pedometer purchase problem

Every time I've walked a bit I wonder how far I've walked. So far I've been calculating it by measuring it as a polygon on Google Earth. This gives a fair approximation of the distance. Then earlier this week I read about pedometers, devices which count the number of steps you take, know how far you walk in meters and how many calories you've burned by doing all this. This sounds like something I needed, gadget geek that I am. I found a number of these contraptions for sale on-line. Prices vary between €20 and €50. The more expensive ones do everything but calculate the return path of a NASA Space Shuttle.

But since buying on-line means you're not getting off of your ass, I decided to buy locally. So off I went to look for a pedometer in the electronics and healthcare shops in the neighbourhood. First to BCC, then to Kruidvat, Etos, Halfords and Hema. None of which had pedometers for sale. In desperation I went to the last shop on my pedometer list, Blokker. And guess what? They have one for sale.

step-o-meter packaging; the meter is already on my belt

The Step-O-Meter, made by the Xirion company of China. It can do everything but calculate the return path of the Space Shuttle. It costs €1.99

Another thing Blokker has for sale but which I didn't buy is the Brulshirt. It has a panel you can lift up to show a ferocious looking mouth. I think it has something to do with football.

brullen bij blokker

I walked back home along the Ringdijk. There are nicely placed shaded benches along the foot path, and it doesn't get very crowded there. A good place to sit and read a book one of these days.

ringdijk

I noticed that somebody either has a lot of guts parking his car this way, or was drunk doing it.

living on the edge

Later in the afternoon I walked to the Oosterpark, where I had a coke at the Pyramid and sat on a bench reading a book for a while. The whole park is filled with sculptures large and small. I think that most of them have some literary connection. The one below is called "Titaantjes" (little titans), after a book by Nescio. This is one of the small sculptures.

titaantjes

This one is a lot larger. It is the National Slavery Monument, commemorating the abolishment of slavery in 1863.

slavery memorial

For dinner I got myself a saoto soup from the Surinamese take away. Very tasty.

Oh, and the number of steps through the park? 3206.

fat kids, the new norm

Asbestos for kids

To check out what was happening in Frankendael Park I took the side entrance on Kamerling Onneslaan. The park has only one gate on Nobelweg, one on Kamerling Onneslaan and two on Middenweg. I think they ought to make it more accesible. I now have basically no choice but walking along busy roads until I get to a gate, walk a little bit through the park and then out the next gate. With more gates you could spend more time (= distance) in the park.

Kamerlingh Onneslaan looking East. The gate is at the end of the road.

The pond near the gate at Kamerlingh Onneslaan has little islands with trees planted on them. The trees are still young, but I bet it will make a very nice view a couple of decades into the future.

the pond in Frankendael park.

Not be outdone by Vincent's asbestos pictures I decided to take take some of my own. I didn't do it at work, though, but in Frankendael. They've discovered some small pieces of asbestos which probably come from the demolished buildings that stood here. They're now cleaning the whole lot and made a 'mini exhibition' for kids explaining what asbestos is and why it's bad.

Asbestos for kids.

Coming into work I think I scared old Abdul out of his wits. He was doing something in his little coffee kitchen when I roared "ABDUL!!" He jumped, turned and stared right into the camera flash... Sorry Abdul.

Abdul the coffee guru

With all the walking I've been doing lately the Crocs that Nicole advised me to buy aren't keeping up. They're very comfortable, but not for longish walks. So I decided to go and buy something more suitable for walking. On my way home I saw a specialty shop for running/walking shoes on the Linnaeuskade, around the corner from Middenweg. I told the (rather excentric looking) gentleman who helped me about my requirements, shoe size and sundry other specifications such as height and width of my feet and he found a pair of shoes that not only fits well, but had a 25% discount as well! €78.71 was the damage for a nice sturdy pair of New Balance walking shoes.

special shoes for runners

The complaints section: This blog wouldn't be complete without me nagging about something. Albert Heijn is always a good topic. I walked into the shop tonight to buy some food. I got myself a macaroni with tomato/paprika (capsicum) and then looked for a bit of rabbit feed to go with the macaroni. The salads all have exhortations to eat 2 'ons' (ounce, 100 grams) of veggies per day. Do they make a 200 gram salad? Of course not! the single portion salad is 140 grams and the double portion salad (for 2 persons) is 250 grams. Doh. BTW, it has been illegal in the Netherlands to use the 'ons' measurement since the IJkwet (measurements act) of 1937.

absurdly sized salads: normal for Albert Heijn

That's just wrong...

That's just wrong, originally uploaded by merfam.

only in America...

port-a-potty danger

This morning when I weighed myself the scale said 117.0 kg. To celebrate the loss of another kilo I walked all the way to work. Via the shortest route, but still all the way. No busses or trams were hurt while walking for this blog…

the stairs down and up the Ringdijk.

The shortest route is walking along the ringvaart, the canal that surrounds the Watergraafsmeer polder. To get alongside the canal you first have to descend to the polder level and then climb back onto the dike.

the footpath along the canal

After crossing the Linnaeusstraat/Middenweg I followed the canal on Linnaeuskade. On the other side of the canal, behind the HEMA department store they're renovating some old factory buildings and building the new Stadsdeelkantoor (local council office).

