Week 53 Happy New Year

Happy New Year!

Not much this week. I've been laid low with flu... again! The TV news mentioned a "griep epidemie" (flu epidemic) and suggested that "going to bed is probably the best remedy" - so I did!

Finally had to go to the doctor by Friday - as much to report that Janny's Dad was also suffering but less inclined to go to a doctor than me. But, seeing he is 84 we thought we should at least mention it. My point was that it was knocking me about so much, then what must it be doing to him?

Now I mention it here just to make note of the general philosophy in the Netherlands of NOT handing out prescription drugs unnecessarily. A good thing. So we came away with something for Janny's Dad and a bit of sympathy for me.

A short trip to Amsterdam

Ben came to stay with us on Christmas Eve - so we had a roast with Janny's parents. A full on roast with all the extras is not a "normal" thing - at least with people I know - so it always goes down well if I get an appreciative audience.

On Christmas Day we took Ben back to Amsterdam and stayed in his hotel room again - ah, what a life - at his age!

We did the Public Transport and Shanks' Pony thing to get around - it's starting to feel quite familiar - Ben certainly knows his way around.

We had Chinese food at a restaurant full of Chinese people - a good sign, surely?

Many of the streets were lit up for Christmas, but it felt as though there were fewer people than normal - it is always so busy with tourists!

Boxing Day (known here as the 2nd Christmas Day - tweede kerstdag) saw us back in Amsterdam finding places for coffee and food - again!. 

Our highlight was The Hoxton - very cosy and reeking of luxury. We saw students working away on their laptops - apparently OK so long as they keep buying something during the course of the day. Ben added it to his list of "places to go" to study - he might need it again if he chooses to do another Bachelor of Something or Other.

Who knows? I might even dare one day to check out the accommodation prices if our cheap rooms are no longer available.

Ha, the website even has a photo of where we sat - and the table behind where the students were working...

Ben went off to see some friends and we headed back to...

Wijnjewoude.

With the Old Man tucked into bed Janny set about cleaning out one of the Dark Cupboards.

The rear of the house, which used to house animals, has a steep roof. I couldn't think how to describe it but the lower corners have been made into cupboards - quite a lot of storage space, actually. And what happens if there is a lot of space and a lot of "stuff"? The Hoarder in Chief has somewhere for everything.

(It has also been handy for the DIY computer systems manager to hardwire the whole house for computer and television cables).

The point of this little aside is to say that Janny found lots of "stuff" (what else?) including some old photos and "knuffels" (soft toys) of Ben's. (and only three more dark cupboards to go!).

Ben, black top, centre

On that note, having done my early Sunday morning thing, I'm off to bed again!

From last week...

I found out what WAJONG means - 

De Wet Arbeidsongeschiktheidsvoorziening JONgGehandicapten

My translation: The Law "work unsuitable provision for young handicapped". Obviously much easier to say WAJONG - but it does help if your audience has a bit of a clue.

Wishing you all the best for next year!

Week 52 The Christmas Edition

Happy Christmas to all! (I'm not liberated enough to be calling it Happy Holidays). Enjoy your families and all that that implies.

And a Happy New Year

My cards have a story behind them. There is a young chap in our village who has been written out of the normal workforce. It's one of those jargon things... Janny says "oh yeah, he has a WAJONG uitkering" - and I'm supposed to know what it means... (So, I have now looked it up and even the information page is so full of jargon and acronyms that it is extremely difficult to follow).

WAJONG comes under the UWV and is related to WW, WIA, WAO, WAZ, Wazo en Ziektewet.

UWV stands for 

Uitvoeringsinstituut Werknemersverzekeringen... so no wonder they like to use acronyms!

As for WAJONG - I have read through pages of information but have yet to find what it actually stands for! 

Google Translate gives this...

What is Wajong?

Do you have a disease or handicap from an early age so that you can not work? Then you may receive a Wajong benefit from UWV. This is arranged through the Wajong. The Wajong applies to people aged 18 or older. You are therefore not eligible for a Wajong benefit before your 18th.

This makes my story unnecessarily long, but the young chap is coming to us as a "volunteer". We think we might be able to "employ" him under the WAJONG system - we would get subsidised and he enters the workforce albeit in a limited capacity. Again one of those "system" things that would be of benefit to all concerned. (We have already seen that it has been good for him - just to have some routine and more importantly some social interaction).

And, finally to the point. The young man had some packets of old-fashioned Christmas Cards and brought them to us.

