Notices by Pepijn (pepijn@mastodon.online), page 2

Quick reminder. Hoevelaken is not just any town. They have a passion for quality. Discover it!

And that's what this thread is all about.

#amazing #quality

People of Hoevelaken love putting items in dedicated boxes. #Dog poop goes here.

Now here's a fun thing many people don't know about #Holland. Due to the ever rising popularity of #cycling, gas stations all over the country have been converted into bicycle repair and rental shops. Here's the one in Hoevelaken.

Stumbled upon a new situation that annoys German border police yet makes my day:

[I hand over my passport, my emergency 20 euro note falls out]

Me: "Oh, I'm sorry. That's for a different border. As a Dutchman I don't need that here right?"

Dude: [grumpy grump grumpy voice]: "no"

Dude: [hands back passport, looks at woman next to me]

Woman: [hands over passport] "I only have Danish kroner"

I lost it.

Starting the week on a high-note ;-)

As there's elections in Danmark there's candidates campaigning at the train station. Passing by them with toddler & cookies I figured I'd exchange cookies for pamphlets.

We offered cookies to three of the four. Danish Democrats* can buy their own damn cookie.

One of the others noticed, laughed and asked "no cookie for [name]?"

We ended up having a nice talk about whether to exclude fascists from society!

*xenophobic populists led by a convicted criminal

We're in #Kiel. As people on Mastodon recommended we just visited the aquarium. I liked how they have displays with local (north-atlantic, waddensea) sea-life.

Nearby we stumbled upon the "Old Botanical Garden" while no-one recommended it the place is definitely a highlight. A lot of variety in somewhat older trees set in romantic landscaping overrun with squirrels. Also saw a black squirrel 🐿️ ✅. I collected some Giant Sequoia & Japanese maple seeds :-)

#sequoia #trees #fish

First for me: train-replacement-foot-bridge at the Schleibrücke. Fun!

#train #bahn #BahnBubble

As requested: how to get seeds from #sequoia cones.

Step 1/3: get some #sequoia cones and let them dry for a couple weeks. These cones were picked from the wet ground in #Kiel.

My preferred spot is on top of our heat-pump as it being juuust a bit warmer than the surrounding room creates a constant airflow away from the cones. This prevents mold and works for a surprisingly fast drying process.

#gardening #seeds

The EU just allowed US cars that do NOT have to follow EU safety standards on our roads in order to appease Trump.

I love the EU. This unnecessary appeasement however makes me angry as fuck as it will kill pedestrians & cyclists all over Europe.

Info: https://mastodon.online/@Pepijn/115094647652133230

Image left: six vehicles. The top one is a tank. The others will be allowed on EU roads under this agreement.

Image right: my bicycle. Those colorful (static) lights are illegal due to "road safety".

@EUCommission

#train We're on a Danish DSB #IC3 train to Germany. Probably for the last, or at least one of the last, times.

While I'm sure the newer trains will be adequate. I'll also certainly miss the feeling of luxury of the current ones. With the quiet running, and spacious and warm interior the IC3 trains are just a pleasure to travel on.

The more I look at it the more I realize the interior of this battery Flirt #train is really pleasing.

Very different than the Swedish X52 monstrosity which serves a similar purpose https://mastodon.online/@Pepijn/114986223772658344

On Europe's local-less-busy-routes train future now: a battery powered Stadler Flirt (Nordbahn, top of Germany).

It's.. just a nice spacious quiet practical boring commuter train. Has a spacious toilet with well designed diaper changing table.

And clean, maintained even! (looking at you GoCollective)

I ❤️ it

#train #toddlerRail #battery #electricvehicles

Ah, it's #Caturday

#catsofmastodon

Omg. Screw 1st class. The ICE Small Child Cabin is where it's at.

It has:
-a door preventing escape
-place for stroller
-an acceptable amount of sharp corners

#train #luxury #CrossBorderRail

We're now in Germany. Toddler waved at the German border police. They waved back.

Apparently waving gets you out of being actually asked to show your passport as we appear to be only passengers not asked for it..

Also did a diaper change in what happened to be the cleanest toilet I've encountered on this route. So that's nice as well.

Back to starfishing against the window.

15 minutes in. Toddler is bored out of their mind starfishing the window.

It's going well.

Toddler and I are doing some #CrossBorderRail. I'm both super looking forward to it and massively crossing my fingers DB does its job well :-)

Instant update: toddler found the door and is annoyed it doesn't open. We also found a sharp corner.

Still amazing though. I want to take this for a ten hr route at night.

Difference between traveling as a single man with a Brompton versus a Baby: people, specifically women, go out of their way to make conversation.

Last hour:

-Jehovah witness: walked over to us (I mentioned the "child's former mom" converted to Islam).

-Friendly lady: initiated conversation and ended up showing photos of her house & cat.

-Bakery woman: came to our table with a free pastry. Turns out she thought I was single due to lack of ring & our earlier smalltalk. Feel a bit bad for her.

They're about the same weight but I must admit traveling with my toddler is much heavier than traveling with my #Brompton

An hour in the Espace petits enfants / peuterzone / kleinkindbereich / spazio bambino piccoli / toddler zone might even it out though.