Busy week!

The last 7 days have been a whirlwind.

It actually started last Wednesday. Something happened to our car, and the alignment was off really bad. So bad that we had to have it towed.

Unfortunately, mechanics here are pretty slow. So, they told us it wouldn’t be ready until Tuesday.

Now, we only have one car. That means we had to survive on bikes for 6 days. So, the boys had to bike to and from school (8 miles each way) every day. They did that with great attitudes Thursday and Friday. On Monday, their legs were dead. On Tuesday, they only made it a quarter mile before they turned around and said they weren’t going to school.

Meanwhile, we stayed home from church on Sunday, since we couldn’t all bike the 7 miles to church (most especially Henry, who is still just learning to ride a bike). Instead we watched the Zoom broadcast and had our own primary and Sunday school.

On Monday I presented a paper at VU in Amsterdam. I left around 7:30, rode my bike to the train station, took 2 hours of trains, had a full day including dinner, 2 hours of trains home, then another bike ride in the dark, to be home around 10.

Tuesday I had to go to our mechanic to pick up the car. Did I mention that because our car is a van (which is incredibly rare here), our mechanic is a long ways away? So, 2 hours of trains plus 20 minutes of walking to get the car. Then 2.5 hours of driving home. It should have been a faster drive home, but there was a bus strike, so the roads were packed.

Wednesday I once again left at 7:30am to bike to the train station. I took the train to Tilburg, taught a class, and then immediately hopped on a train to Frankfurt, Germany. 5ish hours later I arrived. I checked into the hotel, had dinner with a colleague, and then went back to the hotel to go to bed.

Thursday was office visits and presenting a paper (different paper than the one I presented at VU), plus a couple of nice meals.

Friday morning I got up at 5:30, checked out of the hotel, and am now on the train back to the Netherlands. One of the trains was delayed, so I missed a connection. I should arrive home around 1pm.

I think this weekend my focus is going to be chores around the house, and spending some family time (plus catching up on some sleep).

Next week is pretty relaxed, but then I start another couple of whirlwind trips the week after that.