"It's not that I'm lazy, it's that I just don't care."
"I did absolutely nothing, and it was everything that I hoped it could be."
« May 2003 | Main | July 2003 »
"It's not that I'm lazy, it's that I just don't care."
"I did absolutely nothing, and it was everything that I hoped it could be."
Posted by David_Dobrindt on June 26, 2003 at 11:57 PM in Movies | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Holland and the Nethrelands. What is the difference?
There is often confusion about the name Holland. Some people call the Netherlands Holland, but it is not the same. Holland is only a small part of the Netherlands and like the Dakotas, Carolinas and Virginias, there are two Hollands.
'North Holland' (capital city Haarlem) and 'South Holland' (capital city The Hague).
Holland used to be an independent country. It had a 'Count', its own monetary system (until the 19th century!), its own measuring units and time. Holland gave up this independence in the 16th century, when it allied with the Northern and Southern Netherlands against the armies of the King of Spain. The King of Spain was officially the 'Count of Holland' at the time and ruled over this whole area.
The main reasons for the war were religious differences, disputes over taxes and the fact that when some cities wanted to break free, the King's army was quite brutal to civilians.
Eventually, the Southern Netherlands gave up the fight and war occupied by foreign forces until 1830. This area is now Belgium. The Northern Netherlands fought on and won. Then, along with the counties (Holland, Drente, Groningen, Friesland, Gelderland, Zeeland and Utrecht) became a free Republic, including the occupied regions of Brabant and Limburg.
All these counties and some new ones together (called provinces today) make up 'the Kingdom of the Netherlands'.
This day the province of Limburg has a Governor. To say to someone from Limburg or Friesland that he or she is from Holland, is considered an insult. They are not! They consider themselves to be from the Netherlands. They even have their own language.
People from other provinces than North and South Holland will perhaps not consider it a real insult, but still they are not from Holland.
In summary, Holland gave up its independence a very long time ago, so calling the Netherlands "Holland", is like calling Great Britain 'Scotland' or 'Wales'.
Source: worldatlas.com
Additional Info:
Dutch:
a) Of or relating to the Netherlands or its people or culture.
b) The official West Germanic language of the Netherlands and one of the official languages of Belgium.
c) To pay one's own expenses on a date or outing.
d) In disfavor or trouble.
Posted by David_Dobrindt on June 21, 2003 at 06:55 PM in Random | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Biodiversity is an abbreviation of 'biological diversity'. It concerns the variety of life at all levels: from genes to species to ecosystems. The 1992 United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) defines it as:
'the variability among living organisms and the ecological complexes of which they are part, including diversity within and between species, and of ecosystems.'
Therefore all living things, the habitats in which they live, and the ecosystem processes that allow them to function effectively, are all bound up in the web of biodiversity.
Posted by David_Dobrindt on June 19, 2003 at 02:38 PM in Random | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Patti and I were in Minnesota the weekend of June 7 for a wedding. On Sunday it started to rain so a bunch of us sat around the dining room table playing games. During a break, Patti?s <a href="http://www.dobrindts.com/MNindex.htm#Cast">Uncle Tim</a>, the father of the groom, told a bunch of us about something called the ?Hair Fights?. Now, if it was anyone else, I would be intrigued. But Uncle Tim is a practical joker, so immediately warning bells started going off. I decided to see what the ?Hair Fights? were about anyway.
He pulled a strand of hair from one person then pulled a strand of hair from someone else. He said that something in hair makes it look like they are fighting when put together. At this point, warning bells weren?t just going off, lights and a siren were blaring. He proceeded to put the two pieces of hair on the table. He said for it to work, water had to be added to the hair. He then took a cup of water and slowly poured it around the pieces of hair, forming a large puddle. Forget warning bells, lights and sirens. Something was up. Knowing Tim fairly well, I got up from the table and took a couple of steps back. He was up to no good.
He then said to the two other unwitting participants that they had to look real close. Get down right next to the puddle of water with the fighting hairs he said. Closer. Closer still. Look real close. Can you see it?
WHAM!!
Just as they were about an inch from the water, he slapped the puddle, spraying water all over whoever was close.
Yep, that?s Uncle Tim.
Posted by David_Dobrindt on June 19, 2003 at 02:28 PM in Family | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Ozzie Smith
Three weeks ago I was flying from Philadelphia to NY City. It was a small plane, the kind you have to walk out to the tarmac to board. Not a big deal since it was only about 45 minutes wheels up. I got on the plane and took my aisle seat about halfway down the plane. Since it was a smaller plane, there was no first class and only two seats on either side. After I got settled, I turned to my left and sitting in the other aisle seat, right next to me, was the Baseball Hall of Famer <a href="http://www.ozziesmith.com">Ozzie Smith</a>. Yep, THE Ozzie Smith. We made small talk during the flight but never talked about baseball. In the countless hours since, I?ve thought of a million things to say to him. Oh well, maybe next time.
