Week 14

Week 14 in Wijnjewoude

A poem

Water Shortages

From Andrew

Boat crash

New Computer and Old Photos

Ben

Less than 4 weeks before Janny and I have to leave for Utrecht - I'd better get my mind back on the job. The boat goes in the shed on the 17th - have to paint her bottom and finish the main hatch. Stock up with non-perishables, get the paperwork into one folder, buy a couple of ropes (one has to be the length of the boat in France and Belgium), check the motor, figure out how to store 3 bikes, extra bedding, a new picnic table and chairs - the list goes on.

From a weekly letter that I subscribe to - from John P. Weiss - a retired Police Officer.

https://johnpweiss.com/blog/185983/im-tired-of-life

"It reminded me that when the weariness of life nibbles at our souls, love is always the antidote."

It included a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, written after the death of his first wife. He also lost his second wife to a tragic accident.

The Rainy Day

The day is cold, and dark, and dreary;
It rains, and the wind is never weary;
The vine still clings to the mouldering wall,
But at every gust the dead leaves fall,
And the day is dark and dreary.

My life is cold, and dark, and dreary;
It rains, and the wind is never weary;
My thoughts still cling to the mouldering Past,
But the hopes of youth fall thick in the blast,
And the days are dark and dreary.

Be still, sad heart! and cease repining;
Behind the clouds is the sun still shining;
Thy fate is the common fate of all,
Into each life some rain must fall,
Some days must be dark and dreary.

Water Shortages

It's hard to imagine water shortages after The Rainy Days we have just had. I sometimes joke about needing enough water to keep the boat afloat - but drinking water is another thing altogether.

Rijksinstituut voor Volksgezondheid
en Milieu (RIVM)Ministerie van Volksgezondheid,
Welzijn en SportNational Institute for Public Health and the Environmenthttps://www.rivm.nl/en/news/quick-action-needed-to-prevent-drinking-water-shortage-in-2030

Drinking water supplies could be under threat by 2030 unless provinces and water companies take steps to improve their capacity, the public health agency RIVM has warned.

Higher temperatures and lower rainfall in summer have put pressure on supplies in several provinces, including Groningen, Overijssel and western parts of Zuid-Holland. Unless alternative supplies are found all 10 water providers could be facing shortages by the end of the decade as demand increases, the RIVM warned. ‘Action is needed now to find new sources of drinking water,’ it said in a report published on Monday.

Vewin, the umbrella body for the Netherlands’ water companies, warned last September that the system was close to its limit. It also said the quality of drinking water was deteriorating as a result of intensive agricultural, industrial and domestic use. The RIVM is calling for more water to be stored in dunes and reservoirs to cover potential shortages in summer. It also said water companies should invest in measures to purify water from the sewage system and ground water.

The government wants to ease demand by reducing the amount of water consumed per person from 128 litres to 100 litres by 2035. Vewin welcomed the RIVM’s report. ‘Without rapid action by relevant parties, especially the provinces, securing our supplies of drinking water will come under pressure in more places,’ the organisation said. ‘That means it will not be possible to guarantee supplies of drinking water in time for planned new homes.’

More reading...

https://www.government.nl/topics/water-management

Ex-firie friend Andrew sent me this... a stamp on the inside of a cupboard that he inherited from an aunty...

with the comment "different times indeed"...

Oops...

This is the second time this ship has hit the SAME railway bridge...imagine how the skipper must feel...

New PC, Old Photos

I spent most of the past week installing a new computer (this one) and updating the old one for use "out the back" - for the Day Activity area and for the Kid's Weekends.

I cleaned and reformatted every hard drive and partition after first transferring everything to a portable hard drive. This included many thousands of old photos, including some that I thought I had lost.

In 2006, Barry and I went to Stuttgart for the World Cycling Championship. Barry was a seasoned traveller...and I definitely am not! So it was quite an unforgettable experience for me.

I was very impressed with Stuttgart itself - we attended meetings and all the cycling events - Barry had Press Passes for some areas, so we had a good view of just about everything.

One of Barry's friends was a sponsor of a team and of cycling in general. Barry called him "Fred the Fisherman" as he had a background of abalone diving and owned a seafood restaurant in Williamstown. Fred (real name Fritz, I think) paid for our hotel and took us to his family home in Backnung, where we met his brother and other family members.

In the local tourist shop there was a book for sale with a photo of 3 (local) young men on their bicycles - Fred, his brother and another friend. 

In the early 1950's they set off to cycle to Australia to be in Melbourne in time for the Olympic Games (1956). Fred took a diving course in Italy on the way (later the abalone link) - they rode all the way through Arabian countries, on to India (the ambassador introduced them to the PM), further on to Indonesia (Sohartu arranged for their flight to Australia).

Fred decided to stay in Melbourne - he took up bus driving and met a dancer from the Tivoli (I met her but can't remember her name) and later went on to start his abalone diving business.

These are the photos that I thought I had lost...

Fred is on the left. Barry took the photo in front of our hotel.

At Backnung

Stuttgart is the home of the Mercedes Benz Museum. You enter the building at the bottom, take a lift to the top and walk down a spiral path to the bottom again. With audio headphones in your language...

I remembered it being taller than this :)

This is (was) a famous Russian bike rider - Barry asked him if I could take their photo together. ( I don't know his name).

With Barry's Press Passes, we had access to the Press Centre...

It was Barry's Birthday! :)

One of my favorite photos...

Ben in Mexico

His first modelling job was at a Mexican ranch - after a 5 hour bus/train trip. Modelling the hats and boots, I think.

As well as the occasional modelling work, he keeps pretty much up to date with his copywriting obligations (contracts) - on his laptop wherever he can find a nice setting...

He got a second modelling gig at the barber shop - but he had to have a haircut!

He had been under consideration for a Pepsi ad, but he wasn't sure. It came up in discussion that he had his hair cut - so they asked for another photo - and he got the job! (On the strength of his new "look"). The shooting is on the 14th. They'd better get it right, because he is leaving on the 15th - not yet for "home" - some other exotic location on the way...He has booked us into a hotel in Amsterdam for when he comes home - 22nd, I think.