Decided to splurge again on golf and sign up as a member of the golf club called Golfbaan Bentwoud stichting (foundation).

It's only a twenty minute drive from my house, and it offers very nice training facilities. I can also play on the golf course for a big discount, and in the afternoons it is never busy there. This is really nice for me, because much of the time my home course is booked solid, and I cannot play on late notice.

I want to workout three times a week, practice golf and play more often, and take part in as many (senior) tournaments as possible. My goal this year is to get my handicap down below five and to win at least one tournament (maybe three).

Ten years ago to this very day I gave up drinking. Since then I have not had a single drop of alcohol. That day way back then when I stopped drinking for good was a defining moment in my life. I am very thankful that since then, I have had the courage and perseverance to successfully resist the many evils of that malicious and conniving substance.

Back then excessive drinking was ruining my life, and I had to do something about it or else.

Now I am a much better person without it. Being liberated is a wonderful blessing and I am able to enjoy the present, just live day by day. I plan to be this way for the rest of my life.

First the time this year I played golf, from the back tees. Climate was a bit cold and wet, and just finished the front nine before it got too dark. Actually on the last hole I could barely see the ball.

Bogey, bogey, par, par, bogey, par, bogey, par, bogey for a 41.

Not bad for the first time in almost two months. Hit the ball pretty well, had no penalty shots, and I made a couple of long putts. I am really looking forward to a fun and exciting new year of golf.

After having had a great year working at KPN Rotterdam as a frontend developer Angular on the QCarbon Team, I feel honored and privileged that my contract there has been extended. Time to dive back in and make the product even better.

Seems like the older you get the more famous people are passing away. So many great folks who will not have the opportunity to partake of the year 2023.

• ...
• Meat Loaf
• Olivia Newton John
• Christine McVie
• Margriet Eshuijs
• Vivienne Westwood
• Pelé
• Pope Benedictus XVI
• Barbara Walters
• ...

I hope I make it, fingers crossed.

Time for a new goal in life. Learning Haxe just for the heck of it. Looks like something interesting and worthwhile to tackle. Like I always say, you are never too old to learn more stuff.

The next time you have a match with your son on the squash court and feel overly confident that you can pocket an easy win, think twice before you take on the challenge.

Being overly confident, I brandished my squash racket like a sword going into battle, and the match started out well. However, after two minutes I ran into the wall and banged my head. My son warned me that the walls are as hard as concrete so be careful.

However, being the stubborn older man past his prime, I failed to heed his warning, believing that I was unbeatable.

So just around the five minute mark, I dove for a low ball my son had skillfully bounced into the corner. I bashed my left shoulder into the wall and felt a snap, either it was a rib, my shoulder blade or some cartilage.

So much pain, I couldn't believe it!

The first thing I thought was that I would never be able to play golf again.

Now it is three weeks later and I am still suffering a sharp pain and am unable to raise my arm very high. Perhaps it would be a good idea to make an appointment with the doctor and get it checked just in case.

Number theory is is one of the oldest branches of mathematics, dating way back four thousand years to when the Pythagorean triples were discovered by the Babylonians. Since it is so important, it is time to refresh my undergraduate mind and give it all another go.

This book seemed to be the best step by step introduction and it contains many historical references and interesting tidbits of relevant details about the who and when of it all.

Who knows, maybe I can even develop some advanced algorithm on the computer in order to discover new stuff, or better yet prove one or more conjectures.

Just for fun, I created an example Angular application which converts a CSV file to a Material Table dynamically. Guess I was a little bored, but nonetheless it was a fun quickie break from an otherwise uneventful day.

https://github.com/kgish/angular-csv-to-material-table

Got up early and it's been a long day of hard work. So it's high time for me to finish up and go home, before they accidentally lock me up for the night.

