The Gourdiaan Route

This route (http://www.gpsies.com/map.do?fileId=yduwhezfehzivcva) is a walking route which should start on the little town of Gourdiaan and be a round trip of 23 km around some beautiful Dutch landscape (channels, windmills and similar).

However, the indications are almost missing, the road is sometimes just disappearing right in front of your nose and there is no place to eat anything along the planned route.

Once you arrive to Gourdiaan you will find a place called Het Raadhuis cafe. The place looks fine and the parking area is empty early in the morning, at least it was empty this morning around 1140 local time.

Directly there you will see one of the markers of the route, look carefully to it because is one of the few you will be able to see :(

To begin with the walking you should go over the bridge and to the left, there you will see one marker. After a few meters you will see another marker like the one in the picture. The direction of the arrows is supposed to be followed. We didn't and skip around 3 km going directly to Ottoland.

This little place has nothing except some very nice houses and a church with a nest. Even if you miss this marker and follow straight ahead to Ottoland as we did, you will eventually connect again with the route way, but you will be at the wrong side of the channel without a bridge to cross it...

One you manage to arrive again to the N214 you will be back in business.

The road will take you to Giesen. A nothing in the middle of nowhere, without any place to buy food or water, at least as far as we were concerned today, maybe you have more luck...

The surroundings are very quiet and not so crowded. Around only fields with cows, sheep, and horses. A lot of cows.

After Giesen the planned route will lead you into a dead end or best said to the garden of a private property. A huge garden, that is true, but still a private and closed property.

The shortest way that we found to come back to Gourdiaan was heading to Hoornaar and then turning direction Noordeloos.

Good news are in Hoornaar there is a kind of cafe, bad news the food is not so good even if you are already quite hungry.

The way to Noordeloos is very pleasant and full with channels and shadows.

From Noordeloos to Gourdiaan there are still some kilometers. This is not really the route indicated in the book or on the internet, but as the markers where more or less never there and the road was not really following this, we didn't care too much at all.

It was anyway a nice trip, even the weather was great, sunny but not too hot.

If you try this route, good luck with the indications ;)

Today

Today I wake up quite late, around 1100 and I found warm chocolate waiting for me for breakfast. A fantastic way to start a day.

Sadly today was bye-bye day. After several months in duty at the tower, keeping my tachyonic transmitter in position only with the help of his special genetic markers and adhesive tape, Gato was leaving.

His trainer, an agent of the FPF needed him back for different duties. From today Gato will be protecting the life of a new born, a future agent of the FDF maybe. If we are lucky maybe even an author. We don't get so many those days...

Today was also cleaning day. The hideout in the city center needed some material and some repairs. After the activity of the last months on the docks, some ammo was too short and more explosive traps is always a good idea.

The new agent will arrive in time minus 13 days and will probably fancy some extra toys.

Afterwards beach-duty. I like beach-duty. Usually there is nothing wrong going there. People are used to the presence of FPF forces patrolling the area. They know what happens to other worlds when the Tedio took them. No papal agent will survive here if detected.

In some ways this planet remembers me from my home one, little bit less mountains, but you can not have everything.

Now I just re-invented a kind of liquor. The recipe is not too difficult, some milk (better cold), some (quite a lot) spoons of chocolate powder and a bit of cachaca rum. I think we deserved it, well only I am actually drinking it, but was a team work. After beach-duty it was obvious that it was a moment as good as any other one to fix minor problems at the light house. Basically the tachyonic antenna needed a new disguise and some bullet holes in the walls are now not visible anymore. My base looks again as unremarcable as it should look.

Alpha is now running a total check up of hers systems and will be down for a while.

The sun is setting course to the other side of the planet and the sea is about to explode in red.

End of a nice weekend.

But, Tomorrow Will Be Another Day

The Game

Last night was again a night without sleep. My excuse was the dinner, too much cheese I said to them. But the true is different, worse. The kids are partially guilty, but actually I am the only one to blame. Looks like a game, but it is not funny, not for me at least, not anymore since I was eight.

But it is becoming too complicated. I will try to put it much more simple.

Yesterday we were at the school. The kids are in a baseball team and there was a match against another school. A lot of people were there. Maybe forty to fifty families. Well, I must say, there were sixty seven cars in the parking lot. I know. I counted them. Only seven were red, but all of them were even.

We were going to the school. As usual at the highway there were more cars than space, the same nice traffic jam of every day.

The kids don't like the jams. To be fair, no one likes them.

They were busy looking to the other cars and talking about the people inside. I thought they were searching for some other kids, some of their friends. They caught me by surprise. They were playing the game, that silly game. I was not able to believe it. They didn't play it in years.

I was able to hear them. First, they started looking for any one, then they were going more to the specific ones. I was afraid, I mean, really afraid. I don't want for them to know. Not now at least. Better, they should never know. Actually no one should know. I don't know why I am writing it down here...

But again, I am becoming too complicated. They, the kids, they were playing "just a game". I am sure everyone knows the game. I used to liked it when I was a boy, so long ago. Rules are very easy. You just suggest a plate number detail, like for example that the last cipher is 8 and the first one who sees a car with the corresponding plate number wins and choose the next victory condition.

