Guus Bosman

It was 91 degrees Fahrenheit today; 32 degrees Celsius. Summer has began!

I went for a run in Umstead park in the afternoon. Of course I ran slow to be careful about the heat; it's good to start getting used to the high temperatures again. The humidity has increased but it's not as muggy yet as it will be in the summer here.

Yesterday we had a dinner from the Duke Economics department, with a traditional 'pig-out': North Carolinian style barbecue (pork) with hushpuppies, coleslaw and other 'fixings'.

Later in the evening we had a fun birthday party. Our Argentinian friends told me that the newspapers in Argentina were full of speculation that Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands may announce her abdication next week. The official state press agency is denying it -- so it may be true.

Ettie is celebrating her birthday today -- happy early birthday!

Twice in the past week a student called me 'sir'. The first time it happened, when a girl was asking how to find the Page Auditorium, I shrugged it off as a one-off incident -- perhaps she was just an overly polite person.

Last night when I went for a run I had to evade a guy who was painting graffiti under a bridge, and he said: 'oh, I'm sorry sir', without any irony.

Am I getting old?

This is a picture of the weather a week ago: we had two days of very cold weather, ice and snow. Barely a week later, it was over 80 degrees Fahrenheit (26 degrees Celsius).

On Sunday I went for a long run but I had to give up at one point because I just wasn't adjusted to the hot weather yet. A nice problem to have -- I love these temperatures. Supposedly next weekend it's getting a bit colder again, but I think that the winter is over. Daylight Savings Time is in effect now also, so the time difference with Europe is an hour less now.

Last night it started snowing, and today we woke up to a white world.

For North Carolina, snow in March is pretty rare. Next weekend temperatures are projected to reach 72 again (22 in Celsius). Much better!

Ettie and Gerben bought a nice new car, so now their old one is for sale.

For sale (in the Netherlands): Nissan Micra, automatic, 3 doors. A little over 116.000 km, year: 1995, color: red. Taxes: 17 euro per month. The car uses 'benzine', which is 'gas' in the US but 'gas' in Dutch means natural gas, so don't be confused.

Please contact Ettie if you're interested.

Welcome, dear Anouk!

Our good friends Kirsten and Rob were blessed with a baby on Monday, February 16.

From both of us: many, many congratulations!

Middenmeer, the village where I grew up and our parents still life, is in the news today. A dead body was found on the street this morning; the police is suspecting a crime.

Read more: Telegraaf, in Dutch or RTV Noord Holland, in Dutch.

Last year around this time I started thinking about purchasing a DSLR. I spent many hours researching the various types of cameras, lens systems and products and every time I'd discover something better and cooler or read something in an on-line review. So ultimately I had figured out what kind of camera I 'wanted' and the total price of the camera and lenses was absolutely ridiculous. After a couple of days I came back down to earth and set my eyes on a nice starter's camera, a Canon 400D. But, I knew myself, so I decided to wait a little. I had been running for many months by then, and started considering running a race. I combined the two goals, and told myself that I could purchase the camera in April after running the Raleigh Rocks, my first half marathon.

April came I and ran the half marathon and thoroughly enjoyed it... and sure enough: I didn't really long for the camera anymore. The Wall Street Journal has column about this.

After our wedding, and going through the pictures etc, we started thinking about a DSLR again. Wouldn't it be nice to have a good camera and take beautiful pictures? I now have my eyes on the replacement model of the camera we were thinking about a year ago, the Canon 450D.

But, truth be told: taking pictures is nice, and it's cool to have a great camera, but I don't think it's the perfect hobby for me. A week ago I went for a run on Duke campus in the evening and I saw a guy there with a nice camera, a big bag of equipment and a tripod, taking a -surely beautiful- night picture of a building. And I thought: that could be me. And would I have more fun taking that picture than running here? No way!

I realize that running gives me a lot more satisfaction than taking pictures can ever do.

I'm sure that one day we'll get a nice Canon DSLR. But there's no rush, especially in this economic climate. So, Tuesday I signed up for Raleigh Rocks 2009 and that will be my goal for the coming months.