Category Archives: My life

May ’26

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In May I had to get to work at the company run. I tried something new, a personal pacer! I ran with Alex for almost half the distance and running together motivated me to go just a bit faster.

For my game it was an important month! Big changes! Its now called MycoSweep and it’s still available on iOS, but now also on Android!

It was a month with some odd events. A tree almost fell on Ana while she was on her way to pick up Alan from school. As it came down, the tree took a streetlight with it, and that pole crashed onto the ground right next to her. Just a few days later we even had a little earthquake.

Spring cleaning

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Cleaning! Spring is for cleaning, we all know it, but this spring I focussed my cleaning efforts on the digital world. First, my blog. My domain and hosting have all moved to IONOS; basically from a Dutch provider to a Spanish one. The result is a much cheaper and much newer server, with some extras like HTTPS (more secure) and new email addresses (info@leiden365.nl).

I installed a VPN for safe browsing, and I stopped using a single email address for everything, and started to use a few different ones. All your eggs in one basket is a risk, so now I have a few baskets with each contain a couple of eggs. Much safer.

Then there’s my game. A huge rebranding with a new name: MycoSweep. It has become more professional with its own website (mycosweep.com) and its own email (info@mycosweep.com).

And what about the typical spring cleaning? Well, with all the work I’ve done in the digital world, the ‘real’ cleaning has been postponed for a bit although I’m quite sure that a delay won’t become a cancellation.

Businessrun

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We had another company run coming up, and I’ve signed up again, which for me means a 10 kilometer run. Naturally, I’m hoping for a good time. My ambition was to finish well under an hour, and that will probably work out for me, possibly thanks to my adrenaline training.

Two years ago (in 2024) I ran the 10k in a nice three quarters of an hour. A year later (in 2025) it already took me a bit longer, namely 49 minutes. This year, who knows. I hope I’ve found my old form again, but it could just as easily go the other way.

Due to a small misunderstanding, I received two numbers this year. Instead of simply throwing one away, I came up with a clever way to give myself some extra motivation during the race. The route is 10 km, but it actually consists of two laps of 5 km. After about 1.5 km I pass my house, and again after 6.5 km. That gave me the following idea:

  • Preparation: Starting in May I go for practice runs with Alex every weekend.
  • Match
    • I run from the start.
    • Alex gets the second number.
    • During the second lap, around 6.5 km, Alex waits near our house. As soon as he sees me, he starts running with me.
    • He is of course still completely fresh, and 3.5 km is easy for him. This way he acts as my personal pacer and helps me keep up the pace.
    • The result: I run the full 10 km but with an extra motivation during the toughest part.

My time/result: 0:50:31
Alex’ time/result: 0:49:54 (faster thanks to his final sprint)

0.0 Results

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I’ve started having a cup of coffee a day again. Instead of four or five, I now limit myself to just one. After my 0.0 month, the effect of a single cup of coffee is now very noticeable. After just a few minutes it kicks in: my senses become a bit sharper. I see better, I hear better, my thoughts are clearer. It lasts for a couple of hours, during which I slowly return to normal again. This will probably only last a few days, and then I’ll be used to the caffeine boost again. Still, I’m going to try to stick to one cup a day.

The other part of my 0.0 adventure was alcohol, and I actually didn’t notice anything there. Since I don’t drink during the week anyway, and only have drinks on weekends when we’re with friends, I’m going back to my habits before I started the test. A few beers on the weekend, and that’s it.

Conclusion: The only clearly noticeable thing was reducing my coffee intake. The adjustment regarding alcohol was quite easy. I did enjoy the experiment, so I might do another April 0.0 next year.

Coco orchid v2

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Coco orchid trio!I am getting better and better at creating beautiful coconuts with orchids.

First step, prepare the coconut: Saw off the top, sand the edges, and lightly sand the whole shell. At the end, I rub a bit of oil onto the outside of the nut to give it a slightly darker, shiny finish.

Then I make the base. I cut a piece from a plastic bottle and wrap it with brown wool until the plastic is no longer visible.

Next step, look for a good piece of tree bark. Usually I simply visit a forest with a few trees that have thick, cork-like bark and collected a few pieces that are usually scattered around on the ground. At home, I brake the bark into small pieces with pliers.

Finally the orchid. A local shop was selling cheap mini orchids for Mother’s Day. They were a bit smaller than the normal small orchids, but I suspected they would look really good in a coconut, so I bought three for only 8 euros each. I took the plant out of the pot and gently loosened the roots. They were usually pressed into a pot shaped coconut fibre mass; I loosened this a bit so the roots could grow more freely. I also removed the sticks that kept the flower upright.

Coco orchid!Now assemble everything. First place some bark in the coconut, then place the orchid inside, and fill the sides with pieces of bark so the plant stand firmly. Then place the coconut on the base and turn it so the flower stand nicely upright.

