Ana had an outing with her colleagues. The plan was to do a fun activity and then go out for a bite to eat together. The activity turned out to be a ‘Ninja game‘: reacting quickly to your surroundings, jumping, and running. Not really Ana’s thing, she thought. So she brought Alex along as her modern gladiator because these kinds of challenges suit him well. Just as gladiators once fought for their audience, Alex now leapt into the arena of the game. He loved it.
Phase 2, hit the ground running
The game: Lomo Blanco – Batan B
Results
| Datum | Thuis | Resultaat | Bezoekers |
|---|---|---|---|
| 23 Nov, 10:30 | Lomo Blanco | 2 – 6 | Batan B |
Yes!, last Sunday Batan Alevín B achieved a convincing 6 – 2 victory. A welcome improvement compared to the previous phase. It was an enjoyable match that was finally rewarded with a splendid win.
The aftermatch: As you can clearly see in the photo taken after the match the players themselves were also in the mood for celebration.
DIY – Colorful Christmas candy cane
Alan got a school assignment, because his teacher wanted some help decorating the classroom. Each kid was asked to create a holiday candy cane, and help by the parents was allowed. After hearing about the assignment my creativity got a boost. My idea was simple but I expect it will look pretty good.
Materials
- Wire frame: 1–2 pieces of metal wire for the cane shape
- Filler: Aluminum foil
- Yarn/wool: Red, white, and green
- Tape: Masking or packing tape
- Tools: Scissors; optional pliers for bending wire
Prep the frame (5–10 min)
- Shape: Bend the wire into a long “J” for the candy cane.
- Secure ends: Fold or curl the wire tips inward and tape over them. Dont leave any sharp points.
- Test sturdiness: Gently wiggle the cane. If it flops, add a second wire along the stem.
Add volume (5–10 min)
- Stuff: Wrap foil around the frame to make it thicker.
- Kid job: Hold and squish the filler to shape the curve.
- Tape wrap: Lightly tape the filler so it stays in place. Don’t over-tape; yarn will cover it.
Wrap with yarn (15–25 min)
- Anchor start: Tie or tape the end of the red yarn at the base.
- Spiral wrap: Wind the yarn around the cane in a spiral, keeping wraps close.
- Stripe pattern: After a red section, switch to white, then green.
- Cover gaps: If you see filler, add a few extra wraps over that spot.
- Finish end: Tuck the final yarn end under a nearby wrap and add a tiny piece of tape at the back.
Pale blue dot
It’s hard sometimes to see the bigger picture. To realize that you’re not the center of the world. Worse still, all the problems we all face are ultimately negligibly small. The Earth, a tiny speck spinning around a slightly larger glowing speck, somewhere in a corner of an unimaginably vast space.
Look again at that dot. That’s here. That’s home. That’s us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every “superstar”, every “supreme leader”, every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there – on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.
The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner, how frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds.
Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the Universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves.
The Earth is the only world known so far to harbor life. There is nowhere else, at least in the near future, to which our species could migrate. Visit, yes. Settle, not yet. Like it or not, for the moment the Earth is where we make our stand.
It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we’ve ever known.
Carl Sagan, Pale Blue Dot, 1994
Barranco de los Carnicalos – Ravine of the Kestrels
A fun and easy route. After parking on the small parking area at the beginning of the route you simply follow the water to the final destination of the trail, a lovely little waterfall. Along the way, you walk about three kilometers there and three kilometers back. The path is narrow, winding under tunnels of reeds and over slim walls. At some spots you need to be a bit careful! You’ll often need to jump across the water. Halfway through, there are a few beautiful spots for a picnic (so dont forget to bring some food and drinks). If the weather is nice, you can even take a quick dip in the water.
Batan B – Las Torres C
There are
The second type is a team where results matter. Here, you’re expected to show up for every match and perform well. If you don’t stand out as a player, you’re asked to go elsewhere. These teams are meant for top talent, and that’s not what we’re looking for with Alan. Today, Alan is playing against one of those professional teams.
