Category Archives: My life

Bestial race

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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

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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!

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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

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Pump and 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?

Collectible soccer trading card

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Alans 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.

Comet spotting

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The Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS)!Once again we travelled to the center of the island. This time we did not go camping, but we went for a once in a lifetime experience. See the comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) pass by. First we had a bbq, and then we want to a nice viewpoint to stare at the sky. It took a few hours but end the end we were all very happy. We found the comet.

I made a second video and I think it turned out a little bit better than the previous one. The only issue I had was still pretty massive, because the end of the video, and basically the entire purpose of the video was in the dark, and I could not film that correctly. A black screen was the result. Oh well, there is improvement visible, so I can only hope next time will be even better. As the night turned darker and darker we did all get to see the comet. First with binoculars, and later even with the naked eye, so that made the trip extra fun.

In addition to the main feature, the (sadly failed on video) quest for the comet, I also created a ‘behind the scenes’ with some very typical social events.

September ’24

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Alex and his first star!We had an easy start of the month. Alex went with his godfather on a city trip to explore Bilbao. A great adventure and a perfect opportunity for Alex and his godfather to strengthen their relationship. It also provided a couple of days of serenity at home. Spending time with only Alan meant there were no more daily/constant fights and it allowed us to get some quality time with Alan.

Alex had a blast with his godfather in Bilbao. They stayed at a very nice hotel, visited museums, the football stadium and even went to a restaurant (Ola) with a Michelin star!

Alan also had a good first week because he spend three days camping with his friends in the south of the island. They had a nice apartment with a pool, the beach nearby and they had lots of fun in the Holiday World attraction park.

Both kids should be ready and fully relaxed to start the new school season. With the new school year the ‘old’ routine also started working again. School days were all similar, weekends similar. Maybe it is boring, but at the same time it is a very easy routine to follow. Soccer, tennis, (still no) English, Bandama, La Laja, a weekend camping trip, birthdays, etc. Once again our routine where everything everyday is almost the same as always.

Camping – Coffee

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I used to dislike it, such a bitter drink. I still take my coffee with milk and sweetener or sugar, but I’ve come to appreciate it more and more. A small pick-me-up that is welcome at times. It’s also a pleasant ritual that I enjoy. Even if it’s just popping a capsule into the machine, it remains a moment I find enjoyable.

Most of the time, when we’re in the forest or on a hike, I don’t think about having a cup of coffee. But when the opportunity does arise, it’s extra special, especially when all sorts of equipment come into play. Then, the value of the ritual increases enormously, and even if the coffee isn’t that great, the coffee-experience more than makes up for it.

Camping – Llanos de la pez

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About two years ago we discovered two YouTubers that really inspired us. First ‘Bald and bankrupt‘, who made really great videos, like the one I like most, where he visits an off limits Russian production facility to the one of their last space shuttle like rockets. The ‘Buran’.

The other YouTuber is ‘Kurt Caz‘ with lots of good videos, but the one I like best is where he visited a family in the middle of nowhere, they invited him to some food, and he then did a fundraiser for the family in Haiti, and returned later to give them some money. The family uses the money to buy a motorcycle, to help them with a better future.

We went camping recently at a site called ‘Llanos de la Pez‘, in the middle of Gran Canaria, and tried to make our own video, inspired by these two great YouTubers. See for yourself how it turned out!

The educational aspects of the video, that maybe remain a bit in the background:
– We are camping in a forest that is representative to Gran Canaria a few hundred years ago
– At that time the entire island was covered with forest/trees
– Roque nublo is the place where the original inhabitants (the guanches) used to meet, to discuss important issues
Maybe the video is a bit over the top, but we laughed really a lot during the production, so even if it is not the best video, we can only be happy with the result.

If you want to go camping yourself, then here are some more info and guidelines for your stay. Ask for permission to camp and spend the night. Walking routes available in the area.