Halloween and more pics

.drone.yml

@@ -8,9 +8,9 @@ steps:
       - git lfs install
       - git lfs pull
   - name: build
-    image: git.ipng.ch/ipng/drone-hugo:release-0.130.0
+    image: git.ipng.ch/ipng/drone-hugo:release-0.134.3
     settings:
-      hugo_version: 0.130.0
+      hugo_version: 0.134.3
       extended: true
   - name: rsync
     image: drillster/drone-rsync

addpic.sh

@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+
+[ $# -lt 2 -o $# -gt 3 ] && {
+  echo "Usage: addpic.sh <input_filename> [date] <gallery_filename>"
+  echo "Example: $0 ~/Pictures/Screenshot\ 2024-08-18\ at\ 23.32.55.png fusion.png"
+  echo "Example: $0 ~/Pictures/Screenshot\ 2024-08-18\ at\ 23.32.55.png 2024-08-18 fusion.png"
+  exit
+}
+
+infile=$1; shift
+date=$(date +%Y-%m-%d)
+[ $# -eq 2 ] && { date=$1; shift; }
+outfile=$(basename $1); shift
+
+[ -r "$infile" ] || {
+  echo "Can't read infile $infile"
+  exit
+}
+
+cmd="magick \"$infile\" -resize 400x static/img/thumbnails/$date/$outfile"
+echo "Running: $cmd"
+eval $cmd
+
+cmd="magick \"$infile\" -resize 4000000@\> static/img/fullsize/$date/$outfile"
+echo "Running: $cmd"
+eval $cmd

assets/styles.scss

@@ -1,780 +0,0 @@
-// Colors
-$midnight-blue: #07608f;
-$midnight-matte: #4c7e99;
-$tab-border-color: #ddd;
-$tab-active-color: #474a4f;
-$heading-gray: #333;
-$caption-color: #ccc;
-$close-button-gray: #f1f1f1;
-$close-hover-gray: #bbb;
-$contactlinks-color: #eee;
-$contactlinks-text-color: #524e59;
-$cv-red: #b25347;
-$text-dark: #444;
-$text-normal: #777;
-$text-light: #5f5a6f;
-$text-very-light: #767676;
-$medium-light-text: #4f4a5f;
-$code-background: #f3f3f3;
-$codeblock-background: #f6f8fa;
-$code-text: #f8f8f2;
-$ipng-orange: #f46524;
-$ipng-darkorange: #8c1919;
-$ipng-lightorange: #fb8c00;
-$table-header-background: #ffdcca;
-$table-cell-background: #fafafa;
-
-// Breakpoints
-$bp-mini: 28em; // 288px
-$bp-small: 48em; // 768px
-$bp-medium: 64em; // 1024px
-$bp-large: 85.375em; // 1366px
-$bp-xlarge: 120em; // 1920px
-$bp-xxlarge: 160em; // 2560px
-
-// Media Queries
-$mq-mini: "(min-width: #{$bp-mini})";
-$mq-mini-reverse: "(max-width: #{$bp-mini})";
-$mq-small: "(min-width: #{$bp-small})";
-$mq-medium: "(min-width: #{$bp-medium})";
-$mq-large: "(min-width: #{$bp-large})";
-$mq-xlarge: "(min-width: #{$bp-xlarge})";
-$mq-xxlarge: "(min-width: #{$bp-xxlarge})";
-$mq-retina: "(-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 2), (min-resolution: 192dpi)";
-
-// Font-Size
-$base-font-size: 1.0em;
-
-// Line-Height
-$base-line-height: 1.4;
-$header-line-height: 1.0;
-
-// HUGO
-
-html {
-    margin: 0;
-    height: 100vh;
-}
-
-body {
-    margin: 0;
-    min-height: 100vh;
-    overflow-y: scroll;
-    line-height: $base-line-height * 1.0;
-    font-family: BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol";
-
-    @media #{$mq-mini} { font-size: $base-font-size * 0.8; }
-    @media #{$mq-small} { font-size: $base-font-size * 0.9; }
-    @media #{$mq-medium} { font-size: $base-font-size * 1.0; }
-    @media #{$mq-large} { font-size: $base-font-size * 1.0; }
-    @media #{$mq-xlarge} { font-size: $base-font-size * 1.1; }
-    @media #{$mq-xxlarge} { font-size: $base-font-size * 1.1; }
-}
-
-/*largest screens*/
-main {
-    display: block;
-    margin: 0;
-    padding: 1em 1em;
-
-    @media #{$mq-mini} { margin: 0 2%; }
-    @media #{$mq-small} { margin: 0 2%; }
-    @media #{$mq-medium} { margin: 0 17%; }
-    @media #{$mq-large} { margin: 0 21%; }
-    @media #{$mq-xlarge} { margin: 0 24%; }
-    @media #{$mq-xxlarge} { margin: 0 27%; }
-
-    a {
-        color: $ipng-lightorange;
-        text-decoration: none;
-    }
-    
-    a:hover {
-        color: $ipng-darkorange;
-        text-decoration: none;
-    }
-}
-
-a {
-    text-decoration: none;
-}
-    
-
-h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6 {
-    font-weight: bold;
-    font-style: normal;
-    color: $ipng-orange;
-}
-
-p, li {
-    color: $text-normal;
-    text-align: justify;
-}
-
-strong {
-    font-style: normal;
-    font-weight: bold;
-    color: black;
-}
-
-em {
-    font-style: normal;
-    font-style: italic;
-}
-
-kbd, code {
-    font-family: Mononoki, monospace;
-    color: $text-normal;
-    background-color: $code-background;
-    font-size: 0.9em;
-}
-
-pre {
-    background-color: $codeblock-background;
-    padding: 0.5em;
-    overflow-x: auto;
-    font-weight: bold;
-    border: 1px solid #DDDDDD;
-    border-radius: 0.5em;
-
-    code {
-        background-color: transparent;
-    }
-}
-
-th {
-    font-weight: bold;
-    color: $text-normal;
-}
-
-td {
-    color: $text-normal;
-}
-
-.footnotes ol li {
-    font-size: 0.8em;
-}
-
-figure.image-shortcode {
-    margin: 1em auto;
-    img {
-        width: 100%;
-    }
-    @media #{$mq-mini-reverse} {
-        width: 100% !important;
-    }
-
-}
-
-figure.wide {
-    display: flex;
-    flex-direction: column;
-    align-items: center;
-    img {
-        width: 90vw;
-        padding-bottom: 0.5em;
-    }
-}
-
-figure.right, .right {
-    float: right;
-    margin: 0 0 0.5em 1em;
-
-    @media #{$mq-mini-reverse} {
-        margin-bottom: 1.0em;
-    }
-}
-
-figure.right:first-child, .right:first-child {
-    margin-top: 1em;
-}
-
-figure.left, .left {
-    float: left;
-    margin: 0 1em 0.5em 0;
-
-    @media #{$mq-mini-reverse} {
-        margin-bottom: 1.0em;
-    }
-}
-
-figure.left:first-child, .left:first-child {
-    margin-top: 1em;
-    color: blue;
-}
-
-figure.frame {
-    background-color: #f7f7f7;
-    border: 1px solid #bbb;
-    border-radius: 0.2em;
-    padding: 0.5em;
-    box-sizing: border-box;
-
-    img { border: 1px solid #bbb; }
-
-    figcaption { border: none; }
-
-}
-
-figcaption {
-    font-size: 0.8em;
-    padding: 0;
-    width: 100%;
-    margin: 0 0 0.5em 0;
-    border-bottom: 1px solid #666674;
-    p {
-        margin-top: 0em;
-        color: #666674;
-        text-align: left;
-    }
-    h4 {
-        margin: 0.3em 0;
-        color: $text-normal;
-        text-align: left;
-    }
-}
-
-
-.home-ipng {
-    font-size: 1.3em;
-    font-weight: bold;
-    color: $ipng-orange;
-    vertical-align: bottom;
-}
-
-.page-title {
-    text-align: left;
-    font-size: 2em;
-    color: $ipng-orange;
-}
-
-.page-title.blog {
-    text-align: left;
-    margin-bottom: 0.5em;
-}
-
-// NAVBAR
-
-nav {
-    display: flex;
-    justify-content: flex-end;
-    flex-flow: row wrap;
-    overflow: hidden;
-    margin: auto 2% .6em auto;
-    padding-left: 2em;
-}
-
-nav ul {
-    list-style-type: none;
-    margin: 0;
-}
-
-nav li {
-    background-color: inherit;
-    float: left;
-    cursor: pointer;
-    padding: 0;
-    margin: 0;
-    border-width: 0 0 .3em 0;
-    border-color: transparent;
-    border-style: solid;
-    display: inline-block;
-}
-
-nav a {
-    color: $text-normal;
-    padding: .25em .63em;
-    font-size: 1.1em;
-    display: block;
-}
-
-nav li:hover {
-    border-color: $ipng-lightorange;
-}
-
-.dropdown .sub-menu {
-    display: none;
-    position: absolute;
-    background-color: #f9f9f9;
-    color: $text-normal;
-    cursor: pointer;
-    border-width: 0 0 .3em 0;
-    min-width: 6em;
-    margin-top: .3em;
-    box-shadow: 0px 8px 16px 0px rgba(0,0,0,0.2);
-    z-index: 1;
-}
-
-.dropdown:hover .sub-menu {
-    display: block;
-}
-
-.sub-menu a:hover {
-    background-color: $tab-active-color;
-    color: white;
-}
-
-.sub-menu a {
-    display: block;
-    text-align: left;
-    padding: .2em .63em;
-    color: $text-normal;
-}
-
-.dropdown.activetab, .activetab, li.activetab {
-    background-color: $tab-active-color;
-    border-color: white;
-}
-
-.activetab > a, a.activetab {
-    color: white;
-}
-
-.page-header {
-    border-bottom: 2px solid $text-dark;
-    background-color: #f7f7f7;
-    text-align: center;
-    display: flex;
-    flex-flow: row wrap;
-
-    @media #{$mq-mini} { margin: 0; width: 100%; font-size: $base-font-size * 0.8; }
-    @media #{$mq-small} { margin: 0 5%; width: 90%; font-size: $base-font-size * 0.9; }
-    @media #{$mq-medium} { margin: 0 17%; width: 66%; font-size: $base-font-size * 1.0; }
-    @media #{$mq-large} { margin: 0 21%; width: 58%; font-size: $base-font-size * 1.0; }
-    @media #{$mq-xlarge} { margin: 0 24%; width: 52%; font-size: $base-font-size * 1.1; }
-    @media #{$mq-xxlarge} { margin: 0 27%; width: 48%; font-size: $base-font-size * 1.1; }
-
-    a:hover {
-        color: $ipng-lightorange;
-    }
-    .activetab > a:hover {
-        color: white;
-    }
-}
-
-.page-footer {
-    position: fixed; 
-    font-size: .8em;
-    border-top: 2px solid $text-dark;
-    display: flex;
-    flex-flow: row wrap;
-    bottom: 0;
-    color: $text-light;
-    background-color: #f7f7f7;
-
-    @media #{$mq-mini} { margin: 0; width: 100%; font-size: $base-font-size * 0.8; }
-    @media #{$mq-small} { margin: 0 5%; width: 90%; font-size: $base-font-size * 0.9; }
-    @media #{$mq-medium} { margin: 0 17%; width: 66%; font-size: $base-font-size * 1.0; }
-    @media #{$mq-large} { margin: 0 21%; width: 58%; font-size: $base-font-size * 1.0; }
-    @media #{$mq-xlarge} { margin: 0 24%; width: 52%; font-size: $base-font-size * 1.1; }
-    @media #{$mq-xxlarge} { margin: 0 27%; width: 48%; font-size: $base-font-size * 1.1; }
-
-    span {
-        width: 100%;
-        text-align: center;
-        color: $ipng-orange;
-    }
-}
-
-.myname {
-    margin: 0 auto 0 0;
-    padding-left: .5em;
-    font-size: $base-font-size * 1.2;
-    color: $ipng-orange;
-}
-
-.myname a {
-    color: $ipng-orange;
-    text-decoration: none;
-    font-style: normal;
-    font-weight: normal;
-    font-size: 1.3em;
-}
-
-.myname h2 {
-    margin: 0;
-}
-
-// HOME
-
-.blog-post-summary {
-    margin: 0;
-    @media #{$mq-mini} { margin: 2em; }
-}
-
-#latest-blog-home {
-    text-align: center;
-    font-size: 2em;
-}
-
-.delimiter {
-    font-size: 2em;
-    text-align: center;
-}
-
-// BLOG
-
-.blog-post-title {
-    margin-bottom: 0.2em;
-    padding-bottom: 0;
-    font-size: 1.6em;
-
-    a {
-        color: $heading-gray;
-    }
-}
-
-.blog-post-info {
-    margin: 0.2em 0;
-    font-size: 0.8em;
-    color: $text-light;
-    margin-left: 1em;
-    text-align: left;
-
-    a { text-transform: capitalize; }
-}
-
-em.taxonomy-emph {
-    font-style: oblique;
-}
-
-.blog-post-content {
-    h1 { font-size: 1.4em; }
-    h2 { font-size: 1.3em; }
-    h3 { font-size: 1.2em; }
-    h4 { font-size: 1.1em; }
-}
-
-.taxonomy-links ul {
-        list-style-type: none;
-        display: flex;
-        justify-content: center;
-        margin: 0;
-        padding: 0;
-        border-bottom: 2px solid $text-normal;
-
-        li {
-            flex-grow: 1;
-            margin: 1em 0.5em;
-            width: 100%;
-            display: flex;
-        }
-
-        li a {
-            display: inline-block;
-            background-color: $tab-border-color;
-            font-size: 1.5em;
-            text-align: center;
-            color: $text-normal;
-            padding: .5em;
-            flex-grow: 1;
-            text-transform: capitalize;
-        }
-}
-
-.pagination {
-    list-style-type: none;
-    display: flex;
-    justify-content: center;
-    margin: 1em;
-    padding: 0;
-}
-
-.page-item {
-    color: $text-normal;
-    display: inline-block;
-    padding: .2em .6em;
-
-    a {
-        color: $text-normal;
-    }
-}
-
-.page-item.active {
-    background-color: $tab-active-color;
-
-    a {
-        background-color: $tab-active-color;
-        color: white;
-    }
-}
-
-// CONTACT
-
-#contactinformation {
-    display: flex;
-    flex-direction: row;
-    flex-wrap: wrap;
-}
-
-.social {
-    display: flex;
-    justify-content: center;
-    font-size: $base-font-size*0.7;
-    margin: auto;
-    width: 100%;
-
-    ul {
-        list-style-type: none;
-        display:flex;
-        justify-content: space-around;
-        flex-wrap: wrap;
-        padding: 0;
-
-        li {
-            display: inline-block;
-            padding: 0.5em;
-
-            a {
-                white-space: nowrap;
-                color: #3f444d;
-                font-size: 1.2em;
-
-                i {
-                    font-size: 1.5em;
-                    vertical-align: middle;
-                }
-            }
-            a:hover {
-              color: $ipng-lightorange;
-            }
-        }
-    }
-}
-
-
-.contactbox {
-    padding: 0 1.0em 0 1.0em;
-    box-sizing: border-box;
-
-    @media #{$mq-mini-reverse} { width: 100% !important; }
-
-    ul {
-        list-style-type: none;
-        background-color: $contactlinks-color;
-        border-radius: 0.5em;
-        box-shadow: 0.025em 0.1em 0.2em 0.1em #333;
-        box-shadow: 0.025em 0.1em 0.2em 0.1em rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.3);
-        padding: 10%;
-        margin: auto;
-    }
-
-    i {
-        padding-right: 0.3em;
-    }
-
-
-    a {
-        font-weight: bold;
-        font-size: 1em;
-        color: $contactlinks-text-color;
-        white-space: nowrap;
-    }
-
-    img {
-        height:.7em;
-        padding-right: .5em;
-        filter: opacity(80%);
-    }
-}
-
-// Projects tab
-
-.p5js {
-    width: 100%;
-    border: none;
-    display: block;
-    padding: 0;
-    margin: 0;
-    overflow-y: none;
-}
-
-.video-shortcode {
-  width: 100%;
-  height: auto;
-  padding: 1em 0;
-}
-
-// Ethos tab
-
-#ethos {
-    text-align: justify;
-}
-
-// General
-
-blockquote {
-    font-size: .9em;
-    color: $text-normal;
-}
-
-cite {
-    font-style: italic;
-}
-
-// GALLERY
-
-#gallery h3 { font-size: 1.7em; }
-
-.gallery-category {
-    display: flex;
-    flex-flow: row wrap;
-    justify-content: space-between;
-    list-style-type: none;
-    padding: 0;
-    margin: 0;
-}
-
-.gallery-photo {
-    flex-grow: 1;
-    height: 10.5em;
-    padding: .2em;
-
-    img {
-        min-width: 100%;
-        max-height: 100%;
-        object-fit: cover;
-        vertical-align: bottom;
-        border-radius: .2em;
-    }
-
-    img:hover {
-        opacity: 0.7;
-        transition: 0.3s;
-        cursor: pointer;
-    }
-}
-
-.gallery-photo:last-child { flex-grow: 10; }
-
-/* The Modal (background) */
-.modal {
-    display: none; /* Hidden by default */
-    position: fixed; /* Stay in place */
-    z-index: 1; /* Sit on top */
-    padding-top: 5vh; /* Location of the box */
-    left: 0;
-    top: 0;
-    width: 100%; /* Full width */
-    height: 100%; /* Full height */
-    overflow: auto; /* Enable scroll if needed */
-    background-color: rgb(0,0,0); /* Fallback color */
-    background-color: rgba(0,0,0,0.9); /* Black w/ opacity */
-}
-
-/* Modal Content (image) */
-.modal-content {
-    margin: 4vh auto;
-    padding: 4vh 3%;
-    display: block;
-    width: auto;
-    height: auto;
-    max-height: 69vh;
-    max-width: 94%;
-    pointer-events: none;
-    user-select: none;
-}
-
-#loader {
-  display: none;
-  position: absolute;
-  left: 50%;
-  top: 50%;
-  z-index: 1;
-  width: 150px;
-  height: 150px;
-  margin: -75px 0 0 -75px;
-  border: 16px solid #f3f3f3;
-  border-radius: 50%;
-  border-top: 16px solid #3498db;
-  width: 120px;
-  height: 120px;
-  -webkit-animation: fadein 1s, spin 2s linear infinite;
-  animation: fadein 1s, spin 2s linear infinite;
-}
-
-@keyframes fadein {
-    from { opacity: 0; }
-    to   { opacity: 1; }
-}
-
-/* Firefox < 16 */
-@-moz-keyframes fadein {
-    from { opacity: 0; }
-    to   { opacity: 1; }
-}
-
-@-webkit-keyframes spin {
-  0% { -webkit-transform: rotate(0deg); }
-  100% { -webkit-transform: rotate(360deg); }
-}
-
-@keyframes spin {
-  0% { transform: rotate(0deg); }
-  100% { transform: rotate(360deg); }
-}
-
-/* Caption of Modal Image */
-#caption {
-    margin: auto;
-    display: block;
-    width: 80%;
-    max-width: 30em;
-    text-align: center;
-    color: $caption-color;
-    padding: 1vh 0;
-    height: 8vh;
-}
-
-/* Add Animation */
-.modal-content, #caption {
-    animation-name: zoom;
-    animation-duration: 0.4s;
-}
-
-@keyframes zoom {
-    from {transform: scale(0.4)}
-    to {transform: scale(1)}
-}
-
-/* The Close Button */
-.close {
-    position: absolute;
-    top: 2vh;
-    right: 3vh;
-    color: $close-button-gray;
-    font-size: 6vh;
-    font-weight: bold;
-    transition: 0.3s;
-}
-
-.close:hover, .close:focus {
-    color: $close-hover-gray;
-    text-decoration: none;
-    cursor: pointer;
-}
-
-table {
-  margin-bottom: 1em;
-  width: 100%;
-  text-align: left;
-  border-collapse: separate;
-  border-radius: 0.5em;
-  border: 2px solid $ipng-orange;
-  tr {
-    &:nth-child(even) {
-      background-color: darken($table-cell-background, 10%);
-    }
-  }
-  th, td {
-    padding: 0.15em 0.5em;
-  }
-  th {
-    color: $ipng-orange;
-    background-color: lighten($table-header-background, 3%);
-    border-bottom: 3px solid $ipng-orange;
-    font-weight: bold;
-  }
-  td {
-  }
-}

content/blog/wk10day1.md

@@ -1,7 +1,90 @@
 ---
-title: "Week 10, Monday:"
+title: "Week 10, Monday: Tim Arrives!"
 date: 2024-09-30T21:55:00+02:00
-draft: true
 ---
 
-{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/todo.png" alt="Credit: " >}}
+{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/noraenpure-07.png" alt="Credit: Nora en Pure, YouTube" >}}
+
+The &Ouml;BB night trains (and in general, Austrian trains) are a bit fickle when it comes to
+punktuality. I heard that the Deutsche Bahn was barred entry to the Swiss railroad system due to
+their complete lack of timeliness. I hope that Tim's train arrives on time, though, because his
+original time was 08:39am on a Monday, and his new time was supposed to be 08:05am, but then also
+his train waggon which was a sleeper waggon was replaced with a _couchette_ waggon, and also the
+train had a 27 minute delay in Basel. 
+
+To be on time for any eventuality, I put the alarmclock at the completely invalid time of 07:10 so
+that I can be at the station for 08:05. Of course, this is completely uncalled for, because in a
+strange turn of events, the new arrival time of the train ends up being 08:35, in other words the
+original time but after the new earlier time which was "compensated for" by the delay in Basel. Get
+it?
+
+{{< image src="/img/arc.png" width="9em" float="left" alt="story arc" >}}
+
+I pick up Tim at Zurich HB, and we make our way to our place. I give a tour of the house and ask
+about our activities this week. There's a few things we have planned (and Tim also has a few
+meetings in the evening), but since the original idea was to work out the flightsim issue I have,
+we get right to work. This will be the _story arc_ of the week!
+
+I have an unused Ryzen 7950X with PCIe v4 and NVME ready to rock. We dust off (quite literally) the
+cockpit, inspect its wiring, repatriate the raided USB hubs, and hook everything up. Nothing works.
+We install Windows 11 on it, which in itself is a pretty quick affair, and we get to installing
+X-Plane 10, which I bought in 2016 but originally comes from 2011, and is meant for "Windows Vista"
+and this WIndows called XP. I may have jynxed it by being thoroughly convinced it would not even
+work.
+
+My buddy Sabri has his PPL (_Private Pilot's License_) and is a big fan of Microsoft Flight
+Simulator. Looking at the situation, the Saitek flight controls I have do have support in MSFS
+version from 2004, 2014 and a new one is coming out in 2024! I try my very very best to purchase
+this game on the Microsoft Store, but it is being a complete asshole to me, and refuses to take my
+money, saying, and I quote "Your country is not the same as the Microsoft Store country", with a
+button "click here" which goes, and I kid you not, to "support.microsoft.com" **landing page**, I
+mean: how the hell am I supposed to figure this out if you give me absolutely no hint on what my
+country really is (could be NL, BE, US, CH), or what a "Store country" even means. Sheesh. This is
+why I'm so happy that Tim is here, as an emotional support animal, he is less pissy when it comes to
+Microsoft, and he relieves me of my misery. Things will be fine.
+
+In the afternoon, we go shopping a little bit. We need to get some fancier food (cheeses, truffles,
+and so on), but for today, Tim is making dinner. On the way back from the _Coop_, we stop by a
+pop-up store (a shipping container, really) from [[Polestar](https://polestar.com/)], as Marina and
+I are looking ahead to a car to replace our 2015 Model S. We are greeted by a super friendly guy who
+helps us book one hour with the Polestar 3 (a cross over SUV) and one hour with the Polestar 4 (an
+upcoming coup&eacute;), for Thursday. We will have that to look forward to!
+
+Tim promised to make us salmon, fried in a garlic infused olive oil, capers, white wine and fettucini
+pasta. It's delicious! Marina prohibits Tim from throwing away the fried garlic, as we will be
+nomming on that separately. With the rest of the white wine, we enjoy a meal together.
+
+
+Every now and again one of us goes downstairs to insert the next DVD for scenery in X-Plane. But we
+also enjoy each others' company and open a Faustino _Gran Reserva_, which has a super taste. As
+X-Plane is finished installing, it promptly tells me it has an upgrade. As I click on the 'upgrade'
+button, the machine freezes and reboots. Oh boy. I do complete this upgrade though, and low and
+behold, it starts up and finds the yoke, rudder and quadrant! But, all the radio and instrument
+panels are still dead.
+
+After messing around with the analog joystick channels (switching rudder, switching throttle), we
+manage to take off in a Cessna 172S. As Tim climbs out, the simulator crashes and some super helpful
+(not) nvidia driver popup tells us to go get help, on support.nvidia.com again, but this time at
+least it shows some cryptic error code, which we find is utterly useless. The helpful suggestions
+are 'reinstall the driver' or 'reboot the machine' or 're-seat the video card'. None of this helps.
+
+At around 23:00 or so, we give up; the flight sim time between crashes is not even enough to get
+into a circuit around an airport, and none of the instruments work. We're disappointed and punt
+until tomororow. Instead, we sit upstairs and Marina joins us for a little while. Tim and I drool
+over an idea for next year to rent a plane (Tim has his license) and fly the ring of IPng, landing
+at each city and doing "maintenance". In total, that would be about 1'800km or so. It would be an
+adventure, done right.
+
+## Pictures of the Day
+
+{{< gallery-category >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-30/IMG_1693.JPG" caption="The train timetable at Zurich HB, it's main station, in Zurich, Switzerland" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-30/IMG_1699.JPG" caption="Tim and I are starting to install Windows 11 in order to install X-Plane 10 and Microsoft Flightsimulator X, using the Saitek cockpit" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-30/IMG_1701.JPG" caption="Tim made a fabulous dinner with salmon, fettucini, garlic and capers" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-30/IMG_1702.JPG" caption="After dinner we celebrated each other's company with a Faustino Gran Reserva" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-30/IMG_1703.JPG" caption="Tim is plotting a route for us to fly the IPng Ring with a plane next year, that'll be fun!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-30/route.png" caption="Tim is plotting a route for us to fly the IPng Ring with a plane next year, that'll be fun!" >}}
+{{< /gallery-category >}}
+
+{{< gallery-modal >}}
+{{< gallery-script >}}

content/blog/wk10day2.md

@@ -1,7 +1,108 @@
 ---
-title: "Week 10, Tuesday:"
+title: "Week 10, Tuesday: Lego and Flightsim"
 date: 2024-10-01T21:55:00+02:00
-draft: true
 ---
 
-{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/todo.png" alt="Credit: " >}}
+{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/nordic.png" alt="Credit: Nordic Music, YouTube" >}}
+
+I went to bed at 01:30 but Tim was up for a little bit more longer than that. He informs me in the
+morning that his last commit was 03:30. I like having found a likeminded night owl! As we drink
+coffee, we talk abit about Tim's new [[AS214380.net](https://as214380.net/)] project which he is
+doing in Hugo. We talk a bit about themes and its structure, and end up getting the formatting he
+had in mind. He scrambles to write some content, and even ends up adding a few blog posts! An
+aspiring writer, I like it!
+
+Tonight we'll be eating a cheese platter, with ingredients that we fetched from the _Globus_
+yesterday. But today I'm also making an onion soup and fresh bread to go with the cheese. Marina is
+so kind as to chop three large onions for me, as I have a little bit of a visual migraine coming up
+and I don't want to chop off a limb. I've noticed that if this happens, eating some sugar and
+drinking caffeine helps - so I yeet an espresso into my throat and eat an *R,G,B* triplet of sugar
+aligators while hanging out on the couch for a few minutes. It's gone as quickly as it came.
+
+{{< image src="/img/arc.png" width="7em" float="left" alt="story arc" >}}
+
+In the early afternoon we go downstairs and work on the simulator a bit and continue the story arc
+of Tim's visit: getting this thing up and running smoothly. It's not going too well yet, as the
+simulater is constantly crashing. Also, the flihgt instrument panels are not working at all.
+
+After a few hours we decide: screw that, we're going to do something more fun! Tim is an enormous
+LEGO fan and he has a [[Lego Passport](https://lego.bricksmegastore.com/pages/passport-program)],
+which I quickly agree is a fun program to let fans explore the stores, discover new sets, and
+collect unique stamps along the way. Tim is delighted to learn there is a LEGO store in the local
+_Glatt Zentrum_, and in a premeditated act, has brought his passport with him to Zurich. As we
+arrive to the LEGO store, he is greeted by a very friendly chap who immediately grabs not one but
+two stamps, and the grin on Tim's face speaks volumes. Good job!
+
+Then it's off to the store we go, for a little bit of speciality kit. Tim and I buy six cheeses that
+will go with our cheese plate tonight, Marina buys black truffle for our risotto later this week,
+and I buy a few teas from [[Mariage Fr&egrave;res](https://www.mariagefreres.com/)], which is my
+favorite tea.
+
+Back in Br&uuml;ttisellen, we decide to abandon our efforts for X-Plane 10, and instead reinstall
+the entire computer with Windows 11 and try to buy Microsoft Flight Simulator, which claims to have
+out of the box support for these Saitek flight instrument panels. Maybe it's an X-Plane issue? As
+often the case, purchasing things on the internet are _difficult_. Yesterday, I tried three or four
+times to buy MSFS, but Microsoft keeps on saying that the store country is not the same as my
+account country. So this new install will have a new e-mail address and country which we know to
+match. And yes, with that new stuff, we are able to finally give MSFT their cash in return for a 157
+gigabyte download. Luckily, I have a good ISP :-)
+
+As this thing chomps along, we decide to calorie-up with the eleven different cheeses. As a quick
+starter, a french onion soup with toasted bread and cheese gratin. It is an absolute killer. Then,
+we chomp away and attack our cheeses only to find that several hours later, our bellies are round
+while in fact, most of the cheese is still where it was when we started. I think we'll be eating
+cheese for the next few weeks, before we finally win the battle.
+
+Meanwhile, in the lair, Microsoft has sent me all the bits and pieces to be able to run MSFS.
+However, it doesn't even make it past its god damn splash screen. The computer locks up and reboots
+every single time. Man, this is frustrating. But, Tim has found yet another issue. One of the USB
+cables that connects a flight panel is shorting out, which means that the other panels on that USB
+hub are not detected. This is why I can only see - at best - five out of ten of the FIPs work.
+
+I go to [[Digitec](https://digitec.ch)] and find a sassy new video card, and nVIDIA has fallen out
+of graces, so we try our luck with a AMD RADEON RX 7700 XT, which has good reviews but sets me back
+a pretty penny. I also throw in two USB v3 hubs to rule out that the short is from the hub rather
+than the cable. The FIP itself works fine though.
+
+As I'm reading up on forums on how to get this stuff to work, I complain that it should be easier
+than it is for us. You should be able to just plug this stuff in, install the _Saitek_ drivers, and
+run a sidecar app that queries MSFS or X-Plane and renders the telemetry on the screens. But why is
+it so hard (that's what she said)?
+
+{{< image src="/img/brain.png" width="7em" float="left" alt="brain" >}}
+
+Then I find that there's some guy on the internet who _also_ believed it should be easier, so
+he went and **made it easier**: [[SPAD.Next](https://www.spadnext.com/home.html)] is a website with
+a _Simulation Panel Advanced Drivers - neXt Generation_, shows every single one of my radios, switch
+panels, instrument panels, lights, and what-not. His claim: install his program, for which he gives
+a 14 day free trial, and your troubles are gone.
+
+Can you believe how happy we both were, when we installed the little app, and it started up giving
+us like five tips about USB power management, and then boo-yah, it finds and installs nine out of
+ten FIPs, the radios, the switch panel, the indicator panel, the navigation panel, the yoke (which
+this german guy calls the _Joke_). But, every single one of them works, hell yeah! This guy wins the
+internet for the day. We proudly take several pictures of the entire cockpit lit up, and we agree
+that it should be doable to configure it tomorrow. Now please please please, let that RADEON card be
+less of a turd than the nVIDIA K2200 that I had laying around.
+
+## Pictures of the Day
+
+{{< gallery-category >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-01/IMG_1704.JPG" caption="Kneeding dougie for this evening's full grain bread" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-01/IMG_1705.JPG" caption="These three aligators, Red, Green and Blue, saved me from a migraine, yaay!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-01/IMG_1706.JPG" caption="Marina has chopped the onions for tonight's soup, so that I could avoid chopping off an arm while having a little visual migraine" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-01/IMG_1707.JPG" caption="We are 'playing' the X-Plane sim, but it crashes with video card driver failures every few minutes. Bah" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-01/IMG_1711.JPG" caption="The flightsim, nor the instrument panels, are working at this point. Only the yoke and rudder peddals are detected" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-01/IMG_1714.JPG" caption="Tim is super enthusiastic with the opportunity to get his LEGO passport stamped in Switzerland" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-01/IMG_1715.JPG" caption="Tim's passport is stamped - twice - by the LEGO store guy in Wallisellen, Switzerland." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-01/IMG_1718.JPG" caption="Marina has found a delicious pot of black truffle paste. She got this little pot by taking a second mortgage on our house." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-01/IMG_1719.JPG" caption="We are trying to install MS Flight Simulator as an alternative to X-Plane. Several hours later, we managed to pay MSFT the money for it." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-01/IMG_1721.JPG" caption="Enjoying a cheese plate with Tim, Quinn and Marina in the evening." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-01/IMG_1723.JPG" caption="The cockpit as it has only a few FIPs detected, and with a marginally working switch panel. This turned out to be a corrupted cable and/or USB hub." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-02/IMG_1724.JPG" caption="After replacing the broken equipment, nine out of ten FIPs and all other panels are detected and installed with SPAD.neXt, great progress!!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-02/IMG_1725.JPG" caption="We are closely inspecting the install and configuration of these panels in MSFS, which is not yet working because we are missing a working video card, sigh" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-02/IMG_1726.JPG" caption="At the end of the evening: RADEON and replacement USB hubs ordered, so we celebrate our progress so far." >}}
+{{< /gallery-category >}}
+
+{{< gallery-modal >}}
+{{< gallery-script >}}

content/blog/wk10day3.md

@@ -1,7 +1,103 @@
 ---
-title: "Week 10, Wednesday:"
+title: "Week 10, Wednesday: Exploring Zurich with Tim"
 date: 2024-10-02T21:55:00+02:00
-draft: true
 ---
 
-{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/todo.png" alt="Credit: " >}}
+{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/bala.png" alt="Credit: Bala DNB Mixes, YouTube" >}}
+
+Today the weather is supposed to be overcast, but dry -- knock on wood. I think it's a good idea to
+do a little tour of Zurich city, and take in the sights. Tim and I take the train to Zurich at
+10:25, and we start off from the Zurich main station tracking the river _Limmat_ upstream towards
+the lake. Here, there's a lot of old historic buildings to enjoy. One of the first places we go is
+up the walkway to a vestige lookout point at Lindenhof. From here we can see the east side of the
+city over Limmat. We plot a path through Niederdorf and along all of the architecture this city has
+to offer.
+
+Zurich has a few churches, notably the [[Sankt
+Peter](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Peter,_Z%C3%BCrich)] with its large face clock spanning 8.7
+meters and is the largest clock face in Europe. There's also
+[[Fraum&uuml;nster](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fraum%C3%BCnster)] with its beautiful copper roof,
+and the larger [[Grossm&uuml;nster](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grossm%C3%BCnster)] church with
+its two domes. We take a look inside the Grossm&uuml;nster and admire its church organ, and then
+walk along lake Zurich and into the city again.
+
+I have an idea, seeing it's lunch time, we should go eat a _Kanonenputzer_ (English: Cannon
+cleaner) at the _Zeughauskeller_ at Paradeplatz. This is a super touristy place, but often times
+locals eat here also because the food is really really good. In this place, we grab an amber beer,
+order a 50cm (20") sausage, r&ouml;sti and sauerkraut. It really hits the spot for me, and I love
+having visitors around because it makes for the perfect excuse to visit Zeughauskeller.
+
+Marina mentioned that there's a _pop-up_ museum of Breitling, a swiss watch maker, in town. We
+stumble across it at the Rennweg. A friendly bouncer greets us as we walk through the door. Inside,
+we take a look and there's a staircase down. We take the stairs and in the corner of his eye, TIm
+sees somebody sprinting at us waving his hands and chewing on a sandwich. Maybe we should be paying?
+Either way, downstairs we start looking at the history of this watchmaker, and the guy has swallowed
+his food and comes to talk - the museum is indeed free, but they'd like us to register and leave our
+name and e-mail address. That's a little price to pay for all these beautiful time pieces.
+
+From our place in Br&uuml;ttisellen, I have shown Tim a radio tower on _Uetliberg_ our local hill to
+the west of Zurich. It has two towers, one of which has a plateau some ten meters above the ground,
+with stunning views. Tim is in! We take the _Uetlibergbahn_ train up from the 410 meters or so of
+Zurich city, top the 870 meters of Uetliberg. It's a bit colder up here! But we have our jacket and
+(Nora!) sweater to help keep us warm. From here, we can see all the way to the Alps in the South,
+the Bodensee up North, we can see Zurich airport, the big white dome of the Masoala forest of the
+Zurich Zoo, and it's overall a really nice trip up.
+
+At about 15:35 we decide to make our descent to Zurich and onwards to the house. There's a package
+for me when I get home: four MPA linecards for IP-Max have arrived, in a huge box with boxes, as per
+standard operating procedure the volume to goods ratio is off the charts. All of the packaging gets
+discarded, and I put the MPAs in the IP-Max stash in IPng's serverroom.
+
+Dinnertime rolls around, and tonight I get my favorite: a 2.3kg filet of _Limousin_ beef. This stuff
+is simply divine! With it, I make baked potatoes in the oven and some steamed veggies. But of
+course, the main piece is this wonderful barbecued steak with chicago seasoning rub. Because it's a
+tip, it's thicker on one side and decidedly thinner on the other - this means for those of us who
+like _saignant_ (me) or _medium-rare_ (Tim, Quinn) or _medium_ (Marina), I only have to make one
+piece and the rest sorts itself. The steak comes out perfect.
+
+{{< image src="/img/arc.png" width="9em" float="left" alt="story arc" >}}
+
+Now it's 21:00 and I am looking at my watch literally every three minutes, because the _Story Arc_
+of Tim's visit will soon continue. You see, the order we placed for the video card was at 00:30 last
+night (technically, today!) and they've said they will flash deliver this unit between 21:00 and
+22:00 today. As we hang out at the dinner table, at 21:30 on the dot, the courrier rocks up with my
+USB hubs and video card. Yaay!! We install it and take a screenshot of us de-installing nVIDIA and
+installing RADEON drivers. We nailed it - MSFS starts up and plops us in a cockpit with working
+radio, navigation, switch panels and instrument panels. The whole nine yards works! We spend the
+rest of the day flying from Zurich to D&uuml;bendorf and Fehraltorf; and from Eindhoven to Breda. We
+fly in a Cessna 172 (with navigation!), a Cessna 152 (old school), and a Diamond DA40NG (with glass
+cockpit). 🥰
+
+Since we had three USB 7-port hubs, and one of them was suspect, we _also_ fix the hardware issue.
+We replace 3x7 hubs with 2x10 USB v3 hubs, and all ten of the FIPs come to life. Instrument panels
+a-plenty, I am super happy: we've made it! But the night is late (with which I mean 03:30) and we've
+had so much fun bouncing around here, that we still keep one small but important task for tomorrow:
+enabling all the switches for fuel pump, mags, pitot tube, cabin and carb heat, and so on. That
+whole panel doesn't do very much at the moment, and we just keep it as-is with the engine running at
+the start of the sim.
+
+## Pictures of the Day
+
+{{< gallery-category >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-02/IMG_1727.JPG" caption="A selfie of Tim and I on the Lindenhof lookout, with behind us the Limmat at Niederdorf" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-02/IMG_1729.JPG" caption="A picture of Sankt Peter church with a very large clockface. I think they're compensating" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-02/IMG_1730.JPG" caption="This is Fraum&uuml;nster including its church and tower." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-02/IMG_1731.JPG" caption="This rhino was a gift from Credit Suisse to the city of Zurich" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-02/IMG_1732.JPG" caption="We cheers with an amber beer at Zeugkeuskeller in Zurich, Switzerland" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-02/IMG_1733.JPG" caption="Our meal is a Kanonenputzer, which is a 500mm long pork sausage with mustard. As a side, we have r&ouml;sti and sauerkraut." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-02/IMG_1735.JPG" caption="We stop by the Breitling pop-up museum at Rennweg. Here, the guy panics a bit as we elude his welcome (he was eating a sandwich), but we're still allowed in. Thanks, Breitling-guy!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-02/IMG_1738.JPG" caption="A the top of the Uetliberg transmission tower, we overlook the city and the lake and the Alps. It's windy up here, but beautiful views, despite the overcast weather" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-02/IMG_1740.JPG" caption="There is also a Swisscom transmission tower here with a glass floor one third of the way up, where people used to have their point-to-point transmission into specific places in the city, mostly for news purposes." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-02/IMG_1741.JPG" caption="A panoramic view as seen from the transmission tower on top of Uetliberg, we are 900m elevation here" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-02/IMG_1742.JPG" caption="The train down Uetliberg makes a few stops and is doing mostly regenerative braking as it slides down the mountain side" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-02/IMG_1744.JPG" caption="IP-Max got a delivery of a few MPA 4x10G cards for their ASR9k fleet. They go into the stash!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-02/IMG_1745.JPG" caption="I am proud to report that this is the very first bottle of wine that I manage to open with this hideous bottle opener." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-02/IMG_1747.JPG" caption="The beef filet as it's grilling on the barbecue. This is ~1'050 grams, just enough for two (j/k)" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-02/IMG_1750.JPG" caption="Marina magically became magnetic after our meal. She can now stick potato chip bags onto her hand. How cool is that?" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-02/IMG_1751.JPG" caption="The courier dropped off the RADEON video card and two USB hubs. Yaay!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-02/IMG_1754.JPG" caption="It would be my absolute pleasure to toss that nVIDIA crap and install RADEON instead. And: it works a charm" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-03/IMG_1758.JPG" caption="Tim is on final at LSMD (D&uuml;bendorf Military airport) with our flight simulator, now that it actually works!!" >}}
+{{< /gallery-category >}}
+
+{{< gallery-modal >}}
+{{< gallery-script >}}

content/blog/wk10day4.md

@@ -1,7 +1,110 @@
 ---
-title: "Week 10, Thursday:"
+title: "Week 10, Thursday: Polestars Testdrive"
 date: 2024-10-03T21:55:00+02:00
-draft: true
 ---
 
-{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/todo.png" alt="Credit: " >}}
+{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/aletto.png" alt="Credit: Aletto, YouTube" >}}
+
+We've had a Tesla Model S (with black nosecone) since 2015, and we still benefit from free charging
+for life. We're a good twelve years after the introduction of Model S, and it's still quite tricky
+to find an electric car that rivals the driving experience of Tesla. But, we are in the market,
+eventually, for a new car and we'd like to come prepared with a set of alternative choices. I'm not
+sure I'll want to replace this car with another Tesla.
+
+We booked a driving tour of one hour with the [[Polestar](https://polestar.com/)] 3 (a fullsized
+crossover SUV much like the Volvo XC90) and also the Polestar 4 (a compacter crossover SUV). It's
+fun to realize that Volvo and Polestar are owned by chinese megacorp _Geely_, which is a customer
+of IPng! But, it could be fun to test drive and possibly become a customer of _Geely_ as well? Let's
+find out!
+
+Since Tim and I went to bed a few bottles in and at 03:30 yesterday, the waking up was also a bit of
+a just-in-time job. Our appointment is at 11:45 and at around 11:00 we both emerge out of our warm
+beds, ready for the morning ritual. The game plan is that Marina and I pick up the car, then we
+drive to our house to see if it even fits in the garage (should be, both Polestars are smaller than
+the Model S), and then we take a good drive with the three of us.
+
+Our first car is the Polestar 4, with 2x200kW motor and a 100kWh batterypack. It has lots of the
+options enabled, and it's a wonderful drive. The power is there, the entertainment screen is
+horizontal in this car (like newer Tesla models), but it has Apple Carplay, which I am a huge fan
+of. Driving experience is great, it keeps lane, follows cars, has adaptive cruise control, and a
+really stunning internal trim with light effects, charging mat, USB C (60W PD), and even the rear
+seats are adjustable. It's very spatious inside, the funk is laughably small, and the rear trunk is
+pretty good, including a clever floor panel that can fold up and fold down into a lower position.
+
+After an hour or so, we deliver the Polestar 4, and swap it for a Polestar 3, which is a slightly
+bigger, more premium car. They both were announced in different years, but ended up being on the
+market at the same time, with deliveries starting in Q2'2024. The Polestar 3 has a few really nice
+benefits: a Bowers & Wilkins pimped out stereo with 25 (yes, twenty-five!) speakers and a subwoofer,
+a vertical entertainment screen, no interior lighting, missing screen in the back, no adjustable
+seats, but a superior driving experience and 2x180kW motors with a 110kW battery, so clearly a
+larger range (630km on paper). No apple carplay! It's just a bit weird, I feel, to have a premium
+car which has less features than its smaller and cheaper sibling. I would've honestly expected _all_
+of those cool things from the Polestar 4 to be available. But it drives like a boss, it's really
+really smooth but also punchy despite being the size (and weight) of a Model X.
+
+One of the nice things about this three-way review is that all of us emphasize different parts of
+the car. Tim remarks that we really should be car reviewers as we feel like we do a very thorough
+job judging build quality, driving style and experience, driving assist features, and overall
+interior features. We gathered pics of both cars [[here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9knCTHbhWs)].
+
+{{< image src="/img/arc.png" width="9em" float="left" alt="story arc" >}}
+
+After the testdrive, at 15:00 we do the last task in the story arc of Tim's visit. We meticulously
+fiddle with all the buttons and switches and light panels, and make the finer details of the cockpit
+work. We now have stall warning, master warning, oil pressure and engine fire alarms, and so on all
+working. As a finishing touch, the engine startup mechanics, with both mags, all avionics and fuel
+pump switches, radios and navigation computer, all work now in the Cessna 172, Cessna 152 (well, no
+navigation here) and Diamon DA40NG. I could not be more pleased as we take a trip from Eindhoven
+airport EHEH to Breda airport EHSE, navigating, ATC tower and all, over Gilze Rijen EHGR. We manage
+to land the plane and refuel it.
+
+I myself take the same DA40 out for a spin from D&uuml;bendorf military airport LSMD to a very
+popular Birrfeld LSZF, which I've flown the circuit of in real life, in one of the very few actual
+airplane experiences. Tim did me a solid and recorded the flight on his GPS flight recorder. Cool
+fact: that Sky Demon has a mode in which it can slurp in GPS info from the _flightsim_ rather than
+the GPS receiver, so you can use it in such a sim in much the same way as you can in real life. That
+was super fun and he took some screenshots as I was flying perfectly straight in the circuit,
+albeit bouncing up and down vertically quite a bit, including the landing as I know not what I do.
+See below the Sky Demon flight plan, the actual path (yellow), and the circuit I flew in this 21
+minute flight. Not gonna lie, it was a great reward after such an intense struggle to get this thing
+to finally work. Thank you Tim!!
+
+While high on life, it was time to ground ourselves by introducing a huge amount of cheese fondue
+into our bodies. Marina had prepared the table with tableware, bread, pine apple, sour onions and
+little pickles, and drinks. She knows that once I start making the fondue, that there is a point of
+no return: it will be created, carried to the table, and has to immediately be consumed by
+vigorously stirring the pot, otherwise we may get in trouble. However, the so called
+_Schwiegemutter_ (English: mother in law), the cakey cheese that creates a super-salty super-tasty
+fondue trophy.
+
+If your fondue worked out, and people stirred vigorously _enough_, it comes out in once piece. Which
+it does. Because we are professional fondue-eaters. We all eat a little piece of the mother in law,
+but to spare our kidneys, we don't eat the whole thing. 
+
+After dinner, we watch some news on TV, finish the bottle of red wine from yesterday, and retire for
+an evening of two of our most favorite things: Trappiste beer and LEGOs! My buddy Sandra has made
+the NASA space shuttle and loaned it to me, so we spend a few hours making the hubble space
+telescope, and a good start on the under carriage of the shuttle Discovery. As we do this, Tim and I
+swap stories of our favorite YouTube channels. It turns out, we have many of them in common,
+possibly because we're somehow related, I don't know for sure, but I would not be surprised.
+
+We find a nice checkpoint on the shuttle undercarriage and call it a night at 01:00.
+
+## Pictures of the Day
+
+{{< gallery-category >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-03/IMG_1759.JPG" caption="Marina and I are in the Polestar 4, a sporty car and fun to drive." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-03/IMG_1777.JPG" caption="Tim was also with us in the Polestar 4, sorry you couldn't drive, buddy!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-03/IMG_1790.JPG" caption="The Polestar 3 is a nice competition for Model X. Chinese, not South African." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-03/IMG_1799.JPG" caption="Tim is pointing at a point of interest in our simulator: Diamond DA40NG" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-04/lsmd-lszf.png" caption="My flight plan from Dubendorf to Birrfeld in Switzerland" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-04/lszf.png" caption="I'm quite proud of how well I managed to follow the circuit. Not visible here: how messy my altitude was." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-03/IMG_1800.JPG" caption="The Schwiegemutter, the last bit of caked cheese at the bottom of the pot. A+ would eat again." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-03/IMG_1802.JPG" caption="To finish the evening, we enjoy a set of belgian trappiste beers from 2018" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-04/IMG_1803.JPG" caption="We finish Sandra's hubble space telescope and it's really cool!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-04/IMG_1804.JPG" caption="We also construct the under carriage of this Space Shuttle Discovery that Sandra loaned me. Such a cool build!" >}}
+{{< /gallery-category >}}
+
+{{< gallery-modal >}}
+{{< gallery-script >}}
+

content/blog/wk10day5.md

@@ -1,7 +1,107 @@
 ---
-title: "Week 10, Friday:"
+title: "Week 10, Friday: Journalling!"
 date: 2024-10-04T21:55:00+02:00
-draft: true
 ---
 
-{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/todo.png" alt="Credit: " >}}
+{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/bala-02.png" alt="Credit: Bala DNB, YouTube" >}}
+
+Ah, geez, this whole week has gone by so quickly. With Tim around, I've really been maximally active
+in and around Br&uuml;ttisellen. There's so much more to do, but he has to get back home to his
+loved ones, and thanks for letting him go out on this advenTOUR with me! I join the gang fashionably
+late, as I have had a fabulous sleep that ended only at 11:00 or so. Tim and Marina are downstairs
+hanging out and chatting. The nice thing about getting up at 11am is that I can immediately think of
+what to eat for lunch. Winner!
+
+I have most of the ingredients for a noodle soup, but we happen to have stolen my mushrooms, so off
+to the _Denner_ I go. Of course I commandeer Tim to go with me. He obliges and we grab the shopping
+list. There's only one thing on it that we can't find: we find a whole assortment of beans, but
+there not being black beans, I find, is somewhat racialist of _Denner_. So, we buy everything but
+that.
+
+At home, I pair down the veggies and start making my beef udon soup. It smells great, but somehow
+Marina is not a fan of it. She thinks it's too sour (but she's wrong). She is also not a fan of fish
+sauce, I think. But, at lunch TIm eats a medium sized bowl, and I eat a giant sized trough of the
+stuff. Because he'll be on a train, I offer to make it "not so spicy", and we toy around a little
+bit on what a linear scale of one to ten, what spicy means: Sambal Oelek would be a three or so,
+Tabasco might be a two. I'll make it a three by adding just a touch of hot chillies. This way, Tim
+doesn't have to find in the middle of the night that there is an .. ehh .. exit burn. How
+considerate of me! I, howwever, have no respect for my bowel, so I add a bit of _Last Dab_, as I
+have to practice for tomorrow, when my buddy Brad and I are going to eat a _Hot Ones_ episode.
+
+After lunch, I carefully ask for a review. Tim gives it an 8.5 out of 10, so I have found yet
+another datapoint that Marina is being overly harsh on the ingredient list of my Udon :) Then, I go
+to the basement and Tim finds me there shortly after. I really need to write my journal, so I
+carefully backtrack what we did this week and start writing [[Tuesday]({{< ref wk10day2.md >}})].
+Tim pretty quickly tempts me with small side quests, but I tell him to knock it off: his FrysIX
+IPv4/IPv6 addresses will be assigned _after_ Tuesday is written. Shut up, and let me write!
+
+Tuesday is quickly written and pictures annotated. In the meanwhile, the good news arrives that
+Tim's better half is enjoying the writing. Thanks for that! I quickly assign Tim his FrysIX
+addresses as a treat, and move on to [[Wednesday]({{< ref wk10day3.md >}})] and [[Thursday]({{< ref
+wk10day4.md >}})].  In the mean time, Tim rummages a little bit on his fancy
+[[AS214380.net](https://as214380.net/)] website and we listen to liquid Drum and Bass all over the
+place. Marina at some point comes to ask if Tim is already going crazy with my choice of music. Ha!
+Joke's on her, it's **his choice in music**!
+
+Tonight we'll be eating some home made pita and kebap. Marina is already Marina-ting the meat (I
+apologize, but Dad jokers gotta Dad-joke) and I yeet some milk, herbs, yeast and flour into a
+pot and mix/kneed it together for a flatbread, which will be ready to bake at around 18:30.
+
+Evening quickly arrives, but before dinner, we still have an important task. We drive over to _Glatt
+Zentrum_, walk straight past the LEGO store this time, and get some gifts for the home front. While
+we're in the mall, we see some break dancers with slick music and a DJ spinning. At some point, some
+dude slides a good two meters on his noggin - it's really cool to see!
+
+The gifts in hand, we make our way back home to prepare dinner. Having something as simple as kebap
+with flat bread really does float my boat. It was super tasty and well seasoned. I can tell that Tim
+enjoyed it, because he finished out the whole pan. Happy times, because when I make the flatbread
+normally a few units are left over because there's only three in our household, which is a pita
+(ba-dum-tish). Balance was brought to our input/output food chain.
+
+After dinner, we also receive a treat! Tim has brought _Luxemburgerli_ from a place called
+[[Spr&uuml;ngli](https://spruengli.ch/)], so we sample a few while drinking our evening coffee. We
+have hazelnut, vanilla, strawberry and pistaccio. A lively debate ensues which one is best, and we
+agree to disagree. But then, our time together comes to an end and Tim has to get to Zurich main
+station to catch the night jet back to Amsterdam. Of course, his _sleeper_ traincar is not
+available, again, and it is a _couchette_ instead. We drive to Zurich and his track is right at the
+drop-off point. As I drive away, the train pulls in: perfect Tim-ing! (Oh snap, I did it again,
+didn't I?)
+
+Back home, Marina and I hang on the couch and watch episode two of a documentary series about Arnold
+Schwarzenegger. The first episode is about his body building years, and this one about his acting
+career. The third and final one will be about his political career, which is inspired very much by
+his marriage with Maria Kennedy, a little factoid that I had not yet known!
+
+Marina turns in at 23:00 because she'll be going to Zurich Comic-con tomorrow. Me, I'm not much into
+_furries_ and fake _Katana_ swords, so I decide to play with my brand new Flight Simulator. There's
+a legit flight instructor course with basic handling, things like taxiing, level flight, a few
+exercises like climbing while in a turn, keeping altitude while reducing speed, and controlled
+landings both with yoke as well as with power only. It's fun to learn this stuff and I'm so so
+grateful that this project turned from a dust-gathering heap of electronics into an actually
+working and fully tricked out simulator.
+
+After the flightsim time, which I limited to ninety minutes or so, I write my journal for today
+(Friday), and this is the first day in weeks that I've finished on the same day. Along the way, I
+also read and reply to a bunch of e-mail, and find one cool thread from Neil McKee from
+[[inmon](https://inmon.com/)] as he is ready for his `sFlow` plugin to be reviewed by the VPP
+community. I boot up the LAB but it'll be on Brad's patio tomorrow, that I do these last loadtests.
+
+Tomorrow, I get to practice _Heatonism_ with Brad and I intend to as well bring a sizable _Limousin_
+steak. Brad has hiked _Kungsleden_ in Sweden this Summer and will have lots of stories to tell.
+Myself, I have lots to catch up on with him as well and tell him all about my sabbatical, which is
+the best thing I've done this year, by far.
+
+## Pictures of the Day
+
+{{< gallery-category >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-04/IMG_1805.JPG" caption="Denner has all sorts of beans, but no black beans. This is arguably racionalism..." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-04/IMG_1806.JPG" caption="The beef udon has a healthy addition of Last Dab, which allows me to practice for tomorrow" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-04/IMG_1808.JPG" caption="I'm making pita bread for the kebap tonight. Yeast, Flour, Milk, Water, Salt and Herbs" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-04/IMG_1809.JPG" caption="I write many journal entries (Tues, Weds, Thu and Fri) behind my desk today. I'm finally caught up, and my smile says it all!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-04/IMG_1810.JPG" caption="At Glatt Zentrum, a breakdance demonstration is provided, and it's pretty cool to watch" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-04/IMG_1811.JPG" caption="The kebap are completely overloading the pita bread, but my lord is this stuff tasty" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-04/IMG_1812.JPG" caption="Marina and I cheers with a set of Luxemburgerli, provided by Tim!" >}}
+{{< /gallery-category >}}
+
+{{< gallery-modal >}}
+{{< gallery-script >}}

content/blog/wk10day6.md

@@ -1,7 +1,149 @@
 ---
-title: "Week 10, Saturday:"
+title: "Week 10, Saturday: Hot ones"
 date: 2024-10-05T21:55:00+02:00
-draft: true
 ---
 
-{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/todo.png" alt="Credit: " >}}
+{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/kushsessions-06.png" alt="Credit: KushSessions, YouTube" >}}
+
+This morning, Quinn and Liv get up early so that they can be in time for the Comic-Con in Zurich.
+I'm not much of an early bird today, nor any other day, so I snooze until 10:00. Marina is clearly
+also procastrinating, as she's still upstairs rummaging through some drawings and participating in
+Inktober. I'm sure she'll _eventually_ go to the Zurich [[popcon](https://zurichpopcon.ch/en)] :)
+
+In the morning I prepare the backing data for my article tomorrow. I have to do a bunch of loadtests
+of five different versions of the `sFlow` plugin. Neil has already announced it on vpp-dev@ so it's
+good for me to strike the iron while it's hot and follow up with some more in-depth details of what
+we're trying to do.
+
+I finish a stack of loadtests at 11:30 or so, and I have an outline of the narrative I'm going to
+tell. You see, in this sabbatical blog I just write a linear story of what I've done on a given day,
+which takes me about 15-20min or so each day. But an IPng article is a bit more involved: here, the
+order, wording, build-up and references really matter, to me at least.
+
+I know we'll be having lunch (and likely, dinner) at Brad and Cristina's place, so I keep it light
+with my food in the morning. I just make a toast sandwich with kasseler rib and mustard. There will
+be wings in my belly, soon enough.
+
+Usually we take the car to BBQ-Brad (which is his name in my household); but seeing as I am
+intending on drinking at least one $unit of wine, I decide to take the bike instead. Yesterday I
+thought ahead, and plugged it in. It's fully charged and ready to go! The bike ride over is pretty
+fast, it's only twenty minutes or so, and almost none of it is on public roads, almost all the way
+it's a beautiful gravel bike path up from here to Bassersdorf, then along a little river, and
+finally straight past LSZH Runway 32, which I've seen already quite a bit in the simulator, yaay!
+
+I arrive and Brad is in excellent spirits. I haven't seen him in months, as he has hiked the
+[[Kungsleden](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kungsleden)] trail from Narvik southbound. I saw a
+picture of his belt size before-and-after; and yes I have to see he's in good shape! Cristina is
+also home and I'm a bit sad that we had made all of these promises to one another that she'd come
+over for dinner and what-not, but yet, here we are two months later :)
+
+Barbecue-Brad has prepped twenty chicken wings in the _sous-vide_, so really all we need to do is
+grill them for a nice brown crispy skin. We heat up the BBQ and chat, we have a lot to catch up on:
+his trails and tribulations, and my sabbatical and what it does to me (all good things, I swear,
+except maybe calorie intake!). We pre-heat the oven at 110C so that we can keep our wings hot. 
+
+Game plan:
+*   We have ten hotsauces, varying from baby strengh to mule-kicking strength. I brought not one but
+_two_ Last Dab's from the actual [[HotOnes](https://www.youtube.com/@FirstWeFeast)] channel. These
+are 1Mio Scoville units, at least. Brad also has a few from his travels. We line them up.
+*   We will do two batches of ten wings. First batch is 'warmup', second batch is 'come to Jesus'.
+*   Each pair of wings will be tossed in a tupperware box.
+*   We will cheers to each wing. We have to celebrate the sacrifice these little chickens made for
+us, as well as the sacrifice we'll be making to the Porcelain Throne tomorrow.
+*   We will also take a picture and share tasting notes for each wing-set devoured.
+
+Simple, right? As I prep the eating location, Brad comes inside with weak-ass white chicken wings. I
+sternly demand he goes back outside. You see, I want the whole wing to be brown, not just the
+top and bottom. Although I do get yelled at a bit, perhaps also called an asshole, Brad does comply.
+
+The wing eating process is hilarious. I tried to order the bottles from mild to strong, but on
+bottle number five, very clearly so, I mess up. It's a hotsauce called _Hellfire_ (pictured
+eventually below **after** the Last Dabs, ruh-roh!). I don't quite know what happened, but it was so
+incredibly hot that my face just melted right off. Brad was in somewhat of a panic, about to tap
+out, but drinking copious amounts of milk did help. Holy mother or Pearl, that thing sucked.
+
+But, we get a little break as we prep the second batch. Now it's for realz, as the hot sauces that
+are left are the big ones from my fridge. A Blair's Megadeath, one of Brad's Ghost Pepper from
+Half-Moon-Bay, but also (luckily for us), one pleasant one which has almost no heat at all. Finally,
+the Last Dab from [[Heatonist.com](https://heatonist.com/)]; and to top it off, a *second* Last Dab.
+We called them the First Last Dab, and the Last Last Dab.
+
+{{< video src="/media/vdo/IMG_5801_20.46.12.mp4" alt="First and Last Last Dabs" >}}
+
+Cristina comes to visit us for the last few. I am pretty sure she's dodged a bullet there, as she
+_merely_ has to participate in our _First Last Dab_ and the _Last Last Dab_, because I think her
+head may have popped straight off, had she eaten this retched _Hellfire_.
+
+{{< image src="/img/brain.png" width="8em" float="left" alt="brain" >}}
+
+By the way, for those hotsauce afficianados out there: I tend to only eat hot sauces that have
+natural chillies in them, and if so, I can stomach them all. However, sometimes these vendors just
+add chemical capsaicin and in the ingredient list mention _chilli pepper extract_, but that's no
+fun. In my fridge there is two thirds of a bottle of [[Satan's
+Blood](https://www.scovilla.com/de/hot-sauces/76/satans-blood-chile-extract-40ml)] left, which is
+literally 100% pure chemical capsaicin dissolved in vinegar and that's .. it. That stuff is
+diabolical, as its name suggests, and will kill a full grown rhinoceros. Zero stars on yelp!
+
+But, as Sean Evans says, we made it and now it's time to roll out the red carpet. Brad takes me out
+for a drive in his new toy. The weather is beautiful out and although I'm an EV driver, I definitely
+have not lost the appreciation for a petrol sports car. I love listening to the pop-pop and put-put
+sounds of this engine, and we take her out for a photo shoot at a church on the hill. You can see
+one of those pics in the gallery for today.
+
+Once we come back, we hang out in the yard and enjoy the last bit of sun. I brought some _Limousin_
+steak with me and, hey guess what, we'll barbecue it on BBQ-Brad's barbecue. So we fire it up again,
+and mind you, it's a coal fired grill, and from the greenhouse we select a few ripe tomatoes. I'm
+quite jealous of this process: having vegetables and fruits in your back yard, it's simply divine.
+
+As Brad and I laugh at each others complete inability to make a proper diamond shape on the meat,
+Cristina chops some of the tasty toms. One of them is quite funky, and it's called [[Brad's Atomic
+Grape](https://www.rareseeds.com/tomato-brad-s-atomic-grape)], no relation to the human Brad who
+lives at this address. Together with some potato wedges, we sit down for a nice home cooked meal. 
+
+Cristina likes to bake cakes and tortes. And I appreciate how she does this, because I'm not
+particularly a sweet-tooth. She however minimizes the sugar used, and her apple pie is really good.
+Its apples are tart - and come from the garden mind you - and the crust is crispy and sweet but not
+overly so. She also offers a cheese platter, but by now I have had about 4'500 calories of food so I
+tell her to get back to me after a few bottles of wine.
+
+We sit on the patio until late in the evening, and we talk about this-and-that, but we do permit
+ourselves to take a small detour into audiophilia. The sound in this room of the house is incredibly
+pure. I love it, so I ask what's on the wall. Brad is happy to go at length on the
+[[Klipsch](https://www.klipsch.com/uk/products/r-40m-bookshelf-speakers)] speakers and sub. We
+listen to our favorite 'audio calibration song', for him Norah Jones, for me Mr Oizo, and it's
+really enjoyable.
+
+Before I know it, a few hours have passed, and Brad has opened a third bottle of vino. At this point
+I remind Cristina of our conversation after dinner, and she leaps up from the rocking chair and
+Hell-Yeah's into the kitchen, grabbing a few metric tonnes of cheeses from the fridge. That'll pair
+nicely with this Rioja, thankyouverymuch. At this point, my eating habit is somewhat debaucherous,
+and I indulge in a few nice bits of cheese and bread.
+
+But now it's 23:00 and I should be going home. So happy to remind myself that almost the entire
+bikeride is not on public roads, although a little bit of it is through a military domain. I make
+the bike ride home in about twenty minutes, and in one piece: I'm a responsible bike-rider, I swear!
+
+At 23:30, I take a hot shower to put my core temperature back in the healthy range, and I turn in
+for the night.
+
+
+## Pictures of the Day                                                                                                                                
+                                                                                                                                                      
+{{< gallery-category >}}                                                                                                                              
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-05/IMG_1816.JPG" caption="Biking over to Brad and Cristina's house, I stopped at the tail end of the Zurich Airport main runway and plane-spotted a bit." >}}      
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-05/route.png" caption="The route I took from my place to Brad's is a lovely bike ride, mostly on bike paths and away from cars and other traffic." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-05/IMG_1817.JPG" caption="Selfie of Brad, Cristina and I; under the pergola (or: gazebo) in their back yard" >}}   
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-05/IMG_1824.JPG" caption="Brad is already having fun with these wings, and we haven't even started yet" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-05/IMG_1827.JPG" caption="In the rebound, the chicken wings on the barbecue are golden brown and crispy" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-05/IMG_1834.JPG" caption="This is the lineup of hot sauces we ate today - we re-ordered them post-factum." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-05/vehicle.png" caption="Close up of Brad's new toy at a quaint church in Schaffhausen, Swizerland. No, I'm not at liberty to tell you. Don't ask." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-05/IMG_1849.JPG" caption="A beautiful tree at the edge of Brad and Cristina's property in Winkel, Switzerland. I love the red/brown/orange colors against the green tree to its right" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-05/IMG_1850.JPG" caption="I grabbed a handful of ripe tomatoes from the greenhouse. Those will fit nicely in my belly." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-05/IMG_1854.JPG" caption="The Limousin Steak is fantastic, as always. Well done, Brad and Pim!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-05/IMG_1856.JPG" caption="Cristina made an apple pie, which tasted yummy. Well done, Cristina!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-05/IMG_1857.JPG" caption="We end off the evening with a few sips of wine and this cheese platter" >}}
+{{< /gallery-category >}}                                                  
+                                                                           
+{{< gallery-modal >}}                                                      
+{{< gallery-script >}}                                                     
+

content/blog/wk10day7.md

@@ -1,7 +1,56 @@
 ---
-title: "Week 10, Sunday:"
+title: "Week 10, Sunday: Shipping sFlow"
 date: 2024-10-06T21:55:00+02:00
-draft: true
 ---
 
-{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/todo.png" alt="Credit: " >}}
+{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/kushsessions-07.png" alt="Credit: KushSessions, YouTube" >}}
+
+I wrote a lot today, but it was not this journal entry. In the morning, I completed the acceptance
+loadtests for the upcoming `sFlow` plugin in VPP. You can find this code on
+[[GitHub](https://github.com/sflow/vpp-sflow)], and I took a first pass review over the code so far,
+ended up formatting it into a [[Gerrit](https://gerrit.fd.io/r/c/vpp/+/41680)] on the
+[[FD.io](https://fd.io/)] code tracker.
+
+The main contribution of the day was writing this
+[[article](https://ipng.ch/s/articles/2024/10/06/vpp-with-sflow-part-2/)]. In the afternoon, I
+tidied up the backing data for it, and in the evening I spent some time with Neil closing off a few
+loose ends, and grooming the [[issues](https://github.com/sflow/vpp-sflow/issues)].
+
+It's striking to me what a great difference in attention and time spent writing an IPng article
+versus writing a journal entry. The latter is pretty much just autopilot, the dutch would say "van
+je af schrijven", perhaps a close analogy in English is "free word association". Just whatever comes
+to mind. I often use visual cues from the picture gallery, as that reminds me of what I did. I
+figure: if it's important enough to snap a picture of, it's probably important enough to write a
+sentence of two in my journal. 
+
+With technical articles, it's very different for me. They need to follow a structure, setting the
+context, providing necessary back references and most importantly, they need to be _correct_. Doing
+math is hard, and doing correct math even harder still! Taking today's article as an example, I
+rewrote it twice. I had in mind to create a version 2 .. version 5 style iterative storyline,
+showing what we concluded and what we improved on. But, I lacked the literal setup, what am I
+testing, what is the LAB setup, T-Rex configs, and so on. If people were to want to reproduce my
+work, they will find the article I landed on better than the one I started with. 
+
+But the cost of this approach is, of course, time. All in all, this article took about eleven hours
+to write, and I ended up committing it after dinner, only to make a few edits for clarity and
+readability (and typos) in the late evening. I'm planning on a third article, that discusses what
+happens _outside_ of the VPP dataplane, in other words, how this thing integrates with existing
+tools and products, perhaps using [[sflow-rt](https://sflow-rt.com/)] or
+[[Akvorado](https://akvorado.net/)] as end-to-end examples. That one is going to take a while to
+develop and report on, as well, but I think it's worth it, for the community.
+
+If all I did is write one web page in the entire day, no pictures were taken :) To leave my gallery
+not entirely empty, I've added a screenshot of one of the T-Rex loadtest runs that made it into the
+articles.  Tomorrow, we ship off to Italy and I hope the traffic deities will bless our travel, as
+the Fall vacation has started and who knows how many people will try to cram themselves through the
+Gottard tunnel?
+
+## Pictures of the Day                                                                                                                                
+                                                                                                                                                      
+{{< gallery-category >}}                                                                                                                              
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-06/trex.png" caption="A Cisco T-Rex loadtest screenshot from the IPng.ch article about sFLow that I wrote today." >}}
+{{< /gallery-category >}}                                                  
+                                                                           
+{{< gallery-modal >}}                                                      
+{{< gallery-script >}}                                                     
+

content/blog/wk11day1.md

@@ -1,7 +1,67 @@
 ---
-title: "Week 11, Monday:"
+title: "Week 11, Monday: Zurich to Piacenza"
 date: 2024-10-07T21:55:00+02:00
-draft: true
 ---
 
-{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/todo.png" alt="Credit: " >}}
+{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/cyberlopod.png" alt="Credit: CYBERLOPOD, YouTube" >}}
+
+Today we drive from Zurich to Piacenza, Italy. Marina has her Monday drawing course in Oerlikon, and
+I promise to pick her up at the Oerlikon station at noon. In the morning, I pack up the car and grab
+our belongings. I have to say, NOGs are a very social phenomenon. How I got to Piacenza is perhaps a
+typical route: on FOSDEM 2024 I presented on VPP and MPLS. In the audience there was one Kostas from
+Athens, who organizes the GRNOG series of conferences. He asked if I would be interested to come
+present my work there. I was more than happy to join GRNOG'16 and it would be a good chance for me
+to re-record the talk, as at FOSDEM unfortunately the microphone battery died shortly after I
+started presenting, which made the recording unusable.
+
+So off to Greece we went, and it was a truly wonderful time. At GRNOG, I met one Alessandro from
+Italy. As we were having dinner with the folks from LANCOM (a datacenter operator and telco from
+Thessaloniki), Marina sat at the _Italian_ side with Livio and Alessandro, and when I came over to
+chat, they both said it'd be fun to have me in the upcoming ITNOG _On The Road_ edition, which would
+be in the home town of Alessandro and his company [[Naquadria](https://naquadria.it)]. Well, since
+Zurich - Piacenza is only 4.5hrs or so by car, I thought: why not?
+
+Fast forward to today, I picked up Marina in Oerlikon after a brief runaround due to roadworks at
+the train station, and we made our way down South. I consider myself truly blessed to be able to
+humblebrag that just two weeks ago, I was all the way up North in Oslo, and now I'm finding myself
+driving all the way South to Piacenza.
+
+The drive down is leisurely and calm. Somewhere along the line I drive past Luzern, where IP-Max has
+a new point of presence at the Stollen datacenter; and then I drive past Altdorf, where IP-Max used
+to have a really cool Point of Presence at Deltalis DK2 in a former military bunker (sadly, Deltalis
+went out of business so we all moved out); and then I drive past Manno, where IP-Max has a point of
+presence at the Bancadati datacenter. It's so cool to be always only a few kilometers away from an
+AS25091 PoP! Maybe we'll pull a wire over the Alps at some point and go to Italy as well.
+
+Lucky us - the Gottard tunnel is completely free of traffic. This is a looooong tunnel! I put the
+cruise control to 80km/h (50mph) and .. wait. It takes a good fifteen minutes to drive through this
+tunnel, which is truly a magificent work of civil engineering. I think my appreciation of the
+engineering quality definitely goes up if there are no traffic jams :)
+
+We make our way to Milan, drive past it on the motor way to Bologna and about one third of the way,
+we see the offramp for Piacenza, which is our $dest for the first half of the week. We make our way
+to the hotel, Marina is glad that I'm driving - you must know: compared to the german and swiss
+driving style, italian drivers are a fair bit more _artisanale_ and things like blinkers and full
+lines are all optional, and actually in several places there simply _are no_ road markings at all.
+
+But, when in Italy, drive like an Italian. And I am happy to oblige, to great amusement of my
+copilot. Piacenza is a nice town, and (luckily for us) parking in the city center is pretty easy. We
+take dinner in a small restaurant called Antonietta. We enjoy some starters with (italian) tapas,
+and then both go for fish: Marina takes spaghetti Vongole (English: clams), and I take a Branzino
+filet (English: seabass).
+
+After dinner we walked back to the car, and then the hotel, where we turn in for the night.
+
+## Pictures of the Day
+
+{{< gallery-category >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-07/IMG_1864.JPG" caption="on the way down south, we passed Altdorf in Uri. In this mountain, Deltalis DK2 was situated." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-07/IMG_1870.JPG" caption="Rolling down the Alps on the south side, is a very efficient use of energy. Ticino is at lower elevation than Zurich, so in general, we gained energy :-)" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-07/IMG_1871.JPG" caption="Rolling past Manno near Lugano, Italy. Here, Bancadati has an IP-Max point of presence." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-07/IMG_1872.JPG" caption="A church in Piacenza, Italy." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-07/IMG_1875.JPG" caption="A selfie of Marina and I are at Antonietta in Piacenza, Italy" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-07/IMG_1880.JPG" caption="The Tiramisu was served in a coffeecup, and tasted very nice" >}}
+{{< /gallery-category >}}
+
+{{< gallery-modal >}}
+{{< gallery-script >}}

content/blog/wk11day2.md

@@ -1,7 +1,116 @@
 ---
-title: "Week 11, Tuesday:"
+title: "Week 11, Tuesday: Parma"
 date: 2024-10-08T21:55:00+02:00
-draft: true
 ---
 