The third type is the neighborhood team that could just as well be a wrestling club. Alan played against one of those last week. There’s little discipline and lots of pushing, pulling, and kicking.
The other team played like an oiled machine, and they won with 17 goals, but still, we had some chances and it was an enjoyable game.
Results
| Date | Home | Result | Visitor |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Nov, 09:00 | Batan B | 0 – 17 | Las Torres C |
| 26 Oct, 09:00 | Guiniguada B | 3 – 0 | Batan B |
| 18 Oct, 09:00 | Batan B | 1 – 10 | Carnevali |
| 11 Oct, 09:00 | Simusetti C.F. A | 20 – 3 | Batan B |
| 4 Oct, 09:00 | Batan B | 0 – 10 | San Lazaro U.D. A |
The next phase will start in a couple of weeks. This time the teams will be better aligned to their respective levels, and that will hopefully give us a couple of more interesting matches, with some options to win and boost moral.
October ’25
The soccer season has started again for Alan, so we’re back on the field every weekend. It was also the month when I could finally let go of my battery worries, and of course, the highlight of the month, we’ve been married for 15 years!
Qi2
Step one was a new phone. I was happy with it, but something was missing. Step two was a new charger. Finally, I can forget the hassle with cables, because now I just need to click two magnets together and that’s it. My new charger is truly a dream come true. No more cables slowly breaking, no more fiddling to clean my phone’s charging port.
I now have two options:
Charging: I place the phone on the charger, and half an hour later it’s ready.
Charging and clock: I unfold the charger, stick the phone on it, and in half an hour it’s charged plus I have a subtle little clock next to my bed all evening.
My charger is a Ugreen Qi2. Nice and sturdy, and a bit heavy too, but that actually feels good when you snap the phone onto it. Folded up, it’s a small cube you can charge your phone on. You can also unfold it, and then you have two charging spots: one for your AirPods, and one for your phone, which then doubles as a clock. My phone charges enough in half an hour to easily last the whole day.
There’s only one small downside: for some reason, the charger has a bright white LED to show it’s working. It’s a tiny light, but just annoying enough and of course, you can’t turn it off, so I just stuck a little sticker over it.
15 years
Today we celebrate a life achievement. We’re married for 15 years! Ups and downs, that’s (still) the best way to describe it. After fifteen years, we know what we have in each other, and that doesn’t always meet expectations. Fifteen years ago, we started a shared adventure, and by now it sometimes feels like we’re on a rollercoaster you can’t get off halfway through. Busy with work, busy with family. Kids we have to keep in check, and who gladly create even more work. Sometimes it feels like I get maybe half an hour a day to myself, and that’s not much.
When the kids go to bed, I usually follow soon after, falling asleep the moment I close my eyes. Is it all worth it? When I look at my kids when they’re happy, or working together, then it’s without a doubt worth it. But when I look at everything else, I’m not so sure. It’s not easy.
Guiniguada B – Batan B
Unfortunately, we didn’t win. This time it was an emotional match. Two of our coaches were sent off the field. The other team had some bigger players who were playing very physically. One of our players ended the match with a shin guard that had been kicked in half. Many players went home with a few new bruises. Luckily, Alan is alert and quick. I saw him jump over an outstretched leg a few times to avoid some unwanted pain.
The next match is against one of the strongest clubs, so we don’t have high expectations for that one. But after that, we’ll be in a group that’s more at our level, so it’ll be more fun again and hopefully with plenty of chances to win.
Results
| Date | Home | Result | Visitor |
|---|---|---|---|
| 26 Oct, 09:00 | Guiniguada B | 3 – 0 | Batan B |
| 18 Oct, 09:00 | Batan B | 1 – 10 | Carnevali |
| 11 Oct, 09:00 | Simusetti C.F. A | 20 – 3 | Batan B |
| 4 Oct, 09:00 | Batan B | 0 – 10 | San Lazaro U.D. A |