Hell-week in Holland

Damn! 16+ million is a lot of people for this little corner of Europe!

This week is tweener week, when most Dutch are back from their sunny holidays in Spain, France, and the Greek Isles but have not yet returned to work and school and their normal scheduled lives. It is the absolute worst time of the year to be in Holland.

Beth and I have been working (or not) remote for four years now and have gotten a bit spoiled by not having to participate in the daily 9-5 grind. The “not driving” part was a no brainer for us to quickly appreciate. Boise’s traffic hadn’t been all that bad, I actually used to bike to work , but after two years in Washington DC’s car oriented drive-me-to-the-next-strip-mall culture, we were more than happy to leave the suburban commuter lifestyle as far behind as possible.

But this week in Holland makes me appreciate the other beneficial aspects of working (or not) at home. Most days I almost enjoy grocery shopping or running an errand downtown to pick something up. I certainly enjoy the way that I have the bike paths through the dunes to myself or can walk in the dog parks knowing that only the ‘regulars’ will be there. I usually do all of these things before 5:00 PM because I know that once everyone gets off of work, it can be too much of a hassle or too crowded.

Welcome to hell-week. It’s a free-for-all out there and it ain’t a pretty sight. Screaming, hopped-up kids savoring their last week of freedom, stressed (although tanned) parents trying to cram a summer’s worth of shopping and home-improvement projects into five days, and woefully understaffed shops (hey, they get vacation too!) all combine to make life miserable here this week.

I can’t wait until everyone returns to work and I can finally relax.