I added a little moisture, and found a spot with plenty of light but no direct sunlight. That was it, quite a bit of work but totally worth it because I get a great feeling of contentment, and a job well done, whenever I see the orchid.

April ’26

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April began with a nice outing. We visited Lanzarote and spent a few days traveling around the island to discover all the interesting spots.

I released two updates for Mushroom Mayhem. First version 1.4, which adds an in-app store and a statistics page. At the end of the month version 1.5, which basically simplifies the app. Less options more play.

This was also the month of my experiment.

April 0.0 – Results: A month without went surprisingly well; thanks to alcohol-free beer I completed this challenge easily. It took Ana about four days to notice that I had suddenly switched to 0.0. There were three situations where I would normally drink a bit, which made things challenging: our trip to Lanzarote, a farewell party for a colleague, and a dinner with the guys. In Lanzarote I switched to 0.0 perfectly. During the other two events I sinned a tiny bit, but in my opinion that fell reasonably outside the scope of this experiment, so it was allowed.

My coffee stop went unnoticed by my family, because I drank 99% of my coffee at work. I noticed it myself though, and quite strongly. I kept my coffee ritual exactly the same, but instead of coffee I grabbed water. Same cup, same ritual, that should be easy, I thought. During the first few days I had a slight headache in the evenings; on the third and fourth day I was genuinely surprised, because I had a strong headache the entire day, and after that it slowly got better again. I definitely hadn’t expected that.

The first week I had headaches, the second week I felt normal again, though I still occasionally had a strong craving for a cup of coffee. Monday mornings were the worst, and at the end of the workday I often felt like I needed a little boost, but I held back and stuck to just water.

The experiment is now finished, so I think I’m going back to my normal rhythm. I am going to drink less coffee, and maybe a few more 0.0 beers. I was actually a bit disappointed that there was so little to notice from changing my behavior. Apart from the headaches, the only real difference was a small social adjustment because I drank less, but that honestly didn’t amount to much.

Guard of honour

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Saturday we had another football match with Alan. Batan played against Viera, one of the best teams. The result: a very tough but brilliant win! We started badly with 0-1, then 0-2, but we fought our way back. 1-2, 2-2, 3-2 (Alan scored), 4-2. Halftime. Then 4-3, 5-3, 5-4, 5-5… and right after the equaliser, a goal straight from the kickoff: 6-5. Amazing. The spectators/parents went wild with joy. The kids even got a guard of honour as they left the pitch.

Don Quijalan

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A Spanish masterpiece. Don Quijote tells the story of Alonso Quijano, a man so obsessed with chivalric tales that he reinvents himself as the knight Don Quixote and sets out with his loyal squire Sancho Panza on a series of misguided adventures shaped more by fantasy than reality.

At school, Alan had signed up a few days ago as a volunteer to read a page written in Old Spanish at the university. After a lot of practice, he was able to read his page perfectly today. We’re incredibly proud of Alan, who showed today that he really doesn’t mind being in the spotlight for a moment.

And of course, a TV crew was there as well to capture this bit of culture, and naturally the atypically blond Alan was chosen for a short interview.

April 0.0

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A month without alcohol, which in my case only means no wine and no beer because I don’t drink spirits anyway. Normally I only have a few beers during the weekend, so I don’t expect this dry month to be very difficult. I just wanted to try it and see if I notice anything.

To make it more likely that I notice something, I’m adding an extra challenge to this experiment: no coffee. On weekdays I usually drink about four cups a day, so together with the no-alcohol rule this will make for a bit more challenging month. I’m curious to see what the effect will be, and if I even notice anything.

The experiment still seems fairly simple, even with the no-coffee rule, so I’m adding one more twist. I’m going to do it secretly. Not in the sense of hiding anything, but simply by not announcing that I’m spending a month without alcohol and coffee. I’m curious to see if anyone in my family notices.

March ’26

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A Dutch saying is ‘Maart roert zijn staart’, which translates to: ‘In March things happen’, but luckily this was not the case in this March. Just like February, March was a quiet month.

Alan has won a few football matches, complete with some really beautiful goals. Alex plays beach volleyball once a week, and he was invited to join a tournament in Fuerteventura. We were super proud, but unfortunately we couldn’t convince him and he preferred to stay home. Ah well, next time. I went out to a little restaurant again with the ‘dads’, this time to Casa Brito, to enjoy some delicious food and relax.

It was a quiet month, but it did have some very fun moments. One weekend that gave me a few amusing, atypical stories about a sheep and an ex. Another weekend was less fun, but more productive, I released a new version of Mushroom Mayhem! We also enjoyed a visit by Alex and Alan’s godfather Miguel!

Together with Copilot, I also gave my old app ezDatepad a technology update. I think I’m the only one who uses ezDatepad (for my shopping lists and for quickly jotting down ideas), but having an updated version is always a bonus.