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Tanak's scribbles and thoughts

Tenth of April 2020, 10-04-2020.

In current times, with just about everything closed and shut, it's hard to imagine that not that very long ago, perhaps a couple of years, it was not done for both banks and insurance companies to be opened today. Not today the 10th of April, but today Good Friday.
And there was a reason for their closure, similar to the closure of quite a few European Stock Exchanges, especially in catholic countries. It seems that this tradition is lost, with current globalization and an economy that never stops (well, it is stopped at the moment, for the biggest part, but that's another story).

It was said that on Good Friday no money was to be traded, but at some point after the banking crisis of 2008, trading became more important, and slowly but surely traditions were forgotten. Funny how quick these things go.
It's not big a step to those people that say that this virus is a punishment from god. What is ironic, is that it's only christians who come up with such nonsense.

Someone that I used to call a friend, a long time ago and unrelated to any roleplaying website, was a very religious guy. Not this his belief helped him to stay out of trouble, for he had his run in with the law. But we had many discussions about god, and what that is. I quite like those discussions, to see and hear the opinion of others and give mine. But the everlasting discussion between him and me always ended in non-agreement. I argued that the god of islam, christianity, judaism and other religions was the same entity. But he disagreed with me in the strongest way possible. There was only one such entity and he was the christian god. To my next argument that if he thought that, there couldn't just be one entity, but there had to be more, if they weren't the same being, he never had an answer.
It was his way, or no way. We have lost contact and in hindsight, while knowing him at the time helped me in ways, he would have never added value to my life.

The last four years, I have invested in that, to be with and be around people who add value to my life. Sometimes it's people who I know will stay with me, on my journey for a very long time, for the rest of my life perhaps, others only walk with me a short distance. But that's all fine.

For everyone though, stay sensible, stay safe and stay healthy.
And think about those that are alone this Easter.
 
Eleventh of April 2020, 11-04-2020

Easter Saturday, or in proper Latin Sabbatum Sanctum, Silent Saturday. The day bells won't be ringing and the last day of the fasting period. The man from Nazareth who's death is remembered on this day, for he supposedly died on Good Friday.

The events around his death are well documented and we can reasonably assume they are true, but his birth is a big mystery. First of all, it's impossible that he was born in the night of 25/25 of December. Bethlehem is situated at an altitude of 785 meters above sea-level and there's no way that in the middle of winter, the shepherds were out in the fields. It is just too cold for that. So, somewhere in June, acoording to our calendar is much more plausible. We have also agreed, in Christan countries, that his birth is the starting point of our calendar. But more and more proof is starting to emerge, that it is very likely he was born a few years earlier.

I'm not even going to go into his name, as it's rather unusual for that part of the world. But what I am not going to do is doubt his existence. That part is very clear. A teacher, a prophet, definitely. A man trying to teach people to live their lives differently, to make the world a better place. To rise against the Romans. He's seen as such man in other religions as well. This prophet.
I doubt he ever saw himself as the son of god. I don't even know if he ever thought about being holy. There's something about that as well. This holy trinity, it was decided at the second and third concile of Nicea and Constantople. The bgigest faction of cardnals actually was dead against this whole holy trinity thing, but one 'clever' cardinal swayed them around, most of them at least. Funny that, if history had taken the course it was set on, there had never been this holy trinity and the man from Nazareth had always stayed a man of flesh and blood, who was undoubtedly married and had children.

But that's the thing with history. It's being written by the winners and survivors.

For everyone, Happy Easter. Stay sensible, stay safe and stay healthy.
 
Twelfth of April 2020, 12-04-2020

When I was a young boy, Dutch TV consisted of two channels. We've always been able to watch foreign TV as well, two Belgian channels and three German ones. And that was about it. Commercial TV was non-existent over here. And at days like Easter Sunday, today, there were heaps of films on, from all kinds, so that nobody would be bored after breakfast or brunch. Somewhere in the 1980s, right at the end of it, the first Dutch commercial channel appeared and currently we've got so many that I wouldn't know how much there are exactly. But it seems that the more TV channels there are, what is being shown is much of the same.

Repeats of old programs, repeats of repeats. And those films of olden days aren't being shown either. TV these days is utterly shit. The one channel that's still broadcasting films is the main German channel. But yeah, as I said two days ago, they dub all their films into German. Which also sucks. It's hard to believe in current day and age that countries only stick to their own language. Germany, France, Italy, Spain, they all dub into their language. But the Dutch don't. We subtitle everything. Could it be that because of that the Dutch are so good at their foreign languages? I honestly don't know. We've always been a seafaring and trading nation. That can have played its part as well.

But on a day like today, in times like these, you have to do with what you got, so German TV it is, lol.

For the rest of you, Happy Easter. Stay sensible, stay safe and stay healthy.
 
Thirteenth of April 2020, 13-04-2020.

It's one of those days where I have totally no inspiration to write something here. So I'm not gonna, lol.

Just be sensible, all of you, stay safe and stay healthy.
Happy Easter Monday.
 
