The title says it all: the Vibe 98.5 contest that I posted about earlier is now over, and Crystal and Tony didn’t win. The couple that won sound like they really needed it (the husband has colon cancer), so it’s great that the prize is going toward a couple that will really benefit from it…but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t really hoping Crystal and Tony would win it. I emailed the radio station Webmaster and urged him to implement something to block repeat voting next time - I hate to think this, but their voting system was so open it would have been ridiculously easy to cheat; you just never know (I’m sure others would be thinking the same thing if Tony and Crystal won).

I’m deeply grateful for all of you who voted, for the blogs and emails that went out around the world rallying support, and for the donations that were made to help Crystal and Tony - you guys are awesome.

[For the geeks among you: I've gotta' say though, no thanks to the cold-hearted people who read Digg - only 13 votes? Really? Nothing but coal in the stocking for anyone that read the story and didn't vote for it. Digg is a ridiculous farce in many ways - the premise sounds great, but the reality is so much different.]

Welcome to the land of tulips, wooden clogs, marijuana, and bicycles!

I’m writing this from the Netherlands! Ashley and I flew into Amsterdam on Saturday afternoon and it’s now Monday morning, nearly 9am, local time. We’re just about to head out for a day-long tour of the countryside. The weather here has sucked unfortunately: yesterday (Sunday) was our first full day here, and we spend it walking around freezing our toes off and getting quite wet. Normally cold weather doesn’t bother me much, but the wind here is relentless.The pictures I’ve taken so far are up in a gallery.

Travel lessons learned so far? Always have your passport on you if you want to use your credit card: most stores will not accept a credit card without your passport. Some restaurants and most taxi cabs will not accept credit cards, because it cuts into their profit margin (more on that later). Customer service as we understand it in North America doesn’t really apply here. A 43 watt flat iron will not work, even when connected to a 2000 watt converter. Always take Jet Lag pills - adjusting to the local time is a killer (last night was the longest night of my life).

More fun later - Mobius, the Microsoft conference and the reason I’m actually here in Amsterdam, is coming up in a few days.