Week 37 A Wobble of Bicycles

A Wobble of Bicycles 

(was one of Barry's favorite collective pronouns)

Bike accidents in the Netherlands

For some years, experts have questioned whether published statistics reflect all serious incidents, because they are only based on police reports rather than also including accident and emergency and ambulance data.

 

According to Trouw (newspaper), two provincial governments have asked the safety organisation VeiligheidNL to recalculate figures also including hospital and ambulance treatment after traffic accidents. In Friesland, the number of cyclist accidents rose eightfold with the new counting method, and VeiligheidNL estimates that statistics nationwide would more than triple.

While national infrastructure ministry figures report 14,000 seriously wounded cyclists in 2019, the most recently recorded year, VeiligheidNL estimates that there were actually some 80,000 injuries of which 50,000 were serious. 

The organisation reportedly came to its estimate on the basis of 14 accident and emergency wards’ figures. Next year the ministry intends to record ambulance data too, but there are currently no plans to include hospital treatment for accident-related problems such as broken bones that do not require overnight treatment.

Last year, according to the CBS (Centraal Bureau voor Statistieken), the highest number of cyclists ever died in traffic accidents, with 229 fatal incidents. A third of these involved e-bikes, and there has recently been discussion about whether users of these should wear a helmet.

Brexit and other mishaps...

I was reading an article about Brexit, it's failures, the affect of the pandemic, what now, the future... one of the comments struck me as being very close to the truth - for a whole range of things...

We are all in this swimming pool together. No peeing in the water!

(I have written before that I get that feeling about life in the Netherlands - at least the social contract is trying to include everyone, even if it does have it's struggles) .

Things that rot, go rusty or get broken...

Another window frame that needs to be replaced...

One of the kids kicked a football and accidently broke the lamp that I had just repaired!

I had a spare, unused lamp to replace the broken one.

Rust treatment...

Robin was told by a Pommie Barge Owner that this is good stuff to combat rust...on the boat, of course. I have lined up a few projects at home, before tackling the boat again next year.

This piano trolley is getting the anti-rust treatment. One interesting thing to try on the boat, is the fact that the Owatrol can be added to the paint itself - as a further rust inhibitor. Some of the boat might have to be taken back to bare metal in order for it to be most effective. The blurb says that adding the Owatrol to the paint  makes it easier to apply...we shall see. I have booked the boat in for 2 weeks next year, so that I have more "drying time" and won't have to rush the last bits.

Wood can also be treated with Owatrol, so I might also find myself sanding back the doors during the drying time...

This wooden trolley top is getting the Owatrol + paint treatment.

On Thursday, we fitted the replacement window and frame. It was such a tight fit that Rudie complained about me putting too much paint on!.

Tjeerd also did some painting at the front of one of the apartments.

Rudie brought a couple of his old (3-phase power) machines out and got them working....there's more to come!

He even has an old industrial potato peeler! We're going to clean that up and sell it on Marktplaats.

Around the farm...

Wasps

We had to call the "Wespinator" again for a couple of wasp (wesp) nests. One was a less aggressive variety - they use mud to seal up their nests. The normal wasps scrape wood to make a "paper" like ball.

A couple of weeks ago, our nephew (who runs sheep at our place) was attacked and badly stung. It was hard not to laugh as he explained how he had to strip off his clothes in his attempts to keep them at bay.

The Chimney Sweep

We clean the chimneys every year - for practical and insurance reasons. We'll be lighting the fires very shortly.

The sky

I think we live under a flight path for Schiphol, presumably because of the low population density of Friesland

For the last 18 months, the planes have been noticeable by their absence - really!

So, I was surprised and pleased to see this the other day...

QR Code

The Netherlands Govt. has released an App called CaronaCheck - which I installed on my phone and used it to generate a vaccination QR Code. At a Press Release last week, it was announced that the QR code would be required at most places, including restaurants and terraces (beer gardens?). The terraces option has since been walked back a bit after the public outcry - but the authorities also announced that there had been a "noticeable increase" in the rate of vaccinations after the announcement.

The app required me to enter my National ID code and it came up with my vaccination record and generated the code - which I couldn't make a screen shot of - for "security reasons".

I often reflect on just how good the digital age can be - it's so disappointing that there is so much crap as well. I try to avoid being algorithmed in the obvious places, but one just never knows...

The Boat...or not?

We were looking forward to using the boat this weekend (complete with heater!), but Boeke is sick and very much not himself...

We took him to the vet on Friday and he got an injection (to quell the itch) and a prescription to be taken over the next 3 weeks. He seems to have something with ear nose and throat, possibly an allergy - but we haven't a clue as to what.

We can't remember anything this bad with Ozzie or Zoey - funny how it is worrying us so much.