Week 17
Week 17
"We would not be who we are today without the calamities of our yesterdays" - Salman Rushdie
With so much fake news these days, I am really appreciating my subscription to The Economist. One of the stories was a Book Review of Knife by Salman Rushdie.
Instead of doing my bookkeeping this morning, I've been reading up on some of the effects of climate change in the Netherlands.
There is a new report out - called The Delta Scenarios.
(It's a large pdf file in Dutch. I had to split it into parts under 10mb then Google Documents Translate can handle it)
It's far removed from enjoying our time on the water with the boat - but I have always found it interesting to read up on the water management as a whole.
I read the "Water Levels" every week
...and there are a few stories now and then about individuals trying to do their small part...
"More people are choosing to "green" their gardens
According to Frank van der Heide, director of Tuinbranche Nederland, greenery in the home or office is becoming increasingly trendy and is also increasingly being used functionally. The climate is also mentioned as a reason for greening gardens.
A brief story about the Delta Scenarios can be found here...(Using Google translate)
Climate change means that all water tasks will increase until
2050. The challenge for freshwater availability is
increasing due to the greater precipitation deficit in the summer
and the lower river discharges mean that less water is supplied.
This can have consequences for agriculture, nature, shipping and industry. Salinization is increasing along the coast as a result of sea level rise, which means that more freshwater is needed for flushing. Additional freshwater is needed to raise the water level in the peat meadow areas.
In the high Netherlands, increasing frequency, duration and
intensity of drought will mean that irrigation will take place in more places and more frequently. This requires additional surface water or groundwater. In contrast to Vlug'24 (another report), the drinking water demand hardly increases, which means that more extractions from ground and surface water are no longer necessary. The cooling water demand from industry and power plants is also smaller. Lower river discharges mean that shipping will increasingly have to deal with sailing restrictions, but the potential economic damage will be less than in Vlug'24 because the total freight transport over water is less. All in all, in this scenario, the task of distributing the freshwater across all functions is becoming increasingly difficult. The task of combating flooding is also
increasing. Heavy downpours are becoming more common, which can cause problems in urban areas and free-draining areas in particular. Due to the wetter winters, the regional water systems fill up more quickly and the storage and drainage capacity will have to be increased. The water safety task is increasing compared to now, on the one hand due to higher river discharges in winter, and on the other hand due to the rise in sea levels. However, this is already taken into account in the current water safety policy.
Meanwhile, back at the farm...
Janny and I had to go to a funeral on Monday - the mother of one of our clients. Our client is almost 60 and been living at home all that time - now some big changes coming up - he will probably have to go into "assisted living" care -and have to sort out the financing of his welfare payments - I'm not sure of exactly how it works, but it appears to be means tested - they use the term "eating up your own house".
It's been 5 years since Janny's Dad passed away - so we had coffee and scones with Janny's Mum.
The new floor is still not dry - apparently it dries at a rate of 1cm per week - so we have to wait another 7 weeks yet. They don't want it drying too quickly - to avoid cracking.
The kitchen is due towards the end of May.
It was Ben's birthday yesterday - and also the King's Birthday! They make a holiday weekend out of it. We went looking for a new couch on Friday and saw all the preparations for "Special Deals" for the weekend.
We went to a giant Homes Centre in Wolvega and just about settled on a couch...and then went to Drachten on Saturday and found almost the same thing with a 40% discount! So we signed up for it - with a 12 week delivery time - mid July, so we probably won't be settled even by then.
Frost on the solar panels
A bit of sun
Hail
Just about finished restoring the fence - the paving slabs could only be lifted with the tractor.
Ben has a new job - with a Government Agency in Den Hague. It's a freelance job, working from home, with one day a week in the office. He is still working for the Hotel chain (The Social Hub), so he will be staying at their hotel in Den Hague - at a cheaper rate than he could rent somewhere. It's only for 6 months at this stage...but he has his "foot in the door" for Government work. He's been trying for a while now, but they so often say that "Government experience preferred".
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