Category: life

I was born on a Wednesday, and for some reason, when my birthday falls on a Wednesday, I always consider it a “special” birthday: a Birthday Day.

It’s been a long time since I’ve had a Birthday Day — almost ten years! When I was 12-13 years old, I did some work to discover that my Birthday Day would be every 5-6 years, but apparently, I didn’t do the math for one more cycle!

There are cycles to Birthday Days, depending on which day of the week the leap year is in relation to the day you were born. The cycle goes 11, 6, 5, 6 years, but the mapping looks sorta like this:

For example, if you were born on January 2, 1980, your first cycle is five years and looks something like this:

It’s interesting to note that during these five years, you wouldn’t have a birthday on a Tuesday or Thursday. Then, after five years, you enter a six-year cycle:

Where you don’t have a Sunday birthday, and finally, you enter the 11-year cycle:

This is the current cycle I am in, and most of my family is as well. I’m near the end of it, but my wife is just entering it. I should note that there is another 5-year cycle, and then the cycles repeat.

I’ve provided one that allows you to configure your settings below so you can see which cycle you are on and when your next Birthday Day is.

PS: note that 2100 is NOT a leap year (century years are only leap years when divisible by 400), so the pattern breaks around that time… 😉

I moved around a lot as a kid; I always had to make new friends wherever I went. Our family was close, not because we necessarily liked each other, but because we didn’t have a choice. For a long while, home was with my family.

Then, one day, as a fresh 18-year-old, I stood outside my house in the pouring snow, watching my family through the window. I saw that they were happy and laughing, and they would be fine without me. It was at that moment that I realized this wasn’t my home.

My home was somewhere in the big wide world. I had to find it all myself.

I spent the next ten years traveling the world, building an ISP, fighting terrorism, and starting businesses. While I was moderately successful, I never found home.

Then, I moved onto a sailboat and met my wife.

Those were some of the hardest, most exciting, and life-filled days of my life up to that point. I had found my first real home since becoming an adult.

And if I ever thought that was hard, let me tell you about parenthood. Actually, let me skip a few years: we moved to the Netherlands.

I first came to the Netherlands in 2017 for work and immediately fell in love. Bikes were everywhere, people were actually walking around, and cafes had outdoor seating. It was awesome; that’s all I ever wanted out of a city: life.

It wasn’t until 2018 that we actually moved here and got a house in Utrecht. The adjustment was hard at first. You see, in America, everyone has this intense, I don’t know, paranoia? that pervades the entire culture, and when you don’t have to deal with it anymore… it can be hard sometimes.

But now. Now I have a sweet kitten sitting on my legs, a young man growing up faster than I can blink, a beautiful and amazing wife, and friends. I have a home. Home isn’t just the people that are a part of your life, the people that define you, push you to be better, and all that stuff. No, a home is made of that and the things you see every day … it’s στοργή, the natural affection we have for all the things around us. It’s a place we go to after a long day.

This post marks another reset, a fresh slate. This blog has been all over the place since 2005ish and it’s time to start over. Again.

Until next time,

Cpt. Rob