"I came to The Netherlands from sunny California way back in 1981, and I have never regretted my decision to stay here. The quality of life here is a hundred times better, and as you explained very well, the government takes good care of you if you need proper healthcare. For some reason, my fellow Americans have an aversion to so-called socialized medical care. This is illogical when one compares the obvious advantages. Whenever I visit the States, I do feel comfortable with the familiar culture and using my mother tongue is a nice relief. However, too much has changed since the good old days of childhood. I feel like a stranger to the extremist mindset, having to be proud all the time and acting successful (whatever that means). The accelerated world of working too hard at the expense of enjoying the important things in life is not for me. Life in Holland is where I prefer to be. It is the best of the two worlds by a long shot."

Jovie's Home: What I tell Europeans about moving to USA!

There are a number of important life changes that affect who we are and who we try to act like we are. That means that it is time to select a new avatar for my various rampaging adventures in the virtual world. Therefore, I hereby introduce you to my new and improved avatar. As I have observed on the Internet, a proper avatar should reflect your essence, distinguish itself from the crowd such that people will remember you, protect you from abuse and defend you from attacks from others (note my helmet by the way), and finally the proper avatar should provide you with some magical qualities that will make you a winner wherever your virtual soul shall travel. Taking all of that into consideration, I am very pleased with my new avatar and look forward to embalming myself in its essence as my life goes on. While perusing all these strange thoughts, I spotted the innocent trash can over there under my desk, and that is when it hit me. Wish me luck.

One major issue I had with my nice new laptop was that for some weird reason I could not hook up an external monitor via HDMI. After searching around everywhere for a solution, this is what worked for me:

$ sudo fwupdmgr get-updates
$ sudo fwupdmgr update

During the BIOS update, your computer will be rebooted twice. In total it takes about ten minutes to complete. Be patient, the wait is worth it. Enjoy!

Lenovo forum: Thinkpad T14 Gen 3 has no available HDMI ports under Linux.

I had a really great time visiting my old buddy Kevin in Austria again. Hard to believe that it has been thirty-six years since I had been there the previous time. This picture was taken during one of our long philosophical strolls along the beautiful countryside and colorful yellowish vineyards. Much has changed since the good old days, and it is fine to see that we are both healthy, wealthy and wise. Sure we have gotten a bit older, but for the grand old age of sixty-five life is good. Thanks Kevin for the fun-packed weekend of reminiscing and inspiring activities.

More pictures

Sorry, I could not resist. What a beautifully crafted golf weapon. Makes the perfect pair with the driver I recently purchased.

A special thanks goes to the fine folks at Dormy Golf where I found it for a great price.

In case you were wondering, it's a TSi3 fairway wood 4. Isn't it georgeous?

We had a really fly and drive vacation on the Spanish island of Gran Canaria. We could just hang around on the beach or drive around and visit interesting towns and national parks up in the mountains.

See for yourself here: Photo album.

While rummaging through my old stuff, I came across a pair of old hiking boots. These are the very same hiking boots that I wore more than forty-two years ago when I first came over to Europe as a travelling backpacker.

For more than three months of travel, these old hiking boots were the only footwear I owned. Very useful for walking long distance and climbing in the Alps, but fairly awkward walking in the hot southern countries along the beach or wherever.

My wife wants to get rid of them, she is not one to save old junk longer than absolutely necessary, and at first I was shocked. Being the sentimental person I insist on keeping everything to my dying day.

In the end, I decided that it was very logical to throw them away even though emotionally it feels very painful. That is why I first had to take this picture in order to keep some semblance around of my old hiking boots.

Time again for me to upgrade my laptop to the latest version. I realize that three years isn't such a long time, but I figured that I work hard and deserve the best tools of my trade in order to provide the most professional service possible.

The specifications are quite impressive.

