Dutchy in the USA

Nog 7 weken en dan zijn we in Nederland voor vakantie met de hele familie. Gavin en Saige kijken ernaar uit. We komen aan op Woensdag 20 Juli in Amsterdam en blijven daar tot Vrijdag de 22e alvorens we naar Zeeland afreizen. In Zeeland zijn we dan voor 2 weken in de Roompot Beach Resort in Kamperland aan het strand tot 5 Augustus en daarna enkele dagen nog in Goes/Kapelle voordat we op Maandag 8 Augustus weer vertrekken.

Ik hoop heel veel vrienden en famile te kunnen zien, iedereen is welkom op de Roompot zal komende weken iedereen wel benaderen om een datum te prikken en lokatie voor een borrel, lunch, bbq of etentje.

Groeten
Arnold

The kids went out to find some pumpkins this weekend.

Ok, this is probably one of the most irritation topics to tackle in general and especially getting an Android phone. Contact Management! I have contacts all over the place, my gmail original account, my google apps main account, linkedin, facebook, plaxo, yahoo, outlook contacts work and probably some I never use anymore and forgot.

I have tried to sync them in the past but never have been very success full. So with my Droid X coming up next week and Christy on her Droid 2, I have been reading some posts on this topic and it basically comes down to pick a spot to make this your main contact management location (either your phone, google gmail contacts or outlook and then select the proper sync solution).

1st step – Which application? So I decided to maintain my contacts in my google apps gmail account as this is my main mail account. I decided this as I played on the Droid 2 with contacts and that was not really fast enough. Also Outlook on my work pc is not always available for me. 2nd step – Prepare before you use your Droid.

Well this is getting tricky, first of all, when you activate your phone you need a google gmail account. Your google apps account won’t work initially. You could make your apps account the primary account but I understand that gives problems buying apps on the marketplace through google checkout.

So I deleted all my contacts from my gmail first after I export and imported and merged them with my google apps gmail account. Then I went into my apps contacts and basically cleaned up duplicates etc, With over 500 accounts you can imagine this took a while, spend probably 3-4 hours on this but I know it will work for me at the end. Then I exported and imported my outlook work account contacts into my google apps contacts and did a final cleanup.

3rd step – sync between Google Apps or Gmail Contacts and outlook

For this I found a small free application called GO Contact Sync

This little nifty app runs on startup (optional), auto or manual sync between your Outlook Contacts and Gmail contacts. Initially I had some issues to get it to work but after I manually merged first all my contacts to Gmail and deleted all contacts in Outlook. I ran the options Google to Outlook only first to sync them back and this works wonder full. Now I have Sync Delete and Merge Google Wins setup as options and I run it manually when needed. Go Contacts Sync (webgear open source)

4th step – Add your google apps email account to your Droid phone

Now you can add your google apps email as 2nd account to your phone and all your contacts should sync up automatically between google apps and your phone.

Christy is using local Outlook with a POP3 setup to a hosted mail server solution for her company. So no exchange. This has always been an issue when travelling as sent emails from the web account would never sync back unless she CC-ed herself and moved those emails to the sent folder when she got back home. She is asking the hosting company to install an exchange module so we can do Corporate sync with Exchange active sync solution on the Droid 2.

My company has exchange but no Android phones from Verizon are supported currently on the server. So either webmail through the browser is probably the best option currently till they approve the phone.

So no experience yet with Corporate Sync features for outlook apart from hotmail but hopefully an update on this topic soon when one of us will have this in place.

As of now the best option for the email part remain a pop3 solution for Christy and using the webmail solution for me. Further posts on Calendar Sync and Contacts, Tasks and Notes sync as there are solutions for this.

	So after looking for hours and trying out several apps like K9 and the default email and going through several forums I finally found the solutions to sync hotmail between Christy her Droid 2 and her hotmail account. When I initially set it up it was just a pop3 solution so it didn’t really sync properly.

She deleted an email on her webmail account it did not get deleted on the phone email and vice versa, neither did the sent email get synced properly. So handle this frustration as husband to tell her that is just the way it is. She wanted to return the phone already after 2 days. So hubby geek, spent the entire night browsing forums to find out this issue was already existing since like 2008 for Android phones and seemed not resolved yet. Till I found a post with this link:

Hotmail corporate sync for Droid phones with 2.2 Android Froyo

It works by setting up a corporate sync with active sync using m.hotmail.com. I configured it and it seems to work great as her phone is on 2.2 Android. For my X I don’t have to do this as I use google apps/gmail for my email account.