-{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/todo.png" alt="Credit: " >}}
+{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/chillmusiclab.png" alt="Credit: Chill Music Lab, YouTube" >}}
+
+The ITNOG meeting starts tonight at around 18:00 at the [[Naquadria](https://naquadria.it/)]
+datacenter. This means we have a whole day to explore this part of Italy, and neither Marina nor I
+have been in these parts before. Since we have two and a half days here, we decide to spend one of
+them in Parma, Italy.
+
+In the morning we have a good breakfast with scrambled eggs, toast, youghurt with berries, (blood-)
+orange juice, and slightly bitter _Cafe Americano_ (filter drip style, not watered down espresso!)
+and with this nurishment in the belly, we program the satnav for Parma. The road system in Italy is
+similar to that in France: there's a national web of paid highways, with large lots of toll booths
+on entry/exit; while there are also secondary roads between the cities. We decide to minimize the
+time and use this convenient highways: they are straight as an arrow and it's only 57km from
+Piacenza to Parma. 
+
+{{< image src="/img/brain.png" width="7em" float="left" alt="brain" >}}
+
+Along the way - and I am not too embarrased to admit this - I suddenly realized that while I know
+and take for granted that _Parma Ham_ comes from the town of Parma, it hits me that
+[[Parmigiano](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parmesan)] is also cheese from the titular province of
+Parma. I also learn that _Parmigiano_ is the Italian adjective for the city / province of Parma, while
+_Reggiano_ is the adjective for the province of Reggio Emilia. Check!
+
+But wait, isn't the suffix -ese meant to convey 'from', like in the phrase _Piccata Milanese_ (a
+small breaded veal, made 'in the way of Milan')? And then I get a complete brainmelt, as I realize
+that the next town over, _Bologna_, has a thing _from_ it, called
+[[Bolognese](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolognese_sauce)], and if you are from Italy and are now
+cupping your face in your hands in disappointment. That's okay, you can laugh, but both my linguistic
+and geographical view of Italy make complete sense now.
+
+Arriving in Parma, we decide to check out the [[National Gallery](https://complessopilotta.it/)]
+which has an impressive collection of art. What I enjoyed the most about it, is the first part of
+the structure [[Teatro Farnese](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teatro_Farnese)], which is a
+grand theater which came from the Duke of Parma and Piacenza (the town we're visiting from!) It has
+a huge wooden stage on one end, and a half-circular wooden seating arrangement on the other end,
+while in the middle there is a half soccer-field sized arena for the arts. It's huge! And it smells
+of wood in the whole building. There's a light show in here that shows how the stage used to be
+prepared and built, which runs every half hour.
+
+The second section of this museum is the national art gallery, which is home to several hundred
+paintings, small and large. They're all beautifully arranged and curated, but the route through the
+gallery feels a little bit like IKEA to me. You are guided through in sort of a linear path, up
+stairs, through floors, over bridges, and so on. It's clear that the curator does not wish for us to
+miss anything on display, but I find that only _some_ of the paintings really speak to me, while
+most are a depiction of Christian faith one way or another.
+
+What I found a bit of a letdown is the state of the books in the [[Biblioteca
+Palatina](https://complessopilotta.it/i-servizi-bibliotecari/)]. Although the hall was impressive,
+the books were very worn down, broken spines, and crying for attention. Too bad! Anyway, I'm not
+here to do critical reviews of Italian palaces and art :)
+
+I'm not gonna lie, one of the reasons to come to Parma is to have the aforementioned cheese and ham.
+We find a little spot in town called [[Rigoletto](https://www.trattoriarigoletto.it)] which has a
+super inviting atmosphere. The waiter is clearly the (co)owner. We can tell, because there are
+pictures of him and a woman, presumably his wife, around the walls. They depict the couple in all
+sorts of poses, some culinary, some more staged. We sit under the picture from their homepage, and
+have some delicious food.
+
+After the lunch, which takes us until 15:00, we decide to drive back. It's still raining, bah, and
+we did not order, nor really approve of, this weather! It's only 65km (40mi) or so back to Piacenza,
+but since there's a supercharger in Parma, we take a quick detour to visit the mall it's next to.
+We walk around and windowshop a little bit, only to find that twenty minutes later, we have 350km in
+the battery, so off we go, back to Piacenza.
+
+By the way, every time the satnav tells us to go in the direction of Milano, I continuously giggle
+because of its completely broken pronunciation. It says "Me-lah-knoooooowwww", which is both
+hilarious as well as embarassing for this south african / american car company.
+
+We freshen up at the hotel and make our way to [[Naquadria](https://naquadria.it/)] at 18:00 sharp.
+We park the car on a nearby empty lot at the edge of this industrial zone, reminding me very much of
+[[BIT](https://bit.nl/)] in Ede, the Netherlands. When crossing the road, Marina is amused at the
+car that politely stops for us, and she remarks "How Swiss of you!", only to burst out in laughter
+after realizing that this car, in actual fact, had a Zurich license plate.
+
+Naquadria is awesome. We get the private tour from _Leonardo_ who shows us their first floor called
+DC-A, which is almost full and running at 85kW of critical IT load. Then, just in the adjacent
+building, they show their brand-new not-yet-turned-up DC-B which is meant to serve an additional
+180kW of critical IT load. I can see the improvements that comes from their learning experience, and
+they are proud of what they've accomplished. And they should be!
+
+Drinks and snacks are served, after which we go to a classic eatery called _Baciccia_ just a few
+kilometers down the road. There's a good seventy people or so, and the menu's are customzed in
+Naquadria-purple. Marina has a pizza _Quattro Stagione_ and I have a pizzal _Al Tonno_, with a few
+beers. Our tablemates humor us with English, from time to time. We swap war-stories and complain
+about or respective state telco's (KPN and Swisscom for me, Telecom Italia for the others). It's
+funny to see that, despite where you hail from, if you're in IT: you do not love your state telco.
+
+After dinner, we tail it to the hotel a bit early. I still have to modify my slides to fit in the
+half hour slot, and that's going to take me a little bit of time. Tomorrow at 08:30, ITNOG starts
+and I want to be prepared, rested and not hung over :)
+
+## Pictures of the Day
+
+{{< gallery-category >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-08/IMG_1887.JPG" caption="An overview picture of Monumento a Giuseppe Verdi, in Parma, Italy" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-08/IMG_1895.JPG" caption="A wide angle panoramic overview of the seating arangement in Teatro Farnese in Parma, Italy" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-08/IMG_1902.JPG" caption="An overview of the stage area, lit by projector screens to resemble what it once looked like, in Teatro Farnese, Parma, Italy" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-08/IMG_1903.JPG" caption="One of the (few) paintings in the gallery that really spoke to me. Although there's many faces here, the one of the girl in the middle really draws my attention. It's well done." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-08/IMG_1907.JPG" caption="The books in the library attached to the national museum are in terrible shape, which is too bad" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-08/IMG_1910.JPG" caption="A selfie of Marina and I at our lunch date in Parma, Italy" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-08/IMG_1912.JPG" caption="Yes, we ate ham, assorted cured meats, and cheese from Parma. It was fantastic." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-08/IMG_1916.JPG" caption="Our car is all alone on the Tesla Supercharger, but it's still raining also. Bah." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-08/IMG_1919.JPG" caption="A selfie with Marina under the Naquadria logo in the hallway leading to their first datafloor called DC-A" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-08/IMG_1921.JPG" caption="The first row of racks in their new datafloor called DC-B." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-08/IMG_1928.JPG" caption="Tadah! I fit snugly in on of these, as they are 48 rack units high!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-08/IMG_1933.JPG" caption="Our host Alessandro Solari (left, CEO of Naquadria), with good friend Livio Morina (right, CEO of Airbeam) and yours truly." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-08/IMG_1935.JPG" caption="The pizza was really delicious, and we enjoyed chatting with the folks at our table while enjoying some pils and IPA. Cheers! with thanks to Naquadria for hosting us" >}}
+{{< /gallery-category >}}
+
+{{< gallery-modal >}}
+{{< gallery-script >}}

content/blog/wk11day3.md

@@ -1,7 +1,116 @@
 ---
-title: "Week 11, Wednesday:"
+title: "Week 11, Wednesday: ITNOG"
 date: 2024-10-09T21:55:00+02:00
-draft: true
 ---
 
-{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/todo.png" alt="Credit: " >}}
+{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/missmonique-03.png" alt="Credit: Miss Monique, YouTube" >}}
+
+Today is it! The venue of ITNOG _On the Road_ is just across the way from where our hotel is. The
+folks from Naquadria really did suggest a good spot for us. We wake up at 07:30 and have a breakfast
+in the hotel. As yesterday, it's a good start of the day with pastries, yoghurt, scrambled eggs and
+bacon, some orange juice and coffee. Marina is so kind as to drive me over to the venue, which is
+about twenty minutes walking but only three minutes by car. 
+
+She yeets me out at the frontdoof or the [[UCI
+Cinema](https://www.ucicinemas.it/cinema/emilia-romagna/piacenza/uci-cinemas-piacenza/)] which is a
+very unique place to have an event like this. I check in - already carrying my badge helps - and get
+a goodie bag at the entrance. Going up the stairs, there's coffee and pastries (but I've already
+eaten, so I skip the queue here!), and bump in to Alessandro and say hi. The event has a set of
+booths in the hallway, mostfly from sponsors but some are interesting: [[VSIX](https://www.vs-ix.org/)],
+[[MIX](https://www.mix-it.net/)], [[PCIX](https://pcix.it/)] and [[NaMEX](https://namex.it/)] are all
+present, and it's fun to see these exchanges all side-by-side like that.
+
+The 'stage' is actually just in room 5, which of course boasts a wonderful video and audio setup,
+being a movie theater and all. It makes me feel like in a university auditorium, it easily seats
+four hundred people. About one hundred fifty or so are seated as the presentations start.
+
+We are greeted by Katia Tarasconi, Mayor of the Municipality of Piacenza, and Alessandro Solari, CEO
+of Naquadria, the host for this _On the Road_ event. We then also hear from Nicola Parenti,
+President of Confindustria Piacenza, who brings a greeting address. The first topical presentation
+is from a Non-Profit called OpenAccess Italia and its project “Parlami di TEch”: a support
+tool for families and educators, by Danilo Smaldone and Antonio Prado. Then I get to bring my
+presentation about VPP, which you can follow on [[go.ipng.ch/itnog](https://go.ipng.ch/itnog)], which
+is the only talk in English. Not too dissimilar from FRnOG in Paris a few weeks ago.
+
+I make it roughly on time, despite my latest PDF not being used (the slides I prepared yesterday).
+There's a slightly embarrasing mention of NONOG, and it has quite a few more slides than I have
+planned to deliver. Partway through I see a "10 minutes left", but I think I did pretty well for an
+on-time delivery. I hope there's a recording - this was a unique presentation having to stand still
+so that the cameras could train on me. Without a lectern, I felt a bit naked!
+
+I am followed by Riccardo Burrai and Pietro Cassar&agrave;, who discuss AI/ML-assisted 5G-NTN Integration
+for Optimized Network Slicing over Multi-Technology Architecture. What a mouthful! After Riccardo
+and Pietro, Stefano Venditti, Luca Bocci, Luigi Antonio Afeltra take the stage and deliver a
+presentation called Ground-Segment-as-a-Service (GSaaS), which discussed a new "pay-per-use"
+business model for the provision of satellite connectivity. 
+
+A discussion panel is next - an important topic entitled Energy transition: concrete actions for a
+sustainable future by Francesco Brianzi, Giulia Houston, Stefano Riva, and Alessandro, our host.
+After lunch, two additional presentations entitled 'Data analysis as an engine of energy
+optimization', and 'How the CMCD standard can improve streaming monitoring, analysis, and
+performance' are given. But, there is a kink - I am missing the subtitles, and there is virtually no
+internet in this beautiful cinema: 5G is completely unusable for me, and there is no WiFi.
+eventually give Marina a call and she collects me.
+
+We have a late lunch at [[Lo Fai](http://www.lofai.eatbu.com/)] and I'm amused as the lady there
+makes absolutely certain that we understand that this is a _vegan resto_. We know, chillax, and it's
+delish! I learn of a new vegetable here: _Cavolo Nero_ (English: Lacinato kale), a dark green leafy
+kale that makes the pesto look amazing. Maybe I can get some for an upcoming green pesto at _Casa Di
+Pim e Marina_ at some point in the future.
+
+Marina had planned to visit the _Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta e Santa Giustina_, a Roman
+Catholic masterpiece in the town center. There's a musem about its history called
+[[KRONOS](http://www.piacenzapace.it/)] which includes both a set of rooms with artefacts and
+explanations of this church's checkered history, but also a guided tour of the dome which sits
+thirtyfive meters above ground level, and has an absolutely stunning set of fresco's on the inside
+of the dome of Guercino. Now, I do have vertigo, and I did not enjoy the 30cm ledge that was the
+dome itself, but I made it through with only a _mild_ heart attack. I will say though: the picture
+that I posted in the gallery below does not convey the dimensions of this cathedral nor its dome
+around which I walked at 27m elevation!
+
+The rest of the museum had a collection of paintings, statuettes, and history. There were also some
+very old artefacts. The oldest and most impressive was [[Codex
+65](https://www.omifacsimiles.com/brochures/pia65.html)], an extremely valuable manuscript from the
+first half of the 12th century, specially important not only from a historic, paleographic,
+liturgical and artistic point of view, but because it has a complete repertory of Gregorian chant
+and deals with the history of music, theater, miniature production, medicine, agriculture and the
+esoteric sciences. The Codex has been described as one of the first encyclopedias of Western Europe
+in the 12th century. 
+
+I have to admit, not being a particularly fanatic art lover: compared to museums with large
+collections of (in my mind somewhat repetitive) paintings of Jesus in all stages of His life, I much
+prefer this journey through the Cathedral and learning about its history!
+
+The tour comes to an end and it's 18:00, so we have one last thing to do: shop for groceries! We
+decided this afternoon that we'll not go out to dinner, again. We still have a few days in Milan to
+go, so for tonight we go to a local delicatessen, hilariously called
+[[Eataly](https://www.eataly.net)], and buy hummus, cheese, ham, bread, and a bottle of non-descript
+red wine. I've heard many word puns in my life, but _Eataly_ is up there, well done! Before we go
+back to the hotel, we take one last obligatory picture: a Selfie of us under the 'Welcome to
+Piacenza' sign that is just south of where we sleep tonight.
+
+We enjoy our evening by watching (italian) TV, rummaging through the Internet for interesting bits
+and bobs, and I write my journal for the few days past. Traveling makes it a bit more difficult to
+keep up! The food is great, especially the sardines and olives are appreciated. The wine, albeit
+non-descript, is perfectly drinkable. I pour almost all of it - sans one plastic cup for Marina -
+into my body. I kind of deserve that, methinks!
+
+Tomorrow we'll go to _Me-lah-knooooowwww_ (Italian: Milano) to pick up Quinn at 13:00 or so.
+
+## Pictures of the Day
+
+{{< gallery-category >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-09/IMG_1937.JPG" caption="The movie theater room where ITNOG on the road will be hosted" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-09/IMG_1943.JPG" caption="I take my obligatory selfie with the audience, a bit hard to see because of the bright lights on the stage, but I asked them to shine their cellphone lights, which many did. Grazie!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-09/IMG_1947.JPG" caption="The super-green Cavolo Nero on my pasta at Lo Fai in Piacenza, Italy" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-09/IMG_1967.JPG" caption="A view down into the Cathedral from the dome of Guercino at Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta e Santa Giustina in Piacenza, Italy" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-09/IMG_1978.JPG" caption="A room depicting how it might have looked like when the monks of this place did their finest scribing" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-09/IMG_1979.JPG" caption="The original (!) Codex 65, one of the first recognized encyclopediae of western europe, dating from the first half of the 12th century" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-09/IMG_1981.JPG" caption="Welcome to Eataly, a punny name for an italian delicatessen shop; we scored a great meal here" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-09/IMG_1983.JPG" caption="An obligatory selfie with Marina at the sign Piacenza, Italy - citta a sostegno dei bambini (English: City supporting children)" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-09/IMG_1985.JPG" caption="The spread for tonight - all found at the Eataly shop around the corner" >}}
+
+{{< /gallery-category >}}
+
+{{< gallery-modal >}}
+{{< gallery-script >}}

content/blog/wk11day4.md

@@ -1,7 +1,118 @@
 ---
-title: "Week 11, Thursday:"
+title: "Week 11, Thursday: Milan, with Quinn!"
 date: 2024-10-10T21:55:00+02:00
-draft: true
 ---
 
-{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/todo.png" alt="Credit: " >}}
+{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/dubzone.png" alt="Credit: Dub Zone, YouTube" >}}
+
+I have to make my way up north from Piacenza province to Lombardy province. Marina and I are picking
+up Quinn today at 12:53 if all goes well, at _Milano Centrale_ (English: Milan Main Station). It's
+not too far a drive, and we have more than enough battery to get us there. We wake up at about 09:00
+in time for a quick breakfast, we check out and leave the hotel at 10:00. 
+
+The drive up to Milan is quick, once again over the _Autostrada_ (English: highway) for which we pay
+a bit of monies, but then get to drive with 130km/h (80mph) in one go all the way up there. Although
+we do have lots of energy in the battery, we think it's a good idea to top off just before Milan.
+This way, later this week when we leave, we will be able to drive all the way to Switzerland without
+haging to think about it again. 
+
+We choose the charger in _San Giuliano Milanese_, as it's very close by, but also directly adjacent
+to the motorway offramp. This means we won't have to get multiple tickets and pay twice. At the
+mall, we park and it takes uncomfortably long before the car starts to charge, but eventually it
+does its business at 108kW so we can safely shop.
+
+We drink an espresso and a cappucino at a local coffeeshop, and it tastes just great, and much
+better than the filter drip coffee at the hotel earlier this morning. After that meaningful break,
+we go into the candy shop, called _Ovunque Dolce Salato_ and discover that it, in fact, is not about
+salads, but about sweet and savory, everywhere. Candy store, hell yeah! I send Quinn an overview pic
+of the Monster drinks, and because the conversation times out, I decide: one unit of Straw Bebbie
+Rehab and one unit of Lemon Ice Tea Rehab. Marina grabs some chocolate while she's there. It's
+euro's, so we are winning, here.
+
+We've paid our dues in the candy shop, and the car is ready to rip. I drive us up to Milan and our
+hotel is quickly found - on the outskirts of town and on a pretty big access road, I manage to force
+the vehicle through the tiny tube that is the parking garage entrance, and cram it into one of four
+ienie-meanie parking lots. No dents, scratches, or collapsed building structures! We check in but
+it's only 12:15 so we're a bit early. No worries, we'll come back later, _grazie mille_!
+
+We've decided to take the 35min stroll from our hotel to the main station. The Sun is out, it's
+beautiful weather, and we enjoy the commute to _Mailand HB_. When we get there, it's only eight more
+minutes before the train from _Zurich HB_ is supposed to call. Quinn is ready to go, and meets us in
+the arrivals/departures hall of the station. It's a magnificent building, I have to hand it to the
+Italians: they know how to build pontifically.
+
+A hug is offered, and given, and we go get ourselves some public transport tix. We'll be here for
+two and a half days, so we get a 72hr ticket for the three of us. That'll take any confusion and
+anxiety out of the &Ouml;V, because this city, like any modern and properly planned for one, has
+_one ticket_ for any transport type (bus, tram, metro, train) within a certain zonal range.
+Brussels: pay attention and take notes!
+
+The trams, by the way, are super cute. My buddy Tara on Mastodon is from these parts, and she tells
+me that (some of) the San Francisco trollies were gifts from the city of Milan. I'm amused and
+amazed: I was feeling a sense of _D&eacute;ja Vu_ on these, but now I got it!
+
+We walk around town and see the more obvious views (main station, the cathedral, the gallery),
+but we also have two missions. The first one is that Quinn wants to get a few piercings done at the
+same place he was at last year. We make our way over there, but seeing as it opens at 15:00 only, we
+have some time for a quick lunch. I do believe Quinn was malnourished, seeing as how quickly that
+_Carbonara_ was inhaled... I myself had a more modest _Tagliata_ with Bolet mushrooms, in a laid
+back simple place that Marina found.
+
+Just a bit after 3pm, we rocked up to _Piercing and More_ and, unfortunately, the person who did his
+last few piercings is off today, but will be here tomorrow. Not to worry, this other lady is pretty
+groovy and quickly jams some large needles into the ear: one lobe and one helix are set, and ten
+minutes later we are out again. Not sure I would have laid quite as quietly as Quinn did, but then
+again, this is not his first rodeo.
+
+We think of what to do, and Marina suggests the _Da Vinci_ museum. We went to a pretty awesome
+[[Lightshow]({{< ref wk5day7.md >}})] a month or so ago (doesn't time fly??), but this is a
+permanent exhibition of his thought process and works. And they are clever, we spend a good ninety
+minutes in this place. I found it particularly fun that there's touch screens in which you can
+de-assemble and re-assemble his inventions. If you do it wrong, it falls apart and you have to start
+over. Doing it right after five tries is curiously rewarding!
+
+On the way out, we still have some time to kill before dinner, so we walk up to the park at the
+castle. As soon as we get out, there's at least seven guys that walk up to us and push little
+armbands into our faces. Piss off! We push through them, and into the castle, to enjoy the splendor
+of the building and the park behind it. 
+
+{{< image src="/img/clockwise.png" width="7em" float="left" alt="clockwise" >}}
+
+I select for us a place to eat, but unfortunately they have a half hour plus wait and I don't like
+waiting for a table if I don't know the quality of the food, so I suggest we bounce. We then make
+our way through the city and into one, two, three and four places which we reject. But, the fifth is
+something that floats our boat: [[Bauscia](http://www.bausciamilano.com/)] which is an upscale place
+with fish, meat, and vegetarian. We do something unique: each of us orders one dish which has our
+slight preference and we do thirds-switch:
+
+*   **Quinn** orders the risotto with mushrooms
+*   **Marina** orders spaghetti with black truffle
+*   **I** order Linguini with slow roasted beef ragu
+
+We then each eat one third, and rotate clockwise. I get to finish with truffle spaghetti, which is
+pretty great but honestly I think I preferred the linguini with ragu. This dinner was still full of
+winning though.
+
+Once we settle the bill, I ask if we could maybe walk the twenty minutes to the hotel. I am rozy
+from the wine, of which I drank most (_che sorpresa_), and really tired. As we make our way to the
+place of sleep, I do not recover, but in fact get more tired. Once in the room, I plunge my face
+into the pillow and I'm ready to .. zzZZ!
+
+## Pictures of the Day
+
+{{< gallery-category >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-10/IMG_1989.JPG" caption="A selection of Monster energy drinks at the supercharger near Milan, Italy" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-10/IMG_1994.JPG" caption="A selfie of Marina and I in front of Milan main station, we're about to pick up Quinn!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-10/IMG_1996.JPG" caption="This train station is really huge, and very impressive. Pictured here, one of the wings with high arches overhead" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-10/IMG_2002.JPG" caption="The trams in Milan are both old and cute. They run every few minutes though. Tara explains that they look similar to the ones in San Francisco, because Milan donated a bunch!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-10/IMG_2005.JPG" caption="The Duomo di Milano, the cathedral in the heart of Milan, Italy" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-10/IMG_2012.JPG" caption="Quinn lies patiently as his ears get two new piercings. What a hero!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-10/IMG_2015.JPG" caption="The Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, just off the side of the Milan cathedral" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-10/IMG_2016.JPG" caption="In the Leonardo da Vinci museum, many of his sketches exist as models to inspect." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-10/IMG_2017.JPG" caption="A selfie of Quinn and I overlooking the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-10/IMG_2024.JPG" caption="Marina is mesmerized by the courtyard Roccetta at Sforzesco Castle in Milan, Italy" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-10/IMG_2038.JPG" caption="We did a three-switch-share of our main course at Bauscia in Milan, Italy" >}}
+{{< /gallery-category >}}
+
+{{< gallery-modal >}}
+{{< gallery-script >}}

content/blog/wk11day5.md

@@ -1,7 +1,114 @@
 ---
-title: "Week 11, Friday:"
+title: "Week 11, Friday: Poldi Pezzoli, Fiorentina"
 date: 2024-10-11T21:55:00+02:00
-draft: true
 ---
 
-{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/todo.png" alt="Credit: " >}}
+{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/noraenpure-09.png" alt="Credit: Nora en Pure, YouTube" >}}
+
+The sleep in our little hotel in Milan was alright, although the bed is incredibly hard. Luckily,
+the sheets are soft though, and I have Angel and Ahu with me, which helps with the sleeping process
+a little bit. We took our breakfast at 09:30 or so, as Quinn was knocked out for the greater part of
+the morning, and I also did not set an alarm clock.
+
+Marina would like to go to a specific pasta joint called 'Pasto: Laboratoria' which doesn't take
+reservations and is open from 12:00-15:00 only. It's a quirky place, she says, but we intend to have
+a late lunch there. We therefore have about two and a half hours or so to explore the city.
+
+As we walk down the _Dateo_ metro station, Quinn has shivers as it reminds him of _Liminal Spaces_.
+There's two very long escalators here, perhaps each some twenty meters in height, and there's nobody
+on them. We are completely alone here - did we manage to find the _Back Rooms_? Maybe not, as the
+wallpaper doesn't seem to fit, so we take the metro to the Cathedral in the middle of town, and it's
+brightly lit by the Sun peeking through the clouds. For a Friday morning, we're surprised at how
+many people are still crowding at the queues to visit the inside of the structure, but we're not in
+the mood to stand in line for a few hours, besides, we have pasta to eat.
+
+Instead, we head for a smaller museum called _Poldi Pezzoli_, which consists of some twenty or so
+rooms with decadent art from all periods of history. THere were many paintings, sculptures, clocks
+and watches, rings and necklaces, and most rooms were in some style of the period, with furniture,
+artwork, bowls and china, you name it. I really liked the multimodal experience.
+
+At the end of the walk through _Pazzoli_'s collection, we visited the doanstairs area which features
+an armory, that is to say: a room full of swords, sables, gauntlets, chainmill suites, helmets and a
+beautiful collection of rifles and pistols, all antique. It was an impressive building!
+
+At 12:45 or so, we arrive at the pasta lab. Marina and Quinn were here a few months ago, and
+remembered there was a line to get in, and only three dishes on the menu. Today, there is no
+wait, but there are four dishes. We each choose one:
+
+*   **Marina** takes gnochetti with beets, making it fiery purple
+*   **Quinn** takes classic pasta fusseli with pesto, making it bright green
+*   **I** choose a classic pasta with pomodoro and basil, making mine red
+
+We each stole a bite or two from the others, and in general had a wonderful lunch. I noticed that we
+seem to have beat the crowd, as when we left, there was a line of twenty or so people waiting
+outside. Hah, we got lucky on this one!
+
+We don't feel like going to more musea, but Marina has an idea. There's a statue here described as
+_L.O.V.E._ and it's apparently right next to the stock exchange. I was curious to see what it was,
+and as we rock up to the place, it turns out to be a huge hand made from white stone, with all
+fingers truncated, except the middle finger. It definitely looks like it's saying FFFUUUU to
+something, and it's not clear to me why this would have the name _L.O.V.E._? But I like the
+juxtaposition it shows, between the stock exchange and life as we know it.
+
+The weather is still sunny and pleasant, so we decide to take a walk. There's a canal through Milan
+that runs through the neighborhood of _Navigli_, and there's restaurants, bars and little street
+vendors all along this canal. We walk it back downtown, and then we see a familiar street: the one
+in which _Piercing'n'More_ lives, so Quinn stops by and says hello to the lady who gave him his
+penultimate ear piercings last time he was in town. 
+
+It is at this junction that I decide my walking and city touring is over. I am three days behind on
+my journalling, and it's getting out of hand. Seeing as we'll be going out to dinner tonight, I will
+keep on failing to update my journal and I made myself a promise. So: I bail and grab the metro M1
+and then M4 to our hotel, while Quinn and Marina go shopping for clothes.
+
+At the hotel, I manage to publish [[Monday]({{< ref wk11day1.md >}})], and write [[Tuesday]({{< ref
+wk11day2.md >}})], and [[Wednesday]({{< ref wk11day1.md >}})].  I've had a lot to write about
+during my travels in Piacenza, Parma and Milan. I fully catch up also thanks to the fast wifi in
+this hotel. I have not particularly been blessed with high speed Internet down south of the Alps.
+
+Quinn and Marina arrive at 17:15, just as I am writing my last journal bits and bobs. I also take
+some time to read and respond to e-mail, and I help three of four new members at FrysIX along with
+their port and IP allocation. I also see that Neil had added some tests to our `sFlow` plugin, and
+this will satisfy the request from the community call last week, at least in part. Adding the first
+test is always a bit more work, and adding subsequent test cases is easier.
+
+We've had a lot of pasta this week, so Marina suggests (perhaps to humor me) to find a steak
+_Fiorentina_ (English: T-Bone), and that's totally great by me. We settle on a place called
+_Hostaria Terza Carbonaia_, which is a Tuscan restaurant and I loved it, even though we were the
+very first people in an otherwise empty place.
+
+Here, we take some starters with a _Caprese_, a few _Bruschetta_ and Quinn wants his default of
+_Carbonara_, while Marina and I share a two-person Steak _Fiorentina_, which comes pre-carved. The
+meat is divine and I get lucky as Marina at some point has had her filling, which means I get to
+continue gnawing at this bone. At some point the waitress stops by and demands that I grab this bone
+with my hands and chomp at it: "This is the Tuscan way", she exclaims. I love this woman.
+
+After the dinner, Marina suggests washing things down with a _Limoncello_, and this is the perfect
+end to a perfect dinner. By the way, we got there at 19:15 and were the first, but we left at 20:50
+with a _completely packed_ restaurant. I could see whole families streaming in, one after another,
+at 19:30, 20:00 and 20:30. Amaing restaurant, with amazing people.
+
+Back at the hotel, which is only two blocks over from the restaurant, we all do our own thing.
+Marina draws a few Inktober days of her character _Babs_, Quinn hangs out on Instagram, and I
+complete my week's backlog by writing the journal entry for [[Thursday]({{< ref wk11day4.md >}})].
+I'm finally completely caught up! I should write today, but I'm a bit tired and it's now 23:00 so I
+turn in for the night.
+
+## Pictures of the Day
+
+{{< gallery-category >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-11/IMG_2040.JPG" caption="The empty subway station escalators feel like Liminal Spaces to Quinn" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-11/IMG_2042.JPG" caption="The Apple Store is keeping it classy, in Milan, Itay." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-11/IMG_2045.JPG" caption="A Selfie with Pim, Marina and Quinn in front of a sunny Duomo, the Cathedral in Milan, Italy" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-11/IMG_2047.JPG" caption="A picture if Il Grande Disco (The Big Disk) at Piazza Filippo Meda in Milan, Italy" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-11/IMG_2051.JPG" caption="The armory at Museo Poldi Pezzoli, in Milan, Italy" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-11/IMG_2054.JPG" caption="My pasta pomodoro at the Pasta Laboratory, a great tip from Marina!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-11/IMG_2056.JPG" caption="The middle finger raised statue called L.O.V.E. at the stock exchange in Milan, Italy" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-11/IMG_2059.JPG" caption="A picture of some random ruins that were discovered here. Right in the middle of town, half a block has been cordoned off for further excavation" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-11/IMG_2060.JPG" caption="The canal in Navigli quarter, with shops, bars and street vendors all along it" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-11/IMG_2065.JPG" caption="The beautiful Steak Fiorentina that Marina and I shared, at Hostaria Terza Carbonaia in Milan, Italy" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-11/IMG_2067.JPG" caption="Our digestif: a small glass of Limncello, proost!" >}}
+{{< /gallery-category >}}
+
+{{< gallery-modal >}}
+{{< gallery-script >}}

content/blog/wk11day6.md

@@ -1,7 +1,89 @@
 ---
-title: "Week 11, Saturday:"
+title: "Week 11, Saturday: Milano to Zurigo"
 date: 2024-10-12T21:55:00+02:00
-draft: true
 ---
 
-{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/todo.png" alt="Credit: " >}}
+{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/drumandbass.png" alt="Credit: Drum and Bass, YouTube" >}}
+
+Today we complete our visit to beautiful Italy. For the last time (for the time being, at least) we
+grab breakfast in the hotel in Milan. We take a look at weather, driving conditions, the traffic at
+the Gottard tunnel, and debate if we'd like to visit any other sights in the city before heading
+off.
+
+In the breakfast room, it's a bit of a mess. I don't quite understand what brings parents of small
+children not to clean up after themselves. There's bread, fruit and detritis everywhere, and as well
+a few stomping children. I'm so glad that we don't have to deal with that on an ongoing basis
+anymore! Thanks, Quinn: you're a winner :)
+
+Our feet are tired and I think maybe all three of us would love to be at home. I myself would very
+much like to sleep in my own bed for a while; my back is not happy with my choice of hotel bed. It's
+super hard, like a wooden board with a 3cm piece of foam on it. It reminds me a bit of camping in
+the Nordics, where all we had was a little roll-up matt. I'm not sure I would be a happy camper,
+considering how much my back hates me right now.
+
+After breakfast, we grab our belongings upstairs, and I do a quick checkout. Marina has already
+paid, even the city tax and parking, so I make my way downstairs to the garage. I'm quickly met by
+the guy behind the counter, who insists on a very specific way for me to exit the garage. You see,
+it's a somewhat ... narrow passage way in and out, and they are trying to make sure that I don't
+damage our daily driver. Marina takes a picture as I poke the nose out of the garage into the
+gangway up to street level. I can confirm: it was narrow!!
+
+The car ends up on the street without any damage (go, Pim!) and we start our ascent from Milano to
+Zurigo. The drive over the _Autostrada_ towards Chiasso (the border crossing into Switzerland) is
+line-rate. There's a bit of a delay while driving over the border crossing, but once again we aren't
+pulled over and asked any questions, we are free to go.
+
+Then we drive towards the Gottard tunnel, and there's a bit of a delay getting in to it. I have
+heard that the delay _can be_ up to three hours in the Summer, but for us, today, it's only about
+twenty minutes or so. I drive us through the tunnel and find myself a parking spot to switch drivers
+with Marina. Similar to when we went to the Netherlands (where MArina had this), I have a bit more
+of a drive than I bargained for: 3.25hrs before we find a parking spot, which by now is only twenty
+minutes from our supercharger in _Beckenried_.
+
+Here, we provide Tessa with electrons while we supply edibles for ourselves. Quinn munches on a
+Caesar Salad, Marina takes a beef tartar, and I grab hummus with flatbread. Marina may have had some
+buyers' remorse, as she demands halfsies. I am not dissatisfied by this, because I really like
+tartare. We finish our late lunch, while Tessa finishes its electron slurp.
+
+Marina takes the rest of the drive home, and we arrive there at around 16:30 or so. Here, we pretty
+quickly disperse, not too dissimilar to shrapnel. I go to the basement and take a bit of a training
+run in the Flight Simulator. I spend about one hour practicing taxiing, takeoff, and circuits. My
+goal is to reliably and consistently ace the exercises around take-off, circuits, navigation and
+landing. Proudly, I show my awareness of the [[Dunning Kruger
+effect](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect)], and take a picture of my
+score in taking off at 500ft/min and 75kts in my dinky little Cessna 172S.
+
+By the way, Tim, you will like this: we bought the _Deluxe_ version, and somewhere tucked away in
+that version, is a Cessna 172 Classic. Interestingly, the normal version only has the glass cockpit,
+but the _Deluxe_ version has the old _Skyhawk_. So I also spent half an hour or so importing it and
+making sure that the radio and navigation panel works for it. Score!
+
+For dinner, we decide to eat (dutch) French Fries and _Snacks_, which means: Frikandellen, Kip
+Corns, Bitterballen and Kroketten. All of these things are such a classic guilty pleasure for us in
+Switzerland. I know my dutch friends don't really appreciate it, but it's true: you don't know what
+you have until it's gone! Our supply of frikandellen is severely limited in Switzerland!
+
+After dinner, we watch a few episodes of Black Mirror, and finally, I take the Cessna 172 Skyhawk
+with navigation out for a spin. I found a MSFS Companion App, which displays a bunch of data and
+importantly, the airplane's position on an (OpenS treet Maps) map. Unfortunately, there are no
+airfield overlays (OSM does not do this, on principle), so I have to make due with 'normal' maps.
+Maybe at some point I'll get that fancy Sky Demon that Tim uses, or some other tool. But for now,
+I'm happy with the results. On the screenshot below, you can see which places I flew by hand (West
+of lake Zurich, and around lake Pf&auml;ffikon), and where I played with the autopilot (the nice
+straight lines).
+
+I'm pretty tired from all of that prancing around Milan, so at 22:00 or so I turn in for the night.
+Marina is already in the bathroom getting ready as I rock up. It seems we're both quite tired from
+all that traveling.
+
+## Pictures of the Day
+
+{{< gallery-category >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-12/20241012_103228.jpg" caption="I'm driving the car through a very narrow gangway up from the garage in our hotel. No damage!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-12/IMG_2069.JPG" caption="In the flight sim, I'm taking lessons. This one exercise I've scored an outlier-positive 9.9/10, but generally I try to practice such that I have consistent A scores." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-12/IMG_2070.JPG" caption="In this episode of Black Mirror, a woman loses her loved one, but technology manages to bring him back as a humanoid robot. What could possibly go wrong?" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-12/IMG_2071.JPG" caption="The flight I flew in the Cessna 172 Skyhawk, playing around with the autopilot, taking off from D&uuml;endorf and landing on the same airfield." >}}
+{{< /gallery-category >}}
+
+{{< gallery-modal >}}
+{{< gallery-script >}}

content/blog/wk11day7.md

@@ -1,7 +1,76 @@
 ---
-title: "Week 11, Sunday:"
+title: "Week 11, Sunday: Staging and Lazy Sunday"
 date: 2024-10-13T21:55:00+02:00
-draft: true
 ---
 
-{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/todo.png" alt="Credit: " >}}
+{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/zengirls.png" alt="Credit: Zen Girls, YouTube" >}}
+
+Today I really only have two things to do, but I'm feeling a bit of _ennuit_, that is to say I can't
+be assed to do anything today. Mostly, I spend a lot of time in my bed - it's such a delicious
+sleep, compared to the hotel rooms I've been in in the last week(s). After my brunch with Quinn and
+Marina, I decide to work on the two things of the day.
+
+Firstly, I need to prepare my deployment for [[Brainserve](https://brainserve.ch/)] tomorrow. You
+see, when Fred and I deployed the [[Stollen]({{< ref wk8day3.md >}})] datacenter, we connected two
+waves to Zurich, and two to Lausanne. However, IPng is not in Lausanne yet. Fred and I both agreed
+that this should be remedied, as there is a power commitment in the telco rack in the Brainserve
+datacenter that would allow for me to host the router without costing more money. A good deal, and
+I'll take it!
+
+My default PoP kit consists of a Centec S5612X switch (8x1G RJ45, 8x1G SFP, 12x10G SFP+, 2x40G QSFP,
+which I convert to 2x4x10G instead, and 8x25G SFP28); a Dell R630 VPP router with a small CPU
+footprint so as to fit in 100 Watts of power, and an APU6 for out-of-band access and WiFi on the
+floor. It's pretty straight forward for me to install these Dell R630s, as I typically just grab one
+of the two boot disks from `/dev/md0`, stick a new one in the original server, and a second one in
+the cloned server, and then boot both machines and let the raidsets rebuild. Voila, instant replica!
+
+As I am doing this, the lights go out, which is unexpected. It turns out, my main hypervisor for the
+house is very sick. It has lost all of its disks. I connect via iDRAC and notice that the PCI device
+for the SAS raid controller is completely disconnected. I power it down, open the machine, to find
+the HBA controller flapping around in the breeze in there ... it is supposed to have two plastic
+clips (Dell likes doing everything user-serviceable without screw drivers), but they've both popped
+out. In 25 years of running Dell hardware, this has never happened. The remedy is very easy though:
+I simply press the HBA back into its slot and re-attach the plastic clips. Machine boots, lights go
+on, and all sorts of alarms clear.
+
+As the VPP stuff is installing, I move the MS Flight Simulator to its final spot (where it was
+before Tim and I made it actually work). I'm really short one screen here (with the map and things
+like the ATC response window and flight check lists), so I rummage around on Digitec and find a nice
+13" 1920x1080 screen, but I also find on Aliexpress a nice 10.5" 1280x720 for half the price, so I
+splurge and order both. Why not? I'm on sabbatical and have no income :)
+
+While Brainserve is canonically located in _Lausanne_, it's actually not, and IPng is a sucker for
+correctness with locations. So my POP will be called `chcri0`, from the
+[[US/LOCODE](https://service.unece.org/trade/locode/ch.htm)] for _Crissier_, in the canton of
+_Vaud_. It's for the same reason that the router in "Geneva" is actually in _Plan-les-Ouates_
+(`chplo0`) and the one in "Lille" is actually in _Sainghin-en-M&eacute;lantois_ (`frggh0`). I put a
+default configuration on the Centec switch and decide to skip the APU6 this time, as I only have two
+left, and I don't have time (or, frankly, energy) to install it. Maybe later?
+
+Once the PoP is staged, configured, and ready, it's time for dinner. Marina is making a beautiful
+_Risotto_, commemorating our trip to Italy perhaps, and it has fresh truffle from the forest that
+our neighbor-doggo called Maggie has found for us. The meal is simple yet elegant, with black
+truffle paste in the risotto, and sliced truffle on top. The truffle has been marinating in the rice
+jar for a while, so it has lost lots of its flavor into the rice (great), but in itself is not the
+tastiest mushroom we've eaten (not great).
+
+After dinner, we watch an episode of _Black Mirror_, and then I got downstairs for one more small
+thing: my NLNOG presentation is in two weeks (October 22nd), and it's a different length than the
+other ones, so I'll spend some time making a new copy for this conference. I send an update to the
+program committee at 22:00 and considering I'll be driving to Lausanne and Geneva tomorrow, I decide
+to take it easy and go to bed early.
+
+Today was a lazy Sunday.
+
+## Pictures of the Day
+
+{{< gallery-category >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-13/IMG_2073.JPG" caption="The IPng lab rack, with a bunch of Dell R630s ready to deploy. To the left, more switches, disktanks and a few Mellanox switches" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-13/flightsim.png" caption="A picture of the FlightSim in its final spot (where it was before Tim and I made it actually work); seen here my Cessna 172 Skyhawk on autopilot" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-13/IMG_2074.JPG" caption="The Brainserve kit: msw0.chcri0 (Centec) and chcri0 (Dell R630), cables, optics, etc. Ready to go!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-13/IMG_2075.JPG" caption="The dinner tonight is the last of the truffle we got from our neighbor's dog Maggie." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-13/nlnog.png" caption="A snapshot of the 30min presentation for NLNOG next week." >}}
+{{< /gallery-category >}}
+
+{{< gallery-modal >}}
+{{< gallery-script >}}

content/blog/wk12day1.md

@@ -1,7 +1,115 @@
 ---
-title: "Week 12, Monday:"
+title: "Week 12, Monday: Brainserve, Lau-ss-ane"
 date: 2024-10-14T21:55:00+02:00
-draft: true
 ---
 
-{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/todo.png" alt="Credit: " >}}
+{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/noraenpure-10.png" alt="Credit: Nora en Pure, YouTube" >}}
+
+It's funny how when one is motivated, one can do ~anything. For me, today, this is getting up at an
+invalid time of 07:30 so that I can beat traffic underway to Geneva. I wanted to take plenty of time
+at Brainserve, which is in _Lausanne_ in the canton of _Vaud_. It's about two and a half hours
+drive, and considering Quinn is already at work (getting up at 05:45, daa-doyyyy), and Marina is up
+and about preparing to go to her weekly drawing class in _Oerlikon_, I decide that I'll also just
+bite the bullet, and drink two strong espresso's, fill the belly with a leftover sandwich roll with
+salami, and get going.
+
+Yesterday I already put all the stuff in the car, so all I have to do is punch in the datacenter
+address and take off to _Laussane_.  Wait, was that a typo, you say? The city name is _Lausanne_,
+right? Well, there's a story here. In 2013, I had a datacenter tour in a former military bunker
+called _Deltalis DK2_, built in a 20'000 m2 former military bunker. Before it was turned into a
+datacenter though, I got the full scoop. One of the features of this installation was a staff
+planning room with a large 6x3m map of Europe. The planners would make a layout of the (war)
+theater and then push up the map to another floor where the generals would sit. That map is pretty
+impressive, but it has one very embarassing typo: the map-maker misspelled the city and called it
+_Laussane_. Hilarity ensued, but the (German speaking) staff of the bunker did not want to pay for a
+new map, so they left it there. If you're curious about this type of facility, I have a beautiful
+[[photo album](https://photos.app.goo.gl/QNUEbAFNTm5Lduoi8)].
+
+My drive to _Crissier_ is pretty much _line rate_. No traffic, nothing like the Gottard tunnel on
+[[Saturday]({{< ref wk11day6.md >}})], and just a very leisurely drive through Switzerland. I had
+planned to be at the datacenter at 11:00 or so, but I beat traffic significantly and rocked up to
+the place at 10:15. Perfect! I've never been to this place before, so I'll need to do a little bit
+of a song-and-dance to get in for the first time, delivering pictures, badges, biometrics and so on.
+You know what I find funny? On a _good day_, entering Equinix with a fully planned visit will easily
+take ninety minutes. A visit, completely unannounced, entering Brainserve for the first time, the
+whole entry was facilitated, including badge + biometrics + escorting me to the rack, was done in
+about twenty minutes. Fortune 500, my ass.
+
+IP-Max rack is in the carrier room, and it's not hard to find. It's the one with the jet-engine
+blowing refridgerator called an ASR9010, with dark fiber to Geneva and 2x10G to Luzern, the ones we
+installed a few weeks ago in [[Stollen]({{< ref wk8day3.md >}})]. My stuff turns into a bit of a
+bottom feeder, and I install it in the bottom of the rack. The Centec switch takes about 30W and the
+Dell R630 takes about 80W (and 150W when it's fully loaded). For 2x25G router and about 60Mpps of
+forwarding capacity, that's not bad at all!
+
+My stuff has been pre-configured, but I do need to spend a little bit of time remapping the circuits
+from IP-Max. I move the existing one, which is from Geneva to Luzern, to become two ones: one of
+them from Geneva to Lausanne, and the other from Lausanne to Luzern. I break these 10G circuits out
+on two switchports, and hook them up to IPng's Site Local. Once I have access to the switch, the
+rest can be done remotely, and I intend to do so. It's way much more fun to hang out with Fred and
+the gang in Geneva, so I do a cursory glance to make sure all links are up and the fibers are
+cleaned and without errors. Ready? Let's get out of here!
+
+As a _friend with benefits_, I get to park my car in the middle of Geneva on a private parking lot
+at IP-Max head quarters. Nice one! In the back yard, Fred's neighbor and friend Fabrice and Fred
+are having _Ricard_. I am partial to a nice pastis myself, and one is quicky made for me. Also,
+another one is made for me after the first one, because (a) I am not driving anywhere tonight, and
+(b) as the dutch might say _op &eacute;&eacute;n been kun je niet lopen_.
+
+We leave my car here and take Fred's to his parking garage, but what is that he sees? There's a
+local tobacco shop, completely random, operated by a buddy of Fred's called Sidney. We find a
+parking spot in front of it, and go in. Here, I am explained a marvel of local culture. As soon as
+one walks into this store, one is henceforth addressed as _Christian_ and the ladies are
+_Christiane_. This is so bizarre, but it's true! Fred walked it and this guy says "Eeeeey!
+Christian!" and hands him a beer. Later, some woman rocks up and is greeted by three people "Heeeey!
+Christiane!". I myself am greeted as Christian, and even an actually real life named Christian, a
+trader, joins us. Here we are, a small _kiosk_ shop with ten people happily having a pint and
+chatting about our day, and I find the symbolism of everybody being a _Christian(e)_ both
+hilarious as well as somewhat touching.
+
+Anyway, Christian and I still haven't had lunch, and it's now 17:30, but Christian says we should go
+to _Le Petit Rapha&euml;l_ and if we do, he'll arrange for the food to be 50% off. Christian is a
+wonderfully delightful character, with Dutch roots (Amsterdam and Haarlem), but also traveled in the
+African continent, speaking Frech, English and German and saying 'Dankuwel' a lot. There's also
+Christian, who is a half-britton-half-swiss, and speaks a really nice southern-english accent.
+Christian is really nice to get to know as well.
+
+After about an hour or so, Christian and I leave and pick up the car. Since I've only had one pint,
+Fred (as he is immediately called after leaving the door), hands me the keys. Smart move, Fred!  You
+know I can parallel park better than you :-) 🥰 I yeet the BMW into the parking garage across from
+Fred's place and we make our way on foot to Rapha&euml;l. The food here is honest, pretty good, but
+the resto has a bit of a weird vibe to it. It smells a bit fatty (like a belgian friture), but the
+steak is good. Actually, the steak got even better when, much to my surprise, the bill comes and it
+is, in actual fact, 50% off. Haleluja!
+
+As we walk back after this early dinner / very late lunch (Fred) / super late breakfast (me), we
+bump into the very same crew of Christians, and two of them are happy to join us for drinks.
+Amed&eacute;e and Rob are game for a drink and a smoke. Fred bought me cigars, so I finally get to
+scratch that itch that I've had for weeks now. At Fred's place, we are jolly, Amed&eacute;e is
+friendly and wants me to talk Dutch to him, and he is also deeply impressed with my Swiss German,
+which I call _Schwyyzer-Dutch_. I can get away with it, but only in places that don't speak the
+dialect themselves. Here in French-town Geneva, it's very convincing indeed.
+
+At about 01:00, Rob decides from one second to the next that he's done. He grabs Amed&eacute;e and
+the electric scooter, and they both bounce. But I'm still completely in love with the Dazzling
+Saphire cat, who is a sixteen year old [[Turkish
+Angora](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkish_Angora)].  The fun thing about him, is that he is
+running Dog Operating System in a Cat Chassis.  Very clingy, very chatty and super super soft
+friendly. I try to convince _Dazzling_ to come and snuggle with me in my bed, tonight.
+
+My head hits the pillow, and a mere few minutes later I hear a faint _mrrrrwow_ and detect a feline
+jumping onto my bed and curling up into a ball against my legs. 💎
+
+## Pictures of the Day
+
+{{< gallery-category >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-14/laussane.png" caption="The map from Deltalis DK2 bunker with the misspelled Laussane" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-14/IMG_2078.JPG" caption="IP-Max's point of presence in Brainserve is a beefy ASR9010 with dark fiber to Geneva and 2x10G waves to Lucerne. It is yummy, and IPng's AS8298 is now here too!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-14/IMG_2081.JPG" caption="IPng's Centec and Dell R630 chcri0.ipng.ch, ready to be configured and put into service. " >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-14/IMG_2085.JPG" caption="May I introduce to you: Christian, Christian, Christian and me. In the background, you can see Christiane and Christiane." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-14/IMG_2088.JPG" caption="The Petit Rapha&euml;l, with a steak on a hot stone. It's good, and at a very affordable price." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-14/IMG_2096.JPG" caption="Dazzling Saphire, my best buddy in the GVA03 point of presence." >}}
+{{< /gallery-category >}}
+
+{{< gallery-modal >}}
+{{< gallery-script >}}

content/blog/wk12day2.md

@@ -1,7 +1,89 @@
 ---
-title: "Week 12, Tuesday:"
+title: "Week 12, Tuesday: IP-Max 20 years"
 date: 2024-10-15T21:55:00+02:00
-draft: true
 ---
 
-{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/todo.png" alt="Credit: " >}}
+{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/missmonique-04.png" alt="Credit: Miss Monique, YouTube" >}}
+
+Ahh, this. This is what I came here to do! I met Fred, many moons ago, at a SwiNOG conference in
+Berne. We fed the bears in the pit, as yes, there were actually
+[[bears](https://www.myswitzerland.com/en-ch/experiences/bern-bear-park/)] in a little bear-pit park
+in Bern, until not too recently ago. At this place, I got to know the IP-Max crew. This was in 2007
+or there-abouts. Fast forward a few years, and these guys are moving into the _Deltalis_ bunker in
+_Attinghausen, Uri_. I helped them move in and for a few years, operated my own association called
+_IPng_, there. We've been super close ever since!
+
+This Monday, AS25091 turns twenty years. This AS number the digital signature of the ISP network
+that Fred and his company have built out to a presence spanning all of Europe, and beyond. I'm so
+proud to have been a part of this journey with the company, through thick and thin, good times and
+bad. But today is definitely a good time: The IP-Max network turns twenty! Yesterday we had a little
+bit of a pre-party, with the _Christian's_.
+
+In the morning, I do only one thing, but it takes me for-ever due to a string of bad luck. I wanted
+to install an APU for Brainserve, as neither IP-Max nor IPng currently have an out-of-band
+connection there. First, the disk is busted. Then, the USB flash is corrupt. Then, after installing,
+the machine mysteriously doesn't boot. Then, I reinstall it and make sure for it to boot on serial,
+and it comes up but the WiFi doesn't work. I spend a comically long amount of time only to figure
+out that it's not a WiFi module, but a 4G module instead :) We rummage around the stock and find an
+appropriate WiFi card, and then the install is completed.
+
+But hey look, it's now noon!  Today, we have a luscious lunch in a small place just outside of
+Geneva. Here, they have an indoor wood fired barbecue, which they fire with olive tree wood. It is
+the first thing I smell when I entered the place, so divine! We are six today: Anastasia, Florian,
+Ludovic, Frederic, Fabrice and your's truly. The trick here is that for a certain price you can eat
+_Bouef a gogo_, which essentially means all-you-can-eat. They first grill it on the barbecue for
+you, and then you get a hot plate to build the _cuisson_ you like. It also means I eat a lot,
+because for me the perfect cuisson is between mooing and blue.
+
+We have the most fabulous time. I catch up and quiz Ludo about his commercial pilot license and
+which aircraft he is certified on; he is not bored by this, and in return quizzes me on the flight
+simulator. It turns out, Ludo has a great hobby in the weekends, flying all sorts planes around.
+The next time he'll be in Zurich for maintenance, I may lure him into the basement to show me how to
+pilot dual-engine aircraft like the King Air. That sounds pretty amazing to me.
+
+Of course, as carnivores of _Team Viandard_, we think fondly of Cl&eacute;ment who couldn't make it
+today, as we frantically chomp away at the meat. I decide to keep dry for the day, and I'm also one
+of two designated drivers. I think I will take it easy today, but food-wise, I loosen the belt
+buckle as I enjoy a slice of the celebratory cheese cake that Anastasia has prepared. We have a
+jolly old time.
+
+Back at the office, we each complete our chores for the day; IP-Max decides their new colocation and
+carrier landing spot in Frankfurt (it's Japanese!), and we together put things in motion for this
+complicated move. I think we're going to be very happy in our new spot, and we will stay at the
+Kleyerstrasse as well for the foreseeable future, which makes moving a tiny bit easier.
+
+I write a few journal entries, as I'm once again traveling more and writing less! But, I manage to
+finish the lazy [[Sunday]({{< ref wk11day7.md >}})] and the somewhat more debaucherous [[Monday]({{<
+ref wk12day1.md >}})], and will take care of today, tomorrow :)
+
+At around 18:00, Fred beckons me. There is a cat just down the road who will need some attention. It
+does not take much more than this comment to unwedge me from my laptop; the APU is done for
+tomorrow, and I have a patch cable to replace one that was a bit too short at Brainserve. We walk
+over to Fred's place (having a two hundred meter commute is pretty great) and hang back on the couch
+in the living room. Dazzling joins us and does not leave.
+
+Instead of going out to dinner, I suggest that we maybe eat some soup and salad. I order myself a
+pumpkin soup and a ni&ccedil;oise salad, Fred also orders a leafy green meal. As it gets delivered,
+we're watching TV, winding down from our party, and - honestly - still trying to digest the half cow
+we ate in the afternoon. The salad is a perfect end to this short trip to Laus-s-ane and Geneva.
+
+It must be around 22:30 when we both turn in for the night. Tomorrow, I drive back via Brainserve to
+deploy this APU, and then onwards to my fam-damily in Br&uuml;ttisellen.
+
+## Pictures of the Day
+
+{{< gallery-category >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-15/IMG_2109.JPG" caption="This is a olive-wood fired barbecue at the steak-house we are having lunch today." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-15/IMG_2110.JPG" caption="The beef comes pre-bbq'd and sliced, ready to finish cooking on the hot plate at the table." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-15/IMG_2112.JPG" caption="We are having a jolly time celebrating the 20th anniversary of AS25091 - IP-Max!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-15/IMG_2116.JPG" caption="Anastasia arranged a birthday cake, it's a raspberry cheesecake. One of my favorites!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-15/IMG_2117.JPG" caption="Ludo and I take a selfie outside, as we are about one kilogram heavier than before lunch" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-15/IMG_2118.JPG" caption="I am writing my journal entries at the IP-Max office in Geneva." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-15/IMG_2120.JPG" caption="The frontdoor of my favorite company around - with not one but two dark fiber trunks, too!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-15/IMG_2122.JPG" caption="Dazzling Saphire says hello. He is very photogenic and I love him." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-15/IMG_2123.JPG" caption="Dinner for tonight - slowing down with food intake: soup and salad." >}}
+
+{{< /gallery-category >}}
+
+{{< gallery-modal >}}
+{{< gallery-script >}}

content/blog/wk12day3.md

@@ -1,7 +1,76 @@
 ---
-title: "Week 12, Wednesday:"
+title: "Week 12, Wednesday: Geneva to Brüttisellen"
 date: 2024-10-16T21:55:00+02:00
-draft: true
 ---
 
-{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/todo.png" alt="Credit: " >}}
+{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/vv.png" alt="Credit: VV, YouTube" >}}
+
+After yesterday's slow evening staying indoors, and eating salad and soup, my night's rest was
+fabulous. After my morning boot-up ritual, Fred treats me to a few _Gifpeli_, and we compare notes
+between the swiss pastry versus the french one. We believe that the swiss one has one third of the
+butter and three times the cost. That means the Swiss _Gipfeli_ are nine times more lucrative, for
+somebody :)
+
+We first go to the IP-Max office, Quai du Rh&ocirc;ne also called GVA08. Here, I gather the APU
+stuff and a 1.5 meter LSH/PC - LC/PC patch cable to reroute a temporary patch I made the other day
+when visiting this place. We say our goodbyes at 10:30 and I drive up to _Lau-ss-ane_. Here, the
+entry to Brainserve is once again spotless. A mere three minutes later, I'm standing in front of the
+rack. I quickly drain the LAG member, reroute the patch cable, and put it back in service. I also
+unplug the old APU and plug in the new one I installed (to grain chagrin!). Ha! An SSID for `AS8298`
+with password `IPngGuest` appears and I can use it.
+
+I bounce from Brainserve and the car says it'd like to charge around Berne _Westside_. The drive
+there is calm, and I'm the only one at the supercharger. I write my journal for yesterday as the car
+charges, and I get a sandwich and iced tea from the store. With electrons in the battery and bread
+in my belly, I continue my journey westward. I arrive at Br&uuml;ttisellen at 15:30.
+
+Marina greets me and informs me of a package in the same sentence. A package! I ordered a cute 14"
+screen which will serve as a navigation and flight sim aid. You see, MicroSoft FlightSimulator has a
+built-in ATC but by default it uses a little pop-up window with a numbered menu like "1. request
+taxi clearance; 2. request straight departure takeoff; 3. request ground services" and it's a little
+bit annoying if that sits on the windshield screen. Also, most pilots these days will have an iPad
+with them in the cockpit with some flight navigation and information system like my buddy Tim's [[Sky
+Demon](https://www.skydemon.aero/)], or my buddy Ludo's [[ForeFlight](https://foreflight.com/)].
+
+The mission for the rest of the day is to draw and then 3D print a somewhat more complex structure:
+a ball joint. This does indeed take a longer time than I anticipated, but as with most things, it
+was merely a _skill issue_. Drawing this plate object is simple. It's merely a rectangle 60x80x5mm
+with a cylinder in the middle, and a sphere sitting on top of the cylinder. Drawing the arm object
+is easy - once I figured it out: rather than making a 2D drawing and extruding the part, I compose the
+part from discreet 3D shapes, much like I would've with [[TinkerCad](https://tinkercad.com/)].
+
+For posterity, here's how I made the part:
+
+1.   30mm sphere at origin.
+1.   40mm sphere at origin.
+1.   Plane at angle through origin, 45deg
+1.   140mm cylinder from the angled plane
+1.   Cut three 5mm holes through the cylinder perpendicular to the Y axis
+1.   Plane from the angled plane, 20deg
+1.   Offset plane -5mm from the previous plane
+1.   Split object from the previous offsetplane
+1.   Dismiss the bottom cut off part
+1.   Cut the inner sphere from the part
+1.   Split the part along the Y axis
+
+The MK4S makes quick work of the print, and a couple of hours later, I have the plate and arm put
+together and due to friction fitting, it is snug as a bug. Hell yeah :) Michal would be proud.
+
+I plan a flight from LSMD (D&uuml;bendorf) to LSZF (Birrfeld). The screen works a treat, but I have
+it sitting on a box for now. Flight time is twentytwo minutes to Birrfeld and twentyone minutes
+back. Considering I don't have VFR maps (yet), I ask the sim to draw them for me in the sky. This
+will also help me get better at approach and speed/attitude controls.
+
+I'm feeling a bit tired so I turn in early for the night.
+
+## Pictures of the Day
+
+{{< gallery-category >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-16/IMG_2127.JPG" caption="The beautiful IP-Max rack at Brainserve, now with APU6 + WiFi!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-16/IMG_2126.JPG" caption="I'm all alone at the Bern Westside supercharger. 108kW, baby!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-16/balljoint.png" caption="The render of my 3D parts for a balljoint." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-16/IMG_2128.JPG" caption="The printed object, using friction fit." >}}
+{{< /gallery-category >}}
+
+{{< gallery-modal >}}
+{{< gallery-script >}}

content/blog/wk12day4.md

@@ -1,7 +1,88 @@
 ---
-title: "Week 12, Thursday:"
+title: "Week 12, Thursday: Gardening with a Roomba"
 date: 2024-10-17T21:55:00+02:00
-draft: true
 ---
 
-{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/todo.png" alt="Credit: " >}}
+{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/noraenpure-08.png" alt="Credit: Nora en Pure, YouTube" >}}
+
+This morning I decided to give [[EasyVFR4](https://easyvfr4.aero/)] a go. This is a so called _Visual Flight
+Rules_ application that helps work within a set of regulations that govern the conditions under
+which a pilot can operate an aircraft visually without relying on instruments. The application
+normally runs on iPad or Android tablet, and it has a specific plugin
+[[ref](https://easyvfr4.aero/sim)] for flight simulators like MSFS. Although there is a _Live_
+version (free of charge), this one does not support using a simulator. 
+
+Seeing as I want to run this as an application on the Windows computer hosting MSFS, I choose that
+route. The application is quickly installed, and as expected, when it starts it detects the
+simulator sending traffic out but says I must purchase a license. Off I go, for a EUR 48,- per year
+license. I install it, but it still doesn't work?! Aha, I notice what's the matter- the license
+seems to be installed on the application (temporarily) running on my iPhone. I mail the support team
+at EasyVFR and pretty quickly get a response: unfortunately the license I have won't work with a PC,
+only with a tablet. But, the folks at EasyVFR are good sports about it, and offer to swap out the
+license for the one needed to run the application on the PC. They agree with me that it's a bit
+weird to allow me to continue with an iPad but require a different license for the on-PC app.
+Thanks!
+
+The application works a treat, although it's a bit chatty because it blends in real-life
+aircraft information from ADS-B, even though those planes are not actually in the simulated world.
+After one too many 'traffic, traffic, traffic' alerts, I simply turn that one off. But, I'm already
+grateful for the extra dimension I receive, notably for
+[[NOTAM](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NOTAM)] alerts and restricted airspace. It's a bit more
+realistic like this.
+
+In the afternoon, Marina asks me if I'd like to do some gardening. She reminds me that we ented a
+bunch of Hydrangea a while ago, and they are still in their pots, we should plant them before the
+weather gets too cold. In the garden, I am treated to a bunch of late blooming flowers, which is
+nice. Then, we dig a few holes for the Hortensia, and chuckle as we find that there are absolutely
+zero roots growing from this stuff. I'm pretty sure they will not survive the winter like this, but
+on the other hand: they're still looking perfectly reasonable so, {{< rawhtml >}}
+¯\_(ツ)_/¯{{< /rawhtml >}}, I guess.
+
+After the yard work, there's still the matter of my promise to myself to keep the basement clean. I
+think I'll go for a [[DJ Roomba](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62KJUWAT5-8)] and there's one in
+stock at the electronics store at the airport. It's been a while since I've exercised, so I bike my
+way from our place to the airport. This is about 12km (or 7.5mi) and the weather is nice out. At the
+aport, I park the bike somewhat willy nilly; I hadn't realized it but it's pretty hard to find a
+bike parking here! I make my way through the shopping area looking for that _Inter Discount_ store,
+which I find and in it, I find my desired item, at 33% off. I'm a sucker for (inter)discounts like
+this!  I show Quinn and Marina my new friend, and they comment that he looks like the cleaner
+version of my old friend (because we already have exactly the same i7 model running around the house
+for a few years now).
+
+Considering next week is [[Hallowe'en](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halloween)], and our house is
+kind of a popular destination around those dates, we have one more errand to run: buy massive
+amounts of chocolate, candy and junkfood for the kids. In previous years, we've gotten north of one
+hundred kids at the door, and since we're both here this year and in the mood, we're going to make
+an effort to decorate the house and have the kids of Wangen-Br&uuml;ttisellen trick or treat. By the
+way, I tend to compare our "sister" town of Wangen to Eagleton in Parks and Recreation. It's always
+a really bad idea to take me shopping to _Aligro_ (some form of _Costco_) when I'm hungry. We come
+home with a few metric tonnes of candy, and since our freezer has been thinned out lately, also a
+'little' bit of meat :)
+
+For dinner, Marina is making _Sudderlapjes_ which is braised beef shortribs. For some reason,
+although I'm pretty hungry, the meal does not really hit the spot for me. It doesn't have a lot of
+taste, despite having smelled gorgeous all day as it was being prepared. Oh well, you win some you
+lose some, I guess?
+
+Quinn needs to get some stuff done before the end of the week and tails it after dinner. Marina and
+I watch a few episodes of _Lillyhammer_, and finish the first season. I don't think she's really
+enjoying it as much as I am :) but then I have a soft spot for the nordics.
+
+After the TV watching, it's only 22:00 so I go downstairs. Recently, SpeedIX has turned up for
+Free-iX Remote and now things are getting real. I still need to complete the propagation logic for
+this project. Currently, members and peers get the same prefixes, and it's the intent of Free-IX
+Remote, that members from Greece get propagated into the SpeedIX and SpeedIX prefixes are propagated
+to the members. I need to write this logic, but I'm fumbling. I mess around, and eventually abort
+the mission because I'm not feeling too great...
+
+## Pictures of the Day
+
+{{< gallery-category >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-17/IMG_2135.JPG" caption="The flightsim, now with EasyVFR4 on-screen!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-17/IMG_2136.JPG" caption="This beautiful flower surprised me in the back yard as we were gardening." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-17/IMG_2138.JPG" caption="This empty spot is where the DJ Roomba lived, before I bought him." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-17/IMG_2139.JPG" caption="I think there may be enough candy here to feed Wangen-Br&uuml;ttisellen." >}}
+{{< /gallery-category >}}
+
+{{< gallery-modal >}}
+{{< gallery-script >}}

content/blog/wk12day5.md

@@ -1,7 +1,51 @@
 ---
-title: "Week 12, Friday:"
+title: "Week 12, Friday: COVID :("
 date: 2024-10-18T21:55:00+02:00
-draft: true
 ---
 
-{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/todo.png" alt="Credit: " >}}
+{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/kushsessions-08.png" alt="Credit: Kush Sessions, YouTube" >}}
+
+In hindsight, I could've (should've?) seen this one coming. On Wednesday after coming home from
+Geneva, I went to bed early and I wrote:
+
+> _I'm feeling a bit tired so I turn in early for the night._
+
+And on Thursday after partying with my DJ Roomba, I tried to write a little bit of code for my
+FreeIX Remote project, but got stuck in a piece of BGP propagation logic that should not have been
+all that difficult, and I wrote:
+
+> _I mess around, and eventually abort the mission because I'm not feeling too great..._
+
+So I woke up this morning with a headache and a soar throat. Also, shivering. Wruh, wroh. I took a
+COVID test and wouldn't you know it: positive. Crap. Although both Quinn and Marina have picked up
+the corona virus before, I have not once tested positive for it. Much to my surprise, I tested
+positive today, first timer.  Marina asks if she can do anything for me, and I suggest to make
+chicken soup. It always cheers me up when I'm sick.
+
+I took my temperature it started off as 38.5C (101.3F) so I go back to sleep. I woke up at around
+14:00 or so, and took some of that chicken and vegetable soup. It tastes like water for some reason,
+so I add some more chicken stock, and some more, and then some. Still nothing - my taste is gone,
+but I've eaten something, so I go back to sleep.
+
+I woke up at 16:30 with my entire day gone, and I'm bored of bed, so I go downstairs to couch-surf a
+little bit, watching Rick and Morty episodes. I dose off, to be woken up just before dinnertime by
+Marina, who had made a fabulous chicken and black bean casserole. I ate a little bit of it, but I am
+now certain of it: either this casserole is very bitter, or I have no taste at all. Considering
+Quinn and Marina are chomping away at it without comment, I'm going to decide my sense of taste has
+simply taken the day off. I wonder how salty I made that soup in the end?
+
+After dinner, I am instructed by Marina to isolate, which I think is a good idea. Later in the
+evening, my temperature rose to 39.5C (103.1F) and time simply stood still for me, so I went back to
+sleep.
+
+Friday: poof, gone.
+
+## Pictures of the Day
+
+{{< gallery-category >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-18/IMG_2142.JPG" caption="COVID Test: postive." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-18/IMG_2145.JPG" caption="Fever: check." >}}
+{{< /gallery-category >}}
+
+{{< gallery-modal >}}
+{{< gallery-script >}}

content/blog/wk12day6.md

@@ -1,7 +1,64 @@
 ---
-title: "Week 12, Saturday:"
+title: "Week 12, Saturday: COVID :("
 date: 2024-10-19T21:55:00+02:00
-draft: true
 ---
 
