Luck sells

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Geluksdubbeltje 2014!Luck can be used to make products more desirable. Good luck charms, horse shoes, four leave clovers, they have all found a good market with people seeking good fortune. The royal dutch min is also trying to get some of the action in the good luck market. After the 2012 good luck 10 cent coin issued especially for the football competition (and failing to be really lucky) there is now a new 2014 lucky 10 cents coin aimed at good luck throughout the year. The coins are sold for 4.95 euro so they should provide a healthy profit. The coins can be recognized by some orange paint over the number 10 and they are sold in the popular coin-card format. This discrete layer of paint also renders the coins legally worthless.

The amount of coins that will be painted and packaged will be determined later, probably based on the number of orders that will be placed. This is the first colored coin from 2014 and it looks like colored coins are getting more popular. In addition to the royal Dutch mint there are also various other companies offering colored coins, which is legal because the colored coins are no longer legal forms of tender. The colored coins painted by the royal Dutch mint until now are:

Year Coin Quantity Introduction
price		 KNM
2014 Lucky 10 cents ? coins
Nominal value 10 cent *		 € 4,95 info
2013 200 year kingdom combinationset 1500 sets
3 two euro coins per set
1 colored two euro coin
Nominal value 2 euro per coin *		 € 75,00 info
2013 Vrede van Utrecht color set 1000 sets
6 silver coins per set
Nominal value 5 euro per coin *		 € 275,00 info
2012 Lucky 10 cents 15.000 coins
Nominal value 10 cent *		 € 4,95 info
2012 Tulpen vijfje color set 750 sets
4 silver coins per set
Nominal value 5 euro per coin *		 € 200,00 info
* Nominal value is the value of the coin before it is painted. After painting the coin has no legal value, only a collector value.

Colors

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Colors!Sound is a very direct form of stimulation. Sound waved go directly to your mind. Images can be stopped by simply closing your eyes, but sound waves are more difficult to stop. Sometimes when I listen to music shivers run down my spine and I get a feeling of euphoria, warmth and happiness.

The euphoria I experience is comparable to the feeling you get after a heavy physical exercise. After running 10 kilometers you get the feeling that you can take on the world. Your mind feels focused and thinking becomes easy. You clearly notice that adrenaline and endorfines are pumping through your body.

Then driving my car I always have the radio turned on and sometimes I have a similar experience. A song on the radio combined with my emotions on that moment have an incredible effect. The same affect after running 10 kilometers, but so much stronger. Suddenly I have absolute confidence in the future and absolute confidence in myself. It feels like I’m flying, with light and warmth all around me. Problems, worries and insecurities disappear and my path through the future becomes clear. Difficult choices I must make become easy. On these moments it seems like all my senses are enhances and I know that everything will be okay.

Headhunterz ft Tatu – Colors

When you find that life is neither black or white
And the rain outside turns to glory
You’ll see colors

When you mark the sky and the sun comes through
Know your greatest days are ahead of you
You’ll see colors

A spark of light will seize the night
And reach beyond your vivid mind
There’s an end to your darkest day
You’ll see colors

A race of shame if we don’t evolve
Paint your dreams
Fill the sky with art
And ignite with the others
When we see colors

Blokarting

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Blokarting!
Salt sea water splashing in your face, accompanied by wet sand and a nice cold wind. It starts out quite hard, and I needed to use my feet quite a lot just to make a turn. After a white though you get the hang of it. You find out how to distribute your weight on the card and then things start to speed up. It is a great sensation crossing over the beach.

Blokarting is really something you need to experience!

Berg chronicle

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Thanks to my aunt Corry our family has documented almost 10 years of its family history. Each year family members were asked to write down the memorable events they find important from the last year and all the results were combined into a nice small document. Literally history in the making. In its current form the chronicle from 2013 will be the last one and we’ll have to see if the idea is picked up by some other family member. The Berg family is growing fast so each year the chronicle is getting bigger and implies more work to make it.

