Week 52 in Wijnjewoude
Sunday morning again (although I had to check!)
It's still dark and wet outside. Apparently, it has been a very mild December... (hope it helped with our gas bills!)
We are only heating the living room in the house, so my computer is inside and Janny has a work table for jigsaws and other stuff...
Possum the (aging) cat sits on one chair, so Boeke has decided that he also wants to sit with us... He's helping with this as I type...
Thursday was the warmest December 30 in the Netherlands ever measured, Weerplaza reports. In De Bilt the temperature rose to 13.1 degrees Celsius at 10.30 am. This broke the record of 13 degrees in De Bilt from 1925.
Temperatures will probably rise further in the coming hours and the daily record will therefore be higher. Locally it can even be 15 degrees.
15 degrees was measured in Arcen in Limburg on Thursday morning. Never before has it been this hot anywhere in the Netherlands on December 30th. The old record was 14.6 degrees. That temperature was measured in 1925 in Sittard.
The night from Wednesday to Thursday was also very mild. In Westdorpe in Zeeland, it did not get colder than 13.1 degrees, according to Weerplaza. A December night has never been so soft since the measurements began in 1901.
The weather will remain exceptionally mild in the Netherlands in the coming days. It can also reach 15 degrees on New Year's Eve.
Back to Work
On Tuesday, Janny had a call from one of our "mums" to ask if we could have her son for a couple of days over the (extended) holidays.
Janny rang around (she uses Whatsapp - it makes running the business so much easier - individually for the parents and a Group setting for the Personnel) to ask if anybody could work? Niece Lotte could (she is living here in one of the apartments while they are rebuilding their newly acquired house). Next step was to ask if any of the other parents wanted some "relief" - yes, a couple....so then it was back to work for me - just tidying up - the place looked like it had been hastily abandoned as we had simply departed to enjoy having a break.
The power had been off for some electrical work, so the heaters had not restarted - it was only 10 degrees in the Great Hall (living area out the back). So I had to fire them up again - they keep it at about 15 degrees over the winter and the wood fire does the rest when we need it - up to about 23 degrees, depending on how cold it is outside.
The kids mostly just make themselves at home here - this week they did a lot of cooking. We think it was a good rest for the parents...
(Schuttevaer is the number 1 news source for inland shipping, shipbuilding, offshore, fishing, maritime shipping and cruise shipping.)
I try to include something about the boat each week - but winter is a non-boating time for us, of course. Apart from maintenance of the wood bits (doors lamps and mast).
I keep getting my boating emails - just for interest.
The latest one had a link to a story from the Director of Shipping & Water Management for the Rijkswaterstaat (could be translated as Commonwealth State of the Water?)- responsible for nearly all the infrastructure projects - which almost always include coping with the water.
"Without shipping, nothing will happen in the Netherlands," says RWS director Nancy Scheijven
Basically she is saying that a sum of 450 million euros has been allocated for maintenance over the coming years, but it will actually take billions more as everything is getting dated.
When talking about skippers in the article, she is referring to Commercial shipping which keeps operating all year round.
Apparently they have been complaining about delays and the ever-increasing remote control of locks and bridges - and they want bigger locks - "ain't gonna happen" she says. Too expensive.
I did have to wrestle with one of the Government Departments to get my Short Range Certificate (VHF) recognised by the Netherlands authorities (Because it was done via the English RYA).
It all worked rather well, actually. Every citizen here has a "burger service nummer" BSN. (we have to use these when making up the bills for our clients).
I have one, almost by default as I was never aware of actually applying for one - it just seemed to happen.
Every citizen can have a DigID (Digital ID) - so I opened the relevant website (for registering my cerificate) and then was asked to open my DigID on my mobile phone. Then scanned the QR code on the computer and...just like magic it opened up with my name and details and the form to fill in for registration. I could also register my Portable VHF Radio and within 10 minutes I was issued a Vessel Call Sign for use with the radio.
I also had to declare that I have a "tie to the Netherlands" - I said that I have a BSN, and that was enough to go further with the form).
I now have to wait for the official ATIS (Automatic Transmitter Identification System) code that has to be entered into the radio (It can only be entered ONCE, so they warn to be very careful when entering it). They are also sending me a bill for €76,00 for the registration.
(I think I can work out what my ATIS code is going to be, from the information below - except for 243, 244, or 245) 924?06xxxx )
You may not use a VHF radio without an ATIS code on inland waterways.
You cannot disable this code either; reprogramming the ATIS code is not possible with the cheaper VHF radios and with the more expensive types only possible by specialized companies.
Agency Telecom provides this code, but then you must meet two conditions. Firstly, you must at least be in possession of the Basic VHF Radio Certificate and secondly, you must be in possession of a ship. Belgians and Dutch-speaking foreigners can also obtain this code, but then they must (temporarily) have a permanent berth in the Netherlands.
If you sell your ship with a VHF radio, you must also deregister with the Telecom Agency. If you buy a used ship with a VHF radio on board, it is possible to keep the code of the previous owner.