Fourteenth of April 2020, 14-04-2020.

I'm not sure if anyone takes notice of the daily updates by their governments on the corona-crisis. I only tend to when there's going to be major announcements, but I follow news-sites on apps on my phone from five countries plus the regional news for the province I live. Most of the times, no matter what country the updates are coming from, it's more of the same. Amounts of new infections, amounts of deaths, ICU's full to the brim, that kind of stuff.

But at the White House update of last night (as per my local time), something quite out of the blue appeared. Something that I cannot say I was surprised by, but at the same time, something that seems to be against the US Constitution. And in my thinking, the president of the US has now shown his true colours. The thing he has wanted to say for a long while and the virus has given him that opportunity.

Trump has literally said: When somebody is the president of the United States, the authority is total'. He was questioned about it, by journalists present, but he insisted that he had all-power to do whatever he wanted. And in my personal opinion, that's what has always been his aim. To get rid of the House and Congress, to lead the US along the liked Putin leads Russia. It is against the Constitution, but there's a precedent. When Roosevelt got elected, way back in the 1930s, nobody could foresee the outbreak of World War 2 and in November 1940, when the war had started, albeit not with direct American involvement, he stood for a third, and later was elected for a fourth term.
In 1947 however, Amendment XXII was made into law, stating that a president can only be re-elected once.

But who's to say that in the current crisis, another amendment is brought forward? Not that Trump cares, for he thinks he has all-power. And I think the last thing any country needs is an all out political internal war, which only would lead to more cases and more deaths. Could it truly be that Trump is trying to force his hand? That the economy is more important to him than the citizens of the country he is president of? Time will tell, I can't look into the future. But it would be devestating for the world and the US in particular.

For the rest of us, stay sensible, stay safe and stay healthy.
 
Fifteenth of April 2020, 15-04-2020

As will be known by now, I stem from the pre-internet era, that is to say, the public internet era. So when I was a teenager I was not subject to porn the way it exists at the moment. Of course, in the 1970s and early 80s The Netherlands was just as liberal as it is now and porn-magazines were freely available in newspaper shops. You had to be 16 though to buy those and the first one I got was an utter disappointment. Not so much because of the content, but more the lack of the written word.

My father used to be a teacher and had plenty of books (he taught Dutch literature), and in Dutch (and Flemish) books of the 50s and 60s, if there wasn't a tit or a fuck described in the book, it wouldn't sell. Similar to Dutch films of the 1960s to 1980s. Films were made that the Dutch never blinked an eye about, but would have been forbidden in every other country of the world. Mainstream films where a 14 year old girl lost her virginity to a much older neighbour. Or another film where a 15 year old girl had a very steamy shower sex-scene with the tennis teacher of her mum. For all you younger people (under 30) and unfamiliar with the Dutch it will be a shock to even read it.

I had been reading the books my father had in his bookcases since I was about 10 or 11. I was always ahead of my age with reading. But when I once discovered a very small book by a Flemish author (I already knew him, not that book), I had my first experience in porn. I absolutely loved the book, for it was wrong in every way possible. That sounds strange, but being 12, 13 and being quite a shy boy (that has changed, a lot), reading about a girl my age doing all kinds of sexual acts, is hot. It starts all kinds of fantasies, of meeting such a girl who'd introduce me in person to the world of sex.

In the two, three years I had hidden the book under my bed, my parents never missed it in their bookcases. But by the time I had had my first kiss, and realized the kind of guy I was (and am), a book like that becomes kind of boring. I got older and started making my fantasies reality. And reading the book back, it's pretty vanilla, albeit extremely taboo and against the law, for the biggest parts. But, for the first time in more than three decades I've reread the book. And in current day and age, with how people have become, it is not for the fainthearted and definitely not meant to be found in a library. It's also never been translated into any language. Only the Dutch (and Flemish) can read it, if they can get their hands on a copy.

But, as per usual, stay sensbile, stay safe and stay healthy.
 
Sixteenth of April 2020, 16-04-2020.

There's this program on Dutch commercial TV called 'Idiots on the road', it's all kinds of clips from onboard cameras or traffic cameras, with all kinds of accidents. Snow and crossing roads take up about 75% of all accidents in the program and roughly 95% of all clips are from Russia. It makes you wonder how on earth people got their driving licences over there.
Almost all of the accidents are totally avoidable, if people would take a little bit more time to look what's going on around you.

But it's quite good entertainment, especially because the voice over comments on all accidents with a pitch-black sense of humor.

Okay, I just fell off the couch, laughing about one of the clips. Imagine this, you're approaching a T-junction, and as a good driver, you wait for traffic from left and right. And indeed there's a car coming from the left, who turns into the street the car with the cam is waiting. But yeah, the oncoming car takes the turn a little too close and sharp. And instead of stopping, after crashing into the car, he kept on going, until he had all four wheels off the ground, parking his car on the bonnet of the waiting car.

I'm sure this program is available in other countries as well, but i have no idea what it would be called. If you ever get chance to watch? Do so, it'll make you laugh. Trust me.

