De largest part of the IJsselhallen in Zwolle has been torn down last year. Only the older IJsselhal is left standing. That gives a free view on the mix of buildings that are now visible from the train track to Kampen.
What kind of person makes a good partner. That is a question that has been bugging me for years. I will share some of my thoughts and observations about it. Most probably I will make some amendments in the future to this article (or I will delete this alltogether :) ). If you read this article, please give it some time to sink in and see if it has any merit to you.
People can be very different in how easy they receive and perceive new ideas. Sometimes people pick up new ideas very easily, sometimes it needs a bit more time and effort.
You might prefer someone similar to yourself for more understanding.
Sometimes these are hidden traits. If someone has a less developed feel for language, it might not always be noticeable that someone can receive new ideas very easily.
1. With wider thinking you could think about always seeing options, instead of tunnel vision with only one option.
Also taking into account that in a given situation, there is not one factor at play, but most often there are more factors at play, that all contribute.
2. Seeing from the perspective of another person and what it’s like for them is a trait. It doesn’t mean you can really see it from the perspective of the other, that is impossible. But you can try to look from that perspective, looking at all the things that are at play in someone’s situation and all that happened before and all that can be expected in the future.
Also looking at it as if you are in that situation, not from the outside. Looking at a situation from the outside, even your own past situations, will turn it into a story, which is different from the experience in the moment.
These experiences require effort and attention, but for some it comes almost as natural, while some people have to work harder on it.
When you meet someone similar as you are, there is a lot of understanding in both directions.
It resembles the ideas of “sympathy” of Henri Bergson or the ren (仁) in Confucianism.
These types of thinking have influence on the way you think. Also on the way you “talk” to yourself and thus also on the way you talk with other people.
And when you meet someone who more or less thinks and talks like you do, you will notice that. Sometimes conciously, sometimes more as a general feeling of a click.
Aha, interesting. You think you have a partner that is different from you. It doesn’t have to be a problem, if you keep tabs on a few points a bit more than ususal.
A rough person might come accross as rude, maybe using curse words or strong language. A soft person might be offended by that. A soft person might prefer someone who is soft as well, thinking of a more empathic approach to other people.
Basic fear in life is about fear of death or fear of destruction. There might be different kinds of fear and different ways to deal with them.
According to the Stoics, fear is about something that might happen in the future, that you don’t want to happen.
Spinoza iterated on that, fear is choosing between two things that you don’t want.
Do you prefer to give people your trust from the start or only after getting to know them? Are you afraid of repercussions if you do something that is not liked by others? Do you try to ignore your own fear by overcompensating? People have different backgrounds in what kind of fear they have. I would reckon, some basic understanding towards eachother helps a lot here. No human lives without fear, but we all deal different with it.
You might prefer someone who is doing this similar, else conflicts may arise. Personally, I think the healthiest behaviour here is a bit of both, but that may just be my preference.
Yes, some people are careless in many things. And some people are carefull in many things.
It’s not often that someone is on a fixed spot on that dimension, they might be very carefull in one thing, but very careless in something else. There is a red line though. It is most noticable and recognizable in writing style. Do you put in any effort or not? Do you check and read what you just wrote, or do you just press the Send button?
Careless people might disagree that this is an important topic, maybe they couldn’t care less. They might find that some people just have OCD. For carefull people this topic is often of more importance. From both sides there can be disagreement and misunderstanding.
And another thing, please bear with me :)
There are these photosets for aura photo’s. I really believe there are people mainly with red and people mainly with blue in these photo’s. People in a relationship might prefer the opposite color for a partner. And yes, maybe these aura photo’s are nonsense. But it can simply be a translation of other traits. I just haven’t found the right idea and words for those traits yet to explain it well.
And please understand that this is not about team days and all the team courses about colours and personal traits. I am trying to mean something that does have a deeper base.
The book Surrounded by Idiots by Thomas Erikson is an interesting read in this context, I very much advise reading it, if you are interested.
Since I have this Motobecane Cyclotouriste, I have been pondering about having a cycling trip with this bicycle. It was made for it, even though it is not fit for it.
After all the corona madness, this spring was the right time for it. For 6 days did I cycle in Belgium. Max distance was 70km a day, with this bicycle that is more than enough. The aim was to be a tourist in the places that I would be visiting.
By train I traveled to Roosendaal, to go to Antwerp by bicycle. The days after I went to Ghent, Brussels, Mechelen and again Antwerp and Roosendaal. The roads were bad, the people were nice. De hostels were excellent, the weather fantastic. Especially Brussels and Antwerp were beautiful cities that are worthwhile to visit for multiple days.
There were enough doubts as well, especially the first few days when I wondered if a cycling holiday is really something for me. But the days after were really fine for me. Unexpected was the catharsis-effect.
The bicycle was nervous and around tram rails somewhat frightening. Together with packing and bad roads it sometimes was a bit of a burden.
Sorry, this entry is only available in Nederlands.
Last January this Motobecane Cyclotouriste M.T.H.C was for sale on the Dutch website Marktplaats. I already have enough bicycles and don’t want to become a collector, a bicycle should be used. But I liked it that much that I could not resist picking it up.
It was told that the bicycle was bought about 8 years ago at the fair in Reims in France, there it was told that the bicycle was from 1960. That could be, but more probably it is from the fifties. The Huret rear derailer with 2-bolt-connection to the chainstay was used in 1957, in 1960 there was a Huret Allvit with parallellogram. In 1957 it came with light metal fenders, so this one must be from before that. The guidonnet brake levers made from a piece of aluminium were also used in the fifties by Motobecane, in the sixties they switched to forged guidonnet brake levers like those from Mafac and CLB.
The small nameplate at the stem is supposed to be from the French defense, so each soldier could find his own bicycle again.
I assumed this was a cheap bike when it was new, looking at the chrome rims and cottered cranks, but reading up on the internet it turned out to be not that cheap of a bicycle in the fifties. In those days cars were not affordable by Joe Sixpack and if you wanted to go on holiday, you bought a cyclotouriste like this to explore the French countryside.
The saddle is probably original, a Unic saddle with a big M stamped in for Motobecane. Dynamo and head light (yellow light) are still functional, but there is so little light, there is no use to it.
The handle bar tape is not original, as usual for French randonneur bars from that era. There should be a piece of plastic around the bottom and top part of the drop bar with plastic “tape”, where the middle part stays bare metal. When that is gone there is no other solution that to use regular taped bar tape.
The chain protector is gone and cannot be fitted again without welding at the frame parts. Visually slightly disappointing, but functionally no problem, since these French chain protectors do little, and your trousers still get dirty from the chain.
Brake pads for the French cantilevers are still available through Ebay for not too much money. After the first wear (with lots of noise) they now work okayish, for what it’s worth with chrome rims. The rims are Rigida Deco =std= which usually have a year stamped in, but unfortunately this set doesn’t.
It was nice to put a new chain on the bicycle, wonderfully enough it ran smooth on the old chain ring and sprockets. Chain ring might even be original with the panto from days gone by. Rear sprockets are aging as well, with a 4-speed freewheel with a bit of play on the bearings. Made to last :)
That Saturday it was lovely weather and after the sale in Leiden I biked to Rotterdam through the green heart of Zuid-Holland.
Update April 2022
Last autumn I built a new wheelset for this bicycle with Velo Orange Voyager rims. Now I can make miles again.