-{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/todo.png" alt="Credit: " >}}
+{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/questionmarklp.png" alt="Credit: QuestionMark LP, YouTUbe" >}}
+
+I slept reasnoably well in the guestroom last night. I woke up at 05:00, though. I think this is
+what you get when your entire Friday consists of sleep. By my calculations, I was up and about for
+about three to four hours yesterday, which means I have now slept for **twenty-nine** hours.
+
+Overnight I woke up a few times, to pee (which is mildly reminiscent of eating chilly peppers, by
+the way - if you know, you know), and to take an Advil PM or two. 
+
+Unfortunately for my journal, being bedridden is not terribly exciting. I can report that I spent
+the entire day upstairs in isolation, monitoring my temperature and somewhat anxiously listening to
+my wheezing breath. I cough from time to time, but it's a productive cough but I don't feel too bad
+about it today.
+
+Such a bummer: JC and Sandra are due for a dinner at our place tonight, but I have to cancel so I
+send them the news on Signal. They're both good sports about it, but Marina sure as shit is not
+going to cancel _making_ the food. She has been looking forward to a Belgian dish called [[Vol au
+Vent](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vol-au-vent)], and she makes a killer one!
+
+In the afternoon, I decide to binge-watch [[Young
+Sheldon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Young_Sheldon)], which I've watched up until season five, and
+this means I get to live vicariously through Sheldon, Missy, Georgie and their parental addendums.
+
+In the evening, I briefly go downstairs to say thanks to Marina for making this beautiful _patty
+case_. I take mine upstairs, but I won't be able to write a review for it because all I get is the
+texture of the meatballs and chicken bits. I can't really discern between the mushrooms and the
+meat, and I'm afraid it's all wasted on me, this time. Marina sends a picture to our unfortunate
+non-dinner-guests, who are sportive about it and wish me a speedy recovery.
+
+On that front, my fever came down a fair bit and I'm back to my 38.5C (101.3F), with a fair amount
+of phlegm, with apologies if that's too much information. I try to journal a bit, but unfortunately
+I'm too lazy. I manage to assemble a few pictures, mostly of COVID tests and thermometers.
+
+I decide it's time to call it, and I'm pretty disappointed about it: I need to cancel my talk at
+NLNOG on Tuesday, and very likely ESNOG on Thursday. It's not responsible to join a large group of
+folks in Amsterdam, nor to sit on an airplane from Kloten to Schiphol, even if I do feel better
+tomorrow. So I write that note to Teun on IRC, and then to the program committee of NLNOG and ESNOG.
+Out of an abundance of caution, I think it's better that I skip both, as I do not want to be
+implicated in a super-spreader event in 2024.
+
+Teun and I briefly discuss the possibility of remote participation, but truth be told - the
+cancellation helps them decompress the schedule a little bit, I may still not be in the best of
+health on Tuesday, not to mention my voice sounds pretty terrible, and my mouth consistently tastes
+like the inside of a motorman's glove. It would also be putting the AV crew under a lot of pressure
+so late in the game. Nope, we agree: there will be more VPP news next year!
+
+I spend my evening taking turns dozing off, watching Young Sheldon, and drinking tea that tastes a
+little bit like warm nothing. Being sick on my sabbatical sucks!
+
+## Pictures of the Day
+
+{{< gallery-category >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-18/IMG_2143.JPG" caption="COVID test: definitely positive" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-19/IMG_2147.JPG" caption="The fever is still there, but I think I'm winning" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-19/volauvent.png" caption="Marina's Vol au Vent - I hear it was tasty :)" >}}
+{{< /gallery-category >}}
+
+{{< gallery-modal >}}
+{{< gallery-script >}}

content/blog/wk12day7.md

@@ -1,7 +1,68 @@
 ---
-title: "Week 12, Sunday:"
+title: "Week 12, Sunday: Recovering COVID"
 date: 2024-10-20T21:55:00+02:00
-draft: true
 ---
 
-{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/todo.png" alt="Credit: " >}}
+{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/desiredvibes.png" alt="Credit: DesiredVibes, LoFi, YouTube" >}}
+
+Good news, everybody! This morning I woke up (almost) completely free of fever at a 37.2C (98.9F)
+and in good spirits. All that hanging out in the guest room watching Young Sheldon is paying off!
+I haven't had a coffee in three days, so I wonder what it'll be like. Curious, I wander downstairs
+to make myself a cup of Joe, and it tastes thick and rich. Yaay. Go, tastebuds!
+
+I'm feeling really behind on ~everything right now. Of course rationally I understant that this is
+not terrible because one has to be sick at some point, but at the same time it's quite out of
+character for me to do nothing but sit in bed and watch time go by one episode at a time. As a note
+to future work-returning Pim: **you need stuff to do, buddy :)**
+
+Speaking of stuff, I have not had the energy to write my journal since Tuesday, what with the
+all-day sleeping and all. But this morning, coffee on the tongue and caffeine raging through my
+veins, I'm all for it. So I spend some time writing about my drive home from Geneva on
+[[Wednesday]({{< ref wk12day3.md >}})] and my sugar run and bikeride to the airport on
+[[Thursday]({{< ref wk12day4.nd >}})]. Writing these does make me feel a bit better as well, with a
+feeling that I should do more stuff.
+
+First, I assemble the _copious_ amount of pictures (by which I mean pretty much _none_) that I took
+on Friday and Saturday. With those in hand, I decide to think a little bit about how I'm going to
+write my COVID story. I've found that writing about my day is much easier if I have a visual aid:
+where I've been, what I was doing, and so on. With pictures of the thermometer and the view from the
+guestroom bed, and so much sleep going on, that becomes much more difficult. By the way, this bed is
+super comfortable 🥰. So, I write about my weekend, and put that behind me.
+
+The rest of the afternoon is spent binge-watching the rivitting story of George, Mary and their
+kids. My heart dropped when I saw the episode of George's death, and I may have had a "Sterk spul
+he, dat Fishermans Friend" [[moment](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IzKuS18umM)] or two. By the
+way, don't come to this place if you can't take spoilers.
+
+After dinner, I watch some news with Marina, but even though my fever broke, I'm still going to stay
+mostly upstairs. I decide to take another look at the FreeIX Remote project, which I got stuck on
+this last week [[Thursday]({{< ref wk12day4.md >}})]. Thinking back, this will likely have been
+because I was already coming down with COVID even on Wednesday and Thursday of last week. It would
+explain my sluggishness (beyond my usual stupidity) and sleepiness (beyond my usual laziness). 
+
+One of the things I was planning on doing in Amsterdam is deploy a fiber cross connect between my
+Coloclue hypervisor and the FrysIX switch, in order to run the AS112, IXPManager and possibly the
+RS2 virtual machine there. The SSDs in the Equinix AM3 hypervisor are slow and may fail at any time.
+However, I won't be going, and even if I would, I understand from Jelle that only Asimo and ERITAP
+are allowed to do this. So I ping my buddy Max, who lives just down the road from me, and will be
+going to NLNOG tomorrow, and ask him if he can mule this kit.  He says yes (Thanks again, Max!) so I
+mosy over to his and drop a baggie into the milkbox.
+
+Looking back at my git commit history, the refactor took about two hours and was in at 21:45, and
+generated the same configuration as it did before I started, which is good. A good fourtyfive
+minutes later, the to-members filtering was done, and a first canary for my buddy Antonios' AS210312
+was live. By midnight, I had set up a complete canary with Sam's AS35202, Jurrian's AS212635 and
+Antonios in various configurations of propagation and inhibits. Tomorrow, I plan to write an IPng
+article about the implementation. It was a fun puzzle!
+
+## Pictures of the Day
+
+{{< gallery-category >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-20/IMG_2148.JPG" caption="Good Morning: I'm back in the green" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-20/IMG_2149.JPG" caption="The view from my bed: Young Sheldon on one laptop, Hugo website on the other." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-20/IMG_2151.JPG" caption="The after-dinner desert is a treat: stroopwafel! They barely fit on my tea mug :)" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-20/IMG_2152.JPG" caption="A package for Arend: 30m of fiber, 2x Intel branded SFP+, for Qupra" >}}
+{{< /gallery-category >}}
+
+{{< gallery-modal >}}
+{{< gallery-script >}}

content/blog/wk13day1.md

@@ -1,7 +1,53 @@
 ---
-title: "Week 13, Monday:"
+title: "Week 13, Monday: Recovery and Relaxation"
 date: 2024-10-21T21:55:00+02:00
-draft: true
 ---
 
-{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/todo.png" alt="Credit: " >}}
+{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/9T9_DnB-02.png" alt="Credit: 9T9 DnB, YouTube" >}}
+
+I took the time to sleep in late this morning, and I'm still upstairs in the guest room. There's
+something quite relaxing about this bed and the room, and also not having small interruptions in the
+night like bathroom breaks from Marina or alarm clocks from Quinn or the bustle of folks getting up
+at 05:00 in the morning. It's great to be able to sleep in late!
+
+In the morning I drink my first cup of coffee. Last night I started watching Lost In Space, a 1960s
+television series depicting the Robinson family on their epic voyage through space. Looking back at
+this stuff is nostalgic: the video quality, the story line, and the acting are all not great
+compared to the slick production quality of a good TV show in the 2000s, and it's in black and
+white. I don't remember this series being black and white growing up, but it turns out it's only
+season one, because S02/S03 are indeed in _technicolor_.
+
+In the afternoon I have a rerun bowl of soup from the weekend. Marina was so kind as to make me this
+soup as it always helps me (my spirits at least, if not as well my body) when I am under the
+weather. On Saturday, I added a lot of chicken stock, until the carton was all gone, and it was
+_still_ watery. Today, I get to taste what I really made; a quite salty soup, indeed! I've added a
+cup or two of water to it. It just reminds me how vivid the taste is, and how bland/removed the
+taste was when I was battling COVID. Lunch is this chicken soup and a few soft-boiled eggs with
+bread. They as well taste a treat.
+
+After lunch, I further launch FreeIX Remote. I add a bunch of folks from Community IX and CHIX-CH
+who could benefit, and who understand enough to be able to appreciate, what the project is doing.
+This takes me a few hours of building, pushing, and testing. I'm still taking it easy because it's a
+new configuration and I am not convinced I got all the details right. That said, things seem to
+propagate just fine, so I consider it a win.
+
+Marina made chicken and hoisin sauce with broccoli and cashews for the evening meal. Wow, that's
+great. I appreciate that she's here for me and having home cooked meals (that I do not necessarily
+have to cook myself!) is a huge help. The dinner was delicious, and I can tell that Quinn also likes
+it, because at the end of the meal, almost the whole pan has evaporated.
+
+After dinner I watch some news (there's not much going on in the world), and end up my evening with
+a few more episodes of the Robinson Family in _Lost In Space_. I've canceled my trip to Amsterdam,
+and instead will focus on Barcelona later this week. Considering I'm free of fever, tomorrow I'll
+have a test and see if my viral load is sufficiently low such that I can visit ESNOG at least.
+
+## Pictures of the Day
+
+{{< gallery-category >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-21/IMG_2153.JPG" caption="Lunch: Chicken soup, soft boiled eggs and bread" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-21/IMG_2154.JPG" caption="Dinner: Chicken with hoisin sauce, broccoli and cashews. Omm nom!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-21/IMG_2155.JPG" caption="Lost in Space from 1965, 4:3, analog film, black and white" >}}
+{{< /gallery-category >}}
+
+{{< gallery-modal >}}
+{{< gallery-script >}}

content/blog/wk13day2.md

@@ -1,7 +1,69 @@
 ---
-title: "Week 13, Tuesday:"
+title: "Week 13, Tuesday: NLNOT"
 date: 2024-10-22T21:55:00+02:00
-draft: true
 ---
 
-{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/todo.png" alt="Credit: " >}}
+{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/astralthrob.png" alt="Credit: Astral Throb, YouTube" >}}
+
+Today I got up early so that I could join NLNOG, in spirit at least. It starts at 09:00 but the
+content will be only half an hour later at 09:30. The NLNOG has a special place in my heart, as I've
+been a member of this community since the 90s and well before it was an official _thing_. The board
+are all staples and fixtures in the Dutch internet community, and I really enjoy re-connecting with
+the group as I started working more on open source routers like [[VPP](https://fd.io/)].
+
+After the opening, Yurii Polovyi of RETN discusses wavelength division multiplexing, CWDM/DWDM and
+(R)OADM solutions in the industry. It's an interesting overview. Next, Leroy de Vos (from AMS-IX
+NOC) gives a touching story about his own career from humble beginnings to the NOC of one of the
+largest internet exchanges on the planet. 
+
+In the coffee break, I start up the flight simulator and decide to fly my Cessna 172S skyhawk from
+Belp to Annecy in France. However, I'll plan a route over the alps this time, so I get to fly at
+11'000ft. In the process, I learn about the fuel mixture settings (lean during taxy, rich during
+takeoff <3'000ft, lean over 3'000ft). It's really amazing how well this simulator is programmed. As
+I touch down in Annecy with a straight in final approach, the NLNOG conference has already
+continued.
+
+On stage are Ondrej (RIPE), Arjan (Event Infra), and my buddy Andrew (Cisco) talking about how to
+make events networking uneventful. Each brings their own perspective, from outdoors venues (with
+_Datenklo's_) to huge indoors venues and a single room with 6000+ people in it. I also learned that
+the equipment sits in some storage room somewhere and weighs seven metric tonnes. Heh.
+
+Teun Vink takes us to a serious topic - specifically for those of us who have aging family members -
+and discusses our digital legacy. It's a presentation of pictures and the story it tells really
+spoke to me. Teun leads us in to lunch, and I as well have a sandwich and a cup of tea. I also fly
+my plane from Annecy to Dijon and I touch down on runway 02 and park the plane.
+
+After lunch, Rudi van Drunen shares a view into critical Dutch infrastructure with Networks at Air
+Traffic Control the Netherlands. On the heals of that, Bert Hubert brings 'part four of the
+triology' of social life lessons with Life long learning: dealing with change. We all drink some
+coffee, and I take a cup also, as I type away some of my e-mail backlog.
+
+After the break, Robin Gilijamse has a story with A Case Against Automation - I feel a little bit
+uncomfortable with the speaker venturing into aerospace investigations and drawing some conclusions
+that I would not have necessarily drawn. After Robin, Ties de Kock of RIPE NCC shares details of the
+key management of RPKI HSM. What is possibly my favorite story of the day is from Frank van Vliet,
+Debugging the impossible: the bit-flipping story. After his talk, one of the folks who lined up at
+the microphone was a senios engineer from KPN itself, saying thanks for the elaborate debugging :)
+
+I do not participate in the kahoot quiz, as doing so remotely will give me a transmission delay and
+I'll miss all of the questions. But, I do monitor it form afar, and I appreciate the quirky
+questions Peter and Pieter put in. What happens next in Amsterdam, I will have to miss: the drinks,
+food, hanging out and exchanging stories will all be for a next time.
+
+Considering I will be traveling to Barcelona tomorrow, and I have a few minutes to spare, I drive
+over to the Interxion datacenter and do some pending maintenance for IP-Max: the current 100G link
+from Interxion to Frankfurt is suffering from what seems to be _electrical_ issues in the CFP cage.
+So I move myself to the floor at 23:30 when traffic is calmer, drain the link, and move the
+connection to both another optic and as well another port. I am successful: the occasional frame
+corruption is entirely gone. So that's at lease one productive thing I did today :)
+
+## Pictures of the Day
+
+{{< gallery-category >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-22/IMG_2160.JPG" caption="Flying from Bern to Annecy over the alps." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-22/IMG_2164.JPG" caption="I moved this 100G link from Zurich to Frankfurt to another router port and optic." >}}
+{{< /gallery-category >}}
+
+{{< gallery-modal >}}
+{{< gallery-script >}}
+

content/blog/wk13day3.md

@@ -1,7 +1,84 @@
 ---
-title: "Week 13, Wednesday:"
+title: "Week 13, Wednesday: Zurich to Barcelona"
 date: 2024-10-23T21:55:00+02:00
-draft: true
 ---
 
-{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/todo.png" alt="Credit: " >}}
+{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/cosmicgate.png" alt="Credit: Cosmic Gate, YouTUbe" >}}
+
+This afternoon we'll be on our way to Barcelona and I feel pretty good about that. Apart from a bit
+of a stuffy nose and a nasal voice, I feel fine! After a quick breakfast with coffee, I take some
+time to clean my basement. Although, now I have a Roomba so I can auto-clean, or at least
+auto-vacuum my room, and IPng's serverroom too. As the iRobot, which I've called _Suckel_, is
+zooming around, I clean up cables and optics and various bits and pieces from the maintenance I
+performed for IP-Max yesterday.
+
+After lunch, I connect a bunch of new users at [[FrysIX](https://frys-ix.net/)], a small internet
+exchange that I operate together with my buddy Arend. The users come online in the quarantine VLAN
+and start configuring their kit. Two of them have a bit of an issue, they are a _reseller_ customer,
+with its supplier transporting the FrysIX via a switch to their router. Unfortunately, that switch
+is sending ethernet frames (perhaps spanning tree, or LLDP, or some other traffic), so I cannot move
+those two new members to the peeringlan. I'm sure the reseller will eventually figure it out, so I
+move on.
+
+Marina has some news - she (and I) are avid users of a program called _Stocard_, which allows us to
+store our loyalty cards like from Migros, Coop, Safeway, and so on. When we walk into the store,
+thanks to geolocation it pops up the card automatically. It's a lot easier (and leaner for your
+wallet!) to make use of an app like this. And I liked _Stocard_ because it is _just an app_, by
+which I mean: no need for complicated accounts, logins and all of that. An account in _Stocard_ is
+optional, in case you want to make a backup of your cards in the cloud, which can be useful if you
+change phones. I myself did not have that feature, because I still have the original card of course.
+
+{{< image src="/img/dollar.png" float="left" width="6em" >}}
+
+Stocard betrayed its users. It sold itself to _Klarna_, some Swedish fintech company that provides
+online financial services. I'm sure the Stocard people made a lot of money. Klarna has now put a
+butter bar on the Stocard app (both for Marina on Android and for me on iPhone) that you **MUST**
+register with Klarna. They also inform us that our application will be destroyed in fourteen days.
+When logging in, they want _waaaay_ too much personal data: phone number, e-mail, age, gender,
+address, country, and what-not.
+
+Hey assholes: I don’t need another loan service, I don’t want another credit card, I don’t want
+unnecessary ads for stores that I don’t even know or use. And I have no idea why they decided it
+would be a good idea to get rid of the option to add loyalty cards to my Apple wallet or a widget. 
+
+A good alternative is SuperCards, Catima, or the one I chose [[Mobile
+Pocket](https://www.mobile-pocket.com/en/)] -- which, once again, is just an application for which I
+do not need to hand over my entire online history to some random fintech jackass company.  Just look
+at this utterly embarrassing "privacy" statement from that fintech bank
+[[ref](https://www.karmanow.com/privacy)].  I recommend you *never* use Stocard or any Klarna
+application, if you value your online identity and privacy.
+
+At 15:00 we make our way to the Zurich Airport. I'm still very pleased that we settled in
+Br&uuml;ttisellen, which is to the NorthEast of Zurich city, and about 8km (5mi) away from the
+airport. It's easy to get there by bus, train, car and bike. I've even jogged to and from it from
+time to time, it's that close!
+
+We have some time to kill before our flight at 18:55, but I make good use of it by writing my
+journal entries for earlier this week. The flight boards on time, leaves roughly on time, and makes
+it to Barcelona smoothly. We land there at 20:30. Instead of taking a car, Marina has scouted out
+how we might use the metro. Our hotel is in _Upper Diagonal_, which is just a few minutes walk from
+the terminal station of the T9 subway train, which goes from the airport directly to _Zona
+Universaria_ without any changes.
+
+It is a one hour commute though, and it seems SpongeBob is a bit nervous. He gently pops out his
+face from within my shoe from time to time. There's nothing to fear, little spongebuddy, and we
+arrive at 21:30, perfect time for a spot of dinner. We don't have to go far, because our hotel
+itself has a little restaurant in it. We settle down and ask for just what the Doctor ordered:
+tapas with red wine.
+
+Our hotel room is gorgeous, a king bed with a terrace! We got lucky on this one, I think! Tomorrow
+at 09:00, the ESNOG two day conferrence starts. Marina will be hanging out in the city as she has
+(pre-)bought tickets for the Picasso museum. She will visit a few museums and take in the
+architecture, while I nerd out and practice my Spanish a bit at ESNOG'32.
+
+## Pictures of the Day
+
+{{< gallery-category >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-23/IMG_2165.JPG" caption="Zurich Airport as seen from the inside." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-23/IMG_2170.JPG" caption="Spongebob socks, he is so cute <3" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-23/IMG_2171.JPG" caption="Our hotelroom in Upper Diagonal is not too shabby!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-23/IMG_2173.JPG" caption="Our dinner is tapas and wine - a staple for us when in Barcelona" >}}
+{{< /gallery-category >}}
+
+{{< gallery-modal >}}
+{{< gallery-script >}}

content/blog/wk13day4.md

@@ -1,7 +1,115 @@
 ---
-title: "Week 13, Thursday:"
+title: "Week 13, Thursday: ESNOG'32 Day 1"
 date: 2024-10-24T21:55:00+02:00
-draft: true
 ---
 
-{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/todo.png" alt="Credit: " >}}
+{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/kasger.png" alt="Credit: Kasger, YouTube" >}}
+
+We have descended upon Upper Diagonal in the North of Barcelona. It's a beautiful neighborhood, I
+can tell it's _upscale_ with large avenues lined with trees, big houses with well kept yards, and
+it's super clean. Did we land in the posh neighborhood? Our hotel is top notch, and I slept  really
+well last night. Marina will be visiting the Picasso, Miro and maybe a few others today. I will be
+joining the Spanish Network Operators Group _ESNOG_ for their 32nd rendition of a one and a half day
+meeting to exchange ideas, projects, proposals and industry updates with one another.
+
+I chose the hotel to be walking distance from the venue, which is the Barcelona university of
+technology, called the _Universitaria Politecnica de Catalunya_ or _UPC_ for short. The organizers
+have chosen a very handsome building which houses an auditorium for about two hundred people or so.
+There's a good eighty people at the venue today.
+
+I don't take breakfast at the hotel, and instead walk over to the UPC building through the park.
+It's a nice stroll and the weather is gorgeous out: light blue skies with a bright yellow Sun that
+is happy to see me. Once at the university, I am quickly checked in and take my seat. I've promised
+Carlos that I would avoid the social activity later today, just out of an abundance of caution even
+though I have tested negative for COVID'19 on the way out to Barcelona. Besides, Marina is with me
+and having a nice quiet dinner is also fun.
+
+The program is varied and quite interesting. We start off with Paolo Lucente of NTT who wants to
+share some modernization in a talk entitled Network Telemetry - Exploring Technologies and
+Advancements in Standardization. Eduardo Taboada is next - he literally _wrote the book_ on Proxmox:
+The Open Code Virtualization Solution for the Future. His narrative goes into the purpose, features,
+use cases and vision of virtualization.
+
+During the break for coffee, I meet a few of the other participants and we talk about our network,
+what we do, what we're working on. The coffee is outside in the back yard of the university, and
+there's some scones and little tartelettes: breakfast! After the break, Victor Serrano of Nokia
+disserts on "Lab as Code" with Nokia Containerlab. I realize that it may be a good idea to
+contribute VPP images to _Containerlab_, so that folks can add these machines and learn from them.
+
+Jose Antonio Montes is a telephony person - his talk is called "Put some FOSS on your VoIP". I'm
+reminded of the [[FrysIX Barbecue]({{< ref wk7day6.md >}})where I met Joran Osinga, who has built
+and shown/documented a fully working 5G radio network - we talked about it on (an upcoming episode
+of the) Fusix Podcast. Michela Galante continues with a talk showing how to update the Ripe Database
+information in an automated way using the API.
+
+As I take a quick bathroom break, I bump into Nick of Nexgen and he offers me a coffee. We sit and
+chat outside for a ltitle bit, talking about coherent optics, CWDM vs DWDM/OWDM and what new types
+of transmission in the 400GE arena are up and coming. It's super interesting to hear from Nexgen,
+and I'm sure IP-Max will be pleased as well as a new and very happy customer.
+
+Lunch is served in the yard - it's sliders, little finger food, fizzy drinks, mate, coffee/tea
+and water. I enjoy catching up with Luca Deri (the ntop tech-lead), and we talk about my current
+project in VPP to add sFlow. He's pretty excited about it, and makes me a promise: he intends to
+move the sFlow receiver to the open source [[ntopng](https://www.ntop.org/products/traffic-analysis/ntop/)]
+and I think that would be a wonderful feature! We also talk about an upcoming conference he is
+organizing in Zurich, for which he extends me an invitation to speak. Of course, Luca is still
+active at [[FOSDEM](https://fosdem.org/)] and will be kicking off the CfP for the network devroom
+soon. I may be interested to join - even though I find that FOSDEM is way too crowded and busy,
+they have significantly outgrown the capacity of the university in Brussels, but they're not
+interested in re-evaluating the attendee body "the more the merrier", but it's pretty clear to me
+that the organizers have lost touch with the situation on the ground: almost invariably if you're
+not _in_ a devroom at 08:30, you will be out of luck: moving between them is impossible, doors are
+closed because they are (over)full, and you end up watching the same talk online in the hallway.
+Really terrible user experience! But, joining the Network devroom and staying there the whole day, I
+can do that :)
+
+After lunch (which ends at 15:15, I still find that funny), Octavio Alfageme discusses a multicast
+protocol in a talk titled "What do we see tonight? BIER and the evolution of multicast distribution
+architectures.". I know that VPP has a BIER implementation - I should really look in to this a bit
+more, as multicast always was just a little bit out of reach for me. Maybe IPng Networks is a nice
+place to roll out some multicast or other.
+
+A set of peering updates is next. Maria Isabel Gandia of CATNIX is joined by Javier Achirica of
+ESPANIX. Although I've seen Isabel around, the DE-CIX slot remains empty. After these updates, we
+are joined by Christian Adell [who once gave me a book!], Design-Driven Source of Truth, the
+Complete Lifecycle which is a practical constraints-based automation to build and destroy network
+sites and point-to-point networks.
+
+Luca Deri closes out the day with a presentation (in English, _grazie mille_!) which showcases a
+range of tools and traffic inspection techniques that we have developed over the years. These
+innovations have been at the construction of a robust platform capable of delivering detailed
+network visibility at high-speed using standard, commodity hardware.
+
+At 18:15 or so I decide to take off - there's a beering session a little ways away from the
+university, and a dinner at 21:00; but I have dinner plans with Marina. We decide on a place called
+[[Casa Petra](https://www.casapetrarestaurante.com/menus)] which is not fancy, but very well done
+tapas. Our absolute favorite is a tomato tartar, which has a thick and rich flavor. I also enjoyed
+all the other dishes - boquerones (English: Anchovies) and Pan con Tomate (English: bread with
+tomato), the Jam&oacute;n Iberico (English: Iberian cured ham), and a fried artechoke with snippets
+of dried ham. And of course, the drop of wine from LaFou that went with the tapas.
+
+At 22:30 we get back to the hotel and Marina wants to finish watching her movie on the iPad. So, I
+decide to finish something I started a few days ago, and motivated by my conversation with Luca:
+completing the API for the `sFlow` plugin. Until now, we had only a few _setters_. I refator the
+code to rename them to `*_set()` calls, and accompany each with a pairing `*_get()` call. I also add
+a dumper command, to enumerate either one or all sFlow enabled interfaces. With that, I should be
+able to integrate the entire plugin cleanly in [[vppcfg](https://github.com/pimvanpelt/vppcfg.git)].
+I wrestle a little bit with the unit tests, and end up committing patchset
+[[#13](https://gerrit.fd.io/r/c/vpp/+/41680/12..13)] which still passes all integration tests.
+Whoot, Vino-Coding rocks :)
+
+Tomorrow morning there will be a tour of Mare Nostrum, a local barcelona supercomputer. Then at
+10:00, the second day of ESNOG'32 will start. I go to sleep a happy camper.
+ 
+## Pictures of the Day
+
+{{< gallery-category >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-24/IMG_2178.JPG" caption="A beautiful gate at the edge of Güell Pavilions in Barcelona, Catalonia." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-24/IMG_2179.JPG" caption="ESNOG'32 will be in the University of Technology - this building is stunning." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-24/IMG_2180.JPG" caption="The auditorium for ESNOG'32 which holds 200 or so, and has all the amenities one might wish for, including streaming capabilities" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-24/IMG_2182.JPG" caption="Eduardo's talk about ProxMox. I will receive a book from his hand tomorrow!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-24/IMG_2196.JPG" caption="The vegan tomato tartar which was the best thing on the menu. Delish!" >}}
+{{< /gallery-category >}}
+
+{{< gallery-modal >}}
+{{< gallery-script >}}

content/blog/wk13day5.md

@@ -1,7 +1,99 @@
 ---
-title: "Week 13, Friday:"
+title: "Week 13, Friday: ESNOG'32 Day 2"
 date: 2024-10-25T21:55:00+02:00
-draft: true
 ---
 
-{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/todo.png" alt="Credit: " >}}
+{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/relakzone.png" alt="Credit: Relak Zone, YouTube" >}}
+
+A few months ago, on Mastodon one Eduardo Collado approached me and he was asking about the FrysIX
+pins that I had made. If I could maybe send a couple to him, he'd gladgly distribute them at an
+upcoming ESNOG event. Upcoming event you say? How's about I come and bring them!? So I mailed the
+program committee and suggested to bring a presentation on VPP's ability to run Babel and OSPFv3
+without the need for IPv4 or IPv6 transit networks. They accepted, and here I am :)
+
+Yesterday, I lined up two opportunities to share my ongoing work on sFlow in VPP: one at FOSDEM'25,
+for which Luca Deri invited me to submit a _call for papers_; and another one about network
+telemetry and observability which Luca is organizing in Zurich. And so, it is proven once again,
+that NOGs are self-perpetuating. There's always somebody intersted in hearning nerdy stories and I'm
+always interested in telling them!
+
+This morning, a bunch of the participants went to visit the
+[[Marenostrum](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MareNostrum)] supercomputer at the _BSC_ (Barcelona
+Supercomputer Center). It is the most powerful supercomputer in Spain, one of thirteen
+supercomputers in the Spanish Supercomputing Network and one of the seven supercomputers of the
+European infrastructure PRACE (Partnership for Advanced Computing in Europe). It has ~166K CPU,
+390TB of memory and 14PB of storage and is rated to 1.3MWatt of power. The coolest thing ever: it's
+built into a former chapel named _Torre Girona_, at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia, where
+our event is being hosted.
+
+At 10:30 the program kicks off with Ismael Castell's thoughtful presentation about Discovering
+databrokers - Bringing to light hidden companies. This presentation resonated with me, as there's so
+much data gathering and inappropriate use of my (and our) personal data on the Internet. This is
+also why I've taken to _selfhosting_ (Mastodon, Peertube, NextCloud, Immich, Plausible, Roundcube,
+and several more).
+
+After a coffee break, Gerhard Stein of Flexoptix brings us some theory and practice about Coherent
+optical transceivers – current capabilities and future capabilities. Then, Jovana Palibrik of Kentik
+talks about the adoption of RPKI ROV - in particular a huge step-function jump after last year
+Orange misplaced its password and found its prefixes rerouted and hijacked. Manuel Mendez shared an
+industry update from Arista with a gazillion different flavors of 400GE optics.
+
+Then we had lunch - very similar to the one yesterday, and I had a chat with the Flexoptix folks. We
+talked about _Return to Office_, my sabbatical (and Andrea's too!); and the state of optical
+engineering. I personally would never have thought in the 90s when I studied this stuff, that it
+would become such a huge industry!
+
+After lunch, I was invited on stage to bring my presentation entitled VPP: A 100Gbps/100Mpps+
+BGP/OSPF router with a single IPv4 address. It was fun to present here - in English and at a
+reasonably slow pace - and answer a few questions at the end. It was
+[[recorded](https://video.ipng.ch/w/i4ibtvEkUmEE39mkCNeDzQ)] and the slides are
+[[online](https://go.ipng.ch/esnog32)] as well. I also lay out a set of IPng ntag-pins which find
+new homes with the participants of ESNOG'32 at the University of Technology.
+
+After my talk, Maria Isabel Gandia of CATNIX and Amadeo Beck-Pecoz of ESPANIX give some tips and
+tricks on how to peer _correctly_ in a talk entitled _Como sacar el máximo provecho de los puertos
+de peering en nodos neutros_ (English: How to make the most of peering ports in neutral nodes),
+after which there's one more social-cultural activity: a kahoot!
+
+The kahoot is a quiz with fifteen questions about technology and cultural references from the
+spanish internet industry and its pioneers. I participate in the kahoot and, despite my Spanish
+sucking (and delays due to having to translate ES->EN and then my answer back EN->ES), I manage to
+make the podium together with a player called _Edu_ (_Eduardo Taboada_ who was gracious to give me
+his book on Proxmox!) and a player called _IPv6_. I am over the moon that I managed to win here! I
+take the time to thank the ESNOG organizers, as they did a fantastic job with the logistics and the
+varied program. I really enjoyed myself!
+
+Then just like that, ESNOG'32 is over. It's 17:00 or so and I make my way back to the hotel, where
+Marina is already lounging and ready for an ap&eacute;ro. First, we take a little walk through the
+park and I call my Dad, who is celebrating his birthday today. My parents are doing good, they just
+got their flu and corona shots (good for them!) and they ask me about my COVID episode last week. We
+have a good conversation and say our goodbyes - they will be visiting us in Switzerland in December.
+
+At 20:00 we make our way to the city for dinner. It's a bit of a puzzle to find a place that has
+good tapas, is not too far away, and is affordable. We find a place, honesty not that great though,
+and we have our food and a bottle of _Arienzo_ wine from the house of Marques de Riscal. On the way
+back we see a local sight: _Zurich_, the insurance company, as well has an office in the Diagonal
+area of Barcelona.
+
+Back at the hotel it's 22:00 and we're both a bit tired. Marina has done a tonne of walking and
+museum-visiting today, and I spent the day up and about at ESNOG. Interestingly, my Apple watch
+informs me that I have closed all three rings (12h of standing, 30min of exercize, 950kCal of
+activity). I would not have thought that!
+
+## Pictures of the Day
+
+{{< gallery-category >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-25/marenostrum.png" caption="Picture of Marenostrum 4 in the chapel at UPC, Barcelona" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-25/IMG_2203.JPG" caption="A heart-shaped formation of a bunch of IPng ntag-pins, almost all of which got a new owner today." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-25/IMG_2205.JPG" caption="A selfie at the podium of the University of Tech, Barcelona, Catalunya." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-25/group.png" caption="A gorup picture of the ESNOG'32 participants." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-25/IMG_2209.JPG" caption="A selfie at the front door of the UPC Edifici Vertex building of UPC in Barcelona." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-25/kahoot.png" caption="I am giggly because I did not expect to win a Spanish spoken kahoot!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-25/IMG_2210.JPG" caption="The Pedralbes Royal Palace in Pedralbes quarter of Barcelona, Catalunya." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-25/IMG_2211.JPG" caption="A bottle of Rioja called Arienzo, from Marques de Riscal" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-25/IMG_2214.JPG" caption="A selfie of Marina and I in front of the Zurich insurance company in Diagonal, Barcelona." >}}
+{{< /gallery-category >}}
+
+{{< gallery-modal >}}
+{{< gallery-script >}}
+

content/blog/wk13day6.md

@@ -1,7 +1,78 @@
 ---
-title: "Week 13, Saturday:"
+title: "Week 13, Saturday: Barcelona to Zurich"
 date: 2024-10-26T21:55:00+02:00
-draft: true
 ---
 
-{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/todo.png" alt="Credit: " >}}
+{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/soulfulliquid-02.png" alt="Credit: Soulful Liquid, YouTube" >}}
+
+Ahhh what a wonderful few days in Barcelona. Yesterday when we went to bed, it started raining. Then
+at 02:00 or so, we both got abruptly woken up by a thunderclap just overhead. There was a bright
+flash of white and a very loud and immediate thunder. Wowza! I fell alseep pretty quickly after the
+excitement, but Marina spent a bit longer before being able to fall asleep. Stupid weather!
+
+This morning it's still raining, so we decide to take our breakfast in the hotel. It's a nice
+spread, Marina takes an _Americano_ and I take a _Mediterraneo_, and all sorts of yummy food is
+presented. We take our time eating it, as our checkout is only at noon, and we are not super keen on
+walking through the rain to the metro and then the airport.
+
+Marina sees an Aeronautical museum at the airport, but unfortunately it's open only until 13:00 on
+Saturdays. Not to worry, I have not seen much of the city on this particular trip, so I offer
+perhaps to go check out this little Gaudi wall a few blocks up from us. We find the wall and the
+statue of _Antoni Pl&agrave;cid Guillem Gaud&iacute; i Cornet_, as his full name rings. From here,
+we take our time walking through a light drizzle and decide to take a look at the museum for
+forbidden art - these are all artworks that were displayed at some point, but due to pressure,
+typically from old, straight, white, christian dudes, were demanded to be removed. I find some of it
+curious, other pieces are a bit pushy, and overall I think that old straight white christian dudes
+should just chill out more.
+
+After this small (but in my opinion, very cool) museum, it's still raining. So we walk over to a
+small cafe and have a cup of cappucino and share a red velvet cupcake. My body is sluggish and slow.
+My favorite activity would be curling into a ball and sleeping some more right now, so Marina goes
+easy on me. We slowly walk East to the _Arc de Triomf_ and from there through the promenade and into
+the park and towards the Equestrian statue of General _Joan Prim_.
+
+We have a drink at a small greek bar/restaurant, and from there it's pretty close to catch the metro
+at _Barceloneta_. We decide to minimze the rainy walk and take the metro L4 up to _Verdaguer_,
+where we descend like twelve escalators (not even kidding!) to catch the L5 metro to _Collblanc_ and
+from there it's easy: just jump onto the L9S directly to the airport. And all of this for a EUR 5.50
+train ticket. The public transport in this city is **excellent**!
+
+We are at the airport at about 17:30 for a 18:45 planeride. That means we should probably have some
+dinner before boarding. Marina insists that we eat Tapas, and since our buddy Ram&oacute;n had
+previously suggested we drink a wine from Priorat, we oblige. "One of everything!", is the order,
+and soon after there are seven dishes on our table.
+
+The food is really good - not just by "airport"-standards, but just in general: great preparation,
+nice and moist _tortilla_, crispy braised _padrones_, thinly sliced _jamon_, and six units of
+_croquetta_. We also enjoy the Priorat red wine and report back to the _Hardship Brotherhood_ on our
+progress.
+
+We finish our dinner and hop-skip to the gate, where the boarding has already started. We get into
+the plane, there is a bit of a kerfuffle on airplane seats - our assigned seat does not exist
+because they changed the aircraft. We are not alone, and one set of people even got assigned _the
+same_ seat. Hilarity ensued but in the end, everybody managed to sit.  Our flight home is
+_tranquillo_, and we land at Zurich airport at about 21:20, and are home at about 22:00 or so.
+
+We catch up with Quinn who has enjoyed the time 'off of parents', probably more so than I enjoyed
+the time 'off of son', and we open up the gazillion packages in the mail. Marina went to town on
+Aliexpress it seems. I also may have ordered a package or two :)
+
+## Pictures of the Day
+
+{{< gallery-category >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-26/IMG_2215.JPG" caption="The breakfast spread at Upper Diagonal on Saturday morning - yummy!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-26/IMG_2216.JPG" caption="This small wall with gate made by Gaudi is a lesser known treasure of the city" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-26/IMG_2218.JPG" caption="Gaudi's artwork in the city landscape cannot be ignored in Barcelona, Catalonia." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-26/IMG_2220.JPG" caption="The museum of Forbidden Art shows all sorts of pieces that had been previously banned" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-26/IMG_2221.JPG" caption="We shared a red velvet cupcake at a local bakery" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-26/IMG_2225.JPG" caption="The Arc de Triomf in Barcelona, Catalonia" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-26/IMG_2226.JPG" caption="Quinn loves pibbins, so I sent him a picture of a few we found in Barcelona, Catalonia" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-26/IMG_2228.JPG" caption="The train station of Francia just north of Barceloneta, Barcelona, Catalonia." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-26/IMG_2229.JPG" caption="In the subway we took twelve escalators down into the core of the Earth, to get to the L5 train" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-26/IMG_2230.JPG" caption="At the airport, we go 'Baby, one more time', and drink a wine from Priorat." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-26/IMG_2233.JPG" caption="Our tapas at the airport is delicious, and we thoroughly enjoy it, albeit quickly" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-26/IMG_2237.JPG" caption="Our Vueling airplane has changed, so lots of folks including us no longer have valid seats" >}}
+{{< /gallery-category >}}
+
+{{< gallery-modal >}}
+{{< gallery-script >}}

content/blog/wk13day7.md

@@ -1,7 +1,89 @@
 ---
-title: "Week 13, Sunday:"
+title: "Week 13, Sunday: Padel!"
 date: 2024-10-27T21:55:00+02:00
-draft: true
 ---
 
-{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/todo.png" alt="Credit: " >}}
+{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/kasger-02.png" alt="Credit: Kasger, YouTube" >}}
+
+I woke up at 08:30 after a tremendous sleep. I love sleeping in my own bed, the difference between
+its comfort is most apparent just after I return from a trip abroad. This morning I have a sportsing
+date with Johhny and Mari. A while ago, maybe half a year by now, Johnny mentioned that he's into
+[[Padel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Padel)], a racket sport of Mexican origin, typically played
+in doubles on an enclosed court slightly smaller than a doubles tennis court. 
+
+It feels fitting to play this game precisely today, as I understand it's the second most popular
+game in Spain, second only to football. Seeing as I just got back from Spain, I may as well :) I
+drive over to _Milandia_ and enter the Padel hall to find a jolly Mari and Johnny already there. I
+have never played this game before, but I have played both tennis and squash, so I think I will get
+the jist of it 🎾. Mari and I have to go rent a racket, and it becomes apparent that Johnny hasn't
+played particularly often with his: the price tag is still on his racket :)
+
+It's a super fun game! We are only three, so we take turns ganging up on a singleton. The trick
+seems to be moderating power. It's very easy to whack the ball against the back wall (it has to
+bounce on the court first), or thwack it out of the court, and onto the next team's court. This
+happens to us a few times, but we are not alone. We also sometimes welcome a foreign ball onto our
+court as well. 
+
+We have the court for one hour and trust me: that's plenty. I am still coughing a bit from the cold
+remaining after my long week of travels (NLNOT and ESNOG). My heart rate goes up to 160 at times,
+but is usually in the 130s which is tolerable. After the 55min of game time, I seem to have burned
+680kCal and my body is super happy. Well, it also hurts like a _mofo_,  but it is thankful that I
+have put it through its paces. And I am not alone: we set a date for next week Sunday 3rd and the
+10th as well. Mari and I debate buying a racket, but we both think we should maybe play a little bit
+more first. I make her a deal: I will buy her a racket if we play ten times. She reciprocates and
+offers to buy me a racket also. Deal!
+
+At home, Quinn is gathering a box of stuff from the basement. Next week is Hallowe'en, and we are
+practicioners. Remember we bought a few metric tonnes of candy last [[week]({{< ref wk12day4.md >}})]?
+Well, we'll be making little baggies for the kids who come to trick-or-treat at our door.  Quinn
+makes quick work of decorating the front yard with spider webs, our Elza ghoul and a bunch of
+stay-out tape. I add copious amounts of spiders to the webbing and overall think it looks wonderful.
+
+Back inside, I am reminded of a chore I gave myself: tending to my geocache called
+[[Schüracherstutz](https://coord.info/GC657NY)], the container of which has gone missing a while
+ago. I create a new one and add a logbook to it, and make my way over to the little one. Marina asks
+me on the way out to get a bottle of milk in case she needs it for tonight's dinner. I bike over to
+GZ and replace the geocache, then to the Coop Pronto to get some milk, and then through a light
+afernoon Sun back home where Marina has started making a second helping of _Vol au Vent_.
+
+Last week, we were supposed to have Jan-Christiaan and Sandra over for dinner and they were very
+much looking forward to this _Vol au Vent_. In the end, I ate some in our guest room during
+isolation when I was in the full-on [[sick period]({{< ref wk12day6.md >}})]. I couldn't taste a
+thing, and as such, had to report that I did not enjoy it. But lucky me! I get a second chance :)
+
+I prepare for us a soup of butternut pumpkin. This soup has only the pumpkin, one onion and a few
+cups of vegetable stock. I will season it with home made croutons and roasted pumpkin seeds with
+salt. It'll be great. Marina mean while makes little meatballs and cuts the chicken for the sauce.
+She will also be making mocca ice cream with little pieces of Oreo. I'm sure JC and Sandra can
+appreciate that, being the proud owners of oreo.nl.
+
+Our guests arrive at 17:00, on the dot. You can tell we're not the only ones that are _Swissing_! We
+catch up over a suitable _ap&eacute;ro_ of Mattei Cap Corsa, a corsican drink which we first enjoyed
+at their place a few months ago. Before dinner, I show them the flight simulator and take a little
+loop flight from LSMD to LSMD, showing lakes of Greiffensee and Pfaffikersee before turning around
+and landing again. It's a quick tour sharing what I've learned so far of the controls and cockpit.
+
+Dinner is enjoyed. The main course is to die for: I definitely missed out last week, as Marina says
+it tastes exactly the same [no, it doesn't]. The _Vol au Vent_ is fantastic. We chat about work,
+travel, the vacation to the northern american continent that Sandra and JC made, as well as the city
+trips that Marina and I have made over this last Fall. The desert is a mocca ice cream which Marina
+has made herself with her trusty rusty ice cream machine: a good investment!
+
+We agreed not to make it too late today; Sandra and Quinn both have to go to work tomorrow morning
+and JC will be traveling to Dublin. So we go easy on the sauce and by 21:00 or so, we say our
+goodbyes. Marina and I watch one episode of _Lilyhammer_ (my favorite episode by the way, the one
+which takes place in Gjendesheim): Roar gets saved, the brittons take a swim in lake Gjende, and you
+can just see Memurubu and [[Besseggen](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Besseggen)] (which is my
+favorite place on Earth) and Jonny thugs his way through Muriburiland
+
+## Pictures of the Day
+
+{{< gallery-category >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-27/IMG_2239.JPG" caption="Johny, Mari and me after an hour's worth of Padel. That was good fun, let's do it again!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-27/IMG_2241.JPG" caption="Quinn has decorated our front yeard, inviting the kids over for a trick-or-treat later this week" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-27/IMG_2243.JPG" caption="I'm doing geocaching container maintenance and need to replace my Schuracherstutz one" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-27/IMG_2245.JPG" caption="The Vol au Vent is delicious - thank you, Marina!" >}}
+{{< /gallery-category >}}
+
+{{< gallery-modal >}}
+{{< gallery-script >}}

content/blog/wk14day1.md

@@ -1,7 +1,67 @@
 ---
-title: "Week 14, Monday:"
+title: "Week 14, Monday: Last Week!"
 date: 2024-10-28T21:55:00+02:00
-draft: true
 ---
 
-{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/todo.png" alt="Credit: " >}}
+{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/noraenpure-12.png" alt="Credit: Nora en Pure, YouTube" >}}
+
+I have to say I'm a little bit melancholic seeing that today, week fourteen of my sabbatical, has
+started. My journal is going to be perhaps a bit of an anti climax because I have promised myself
+that in the last week I would not do very many things, but just recompress after having been able to
+let my mind roam free for so many days.
+
+In all my years as an adult, I've never had a vacation longer than three weeks. Ever since working
+at Google, and I started in 2006 mind you, I have mostly spent school vacations traveling with my
+family - in the before times this was to the San Francisco Bay Area, sometimes as well to Sydney
+Australia. I would work mostly, and in the weekends we'd do fun stuff together as a family.
+
+I'm now looking back at the time I spent off-corp, and it's difficult to overstate how valuable it
+has been for me. I've gotten to finish a few projects that have been quietly and patiently waiting
+for my attention in the dusty corner of my work room. I've traveled quite a bit and enjoyed the
+company of many friends, family and network engineers. I also finally cleaned my room&trade;, and I
+got a Roomba vacuum robot called _Suckel_ to help me keep my room tidy. I played wiht lego, although
+not as much as I would've liked. Marina and I drank many martini's in the back yard while the Summer
+was blessing us with good weather, but I did not get to re-design and work on our garden. Tim helped
+me, as an emotional support animal and subject matter expert, to get my flight simulator up and
+running, and I've clocked 20hrs or so of flight time in it. Yesterday I ordered two 31.5" screens
+which will serve as the left and right window. I find VFR difficult without having a lateral view
+out the window of my little simplane. Would you believe those screens were only CHF 120,- apiece?
+Unbelievable!
+
+In the morning I cut a new release of my KVM image for VPP, Bird2 and FRR 10.1. I've included the
+`sFlow` plugin, a working `hsflowd` and some tools like `psampletest` and `sflowtool` in the image.
+While testing, I started an [[Akvorado](https://github.com/akvorado/akvorado)] instance to validate
+that things work. I think there's still a few small things we need to take care of, notably around
+SNMP information and perhaps a few fields in the sFlow counters (such as interface state and speed).
+And for the Akvorado data model, I'll want to feed it some BGP information using
+[[BMP](https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc7854)] so that things like prefixes and
+source/destination AS numbers are known. But, it's a start, and it works.
+
+In the afternoon I spent some time with the simulator. My buddy Luuk pinged me on Signal, and he'll
+be renting a plane this week, intending to fly it up from Lugano where he lives, to Wangen-Lachen,
+airport [[LSPV](https://www.flugplatzwangen.ch/)]. All we need is a bit of good weather, and today
+it's gorgeous out! In the sim, I'm doing attitude control, controlled turns and flying patterns. I
+find it very difficult to keep my altitude, perhaps also because there is no motion feedback in the
+simulator (ie, I don't feel myself going up or down). But I'll get the hang of it, eventually.
+
+There's still a flurry of requests for FreeIX Remote. Lancom in Greece has offered capacity on their
+100G wave from Thessaloniki to Amsterdam, and will be giving all of their local FreeIX Greece
+members (there are half a dozen for the moment), free access to the NIKHEF exchanges. FreeIX Remote
+is slowly growing, with currently 210K IPv4 prefixes and 64K IPv6 prefixes. Not bad for a peer :)
+
+Marina makes a non-typical but delicious meal! She takes butternut squash and onions roasted in the
+oven, with goat's cheese and cured ham on a bed of arugula with a light vinaigrette. She asks me if
+I can fry a beef _Limousin_ steak, which I happily oblige. Together, this makes for a very tasty
+dinner indeed! After dinner, we watch some news and settle down on the couch for a few episodes of
+Lilyhammer.
+
+## Pictures of the Day
+
+{{< gallery-category >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-28/akvorado.png" caption="Akvorado on a testbed with four VPP machines" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-28/IMG_2247.JPG" caption="Marina's delicious dinner: ham, goat cheese, squasch and rocket" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-28/IMG_2248.JPG" caption="To accompany Marina's salad: Limousin filet mignon with Chicago rub" >}}
+{{< /gallery-category >}}
+
+{{< gallery-modal >}}
+{{< gallery-script >}}

content/blog/wk14day2.md

@@ -1,7 +1,69 @@
 ---
-title: "Week 14, Tuesday:"
+title: "Week 14, Tuesday: Patches Galore"
 date: 2024-10-29T21:55:00+02:00
-draft: true
 ---
 
-{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/todo.png" alt="Credit: " >}}
+{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/dreamscape-03.png" alt="Credit: Dreamscape, Kush Sessions, YouTube" >}}
+
+This morning my buddy Arend sends me a message on Telegram - and asks me if I can check the port in
+Qupra. Oh my deity, it's finally happening! After the general assembly of Coloclue approved a
+member's petition to allow members to install cross connects at Qupra, a few months of "kastje, muur"
+happened, and the networking committee and association board reached an agreement on how this would
+happen.
+
+A few months after that, Arend tried to install a crossconnect but we weren't ready paper-wise. I
+brought it back to the attention of the networking committee and we identified the missing pieces: a
+patch panel with keystones needed to be installed in each rack (and it was only available in two of
+the racks at the time), and a change to the administrative database needed to be added to document
+which members had which crossconnects.
+
+Tim took care of the first thing - he ordered the panels and keystones and went to the datacenter to
+install them. I offered to take careo f the second thing - but since the administrative database has
+need-to-know information, our treasurer Arjan preferred to add the records himself. Once these two
+things were taken care of, all I had to do is wait for a practical moment :) I had planned to deploy
+the fiber myself last week, but I had to cancel my trip to Amsterdam due to the COVID situation.
+
+So I was surprised and delighted that Arend pinged me. The Qupra FrysIX switch was pre-configured,
+and all that was left was to plug things in. Arend made quick work of it, and as well put in the
+cross connect for a few other members at Coloclue, he's such a sweetheart! For me, this link will be
+used to alleviate the hypervisor at Equinix AM3, as it is running low on disk throughput due to me
+using Samsung consumer SSDs. I shipped Arend a few enterprise SAS SSDs before, but he hasn't gotten
+around to deploying them yet. More importantly, the AM3 hypervisor runs FrysIX routeserver, LibreNMS
+and IXPManager.
+
+After the Qupra gig, Arend made his way to NIKHEF where he installed the FrysIX patch for FreeIX
+Remote, directly into the VPP router `nlams0.net.free-ix.net`. That router now has LSIX, SpeedIX,
+and FrysIX connected. I spend some time bringing FreeIX Remote AS50869 into quarantine and then into
+the production VLAN. That's a benefit of running the IXP: I get to expedite my own connections :)
+
+Now that the FreeIX Remote router is connected to FrysIX, I allocate a private VLAN between it and
+IPng's infrastructure. This allows me to create a VPWS (L2VPN, Ethernet over MPLS) on IPng's MPLS
+switches `msw0.nlams0` and `msw1.chrma0` from this router in Amsterdam to the one I already installed
+in Zurich. iBGP comes up, and there are now three routers in play (`nlams0`, `chrma0`, and
+`grskg0`), and amongst them, they know about 207K IPv4 prefixes and 64.7K IPv6 prefixes, and all of
+them can be reached via direct or routeserver peering. How cool is that?
+
+
+```
+pim@nlams0:~$ birdc show route count
+BIRD v2.15.1-4-g280daed5-x ready.
+800934 of 800934 routes for 207438 networks in table master4
+449754 of 449754 routes for 64696 networks in table master6
+1501107 of 1501107 routes for 500369 networks in table t_roa4
+364077 of 364077 routes for 121359 networks in table t_roa6
+Total: 3115872 of 3115872 routes for 893862 networks in 4 tables
+```
+
+In the evening I send a maintenance announcement out to FrysIX members: in the night of Wednesday to
+Thursday of this week, I will move the routeserver RS2 and the IXPManager over to the hypervisor
+at Qupra, which now sports a 10G connection to the FrysIX peering switch there. I have plumbed the
+management VLAN 264 and the Quarantine 2605 and the Peering LAN 2604 through to the hypervisor.
+
+I practice by moving `nms.frys-ix.net` over - this is a non-intrusive change. Using ZFS block device
+replication, I can pump over the boot disk with about 110MB/s, because the hypervisor itself has
+"only" a one gigabit connection. I boot the VM, and it comes up cleanly. Nice. I spend a few hours
+preparing the move of the other two machines (RS2 and IXPManager), which are service impacting. But
+I can start by making a snapshot of the block devices, copy their data over ahead of time, and then
+copy a final snapshot incrementally.
+
+Today was a good day for FrysIX :)

content/blog/wk14day3.md

@@ -1,7 +1,77 @@
 ---
-title: "Week 14, Wednesday:"
+title: "Week 14, Wednesday: Candy and FrysIX Moves"
 date: 2024-10-30T21:55:00+02:00
-draft: true
 ---
 
-{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/todo.png" alt="Credit: " >}}
+{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/aurora.png" alt="Credit: Aurora, YouTube" >}}
+
+Today I did pretty much nothing :) I spent a bunch of time in the flight simulator flying circuits
+and trying to keep my altitude. Also I did about twenty (flyby) approaches where I would try to have
+a sink rate of 400ft/min and 60kts with flaps at 10 degrees. The airplane is sluggish at this speed,
+so there's a bit of a delay before the correct attitude is reached. Think of it as a really slow PID
+controller. I'm still pretty terrible at it, but at least I am putting the airplane down in one
+piece. Doing visual approach is really difficult by the way, because looking left and right is a bit
+awkward. Seeing as my spiffy video card has four monitor outputs, I think I'll try to get my hands
+on some cheap screens that could serve as left and right windows.
+
+After lunch I take another look at the `sFlow` plugin - for some reason it is emitting large
+interface IDs (1e9 + hw_if_index), but Neil has written it such that if a Linux Control Plane pair
+exists, it'll use the Linux vif_index. Clearly that isn't happening, and I have a pending call with
+him tonight to try to get to the bottom of it.
+
+In the late afternoon, Quinn Marina and I draw smiley faces on our halloween candy baggies, and fill
+them with an inordinate amount of candy. We make 120 baggies, as in previous years, we've often been
+able to offload 100+ of these things to the neighborhood kids, the weather is going to be good
+tomorrow, and Quinn decorated our front porch in a very inviting way: I'm sure the kids will enjoy
+it, but not as much as we will, methinks :)
+
+After dinner, Marina and I watch some news, and then I retire to the basement for my call. I futz a
+bit with the audio, but eventually am able to greet Peter and Neil. We talk about a few operational
+details, notably:
+
+1.   the ability of the `hsflowd` to send its update traffic from a network namespace different to
+the main one (because VPP wants to run in a `dataplane` netns). The tool already supports this,
+yaay!
+1.   if samples are received before the interface counters (with their respective interface IDs
+mapped to the Linux Control Plane vif_index'es, then those samples will arrive at the collector with
+these if_index values of 1000000001 and so on. This will make tools like Akvorado try to retrieve
+SNMP indexes with that - but they won't exist and this is a bug. Neil agrees, and will inhibit
+sending of samples until after the first counter for an interface is found
+1.   a propose the large numbers, they are repeatably and permanemently `1e9+idx` for me, while they
+should really be the LCP vif_index. We add some debug logging, but it doesn't trigger. Then we run
+out of time and we promise each other we'll both look into it offline.
+
+All in all, a super productive meeting, and once again I learned a tonne.
+
+At 23:00 I need to complete the move of the FrysIX virtual machines from my hypervisor at Equinix
+AM3 to another one at Qupra, which Arend connected to FrysIX infrastructure yesterday. This move is
+important, because the SSDs in the AM3 hypervisor are crappy, while the ones in Qupra are enterprise
+SAS-12 SSDs from NetApp: much faster, must higher write rate, much longer durability (famous last
+words).
+
+I take a snapshot copy of `rs2.frys-ix.net` first, and copy that VM to its new spot, but disconnect
+the FrysIX port, by moving the virtio network card from the FrysIX bridge group to an empty bridge
+group. I boot it, and upgrade it from Debian Bullseye to Debian Bookworm while I'm here. I have it
+download its config and at 23:00 exactly, I shutdown the old `rs2` and connect the virtio network
+interface to FrysIX in the new spot. Finally, I add VLAN 2604 (production) and 2605 (quarantine) to
+the port in Qupra, and a few seconds later we're fully online. The migration of `rs2` took about 150
+seconds of downtime. Not bad, eh??
+
+The IXPManager virtual machine is a bit larger, but thanks to ZFS block device snapshots I can make
+an incremental ZFS transfer, halt the old `ixpmanager` VM, quickly `zfs send | zfs recv`  the last
+bits from the penultimate snapshot to HEAD, and boot the VM on its new spot. The IXPManager comes up
+within 10 minutes or so. All in all, the maintenance window lasted from 23:00-23:35 and I was quite
+happy with the results.
+
+## Pictures of the Day
+
+{{< gallery-category >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-30/IMG_2249.JPG" caption="The MS Flight Simulator with an ad-hoc righthand side window, easier to see the airport when doing righthand patterns. Need another screen :)" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-30/IMG_2250.JPG" caption="We are filling candy baggies for the trick-or-treat'ers tomorrow. We expect one hundred or so kids." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-30/IMG_2253.JPG" caption="The amount of sugar we are pumping into the youth in Bruttisellen is .. significant." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-30/IMG_2254.JPG" caption="The empty distribution-sized bags from Aligro. That's ... a lot of sugar." >}}
+{{< /gallery-category >}}
+
+{{< gallery-modal >}}
+{{< gallery-script >}}
+

content/blog/wk14day4.md

@@ -1,7 +1,103 @@
 ---
-title: "Week 14, Thursday:"
+title: "Week 14, Thursday: Hallowe'en"
 date: 2024-10-31T21:55:00+02:00
-draft: true
 ---
 
-{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/todo.png" alt="Credit: " >}}
+{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/nicky-havey.png" alt="Credit: Nicky Havey, YouTube" >}}
+
+Today is Hallowe'en! When we moved to Br&uuml;ttisellen in 2006, it was _not_ a thing. Over the
+years, a few of us would decorate our houses, but most of the kids were not really with the program:
+no trick or treating, no dressing up in scary costumes, nothing. But when we bought our place in
+2015, we we decided to really decorate in the week of Hallowe'en. These days, kids will come round,
+sometimes in small groups, sometimes in very large ones, parents and all. Many of them still don't
+really know what they are doing: ring doorbell --> get candy. The German way to say _trick or treat_
+by the way is _s&uuml;sses oder saures_ (English: sweet or sour) which I find hilarious because if
+you say "well I choose sour!", the kid will look at you as if you're crazy: "Sir, this is where you
+hand over the candy?!".
+
+> You have much to learn, Switzerland, but I love you!
+
+We have lots of candy in our baggies, we have Elza (our door-ghoul), spiders and lots of spider
+webs, and some UV lights to give them a spooky glow-in-the-dark feeling. I will be dressing up in a
+black hoodie with a _zipperface_, which takes a while to prepare for, but really hits the spot with
+freaking out the children.
+
+In the morning, the doorbell rings at 09:00 and oh look, a package! It's a rather huge package, the
+size of a small refridgerator... in it are two 32" curved screen displays, which I bought for the
+low low price of CHF 120,- apiece! It's amazing how affordable this stuff is! I unpack them, which
+takes actually quite a long time, and take care of the cardboard and styrofoam carnage that ensues.
+After my hard work, two screens are available for the flight sim.
+
+OK, this thing will need to move, because hanging off a screen on the left and right hand side of
+the main screen will make the simulator a lot wider. Luckily, I have a spot, sort of, in the server
+room. There's an unused desk there which I move out of the way. I then move the simulator into the
+room and Marina helps me measure how high the left/right screen need to be. It turns out, 96cm is
+the sweet spot.
+
+I have a few hours left before I need to change my appearance, so after a quick lunch I go to the
+Ikea, as they happen to have a 60cm x 96cm x 30cm cabinet called _Spiksmed_. Did you know that
+almost all the IKEA product names are fake Swedish words? My IKEA in Dietlikon has exactly two of
+these _Spiksmed_ units, so I grab them! The trip takes me only twenty minutes, because I don't have
+to go through the whole maze of the store, rather I can just purchase these items and move to the
+_Warenausgabe_ (English: Goods Distribution), and these little ones are quickly in hand.
+
+At home, the cabinets are pretty quickly assembled, and while I don't have time to play with the
+simulator, I do manage to connect it all and project a left- and righthand door + window on these
+two screens. It looks ... absolutely stunning. Very, very immersive!
+
+Marina interrupts my fun in the basement and suggests that I shave before dressing up, because the
+zipper-face uses latex to glue onto the skin, and I don't want to feel the burn of a brazilian
+face-wax later when removing it. So I shower and shave and put some skin lotion on my face. The plan
+is:
+
+*   15:00-15:45 Marina gives Pim a Zipper Face
+*   15:45-16:15 Pim goes to get Quinn. Marina converts into Sally (from the Nightmare before Christmas)
+*   16:15-17:00 Pim and Quinn return.
+*   17:00-18:00 Marina turns Quinn into Tate Langdon (from American Horror Story)
+*   17:30-18:00 Pim makes dinner
+*   18:00-18:15 Dinner had
+*   18:15-22:30 Freak out the neighborhood kids.
+
+For dinner I make baked beans, potatoes and a chicken schnitzel, it's a simple meal but we don't
+have much time to eat. Most of the younger kids will want to be in bed at 19:00 or so, as it's a
+school night (remember those? School nights, heh). I apply some extra bloody gore after dinner, and
+drink water through a straw. Marina puts on her Sally-wig and grabs Zero, the floating ghost-dog. 
+
+It's fair to say we freak the kids out. It's funny to me because I've seen grownups, teens and
+toddlers all keep their distance and kind of refuse to approach the door. They don't know what's
+going to happen. One set of teenage girls stood a good three meters (ten feet) from the door, and
+when Marina said they had to come get their candy, one of them said - I kid you not - "Oh, no I'm
+good over here, you can throw us the bag of candy, kthx". But we made them approach, anyway :)
+
+Marina and I take an evening stroll through the neighborhood. There's about ten houses or so that
+really put themselves out there; and about twenty houses that are approachable (although, honestly:
+if you want to participate in trick or treating, you really should decorate your house!). It's
+pretty clear to find our house, and many kids do. Some even twice. Or three times.
+
+Quinn and I also take a walk and I often ask him: "Hey Quinn, can I eat that kid over there?", and
+Quinn plays his part too, walking with a cane but then lunging at kids screaming at them. So many
+heart attacks were had. I love it.
+
+At about 22:00 we call it a night. A cute thing about Switzerland is the so called _Nachtruhe_
+(English: night rest), which is a federal law to avoid street noises after 22:00. So we turn off the
+lights and UV, and finish watching the _Adam's Family_ movie that Marina put on while Quinn and I
+were out taking a walk and scaring the neighborhood kids.
+
+We had so much fun today - I'm glad.
+
+## Pictures of the Day
+
+{{< gallery-category >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-31/IMG_2257.JPG" caption="All the baggies of candy for tonight's trick-or-treating. We expect many kids." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-31/IMG_2258.JPG" caption="The Digitec package is big enough to hold a fridge. In it: two 32 inch monitors for my flight simulator." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-31/IMG_2262.JPG" caption="I've set up these monitors as left- and right facing doors + wings in the cockpit. I line up the horizon so that it's a smooth transition from left to center to right." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-31/IMG_2265.JPG" caption="Marina is starting to apply the zipper to my face. The latex stinks (really bad, of ammonia, and it burns the skin We suffer for our art)." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-31/IMG_2285.JPG" caption="Zero is ready to float around with Marina, who is going as Sally." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-31/IMG_2286.JPG" caption="My Zipper-face and Quinn's Tate" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-31/IMG_2287.JPG" caption="Marina's Sally and my Zipper-face" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-10-31/IMG_2292.JPG" caption="Our front porch has spider webs and lots of creepy crawlies. The webs are illumated with UV light which makes them glow in the dark" >}}
+{{< /gallery-category >}}
+
+{{< gallery-modal >}}
+{{< gallery-script >}}
+

content/blog/wk3day4.md

@@ -1,7 +1,99 @@
 ---
-title: "Week 3, Thursday:"
+title: "Week 3, Thursday: Wireless mic, Cameo ES Mat"
 date: 2024-08-15T21:55:00+02:00
-draft: true
 ---
 
 {{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/dancekowski-02.png" alt="Credit: Hoer Berlin, Youtube" >}}
+
+This morning I got something fun in the mail - I ordered an electrostatic mat for the Silhouette
+Cameo. The way it (normally) works, is there is a plastic 12" x 12" cutting mat, which has a low
+tack side to which you stick the material to be scored or cut. Then you feed it into the machine and
+it does its work. Afterwards, you peel off the material from the mat. That's okay, I guess, but the
+material easily damaged because the low tack mat, especially when it's new, is not exactly _low_! 
+
+Silhouette has made a gizmo which I think is pretty cool: on the Cameo v5 there are three power pins
+on the front of the machine, and to that power I can connect a plastic tray which has a sliding mat
+which is electrostatically charged. There's a little button with a green LED which turns on and off
+the charge pump, and the paper (or vinyl) pretty much immediately locks into place. After cutting, I
+can turn off the static charge, wait a few seconds, and the paper comes loose again. So cool! Now,
+cutting very small details on paper is much easier than before, because there's no chance of ripping
+or damaging the cut material. Well done, Silhouette!
+
+Marina is off to the _Maag Halle_ today, to see an exhibit on Leonardo da Vinci. Me, I'm going to
+finish the configuration of the Arista switches that I deployed yesterday in R&uuml;lang; and
+Glattbrugg. Before I do so, I extensively play with another thing that I got in the mail (and aluded
+to, yesterday) -- the Hollystar Lark M2 wireless microphones. It takes me a small while to get them
+to a point where they are good to go. 
+
+The mics are super tiny, maybe eight grams of weight with a magnet or clip to put them on the collar
+of my polo. They sound good out of the box, but some tweaking in the OBS settings make them sound a
+fair bit better. They are pretty sensitive, and rather easily pick up the sound coming from the
+monitor speakers, so it takes me a few trials before I'm happy with them.
+
+I break for lunch - which is simply tossing all of the vegetables and beef from yesterday into a
+Miso soup with ramen noodles. It's a rich broth with soy sauce, miso paste, red chilli paste, beef
+bouillon, and the kit'n'caboodle of leftovers from yesterday. And oh, is it good!
+
+After lunch, I take out `bs01.zrh35` for a spin, and configure it, taking notes. Spoiler - I did
+this to learn a bit about the switch configs, as this is the first time that I get up close and
+personal with an Arista EOS. I have a lot of fun
+[[exploring](https://null.53bits.co.uk/index.php?page=arista-hardware-overview)] and
+[[comparing](https://null.53bits.co.uk/index.php?page=hardware-overview-2)] to
+what I know (IOS/XR, IOS, Centec NOS, and Juniper). After an hour or two I think I got it, and
+that's why the video of me configuring its counter part `bs01.zrh56` may come across as well
+organized:
+
+{{< video src="/media/vdo/2024-08-15_13-34-42_16.5.46.mp4" >}}
+
+Compared to the R&oslash;de microphone, the Hollyland Lark M2 button mics are not as pristine of a
+sound, _but_, and this is actually quite important for me, I can wear them and move freely around
+the room, and the audio level and quality is the same everywhere. That's actually quite nice, so
+I approve of my purchase after recording the video :)
+
+By the way, you can regularly see me in this habitat on the weekends, as IPng has lots of tasks like
+this one (although there, I typically would automate it in _Kees_ pretty quickly, to avoid mistakes
+and create consistency). 
+
+Then I pull out the ES Mat for the Cameo, which interestingly comes with no manual. In hindsight,
+that should not surprise me, as all I have to do is click the tray onto the Cameo, and press the
+button for ON and OFF. OK, I think I can do that - I immediately put it to work by cutting the IPng
+logo in white out of some Oracal vinyl, and then again out of IPng-red vinyl. These will go on the
+two Hollyland mics (pictured below), one for a dark outfit, and the other for when I'm wearing a
+lighter top. I can't help but think that addin the ability to sticker over the logo on the mic
+is a nice touch - Good job, [[Hollyland](https://www.hollyland.com/product/lark-m2)]!
+
+Marina comes home and has a video call with the folks from BadgeMatic, and they diagnose the faulty
+stamp. Anja is super friendly and agrees to send a replacement stamp our way, and we'll return this
+one to them. I decide to celebrate this by offering Marina a G&T; elderberry flavored with a side of
+salami. We sit in the yard and admire the growth of our hazel - sitting under it in the shade and
+reading a book may be in my future, some day.
+
+We have a pasta _puttanesca_, which Marina demands to prepare without my "help" (as somehow I tend
+to mess it up?!), and we nom it. After dinner, Quinn goes his merry way and Marina and I watch some
+TV. She has found a belgian police series called _Coppers_ and we watch the first two episodes of
+season one. It's nice that it's in Flemish, and the episodes are standalone _Krimi_ style stories.
+
+Did you know that if you take a sufficient amount of frogs and feed them magic mushrooms, that they
+will successfully attack and eat up two life-sized sharks? See the pictures below for my empirical
+evidence to back my claim. 
+
+After watching two episodes it's only 22:30 but I am bushed. I decide to punt on writing my story
+until tomorrow, and turn in early for the day.
+
+## Pictures of the Day
+
+{{< gallery-category >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-15/IMG_0660.JPG" caption="A tasty miso and beef ramen, made from leftover veggies" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-15/IMG_0662.JPG" caption="The ES Mat that arrived, fits on the front of the Cameo, and holds paper in place using electrostatic force - it works well!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-15/IMG_0661.JPG" caption="Look at the detailed cut of Cameo 5, it's cut out a vinyl logo of 21mm and it looks beautiful" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-15/IMG_0665.JPG" caption="I cut one red and one white logo, so I can mix and match on lighter and darker outfits. I'm such a fashionista!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-15/IMG_0663.JPG" caption="The Gin and Tonic, with salami, was lovely today" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-15/IMG_0664.JPG" caption="Our hazel tree is a super happy camper, and grows easily three meters per season. This Fall, we'll have to pair it down a bit." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-15/IMG_0666.JPG" caption="We watch Coppers, a belgian crimescene investigation series. It's OK, so far!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-15/IMG_0667.JPG" caption="The frogs have cornered the two sharks, who are fearing for their life." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-15/IMG_0668.JPG" caption="The frogs have consumed the magic mushrooms, and obliterated one shark, and half of the other one! Look at them gooooo!!" >}}
+{{< /gallery-category >}}
+
+{{< gallery-modal >}}
+{{< gallery-script >}}
+

content/blog/wk3day5.md

@@ -1,7 +1,86 @@
 ---
-title: "Week 3, Friday:"
+title: "Week 3, Friday: ESP32 Ethernet and Thai Food Festival"
 date: 2024-08-16T21:55:00+02:00
-draft: true
 ---
 
