Fall = busy travel times

If you called me today and asked "when is your next open week to schedule travel?" my answer is "Thanksgiving!"

Next week, here in the Netherlands.  The following week, Norway.  The following week, Seattle.  The following week, Belgium.  The following week, England.  The following week, Belgium.  The following week, Greece.

And then we're in Thanksgiving week, and I will give thanks if I am not on an airplane!

Sheveningen

This is the big beach with a long "strand" about 10 minutes from our office in The Hague .... Ocean Shores with much better restaurant/nightlife choices.  Windy as hell.  Cool pier.

Homeward Bound

Booked tickets today for a trip home to Seattle in October for work.  Mostly.  Jet City here I come!

Saturday Boats

Everybody was out on the canals enjoying the mild weather on Saturday:

Our Buddies

We're opposed to ruthless dictators everywhere in the world ... oh, unless they cooperate with us and provide strategically useful military bases, like naval ports:

In one of the bloodiest days of Yemen's uprising, government troops backed by snipers and shelling attacked a square full of Yemeni protesters and battled with pro-opposition forces in the capital, killing at least 40 people and littering the streets with bodies.

The violence signalled an accelerated attempt by President Ali Abdullah Saleh and his loyalists to crush their rivals and tighten his grip on the country after his return a day earlier from Saudi Arabia, where he has been undergoing treatment for the past three months for wounds suffered in an assassination attempt.

Least Surprising News of the Year

From the BBC:

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin says he has accepted a proposal to stand for president in March 2012.

Addressing the ruling United Russia party's annual congress, Mr Putin and current President Dmitry Medvedev backed one another to switch roles.

Yeah, it really took the Psychic Friends Network to see that one coming.

Last taste of summer

Leaves are starting to turn, but we're getting a few pleasant days near the end of September (finally!) here in Amsterdam. From a walk over to the Westerpark:

Direwolf!

Secluded spot