For everyone else, stay sensbile, stay safe and stay healthy.
 
Seventeenth of April 2020, 17-04-2020

Eindhoven, the city I have lived most of my life, is famous for a couple of things. Philips was founded here in 1891 and DAF Trucks a little later. DAF used to make 'luxury' cars as well, before specializing in trucks, but I have put luxury in between brackets for the cars were small and far from luxurious. The thing they were really famous for the variomatic. The English page of wikipedia says the following about that:

Variomatic is the continuously variable transmission (CVT) of the Dutch car manufacturer DAF, originally developed by Hub van Doorne:[1] It is a stepless, fully automatic transmission consisting of a "V" shaped drive belt and two pulleys, each of two cones, whose effective diameter can be changed so that the "V" belt runs nearer the spindle or nearer the rim, depending on the separation of the cones. These are synchronized so that the belt always remains at the same optimal tension..
It's all abacadabra for me, but I have been told it's really good and something new at the time.

Eindhoven is also (in)famous for a specific street, roughly three quarters of a mile long, with somewhere between 50 and 80 bars and pubs. It used to be at the higher end, but these days it's more towards the lower end. That's because some bars or pubs nowadays class themselves as food-bar, meaning they won't count towards the pub-count. Especially in the 1990s and early 2000s, it was *the* place to be and on warm Saturday nights in summer, some 40 to 60,000 people would roam the street and the bars.

But in times of this virus, all bars and pubs and restaurants (among a lot of other things) have to stay closed. But, at my daily walk today, while walking through the street (its called Stratumseind), it was incredibly busy. But not with people flocking to the bar to get a beer or some food, no, all kind of repair people, painters, handy-men, you name it, had parked their vans on the street. It's good thing to do your bar up a bit, but it also made me think that it's not thad bad with the state of our economy. Because, why would you invest if you're near to bankruptcy? No, I think it will be fine.

And if you're in the neighbourhood, visit Stratumseind, there's never been anyone doing the full pub-crawl (a pint in every bar), so that challenge remains open.

But, for the rest, stay sensbile, stay safe and stay healthy.
 
Eighteenth of April 2020, 18-04-2020

It's one of those days again that I don't really have any inspiration to come up with something to write about. It's a boring day outside, we might even get rain for the first time in a while. But, only today. And where it a normal Saturday, in normal times, it would be not so nice, people having to work during the week aren't waiting for a rainy Saturday. But with these current strange times, and a lot of people working from home, the days all seem to blend into one. If it's a Monday or a Sunday, it makes no difference, as you can go out whenever (or not, of course, if you're in a country that's on much stricter rules).

So, it's going to be inside for me today. And watch some TV, if anything interesting is on. If not, it'll be reading.

And as always, stay sensible, stay safe and stay healthy.
 
NIneteenth of April 2020, 19-04-2020.

No two weeks are the same, no two days are the same, And I could use a lot of clichés here, but I'm not going to, anyone reading this can figure them out.

A little over a week ago, I was all hyped and fired up, for having a good amount of RP's today I have only two RP partners remaining. And while I am in general a very patient RP'er, even more so in current day and age, with everything that's going on in the various countries the females I write with are from, it leaves me very frustrated that one after the other seems to have faded into oblivion. Where applicable I have seen that messages were read, but without any response. I usually don't ask when a reply is coming, it does when it does, but after plotting and creating a story, I am genuinely interested in how my partner is doing and coping. So my messages are usually in the line of 'How are things going, I hope everything is well'.

It leaves me with the thought that they are not appreciated. I don't really like to virtually whip people into writing, I reserve the use of whips for MC's in a play (and in real life for a special one) or use other virtual niceties.

I guess it's another matter of how it goes these days. I've temporarily stored those plays in my folder 'Stopped', copied and pasted them from my folder 'On Going'. The latter is eerily empty at the moment, the former is now at over 150 plays that are stopped in 15 months. The vast majority without any reason or warning.

Oh well.

For everyone else, stay sensible, stay safe and stay healthy.
 
Twentieth of April 2020, 20-04-2020.

Were it not for the strong wind, it would have been a nice day today. It's sunny and been dry since mid March. But because of the strong wind, moorland fires spread rapidly. And at the moment one of those fires is raging. And people in the area here just got alerted for that fire, that if the smoke bothers you, you should close windows and doors. The government does that with a so-called NL-Alert.

But the distance from where I am to where the fire is supposed to be, is about 30 miles. No reason to think the smoke could reach Eindhoven, but for the wind coming from that direction. But still, you wonder what the reason is for us to get the alert. I always wonder how things work like that, for I never have had a reason to think I personally, because of where I live, had reason to think I would be affected. I mean, I can understand if something serious happens at Eindhoven Airport or even in the city center, to avoid those places. And perhaps an alert like this was meant to keep people away, which is a very valid reason.

But why put it as a warning against the fire and smoke, instead of, please don't come watch and stay inside. Then again, I've never worked with or for the people who make and send these messages, so I can only guess what their reasoning is for sending it in such a wide area.

