The Weather Outside is Frightful!

I always take more pictures than I can use - there is a thumbnail gallery of the entire set. Enjoy!

Late breaking news! New Linux kernel with experimental NFS (from Norway) is working! How do I feel? Well, I feel like this. Or maybe even like this! Hallelujah!

So.  It all started with this Linux kernel build.  Finally got it to link, finally got it to be small enough, finally installed it.

I rebooted remotely, and my system never came back.  So I hustled to work from Amsterdam, and I experienced my first snowfall here.

The streets were very pretty.  The green grocer I always go to still had their fruit outside.

Across from the tram stop (I take the number 4 tram to RAI station) is the flower market where I sometimes buy flowers.  Flowers are huge in The Netherlands.   They were pretty in the snowfall.

So, I always wondered "What do the Dutch do during the winter when it is snowing with their bicycles?"  The answer - they keep riding them!

I waited at the tram stop while the snow swirled around me.  Finally, the tram came - not the Santa Claus tram (the one decorated to look like a giant moving Santa Claus) just the regular one.

So I waited on the train platform for the train to Hoofddorp.  Just keep leaning on those keys!  Double consonants and vowels are very common in the Dutch language!

So.  American culture hits Europe in many forms.  It is so embarrasing sometimes.

I waited.  I arrived at 12:26, just missing the 12:25 train.  The train to Hoofddorp runs at :15, :25, :45 and : 55 past the hour.  So I waited.

Ah! The train approaches.  The second class compartments (no first class train rides for me Dan!) are snug and warm.   I use the non-smoking cars.  I rode in the smoking cars a couple times.   Wow!  I think they recirculate the air, and add smoke to the outlets so you get this gigantic train bhang effect.

It is about a kilometer from the train station to the office.  There are many strange and wonderful things to occupy your attention on the way!

So, on the way to work, there are these two sculptures.  The one on the left is a man standing on a platform, spitting water out of his mouth.  I could've thought of other places for the water to emerge...  The one on the right is a kicker.  We watched it go up.  It's HUGE.  We saw the pistons on it.   It is a moving sculpture.  Yes, those are trees on top.  I constructed this animation to give you a flavor for what it does. It moves very slowly in reality though!  It would be more fun if trees were flying through the air.

Perhaps it is constructed along the theory that art should generate discussion?  This sure has generated discussion.  When the wind is blowing after 5PM, those stupid jets of water spray onto the sidewalk where you are walking to get to the train.  Yes, that sculpture is not long for this earth...

So, I like this sign.  For the Dutch impaired.

I have arrived at Kruisweg.  Across the street from the Holland Office Center is the Crown Plaza Hotel.  It is a tres boring place to stay.  If you have to visit NetApp Europe HQ, why not stay at my place?

Finally, take the shortcut through the bushes, and you arrive at the front door!

The first person you are likely to meet when you enter the office is Desiree.  Say hi!

You might also run into Henk Van Berkum and John Williams.   I wish John would get an office.  Why do they keep letting more Americans into The Netherlands?  Sheesh.

You'll pass the kitchen on the way to my office. Now, we have a Dutch coffee machine, that makes good Dutch coffee.  But be sure to put that cup in the dishwasher! (I am a prime offender).

This is the lab.  It's a mess.  It is not all my fault.  But it is a nice lab - with a Sun E250, and Ultra 10, and a couple dual processor x86 boxes, Gb Ethernet and stuff.  I have been writing benchmarks, measuring performance of small disk configurations, looking at client side issues in both Sun and Linux and working with client implementers to understand the performance problems, and exploring TCP window size relation to NFS performance.  I think. Unfortunately, I seem to be generating many more questions than answers.  But I am trying to move things forward.

There's my bad boy Linux box.  Bad Linux.  I seem to have built a kernel with little or no networking support.  That can explain why I could not access remotely.  A victory of sorts - my first Linux kernel booted.  Bad Linux!   Bad Linux! 

My office is right next to the lab.  It is a mess.  And it is all John Martin's fault.

Thank god I work for Network Appliance.