  • Bergchronicle 2013
  • Bergchronicle 2012
  • Bergchronicle 2011
  • Bergchronicle 2010
  • Bergchronicle 2009
  • Bergchronicle 2008
  • Bergchronicle 2007
  • Bergchronicle 2006
  • Bergchronicle 2005


    • I like to keep things a little easier. A few times a month I post items about my own personal history here on this blog. Recently this includes stories about my wife and son and on few occasions even about close relatives like my father, mother, brother, sister-in-law, niece and godson. I’ve been blogging for nearly 10 years so you can find a nice piece of history here as well, but much more centered around one person and therefor surely less interesting for the average person.

    Chronicle 2013

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    Once again it is time for the Berg-kroniek, a brief recap of the past year. It was a strange year for us because in April I left my family in Spain and I started a new job in Leiden at Naturalis. It was a very difficult choice, but it was necessary because we were confronted with a situation where I was unemployed and Ana had contracts that lasted a month. A situation with a lot of insecurity that we solved by splitting up our family.

    Palmitos park - November 2013!In Holland I could stay with my parents for a couple of months. Working at Naturalis was nice and I helped create a lot of websites and a mobile app, the dierenzoeker. Still it was hard being away from my family. I worked from home a couple of weeks, and spend all my holidays there, but saying goodbye every time was hard on Alex and even more difficult for his father.

    A medical error caused Ana to have quite a bit of problems with her eye sight. Hopefully her eyes will get a bit better but it will take months before we know for sure. For Ana there was also good news. After six years of temporal contracts her contract has finally be changed into a fixed contract. Finally the job security she deserves.

    Alex is doing very well. He is growing very fast and he is already going to school a few hours every day. His mother thinks that his character resembles his dads character. He is a happy kid who like a little bit of mischief every now and then. If Alex wants something he’ll get it, or he will make life hard for his parents. A typical two year old kid and a typical Berg. Just as you might expect from the lineage holder.

    We wish everyone a great 2014!

    Marry Christmas!

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    Alex - Christmas 2013!
    The year is nearing its end but first we celebrate Christmas. The lights on the tree drive out the darkness and the warmth in our hearts drive out the cold. During Christmas we dream of a better future for everyone. Together we share the desire to shed light on the dark parts of our society and warm the cold relations that sometimes exist between ourselves.

    We are lucky. We have our own little star right at home. A star that sends his warmth directly into our hearts. We wish everyone a very marry Christmas!

    The pope, the church & the future

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    Pope!The church. We all know this enormous enterprise. Whether you believe or not, you cannot avoid seeing all the work the church has done to contribute to the society we now have. But time waits for no-one and it looks like the church is slowly losing its touch. It’s importance is dwindling. It might take a hundred or more years but the church is heading towards a future where its importance will be negligible. It will stop being the spiritual anchor for our society.

    There were my thoughts, until I read some recent quotes from the current pope.

    Paus Franciscus said:

    “I prefer a church which is dirty and hurt for being on the streets helping to a church that is unhealthy for sitting inside holding on to the status quo”

    “Priests need to get out onto the streets, into the mud and not be a passive sour prune.”

    Could it be true? Might there be a future yet for the church and will the pope manage to have an affect on the enormous bureaucratic organisation the church has become? Will he really manage to reform the church from being a place to worship and a place to go if all else has failed to a place of hope offering support and help to those who need it and a place to go in order to improve yourself and help others?

    The pope was elected to be the man of the year 2013. It seems a good choice. The wheels of change are set in motion and slowly seem to be starting to move towards a better future.

    If he manages to change the church it will be a change for the better. No longer will the association of your actions be lost. Donations, confessions, lectures and singing will suddenly have a direct result. A donation is for giving help directly to someone who needs it. A confession is not for getting your soul clean but for getting advice. A lecture is for getting general advice and the singing together is just for enjoyment together. Stop with the bread and wine. Make the church into a place that is a nice place to be. Turn on the radio, have hobby afternoons, parties for volunteers, help afternoons, open the church for professionals providing help, social training, education, bridge tournaments, chess-events, revalidation help, you name it. Start to fight the individualism and focus on the force of the many, exactly as Jesus tried to show us more than 2000 years ago.

    Change the story behind the cross. Stop it from being a symbol for a crucifixion of a man, but make it into a symbol of being together. A symbol that shows that personal beliefs are important but are less so that helping each other and working together to make our world a truly better place for those who are to follow in our footsteps.