Anyway, for everyone else, stay sensible, stay safe and stay healthy.
 
Twenty-first of April 2020, 21-04-2020

The results of a survey among inhabitants of province I live, because of corona, gave some really interesting stuff. As I have told her before, the province where I live was where corona started in the Netherlands. But not around Eindhoven, further to the west (further is relative, the Netherlands is a small country). Apart from young children, in primary school ages or younger, for they weren't interviewed, every age category had been given a set of questions how they are coping with the lockdown situation as it is happening now.

The most surprising result for me was that the younger people are, age category 12 to 25, the more mental problems they have with having to entertain themselves. It is all the more surprising to me, because that age category should be busiest, with school, college, university and whatnot. But I hear it around me, from people I am in contact with online and from some friends, that teenagers and early 20s don't want to do any school work and basically watch movies or youtube the whole day. Funnily enough they are also saying they miss school.
Older people, the over 70s for the biggest part, have much less problems keeping themselves occupied and are therefore less likely to feel depressed and lonely.

I am in the category 40 to 55, but I am not representative for any of the results for my category. I've said before that for me personally nothing has changed. I do the same as I did before the outbreak of the virus and the lockdown. For my mother, who's in the category over 70, it's much harder, as she's always has had a very social life. Meeting a lot of people and going to music, dance and museums. But she's doing fine, and not getting lonely or depressed.

But I can't shake the feeling why it is so hard for the younger generation to be by themselves, and entertain themselves. It is the generation that, and everybody will agree to it, is always on their phones, How often do you read reports in the press that they should be going out more, meeting people. But now they are forced to stay at home, they suddenly miss that real person connection? It doesn't make sense to me.

Two last things, it is also the younger generation who block out or ignore the news about the virus the most. So they don't really know what actually is going on. And lastly, as per every day, stay sensible, stay safe and stay healthy.

And read a book or so!
 
Twenty-second of April 2020, 22-04-2020.

I've always had something with languages. Being Dutch, that's not that strange or special, as we've always been an outward focussed country. The Netherlands has always done a lot of trading, bring a lot of wealth to here. Sometimes wealth gained from 'good' trading and sometimes from 'bad' trading. But I'm not going to talk about the country, but about me, for a change.

Besides Dutch, the first language I spoke more or less fluent was French. My parents took me and my brother on holidays to France from a very early age. I was 8, I think, my brother 6. And being eager to learn new things, even at that age, I made friends with French kids preferably. If I wanted to speak Dutch, so were my thoughts, I could do that at home. Times were hugely different than they are now, and often I went out wandering the camp-sites we were at, or even walking to the nearest village (although that was a few years later). I got some money and walked to the bakery to get baguettes. Easypeasy.. But since we went to the southern region of Provence in France, I picked up that dialect quicker than the northern French as spoken in Paris (that's the French teachers wanted us to speak at secundary school).

At secundary school I learnt English and German as well, but I struggled with French, for I spoke dialect. And right up to my final, oral, exam, I've always had the dialect in my French, causing me to get a lower mark. I can understand why, because the Provencal dialect is damn hard to understand.
When I was a student, or rather, when I frequented the bar on campus instead of studying, I was also home a lot and watched BBC TV. In those days they still broadcasted the Test matches of cricket, five long days of a lot of talking and that's where I got my British accent from. That was later only enhanced, for I have lived in the UK for 9 years.

Throughout the years I discoverd that speaking Provencal was helpful when I was in the Catalan region of Spain. And while they aren't the same, the two have enough in common to get by. I can't hold a full conversation on whatever subject, but ordering drinks or food and a basic conversation about football isn't a problem. And my knowledge of French means I can understand enough of a Spanish newspaper to catch headlines. Similarly, my knowledge of Dutch and German means that I can understand certain things Danish or Swedish.

Knowing languages has always helped me, and currently, in these most bizarre of times, it still helps me. I have newsapps from several countries on my phone and I check them regularly to see where and how countries differ in taking measures. And to see where they agree on things going on in the world that are good or bad. It helps me form an educated opinion, as well as a balanced one. I am not dependant on one language and one broadcaster. I would really hate that, to have to rely on only one source.

If history had gone only slightly different though, this website would have been in Dutch, for the people in the US would have spoken Dutch (as their main language). But Peter Stuyvesant decided otherwise. Shame on him.

For the rest, though, as per usual, stay sensbile, stay safe and stay healthy.
 
Twenty-third of April 2020, 23-04-2020.

To keep up with my every day writing, I really should write something today, but I am going to censor myself.

I had planned to write something about another topic in the OOC section, but I think it's better for everyone, least of all myself, to refrain from that.

So, stay sensible, stay safe and stay healthy.
 
Twenty-fourth of April 2020, 24-04-2020.