 {{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/ixosound.png" alt="Credit: Ixo Sound, Youtube" >}}
+
+I have only two goals for the day. Firstly, I need to write my journal entry for yesterday, as I was
+a little bit too tired to write lucid text. I went to bed at only 22:30 or so, and got up this
+morning at 09:30, so I'll make up for lost time and write the artical for yesterday, today. Then,
+something cool came in the mail today: a set of ESP32 (Wroom) microcontrollers with a builtin
+Ethernet PHY. I shall play with them in the afternoon using an old friend: Mongoose OS which is
+based on FreeRTOS and ESP-IDF, a surprisingly complete little microcontroller OS. I used to be very
+active in this community, and may still have my commit-bit set on GitHub.
+
+The first task is pretty quickly retrofitted - I may make it a habit to write the journal in the
+next morning, as often times later at night I'm sleepy (this is somewhat out of character for me, as
+normally I will go to bed at 02:00 or 03:00 even, but these last few days I've been tired in the
+evenings. Interesting!
+
+I make myself fried eggs for lunch, and eat a bowl of the ramen I had left over from yesterday.
+Then, I roll up my sleeves, go downstairs and get ready to design the PDU. I may write more about
+the in-depth technical bits on my [[IPng.ch](https://ipng.ch/)] articles, but for now, I just start
+with the basics:
+
+1.  A front panel that has 16pcs of 220V C13 connector, in two groups (feed A on the left, and feed
+    B on the right).
+1.  A rear panel that has 2pcs of 220V input, 2pcs 10Amp fuse, and a power switch and cutout for the
+    ESP32's ethernet RJ45 port.
+1.  Some plumbing on the inside to keep the low voltage and 220V lines through a modbus enabled 16
+    channel ammeter.
+1.  A firmware based on Mongoose OS that supports WiFi, Ethernet, mDNS, RPC, OTA and Prometheus.
+
+For the 3D printed parts, it's all relatively simple (flat) geometry. It reminds me that at some
+point, I will stop 3D printing 2D parts, but rather buy a laser cutter so I can do some etching,
+engraving and cutting through materials like wood, acrylic and so on. But that will be for another
+day - I have the 3D printer, so I'm going to use the tools that I already have!
+
+I have a lot of fun hacking on this little thing. There's something about the juxtaposition of
+having a datacenter scale day job where petabytes is the norm, and then going back home to program a
+firmware on a microcontroller with 80KB of ram and 1MB of flash. I'm lucky on this Wroom32, as it
+has a whopping 200KB of RAM and 8MB of flash - I will have plenty of room to spare, and already look
+forward to writing some code for it.
+
+But, we have a date tonight! At 17:30, Max and Betty will pick us up as we're going to B&uuml;lach
+for the [[Thai Food Festival](https://www.thaifoodfestival.ch/)]. It's an amazing ambiance, and we
+also bump in to Uli and Christine, who scurry off into a quieter corner of the fairgrounds. Quinn
+and I kind of wished we joined them, because the music is a bit loud; so we decide to take a walk
+around the festival, then outside of it through the quaint town of B&uuml;lach, and eventually we
+rejoin the group.
+
+At about 21:15 we are all fed and watered and take off back to Br&uuml;ttisellen. Thanks for a great
+evening, Betty and Max! Quinn wants to spend some time with his friends, and Marina and I watch a
+few more episodes of _Coppers_, the flemish police series. They do solve the crimes every time
+(da-doi!) but there is a red thread that connects the episodes throughout the series. I won't give
+it away :)
+
+At about 23:00 Marina turns in for the night and I go downstairs to do "Part B" of "Goal 1", which
+is write the article for today. Then, I also do a bit of a stress test on my firmware so far -- I've
+loaded it up with OTA (where 'air' here means over the Ethernet connection!) and Prometheus, and
+am hitting it over the ethernet controller at 10Hz on its `/metrics` endpoint. So far, so good: no
+leaks of memory, CPU, brownouts, packetlo\_ or other undesirables. Tomorrow, I'll continue with the
+physical parts (routing 220V cables) and 3D print the supporting guides and brackets for the casing.
+
+To celebrate the day, I pour myself a _Nardini_ white Grappa and print a few test parts, before
+turning in for the night. The Grappa does surprise me a little bit because the first taste I have is
+_liquorice_ and ths econd sensation is _100-Proof_, and I quite enjoy the glass, or maybe two.
+
+
+## Pictures of the Day
+
+{{< gallery-category >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-16/IMG_0679.JPG" caption="A picture of a WT32-ETH01 module with Wroom32 and 100Mbit Ethernet PHY. It pings!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-16/IMG_0682.JPG" caption="Max and I are at the Thai food street festival" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-16/IMG_0683.JPG" caption="We have tasty trinks (lemongrass+honey, and berry+dates)" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-16/IMG_0684.JPG" caption="THe food festival in B&uuml;lach is happening!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-16/IMG_0685.JPG" caption="We order and nom on a spicy noodle soup, mie and fried rice" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-16/IMG_0686.JPG" caption="Quinn and I take a walk and find this guy" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-16/IMG_0688.JPG" caption="This chef is pumping out dishes at one per minute, and they are all made-to-order. Amazing!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-16/IMG_0689.JPG" caption="Quinn and I are being welcomed to Thailand" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-17/IMG_0690.JPG" caption="I 3D printed a case for the ESP32 device, which will sit in a PDU" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-16/espidf.png" caption="The WT32-ETH01 modules come pre-flashed with a working ESP-IDF firmware. I'm reflashing them with a Mongoose OS app though, more on that later!" >}}
+{{< /gallery-category >}}
+
+{{< gallery-modal >}}
+{{< gallery-script >}}

content/blog/wk3day6.md

@@ -1,7 +1,76 @@
 ---
-title: "Week 3, Saturday:"
+title: "Week 3, Saturday: ESP32 PDU"
 date: 2024-08-17T21:55:00+02:00
-draft: true
 ---
 
 {{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/junglecakes.png" alt="Credit: Jungle Cakes, Youtube" >}}
+
+This morning Marina enthusiastically exclaimed that I have four (!) packages in the mail. I think
+she may be a bit jealous! While sipping my morning coffee, I take the scissors and start hacking
+away at the packaging. There are two NFC readers that will pair with the two rolls of NTAG stickers
+that I have waiting to be used. The idea is to put them on the Frys-IX pins and link to some random
+articles at IPng. 
+
+I quickly find out that it's not a good idea to put the nTAG on a metal surface - when I stick it
+behind the paper and press it into a normal 38mm pin (our 59mm stuff is still underway), it won't
+read or even detect the tag. And indeed, even if I put the tag on my macbook case (which is metal),
+it does not read. That's a bummer! But luckily for me, I made magnetic pins which have a plastic
+back. So I can do a _silver medal_, by sticking the nTAG stickers simply on the back of the pin
+rather than on the inside. Partial win!
+
+For lunch, we eat scrambled eggs. Quinn fixes a batch with potatoes and cheese, which Marina
+partakes in. I am not a fan of cheese in my eggs, so I scramble two eggs with ham instead. There's
+still a bit of artisanal bread left over, which I put in the toaster. I like being my own baker.
+
+The whole afternoon is actually spent mass-assembling my PDUs. I have somw _Waco_ terminal blocks, a
+few hundred 3.8mm crimp plugs and sleeves, and last night I printed 4pcs of green front. I put on
+the printer for another batch of green front, and I already had 10pcs of red front. One by one, I
+click in the 4x220V sockets, snipping the strip at the bottom, cutting it to the right length, and
+bending it upwards. This way, I have a common ground and live, and will have individual neutral
+lines that will loop back through the ammeters.
+
+I'm feeding each 4xC13 block individually, so for each PDU I'll make 4x ground line, 4x live line
+and 16x neutral, and I have 8 PDUs, which means the whole afternoon is spent listening to music and
+cutting identical lengths, stripping the wires, crimping on the 3.8mm connectors on one side (those
+will go to the back of the sockets), and stripping the other side at the correct length to go into
+the terminal blocks. I make a proto layout of the inside of the device, making sure to leave room
+for an ESP32+Ethernet or USB+RS485 insert on one end. I think I did an okay job.
+
+Before I know it, it's 17:00 and I still need to go to the _Coop_ (our local grocery store) to get
+food. Tonight I'm making garlic soup and stuffed bellpepper; and it being 5 o'clock on the Saturday
+before school starts, means that our grocery store is super busy. I bike there, make my way through
+the crowd, and find a disappointing lack of groceries in this store. No leek, no cellery, no minced
+beef. Harumpph! I loop around the butcher who still has some mixed beef/pork, which will do. For the
+veggies, I make do with some alternatives.
+
+Quinn is game to help me with dinner. He does the pairing and prep work, while I spend some time
+with three bulbs of garlic. And because I normally burn the _croutons_, he is so kind as to do this
+task -- and deliver beautifully golden brown and tasty croutons, while I start on the soup. Five
+stars on yelp! The rest is pretty quickly done, just putting all the veggies together with the
+minced meat, and, as the titular recipe states, proceeding to stuff that into bell peppers. The
+whole thing goes into the oven for 15min, while the rice boils: `tadaa.wav`
+
+After dinner, we decide to catch a movie. It's Quinn's turn (Marina recently chose _Elektra_, and
+I choose _Poor Things_ the other day). He chooses a good one: Deadpool & Wolverine. I thoroughly
+enjoy this zany movie. It's light hearted, just the right amount of vulgar, and I love it how Hugh
+Jackman came back to do this movie after having sead he'd stop after _Logan_. Also, Dafne Keen grew!
+And now we know why Jennifer Garner came back to work out, to once again play _Elektra_. And, it was
+nice to see Wesley Snipes playing a super small part. Recommended watching :)
+
+At 21:30 the movie is done and Marina and I decide to watch one more _Coppers_. I turn in after that
+as I'm somehow still tired. I realized just now that I didn't even say what the other packages were.
+I guess I'll talk more about them tomorrow.
+
+## Pictures of the Day
+
+{{< gallery-category >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-17/nfc.png" caption="NFC Tools showing my first ever written nTAG215" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-17/IMG_0698.JPG" caption="Crimping power cables; each PDU will have 28 such cables" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-17/IMG_0699.JPG" caption="I 3D printed a left 'green' and right 'red' side, to show that these are two different feeds in one PDU" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-17/IMG_0700.JPG" caption="Quinn and I are making dinner - garlic soup and stuffed bellpepper" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-17/IMG_0702.JPG" caption="The finished product: 3 stuffed bellpeppers. Oone is buried,and  some have grated cheese (I am not a fan)" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-17/IMG_0704.JPG" caption="We watch Wolverine and Deadpool tonight - it's a lighthearted flic, and I love it how they use the fourth wall" >}}
+{{< /gallery-category >}}
+
+{{< gallery-modal >}}
+{{< gallery-script >}}

content/blog/wk3day7.md

@@ -1,7 +1,61 @@
 ---
-title: "Week 3, Sunday:"
+title: "Week 3, Sunday: Prototyping and 3D Printing"
 date: 2024-08-18T21:55:00+02:00
-draft: true
 ---
 
 {{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/noraenpure-03.png" alt="Credit: Nora en Pure, Youtube" >}}
+
+Today for most of the day I tinkered with the physical parts of my PDU project. I'm building a
+16-port sensed 19" rack mountable power distribution unit. I have these slick modbus based 16x5A
+ammeter coils which take 8-30V in and an A/B pair for RS485. I should be able to read those with the
+ethernet based ESP32 microcontroller.
+
+In the morning I took some measurements of the plastic 19" rack mountable box, which has four
+mounting pins 128mm apart, and four additional screw caps 48mm from those pins. I spent most of the
+whole afternoon prototyping a backplate with 220V C13 (aka computer) connector and a hole where the
+RJ45 ethernet connector goes. 
+
+There were two problems today, both of which took several hours:
+
+1.   Mongoose OS every now and again crashes with heap corruption and a pretty much unusable
+     coredump. I spent a long time upgrading Mongoose OS from its default ESP IDF 4.2 to a still old
+     but somewhat more modern ESP IDF 4.4. It did not help. Then I spent an even longer time reading
+     up (somewhat nerd-sniped) on the heap allocator code in Espressif's SDK. I learned a lot, but
+     did not get closer to a solution.
+1.   What I originally thought was a 145mm x 90 spacing on the ammeter, turned out to be a 146x91mm
+     (who would've thunk!), so I had to rework and re-print the ammeter brackets. But once that was
+     done, it fit snugly.
+
+I also finished the 220V wiring; in total for one PDU, that's 22 wires all cut to the correct length
+and crimped. But for eight, that would be: a lot more :) I finished just before dinner time. I had
+prepared the potatoes, baked beans and chicken croquantes, but Marina was so kind as to finish the
+cooking for me, as the green spool of PLA is a bit twisted, not unlike my humor, and I need to
+babysit this last print and every now and again untangle the spool.
+
+After dinner, I pre-baked two nice loaves for next week. I mixed 500g of _Buuremehl_ with 300ml of
+water and added yeast and salt - that's it! The dough had a first rise of 2hrs, and after dinner I
+formed the loaves, left them in the oven for 45min, and had the oven automatically turn itself on,
+bake for 40min at 160C, and presto.
+
+In the mean time, we watched a movie - Quinn chose _Requiem for a Dream_ and it's one of my all time
+favorite "Don't do drugs"-style movies. A truly stellar performance from Ellen Burstyn, and a very
+pretty Jared Leto and Jennifer Connelly. Such a sad story - highly recommended.
+
+After the movie, I went downstairs to babysit a few more 3D printer parts - every two hours turning
+on a new batch. I'm planning on making eight of these PDUs after all, so printing will take a small
+while (about 6hrs of print time per individual PDU). I had a drink of wine, and before I knew it, it
+was 02:00. I went upstairs to nosh on some _Parmigiano_ cheese, before going to bed.
+
+## Pictures of the Day
+
+{{< gallery-category >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-19/IMG_0713.JPG" caption="A mostly finished PDU - with the ESP32-ETH01 in its own little box, and brackets that will hold the ammeter." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-19/IMG_0714.JPG" caption="One side of the box will be green, the other red. This is to signify that there are two 220V C13 inputs each with their own 8 C14 plugs on the front." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-18/fusion.png" caption="The fusion design - top right has what I call the floorplan, with the individual screw holes and pegs of the chassis. THe other things are the parts that go within." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-18/IMG_0710.JPG" caption="We watched Jared Leto and Jennifer Connelley in Requiem for a Dream." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-18/IMG_0711.JPG" caption="The two loaves of bread baked themselves on a timer!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-18/IMG_0712.JPG" caption="Another tray of parts is freshly printed in black PLA. I will need to make eight batches of these." >}}
+{{< /gallery-category >}}
+
+{{< gallery-modal >}}
+{{< gallery-script >}}

content/blog/wk4day1.md

@@ -1,7 +1,81 @@
 ---
-title: "Week 4, Monday:"
+title: "Week 4, Monday: Modbus Failure"
 date: 2024-08-19T21:55:00+02:00
-draft: true
 ---
 
 {{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/zascatv.png" alt="Credit: Zasca TV, Youtube" >}}
+
+Geez I had some really bad luck today. So I bought what I thought was a perfectly normal modbus
+ammeter, and I have the 32 channel variant with external current transformers. The microcontroller
+boots and seems to blink an LED every 250ms or so as it's doing its measurements. The (chinese)
+manual says it's a simple modbus device approachable via RS485 and it shows what all the 16 bit
+registers are - relatively simple stuff.
+
+Yesterday I spent the day designing the physical parts, and today I thought I'd give a go to the
+microcontroller firmware. I have written one of these before, but I seem to have ... misplaced the
+source code for it. Not to worry, I remember it was a matter of connecting the ESP32 to the modbus,
+and reading target address 1, and off to the races. Well, not today!
+
+I have eight of these units, one for each PDU. I connected one, but it was not responding on any
+target address, and not with its default serial settings of `9600,8N1`, nor with any other
+reasonable settings, nor on any other address. That's unfortunate.
+
+So I spend, what I can best describe as increasingly frustrating hours of debugging. First with
+another ESP32, then with another RS485 unit, then by hotwiring the UART out of the RS485 converter
+on the DIN module, and finally, and I say this after it turned 17:00 already, I grabbed the scope
+and started taking a look at what was going over the modbus -- and I can clearly see the
+differential (yellow is high while blue is low), but the DIN module is absolutely silent. I also
+scoped the UART 3.3V, which is pulled to 2.8V by the board, but I can't see it saying anything
+there, either.
+
+I connect the DIN module, via the hotwired GND, RX, TX, to my [[Bus
+Pirate](https://buspirate.com/)], which, by the way, is any hardware tinkerer's dream. It allows me
+to type simple commands in a terminal and talk to chips over 1-Wire, I2C, SPI, UART, and more.
+This, normally anyway, allows me to figure out how a chip works before writing a as much as one
+line of code. Neat! However, today, no dice. The DIN unit doesn't say -anything-, even when I send
+it a perfectly normal probe, described in its manual. 💩
+
+My blood pressure was rising and at around 17:30, after I think 8 hours of messing around and _not_
+finding out, I decided to give up for now. I went to Aliexpress and ordered a few alternative RS485
+dongles, including one for the PC itself, on USB, so that I can try to talk to the thing via my
+Linux computer, _Summer_. Today has been almost completely written off :(
+
+### KVM-over-IP
+
+But there was one good thing, also! In the big bag'o'packages from yesterday, there was another
+device: a NanoKVM from [[Sipeed](https://sipeed.com/nanokvm)]. This 40x40x40mm cube has a few USB
+connectors, a HDMI connector, and an RJ45 ethernet connector. It's meant to be a KVM-over-IP device,
+which can also emulate a USB CDROM, so that I can boot a specific ISO image that I uploaded to the
+little machine. It runs Linux and has an (open) SSH server. I poke around on it, create a 'pim'
+account, upload some SSH Keys, and close out password authentication. On IRC, my buddy _Habbie_
+mentions some security audit that was not overly optimistic about it - I take a look and conclude
+that it's probably safe to run in _IPng Site Local_.
+
+The microcontroller boots up and gets an IPv4 address over DHCP, which it helpfully puts on a little
+OLED display. The web interface is snappy and immediately shows _Summer_'s HDMI output at 1920x1080,
+which I find impressive. I think this will be a perfect companion for when I'm on the road and need
+an ersatz monitor. 
+
+Marina makes dinner tonight - it's my sister's recipe called _Yolein-soep_, which is a tomato soup
+made from concentrate and a white roux, with bacon bits, sjallots and rice.  After the soup, she
+serves two nice Flammkuchen, also with bacon and onions.  It hits the spot after such a frustrating
+day with RS485 and a non-working modbus. What am I doing wrong!? 
+
+I decide to not think about it for the rest of the day, and watch some TV instead. I also go to bed
+really early, at 22:00 I am already on one ear.
+
+## Pictures of the Day
+
+{{< gallery-category >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-19/IMG_0713.JPG" caption="The innards of the PDU are nicely placed in 3D printed parts." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-19/IMG_0716.JPG" caption="The Rigol oscilloscope cannot see a problem with the differential RS485 signal." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-19/IMG_0718.JPG" caption="I play around a little bit with the Sipeed NanoKVM" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-19/IMG_0719.JPG" caption="The Sipeed NanoKVM shows a 1920x1080p picture from my Linux PC, Summer" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-19/sipeed-kvm.png" caption="A screenshot of Summer's desktop as seen in a web browser, using Sipeed's NanoKVM over IP" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-19/IMG_0720.JPG" caption="We eat Flammkuchen tonight, courtesy of Marina" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-19/IMG_0721.JPG" caption="Leave your phone unattended, and there will be goofy pictures when you return..." >}}
+{{< /gallery-category >}}
+
+{{< gallery-modal >}}
+{{< gallery-script >}}
+

content/blog/wk4day2.md

@@ -1,7 +1,84 @@
 ---
-title: "Week 4, Tuesday:"
+title: "Week 4, Tuesday: Celestica and 59mm Pins"
 date: 2024-08-20T21:55:00+02:00
-draft: true
 ---
 
 {{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/dreamscape.png" alt="Credit: Dreamscape, Youtube" >}}
+
+A few weeks ago, somebody on Telegram pointed me at a Serve The Home forum post where a guy from
+Germany was organizing a group-buy of 100Gig Celestica DX010 switches. I had heard of this switch
+before, but it never made it to the top of my nerd list. However, the deal was pretty sweet, and the
+switch ie not terrible, judging by the [[STH
+Review](https://www.servethehome.com/inside-a-celestica-seastone-dx010-32x-100gbe-switch/)]. So on
+Telegram, a few of us decided that we'd like to participate.
+
+This morning just before lunch, a friendly UPS driver rocked up to my frontdoor and delivered six
+switches; th`ese are 32x100G switches that are ONIE capable, and run SONiC, although I've heard that
+Cumulus and perhaps others may run on it too. I schlepped the boxes downstairs while Mairna was out
+for lunch with her buddy Jen. 
+
+After making some bastardized ramen with leftover _Yolein_ tomato soup, which was delicious by the
+way, I started with the main task of the afternoon: checking to see if the replacement 59mm stamp
+from BadgeMatic works. You see, we tried and tried, but could not get the stamp Marina bought to
+work - we had a call with Anja of BadgeMatic, who is awesome and super friendly, she sent us a
+replacement part. Good news, it worked! 
+
+I want to get those switches out of the way, so I take them downstairs and rack them. Three of them
+are actually for my buddy Sandro, who on Telegram approves of me taking them out of their box for a
+photo shoot. I open one up, and take plenty of pics, and then hang up the switches in IPng's lab:
+these are six switches, each with 32x100G ports. I take pause for a second, as I have just racked an
+additional 19.2Tbps of switch port capacity in my lab. That's awe inspiring!
+
+Once Marina got home we took a closer look at the stamp, which she approves also, so I am officially
+off to the races. However, there was an issue with the (new) Cameo 5, which was placing its cuts
+_off_ by a fair amount, on the X axis (the short side of the A4 paper). I scoured the Internetz a
+little bit, and eventually bumped into a post from somebody on Reddit who said that they only had it
+in the afternoon, not in the morning, and mostly only on sunny days. I thought they were cray-cray
+at first, but then some engineer explained that it could be that there are shadows being cast by the
+Sun, which may put off the sensor that reads the fiducials, called _Registration Marks_ in
+Silhouette. I do a test-cut and I literally see a shadow being cast onto the paper; so I managed to
+solve the issue by making the fiducials 1.0mm wide and then closing the Cameo's lid while it scans
+for them. Works a treat, neat!
+
+At this point I'm reasonably committed, and ask Marina if she wants to play along. She is having a
+day of it, reminding me of my terrible luck yesterday. She printed a postage stamp for Robbie's
+package, which cost CHF 37,- but it printed a tracking number with all 0's and a big watermark
+**TEST** on the webstamp. The postoffice rejected it, and she has been mucking about going from
+person to person to try to rectify. She is emitting some fume from the ears, and I can't help, so I
+just let her be.
+
+Meanwhile, my work is going swimmingly: I end up doing half of the stamps for Frys-IX, and printing
+and cutting the other half. Of all 15x6pcs, exactly zero of them fail. Great success!!1 and I get to
+play with the electro static mat for the cutter, which is an absolute blessing. At some point,
+Marina signals success on the phone with the post office, and they will refund her the first
+postage. "I require a drink", and I more than happily oblige.
+
+After dinner, Quinn says there's a few more extra _buildings_ in the [[Cookie
+Clicker](https://www.cookieclicker.com/)], which is a thing. It became clear to me that this game
+was written by some tech-nerd-folks who ate mushrooms, got high, and never came down from that high.
+All you do is click cookies. If you click cookies long enough, you can get rewards.  Quinn has been
+playing it for so long, that every time he clicks the cookie, 1.7 Trillion (yes, _Trillion!_) new
+cookies are generated. He has so many powerups -- and shows me his latest one, called the
+_Javascript console_; each one of which generates 16T cookies per second. The by-line for this
+_building_ is "Creates cookies from the very code this game was written in.". As I said, the authors
+of the game are perpetually high.
+
+## Pictures of the Day
+
+{{< gallery-category >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-20/IMG_0729.JPG" caption="UPS came! Six Celestica Seastone (DX010) switches were delivered; they are 32x100G each. That's going to be a fun afternoon exploring them." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-20/IMG_0730.JPG" caption="There was another package - Anja sent a replacement stamp head for our 59mm pins, and it works. Yahoo!!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-20/IMG_0746.JPG" caption="I racked the Celestica switches, three of them will be for IPng, and the other three will go on to Sandro later this month." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-20/IMG_0751.JPG" caption="In the mean time, I start stamping out pins for Frys-IX. They look really slick, in the colors of Frysl&aring;n" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-20/IMG_0752.JPG" caption="A picture of the printing station, these pins are a bit bigger, so they fit only six to a page." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-20/IMG_0753.JPG" caption="A picture of the cutting station. After I figured out why the cuts were offset, the Cameo did a perfect job cutting all 90 pins, yaay!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-20/IMG_0755.JPG" caption="Marina signals success with the post office, and requires a celebratory drink. Of course, I oblige." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-20/IMG_0756.JPG" caption="We click a few trillion cookies for Quinn." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-20/IMG_0757.JPG" caption="I've made a few B&uuml;rli hand rolls, which are half-baked and ready for refridgeration" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-20/IMG_0758.JPG" caption="We watch a somewhat bizarre satire short-film about Donald J. Trump, played by Jonny Depp, with lots of famous actors and comedians pitching in.  From 2016, no less!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-20/cookies.png" caption="Cookie Clicker, the web-version. I am a novice with almost 80 cookies. Quinn has a few quadrillion." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-20/javascript.png" caption="Quinn shows the Javascript Console builder add-on in Cookie Clicker. This baby makes 16T cookies per second, not too shabby!!" >}}
+{{< /gallery-category >}}
+
+{{< gallery-modal >}}
+{{< gallery-script >}}

content/blog/wk4day3.md

@@ -1,7 +1,90 @@
 ---
-title: "Week 4, Wednesday:"
+title: "Week 4, Wednesday: Hotsauce!"
 date: 2024-08-21T21:55:00+02:00
-draft: true
 ---
 
 {{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/firewalker-02.png" alt="Credit: Fire Walker, Youtube" >}}
+
+A small while ago, one of the webmasters at [[APNIC](https://apnic.net/)] mailed me about a series
+of guest articles they're publishing on their blog. They've been following along on my adventures at
+IPng regarding IPv4-less backbone links, and I am grateful for the opportunity to run my three
+articles about Babel and OSPF with VPP on their blog. They published the first one today, check it
+out [[here](https://blog.apnic.net/2024/08/21/vpp-with-babel/)].
+
+I started the day with writing a bunch of _NFC_ tags. I'm going to take a bunch of pins with me to
+the upcoming NOG meetings (in Oslo, Piacenza, Paris, Amsterdam, Barcelona), and I figured I'd add an
+RFID tag to them. The process repetitive just like making the pins is: put sticker on pin, put pin
+on writer, write a record with a URL, select write protection, enter password, write to chip, done!
+
+But, I wanted to be a bit more future proof for the URLs, so I wrote a tiny javascript app (when I
+say tiny, I mean eight lines of javascript), that takes an URI argument, looks it up in a table, and
+redirects the user to that URL. This way, I can write links like
+[[https://ipng.ch/app/go#ntag01](https://ipng.ch/app/go#ntag01)] and then occasionally play around
+with the mapping so that tags produce new redirects without me having to write new URLs to the tags.
+The power of symlinks! If you're curious, take a look at the redirector with:
+
+```
+$ curl https://ipng.ch/app/go/index.html
+```
+
+.. and let me know if this is clever or moronic :)
+
+After writing the tags, I took out the trash; from the cleanup session I still have four large trash
+bags, mostly with lighter stuff like foam, plastic, packaging etc. This afternoon, Jean-Paul and
+Nicole (Marina's parents) are going to arrive from Geneva, and they'll be staying two weeks. Marina
+has been making the house tipp-topp shape, I think she'll live up to their standards with room to
+spare! I pitch in by bringing the trash to the municipal dump called _M&uuml;lliland_.
+
+JPH and Nicole come bringing gifts! They went, somewhat randomly, to a farmers market of sorts,
+which turned out to be a chilly exposition. They mentioned that there were some fourty or so vendors
+with peppers, seeds, and hotsauces. And they got me a few! I sampled many of them, and they were
+consistently delicious; not overly spicy, although definitely worth their heatonist. I would say the
+four pots with an assortment of chillies would run a good _Savina_ or _Chocolate Habanero_, but
+mostly the spices and taste was just plain gorgeous.
+
+After JP and Nicole install themselves in the guest room, we sit at the table and have an afternoon
+drink. We show them the _Mattei_ drink we discovered at Sandra and JC's place, but they're in the
+mood for a _Pastis_ so I crack open the bottle of _Henry Bardouin_ I got from my buddy Fred, and we
+debate the ratio a bit. Fred is a 1:5 guy, I'm more of a 1:1 person. JP in the end goes towards a
+1:2 ratio, and enjoys the complex flavor of the pastis. Marina and I swap a dram of red and white
+_Mattei_.
+
+I'm making flatbread for dinner tonight, with _planted_ gyros and veggie fallafel. I've arranged for
+a home made garlic sauce (which turns out quite nice, using _Skyr_ instead of yoghurt), and I
+patiently bake, in a pan, the 12 flat-breads. Marina wanted them thinner this time, while Quinn
+would have preferred them to be thicker so that he could cut a pocket into them. I guess maybe next
+time I'll make eight _smol_ ones and four _thicc_ ones? Either way, they hit the spot!
+
+After dinner, I fall asleep a little bit on the couch, and wake up around 21:30 or so. Marina and I
+watch one episode of _Coppers_, and in the mean time I decide to play with
+[[Immich](https://immich.app/)]. s self-hosted photo and video management solution. I really like
+what I see, with ability to reverse-geocode pics from the EXIF tags, I can sort and search for
+pictures by location, and it also does facial recognition, so I spin up an instance on a beefy
+docker host in Lille, plumb it through on [[photos.ipng.ch](https://photos.ipng.ch/)], for the
+moment only for _trusted testers_, and start an import of my iPhone's photo roll, some 6800 pictures
+and 250 video recordings. It uploads, tags, sorts, and applies the ML filters in only about an hour
+or so, and I see that I'm continuously pulling 400Mbit from my phone to the NGINX in Geneva, and
+over IPng's backbone to the docker host in Lille. Whohoo!
+
+My first impression of Immich is very good. I let the IOS app do background backups of my photos
+over wifi, and the look and feel is very much like Google Photos - one of my all time favorite apps
+on the internet. After completing the import and bulk-learning exercise, indeed the thing identified
+a few dozen faces and clustered them. It's remarkably accurate! I think I'm going to like this app.
+
+Then at 01:00 I am lying in bed and get a little bit of an afterglow from all the hot sauce. Those
+of you who regularly binge hotsauce will know what I mean... 
+
+## Pictures of the Day
+
+{{< gallery-category >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-21/IMG_0759.JPG" caption="A roll of nTAG215 stickers, all written and locked" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-21/IMG_0760.JPG" caption="Jean-Paul and Nicole arrived, with gifts from Belgium!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-21/IMG_0761.JPG" caption="We had a good apero today to welcome our guests" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-21/IMG_0762.JPG" caption="The FrysIX 59mm pins are all done, all 90pcs of them" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-21/IMG_0765.JPG" caption="I made flatbread for the plant-based gyros (which, speaking as a meat-eater, is really good)" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-21/immich.png" caption="I've installed Immich and imported ~7000 pictures and videos from my iPhone; it's chomping away proving its multithreadedness" >}}
+{{< /gallery-category >}}
+
+{{< gallery-modal >}}
+{{< gallery-script >}}
+

content/blog/wk4day4.md

@@ -1,7 +1,83 @@
 ---
-title: "Week 4, Thursday:"
+title: "Week 4, Thursday: So much cheese"
 date: 2024-08-22T21:55:00+02:00
-draft: true
 ---
 
-{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/todo.png" alt="Credit: " >}}
+{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/bassementcrew.png" alt="Credit: Basement Crew, Youtube" >}}
+
+Today was all about cheese. JP and Nicole arrived yesterday from Geneva, but they stayed in a hotel
+in France just over the border, and what are the French known for? Great wines, great cheese, and
+terrible taste in cars. Old friends of mine will remember the term _LFKA_, which I will not write
+out in full here, to protect childrens' eyes.
+
+In the morning I started with the prepwork for _Kramiek v2.0_, a flemish raisin bread. Last time it
+was a bit dense, so despite Quinn giving it a 10 out of 10, Marina requested it to be a bit more
+fluffy this time. Okidoki, chief! Floof, it shall be. I mixed up the dough and gave it a kiss before
+sending it on its way in the first rise.
+
+In the afternoon we went grocery shopping at the Coop.  We make a list of, say, ten things we need
+to get. We then arrive to _Coop_ (or _Aligro_), and about 20 minutes later, we have a cart full of
+stuff, and zero things crossed off the list.  Not sure if I'm the only one this happens to? Perhaps
+it's a clever trick that Big Grocery employs to sustain consumerism? Either way, the gin, wine,
+candy, random office supplies, and such will come in handy, at some point.
+
+On the way back from the _Coop_, we zig-zag through our neighborhood because they've started road
+works on the main road, a project that is going to last for several months and costs CHF 8'500Mio
+which is rather absurd considering the stretch of road they are fixing is maybe 300m long... but as
+a silver lining, the detour shows us a very large muster of maybe fifty or so storks circling
+overhead. There's big storks (who deliver babies), and baby storks (who deliver kittens?), and we
+think they may be rouding up the phalanx to migrate. It was an impressive sight! A little further
+down, I yellowjacketed road worker stopped the car and asked if we need to be in this neighborhood
+because, and I quote "the residents have been complaining that there is too much traffic here now".
+
+Well well well, how the tables have turned. Two cute things come to mind: Firstly, I mentioned this
+very exact thing to Marina yesterday, that gosh now that the roads will all be closed, the only
+reasonable route is through our neighborhood -- and you would think that perhaps the folks who
+organized this whole mayhem would've considered it? But secondly, and this is even more typical
+Swiss, the roadworks started, what, three **days** ago, and will be lasting for three **months**, and
+the residents are already upset and complaining. And I'm glad to report that I was one of the
+complainants, as I mentioned in my first point. Oh geez, Rick, I'm _swissing_!!
+
+Back home, I go downstairs a bit, and see that @benjojo has posted a new tool he wrote for
+[[LONAP](https://lonap.net/)] to do multi-flow round trip time measurement. I immediately see this
+tool's usefulness in [[AS8298](https://ipng.ch/s/articles/2021/02/27/ipng-network/)] as well: some
+of the underlying circuits are MPLS switched, and the underlying [[AS25091](https://ip-max.net/)] at
+times uses ECMP or LACP so that traffic can go over multiple parallel paths. If one of those has
+either _packetlo_ or a latency excursion, this can be tricky to find. Ben's solution to this is to
+have each node send 16 different UDP streams to each other node, so that underlying network topology
+might hash the streams to different physical connection. Works a treat - but I notice that the
+`-cfg.path` flag doesn't work, so I send a PR to address it - see
+[[ixp-xping](https://github.com/lonap/ixp-xping)] for the tool, and his
+[[article](https://blog.benjojo.co.uk/post/ixp-xping-better-ix-monitoring)] for the rationale. I
+create an Ansible role for `ixp-xping` and roll it out to all hypervisors at IPng.
+
+The cheese ritual is starting at 17:30, and my contribution is freshly baked _Kramiek_ and
+_B&uuml;rli_. The cheese is delectable and we spend a few good hours consuming it, with figs,
+mustard, cashew and (unsalted) peanuts, but with salted butter and all of the breads we gathered
+along the way. At the end, we seemed to have consumed less than half of the available cheese, which
+is good news, because it means we get to go again. While eating, Quinn tries to undo my shoelaces,
+successfully I might add, so I re-tie them and make it more difficult each time. But, patience is a
+virtue, and he repeatedly undoes them. Good work, Quinn!
+
+After dinner, we retire to the back yard, and when the sun sets I light our firebowl and so do our
+neighbors. We spend the evening outside, patting our stuffed bellies, and switching between chatting
+about this-and-that, and nosing into our respective iPhone, Android or iPad. At 22:30, the fire is
+mostly done for the evening, and I've finished the _Tintafina_ bottle, so there appears to be
+nothing left for me today but to head off to bed.
+
+## Pictures of the Day
+
+{{< gallery-category >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-22/IMG_0766.JPG" caption="Ingredients for the Kramiek - butter, milk, raisins, flour, yeast and sugar." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-22/IMG_0770.JPG" caption="The finished Kramiek - the verdict is that it is tasty but a little bit too fluffy. I haven't won, yet!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-22/IMG_0771.JPG" caption="We bought a pair of Portugese wines - one is a lady called Tintafina, and the other is called Machoman. The bottles and branding is fun! The wine is fair." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-22/IMG_0772.JPG" caption="Let there be cheese - JP and Nicole bring a bunch of cheeses from France, and Marina -- obviously -- buys a bunch more from Switzerland" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-22/IMG_0773.JPG" caption="Some of the more tasty cheeses - two Morbier, one Gorgonzola, and a piece of Gauda" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-22/IMG_0774.JPG" caption="Marina also made a red beet and pickes salad, with goats cheese mouse. Good stuff!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-22/IMG_0775.JPG" caption="Quinn and I play a game: he unties my shoe laces using only his feet. I make it more difficult as time passes, but he consistently wins!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-22/IMG_0776.JPG" caption="Outside in the yard, this plane flew directly overhead. Perhaps a missed approach from LSZH." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-22/IMG_0779.JPG" caption="In the evening we light the firebowl and it's nice and cozy outside." >}}
+{{< /gallery-category >}}
+
+{{< gallery-modal >}}
+{{< gallery-script >}}

content/blog/wk4day5.md

@@ -1,7 +1,123 @@
 ---
-title: "Week 4, Friday:"
+title: "Week 4, Friday: Arista MPLS, a Fly Swatter"
 date: 2024-08-23T21:55:00+02:00
-draft: true
 ---
 
-{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/todo.png" alt="Credit: " >}}
+{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/kushsessions-04.png" alt="Credit: Kushsessions, Youtube" >}}
+
+This morning we had a breakfast with leftover cheese and bread from yesterday. In the morning I went
+downstairs to rummage around a little bit, and play with the data I gathered yesterday from the
+`ixp-xping` install on the hypervisors. It's kind of nice to see high-res per-flow data between all
+locations on the network.
+
+Then I spent some time rummaging around IP-Max's routers in Interxion and NTT, to look for ports
+that I could offload to the newly installed 48-port switch. I decided to make a _canary_ with some
+low-risk ports, notably mine, and the IP-Max hypervisors. That would free up five 10Gig router ports
+at NTT, and three 10Gig ports at Interxion. Not a bad haul, because the last 10Gig blade in both
+locations is entirely full, and in need of some offloading.
+
+I was just about to bike to the Interxion and NTT datacenters, when Marina reminded me 'we need to
+have lunch'. Oh yes, that's right! I did not feel like eating even more cheese, even though my
+table-mates were happy to consume moar and moar of it. I made a miso soup with ramen noodles, with
+some leftover carrots and bellpeppers. It was great! Although (a) it's still summer so it made me
+sweat like a pig in summer, and (b) it was a little bit salty [but that is not a problem for my
+taste!].
+
+Off I went, on my Stromer, to Interxion. A few kilometers in, the torque sensor acted up again, and
+made the bike jam. It takes rebooting the bicycle (uhm, yes, sorry Grandpa, we reboot bikes
+nowadays), but then I was underway. The weather was nice, and I had planned to bike to Interxion
+first, and them from there, via the Zurich OpenAir festival grounds to the NTT datacenter. I'm
+installing two new 10G channels from IPng to IP-Max, which will terminate on the Aristas.
+
+At Interxion, I make quick work of it. The links come up within minutes, and I notice that I'm
+running out of 10G ports on my transport switch there. However, I do see three DACs, so I can always
+sacrifice one of the 40G ports to plug in a 40G-to-4x10G DAC, and reclaim those ports. 
+
+Then I bike to NTT via the little creek path I always take. Normally, there's nothing there but open
+fields, but this weekend is the first of two Zurich OpenAir, and the stage looks pretty decent.
+There will be three stages, and I've got a VIP pass for next week Saturday, because _Nora en Pure_
+will be on at 23:00. Yaay!! Later, I found out that another favorite of mine, _Miss Monique_ is on
+tomorrow at 23:00; I may take a quick bike ride to at least listen a little bit, because I don't
+think spending another CHF 139,- is worth it -- the line up isn't as good as on the 31st. But I
+digress ..
+
+At NTT, I have a little bit more work to do. I will move in total six ports: two of mine (to
+Frankfurt and Geneva), two of IP-Max's hypervisors that run the routeservers in Zurich, and the two
+links for [[Free IX](https://free-ix.ch/)], one to Lugano and one to Geneva. I have my work cut out
+for me.
+
+**The FlySwatter** makes me very happy. This, and many other full racks, are often very tricky to
+feed fibers from the front to the back of the rack. I've at times spent 30min yelling, screaming and
+pulling hairs, trying to get fibers from one side to another. But, Marina accidentally bought the
+most fantabulous tool: a purple flyswatter on a telescopic pole. Yes, you read it right! I noticed
+that I can attach precisely an LC/PC pair of connectors on the front, and then extend the swatter
+through the rack, and it'll gently push itself against the wall, allowing me to go to the other
+side of the rack, and retrieve the fiber. It's the best thing since sliced bread, I swear. I get
+my two new fibers through in a matter of minutes, not hours. Yaay me!!
+
+All links are up and I bike back home via Dietlikon, where I see a big fairground also! It turns
+out, the city of Dietlikon turns 900 years old this month, and they organized a weekend full of fun.
+There are towns in Switzerland that are casually three times as old as the United States (1776).
+It's one of the many, many things I truly admire about my country. The festivities are on a fancy
+[[website](https://www.900jahredietlikon.ch/de/home)], which I remind the family at home of later,
+and we decide to visit tomorrow.
+
+Back home, I complete the logical configuration for the IPng and FreeIX connections, and bring into
+existence the first Arista-based MPLS circuits, which is remarkably straight forward except I make a
+typo that makes me spend 45min figuring out why one of them doesn't work. Oh well :)
+
+I get home and look at my Stromer. It's gross, and in need of some love. I grab the brush and
+sponge, and wash it from top to bottom, clean the chain, the gears, the mechanics and what-not:
+Sergio would be proud! I signal great success, and go inside to find one Marina ready for the rose
+wine we bought yesterday. We bought it for the shape of the bottle - it's super fancy!
+
+We drink the bottle in one go - it's quite alright, and halfway through Marina yeets the Lasagna she
+made into the oven. We proceed to eat the Lasagna and it is top notch. She made plenty of extras,
+some of which Quinn will take to work, and some of which I'm sure will find its way into Marina's
+belly. Although I'm not a _huge_ fan of Lasagna, I am definitely pleased with the results here. Five
+stars on yelp.
+
+After dinner we have a _N&uuml;sslitorte_ which Quinn got a while ago. It's too sweet for my taste,
+but the curst is kind of nice. I can tell that Quinn likeS it because he taked two pieces. I decide
+to fire up the _candle_ we got from our neighbors: some tree trunk with a  big + sawed into it, and
+in the middle some firestarter which makes it burn hot, and all the way down the wood to the bottom.
+It's a mesmerizing fire, and both JP and I enjoy staring at it.
+
+After the fire dies down, I go downstairs to work on IPng a little bit. Since I rolled out the
+[[loopback-only OSPF](https://ipng.ch/s/articles/2024/06/22/vpp-with-loopback-only-ospfv3-part-2/)]
+last month, the interfaces no longer make much sense, they merely have a name like `xe1-0.304` but
+no IP addresses. It's becoming difficult for me figure out what goes where, so I've decided to
+rename them all with the name of the router they are pointed at. For example, `xe1-0.304` on router
+`defra0` will be named `chrma0` because it's the link to that router. Much easier to work like this!
+
+I spend an hour or so hacking away at all the routers, until I see that the one in Geneva (`chplo0`)
+isn't correctly wired, and it will need another connection to complete the ring. So I leave it be
+and make a mental note to visit Fred and the site at Stack GEN01 which I call `chplo0` for
+Plan-les-Ouates, where the datacenter is located.
+
+Finally, I grab that bottle of _Nardini_ which I've become good friends with. It's running
+critically low, but I think it'll last for one or two more days. I celebrate this wonderful summer
+day with a glass (or three) of _Grappa_.
+
+Tomorrow, we go see the _S&auml;ulirennen_, yes you heard right, the running of piglets. Because
+Switzerland is dope.
+
+## Pictures of the Day
+
+{{< gallery-category >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-23/IMG_0781.JPG" caption="Closeup of msw0.chgtg0.net.ipng.ch - IPng's transport switch at Interxion - it is running pretty full of 10G and 25G connections, the network is very well connected here." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-23/IMG_0782.JPG" caption="I bike from Interxion to NTT and find the Zurich OpenAir fairgrounds; the stages look great, but I'll have to wait one more week before I get to be on the inside, to listen to Nora en Pure <3" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-23/IMG_0783.JPG" caption="The purple fly swatter is my new favorite tool for datacenters. It sllows me to guide fibers in tight spaces." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-23/IMG_0786.JPG" caption="The rack at IP-Max with er01.zrh56 and the new Arista on top of it" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-23/IMG_0787.JPG" caption="THe first eight ports in bs01.zrh56 are light, and four of them are Ethernet over MPLS circuits, which is wonderful news for IP-Max." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-23/IMG_0788.JPG" caption="I bike back home and decide randomly to take a selfie. Look at how safe I am, with a little crash helmet and everything" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-23/IMG_0790.JPG" caption="I wash my bike and grease the chains and gears. I'll spare you the before-picture, but here, the Stromer is nice-n-clean again" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-23/IMG_0791.JPG" caption="We have a rose wine today with a really funky bottle shape. Marina and I decided to keep the bottle, probably to never use again!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-23/IMG_0793.JPG" caption="A picture of Marina's lasagna after the family has attacked it and inflicted major damage. Yet: some of it is still ready to be consumed another day!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-23/IMG_0794.JPG" caption="Quinn's N&uuml;sslitorte was our desert today" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-23/IMG_0797.JPG" caption="The candle was fun to watch - the flames were very mesmerizing, and it burned all the way down to the bottom of the log" >}}
+{{< /gallery-category >}}
+
+{{< gallery-modal >}}
+{{< gallery-script >}}
+

content/blog/wk4day6.md

@@ -1,7 +1,83 @@
 ---
-title: "Week 4, Saturday:"
+title: "Week 4, Saturday: 900 Jahre Dietlikon"
 date: 2024-08-24T21:55:00+02:00
-draft: true
 ---
 
-{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/todo.png" alt="Credit: " >}}
+{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/method-drumbass-mixes.png" alt="Credit: Method Drum/Bass Mixes, Youtube" >}}
+
+In 1124 the town of _Dietlinchoven_ appears near to where I now live.  Hard work awaited the
+pioneers. Field names such as Rüti, Rütenen, Brand, Blüttler and Stockwiesen give an idea of how
+space was wrested from the forest for meadows and fields. Some viticulture was also practiced early
+on and the rather bitter wine was used together with grain for tithes. Among others, the
+Allerheiligen monastery in Schaffhausen was wealthy in Dietlikon, and the church tax went to the
+Wettingen monastery. Local historiography also mentions Count Adalbert von M&ouml;rsburg (around 1100),
+the Counts of Kyburg and, in connection with the castle and bailiwick of D&uuml;belstein, the Zurich
+mayor Hans Waldmann.
+
+This weekend, the modern city of _Dietlikon_ celebrates its ninth (!) centennial. It's amazing how much
+culture can be tucked away in such a small part of Switzerland which I call home. The weather ranges
+from pleasant (for JP and I) to scorching (for Quinn and Marina). It's about 33C outside, not a
+cloud in the sky, and lots of sunshine. Yesterday I suggested to go see the _piglet race_, yes this
+is a thing, which starts at noon. We walk over from our place in Br&uuml;ttisellen, which is about
+3.5km or 2mi away, and stop to take a look at the old clock at Dietlikon's reformed Church, a quaint
+little place of worship.
+
+We arrive a few minutes before noon, to see the tail end, literally, of the race. Piglet #9 has won
+today, and in an absolutely bizarre turn of non-swissness, they started 20 minutes early and
+finished before their announced start time of 12:00. Dafuq! But the piggies are happy, albeit a bit
+overheated from their sprint. While they rummage around in the mud, we rummage around in the local
+eatery and get some hamburgers and sausages, just like they did in the middle ages!
+
+After the lunch, we take a look at the fairgrounds, lots of old-skool shops, forges, jewelry, and
+folks in their _Tracht_ clothing. There's a brass band playing in a tent and I kind of dig it -
+these are old dudes and they've clearly been playing a while. It's like 40C in this tent, but it
+doesn't stop them.
+
+Marina demands icecream, and is quickly pouting because there seems to be only softcream, and she
+wants 'real' icecream.  After walking around a bit more, including a required selfie _for
+Instagram_, or in my case, _Pixelfed_, we find a creamery with belgian waffles -- we do not know the
+origin or type of these waffles, and as belgians, JP and Marina are much offended -- but they also
+have icecream so Marina indulges and gets a few scoops of watermelon flavor.
+
+We walk back home and I do a little bit of prepwork in Geneva. Tomorrow, Fred will rewire the
+cabinet so that I can land my leased lines in Zurich on the Aristas. At the same time, we'll move my
+termination points from the (very expensive) 10Gig ASR9k router ports to (much cheaper) 10Gig Nexus
+switchports. To not lose connection, I make use of the awesome redundancy and connect a third
+ethernet pipe from my quarter rack's switch called `msw0.chplo0.net.ipng.ch` via MPLS to the new
+Arista in Interxion. When that link up, my IPng Site Local and VPP will be able to briefly lose
+their redundancy tomorrow while Fred makes the change for me. This goes down without a hitch, and
+after my changes to AS8298, the VPP router and iBGP route-reflector that I run in Geneva are still
+up and running, with no loss of service. Whoot!
+
+I managed to convince Marina that it was cooler outside at 16:30, and I lured her under the tree
+with a Gin&Tonic. While we were outside, our neighbor Thomas called out "hey do you want some
+truffles?" - Maggie, their doggo, went for a walk in the woods this afternoon and snuffled up some
+300+ grams of the black truffle stuff, and he came outside with a handful, maybe 70g or so of it.
+Halleluja, this day is now perfect! This will turn into a celery soup + black truffle, and a plain
+pasta with oil, cheese, and black truffle. Omm nomm!
+
+After dinner, the weather finally cools down - to the point that it starts raining. We snuggle up
+inside to catch a movie. Quinn chooses _Annihilation_ with Natalie Portman. It's a weird flic,
+enjoyable for it's psychological drama, but a super trippy ending. I won't spoil it, but I settle
+down with a big bowl of salted popcorn and enjoy the movie.
+
+Then I turn in for the night, and I find myself in bed at 22:30, doomscrolling a bit on Twitter, and
+after a few minutes get bored and super tired. Zzz.
+
+## Pictures of the Day
+
+{{< gallery-category >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-24/IMG_0800.JPG" caption="The church in Dietlikon has a mechanical clock from the 1600s - I note in passing that this clock is older than most countries!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-24/IMG_0802.JPG" caption="The piglet race started early, so I got to catch only the tail end of it (see what I did there?)" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-24/IMG_0803.JPG" caption="The piggies are overheated and need to cool down after such an invigorating race!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-24/IMG_0804.JPG" caption="There's a brass band playing. They sound kind of nice, even though the insdie of this tent is easily 40C. If I would play any brass instrument, it would be the tuba for sure." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-24/IMG_0808.JPG" caption="Marina, JP and I take a selfie in the sunshine. What a great day to be out and about! " >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-24/IMG_0810.JPG" caption="Juxtaposition: 900 year old festival ground paired with a CHF 100Mio jet airplane flying overhead." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-24/IMG_0813.JPG" caption="Marina is happy - she gets artisanal icecream (melon flavored)" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-24/IMG_0815.JPG" caption="The protestant church in Dietlikon from 1698. It's a nice little place of worship." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-24/IMG_0816.JPG" caption="Back home, our neighbors' dog, Maggie, has a gift; they went for a walk and found 300g + of black truffle. These will turn into a risotto and celery soup!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-24/IMG_0819.JPG" caption="In the evening, we watched Annihilation and I made popcorn." >}}
+{{< /gallery-category >}}
+
+{{< gallery-modal >}}
+{{< gallery-script >}}

content/blog/wk4day7.md

@@ -1,7 +1,82 @@
 ---
-title: "Week 4, Sunday:"
+title: "Week 4, Sunday: Day of Rest?"
 date: 2024-08-25T21:55:00+02:00
-draft: true
 ---
 
-{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/todo.png" alt="Credit: " >}}
+{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/deepbest.png" alt="Credit: Deep Best, Youtube" >}}
+
+In the morning I decided to make good on my promise-to-self that I'd clean up the basement every now
+and again. I vacuumed the floor and mopped it with soapy water. The previous two times I've done
+this, the water that came out of the bucket was as dark as a black hole; but this time it was merely
+a darkish tint of grey. Yaay, progress!
+
+In the morning I had a chat with my buddy Antonis who is preparing some equipment to deploy in
+Amsterdam. He's on a power budget and has found an EPYC 4464P aka _Raphael_ that runs ~20W idle despite
+having 12 cores, 64MB L3 cache and DDR5 memory with NVME controllers. It looks like a really great
+machine! He's also looking for an equally power-efficient switch, and I have a few older Mikrotik
+CRS317s laying in storage. I measure their consumption and it's about 14.2 Watts - so he will be
+taking one of these off my hands to deploy in NIKHEF.
+
+I myself also do some shopping. I've ordered a batch of 84 CWDM/Bidi 20km SFP+ modules with Starry
+Optics (the same club I get those sweet, sweet, [[Centec
+switches](https://ipng.ch/s/articles/2022/12/09/review-s5648x-2q4z-switch-part-2-mpls/)] from). I
+also through in 8pcs of 40G-to-4x10G breakout DACs, as my switches typically have unused 40G ports
+which I'd then rather repurpose to 10G ports for local machines. Those optics are ordered, and
+Raphael gets on the assembly and shipping for me. Nice work, Raphael!
+
+In the afternoon, I have a task! Yesterday I created a third link into IPng's switch+router in
+_Plan-les-Ouates_ Stack GEN01 datacenter. I did this so that I could safely tinker with the other
+two links (one to Paris, and another to Zurich). Fred meets me online - he's physically at the
+datacenter, and will move my connections from the IP-Max ASR9k router ports, to more economical
+switchports. And I will take the opportunity to reconfigure these leased lines to terminate in
+Zurich on the new Aristas. Fred makes quick work of it (thanks again, buddy!) and I end up
+completing the task without having to use an emergency OOB connection: the third link from Geneva to
+Zurich takes all the traffic, and BGP sessions don't even notice, as traffic is rerouted. About 20
+minutes later, both the link Geneva-Paris and Geneva-Zurich are back online, and I have full
+redundancy again. I love it when this stuff works as designed :-) This summer I hope to have a few
+talks at NONOG, ITNOG(on-the-road), FRNOG, and possibly NLNOG, DENOG about this network which runs
+mostly entirely on IPv6 linklocal despite carrying IPv4 traffic!
+
+With my darling `msw0.chplo0.net.ipng.ch` redundantly connected at N+2 to the rest of the _IPng Site
+Local_ network, it's time for me to get drunk, I mean, it's time for me to have one drink. Marina
+somehow is not keen on Gin today, so she drinks an &Tonic, while I drink a Gin&Tonic, it's with a
+light gingerbeer, and I like it. We try on some white gloves, for reasons I am now completely
+blanking on, and proceed to make dinner.
+
+I'm outside barbecueing 1000g of pork sausage, for which we've bought one of those cute clamps.
+Marina is inside making _Luikse Salade_ (salad from _Liege_, Belgium), which is potatoes, string
+beans, bacon, boiled egg and a mustard vinaigrette. The sausage rounds it off for some much loved
+proteine, and overall the whole table falls silent while we all inhale the stuff. However, Marina
+has had an accident! She poured the boiling water from the beans over her left hand, so she gets to
+wear the white glove with burn cream for a little bit. Too bad, but she takes it in stride.
+
+After dinner, I do a visual inspection of Quinn's eyeball. It is still intact, and roughly in the
+place where it's meant to be, and I take some photographic evidence. Then, Marina gets to choose the
+movie, and she chooses one with the Nespresso guy (elsewhere known as George Clooney), and the
+_breedbekkikker_ (roughly translated from Dutch: a frog with a very wide mouth -- a loving slur for
+Julia Roberts). It's called [[_Money Monster_](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2241351/)] and it's
+actually pretty good! The cast is fun - we are reminded of Breaking Bad [Giancarlo Esposito], as
+well as The Wire [Dominic West], anc I'm pleasantly surprised in the title roll to see it's produced
+by Jodie Foster. Nice!
+
+After the movie I turn in for the night. Somehow, this day was full of interesting work - but I feel
+somewhat relaxed and rested despite being so busy!
+
+## Pictures of the Day
+
+{{< gallery-category >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-25/IMG_0820.JPG" caption="I put on a Freddy Mercury impression, and I want to break free! ... and vacuum my room." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-25/IMG_0821.JPG" caption="I have this really cool Rick and Morty tea-mug, which reveals a colorful diorama when it has hot liquid in it." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-25/IMG_0822.JPG" caption="I test this Mikrotik CRS317 switch for Antonis, it's coming in at 14.2 Watts idle. Hoping he'll be able to put it at NIKHEF in October." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-25/vpp-ospf3.png" caption="I'm rolling out EoMPLS circuits for AS8298's IPng Site Local, between Geneva and Zurich, and Geneva and Paris. Shown here: reconfiguring the link chplo0 - frpar0, and pinging Paris VPP router on linklocal." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-25/IMG_0823.JPG" caption="The Gin&Tonic today is with a gingerbeer tonic and a blackberry Gin which is completely colorless." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-25/whiteglove.png" caption="Marina and I give each other the white glove treatment." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-25/IMG_0824.JPG" caption="Dinner: Luikse Salade with BBQ'd pork sausage. It tasted better than the picture gives it credit for :-)" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-25/IMG_0825.JPG" caption="Marina is cooling down her hot-watter scorched hand, with the white glove, a chickenglove and a cold compress. She'll live, don't worry." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-25/IMG_0826.JPG" caption="Quinn passes the eyeball inspection with flying colors. In the reflection you can see that he finished his plate of Luikse Salade." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-25/IMG_0828.JPG" caption="George and Julia play another movie together; it's Money Monster, and I enjoy it." >}}
+{{< /gallery-category >}}
+
+{{< gallery-modal >}}
+{{< gallery-script >}}
+

content/blog/wk5day1.md

@@ -1,7 +1,59 @@
 ---
-title: "Week 5, Monday:"
+title: "Week 5, Monday: Colt, Lumen, Level3, CenturyLink"
 date: 2024-08-26T21:55:00+02:00
-draft: true
 ---
 
-{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/todo.png" alt="Credit: " >}}
+{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/jungletone.png" alt="Credit: Jungle Tone, Youtube" >}}
+
+I had a slow day today. After all of the hot weather in the last week or so, the temperature shot
+down to 19C or thereabouts, and I spent more of the day just rummaging around the house. I took a
+bike ride to the airport in the afternoon, and visited what was the remains of the 900 year
+celebration of Dietlikon city.
+
+Later this week, I'll be helping IP-Max move out of Equinix ZH4, a project called the _Equinexit_,
+and every customer and transit/long haul link has been moved, the last one being a Colt line from
+Zurich to Lugano in the south of Switzerland. There is already a redundant second link from Lugano
+to Geneva, so it would not be the end of the world if IP-Max ran without redundancy for a small
+while. That said, the cross connect has been delivered on both sides, so I bike over to NTT to plug
+it in. Just my luck: no light! I try a few different optics, a different patch cable, and swapping
+the RX/TX around, none of which helps me. The silver lining is that my telescoping pike fly swatter
+once again made it very easy to deploy this patch cable from the front to the back of the rack :)
+
+In the late afternoon, I take a few pictures of the west side of Zurich Airport - the airport itself
+is in a town called Kloten, something that always makes me giggle because in my native language that
+would mean "Sucks". I stare at the planes landing and taking off for a few, and then I bike home. My
+Stromer really does need to go to the shop, I have an appointment in early September, because the
+torque sensor in the pedals sometimes fails and blocks the motor. This happened to me on the way
+back home, also. The remedy is straightforward: turn off the bike, reboot it, calibrate the sensor,
+and it works again... for a while.
+
+I get to make R&ouml;sti when I get home. We're eating a classic: veal sausage with mustard, and 
+hash browns with applesauce. It's so simple but yet so good! Marina doesn't like making R&ouml;sti,
+so I take care of business. It comes out reasonably well, and it's gone before I think of taking a
+picture of it.
+
+In the evening, we watch a romcom with Jennifer Lawrence, who is very pretty. The movie is called
+'No Hard Feelings', which scores a 6.1 on IMDB, but I'm going to give it a +1.0 score, just because
+she's so darn cute. After the movie, I go downstairs to write my journal posting, with a good glass
+of Rioja. Later in the evening, I catch up with Brian from work, and we spend some time talking
+about how things are going and what the latest gossip is. Bummer! He'll be in Zurich in the week of
+NONOG+FRNOG, where I have 0 days in Switzerland. I'll have to miss him and catch up in the Bay Area
+some time.
+
+Perhaps today is my moral equivalent of _Sunday_, because I didn't ... do ... anything :)
+
+## Pictures of the Day
+
+{{< gallery-category >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-26/IMG_0830.JPG" caption="The Church of Opfikon, visited on my bike ride from Br&uuml;ttisellen to Glattbrugg and R&uuml;mlang" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-26/IMG_0831.JPG" caption="The telescopig flyswatter trick helps me again, this time for a link to Bancadati in Lugano " >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-26/IMG_0835.JPG" caption="This rack is starting to really fill up, with only a handful of patch panel positions left over, and tonnes of CWDM waves lit, both to Interxion, Equinix, and several swiss and european cities." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-26/IMG_0837.JPG" caption="The outside of the NTT building as seen from the public street." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-26/IMG_0838.JPG" caption="The west side of the Zurich airport apron, a few private jets here and every now and again a big one takes off overhead." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-26/IMG_0839.JPG" caption="I bike home and snap a selfie. It does appear that I'm growing a second chin." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-26/IMG_0843.JPG" caption="The movie today is 'No Hard Feelings' with Jennifer Lawrence, who is incredibly cute." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-26/IMG_0845.JPG" caption="Marina is also incredibly cute - and I take this picture using a wine glass to encutify her even further." >}}
+{{< /gallery-category >}}
+
+{{< gallery-modal >}}
+{{< gallery-script >}}

content/blog/wk5day2.md

@@ -1,7 +1,85 @@
 ---
-title: "Week 5, Tuesday:"
+title: "Week 5, Tuesday: Moeke"
 date: 2024-08-27T21:55:00+02:00
-draft: true
 ---
 
-{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/todo.png" alt="Credit: " >}}
+{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/beatport-nora.png" alt="Credit: Beatport, Youtube" >}}
+
+In the morning, Marina joins me downstairs where I am having my morning coffee - the task at hand is
+to blow up birthday balloons and sign Moeke's card. Marina made a really fancy one (she scrapbooks
+and makes port- and birthday cards that _Hallmark_ would be jealous of. This one for Moeke is
+elaborate, as it folds open in two different ways. We both sign the card -- Quinn did so before
+leaving for work this morning -- and I blow up baloons while Marina inflats the _Happy Birthday_
+sequence. We hang it up while Nicole and JPH are shopping at _Media Markt_, possibly for a birthday
+gift?
+
+Upon their return I find that yes, earbuds is the gift this year - and I help Moeke install them on
+her iPad and find a charger for them. We then have a brunch with tasty sandwiches and (for me at
+least) boiled eggs and ham. We spend some time just talking and planning the rest of the week.
+Tomorrow we have a dinner at _R&ouml;ssli_, our local restaurant in Br&uuml;ttisellen, and I'll be
+doing the Equinexit so I explain to the family a bit what all of that means. 
+
+After lunch, the parents sit outside in the yard reading a book, and I seek a less hot spot in the
+basement.  A delivery came in the mail today - a few new/different RS485 USB readers from
+Aliexpress. I plug one in and connect it to one of those modbus Ammeters I got earlier. Booyah -
+works on the first attempt:
+
+
+```
+pim@summer:~ $ for i in 8 24 40; do mbpoll -b 9600 -P none -0 -a 1 -t 4 -r $i -c 1 -l 100 /dev/ttyUSB0; done
+[8]:    203
+[24]:   500
+[40]:   1000
+```
+
+Noice! This shows register 8, which is "Current through Coil A, in units of 0.01A", so 2.03A, and
+register 24, which is "Frequency through Coil A, in units of 0.1Hz", so 50Hz, and finally register
+40, which is "Current Transformer winding count on Coil A", which is 1:1000. Seems to be in working
+order! I play around with the current, going from 10W to 50W to 400W, and it's all within reasonable
+distance of my digital ammeter. Progress! I pasted it here mostly so that I don't forget the
+`mbpoll` arguments I used to get this to finally work :)
+
+Moeke wants to eat chilly con carne for her birthday - well okay then! Marina also whips up a batch
+of beef tomatoes with buffalo _Burrata_ and a vinaigrette, which we munch on as a starter. The
+chilli tastes great, and I put some of the hotsauce (garlic and habanero paste, really) on it, which
+is nice. I eat a little bit too much - as do my tablemates it seems - so after dinner we take a
+short walk to the _floof chickens_, once again they are nowhere to be found, so we make a detour to
+a second chicken coop in the neighborhood, but the chickens there are also already inside. Did we
+really eat all the chickens?!
+
+On the way back from the walk we pass by an old mansion called _Landheim Br&uuml;ttisellen_, which
+is 150 years old. They have a cute cart being pulled by a number, and I notice that the wooden
+statue of the person in the cart has a cellphon in their hand. Cute detail. We also bump into a
+neighborhood kitty who wants to be petted; but she's a bit of a fickle one because she wants to be
+petted except she does not want you to pet her. She comes closer, hangs out, and the moment you
+reach out she will back off a few meters. But, I snuck in a little petting anyway. Cuz that's how I
+roll.
+
+At home, we watched somewhat of a lame SciFi romcom, called _Moonshot_, from 2022, featuring Cole
+Sprouse alongside Lana Condor. The storyline is super lame, but luckily the acting is too, so we end
+up just hanging out on the couch watching it and taking it as-is. I think maybe _Stowaway_ would be
+a better plot around the same theme, but hey. You win some, and you lose some.
+
+Tomorrow morning I will bike to Equinix to clear out IP-Max's rack. I decide not to have that
+proverbial nightcap, and fall asleep pretty quickly. I think I'm entering the state of mind where
+things don't have to go quick and fast - perhaps I've decompressed to the point where I can enjoy
+the little things, and as well the _Dolce far niente_ (Italian: softly doing nothing). I mean, if
+the highlight of the day was eating chilly and petting a grey cat on our cul-de-sac, then I think
+I'm pretty _zen_ for the moment.
+
+## Pictures of the Day
+
+{{< gallery-category >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-27/IMG_0847.JPG" caption="Marina and I inflate (and later blow up) several balloons for Moeke and Pepe, whose birthday is two days apart." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-27/IMG_0849.JPG" caption="The ammeter is reading 2.03A while the digital current meter says 1.87A, I'll calibrate each one once I have a running firmware, but this is good progress!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-27/IMG_0856.JPG" caption="The ESP32 microcontroller is reading the ammeter, great success!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-27/IMG_0857.JPG" caption="The starter tonight is a beautiful buratta with beefy tomatoes and peppery rocket salad" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-27/IMG_0858.JPG" caption="The mains tonight is a bowl of chilly con carne, which really does hit the spot" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-27/IMG_0859.JPG" caption="The backup chicken coop (eg. floof no. 2) also reveals no chickens today." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-27/IMG_0860.JPG" caption="Our local Landesheim turns 150 years old this month. So much culture in such a tiny village!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-27/IMG_0862.JPG" caption="The kitty wants to be petted, except she does not want you to pet her." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-27/IMG_0863.JPG" caption="Cole Sprouse also has a kitty (a stowaway just like him)" >}}
+{{< /gallery-category >}}
+
+{{< gallery-modal >}}
+{{< gallery-script >}}

content/blog/wk5day3.md

@@ -1,7 +1,99 @@
 ---
-title: "Week 5, Wednesday:"
+title: "Week 5, Wednesday: Equinexit: kthxbyeeee"
 date: 2024-08-28T21:55:00+02:00
-draft: true
 ---
 
-{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/todo.png" alt="Credit: " >}}
+{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/melodicairwave.png" alt="Credit: Melodical Airwave, Youtube" >}}
+
+I'm quite excited for today. My buddy Fred, who owns and runs [[IP-Max](https://ip-max.net/)] is
+moving out of all Equinix facilities, as there are better alternatives out there. I'll leave the
+details for another time, but let's just say that every one of the alternatives have less billing
+mistakes, and I'll leave it at that.
+
+Today I'm doing Fred a favor and exiting AS25091 from Equinix ZH4. As long as I've known IP-Max,
+which is about 18 years now, they have been at Equinix in Zurich. First they were at ZH1, the office
+building across the road, then as well ZH4, since maybe 2012 or so? and finally they had a big
+presence in ZH5 in Oberengstringen, which Fred and I ceremoniously exited a few months ago.
+
+Ludo and Fred have been absolute champions in this project: they have facilitated moves of every
+customer, all international links, all domestic links, and all dark fibers in the Zurich metro. The
+very last link (with Colt, once called Lumen, once called Level3, once called Centurylink) was
+supposed to be delivered between Lugano and R&uuml;lang  yesterday, but after much ado there was
+only light on one side. It doesn't matter though, that link is a second 10G link to Lugano, and
+there's another one from Geneva; so no customers will really notice those few days of slightly
+higher latency LUG->GVA->ZRH reroute, so we agree that I can proceed.
+
+Because ZH4 has terrible parking, as it's right in the middle of the city at Hardbr&uuml;cke, I
+decide to do the first half of the decomm by bike; I go over there, and disconnect / decommission
+the links and power off the routers and switches; there are two ASR9001 routers here, and some
+ancillary equipment which I unscrew and put at the bottom of the rack. All the fibers and power
+cables will go in a big bag which I'll bike back home. Then, when it's not the middle of the day and
+parking is constrained, I'll go back by car with a trolly to  pick up the 19" equipment and the
+PDUs. Sounds like a plan, let's go!
+
+My bike ride to and from the Josefstrasse 225 is delicious. It's not too warm, the air is crisp and
+dry, and the Sun is out. One of the reasons why I like helping IP-Max like this with their presence
+in Zurich, is that I get to enjoy a bike ride to the datacenters -- which is often _faster_ than by
+car, because of the absurd traffic situation around Zurich City. My bike ride is about 20min or so,
+and when I come back, a treat awaits me.
+
+Marina and Nicole have made flat bread with sloppy-joe-esque meatballs and saut&eacute;ed onions.
+They are absolutely fabulous, although I omnomm my meatballs with a B&uuml;rli instead. After the
+belly is full, I feel it's time for me to maybe do a bit of sportsing. I (very easily) convince
+Jean-Paul to take a walk with me. It's a loop around Bassersdorf, and I know of a cute hiking trail
+through the forest on a ridge just a few kilometers west of here. We really enjoy the walk together,
+even though some of it is a bit more of a _Pim-pad_ (which is Marina's way of saying "not a trail"
+although I just march through the thicket just as if it _is_ a trail).
+
+We start off by visitng the _Floof chickens_, a common evening stroll. They are actually here for
+once! Which is probably because we are here at 2pm rather than at 8pm, which for them at least,
+makes all the difference. From there, we catch the trail on the ridge in Baltenswil and walk North
+through the _Langentannen_ forest and all the way around the north side of Bassersdorf (two hilltops
+here are _M&uuml;lberg_ at 524m, followed by _Homberg_ at 527m), until we can see the Kloten
+international airport. It's really nice because it's all at relatively high elevation, on the rim of
+the valley where our villages lie, with beautiful views. From a vantage point over Bassersdorf, we
+look to the other side of this valley, some 10km due West of where we are, and plot a path through
+the valley to the other wise, where the _Hardwald_ forest is. 
+
+I should get up here more. It's so peaceful and serene, looking over the valley from up here. We
+plot a path through Bassersdorf and aim for _Hardturm_, a wooden lookout tower over there in
+_Hardwald_ forest in Dietlikon, and make our way over there. Along the way we hear the kids playing
+at the municipal pool, then we visit the local highschool before we make our way over to the other
+wide of the valley and up the hills towards Dietlikon. Here, we end up not going to the tower, as
+it's still a few kilometers away, and instead I aim for the local radio tower in Dietlikon, and from
+there it's a very known walk (for me at least), back down over _Klimm_ which has a nice set of ponds
+and family gardens, and through Dietlikon back home. In total we did 13km or so, and it was
+wonderful, albeit my feet were a bit more sore than I would've hope. I would not have lasted 400km
+like my buddy Brad (who is hiking _Kungsleden_ in Sweden, which is some 480km long trail!). I think
+of Brad, and send him a message on Signal asking him how his mental and physical health is, as he is
+almost done and Cristina is joining him for the last 80km or so. He's in great spirits, and I'm part
+jealous part grateful for him to be able to get to do such a trip. I will join you next time, Brad!
+
+In the evening we made a reservation at the local eatery _R&ouml;ssli_, and we sit outside in the
+residual heat of the day; we order some nice grub, notably the local favorite _Tartar_, which is
+hand sliced (raw) beef filet on toast. I eat a _Schnipo_ which is a veal schnitzel with fries. After
+the dinner, Jean Paul and I enjoy a glass of Grappa, and manage to kill the bottle.
+
+It's been a good day. The Swiss Equinexit is now a fact.
+
+
+## Pictures of the Day
+
+{{< gallery-category >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-28/IMG_0865.JPG" caption="I am using my badge to this datacenter for the ~last time." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-28/IMG_0871.JPG" caption="The bikeride home from the datacenter is through the fields and alongside a little river; it's a beautiful bikeride. " >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-28/IMG_0872.JPG" caption="The lunch of the day is meatballs, with tomato and sauteed onions, on B&uuml;rrli" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-28/IMG_0873.JPG" caption="JP and I visit the floof chickens at the beginning of our hike around Bassersdorf." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-28/IMG_0874.JPG" caption="JP marches through the forest in search of the trailhead on the ridge between Bassersdorf and Tagelswangen" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-28/IMG_0878.JPG" caption="A selfie at the top of the hill, overlooking our valley with Bassersdorf below us and Dietlikon on the far side of the valley." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-28/IMG_0879.JPG" caption="We found a kitty! And we petted it :)" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-28/IMG_0881.JPG" caption="After hiking 9km or so, my hands fill with fluid, maybe also because it's 33C out; I can't really close my fist right now, but I'm sure it'll pass." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-28/walk.png" caption="Our ring around Bassersdorf, 13km or so in total." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-28/IMG_0886.JPG" caption="Apero: nicely made Aperol Spritz" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-28/IMG_0890.JPG" caption="Dinner - buffalo mozarella with beefy tomatoes, much like yesterday." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-28/IMG_0892.JPG" caption="Dinner - Beef Tartar, with toast, egg and red onion." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-28/IMG_0893.JPG" caption="I click a few trillion cookies for Quinn." >}}
+{{< /gallery-category >}}
+
+{{< gallery-modal >}}
+{{< gallery-script >}}

content/blog/wk5day4.md

@@ -1,7 +1,101 @@
 ---
-title: "Week 5, Thursday:"
+title: "Week 5, Thursday: Pepe"
 date: 2024-08-29T21:55:00+02:00
-draft: true
 ---
 