The 10 digits of the ATIS code are derived from your call sign. The call signs of Dutch inland vessels and yachts consist of two letters and four numbers. They always start with a P. The series runs from PDxxxx to PIxxxx. The numerical code always starts with a 9, then the maritime identification numbers of the Netherlands (243 / 244 or 245). Then the second letter. For example, the A is 01 and the Z is 26.
The ATIS code for a ship with the call sign PI4019 is thus as follows.
| Vessel Call Sign PI4019 = ATIS Code 9244094019 |
|---|
| 9 244 09 4019 | 9 | always |
| 244 | The Netherlands |
| 09 | the ninth letter of the alphabet = the I |
| 4019 | call sign digits
|
To see how ATIS is used you can have a look at...
I think this is quite amazing - to see how many ships are using the Netherlands (and beyond) inland waterways...
If you're on the website, you can click on any of the symbols and a photo of the ship will pop up - giving other information such as destination and speed.
Mum would have turned 100 during the week.
So, I have been assembling some information on another blog - for her kids, grandchildren, great grandchildren and great - great grandchildren. It's a work in progress...
Brother Ross recalled the vehicles they had when we were kids in Balwyn - I can remember Balwyn but not the vehicles... (The fruit shop is now a Malaysian Restaurant)
One was an old austin truck...(like this but red). Used to go to Victoria Market to get the fruit for the fruit shop.
This was replaced by an ex- airforce ambulance which became known as "the Balwyn Bomber".
And also at that time was a Morris Oxford...
Memories...
Ross supplied this information
I don't know when Mum got her drivers licence. And if she did get her licence when young, I don't know what she would have driven
The only vehicle we had up until about 1952 when we went to Balwyn was an austin tray truck, similar to this but ours was red
Our truck was red. I guess the youngest child travelled in the cabin. That would have been Ken from October 1950.
Us "oldies" just sat on the tray with our backs up against the board.
I only remember going to the farm (out at Wantirna South) on sundays sometimes, taking a chance on Melbournes weather.
Just on the matter of driver licences, (Aunty) Vera didnt get hers until her late 30s and after numerous attempts.
And once she got it she never drove again, but she did sit in the passenger seat while her kids drove around with their L plates
When we went to Balwyn about '52, we ditched the tray truck, and got the "Balwyn Bomber" It was an-ex airforce ambulance
Us kids stiil had to travel in the back but at least now were under cover
The first real car we got was a Morris Oxford, about 1955.
I am sure Mum never drove the Austin truck or the Bomber, but she may well have driven the Morris.
I think the car rollover happened after Dad died. I think dads brother Theo was driving. He was visiting from perth when Dad died.
Ross
Leigh supplied this...
Mum actually learnt to drive when I was born (I think). She just didn't drive much at first. We had the Balwyn Bomber (ex-army ambulance) and a truck? We got the Morris car when Ken was a baby (3 kids in the back, Mum holding the baby, no seat belts). I can't remember her driving before Dad died, but she definitely had her licence then. In the short time we were at the store before Dad died I'm pretty sure the car was rolled - Dad and whoever he was with just got it upright and kept driving.
New Year's Eve
At one of Janny's sister's place - probably too many people (8) but we all did personal Covid tests before going.
I shouldn't have stayed up so late or drank so much beer....but it was an enjoyable evening. I rode my bike home at about 0100hrs and let Boeke out - we were worried about the fireworks and carbide shooting (sounds like artillery) - but he seemed to be OK.
Ben was on a rooftop in Amsterdam - also too many people, I think...
Walking in the "mild" weather...
There was also an old-fashioned funeral parade - with a horse powered hearse...
Janny's Mum said she definitely wouldn't want one of these - they used to terrify her when she was young and there were many more of them.
Ken I know Balwyn well as I lived there most of my life apart from around 3 years living in Port Melbourne when Mum re married. Moved back to Balwyn around 1948, went to Balwyn State school and remember it burning down. Think around 1951/52. Also worked for a fruit shop in Whitehorse road delivering green groceries on my bike, Friday afternoon and Saturday morning while attending Box Hill Tech. Small world. I was the first in the family after my grandfather to have a car. My grandfather got his license at 70
ReplyDeleteAh, the Balwyn Primary school. Us 4 boys, Gerald,me, Leigh & Ken went there in the years'52-56. It was just a short walk along a lane at the back of the shop, across the road and we were at the school. it was so close that one Sunday morning Ken (probably about 3 yrs old) took himself for a stroll, out he back gate, down the lane, through an open gate into the school grounds. But it was time to leave, he went to a different gate which happened to be locked. I think Mum and Dad heard him screaming from our place and came to his rescue.
ReplyDeleteI don't remember anything about the school burning down, might have been before my time
I remember St Barnabus C 0f E church was next to the school. We got christened there, and I went to the Boys Club there on a Friday night
Horrie, was the fruit shop you worked for in Whitehorse Rd, the
shop in the photo above, which is now a Malaysian restaurant. That was our parents shop, and the only fruit shop that I recall on Whitehorse Rd. if so, that would be an amazing coincidence, that you would have worked for Ken's parents nearly 70 years ago