Today I'm going to write about something nice. And funny. But also a bit sad. And there's even a hint of, what the fuck were his parents thinking. It all stems from the following article on the BBC news site. (It is found in multiple places though)

www.bbc.com

Tom Hanks writes to boy called Corona who said he was bullied

The Australian boy sent a letter to the Hollywood star when he heard Hanks had caught the virus.
www.bbc.com www.bbc.com

In case the link doesn't work, here's a short recap. When Tom Hanks and his wife were in Australia and contracted the virus, an 8 year old boy wrote them a letter asking them if they were okay. There's nothing special with that, remember the 5 year old who wrote to a football club asking if the team he supported could buy a player for fifteen English pounds. What got the story going is the name of this 8 year old. Corona De Vries. It's a very unusual name and given his last name, there's definite Dutch heritage. I'll come back to that later.

Long story short, Tom Hanks wrote a letter back, saying he and his wife were fine and back in the US, but as a gift he sent the boy his type-writer, one of those really old-fashioned ones, of the brand Corona. It got picked up by some news-sites and the story went global.

Turns out that the boy was bullied for his unusual name, and because of the Dutch heritage in it, the Australian kids made it into coronavirus. Which is sad, for it's not the boy's fault that his parents named him like that. And it brings me to those parents. Of course, when the kid was born eight years ago, this whole corona-virus was far in the future and nobody could predict anything like this pandemic. But why on earth would anyone call their son Corona? Was it that his father is an alcoholic and addicted to the Corona beer? It's really bizarre.

In The Netherlands, you cannot just name your kid anything you want. Names of babies have to follow certain rules and laws. Some names are outright forbidden. You are not allowed to name your son Adolf. You are also not allowed to give your child a name that in general is seen as a last name. It is always at the discretion of the civil servant with whom parent(s) register the name of the child. Of course, you can protest against that and go to court. And people do that and very often win their case. But, having said all that, I honestly don't think that the name Corona as a boy's name would have been accepted over here.

For everyone else, as per usual, stay sensbile, stay safe and stay healthy.
 
Twenty-fourth of April 2020, 24-04-2020. Second post.

I know I have already posted today. But something so utterly incredible happened at Trump's last press conference, something I've been debating the whole day about whether or not to write about, that it warrants a second daily post.

Dr. Trump has suggested it should be looked into that injecting people with desinfectants could be a cure for COVID19. And while I have never thought highly of the man, I think it's now official. He's lost his mind. He's ready for a psych ward, to be locked up and never let out into the world anymore. Because, really? That's basically saying, we have too much Americans, and if we inject a lot of them with this, we can kill off half of the population. And we know it won't work, but at least we've got rid of everyone against me.

So yeah. Just my opinion. Laughable. Absolutely insane.
 
Twenty-fifth of April 2020, 25-04-2020

Since I had two entries yesterday, I am keeping this short today. One thing must be mentioned though, a new play I started, in threads. And I'm really excited about it, for what the story promises to be and for the girl I am writing it with!

And that's it for today. Tomorrow a much longer piece, undoubtedly.

But for everyone, as always, stay sensible, stay safe and stay healthy.
 
Twenty-sixth of April 2020, 26-04-2020

It's nearly 4pm here, Sunday-afternoon. For the rest of the world it's a normal Sunday, but not for the Dutch. Everyone up for a party, and we're good at that, would be preparing now to go out, or already be out. For tomorrow, the 27th, is King's Day. It's one of the best days in a year for us Dutch. Where the country turns orange. Literally.

The English version of wiki even has a page about it: Koningsdag - Wikipedia

There's all sorts of activities, lots of music, people are out and about, drinking and partying. And in general nothing happens. Because we, the Dutch, we know how to party. And the parties that would normally happen tonight are even bigger. Lots of music, with squares dedicated to various music styles. And it's busy on the streets and the squares. And most people, not all, because I don't do it, dress up in something orange. No matter how Dutch I am and I am definitely a fan of our Royal Family, I don't like the colour orange. But it's real cool to see all the others do the dressing up.

But not this year, because of the virus going around. So it's quiet on the streets, although earlier today I did see a couple all dressed up in orange. No idea where they were going, but it gave me a smile.

The Dutch word for King's Day is Koningsdag. And for his, most bizarre of years, someone has come up with an alternative, to celebrate King's Day from home. And they've played on the word Koningsdag and made it Woningsdag. Which would translate as Home Day. It really doesn't sound as good in English as it does in Dutch and the whole joke with the letter. But the basic idea is to do just pretend that you're all out on the street and do those things at home and make a video and stuff. And that goes a little bit too far for me. I mean, I love the whole outside stuff, but I'm not one to make an effort if things aren't going to go ahead as I'm used to. So for me this year it'll be no orange and no party. And a normal evening and night, instead of a partying King's Night.

And for all your 'foreigners', Stay sensible, stay safe and stay healthy!
 
Twenty-seventh of April 2020, 27-04-2020

When I was growing up, I am born in the 1960s, in 1967 to be exact, the Netherlands was only just in a phase of change. The whole sexual revolution came to us with a delay. The big student protests in France, the same, we had that around 1980. The world was a lot smaller in those days. We had newspapers and three channels on TV. There was no internet. But everybody sunbathed topless. Just a few strange things about the Dutch.