-{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/todo.png" alt="Credit: " >}}
+{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/ben-c-kalsx-live.png" alt="Credit: Ben C and Kalsx Live, Youtube" >}}
+
+My parents in law, Jean-Paul and Nicole, have their birthday two days apart, Nicole on the 27th and
+JP on the 29th of August. Sometimes, Nicole would call Marina on the phone with a "hey don't forget
+your dad's birthday tomorrow", eliciting some guilt-filled "oopsie" on the part of Marina. But, this
+year, we forgot neither birthday!! 
+
+In the morning, post-brunch truffles are served. These belgian pralines are pretty great, so I
+cheers Marina who has a dark one while I choose a white chocolate one. A truffle a day, ..! After
+the brunch I ask Marina if she's willing to bring me to the datacenter, because parking in the
+daytime can be quite difficult, but I figured if she is willing to circle the block a few times, I
+can retrieve the IP-Max treasure. And thus, we went on our way to arrive at the datacenter only to
+find that (a) there were plenty of parking spots available and (b) the local parking police were
+writing out oodles of tickets to folks who had parked either too long, or didn't pay, or were not
+neatly parked in their respective parking bay. This is Switzerland, people, and we like our cars
+parked orderly, and our bundles of paper bound neatly, thank you.
+
+I casually schlepp two ASR9001s, an ASR920, a Cisco 2960 switch, a handfull of CWDM muxes, and two
+APC power strips out of this facility.  I have accumulated so many horror stories, from being denied
+access, being locked up on the floor, but overall somehow even after eighteen years of access, every
+other time its "you do not appear to have access to this location" followed by a 45 minute
+song-and-dance with escalations, and somehow magically "oh yes, here you are" is the result, full
+biometrics have to be redone, a new badge needs to be created - because this has only happened
+thirty times before. A smile on my face appears as it will be unlikely that I ever have to step
+foot in this particular building again. By the way, I hear - from employees that work here - that
+this datacenter company is the best company in the world - did you know??
+
+Bon, bloodpressure lowered as I put the equipment in an ever growing stah of IP-Max equipment in the
+IPng Networks carrier hotel - all of this stuff is slated to deploy later: these ASR9001s and
+assorted equipment will go to _Stollen_ in Luzern in September, while the bigger ASR9010 will go
+live a productive life in Frankfurt in October. Marina is pouting as I put stacks on stacks of
+equipment, but I know that deep down inside, she possibly still loves me.
+
+To take our minds off of the enormous stack of nerd, we go to a local Portugese winebar, where we
+sit outside on the patio and order a jug of white Sangria. To nosh a little bit, we also order house
+made tapanade and some olives and bread. We spend a while watching the world slide by on the road
+and roundabout here, and overall I find it incredibly relaxing. We'll be taking the bus home, so no
+need to rush: the busstop is literally across the street from the terrace.
+
+The Sangria is nice for a summers' day, and I find it easy to convince Marina to have some in the
+back yard later. What is a bit more difficult, is to convince her that my iPhone's selfie camera is
+so much better than her Samsung one. It's because her argument is that holding the phone (with a pop
+on the back) and being able to move the shutter button on the screen, makes it much easier to take
+pictures -- especially if you have nails. My argument is: eff that, press harder and with your thumb
+at a 112 degree angle, and benefit from the pixels and sharpness of the iPhone. We're both
+wondering: the selfie of us down below: was it made by iPhone or Samsung? No peeking at EXIF!
+
+After our delectable Ap&eacute;ro, we make our way back home with the bus and start at dinner. In my
+household, there's a pernnial disagreement on the potato krokettes: I really like them to be
+hashbrown or r&ouml;sti style (as pictured here), and Marina/Quinn prefer the softer _Duchesse_
+style. Leave a comment down below to let me know what your opinion is. Oh, wait...
+
+We chop up a bunch of garden vegetables and yeet them in the steam oven, and Nicole makes some
+delicious turkey filet, nicely seasoned and very tender. Yum! After the dinner, one last thing comes
+up, a birthday "cake", although Marina does not think it's much of a cake, JP and I do! It's a
+_Quarktorte_ (sort of a cheese cake, not baked). My bigger issue is that I find raisins in the cake.
+Luckily they are in the bottom, so I muster the mental strength to consume a piece (which, I cannot
+tell a lie, is actually very good despite the polution).
+
+Then at 8pm, just as I'm moving the last bite of cake into my face, Tim pings me on Telegram
+"meeting time!". The [[Coloclue](https://coloclue.net/)] association has a monthly meeting with the
+network and systems admin committee, of which I am a member. Very glad I went, because we had a full
+contingent, everybody came, including two new folks: Jaap and Erwin, who are looking to chip in and
+join the team. We talk about bits and bobs, a new set of core switches, some action items (including
+a new OOB platform, and upgrading our VPP routers from Debian Bullseye to Bookworm), and our desire
+to deploy Akvorado with VPP -- which reminds me of an ongoing thread with the folks from
+[[Inmon](https://inmon.com/)] about their proof of concept to add _sflow_ to VPP, which excites
+Rogier and me greatly. We immediately make a date: September 6th, we'll take the code out for a
+spin, possibly seeing if/when/how we might deploy this to the routers at Coloclue. Considering the
+machines will have to reboot with the Debian upgrade, that would be an excellent time to add or
+remove VPP plugins as well, limiting the number of dataplane restarts to, essentially, one. By the
+way, VPP is running pretty well at Coloclue AS8283. The last dataplane restart was on March 5th when
+there was a power failure at the facility and up ever since.
+
+I have to say, my favorite part about the meeting is the _afterparty_. We get to know each other,
+ask curious questions of Jaap and Erwin, and I crack open a bottle of Rioja (a _Gran Reserva_ cuz I
+ain't playing around), and all of the sudden it's 1am. This suits me fine as I will be gearing up
+for a night shift this Saturday at Zurich Open Air (which is slated to run until about 3am). After a
+fun evening of catching up and making new play dates for Coloclue, I turn in a happy camper after a
+quick midnight snack (of cup-a-noodles).
+
+## Pictures of the Day
+
+{{< gallery-category >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-29/IMG_0896.JPG" caption="Marina and I cheers with a truffle in the morning. As the famous saying goes: One truffel a day, keeps the doctor gay!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-29/IMG_0901.JPG" caption="Marina chauffeurs me to the datacenter in Zurich where I decommissioned stuff yesterday, to pick up the equipment. Nice trolly!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-29/IMG_0903.JPG" caption="(part of) the haul for IP-Max: a few muxes, two ASR9001s, a Cisco 2960G and an ASR920. I think I'll loadtest this stuff later!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-29/IMG_0904.JPG" caption="In the afternoon we take an apero with white-wine Sangria at a local Portugese watering hole" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-29/IMG_0908.JPG" caption="We have some tapanade and olives with this rather delicious sangria" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-29/selfie.png" caption="Marina and I have an argument over whose cellphone takes better selfies. Mine has a better camera, but hers has a pop so you can hold it more comfortably. We agree to disagree." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-29/IMG_0910.JPG" caption="In the evening, we eat fried turkey with steamed veggies and r&ouml;sti kroketten. Lekker!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-29/IMG_0911.JPG" caption="As desert, Pepe requested (and therefor, got served) a Quarktorte, which had raisins :(" >}}
+{{< /gallery-category >}}
+
+{{< gallery-modal >}}
+{{< gallery-script >}}

content/blog/wk5day5.md

@@ -1,7 +1,94 @@
 ---
-title: "Week 5, Friday:"
+title: "Week 5, Friday: Loadtesting ASR9001"
 date: 2024-08-30T21:55:00+02:00
-draft: true
 ---
 
-{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/todo.png" alt="Credit: " >}}
+{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/method-drumbass-mixes-02.png" alt="Credit: Mtehod D&B, Youtube" >}}
+
+I had plans for today, but due to different planning, those plans changed. Originally, I was to do
+the IP-Max Equinexit today, but I moved that up to [[Wednesday]({{< ref wk5day3.md >}})] instead. So
+now I have a whole day left over, and whatever shall I do?? JP and Nicole decided to visit Luzern
+today, so they're off early on a train. Since I went to bed at 2am yesterday, and I had an absolute
+terrible sleep, waking up at 03:00 with a head full of snot, and again at 04:00, then at 05:00 when
+Marina said "hey now that you're up, how's about you rattle Quinn out of bed", and then once again
+at 07:00. It was a very unpleasant night. I'm tired already and it's only 10am.
+
+In the morning, we do some weeding of the front yard. Marina binds the bulbous _Hydranchea_ flowers
+together, now that they've  really grown big and heavy and are starting to sag over our walkway.
+It's been pretty favorable weather, lots of 30C temperatures and every few days a good rainshower to
+feed them much needed water. So, they've grown quite a bit. As we chat with Andrea, our neighbor, we
+trim and cut back the flowers so that they look a bit less like a jungle. The trimmings we decide to
+keep, as we can propagate them. The trick is to remove the leaves at the bottom of the cutting, and
+then snip it just under a joint where the leaves shoot from - there are hormone pockets there, and
+it's more likely that roots will shoot out from such a location. I advise Marina, a plant biologist
+with an ironic deficit of not being able to keep plants alive, and she makes good work of it. I'll
+check back in in a few days (maybe 7-10d or so), to see how those went. Perhaps we can plant a few
+more in our back yard, that would be nice.
+
+Then we have a spot of lunch - Marina is taking some of the steamed veggies from yesterday and
+making an omelette out of them, and I am taking the leftover onion sauce and sauteed onions and
+turning it into a salty onion soup. Both go down well - and for once Marina finishes lunch before I
+do: a rare sight! 
+
+After lunch I decide that I'm going to take the ASR9001 from IP-Max out on a date to the IPng lab. I
+rack it, boot it (which takes absolutely for ever by the way), and find myself stumbling around the
+serial, super tired, mostly possibly because of my interrupted sleep from yesterday. Marina however
+cheers me up: _cr&egrave;me-schnitt_ time! I enjoy mine with an espresso coffee, which gives me just
+enough of a pep to be able to wire up 12x 10G SFP+ and XFP betweenb one of the loadtesters and the
+ASR9001. The loadtest itself is exciting, notably because it does _not_ do line rate small packets.
+However, I'll leave the larger technical description for an IPng article, later on next week.
+
+Tonight, we're eating sticky tofu with sticky rice and steamed broccoli. It's a recipe we have from
+Hello Fresh, but one that really got Marina to liking tofu recipes. In her mind, tofu is that white
+stuff you get in Miso soup, and she was until recently not convinced that you can also have firm
+tofu. Her special trick (which I don't think works) is to press out some more water by placing the
+tofu blocks between two cutting boards and loading something heavy on top. Oh well, my dear, if it
+works for you, it certainly works for me :-)
+
+We bought ros&eacute; wine, unfortunately the pretty bottles with the sharp artsy edges we bought
+were all gone, so we made do with "just" normal bottles. This one is a fair bit more dry than the
+facetted-bottle-one, and because I'm just a little bit tired I decide to limit myself to one tiny
+glass. Dinner is had, and bellies explode. We eat a lot of this tofu stuff! A totally veganistical
+meal!
+
+AFter dinner, we take a walk up the hill, and both of us notice that even halfway up the path, we
+need to take a little sit down to recover. Geez, Rick, I'm really not energetic today! After the
+schlepp up, which is really only 30 meters (100ft) of elevation gain, the walk _back down_ is not
+terrible at least. It's nice weather out, not too hot, and still bright blue skies. I love Summer,
+so much.
+
+Back home, we reconnect with JP and Nicole who have returned from Luzern. They executed their whole
+plan without flaw - train to Luzern, boat around the lake, up mount _Pilatus_, down with the
+cogwheel train, and overall had a very enjoyable time in and around Luzern. Great! But now all of us
+are tired, each for their own reasons [admittedly, mine being the lamest reason].
+
+We plop on the couch and watch a belgian movie: _Mijn Papa is een Saucisse_ (My dad is a Sausage,
+[[IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5939328/)]), with Johan Heldenbergh alongside young Savannah
+Vandendriessche (gotta love those Belgiansurnameswhichareallinoneword). Another actress in the movie
+is Hilde De Baerdemaeker, also a classic use of the double -ae- there!) who we just saw in the
+flemish police series _Coppers_. The movie is a real feel-good family drama about a stressed out Dad
+called Paul, who quits his banking job to become an actor, without any support from his family
+except his daughter Zo&euml;. It's entirely predictable, but for me it really worked. I enjoyed it.
+
+At 22:00 everybody skedaddles and I am left thinking that I still want to move my day up a little
+bit, because of tomorrow's Zurich Open Air. So I go downstairs to do a bit more loadtesting on the
+ASR9001, and at around midnight I decide that I will call it a night. I can always take a nap
+tomorrow afternoon, being the old geezer I have clearly become.
+
+## Pictures of the Day
+
+{{< gallery-category >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-30/IMG_0914.JPG" caption="Marina lovingly holds the hydranchea cuttings, which we will try to propagate" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-30/IMG_0917.JPG" caption="I do a bit of emergency balloon repair of our 'Happy Birthday' balloons, the -r- is -r-ipped, and some kapton tape comes to the rescue." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-30/IMG_0919.JPG" caption="I prepare a loadtester with 6pcs of dual 10G NIC, because the ASR9001 I am loadtesting has 12 ports." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-30/IMG_0920.JPG" caption="Some energy and relief is given by this nice cup of espresso and creme schnitt." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-30/IMG_0921.JPG" caption="Here's an MPA4X10G module for the A9K, we use these all over the place, but can they do 4x 14.88Mpps and 40Gbps of throughput?" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-30/IMG_0922.JPG" caption="Marina's trick to get dry tofu is to squeeze it until it stops moving." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-30/IMG_0923.JPG" caption="We enjoy a glass (just one, today!) of ros&eacute; wine" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-30/IMG_0926.JPG" caption="After dinner, we crawl up the hill in slow motion. But it sure is pretty up here." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-30/IMG_0927.JPG" caption="On our walk we stumbled across this BMW i8 car - I really like the shape." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-30/IMG_0930.JPG" caption="The movie for tonight is: Mijn Papa is een Saucisse, here Zo&euml; is Ms Tofuball, don't ask." >}}
+{{< /gallery-category >}}
+
+{{< gallery-modal >}}
+{{< gallery-script >}}

content/blog/wk5day6.md

@@ -1,7 +1,260 @@
 ---
-title: "Week 5, Saturday:"
+title: "Week 5, Saturday: Zurich Open Air"
 date: 2024-08-31T21:55:00+02:00
-draft: true
 ---
 
-{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/todo.png" alt="Credit: " >}}
+{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/noraenpure-04.png" alt="Credit: MLDBeast -  Nora en Pure, Youtube" >}}
+
+I got up late this morning, and had a great nights' sleep. The day before yesterday was a bit rough
+on my sleep, but I totally made up for it this last night. That's good, because today will be a long
+day at [[Zurich Open Air](https://zurichopenair.ch/)]! Although it starts at 14:00, I'm going a bit
+later, planning to be there at 17:30 or so in time for the _Sugababes_ performance. Somehow I had
+never thought that I would actively go to see them, but it's an as good a start to ZOA24 as ever :)
+
+In the morning, I bake a rustic bread which has been fermenting overnight; it has a lot of flavor,
+and it'll do nicely with boiled eggs and salami. After lunch, I go downstairs to catch up on my
+writing. After I just started, my buddy David asked on the _Hardship Brotherhood_ Signal channel
+what types of microphone we use - he's in the market for a new USB mic. Ha! Just up my alley as only
+a few weeks ago I did a bunch of deep dives into both wired and wireless mics, and audio processing
+to make the sound a little bit better. Feeling adequately nerdsniped, I record a quick video
+demonstrating the difference between a small (lavelier) mics and a larger (condenser) mic.
+
+{{< video src="/media/vdo/2024-08-31_11-12-55_11.16.21.mp4" >}}
+
+In the afternoon, I make my way over to Opfikon, the town where Zurich Open Air holds its festival.
+I bike past this field several times a month, as it's on the way from both my place and Interxion
+(Glattbrugg), where IPng's `chgtg0.ipng.ch` router lives, as well as NTT (R&uuml;mlang), where
+`chrma0.ipng.ch` lives. So I happen to know that I can just park my bike at either datacenter
+within 1km of walking, although I decide to drop the bike at a local UBS office _just_ at the
+entrance of the festival grounds. Slick!
+
+## Zurich Open Air
+
+ZOA'24 is spread across four days. Last week I was a bit sad that I hadn't bought a ticket for the
+whole thing, because Macklemore and Miss Monique were both in the lineup. But, not to worry, today's
+line up is pretty great as well. ZOA24 consists of three stages - the Main Stage, and opposite to it
+the ZOA Stage, and off to the side lives the Dance Circus. Each of these has five artists lined up,
+and they are sufficiently far enough apart that their sound doesn't cause confusion, unless you're
+in the exact middle of the fairground, and you'll get bombarded from literally all sides.
+
+It turns out, the organizers have not overlapped Main Stage and ZOA Stage, which means that every 90
+minutes or so, 50'000 people walk from one side to the other. It's fun to see the somewhat abandoned
+'cold' stage. Meanwhile, the Dance Circus has a DJ spinning essentially the whole time. It's a tent,
+which makes sense to create a club-vibe, with lights overhead and a big video-wall behind the
+turntables.
+
+In the middle there's plenty of food shops and drinks, as well as a few pop-up stands from Samsung,
+Heineken and Aperol Spritz. But I'm not planning on drinking, as it's going to be a long day and
+night ahead; so I grab myself a bottle of water which I refilled like eight times :) Cheap date!!
+
+I first took some pictures of the empty venues (Main Stage, ZOA Stage and Dance Circus). Then at
+17:40 or so the crowd came literally _flooding_ in from the other side (where
+[[Kaffkiez](https://kaffkiez.com/)] had just wrapped up).
+
+> **KAFFKIEZ** are a bit like the guys in your neighborhood you always like to go out with. Their music
+> is all about having a good time, be it with buttons in your ear in S1 or when 120 decibels at a
+> live concert save you a trip to the hairdresser. The band’s sound is like a drunken summer night
+> with your soulmates, with whom you can not only get completely fucked up but also share your
+> deepest worries. The songs sing about the ups and downs of everyday life, garnished with the
+> typical kaffkiez irony and without losing sight of social problems.
+
+
+I have a purple wristband on, which means I paid more monies to be able to sit overhead on a
+balcony, in case it rained, and with access to toilets that do not have fourty people standing in
+line!  But I do intend to be "downstairs" for the performance, so I go stand smack in the middle of
+the audience while the [[Sugababes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugababes)] start their gig. The
+'babes are still (or, again) going strong, and I get a taste of the sound quality making the video I
+posted for David all of the sudden sound terrible in comparison. But, they be professionals, and I
+but be an amateur.
+
+> **The Sugababes** are a British girl group that was founded in the late 1990s and became known for
+> their unique pop sound. Their music is characterized by catchy melodies, harmonious vocals and a
+> mixture of pop, R&B and electropop. With hits such as “Freak Like Me”, “Round Round” and “Push the
+> Button”, they achieved international fame and dominated the charts in the 2000s. The band went
+> through several line-up changes, but each new member change brought fresh impetus and helped to
+> further develop their sound. Despite these changes, the essence of their music – strong vocal
+> harmonies and catchy beats – always remained. 
+
+I grab a chicken gyros, which tastes great, and make my way over to the other side where
+[[Aurora](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurora_(singer))] captivates the audience with powerful
+vocals. She's very lively also, stomping around in a bright red dres. I had never heard of her
+before, but I take notes, it's awesome!
+
+> **Aurora Aksnes**, known as Aurora, is a Norwegian singer-songwriter and producer born on June 15,
+> 1996 in Stavanger, Norway. Her music is characterized by her unique voice, poetic lyrics and
+> experimental soundscapes. Aurora gained international recognition with her debut album “All My
+> Demons Greeting Me as a Friend” in 2016 and is known for her energetic live performances and
+> emotional authenticity. Aurora is also actively involved in environmental and human rights issues.
+> Her song “Runaway” has been used in various films and advertising campaigns, contributing to
+> further popularity. Her artistic style combines elements of indie pop, electropop and folk.
+
+Then I feel my feet starting to remind me they exist, which sucks because it's only like 19:30 and I
+have a long ways to go. So I go hang out at the VIP lounge for a little bit, grab a Coke Zero and a
+bottle of water, and look at planes sliding by on runway 34. I also saw the sound mixing equipment
+from the Sugababes get transported off by some heavy lifter machine, which was a fun detail. That's
+the nice thing about having a dual-stage, this side is completely empty as ~everybody is on the
+other side, enjoying Aurora.
+
+But then, [[Anne-Marie](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne-Marie)] starts, and although I dont
+recall having ever heard the _name_ before, as soon as she starts, I'm like "oh right, that one!". I
+listen to more music on Spotify and YouTube without really seeing who it's from, which is why I'm
+tererible with names.
+
+> **Anne-Marie**, the British singer and songwriter, has made a name for herself with her versatile and
+> powerful music. Her style encompasses pop, R&B and dance, standing out with her exceptional voice
+> and honest lyrics. She became known through hits such as “Alarm” and “Ciao Adios”. Anne-Marie
+> began her career as a backing singer before taking off as a solo artist. Her debut album “Speak
+> Your Mind” from 2018 brought her worldwide recognition and several chart positions. An energetic
+> performer with a unique stage presence, Anne-Marie is known for her captivating live performances.
+> Her career is reflected in her musical maturity and creative development, and she remains a
+> significant figure in contemporary pop music.
+
+After Anne-Marie, in her cute braids and _California_ t-shirt, I decide to quickly grab some grub
+underway to the next performance. It's a classic BBQ hamburger and fries, and I sit outside the
+Dance Circus listening in on the DJ that's performing there: [[Marco
+Berto](http://www.marcoberto.ch/)], a local Swiss House music DJ with a nice beat with deep bass. I
+am already getting very excited for what I'll get to hear (and feel) later tonight. Outside, there's
+a sound meter and they are carefully monitoring the sound pressure levels, it's just edging towards
+100dB, "it's the law". Harrumpf.
+
+> **Marco Berto** has been scorching dancefloors for over two decades now, successfully publishes
+> his own label Deep Love, running his Radioshows on Planet 105 and Radio Deep, has won acclaim on
+> the international scene and has become a household name on the Swiss Housemusic scene in the
+> process.  During his career, Marco was longtime resident DJ at the famous Club Q in Switzerland,
+> played at several places in Germany, Ibiza (Space), St. Petersburg, Thessaloniki, Barcelona and
+> shared the decks with various artists.
+
+With my hamburger and fries (with ketchup, I mean, who _does that_) down the hatch, it's only a very
+short walk to the ZOA Stage where hip hopper [[Trettmann](https://trettmann.de/)] is slinging. I
+like the bass tunes of his dancehall mixed with hip-hop, and clearly so does the audience. I have
+never heard of this guy before, but he's clearly a popular (german) performer.
+
+> **Trettmann**, the German rapper and singer, has established himself as a versatile artist with a
+> unique style. His music, which is a mixture of reggae, dancehall and hip-hop, reflects his
+> multi-faceted cultural influences. Trettmann began his career in the 1990s as part of the rap
+> group “K.I.Z” and later developed into a successful solo artist. His breakthrough came with the
+> album “Adriano” in 2016. Since then, he has cemented his position in the German music scene with
+> albums such as “DIY” and “TRETTMANN”. Trettmann’s distinctive voice, combined with his catchy
+> melodies and profound lyrics, has earned him a firm place in the modern rap landscape. With an
+> impressive career, Trettmann remains an influential figure in the German music scene.
+
+After Trettmann has wrapped up I mozy over to the other side where on the main stage, Sido is about
+to start. It's really busy, and also really getting dark now (it's 22:00 or so), and the stage
+lighting starts to show itself off more and more. They have the beams pointed straight _up_ and I
+would *not* want to be an airplane now landing on runway 34 (which is 200m away from this stage), in
+fact I just wonder: how did they get permission to do that next to an active runway?
+
+> **Sido**, whose real name is Paul Würdig, is a German rapper and producer who was born on November 30,
+> 1980 in East Berlin. Known for the distinctive mask he initially wore, Sido has been shaping the
+> German rap scene since the early 2000s. His debut album “Maske” from 2004 brought him great
+> recognition and laid the foundation for his successful career. Sido is known for his controversial
+> and provocative style, which addresses social and political issues. In addition to his music
+> career, he was also a judge on the German version of “The Voice of Germany”. With hits such as
+> “Bilder im Kopf” and “Mein Block”, Sido remains a defining figure in German hip-hop.
+
+This bearded guy reminds me a bit of a co-worker I have (name unnamed, in case _they_ do not believe
+they look like Sido). The music is okay, and clearly he's a popular artist judging by the audience
+which is going absolutely mental and screaming along the lyrics. Me? I'm just buying time, because
+in only a few minutes I get to go to the Dance Circus.
+
+I arrive there at 22:50, and being a nerd I even set an alarm so that I would not miss it. It's
+pretty packed in the tent, but I make my way forward until there is more more forward to go: I am
+pressed up against the cattle bar on the left side of the stage, just under the speaker wall. I'm
+ready for [[Nora en Pure](https://www.noraenpure.com/)]:
+
+> **Nora En Pure**, the South African-Swiss producer and DJane, is known for her captivating
+> interpretation of deep house and indie dance. Her music is characterized by organic sounds, rich
+> melodies and an elegant atmosphere, often inspired by natural elements. With hits like “Come With
+> Me” and “Lake Arrowhead” she has gained international recognition. Nora En Pure’s tracks are
+> characterized by a timeless elegance and her artistic diversity is reflected in a range from club
+> hits to relaxed lounge tracks. As the founder of the label “Enormous Tunes”, she has not only
+> advanced her own career, but has also contributed to the development of the deep house scene. Her
+> DJ sets are known for a perfect balance between driving beats and melodic sophistication. Nora En
+> Pure remains an outstanding personality in the world of electronic music, inspiring audiences with
+> her unmistakable sound.
+
+I like listening to Nora En Pure's _Purified_ on YouTube, she brings out a weekly one hour set on
+Mondays (well, records on Saturday, but release to SoundCloud, YouTube and bandsintown on Mondays),
+and I've been listening to it every week since ~the pandemic. It's wonderfully tranquil deep house
+wonderfully stitched together. The first thing I notice is: live is waaaaay different than online.
+Perhaps this is because of the wall of like 80 subwoofers that are possibly less than two meters away
+from where I am standing. Every drum kick physically makes the hairs on my legs and arms tickle, and
+when I am recording on my cellphone, you can see the camera being distorted. Oh yes, this is
+different than on YouTube, and no ads :)
+
+Every now and again, somebody to my right leaves and I scootch over, until I am possibly less than
+eight meters away from the turntables. I take many (many) pictures and short video clips, but there
+is absolutely no lighting on stage. She is playing in the dark, wearing black clothes, and there are
+beams of light and strobes pointed at the audience, so really the pictures are quite terrible. I
+smuggled in a screenshot from the Armensee recording in 2021. I feel my way through the set, and
+really thoroughly enjoy the music. Totally worth it, but the ninety minutes pass too quickly!
+
+I am on a natural high as I float out of the tent at 00:30, but the festival isn't over yet. I
+see that the ZOA Stage is _gemacht_, as Ram&oacute;n would say, but there's still 'a few', or maybe
+more like 'thirty thousand' people hanging out at the Main Stage, which I see has fireworks and
+strong green and red lighting (but not laser lights, that would be too much even for Zurich Airport,
+methinks). I'm surprised, because it's [[DJ Kygo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kygo)] on stage! 
+
+> **Kygo**, the Norwegian DJ and producer, has established himself as a key figure in the field of
+> tropical house. His music is characterized by airy, tropical sounds, catchy melodies and relaxed
+> beats. Kygo became internationally known through remixes of well-known songs before cementing his
+> own style with hits such as “Firestone” and “Stole the Show”. His debut album “Cloud Nine” from
+> 2016 was well received by critics and fans alike. Kygo continues to successfully set himself apart
+> from other electronic producers through collaborative work with various artists and his signature
+> sound. With his unique blend of house and melodic pop, Kygo has made a significant impact on the
+> modern electronic music scene.
+
+I spend another hour and a half coming down from my natural high and at some point, take one last
+look around the festival grounds: the Dance Circus has hard techno (from
+[[Artbat](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artbat)]) which won't work for me today.
+
+> **Artbat**, the Ukrainian DJ and producer duo, have made a name for themselves in the electronic music
+> scene with their distinctive style. Their music combines techno, progressive house and melodic
+> elements, creating a dynamic and atmospheric soundscape. Artbat is known for powerful, hypnotic
+> beats that conquer dance floors all over the world. With hits like “Tabu” and “Upperground” they
+> have gained international attention. The duo cultivates an artistic diversity that ranges from
+> epic, cinematic moments to energetic club tracks. Their influence in the electronic dance music
+> scene and their constant presence on major festival stages underline their importance as leading
+> figures in this genre.
+
+I sit outside on the grass and feel that feeling which I often have in my bassment (haha bass-ment),
+that all of the sudden the temperature registers and I go from "normal" to "oeh, it's cold", and
+seeing it's 02:00, I decide to take off home. Kygo is wrapping up his set and I want to beat the
+crowd out. Exiting ZOA24 is easy, and my sore feet take me the 200 meters or so to where my bike is
+parked. I have a slight surprise there, the torque sensor in my bike is acting up (and I have an
+appointment to get it fixed on Wednesday), so it won't go. I kick it a little bit, and the torque
+sensor is detected again, only to insist to to go full speed whenever I release the brakes. Well, OK
+then, at least the "bike"-ride home is effortless.
+
+I finally arrive at home at 02:15 or so, and my phone has barely enough battery left to open the
+frontdoor. This was a nice festival, with lots of diversity and choice. I shall now pass out.
+
+## Pictures of the Day
+
+{{< gallery-category >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-31/lineup.png" caption="The line up for the fourth and final day of Zurich Open Air 2024" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-31/IMG_0944.JPG" caption="The Main Stage at ZOA24, which is pretty impressive considering it's in the middle of a field in Opfikon." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-31/IMG_0945.JPG" caption="The Dance Circus stage with vidi-wall behind it. I've essentially come to ZOA24 for this stage." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-31/IMG_0949.JPG" caption="The dinner: chicken gyros with french fries in flat bread. 15 bucks, please!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-31/IMG_0951.JPG" caption="The Sugababes on Main Stage at 17:45." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-31/IMG_0957.JPG" caption="Proof that I wore matching shirt for the Sugababes vidi-wall." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-31/IMG_0961.JPG" caption="The Min Stage audience, not yet everybody arrived, or they don't like the Sugababes :)" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-31/IMG_0967.JPG" caption="After the 'babes, I see a forklift retrieve a few flight cases of equipment; it's all in a day's work I suppose" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-31/IMG_0972.JPG" caption="Aurora is on the ZOA Stage, and holy moly this one has a voice in her" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-31/IMG_0979.JPG" caption="Anne-Marie is on the Main Stage, singing her distinct style" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-31/IMG_0982.JPG" caption="I think Anne-Marie is a cutie with her braids, California t-shirt and silver poofy dress" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-31/IMG_0986.JPG" caption="Marco Berto is spinning in the Dance Circus at Zurich Open Air 2024" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-31/IMG_0989.JPG" caption="The sound technicians keep a close eye out for the sound pressure, must not exceed 100dB so they flatline it at 99.x :) - for the record: that is 30 meters from the speakers, and in front of the speakers it's ... a whole new thing" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-31/IMG_0992.JPG" caption="Trettmann performs on the ZOA Stage" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-31/IMG_0995.JPG" caption="A closeup of Trettmann doing some ballad of sorts, with an overlay of cell phone lights in the background" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-31/IMG_1006.JPG" caption="Sido is at Main Stage, and he is singing about photo albumbs with silver buttons and pictures inside. Well, I took your picture, Sido!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-31/IMG_1011.JPG" caption="A closeup of Sido, who wore a white pullover onto a stage with lights on him, while it is 30C outside. Bilder? Krank im Kopf!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-31/IMG_1031.JPG" caption="Nora en Pure spinns in the Dance Circus at Zurich Open Air 2024" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-01/IMG_1043.JPG" caption="Although I'm maybe ten meters away, it's after dark, there are no lights on the stage (only into the audience), so I can't really take pictures of Nora en Pure playing." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-31/nora.png" caption="A screenshot of Nora en Pure playing at Armensee in Switzerland, a beautiful set from 2021." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-01/IMG_1044.JPG" caption="Kygo is spinning on Main Stage, which is a nice cool down from the hot and loud Dance Circus I was in for 90min" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-01/IMG_1046.JPG" caption="Kygo has the benefit of an elaborate light show with his set on Main Stage at Zurich Open Air 2024" >}}
+{{< /gallery-category >}}
+
+{{< gallery-modal >}}
+{{< gallery-script >}}

content/blog/wk5day7.md

@@ -1,7 +1,96 @@
 ---
-title: "Week 5, Sunday:"
+title: "Week 5, Sunday: Da Vinci at Maag Lichthalle"
 date: 2024-09-01T21:55:00+02:00
-draft: true
 ---
 
-{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/todo.png" alt="Credit: " >}}
+{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/mldbeast-nora.png" alt="Credit: MLD Beast, Nora en Pure, Youtube" >}}
+
+One of the nice things about getting home at 02:30 after lunging around at an open air festival for
+10 hours straight, is that one gets kind of tired. I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow
+and woke up this morning at 11:30 after a great night's rest. It does however mean that the morning
+turns into the afternoon very quickly.
+
+After lunch, I reconfigured [[IP-Max](https://ip-max/)]'s ASR9001 from L2 mode to L3 mode, and
+hand-configured 12 static ARP entries, 12 static IPv4 routes and 12 static MPLS entries, in order to
+do my second set of loadtests. I let them run (for a few hours), as I prepared myself for the
+afternoon session. Tomorrow, JP and Nicole move onwards to Austria, so today Marina has arranged a
+visit to a local exhibition of _Da Vinci_'s life and work, as well as a tapas dinner in a place in
+Albisrieden.
+
+At 14:30 we make our way to Zurich,'s Hardbr&uuml;cke train station, and the _Maaghalle_ is only a
+few minutes walk from here. While there's also from time to time concerts and theater shows here,
+there is also one large room which is fitted with projectors and objects to make a somewhat
+different, and in my opinion really slick, type of art: light shows.
+
+First, we walk through a hallway with sketches, stories and background information on Leonardo da
+Vinci. We learn all about his inventions, from crazy (at least: at the time!) to practical gears and
+even the first panzer tank design. We look at some of his paintings, at his anatomical works, and
+I'm continuously delighted by his brilliance. What a guy!
+
+Then, we round the corner and there's a door that leads to a twenty by fourty by ten meter open
+space, which has no windows. In this space there is a large cube, a few places to sit, including
+bean bags, and a stairway to a balcony that sits three or so meters above ground. In this room, a
+spectacle unfolds: there is a thirty minute video recording that chronicles Da Vinci's life and all
+the things he's accomplished. The nice thing is: the whole room is lit, the walls, the floor, the
+cube, are all meticulously projected on by a set of twenty or so huge overhead projectors. I try my
+very best to find projection errors, but there are _absolutely_ no seams, no overlaps, no ripples,
+nothing! At some point, I do find a vertical line, but it turns out to be a seam in the wall,
+nothing to do with the projection. I tip my hat to the mechanical and video engineering here, I
+don't think I've seen anything quite as well done before.
+
+I watch the video one and a half times, to make sure I get the whole spiel. It's delicious, and the
+sound is also projected very nicely (although, after Nora en Pure yesterday, somewhat underwhelming
+sound pressure wise). I also take a look inside the cube, where Da Vinci's _Virtruvian Man_ hangs
+life sized, and Quinn joins me. The room is full of mirrors which are meticulously arranged to
+create an infinity of Quinns and Pims.
+
+After the [[Maag Lichthalle](https://www.lichthallemaag.ch/lhm/de.html)], we make our way over to
+[[Iberia Tapas](https://iberiatapas.com/speisekarte/)], which has a nice assortment of wines and
+bites. We order a _first round_ with the usual, _pan con tomate_, _tortilla de patata_, a little bit
+of _jamon_ because why not?, some _croquetas_, a few _bacalao con clcachofas_ (artechokes), and
+_piementos de padron_ for el patron (me). For the wine, I get to choose an _Aalto_, which is really
+good. Lots of olive oil with bread is consumed, and overall we have a brilliant time. After the
+first round, we order a little bit more, _gambas al ajillo_, a nice beef _puntas de solomillo con
+chimichurri_ for that little south-american flavor, some oxtail _canelon de rabo de toro_ and a
+cevice of _tiradito de lubina_. After that, the stuffing of faces was complete.
+
+On the way back we saw lots of FCZ folks, but we are unsure if they were celebrating or licking
+their wounds - they were neither pissy nor drunk nor roudy nor happy. What gives? We stopped at
+Zurich main station for a little bit of ice cream for those who wanted (Quinn, Marina and JP), and
+made our way home by 21:00 or so. It had started to rain a little bit, but Quinn and I decided to
+weather it (hrhr) and walk home. It was really nice seeing the lightning at >10 seconds away, so we
+figured we'd for now be safe. At home, we sat outside in the yard while it started to lightly rain:
+light rain, but big droplets. It was refreshing!
+
+After JP, Nicole and Marina came home (they took the bus so had to wait 15min at the statino), Quinn
+and I went inside because the light rain with big droplets turned into big rain with big droplets.
+We watched a big batch of news: Dutch, Belgian and Swiss news. They all talked about the German
+elections, but we also got an answer to our FCZ question. it was a tie :)
+
+At around 23:00 we turned in for the night. Tomorrow morning, Marina has her sketch class in
+Oerlikon, Quinn will be off to school, and JP and Nicole will be on their merry way to Austria. That
+means I get to have the house to myself for most of the day -- and I find that quite OK!
+
+## Pictures of the Day
+
+{{< gallery-category >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-01/IMG_1048.JPG" caption="Quinn is wearing spikies on his wrist, and we try not to puncture a spleen." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-01/IMG_1049.JPG" caption="Leonardo da Vinci's life work exhibit in Maag Lichthalle in Zurich" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-01/IMG_1050.JPG" caption="A Da Vinci exhibit is not complete without Mona Lisa (a replica, obviously)" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-01/IMG_1054.JPG" caption="We enter the light exhibit room, mid-video. We first sit down on ground level a little bit to take in the lights from all sides" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-01/IMG_1058.JPG" caption="Marina and I take a licht-halle-selfie while the Da Vinci movie pleys" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-01/IMG_1060.JPG" caption="You can see the pixels from the ovehard projectors on my hands - it looks like I'm wearning stockings!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-01/IMG_1061.JPG" caption="From the balcony on the first floor, the view into the room is absolutely stunning." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-01/IMG_1068.JPG" caption="Another view from the balcony into the room, while it's projecting Da Vinci's astronomy work. It's gorgeous." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-01/IMG_1072.JPG" caption="Quinn and I find each other in the infinity cube. Or did we?" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-01/IMG_1075.JPG" caption="Quinn: 'Can I pet that dawg?' in southern drawl. Acceptable use of drawl." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-01/IMG_1076.JPG" caption="We have an Aalto wine from Ribera del Douro, which is a favorite of mine" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-01/IMG_1077.JPG" caption="Our table full of tapas, version 1.0. In total there were three orders." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-01/IMG_1079.JPG" caption="This seabass cevice was a really tasty treat." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-01/IMG_1080.JPG" caption="After dinner, we all got some liquor to celebrate the day" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-01/IMG_1081.JPG" caption="On the way back to the station, I saw this nice bike." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-01/IMG_1084.JPG" caption="While walking home, the skies darkened and a lightning storm formed, which was quite the sight!" >}}
+{{< /gallery-category >}}
+
+{{< gallery-modal >}}
+{{< gallery-script >}}

content/blog/wk6day1.md

@@ -1,7 +1,99 @@
 ---
-title: "Week 6, Monday:"
+title: "Week 6, Monday: 2x100G to Frankfurt"
 date: 2024-09-02T21:55:00+02:00
-draft: true
 ---
 
-{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/todo.png" alt="Credit: " >}}
+{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/missmonique-02.png" alt="Credit: Miss Monique, YouTube" >}}
+
+At 07:00, which is way too early for me, I got a text message from DHL that they have a package for
+me from Prague. I'm a bit conflicted about this: on the one hand, hell-yeah the [[Prusa
+Mk4S](https://www.prusa3d.com/product/original-prusa-mk4s-3d-printer-kit)] is going to be delivered,
+and I've been wanting this one for a while now. On the other hand, 7am is clearly an invalid time.
+But I decide to snooze a bit so that if the doorbell rings, I can jump out of bed. The doorbell
+rings at 09:00, and I take delivery of (half of?) the delivery. I've also ordered a few upgrade
+parts for my aging [[Prusa Mk3](https://www.prusa3d.com/category/original-prusa-i3-mk3s/)], and if
+I'm not mistaken I also ordered an MMU (multi material unit). But, still happy with the package :)
+
+Marina is gone for the morning - she has a drawing course in Oerlikon on Mondays. JP and Nicole are
+busy bees upstairs picking up their belongings, because later today they will be on the move to
+Austria. We have breakfast together, and chat. The other day (Sunday morning), my buddy Fred said
+that the cross connect to the wavelength provider from Interxion in Glattbrugg to Frankfurt has been
+delivered, and it's already up and receiving light in Frankfurt. Today I get to light IP-Max's
+second 100G wavelength! I proudly put on my IP-Max socks for good luck.
+
+Moeke and Pepe go on their merry way just after Marina gets home, at 13:30 or so. It was really nice
+having them over for the last two weeks, but I'm also looking forward to having the house to
+my/ourselves again for a little bit. After a quick lunch we say our goodbyes, and blow a kiss behind
+the Volvo for good luck on the road.
+
+My good luck from the socks however, pretty quickly runs low, as my bike is -- aagin -- busted. It
+keeps on not being able to find the torque sensor in the pedals, which makes the whole bike jam up.
+Sometimes a reboot helps, and if briefly fiends the sensor again, but today no matter how hard I
+try, it does not budge. I've been waiting for almost two months for the appointment, which happens
+to be _tomorrow_.  OK, plan B: take the car.
+
+At Interxion, the _persontrap_ is busted, and I have a little back and forth with security who
+eventually let me in via the goods door; otherwise, I quickly retrieve the keys and make my way to
+the rack, plug in the 100G CFP optic, quadruple-clean the fiber tips on both the SC/PC side and the
+LC/PC side, and plug in the patch cable. Red LED turns Green immediately: great success! I inform
+the crew at IP-Max, and they bring up the link, putting it in service a few minutes later. They
+happily give me feedback that the circuit is passing 18.5Gbit of traffic a few minutes after that.
+
+Here's what I really like about this type of task: I go to a place, I do a specific thing (plug in
+the optic, plug in the patch cables), and get an immediate reward for my efforts (the red LED turns
+green, and traffic passes). IP-Max now hass redundant 100G paths to Frankfurt, and this one is even
+a little bit faster: 5.05ms round trip versus 5.80ms round trip on the other path. That's slick!
+
+Back home, I bring the MK4S package downstairs and start rummaging through the contents. I start the
+build, and chomp away at the gummibears that Prusa always puts in their kits. I've built a few Prusa
+printers before, but for the first time, something goes wrong! The Y-axis idler has a square M3 nut
+that is spinning inside the part, with a screw halfway inserted. Try as I might, and I try for a
+good thirty minutes, the screw does not come loose, the nut does not come out of the part, and it's
+completely wedged. Now, you would think: Crap! But this is a Prusa3D unit, and these folks put all
+of their plastic parts _online_ for me to download and print again. Yes, open hardware for the win!
+I download the part and print it on the trusty rusty MK3. There's something poetic about a printer
+printing parts for its replacement printer. I just don't tell the MK3 what this part is for, as I
+don't want to hurt its feelings, .. yet.
+
+It is 16:45 and I signal great success. In the mean time, Marina is outside in our back yard playing
+with a fully evolved [[Venusaur](https://www.pokemon.com/us/pokedex/venusaur)], which I manage to
+capture a super rare photograph of (see below). We celebrate with a cheap Ros&eacute; wine from our
+stash. It needs ice cubes, because it's _that_ kind of wine.
+
+Dinner is special - last week our neighbor's dog Maggie went on a walk through the forest and came
+back with 300+ grams of black truffles, and they were so kind as to give us a few of them. We know
+just the dish: tagliatelle with just a dash of cream, butter, salt and pepper, 30 month parmeggiano,
+and the truffle shavings. I carefully slice half of the truffles for toppings, and chop off the
+other half (mostly the stuff that I could no longer really slice), which will go in the sauce.  Such
+a simple meal - but so tasty indeed. All three of us thoroughly enjoy it and gobble up the whole
+pot, just short of 500g of pasta and ~all of the truffle. Thanks again, Maggie!
+
+Now that we have our normal three-person household, we revert to what we normally do after dinner:
+watch some Netflix. Marina has a series on her list called "V Wars", which is about some viral
+infection that looks earily like a corona, except it was from before the pandemic: whoa! It turns
+out it's a vampire-esque series, and we watch the pilot episode together. Afterwards, we decide this
+will be a fair investment of our time, so we mark the show on the Netflix deck and will work through
+it.
+
+I am somehow bushed, not quite sure from what (it was certainly not the bikeride, because I never
+did that!), and tomorrow I have the appointment at Stromvelo at _Bucheggplatz_ for a much needed
+service. I am already dreading schlepping the bike on foot all the way there, as I do not have much
+faith in its operation for the moment. So, I will go to bed early so that I can get up early and
+make my way to the shop before it opens, giving them the whole day to try to repair it.
+
+## Pictures of the Day
+
+{{< gallery-category >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-02/IMG_1085.JPG" caption="The Prusa MK4S package arrived, and I'm wiggling on my seat to get it built." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-02/IMG_1089.JPG" caption="I put on IP-Max socks today, as I'll be lighting a second 100G wave to Frankfurt." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-02/IMG_1090.JPG" caption="The sad news of the Stromer display: cannot find the torque sensor, bah." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-02/IMG_1091.JPG" caption="At the datacenter, the 100G link immediately comes up, yaay! Redundant 100G link from Zurich to Frankfurt achieved for IP-Max." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-02/IMG_1092.JPG" caption="The Prusa MK4S kit in a disassembled state. All of these boxes and bags somehow fit together to make a full functioning 3D printer." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-02/IMG_1096.JPG" caption="Marina is hanging out with a Venusaur pokemon, but for the moment he's friendly." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-02/IMG_1098.JPG" caption="The broken part (Y idler) with the stuck screw, and a newly printed part (left) with two screws that cleanly go in/out of the part. Yaay for open hardware designs, you can just download these parts of the Prusa website!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-02/IMG_1100.JPG" caption="The sliced black truffle (left) and chopped truffle (right) for our Pasta tonight." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-02/IMG_1101.JPG" caption="A snapshot of our absolutely fantabulous tagliatelli with black truffle and aged parmesan cheese." >}}
+{{< /gallery-category >}}
+
+{{< gallery-modal >}}
+{{< gallery-script >}}

content/blog/wk6day2.md

@@ -1,7 +1,163 @@
 ---
-title: "Week 6, Tuesday:"
+title: "Week 6, Tuesday: Prusa MK4S"
 date: 2024-09-03T21:55:00+02:00
-draft: true
 ---
 
-{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/todo.png" alt="Credit: " >}}
+{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/harrymack-02.png" alt="Credit: Harry Mack, YouTube" >}}
+
+This morning I got up by a, what do the normal people call it?, "alarm clock" at 08:00. I did not
+like being woken up by such a device, and I begrudgingly turned around a little bit. The person next
+to me was also not really ready to get out of bed, so I did something that is somewhat unique in our
+house: I got up before Marina did! And made her coffee, oh what a loving spouse I am.
+
+I have an appointment at the Stromvelo shop at _Zurich Buchegg_ which is not too far away, and I
+bike past there several times a week normally as I commnute from Br&uuml;ttisellen to Google in the
+city. I remain worried about the Stromer ST5, as it keeps on randomly failing its torque sensor,
+which renders the bike pretty much unridable. But, the Deity of Cycling is smiling upon me this
+morning, and after my morning coffee I hop on the bike -- which works!! These last few months, it's
+been either 'not working at all', or 'super sensitive and immediately wants to go full power'. This
+morning was the latter situation, so biking to Buchegg was ... not a problem.
+
+I arrived there at 09:05 or so, while the shop opens only at 10:00. I locked the bike and dropped
+the key in the mailbox, and decide when I get home, that I will give them a call to confirm. It's
+about 2km from here to Oerlikon train station, and I'm very close to Bucheggplatz which is sure to
+have a few _Bolt_ or other electric scooters. I grab one at the tram stop at Bucheggplatz and make
+my way to the train station. It's kind of fun to have one of those 45km/h (28mph) bikes and then
+crawl forwards at 19.9km/h (12mph) on the scooter. It's sooooo slow. I manage to even take a selfie
+of myself on the scooter, which of course doesn't reveal that I'm on a scooter at all. But, I scoot
+my way to Oerlikon, grab the train and then the bus home.
+
+While I'm in the bus, I get an e-mail from DHL that they have dropped off another package from Prusa
+Research in Prague. Huh? Did they send me _two MK4S_?, I think, and I make myself ... promise ...
+myself (hint: that was an Austin Powers wordplay) that I will not give it back if it's another MK4S!
+But Marina quickly puts my greedy mind to rest - it's merely the second half of the package that was
+already underway. Yesterday the MK4S was delivered, and today it's the MMU3 and some heat elements /
+parts for my currently not working MK2.5S. Fair enough.
+
+### The Prusa MK4S
+
+Building the Prusa MK4S is a treat. Except, I'm a dunce so I download the MK4 (not MK4S) build
+instructions, and about halfway through it asks me to grab some plastic part or other, and I spend,
+I kid you not, a full hour looking for this part. I go through the box, maybe 4 times, inspect each
+part, also look through my trashbin, and pull out a few hairs, lose a few years of my life, only to
+conclude: oh, this is the MK4 manual, and I'm building an MK4S. Whoopsie. First, I backtrack a bunch
+by reading the MK4 to MK4S upgrade guide. Later still, I find that, yes, you dumbass, there's also
+just an MK4S assembly manual. People can be so stupid some times.
+
+Apart from my inability to read instructions or navigate the Internet, the build is a really great
+success. I get most of the way through, and spend most of the afternoon being absolutely impressed
+with the progression of the _technology_ of these printers. I started using Prusa in 2017 with
+the Original i3 MK2, which I later upgraded to an MK2.5S. Then I built and used an MK3, which had a
+lot of clever upgrades. There are a feww upgrades on this MK4S that I am most happy with:
+
+1.  Instead of an inductive sensor, called a PINDA (**P**rusa **IND**uction **A**utoleveling), not
+to be confused with the Dutch slur for Indonesian people, there is now an actual loadcell attached
+to the printer nozzle tip. Before, the PINDA would scan for the metal in the plate, and if the
+Z-distance between the PINDA and the nozzle tip was known, it could be pretty accurate. However,
+a perhaps better way is to use the _nozzle itself_, and measure the pressure as it bumps into stuff.
+Using a very sensitive [[loadcell](https://www.prusa3d.com/de/produkt/hotend-heatsink-xl-mk4/)],
+(which is also found in kitchen scales), it will gently bump into the print surface -- regardless of
+how thicccc or thin it is -- and use up to 49 measurement points to do a direct mesh leveling
+calculation. Result? Absolutely flawless first layer thickness and adhesion on the entire build
+surface, not just the middle. Winner winner, Chicken Dinner!
+
+1.  The hotend is now a
+[[Nextruder](https://www.prusa3d.com/de/produkt/nextruder-hotend-brass-0-40-mm/)], where the whole
+thing is one piece that can be inserted - and released! - using two thumb setscrews. Before,
+removing the hotend and replacing parts within, was a matter of disassembling the entire print head.
+Now, I can replace the hotend + nozzle for different diameters, by simply disconnecting the hotend
+heater wires, and the thermocouple connector, on a daughter board called a
+[[LoveBoard](https://www.prusa3d.com/de/produkt/loveboard/)] for a reason not entirely clear to me.
+But with this new cable, the filament sensor, loadcell, extruder stepper motor, thermometers and
+fans are all connected in the print head, with shorter wires that travel through a cavity in the
+print head PETG parts. It's really clever, and I'm looking forward to changing the hotend more
+easily in the future. This hotend is "high flow" with a 40W heater element, and a 0.4mm nozzle,
+which can push out a huge amount of 1.75mm filament. The flow rate can be very precisely controlled
+by a new planetary gear system in the extruder feeder. It looks very fancy!
+
+1.   Although it's a small thing, the stepper motors are a huge upgrade. They're first of all _much_
+faster than the MK2.5/MK3, and they are also a fair but more precise (0.9 degree steps instead of
+1.8 degree steps - which means 400 steps per revolution). They say it's going to reduce the smaller
+layer offsets called _VFA_ (Vertical Fine Artifacts). Honestly, I never really had issues with the
+MK3 printer, but it's a good benefit.
+
+1.   Finally, the Einsy board has been replaced by an xBuddy board, with a much faster processor and
+more IO. It also couples with an NFC reader (which I think is pretty useless), and a WiFi based off
+of ESP32! (which I think will be super useful). It also has ethernet by default, and the screen has
+advanced from the classic dot matrix LCD display, to a 64k color touch screen. I decide to try out
+Prusa Connect, where the thing connects via wifi to a service Prusa provides, and I can also make
+the Prusa Slicer on my Mac connect to the same service: hence, I can print directly from the slicer,
+and skip my [[Octoprint](https://octoprint.org/)] running on a [[PC Engines](https://pcengines.ch/)]
+machine. Talk about fancy!
+
+1.   A super small detail, but these things really matter. Belt tension has always been somewhat of
+a dark art - I have some experience in this because of my RC Helicopters, some of which also use a
+belt to drive the tail rotor. _Feeling_ how much tension to add, so that the belt doesn't skip, but
+also not that it's so tight that it creates friction on the stepper motor, is pretty difficult.
+Prusa added a really cool progressive web app that asks you to put your cell phone next to the belt,
+and then strum it (sort of like a guitar). It then measures the resonant frequency of the belt to
+figure out if it's too tight, or not tight enough. I've seen a fair amount of cool shit, but a _hat
+tip_ to the engineer(s) who created this.
+
+After dinner, we watch one episode of V-Wars after which Quinn decides to skedaddle. Instead of
+watching some more TV, I retire downstairs with a bottle of Red wine, and finish the printer. I
+completely nailed the belt tension using the app - the X axis at 84Hz and the Y axis at 94Hz, smack
+in the middle of the green. You rock, Prusa microphone webapp! I'm really, really impressed by what
+you've done. 
+
+### The Results
+
+If you're not into printing, [[3DBenchy](https://www.3dbenchy.com/)] was kind of
+a torture benchmark, which would test fine layers, some overhangs, some very small cavities and
+holes, etc. Early printers would often freak out on this, and create spaghetti, push the thing over,
+fail to print the holes, or the overhangs, etc.
+
+It's a little bit of a humblebrag, but the folks at Prusa ship this printer with two _Benchy_
+printer objects. The first is called BenchyRules which is a 14 minute print. The second is called
+BonkersBenchy which strips out lots of the insides, turns the object a little bit so as to minimize
+the head movement, and is meant to print in 7 (yes, seven!) minutes. On my MK3, it'll take about an
+hour to complete.
+
+Now, normally, when the printer is built, the annoying task of doing calibrations, printing a few
+first layers to calibrate the layer heights, doing a bed mesh tweak to make it as flat as possible
+(mostly so that the objects on the outside of the print surface also stick to the bed!), flow rates,
+you know all of that stuff. The Prusa MK4S? Uhh, I turned it on, let it do its self test where it
+makes sure all the sensors and stepper motors are connected to the correct ports, and have
+reasonable measurements. It asks me to tap the hotend tip (while insisting that it'll be turned
+off), and I _tap-dat-ass_. It says things are all OK and that's ... it? In the menu, I click 'Load
+PLA', which it does. Then I click "Print BenchyRules", and I am *fully* expecting it to  either
+yell at me "you did not calibrate yet", or just completely destroy the print, but it does neither.
+
+Here's my unfiltered, unscripted POV reaction a few seconds after it started printing:
+
+{{< video src="/media/vdo/IMG_1116_22.46.16.mp4" >}}
+
+The first thing I notice is that the whole workbench / table starts shaking under the violence of
+the steppers, which are not even making much noise. The second thing I notice is that it is *so
+fast, daaaaryum* this thing flies. People have asked me if this is in real-time, and yes, I can
+confirm this video is directly from the iPhone with no editing, no speedup at all. This thing is
+quick as a hare!
+
+OK, while the BenchyRules and BonkersBenchy are cutting a lot of corners, it was an absolute _treat_
+to build this printer and see it fly. It completed the benchy in 14 minutes, and the speedy
+BonkersBenchy in 7 minutes. So much fun! Before I go to bed, I put on an 8 hours print on ABS
+material to refurbish the MK3 into an MK3S; and for good measure I also put on an 8 hours print on
+the MK3 to refurbish the MK2.5S with a new set of parts for the print head.
+
+This was a fun day!
+
+## Pictures of the Day
+
+{{< gallery-category >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-03/IMG_1102.JPG" caption="After dropping off my bike at the shop, I grabbed a Bolt scooter to transport myself to Oerlikon station. The scooter doesn't go very fast, so I manage to take a scooting-selfie." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-03/IMG_1105.JPG" caption="The Prusa MK4S printer is halfway done. The Z and X carriage and the bottom parts are done. This is about 1/3 of the way through the build." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-03/IMG_1106.JPG" caption="For lunch I treat myself to a Smos Gezone (a healthy sandwich) with cheese, ham, lettuce, carrots, tomatoes, a bit of mayo and mustard." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-03/IMG_1111.JPG" caption="The electronics part of the Prusa MK4S showing its xBuddy board and lots of wires for sensors and stepper motors." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-03/xbelt.png" caption="The Audio Sensing application on my cellphone allows me to get perfect belt tension by measuring the frequency. Such a clever idea!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-03/ybelt.png" caption="The Y belt tension is perfect when it hums at 94Hz. OK then!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-03/IMG_1115.JPG" caption="The printer is done and booting for the first time. Literally 3 minutes later, I printed the Benchy in the videoclip on this journal. I don't think I've ever been up and running so quickly. So cool :)" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-03/IMG_1117.JPG" caption="The (modified) Benchy is printed in 14 minutes instead of 60+ on my Prusa MK3. There's a bit of trickery going on, but the end result is actually really good!" >}}
+{{< /gallery-category >}}
+
+{{< gallery-modal >}}
+{{< gallery-script >}}

content/blog/wk6day3.md

@@ -1,7 +1,123 @@
 ---
-title: "Week 6, Wednesday:"
+title: "Week 6, Wednesday: Stromer Drama"
 date: 2024-09-04T21:55:00+02:00
-draft: true
 ---
 
-{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/todo.png" alt="Credit: " >}}
+{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/dreamscape-02.png" alt="Credit: Kushsessions, Dreamscape, YouTube" >}}
+
+After all of this printing heaven from yesterday, I got a little bit hooked. I liked what I saw with
+the Prusa Connect, as an alternative to my tested and tried [[Octoprint](https://octoprint.org)],
+and particularly it's nice to be able to send objects directly from the Prusa Slicer UI to a device
+queue, and mark the printer _ready_ once the finished parts are removed and the bed is clean.
+
+As it turns out, these features with PrusaLink are also available for the MK3! You can print a
+different Einsy container which allows for a companion Raspberry Pi Zero to be attached to the board
+using overly long (18mm) header pins. And it so happens that I have both the pins as well as a
+Raspberry in my electronics box.
+
+Off i go, using the MK4S to print new parts for the MK3, and while I'm at it, I also see that
+there's an upgrade path from MK3 to MK3S+, with a few new parts to be printed. And now I'm in the
+rabbit hole, and I'm in deep, and I see that there's *also* a few new parts on the extruder for my
+oldest MK2.5S printer. So I use the MK3 to print parts for the MK2.5S, while the MK4S printer makes
+parts for the MK3S+. I feel like I'm in an _Inception_ movie ... Printers printing Printers, must go
+deeper.
+
+Once the new board holder is printed, I solder the pins onto the Raspberry and flash it with the
+Raspberry Pi imager and a stock Prusa image. I plug it in, and go off to lunch, as the instructions
+say that the first install can take a while. When back from lunch, the printer is up and running,
+connected to WiFi, and is asking me to associate it with Prusa Connect. That task takes no longer
+than a minute, and I send my first object directly from the PrusaSlicer to this MK3 - slick!
+
+The rest of the day, the printers are doing 8h, 10h prints for all the replacement parts for the
+MK3->MK3S+ and MK2.5S refurbishment. I may end up selling the MK2.5S, in case you're interested, let
+me know and I'm sure we can work out a reasonable price for it!
+
+Now it's time for housekeeping. Marina and I divvy up the work in the bathrooms. I'll take the
+ground floor and second floor attic, she'll take the first floor. We take care of the porcelain
+thrones and wash basins and showers and what-not. Marina cleans the shower by .. taking a shower. A
+rather novell technique, I must admit.
+
+One that is out of the way, Marina and I go shopping. We plan the rest of the week and weekend in
+terms of evening meals; and try to make it diverse with fish, beef, tofu, potatoes, rice and pasta.
+But Marina also needs to finish her home improvement project, to upgrade the plungers on our toilet
+water reservoirs, a drama that keeps on giving: every time she makes an improvement, it turns out
+there is still water leaking through once the reservoir is full She decides to get yet another part
+to see if that helps; and while we're at _Jumbo_, I also get an extension with a water filter for
+our basement faucet.
+
+At _Coop_, we end up keeping to our shopping list _roughly_, although we have a conversation about
+an italian wine from _Vecchia Torre_ that I am pretty sure we have in our cellar, although Marina
+disagrees. You get one guess only: who do you think was right?  At the grocery store I'm reminded of
+an old Googler buddy of mine - Pascal Bovet - who moved to New York a long time ago, but from time
+to time I still cross paths with him on LinkedIn. His login name at Google was bopa@, and at our
+local _Coop_ grocery store, they were doing some works, revealing this [[bopa.ch](https://bopa.ch/)]
+branded concrete construction block. I pinged him on LinkedIn, hoping to solicit a smile.
+
+### The Stromer Jynx
+
+While we're at the _Coop_, an e-mail pops up on my phone: the Stromer is ready! So we finish our
+business at _Coop_, drive home to unpack and put away the groceries, and I make the faucet look more
+like a mosquitto (once you see it, it cannot be unseen). Then off to Stromvelo we go. When we're
+close by, I ask Marina if maybe she could wait in the car until I manage to pay and retrieve the
+bike. It's at this very moment that I think I jynxed it.
+
+The guy at Stromvelo is super, he walks me over the invoice (which is hefty, but then again this is
+a Stromer ST5, so everything ie expected to be pricey). Theyv'e replaced the rear tire+innertube,
+the +/- buttons on the handlebars, the torque sensor, as well as the front brake disc. All up, a
+good service, but there is one problem. He turns on the bike and the dreaded "Cannot connect to
+Torque Sensor" error pops up immediately. That's the same problem that I brought it in for in the
+first place. He does a quick ride on it and comes back with bad news: problem is not fixed :-(
+
+The Stromvelo guy clearly feels bad, but I've already sent Marina home [duh!] so I ask for a loaner
+bike. He prepares an St5 replacement for me, and I sign the paperwork for it. He tells me the PIN
+code but when I try it, it doesn't work. So off he goes, to reset the PIN code, and eventually he
+comes back outside and I think I have everything I need. Turns out, the battery has only 12km left
+in it, and it's about 7km ride. I insist that I'll be fine, even though he offers to swap the
+battery. 
+
+I ask if maybe the bike can be done before the weekend, as I'll be off to Friesland next week. Alas,
+even more bad news: Stromvelo Buchegg is off for a training course (German: _Weiterbildung_) on
+Thursday and Friday. But, he says, he'll make it a life mission on Saturday to take a good look at the
+bike and see what's up. He promsies to give me a call, and I have the replacement ST5 until then.
+All in all, I'm grateful that Stromvelo made the best of an otherwise bad-luck-jynx situation.
+
+The bikeride home was uneventful, thank goodness.  Back home, I 'made' dinner, which is to say I
+yeeted some potato / r&ouml;sti croquettes and a few _Schwyzer G&uuml;ggeli_ (rotissery chickens)
+into the oven and exercised patience for thirty minutes.
+
+After dinner, we watched a few episodes of _V Wars_ on Netflix, and at 20:00 or so the doorbell
+rang. My buddy Sandro and the very popular Andrew (in my house at least, Quinn is a huge fan!) stop
+by to pick up a few Celestica DX010 switches. We go downstairs, and talk about the switches a little
+bit what to run on them. Sandro thinks maybe
+[[OcNOS](https://www.ipinfusion.com/documentation/ocnos-hardware-compatibility-list/)], but I'm thinking 
+likely [[SONiC](https://github.com/sonic-net/SONiC)], or possibly
+[[Cumulus](https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/networking/ethernet-switching/cumulus-linux/)]. I still
+haven't found a spare moment to dive into these switches, being on sabbatical is hard work! It turns
+out, Andrew is also an avid 3D printer and we catch up on the print quality and speed of his Prusa
+Mini versus this new MK4S. I wipe the drool off of the table, as Sandro packs up his switches.
+That's another three large boxes less for the IPng Lab :)
+
+After Sandro and Andrew leave I stay downstairs to enjoy the smell of molten PLA and PETG, paired
+nicely with a dram of _Grappa Di Vinaccia_ from distillery _Vergnano_. You know this stuff is
+serious when it ships in a one liter bottle. I get good news from the Netherlands - my talk for
+NLNOG in October has been accepted; so I puzzle my calendar for a flight to Amsterdam on Monday
+21st, and a flight back in the late morning of the 23rd, as I already have plane tickets from Zurich
+to Barcelona in the late afternoon of the 23rd. It's tight, but it'll work :)
+
+Tomorrow, I should probably start making the materials for these talks ...
+
+## Pictures of the Day
+
+{{< gallery-category >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-04/IMG_1119.JPG" caption="The new case for MK3S is printing - it'll contain a special cavity for a Raspberry Pi Zero which will hook up this printer to PrusaLink." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-04/IMG_1120.JPG" caption="The finished parts for the new MK3 case on the MK4S printer." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-04/IMG_1121.JPG" caption="The MK3 case is retrofitted, the Raspberry Pi is installed and the display helpfully shows 'PrusaLink' is being started." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-04/IMG_1122.JPG" caption="I think of my buddy Pascal Bovet who goes by @bopa - he enjoys seeing the picture when I send him a DM on LinkedIn" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-04/IMG_1124.JPG" caption="The Vecchia Torre that I could've sworn we have in the basement, but Marina says we do not. She was right - damnit she's always right!!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-04/prusaslicer.png" caption="A screenshot of the PrusaSlicer showing the printer stats and directly communicating with it over The Cloud (eg. somebody elses computer)" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-04/IMG_1125.JPG" caption="I added a little tube to our faucet in the basement - it somehow reminds me of a mosquitto that's ready to have dinner" >}}
+{{< /gallery-category >}}
+
+{{< gallery-modal >}}
+{{< gallery-script >}}
+

content/blog/wk6day4.md

@@ -1,7 +1,91 @@
 ---
-title: "Week 6, Thursday:"
-date: 2024-09-05T21:55:00+02:00
-draft: true
+title: "Week 6, Thursday: *NOG Presentation"
+date: 2024-09-05T19:55:00+02:00
 ---
 
-{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/todo.png" alt="Credit: " >}}
+{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/kushsessions-05.png" alt="Credit: KushSessions, YouTube" >}}
+
+In the morning, Dan from the [[APNIC](https://apnic.net/)] webmaster team tags me on LinkedIn and
+Twitter - they have run the second of three contributed blog posts which describe Babel (part 1),
+Unnumbered IPv4 OSPFv3 (part 2) and rolling this out in VPP at IPng Networks (part 3, yet to come).
+LinkedIn and Twitter buzz a little bit, and I spend some time answering questions and fending off
+that one guy (you know, there's always _that one guy_) who finds this all incredibly boring and
+basic, and needs to actually bother me by making sure I know, that _he_ has been doing all of this
+for 20 years already. Except, he has no idea, because 20 years ago, VPP didn't exist :)
+
+Yesterday, Sandro picked up his switches, all right, but not the packaging. So I sacrificed one
+official green _Br&uuml;ttisellersack_ trashbag and stuffed a cubic meter of protective foam into
+it. I was quite proud as I yeeted it into the trash container in the driveway.
+
+With that small chore out of the way, I took to my e-mail and I am reminded of yesterday's Good
+News. The [[NLNOG](https://nlnog.net/)] program committee has accepted my proposal to come talk
+about that IPv4-less backbone I've created, and detail the changes to Bird2 and VPP and LinuxCP that
+were needed to facilitate that. Seeing as next week I'll be out and about in Friesland, I think I
+should get going.
+
+My presentation will have four pieces:
+1.    Code changes required for Babel in VPP, using IPv6 transit networks for IPv4 destinations
+1.    Code changes required for IPv4 OSPFv3 in VPP, using Unnumbered transit networks 
+1.    Rollout to IPng's [[AS8298](https://ipng.ch/s/articles/2021/02/27/ipng-network/)] without
+      downtime
+1.    A reminder: VPP does 100Mpps and 100Gbps without breaking a sweat, on commodity hardware
+
+I'm doing a bit of a roadshow with this (Oslo, Amsterdam, Piacenza, Paris, possibly Berlin if the
+DENOG program committee is favorable on my submission), but each talk will be different - they are
+different length timeslot and different requested emphasis by the respective program committees.
+It's nice that [[APNIC](https://blog.apnic.net/2024/09/05/vpp-with-loopback-only-ospfv3-part-2/)] is
+already making a bit of noise for me!
+
+Today I finished the intro, the first piece and a part of the second piece. But at 17:00 or so, my
+stomach informed me that it was empty and needed filling. Luckily, tonight I get to cook -- and
+since it was my choice, I chose a Dutch classic _Biefstuk Friet_ (English: beef filet with fries). I
+started preparing the salad, chopping tomatoes, cucumber, onions and washing the salad. I had
+already taken out three fabulous _Limousine_ pieces from the freezer yesterday, and they are now
+room temperature. I ask Quinn to help with the french fries, and he's super motivated because the
+reward is that he gets to eat french fries.
+
+It's raining unfortunately, but only a drizzle. I heat up the barbecue and at around 18:05 or so I
+put the well seasoned steaks on a searing hot griddle. I give them three times three minutes, so
+that one side has a nice diamond and the other one stripes. This makes them somewhere between medium
+rare and medium, and as they are sizzling I can already tell this is gonna be good.
+
+Meanwhile, inside, Quinn and Marina are gob-smacked at just ... how ... LONG it is. Sometimes, the
+That's-What-She-Said jokes write themselves in this household. They decide to eat _the_ french fry.
+[[Eliza Shlesinger](https://youtu.be/akHSlA-WUB0?si=H_D1-AdpetfPPiw4&t=157)] would be proud.
+
+We do the dishes and plop onto our respective couches to watch an episode of _V Wars_. I fall asleep
+halfway through it, and at 20:30 when Quinn goes upstairs, I briefly hesitate and want to curl into
+a ball also. But it's 20:30 and this will mess up the rest of my week, so I _person up_, and grab
+myself a glass of Grappa, and offer to watch _Untold: Hope Solo vs. U.S. Soccer_, a documentary
+about a US soccer player, [[Hope Solo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hope_Solo)], whom I personally
+have never heard of, but apparently is a world famous female soccer player and goalie, and her story
+of accomplishments, and controversies. I thought it was a pretty cool story, a little bit David and
+Goliath. Although probably embellished a little bit, for the largest part believable: Wage Pay
+Gaps, they are real, and women all over the world get shafted, all the time. 
+
+Finally at 22:30 or so I go downstairs, where
+[[Adalinda](https://www.printables.com/model/25225-adalinda-the-singing-serpent) is about 90% done,
+and the next set of parts for the MK3S+ upgrade are ready to be scheduled. I clean the plate and
+launch what I think is the last of the parts, and just as the printer starts, I hear a loud *snap*
+behind me and feel something touch my leg. Adalinda's left wing has snapped off!
+
+Oh well, you win some you lose some -- even with the Prusa MK4S it seems. Since the other printer
+has finished its first two layers, and I've finished my glass, I'm also happy to report that for the
+first time this week, I've written my journal in the evening before going to bed, rather than
+sheepishly retrofitting it the next morning (which, believe you me, will happen plenty in the next
+few weeks, as I scurry around Europe on a set of trips). Good night!
+
+## Pictures of the Day
+
+{{< gallery-category >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-05/IMG_1126.JPG" caption="A municipal trash bag with three boxes worth of packing foam from Sandro's switches in it. I'm quite proud on how I made that all fit. It's packed so densely that one more piece of foam and I would've created a black hole." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-05/preso.png" caption="I'm working on my presentation for *NOGs around Europe this fall." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-05/IMG_1127.JPG" caption="I cook up a set of pretty delicious Limousin filet steaks." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-05/wow.png" caption="Quinn and Marina are just in awe with how long it was!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-05/IMG_1128.JPG" caption="We watch Hope Solo vs US Soccer, a documentary on Netflix about gender pay inequality" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-05/IMG_1129.JPG" caption="The printers have been productive, in the background, Adalinda is printing." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-05/IMG_1130.JPG" caption="Oops! Adalinda has lost her left wing. That sucks! This print goes to the bin, unfortunately, and at 94% finished!" >}}
+{{< /gallery-category >}}
+
+{{< gallery-modal >}}
+{{< gallery-script >}}

content/blog/wk6day5.md

@@ -1,7 +1,109 @@
 ---
-title: "Week 6, Friday:"
+title: "Week 6, Friday: Loadtesting VPP"
 date: 2024-09-06T21:55:00+02:00
-draft: true
 ---
 
