No Nails

Ordered my single beam last week, picked it up today, but requested Hornbach to saw it in particularly sized pieces 1) so that I could transport them in the car and, more important, 2) so that I could use them right away as we do not have any saw, electric or otherwise, 'strong' enough to cut up thick beams.  I have thus managed to assemble this little nook in my quiet room, without nails.  The beam on which the binders are standing is the remainder, and it happened to be just as long as the extra IKEA plank below, for which we couldn't find a place in the old house.  Anyway, this frees up extra space for clearing the four half-filled boxes in the room, the contents of half of which might end up in the bin if I have no more use for them.  That plank on top is not the one I want there.  It's a temporary measure while waiting for AW's planks, which are drying in the shed.

Those two crates at the bottom are 'souvenirs' from the Dutch Police Academy.  They were used for Christmas packages.  I have two because I used to work at two branches of the academy -- Apeldoorn and Rotterdam.  The binders are my family tree binders -- all of them.  One day, when I'm done with the whole project, all that information will be donated to the local historian, and my book will be donated to the municipal archives, with copies going to the regional archives and to the royal / national archives in The Hague.

Started a PTSD MOOC today, my first MOOC after 10 weeks.  It's going well.  Three other MOOCs lined up, two of which I also hope to finish this month before the subscription ends.  One is a certainty, the other will be a bit of a rush.  If I don't manage, well, then I don't manage.  I was also able to do some research, and found yet another private tragedy, the kind you won't read about online but which you can guess at simply by looking at the details. A full week of work ahead.

In the middle of all that, almost feeling like a distraction, which I guess it is, we have... parliamentary elections this week.  We'll probably vote tomorrow.  Usually, elections are held on a Wednesday, but, due to COVID-19 measures, they've stretched it out to three days to give people better chances for social distancing.  We know who we will vote for -- the same party we've voted for these past 30 years, who never win the majority but whose policies we support.

Another grey and wet day dotted with tiny pockets of sunshine sprinkled sporadically through the hours.  Thankfully dry when I picked up the beam, but otherwise rather 'druilerig'.  Typical for this time of year here.