Well; the header is covering it……
Not a lot of writing on this weblog lately….!
And why..??

Mmmmmh…. no idea…. maybe nothing interesting to mention…??
Ah well…..hopefully the “inspirition” will come back soon.
And that is also why I am writing this one…..; to see if this will help me to get back to writing stuff on sjeltur.nl.

Lately I have been busy with my new little hobby; the iPad….
I bought one during my trip in the USA – after coming back – I also decided to make a new weblog; www.mijnipad.net => in which I am writing about all the apps etc I am using on/with my iPad. It is writen in Dutch – BUT I did put a Google translation button on it also….. SO… maybe you are able to figure out “what I am writing about”…..

“T-Mobile wants Google to pay; because they use a lot of T-Mobile’s cellphone network…”

That one has been on the Dutch Tweakers.net website.
The German T-Mobile is having those talks with Google…. – because with all the online content Google is offering (YouTube, email –etc) – T-Mobile thinks that Google should pay their share.

This is a very interesting subject; because the first thing I was thinking “ooooh – T-Mobile Germany is offering free internet via their mobile network?”. Of course I also knew the answer to that one…..NOOOO!!

But; what does this mean..?
Is T-Mobile trying to get their bill paid two times..?
The consumer is paying AND Google needs to pay?

What if we turn it all around….. and Google would say “Hey T-Mobile – we do have a bill for you, as YOUR CUSTOMERS (who are in fact are paying you) are using our FREE SERVICES!!”

That one does sounds way more reasonable – doesn’t it?

T-Mobile is really loosing their mind….. and loosing the thought behind internet.
Things like “Net Neutrality”….are not a part of T-Mobile.

Today I saw an article about Germany, being the 2nd largest exporter in the world…
I was a bit surprised…., but then realized; they do have Mercedes, BMW, Siemens and a lot more….

Then it hit me……., just before I went on my holiday, the euro went totally down.
First we had the Greek going bankrupt, then the stories about Spain going down…., maybe Portugal going down…..
And then; prime minister of Germany, Merkel, is telling the whole world we (the European Community) is facing hard time and she is wondering about the Greek; will they be able to pay us back. Next step; the President of the federal bank of Germany is also telling about the hard times we are facing…..
And again, Merkel is making a speech about the crisis….and her doubts…

During this period of time, the euro went down from 1,35 to 1,25….
With falling further after all then speeches of those Germans….

Until today, I thought they where just plain dumb…as it would help the value of the euro going further down.
But now….I do realize it is helping the Germans, as the world second exporter; they would sell more cars…more tvs etc etc…..
And now I am wondering; did Merkel give those speeches on purpose….? Did she want the euro to go down…??
Is it her fault my holiday in the USA was that expensive…? With the rate of 1,18?
They are selling more BMWs and Mercedesses……. And the rest of the EU is paying the bill….!

A couple of days of New Orleans – which where amazing.

One full day walking around in the Garden District (wow- what an amazing houses overthere)…..
And one day going on a swamp tour…. looking at a lot of water – green stuff AND yep – alligators…!

And then a trip to Panama City Beach…… doing totally NOTHING…except for enjoying the sea and the sun……. (nope – no oil on these beaches). Drinking beer and REST……!

Yep – again – some amazing days……

Complaints…??
Sure – but not worth the mentioning!

Totally forgot to tell you; we also did a tour on Graceland/Memphis…..
Really impressive….!!

Then a drive to Natchez – nice scenery…..as we did not drive the normal route – but we went via the 61.
We had an AMAZING bed and breakfast overthere…. -> Bluff Top Bed and Breakfast…… a nice porch with view on the Mississippi…. WOW….
Again “THANX” to Neil – the owner if this B&B.

Natchez is also a beautifull place…. hope to go there again.

And then again – a very nice drive via the 61 to New Orleans…… what to say about this city uh…?? Except for…. WOW…. or triple WOW or even more wows….
Nice…we have 3 more days in New Orleans !!!

Hi there,…… the first post from THE holiday….
USA trip 2010!

Yesterday we did arrive at Houston….picking up our rental car…. => little disappointment; we where going for the extra charges IF they would have a Ford Mustang Convertible..but NO…
Ah well – we still a nice car… no worries there!

Other worries?
Nope; all is going fine!
Nachododges hotel was nice; good food at the neighbors…. and we went to bed at 22.00h = 24 hours AWAKE…. – so we where TIRED!

Today a 9 hour drive to Memphis… arrived at the hotel in the early evening.

Sooooo- tonight we went to Beale Street in MEMPHIS…!

It is all nice shiny and flashy….

But then….. we got confronted with the ”USA waiter mentality”…. we got a waiter at the Irish Pub (Silky Sullivan something)…. we told the waiter we wanted drinks AND food…..
So – firs an order for drinks…white wine and a beer….

Very fast he delivered the drinks and was confronting us with the bill….
So – I told him we also where going to order food….. BUT his shift almost ended….!!
Uh….. what…??
So – his shift is ending and I need to be confronted with his dumb procedure of “I want to get my tip money”..??
OOOOOOH NOOOO!!!!
And this is why I don’t like the tipping part….
Last year in New York – this year in Memphis….; no real service – but fixated on “the tip”…..

