An interesting idea emerged from a meeting we had today: “Therapy for the alarm clock.” Now, you are probably leaning back, sipping your coffee, and wondering why on earth a mechanical object would need a therapist. Well, think about it—everybody hates the alarm clock. Whether it is set to wake you up at dawn for…
We began with a simple question. On a normal morning, what gives us the first little push of energy? Fabrice did not begin with poetry. He began with reality. The alarm clock. At 4:45 in the morning, the alarm clock does not give him energy. It attacks him. He hates it. He needs it, of…
We began with a simple question, but it did not stay simple for very long. Ritesh had just come home from work, so it felt natural to begin with him. Before we even entered the topic properly, there was a small interruption of ordinary life. Did he get the promotion? Did he get the new…
Ingredients Equipment Preparation Two days before cooking, cover the pork spare ribs with dry rub. Wrap the ribs tightly in cling film or place them in vacuum bags and vacuum-seal them. Put the ribs in the refrigerator for 48 hours so the rub can go into the meat. Cooking Method Heat the barbecue or smoker…
The first picture in my head was not the training room. It was the flight. That sounds simple, maybe a little strange, but it is true. When The Mayor asked me what I saw first when I thought about the training in Belgium, I did not see the trainer, the schedule, the people, or the…
Health and lifestyle balance, this sounds first a little bit like a leaflet in the doctor’s waiting room. You sit there, you look at the paper, and it says eat salad, make steps, drink water, don’t smoke, don’t eat this, don’t eat that. And yes, okay, this is maybe right. But for me health is…
This month, The Pineapple is about balance. Unfortunately, balance appears to have left the building. The day began with good intentions. Those are often dangerous. I was working on the Brida ecosystem, specifically trying to automate part of our member-care process. The task itself seemed simple enough. If we could automate the Spud Toss, we…
I closed the door because my husband was prancing around on the outskirts of my office. Well, technically, he was sweeping the floor and doing laundry, but in Fruitloop language that is still prancing. Domestic ballet with a broom. Laundry choreography. The Mayor heard the noise, of course, because The Mayor hears everything that can…
Balance is not something we solve once. It comes back on Monday morning. It appears in the inbox, in the body, in the family, in the calendar, in the group chat, in the weather, in the bank account, and sometimes in the mysterious question of whether we still have enough energy to speak to other…
Balance is not a perfect state. It is what people do while life keeps happening. And life, as this week’s Pineapple makes very clear, does not usually happen neatly. It happens during 100-kilometre walks, broken dishwashers, awkward work emails, money mistakes, rooftop pools, social batteries, family routines, emotional storms, strange apartments, unexpected neighbours, middle-aged maintenance,…
