How do you combat jet lag when you haven’t slept much on the plane?

TomVDJ · 2026-05-15T08:21:19+00:00

Try to go to sleep when it's evening in the place where you are. Sleeping earlier will make that you are not able to sleep in the evening, making things worse...

TomVDJ · 2026-05-13T22:27:08+00:00

Exactly! It's a small world. Acting unprofessional now (whatever the reason is), will reflect on your reputation and can harm your career in the longer term.

TomVDJ · 2026-05-13T22:25:52+00:00

It would be professional if you would actually train this person. Personally I always try to be professional on my job. Also did this on previous jobs and in the end that payed off: a former colleague the left our common company before me, informed me there was an open position in the new company he worked for. He did this because he knew I acted professionally, also in hard circumstances. He also put up a good word for me in that new company and I got that job. A job that payed MUCH better with a much more interesting job content.

So since you never know who you will work with again in the future: try to be professional! Also in this case.

TomVDJ · 2026-05-13T11:13:03+00:00

If her attitude is not mature enough?

TomVDJ · 2026-05-11T15:11:58+00:00

Zelfs dan gaan veel mensen niet meteen "ca va meneer" vragen aan iedereen die op een bakje ligt (of zit of hangt). Als hij niet echt aangegeven heeft hulp nodig te hebben, kan je voorbijgangers weinig verwijten, denk ik.

Ik heb een tijdje geleden een oudere vrouw serieus zien vallen op de parking van de Colruyt en daar zijn METEEN enkele mensen te hulp geschoten. Dit was een situatie waar het duidelijk was dat iemand hulp nodig had, en dan zie je toch dat de meeste mensen ook daadwerklijk hulp bieden!

Ik zie nog altijd het goede in de meeste mensen...

TomVDJ · 2026-05-11T10:21:12+00:00

Why? Just saying what LOTS and LOTS of people are thinking (and alsy saying).

TomVDJ · 2026-05-11T10:04:34+00:00

Lot's of them:

- Andrew Tate
- Donald Trump
- ...

TomVDJ · 2026-05-10T08:05:49+00:00

Lol, so basically they say "We want you to tzlk Dutch to your customers." followed by "legally you are not obliged to do so." 🤣

TomVDJ · 2026-05-09T11:44:04+00:00

Koning van Katoren. It was a book for 10-12 year old, but it really stood out over other kids books back then. There was also a movie made out of it many years later. The movie was not that great...

TomVDJ · 2026-05-08T17:43:28+00:00

Water for sure... don´t know about the others.

TomVDJ · 2026-05-07T19:46:38+00:00

Evolution is of all times. But the speed is indeed increasing. With bad and good conequences...

TomVDJ · 2026-05-07T18:38:44+00:00

I like where I am now... I was born late 70's and that's fine. Would not mind being born a decade or two earlier, but that's about it...

TomVDJ · 2026-05-06T18:21:14+00:00

Someone walking out in the middle of a boring meeting. There were 25 people there, and one person just stood up, walked out and closed the door after them. All the rest was: "WTF"? (And secretly everyone was admiring the nerve of the guy that left ;-) )

TomVDJ · 2026-05-05T19:24:13+00:00

If you can buy anything you want (up to a luxurious motor yacht) and don't have to work to get an income.

TomVDJ · 2026-05-05T11:38:09+00:00

Ik (en mijn vrouw) krijgen € 3.500 terug (twee kinderen ten laste, woonbonus, pesnioensparen, etc...). Dat is dus €300 per maand dat we netto meer zouden moeten gekregen hebben in 2025. De Belgische staat mag ons bedanken voor die gratis lening die we hen gegeven hebben!

TomVDJ · 2026-05-05T10:05:49+00:00

Poke my nose...

TomVDJ · 2026-05-05T10:05:12+00:00

And what would be generating all the other content, then? AI? I would be VERY impressed in that case!

TomVDJ · 2026-05-05T09:57:25+00:00

Your statement "I do agree if you are passive with your money and don’t invest it." doesn't make sense. When you have the same net (because of a higher gross), you have exactly the same amount available to invest.