<a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/bc42.html">Willam Jefferson Clinton</a>
Earlier tonight I was walking down 42nd Street in Manhattan after getting some takeout, heading back to my hotel. I was about to go into a deli to get a soda when I realized that large, well dressed men, facing away from the store, were not letting anyone into it. ?Hmm?, I thought. So I was standing there with about 4 other people when Bill Clinton walked out. He was lead and trailed by two other large men in suits. He was carrying something, but to be honest, I was in such shock to look at what kind of food was in his bag. I was about 4 feet from him. 4 feet from <a href="http://www.realchange.org/clinton.htm">Bill Clinton</a>, adulterer, former-leader-of-the-free-world lawyer, Rhode scholar, 400K-a-pop-speaker, Big Mac-eating, Bill freakin? Clinton. If I were any closer to him he would have been invading my ?space?. Cool. My personal feelings aside, it was cool. He stood there shaking hands and signing autographs. He went to his SUV, put his food in the backseat, and came back to the crowd. What was kind of nice was that he went to the young cops working detail first and shook their hands and gave them autographs. After 1 minute, about 30 people crowded around and tried to get to him. At this point I made my getaway and went back to my hotel.
On a side not, Bill Clinton was in our town, Milton, on June 6 to give the <a href="http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/170/metro/A_matter_of_choice+.shtml">commencement speech </a>at Milton Academy. One of Bill?s senior staff members while he was president has a son who was graduating, and Bill gave the speech as a favor. Milton Academy is considered by many as the top high school academy in the nation. Very very rich people send their kids there.
Posted by David_Dobrindt on June 19, 2003 at 09:18 AM in Traveling | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
This is a little info on how my week went.
? Sunday, June 1, went to the airport to pick up my sister Dora who was going to be in town for training. What kind of training you ask? AAAARRRRMMMMMYYYY Training Sir! (Joke from the movie Stripes. I love it. No one else gets it. One of the challenges I face often).
? Monday, June 2, early flight to Philadelphia. Spent the day at a client location. Two days in a row of going to the airport. Fun times getting there.
? Tuesday, June 3, flew from Philadelphia to NY City. Spent the day at an IBM location starting a new project. Was on the flight from Philadelphia sitting next to Ozzie Smith, a retired major league baseball star. Much smaller in person than I thought.
? Tuesday, June 3, flew at night to my home in Boston, got in around 9:30. Actually flew to Logan airport and rode home in a car. One day, three airports. Sad. Just sad. Day three in a row of being at Logan. I am finding my way around like I own the place.
? Wednesday, June 4, early, very early, morning flight back to NY City and back to the location I was working at the previous day. The trips to the airport are starting to get me tired.
? Wednesday, June 4, flew home in the evening. Got in pretty late again. No big deal though, at least I was home. Four days in the row being at Logan airport, plus I was there twice in one day. This freakin? airport is awful. Who the h**l is Logan anyway.
? Thursday, June 5, took Patti and Emily to the airport for a weekend trip we were taking to Minnesota. Very early in the morning. Keep in mind, this was day 5 in a row of me going to the airport. Fun times. Me not flying. Me dropping off. Patti and Emily got off fine. I went to work at my office in Boston.
? Friday, June 6, flew from Boston to Minnesota through Cincinnati on Delta. Flight was very early. Now its 6 days in the row at Logan. Not fun times. Not fun. Bad. Hate the airport at this point. 6 days in a row. Logan. Airport. I hate it. I hate this &*%^% place more than anything.
? Friday, June 6 to Monday, June 9, spent the weekend in Minnesota. There for a wedding. More on that later but very good times. Like all other trips to Minnesota, we saw Patti?s family and kind of wished we lived much closer. Patti?s side in Minnesota is about as good as they get. Lots of cousins and aunts and uncles, kids, food, libations, dogs, games, etc. You get the idea. Much needed vacation after Logan fiasco.
? Monday, June 9, I am sitting on a plane flying from Minnesota back to Boston via Cincinnati. Tomorrow, I go to NY again. Then home Tuesday night to meet Patti at the airport at 10:30. Then back to NY on Wednesday. Looking forward to seeing my old friend Logan.
There really is no point to this. It?s just that Patti has heard my complaining for so long I need a new audience.
Stay tuned for information and pictures on the wedding in Minnesota.
Posted by David_Dobrindt on June 10, 2003 at 03:25 PM in Traveling | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)