But, even in the Netherlands, there's long been a culture that if a man would fuck around, he was seen as a stud, it was good for men to do that. But when a woman had similar thoughts, that was something bad. They were called (and no doubt in some parts of the world still) all sorts. I've never really understood that, even more, in my personal opinion I have only deep respect for those girls and women. Don't follow the rules, make your own choices. And if that means you love sex, good on you.
I go a few steps further even in my own thinking. I much prefer those girls above the 'normal' ones. I can't do fuck-all with a prude one (Been there, done that, got the sticker). No, for me those kind of girls are much closer to an ideal girl.

It probably helps that the word 'jealousy' isn't in my personal dictionary. I don't have a shred of jealousy in my body and mind. I think that I can satisfy any girl who's with me in such a way that they don't want another man (or woman), but if they do, then we end things, simple as that. When I walk around town with my girl, and she turns heads, for instance for her slutty clothing, or extreme short dresses or skirts, it makes me proud instead of jealous. The fact other men find my girl hot enough to look at? That's just sexy, for I managed to get her.
For me, every girl and woman in the world has beauty, notwithstanding the fact that no two females are the same, they all have something. And I can't define what it is why I am more attracted to one as to the other, but a free spirit, sexually free, that definitely helps. Call such a girl a slut, but for me that's a good word. I rather have one of those than a girl who doesn't dare to be seen in the light. No matter how much I tell them they're hot (Again, been there, done that, got that sticker too).

And no matter where you see yourself, the female(s) reading this, you're good. You're beautiful. Not all of you will be my type of girl, and some of you I would crave for whatever reason. But you're all good the way you are. Don't change too much.

For everyone though, as always, stay sensbile, stay safe and stay healthy.
 
Twenty-eighth of April 2020, 28-04-2020

When I started my journal, COVID19 was a thing only happening in China, and this section, the journal section was pretty quiet. In another post I have already mentioned a few people who's threads gave (and still give) me pleasure.
But as of late, the last week or two, there's a lot more people opening journal threads. And while I still open and read all of them, there's a lot I don't get. That's all my own doing of course, for what those people write about isn't what *I* like. And that's basically as it should be. Each person has their own reasons to post whatever they want.

With a fair few of the people posting in this thread I have a bit more contact, perhaps this secton is where people I get along better, frequent. Although, I have to admit that as of late (to use the same phrase again) there is a little bit more on offer in female RT's. It has been quiet on that front for me for a while, but I have started a few new plays and it's getting busier again. Which is good, I had and have plenty of time to write RP's. And if every country in the world has gone back to some sort of normality, I will still have just as much time as I have now. For me, nothing will change. I will do my writing and reading and the occasional nap. What I do need to keep up with is to go for a walk every day. That's the biggest change in my life. That I go for a daily walk, half an hour, an hour or sometimes a lot longer.

For everybody, as always stay sensible, stay safe and stay healthy.
 
Twenty-ninth of April 2020, 29-04-2020

If there is anything my mum hates, it's being called an elderly citizen. When the various governments around the world announced their variations of lockdowns , they put the very abritrary age of 70 as the cut off point. Under 70 and one could still go outside, 70 or over and they had to be confined. For their own safety or something like that. It caused strange situations, no doubt, where one half of a couple was 70 or over and the other under. They had to follow different rules.
Another thing was that there was no separating those 70 and over who lived on their own and those in care-homes. No, everyone 70 and over had to be locked away, for their own safety.

And I do realize that putting it as locked away is very controversial, but I am sure that many of those will have felt it like that. Someone aged 69 could go out for a walk, but someone a day older and celebrating their 70th birthday had to stay inside. Not always, no, because several governments and supermarkets created special shopping hours for the 'elderly'. Between 7 and 8 am, for instance.

My mum is 75, she will be 76 in September and before the lockdown started, she had just subscribed to do the Nijmegen Four Day marches again. The two of us do shopping every Saturday, and I do the walking trainings with her. A slow build-up to culminate in 20mile walks by June. She has a very social life, with a lot of friends, goes to concerts and musea and to the cinema with other friends. It's rare for her to be at home for an evening. And she's the best hugger in the world. Of course I would say that, as her son. But any girl telling me that I'm the best hugger, knows where I got it from!

She fends for herself, just like there are tons and tons of others of the ages 70 and over, and who were severely limited in their movements. But, as of today, one or two dedicated persons can visit the 70s and over, living in their own houses/apartments, to visit them on regular occasions in a week. It's rather ridiculous actually, to need permission (or perhaps approval is a better word) to visit your own mother. I have been visiting her regularly and as it turns out, that was illegal. Whoooo. Lawbreaker!