(Janny's Mum had her 85th Birthday on Thursday - we had the family get together at our place - out the back)

Ben took a great photo in Amsterdam during the week. We're heading down there on Monday - just for a night, and then back to work on Wednesday!

My extra $2000...

(found in my SPAM mailbox) I suspect that there may have been more truth to be found in the 5 pictures and 3 videos from Emma! 

A Canada Connection...

Friesland was "liberated" by Canadian forces at the end of WWII. Over the years, I have imagined that there has been and still is, a fondness for Canada and Canadians. Some marriages, emigration and other stories here and there.

I had this thought when I read about a bridge between Canada and the USA having to be funded totally by the Canadians, due to lack of infrastructure funds being available below the border.

https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2017/07/canada-america-taxes/533847/

As I have written previously, the infrastructure spending here in the Netherlands is pretty amazing. Mainly my own limited personal observation, but then reinforced by further reading. The article above refers to Canada seemingly having the same philosophy.

For Canadians, it’s more transactional: You pay your taxes, you get your government.

I included that quote from the article purely on the basis that it could well be a quote from here. It is also fair to say that it has taken me a while to come around to this way of thinking. The cost of buying and then owning a car remains a pernicious bugbear, but for the rest, it certainly seems fairer to all and as far as infrastructure the results are there for all to see.

Now, quite coincidentally, my Man In France sent me a link to a story which also mentions the Canadians at the end of WWII. It seems that the Frisian Island of Schiermonnikoog was the last bastion of German forces at the end of the war.


Schiermonnikoog was the last place in the Netherlands to be liberated from the Germans after WWII. It took until June 11 to free the Dutch island. Why? The Canadians simply didn’t have time to free the island before that.
During the War, the German Army heavily fortified the island as part of the Atlantic Wall defence line, and the number of German troops came to equal the island’s native population of 600. Towards the end of the war, hundreds of SS troops, along with members of the SD, fled to the island, reinforcing the German contingent already there.

There's even a very small place called Canada on the edge of Friesland and Drenthe.

From the newspaper...

(gasp, it was Thursday before I even had time to read the newspaper this week).

DNA Search finds killer after 25 years

DNA samples indicated that the killer was almost certainly a man of Turkish origin. This year police asked 133 men from Zaandam’s Turkish community to volunteer their DNA for comparison, 126 of whom agreed, several could not be traced and two refused.
A 19-year-old girl was killed and it turned out to be one of the two men who refused the DNA testing.

The Economy Growth

For 2018 predicted 3.1%
Taxes (all forms) totaling about 39%
Wages increasing by 1.6% to 2.2%
Inflation about 1.6%

Beer Prices (always a good economic indicator)

The Hospitality sector is not happy about beer prices imposed by beer manufacturers (who often subsidise or in other ways have a controlling influence on individual businesses).

Beer price up 3 - 4 % (35% in. 10 years)  3 times more than in supermarkets.
A glass of beer this year from 1.41 to 2.43 in a pub.
Litre price in supermarkets from 1.29 to 1.49 in the same period.
In addition to beer prices, rents and council rates are up and BTW (GST) and personnel costs are also up.


Truck Drivers Sleeping in Cabins

Truck drivers are no longer allowed (or required) to sleep in the cabins as part of their official rest time. This is mainly aimed at east European drivers who are paid a pittance and have to make extraordinarily long hours.

No Smoking at Drug Addiction Clinics

No smoking at drug addiction clinics - with the question "why haven't we done this earlier"? Smoking is just another addiction after all.
Clients come for Alcohol, cannabis, hard drugs, GHB, gambling and yes, sex addictions. Workers may also not smoke.
(Estimated 20000 deaths per year directly related to smoking).

Who knew? The OECD has a Regional Well-Being Index

(I think I was looking at taxes in OECD Countries, but soon got side-tracked).

https://www.oecdregionalwellbeing.org/index.html

When the trees are dying...

they look like this - the trees are already dead, in fact. Luckily, the fungus doesn't attack the healthy trees.

Saturday's Walk...over the heath

Lastly, restoring an old windmill in Drachten... (a proposal).

This is the new haven in Drachten. To the right of the photo is a new restaurant, on the site of an old windmill. The owners have a proposal to restore it.

Meanwhile, the Oligarchy rolls on...it's much, much better than a Netflix series...

Not yet Winter...

Week 51

And a few well-intentioned people sent me information about weather elsewhere...

And a brother and sister-in-law, holidaying in Egypt!

And camping at Wilson's Prom

Oh well, Zoey and I just have to soldier on and make the best of it...

