Quiz night in Delft Last night I joined the guys in Delft for 'Quiz Night' (they insist on 'quiz' and not 'trivia', by the way) at a quaint little pub off the town's main square. This was my first time to Delft, so I got there a little early to soak up the Great Market square, which is a football sized field of cobblestone with ancient ornate churches at each endzone. I plan on going back sometime to tour the churches and the pottery factories, so I'll have pics then. I could go on and on about how Vermeer was from [View Full Entry]

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Another great day...apparently having a totally sunny weekeend is a major blessing around here, so I made sure to get an early start to maximize the day. Yup, I was up at the bright and early hour of 1:30 pm. Incredible, I know. I headed straight to Mauritshuis to go get cultured. There was a great exhibit of the works of Cornelius Gijsbrechts called 'The Eye Deceived.' Old Cornelius was a master of trompe-l'oeils, which are painted scenes meant to deceive the eye. Some examples are his painting that looks like the back of a painting (hung with the support wires [View Full Entry]

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The weather was great, so I finally got the chance to head out towards the beach resort/fishing village of Scheveningen (pronounced Skay-ven-ay-gun, I think). At first I thought I would walk the whole way (maybe a little over an hour hike) but then realized it was hot and I was lazy. I caught a tram and stopped off in Madurodam, which is this uber-touristy place where you can see 1/25 scale models of some of the most interesting sites in the Netherlands. If you're the kind of person who likes model trains, this would be your heaven. All the little buildings [View Full Entry]

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So we were out having a couple of pints for my birthday on Tuesday at the Half Moon and Erik and I suddenly proclaim we're headed to Amsterdam! This was the greatest idea ever, at the time. Upon arrival to the hotel we decided a nice dinner and celbratory cigar would be a better idea. But, not to wuss out of a proclamation made whilst out socializing, we decided to go on Friday and see the land of red lights and cafes that don't even serve coffee. After a quick tour of the oh so scandalous red light district, replete with [View Full Entry]

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Ok, so I woke up at 2 today--as you do on a Sunday--just in time to grab a late lunch with Erik and some of his 'colleagues' (the word co-worker doesn't exist on this side of the pond) at a great outdoor cafe in the center with huge sandwiches. The weather was actually pretty nice...about 70F in the sun; so I ran back to the hotel to grab my city walking tour guide and headed back out. I managed to make it to about the first 8 items on the list before it started getting foggy and I got cold, wussed [View Full Entry]

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Today Dale and I took a quick 15 min trip north (towards Amsterdam) and visited the city of Leiden. The weather was total crap...about 45 and raining, but what the heck, it's my first weekend and I gotta make the most of it right? We picked up a walking tour map and with Dale as navigator, I took up to providing tour-guide style info about each of the attractions we hit. Along the way in we saw our first windmill, which we later found was the town windmill museum. Pics of the De Valk windmill and other Leiden stuff is here: [View Full Entry]

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So I've already survived the trip over, Day 1 of jet lag, and my first day at the office. All the folks here are pretty friendly, and are already more than comfortable giving me a hard time for the little things I do that I believe qualify me as a walking disaster. For example, the cafeteria here uses a reloadable cash card to speed up the checkout process. I, being an all round genius and renaissance man left my card and receipt (necessary for expensing the meal) on my tray, which I subsequently put on the conveyor belt to the magical [View Full Entry]

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Instead of telling the same story to everybody and thereby imperiling myself to the dire consequenses of carpal tunnel syndrome, I've decided to sell out and join the blog world. Plus, this way you guys all get to see pictures and what not, which is totally bodacious. So, let me begin: I'm currently sitting at the office for my first day on the job here in Rijswijk as the EPSS Service Take On Manager. This momentus occasion, consisting of me, a blank desk, and this laptop means several things have already happened: 1) I survived a trip 'across the pond', which [View Full Entry]

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