• Processor - Intel® Core™ i7-1270P-processor van de 12e generatie, met vPro® (E-cores tot 3,50 GHz en P-cores tot 4,80 GHz)
• Operating System - Ubuntu 22.04
• Memory - 48 GB (16 GB soldered + 32 GB SO-DIMM) DDR4 3200MHz
• Storage - 1 TB SSD, M.2 2280, PCIe Gen4, TLC, OP
• Monitor - 14-inch WQUXGA (3840 x 2400), IPS, ontspiegeld, vlekbestendig, antireflectie, touchscreen, 500 nits, weinig blauw licht, International Color Consortium
• Color - Black
• Graphic Card - NVIDIA GeForce® MX550, 2 GB, GDDR6
• Camera - Hybride FHD IR/RGB-camera met microphone
• Wireless - 11AX (2x2) & Bluetooth® 5.0 vPro®

Rhinotillexomania, the pathological habit of nose picking, is a condition that causes a person to compulsively pick their nose till they self-harm. Once considered merely as a bad habit, it is now recognized as a psychiatric disorder.

Some interesting articles:

• Rhinotillexomania: A Manifestation of Psychiatric Illness
• Rhinotillexomania: psychiatric disorder or habit?

Since I've been playing better lately, I decided to reward myself with a new driver. The Callaway I have been using has been good to me, but in the five years since I first bought it, much has changed in terms of modern technology. I figured it was time to take advantage of the newest improvements and crank up my game another notch.

TSi3 Driver - Dynamic Distance. For players who create more consistent contact and require more precise control over CG placement. Features an Adjustable CG Track Design for advanced speed-tuned performance.

There are number of important differences with my previous driver, namely:

• Higher loft (from 9 to 10 degrees).
• Slightly more flexible shaft (between stiff and regular).
• Lighter and more aerodynamic head for higher velocity.
• Better feel and nicer sound on ball impact.
• Distance increase of 20+ extra yards.

When I was younger one was taught to hit the ball lower, but nowadays if you really want to get more distance you need to let the ball fly high. Also, as I get older my swing speed has decreased and the measurements made showed that my swing speed was at the bottom of the stiff band. As I get older, the swing speed will eventually dip below into the regular stiff area, so now I can use a driver that will adapt better to my swing. I do notice by the way that a slightly more flexible shaft is tricky for me right now as I tend to swing too quickly and force the ball to the left. I can slow down slightly and become more consistent with straighter drives that in the end go just as far and even farther than when I swing too fast.

It's going to take some getting used to, I tend to pull the ball to the left, but when I let one go it can really fly! We will have to wait and see if it can make a difference in my game, but I suspect it will.

Tante Rina passed away last night, she was ninety-three years old. She had a long and prolific life and during the final years did her best despite her waning health. I met her for the first time during family gatherings at Thea's parents' house when I first came to Holland. While she is not a real aunt, tradition in this country uses the family term aunt (tante) for all close women friends as well. The funeral was done very nicely, although since she was so old there weren't alot of people attending. They gave some speeches recounting her life and played classical music since that was her favorite. We once went together to the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam to enjoy some classical works, and had a nice lunch at her favorite place across the street.

The next day in the same hospital my oldest daughter gave birth to a perfect little boy. What an interesting coincidence, very beautiful when you think about it. Fading away into the inevitability of death and coming to light in perfection as a new little soul of energy.

It's been awhile, but I was finally able to do it again: win another golf tournament. I started out poorly on the front nine with a disastrous triple bogie on the eighth hole for a disappointing 42, but gathered myself together on the second nine to shoot a much needed 34. I even missed two short putts for birdie. On the last hole I pushed my ball out to the right and it looked like I'd have to take a penalty drop but at the last second my fellow player found it in the high rough, after which I pulled off a nice par at the clinch for the winning score of 76.

See: Final results.

Exactly twenty one years ago today, I wrote my very first entry for this future famous blog of mine. Since then, much has happened over the years and as of today no less than 2500 entries have arisen from my chaotic thoughts.

I work on the 12th floor at the KPN Rotterdam Office.

Out of eighty plus players of all ages, I was one of the oldest there shooting an honorable old fart 42 + 41 + 43 = 126 which was 36th place.

On each of the nine holes, I managed to have one lousy hole that messed up my score, darn. A triple on the first nine holes, a double on the second, and on the last nine holes I was three over par until the second to last hole.