Further syncing posts will follow for exchange, local outlook Google gmail, apps gmail account and calendar, contacts sync.

So I finally got a new phone the Droid X, Christy got a Droid 2. So now figuring out which apps to run, how to sync my calendar and contacts. It seems really connected to Google and its online services, but I was using this already so more post to follow

So we  had a big Garage Sale this weekend and from the profits, I decided to buy a new Lawn Mower, after heavy research and reviews I decided to buy a Honda..

And I love it, set up was about 10 minutes, first cord pull started.

I bought this one for 399,- at my local home depot. So far the only negative aspect might be for taller people that you can’t adjust the push bar handles, the height is not adjustable, however you can adjust the variable speed handle in the middle and get it to a higher position.

Just a quick spring 2010 update as it has been long ago since I posted something on the bog. First some updates about the family.

Saige is growing and growing, she turns 3 in July and talking like crazy, a real girly girl. Started school in January at Primrose, same as Gavin for 3 days but I think she will start soon 4 days as well, when Grandma and Grandpa move up to Wyoming for the summer.

Gavin starts to be a big boy, his clothes and shoes are renewed every 4 months or so, a big Dutch boy probably. He starts full time Kindergarten in September at the Blackrock elementary in our neighborhood, which is right across the daycare they both go to right now. He will turn 5 in June. Also he is getting more interested in playing soccer lately, now the weather starts to get better we are practicing a lot in the backyard.

Christy is going great, she looks awesome as she has been training and training with her fitness courses and running outside. She is enjoying her work from home about 32 hours a week, and lately is travelling a bit more to clients. As a matter a fact we are leaving for Los Angeles tomorrow as I have to extend my Dutch passport and I can’t do this in Denver because lack of biometric scan equipment.

Myself, I am going steady, working out twice a week in a bootcamp, see posts below and also running quite a bit, which will increase now the weather is getting better. Still have a goal to run a half marathon this year or triathlon after the summer.

Work at Staples is going great as well, we are staying as it seems for a longer period in the broomfield building in Colorado. We just merged 280 people from another location into our building so everyone is under one roof. Lots of projects and work to do the coming years.

We are really looking forward to the Summer time. We hopefully had the last snow last week, but you never know in April, gras is starting to get green now. Pool will open on May 29th and the kids can’t wait for that.

We have no big plans around the house for the summer, keep landscaping low maintenance as we want to save for a big overhaul in one or two years when the kids are bit older. So enjoying the sun and grilling from our deck after a day in the pool is probably going to be a lot of weekends of entertainment.

In August or  September we plan to visit Jon in Seattle Washington for a family vacation trip which would be the first time all four of us in an airplane.

Will keep everyone posted more coming Summer or visit our photo blog at http://www.slabbekoorn.us

As i wanted to continue with the Tabata method at home, i found a couple apps with tabata timers:

  Tabata Timer

Time to Workout: Plain and Simple designed Ultra Timer to aid segmented exercises such as interval training and circuit training. But you can use it for any sort of timing function.

UltraTimer by Plain and Simple Software is an ideal tool if you want to use your iPhone or iPod touch to keep you on track.

Personally I like the customization options of UltraTimer better then the tabata timer as it can fade the music when you work out and the sounds at the different time intervals.

Yes, it is on for 2010. The community center started with a new course, Intensity boot camp fat burning class and I must say after week 1, this is going to be one that kicks butt… Tristan is our trainer, he moved to Vista Ridge with his family and has a lot of experience in the Fitness world.

http://www.intensitybootcamps.com/

Tristan Lewis, our excellent fitness coach/trainer.

The intensity and structure of this class is based on the Tabata method performed on the Japanese ice skating team.

“A popular regimen based on a 1996 study^[2] uses 20 seconds of ultra-intense exercise (at 170% of VO₂max) followed by 10 seconds of rest, repeated continuously for 4 minutes (8 cycles). In the original study, athletes using this method trained 4 times per week, plus another day of steady-state training, and obtained gains similar to a group of athletes who did steady state (70% VO₂max) training 5 times per week. The steady state group had a higher VO₂max at the end (from 52 to 57 ml/kg/min), but the tabata group had started lower and gained more overall (from 48 to 55 ml/kg/min). Also, only the tabata group had gained anaerobic capacity benefits unlike the steady state group.”

Tristan also adapted this method and years of experience into a book and training method called M.I.T. You can find more information and purchase the book on this website.

http://www.maverickintensitytraining.com/

I will keep you posted on my progress and exercises..