Leiden365.nl

Bot or not?

The last comment on this blog is from September last year. A certain Ricky posted a comment on my tide clock post. The strange thing is that the comment is on topic, but still misses the point. The last sentence is that the person would like to see the result. But ‘the result’ is exactly what the post was about.

What a creative and fun project! A tide clock is not only practical for beach lovers like you but also a unique piece of decor. It’s great that you’re taking the DIY approach to create something that perfectly suits your taste. The step-by-step process you’ve outlined seems both simple and rewarding. I can imagine it will be really satisfying to see the tides reflected on your custom-made clock! Looking forward to seeing how it turns out.

It looks like this comment is generated by some kind of AI, where this kind of comment has only one goal. To get on the list of accepted comments, so that in the future comments from this user are automatically approved. Once that is achieved, there will be a tsunami of messages about gambling, sex, crypto, and medicines arriving on every page.
2024

This year every month has passed in a r e c o r d t i m e . It was the year where I started to again pick up my online activity. I wrote entries in my blog every month and published an iPhone app. Slowly things are returning to normal, and I think this is mainly because the kids are growing up. Suddenly I have more and more moments where I find myself with some spare time, a situation that I missed for years.

The coming year with be a milestone for me. I will reach 50 years! My desire is to continue with my hobbies and to slowly make more time for them. I also want to put in use the new word I learned in 2024, ‘Maridaje‘. Ever since Alex went with his godfather to a restaurant with a Michelin star, and Alex later told me about the experience, it has turned into something I simply need to experience. I’m lucky because we have a restaurant with a star quite close to where we live, so there is really nothing stopping me.
December ’24

This month Alan celebrated his ninth birthday! He is growing up lightning fast. We had a few celebrations and Alan received a huge amount of cool gifts. He got a new tablet, a semi professional metal detector, a bike, various football accessories, and quite a lot of cash. We celebrated his birthday twice, first with a barbecue in the center of the island with family and friends, and the next day playing a laser-game with his schoolmates.

I suffered this December because I made the mistake to take part in the Bestial race. It resulted in a couple of painful days, but I will try and remember it as being a spirit building exercise.

Right before Christmas we got a taste of the real Christmas spirit because we went ice skating. Half an hour on the ice and afterwards a massive amount of rain made me feel like I was almost at the north pole, well, maybe not exactly, but it for sure did not resemble a tropical island. Ice skating was fun. I was amazed I managed to stay on my feet but I did.

We ended this month visiting family in Madrid. During our stay we also visited Mago Pop (Wizard Pop). My kids had seen his performance before, but for me it was the first time, and even being quite skeptical about magic I was pretty amazed.
After the Bestial race

Wow, the day of the Bestial race I was mentally disconnected while Alan was celebrating his birthday with his class mates. I remember they went to play with lasers in Hangar 37, but I don’t remember any specifics. I remember arriving home, going to bed and just sleeping. The next day my muscles hurt. They hurt while moving around, and while standing still. An annoying pain that simply was all over my body. I decided to simply take it easy. The next day was a Monday, so I had to head over to work. The pain I experienced yesterday had somehow doubled. Another day of suffering, hoping that the next day would be easier. Still wondering why I did it. I found out my time was 1:29:31, but it felt like the entire trial took a lot more time.

I made a couple of videos before and after the event, and Alex took some videos of me starting with the trails and when I arrived at the finish. so there was enough material for a new YouTube video!
Bestial race

With a colleague, I did the Bestial race today. He convinced me, and I actually assumed I would beat him easily, thus having a fun story for the coming months. The race took place in Arucas, a nearby town. 6 KM running and a few obstacles. At the start, it immediately became clear why my variant was called ‘hell’. Directly through pits and small hills, holes with mud, crawling under low bridges, jumping and diving, pushing tires while crawling, etc. Before the running started, I was already exhausted. The running afterward also turned out to be uphill, with wet shoes and socks, along a small path. There were also a few obstacles here: carrying a 20-kilo stone ball over an extra route, carrying a jerry can with 20 liters of water over yet another extra route, climbing over a two-meter wall, and several obstacles where you had to grab objects with your hands to avoid touching the ground and still ‘climb’ about 6 meters forward. Super difficult. Right before the end there were another two huge containers with water, and a lots of other obstacles, and then we finally arrived at the finish. What a relief. We did it!

After the race we rushed to another event, a birthday party for Alan. I was physically present, but I can’t remember much of it. I do remember being dead tired wondering why I never realised that ‘hell’-difficulty must be something pretty difficult and undesirable. I wondered why I ever signed up for this…
November ’24

We started this month with a couple of days all-in. Bad for my weight/waist, but good for morale. Once again it was a pretty standard month, with only a few notable events. We had a couple of barbecues. Alan enjoyed a few minutes of fame. We made some homemade yogurt (which I ended up eating myself because nobody liked it) and a couple of very tasty cakes with apple in it. All in all November was a nice and quiet month
Opinions matter!

Your opinion matters. My opinion also matters but in reality nobody is really interested in hearing how I think about things. However, people are interested in what Alan thinks! He had an interview with a local TV-channel. Alan was very observant and touched base on the subject of using technology in class. Something he is in favor of.
Pump & Dump

Step 1: Acquire an asset for yourself.
Step 2: Make the asset attractive to others.
Step 3: Wait for others to buy in, and the value goes up.
Step 4: Sell your holdings.
Step 5: Profit for you, losses for others.

It is unethical and illegal to make money through Pump and Dump schemes, but this does not stop the rich and famous from doing it. The world’s richest man has done it at least twice. He mentioned that ‘Dogecoins’ were a great investment, then sold his holdings a couple of weeks later. He also announced that Tesla would accept Bitcoin for car payments, causing the value to surge. He then sold his own coins and canceled the acceptance of crypto for payments. A lot of profit was gained by Musk, while the losses were borne by others.

Tips for Identifying Schemes:
– Be cautious of sudden, unexplained price increases. (Like now)
– Verify information from multiple reliable sources.
– Avoid investments that seem too good to be true. (Like now)

Musk seems to favor the ‘Pump and Dump’ approach because, with a large enough following, it is easy money. A lot of money. His now friend Trump has one defining characteristic: for Trump, money is the most important thing. Money is the only thing that matters. Together, they could be preparing the biggest pump and dump the world has ever seen. The richest person in the world, with the most powerful person. Together, they are now pumping crypto a lot. The value is going up like a SpaceX rocket. The question now is simple: when is the dump coming, and how much damage will it do?
October ’24

Yet another month has passed, October went by in a flash and it was mostly a quiet month with only a few events. I made a new version of the cocopot with mini-orchid. We also had a nice barbecue and saw the comet fly by.
Collectible soccer trading card

I remember that you used to be able to collect cards from famous players and teams. Fun for the fans, and something that could quickly turn expensive. To get all the cards you needed to buy lots of little bags and make an effort to exchange all your repeating cards. You could place all the cards in an album, and needed to keep collecting until it was complete.

At Alan’s soccer team (before Fomento, but now c.d. Inter Colonia) they thought of something new. They are going to make soccer cards of themselves. It feels like a good idea to take some money of the parents, and make a nice profit for the club. I made a quick concept card to see how Alan’s card might turn out, but for the actual cards I suspect we need to be patient.