We have kept our distance the whole time and it sucks, but it's better for everyone. I have kept my distance to everyone. Because of her. I do take a lot of things in careful consideration. Not that I should really. In all her life my mum has never been (seriously) ill, she has not any diseases. A flu here and there over the years, true, but the last one is probably twenty or thirty years ago. No, she hates being called an elderly. If someone mentions 'old people' around her, she automatically assumes people of over 90 or so are the subject. She? She's not old, she was born after the war! (Which is true, my mum was born 10 days after the liberation of Eindhoven).

But we're in the clear again, so at least I won't run the chance to get fined for visiting my own mother.

And for everyone else, stay sensible, stay safe and stay healthy. Her and I have managed to do that all the time, so others should be able too.
 
Thirtieth of April 2020, 30-04-2020..

Two articles on the BBC website caught my eye this morning. Both articles are about effects of COVID19 in the US. I don't know if either of them are representative for the way the US works or are simply excesses. The reaction to both articles is purely my own opinion.

www.bbc.com

Coronavirus: Why so many US nurses are out of work

At a time when many healthcare workers are risking their lives, some face pay cuts and job loss.
www.bbc.com www.bbc.com

Coronavirus: Why so many US nurses are out of work. A simple headline that baffled me. Nurses out of work? In current times? When it's all hands on deck to help as many people as possible? Unbelievable. Over 50,000 Americans have died of COVID19 and qualified nurses aren't allowed to do their job? That makes me immediately think that a lot of those people could have been saved. If you put nurses (and probably doctors too) in ICU's and let them help out, because in their normal line of medicine it's quiet (to free up beds for corona-patients for instance), how many less casualties would there have been?
My brother's partner is a highly specialized surgeon. And while my English if fairly alright, I wouldn't have a clue how to explain what it is she does. It's something with cancer in bones, but that doesn't cover it by far. She works in one of the most respected University Hospitals in the country, and because her normal operations were either brought forward or put on hold, she is helping out on the various wards to do with COVID19. Which is normal, in my simple European way of thinking. Here you have someone with a finished medinine degree, let them help out, instead of telling them to cut hours and income.

But then, a little further in the article, when I read that it seems that hospitals are more interested in making money, than they are interested in their patients. It does sum up, for me personally, everything that is wrong with the medical system in the US.

www.bbc.com

Coronavirus kills 70 veterans at Massachusetts care home

Officials are investigating if residents received proper medical care at the Massachusetts home.
www.bbc.com www.bbc.com

The second article is about 70 veterans who have died in a care home and another few dozens of them and their staff tested positive and ill. If there is one country in the world where veterans are both remembered and esteemed highly, it's the US. So you'd think that care homes for those men and women should be safe havens, where they can enjoy the rest of their lives. Again, I don't know if this particular care home is an excess in the way it is being run or if this is the norm. But after reading the first article, with nurses told to cut down hours, wouldn't it have been a solution of getting those nurses to help out?

There have been examples in Europe as well, where a lot of deaths have occurred in care-homes. But, generally speaking, in European care-homes it concerned the elderly. It is unclear for me, and therefore impossible to draw any conclusions, if the ages of those veterans were the same as the European elderly. The article doesn't mention the ages of those who have died. In any care-home though, are people who are at risk for whatever reason. All kinds of underlying medical conditions.

Both articles are horrible to read, for different reasons, and I can only hope that there are people who connect a few dots, and start hiring nurses who were forced to cut hours and stay home, to help them out at other places, where they are very much needed!

For everyone though, as per usual, stay sensbile, stay safe and stay healthy!
 
Thirty-first of April 2020, 31-04-2020

Ha, you think I'm crazy right? You might actually be right. Maybe I'm the baddest ass there is here. Maybe I am not. But who would actually write a post entry on a date that doesnt' exist? But does it? Perhaps there is a 31st of April. And we're now in some alternate universe, and I am the one in the right, and you are all dreaming? You ever thought of that?

What if, is a question we all ask ourselves a lot of times. What if this and what if that. What if I weren't with him, would *he* be better? Or, what if she had kissed me? Would it, could it?

BMR is brining the best out of me, there are people here who make me feel comfortable, so maybe I am in a different universe, and in said universe there is a 31st of april and only 30 days in march, who knows. Anything goes and anything is possible and I can do what i want. Because, that's the fun part. To be on the 31st or April, Walpurgisnight, they say in Scandinavia. Ever been there? I ain't

But it's one of those evenings and nights where it goes. Do your thing, be yourself. To a point. But don't pretend. Just say it as it is. Don't fuck around (well, actually, fucking around is a GOOD thing), get naked, go fuck, go you know. Do that. This night, of all nights? It's the night to tell what you want. Talk to the people where you think, if not him who? Just do it.

Walpurgisnight. Remember that name. Just do it.
 
First of May 2020, 01-05-2020.

After last night's little joke, it's back to normality today. Over here in Europe May 1st is Labour Day. In various countries there would have been parades, manifestations, all kinds of public gatherings to celebrate the workers of the lands. But of course not this year. It's as quiet as any other day. So, Dutch advertisers have tried to still make something out of it, by calling it the Day of Virtual Labour and the Day of the Vital Labourers. Once again, something like that doesn't affect me. Like nothing has done. I'm just lucky to know what to do with my free time, for I have had free time ever since my return from England.