I like this old factory better than most modern architecture

Across from the old Polderweg Animal Asylum is a sleeping spot for homeless swans, geese and ducks.

sleeping waterfowl

At the corner of Molukkenstraat and Ringdijk there is now a new road, the Caroline MacGillavrylaan. The built-up area is where the old buildings of Nikhef-K used to be. They were demolished a few years ago.

the tall building is where my office used to be

They still haven't finished the road a year after it opened. The footpath stops after about 50 meters and from there on you either walk on the road (with truckloads of port-a-potties zooming past you) or on the bus lane in the middle (where busdrivers honk at you).

port-a-pottie danger

Behind the Nikhef building the new laboratory and office space of our sister institute AMOLF is taking shape.

AMOLF

Having seen Vincent's two-screen computer set-up at work I decided that was a good idea for me too. I had a small DELL screen floating around, so I stuck that in the Mac.

mac'n'stuff

Going home I decided to take the tram from the Middenweg/Kruislaan. A special-paint-job tram was going in the Diemen direction. It is called the Red Crosser and I suppose it is an ad for the Red Cross. Either that, or it is the first rail-bound ambulance I've seen.

red crosser

I got off of the tram at the North-east corner of Oosterpark and walked through the park to Beukenplein.

Oosterpark was quiet in spite of the nice weather

I met Collins at the Maxwell terrace for bitterballen and dinner. SG had just come back from his business trip to the US and told me about his future plans and family genealogy research. Wednesday he's leaving for Poland to attend the wedding of Anna P's sister.

Brutch content: SG draait een sjekkie while it is still legal

At 20:00 SG was getting sleepy with jet-lag and went home. So did I.

the Green house

The weather was much nicer today, and so was the feeling in my left ankle. The hyper-reaction I had was gone, too. I was thinking of going to Artis (the zoo) but hesitated as I didn't want to overdo the walking with —what was only yesterday— a very painful ankle.

Then Nicole skyped me and we chatted away for the best part of an hour. Vincent was seen in the background working on the prototype of his coffee-table railway. By the time we finished talking the sky had gone a bit overcast again, so I didn't go to Artis but read a book instead.

At 17:00 I was getting a little hungry so I went for a walk looking for a restaurant. As I have already found out, there's nothing much between my house and the Linnaeusstraat, so I turned west towards the Amstel river to see what was there to be found.

I walked through Oosterparkstraat where there's nothing much as far as restaurants are concerned.

I had to cross the racetrack aka Wibautstraat

On the short bit of Oosterparkstraat between Wibautstraat and Amstel there's an Indian restaurant about which I've read good reviews on Iens. Also, futher down the road are two Italian restaurants, one of which had a good review by Johannes van Dam, a local food guru. Around the corner on the riverbank are an Ethiopian restaurant and a Greek restaurant. Plenty of choice in that little neighbourhood.

Amstel river seen towards the Berlage bridge

I decided to walk along the river on the Weesperzijde to see what else there was.

the foot path along the Amstel river

I didn't see anymore restaurants, but in the court yard at Weesperzijde 80 I saw this amazing green building.

the Green House

The buildings across from the Green House looked nice, too. I think they're artist's studios.

the court yard

I walked to near the Berlage bridge, turned towards the Wibautstraat again and wanted to see if the restaurant on the 7^th floor of the old Volkskrant building was open. It wasn't. The council has closed it for one reason or another. So, I headed once more towards the north, thinking I might get some food at the Chinese restaurant near the corner of Blasiusstraat.

Ka-Wah

I had never been there before, only seen it in passing. When I had a better look at it I decided I'd rather go to the Ferrara Italian restaurant on Beukenplein. The Ka-Wah looked like it hadn't seen an upgrade in its looks since 1902.

By the time I got to the Ferrara it was 18:00 and I was really hungry. I had the tournedos with mushrooms and a nice side salad. The tournedos was one of the tastiest I've had in a long time, which made me think I made the right decision in coming here instead of eating at the Ka-Wah. Coffee for dessert and then home to see the new epsiode of Mythbusters on Discovery.

rain and pain

Friday morning it was raining and my left ankle hurt like hell. I think it was a combination of all the walking I've been doing over the past weeks and the old 'weather-change' pains I get in the rotten ankle. Consequently I stayed home since I couldn't make it down the stairs. I was also feeling very tired and went to sleep a few times during the day (and early in the evening).

Today the weather wasn't much better and I was still feeling tired and sleepy and my leg still hurt. I also had a slight headache.

the rain as seen from my bedroom window

This evening I wondered why I was feeling so tired and sleepy so I started googleing around. It turns out that when you have diabetes and you get an inflammation, bloodsugar can go up more than normal. This can cause a hyperglycemia which makes you feel tired and sleepy. This must have happened to me, since I also had the other symptoms of a hyper: frequent urination and thirst.

The inflammation is probably the cause of the pain in my ankle which at times like these is swollen and purplish (though not metallic with orange/yellow flames…)

Hopefully tomorrow the ankle will get used to the weather and stop hurting. I hope the hyper feeling goes away then as well.