1.31 pm

So much for updates every day. My only excuse is that it seems like my free time is all but non-existent.

I should be concentrating on researching for my writing requirement, especially since it's going to come due very, very quickly. Even though I tell everyone that it's on the most boring topic ever (the differences between the two major systems of investment arbitration), I actually find it pretty interesting. Even so, I've been hard at work all week, and the sun is trying to break through the clouds, and I'd much rather be walking around the city than in front of my computer. Adam sent me a kite, and I'm dying to find a field where I can fly it. It's a little stunt kite, and it says that it can handle pretty strong winds. Which is good, because it gets very windy here.

1.42 pm

The Dutch have rules about almost everything, but I constantly find myself questioning the point.

Take bicycle rules, for example. It's illegal to ride a bike with a dim headlight or no headlight at all. A policeman will stop you and give you a ticket on the spot if you don't comply. Same for riding the wrong way on a bike lane, or riding on the sidewalk. But there's no law requiring helmets. And I constantly see people sitting on the rear bike rack, precariously hanging onto the rider, while the police look on. It seems to me, ignorant American that I am, that making helmets mandatory and not allowing "passengers" would do a better job of promoting safety than headlights.

Then there's the trash. You have to separate your glass out. If you don't, the garbage collectors will open your trash, go through until they find a reciept with your name and/or address, and send you a steep fine. But there's no recycling for plastic, and paper recycling seems to be sporadic. Quite frankly, this one simply baffles me. Why not just send the fine to the house that the garbage is in front of and leave it at that? For that matter, why not provide people with recycling bins and public places to recycle to make it easier?

Then again, the American bureaucracy is just as bad.