Guus Bosman

software engineering director


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dailylife

Jerry and Marjolein

Marjolein, Jerry, Mieke, Jaap and me.Friday evening when I came home from work I was welcomed by a lot of people on our balcony: Jerry and Marjolein arrived, They made a trip through the U.S., which they started in Arlington a few weeks ago. It's great to see them.

We went for an American dinner, hamburgers with fries. Of course we tried the spicy chicken wings, the pictures that we took in the restaurant got lost, unfortunately. Later we went for drinks to Four Courts, an Irish bar. We got a table, and enjoyed Guiness and Amber beer. A band was playing, and we joined the sing-along and stayed till very late.

dailylife

Jaap's birthday

Jaap having his cake.Jaap has a birthday today -- congratulations!

He is celebrating his 56th birthday here in Arlington, and it's very nice to spend that together.

There were presents in the morning, and cake with whip cream for breakfast. Sasha and I gave Jaap a headset for Skype, and Mieke a book on American history.

washington

Marine Sunset Review Parade

After a long sunny period it rained all day on Tuesday but around 18.00 o'clock the sky cleared. I met Jaap and Mieke at the Iwo Jima memorial after work, and we saw a the Sunset Review Parade.

This is an event organized by the U.S. Marine Corps, and includes performances by the Drum and Bugle Corp and the Silent Drill Team. I especially enjoyed the Drum and Bugle Corps -- a very entertaining show with great music, marches and military music.

A few minutes after the show started we were invited to fill in some empty seats in a special area so we had comfortable places and a great view.

Certainly worth visiting again.

washington

Manassas

Manassas, VA.Sunday we went to Manassas, a town 25 miles from Washington. We went to the historical site of the Civil War. Near Manassas are the fields where two bloody battles were fought.

Many battles in the Civil War, the largest war in American history, were fought in Virginia. The first large battle took place in Manassas, and the bloody result and heavy losses at both sites gave that battle the name 'the loss of innocence'.

Visiting historical places like that always make me want to read more on the history of United States, and specifically of the area here.

ourhouse

TV unit

TV unit.There was a piece of furniture we never found time for to install: the table for the TV.

We got most part of the TV set delivered a while back but since it wasn't urgent we never went back to Ikea to pick up the last remaining part that was out of stock.

My parents offered to go to Ikea together and Saturday afternoon we went to College Park. Our rental car is not extremely large, so Mieke stayed home.

Jaap and I found the remaining part of the TV unit and some other replacement parts fairly quickly. Then we overcame the challenge of loading our Chevrolet Cobalt with the large packages with only one minor injury.

In the evening we installed the first part of the TV unit and it looks very nice.

washington

Great Falls

Great Falls.Friday night we had dinner on the balcony together. My father cooked; sausages with a lot of vegetables and fruits. We made a plan for the weekend, and we decided to rent a car to leave the city and visit places in Virginia.

Saturday morning we took the car from Avis near Clarendon. It took a few minutes to get used to the automatic gear but then we were on our way to our first Virginia visit: the Great Falls.

These waterfalls in the Potomac river, about 20 miles upstream from Arlington make for a magnificent view.

In the 1800s traders created a canal with five locks to by-pass the waterfalls and improve commercial relations. The canal worked only for 30 years and was replaced by a canal at the other side of the river, the Chesapeake & Ohio canal. Remains of the original canal and its locks are still visible though. There were also ruins of some buildings of the village that existed next to the canal. We went for an 90 minutes walk to see the terrain, and watched a movie on the history of the canals and waterfalls.

dailylife

Gerben's birthday

Today is Gerben's birthday -- congratulations!

Yesterday after work we went to Four Courts, an Irish pub in Court House. It was a nice group, we were with some 25 people and it was fun.

Afterwards me and my parents went for dinner in the Silver Diner, where they tried a real American hamburger and a Budweiser. Jaap and Mieke liked the restaurant, with the small jukeboxes on each table.

dailylife

Jaap & Mieke in Arlington

Jaap and Mieke at the elevator.This afternoon my parents arrived in Washington! I went to pick them up in the late afternoon from Union Station; they had taken the train from New York.

I couldn't find them right away, and thought that they were (already) lost, but it turned out that the train had a delay. Jaap & Mieke spent a few days first in New York, the first time for both of them there. Chrysler building, Staten Island, Brooklyn, a dinner with Jonathan & Irena... a lot of stories and a lot of pictures.

It's very nice to have them here. We had dinner together at home and went for a walk in the neighbourhood.

dailylife

Beer, beer, beer

Grimbergen Tripel in a new bottle.Sunday I drunk my first Grimbergen Tripel in a long, long time. I had almost forgot how nice it tastes! It's both sweet and a little bit bitter, with a wonderful aftertaste, definitely my favorite beer.

The Triples have new bottles, no longer the small, sturdy bottles but more regular shaped. I am not sure if that's a real improvement, but oh -- the taste...

Incidentally, I found that our Wholefoods was selling Westmalle Tripel as well. Because these are usually only temporary in stock I bought two large bottles. Three weeks ago I bought quite some Grolsch, and we still had some beers from Williamsburg. So now, just two days before my parents arrive, there is an impressive amount of alcohol in the fridge.

dailylife

New internship Ettie

The Weerribben, the Netherlands.Today is Ettie's first day on her new internship at Staatsbosbeheer. Staatsbosbeheer is a Dutch governmental organisation, managing the natural heritage in the Netherlands.

Ettie will do research in the Weerribben, a national park in the northern part of Overijssel. There's a lot of water in this park, and Ettie will do a big part of her data gathering from a boat.

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