As I said, I really liked the game until one day. We were back from the zoo. There was an accident on the highway, it was the worst traffic jump I have seen in my life. At the beginning everything was fine. I won a few rounds, my little sister and my mother the others.

That was the last time I played...

Well to be honest, it is not totally true.

I am still playing and that is the reason of my fears, of my sleepless nights.

That last game as I was eight, I won the previous round and I chose the victory condition.

It seemed as normal as any other one.

Red car with odd plate number.

That was more than forty years ago.

I am still searching for it...

iPhone battery vs. Tiwtter

The battery life of an iPhone which uses applications for the management of twitter accounts such as Twitterrific (http://iconfactory.com/software/twitterrific) or TwitterFon (http://twitterfon.net/) can get exhausted much sooner as expected.
Personal experience says that the battery will allow only for about 8 to 10 hours in Stand By, in comparison with the more than 30 hours in Stand By which can be achieved on the same iPhone after the removal of those applications.
The reasons for such a high energy consume by those applications I don't know, but let's hope that the next versions of those twitter clients solve this problem.
More about iPhone battery life, applications and settings of the iPhone can be found at How to Change the World.

Origin

In few words: Great Movie.

For those of you who have already read the comics (Wolverine Origin), tell you that the movie summarised the comics in more or less 2 minutes and then goes on with its own argument and plot.
But there is nothing wrong with this. The first X-Men movie was already not following the comics 100%, a trend which was continued by the second and also the last part.
The characters in those movies were already known by every Marvel fan, but the story behind was a bit different.
With Wolverine Origin is again the case. The main characters are already known, namely Logan and Striker and for everyone who has watched the second movie, it is clear that there has to be a connecting point between both of them and the adamantium.
A lot of questions are solved by this film, but of course, a lot more arise.

The best part is to try to recognize all the mutants who are in the movie, some are obvious (no names, no spoilers here), other maybe not.

Also a good deal of special effects and some plot twists which maybe are not the taste of everyone, but which make the film version of the Marvel universe astonishing also for comic readers.

My advise: go to the cinema and enjoy it !

Imperial City

Last recovery time after duty as diplomatic escort was four free days in the Imperial City. You know what I mean, that part of the planet were the Emperor resides. Not so off borders as you can think but crowded with people from every corner of the galaxy, even some people from my habitual duty planet. But much more people, far more, from my planet of origin,. They were everywhere and, as usual, impossible to miss as they always talk to each other shouting :D

The first stop after reporting at the local clone trooper post was the Arena, aka Colosseum (Wikipedia). Quite impresive, but also very well known, always have been in pictures, movies...

The guided visit was done by a very funny native who was all the time quoting the word "crazy" as a kind of Mantra to explain everything about the Colosseum and, of course, with several references to the movie  "Gladiator". The actual tour does not allow to visit the underground part of the Arena as seen in the film "Jumper" but it seems to be plans for allowing it in the future.

Nevertheless is interesting to know that the ground of the Arena was hollow, just a wooden floor covered with sand to absorb the blood of the gladiators to avoid accidents due to a slippery floor. This kind of construction allowed the use of the underground area for keeping the slaves, gladiators, animals and other paraphernalia used in the shows. The whole Arena was equipped with a system of hidden holes on the wooden floor for special effects, like lifting up a hungry tiger just to the ground space right on your back. Surprise !

Just in front of the Colosseum is the  Arch of Constantine (Wikipedia), also well known and emblematic. Also there you can find the Roman Forum (Wikipedia), very nice even if it looks only like a pile of stones lying around ;)

From there you can walk down to the Column of Trajan (Wikipedia), present in every history book and kind of monumental history book itself as the whole column is covered with a relief which relates Trajan's victory in the Dacian Wars, somewhere in todays Romania, which seems to be the only country in that area which still uses a latin-based language.

The walk along this part of the city can be crowded with more visitors than desired but is still a very nice way to spend a sunny afternoon.

Close to the Column of Trajan there are some small places where it is possible to enjoy a very tasty pizza. But, in general, there is not need to worry about the food, it is usually great :)

Another nice spot of the city is the Piazza di Spagna (Wikipedia), at the bottom of the Spanish Steps which lead the way to the church Trinità dei Monti.

In the surrounding streets it is possible to found some shops, mainly for clothes and complements, but also several nice restaurants and wine bars. The last are specially recommended as the offer on starters or finger food to have with the wine is fantastic.

This was day one. Second day, meeting the Emperor.....

Forever

I stand alone in the darkness
The winter of my life came so fast
Memories go back to my childhood
To days I still recall

Oh, how happy I was then
There was no sorrow, there was no pain
Walking through the green fields
Sunshine in my eyes

I'm still there everywhere
I'm the dust in the wind
I'm the star in the northern sky
I never stayed anywhere
I'm the wind in the trees
would you wait for me forever?


This is probably my favourite song, the one I usually listen when my heart is sinking and I'm feeling a bit under the weather. Today I'm pretty OK, but don't you think it's a nice song?