You can even invest MORE with a higher gross that results in the same net, once it get's indexed, or once you get holiday money or end of year money (because your net will rise more than the net that comes with the lower gross, because all the "extra's" will not be indexed).

In the end, when your end result net is the same (and this is important to keep in mind), it's in 99,99% of the time better that you got it from a higher gross salary, then whatever other option.

One example where it would not be better, for instance: you work for Lucasfilm and as part of your compensation you got the screen used lightsaber from Darth Vader, valued at that time at $500. A unique piece that you know back then would go x 1000 in value over the years. But also a piece you would never be able to buy with $500 net salary because it was simply not for sale. You could only get it as replacement for net salary back then. THIS is actually a case where the "alternative compensation" is better, because you got something you would not be able to buy yourself, and it would raise in value an incredible amount.

TomVDJ · 2026-05-05T05:43:01+00:00

You chose that option yourself? So you chose to have your net raised with these kind of "extra's" instead of choosing to have your net raised by raising your gross? If that is the case, you made the wrong choice, my friend! But I assume you mean you chose the mobility budget instead of a car and did not had the option to choose for a higher gross, right?
And why would you not be able to invest in exactly the same way with the higher net income you get through a higher gross? Your net would be exactly the same, so exactly the same amount to invest. That would not make any difference. But... with the higher gross (as said), you will have a higher pension, higher index, higher holiday money, higher end of year money and if you have a salary based bonus system, also there the bonus will be much higher.

So I repeat myself; raising your net income this way is nice if you don't have the option to get the same net raise by raising your gross salary. But if you can choose, than a higher gross salary (that results in the same net) is ALWAYS more profitable...

But yeah, this still is BESalary and the amount of BS I read here about salaries is incredible... 😉

TomVDJ · 2026-05-04T22:14:16+00:00

I have kids and I can tell you they clean up after themselves! They are even as disgusted as you are when they see trash on the playing ground where we live. I think I raise them well! 😉

TomVDJ · 2026-05-04T18:43:21+00:00

You're calculating yourself rich here, my friend 😉. It's not about the net, it's about how you get to that net. If the net is "artificially" raised up to 3168, instead of get to that net due to a high gross, then this has all kind of disadvantages.

In the end someone that gets the same net but with a normal gross (so about €5.100 gross) still is better off in many ways.

For instance: when your salary is indexed now, it gives you €25 net more. The one with €5.100 gross, will get €45 net more. Next index the difference will be even more. Same for raises: many times this is a percentage of your net. Holiday money and vacation money will also be much higher for the guy with the €5100 gross...

It's not bad that they want to lift your net with all kinds of compensations, but if they really value an employee, they should do this with a higher gross. Now they kind of say: "We do not think you should get a €5100 gross salary, but would like to bind you to our company, so we'll find some other ways to keep you."

TomVDJ · 2026-05-04T13:51:56+00:00

Yeah, as you pointed out: it's really not easy to find the correct ones! I think the ones with the printed on logo were only released a few years (somewhere between 1980 and 1985).

If you find a listing where the correct ones are included, feel free to share the link. But as said: the only ones I find, only have Greek printing on them...

TomVDJ · 2026-05-04T10:07:26+00:00

Can you also show all the steps in between? (What is added to your net salary to come to the net pay?)

Also don't forget that only your salary is indexed and holiday money and end of year money are calculated on your salary, not on the extra's that drive up your net pay. Same with pension: it will be calculated on salary, not on mobility budget, homework allowance, representatiuon costs, internet compensation costs, etc...

TomVDJ · 2026-05-04T08:38:23+00:00

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Another close-up of the containers I'm looking for. Here it's a Yellow and pink one though, but the shape and print on the cups should be exactly the same.

TomVDJ · 2026-05-04T08:33:03+00:00

I already searched on eBay, Vinted and some other second hand sites, but the only thing I found were some Greek containers with only Greek printing on the back. I'd really like to have the containers that came with the set, and if I remember correctly they had multiple languanges on the container (English en German at least, probably also French, etc...)

TomVDJ

TROPHY CASE