In perfect contrast to Wednesday's run, last night's run was terrible. I got home from work relatively late and my stomach was empty. So, maybe it was a bad idea to go. 20 minutes into the run, I went past a threshold where my energy level plummeted. I could only walk, and even then it felt like I was in some kind of autopilot mode. My motivation was shot, so I turned around and walked home. On the bright side, at least I was out for the full one hour, as planned.
I think there is something wrong with my right ankle too. It has a niggling pain, like I have stretched part of it the wrong way. I hope a weekend of rest fixes it.
posted by James 1:01 pm
The temperature has dropped over the last couple of days. Last night was relatively cool and it was easier to get to sleep. I think the forecasted high temperature for today is only 24 degrees.
Last night's run was excellent. It was an hour run, but I was running at 30-minute run pace! The sky was completely clouded over. It always felt like it was about to rain, but it never did. I would love to go running in a heavy rainstorm!
posted by James 9:52 am
Last night, Moise, Jasper and I went to see Terminator 3. I enjoyed it and I recommend it.
During a break in the movie, Moise suggested that you can't understand the purpose of a system, unless you transcend that system (or refer to something that transcends that system). Like meta-level analysis. In the context of the movie, could the terminator know its purpose (mission) without any reference to a transcendant being (or system) such as the person who programed it? This sparked a conversation during the walk back to the train station.
In the same way, he suggested that it is difficult to define the purpose of life without making a reference to something that transcends life.
posted by James 6:31 pm
Halfway.
posted by James 9:56 am
About an hour ago, Paul had a discussion with me about my work ethic. The general message was that he felt that I wasn’t committed enough to the company. He felt that he needed to push me to do work, whereas the other trainees, before me, had looked for work under their own steam.
He said that he got this impression from the accumulation of many small things that I had done (or not done) around the office. Some examples would be checking e-mail during working hours and spending too much time out of the office to buy things for lunch (when I could do this in the weekend). As such, I think he just doesn’t like my style of working, even though I do a good job of every task he sets me.
He balanced the criticism with praise, which was nice to hear. He said that the quality of my work is excellent. Also, when I am given a task, I really work hard on it to produce something good.
I understand his point. I admit that I have been cautious when it comes to using my initiative around the office. My excuses would be Paul’s inconsistent behaviour and how he has reacted to times when I have used my initiative in the past. For instance, when working on the spreadsheet, I would change the layout to what I thought would be easier to use and understand. But, Paul would criticise me for altering the original layout. So, I developed an attitude of only doing what he asked me to do.
I don’t like how I have developed this attitude and I would like to change it. For now, I will work hard on the tasks that I have and when there is a lull, I can ask other people if they need any help. I should probably ask Paul more questions to clarify what I should be doing, and how else I can help. I don’t want to go too far and spend time working on things that are actually unnecessary.
posted by James 6:01 pm
I took the bus to and from the Monday night drinks, in town. It was only the second time I had taken the bus, in Tilburg. That demonstrates how small the city is. Everything is easily within cycling or walking distance.
When I catch the bus into town, I only need to cancel two strips on the Strippenkaart. That is the minimum fare. The bus stops right across the road from the place where I like to play pool. How convenient!
On the bus ride home, I noticed a temperature reading on a building near the train station. It read 30 degrees, and it was past 11pm! If it were that hot outside, then it must be getting close to 40 degrees in my room.
Why does it seem hotter in my room at night, than it does during the day?
Since my arrival in the Netherlands, there have been problems with organising my insurance cover. The insurance forms were not filled in correctly and the insurance company would always be asking for another piece of supporting documentation that we were supposed to give to them. Now, it looks like my insurance application is complete.
When I came back from Croatia, there was an invoice for over EUR 190. This accounted for insurance cover since February and the amount due for August. (It costs around EUR 30 per month). This really annoyed me. First of all, it doesn’t make sense that I am paying for insurance that covers a time period that has already happened. There is no risk involved. It is all too “convenient” that the insurance company can charge me for this cover, when it knows that I won’t be making any claims.
It is obvious that you can’t get insurance cover for events which have already happened. No insurance company would ever agree to this. The logic of my current situation is the same!
I am sure that if anything “claimable” had happened within those six months, it would have avoided paying anything due to the incompleteness of my insurance application. Insurance companies are notorious for this. But, if that had happened, I would have understood.
I asked Lia for her advice and she said that she would talk with the insurance company. Last night, she told me that the EUR 190 was still payable. She had talked with the insurance company, and they confirmed that I was actually covered from February.
Naturally, I am still a little annoyed about this. Leaving out the charge for August, I feel like I’m paying EUR 160 more than I should. I could buy food for a whole month with this! Or, pay the delegates fee for ISP 2003, and still have some change! I accept that Lia thinks that she did all that she could. I wish I could speak better Dutch! I would have liked to speak with the insurance company and put my arguments across, myself.
I don’t know what I can do from here. I want to avoid paying anything for this until I am sure there are no more options available.
posted by James 10:20 am
The weekend went by fairly quietly. I would usually be translating some Dutch newspaper articles, watching television or drinking something cold.
My marathon training has gone up a notch. My Saturday run is now two hours long and Wednesday's run has increased to one hour. I wasn't sure how I would cope with the Saturday run, especially considering how I had been feeling after the runs of last week. I took things very slowly. This was a good strategy, as I managed to run the whole distance (aside from mandatory stops at traffic lights).
Paul is back in the office, so I thought I should go back to wearing my normal work clothes. It is relatively cool inside, but making any movement outside starts me sweating. I went to the city centre to buy provisions for lunch and look for a fan for my room. Buying the lunch was easy, buying the fan was impossible. I went to three well-known stores which are likely to sell fans and I found nothing. The assistant in the last store told me that I would be lucky to find a fan (for sale) in the whole of the Netherlands. Go figure. I hope that his comment was hyperbole, because I will look around the stores in Tilburg on Thursday night.
posted by James 1:57 pm