I'm having a picknick along the A58 highway near Tilburg. It's not quiet, but I love these rest stops. No shops or gas station here. And a ditch instead of toilets. (No, I'm not that shameless. I mean another, less conspicuous ditch, on the right side). Some people, especially women, may think otherwise, but a highway rest stop is one of the most relaxing places I can imagine. It's like a drive-in park: a place where you can hang around whenever you like, and leave without saying goodbye to anyone.
My stationwagon is parked on the left side reserved for trucks, but the trucks are parked on the right side meant for personal cars. I had been transporting cargo anyway. I delivered a computer monitor in the village of Riel. It was donated by a friend who doesn't have time for this, so I could sell it and share the profit.
We're in the woods in Brabant. But I notice something familiar on the brand new Dalek-style trash can.
It's the colors of my hometown: black on yellow. That's not an accident - it's where Mourik, the road building company comes from. When I lived in Groot Ammers in the 70s and 80s, there were around 3000 inhabitants. Besides the Mourik conglomerate, there were various car dealers, garages, bodywork shops for repairs and for special trucks, a river port, two river ferries, an oil trading company and a shipyard. Later, the heavy transport company Van der Vlist moved their headquarters there. We get around!
Anyway, I'm happy to be on the road again. The last time was in March. Maybe there's a change I can join 
For the next five days, I'll be working on a challenging translation project full-time. I forgot that it's a holiday weekend. After the rest stop, I took a detour along the N63, the road between Tilburg and Den Bosch which hasn't been upgraded to a motorway yet. I listened to the Symphonie Fantastique by Berlioz on an old-fashioned CD. That guy knows how to climax!
In political news, an agreement about the future of government pensions in the Netherlands was reached, which included an obligation for self-employed people to get private disability insurance. Of course, this was an agreement between politicians, employers and unions where we weren't represented. If this means I'll have to spend as much on insurance as on my rent, I'll have to consider moving to another country or becoming a digital nomad.
(After I came home, I edited the post and added more text)