Despite the weather... (there are things to be happy about in the Netherlands)

(Sunday morning saw the main freeway from Drachten closed off due to ice - one of our workers had to drive the back way to get here! - some cars AND the even ice-spreading truck ended up in the ditches. We have to spread salt on our own walking paths - and we now have the Winter Tyres on the car!).

http://www.dutchnews.nl/features/2017/03/11-reasons-to-be-cheerful-about-life-in-the-netherlands/

If you listen too much to the politicians, you could be forgiven for thinking that the Netherlands is on the verge of collapse. Integration has failed, refugees are running riot, pensioners are impoverished and everyone supports Geert Wilders. Nonsense! The economy is on the up, crime is down and 80% of people don’t vote for the PVV. Politicians may be waxing lyrical about the way the Netherlands used to be, but nostalgia for the 1950s is largely misplaced. Women were stuck at home, it was perfectly legal to discriminate against gay people, we were less well educated and even though there were far fewer cars, we were more likely to die in a traffic accident.

1 Women are working more and earning more Seven in 10 women now have a job. 

2 We’re more polite 

3 We are better educated In 1950, fewer than 10,000 people graduated from university or college. Last academic year 95,000 graduates joined the workforce. 

4 The Dutch are among the happiest people in the world

5 Gay people have more rights 

6 Immigrants are doing better  

7 No deforestation here In 1952, there were 260,000 hectares of woods in the Netherlands - now 360,000

8 We’ve got a lot of world champions Draughts, darts, speed skating, women’s 200 metres sprint, gymnastics, sustainable coffee, solar cars, low fat cheese…. 

9 The crime rate is down 

10 There is less terrorism

11 Less church and foster care abuse 

12 We’re much better protected against the sea Over 1,800 people died in the great floods of 1953, when the dykes in the south of the country broke. The tragedy led to the development of the Delta Works flood prevention scheme, a massive complex of dykes and sluice gates along much of the southern coastline. And today, Dutch experts are involved in water defence projects all over the world. And by the way, we might think that the entire country is low lying, but in fact only 26% of the land mass is below sea level.

More on Ben... (Just popped over to London for the weekend to catch up with a friend from Hong Kong!)

He has submitted his final project for assessment...

"Lonely in the City"

I won't put it up until Ben has graduated - but I was able to read it (more easily) in English courtesy of Google Translate, and one story really struck a nerve. A young Italian man responded to Ben's Facebook request for people to interview. They met up and discussed a few of the "loneliness" initiatives sponsored by the City. They ended up going to a Hungarian movie - which just happened to be about a lonely girl who committed suicide in the closing scene! Not the best choice as it turned out,  but I think the young man was encouraged that there are so many things in place to help.

There was another nice story about getting people together to share a meal - with everybody having to contribute in some way.

Just as an aside - I am not a fan of Facebook - I'm sure people just ignore or laugh off the fact that their private information is collected and sold. However, I have found four good things this week...

1. Ben had his wallet pickpocketed when he was getting coffee at Starbucks. An honest person found it and used Facebook to find Ben and return it - minus bank card and cash, but everything else was there.

2. Ben's use of Facebook to make contact with "lonely" people for an interview

3. The Birthday reminders are also good - but I get that from Google Calendar (if I put them in).

4. There was something else, but I forget...mmm, I think the "Business" use can be helpful.

From last week...

A total of 3 drugs laboratories have been rolled up in Friesland.. thanks to the new "interactive database"... and a bit of luck. In the last and biggest, the police were looking for marijuana plants and discovered an XTC and speed lab.

Energy

Solar panels. Just up the road at Oosterwolde. The biggest in Nederland, with 136,000 panels. Producing 43 million kilowatt hours. This is 75% of the usage of postcode Oosterwolde.
Oosterwolde is the main town of the local government of Ooststellingwerf. The goal of this local government is to be energy neutral by 2030.

Around the farm...

A few of the boys were OK for a walk in the forest - they always grumble a bit - but then love it when we get out there.

We caught up with Sanny, who left us last week - she had a farewell gift for us. A "felted" cushion she had made at her "daywork" care farm.

A Christmas theme on one side...

...and a Zoey theme on the other side!

From the newspaper...

Youth Psychiatric Help

An investigative journalism group has revealed that many young people are not receiving help simply because the budget is finished - in many of the responsible local governments.
120 child psychiatrists and associated care givers took part in the investigation. 60% said that they could not take any more clients towards the end of the year due to budget restraints..
That the local governments are now responsible is part of the same changes that have affected us. ie transfer of responsibility from federal to local government.
Wishing to remain anonymous, many caregivers are concerned that there is too much emphasis on the money and not enough on the children (and parents) in crisis.
A lawyer with expertise in local government services said that there appear to be two layers...the civil servants "babble on" about how good it is all going with the changes. On the other side, the caregivers and clients, have other views. "A mess; a big experiment that is only causing problems for people".