It was an easy par four and I was just short of the green about twenty feet from the flag. I proceeded to skull a routine chip which ran across the green, over the back and down the slope into the thick underbrush. From there it took me three shots to get out of the shrubbery (should have taken an unplayable lie, but was foolish and gave it a go), chip on the green and two putt.

Yesterday afternoon I took a look out of the Rotterdam office window, and this is the inspiring view that greeted me.

There is nothing wrong with your television set... Do not attempt to adjust the picture, we are controlling transmission... If we wish to make it louder, we will bring up the volume... If we wish to make it softer, we will tune it to a whisper... We will control the horizontal, we will control the vertical... We can roll the image, make it flutter... We can change the focus to a soft blur, or sharpen it to crystal clarity... For the next hour, sit quietly and we will control all that you see and hear... We repeat, there is nothing wrong with your television set... You are about to participate in a great adventure... You are about to experience the awe and mystery which reaches from the inner mind to ...

I remember very clearly when the first episode of the television series The Outer Limits came out. It was called The Galaxy Being and I was six years old (1963).

This episode was my very first contact with the genre of science fiction, and boy did it scare the holy moly out of me! That strange alien was something way beyond my youthful imagination, and it gave me nightmares for a very long time. Perhaps even subconsciously to this very day.

Downstairs in the cellar, we had an entertainment area which had white walls and a smooth linoleum floor. In front of the old-fashioned black and white television (back then we only had 3 stations), there was this fifties-design chair with thick cushions you could sink into.

However, when the alien first appeared with it's eerie metallic screeching voice, I jumped from the false comforts of that chair and hid behind it, peaking from the side, I stayed in that position for the rest of the show, and even thirty minutes after that before I had mustered up enough courage to go back upstairs. Mommy ... I'm so scared, the alien is coming!

Because it was evening, it was dark outside and for some reason the windows downstairs didn't have any curtains. This meant that should the alien come my way, it would be able to look inside and upon spotting my reclined body behind the chair, would dispose of me with it's heat x-rays, as he did to the other victims on the television.

At the end of the episode, the poor alien was forced to disintegrate itself in order to save humanity, although on his planet in another faraway solar system there was no such thing as death. As a child, I hadn't yet heard about this foreign concept called death, so I had to ponder about it for a few moments. Pure darkness and silence. Before disposing of himself, the alien gave some powerful words of advice to humanity, pleading everyone to avoid violence and love each other.

I felt very sorry for the poor alien when he disposed of himself in an explosion of sparks and smoke. Part of death I guessed.

The episode ends with everyone breathing a sigh of relief and going back to their daily lives as if nothing had happened.

Then the narrator fades back in and ends the show with the following reaction:

"The planet Earth is a speck of dust remote and alone in the void. There are powers in the universe inscrutable and profound. Fear cannot save us. Rage cannot help us. We must see the strange in a new light, the light of understanding. And to achieve this, we must begin to understand ourselves, and each other."

We now return control of your television set to you, until next week at this same time when the control voice will take you to ...

"Adventurous radio station operator contacts a fellow experimenter in another galaxy. The operator locks in 3D communication, but a DJ who wants to impress his girlfriend with the station's range, boosts the signal all the way up, unknowingly sucking the alien, who's composed of electricity, into the remote desert town."

Watch The Galaxy Being.

Today I practiced my omnipotence by saving the life of a humble spider. The poor insect had been stuck in the corner of the ceiling behind the door, waiting patiently for days now in its little web for an unknowing fly to get snagged there.

The odds of ever catching food in that bare corner were pretty close to zero, so I decided to do him a favor. Or it might have been a her, I don't know.

I grabbed a chair and slid it underneath that corner of the room. Then I stood up on it and placed a glass carefully over the spider, shaking the glass slightly back and forth until the spider fell into it.

I put the palm of my other hand to cover the opening so that the panicky spider would not escape.

Then I walked to the balcony, turned the glass upside down, and then let gravity take care that the little spider fell and gently floated in the wind down into a the vegetation below.

The odds of survival have been increased drastically, and I feel very confident that the spider will find better prey amongst the branches and leaves.

You're very welcome little spider, let's keep in touch.