Broken phone responses:

• 1st: irritation! [Extreme!!!]
• 2nd: worried. [what if…?]
• 3rd: oh! freed up time!

Photo by Daria Shevtsovafrom Pexels

my iPhone dropped dead!

Last Friday, while working on something quite exciting… something not-so-excited happened. My phone stopped working. What? YES. My iPhone dropped dead!

Ok fine, that’s an exaggeration. However, that’s exactly how this feels like today. I have an iPhone 7s for about 1.5 years now and up till March or so (9 months or so after purchase) it was working dandy! However, the home button gave up on me around that time and wouldn’t you know? Apple built a software solution as this seemed to happen more often than not. It took a while to get used to that work around. Notice I said: getting used to and not liking it.

Anyways, back to last Friday. There is something called Switch Control and I never thought to permanently disable that. In hindsight that’s something I should’ve done, because if you press the home button (in the Assistive touch modus) 3 times, the switch control switches on. Now this has happened before, no biggie. However, this time the switch control turned on when my screen was LOCKED and my Assistive touch was no where to be seen. So now, my screen has these blue blocks going up and down on the different app notifications, saying press the home button three times. WHICH home button? AAAARRRRGGG!

One solution I found after much searching (cus how do you search such a thing?) said go and plug the iphone to any computer with iTunes installed and go here there and everywhere.

Nope. Did not work on my own laptop so I thought let’s boot up the MacBook Pro I’ve purchased but not yet worked on. Did it work? NO! Because lo-and-behold. You need a toggle thingie which at this point I’m way too exhausted to search the proper name for, to connect your iPhone (MADE BY APPLE) to your MacBook Pro (MADE BY APPLE). What’s this for madness? 

This made me think though. Apple. Samsung. Who do they have in mind when designing their stuff? Me, the customer? Nope. They want money money and more money. The customer is left hanging because of unwillingness to be SIMPLE.

Will I now go and buy another iPhone? Nope. Will Apple mourn the loss of one customer? Nope. Guess we both win huh?

What are your thoughts? Do you think these big companies have us (customers) at heart? Leave your comments below!

Christmas or Xmas?

• Lights
• Snow
• Presents
• Or Christ?

Almost that time of year!

Are we ready?

Tonight there is a small Christmas village thing on Wilhelmina-plein in the city center. And after having been absent for a while now, Pop of Flavor is back in town!  

Ok that’s not the topic of this message but thought it smart to do some hidden (cough cough) marketing right there. But this did bring up some thoughts on Christmas while preparing for tonight.

We are entering (or already have entered.. I’m late to this party this year) the most treasured season of the year. The time of year where everyone is jolly, everyone is giving, everyone is having seemingly the time of their lives. I’m not going to delve into the question “do we know what we are celebrating” because then it becomes a different type of message. But we can not deny, that it is almost that time of the year!

Instead, let’s talk about what the reason is behind all the happiness. Ah! Seems like one and the same question, right?

Is it because stores are open longer? Is it because you can get kruidnootjes or hot chocolate or because it snows (well it doesn’t here but still!). Or is it because it’s contagious? 

Great my surprise when I read that your spouse has only 8% happiness increase when you are happy, but your next door neighbor has a 34% increase of happiness when you are happy? Say WHAT? Maybe we should treat our spouses the same way we’re treating our neighbors.. just saying! 🙂

What are your thoughts? How do you experience happiness of or with others? Leave your comments below!

Research?

• Awareness
• Gator Brain
• Creativity
• Learn learn and learn

Knowledge Tidbits

Since I can remember, I was seen walking around with books. “Tineke kan fietsen“, “Pinkeltje en de Bibbelonse Berg ” and “De vijf” started out my fascination with reading. In the beginning I was interested in adventurous books. This graduated to romance in my teen years, which then evolved into horror (Steven King anyone?) and the last ‘genre’ I was hooked on was Mystery Legal Thrillers. The last book I really read was “The girl with the Dragon tattoo“, which was so dark that it put me off reading for a while.

When we were designing the house we were going to live in, I requested only one room, where I was going to set up my library. That didn’t come to fruition, yet, so the books are still in boxes awaiting their day in glory!

Meanwhile, my reading became something else. I am curious about multiple things. When Facebook had their ticker, there was so much I was learning just by reading the articles my friends were reading/liking. Mind you, some people thought the ticker was a snooping device: to me it was a gold mine of obscure information. I have friends who are engineers, doctors, secretaries, construction workers  etc., and guess what they have in common when it comes to articles they read? EXACTLY: nothing! I found it fascinated however, and that’s where I caught the ‘research’ bug.

Did you know for example, that Ketchup was sold as medicine in the 1800’s? Or that the bible is the worlds most shoplifted book? This information is utterly useless, but somehow it found its way in my head. These knowledge tidbits have not yet proven handy, but I am sure that one day, one day, there was a reason.

What are your thoughts? Do you research as well and if so what is your technique? Leave your comments below!

Entertainment types

• Gaming
• Game night
• Swimming
• BBQ (get together)
• Reading
• Anything else?