We're still waiting for it to settle down...I have said to Janny more than once.."hang on a moment, we're the ones providing the care" - more as a comment on the middlemen taking their handful out of the pot. We have at least 4 different means of filling out our bills, by post, email and 2 sorts of on-line computer programs (which can't or won't tell you if there is anything wrong). They simply don't (won't) pay and you have to figure it out for yourself - if you happen to discover it.

Once again, I'm suffering from getting up too early to watch the cricket. This time in Perth... is the population really 2 million now? Anyway, it looks great and reminded me of a trip over the Nullabor before the road was completely sealed - 300 kms to go, IIRC. Nice memories of Gidgeganup and a few other places and people (45+ years ago!).

An English Cricket Podcast - The Analyst - referred (twice) to Australia being a Nanny State - really? Not sure what that has to do with the Poms being cleaned up at cricket? They also couldn't believe the level of obesity, given the climate, outdoor activity, and the number of good cricketers! (Janny & I noticed the obesity years ago - with a few years in between visits the difference one year was striking). There are concerns over here but it doesn't yet appear to be so pronounced.

And Lastly, a bit of Fake News...

Week 50 Wallowing in Winter

Well, that is to say, I should be Wallowing in Winter. But I was searching for photos to use on our business Facebook Page (and a new Website) and I realised that I shouldn't complain!... so perhaps it should read...

Wonderfully Wallowing in Winter

(and bear in mind that it is technically not even winter yet).

Sunday morning indulgence. To see snow on the ground outside my office - not much, but enough to encourage me to stay inside and finish my bookkeeping - end of the month bills and preparation for "end of year".

(I'm not sure that I am entirely in agreement with the underlying argument - but we have to produce our Financial Report almost straight away from now on - at the directive of Youth Services - they want to judge if we are fit to be dealing with Youth as we do  - the financial health being just one of the hoops we have to go through).

The Accountant and Taxation Department are normally quite happy to wait for a full year or even longer.

In a similar vein, but not necessarily applying to us, there is a proposal applying to Child Care facilities (after school or other "normal" child-minding) that all workers and "even the next door neighbour who drops in regularly for a cup of coffee" have to be registered as being of "good character and behaviour". This could also apply to anyone who regularly visits the premises for any purpose for more than 30 minutes at a time. eg a regular gardener or maintenance man.

If it did apply to us then maybe we would have to register Janny's 80 plus parents...? As it is, all our workers (and us) are registered with the local council.

A couple of follow-ups

Last week I wrote about euthanasia and later thought that the subject may well have been at odds with some peoples' own ideas and beliefs. That made me think about the "tolerance" that the Netherlands is at least credited with - drugs, prostitution, abortion, euthanasia - all of it up to a point, I guess. Then the catch-cry "doe normaal" - be normal.

But, what is a Normal, Ordinary Dutchman (NOD)? More on that later - it was part of the recent election campaign.

As I was thinking about things that some people might not like, my own thoughts wandered to the time when we had refugees here - 1999 to 2002. We had a family from Afghanistan, including a young daughter who was "promised to be married" to a young man who was already here, somewhere. 

Somehow, between Janny, the regular nurse, and the daughter, the story came out that she was pregnant, but the parents were not allowed to know. I conjured up a story in my own mind that she had been raped or been forced to give sexual favours in order to get away... but no, it was just a very ordinary (but probably heart-breaking) story. The nurse arranged a visit to a clinic for some mysterious illness - and Janny went with the girl "down south" somewhere. On the way back, she was dropped off in Zwolle and finally returned to Wijnjewoude the next day in a taxi. As far as I know, nobody was any the wiser - but what has happened in the intervening 17 years? I remember that she was a very beautiful young woman and when they were leaving I offered my hand to say goodbye and wish her well - she jumped back as though I had pointed a cattle prod at her. Something to do with being "proper", I think. (Funny how I can still picture that, as though it was yesterday).

Are you a NOD?  (Normal, Ordinary Dutchman)

Trouw newspaper then went out into the street and asked a random selection of people if they consider themselves NODs. 

‘Political bullshit,’ said pensioner Leontine Groothorst (62), ‘the normal ordinary Dutchman doesn’t exist.’ Cora van Ark (49) and unemployed ‘is Dutch because that’s what it says in my passport. But the politicians are not standing up for pensioners or people who haven’t got a pot to piss in.’