-{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/todo.png" alt="Credit: " >}}
+{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/fluidified-03.png" alt="Credit: Fluidified, YouTube" >}}
+
+In the morning I made good on a promise from the other day to take a look at the second 100G wave
+that IP-Max is operating from Glattbrugg (Zurich) to Frankfurt. Although the performance is good and
+the light levels are fine, there are receive errors on the port in Frankfurt, and the wavelength
+provider is seeing low light levels in the Glattbrugg side. A technician has put a loop in IP-Max's
+rack and then the low light level alarm clears, so I think perhaps the optic is dirty (although it
+was capped), oer maybe it's just plain faulty.
+
+Off I go, at 10:30 on my loaner-bike (also a Stromer ST5, but a fancier one with
+[[ABS](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-lock_braking_system)] and everything. The bikeride is
+pleasant -- I've almost forgotten how it is to do a whole 10km ride without having to dismount three
+times to reset/powercycle the torque sensor. I hope that Stromvelo gets my bike fixed this weekend!
+
+Indeed, at Interxion it turns out that it was a dirty or faulty optic. I drain the link to
+Frankfurt, and 25G of traffic sloshes to NTT and onwards to Frankfurt via that route, no harm done.
+I take a cleaning pen and once again clean all fibers up to the patch panel, and then swap the CFP
+from the other 100G port into this one. Connect everything, undrain the link, and monitor for a few
+minutes. No more errors, whohoo!
+
+I'm back home by lunchtime, and I've made myself a beef udon with sesame seeds. This is from the
+leftover _Limousin_ steak that I barbecued yesterday. It's very tasty and I slurp it down greedily.
+I've also gotten a few _B&uuml;rli_, which helps soak up the fluid in the tummy. Yummy!
+
+After lunch I have a play date with my buddy Rogier. For [[Coloclue](https://coloclue.net/)] we have
+volunteered to look into flowprobe and sflow for VPP, because it helps us figure out who is sending
+which traffic, where. I've dabbled with flowprobe before, but did not find success: dataplane
+crashes, and malformed Netflow packets. But, the kind folks at Netgate have sent quite a few code
+changes, and maybe it works better now.
+
+I'm eager to take a look. But alas, Rogier sends me a Signal message that he's handling some mildly
+annoying fire at work, and won't be able to join. I like hanging out with Rogier, so that's a bit of
+a bummer. But I will also be able to do at least _some_ of the work myself. This will once again
+become a larger story arc on the [[IPng](https://ipng.ch/)] website in the form of a few articles,
+but I do a sidequest first.
+
+{{< image frame="false" width="5em" float="left" src="/img/init/sidequest.png" alt="The SideQuest logo" >}}
+A while ago, I changed the wiring of my lab hypervisors, they are now all connected with 10G DAC to
+ports on the Mellanox 100G switch (that I wrote about
+[[here](https://ipng.ch/s/articles/2023/11/11/debian-on-mellanox-sn2700-32x100g/)]). But, in doing
+so, I disconnected them from the _Unifi_ homenetwork, so now they no longer have access to the
+`lab.ipng.ch` hypervisor. Also, it's been a few months since I booted them, so I go on a little side
+quest, bringing them up to Debian 12.6, and plumbing through a new set of LAB vlans from the
+`lab.ipng.ch` through the Centec switch, with 100G to the lab switch, and up into the LAB
+hypervisors. There are 7 machines currently: four are old Dell R720s, and three are newer Dell
+R730s. When I'm done, all of them have a private VLAN to the `lab.ipng.ch` head-end, and they all
+use 10G now for both iDRAC as well as IPng Site Local.
+
+{{< image frame="false" width="5em" float="left" src="/img/init/sidequest.png" alt="The SideQuest logo" >}}
+But once I'm on a this side quest, I also see that the VPP labs (which I wrote about
+[[here](https://ipng.ch/s/articles/2022/10/14/vpp-lab-setup/)]), are a bit out of date. So, off I go
+on a _second side quest_, to make both a new release of VPP 24.10-rc0 (including sflow but I would
+not use that quite yet!), for both Debian Bookworm as well as Debian Bullseye; and I'll also make a
+new lab VM while I'm at it, which contains also the [[hsflowd](https://github.com/sflow/host-sflow)]
+and [[sflowtool](https://github.com/sflow/sflowtool)], the Bird2 that can do transit-less OSPF, and
+the newest VPP code of course. I regenerate the environment on `lab0`, which is now also hooked up
+with 10G to the internet, and play around a little bit.
+
+In some sense, I do miss Rogier: had he been on a video call with me, I would've done what I
+actually set out to do, but now all of the sudden it's 17:30 and while I did a good job overall, I
+did literally _nothing_ on the sflow front :-) but before I head out for the day, I do boot up the
+lab and see the sflow plugin at work. It's sampling traffic, and the traffic it does sample looks
+correct at least! More on that later.
+
+I'm in a celebratory mood, and it is also Ap&eacute;ro-o'clock; so Marina and I go to the yard and
+crack open a bottle of _Maison Gillard_ called _La Parte de Novembre_ which is an ice wine, they
+say. Marina does quite like a sweeter white wine, and it's truly delectable. What's even more
+strange (to us, at least!) is that it's a **Swiss** wine. Could it be, that we finally found a nice
+white wine from Switzerland? Go Valais!
+
+I prepare dinner tonight - it's a simple one with fishsticks, mashed potatoes and spinach. Marina
+has what appears to be a mild brain malfunction as she tries to do the math how to divide the 10
+sticks we have left over, with the 15 sticks we got this week, in a way that allows us to buy
+another batch and divide it into two meals: 25 is waaay too much for one meal, and she ties her poor
+little noggin into a knot trying to work this out. I belly laugh at her maths skills. Poor girl. But
+after, like, four botched attempts, she figures it out. We're eating twenty. Also, and this is kind
+of unique because in our household we don't do exceptions to meals (Dutch: "je eet wat de pot schaft",
+English: "you eat what the pot has made"), she makes herself peas and carrots, because she thinks
+spinach is gross. But then again, she eats _Kramiek_, so I don't think her opinion particularly
+counts....
+
+It's Friday and thus: movie night, as none of us have a strict time to get up tomorrow morning.
+Yesterday, Marina and I watched _Hope Solo_, and that surname got me thinking: it's been a long
+while since we watched a starwars universe flic.
+[[Solo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solo:_A_Star_Wars_Story)], with Aiden Ehrenreich, Woody
+Harrelson, and Emilia Clarke (🥰) and Donald Glover. I've seen it before and remembered it as a
+really good 'Post StarWars IV, V, VI'. Marina didn't fall asleep, which means: she found it
+interesting also. IMDB scored it 6.9, and I think that's a fair one.
+
+OK, so tomorrow, then, maybe, I'll go do those functional and loadtests with `sflow` in VPP. For
+now, I'm bushed, and I did at least a few useful things in IPng's lab rack, as well as rescued a
+beautiful 100G wave to Frankfurt.
+
+## Pictures of the Day
+
+{{< gallery-category >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-06/IMG_1131.JPG" caption="The (loaner) Stromer bike en route from my house to the Interxion datacenter in Glattbrugg. I can't stop loving the views in scenic Zurich, and that I get to live here 🥰" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-06/IMG_1133.JPG" caption="A tasty bowl of Beef Udon with sesame seeds on top. Super delish lunch!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-06/IMG_1134.JPG" caption="We drink a very nice - swiss - ice wine from Maison Gillard. This stuff is almost perfect to our palet!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-06/IMG_1135.JPG" caption="A screenshot of Han 'I have no family: Solo' alongside Lando Calrissian and the love of his life, L3-37. I enjoyed the backstory of Han Solo and Chewbacca!" >}}
+{{< /gallery-category >}}
+
+{{< gallery-modal >}}
+{{< gallery-script >}}

content/blog/wk6day6.md

@@ -1,7 +1,117 @@
 ---
-title: "Week 6, Saturday:"
+title: "Week 6, Saturday: DDLN and sflow"
 date: 2024-09-07T21:55:00+02:00
-draft: true
 ---
 
-{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/todo.png" alt="Credit: " >}}
+{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/kushsessions-02.png" alt="Credit: KushSessions, YouTube" >}}
+
+(reversed chronology alert). It is Sunday September 8th, 01:26am as I begin to write this story
+about what is essentially yesterday, Saturday September 7th. I am currently listening to [[Kush
+Sessions #242](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8FIUbepBzM)] as I write this. It's not the first
+time! If you look at the video I recorded to announce my Sabbatical, which went to
+[[Twitter](https://x.com/IPngNetworks/status/1821681368989839773)], and
+[[Mastodon](https://ublog.tech/@IPngNetworks/112928849045729490)] (where I post a whole lot more
+than Twitter, just-so-you-know!), and
+[[LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7227455516086571008/)], where I got
+a lot of support from friends and colleauges. I really, really like this particular Kush Sessions,
+so thank you to [[Rossum and Crissy](https://www.di.fm/shows/kushsessions)] for being such excellent
+DJs. Kittycat for the win!
+
+At 13:30, I have an appointment with my buddy Antonis, who is traveling to San Francisco on Monday
+and wants to do some pre-emptive maintenance on his machine at IPng's small colocation facility in
+Zurich. He made the same 'mistake' as I did, and fell for the Samsung QVO for his hypervisor, and
+after about a year and a half is seeing only 20-30MB/s write rates on an otherwise healthy, albeit
+slow, disk pool. I had the exact same problem, with the exact same drives, on four of IPng's
+hypervisors. I refurbished all of them with SAS-12 enterprise SSDs from NetApp and HPE and literally
+never looked back (write rate of 700MB/s per disk and 1.5GB/s on ZFS RAIDz1, hell yeah!). Recently,
+I ordered 12 more of these 3.84TB SAS12 drives, so I'll accompany Antonis and plug in a few more
+disks on my own hypervisor that runs [[video.ipng.ch](https://video.ipng.ch/)],
+[[ublog.tech](https://ublog.tech)], and [[pix.ublog.tech](https://pix.ublog.tech/)].  By the way, if
+you'd like an account on the PeerTube, Mastodon, or Pixelfed instance, just let me know! I'd be
+happy to have you, if you're reading this journal :)
+
+The colocation is a pretty cool story. My buddy Luuk, who owns a company that develops an autonomous
+mono/dual-occular slam based automatic pilot system for life sized rotary and fixed wing aircraft
+systems -- wait what? OK: Luuk and his team decided that they could probably fly an Airbus A320 or
+Robinson R44 (helicopter) better than humans could, given a good sensory and visual input and
+sufficient automated, dare I say _artificial intelligence_ systems. Daedalean creates
+safety-critical AI systems for situational awareness and flight control, with the eventual goal of
+developing certified autonomy in the air. If you're in Zurich, and this type of tech and
+startup-getitdone-company is your jam, and you'd like an intro, just come see me and I'll open a
+door for you.
+
+I have been following this great company since they started - and at some point, Luuk and I were
+wandering in the insides of this office building in Zurich Albisrieden, and I said: "Wouldn't it be
+cool if we built a colo in this otherwise unusable room?" and Luuk said: "Knock yourself out." and
+thus came into existence: [[IPng's
+Colocation](https://ipng.ch/s/articles/2022/02/24/ipng-networks-colocation/)]. The colocation that I
+built, together with Daedalean, is very special. It’s not carrier grade, it doesn’t have a
+building/room wide UPS or diesel generators, but it does have competent power, cooling, physical and
+logical deployment. But most of all: it redundantly connects to AS8298 and offers full N+1
+redundancy on the logical level.
+
+OK, where was I - Antonis added 4pcs of Samsung EVO to replace his shitty QVOs, and I added 3pcs of
+SAS12 Netapp SSD, to cycle my prime realestate services if need be. We are both In and Out like the
+Burger, 15 minutes later, disks were added, storage pools were built, and we chatted a little bit
+about mutual projects, notably [[Free IX](https://ipng.ch/s/articles/2024/04/27/freeix-remote/)]
+which now has a presense in Amsterdam, Zurich, Milan and Thessaloniki. The next step is to
+interconnect them all, and things are cooking in that department.
+
+I bike home at 15:00 or so and all of the sudden it hits me: I have this loaner bike until today
+16:00 and I haven't heard back from Stromvelo! I check my mail and lo-and-behold: an e-mail that
+they are servicing my _bolide_ now. I'm in Albisrieden and the path from DDLN to my house almost
+crosses Stromvelo, so I decide to bee-line it to the shop. I got there, and the guy was finishing up
+a sales convo with a prospect customer (and I think he nailed it!), after which we talk briefly
+about my bike. It turns out, the _replacement_ sensor was faulty, and he replaced it with yet
+another one, which tested fine and the bike is delivered to me without extra costs. I'm over the
+moon that I have my little Stromerli back. I bike home as-if on clouds, it's _that_ smooth.
+
+Coming home, what's a guy to do? Some loadtests of course! I leverage my side-quests form yesterday,
+boot up the hypervisors, and get cracking to a functional- and loadtest of the `sflow` plugin that
+Neil McKee from Inmon wrote a while ago. I take note, ask myself questions, and end up in an
+animated conversation with Neil. We agree that a higher bandwidth convo is justified, and schedule
+some time on Monday at 9am pacific, 18:00 my time. It'll be fun!
+
+The loadtests are running, and I am also reminded that yesterday we did not finish that _Maison
+Gillard_ wine from Wallis. It does not take long to lure Marina to the garden - and she gushes all
+over this wine. You know what? I'll bike to Coop! The last time we tried this (with the faceted
+ros&eacute;) it was sold out. Maybe this time I get lucky? Hell yeah I do! There's still maybe
+twenty bottles or so, all at fifty-billion-percent off. I have my backpack and it snugly fits
+precisely eight bottles and one 200 gram packet of smoked salmon. Mission accomplished, and as I
+roll back in, Liv and Quinn just arrive, and we offer them this newly found discounted but totally
+fabulous white. As we go outside and sit, I start a Spotify Jam, which Liv quickly joins, and she
+adds some tasty music (some great, some awful), but overal: engagement++ and I enjoy vibrantly
+discussing the music with the kids.
+
+I make dinner: home made _fladenbrot_ (English: flatbread) with planted gyros. I really, really like
+this stuff. With some homemade garlic sauce, some heatonist hot sauce, and plenty of water, the meal
+is a continuation of the vibe outside. It was dope! After dinner, we all wash up, do the dishes and
+clean the table, after which Liv takes off to catch the bus. Bye, Liv! You're an OK human :)
+
+We have three more episodes of _V Wars_ to watch. Honesty? I think I missed most of it, because I
+was pushing my face into my laptop to continue and complete the fist set of loadtests of the `sflow`
+plugin in VPP. We finish S01E10 though, and the season (and series) is completed. All three of us
+agree: OK, but not stellar - would not watch again.
+
+After this, I go downstairs and write my journal entry, starting with the (reversed chronology
+alert) and ending up here, at 02:13. It's time for me to sleep - I have promised Quinn and Marina a
+Mimosa brunch (hence: the smoked salmon -- see? it all makes sense). Today's story took me 47
+minutes to write. Time well spent? You tell me!
+
+## Pictures of the Day
+
+{{< gallery-category >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-07/IMG_1136.JPG" caption="DDLN: One of IPng's racks at this beautiful office building with good power, great connectivity, and a raised floor." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-07/IMG_1137.JPG" caption="DDLN: A rack full of diskfulls - I have this very machine (st0.*.ipng.ch) but these are not mine." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-07/IMG_1139.JPG" caption="DDLN: IPng @ DDLN, the sticker on the side of my two racks at this place. If you want to host a private server in Switzerland, ping me!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-07/IMG_1144.JPG" caption="Two dual-100G network cards, normally in IPng's hypervisors, currently swapped out for 8x10G instead." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-07/IMG_1146.JPG" caption="The Dell R730s in the IPng laboratory have vinyl badges - I didn't buy that Cameo v5 for nothing!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-07/loadtest.png" caption="Loadtests are fun! This is a screenshot of a losttest with and without sflow sampling enabled in its prototype from Neil McKee from Inmon.  There's work to do, but so far: functionally complete!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-07/IMG_1147.JPG" caption="Outside, we finish that beautiful white wine from yesterday." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-07/IMG_1148.JPG" caption="A weird stink-bug with white legs shows up on my chair. He is a cutie!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-07/IMG_1150.JPG" caption="Marina wants moar: I bike over to Coop on my own (!) Stromer and get eight more bottles. 50% off! Yaay!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-07/IMG_1151.JPG" caption="Our salami-and-gurkin, and cheese-and-onion. So Dutch!" >}}
+{{< /gallery-category >}}
+
+{{< gallery-modal >}}
+{{< gallery-script >}}

content/blog/wk6day7.md

@@ -1,7 +1,65 @@
 ---
-title: "Week 6, Sunday:"
+title: "Week 6, Sunday: Sinus Headache"
 date: 2024-09-08T21:55:00+02:00
-draft: true
 ---
 
-{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/todo.png" alt="Credit: " >}}
+{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/dropstation-02.png" alt="Credit: Drop Station, YouTube" >}}
+
+This day sucked!! I woke up at 07:00 with a _splitting_ headache. The last time I had this was a few
+months ago in June, and my GP told me he couldn't find anything wrong. Something behind my left eye
+is making a mess of it. However, I promised Quinn and Marina that I'd make a _brunch_ today! I take
+a few pain killers and fall back asleep, to wake up again at 11:00 with the same amount of headache.
+Bah.
+
+My luck is low today: I turn on the Stromer bike to get some ingredients for my to-be brunch, but it
+throws an error. It's been charging overnight but only shows 58% full, with some cryptic E210002
+error, which I find other people online complaining about. Seeing as it has _just_ been to the shop,
+I am worried that the problem may be bigger than antiipated. I reboot the bike a few times, but it
+doesn't help. Then I pull out the battery and do a cold start, after which the bike resumes normal
+operation. 
+
+I bike to the _Coop Pronto_, it being Sunday and all, and get some avocado's, bacon strips and
+handrolls. I think that it'll do. Back home, I fry the bacon and my head hates me. Marina and Quinn
+come downstairs, I think they may have forgotten my promise, as they start making a lunch as per
+normal. However, I'm really not in the mood for _Mimosas_ right now, and in fact, the scrambled eggs
+I made are not looking very appetising to me, either.
+
+I abort the mission, and go back to bed after taking another aspirin. I wake up at 14:00 or so, and
+decide to make myself a steam-bath with Vicks vapor pellets (which contain a strong menthol syrup
+which clears the sinuses). I steam it, it hurts my eyes, nose, mouth and throat (which is why I
+think it works!) and my head calms down. Too bad I just wasted almost an entire day - that was NOT
+an approved activity!!1
+
+Well, eventually my headache calmed down and I moved to the basement to finish the sFlow loadtests
+and learning spree I was on before this all happened. I wrote the story on the IPng website, and if
+you're interested in this type of stuff, [[check it
+out](https://ipng.ch/s/articles/2024/09/08/vpp-with-sflow-part-1/)]. I am blessed with an awesome
+family, so Quinn and Marina made dinner tonight; Quinn made really delicious garlic bread with
+_Caf&eacute; de Paris_. Interesting fact: _Caf&eacute; de Paris_ comes from Geneva, Switzerland,
+invented by one Mr. Boubier in the titular resturant in 1930, which to my surprise is [[still
+open](https://cafedeparis.ch/)] by the way. Marina made a green pesto from basil, garlic, pine nuts
+and parmezan cheese, and I was pretty hungry by now having skipped a few meals.
+
+After dinner we sort of all turned into potato bags and plopped ourselves onto the couch. Quinn
+recommended we watch _Black Mirror_ again, and since it's been a while, we go for it. We only get to
+watch the first episode though (not my favorite), as Quinn has an early day tomorrow. After he goes
+upstairs, Marina and I watch a movie:
+[[Interceptor](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interceptor_(film))], with Elsa Pataky across bad-guy
+Luke Bracey and Aaron Glenane, but with the help of good-guy Mayen Mehta. The story reminds me a bit
+of the 1980s hero-movies: totally over the top, impossible action, good guy (in this case, girl),
+always wins in the end, limited moral value, but some pretty cool stunts: just an easy on the mind
+flic: 4.7 on IMDB :)
+
+I want to make sure I get a good night's sleep, so I turn in after the movie ends at 22:30.
+
+## Pictures of the Day
+
+{{< gallery-category >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-08/IMG_1158.JPG" caption="Stromer Drama continues: after charging to only 58%, it refused to drive with this obscure error. Bah." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-08/IMG_1159.JPG" caption="I developed a strong headache behind my left eye socket, and steaming with this Vicks pellet did help a little bit, overall: half the day lost sleeping it off." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-08/IMG_1161.JPG" caption="Quinn is making garlic bread, and wants you to see it." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-08/IMG_1162.JPG" caption="The finished product: garlic bread with cafe de paris, and pasta with green pesto." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-08/IMG_1164.JPG" caption="The movie for tonight: Interceptor" >}}
+{{< /gallery-category >}}
+
+{{< gallery-modal >}}

content/blog/wk7day1.md

@@ -1,7 +1,113 @@
 ---
-title: "Week 7, Monday:"
+title: "Week 7, Monday: A Huge Zucchini"
 date: 2024-09-09T21:55:00+02:00
-draft: true
 ---
 
-{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/todo.png" alt="Credit: " >}}
+{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/fluidified-04.png" alt="Credit: Fluidified, YouTube" >}}
+
+I got up pretty early today, after a tremendously fine sleep. Marina was off to her water coloring
+class, and Quinn was off to work. At 08:15 I walked downstairs to do my morning ritual (ie. inhale
+caffeine). Marina pre-empted me there, putting a sticky note on the coffee machine, saying that
+she'd love to go out to lunch with me (she suggested it yesterday!) but seeing as we're going to
+travel to the Netherlands on Wednesday and we have lots of stuff still in the fridge, she was
+feeling a little bit more of a _Carpe Diem_. I made my coffee and approved the eating at home
+request.
+
+Speaking of eating at home - the other day when Liv came to visit, she brought a rather ginormous
+zucchini with her. I took a picture of it - with a full sized tomato for scale. But somehow that
+picture didn't really show the truly massive nature of this vegetabohemoth. So I decided to make a
+soup out of it -- and I cut it over length wise with a large pairing knife (this kitchen knife is
+33.5cm). It looked a bit more like a green pumpkin! After removing the seeds, I chopped 'er up into
+itty bitty pieces, and boiled for a good 35 minutes, added some spices (finely milled black pepper,
+salt, vegetable bouillon, and cayenne pepper). It'll be a nice dinner soup for tonight!
+
+In the morning, I finish all of my loadtests and publish the [[IPng
+Article](https://ipng.ch/s/articles/2024/09/08/vpp-with-sflow-part-1/)] about sFlow, and I'm really
+looking forward to my meeting with Neil tonight. I have lots of questions and thoughts on how we
+might proceed and make the plugin more efficient (and: lockless). I spend most of the morning
+listening to music, and doing an editorial pass over the article, fixing a few typo's and
+rearranging the flow (no pun intended!) a little bit. With this Sabbatical website, I'm kind of just
+writing using free word association, but the IPng articles take considerably more time (this one
+took about 3 days).
+
+At 11:00 I call my parents - on Wednesday we'll be driving over to them and spending a few days with
+them before shipping off to Fryslan. We discuss the timing, the plans and if there's anything I
+should bring. I'll be making dinner for them on Thursday, and they will feature on this blog!
+Incidentally, I also told them about my writing, as I owe the discipline of journalling to my Mom
+who used to always write really nice logs of our vacations; sitting in the caravan or tent in the
+evening, very low tech with a pad and pencil. But, it's a habit I picked up from her, for sure!
+
+Then around noon Marina tells me her ETA, which will be 12:15. I make my way upstairs and together
+we have a spot of lunch. I'm eating the smoked salmon that I had originally bought for yesterday's
+Brunch-Which-I-Never-Had, and to make up for it, I make some soft boiled eggs, njam.
+
+After lunch, Marina needs to run some errands, and being the needy boyfriend I am, I chain myself to
+her and go with. I don't think she minded that much. We go to Glatt Zentrum first, and visit
+_Douglas_ for some perfume and sunscreen, then the _Qualipet_ for some wormiedealies for our
+reptilian friends Heli and Sticky, and finally we make our way to the _Coop_ for a few more nights
+of dinner for us, and a longer grocery list of shopping for Quinn, who will be home alone, hopefully
+not like [[the movie](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099785/)]. In the _Coop_ we are now greeted by a
+large array of wines. We chuckle as we recount having every red wine except for one, in our cellar.
+We are not fans of white wines (sorry, we're a bit racist that way).
+
+Back home at 14:00, I hang out online and read some e-mail. Speaking of which, my buddy Sebas from
+IRC somehow feels the need to e-mail me on corp, so I humor him and grab the laptop. Whoops, battery
+is completely empty! Teun says: you know you are having a successful sabbatical if your battery is
+dead. And I agree with him totally. But, I charge the laptop, so that I can respond to this e-mail.
+
+Meanwhile on IRC, the topic of the FrysIX website comes up. It was running off of an old webserver
+of Arend's, without SSL, and with a Hurricane Electric IPv6 tunnel -- brrr. As an Internet Exchange
+Point, I think we cao do better. On Telegram, a bright eyed Arend says: "Can we use *this* theme?",
+and shows me what he wants, what he really raelly wants.
+
+"OK, Gast, als jij dat wilt!", and with a _zigazig ah_, I present to you: the new FrysIX website.
+The 80s called, they want their 80x25 ASCII art back! We have a littl bit of fun about the look and
+feel on IRC, but honestly: I think the choice is pretty cool :) Tell me what you think about it!
+
+Then comes for me a hilight of the day. 18:00 rolls around and Peter Phaal and Neil McKee from inMon
+join me for a video call on the sFlow plugin. Neil has read my article, and we bounce questions back
+and forth. In discussing this, we think of a few ways to make the PSAMPLE approach scale, by using a
+worker queue to consume a multi-writer single reader lockless queue, or ring-buffer of sufficient
+size. We do a few loadtests live and toy around with the setup a little bit.
+
+{{< image src="/img/brain.png" width="7em" float="left" alt="brain" >}}
+
+Somehow, we arrive at the topic of SPAN and mirror ports, and Peter mentions that there is an
+ethertype for sFlow, which triggers the big-idea: what if we created a TAP from within VPP, calling
+it in Linux, say, `sflow0`, and leveraged the fact that virtio already has multiple TX queues? Now
+we could simply write the samples (and counters!) as ethernet packets into the TAP and read them
+from `hsflowd`. That would be so slick!
+
+Anyway, at 19:30 Marina is about to kick down the door to my room because I'm waaaay late for
+dinner. Whoops, sorry! I scurry upstairs and make myself a cheese melt. Tonight, we're eating
+zucchini vegetabohemoth soup and toasties, and that will do just fine!
+
+After dinner, we watch a two episodes of _Black Mirror_ on TV, and I play around with the
+performance of TUN/TAP in VPP a bit. I really get excited about this idea, because I manage to
+easily push 7Mpps through a single tuntap device, coming from eight different interfaces, and each
+worker thread is completely independent of others, no locks, no RPCs to main. You can expect a
+second article in a few weeks as we noodle on this design a bit.
+
+After _Black Mirror_, I go downstairs to write my journal for the day, while listening to very
+relaxing, slow [[Fluidified](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJQvtCmXx5g)] on YouTube. This was a
+fun day, especially as a juxtaposition with yesterday's write-off due to the headache.
+
+## Pictures of the Day
+
+{{< gallery-category >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-07/IMG_1143.JPG" caption="The gift Liv brought - a giant zucchini, or as the Swiss say: Zucchetti" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-09/IMG_1165.JPG" caption="I've sliced this zucchini length wise, and it's about 2kg or so. Lots of it has to be disposed of though - it looks a bit like a pumpkin in here!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-09/IMG_1166.JPG" caption="Marina thinks that maybe the atmospheric pressure differential is what gave my sinuses the heebie-jeebies. She may be right, there was a 10mBar dip the day before... hmmm." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-09/IMG_1167.JPG" caption="The Douglas is full of powders, potions, Eyes of Newt, Gillyweed, and so on. All Marina bought was some sunscreen and parfume, though :(" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-09/IMG_1169.JPG" caption="The Coop however is full of wine. And I like wine. And baking bread. And computers." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-09/IMG_1172.JPG" caption="I write a default piss-off post-it note to PostFinance AG who are vulgar spammers. One Franc well spent!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-09/IMG_1173.JPG" caption="The corp laptop is completely dead. Also, its screen is gross, so I clean it up while it charges. I then send Phreak an e-mail." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-09/frysix.png" caption="May I present to you: the all new and improved Frys-IX website!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-09/IMG_1174.JPG" caption="Simple cheese melt toastie and zucchini soup (with balls!)" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-09/IMG_1176.JPG" caption="The singing that 'freed' this character Abi in Black Mirror. But because it's Black Mirror, she was not freed but got entirely messed up. No spoilers here :)" >}}
+{{< /gallery-category >}}
+
+{{< gallery-modal >}}
+{{< gallery-script >}}
+
+

content/blog/wk7day2.md

@@ -1,7 +1,95 @@
 ---
-title: "Week 7, Tuesday:"
+title: "Week 7, Tuesday: Packing for NL"
 date: 2024-09-10T21:55:00+02:00
-draft: true
 ---
 
-{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/todo.png" alt="Credit: " >}}
+{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/chillmusic.png" alt="Credit: Chill Music, YouTube" >}}
+
+When I got up this morning, I first published my
+[[sFlow](https://ipng.ch/s/articles/2024/09/08/vpp-with-sflow-part-1/)] article to Mastodon and
+Twitter. I really wanted to talk to the folks from [[inMon](https://inmon.com/)] beforehand, to make
+sure we're on the same page about the project - which clearly we are! Overnight, Neil implemented
+the first of two improvements to the plugin. Rather than sending RPCs to the main thread, it'll now
+create one PSAMPLE writer _per thread_, and do the write directly inline in the sampler. And what an
+imnprovement that brought!
+
+I spent most of the morning and afternoon loadtesting this new approach. I'll leave the details for
+a followup post on the IPng website, but the good news is that there is no longer a real bottleneck
+in the plugin, it scales linearly with threadcount, can easily send samples at 250K/sec, and when
+one thread is overloaded, other threads do not regress at all. Great work overall. I send an
+elaborate e-mail with the findings.
+
+I have only three goals for today, and all of them are very simple:
+1.   Grab all the schwag for the FrysIX barbecue, including a few (eh, 72pcs) of disk for my buddy
+Tim and his association in Amsterdam. If it's all for a good cause, I'm happy to give these disks a
+second life.
+1.   Cut some vinyl IPng.ch logos for the car, which will go on when I reach my parents' place in
+the Netherlands (and probably get removed again before we go home)
+1.   Pack for our one week roadtrip, and have an entertaining debate if our car's trunk is big
+enough.
+
+Marina and I will first drive to Best, in the provice of Noord Brabant in the Netherlands. Then
+onwards to Jubbega in Friesland to visit Arend and the [[FrysIX](https://frys-ix.net/)] crew, and
+on the way back we'll drive to Brussels to visit my buddy Andrew from Cisco, finally driving home to
+Br&uuml;ttisellen, Switzerland, next week Tuesday. That's seven days to pack for.
+
+My packing is rather adhoc/simplistic. Got passport? Driver's License? Credit Card? GO! Marina
+however is a bit more ... methodical in her packing style. Stacks of stuff are laid on the bed,
+compared, questions asked about clothing, stuff to put in the toiletbag, what sttuffed animals to
+take (Hey and Uhi, of course!). 
+
+As I'm doing the loadtests for sFlow, I grab Silhouette Studio and wrestle with it a little bit. I
+can't seem to find the right cutting settings for _infinite_ cutting on a roll of 12" Oracal vinyl.
+It turns out (and I think this is a bug?) if I turn the canvas in landscape mode, I am limited to
+12x12, while if I set the canvas in portrait, it becomes 12" x &infin;. Heh, thirty minutes down the
+drain! Eventually we find the correct settings, and shortly thereafter I have two beautiful 30x60cm
+logos printed in Grey. If you do a poll on
+[[Twitter](https://x.com/IPngNetworks/status/1821179665928560873)] (inconclusive, quelle surprise,
+grey is a tie for red), and [[Mastodon](https://ublog.tech/@IPngNetworks/112921027967806983)] (grey
+clearly wins), then you have to commit yourself to the result _even if your own choice would've been
+different - superior - and decidedly_ 
+{{< rawhtml >}} <span style="color:#ff00ff;font-weight:bold">more pink</span>. {{< /rawhtml >}}
+
+I send a wrap-up report to the ongoing developer mail thread and the news is good. So good in fact,
+that I decide to celebrate with a drop of the 50%-off ice wine. We do still have eight bottles after
+all. Marina is not opposed to this type of celebration, so we go sit outside. In my field of view, I
+see the cuttings of _Hydranchea_ (also known as _Hortensia_), which are looking really great despite
+having been in a bucket of water for a while. I inspect them. There is absolutely no root starting
+to grow out the bottom. Off to the internet I go, reading up on howto and tweaking my green thumbs.
+
+It turns out, the experts say I should remove most of the leaves and cut the ones that are left, as
+lots of water evaporates through them, and the stress inflicted by chopping off their appendages
+will make them want to grow more roots. Uhm, okay, but only because the experts say so, I take some
+scissors to the cuttings while Marina prepares a few pots of soil. We push the cuttings in the
+correct length and orientation. It'll be fun to see if these things are still alive or if they've
+completely given the ghost, when we get back next week.
+
+I'm making meatloaf! This needs 90min or so in the oven, and we got fresh baby potatoes which do not
+need to be peeled. Marina likes red cabbage, and I'm more partial to pickled white cabbage
+(Dutch: _Zuurkool_). "Por que no los Dos?"; the dinner is easy to make and just takes a little bit
+of patience, which eventually runs out before the 90min mark, but I guessed right: the meatloaf is
+pretty great.
+
+The last task for the day is packing, but before we do that: two episodes of _Black Mirror_ are
+watched. "The Entire History of You" (memory imlants suck), and "The Waldo Moment". But then, we get
+to work. I schlepp seventy two 3.5" hard disks from IPng's stash, and put them in the trunk of our
+car. There's also our travel bags, and some other schwag for the barbecue. In case anybody wants a
+beer mug, I took 24 of them with me, and they are most certainly _not_ coming back home with me.
+
+At 21:00 I'm done, somewhat ahead of schedule, but I decide to go to bed. That's because I have put
+my alarm on an _illegal_ time tomorrow morning: 06:00. This is not a normal time for me, and my
+body reminds me of it. I lay in bed until 01:00, and eventually doze off.
+
+## Pictures of the Day
+
+{{< gallery-category >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-10/IMG_1177.JPG" caption="Cutting the Oracal vinyl IPng logos - in Grey because that's what the Twitter and Mastodon survey suggested." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-10/IMG_1180.JPG" caption="I don't know why I took this picture, as it has nothing to do with today. But: An ASR9001 router and three Celestica DX010 switches." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-10/IMG_1182.JPG" caption="We are listening to some music on my fancy bluetooth speaker; we do this while drinking a lovely white wine." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-10/IMG_1183.JPG" caption="Marina and I tended to our Hortensia cuttings, and ended up potting them. Wish us luck! We're both absolutely terrible at gardening." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-10/IMG_1184.JPG" caption="Dinner - meatloaf, boiled new potatoes, saurkraut and red cabbage. ALSO: gravy." >}}
+{{< /gallery-category >}}
+
+{{< gallery-modal >}}
+{{< gallery-script >}}
+

content/blog/wk7day3.md

@@ -1,7 +1,90 @@
 ---
-title: "Week 7, Wednesday:"
+title: "Week 7, Wednesday: North of the Border"
 date: 2024-09-11T21:55:00+02:00
-draft: true
 ---
 
-{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/todo.png" alt="Credit: " >}}
+{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/dbgirl.png" alt="Credit: D&B Girl, YouTube" >}}
+
+I have voluntarily set the alarm clock at 06:00 this morning, because we are making the trek all the
+way North of the Border. The idea is to pack up the last parts of our luggage, yeet them in the
+trunk of the car, which already has most of the stuff and is fully charged by now. It's about 700km
+drive from Br&uuml;ttisellen to Best, the Netherlands. Although we could do it with one charging
+session along the way, we don't do that. Our plan typically is: one person drives for 1.5hrs and
+finds the next Supercharger, we plug in the car and take a small walk or a coffee, and continue the
+drive 20min later. This way, each leg is about 180km or so, nobody gets tired, and we never have to
+relaly think about range anxiety.
+
+I eat some leftover meatloaf on a bun with mustard, and drink some caffeine. Marina completes her
+ritual, notably by grabbing our alien friends (Uhi and Hey) and we're off to the races at 06:45.
+It's easy driving for Marina, the first leg brings us over the Swiss-German border just as the Sun
+comes up, and in Germany I write my journal entry for Tuesday, as we roll to Pforzheim, Germany.
+
+There's a completely new Version 4 supercharger station here and only one car. It's a pretty fun
+spot, with a little unmanned kiosk with toilets, a living room, some vending machines and (and this
+is cool!) a video console with two controllers. I race a Mariokart round as _Peach_ (thinking of
+you, Dermot!) and come in first place, despite being a terrible driver. One might say, not too
+different from my real life driving style.
+
+The second leg is mine to chauffeur, and it takes us further in the direction of Frankfurt am Main
+and it's mostly just cruise control on the A61 en route to Cologne, all the way to Pfalzfeld,
+Germany. Somewhere in the middle there, Marina decided to pacify me, and she stuck a pink candy
+pacifier in my mouth. For good measure she also took one in -- funny: nobody cried after that!
+Here, we arrive at 11:55, perfect timing for a post-candy lunch with 435km of our roadtrip consumed.
+
+We've been here before, but it's certainly not as busy as we've seen. We're the only ones in the
+restaurant, even though it's noon. But, the friendly waiter guy is happy to serve marina a salad
+with strips of chicken, and me my much requested hugarian gulasch soup with bread. It was pretty
+decent, although I think Marina's salad was a little bit higher nutritional quality than my salty
+goodness. It's nice to have a lunch while the car is charging, and when we're done, we pay up and
+the car is ready for another leg!
+
+Marina gets to drive leg #3, which would be roughly to Cologne (180km) but we miss what appears to
+be the last _Rastst&auml;tte_, as there is literally nothing all the way to Venlo. Just over the
+border with the Netherlands, she finds a small truckstop and I take over. From here it's about 40km
+to Eindhoven, where we plug in the car just one more time - we will have 8% or so battery arriving
+at Best, and I do see that there's a Supercharger there now also, but I figured we're well ahead of
+schedule at this point, and if we charge there and Marina throws balls at a few Pok&eacute;mon,
+it'll be 16:15 when we hit $dest for the day.
+
+It is 16:15 when we hit $dest for the day. There is much rejoicing in seeing my parents in 3D. Phone
+and Video calls are nice and all, but nothing beats the real thing. They are also quite happy to see
+us - maybe because we're adorable children, or maybe because we've been really bad children and
+haven't visited in the longest time? Who knows, but it was happy days!
+
+In the afternoon we catch up, and at around 18:30 or so, our tummies are calling for the one thing
+that is a requirement on arrival day: friet with frikandellen and sito sticks and kroketten and
+viandellen. The Dutch and Belgians kind of take this stuff for granted, but in Switzerland we do not
+have this type of fast food; which means it tastes extra good when visiting!
+
+We exchange stories about all sorts of stuff - and along the way I decide to take a picture of the
+sign we had at on our front door ever since we lived in California in the 80s: _The Van Pelts_, of
+course with a _Ja-Nee-Sticker_ on the mailbox. I kind of wonder if that is still an effective
+deterrant to spammers? It's starting to fail us in Switzerland :( One other fond memory for me is
+one of the first servers I've had at [[IPng.ch](https://ipng.ch/)], which is still with us today!
+It's perhaps wasy to state "IPng started in the garage of Pim's parents", but that's really not true at
+all. But if you _did_ want to say that, you could use this picture of `hvn0.nlehv0.ipng.ch`. It
+would be a lie though. But if you _did_ say it, I would not be upset.
+
+We hang out until well after midnight; I drink a few beers, Dad slurps on Gin neat, and Mom drinks
+white wine. Marina keeps to water today. At about 01:45 we say goodbye and put the alarmclock at
+09:00 tomorrow, as there's plenty of stuff to do while we're here!
+
+## Pictures of the Day
+
+{{< gallery-category >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-11/20240911_062910.jpg" caption="My luggage which is also a temporary holding place for our alien friends: Uhi (left) and Hey (right)" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-11/IMG_1189.JPG" caption="At 06:50, the sun is starting to rise as we start our 720km (450mi) drive of the day." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-11/IMG_1190.JPG" caption="Just over the German border, I am writing my story for yesterday. It reminds me of the mobile blogging I have done quite often with WEiRD on roadtrips." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-11/IMG_1193.JPG" caption="At the first supercharger they have a kiosk with a Nintendo Switch - I play a few rounds of Mario Kart, which is fun!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-11/IMG_1194.JPG" caption="These are the v4 Superchargers, and they're quiet, nice and fast. I'm just very happy that a few years ago, WEiRD and I had the CCS charger retrofitted in this old Mennekes car. But: free charging, hellyeahb" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-11/IMG_1195.JPG" caption="We completely stopped crying and almost fell asleep when sucking on these two pacifiers." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-11/IMG_1196.JPG" caption="Hearty filled salad and Gulasch soup for lunch in Germany. For me at least: this is roadtrip pitstop food, and mandatory on a successful commute from CH to NL." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-11/IMG_1200.JPG" caption="At Van der Valk in Eindhoven, this statue is a Pokestop." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-11/route.png" caption="The route we took from CH, through DE and to NL." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-11/IMG_1207.JPG" caption="Friet met Snacks. Posted without further comment." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-11/IMG_1209.JPG" caption="The trusty rusty server hvn0.nlehv0.ipng.ch, a Pentium G630 @ 2.70GHz, 16GB DDS3, 3x1TB (new since last Christmas) Samsung EVO SSD.  I've had this server for about 12 years, and still works a treat!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-11/IMG_1211.JPG" caption="The sign at my parent's frontdoor." >}}
+{{< /gallery-category >}}
+
+{{< gallery-modal >}}
+{{< gallery-script >}}

content/blog/wk7day4.md

@@ -1,7 +1,127 @@
 ---
-title: "Week 7, Thursday:"
-date: 2024-09-12T21:55:00+02:00
-draft: true
+title: "Week 7, Thursday: Eindhoven de Gekste"
+date: 2024-09-12T12:55:00+02:00
 ---
 
-{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/todo.png" alt="Credit: " >}}
+{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/sti.png" alt="Credit: Sound That Illuminates, YouTube" >}}
+
+I grew up in a small town called Best near Eindhoven in the Netherlands. My parental home, and
+therefore both of my parents, are still in the same house they bought after we returned from our US
+and UK sidequest in the late eighties. This sleepy town of Best is well situated on the busy train
+link from Eindhoven to Den Bosch (of which the original name is 's Hertogenbosch -- _the Forest
+that belongs to the Duke_). The good news is, there's a 9 minute train to Eindhoven and a 16 minute
+train to Den Bosch, and my parents live about eighty meters away from the train station.
+
+Best has changed and morphed quite a bit in the twentyfive years that I've been out in the big world
+on my own. About ten years ago, the main street that goes through the village center has been
+renovated and turned into a pedestrian-friendly zone. These last two years, our parents' street has
+been renovated, with the same objective. Personally, I think it's a huge improvement for livability,
+but of course the cars that used to drive through this street are also now driving through this
+street at roughly the same speed as before -- which is now significantly too fast both legally (it's
+a 30kmh/20mph street), but also physics-wise, as it's full of twisty turny chicanes and speed bumps
+and so on. I like it. Mom could not hate it more. Dad could not care less. Fun times :)
+
+In the morning, we have a nice breakfast together, and after the meal we do our first round of
+shopping for goods and groceries that are only found (or only properly found) in the Netherlands.
+Mom, Marina and I walk over to the village center and I take a good look around to see things that
+are the same, and things that have changed. Mostly the same - which I think is good. At _Albert
+Heijn_ we do groceries, but we carefully leave out a few vegetables, so that we can go to the
+_Groenteboer_ (local vegetable green-grocer), who knows my Mom by name, asks how my Dad is going and
+if these two people with you are the long lost Son+Daughter in Switzerland. Awwww, I love the small
+town society so much!
+
+My buddy WEiRD and I have this game that if we are on a roadtrip and not in the Benelux, and we see
+a logistics truck from a company called _Vos_, and (this important) the cabin of said truck has a
+Dutch license plate, that we scream at the top of our lungs: "HARRRYYYYYYY!!!!" - as you do. It's
+hilarious mostly if the other guy is sleeping (at the wheel, or otherwise). Believe it or not, it
+took like - forever - to fine one (1) measily Harry Vos transport truck in Germany, but look here in
+the smack dead center of Best! One is driving **RIGHT HERE**!!1 Unfortunately, I cannot scream here,
+because we are inside of the _Benelux_ :(
+
+We ran some errands for the Parents, got some tailored pants and orthopedic shoes for my Dad. We
+also got all the ingredients for a four course meal that I am facilitating tonight at my parents
+place. It gives us both something to _do_ and something to _enjoy_, as it's a good time for me to
+subtly introduce ingredients and dishes that they'd normally not really eat. Even though, as I see
+later today, they both really really enjoyed, or perhaps they're just really good actors.
+
+I have really only three things to do today:
+
+1. The groceries for both (a) what to take home to Switzerland, and (b) what to put into the four
+courses tonight in our family food festivities.
+
+1. Go to Eindhoven city by train, take a picture of the bowling pins, and then walk through the
+'old' town from the _Oude Markt_ to the far end of _Stratum's Eind_. Compare notes from my memory
+(as I went to school and university in these parts), and see how the city has changed. If you visit
+infrequently - the last time I was here may have been 10 years ago - the progression can really 
+stand out.
+
+1. Cook a four course meal for my parents, consisting of:
+   1.   Rocket salad, sliced beef tomatoes, Buratta and balsamic vinaigrette
+   1.   Chickpea soup with green curry
+   1.   Salmon, green beans with bacon bits and mashed potatoes with creamy herbs
+   1.   Clotted cream with Monchou cheese, Bastogne and cherries
+
+After lunch, Marina and I take off at leet o'clock (13:37) and catch the train to Deurne after
+Marina has a small struggle with the vending machine / payment checkin. She will happily say it was
+all the fault of stoopid Dutch banks - and actually: I totally agree because I don't want a
+divorce.
+
+We take a selfie on the platform and get into this rather nice train (called a Sprinter), and make
+our way to Eindhoven CS. There, we first exit the station on the South side and I take my picture of
+the bowling pins which are a landmark at the TU/Eindhoven where I used to study (and mostly fail
+classes) in the 90s. Then, we walk back around and through the station tunnel to the City side, and
+I really enjoy the walk over _Stratum's Eind_, a street in town which has bars and clubs on both
+sides from start at St. Catherine's Church, all the way to the back - perfect for a pubcrawl. I'm
+amazed at how clean it is, and also I'm amazed at how my _passive memory_ reminds me "oh right, I
+used to go _Blikkenslikken_ (Dutch: swallowing cans) here at the Kix, who are celebrating their 40
+year anniversary this year. And with that, mission #2 was accomplished.
+
+On the way back into town, we shared a _Smos Americain_ from _Bakker Bart_, and we took a seat on
+the market square for a drink at the _Grand Cafe Centraal_. We took the train back home at 14:45 or
+so, and hung out at home for a bit. I finished my loadtests of Neil's latest changes to the `sflow`
+VPP plugin, and sent some thoughts to the list and GitHub repo. The mail thread in the mean time is
+getting a bit complex with lots of new questions and thoughts. It's good to keep each individual
+engineering topic in its own github issue. It's going very well with the plugin.
+
+Marins has been complaining that our car is gross, and she's not wrong. The last time we've washed
+it was in 1872, and it's really in need of some deep cleaning. So I take it to the _Prowash_ car
+wash station, and drop &euro;13,- on society for a thorough scrub of the outside. Wait, my car is
+blue!? Then I attack it with the industrial vacuum cleaner, and manage to remove a few kilograms of
+sand, grit, pebbles, and various dried up jellybeans which somehow made their way onto the carpet
+and under the seats. Hearing each one of these jellybeans bounce around in the vaccuum cleaner's
+long hose was kind of rewarding.
+
+Back home, the reason for the cleaning became clear - the vinyl logo's -- in grey -- are to be
+applied on the doors. We make good work of it, and accept for a few small bubbles of air under the
+foil, we do a pretty decent job of it.
+
+Now all that's left to do is create the dinner, which we do all together in the kitchen, while
+chatting away and comparing notes on the steam oven, the cuisson of the fish, the beafiness of the
+tomatoes and the creaminess of the burrata. I'm surprised (in a good way) how long this meal takes,
+we start at around 18:30 and are finished with desert at 21:30, after which we're suitably stuffed.
+
+Marina pretty quickly decides to retire and I promise I'll be "right with her", except I finish my
+journal for yesterday and now it's 23:00. Still a pretty decent time for me, so I go upstairs and
+brush my teeth, contuing on to bed and I am 💤 about three seconds after my head hits the pillow.
+There's something about Uhi, I don't know how he does it, but I'm immediately out like a light.
+
+## Pictures of the Day
+
+{{< gallery-category >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-12/IMG_1213.JPG" caption="The Odulphus Church in Best, the Netherlands" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-12/IMG_1214.JPG" caption="We see a Harryyyyyyy Vos, except I can't yell at it because that would break the rules" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-12/IMG_1215.JPG" caption="Marina and I take a selfie at the Best train station" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-12/IMG_1216.JPG" caption="The trains in the Netherlands sure are better (Sprinter) than they used to be (Hondekop)" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-12/bowling.png" caption="The bowling pin statues at the corner of the TU/Eindhoven campus" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-12/IMG_1218.JPG" caption="Sint Katerijne Church in Stratum's Eind, Eindhoven." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-12/IMG_1221.JPG" caption="The beginning of Stratum's Eind, Eindhoven. I have spent many a night in this street as a youngling." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-12/IMG_1222.JPG" caption="We share a beautiful broodje filet americain from Bakker Bart" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-12/IMG_1223.JPG" caption="Although it's raining, we still humor ourselves with a selfie on the Grote Markt of Eindhoven" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-12/IMG_1226.JPG" caption="I am attacking our car with a vaccuum wand. It's a very powerful wand. I wonder what else I could do with it ..." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-12/IMG_1228.JPG" caption="We have stuck an IPng logo onto the side of the car. That Cameo v5 is cool :-)" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-12/IMG_1229.JPG" caption="The opening salvo for our family feast: Burrata!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-12/IMG_1232.JPG" caption="I am performing my loadtests for the VPP sflow plugins to give feedback on this iterattion to Neil and colleagues" >}}
+{{< /gallery-category >}}
+
+{{< gallery-modal >}}
+{{< gallery-script >}}

content/blog/wk7day5.md

@@ -1,7 +1,101 @@
 ---
-title: "Week 7, Friday:"
-date: 2024-09-13T21:55:00+02:00
-draft: true
+title: "Week 7, Friday: the Thirteenth"
+date: 2024-09-13T20:55:00+02:00
 ---
 
-{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/todo.png" alt="Credit: " >}}
+{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/noraenpure-05.png" alt="Credit: Nora en Pure, YouTube" >}}
+
+This morning we got up at 09:00 after a great night's sleep. I boot up the morning program and make
+some coffee for myself and Marina. Mom and Dad already made some coffee and are hanging out on the
+couch booting their respective morning program as well. At around 10:00 Dad makes a few soft boiled
+eggs and bread. After the breakfast, Marina and I go to Albert Heijn for just _one more time_, to
+get a few supplies for our further Roadtrip to Jubbega. We buy what we need, and then we also buy
+about four times more than what we need, and we call it done. We mosy back down to my parents' place
+and have a quick lunch at 13:30 - Marina wanted to nibble on a few _Worstenbroodjes_ so, of course,
+we got this food.
+
+The trip to Friesland from here is just under 200km (125mi), and we can do it without charging the
+car. Driving on the Dutch _Autobahn_ is mind numbingly boring, as the maximum speed is 100km/h
+(60mph), and it's all just flat and straight highway roads from Eindhoven all the way up there. We
+pass Nijmegen, Arnhem, Zwolle, Meppel and then into the waterlilly county. The Frysian flag consists
+of blue and white stripes and seven red _Pompebl&ecirc;den_ (Dutch: water lilly leaves), symbolizing the
+seven counties of the province. Underway we even manage to snap a picture of the "Wolkom in
+Frysl&acirc;n", although it's not a very good roadsign!
+
+We make one stop only, in _Wolvega_ which has a fancy v4 supercharger at a local Van Der Valk hotel.
+I rock up to the stall, and across from me there's a car with Sankt Gallen plates - booyah all the
+way up here I would not have expected to see a swiss car! It's a nice hotel, and we take a walk
+around it to find that it's near a small nature reserve with a little lake with swans and a beach
+(Full of swan poop, SMH!) but the sun is shining and we take a walk around the lake, and along the
+neighborhood here in _Wolvega_, after which we go into the hotel and drink a tea. The tea selection
+here is nice! We get a little scoop and a selection of six infusions and teas.
+
+The nice thing about taking a little walk and drinking a little tea is that the battery is fully
+charged at 420km (260mi) or so autonomy, which will allow us to do our short trip to _Franker_
+tomorrow, as well as get us most of the way back down south to Brussels on Sunday. With the charging
+out of the way, we make the last 15 minute drive from _Wolvega_ to the _Jubbega_ metropole, and very
+quickly find [[De Koppenjan](https://dekoppenjan.nl/)], which is a camping and pancake house. I walk
+in and announce myself as Pim, and I'm immediately greeted as "Oh, Arend's buddy from Switzerland". 
+
+We are taken to our glamping vehicle for the night, there are three refurbished old waggons here,
+one blue, green and one red. We are staying in the green one, it's called a _Pipowagen_, and has a
+double bed, kitchenette, couch and so on. Perfect for the night! In the 'front yard', there are a
+few picnic tables, and we're missing just one main ingredient of success: apero-material. Off we go,
+to the local _Plus_ grocery shop and we emerge with a bottle of tawny port from _Offley_, some
+cheese, olives, and sliced sausage. Perfect!
+
+Marina sits outside with me and we both enjoy the tranquility, the serenity of this camping site,
+and the ap&eacute;ro. We have a dinner reservation at 19:00 but for about 45min, we make the best of
+our wait - for me, I write my journal for yesterday, and for her, she draws a sketch of the bowling
+pins in Eindhoven for her summer sketchbook. When 19:00 rolls around, we make our way to the
+Koppenjan resaurant, and inside my eye is immediately met by Arend! He's sitting at one of the
+tables with friends (or family maybe?) Certainly Esther is there and we say our hello's. It's been
+since 2021 since I last saw Esther, and a little bit less long ago that I had dinner with Arend and
+the Coloclue folks.
+
+Arend is going to help Esther and co with a pubquiz tonight at 20:00. They are wrapping up their
+dinner with some coupes Dame Blanche, and then they leave to the bar next door, as we are enjoying
+our pancakes. Marina has a classic _Koppenjan_ with ham, cheese, onions and bellpepper; while I have
+a more esoteric _Ajam_ which is with chicken sate and a salad. It's really good food!
+
+After dinner, we make our way into the completely packed bar next door. The Pubquiz is just about to
+start, but it's a bit competitive it seems, as all the tables and groups are all ready to go and
+there's no "adhoc" signups. That's OK, we'll just play along from the side lines and see if we can
+guess the right answers. The theme is "Back to School", likely because the schoolyear is just
+starting. In total there are nine rounds with eight questions each. We play the first six rounds and
+don't feel terrible about our performance, but we did not get the questions about Frysian grammar
+quite right. As usual, we laugh at each others' brain farts, and during one of the breaks Arend
+comes to say hi. They are also doing well with their group - and we root for them as we take off to
+our little _Pipowagen_.
+
+At our room for the night, I write the journal entry for today while enjoying a few Trappiste beers
+from Rochefort, my all time favorite. Marina finishes her bowling-pin drawing, and as I reach over
+to the swiss army knife to open the bottle, she reminds me: you have like eighty bottle openers with
+you! And thus:
+
+{{< video src="/media/vdo/IMG_1268_23.27.19.mp4" >}}
+
+_Skol_, or shall I say: _Tsjoch_!
+
+## Pictures of the Day
+
+{{< gallery-category >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-13/IMG_1238.JPG" caption="In the morning, Marins thinks its a good idea to try on my sunglasses. She looks like a state trooper cop, just as much as I do." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-13/IMG_1239.JPG" caption="For lunch, we have a frikandellenbroodje from Bakker Bart. I did not like it as much, but I did not hear complaints from Marina!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-13/IMG_1241.JPG" caption="Here's our route from Best, NL to Jubbega, FRL" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-13/IMG_1242.JPG" caption="The 'Wolkom in Frysl&acirc;n' sign when entering Friesland" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-13/IMG_1243.JPG" caption="The meadow around the Van Der Valk in Wolvega is super nice today" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-13/IMG_1244.JPG" caption="We take a walk around the pond at the hotel in Wolvega" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-13/IMG_1248.JPG" caption="The tea selection at Van Der Valk is tasty! And well prepared/served." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-13/IMG_1251.JPG" caption="An overview picture of the three Pipowagens, we're in the green one in the middle." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-13/IMG_1252.JPG" caption="The inside of our green and cozy Pipowagen in Jubbega, Friesland" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-13/IMG_1256.JPG" caption="Our aperitif today is a selection of olives, meats and cheese; paired perfectly with a good glass of tawny port." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-13/IMG_1258.JPG" caption="A half-selfie of us enjoying the last sunrays of the day and our port and charcuterie" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-13/IMG_1260.JPG" caption="The Pannenkoekenhuis at De Koppenjan has all sorts of sweet and savory pancakes." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-13/IMG_1262.JPG" caption="After dinner, the PubQuiz is the place to be - it's very competitive and the questions are in the theme 'Back to School'" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-13/IMG_1264.JPG" caption="A question in the PubQuiz: Which canal connects Amsterdam with the North Sea. NO SPOILERS!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-13/IMG_1265.JPG" caption="My treat for the evening - a Rochefort 10, trappiste beer" >}}
+{{< /gallery-category >}}
+
+{{< gallery-modal >}}
+{{< gallery-script >}}

content/blog/wk7day6.md

@@ -1,7 +1,142 @@
 ---
-title: "Week 7, Saturday:"
+title: "Week 7, Saturday: Eise and FrysIX"
 date: 2024-09-14T21:55:00+02:00
-draft: true
 ---
 
-{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/todo.png" alt="Credit: " >}}
+{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/ixosound.png" alt="Credit: IXO Sound, YouTube" >}}
+
+We arrived yesterday at the beautiful town of Jubbega, and after a good nights rest in the
+_Pipowagen_ at the campingsite across the road from Esther and Arend, this morning we both woke up a
+little bit early by means of a biological hint - I had to pee but the inside of the cabin was about
+5 C and the bed was super warm and cozy. So at 06:00 I decided to deny my bladder its request, and
+managed to doze off for another few hours. Then at 08:30, Marina and I both woke up with an
+_Alarmstufe Rot_ situation, and my bladder was describing its situation to me as critical: more like
+a waterballoon about to be yeeted off the roof of a building. We manned up, and shivered our way to
+the toiliet building just up the road.
+
+But, after the deed was done, the beakfast was a lot more relaxing. Yesterday morning, we already
+pre-cached our groceries for the trip: filet americain, goudkuipje (_Plastique Fantastique_), some
+bread, and a bottle of freshly pressed orangejuice. Nando and Christel had added a little box of
+coffee grounds, so we were up and running very quickly. Breakfast was very quaint, and tasted
+absolutely perfect for the morning, with exception of the orange juice, which was verifiably gross.
+
+Our mission for the morning was to visit a special place a few kilometers west of here: Franeker.
+There, one _Eise Eisinga_ build a contraption, literally in his livingroom, about 250 year ago he
+had the billiant idea of building a _planetarium_ with all the (at that time, known) planets, the
+moon, and our star, the Sun. They all revolve with meticulously crafted gears and pulleys in the
+ceiling and attic of the house, and to this day it still runs off oa tick-tock mechanical clock, has
+the correct position of the celestial bodies, and is an absolute goreous masterpiece. Our tickets
+were for 11:30 and we arrived in Franker (_Frjentsjer_ in Frysk), and made our way around the tiny
+town, over bridges, alongside the market place, the church, and so on. It's nice that they have so
+much water here to enjoy, there was a kayaking gentleman in the water, and some boats were moored as
+well. The sun was out, and the walk around town was super nice.
+
+On the way out of _Eise Eisinga_'s Planatarium, we mosied our way over the farmer's market and
+smelled a very familiar smell: _vietnamese loempias_ (Deep fried Vietnaese Loompia), so we queued up
+and got ourselves one each, to tie us over until lunch. When back at the car, I got to tick another
+bucket list item off of my own list: viist _Zurich, Friesland_ (or, _Surch_ as they say here). This
+is a sleepy town of maybe a few hundred people, and I'm sure every now and again they have a
+`ZH-579668` style tourist in town. I also went there really only for one thing: to take a selfie at
+the "Welcome to..." sign.
+
+From here though, I convinced Marina to accompany me into a local roadstop on the north side of the
+A7 _Afsluitdijk_ (the closure dike, that encloses our water called _Ijsselmeer_). Here, we both
+ordered a sandwich, even though really what I wanted was a broodje kroket, Marina managed to guilt
+shame me out of it [a thing I am certain she will vehemently deny]. The _broodje gezond_ was super
+good though, and after a refreshing and low-calory lunch, we made our way back to Jubbega.
+
+## The Barbecue
+
+Yesterday we did see the tent in Arend's back yard, but today there were these big wobbly-guys with
+the Frysian _Pompebl&ecirc;d_ wobbling around, and also Arend had put a few FrysIX flags in the
+front yard. You couldn't miss it! This event was going to be great, I could already tell, beacuse
+there was a nice sunshine out, the tent was enough to keep us dry and warm if need be, there was a
+bar and a set of barbecues, and just arriving there made me incredibly happy.
+
+There were about seventy or so people, mostly Dutch, but there was also a Belgian contingent (heh,
+more than just Marina), a French equippe, and even a Norwegian delegation, including an export Swiss
+slash import Finn. Such a group, with so many stories and fun times were had by all.
+
+A few months ago I visited my buddy Niels and Yulia in Wormerveer for a [[Fusix](https://fusix.nl/)]
+podcast, and I thoroughly enjoyed recording that episode. Today, Fusix were there with their gear
+and Sonia, too. They were going to take a few ideas and concepts and noodle on a set of recordings
+throughout the day. I had the absolute pleasure of going first, and we talked about IPv6, which was
+_supposed_ to last a few minutes, but I think we generated about fourty minutes or so of chatter.
+
+We emerged from the ad-hoc studio at 16:30 or so, after the recording. Niels and I rewarded
+ourselves with a _Pintje_, and that marked the start of the party portion of the barbecue. Marina
+and I had brought a few congratulatory cards which we asked people to sign, in return they got a
+FrysIX pin with a magnet and bottle opener. Those are the pins that you've seen me write about
+several times before on this sabbatical blog :-)
+
+I put my 22 remaining IPng.ch beersteins into the circulation, and reminded folks that they were
+absolutely free to steal these. I am not planning on taking them back home with me. Beer, sodapop,
+wine, water and tea/coffee were serves in large quantities, and at around 18:00 the smell of a
+firing up barbecue made my salivaglands explode (much like the bladder this morning) and a good 45
+minutes later, a delectable set of cold and warm dishes materialized. Omms were nommed.
+
+The evening continued and Arend made a really nice speech which really did emphasize that this is a
+community with lots of folks with lots of different experiences and expertise coming together to
+just share a little moment of their life together in this tent in -- let's just be honest -- the
+middle of nowhere in beautiful picturesque Jubbega.
+
+At about 21:00 I get tapped on the shoulder, by Niels, because he's magicked up another topic for a
+podcast: open source radio and routing and its relationship to commercial and merchant silicon
+vendors. With my VPP and libvirt/proxmox/asterisk experiences, this topic is near and dear to me:
+it's fun to disrupt vendors who used to be king on the hill with application specific ASIC/FPGA, but
+now being caught up, and sometimes even surpassed by, fully open source and no-license solutions to
+the same problems. We have a really cool conversation about Open5G systems, radio towers, 4G/5G/LTE
+telephony, all completely facilitated by open source. We were joined by Joran Osinga, who has built
+and shown/documented most of this stuff in practice, radio and all.  It was a really nice
+conversation, in part also because the "Fusix Studio" had a heater in it, and the temps started to
+drop in the yard :) Joran and I agreed on-the-spot, that FrysIX shall also offer IPX peering
+services for mobile-core telephony, and he and I will interconnect my house with his house. This
+way, I will have roaming in at least one small spot in the Netherlands when I visit next.
+
+At aount 22:30 or so the "main event" was over and we seemlessly transitioned to the _After Party_,
+with a smaller group of people, mostly those who have a hotel or _Pipowagen_ nearby. Instead of the
+tapped Heineken, we moved to bottled Hertog Jan, and still had copious amounts of sweet white wine,
+so Marina was certainly not left behind. Speaking of left behind, some of our compatriots started to
+visit the strugglebus, (not me, of course!) and overall the stories got stronger (definitely me!)
+and the mood got jollier as time past. Then, Nando rocks up after his shift at the pancake joint
+across the street (Remember this: [[De Koppenjan](https://dekoppenjan.nl/)]). In the end, it's 03:30
+and we kill it.
+
+It's god impossible to get a taxi or uber at this time of day, at this place in Jubbega. New plan:
+We put the frenchmen on some bicycles, and let them peddal their way to their respective hotels.
+From Job we understand that they've all more or less arrived, and there are no casualties.  Mission
+accomplished!
+
+We crawl our way to the Pipowagen and take a good snooze. Thank you so much, Arend and FrysIX, for
+the truly remarkable and cozy hospitality. Best BBQ, ever.
+
+## Pictures of the Day
+
+{{< gallery-category >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-14/IMG_1270.JPG" caption="The breakfast we made for ourselves in the Pipowagen at De Koppenjan." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-14/IMG_1275.JPG" caption="The car is well at home in Franeker, Friesland." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-14/IMG_1276.JPG" caption="The waterways around Franeker are serene and beautiful." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-14/IMG_1277.JPG" caption="The planetarium is just across the road from the old townhall in Franeker, Fryslan." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-14/IMG_1281.JPG" caption="The Martini Church, but I don't think it's that specific Martini ... " >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-14/IMG_1292.JPG" caption="An overview of Eise Eisinga's beautiful hand-made mechanical planetarium" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-14/IMG_1294.JPG" caption="We visited Zurich, Friesland specifically so we could say: 'yeah, we drive from Zurich to here, it was 45min'." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-14/IMG_1296.JPG" caption="Our not-kroketten, but declicious broodje gezond and broodje geitenkaas in Zurich, Friesland" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-14/IMG_1299.JPG" caption="Back at Jubbega, our Pipowagen is as beautiful as ever" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-14/IMG_1301.JPG" caption="I hand over 72pcs of 3TB hard disk to Tim, for a project he's working on. Second life!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-14/IMG_1307.JPG" caption="The recording in the Fusix studio with Niels and Yulia. Such fun talking to these guys!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-14/IMG_1310.JPG" caption="Arend had conjured up (hehe) a magician. Even though we were still sober, and we could see he was indeed fidgetting with ropes, he *sill* managed to confuse us with his trickery. Chapeau!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-14/IMG_1311.JPG" caption="Arend takes the stage for a semi-rehearsed speech (with notes and everything!)" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-14/IMG_1314.JPG" caption="Marina and I are a little bit jealous of the Frys-IX logo on Arend's car. All I got was a picture of a fox in a mountain." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-14/IMG_1316.JPG" caption="FrysIX was gifted this 32x100G nokia switch by Niek. Thank you so much on behalf of all new and upcoming members!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-14/IMG_1317.JPG" caption="A Proost in the IPng.ch steins, we had quite a few of these cheers-moments." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-14/IMG_1318.JPG" caption="Marina does her best Nora en Pure impression, in the hoodie with the beautiful blonde locks over her shoulder. 💜 💜 💜" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-14/IMG_1319.JPG" caption="A collection of congratularoty cards, signed by the FrysIX community" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-14/IMG_1320.JPG" caption="Joran does what he does best: enthuse an audience about Open 5G and telephony" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-14/IMG_1322.JPG" caption="Niels and I are amazed at this conversation which is chock full of technology which feels 'similar, but adjacent' for us IP and Ethernet nerds." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-15/IMG_1323.JPG" caption="After midnight, this stolen F16 afterburner was used, and the tent was toasty shortly after." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-15/IMG_1325.JPG" caption="Arend's cute kitty came to stop by - he and I are besties now." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-15/IMG_1328.JPG" caption="And just like that, the beautiful party was over and the tent was empty. Byebye, friends, until next time!" >}}
+{{< /gallery-category >}}
+
+{{< gallery-modal >}}
+{{< gallery-script >}}

content/blog/wk7day7.md

@@ -1,7 +1,81 @@
 ---
-title: "Week 7, Sunday:"
+title: "Week 7, Sunday: To Bruxelles"
 date: 2024-09-15T21:55:00+02:00
-draft: true
 ---
 
-{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/todo.png" alt="Credit: " >}}
+{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/sezza.png" alt="Credit: Sezza, YouTube" >}}
+
+Yesterday at 04:00 Marina and I both heard some voices on the camping site, we think it was Nando
+bringing somebody to their final resting place. Last night, we were these people! Having found our
+pillow at around 03:45, the 10am alarm clock was somewhat _persona non grata_ in our _Pipowagen_.
+But, the bladder has something to say as well, for Marina even the second time ... but we were up on
+our feet and nommed a little bit of breakfast and at around 10:50 we made our way to the car, found
+Christel and reported back on the situation at her neighrbor's place, joining the family in the
+backyard of Arend and Esther's place just before 11:00.
+
+We enjoyed a coffee together as Job came round on his loaner bike. Job was en route to Utrecht this
+morning, for a dinner with friends. Not being able to withstand his puppydog eyes, we drove him to
+Heerenveen well in time for his train to Urecht. The train station at Heerenveen was completely
+empty with only an idle bus hanging out in the front. Byebye Job! Good to see you again :)
+
+Now our car informs us that the route is over _de Polder_ aka Flevoland, but before we're allowed
+onto (or, rather _into_) the polder, the highway has a sudden traffic jam -- cars are stopped
+because the bridge is open! We lounge for about ten minutes and as abruptly as the traffic jam came,
+it dissolved and we were back underway. Hey, if we're in Flevoland anyway, we may as well take a
+look if Michael is home! I call Michael's parents and indeed, the one-year-old is home and accepting
+visitors. Marina has never met Michael before, so I invite myself over for lunch, which Paul and
+Henrieke are just having as I call.
+
+At 13:00 we rock up to the Coloclue residence where Henrieke is making _Stoofvlees_ (English:
+Flemish Beef Stew). Nice work, Henrieke!! Also: nice work, WEiRD! He has sprinted to the store to
+get a loaf of bread for us to consume, and he even warmed it up in the oven for us, aww!! We eat
+some nice bread with sliced cheese and tuna salad, and slurp on a coffee in the kitchen where the
+smell of home is being cooked up. Michael is having an afternoon nap but joins us at 13:45 or so,
+and we play with him a little bit. It's fun to put plastic fruit on his head, and we exchange
+tomatoes for grapes and a lemon for a good ten minutes. It's hilarious - god I wish I was a
+_dreumes_ so that life was so simple and fun and plastic fruit was da bomb!
+
+But, we're on a mission to drive to Brussels today, and we've now broken an e-Car roadtrip rule:
+you're supposed to eat while you charge. Not eat, and then still charge .. but it was totally worth
+it. We have some juice left in the tank, so we drive to Hilversum where the supercharger is being an
+asshole today, we want 150kW and get 34kW at best, even after changing chargers. At this rate, it's
+going to take 1h50min to charge, bah.
+
+We forge a new plan B: continue driving to Breda and arrive there on fumes (or in an electron
+cloud?) which actually goes quite well. In Breda, we are greated with 110kW of electrons running
+into the battery, and this deserves a celebration: we eat a portion of _Van Dobben Bitterballen_
+(English: really delicious junk food)! It's so nice to have this enjoyment with an iced tea or coke
+zero, to then meet the car in a roughly fully charged state, ready for the last leg.
+
+The last leg was annoying because it contained the Ring of Antwerp. Djeez, stop and go much!? After
+the mildly annoying bits, though, the rest of the road to Brussels was super smooth. We arrived
+there at 18:45 and parked the car right across the road from Eimear&Andrew! The carpark has an AC
+charger so we give Tessa some love, and the battery will be fully charged tomorrow morning when we
+want to leave.
+
+Andrew is an old-timer from Cisco that I know from the VPP community, and we have a tonne of fun. It
+starts with drinking the gift we brought - a Spanish Rioja (Reserva), quickly followed by a second
+bottle. We have fun exchanging stories until the stomach beckons, and then we walk over to [[Fin de
+Si&egrave;cle](https://www.findesiecle.be/)] where we have a fabulous meal with a little drop of
+wine still. Marina and I are running low on sleep so we keep the nightlife to a
+respectable two bars: [[Le
+Cercueil](https://www.dubuisson.com/fr/ambushadeurs/lecercueil/)] where we were
+the *only* people there at 23:30, maybe everybody was at Church? After that we
+visited one more bar called [[Goupil Le Fol](http://www.goupillefol.com/)],
+where one last Kriekske is consumed. We end up back at the appartment at 01:30
+and I'm honestly ready for a sleep.
+
+## Pictures of the Day
+  
+{{< gallery-category >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-15/IMG_1329.JPG" caption="We enjoy a few bitterballen at the supercharger in Breda, well deserved" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-15/IMG_1332.JPG" caption="The view from Andrew's pad in smack middle of Brussels" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-15/IMG_1336.JPG" caption="@yourtch is clearly an omnivore, and devours a pork knuckle" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-15/IMG_1339.JPG" caption="At the Cercueil we drink a few beers - it's weird because we're the only ones here (and I don't personally recall that ever happening to me before)" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-16/IMG_1342.JPG" caption="We walk back through beautiful Gallerie Royale." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-16/IMG_1343.JPG" caption="I bump into this very huggable biker bunny. Not drunk." >}}
+{{< /gallery-category >}}
+
+{{< gallery-modal >}}
+{{< gallery-script >}}
+

content/blog/wk8day1.md

@@ -1,7 +1,78 @@
 ---
-title: "Week 8, Monday:"
+title: "Week 8, Monday: Brussels to Nancy"
 date: 2024-09-16T21:55:00+02:00
-draft: true
 ---
 
