Week 12

Week 12

Daylight Saving today - so I have already lost an hour :)

Kids again this weekend, and again Janny has to work.

The accountant told us last week that we had a fairly hefty tax bill to pay from 2021. Janny went ballistic and I just kept out of the way :)

We had a meeting and it turns out that the Accountant had made a mistake - phew! Our main thing has always been to invest, invest and invest - rather than paying  (the rather excessive) taxes - it will eventually catch up with us (or more likely, Janny), but that's what we decided. So, we're all back to normal and will have more frequent meetings with the accountant.

One thing that did get spoken about was my Dutch Pension - it is literally my "boat maintenance fund" and is a pittance - The Dutch Government arguing that "Australia has to pay the rest because that is where you worked". Really, people here look at me so strangely when I have to (try to) explain the "Means Test". It must be how I look at them and ask "how can you put up with paying so much to own a motor car?" - it's just the way it is and has always been. Even though I am still "working", I pay a significantly lower rate of income tax because I am also a pensioner :) - so swings and roundabouts.

It must be a slow week when the most significant event was the demolition of our rubbish container :)

The company had hired in a replacement truck but for some reason the pick-up mechanism didn't work properly and the container just broke apart. I had just come back with Lucas and wondered why there was a traffic jam in front of our place...luckily the rubbish had first been emptied into the truck and not all over the road...

After the election

Just about everything to do with the nitrogen debate has gone on hold. If a new coalition can't be formed there will probably have to be new general election. One comment I heard on a podcast was that "Dutch politics is generally very technocratic and boring - you know something is happening when it actually becomes interesting".

From the Natura 2000 website

Socio-economic considerations are therefore not taken into account during site selection process. They are however a fundamental consideration when deciding how a Natura 2000 site should be protected and managed. Article 2 of the Habitats Directive makes it clear that all measures taken pursuant to the Directive shall be designed to maintain and restore, at a favourable conservation status, natural habitats and species of EU importance, whilst taking account of economic, social and cultural requirements and regional and local characteristics.

From Dutch News.nl

Nitrogen minister Christianne van der Wal has said there is ‘no alternative’ to requiring around 11,000 farmers to give up their businesses, as agriculture is responsible for 40% of nitrogen deposits in Natura-2000 areas. The nitrogen ruling has implications beyond agriculture. Last week infrastructure minister Mark Harbers said no new roads or railways could be built until the issue was resolved, after judges ruled in November that an exemption from permit regulations for a port development in Rotterdam was illegal. Millions of euros worth of projects have been put on hold and the money will be spent on maintenance instead, Harbers said. The construction industry generates around 11% of nitrogen compound emissions.

Prime minister Mark Rutte has said the provincial elections will inevitably ‘have an impact on policy’, but his cabinet is divided on how to respond. Chrstian Democrat (CDA) leader Wopke Hoekstra, whose party’s vote was down by almost half as rural voters switched in their droves to the BBB, has said the government needs to change course on the ‘big issues’. But climate change minister Rob Jetten, whose D66 party is committed to pressing ahead with the nitrogen reduction plan, said the government should wait for the provincial governments, which are responsible for regional planning, to take shape. ‘I think we should let the election results sink in,’ Jetten said. ‘It’s too early to talk about a change of direction.’

Also climate related...

I downloaded the Full IPCC report - reading it is quite another matter! 

I get the feeling that at least the government here (quite rightly) feels some obligation to do something (as is the case for the Nitrogen reduction) but...the election results may dictate otherwise...

https://report.ipcc.ch/ar6/wg2/IPCC_AR6_WGII_FullReport.pdf

Ben In Mexico

He found a fairly cheap AirBnb and was quite happy with it...the address, at least

...but he could smell gas after using the shower. He told me and I said of course that he should do something about it. Janny was even more insistent!!

So he contacted the owner who was going to send "an 80 year old guy" to have a look - not good enough, we cried!

Ben had to use translation to communicate...

This type of hot water heater - which have a bad reputation over here. So we didn't think it was "normal" at all.

AirBnB were very good about the whole thing - they paid Ben compensation AND paid for 3 nights accommodation in a hotel while he found another place.

Ha! I even found myself telling Ben about mercaptan - now, that was stretching the memory a bit...just to make the point that if he could smell it, then there needed to be something done.

Mercaptan is also known as methanethiol and is a harmless but pungent-smelling gas which has been described as having the stench of rotting cabbages or smelly socks. It is often added to natural gas, which is colorless and odorless, to make it easier to detect.

Ben has had a few modelling jobs and also scored a fairly major one - which will pay for his Mexico Expedition...

...basically shows him walking into a barber shop

They chose him from a 7 year old photo...