Souss Africa, Sirty-seex; Eengland neel!

Concerning last night's rugby in Paris, I cannot say it better than this article on 24.com (from which this post's title was also borrowed):

"The South Africans were coldly focused, clinical in execution and unwaveringly composed as they set about blasting England’s sweet chariot right off the park."

I came to the same conclusion in the crowded Irish pub in Eindhoven where I watched the game. I was surrounded by enthusiastic green-and-gold brandishing Dutchmen. As the final whistle came closer, they loudly assured one another that "we" - "De Springbokken" - were about to win by an even greater margin than the 0-36 already on the scoreboard. What a match!

Room with a view - part 2

This morning I knelt down to tie my shoelace in our kitchen. Here you see photo of the view I had when I looked up. Yes, that is a shark and a squid poking out from our washing machine. (And no, this was not set up.) I could not help snickering: life certainly has changed. For the better.

Dead weight

"That's lovely, but do you really need it, little man?" my grandmother would say as I showed off the latest acquisition I had made with my pocket money. I would always reply "Come on grandma, the war has been over for decades!" (The second world war and the resulting economic slump also had a profound influence on the psyche of the war generation in South Africa.)

Yesterday, I spent some of my "pocket money" on a new wallet - the previous one having worn out. When I got home I took the contents from the old one to sift out those things I do not need or use. I was dumbfounded by how much dead weight I carry in the form of various customer cards. Every day I haul around this useless plastic due to unrealistic financial incentives. After all, my fiftieth loaf of bread is free! I could not think of one time I have profited from this. Away with this, I say!

Of course, dead weight is not only found in our wallets. Our lives and our homes are full of it. And all of this translates to dead trees. I refer here to the earth's finite resources that are being used up for no purpose other than window dressing. I am not suggesting that my new-found refusal to get coaxed into more plastic carrying customer-discount scams will have any significant influence on the environment. However, grandma was much more of a visionary than I realized.

My grandparents lived comfortably but frugally. Nothing was bought without an express purpose and without being absolutely necessary. Their home was not cluttered by dead weight. Before replacing something that had broken, they would first enquire whether it could be repaired. Case in point: long after the advent of autofocus SLR cameras, my grandfather was still shooting with a beautiful old Rolliflex. "There's nothing wrong with it, and besides, the picture quality is far superior."

After all this moralizing I realize that my grandmother would not have bought a new wallet in the first place. She would have had her old one repaired. Shame on me.

Room with a view

Earlier tonight I visited the website of a professor whose undergraduate courses I took a few years back. On it she has a link to the view from her office. Could there be a correlation between the lovely summer's day and the empty parking lot in front of the Department of Computer Science?

From my office I look out over the Eindhoven city centre. In the distance I can just see the beautiful old Philips light bulb factory, De Witte Dame. If I look carefully, between the trees I can also see Le Corbusier's Objet Mathématique, the last remnant of the Philips pavilion at the 1958 World Exposition in Brussels. Not the purple Jacaranda trees of my home town, but not bad either.

I recently visited a friend who used to share my office, and view, in Eindhoven. After graduation he got a position with a first-class research lab. His new office does not have any windows. So much for a room with a view.

Serious about recycling

When it comes to the environment, Belgians are quick to point out that their government enforces recycling by law. Apparently, Belgium is serious about recycling and will slap you with a fine if you are not.

I recycle because I subscribe to the idea of sustainability and not because I fear the Belgians. As I often do, this morning I set out early to our local recycling depot. Unfortunately, I was told that today they cannot accept paper. This is the fourth time this has happened. The following flashed through my mind. Get serious!

Independence day

Today India celebrates sixty years of independence from Britain. My son also set his first small step toward independence. This morning my wife and I took him to daycare for the first time. A great day for freedom? I am not sure. As I left my blue-eyed boy with strangers, I felt rather like a villain.

Travel, but not as we know it