The days are getting longer and the sun is getting warmer... It seems like half a year has passed since I updated my website.
Well it did...
It isn't really like nothing happened at all so that I just didn't have anything to tell you. On the contrary, many things changed and I just was too much in a rush to update the site. So what what what? Well, I will tell you. The first SuperNova houses are finally being constructed, the Hudson house is being prepared to be build, we did win the first round, but didn't win the second round of the Good Red Super Green competition with the CHNL guys, Job left the company, a new year started, Ingrid and I bought a 1987 Saab 900i after using up both the post-dead 1983 Peugeot 205 'Green' and the 1993 Volvo 440i. That's it in a nutshell.
Yes, days were that busy that I couldn't even find the time to escape the country for New Year's evening or visit the wedding party of my dear friend Giove and his Bond Girl in February... Shame on me. But the normal pace is getting back and I probably will be able to find to do some things that I should have done long before.
Like developing the plans that I have with the company or having a digital drink with Gerald, who is starting up his business in China. Like chatting with my old friends who I didn't see for ages and didn't talk to either. Like meeting Dubravka, who now lives in Maastricht for a while. Like visiting my grandmothers. Like moving to Amsterdam or at least checking out what are the options. Like meeting some of my friends who live nearby. Like having a drink with my little brother. Like having the dishwasher repaired and my administration sorted out. Some things might be postponed again, like visiting (some dear friends in) Lithuania, Latvia, Macedonia, Iceland, Ukraine. Traveling might have to wait for the summer, but let's see...
From the professional perspective, this is the news: I have been lecturing at the NHTV Breda at the Urban Design department on the role of the user in our profession of shaping our living conditions and soon will give a similar presentation at the Posthoorn Church in Amsterdam (May 8th) to refresh the debate on how we as professionals, have a worn down idea on how to shape our living conditions. In the line of these thoughts and with my warm memories of EASA I joined the initiative of Future Faculty, some kind of semi-spontaneous workshop like project. I didn't really figure it all out too much, but the subject seems very interesting. The project deals with public space in Soviet mass housing developments. Lovely...
From the more classical architectural point of view I am working on the new scheme of the Emmaus church in Vlaardingen that is being transformed in apartments. In order to achieve some cost reductions, the construction concept has been dramatically changed and with this, the floor plans as well. For the Hudson house, we are filing a pile of paper in order to get the permits, and if it all is working out like we want, this is going to be a very nice place to live. Furthermore I am helping out Dennis with the new lay-out for his famous Pizzeria. And it seems like I am going to have the time to do the publication. The publication? Yes.
PS: If you wonder if it is a smart thing to do: DON'T buy an Eminent Printer Server or a Sitecom Network Drive MD 250 unless you are forced to. They suck badly. It could be Windows Vista too, or both. The Network Drive is the worst and only functions properly as USB storage which I would have bought instead if I needed one and didn't care for the network access. The Printer Server somehow functions but there is some essential things that don't work. For example, there is no way how you can see if there is any ink left in the cartridges unless when you don't see it appear on the paper. Besides, setting up the thing is a disaster. Better choice are Iomega products like this or the StorCenter ix2. They have some issues as well, but not that much. Even with this Windows Vista that makes your computer run as fast as a 1984 Apple Macintosh.
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