Last week I picked up my new mobile phone. That’s nothing special in itself since I treat myself to a new mobile phone every year (side note: that’s the only thing I replace yearly, the other things I replace when they’re worn down in order to keep a pretty good carbon footprint), but after having an Android phone I came back to buying a Nokia once again. And ever since getting my first mobile about 13 years ago I’ve owned 10 phones. 8 of those were from Nokia.
I know that Nokia isn’t perceived as the leader in mobile phones any more and that their phones are a little behind when it comes to technology. But frankly: I don’t care. Their OS is stable, their build quality is excellent and it does what I want my phone to do: crisp and clear calls, messaging, occasional web browsing and tweeting, take a picture now and then, use it as an alarm and watch and navigate from A to B. And all that without a fuss. Simple. I like what they offer and although I felt a need for change every now and then (I switched to a Sony Ericsson a couple of years back and the HTC Hero last year) I always came back.
This got me thinking about other brands I’m loyal too. And it seems there are a couple. I only buy for need these days, but still there’s Geox when it comes to my shoes because of my…erhm…warm feet. Canon when it comes to my digital camera. Samsung when it comes to PC monitors. HP when it comes to printers/scanners. Bol when it comes to books. Pathe when it comes to seeing movies.
The reason for this is simple: these brands make products/create services that fill my needs. That doesn’t mean that I won’t buy any other brand when the need arises or when a better alternative comes along. But as long as that isn’t the case, these are preferred.
Summer has definitely come to our part of the woods with temperatures hitting above 30 degrees Celsius (that’s 80-90 degrees fahrenheit for you people across the pond). When it’s hot here it’s not the dry heat of the Mediterranean but this damp, clammy heat that sticks to you. So you need to adjust a bit.
I try to do as much as I need to do in the morning hours (when the heat is still manageable) and relax in the afternoons during these weekends. So it’s domestic chores (vacuuming, buying groceries etc) as early as possible (without waking up the neighbors) and just do some relaxing stuff like reading a book in the park in the afternoon. That’s in the shade of course. I also tend to eat less (maybe one meal a day) during the day, but drink a lot more.
I’m one of those people who enjoys good weather, but not extreme heat (I think there’s some Scandinavian bloodline somewhere although my parents keep denying that) so for me it’s just getting through the days and try to enjoy it as best as I can.
Hope you have a great summer.
About a month and a half ago I stumbled upon a video of Graham Hill and his thoughts on weekday vegetarianism and wrote about it. As mentioned in the post I was seriously considering following that regime for a month to see if it could work for me. So for the month of June I’ve been a weekday vegetarian but with some exceptions. Let me explain.
Of course the main outline was to go completely vegetarian during the week and having the opportunity to eat meat (which I have stated before I love to eat) during the weekends. I added a provision though: if I would find myself in a social setting where eating was involved (say eating out with friends or anything work-related) I would choose at the time. During the month I found myself to be in one of those situations about once each week. And I have to say that I chose the meat option on every one of those occasions (did I mention that I love meat). So all in all I was completely vegetarian for about 4 out of 5 weekdays (with 2 out of 3 meals on the other days being vegetarian as well).
So what did I eat? Well, same as in my first experiment with being a vegetarian I would eat soy based replacements. I also started to eat fruit in stead of bread in the morning. As for dinner I just experimented with vegetarian dishes (some came out better than others). I think this has helped to improve my eating habits towards an even healthier diet and I even lost a fair bit of weight (although, to be honest, that could also have to do with my increased exercise regime).
I have to admit that changing from just a Meatless Monday to weekday vegetarianism was an easy step. As stated before, I will never give up meat entirely (with this lifestyle though, it seems I enjoy eating meat even more) but with the apparent advantages it has I will keep on living the weekday vegetarian lifestyle for the foreseeable future.
With the Dutch elections coming up I’ve taken a look at all the different campaigns and positions of the political parties. And I have to admit that I’m a bit intrigued by the Dutch Pirate Party (Dutch link). But are they a viable option for me?
I first heard about the Pirate Party movement just before last years European elections where they won a seat with almost 10% of the votes in Sweden. When I heard there’s also a Dutch wing of this party running in our election I had to find out what they were all about.
As it turns out they’re focusing on privacy and copyright law in a technologically driven society as their main (and pretty much only) agenda. In my opinion their views are the type of legislation we need in todays digital life (reason why this blog is copyrighted under a Creative Commons license). However they also state that when they get elected and they have to vote on an issue that’s not part of their main agenda they’ll either consult with their member or don’t vote on it at all.
That’s the main reason why I would never vote for a single-issue party. Main stream political parties have specialists on all types of issues and make their intentions clear on all of them. With single issue parties you may find the party you’ve voted for votes different or not at all on issues you feel strongly about. And I like to have full disclosure as much as possible before I vote for someone. However, with Dutch coalition politics as it is, many main stream parties don’t exactly vote or act as stated in their positions before the elections as well after they’re voted into power, but that’s another story.
The Dutch Pirate Party has a few things going for it. I’ve voted on the left of the political spectrum ever since I’ve had a right to vote and am not persuaded to do anything else this year. But I wouldn’t be surprised if they get a few votes (mainly by the geek crowd, although I don’t think they’ll get a seat) and get some momentum going on their issues. Since their views on copyright and privacy are viable, I certainly hope that their views will get a look at by the established parties.