There's a fair few reasons for it and although I would have loved to see things go differently, it is what it is. The Netherlands has an excellent benefits system and I get by with the little money I have every month. Each month I am left with something like 5 or 10 euro before getting my benefits. But I didn't really want to talk about money. This was meant more on how I spend my days. Having done this for the past four years, this having to stay at home, keeping myself busy, I've got into a good routine. In my mornings, I wake up early usually., I reply to plays, if I have any replies to do. I check a few games I play, nothing special. I'm not a gamer.

I check the various news apps and sites, to see what's happening in the world, and nowadays that's a blast. If replies come in during the day I'll reply to those as well. And after I've had my dinner in the evening, I watch a bit of TV, chat a bit online. And in between I read a lot and go out for my daily walks. And then by around 10ish, I'm knackered and go to bed. And then the next day it starts all over again. Easy-peasy.

For my perspective, having this routine, it's hard to believe people being bored during these times of lockdown. There's plenty to do. I think though that the biggest issue a person themselves is. Can you live with yourself and doing very little that you are used to. Because if you can't? That's a problem. But it's easy to get around it. Love yourself first, before talking about being bored.

But, as always, stay sensible, stay safe and stay healthy.
 
Second of May 2020, 02-05-2020.

The second of May 2016, today four years ago was a Monday. And in the UK said Monday was a Bank Holiday. The UK has several of those, often as replacements for religious days off, but at some point the then government decided it wasn't beneficial for the economy to have a day off in the middle of the week. And thus they created a couple of Mondays as Bank Holiday. This particular one, the first monday of May in 2016 was a very special one for me.

In fact, the second of May 2016, marked the start of a very special week for me and it was all sports-related.

I have always been heavy into sports, besides reading it is probable my biggest hobby. To watch sports that is, not to do it myself. My main interests are football and cricket, but I will watch just about anything that comes by. When I say football, I mean the game where 11 men, women or children play against another 11 men, women or children and try to score one more goal than their opponent, to win the match. The sports played with feet, mainly. In some countries there are sports being called football too, but we, in Europe, make the distinction by calling them with the countryname in front of it.

I have a seasonticket at one of the two teams from EIndhoven. PSV, the biggest and best one, was founded in 1913 as a factory team for Philips and since 1974 I've had my seasonticket there. The other team, FC Eindhoven, last played at the higest level in that year, 1974, but over the years I've been to watch them quite regularly. I have a second team, from England, that I have been supporting since 1980. And while PSV, since I started to watch them, has been really successful, Leicester City, my English team, didn't do that well. They weren't really bad, but not with the success PSV has (had).

Right up until the 2015/2016 season. Because Leicester became champions of England, for the first time in their history that season, on the second of May. But the whole story actually starts 9 matches before the end of the previous season. LCFC (Leicester City FC) were 7 points from safety, on one of the relegation places and with a difficult remaining matches left, nobody gave them any chance of staying up. But they had an incredible run-in, managing to stay up, yet at the start of the next season, they were named as one of the teams certain to go down. In fact, if you wanted to bet an English pound on LCFC becoming champions that year, you would get 5,000 in return.

If in that year anyone would prove with absolute certainty that Elvis Presley was still alive and well, they would only get 2,500 pounds in return for their one. Half the amount of Leciester being champions. To just show you how unblievable it was being seen as happening. But, I wouldn't be writing this story today, if it didn't happen. It is, arguably, the biggest ever miracle and upset in any sports in history, because it's over a competition of 38 matches. It wasn't a one-off match or contest.

LCFC became unreachable by any of the other teams when they weren't playing. Monday night, the second of May 2016, their direct competitor Tottenham Hotspur had to win their away match at Chelsea to stay in with a chance, but they drew and Leicester were champions.

On that same Monday night, at a venue in Sheffield, it was the conclusion the World Snooker Championships, between a Chinese player called Ding and an Englishman called Selby. Mark Selby, nicknamed 'The Jester from Leicester', won his 18th frame of the match, to become World Champion. And he did that roughly at the same time as the final whistle went at Stamford Brdige in London (home-ground for Chelsea). At the trophy ceremony word had gotten to him that his favourite football team, Leicester City, were champions and so he got presented the trophy holding a bit LCFC flag.

But, as I mentioned earlier, it was the start of an amazing week. The next Sunday was the last round of matches in the Dutch highest league. And Ajax, from Amsterdam, only had to win at a team already in the relegation play offs. And only a few real optimists in Eindhoven still gave PSV a chance to win the title. Ajax had to drop points and PSV had to win. Which they did. Easily. But Ajax only drew. Karma is a bitch, because even on their way to that away match, they had the stickers on the bus, already saying they were champions for that year. But, another saying, it ain't over till the fat lady sings.

Four years on, a lot has happened in the world. But it's a week forever edged in my memory.

As per usual though, also for today, stay sensible, stay safe and stay healthy.
 
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