-{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/todo.png" alt="Credit: " >}}
+{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/mayanwarrior.png" alt="Credit: Mayan Warrior, YouTube" >}}
+
+We had a great night's sleep in Andrew's guestroom in Brussels. At about 10:00 we got out of bed
+(finally!) and did our morning ritual. The coffee was a _Moka Pot_ this morning and it was really
+strong, and therefore approved. Eimear made a few croissants, which I do not think were qualifying
+as _Gipfeli_, but they helped with the overall wakeup process.
+
+At around 11:00 I asked if the group would like to eat spaghetti, which is perhaps for some a
+strange breakfast / lunch, but for Marina most definitely is not, and she immediately knew what I
+was looking to book: [[Pee Klak]](https://www.indepatattezak.com/)], which is ironically named _In
+de Patattezak_ (English: In the potatobag). It's ironic because you can only order three things
+there: Spaghetti with Bolognaise, or with ham/cheese sauce, or with seafood. And you can order this
+dish either 'h&uuml;ge' or 'sm&oslash;l'.
+
+A&E had never heard of this place before, but when Marina used to live in Machelen, it was a very
+common destination. Back then, every chair in the place was different, and people would be lining up
+for several blocks to get their desired fix of pasta and bolo [also, back then: spaghetti with or
+without sauce, that's the choice]. The group quickly convinces itself this is worth an effort, so we
+grab the car -- fully charged at this point -- and make our way up north to Stroombeek-Bever. We get
+there at a cozy 11:57 and there's already a few folks ready to enter. At a few minutes past (this is
+not Switzerland, after all), the door opens, and we're quick to sit down, touting our reservations!
+Not five minutes later, thirty or more people are sitting at their tables, it's as if they emerged
+out of thin air.
+
+We order the pasta, and it's served mere minutes later: when you only serve _one dish_, it's really
+easy to prepare ahead of time. It was godly, and I thoroughly enjoyed the whole bowl. I can tell the
+others did, too, because after fifteen minutes, most of it was inhaled. We gave up our table at
+12:30, belly full, on cloud nine, and made our way back down to the apartment to drop off Eimear and
+Andrew. What a lovely time we had, thanks guys!!
+
+We however, need to be on our way back to Br&uuml;ttisellen. We could likely do this in one day, but
+we've purposefully decided to do a slow trip home and relax a bit after this weekend of partying. So
+we punch _Nancy_ in the navi, and there's a little Ibis Budget almost next to the supercharger
+there. We also get to visit _Luxembourg_, a quaint little country between Germany, Belgium and
+France.
+
+In the car, we get a DM from Quinn who has phys-ed today. He is not happy and the selfie shows it.
+We, however, are plenty happy so we send a dual-selfie back from the car. I'm wearing some nice
+yellow shades (meant for night driving), and I think it makes me look like _Walter Sobchak_ in [[The
+Big Lebowski](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118715)], a classic movie that Marina, to this day, has
+flat out _refused_ to watch. Tsk!
+
+We arrive at Luxembourg and it - of course - has a Supercharger in a huge shopping mall. We park the
+car in the mall, Marina is upset that we have to pay for parking, but I am actually quite pleased.
+There's a whole battalion of v4 superchargers here, so we plug in and go shopping. Of course we go
+shopping :) and we get a little bit of dinner for tonight. We plan to just hang out at our totally
+basic Ibis Budget, watch TV, and eat cheese and sausage and breat with butter, and drink iced tea.
+It's a good plan.
+
+Apart from a little bit of traffic as we roll down the A31 from Metz to Nancy, things go pretty well
+for us. We arrive at the hotel at about 17:30, check in and see our cute little room. We always have
+been punting on watching that "dramatic" t&ecirc;te-a-t&ecirc;te between Harris and Trump, and we
+decide that now is a good time to catch up on our internet memes: American politics. What a
+veritable shitshow. Politics in general has degenerated so much in to slander, lies and ad-hominem
+attacks. This was no different, and I can't say I was impressed with either candidate. It's a good
+thing I do not have to vote :) But, the food was delish, and at 22:00 or so we turned off the lights
+for a good night's sleep.
+
+## Pictures of the Day
+
+{{< gallery-category >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-16/IMG_1345.JPG" caption="Andrew and Pim hang out on the couch at @yourtch's place" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-16/IMG_1346.JPG" caption="We offer Andrew and Eimear a lunch at Pee Klak in Grimbergen (Stroombeek-Bever). Eimear stole it from us and paid while Marina was on the toilet - thanks again!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-16/IMG_1347.JPG" caption="Pee Klak is well known in Brussels for his Spaghetti Bolognaise" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-16/IMG_1348.JPG" caption="We are chipper in the car driving down south through Belgium to Luxembourg" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-16/IMG_1349.JPG" caption="Arrived in Luxo city, there's a mall with a huge battery (heh) of v4 chargers. We get 110kW here, booyah" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-16/IMG_1352.JPG" caption="Driving from Luxembourg to Nancy there's a bit more traffic due to roadworks" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-16/IMG_1354.JPG" caption="Our spread for the evening - cheese, sausage, bread, tomato, olives. We watch the presidential debate. I'm thankful there will be only one of these ..." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-17/IMG_1359.JPG" caption="Marina bought these totes adorbs Pav&eacute; d'Affinois Mini (but I think they're rather Micro)" >}}
+{{< /gallery-category >}}
+
+{{< gallery-modal >}}
+{{< gallery-script >}}

content/blog/wk8day2.md

@@ -1,7 +1,69 @@
 ---
-title: "Week 8, Tuesday:"
+title: "Week 8, Tuesday: Quinn made us dinner"
 date: 2024-09-17T21:55:00+02:00
-draft: true
 ---
 
-{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/todo.png" alt="Credit: " >}}
+{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/9T9_DnB.png" alt="Credit: 9T9_DnB, YouTube" >}}
+
+Marina had a terrible night, it seems. She kept on waking up, then it was too warm, so she turned on
+the AC, which made a lot of noise. All in all, I did not manage to notice much of anything, as I
+slept through the whole night with only one quick bathroom break in the middle somewhere.
+
+At 09:30 we bounce from the hotelroom. I still think it's cool that you can get hotel rooms for
+budget prices, as I don't need all that fancy stuff that I don't use anyway. I'd personally rather
+pay &euro; 63,- for the room and _know_ that it'll be simple, than that I pay &euro; 350,- and feel
+I'm being ripped off all the way. This is my kind of place!
+
+The day was actually quite light on excitement. We drove from Nancy through the Elsace into Basel,
+and had a chuckle as a car in front of us was trying to weave their way into the 'shorter' of the
+two lanes at the border, while we decided to stay in our 'longer' lane and make a little chicane
+through the border crossing; but _they_ got flagged and had to have a chat with the popo, while
+there was nobody on the 'longer' lane. So once again: taking shortcuts is not always smart!
+
+In Basel we switched drivers just one more time, and I chauffeured us the last leg home, where we
+arrived at around 13:00 or so. Our driveway was blocked by some semi truck with a trailer and a
+*lot* of mud. It turns out, they're rebuilding/refurbishing the playground in the neighborhood
+behind ours, and it seemed easier (for them anyway) to use our street to gain access to it. But,
+Marina walked into the ground-zero and quickly emerged with a coffee drinking brother, who moved the
+truck so I could pull into our driveway. No harm, no foul!
+
+We unpacked our stuff, had some lunch, and then I went downstairs. First of all, to finish the
+journal entry for the day-before-yesterday (Yes, all this traveling is taking its toll on my
+timing!) but also to do a little bit of nerd-prep:
+
+*   I have these two nice _Checkpoint_ 48x25G + 8x100G switches, but they refuse to load the
+linux switchdev driver, so I spent a few hours messing around with `mfa2` and `mstflint` and
+`mlxfwmanager` and such. My buddy Vlad gave the correct tip: just download the flash from a working
+switch, and then burn it with `mstflint` while allowing the tool to change the PSID (== device SKU).
+Result: two new Debian running 48x25+8x100 in my stash. Yaay!
+*   Tomorrow I get to deploy IP-Max at the Stollen datacenter in Lucerne, and I still have a bunch
+of ASR9001s (including one that I took out for a spin a few weeks ago). They need to be staged,
+cables and things arranged, so that tomorrow morning I can shuttle it all to Lucerne for a smooth
+deploy.
+
+I spend the rest of the afternoon doing these things, and as well preparing the IPng equipment for
+the site: One VPP router (Dell R630, 2x25G, 4x10G, 2x1G); One Hypervisor (Dell R730, 2x10G, 2x1G,
+256GB memory and 3x3.84TB enterprise SAS); One Centec switch (8x1G RJ45, 8x1G SFP, 20x10G SFP+,
+8x25G QSFP); and One APU6 out-of-band with WiFi. That's my "standard issue" point of presence and
+it's going to be super fun to bring this all up. I boot the machines and give them their IPMI and
+management IPs in _IPng Site Local_, connect them together, and tidy up the configs. These should be
+'shoot and forget' tomorrow.
+
+By the time I'm done with these configs, so is Quinn. Such a sweetheart, he has promised to make us
+dinner tonight, to welcome us home! His dishes are a pasta with caramelized onions; and a lukewarm
+potato salad with vinaigrette. He aces it, and it is absolutely scrumptious. I take seconds and
+embellish a little bit with thirds: it's _that_ yummy, that I forgot to take pics!!
+
+After dinner, we hang out on the couch and watch one _Black Mirror_, and at 22:00 or so, I turn in
+for the night as I need to trek to Luzern tomorrow with a stack of computer and network gear with
+Fred. I can't wait!
+
+## Pictures of the Day
+
+{{< gallery-category >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-17/IMG_1357.JPG" caption="The totallu cute micro Pav&eacute; d'Affinois that Marina used for breakfast" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-17/IMG_1359.JPG" caption="The very last picture of the car with IPng sticker - it's coming off before we hit the Swiss border!" >}}
+{{< /gallery-category >}}
+
+{{< gallery-modal >}}
+{{< gallery-script >}}

content/blog/wk8day3.md

@@ -1,7 +1,134 @@
 ---
-title: "Week 8, Wednesday:"
+title: "Week 8, Wednesday: Stollen - Day 1"
 date: 2024-09-18T21:55:00+02:00
-draft: true
 ---
 
-{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/todo.png" alt="Credit: " >}}
+{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/yeahyouradio.png" alt="Credit: Yeah You Radio, YouTube" >}}
+
+This is the start of one of the things I have really been looking forward to for this sabbatical.
+It's a bit of a backstory though - a few years ago, a large customer of IP-Max wanted to have a
+second location, and after a few tours, one of which I helped organize, a few months ago they signed
+with a local Swiss datacenter owned by the cantonal utility company in Lucerne:
+[[EWL](https://ewl.ch/)].
+
+I've been in this facility before and as datacenters go, this one is very slick. It pumps up water
+from the _Vierwaltst&auml;dtersee_ lake, uses it for cooling the rooms, and then resells the heater
+water to the city for industrial and residential heating purposes. It's a really nice facility, and
+one of the things that immediately struck me as _an asset_ is that it's owned by the Canton, so it's
+near impossible that it gets sold to a large datacenter operator from the United States. And I like
+that.
+
+So, the customer signed for a modestly sized cage with about 14 racks and room for a large tape
+robot. IP-Max will be delivering the telecom links - 20Gbit to Zurich and 20Gbit to Geneva (via
+Lausanne). It's a perfect match, **and I get to build it**!! Fred and I have planned three days for
+the deploy - and about half the equipment is at my place (taken from service out of the Equinexit
+project), while the other half is in Geneva. So we'll meet in the middle, and while Fred is underway
+from Geneva, I'll leave a bit later from Br&uuml;ttisellen to meet him there. 
+
+In the morning, I finish grabbing all the stuff that I need. Yesterday I took care of the IP-Max
+equipment, and this morning I finish the install of the IPng footprint: a Centec MPLS switch, a VPP
+router and a hypervisor. A surprising amount of optics and DACs go into my bag, and I try not to
+forget anything; although I can always bring some more stuff tomorrow if we forget, as this deploy
+will take more than one day to complete.
+
+I drive over to Luzern after lunch and the weather is nice, the drive easy. I beat Fred there and
+get to the datacenter at around 14:00 or so, while Fred's ETA is 14:30. Since IP-Max already has a
+few customers in this place, there's already a microscopic footprint (just two switches at the
+moment), but that also means that I already have autonomous access with biometrics. I'm pleasantly
+surprised that my access has already been prepared / extended to the new room. Yes, you read that
+right: this is a private suite :-)
+
+I open the door to the room and see the racks completely empty and the airconditioner still powered
+off. It's *so nice* to walk into such a room when it's not yet in use. I don't know what it is,
+maybe it's that new-cage-smell, but I am incredibly happy and grateful to be able to play a part in
+this wonderful story.
+
+Building colocations itself is not super exciting, but perhaps as a juxtaposition with my day-job,
+being able to go into a room like this, completely build it up with power, links, routers, switches,
+fiber trays, PDUs, and so on, gives me this inmense feeling of accomplishment. I put my
+trolly-o-stuff in the room and hang out a little bit in the microkitchen until Fred arrives. I do
+bump into Marco, the facility director, and we have a chat about the goings-on, the plans, and the
+3x10G wavelengths that we'll take into service to add to the fourth one that's already live.
+
+Not to bore you with details too much (as chances are, you're in this line of business if you're
+reading my journal!), but here's a few things that Fred and I do on this day:
+
+1.   Two racks will be the _telcorack_ which carry the wavelengths to Zurich and Lausanne
+respectively. These racks will each have an ASR9k router, a Nexus customer switch, a Cisco
+management switch, and a Cisco terminalserver.
+1.   The _telcorack_ will have a few customer connections and a few supplier connections. These
+cross connects have to be picked up from the datacenter staff, tested, and together with a long-haul
+fiber provider, this brings us to Zurich and Lausanne.
+1.   The _telcorack_ will be interconnected with 24xSMF, and each rack down the line with have a
+24xSMF patch panel at the top that connects to the telcoracks. That means we have to pull *a lot* of
+fibers.
+1.   IPng's stuff gets to live in the first shared rack, with power and 4x10G to IP-Max for the
+backbone, and 1x 1G to IP-Max for an out-of-band [[PC Engines](https://pcengines.ch/)] APU6 with
+WiFi. I'll get to that tomorrow.
+
+All the cabling has to be cleaned, carefully administrated, Cisco / Nexus configs created, LACP
+bundles created, OSPF/OSPFv3 and LDP/MPLS enabled, and once we're ready, we can reroute two active
+wavelengths that used to go ZRH-LSN, to become ZRH-LUC and LUC-LSN instead. Of course, customer
+downtime must be minimized, but the mission is to finish this infratructure using the new three
+waves, move the customer load onto those, and then reconfigure the first wave to become a part of
+the LAG. Sounds easy, right?
+
+We spent the whole day and most of the evening doing the physical work. Racking the machines,
+guiding the fibers through yellow plastic trays overhead the racks, and taking notes of what fiber
+got plugged into which port. At the end of the afternoon, we've used north of fourty optics and
+fibers, and except for one wavelength (to Zurich), we're in working shape. There's also an issue
+with copper SFPs, god I hate those things, and we took a few of "the wrong ones" which do not
+provide link, so we bin them after Fred finds a few more in his bag.
+
+Several times during the afternoon, Marco drops by to take a look and ask if we need something. It's
+good that he did, because the patch panels were advertised to us as LC/PC (which is quite normal for
+intra-building cabling), but they turned out to be LC/APC (which is actually better with less
+reflection on the coupling), except we do not have LC/PC - LC/APC cables with us. Luckily, Marco has
+a bunch in his stash, and he's thinking of opening a _Hofladen_ so that other customers can
+pick-and-place some optics, fiber, UTP and power cables, velcro, and so on. Smart!
+
+At 20:30, our blood sugar starts to become dangerously low, and the oxygen level in this facility is
+quite low at 17%. The extinguisher in this facility is a so-called _oxyreduct_ which pushes out the
+oxygen making it impossible for fire to sustain. It also makes people light headed if they've been
+doing physical labor for six hours straight. Since we still don't have the network up yet, we use a
+4G router, paired with my APU6 consoleserver, which we connect via WireGuard to the IP-Max
+out-of-band router in Paris. This allows us to SSH to the APU6 remotely, and from there join the
+internal managment network to further configure things.
+
+We know just the remedy! In Fred's hotel there is a nice bistro, and they serve one of my favorites:
+_Fleisch auf heissem Stein_ (English: Meat on a hotstone). Fred takes a candid camera picture of me
+liberally using the pepper mill to season my sirloin of beef. He goes for something a bit more
+classy: Kanguru. To each their own, but I inform him that my choice was the superior one.
+
+We finish dinner at 22:00 and I drive home from Luzern to Br&uuml;ttisellen in completely clear
+driving conditions. Not many cars on the road at this hour, so it's only a fifty minute commute. As
+I pull into our driveway, Fred reports that the waves to Lausanne are up and running, but he has not
+managed to get the wave to Zurich up, yet. However, all we need is one leg, so the first router
+(`er01.luc01.ip-max.net`) has joined the IGP, iBGP and LDP. The management network can now be
+announced using its own VRF and MPLS/L3VPN into AS25091, so we no longer need the APU-4G-Wireguard
+construction. By the way, if you followed that last sentence, you're a nerd and I love you.
+
+Tomorrow we will complete the job. The link(s) to Zurich needs to be configured, the customers need
+to be moved to the new wavelength, and then the old wavelength needs to be added to the 20Gig LAG to
+Zurich. Also, and I'm quite excited about that, IPng's AS8298 gets to make a landing tomorrow. The
+priority of course is IP-Max's network. With that up, I can simply hook the APU6 into an OOB network
+provided by IP-Max, and configure my whole kit via IPMI.
+
+For now, I'm bushed and really excited. I hope I have a good night's sleep...
+
+## Pictures of the Day
+
+{{< gallery-category >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-18/IMG_1360.JPG" caption="Driving from Zurich to Luzern in the afternoon, it's gorgeous weather, and the drive is about 50 minutes.." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-18/IMG_1362.JPG" caption="I'm the first in the room! It's completely switched off, with only empty racks and no IT equipment, not even the airconditioning has been turned on yet. I love it." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-18/IMG_1364.JPG" caption="A selfie of me in the new cage with 14 racks that will be taken into service over the next few weeks. First order of business: get the IT and telecom equipment installed and configured." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-18/IMG_1368.JPG" caption="The rear of the racks is against a curved wall. In German, Stollen are underground straight tunnels. Yes, this facility is built into a hillside along the Vierwaltst&auml;dtersee" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-18/IMG_1377.JPG" caption="IP-Max is a diamond partner of this facility, and I can see great service for the new and prospect customers in this datacenter." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-18/IMG_1378.JPG" caption="A view of the top of the racks with the cold aisle roof in front of us, and a bright yellow fibertray that will carry the fiber trunks between the racks." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-18/IMG_1382.JPG" caption="I order a Farmer's Size (350g) beef filet, and it smells godly. Also: R&ouml;stikroketten, just sayin'" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-18/IMG_1383.JPG" caption="Fred took a candid camera shot of me seasoning my steak. I'm in a happy place, clearly" >}}
+{{< /gallery-category >}}
+
+{{< gallery-modal >}}
+{{< gallery-script >}}
+

content/blog/wk8day4.md

@@ -1,7 +1,98 @@
 ---
-title: "Week 8, Thursday:"
-date: 2024-09-19T21:55:00+02:00
-draft: true
+title: "Week 8, Thursday: Stollen - Day 2"
+date: 2024-09-19T19:55:00+02:00
 ---
 
-{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/todo.png" alt="Credit: " >}}
+{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/orion.png" alt="Credit: Orion, YouTube" >}}
+
+For some strange reason I did not have problems getting up this morning. Marina was still on one ear
+as my alarmclock went off at 08:00. I brushed the teeth, drank the coffee, and started my morning
+BIOS routine. There's a few things that I have on a keep-list, some small things that we wished we
+would've had yesterday, but while Fred is in a hotel in Luzern, I am able to bring some more stuff
+with me to continue our work in the Stollen cavern.
+
+I drive to Luzern and arrive there at 10:10 or so. Fred is already hard at work, and he has good
+news. The link to Zurich was working all along - it's just (and we are a bit embarrased to admit
+this), it was _shutdown_ on the other side, and in such a state, there will be no link! The remedy
+is quickly found, and Fred creates the LACP bundle to Zurich, with one member in it, and it shoots
+to life. This new POP is starting to take shape! But luck is not with him, and for the longest time
+in the morning, he tries to find out why the management network is not doing what he wants.
+
+It turns out, this POP is a bit different than the others; here, we use the `MgmtEth0` port to
+create a HSRP pair, but seeing as these are not _router_ ports, but just _management_ ports, it will
+not budge. In the end, he reconfigures the whole lot to be a _BVI_ on the 20G LAG instead, and
+everything comes up as expected. But, he complains bitterly: a whole morning wasted!
+
+Marco is taking us out to lunch, by which I mean "a cross connect seminar", and we make our way with
+the Stollen and EWL crew to a local italian joint. I have a pizza Quattro Formaggio, Fred enjoys a
+Lasanga, and the entire Stollen crew eats the same: roastbeef. Fun!
+
+We get back at 13:30 and decide to step up the tempo. We still have a tonne of work to do. I take
+the cabling as my mission, and lay trays and fiber trunks and MPO cassettes everywhere. Fred starts
+work to get the customer connections terminated in this room. In a spare moment, he helps me rack my
+machines. They are in the top of the rack, and we need to hold them above our heads to be able to
+put them in their rails. But, we do not crack open any skulls on this exercise, and the machines
+are energized quickly enough. 
+
+Now that the IP-Max management network is up, I can reclaim my APU and put it back as it was
+originally: it takes one IPv4 and IPv6 from IP-Max space, and then has an internal LAN for IPMI, for
+WiFI, and for IPng Site Local. I use the WiFi to log in to the APU, and from there I can use IPMI
+serial-over-lan to power on and configure the VPP machine, Hypervisor and Centec switch.
+
+When they're sufficiently UP, I turn my attention back to another task: cleaning up the room! We
+have a few dozen plastic baggies from the fiber patch cables, a bunch of cardboard and plastic and
+other junk. It all goes into one big bag and off to the bin. Today, we take a little bit better care
+of ourselves, and we go outside to breath oxygen (and Fred a bit of nicotine also!) every ninety
+minutes or so. This really does help in this _oxyreduct_ atmosphere.
+
+The good news is: all physical connections are done, up, and running. The room has been completely
+cleaned and all junk and wrappers/plastic/cardboard removed. This means: we can bounce! At 18:00 we
+ask Marco to help us bring our cart with the remaining stuff (our bags, leftover optics, cables, and
+whatnot). He opens the goods sleuce and we're quickly outside. Byebye, Marco! It was really nice
+working with you these last two days.
+
+We go to Fred's hotel. I hear there's a good resto there. But, we first need to sillybrate our
+accomplishments, as within the span of the last ten to twelve working hours, we transformed this
+empty cage with 14 racks into a carrier-quality point of presence for IP-Max AS25091, with 2x10G to
+Lausanne, and 2x10G to Zurich, and all customers moved into the new infrastructure (except for one,
+which will be done soon!). 
+
+Working from the hotel is so much more relaxed (quelle surprise), and we clean up bits and bobs, do
+our bookkeeping, things like DNS and IPAM, document which patch panel and cassette goes where, which
+fiber is connected where, and send a few e-mails to follow up with suppliers and customers. I am
+tempted to construct the L2VPN MPLS backhaul for IPng's VPP router and Centec switch, but I decide
+in the end to do this tomorrow from my place: bigger screen, better music, and less enthusiastic
+interruptions from my hard working buddy, Fred.
+
+But there' another reason why: we're hungry! Somewhat unimaginatively, I order roughly the same
+thing as yesterday. It does not go unnoticed, a couple sits next to us and says "that steak must be
+very good, you had it yesterday!". But!! I also took a salad this evening :-) It's then 21:00 and I
+decide to drive home, leaving a tired Fred who is still floating on clouds due to the turnup. He
+will go back tomorrow morning and do some labeling/stickering work. Tomorrow, I will make the L2VPN
+stuff for IPng and do some tests with these new 20G pipes, just to make sure that end-to-end the
+connectivity is as we'd expect, before we put more customers onto this POP.
+
+Oh, also, on Saturday I appear to be on a flight to Oslo, Norway. It may be a good time tomorrow to
+finish that presentation for NONOG. I have it ... 75% done, but I'd prefer for it to be 100% done so
+that I don't have to be in a hotel in Oslo while Marina is out on the town without me. So I have my
+action plan for tomorrow. Good night, and may the packets flow and our pagers forever be quiet.
+
+## Pictures of the Day
+
+{{< gallery-category >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-19/IMG_1384.JPG" caption="The stuff we wished we had had yesterday. Fiber guides with brushes, an APU6 for IP-Max, a WiFi kit for IP-Max, and a label printer." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-19/IMG_1386.JPG" caption="Fred and I make an enthusiastic selfie in the room, as it's almost ready for production use!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-19/IMG_1388.JPG" caption="One of the two ASR9k+Nexus combos. There are two of these racks in the room, and each has its own management switch and terminal server, and also each has 2x10G to other datacenters. I don't expect much downtime inthis room..." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-19/IMG_1389.JPG" caption="The rack that I'm moving IPng into, as seen from the back." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-19/IMG_1392.JPG" caption="The VPP router (top), blank (the Centec is a R-to-F device, so it's in the back), and hypervisor (below). IPng will soon be open for business here!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-19/IMG_1404.JPG" caption="The IP-Max footprint up close. There's already quite a few fibers breaking in- and out of this router." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-19/IMG_1406.JPG" caption="The back of IPng's small footprint. Could you believe this VPP router does 2x25G + 4x10G and easily handles 200Mpps on about 120W of power??" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-19/IMG_1409.JPG" caption="Cheers, Fred! We had a tough two days, but we delivered the room ahead of schedule, and that deserves a beer." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-19/cheers.png" caption="Cheers, Pim! Fred took this nice under-beer picture. We worked hard, and now we get to relax a little bit." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-19/IMG_1410.JPG" caption="Look, Marina! I ate a salad today! And a second 350g steak. Sorry for being boring :-)" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-19/IMG_1411.JPG" caption="The beef is sizzling on a hot stone, and it really hits the spot after such a day of POP building." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-19/IMG_1412.JPG" caption="On the way home, the full moon was shining bright over A14. The drive home was 50min or so, which is totally cool! I an be in this place pretty quickly in case of emergencies" >}}
+{{< /gallery-category >}}
+
+{{< gallery-modal >}}
+{{< gallery-script >}}

content/blog/wk8day5.md

@@ -1,7 +1,118 @@
 ---
-title: "Week 8, Friday:"
+title: "Week 8, Friday: Nothing works!"
 date: 2024-09-20T21:55:00+02:00
-draft: true
 ---
 
-{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/todo.png" alt="Credit: " >}}
+{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/testbeeld.png" alt="Credit: Nederlands Testbeeld 1994 " >}}
+
+I wake up at 09:00 and assemble my plans for the day while drinking a cup of _Joe_. I really only
+have four things to do, but all of them may take a while. Marina helpfully adds two things to the
+list, but they are simple (and one of them, very rewarding).
+
+1.   This week Neil has been iterating on the `sflow` plugin and he has some questions about
+performance. I should take the current v4 of the repo out for a spin and report back. This should
+take about ninety minutes.
+
+1.   I am flying to Oslo tomorrow and my presentation for NONOG is only partly done. I still have to
+write about half of it. Luckily, the storyboard is in my mind, I just have to put it on paper and
+create a bit of artwork for it. Should take about two hours.
+
+1.   I also need to pack my stuff for tomorrow, and I am not planning on taking much more than a few
+set of clothes, my wallet, passport and laptop. Travel light! That way you can just say "I did not
+forget X, I just decided not to take X with me!" and make light of planning failures.
+
+1.   Yesterday I hung up the IPng switch, router, and hypervisor. But they are only connected to the
+OOB for the moment, and the connectivity from Luzern to Zurich and Lausanne needs to be prepared.
+That should take about an hour, including the VPP router installation and enrolling all the machines
+into Ansible.
+
+Marina adds two more tasks:
+1.   I need to look up our booking to see how skimpy and cheap I was with luggage. Recently it's
+been a bit of a thing with airlines that give you _no carryon_ and you're allowed only one personal
+item of a few kilograms and very limited (sub-backpack) size. I know we're on a small plane, so I
+need to figure out what's what, maybe do an online checkin and get us going. Easy peasy: fifteen
+minutes.
+
+1.   Marina requires a hug, one before lunch and one after lunch. Easy peasy: one minute of hug time
+per slot, two minutes total. And yaay for the chemical endorfin release, priceless!
+
+All up, the day will be about five hours of 'stuff to do'. At 10:00 I start with the loadtests. Neil
+has outdone himself. There was an issue with v3 of the plugin, it was corrupting messages on the
+shared FIFO queue, but Neil replaced it _with a small shellscript_ (of 25 lines or so) of a
+multi-writer single-reader FIFO implementation. I loadtest it and its performance is wonderful. I am
+seeing up to 130K samples/sec being sent out on the _PSAMPLE_ netlink channel now, and their
+sequence numbers and contents look alright. The time spent in the dataplane i still minimal, and
+with this performance, we can scale up to 1Gpps (yes, one _billion_ packets/sec!) through the
+dataplane with really small overhead of ~20 CPU cycles per packet on average. Nice work, Neil!
+I write up my findings on the ongoing developer mail thread, and leave the LAB router + loadtester
+powered up.
+
+I eat lunch and I try to be a bit quick about it. Unfortunately, a light headache is plagueing me
+yet again, and for some reason I lost my appetite. I fried two beautiful dippy eggs on bread, but I
+only ate one of them. Marine dippy'd the second one (she only really enjoys the yolk, the eggwhite
+is, let us say, too healthy for her taste). One egg later, I'm downstairs again, starting on
+finishing my presentation for next week.
+
+My presentation will consist of four sections: Babel+VPP, OSPFv3+VPP, the rollout at AS8298, and
+finally some performance stats and figures of a practical VPP instance. I've written the first two,
+and need to continue with #3 and then #4. I decide to give myself a reward: after writing the third
+section on the rollout, I will divert my attention to the IPng footprint in Stollen, Luzern. This
+reward system works, as I take about fourty minutes to complete this section, and it looks pretty
+good to me.
+
+## IPng Site Local VLLs
+
+I think it'll be fun to make a live video recording of me configuring the IPng connectivity. There's
+currently a leased line from Zurich to Geneva, which I'll break open in Luzern, and terminate the
+L2VPN from Zurich newly in Luzern, and then create a new L2VPN from Luzern to Geneva. The recording
+goes absolutely terribly!! The camera fails halfway through, and after the L2VPN is up, it takes me
+a full frustating fourty-five minutes to debug what was going wrong. For a second there, I started
+to doubt Centec switches, but luckily my persistence paid off: it was a config issue on IP-Max's
+ASR9k.
+
+You may not care for a 30min technobabble, if so, just skip ahead. Considering chances are you are a
+nerd, and because I kind of had fun with the frustration making it, here it is, cursing and all:
+
+{{< video src="/media/vdo/2024-09-20 VLLs_12.11.53.mp4" >}}
+
+## IPng VPP Router
+
+Alright, with that small (ahem) task out of the way, I get to put my mind to the second half of
+turning up IPng: the VPP router called `chlzn0.ipng.ch`, a Dell R630 with 2x25G, 4x10G and 2x1G.
+I've already precabled it and installed Debian, so all I need to do is install and configure VPP,
+and connect this router to `chrma0.ipng.ch` in Zurich, and `chplo0.ipng.ch` in Geneva. Easy peasy,
+right? Wrong. The turnup is mostly Ansible, but the configuration is a YAML config file that is
+maintained in Kees.
+
+I configure a link on the first 25G port towards Zurich, and see that it can ping6 the router on the
+other side. Similarly, the second 25G port goes towards Geneva, and pings just fine. OSPFv3 for IPv4
+and IPv6 quickly come up, and BFD starts running, and I'm only 15 minutes into the task. Yaay! But,
+it doesn't ping with IPv4, even though it learned the adjacencies and the whole FIB is programmed.
+Once again, I spend a good 45 minutes convincing myself it's a skill issue. Maybe it's the Mellanox
+NICs? Maybe it's the VPP install or an issue with Bird? And then I start doing DPDK traces and find
+the famous `ip4-not-enabled` which I came across in my article on [[Babel with
+VPP](https://ipng.ch/s/articles/2024/03/06/vpp-with-babel-part-1/)]. Then it dawns on me -- I forgot
+to make the interfaces `unnumbered`, so they indeed did not have an IPv4 address at all. Jeez, Rick!
+One simple statement of `unnumbered: loop0` in the YAML file, and the whole thing shoots into
+action.
+
+All of the sudden, it's 18:30, crap! What was supposed to be a classic Rick-and-Morty twenty minute
+in-and-out, turned into a three hour affair. Hahah, I can be such a dweeb sometimes. But, Adriana is
+here and she's sleeping over tonight because she has a course at the local flower exchange in
+Wangen. Marina made a delicious broccoli and rice with minced meat, and it's very tasty indeed. 
+
+After dinner I once again go downstairs, because I still have to finish the fourth part of my
+presentation. Luckily, in this case I had already done all of the loadtests, so I manage to write it
+pretty quickly, until at 22:30 Marina informs me that the bed is full of my clothes still. Whoops, I
+forgot one of the tasks: packing for tomorrow! But my backpack is full of Stollen-leftovers, so the
+best I can do is vacate the clothes from the bed and put them downstairs.
+
+I finish the presentation at 23:00 and I'm pretty happy with the results! I hope NONOG folks like
+what I have to say, and that I can fit it all in a fourty minute session. Finally, I hold my
+backpack upside down and shake it. A few thousand cables, fiber caps, and a few optics come gushing
+out. Great! Backpack is empty - so I put my clothes in instead, grab wallet + passport, and I'm
+ready for the trip tomorrow.
+
+And, although I only had five simple tasks today, I ended up being super slow while literally
+nothing I set out to do went very well, except for giving Marina hugs :) I didn't even take any
+pictures today!

content/blog/wk8day6.md

@@ -1,7 +1,106 @@
 ---
-title: "Week 8, Saturday:"
+title: "Week 8, Saturday: Trip to Christiania"
 date: 2024-09-21T21:55:00+02:00
-draft: true
 ---
 
-{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/todo.png" alt="Credit: " >}}
+{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/kirin.png" alt="Credit: Kirin, YouTube" >}}
+
+A tiny little bit of padding happened today. Our flight to Oslo is at 10:50am, and boarding starts
+at 10:25, which means 'we' want to be at the gate at 10:00, and because security at Zurich airport
+takes only ten minutes on average, 'we' need to be at security at 09:30, and because the bus takes
+only thirty minutes or so, 'we' really do need to have the bus at 08:30, and because I need about ten
+minutes to get up and brush my teeth, 'we' must absolutely get up at 07:00. I am very fond of
+Marina, but this obsession with 'padding just in case' means we arrive at the _gate-side_ of the
+airport at **08:52am**, a good **two full hours** before our flight. Sigh.
+
+Because our gate will only be assigned at 09:30, we start by having a spot of breakfast. We both
+settle on brie sandwich and a juice. This goes down pretty well, for airport food that is. Our gate
+is assigned as A54, and this is a section of the airport that I have never, in my eighteen years of
+flying out of Zurich Airport, have been. We walk over there and it's quiet in this part! I buy
+myself a pair of earbuds from JBL, and I start editing and compiling my video clip from
+[[yesterday]({{< ref wk8day5.md >}})].
+
+Time quickly passes in this activity, and we board our Embraer E190 flying LX1210 to Oslo. The
+flight is smooth as butter, we have a little drink, and I play a game on the iPhone called
+[[Thimbleweed Park](https://thimbleweedpark.com/)] some old pixelart crimi game. It reminded me
+somehow of the old Police Quest, Space Quest, Hero's Quest and then ultimately if the [[Bard's
+Tale](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6iqsGM9sVI)], a game that I have played until the floppies no
+longer could be read!
+
+Alright, we land in Gardermoen, Norway at around 13:15 and make our way by train to Oslo, which is a
+super relaxed trainride and it plops us at _Sentralstasjon_ (English: main station) at about 14:00.
+It's a good time for some lunch, which we take at O'Leary's in the station itself. It's surprisingly
+good. Marina orders a _quesadilla_ and I order babyback ribs, which are excellent. To wash them
+down, I welcome myself to Oslo with a hobby local brew. 
+
+We walk from the train station to our hotel Thon Astoria, and the checkin is quick. We orient
+ourselves and make a plan for the rest of the afternoon. First, we visit a reptile museum which has
+our favorite zero- and four-legged friends, and Marina's not-so-favorite eight-legged friends. The
+Danger Noodles are fun to see, as are the Skinks, Geckos, Crocs, Turtles and Tortoises (hey Fikes, I
+thought of you!!), and my favorite: the Axolotl. Marina quite enjoyed seeing a fully grown man cower
+behind his wife, as his eight year old daughter handled the Danger Noodle. Some men, am I right?!
+
+From here we made the walk to the Royal Palace, where we look at the kids-designed art in the back
+yard. I was here in 2022 with WEiRD and I remember having taken a _halfie_ (a Selfie with the camera
+on uptra wide angle). So, I do that again, and send both pics to WEiRD. He of course remembers this!
+My favorite is still the mouth with feet, but we also both enjoy the facetted orange fox.
+
+As we walk through town, we constantly trip over thousands and thousands of runners. There are
+jogger people but also hard core runners; and one of the things we really like is there's a bunch of
+pacers with a big flag on their back saying "1h50m" or "2h10m" and we think they are running the
+pace for the half-marathon. But, we soon find out today is the [[Oslo
+Marathon](https://oslomaraton.no/en/)], which is actually just a half-marathon and for those who are
+a bit more cray-cray, two of them back-to-back.
+
+The weather is great for running! We, however, are merely hoofing it. We cross over the runners a
+few times, and make our way to the old [[Akershus
+Fortress](https://kultur.forsvaret.no/festninger/akershus-festning)]. From here, we have a nice view
+of the bay, of the _Pipervika_ harbour, of _Tjuvholmen_ with its nice [[Astrup
+Fearnley](https://www.afmuseet.no/)] museum, and behind that the typical high roof houses of
+[[Fram](https://frammuseum.no/)] museum. We think we'll take a look there tomorrow, but for now,
+time is running low. We mosy back through the city to our hotel, and underway we pop by
+[[Hansken](http://www.brasseriehansken.no/)] brasserie to make a reservation for later today.
+
+Back at the hotel, I finish my journal for yesterday. Then we both take a shower and lounge in the
+room a little bit. I bump into _Svampebob Firkant_, the name of which I ab-so-lutely adore. Those who
+know me, know I am an enormous fan of Spongebob, and I watch a full three episodes in Norwegian,
+Swedish and Danish respectively. So much fun :)
+
+I am happy with my decision for dinner. The Brasserie is superb, and we are offered a table which
+looks directly into the half-open kitchen. We see dozens of dishes come and go, and they are each
+very meticulously plated by the staff. Our waitress is very cute. We order four courses: First, we
+enjoy a fennel salami and a truffle salami. Then, we go to sardines (in the tin!) and scallops. For
+our mains, Marina takes _Moules-Frites_ and I nom on two _Langoustines_, and we sip on a
+_Pouilly-Fus&eacute;e_ white wine. For desert, we take a selection of cheeses. It's devine, and we
+leave the resto at about 22:30.
+
+On the way back to the hotel, we bump into this rather t&oslash;ll lady. She makes Marina look tiny
+in comparison. Back at the hotel, we quickly fall asleep. Tomorrow, we go museum-hunting!
+
+## Pictures of the Day
+
+{{< gallery-category >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-21/IMG_1419.JPG" caption="Marina and I are in the bus at an ungodly hour. Padding, much?" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-21/IMG_1422.JPG" caption="Zurich over the left wing of our Embraer E190 that takes us to Oslo" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-21/IMG_1424.JPG" caption="Welcome to OSLO - I have a local brewery beer with your ribs." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-21/IMG_1428.JPG" caption="Tigeren på Jernbanetorget at Oslo main station" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-21/IMG_1435.JPG" caption="The pair of Axolotls at the riptile museum" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-21/IMG_1439.JPG" caption="The Karl Johan-monument at the royal palace" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-21/IMG_1441.JPG" caption="An overview / wideangle shot of the royal palace" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-21/IMG_1446.JPG" caption="Marina and I take a halfie under the rainbow in the kids-art section of the gardens" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-21/IMG_1447.JPG" caption="My favorite statue: the mouth with feet" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-21/IMG_1448.JPG" caption="Marina's favorite statue: the facetted orange fox" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-21/IMG_1449.JPG" caption="We see the first 'hint' of what all these runners are doing in Oslo" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-21/halfmarathon.png" caption="The map of the half-marathon that all these fine sporty folks were traversing" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-21/IMG_1455.JPG" caption="I saw an Audi with license place 'EE 1' which I thought was kind of special" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-21/IMG_1457.JPG" caption="Overview of the harbour from the Akershus Fortress" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-21/IMG_1460.JPG" caption="A statue of Christian IV's glove, near Brasserie Hansken" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-21/IMG_1462.JPG" caption="I watch Sponge^W Svampebob Firkant. I love the name, and I love the series" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-21/IMG_1468.JPG" caption="My delicious Langoustine at Hansken" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-21/IMG_1469.JPG" caption="Marina's dish for the evening: Moule-Frietes" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-21/IMG_1473.JPG" caption="The kitchen is squeaky clean and very well run at Brasserie Hansken" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-21/IMG_1477.JPG" caption="Marina poses with this wooden statue of a woman" >}}
+{{< /gallery-category >}}
+
+{{< gallery-modal >}}
+{{< gallery-script >}}

content/blog/wk8day7.md

@@ -1,7 +1,104 @@
 ---
-title: "Week 8, Sunday:"
+title: "Week 8, Sunday: Oslo Museum Reviews"
 date: 2024-09-22T21:55:00+02:00
-draft: true
 ---
 
-{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/todo.png" alt="Credit: " >}}
+{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/pordan.png" alt="Credit: Pordán Krisztián, YouTube" >}}
+
+The average Norwegian hotel really, really likes their breakfast. This morning I did not put on an
+alarmclock, because today is "our" cultural day, in which we take a good look at the museums in and
+around Oslo. Visiting Norsk museums is best done on a full stomach so I eat some bread with soft-boiled
+eggs, sausages and bacon. The Thon hotel also has _Nespresso_ coffee, which is great! A few eggs and
+bacon later, I'm ready to _pwn_ this city. We splurge on a 24h public transit pass, so that we won't
+have to think about tickets for the rest of the day.
+
+The game plan is to go up to _Frogner_ park, where the [[Bymuseet](http://www.oslomuseum.no/)] opens
+at 11:00. Before going there, we stroll through the park in a drizzle of rain to look at Vigeland's
+statues. He made hundreds of statues out of bronze and stone, and the theme is all human bodies in
+all sorts of configurations. Babies, toddlers (including the famous _Angry Boy_), girls and boys,
+men and women, elderly, and sometimes some stranger things like lizards and monsters. The statues
+are all _au naturelle_ (which is to say: naked). I really really like how precise they model the
+human anatomy. At the North-West end of the park, _The Wheel Of Life_ is a magnificent three meter
+bronze ring-formed statue. The _Monolith_ is a twenty meter high column of human bodies in stone. Mr
+_Vigeland_ also made a large bowl held up by four men. My personal favorite is the bridge lined with
+bronze larger-than-life statues. 
+
+We arrived at 11:15 at the Oslo Museum, which is for the best because our coats are starting to get
+heavy with rain. The museum tells us the story of Oslo and Christiania, the big fire of 1624, the
+contrasts between the working class and the upper class in Christiania, the trade of timber and
+other stories of the city as it formed into what we are visiting today. There's also a few really
+nice paintings in an adjacent building. There's very finely detailed oil on canvas, a few less tidy
+sketches and a few more random ones in acryllic. 
+
+From the Oslo Museum, we walk through the park -- still in the rain -- to the Vigeland museum, which
+is free of charge. We learn all about this artist, and how he was able to make such a vast
+assortment of statues (spoiler: he had a crew!). I also see how his style changed over the years,
+some more realistic, some more grandiose, and some more bizarre, but always depicting the human
+form. My favorite is the one with the young girls (see below); they look cheeky as if they have a
+secret to hide, and they ain't telling, nuh-uhh!
+
+After we leave the Vigeland museum, we grab the bus line 30 to Bygd&oslash;y, which has a few more
+museums to enjoy: Fram, the Norwegian Maritime, and the Kon-Tiki museums. We buy a ticket for all
+three, and read all about the expeditions to the South Pole, the North Pole, including the epic race
+between Amundsen and Scott at the South Pole. I never knew this: that Nansen and his crew
+used the _Fram_ to proove a theory: that they could let the _Fram_ freeze itself into the ice, and
+travel on a drift on the underlying ocean currents. The original ship was preserved and this museum
+was built _around it_. We walked through the inside of the ship and saw how the crew lived during
+their three to five year expeditions.
+
+Just across the road, the Maritime museum shows stories of boat-making and sailing the high seas. We
+saw a copy of the Royal Caribbean _* of the seas_ cruise ships, which we have sailed on before.
+There's also a set of stories on how the vikings used to make their boats. Overall, there's a lot of
+technical detail and stats about the various boats and ships and the history of sea-faring.
+
+Then, just next to the Fram museum is yet another cool story telling muesum: the Kon-Tiki is a
+**raft** built from balsawood and twine/rope, which Heyerdahl built as he was interested in
+demonstrating the possibility that ancient people from the Americas could have colonized Polynesia.
+He built this raft and in 101 days, used the ocean currents and trade winds to sail from Peru to
+Polynesia in the 1940s. What a story! We sit down in the video room and I'm blown away by the
+narration -- of Thor Heyerdahl himself! -- on how they made the trek. Unfortunately, our video
+watching is interrupted at 16:52 because the museum is about to close. `trombone.wav`, we'll have to
+finish this another time!
+
+We make our way back to the hotel, where we try to decide what to eat. We're both a bit peckish, but
+we spend waaaaay too long deciding. Finally, I let Marina choose one-of-three: 1) Sato Japanese
+noodle house, 2) Chez Colin frenchie, or 3) Posthallen, a steakhouse around the corner. "Not Steak"
+is quickly muttered, after which the menu for Sato and Chez Colin is inspected. "Noodles it is". We
+make our way to Sato, who inform us that we will need to wait 45min and order at the counter. That's
+a bit too rigid for me, and I decide to bounce.
+
+It so happens that just across the street, there's an indian place called _Natraj Tandoori_ and we
+beg for a table. It's fabulous food, where we eat Naan, Papadum, shrimp, lamb and chicken. The
+dishes are really good. And it's funny how we spent 45min thinking really hard about where to go,
+but we could just as well just walk into a place, too. We should do that more often :)
+
+Back at the hotel at 21:00, we lazily watch Tom Cruise in Maverick, while I write up the journal for
+today and yesterday. Tomorrow I'll go find my buddy Ole and we plan to have lunch together, maybe
+hang out a bit in the city. I'm glad that he's coming to NONOG too, because that way I can make him
+answer any gnarly VPP questions :-)
+
+## Pictures of the Day
+
+{{< gallery-category >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-22/IMG_1479.JPG" caption="One of Vigeland's statues in Frogner Park" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-22/IMG_1481.JPG" caption="The statue of the men holding a huge fountain bowl at Frogner Park" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-22/IMG_1483.JPG" caption="An overview of Frogner park" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-22/oslomuseum.png" caption="The Oslo city museum called Bymuseet" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-22/IMG_1489.JPG" caption="Vigeland's earlier work - very realistic statue of two old men" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-22/IMG_1491.JPG" caption="An overview of Vigeland's stone statues, the ones that have been recast into bronze in Frogner park we just visited earlier" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-22/IMG_1492.JPG" caption="One of my favorites - these cheeky girls are hiding a secret, but what is it?" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-22/IMG_1493.JPG" caption="The monolith statue in a scaled down sketch" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-22/IMG_1495.JPG" caption="An overvierw of the bay from Bygd&oslash;y's Fram museum" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-22/IMG_1497.JPG" caption="Fram museum. This building was built around the original expedition ship Fram" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-22/IMG_1500.JPG" caption="A maquette of the Fram captured in ice, floating along the ocean currents in the artic" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-22/IMG_1502.JPG" caption="The ships in those days were pretty low. Marina just fits under the beams, and I just fit under the ceiling." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-22/IMG_1503.JPG" caption="The original Kon-Tiki raft made out of twine and balsa wood. It crossed the pacific from Peru to Polynesia!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-22/IMG_1504.JPG" caption="Another boat called the Tigris, which unfortunately we could not explore because the museum closed and we got kicked out!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-22/IMG_1506.JPG" caption="We are treated to a feast of food from the Tandoor; prawns, lamb and chicken" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-22/IMG_1507.JPG" caption="The Ruter clock at Oslo Sentralstasjon, at night it's nicely lit" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-22/IMG_1508.JPG" caption="We write Quinn a postcard and Marina dutifully puts it in the mail. If it doesn't arrive, here's proof that we at least tried!" >}}
+{{< /gallery-category >}}
+
+{{< gallery-modal >}}
+{{< gallery-script >}}
+

content/blog/wk9day1.md

@@ -1,7 +1,92 @@
 ---
-title: "Week 9, Monday:"
+title: "Week 9, Monday: Oslo to Nydalen to Oslo"
 date: 2024-09-23T21:55:00+02:00
-draft: true
 ---
 
-{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/todo.png" alt="Credit: " >}}
+{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/noraenpure-06.png" alt="Credit: Nora en Pure, YouTube" >}}
+
+Ruh'roh! Overnight, my buddy Ole texts me that he's not going to be able to make it to Oslo today.
+Although that sucks, I do hope he can make it tomorrow to NONOG because _somebody_ has to answer all
+of those VPP questions and it surely isn't going to be me! OK, change of plans: instead of doing a
+light breakfast and a lunch together with Ole, we do a big breakfast and hit the town. Our plans now
+become: visit the Nobel Peace center and the National Art museum just next to it.
+
+The walk over to _R&acirc;dhuusplass_ (English: Townhall Square) and arrive there at just before
+11:00. Whoops, the Nobel Peace center opens on... Tuesday. And a double whammy, as the National
+Museum _also_ does not want us around on Mondays. I feel like I understand why Garfield does not
+like Mondays, there goes our morning plans!
+
+Marina makes a Plan C on the spot - let's go to the Opera house and the Munch museum. I channel my
+inner _Scream_ and follow along. Right back whence we came, past the hotel and the train station we
+walk along the waterfront to the white operahouse. It's a stunningly beautiful building and it has
+people crawling all over its rooftop. I convince Marins to accompany me to the top of the building,
+which is a sloped walk up "I don't like uphill!". The views from up here are pretty nice. There's a
+[[DFDS](https://dfds.co.uk/)] ship in the harbor and juxtaposes the hazy autumn day which is trying
+to paint a serene picture of the city. From the rooftop though, we can see the
+[[Edvart Munch](https://www.munchmuseet.no/en/)] museum. And we make this our next $dest.
+
+As we walk down the roof of the Opera house, we take a quick look _inside_ as well. This building is
+really clever, and grandiose wooden structures line the insides. But, we're off to the place where
+Munch's art is on display. I really want to know how to pronounce this name, so the first thing I do
+in the museumm is find an audio guide in Norwegian which teaches me: [ˈɛ̀dvɑɖ ˈmʊŋk] (simplified
+English, think of "Ed-vart Moon-ck"). Although not all of his work speaks to me, I did like the
+audio-visual presentation with [[Arif](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arif_(Rapper))] did work well
+for me, as did the interactive display in a darkened room consisting of 10 ror so sections each with
+one red object in them. Interact with the red object, and something audio-visual would happen. We
+also found a bunch of mice hiding out. A+ for that exhibition.
+
+In the main hall we find Munch's masterpiece _The Sun_, which was commissioned for Oslo university.
+There's also - in my opinion - a very powerful display of his work _The Scream_, of which not one
+but three originals are shown, except: only one is shown at a time. Each thirty minutes, one window
+closes and another opens. There's the black and white litho which was open when I walked by here,
+and there's also two paintings which other visitors will get to enjoy. 
+
+At 14:00 we exit the museum, having had our fill of art for the day. I suggest that we go have our
+spaghetti now at the Spaghetti hall across the street, but FML, it's closed on Mondays. I sense a
+theme here. But Marina knows that the place we were originally going to have lunch at - the
+Cathedral Cafe - is both open and has pasta. Off we go, and we do enjoy a Carbonara and a Marinara.
+
+We're now ready for plan D. Marina found a river North of here, the _Akerselva_ which bares the same
+name as the fortress. We debate for a while how far along this river we want to walk. For me,
+starting at the lake (_Maridalsvannet_, 11km) is good. For her, _Nedre Foss_ (4km) is a better
+choice. Compromise! We take the train to _Nydalen_ (7km) and start our little walk along the banks
+of this river and see a few waterfalls, lots of people out and about. There are some old buildings,
+a few statues and parks, and absolutely gorgeous weather. About one hundred minutes and 7.3km later,
+we arrive at the Oslo trainstation. That was a great walk!
+
+We make our way to the hotel and I take a nap until 17:30 or so, after which we watch some TV
+together. I get to eat noodles tonight, and at 19:00 we walk around the corner to Genji, a japanese
+restaurant. The food here is great - we start with sashimi and a special "Japan meets Norway" with
+an A5 Wagyu strip topped with salmon tartare, which was very nice. Then we both have a noodle soup;
+I take Tonkatsu and Marina has a Tantanmen. I am content with my noodle-fix!
+
+We finish the evening watching [[Atomic Blonde](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2406566/)] on TV with
+Charlize Theron alongside John Goodman. It's a nice watch, not too complicated which is good for our
+brains as we're both tired. Tomorrow at 08:30 I will go to NONOG which will be at the [[Domus
+Bibliotheca](https://uio.no)] which is about 1km from here. I should turn in, and thanks to all that
+activity and good noodle action today, I am expecting a really good night's sleep!
+
+## Pictures of the Day
+
+{{< gallery-category >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-23/IMG_1510.JPG" caption="A downtown architecture on the corner of Kongsgate and R&acirc;dhusgate in Oslo" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-23/IMG_1513.JPG" caption="The Nobel Peace center, which is closed on Mondays. Behind it, the National Museum, which is ALSO closed on Mondays :(" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-23/IMG_1516.JPG" caption="The Munch museum as seen from the roof of the Opera house" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-23/IMG_1517.JPG" caption="A selfie of Pim, Marina and some Bjird on the roof of the Opera house" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-23/IMG_1520.JPG" caption="The inside of the Opera house, a large wooden struccture showing the concert hall" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-23/IMG_1521.JPG" caption="The Opera House as seen from the 11th floor of the Munch museum" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-23/IMG_1528.JPG" caption="The little mice displays hidden in Munch's artwork" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-23/IMG_1531.JPG" caption="The Sun, a mural painting commissioned by the Oslo University." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-23/IMG_1535.JPG" caption="The Scream, perhaps Munch's most famous painting. Here: a lithography" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-23/IMG_1536.JPG" caption="Marina is sitting in R31 up north to Hakadal. We're going to Nydalen" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-23/IMG_1537.JPG" caption="Downtown Nydalen has a color-coded map of the town" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-23/IMG_1538.JPG" caption="In Nydalen, the river Akerselva flows towards Oslo" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-23/IMG_1543.JPG" caption="A bronze statuette called Fabrikkjentene by Ellen Jacobsen in 1986" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-23/IMG_1546.JPG" caption="A waterfall of Akerselva in Torshov, just north of Oslo" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-23/route.png" caption="The route we walked today (and this 7.25km was after the 5km in the city itself). We feel energized!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-23/IMG_1549.JPG" caption="The sashimi at Genji in Oslo, just around the corner from our Thon hotel." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-23/IMG_1550.JPG" caption="The Japan meets Norway: Wagyu A5 with salmon tartare; at Genji in Oslo" >}}
+{{< /gallery-category >}}
+
+{{< gallery-modal >}}
+{{< gallery-script >}}

content/blog/wk9day2.md

@@ -1,7 +1,137 @@
 ---
-title: "Week 9, Tuesday:"
+title: "Week 9, Tuesday: NONOG-6/NIX in Oslo"
 date: 2024-09-24T21:55:00+02:00
-draft: true
 ---
 
-{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/todo.png" alt="Credit: " >}}
+{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/kushsessions-05.png" alt="Credit: KushSessions, YouTube" >}}
+
+This morning I took a quick breakfast at the hotel and made the 1km walk through a light drizzle to
+the venue of the sixth Norwegian Network Operators Group meeting, organized together with the
+Norwegian Internet Exchange. I got there at 08:30 on the dot, and folks were starting to trickle in.
+
+It's an absolutely packed agenda with one track, which is great for me because it means I don't have
+to decide where to go. The venue is the [[Domus
+Biblioteca](https://www.uio.no/om/finn-fram/omrader/sentrum/se03/)] of the University of Oslo. On
+the square in front of the library I see a familar figure: Edvard Munch! Inside, out of the rain,
+registration is smooth and I get my badge for the day. NONOG has a set of stickers to signal
+specific interest or specific circles. I get a "This is my First NONOG" and "Presenter" stickers,
+and I add an "IPv6" sticker because, I hear we'll be rolling out IPv6 next year.
+
+I take my seat at the front of the room, and watch a bunch of pretty interesting talks: the first
+presentation is by Herman Loennechen about upcoming upgrades to 100G and 400G ports at NIX, and the
+importance of maintenance windows and BCP214 at internet exchanges. His colleague Kjetil Otter Olsen
+from the norwegian internet exchange NIX brings an update on the NIX future plans and services
+and regional activities. The message that stuck with me most is "we should understand what our
+community needs, and how the situation of internet and peering is in other parts of the country".
+
+Then, Ben Cartright-Cox discusses problems with BGP Hold Timers and his experiences drafting an RFC
+for BGP *Send* Hold timers, including a bit of a critical view on the transparency/opacity of the
+publication and editors process at IETF. After this, Markus Lyyra from Elisa in Finnland discusses
+a novell way his company used the wide collection of RAN base stations equipped with battery packs
+to help stabilize and balance the power grid, which was super interesting.
+
+The Norwegian toplevel domain is locked down and closed for reading. Not a problem for Alfred Arouna
+who presents reearch done with Ioana Livadariu and Mattijs Jonker on harvesting .no domain names from
+public data: a clever way to puzzle back together the contents using Certificate Transparency logs.
+Neat!
+
+Frode Fjermestad from Tampnet talks about monitoring and securing a fiber optic network [in the
+North Sea] using Distributed Accoustic Sensing (DAS) and State of Polarisation (SoP) sensing, which,
+considering the current state of global affairs, will prove to be a valuable technique to ensure
+subsea cables are not tampered with.
+
+Next, Arne Erik Berntzen from the Norwegian Postal services talks at NONOG in Oslo about the
+deployment of a new logistics building that skipped WiFi and went (private) mobile-core directly
+with 5G towers instead. He reports great success in the initial pilot building: from 80+ wifi radio
+antennas, to merely two (!) mobile radios for the private network and an additional two for the
+public telephony network.
+
+At lunch, I catch up with Ole who is in good spirits. We talk a bit about VPP and are joined by
+colleague Line and I also get to know Maja a little bit. Lunch is a set of sateh and wraps with
+veggies and quinoa. I can report that I made an absolute _mess_ of the lunch table, with quinoa
+splurting everywhere, quite possibly also on the ceiling. Sorry!
+
+After lunch, Kaj Kjellgren talks about scaling down time sync services for IoT devices using
+Roughtime, and a call to action to run multiple roughtime servers across Norway. He is joined by 
+Lars-Johan Liman of NETNOD talks about DNS Threat and Privacy Internet Research (TAPIR). I love how
+Lars-Johan calls himself "Dinosaur of DNS", it reminds me of Niels who also makes designations of
+such effect at NLNOG.
+
+We switch to a more societal / legal topic with Professor Olav Lysne discussing the challenges of
+protecting critical digital communication infrastructure and autonomy. This talk hits home for me
+because the Dutch are abandoning their own autonomy by moving some of their most critical
+infrastructure to american Hyperscalers [example: SIDN's misguided decision to move to AWS].
+
+I'm next! And I get to start 5min early, for some reason now mentally pacing my talk on running a
+backbone consisitng of VPP routers with only one IPv4 and IPv6 address to finish at 14:45 (which
+would make it 34 minutes, even though I was given 45min, whoops). I whirlwind through my storyline
+and finish "on time" (15 minutes early), and make some mental notes on how to iterate and improve
+the delivery. Thanks for being the premi&egrave;re, NONOG!
+
+J&oslash;rn O.Nilsen from Fiberworks talks about testing of optical equipment/cables before
+deploying and I cannot agree more. With 1G connections it's not such a huge deal, but 25G/100G/400G
+connections really really start to care about the cleanliness of the LC or MPO ferrules and cable
+tips. J&oslash;rn also shows a device that can do the tests including BER and optical levels /
+power dissipation, which is a nifty little find (see picture below).
+
+My buddy Antonios Chariton (now of the house of Cisco) discusses BGP and Stuck Routes - how
+problematic are they? It strongly reminds me of Jeroen's Ghost Route Hunter project at SixXS, where
+we also observed some implementations building phantom AS paths in the global routing table back in
+the early 2000s. And, we agree that Ben's proposed BGP SendHoldTimer may very well help these stuck
+routes. Takeaway: A few prefixes announced and retracted more than four months ago are *still
+visible* in the DFZ. Both Antonis and Ben have a concept of a _BGP Clock_ which periodically
+announces a beacon that can be traced through the DFZ. I like this idea!
+
+Back to a higher level contribution - Ulrich Wisser from ICANN gives a mindful talk about the NBU
+and the languages they speak (spoiler: not English!) called Universal Acceptance, at NONOG in Oslo,
+Norway. I never really realized it, but end to end e-mail delivery simply don't work in any locale
+other than ANSI, and even >3 characters gTLDs (like `.info`) fail to parse in many cases. Yikes!
+
+Olof Kasselstrand discusses service orchestration with Netbox; a super feature rich API and
+provisioning ecosystem, and I make a mental note to ask him about the module / plugin he wrote for
+NetBox. I wonder how many LOC it is, and if it's difficult to write this type of thing.
+
+We have one remote presenter, David Bianchi of Cisco joins us via video call and presents on routed
+optical networks - 400G with various transmission and WDM tech from Cisco. 
+
+The last presentation for the day goes all the way up the stack again to critical security process
+that are super relevant for my Google job - We listen to Bjørnar Simonsen from Orange discuss
+security topics within NIS2 and DORA. I've done several of these risk and maturity assessments for
+parts of Google as well, and I am fondly reminded of my buddy Jeffrey who knows all about risk
+mitigation strategy from NIST and MITRE ATT&CK. I had a lot of fun working on that together!
+
+The day comes to a close with a quick quiz by organizer Maja; who asks some silly and some content
+check questions. There are prizes at the end, but my participation is limited to randomly mashing
+buttons because I have a bit of visual impairment (migraine) setting on. However, after leaving the
+venue, on the street walking over to the evening dinner with Ben and Antonis, it very quickly
+clears.
+
+Dinner and drinks are offered by [[NETNOD](https://netnod.no/)] in an irish pub which is 45 meters
+away from our Hotel. Marina almost beats me there :) and she is very welcome to join - thank you for
+that! We spend the evening chatting with various groups of folks from the industry - I don't know
+many of them at the beginning of the day, but after this night out I think I may recognize quite a
+few of you on the streets of Oslo or Bergen or Stavanger or Zurich :)
+
+Back at the hotel, I'm suitably imbibed - it was a long but very intensive day with so much to learn
+and so many people to meet and get to know. Thanks, Eirik, Marius, Maja and Lars! Just before
+turning in, Niels informs me on Signal that the next Fusix podcast dropped - the one we recorded at
+the [[FrysIX Barbecue]({{< ref wk7day6.md >}})]. Marina says I can listen to it on the plane
+tomorrow, but I'm totally listening to it tonight before bed. It's a nice chat, and I really like
+how Randall retrofitted a Fusix podcast around this conversation. It's in Dutch, but if that's a
+language you speak, [[check it out](https://podcasts.apple.com/nl/podcast/de-fusix-podcast/id1706315138)].
+
+## Pictures of the Day
+
+{{< gallery-category >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-24/IMG_1553.JPG" caption="Norwegian Parliaments building in Oslo" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-24/IMG_1554.JPG" caption="The univerity square with on the far side, Domus library. NONOG and NIX have good taste in venues!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-24/IMG_1555.JPG" caption="On the university square I see this old friend: Edvard Munch" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-25/IMG_1580.JPG" caption="My NONOG badge this year, and I heard the 'my first time' was the most popular sticker!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-24/IMG_1568.JPG" caption="The optical measurement device for AOC/DAC/QSFP-DD that was discussed. It's pretty neat" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-24/IMG_1570.JPG" caption="A selfie with the audience of my VPP talk at NONOG-6 in Oslo." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-24/IMG_1577.JPG" caption="Marius from NONOG orgo team is supercool and I'm glad I got to meet him." >}}
+{{< /gallery-category >}}
+
+{{< gallery-modal >}}
+{{< gallery-script >}}
+

content/blog/wk9day3.md

@@ -1,7 +1,71 @@
 ---
-title: "Week 9, Wednesday:"
+title: "Week 9, Wednesday: Oslo to Zurich"
 date: 2024-09-25T21:55:00+02:00
-draft: true
 ---
 
-{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/todo.png" alt="Credit: " >}}
+{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/timeoutmelodies.png" alt="Credit: TimeOutMelodies, YouTube" >}}
+
+Today was mostly consumed the traveling from Norway back to Switzerland. Our flight today is at
+14:00 which gives us ample time to sleep in. We get out of bed at around 10:00, pack our bags and
+have a good breakfast at our Thon hotel. We debate doing something in the City, there's still a few
+more things we could might maybe see, but all four of our feet are not really in the walking mood,
+so we decide to simply go to the airport early and hang out there.
+
+Fun story: we could not manage to find the FLY ticket vending machine! We did find the actual trains
+on the platform, but not the tix... and we also caught the local public transport company on a
+little bit of a fib. On their website as well as in their mobile phone app, they say "one ticket for
+ll public transportation". Except FLY that is. That train is not available in the app :) But, not to
+worry, we can also take the normal regional train which is half the price and only two minutes
+later, and what's more: the tickets are available in the _Ruter_ app. Huzzah for failure!
+
+We take one more selfie in front of the Oslo _Sentralstasjon_ (English: Main Station), and then our
+train takes about half an hour or so, and stops in Lillestr&oslash;m before hitting the airport
+train station. It's raining a little bit, but that's OK because we're all indoors from here on.
+
+Since we'll be landing at 16:30 or so, we do decide to take a light lunch. Marina eats a Lasagna and
+I take a salad and a Ramen. For airport food, they're actually pretty great. We find our gate and
+get into the Embraer E195, a smaller plane than on the way out here. When we take our seat, I hear
+an English on the cabin intercom that sounds awfully familiar, and I prompt Marina that I think we
+have a Dutch crew. She is not too sure.
+
+A little bit later, the first officer does his blurb on the flight today, and I again hear a pretty
+clear indication of Dutchism. Marina is still not sure.
+
+Before takeoff, though, the flight attendant comes round with the classic swiss chocolates in the
+basket. He reaches over to me, I take one (which I normally don't do, bceause I do not like sweet
+chocolate), and I say "Dankje!", and the guy responds "Alsje!", and BINGO. I prod Marina who also
+heard it - there is no more doubt left: this mannerism to answer Dutch with Dutch, but moreover 
+to shorthand "Alsje" instead of "Alstublieft" is typically only done by native speakers. I nailed
+it!
+
+Our flight is two and a half hours and overall pleasant. We're seated in row 34 on a micro airplane
+that has 35 rows of two seats. After we land, getting out is somewhat more of an issue. It takes a
+long time, particularly for Marina, who really needs to go to the bathroom, poor thing. But, after
+deplaneing, we are very quickly City-side and we both have a little tinkle.
+
+We could really use a normal, that is to say homecooked meal for once. We go to Migros at the
+airport and buy an _AGV_ which is a household abbreviation for _Aardappelen, Groente, Vlees_
+(English: Potatoes, Vegetables, Meat): sausage, potatoes and saut&eacute;ed mangold with onions;
+Quinn, Marina and I all pitch in with the prep work, and we decide to +1 the mean with gravy. As
+much as I like going out to dinner, I really really like a nice AGV from time to time :)
+
+In the evening we hold on to Norway by watching a few episodes of _Lilyhammer_, a hilarious series
+on Netflix. Steven van Zandt plays a east coast gangster who is in witness protection and relocates
+to the town of Lillehammer, Norway. It turns out, you can take the gangster out of new york, but you
+can't stop him from still being gangster. I love this series so much!
+
+As Marina goes to bed early, I spend a few more hours downstairs doing some _digital gardening_.
+Tomorrow, I get to re-pack my bags and head off to Paris for FRNOG'40.
+
+## Pictures of the Day                                                     
+                                                                           
+{{< gallery-category >}}                                                   
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-25/IMG_1579.JPG" caption="Our modest hotel room with packed bags. The nice thing was: it was really in the smack center of Oslo. The less good thing: construction from 06:30 onwwards ..." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-25/IMG_1581.JPG" caption="Our last selfie in front of Oslo main station, before heading off to the airport" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-25/IMG_1582.JPG" caption="Our lunch: Lasagna, Ramen and a salad. Not bad for airport food!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-25/IMG_1584.JPG" caption="Our micro airplane is an Embraer E195 flying LX1211 to Zurich, Switzerland" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-25/IMG_1586.JPG" caption="The evening entertainment back at home continues to cherish Norway: Lilyhammer" >}}
+{{< /gallery-category >}}                                                  
+                                                                           
+{{< gallery-modal >}}                                                      
+{{< gallery-script >}}                                                     

content/blog/wk9day4.md

@@ -1,7 +1,105 @@
 ---
-title: "Week 9, Thursday:"
+title: "Week 9, Thursday: Zurich to Paris"
 date: 2024-09-26T21:55:00+02:00
-draft: true
 ---
 