 According to builder Stefano Losada (28) ‘you can be green, yellow or purple. If you act normally, you’re a normal Dutch person. That includes me. Of course! But criminals and scum, no.’ ‘The term conjures up people who only eat cheese, take their kids to school and eat at six. It would have been better if Rutte had talked about all citizens.

Read more at DutchNews.nl: The new coalition loves him, so just who is the ‘normal, ordinary Dutchman’? http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2017/10/the-new-coalition-loves-him-so-just-who-is-the-normal-ordinary-dutchman/

Also following on from last week was that we said goodbye to Sanny. Her parents thanked us and said that "if Sanny can't cope with assisted living then we will take her back home" - and also resume with us. Nice to be appreciated!

Christmas nears...

The Saturday kids set up a couple of trees.

From the Newspaper

Seems to be quite a few police articles...

December, the month for break-ins

The daily newspaper the Leeuwarder Courant did some research and concluded that December is the month when most break-ins occur. Averaging 550 in North Nederland (3 northern provinces).
Evenings, especially Fridays are the most common. The total number of break-ins for Groningen and Friesland has been reducing, but not Drenthe, for some reason.
One reason for the lower totals is thought to be the reduction in unemployment. There is, however, an increase in cybercrime.
Another noticeable influence is the increased use of WhatsApp as a Neighbourhood Watch tool in many villages.

Nationally, only 10% of break-ins are solved, but in Noord Nederland, it is a little better at 13.5 to 14%.

Next to the story about December being break-in month was an in-depth story about how many people are using WhatsApp as an agent to neighbourhood watch. WhatsApp group numbers are increasing. Some include the police and in many areas they have a neighbourhood police agent, usually covering several villages. WhatsApp groups usually have 40 to 50 members or neighbours. The smallest at the moment has four and the largest 204. There's a website called "WhatsApp Buurt Preventie" that is WhatsApp neighbourhood watch (WABP).

WhatsApp groups in Friesland

National Alerts

For the last 25 years (that I know of) there's been an air raid siren every first Monday of the month at 12 o'clock midday. I've only heard it once in anger when I was out walking. My first thought was "it's not Monday". This system has now evolved to become a mobile app on our telephones and this was first tested Nationwide last Monday.

BIG DATA initiative

 New police "big data plan" in place and has already rolled up 4 criminal networks in Friesland Groningen and Drenthe. (aka the Three Northern Provinces). Basically, an electronic Data Base chart that has highlighted people, incidents and events and the links between them. The closest to us was a drugs laboratory in Haulerwijk where I pick Lucas up - 11 kilometres away.

It is expected that the process will be introduced nationwide and eventually be picked up by neighbouring countries.

Bikes without lights

In Leeuwarden on Thursday night, a routine check resulted in 15 fines for cyclists without lights (as if it isn't difficult enough for the poor old car driver!). One of the stoppages resulted in the arrest of someone the police had on their wanted list.

The police have stopped a couple of interesting initiatives.

1. Birds of prey were being trained to intercept illegal drones.

 

2. Rats were being trained to detect illegal fireworks, fake cigarettes, and human remains.

 The development of Drones has far outpaced the desired results of the "bird of prey" initiative and the rats were not successful enough in the trial. The training was more difficult than expected and was also more expensive. 

(This story reminded me of the World War II training of bats -  the idea being that they would be armed with explosives and released over Japanese housing - they would then seek refuge in the light wooden houses. The first trial, however, resulted in burning down the aircraft hangar where the tests were carried out.The idea was abandoned).

Infrastructure

The responsible Minister has put forward the plans for the next term of government, including replacing three bridges on the Prinses Margriet Canal from Lemmer to Delfzijl. This will allow larger container ships - in anticipation of an overall increase in container shipping.

Looking for a Second Hand Bridge?

A new bridge is planned for Oudwoude. Drawings made, process in hand.... but someone asked: "what about a 2nd-hand bridge"?. It took some thought and after a while, the idea was taken seriously. Some bridges are replaced for reasons other than deterioration, after all. The bridge needs to be 5 metres wide and 7 metres long. They already have two "offers".

Another bridge - at Aldeboarn, on the Turfroute

It's snowing in earnest as I finish up. I have collected the firewood and Janny has gone to the shop "in case we get snowed in" - haha - good excuse to do a Netflix binge - after I've done my bookwork!

Sneak preview of the new website - still have to figure out a few things...

http://new.detwabuken.nl/