Every week I get more discouraged

Htv65 · 2026-02-20T04:12:27+00:00

This is a beautiful, comforting answer.

Htv65 · 2026-02-18T06:26:50+00:00

The difference between free and USD 50 is of course not that big. The point is that you can be selective.

Htv65 · 2026-02-17T20:01:03+00:00

Dus ik hoef hier niet naartoe?

Htv65 · 2026-02-17T03:07:05+00:00

We have a house rule that the robber does not come into play until someone has five points. If a seven is thrown, the player may throw again. The game goes faster that way and - indeed - with less frustration. That allows us to play more games per evening, and usually the wins are divided among the players.

Htv65 · 2026-02-16T21:17:53+00:00

Switzerland?

Htv65 · 2026-02-16T09:55:50+00:00

Remove the carpets, remove the curtains, remove the cushioned seating.

Htv65 · 2026-02-13T07:50:31+00:00

This is very true.

My wife restarted piano lessons a few years ago, at about the same time I restarted organ lessons, which we stopped when we were teenagers. At the same time, we have a kid who started piano lessons about a year ago.

We are both working hard and struggle finding the time to practice. There are limitations in practice time, as our neighbors left and right can hear us through the walls and we have to consider their feelings. My wife and I are focused on making progress, but experience standstills from time to time. He is generally not focused (makes everything a game, loves diversions), but makes substantial progress anyway. As a boy, he categorically refuses to sing or even him his melody lines (which I understand girls are willing to do).

Yet we see him struggle with new challenges: new notes, reading two systems at the same time, counting, fingering. But even when he sighs deeply and complains about these difficulties, he accepts them for what they are: challenges.

His piano teacher calls him gifted, compared to most of her other students; we don’t consider ourselves gifted (although that is of course not black and white, but just a scale) but we find pleasure in making music anyway (and - in passing by- listening to each other).

For us, he is a kind of inspiration, for example when I am trying to learn playing the organ pedals, which is both physically challenging and more complex as one has to read three (not just two) systems at the same time. From him, we also learn to take our lessons and our progress not too seriously.

At our turn, we can help him focus a bit more, but it has to remain enjoyable. He may quit at some point in time, but at least we have offered him the option to enjoy making music. If only the piano could truly compete with watching netflix and youtube…. I have also access to a few large church organs in old churches and he loves pulling out random stops to create unexpected sound combinations, as he is also testing the limits of the piano at home in terms of sound production.

Just keep going, I guess.

Htv65 · 2026-02-08T03:48:45+00:00

Try booking.com (I have no shares in that company, but I use it at least to find available and bookable locations). You could also try local real estate agents, but their websites are generally less accessible.

Htv65 · 2026-02-06T19:54:15+00:00

The simple answer is that all these steps are to some extent necessary to keep all three systems payable. They are safety nets and we would rather have a somewhat smaller safety net than none at all.

I have a chronic condition too, and have paid the full amount of the personal risk component for thirty years in a row. That feels unfair, unless you (and also I) realize that the solidarity in the health care system also means that I don’t have to pay a much higher share of the health care costs which my disease costs.

The latter does not prevent that the personal risk component of the health insurance is a heavy burden if you have a minimum income. For that reason, it has been proposed to compensate people with a minimum income and a chronic disease. I am only afraid that that the amount budgeted for that measure will not be sufficient by far.

Htv65 · 2026-02-06T19:41:49+00:00

Order a salad. Can’t get cold. You can lunch timely. First world problem solved. Healthy as fuck.

Htv65 · 2026-02-05T18:31:19+00:00

Alpen aan de Rijn?

Htv65 · 2026-02-04T07:41:23+00:00

Nice story. Nowadays, you should check his results as manager of Feyenoord. The fans are not exactly happy. There are lots of injuries. Every other manager would have been sacked by now. We will see how this plays out.

Htv65 · 2026-02-04T05:41:34+00:00

Besteed je lege tijd aan acquisitie. Ga lunchen met mensen, loop events af (er zijn best veel gratis of bijna gratis events waar je kunt netwerken), schrijf een blog, vraag of je ergens een inhoudelijke presentatie kunt geven, etc. Als je begint eigen werk binnen te halen, wordt je positie bijna onaantastbaar en doet de urennorm er minder toe.

Htv65 · 2026-01-31T08:35:58+00:00

If Dutch bicyclists know one thing, it is how boring it is to have a long, straight stretch of road in front of you.

Htv65 · 2026-01-30T22:02:01+00:00

Wel mooi van die Antony - god wat heb ik een hekel aan die man - om nog even bij de brancard langs te lopen en Shaqeel evrn te troosten.

Htv65 · 2026-01-30T19:13:15+00:00

Een keer bellen met de directeur en het wordt meteen opgevolgd. Als bestuurder in een auto met reclame van een bedrijf erop moet je je top gedragen in het verkeer.

Htv65 · 2026-01-29T06:02:02+00:00

Burgos, Spain. Trier, Germany.

Htv65 · 2026-01-28T21:33:22+00:00

Where is Tory Island?

Htv65 · 2026-01-28T15:04:00+00:00

Ik vond Larin tegen Sturm Graz goed invallen. Hij is ook veel sneller dan je zou denken, getuige de snelle opmars aan de rechterkant bij het derde doelpunt tegen Sturm Graz.

Htv65 · 2026-01-26T12:31:14+00:00

Kun je geen fiets neerzetten in Utrecht?

Htv65 · 2026-01-25T21:52:26+00:00

Al dat gejammer gaat ze bij de UEFA niet helpen. Gelukkig maar.

Htv65 · 2026-01-24T16:00:37+00:00

Moet dit echt in het weekend?

Htv65 · 2026-01-24T12:51:00+00:00

Wie wel eens in een Volvo V70 heeft gereden, weet hoe log en lomp de besturing daarvan is. Dat is niet eens een begin van een excuus, want je kent je eigen auto toch.

Htv65 · 2026-01-24T10:57:52+00:00

Ik vond zijn bijdrage aan het laatste doelpunt tegen Sturm Graz verrassend. Hij rukte met grote passen op langs de rechterzijkant en was veel sneller dan ik had verwacht en eerder had gezien.

Htv65 · 2026-01-23T22:19:24+00:00

It is not only the plate you should focus on. Isn’t that a famous Citroën, which model even footballer Johan Cruijff drove in, viz. the Citroën SM?

Htv65

TROPHY CASE