-{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/todo.png" alt="Credit: " >}}
+{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/mixmag.png" alt="Credit: Mixmag, YouTube" >}}
+
+After a good night's sleep, I tend to the house a little bit. We've been gone for five days, and
+just before that we've been gone for seven days. Quinn has been home and has done a really great job
+keeping the house in one piece, and he's cleaned up the kitchen regularly, I can tell! We got home
+yesterday and there was a box of cookies on the counter with a post-it "Please eat me!".
+
+In the morning I tended to some chores: the cameras on the exterior of the house stopped working,
+very likely because I unplugged the PoE switch in the guestroom [which turned out to be the case]. I
+also needed to pay some bills, and do a quick round of book keeping for IPng. I made a keep-list of
+the things that I needed to do, and worked through them methodically. Mostly, so I wouldn't forget
+and accidentally disappoint a family member waiting on an outcome.
+
+Marina and I went grocery shopping and wanted to buy food for the next three days, and importantly,
+vegetables for our "oep met ajje", which is not even Dutch but a infants way to say "Soep met
+Ballen" -- vegetable soup with meat balls, we share a passion for this soup. We went to the _Coop_
+and Marina got venison, a meat I'm not particularly fond of. A standing tradition in my house: when
+I travel alone, the family eats all the things they really like but I don't :)
+
+We got home and I started chopping veggies, while Marina rolled the meatballs one by one. Our soup
+has carrots, onions, rutabaga, leeks, cellery and stock. Later, we parboil the meat and I also make
+some vermicelli. All up, this is a delicious soup, made even more delicious (and a tiny bit less
+healthy) by adding a copious amount of _Aromat_. If anybody still believes I'm a foreigner, I will
+do my best to eat it with even more of my dishes.
+
+After lunch, we do some cleaning work. Marina makes her way through the bathroom and downstairs
+toilet, and I give the kitchen a deep cleaning. Normally, we're somewhat disappointed by the
+cleaning activity because we then proceed to filthify the kitchen again in the evening as we cook.
+However, today is a special day&trade;, because we're having d&ouml;nner delivered, which means the
+kitchen will stay clean for one extra day :)
+
+In the morning I had printed and cut twentyfour IPng badges. After the cleaning, I went downstairs
+to flash them. Each pin has an NXP nTAG which contains a URL; and the webserver that does the
+redirector makes each URL point to a new destination every week. This way, curious readers can
+surprise themselves by scanning the tag every week or so to keep updated on my ramblings on
+[[IPng.ch](https://ipng.ch)].
+
+The flashing works out pretty quickly, which leaves me the larger part of the afternoon to make my
+presentation for [[FRNoG](https://frnog.org/)] in Paris. In Oslo I had 45 minutes to deliver my
+storyline, but in Paris I have been assigned 20 minutes only - not to worry, I have designed my
+narrative such that I can remove and/or shorten parts of it. I end up rewriting one part and
+dropping another, leaving me with an ~18 minute presentation, by still reusing most of the slides.
+Mission accomplished!
+
+The doorbell rings, and UPS is there in the rain with a large cardboard box. In the box, are four
+smaller cardboard boxes. In those boxes then, are trays and trays and trays full of fiber optic
+transcievers (SFP+, aka 10Gbps). I have them in all sorts and sizes: every CWDM channel (from 1270nm
+through to 1610nm), bidirectional ones, and _normal_ 1310-LR optics. Each of them are 20km with a
+good sensitivity, and I really needed them because I ran out of optics after the [[Stollen]({{< ref
+wk8day4.md >}})] deploy last week. I unpackage and oragnize them into IPng's stock (aka: the
+basement).
+
+At around 18:00 I emerge from the basement, presentation in hand, basement cleaned up and tidy (I
+did promise myself I would keep that up, and I am still keeping my promise). My buddy Pereira stops
+by on Signal and says the gang missed me in Zurich this week. My favorite team, P2020, had a leads
+summit. Were I not to have been in Oslo, I would've certainly stopped by to say hi and emit some
+🥰 emojis.
+
+Dinner is ordered and arrives fashionably late. How long should it take to make some
+d&ouml;nner-boxen?? Anyway, we're watching Black Mirror, the _White Christmas_ episode, which is
+pretty gnarly. I enjoy the dinner, and chuckle a bit because our "Get home and have an _AVG_"
+apparently lasted exactly one day.
+
+After dinner, Marina drives me to the airport. Zurich is a super efficient airport for security, and
+a few minutes later my bag is fished out of the xray machine: I guess having two rolls of 25pcs of
+38mm round nTAG with electronics and magnets and so on, trips the machine. It did so also with the
+stuff left over from Oslo. Fun :) but the guy saw pretty quickly what I had in my bag, and I was
+free to go!
+
+At the gate, I take a picture of the 21:40 departure time of LX646. Two minutes later, I receive an
+e-mail from Swiss: flight is delayed, next departure is 20:00. Well, the good news is that in that
+extra time I just bought myself, I can write my journal entry for the day!! I think there's probably
+something wrong, perhaps with a weather front, as on the screens almost every flight is delayed.
+
+Mine ends up leaving at 22:15 but guns it to Paris, and lands there only fifteen minutes late. I
+hail an Uber and Mohamed, the driver, practices his English as I practice my French. The drive into
+the city is pretty short, and arriving at WS Op&eacute;ra, I make use of the handy e-mail I was sent
+to enter not one, but four different passcodes on various keypads in an old building. Good news: the
+room door opens and there's a bed there. I think the room is maybe 5x2m and a 1.5m2 bathroom. It's
+_sm&oslash;l_ for sure, but that's OK. I'll only be here for two nights and only to sleep.
+
+Speaking of which: goodnight!
+
+## Pictures of the Day
+
+{{< gallery-category >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-26/IMG_1589.JPG" caption="Printing and cutting the IPng pins on the Cameo v5" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-26/IMG_1590.JPG" caption="Cutting and pairing the veggies for our huge pot of soup" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-26/IMG_1592.JPG" caption="A nice bowl of vegetable soup with meatballs and toast (and Aromat)" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-26/IMG_1593.JPG" caption="The kitchen is spotless after a deep cleaning activity from your's truly" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-26/IMG_1594.JPG" caption="I am flashing 24 new pins with IPng articles; it's a pretty simple but repetitive process. I like those" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-26/IMG_1595.JPG" caption="The transcievers from Starry Optics arrive. There's a good 225 of them here, and a bunch of 40G to 4x10G and 100G to 4c25G DAC breakout cables too" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-26/IMG_1599.JPG" caption="Almost all of the flights in Zurich are delayed this evening. I wonder what's up. My plane, LX646, left at 22:15 which is 35min late." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-26/IMG_1602.JPG" caption="The airBaltic Airbus A220-300 is small, but bigger than yesterday's Embraer E195." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-27/IMG_1603.JPG" caption="If I stretch my arms wide, I can (almost) touch both left/right walls of this hypersm&oslash;l apartment. But it'll do!" >}}
+{{< /gallery-category >}}
+
+{{< gallery-modal >}}
+{{< gallery-script >}}
+

content/blog/wk9day5.md

@@ -1,7 +1,97 @@
 ---
-title: "Week 9, Friday:"
+title: "Week 9, Friday: FRnOG'40 in Paris"
 date: 2024-09-27T21:55:00+02:00
-draft: true
 ---
 
-{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/todo.png" alt="Credit: " >}}
+{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/talyshum.png" alt="Credit: Taly Shum, YouTube" >}}
+
+I got in quite late yesterday and found my way to the WS Opera on Rue Duphot in the smack middle of
+the city. In my nano-scale apartment, I slept like a baby, until about 06:45 when the street noise
+was switched to the _On_ position. Large containers of broken glass seem to have been emptied out ~
+in front of this place, and the clanking of a few billion large metal pipes, as they were being
+dropped from great hights onto a container truck which was going to move them elsewhere. Good
+morning!
+
+It's time to pray. I brush my teeth and exit my femto-apartment and take a good look around. The
+first building I see, literally at the beginning of Rue Duphot, is the _Church of Madeleine_, after
+the titular neighborhood I'm in. It looks a bit more like a roman government or perhaps a
+courthouse, but it's legit a place of worship.
+
+My plan is to walk around until about noon, when I meet J&eacute;r&ocirc;me for lunch. About ten
+years ago, I was in Paris for a Google Maps _Streetview Special Collect_, of the inside of _Grand
+Palais_. The mission back then was to make an aerial collection of the inside of this massive
+building, in one of the few days (in the decade!) that the building was empty and between
+exhibitions. Google took a car, a set of backpacks and me with a hexacopter armed with nine cameras
+that would create a set of photospheric pictures every ten meters or so in the building. Together
+with the Cultural Institute, I spent two days in the building making this collection. Thinking back
+over the last eighteen years, the _Cantellio_ project was one of the most fun projects I worked on.
+We called it _Cantellio_ as a quirky play on our project lead who was an Italian guy with a thick
+accent, our project was a secret, so we "Can't Tell You". Get it?  For the Grand Palais collect,
+take a look at this exclusive behind the scenes
+[[gallery](https://photos.app.goo.gl/u4Q2xz1DKk91yJn78)]. By the way, I also flew this thing in the
+Guggenheim Museum in New York, would you believe it?
+[[Gallery](https://photos.app.goo.gl/gpGpghPYHkvLg4YG8)], but I digress.
+
+Back to Paris after that fun trip down Memory Lane, it is a Parisian law that foreigners MUST take a
+selfie at the Eifel Tower, so I go and do that because I wouldn't dream of breaking the law. I then
+go around to a few other buildings, such as the national assembly, the chancellery of the legion of
+honor, and the Louvre, where I counted roughly sixty trillion people. At this point, my rented
+transportation (a Dott bike), runs out of battery and it decides to abandon me near the FRnOG venue,
+so I park it and continue on foot. In case you were wondering how I visit do so many sights in only
+two or three hours: now you know!
+
+At noon, I hang out for a little bit at _Le Zinc d'Honor&eacute;_, and J&eacute;r&ocirc;me quickly
+finds me. We talk about Google, Cisco, Meraki and its use of VPP, my projects and his, and overal
+have a lovely time while enjoying a meal together. I feel so blessed having been able to meet the
+brilliant Cisco minds that tend to the VPP project (Andrew in Brussels, Ole in Oslo and now
+J&eacute;r&ocirc;me in Paris).  After lunch, we walk over to the Intercontinental where FRnOG starts
+at 14:00.
+
+I meet and greet a few of the four hundred plus people who are here - Philippe Bourcier organizes
+the event, and I know him as _MrRip_ from Undernet, more than 25 years ago we maintained the proxy
+scanner (which he wrote and I operated), and it was fun to reconnect. Maxime from Cisco is also
+here, and I chat with him about his current project. Clement of course is here, and I'll see more of
+him tomorrow as I am visiting the Hivane 20y ASniversary celebratory dinner. I briefly bump into
+Vincent who is jetlagged from returning from the DPDK summit in Montreal, Canada. My buddy Blake
+from Zayo is present, and he introduces me to a few new folks. I have a chat with Delphine of 1299
+and quiz her on the Meta/DTAG issue. Her thoughts are insightful and respectful at the same time,
+which I really appreciated.
+
+The talks are, eh, _en fran&ccedil;ais_ which is _tr&egrave;s difficiles à suivre pour moi_, but I
+totally understand the choice of language. My talk is the only one in English, but Philippe
+introduces me _en anglais_ and I crack a little joke of being Dutch, which solicits a few chuckles.
+I think my delivery was actually pretty good, and I'm looking forward to the recording.
+There were many talks in this absolutely stunning venue (a five star hotel Intercontinental in the
+middle of Paris). See the [[FRnOG website](https://www.frnog.org/?page=frnog40&lang=en)] for details
+and publications. I take my audience-selfie -- _c'est obligatoire_ -- and bounce at 1900. I am not
+going to participate in the drinks and afterparty (although thanks, Ielo, for organizing it!), and
+instead retire early. 
+
+I have a quick sushi dinner, and end up in bed at 22:30 watching a few episodes of _Lilyhammer_.
+
+## Pictures of the Day
+
+{{< gallery-category >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-27/IMG_1605.JPG" caption="Church of Madeleine, in Paris, France. I like the Roman column style" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-27/IMG_1608.JPG" caption="One of the entrances of Grand Palais in Paris, France" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-27/grandpalais.png" caption="A 2014 picture of my Mercedes ML350 inside of Grand Palais in Paris, France" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-27/IMG_1611.JPG" caption="Obligatory selfie at the Eifel Tower, aka the French Noodlescooze" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-27/IMG_1613.JPG" caption="A picture of Grand Palais with the beautiful Pont Alexandre III bridge over river Seine in the foreground" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-27/streetview.png" caption="A 2014 picture of me and the hexacopter photography aircraft I used at Grand Palais in Paris, France" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-27/IMG_1614.JPG" caption="The national assembly called Palais Bourbon, in Paris, France" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-27/IMG_1617.JPG" caption="A street view of the, wait for it: Great Chancellery of the Order of the Legion of Honor" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-27/IMG_1622.JPG" caption="The pyramid at the Louvre museum in Paris, France" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-27/IMG_1623.JPG" caption="I rented a Dott bike and rode its battery entirely empty quick-sight-seeing." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-27/IMG_1624.JPG" caption="Lunch with Jerome - I had a Bavette Frites, and it was superb." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-27/IMG_1625.JPG" caption="A street view of the Church of Saint-Roch in Paris, France" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-27/IMG_1627.JPG" caption="Selfie of Jerome Tollet and I in Paris, France. He walked me to the venue of FRnOG!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-27/IMG_1645.JPG" caption="My badge at FRnOG'40." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-27/IMG_1631.JPG" caption="The Intercontinental is a five star hotel in Paris - super fancy venue, the FRnOG organizers have a pretty classy outfit here" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-27/IMG_1633.JPG" caption="I took a customary selfie while presenting my VPP story at FRnOG'40 in Paris." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-27/IMG_1640.JPG" caption="Even the mall is super-duper-fancy. This is looking up into the dome of Galeries Lafayette Haussmann in Paris." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-27/IMG_1643.JPG" caption="One of the street-facing arches of Palais Garnier, an italian opera house in Paris, France." >}}
+{{< /gallery-category >}}
+
+{{< gallery-modal >}}
+{{< gallery-script >}}
+

content/blog/wk9day6.md

@@ -1,7 +1,119 @@
 ---
-title: "Week 9, Saturday:"
+title: "Week 9, Saturday: Happy Birthday, AS34019"
 date: 2024-09-28T21:55:00+02:00
-draft: true
 ---
 
-{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/todo.png" alt="Credit: " >}}
+{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/soulfulliquid.png" alt="Credit: Soulful Liquid, YouTUbe" >}}
+
+It's nice that it's weekend, because on Friday the noise level went from -inf to +inf in the span of
+ten minutes, but this morning, the pipe clankers and glass crashers are not at it, it's Saturday! I
+didn't put on an alarmclock and woke up at 10:00, after a good night's rest. Since there's
+absolutely nothing in this atto-apartment, I quickly pack up and bounce. Just down the road I fetch
+a cup of coffee and plot a path for the day. I really only need to hit two places today: I want to
+go up to the _Montmartre_ church, and I'd like to see the _Place de R&eacute;publique_, and I need
+to hit Cl&eacute;ment's place at around 19:00 so I have nine hours.
+
+My day route out to be very different from how OSPF might have sent me. It's too bad that I didn't
+turn on the watch to track my motion, because I'm pretty sure it was all over the place. I rented
+one of those _Dott_ bikes and went up the hill. I got there at about 11:45 and there were twelve
+trillion people at the church. Also: lots of vending guys with miniature Eifel towers and wooden
+block trains. I am slightly annoyed by the tourists, but seeing as I am one myself, I can't really
+complain too much!
+
+The view from the terrace of Montmartre is fabulous. There's a part facing south from here called
+_Square Louise Michel_, and it's on a set of plateaus so the views are relatively unobstructed. I
+take probably ten pictures here, and also a few panoramic shots. The clouds overhead are grey and
+the sky is otherwise blue with some rays of sun breaking through. The pics really don't do it
+justice.
+
+Once I'm down at the south side of the park I hit the _Boulevard Margueritte de Rouchechouart_ (what
+a mouthful) and my buddy Tim pings me on Telegram. He's fiddling around in his optics stash and will
+be very close to Qupra later today, and asks if he should patch my server to FrysIX. There's now an
+ability for members of the [[Coloclue](https://coloclue.net/)] association to get a cross connect in
+one of the datacenters, and for running the routeserver and IXPManager and LibreNMS, it's be
+fantastic to move off of the Equinix AM3 hypervisor and into the Qupra hypervisor because the former
+has consumer level SSD (Samsung QVO 💩) and the latter has spiffy enterprise SAS-12 flash
+(Seagate ST3840FM0003 🚀).
+
+I grab the laptop and check a few things on the hypervisor. It's kind of fun to be in the middle of
+Paris on a 5G access point, taking notes on the kernel driver for `ixgbe` and allowing setting it up
+with `allow_unsupported_sfp` flag so that it doesn't require Intel branded optics. While I'm sitting
+on the bench here, I do take a look at breakfast^W lunch opportunities, it's already 13:15. I find a
+place called [[Lazu](https://lazu.fr/)] which looks quaint, and it serves lunch until 14:00. Off I
+go!
+
+The bootup sequence is with an _amuse bouche_ cracker with warm fennel and goats cheese. Then my
+starter is a (vegetarian) p&acirc;t&eacute; of potato with a chives mousse. My mains for the day is
+pork belly with artichoke hearts with a glass of _Vin de France_, and why not, my desert is a cheese
+plate with a good sip of _Muskat_ wine. At the end, I am both in food coma as well as very sleepy.
+
+I make my way down south and stop at the park under the Saint-Eustache Church. It's a bustle of
+people here, and I do notice that my phone is already running low on battery (I should really get a
+new one, it's only been running for five hours or so!), so I scope out a Starbucks to both
+caffienate and to charge some batteries. En route south to _Notre Dame_ I find one and drink the
+coffee, writing yesterday's journal entry. Achievement unlocked: I'm a critically unaclaimed
+Starbucks author now!
+
+Paris is (unsurprisingly) full of beautiful buildings. I talk past a few, take pictures of them, and
+somehow find myself all the way up north of the river Seine again. OK, new plan: go take a look at
+J&eacute;r&ocirc;me's ancestry at the _Place de la R&eacute;publique_. Here, there's an esplanade
+for Andr&eacute; Tollet, mostly occupied by skaterboys, but I also see a large statue of _Marianne_
+which is a symbol of the French Republic.
+
+I'm *still* pointing my (crappy) human GPS at _Notre Dame_ and the Seine. Somehow I make it there
+now in one go, as it's a straight boulevard down there. I have an early onset of visual migraine,
+but it lasts no longer than a few minutes, as I cafeinate and proceed eat some sugar candy. The
+coffee is kind of gross, so I bounce from the coffeeshop again pretty quickly. Before I hit the
+church, I take a selfie at _H&ocirc;tel de Ville_, again, "c'est obligatoire", and then find _Notre
+Dame_ in a perfect sunlight.
+
+My walk takes me down south-west of Paris in the _14th Arrondissement_ where Cl&eacute;ment lives.
+At around 19:00 he pings me an address and I go there to drop off my bags, finding a merry band of
+brothers ready to go out to dinner. He's booked us a table for twenty-five at Restaurant [[14
+Juillet](https://www.le14juillet.fr/)] and everybdoy arrives roughly on time! (that would NOT have
+happened in the Netherlands). Dinner in this place is laid back, my starter is an onion soup, which
+I've been craving ever since I got to France, and a veal _escalope_ with fries, finished off --
+again, why not -- by a cheese plate with Roquefort blue cheese. My table mates are mostly babbling
+in rapid-fire French and I get about one in seven or so words - and a 14% hit rate makes my CPU run
+100% utilization trying to puzzle things together. I clearly have a ways to go :)
+
+After dinner, which ends at midnight, we walk through the evening neighborhood and settle down at a
+local bar for a few beers. There's some confusion between the IPA and the Triple, so I end up just
+ordering and drinking a pint of both. It's fun out here, as the weather is pleasant, there's a kitty
+that stops by regularly to cuddle, and the stories get stronger as the alcohol intake gets more
+pronounced.
+
+Then all of the sudden it's 02:45 and people skedaddle. Some of the folks had taken off earlier
+because Friday night for them was rough (being FRnOG'40 with good celebrations&trade; well into the
+night), and I'm for once happy that I turned in early because I feel like I'm possibly the most
+awake one of the group :) I insist to drink one more, just _one more_ with Cl&eacute;ment at his
+place, before passing out on the couch.
+
+Happy ASNniversary, Hivane!
+
+## Pictures of the Day
+
+{{< gallery-category >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-28/IMG_1647.JPG" caption="A picture of Mission Catholique Polonaise in Paris, France." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-28/IMG_1648.JPG" caption="The Dott rent-a-bike that I parked at Montmartre after depleting its battery" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-28/IMG_1650.JPG" caption="The north (back) side of Basilique du Sacré-Cœur de Montmartre in Paris, France." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-28/IMG_1653.JPG" caption="The south (front) side of Basilique du Sacré-Cœur de Montmartre in Paris, France." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-28/IMG_1654.JPG" caption="The views over Paris from the terrace front yard called Square Louise Michel" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-28/IMG_1658.JPG" caption="A sunny selfie on the bottom of the terrace overlooking the Basilique of Montmartre" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-28/IMG_1660.JPG" caption="I a doing some quick kernel module maintenance for Tim who is planning to deploy an SFP+ in Qupra later today" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-28/IMG_1666.JPG" caption="This house on Rue de la Carreaux is beautifully overgrown with green shrubbery." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-28/IMG_1667.JPG" caption="The front face of Saint-Eustache Church as seen from the park in front of it in Paris, France" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-28/IMG_1668.JPG" caption="The Pendule de Foucault of Mus&eacute;e des Arts et M&eacute;tiers in Paris, France" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-28/IMG_1670.JPG" caption="The statue of Marianne, symbol of the French Republic at Place de la R&eacute;publique in Paris, France" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-28/IMG_1673.JPG" caption="There is a hommage to Andr&eacute; Tollet here, that name strangely rings a bell :)" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-28/IMG_1675.JPG" caption="A selfie in front of H&ocirc;tel de Ville in Paris, France. It's plastered full of Paris 2024 olympic signage, which I think is unfortunate." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-28/IMG_1677.JPG" caption="The front face of the Notre Dame cathedral, a beautiful building that will hopefully re-open in December 2024, after a five year renovation" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-28/IMG_1680.JPG" caption="Iconic building of Panth&acute;on in Paris, France." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-28/IMG_1681.JPG" caption="The Panth&eacute;on as seen from another angle." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-28/IMG_1682.JPG" caption="The building of Comit&eacute; Technique P&eacute;dagogique Nationale (CTPN) in Paris, France" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-28/IMG_1683.JPG" caption="A selfie with my buddy Cl&eacute;ment who is celebrating his ASN's 20y anniversary tonight" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-28/qupra.png" caption="Tim sends me this picture, trying to locate a fiber crossconnect (which turned out, was never there)" >}}
+{{< /gallery-category >}}
+
+{{< gallery-modal >}}
+{{< gallery-script >}}

content/blog/wk9day7.md

@@ -1,7 +1,60 @@
 ---
-title: "Week 9, Sunday:"
+title: "Week 9, Sunday: Charles de Gaulle"
 date: 2024-09-29T21:55:00+02:00
-draft: true
 ---
 
-{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/todo.png" alt="Credit: " >}}
+{{< image frame="true" width="17em" float="right" src="/img/headline/aletto.png" alt="Credit: Aletto, YouTube" >}}
+
+Good morning, Sunday! Yesterday's night on the town in south-western Paris took a tole on our group.
+Most of us are still sleeping it off, and I as well wake up fashionably late at 10:00. I decide that
+I've been hanging out on the couch horizontally for long enough and I fold up the bed. I brush my
+teeth with a bottle of Jack and make coffee. I think the sound or perhaps the smell of coffee has
+stimulated the gang just enough to wake up also.
+
+Cl&eacute;ment reveals himself and says he has to quickly go outside. He reappears fifteen minutes
+later with freshly baked goods. By this time, Alarig has plopped himself on the couch and drinks a
+coffee with me. Only Sven still remains in `/dev/null`. We talk about tech: how IXPs are formed, who
+peers and who doesn't, the cool Juniper central MX204 paired with remote switch 'blades', and
+Cl&eacute;ment conjures one up. Along the way, I lazily write my journal from yesterday.
+
+Sven joins us at noon or so, and we continue to babble on about people, companies, the formation of
+Hivane, IPng, BreizhIX, FrysIX, and more. It's fun learning a bit about my "far west" (France) and
+the "far west" in France (Rennes, where BreizhIX is). But, at 13:37 I have gained as much tactical
+intelligence as I could, so I decide to take my leave. Thank you Cl&eacute;ment for the wonderful
+stay!
+
+I took an Uber from the airport to the city, but I'm definintely taking a train back - it's both
+cheaper but more importantly, it's much faster. Punching in CDG in maps, I find that there's a B
+metro that goes from the Catacombs at _Denfert Rochereau_ direct to the airport. Slick! The train
+ride is easy going and I arrive at _Charles de Gaulle_ at around 14:30.
+
+I do see that there's another Swiss flight to Zurich, maybe I can switch to that one? But alas, it's
+delayed by 2.5hrs already, scheduled now at 17:30, whoops. The flight crew is also sitting on the
+chairs, but I see that they eventually leave. And yes, thirty minutes later, the flight is simply
+canceled, so I'm pretty sure I'm not going to be on it :)
+
+I end up watching a few episodes of _Lilyhammer_ and eat a sandwich. I made a small mistake thinking
+there would be a larger concourse here, but the gates I'm at are divided into blocks of ten, with
+security right at the block, so there's gates 60-69 here, with one sandwich shop and one dutyfree
+liquor and cigarette joint, and that's ... it. No bars, no warm meal, nothing. But, there's a power
+outlet so my laptop will save me through this hardship.
+
+One full season of _Lilyhammer_ later, I board LX645 to Zurich. The flight is only 46 minutes, which
+I think is pretty cool, and Marina is here to pick me up from the airport, just as I walk out the
+door. We drive home and chat about the last few days, and about all the french I learned and all
+the frenchmen I met, and the fun we've had.
+
+I have to get to bed early tonight though, because (a) I am running a sleep deficit and (b) tomorrow
+Tim arrives on the sleeper-train from Amsterdam at 08:00.
+
+## Pictures of the Day
+
+{{< gallery-category >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-29/IMG_1688.JPG" caption="A selfie with Alarig on Cl&eacute;ment's couch in Paris, France." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-29/IMG_1689.JPG" caption="The train from the (14th) arrondissement de l'Observatoire to CDG is direct, and that's really nice" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-29/IMG_1691.JPG" caption="The Embraer 195-E2 that brought me to Zurich in 46 minutes" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-29/IMG_1692.JPG" caption="At home, I notice this sunshine on the TV. Marina and Quinn were taking bets on how many weeks it would take for me to notice her, but the answer was: 0 weeks. Hah!" >}}
+{{< /gallery-category >}}
+
+{{< gallery-modal >}}
+{{< gallery-script >}}

content/gallery.md

@@ -46,11 +46,12 @@ menu:
 
 ### The Before and After of the basement
 
-***Before***
+***Before (July 29th)***
 
 {{< video src="/media/vdo/IMG_0406_0.mp4" type="video/mp4" preload="auto" >}}
 
-***After***
+***After (August 4th)***
+
 {{< video src="/media/vdo/IMG_0469_0.mp4" type="video/mp4" preload="auto" >}}
 
 ## August 2024
@@ -189,8 +190,378 @@ menu:
   {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-13/IMG_0641.JPG" caption="Somebody left a cute looking tree trunk/log at the garbage bins, but I don't think it will be picked up, it's waaaay to big/heavy." >}}
   {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-13/IMG_0642.JPG" caption="Our evening walk is to settle the BBQ meal in our stomachs. It's needed, I am stuffed! By the way, interesting picture quality, the 90s called, they want their compression artifacts back!" >}}
   {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-13/IMG_0643.JPG" caption="The sunset over the valley towards Dietlikon is very nice tonight, the picture doesn't quite do it justice" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-14/IMG_0645.JPG" caption="I promised myself I would keep my workroom clean, so I started off the morning with a vacuuming and deep scrub of the floor " >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-14/IMG_0646.JPG" caption="Lunch time: the bread Aad and I baked has really nice holes, and I like!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-14/IMG_0647.JPG" caption="We have a few leftover hamburger patties, so I quickly fry them up and we make a make-shift burger. Delish!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-14/IMG_0651.JPG" caption="I am going to deploy two Arista 7280SR MPLS transport switches tonight; here they are, pre-configured and staged in IPng's lab rack" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-14/IMG_0652.JPG" caption="Our evening meal is simply a stirfry wok with lots-o-veg, and chicken and rice to go with it. It makes for a very nice summer dish." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-13/20240813_220724.jpg" caption="Marina and I take a good look at the faulty stamping press for the 59mm pins. We think we found the problem - TAC support ticket raised :)" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-14/IMG_0654.JPG" caption="At datacenter #1, I pre-condition the 2x100G blade for AS25091 first" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-14/IMG_0657.JPG" caption="Then, I install the Arista, hook it up to some WDM channels to datacenter #2 and to the ASR9010 below. Later, these will become 100G ports (optics are underway)" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-14/IMG_0658.JPG" caption="I finish the evening at datacenter #2, my favorite one at AS25091, with the other Arista switch and a very loaded ASR9006." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-15/IMG_0660.JPG" caption="A tasty miso and beef ramen, made from leftover veggies" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-15/IMG_0662.JPG" caption="The ES Mat that arrived, fits on the front of the Cameo, and holds paper in place using electrostatic force - it works well!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-15/IMG_0661.JPG" caption="Look at the detailed cut of Cameo 5, it's cut out a vinyl logo of 21mm and it looks beautiful" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-15/IMG_0665.JPG" caption="I cut one red and one white logo, so I can mix and match on lighter and darker outfits. I'm such a fashionista!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-15/IMG_0663.JPG" caption="The Gin and Tonic, with salami, was lovely today" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-15/IMG_0664.JPG" caption="Our hazel tree is a super happy camper, and grows easily three meters per season. This Fall, we'll have to pair it down a bit." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-15/IMG_0666.JPG" caption="We watch Coppers, a belgian crimescene investigation series. It's OK, so far!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-15/IMG_0667.JPG" caption="The frogs have cornered the two sharks, who are fearing for their life." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-15/IMG_0668.JPG" caption="The frogs have consumed the magic mushrooms, and obliterated one shark, and half of the other one! Look at them gooooo!!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-16/IMG_0679.JPG" caption="A picture of a WT32-ETH01 module with Wroom32 and 100Mbit Ethernet PHY. It pings!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-16/IMG_0682.JPG" caption="Max and I are at the Thai food street festival" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-16/IMG_0683.JPG" caption="We have tasty trinks (lemongrass+honey, and berry+dates)" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-16/IMG_0684.JPG" caption="THe food festival in B&uuml;lach is happening!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-16/IMG_0685.JPG" caption="We order and nom on a spicy noodle soup, mie and fried rice" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-16/IMG_0686.JPG" caption="Quinn and I take a walk and find this guy" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-16/IMG_0688.JPG" caption="This chef is pumping out dishes at one per minute, and they are all made-to-order. Amazing!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-16/IMG_0689.JPG" caption="Quinn and I are being welcomed to Thailand" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-17/IMG_0690.JPG" caption="I 3D printed a case for the ESP32 device, which will sit in a PDU" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-16/espidf.png" caption="The WT32-ETH01 modules come pre-flashed with a working ESP-IDF firmware. I'm reflashing them with a Mongoose OS app though, more on that later!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-17/nfc.png" caption="NFC Tools showing my first ever written nTAG215" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-17/IMG_0698.JPG" caption="Crimping power cables; each PDU will have 28 such cables" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-17/IMG_0699.JPG" caption="I 3D printed a left 'green' and right 'red' side, to show that these are two different feeds in one PDU" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-17/IMG_0700.JPG" caption="Quinn and I are making dinner - garlic soup and stuffed bellpepper" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-17/IMG_0702.JPG" caption="The finished product: 3 stuffed bellpeppers. Oone is buried,and  some have grated cheese (I am not a fan)" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-17/IMG_0704.JPG" caption="We watch Wolverine and Deadpool tonight - it's a lighthearted flic, and I love it how they use the fourth wall" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-19/IMG_0713.JPG" caption="A mostly finished PDU - with the ESP32-ETH01 in its own little box, and brackets that will hold the ammeter." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-19/IMG_0714.JPG" caption="One side of the box will be green, the other red. This is to signify that there are two 220V C13 inputs each with their own 8 C14 plugs on the front." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-18/fusion.png" caption="The fusion design - top right has what I call the floorplan, with the individual screw holes and pegs of the chassis. THe other things are the parts that go within." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-18/IMG_0710.JPG" caption="We watched Jared Leto and Jennifer Connelley in Requiem for a Dream." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-18/IMG_0711.JPG" caption="The two loaves of bread baked themselves on a timer!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-18/IMG_0712.JPG" caption="Another tray of parts is freshly printed in black PLA. I will need to make eight batches of these." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-19/IMG_0713.JPG" caption="The innards of the PDU are nicely placed in 3D printed parts." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-19/IMG_0716.JPG" caption="The Rigol oscilloscope cannot see a problem with the differential RS485 signal." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-19/IMG_0718.JPG" caption="I play around a little bit with the Sipeed NanoKVM" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-19/IMG_0719.JPG" caption="The Sipeed NanoKVM shows a 1920x1080p picture from my Linux PC, Summer" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-19/sipeed-kvm.png" caption="A screenshot of Summer's desktop as seen in a web browser, using Sipeed's NanoKVM over IP" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-19/IMG_0720.JPG" caption="We eat Flammkuchen tonight, courtesy of Marina" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-19/IMG_0721.JPG" caption="Leave your phone unattended, and there will be goofy pictures when you return..." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-20/IMG_0729.JPG" caption="UPS came! Six Celestica Seastone (DX010) switches were delivered; they are 32x100G each. That's going to be a fun afternoon exploring them." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-20/IMG_0730.JPG" caption="There was another package - Anja sent a replacement stamp head for our 59mm pins, and it works. Yahoo!!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-20/IMG_0746.JPG" caption="I racked the Celestica switches, three of them will be for IPng, and the other three will go on to Sandro later this month." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-20/IMG_0751.JPG" caption="In the mean time, I start stamping out pins for Frys-IX. They look really slick, in the colors of Frysl&aring;n" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-20/IMG_0752.JPG" caption="A picture of the printing station, these pins are a bit bigger, so they fit only six to a page." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-20/IMG_0753.JPG" caption="A picture of the cutting station. After I figured out why the cuts were offset, the Cameo did a perfect job cutting all 90 pins, yaay!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-20/IMG_0755.JPG" caption="Marina signals success with the post office, and requires a celebratory drink. Of course, I oblige." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-20/IMG_0756.JPG" caption="We click a few trillion cookies for Quinn." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-20/IMG_0757.JPG" caption="I've made a few B&uuml;rli hand rolls, which are half-baked and ready for refridgeration" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-20/IMG_0758.JPG" caption="We watch a somewhat bizarre satire short-film about Donald J. Trump, played by Jonny Depp, with lots of famous actors and comedians pitching in.  From 2016, no less!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-20/cookies.png" caption="Cookie Clicker, the web-version. I am a novice with almost 80 cookies. Quinn has a few quadrillion." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-20/javascript.png" caption="Quinn shows the Javascript Console builder add-on in Cookie Clicker. This baby makes 16T cookies per second, not too shabby!!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-21/IMG_0759.JPG" caption="A roll of nTAG215 stickers, all written and locked" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-21/IMG_0760.JPG" caption="Jean-Paul and Nicole arrived, with gifts from Belgium!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-21/IMG_0761.JPG" caption="We had a good apero today to welcome our guests" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-21/IMG_0762.JPG" caption="The FrysIX 59mm pins are all done, all 90pcs of them" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-21/IMG_0765.JPG" caption="I made flatbread for the plant-based gyros (which, speaking as a meat-eater, is really good)" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-21/immich.png" caption="I've installed Immich and imported ~7000 pictures and videos from my iPhone; it's chomping away proving its multithreadedness" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-22/IMG_0766.JPG" caption="Ingredients for the Kramiek - butter, milk, raisins, flour, yeast and sugar." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-22/IMG_0770.JPG" caption="The finished Kramiek - the verdict is that it is tasty but a little bit too fluffy. I haven't won, yet!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-22/IMG_0771.JPG" caption="We bought a pair of Portugese wines - one is a lady called Tintafina, and the other is called Machoman. The bottles and branding is fun! The wine is fair." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-22/IMG_0772.JPG" caption="Let there be cheese - JP and Nicole bring a bunch of cheeses from France, and Marina -- obviously -- buys a bunch more from Switzerland" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-22/IMG_0773.JPG" caption="Some of the more tasty cheeses - two Morbier, one Gorgonzola, and a piece of Gauda" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-22/IMG_0774.JPG" caption="Marina also made a red beet and pickes salad, with goats cheese mouse. Good stuff!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-22/IMG_0775.JPG" caption="Quinn and I play a game: he unties my shoe laces using only his feet. I make it more difficult as time passes, but he consistently wins!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-22/IMG_0776.JPG" caption="Outside in the yard, this plane flew directly overhead. Perhaps a missed approach from LSZH." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-22/IMG_0779.JPG" caption="In the evening we light the firebowl and it's nice and cozy outside." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-23/IMG_0781.JPG" caption="Closeup of msw0.chgtg0.net.ipng.ch - IPng's transport switch at Interxion - it is running pretty full of 10G and 25G connections, the network is very well connected here." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-23/IMG_0782.JPG" caption="I bike from Interxion to NTT and find the Zurich OpenAir fairgrounds; the stages look great, but I'll have to wait one more week before I get to be on the inside, to listen to Nora en Pure <3" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-23/IMG_0783.JPG" caption="The purple fly swatter is my new favorite tool for datacenters. It sllows me to guide fibers in tight spaces." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-23/IMG_0786.JPG" caption="The rack at IP-Max with er01.zrh56 and the new Arista on top of it" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-23/IMG_0787.JPG" caption="THe first eight ports in bs01.zrh56 are light, and four of them are Ethernet over MPLS circuits, which is wonderful news for IP-Max." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-23/IMG_0788.JPG" caption="I bike back home and decide randomly to take a selfie. Look at how safe I am, with a little crash helmet and everything" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-23/IMG_0790.JPG" caption="I wash my bike and grease the chains and gears. I'll spare you the before-picture, but here, the Stromer is nice-n-clean again" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-23/IMG_0791.JPG" caption="We have a rose wine today with a really funky bottle shape. Marina and I decided to keep the bottle, probably to never use again!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-23/IMG_0793.JPG" caption="A picture of Marina's lasagna after the family has attacked it and inflicted major damage. Yet: some of it is still ready to be consumed another day!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-23/IMG_0794.JPG" caption="Quinn's N&uuml;sslitorte was our desert today" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-23/IMG_0797.JPG" caption="The candle was fun to watch - the flames were very mesmerizing, and it burned all the way down to the bottom of the log" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-24/IMG_0800.JPG" caption="The church in Dietlikon has a mechanical clock from the 1600s - I note in passing that this clock is older than most countries!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-24/IMG_0802.JPG" caption="The piglet race started early, so I got to catch only the tail end of it (see what I did there?)" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-24/IMG_0803.JPG" caption="The piggies are overheated and need to cool down after such an invigorating race!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-24/IMG_0804.JPG" caption="There's a brass band playing. They sound kind of nice, even though the insdie of this tent is easily 40C. If I would play any brass instrument, it would be the tuba for sure." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-24/IMG_0808.JPG" caption="Marina, JP and I take a selfie in the sunshine. What a great day to be out and about! " >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-24/IMG_0810.JPG" caption="Juxtaposition: 900 year old festival ground paired with a CHF 100Mio jet airplane flying overhead." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-24/IMG_0813.JPG" caption="Marina is happy - she gets artisanal icecream (melon flavored)" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-24/IMG_0815.JPG" caption="The protestant church in Dietlikon from 1698. It's a nice little place of worship." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-24/IMG_0816.JPG" caption="Back home, our neighbors' dog, Maggie, has a gift; they went for a walk and found 300g + of black truffle. These will turn into a risotto and celery soup!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-24/IMG_0819.JPG" caption="In the evening, we watched Annihilation and I made popcorn." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-25/IMG_0820.JPG" caption="I put on a Freddy Mercury impression, and I want to break free! ... and vacuum my room." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-25/IMG_0821.JPG" caption="I have this really cool Rick and Morty tea-mug, which reveals a colorful diorama when it has hot liquid in it." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-25/IMG_0822.JPG" caption="I test this Mikrotik CRS317 switch for Antonis, it's coming in at 14.2 Watts idle. Hoping he'll be able to put it at NIKHEF in October." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-25/vpp-ospf3.png" caption="I'm rolling out EoMPLS circuits for AS8298's IPng Site Local, between Geneva and Zurich, and Geneva and Paris. Shown here: reconfiguring the link chplo0 - frpar0, and pinging Paris VPP router on linklocal." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-25/IMG_0823.JPG" caption="The Gin&Tonic today is with a gingerbeer tonic and a blackberry Gin which is completely colorless." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-25/whiteglove.png" caption="Marina and I give each other the white glove treatment." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-25/IMG_0824.JPG" caption="Dinner: Luikse Salade with BBQ'd pork sausage. It tasted better than the picture gives it credit for :-)" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-25/IMG_0825.JPG" caption="Marina is cooling down her hot-watter scorched hand, with the white glove, a chickenglove and a cold compress. She'll live, don't worry." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-25/IMG_0826.JPG" caption="Quinn passes the eyeball inspection with flying colors. In the reflection you can see that he finished his plate of Luikse Salade." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-25/IMG_0828.JPG" caption="George and Julia play another movie together; it's Money Monster, and I enjoy it." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-26/IMG_0830.JPG" caption="The Church of Opfikon, visited on my bike ride from Br&uuml;ttisellen to Glattbrugg and R&uuml;mlang" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-26/IMG_0831.JPG" caption="The telescopig flyswatter trick helps me again, this time for a link to Bancadati in Lugano " >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-26/IMG_0835.JPG" caption="This rack is starting to really fill up, with only a handful of patch panel positions left over, and tonnes of CWDM waves lit, both to Interxion, Equinix, and several swiss and european cities." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-26/IMG_0837.JPG" caption="The outside of the NTT building as seen from the public street." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-26/IMG_0838.JPG" caption="The west side of the Zurich airport apron, a few private jets here and every now and again a big one takes off overhead." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-26/IMG_0839.JPG" caption="I bike home and snap a selfie. It does appear that I'm growing a second chin." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-26/IMG_0843.JPG" caption="The movie today is 'No Hard Feelings' with Jennifer Lawrence, who is incredibly cute." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-26/IMG_0845.JPG" caption="Marina is also incredibly cute - and I take this picture using a wine glass to encutify her even further." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-27/IMG_0847.JPG" caption="Marina and I inflate (and later blow up) several balloons for Moeke and Pepe, whose birthday is two days apart." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-27/IMG_0849.JPG" caption="The ammeter is reading 2.03A while the digital current meter says 1.87A, I'll calibrate each one once I have a running firmware, but this is good progress!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-27/IMG_0856.JPG" caption="The ESP32 microcontroller is reading the ammeter, great success!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-27/IMG_0857.JPG" caption="The starter tonight is a beautiful buratta with beefy tomatoes and peppery rocket salad" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-27/IMG_0858.JPG" caption="The mains tonight is a bowl of chilly con carne, which really does hit the spot" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-27/IMG_0859.JPG" caption="The backup chicken coop (eg. floof no. 2) also reveals no chickens today." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-27/IMG_0860.JPG" caption="Our local Landesheim turns 150 years old this month. So much culture in such a tiny village!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-27/IMG_0862.JPG" caption="The kitty wants to be petted, except she does not want you to pet her." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-27/IMG_0863.JPG" caption="Cole Sprouse also has a kitty (a stowaway just like him)" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-28/IMG_0865.JPG" caption="I am using my badge to this datacenter for the ~last time." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-28/IMG_0871.JPG" caption="The bikeride home from the datacenter is through the fields and alongside a little river; it's a beautiful bikeride. " >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-28/IMG_0872.JPG" caption="The lunch of the day is meatballs, with tomato and sauteed onions, on B&uuml;rrli" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-28/IMG_0873.JPG" caption="JP and I visit the floof chickens at the beginning of our hike around Bassersdorf." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-28/IMG_0874.JPG" caption="JP marches through the forest in search of the trailhead on the ridge between Bassersdorf and Tagelswangen" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-28/IMG_0878.JPG" caption="A selfie at the top of the hill, overlooking our valley with Bassersdorf below us and Dietlikon on the far side of the valley." >}} 
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-28/IMG_0879.JPG" caption="We found a kitty! And we petted it :)" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-28/IMG_0881.JPG" caption="After hiking 9km or so, my hands fill with fluid, maybe also because it's 33C out; I can't really close my fist right now, but I'm sure it'll pass." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-28/walk.png" caption="Our ring around Bassersdorf, 13km or so in total." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-28/IMG_0886.JPG" caption="Apero: nicely made Aperol Spritz" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-28/IMG_0890.JPG" caption="Dinner - buffalo mozarella with beefy tomatoes, much like yesterday." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-28/IMG_0892.JPG" caption="Dinner - Beef Tartar, with toast, egg and red onion." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-28/IMG_0893.JPG" caption="I click a few trillion cookies for Quinn." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-29/IMG_0896.JPG" caption="Marina and I cheers with a truffle in the morning. As the famous saying goes: One truffel a day, keeps the doctor gay!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-29/IMG_0901.JPG" caption="Marina chauffeurs me to the datacenter in Zurich where I decommissioned stuff yesterday, to pick up the equipment. Nice trolly!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-29/IMG_0903.JPG" caption="(part of) the haul for IP-Max: a few muxes, two ASR9001s, a Cisco 2960G and an ASR920. I think I'll loadtest this stuff later!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-29/IMG_0904.JPG" caption="In the afternoon we take an apero with white-wine Sangria at a local Portugese watering hole" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-29/IMG_0908.JPG" caption="We have some tapanade and olives with this rather delicious sangria" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-29/selfie.png" caption="Marina and I have an argument over whose cellphone takes better selfies. Mine has a better camera, but hers has a pop so you can hold it more comfortably. We agree to disagree." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-29/IMG_0910.JPG" caption="In the evening, we eat fried turkey with steamed veggies and r&ouml;sti kroketten. Lekker!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-29/IMG_0911.JPG" caption="As desert, Pepe requested (and therefor, got served) a Quarktorte, which had raisins :(" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-30/IMG_0914.JPG" caption="Marina lovingly holds the hydranchea cuttings, which we will try to propagate" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-30/IMG_0917.JPG" caption="I do a bit of emergency balloon repair of our 'Happy Birthday' balloons, the -r- is -r-ipped, and some kapton tape comes to the rescue." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-30/IMG_0919.JPG" caption="I prepare a loadtester with 6pcs of dual 10G NIC, because the ASR9001 I am loadtesting has 12 ports." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-30/IMG_0920.JPG" caption="Some energy and relief is given by this nice cup of espresso and creme schnitt." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-30/IMG_0921.JPG" caption="Here's an MPA4X10G module for the A9K, we use these all over the place, but can they do 4x 14.88Mpps and 40Gbps of throughput?" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-30/IMG_0922.JPG" caption="Marina's trick to get dry tofu is to squeeze it until it stops moving." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-30/IMG_0923.JPG" caption="We enjoy a glass (just one, today!) of ros&eacute; wine" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-30/IMG_0926.JPG" caption="After dinner, we crawl up the hill in slow motion. But it sure is pretty up here." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-30/IMG_0927.JPG" caption="On our walk we stumbled across this BMW i8 car - I really like the shape." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-30/IMG_0930.JPG" caption="The movie for tonight is: Mijn Papa is een Saucisse, here Zo&euml; is Ms Tofuball, don't ask." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-31/lineup.png" caption="The line up for the fourth and final day of Zurich Open Air 2024" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-31/IMG_0944.JPG" caption="The Main Stage at ZOA24, which is pretty impressive considering it's in the middle of a field in Opfikon." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-31/IMG_0945.JPG" caption="The Dance Circus stage with vidi-wall behind it. I've essentially come to ZOA24 for this stage." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-31/IMG_0949.JPG" caption="The dinner: chicken gyros with french fries in flat bread. 15 bucks, please!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-31/IMG_0951.JPG" caption="The Sugababes on Main Stage at 17:45." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-31/IMG_0957.JPG" caption="Proof that I wore matching shirt for the Sugababes vidi-wall." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-31/IMG_0961.JPG" caption="The Min Stage audience, not yet everybody arrived, or they don't like the Sugababes :)" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-31/IMG_0967.JPG" caption="After the 'babes, I see a forklift retrieve a few flight cases of equipment; it's all in a day's work I suppose" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-31/IMG_0972.JPG" caption="Aurora is on the ZOA Stage, and holy moly this one has a voice in her" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-31/IMG_0979.JPG" caption="Anne-Marie is on the Main Stage, singing her distinct style" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-31/IMG_0982.JPG" caption="I think Anne-Marie is a cutie with her braids, California t-shirt and silver poofy dress" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-31/IMG_0986.JPG" caption="Marco Berto is spinning in the Dance Circus at Zurich Open Air 2024" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-31/IMG_0989.JPG" caption="The sound technicians keep a close eye out for the sound pressure, must not exceed 100dB so they flatline it at 99.x :) - for the record: that is 30 meters from the speakers, and in front of the speakers it's ... a whole new thing" >}} 
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-31/IMG_0992.JPG" caption="Trettmann performs on the ZOA Stage" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-31/IMG_0995.JPG" caption="A closeup of Trettmann doing some ballad of sorts, with an overlay of cell phone lights in the background" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-31/IMG_1006.JPG" caption="Sido is at Main Stage, and he is singing about photo albumbs with silver buttons and pictures inside. Well, I took your picture, Sido!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-31/IMG_1011.JPG" caption="A closeup of Sido, who wore a white pullover onto a stage with lights on him, while it is 30C outside. Bilder? Krank im Kopf!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-31/IMG_1031.JPG" caption="Nora en Pure spinns in the Dance Circus at Zurich Open Air 2024" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-01/IMG_1043.JPG" caption="Although I'm maybe ten meters away, it's after dark, there are no lights on the stage (only into the audience), so I can't really take pictures of Nora en Pure playing." >}}
+{{< /gallery-category >}}
 
+### Playing with OBS sound (August 8th)
 
+{{< video src="/media/vdo/2024-08-08_20-30-06_20.35.18.mp4" >}}
+
+### My Arista configs (August 15th)
+
+{{< video src="/media/vdo/2024-08-15_13-34-42_16.5.46.mp4" >}}
+
+### Impromptu Microphone Demo (August 31st)
+
+{{< video src="/media/vdo/2024-08-31_11-12-55_11.16.21.mp4" >}}
+
+## September 2024
+
+{{< gallery-category >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-08-31/nora.png" caption="A screenshot of Nora en Pure playing at Armensee in Switzerland, a beautiful set from 2021." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-01/IMG_1044.JPG" caption="Kygo is spinning on Main Stage, which is a nice cool down from the hot and loud Dance Circus I was in for 90min" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-01/IMG_1046.JPG" caption="Kygo has the benefit of an elaborate light show with his set on Main Stage at Zurich Open Air 2024" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-01/IMG_1048.JPG" caption="Quinn is wearing spikies on his wrist, and we try not to puncture a spleen." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-01/IMG_1049.JPG" caption="Leonardo da Vinci's life work exhibit in Maag Lichthalle in Zurich" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-01/IMG_1050.JPG" caption="A Da Vinci exhibit is not complete without Mona Lisa (a replica, obviously)" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-01/IMG_1054.JPG" caption="We enter the light exhibit room, mid-video. We first sit down on ground level a little bit to take in the lights from all sides" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-01/IMG_1058.JPG" caption="Marina and I take a licht-halle-selfie while the Da Vinci movie pleys" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-01/IMG_1060.JPG" caption="You can see the pixels from the ovehard projectors on my hands - it looks like I'm wearning stockings!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-01/IMG_1061.JPG" caption="From the balcony on the first floor, the view into the room is absolutely stunning." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-01/IMG_1068.JPG" caption="Another view from the balcony into the room, while it's projecting Da Vinci's astronomy work. It's gorgeous." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-01/IMG_1072.JPG" caption="Quinn and I find each other in the infinity cube. Or did we?" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-01/IMG_1075.JPG" caption="Quinn: 'Can I pet that dawg?' in southern drawl. Acceptable use of drawl." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-01/IMG_1076.JPG" caption="We have an Aalto wine from Ribera del Douro, which is a favorite of mine" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-01/IMG_1077.JPG" caption="Our table full of tapas, version 1.0. In total there were three orders." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-01/IMG_1079.JPG" caption="This seabass cevice was a really tasty treat." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-01/IMG_1080.JPG" caption="After dinner, we all got some liquor to celebrate the day" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-01/IMG_1081.JPG" caption="On the way back to the station, I saw this nice bike." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-01/IMG_1084.JPG" caption="While walking home, the skies darkened and a lightning storm formed, which was quite the sight!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-02/IMG_1085.JPG" caption="The Prusa MK4S package arrived, and I'm wiggling on my seat to get it built." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-02/IMG_1089.JPG" caption="I put on IP-Max socks today, as I'll be lighting a second 100G wave to Frankfurt." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-02/IMG_1090.JPG" caption="The sad news of the Stromer display: cannot find the torque sensor, bah." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-02/IMG_1091.JPG" caption="At the datacenter, the 100G link immediately comes up, yaay! Redundant 100G link from Zurich to Frankfurt achieved for IP-Max." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-02/IMG_1092.JPG" caption="The Prusa MK4S kit in a disassembled state. All of these boxes and bags somehow fit together to make a full functioning 3D printer." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-02/IMG_1096.JPG" caption="Marina is hanging out with a Venusaur pokemon, but for the moment he's friendly." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-02/IMG_1098.JPG" caption="The broken part (Y idler) with the stuck screw, and a newly printed part (left) with two screws that cleanly go in/out of the part. Yaay for open hardware designs, you can just download these parts of the Prusa website!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-02/IMG_1100.JPG" caption="The sliced black truffle (left) and chopped truffle (right) for our Pasta tonight." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-02/IMG_1101.JPG" caption="A snapshot of our absolutely fantabulous tagliatelli with black truffle and aged parmesan cheese." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-03/IMG_1102.JPG" caption="After dropping off my bike at the shop, I grabbed a Bolt scooter to transport myself to Oerlikon station. The scooter doesn't go very fast, so I manage to take a scooting-selfie." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-03/IMG_1105.JPG" caption="The Prusa MK4S printer is halfway done. The Z and X carriage and the bottom parts are done. This is about 1/3 of the way through the build." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-03/IMG_1106.JPG" caption="For lunch I treat myself to a Smos Gezone (a healthy sandwich) with cheese, ham, lettuce, carrots, tomatoes, a bit of mayo and mustard." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-03/IMG_1111.JPG" caption="The electronics part of the Prusa MK4S showing its xBuddy board and lots of wires for sensors and stepper motors." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-03/xbelt.png" caption="The Audio Sensing application on my cellphone allows me to get perfect belt tension by measuring the frequency. Such a clever idea!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-03/ybelt.png" caption="The Y belt tension is perfect when it hums at 94Hz. OK then!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-03/IMG_1115.JPG" caption="The printer is done and booting for the first time. Literally 3 minutes later, I printed the Benchy in the videoclip on this journal. I don't think I've ever been up and running so quickly. So cool :)" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-03/IMG_1117.JPG" caption="The (modified) Benchy is printed in 14 minutes instead of 60+ on my Prusa MK3. There's a bit of trickery going on, but the end result is actually really good!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-04/IMG_1119.JPG" caption="The new case for MK3S is printing - it'll contain a special cavity for a Raspberry Pi Zero which will hook up this printer to PrusaLink." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-04/IMG_1120.JPG" caption="The finished parts for the new MK3 case on the MK4S printer." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-04/IMG_1121.JPG" caption="The MK3 case is retrofitted, the Raspberry Pi is installed and the display helpfully shows 'PrusaLink' is being started." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-04/IMG_1122.JPG" caption="I think of my buddy Pascal Bovet who goes by @bopa - he enjoys seeing the picture when I send him a DM on LinkedIn" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-04/IMG_1124.JPG" caption="The Vecchia Torre that I could've sworn we have in the basement, but Marina says we do not. She was right - damnit she's always right!!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-04/prusaslicer.png" caption="A screenshot of the PrusaSlicer showing the printer stats and directly communicating with it over The Cloud (eg. somebody elses computer)" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-04/IMG_1125.JPG" caption="I added a little tube to our faucet in the basement - it somehow reminds me of a mosquitto that's ready to have dinner" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-05/IMG_1126.JPG" caption="A municipal trash bag with three boxes worth of packing foam from Sandro's switches in it. I'm quite proud on how I made that all fit. It's packed so densely that one more piece of foam and I would've created a black hole." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-05/preso.png" caption="I'm working on my presentation for *NOGs around Europe this fall." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-05/IMG_1127.JPG" caption="I cook up a set of pretty delicious Limousin filet steaks." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-05/wow.png" caption="Quinn and Marina are just in awe with how long it was!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-05/IMG_1128.JPG" caption="We watch Hope Solo vs US Soccer, a documentary on Netflix about gender pay inequality" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-05/IMG_1129.JPG" caption="The printers have been productive, in the background, Adalinda is printing." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-05/IMG_1130.JPG" caption="Oops! Adalinda has lost her left wing. That sucks! This print goes to the bin, unfortunately, and at 94% finished!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-06/IMG_1131.JPG" caption="The (loaner) Stromer bike en route from my house to the Interxion datacenter in Glattbrugg. I can't stop loving the views in scenic Zurich, and that I get to live here 🥰" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-06/IMG_1133.JPG" caption="A tasty bowl of Beef Udon with sesame seeds on top. Super delish lunch!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-06/IMG_1134.JPG" caption="We drink a very nice - swiss - ice wine from Maison Gillard. This stuff is almost perfect to our palet!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-06/IMG_1135.JPG" caption="A screenshot of Han 'I have no family: Solo' alongside Lando Calrissian and the love of his life, L3-37. I enjoyed the backstory of Han Solo and Chewbacca!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-07/IMG_1136.JPG" caption="DDLN: One of IPng's racks at this beautiful office building with good power, great connectivity, and a raised floor." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-07/IMG_1137.JPG" caption="DDLN: A rack full of diskfulls - I have this very machine (st0.*.ipng.ch) but these are not mine." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-07/IMG_1139.JPG" caption="DDLN: IPng @ DDLN, the sticker on the side of my two racks at this place. If you want to host a private server in Switzerland, ping me!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-07/IMG_1144.JPG" caption="Two dual-100G network cards, normally in IPng's hypervisors, currently swapped out for 8x10G instead." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-07/IMG_1146.JPG" caption="The Dell R730s in the IPng laboratory have vinyl badges - I didn't buy that Cameo v5 for nothing!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-07/loadtest.png" caption="Loadtests are fun! This is a screenshot of a losttest with and without sflow sampling enabled in its prototype from Neil McKee from Inmon.  There's work to do, but so far: functionally complete!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-07/IMG_1147.JPG" caption="Outside, we finish that beautiful white wine from yesterday." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-07/IMG_1148.JPG" caption="A weird stink-bug with white legs shows up on my chair. He is a cutie!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-07/IMG_1150.JPG" caption="Marina wants moar: I bike over to Coop on my own (!) Stromer and get eight more bottles. 50% off! Yaay!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-07/IMG_1151.JPG" caption="Our salami-and-gurkin, and cheese-and-onion. So Dutch!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-08/IMG_1158.JPG" caption="Stromer Drama continues: after charging to only 58%, it refused to drive with this obscure error. Bah." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-08/IMG_1159.JPG" caption="I developed a strong headache behind my left eye socket, and steaming with this Vicks pellet did help a little bit, overall: half the day lost sleeping it off." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-08/IMG_1161.JPG" caption="Quinn is making garlic bread, and wants you to see it." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-08/IMG_1162.JPG" caption="The finished product: garlic bread with cafe de paris, and pasta with green pesto." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-08/IMG_1164.JPG" caption="The movie for tonight: Interceptor" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-07/IMG_1143.JPG" caption="The gift Liv brought - a giant zucchini, or as the Swiss say: Zucchetti" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-09/IMG_1165.JPG" caption="I've sliced this zucchini length wise, and it's about 2kg or so. Lots of it has to be disposed of though - it looks a bit like a pumpkin in here!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-09/IMG_1166.JPG" caption="Marina thinks that maybe the atmospheric pressure differential is what gave my sinuses the heebie-jeebies. She may be right, there was a 10mBar dip the day before... hmmm." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-09/IMG_1167.JPG" caption="The Douglas is full of powders, potions, Eyes of Newt, Gillyweed, and so on. All Marina bought was some sunscreen and parfume, though :(" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-09/IMG_1169.JPG" caption="The Coop however is full of wine. And I like wine. And baking bread. And computers." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-09/IMG_1172.JPG" caption="I write a default piss-off post-it note to PostFinance AG who are vulgar spammers. One Franc well spent!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-09/IMG_1173.JPG" caption="The corp laptop is completely dead. Also, its screen is gross, so I clean it up while it charges. I then send Phreak an e-mail." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-09/frysix.png" caption="May I present to you: the all new and improved Frys-IX website!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-09/IMG_1174.JPG" caption="Simple cheese melt toastie and zucchini soup (with balls!)" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-09/IMG_1176.JPG" caption="The singing that 'freed' this character Abi in Black Mirror. But because it's Black Mirror, she was not freed but got entirely messed up. No spoilers here :)" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-10/IMG_1177.JPG" caption="Cutting the Oracal vinyl IPng logos - in Grey because that's what the Twitter and Mastodon survey suggested." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-10/IMG_1180.JPG" caption="I don't know why I took this picture, as it has nothing to do with today. But: An ASR9001 router and three Celestica DX010 switches." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-10/IMG_1182.JPG" caption="We are listening to some music on my fancy bluetooth speaker; we do this while drinking a lovely white wine." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-10/IMG_1183.JPG" caption="Marina and I tended to our Hortensia cuttings, and ended up potting them. Wish us luck! We're both absolutely terrible at gardening." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-10/IMG_1184.JPG" caption="Dinner - meatloaf, boiled new potatoes, saurkraut and red cabbage. ALSO: gravy." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-11/20240911_062910.jpg" caption="My luggage which is also a temporary holding place for our alien friends: Uhi (left) and Hey (right)" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-11/IMG_1189.JPG" caption="At 06:50, the sun is starting to rise as we start our 720km (450mi) drive of the day." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-11/IMG_1190.JPG" caption="Just over the German border, I am writing my story for yesterday. It reminds me of the mobile blogging I have done quite often with WEiRD on roadtrips." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-11/IMG_1193.JPG" caption="At the first supercharger they have a kiosk with a Nintendo Switch - I play a few rounds of Mario Kart, which is fun!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-11/IMG_1194.JPG" caption="These are the v4 Superchargers, and they're quiet, nice and fast. I'm just very happy that a few years ago, WEiRD and I had the CCS charger retrofitted in this old Mennekes car. But: free charging, hellyeahb" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-11/IMG_1195.JPG" caption="We completely stopped crying and almost fell asleep when sucking on these two pacifiers." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-11/IMG_1196.JPG" caption="Hearty filled salad and Gulasch soup for lunch in Germany. For me at least: this is roadtrip pitstop food, and mandatory on a successful commute from CH to NL." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-11/IMG_1200.JPG" caption="At Van der Valk in Eindhoven, this statue is a Pokestop." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-11/route.png" caption="The route we took from CH, through DE and to NL." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-11/IMG_1207.JPG" caption="Friet met Snacks. Posted without further comment." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-11/IMG_1209.JPG" caption="The trusty rusty server hvn0.nlehv0.ipng.ch, a Pentium G630 @ 2.70GHz, 16GB DDS3, 3x1TB (new since last Christmas) Samsung EVO SSD.  I've had this server for about 12 years, and still works a treat!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-11/IMG_1211.JPG" caption="The sign at my parent's frontdoor." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-12/IMG_1213.JPG" caption="The Odulphus Church in Best, the Netherlands" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-12/IMG_1214.JPG" caption="We see a Harryyyyyyy Vos, except I can't yell at it because that would break the rules" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-12/IMG_1215.JPG" caption="Marina and I take a selfie at the Best train station" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-12/IMG_1216.JPG" caption="The trains in the Netherlands sure are better (Sprinter) than they used to be (Hondekop)" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-12/bowling.png" caption="The bowling pin statues at the corner of the TU/Eindhoven campus" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-12/IMG_1218.JPG" caption="Sint Katerijne Church in Stratum's Eind, Eindhoven." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-12/IMG_1221.JPG" caption="The beginning of Stratum's Eind, Eindhoven. I have spent many a night in this street as a youngling." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-12/IMG_1222.JPG" caption="We share a beautiful broodje filet americain from Bakker Bart" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-12/IMG_1223.JPG" caption="Although it's raining, we still humor ourselves with a selfie on the Grote Markt of Eindhoven" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-12/IMG_1226.JPG" caption="I am attacking our car with a vaccuum wand. It's a very powerful wand. I wonder what else I could do with it ..." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-12/IMG_1228.JPG" caption="We have stuck an IPng logo onto the side of the car. That Cameo v5 is cool :-)" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-12/IMG_1229.JPG" caption="The opening salvo for our family feast: Burrata!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-12/IMG_1232.JPG" caption="I am performing my loadtests for the VPP sflow plugins to give feedback on this iterattion to Neil and colleagues" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-13/IMG_1238.JPG" caption="In the morning, Marins thinks its a good idea to try on my sunglasses. She looks like a state trooper cop, just as much as I do." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-13/IMG_1239.JPG" caption="For lunch, we have a frikandellenbroodje from Bakker Bart. I did not like it as much, but I did not hear complaints from Marina!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-13/IMG_1241.JPG" caption="Here's our route from Best, NL to Jubbega, FRL" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-13/IMG_1242.JPG" caption="The 'Wolkom in Frysl&acirc;n' sign when entering Friesland" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-13/IMG_1243.JPG" caption="The meadow around the Van Der Valk in Wolvega is super nice today" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-13/IMG_1244.JPG" caption="We take a walk around the pond at the hotel in Wolvega" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-13/IMG_1248.JPG" caption="The tea selection at Van Der Valk is tasty! And well prepared/served." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-13/IMG_1251.JPG" caption="An overview picture of the three Pipowagens, we're in the green one in the middle." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-13/IMG_1252.JPG" caption="The inside of our green and cozy Pipowagen in Jubbega, Friesland" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-13/IMG_1256.JPG" caption="Our aperitif today is a selection of olives, meats and cheese; paired perfectly with a good glass of tawny port." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-13/IMG_1258.JPG" caption="A half-selfie of us enjoying the last sunrays of the day and our port and charcuterie" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-13/IMG_1260.JPG" caption="The Pannenkoekenhuis at De Koppenjan has all sorts of sweet and savory pancakes." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-13/IMG_1262.JPG" caption="After dinner, the PubQuiz is the place to be - it's very competitive and the questions are in the theme 'Back to School'" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-13/IMG_1264.JPG" caption="A question in the PubQuiz: Which canal connects Amsterdam with the North Sea. NO SPOILERS!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-13/IMG_1265.JPG" caption="My treat for the evening - a Rochefort 10, trappiste beer" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-14/IMG_1270.JPG" caption="The breakfast we made for ourselves in the Pipowagen at De Koppenjan." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-14/IMG_1275.JPG" caption="The car is well at home in Franeker, Friesland." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-14/IMG_1276.JPG" caption="The waterways around Franeker are serene and beautiful." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-14/IMG_1277.JPG" caption="The planetarium is just across the road from the old townhall in Franeker, Fryslan." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-14/IMG_1281.JPG" caption="The Martini Church, but I don't think it's that specific Martini ... " >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-14/IMG_1292.JPG" caption="An overview of Eise Eisinga's beautiful hand-made mechanical planetarium" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-14/IMG_1294.JPG" caption="We visited Zurich, Friesland specifically so we could say: 'yeah, we drive from Zurich to here, it was 45min'." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-14/IMG_1296.JPG" caption="Our not-kroketten, but declicious broodje gezond and broodje geitenkaas in Zurich, Friesland" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-14/IMG_1299.JPG" caption="Back at Jubbega, our Pipowagen is as beautiful as ever" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-14/IMG_1301.JPG" caption="I hand over 72pcs of 3TB hard disk to Tim, for a project he's working on. Second life!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-14/IMG_1307.JPG" caption="The recording in the Fusix studio with Niels and Yulia. Such fun talking to these guys!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-14/IMG_1310.JPG" caption="Arend had conjured up (hehe) a magician. Even though we were still sober, and we could see he was indeed fidgetting with ropes, he *sill* managed to confuse us with his trickery. Chapeau!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-14/IMG_1311.JPG" caption="Arend takes the stage for a semi-rehearsed speech (with notes and everything!)" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-14/IMG_1314.JPG" caption="Marina and I are a little bit jealous of the Frys-IX logo on Arend's car. All I got was a picture of a fox in a mountain." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-14/IMG_1316.JPG" caption="FrysIX was gifted this 32x100G nokia switch by Niek. Thank you so much on behalf of all new and upcoming members!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-14/IMG_1317.JPG" caption="A Proost in the IPng.ch steins, we had quite a few of these cheers-moments." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-14/IMG_1318.JPG" caption="Marina does her best Nora en Pure impression, in the hoodie with the beautiful blonde locks over her shoulder. 💜 💜 💜" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-14/IMG_1319.JPG" caption="A collection of congratularoty cards, signed by the FrysIX community" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-14/IMG_1320.JPG" caption="Joran does what he does best: enthuse an audience about Open 5G and telephony" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-14/IMG_1322.JPG" caption="Niels and I are amazed at this conversation which is chock full of technology which feels 'similar, but adjacent' for us IP and Ethernet nerds." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-15/IMG_1323.JPG" caption="After midnight, this stolen F16 afterburner was used, and the tent was toasty shortly after." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-15/IMG_1325.JPG" caption="Arend's cute kitty came to stop by - he and I are besties now." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-15/IMG_1328.JPG" caption="And just like that, the beautiful party was over and the tent was empty. Byebye, friends, until next time!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-15/IMG_1329.JPG" caption="We enjoy a few bitterballen at the supercharger in Breda, well deserved" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-15/IMG_1332.JPG" caption="The view from Andrew's pad in smack middle of Brussels" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-15/IMG_1336.JPG" caption="@yourtch is clearly an omnivore, and devours a pork knuckle" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-15/IMG_1339.JPG" caption="At the Cercueil we drink a few beers - it's weird because we're the only ones here (and I don't personally recall that ever happening to me before)" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-16/IMG_1342.JPG" caption="We walk back through beautiful Gallerie Royale." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-16/IMG_1343.JPG" caption="I bump into this very huggable biker bunny. Not drunk." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-16/IMG_1345.JPG" caption="Andrew and Pim hang out on the couch at @yourtch's place" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-16/IMG_1346.JPG" caption="We offer Andrew and Eimear a lunch at Pee Klak in Grimbergen (Stroombeek-Bever). Eimear stole it from us and paid while Marina was on the toilet - thanks again!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-16/IMG_1347.JPG" caption="Pee Klak is well known in Brussels for his Spaghetti Bolognaise" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-16/IMG_1348.JPG" caption="We are chipper in the car driving down south through Belgium to Luxembourg" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-16/IMG_1349.JPG" caption="Arrived in Luxo city, there's a mall with a huge battery (heh) of v4 chargers. We get 110kW here, booyah" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-16/IMG_1352.JPG" caption="Driving from Luxembourg to Nancy there's a bit more traffic due to roadworks" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-16/IMG_1354.JPG" caption="Our spread for the evening - cheese, sausage, bread, tomato, olives. We watch the presidential debate. I'm thankful there will be only one of these ..." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-17/IMG_1359.JPG" caption="Marina bought these totes adorbs Pav&eacute; d'Affinois Mini (but I think they're rather Micro)" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-17/IMG_1357.JPG" caption="The totallu cute micro Pav&eacute; d'Affinois that Marina used for breakfast" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-17/IMG_1359.JPG" caption="The very last picture of the car with IPng sticker - it's coming off before we hit the Swiss border!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-18/IMG_1360.JPG" caption="Driving from Zurich to Luzern in the afternoon, it's gorgeous weather, and the drive is about 50 minutes.." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-18/IMG_1362.JPG" caption="I'm the first in the room! It's completely switched off, with only empty racks and no IT equipment, not even the airconditioning has been turned on yet. I love it." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-18/IMG_1364.JPG" caption="A selfie of me in the new cage with 14 racks that will be taken into service over the next few weeks. First order of business: get the IT and telecom equipment installed and configured." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-18/IMG_1368.JPG" caption="The rear of the racks is against a curved wall. In German, Stollen are underground straight tunnels. Yes, this facility is built into a hillside along the Vierwaltst&auml;dtersee" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-18/IMG_1377.JPG" caption="IP-Max is a diamond partner of this facility, and I can see great service for the new and prospect customers in this datacenter." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-18/IMG_1378.JPG" caption="A view of the top of the racks with the cold aisle roof in front of us, and a bright yellow fibertray that will carry the fiber trunks between the racks." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-18/IMG_1382.JPG" caption="I order a Farmer's Size (350g) beef filet, and it smells godly. Also: R&ouml;stikroketten, just sayin'" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-18/IMG_1383.JPG" caption="Fred took a candid camera shot of me seasoning my steak. I'm in a happy place, clearly" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-19/IMG_1384.JPG" caption="The stuff we wished we had had yesterday. Fiber guides with brushes, an APU6 for IP-Max, a WiFi kit for IP-Max, and a label printer." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-19/IMG_1386.JPG" caption="Fred and I make an enthusiastic selfie in the room, as it's almost ready for production use!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-19/IMG_1388.JPG" caption="One of the two ASR9k+Nexus combos. There are two of these racks in the room, and each has its own management switch and terminal server, and also each has 2x10G to other datacenters. I don't expect much downtime inthis room..." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-19/IMG_1389.JPG" caption="The rack that I'm moving IPng into, as seen from the back." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-19/IMG_1392.JPG" caption="The VPP router (top), blank (the Centec is a R-to-F device, so it's in the back), and hypervisor (below). IPng will soon be open for business here!" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-19/IMG_1404.JPG" caption="The IP-Max footprint up close. There's already quite a few fibers breaking in- and out of this router." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-19/IMG_1406.JPG" caption="The back of IPng's small footprint. Could you believe this VPP router does 2x25G + 4x10G and easily handles 200Mpps on about 120W of power??" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-19/IMG_1409.JPG" caption="Cheers, Fred! We had a tough two days, but we delivered the room ahead of schedule, and that deserves a beer." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-19/cheers.png" caption="Cheers, Pim! Fred took this nice under-beer picture. We worked hard, and now we get to relax a little bit." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-19/IMG_1410.JPG" caption="Look, Marina! I ate a salad today! And a second 350g steak. Sorry for being boring :-)" >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-19/IMG_1411.JPG" caption="The beef is sizzling on a hot stone, and it really hits the spot after such a day of POP building." >}}
+  {{< gallery-photo fn="2024-09-19/IMG_1412.JPG" caption="On the way home, the full moon was shining bright over A14. The drive home was 50min or so, which is totally cool! I an be in this place pretty quickly in case of emergencies" >}}
 {{< /gallery-category >}}
 
 {{< gallery-modal >}}

hugo.yaml

@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@ title: "Pim's Sabbatical 2024"
 theme: 'hugo-theme-ipng'
 
 mainSections: ["blog"]
-paginate: 4
 
 params:
   author: "Pim van Pelt"
@@ -20,10 +19,11 @@ params:
 
   social:
     email: "pim+sabbatical@ipng.nl"
-    mastodon: "IPngNetworks"
+    mastodon: "@IPngNetworks"
     twitter: "IPngNetworks"
     linkedin: "pimvanpelt"
     instagram: "IPngNetworks"
+    rss: true
 
 taxonomies:
   year: "year"