Chronicles Continued

NOT. There I am at the Train Station’s self-check-in port. How it works: with your train-pass in your right hand, you place it on the check-in screen which is about hip high. At the moment the card is being read, directly in front of you, the meter high portal gates – they remind me of clear saloon doors – swing inward toward the train tracks, allowing you to step onto the platform. I had exactly 60 seconds to get onto the train that was waiting on track #1, just the other side of the plexiglass-saloon-doors. On my left shoulder a couple of bags were jostling somewhat awkwardly as I stepped up to the doors, my right hand behind me. Don’t know what happened next, but suddenly the card slipped out of my hand and fell to the ground. Behind me. I stepped back to retrieve it, bending down at an angle as the shoulder bags bobbed against me. It took a few seconds to gather up the card from the cement sidewalk, and in this time, the doors which had swung open, now swung shut. 45 seconds to go! I pushed. I shoved, I called out, and every time I re-scanned the now fast-held card, the screen informed me I had already checked in. I could not call for help as there was no one to be seen on the other side of the barrier. I yelled anyway, but to no avail. As I stood there, helplessly, the train doors graciously slid shut and the train slowly pulled away from the Station. Pulled away from the Station!! I was forced to wait another 5 minutes until a sweet-young-thing approached the ticket reading machine. After briefly explaining my dilemma, I asked if I could follow her onto the platform. One has to be quick because the sensor reads when two people pass on one scan and an alarm sounds. Go For It! 20 minutes later I boarded another train headed in the direction I wanted to go. When I disembarked, I found someone wearing a train logo shirt and asked him what I should have done differently. “You have to wait 5 minutes for the machine to clear, and then you re-scan”, he said. “That means that in any case I would never have made the train waiting with 45 seconds to go, I clarified. “No”, he said, “You would not.”

“Shortly after becoming Tsar in 1696, Peter [the Great] took a surprising 18 month trip to the Netherlands and England.  He sought out and absorbed everything he could about Enlightenment science and technology.  Protected by a pseudonym, he even worked building ships for the Dutch East India company.  Forgoing the lavish royal accommodations prepared for him, Peter chose to live in a simple wooden house which can be visited today in Zaandam”*

The Dutch culture, learning and crafts continued throughout his reign to have influence in ways unimaginable. The following excerpt from the link below:

But my favourite loanword is zontik (umbrella). Initially, it was a fashionable item brought by Dutch merchants for the Russian ladies. The name was zonnedek, “protection from the sun”, a necessary thing if a lady wanted to preserve the aristocratic paleness of her face. Later, it started to be used as a protection from the rain as well. Over the centuries, Russians forgot that zontik was a loanword. They decided that -ik in the end of the word was the Russian diminutive suffix and while a zontik is good for ladies, a real man would use a zont. Ironically, the word zonnedek is long forgotten by the Dutch themselves: they use a French loanword paraplu. One more word illustrates how Dutch influence came to be replaced with German. Russians adopted the Dutch word halsdoek, necktie, in the 17th century, and pronounced in Dutch manner – galzduk. However, by the end of the 18th century, it was replaced with German Halstuch. Today’s Russian pronunciation is a compromise between the two.

https://www.quora.com/How-much-has-the-Dutch-language-influenced-Russian

* it has been decreed that only the official name, The Netherlands, be cited, but this title is ‘then’.

** lifted directly from the internet

This car is clearly higher than the road, because the car is riding on the rear deck of a transport barge. The barge was specifically designed in 2015 to carry the long arms of the modern windmills. These barges are 155 yards long or 1.5 the length of a US football field.

So says the advert: Choco D’rop. As the Dutch are mad about licorice and chocolate a renowned company has rolled these two products into one. It looks like a stickless-tootsie-pop or a cheese-centered-meatball. A piece of licorice surrounded by a thick layer of chocolate.

Whatever the name suggests to you, the truth is it is all about the game of soccer. The entire continent is involved; each and every country is fanatic about support for Their! team. The Dutch are right at the top of this expectation pyramid giving support and oozing confidence. Here is what enthusiasm looks like:

Worked in the front garden. The dandelions were so tender and gave themselves up to easy removal. Previously read they are eatable – actually the entire plant used to be a medicinal herb – saved some. The Chinese dictates I follow recommends cooking all foods. Ever see a salad on the menu in a Chinatown eatery? Lightly steamed the stems. Tasted them. OH MY Bitter. Relegated them to the refrigerator. Will I or won’t I?