutes and it will be different.

I'm really enjoying everything about my time here! I've been spending a lot of time working, but I've also been playing a lot!

Last weekend I went to Paris. Paris is a very special city for me. I always feel very alive and energized everytime I go there. This was the 7th time I've visited Paris in a little over 2 years and none of the magic is gone. If anything it is even more magical as I discover new things about the city. It was snowing in Holland when I left for Paris on Friday night. The ground was white until I got about one hour south of The Hague. It rained much of the time I was in Paris, which was fine. Even though it was raining, I spent some time walking around the city. And some time indoors shopping, visiting churches, museums, cafes and restaurants, etc. I was able to get some very nice photos of the city.

During the week I've mostly been working. When there has been time I've gone out to dinner with Saxwin, Alex and some of the other guys that work here.

Two weekends ago I went to Amsterdam on both Saturday and Sunday. It only takes about 45 minutes by train to get from The Hague to Amsterdam and the trains run 24 hours a day. I visited the Van Gogh museum, which is a definite 'must see'. And as usual I spent a lot of time just walking around and taking photos.

There's a whole lot more to tell, but I'll leave that for next time (which I promise will be soon!).