Back to Work

  

Week 35

Frank and Pam headed off to France, as we went back into working mode (well, Janny hadn't really stopped).

We're half planning a hire boat trip in France - late in the season, based in Briare or Joigny.

A few things have to fall in place, including Ankie being here to hold the fort. Maybe a niece can do the house-sitting. It's about a 2 hour drive from St. Georges Motel - all we need to hope for is good weather! - I'm also looking at a "last minute" deal - so we do need to get lucky!!

We were able to have dinner with Robin and Joy - who are also leaving for Australia on Monday - flying into Brisbane and then having to quarantine before heading off to Darwin.

Back to Work...

All the clients are back from holidays, so it really is getting back to "normal" as the summer slowly disappears. Sometime during this month, we will start lighting the fires again and the gas bills will start to get larger.

I calculate the gas useage for the apartments every month - the last 3 months have been about €12-14 per apartment, but in the winter it could go up to €80,00 or more. Our own bills are spread across the whole year and we get some back or pay a bit more, depending on the severity of the winter.

It seemed to be a good week for getting things done, or at least started...

This window frame has to be replaced... the bit with the glass was replaced in 1999, but the original frame must be around 60 years old

We'll use this old frame to replace a couple of others that have also rotted... this came out of the original barn when we converted it in 1997 - 1999. I've had it stored ever since! I knew it would "come in handy".

One of our clients can make proper frames, so all I had to do was buy the right profiles - these three pieces cost €110,00... (the work tables were given to us by the local school). There's enough to fix a few rotten frames here and there - cutting the rotten bits off and putting in a new bit. No wonder there are so many plastic door and window frames being used these days.

I replaced an outside security lamp - these cost €64,00 per lamp - time to switch to LED!!

The roof saga continues...

...but with hopefully a good ending. Janny has been holding up the last payment because one roof in particular was not installed properly. Janny asked all parties to accept some share (including us - we should have had expert advice, we think) just to get the thing fixed!.

So, they all agreed and within a week or two, the sheets are coming off and sandwich panel insulation is going to be laid and then the sheets go back on. Janny and I had installed a heap of insulation - with the help of a couple of clients and even Janny's Dad. This will probably have to be removed as we suspect that it has become sodden with all the condensation.

Janny's Dad just wanted to help any way that he could - even with his walking frame!

This roof will then be the same as the others - we have not had any trouble at all with them. The Dodgy Brothers Sub-contractors had done the first roof but obviously had not known what they were doing (and nor did we!).

Yet another big cleanup...

One of our clients lives in a special purpose unit, which we converted a couple of years ago. Since then, we have hardly dared to set foot inside for fear of what we might find.

He lives alone in the unit with his dog. The "system" seems to accept that this is the way he is and he has every "right" to live as he chooses...

He was evicted from an apartment in Drachten - the mess and the rabbits, caviars, rats and mice were all a bit too much for the Housing Corporation! We helped them to get all his junk out and then came the idea to convert our own unused building.

It has all worked out alright but nobody in the "system" seems to have the role of teaching personal hygiene or setting reasonable standards. It almost seems taboo to even raise the subject, due to privacy and other rights issues.

Anyway, Janny finally had enough and we have started cleaning it out and taking probably 3 or more loads to the tip.

He is a collector and hoarder and people are always giving him clothes and other stuff - no doubt thinking they are doing the right thing - but it ALL ends up on the floor in the unit. which is also where he and the dog sleep. He quite often sleeps "rough" in the forest if the mood takes him.

And one trailer load, so far...

Janny has told him a few basic rules of being able to live at our place - so he knows that this is probably his last chance before some sort of institutionalised living. He had been taken into police custody a few times before coming to our place and so it has been fairly good now that he has his "own" place and is prepared to abide by Janny's (minimum)  rules.

I came across a fitting quote only just this morning...

“No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another.”-Charles Dickens

Walking...

I usually do my first walk of the day without Boeke, because he wants to stop at every tree and I don't get my bonus points for "being active" during my walk!

I was halfway into the forest on Friday when I looked up to see that Tassie, the cat, had followed me! She's half Norwegian Boskat (forest cat?) so I guess that the forest holds no fears for her.

We're always scared of our cats (and dogs) heading over the road and so far we have only lost one - Didgy the cat. So I took Tassie back - she follows very easily - and continued my walk

...and because I walk so early in the morning, I get a head start on the (now National) Leaderboard. So, for a little while each day, I manage to top the board!

...and I made it to 200 days in a row and all before 0900hrs! (for extra points).

Some random thoughts...

...as I again wring my hands and shrug my shoulders with thinking about abortion rights, voting rights, global warming, Covid measures, authoritarian governments...

The TV news on Saturday night had a piece about one hospital in particular. A Director wanted to know which personnel have been vaccinated or not - so that he could allocate vaccinated staff to the Covid patients. Many people, including politicians were against this move because of "privacy rules". The Director spoke well and it seemed like a little bit of common sense to me...

But, sometimes it just feels like...

"It’s the effort more than outcome, I think, that spreads a little grace in the world.” 

One should, at least, try.

The Electricity Network

I picked up on this because the installation of our own solar panels was dependent on a new cable being laid to the village - because the existing cable couldn't carry the extra load.

From Dutchnews.nl

The Dutch electric network is facing major capacity problems in the coming years according to Daan Schut, chief transition officer at network operator Alliander.

 ‘In recent years we have looked too much at sustainable energy and too little at the infrastructure,’ Schut told the Nieuwsuur current affairs programme on Thursday. He says there is both too much demand on existing infastuctre and, at times, too much electricity available, due to a prevalence of wind farms and solar panels. 

The Netherlands uses 108 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity per year and has traditionally had one of the highest-rated electric grids in the world, as well as lower prices than neighbouring Belgium and Germany. But as the country’s population has grown, the demand for energy has steadily increased. In 2020, one-quarter of that electricity came from green sources, such as solar power and biomass. The rest is generated from coal, natural gas and nuclear. 

Too much electricity 

For some years, there has been a push for greener energy to help combat climate change.

 Last year, the Dutch government accelerated the closure of the last coal power plant in the country and all are slated to be shut by 2030. However, the production of electricity from green sources, wind farms and solar panels, sometimes pushes a glut of electricity onto the grid. Government subsidies exist, for example, to place solar panels on private roofs and the Dutch system buys back electricity at a rate equal to the sales price. What the government hasn’t done, says Schut, is to incentivise electrical storage capacity. ‘You should also subsidise storage, like a battery in a solar park. 

Congestion is in specific places. You can also solve it locally with batteries,’ he told Nieuwsuur. There is also reportedly a labour shortage. In the coming years, the sector will need 3,500 new technicians to work on the electric grid and there aren’t enough people qualified to do this work, according to Schut.