Entertaining of self and others

I’m a child of the middle 70s. Means I love eighties music, I also grew up with Fast Foods, with all those things that now seem to be toxic. Even playing outside.

And it’s kind of funny now that I’m thinking about it. I actively spend more than 8 hours a day behind a screen. It can be a desktop, Tablet/iPad, Laptop or my Mobile phone. Still I am prohibiting my 5 and 7 yr old more than 30 minutes a day on a device of their own choice.

Why, might one ask? Well because entertaining of self is ‘a thing’. It’s when one is bored silly, one will go and be creative. Sometimes that creativity leads me to pulling out my hair (because the car chair is now blue while before it was black!), but I rather have them do these things and develop their minds than have their minds developed for them. 

What about entertainment of others? That might not so much be applicable to my children but more for myself. I used to love (love love LOVE) cooking for my friends. And recently I had the opportunity to do so again, after a LONG while. And lo-and-behold: I remember why I loved it. So, now it will become a thing again in my life: yay!

So if we’re talking about entertainment of self and others, there are many facets to consider. It is up to us, to determine what is important in our lives, and live accordingly. 

What are your thoughts? Is the 30 minute rule difficult or easy to maintain? Leave your comments below!

Moving house – feelings

• Surprise
• Excitement
• Roller coaster

Leaving the old behind

Easy to Move?

Let me start by saying one thing. I – HATE – MOVING.

There. It’s now out in the open for anyone to know. Why? Well for one, it has to do with change, which again is a whole other cup of tea. On the other hand, it’s the hassle. Because what does one have to do to move?

Seemingly there is a whole world of checklists out there in relation to moving. What do I know, right? I love the fact that the first item on the list is to smile. Which to me is the most important point as moving just is no fun… oh yeah. SMILE!

Last week I moved twice – first time to a studio in quite a busy neighborhood, and then to a cozy house near the schools of my kids. The studio was a great experience: purely because it reminded me of living in a ‘city’. Everything was in walking distance and the buses stood literally outside the door so going into town was a breeze. This was a huge difference where I used to live which was quite residential, walking was doable but still far to get a bus.

Now… the move to the new and current location is totally different. Even though we are now located in a busy part of the island, the location of the house, the way the house is situated is tranquil and totally chill. Most important than anything though: the kids LOVE it. How do I know? Because there is no TV and they have not asked ONCE for it! 

What did this experience [moving and leaving the old behind] teach me? 1. I don’t need as much as I thought I did and 2. I am surrounded by the most wonderful people who stood by me and decided to help me move! Am I blessed or what? 

What are your thoughts? Do you move a lot and if so how do you find your peace? Leave your comments below!

Why travel?

• Personal Enrichment
• Culture swap
• ‘Simply’ to get away

Traveling stole my heart

Travel on a Budget?

As a child, my family traveled a lot to the United States. Mainly to Orlando Florida, to visit the parks. Of course, my parents were young at that time too, so all the parks had the allure so it wasn’t just merely for us kids.

When I ventured out on my own and went to live in the Netherlands traveling did not stop. It has always been part of my life so no way was I going to stop now! Of course as a student this takes on a different form: traveling on a budget! Did this diminish the desire to travel? Not one iota!

When in my second year in college the opportunity presented itself to do a summer working on a camp in the US, I jumped both feet in. It combined all I wanted in travel: going away (check!), being in (a part of) a country I’ve never been before (check!), getting to know different folks from all over the world (check!) ,and this one  even had an additional perk. It was in Starlight Pennsylvania. And, it also had the ‘travel on a budget’ part included! Awesome!

Needless to say, that summer was a highlight in travel for me. The work was tough and hard, but it led to meeting amazing people, learning about Jewish culture and discovering that I am more resourceful than I was giving myself credit for up till that point. 

Traveling did not stop after this: budget traveling became a thing. As I am getting more mature (see what I did there? not old but mature!), I am noticing that having a bit of luxury is not as bad as I thought (having a private bathroom for example).

What are your thoughts? Do you travel often or just once in a 5 year span type of thing? Leave your comments below!

Kindness Definition

• Friendly
• Generous
• Considerate
• Thoughtful

Kindness Boomerang

Support being kind

Around 8 years ago, an organization called Life Vest Inside released a video called Kindness Boomerang. In this video it shows how just one small act of kindness can change the lives of many.

This movement then evolved into having a once a year dance for kindness and what started out with one person’s dream, blossomed into a world wide movement.

So last Sunday was the day, where  all around the world a dance was held to showcase that YES: Kindness matters. Kindness exists. And that Kindness should be promoted.

Why I believe in kindness? Because I remember as a child being at the other end of that spectrum. Hmm. Now that I think about it.. as an adult as well! And that’s just not cool. (wow – don’t remember using that sentence in a while now! ◊)

In any case: if you have not heard from them ever – go check them out! Who knows: you might just bring kindness back at you.

Below a picture of that day with the dance of Kindness in Curaçao.