Guus Bosman

software engineering director


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dailylife

A Friday in DC

Thursday I took the afternoon off and we drove to Washington. Sasha gave a presentation there on Friday, and I worked from the hotel.

We were lucky with the traffic. On Wednesday there had been a big snowstorm and thousands of people were stranded for hours on the highways. On Thursday things were fine, and since many people were working from home there was little traffic. In the evening we had dinner in a place that Obama and Medvedev once visited.

Friday evening I went to Mackey's Pub, a few blocks from our hotel, where some 40 Dutch people met for drinks. I met a lot of different people and had a great evening. There were several Americans who were learning Dutch, and took the opportunity to practice. The organizers even arranged for bitterballen, made by a company in Atlanta.

We drove back on Saturday, and made a beautiful detour through southern Virginia in the afternoon.

plants

Christmas tree 2010 (3)

Yesterday evening I took down our Christmas tree.

We decorated the tree six weeks ago and it is still in amazingly good shape; hardly any needles came off when I took it outside.

In the afternoon I visited Petra and Ron for a nice cup of coffee.

dailylife

Back to normal

Things are back in their normal rhythm. This was my first full week at work since before Christmas, and it was good to be back in full working mode. We completed a minor release this week, with new translations of the product in several languages. It's cool to see your software in Chinese.

Tomorrow I may clean up the Christmas tree, I think it is about time. The tree is indestructible, it has hardly lost any needles.

politicsnews

European troubles

These are uncertain times for the European Union. Last week Paul Krugman wrote an article in the New York Times about the problems facing the Union and the euro, and the possible scenarios that could unfold. A few days later The Economist argued that Greece and possibly Ireland and Portugal should restructure their debts, the first rich-country sovereign defaults since 1948:

"This mess leads to a depressing conclusion: Europe’s bail-out strategy, designed to calm financial markets and place a firewall between the euro zone’s periphery and its centre, is failing. Investors are becoming more, not less, nervous, and the crisis is spreading. Plan A, based on postponing the restructuring of Europe’s struggling countries, was worth trying: it has bought some time. But it is no longer working. Restructuring now is more clearly affordable than it was last year. It is also surely cheaper for everybody than it will be in a few years’ time. Hence the need for Plan B."

Work NC

No Meeting Friday

Well, this week No Meeting Friday did not exactly work out: I have nine scheduled meetings tomorrow.

Lot of things to catch up with but it's fun to be back at work.

travelling

Icy road back home

Monday we traveled back from Denver. A snow storm was approaching North Carolina and I was afraid our flight would have been canceled, but we arrived at RDU just fine. A bumpy landing in the storm. Many other flights were canceled, so we felt lucky to have made it.

Hernan joined us on the way home from the airport; it was slow driving because of ice, but we made it home safely around midnight.

Yesterday I worked from home, given the road conditions; it is nice to be back at work. I'm recruiting for three open positions.

dailylife

Meetings in Denver

Denver really is a pretty city, with a great downtown area. Sasha is at her conference during the day, so I'm exploring the city by myself, but we also spent time together in between things.

This afternoon I met Anna Chase and Dennis for coffee, which was fun. I've been reading Dennis' blog for years, and it was nice to meet in real life.

There is snow predicted both here and in North Carolina, that may make our flight home quite interesting. We'll see.

And oh, for lunch I got us two sandwiches from Dubbel Dutch (again). Very healthy, a broodje gezond. Dubbel Dutch is a nice store; I enjoyed meeting Eef, the owner.

dailylife

Colorado

This morning I drove to Colorado Springs, about an hour south of Denver. I visited a Dutch bakery there.

The speed limit here is 75 miles per hour.

dailylife

Morning in Denver

We're staying on the 19th floor of the Crowne Plaza hotel, which has a great view. On the right in the picture you can see the mountains that surround the city.

It's a little colder here than in North Carolina, but not much. The snow you see is the first of the season, according to the guy at the rental company.

There is a two hour time difference with the East Coast.

travelling

In Denver, Colorado

Today we traveled to Denver, Colorado, where Sasha will be at a conference.

It was a short night. Somehow we are always packing until late, and we left the house at 7.00 am. The flight went smoothly. It was the first time we flew with Southwest airlines, and it was a great experience. Very friendly service.

Denver has a nice downtown area; we're staying in a big hotel in the center. I scheduled a meeting with a customer on Thursday.

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