And both the hotels; AGAIN- do you really have a lot of midgets in the USA…??
In both hotels – the shower is pointing at my nipples instead of my head…. WHY…??

And hotel Memphis (Sleep Inn); no free internet on the room… only for business and in the lobby,….. WHY…???

I do have more questions…….!

As you can imagine; we are really bored during such a drive….. – and we start “counting stuff”…
My comment (and question); did you know that ALL THE WALLMARTS between Houston and Memphis are located at the LEFT of the highway..?? Except for the last one in Memphis!!
But…. WHY….??

And uh….. all those questions on the highway about  “do you want to sponsor the highway”….
I think they already have a good sponsor…. called Goodyear (or another car tire sponsor)….
Keep the highway really bad; as you can see on the highways with all the broken tire pieces…. PFFFFF…. is it that hard to keep some good highways..??

Is it all negative..??

Ooooh noooo !!!

We have some amazing weather…!!

Just wanted to give a little update on the post I did about the “vacuum cleaners” we have in Holland….
(previous post; Am I overlooking something)

Almost seems like I do have some influence in “the world politics”…..; because now (all of a sudden?) the USA asked the European Community to help with cleaning the oil in the Mexican Gulf….

And of course the Dutch (and Spain) did react on this request….; we will send those cleaners ASAP via plane to Houston and New Orleans!!

Absolutely good news uh..??
(I am just wondering; why not a couple of weeks earlier..??)

From; Telegraaf.nl (in Dutch)

The value of Apple went higher than Microsoft……
That still does not make apple a nice company uh..??

As you, maybe, know; the Dutch are not able to buy an iPad at the moment…. We even do not know when it will be available in Holland.

What happens; some people go to the USA and buy an extra iPad – which they will try to sell in Holland.We have our own kind of eBay – called “Marktplaats” (Marketplace – and it is also owned by eBay)….
In all honesty; people are asking ridiculous price… but okay – if a fool is willing to pay such an amount…

But now;
people who put there iPad on Marktplaats – are receiving a message from Marktplaats in which is stating that Apple is NOT ALLOWING people to sell an iPad via Marktplaats in Holland…
Reason; something with intellectual ownership – blah blah blah.
Some people already received a letter from lawyers of Apple….uh….WHAT..??

I really think this is an extremely weird act of Apple; Apple is not able to provide us the iPad…. so we start searching for it….. We buy it…..which makes us the owner of a little piece of electronic….. which makes us also able to say “I don’t want it – I want to sell it”….
Whatever the reason of “I don’t want it” may be….

Did Apple even hear about “free trade” “free market”…..?

Once I am passing the customs in Holland – maybe even with paying extra tax and duties; I make this article “free of trade within the European Community”….

A real weird act of Apple….. very arrogant……

What do you think..??

Maybe I am just plain dumb….. and I do not understand how “it all works”…..
But I am looking at the situation in the Mexican Gulf….. and I keep wondering…. (already for weeks);

why is nothing happening overthere..??
Mr.Obama had an angry speech in which he says that the “who is responsible”-fight should stop and BP (or who ever) should work on a solution….

I have been watching some tv programs in Holland – in which some companies are explaining what they could have done…..
Nope; nobody has a solution…. but some where mentioning huge “vacuum cleaners”….. they have some “side skirts” for ships – which can take the oil out of the water and put it in another ship.

A very safe and good solution – which would really get most of the oil out of the water….

My point….??

I really do not get why the USA Government didn’t get all those vacuumcleaners together in the Mexican Gulf and start cleaning it that way..?? Just there – where the leak is…. !
Why are they “just’” wating for a solution of BP…?

If I was the President of the USA…. after one week of disaster, there would have been hundreds of those cleaning ships…….
But maybe the problem is; if I was the President of the USA – my wallet would be empty…… and I would not be able to garantuee payment for the cleaning job…?

I really have no idea…. but if I look at that area…. it makes me SAD!!

Counting the days…!!
Counting the days….. just a couple of weeks to go…. and then finally my holiday!

In one of my previous posts I was mentioning about some extra costs I am facing on my next trip…..!
By the way; it has been changed into -> Houston – Memphis – New Orleans – Savannah – Atlanta – flight to Toronto

One of my “already” conclusions for this trip; more expensive – more complicated…. pfff

More expensive…??
As I said before; plaintickets more expensive…. rental car more expensive…. And you know what…?? The car rental – first they said “not returning to the same station will not give extra costs…..”…. but apperently they where wrong; extra cost – $ 250.–
And what do you think about the euro – which dropped about 10% of his value…. Which will mean; 10% extra costs…!!
Next; the oil price is about half of his value last year – but the gas prices went up…..

Sorry – I really do not understand this crisis…….

More complicated?
And then the most sad part; the BP Oil disaster….
Very sad and I am afraid we still do no know what a huge of disaster this is going to be for the environment…. the people involved etc…!

So; yes – I should stop wining about the 250 dollar and 10% and the gas prices and the plane tickets…..!!