Translated from nu.nl
Comparing Friesland with the rest of the Netherlands
The inhabitants of Friesland prove that money does not necessarily bring happiness. They are above average satisfied with their lives, while the Randstad and North Brabant are significantly richer.
Metropolitan areas near Amsterdam, Utrecht and Delft produce a relatively large amount of value, the gross domestic product (GDP). The GDP of poorer regions in the Northern Netherlands, the Achterhoek and Southwest Overijssel contrasts sharply with this. But that doesn't mean people have it any worse there.
In Friesland, the difference between value and happiness is most striking, conclude researchers from Statistics Netherlands. The GDP per capita there was 34,800 euros per inhabitant in 2021, while it was 49,100 nationally. Only in Drenthe was GDP even lower.
Yet almost nowhere in the Netherlands are residents so satisfied. This is because Frisians have relatively much more contact with friends, family or neighbours. They also experience good health on average and are satisfied with their home. Furthermore, there is a lot of nature and few emissions.
The Northern Netherlands scores above average on health, with the exception of the northeastern part of the region. The eastern edge of the Netherlands has the most negative outliers. In addition, residents of cities have, on average, less good health than those living in rural areas.
People in the city also have less money left over and their environment is less clean and safe. City dwellers are, on average, better educated and have a lower body weight. In rural communities, residents enjoy more nature and cleaner air.
Then there are areas where prosperity scores high in the long term, such as Friesland, West Groningen, Flevoland and South Zeeland. For example, clean air, debt and health play a role in this. Regions in South Holland, North Holland and the south of Limburg score low in the long term.
Thursday was very busy...
Bookkeeping, picking up 3 clients
Minigolf
Lunch with clients (only 4 missing)
It was all a pretty good day for them, we think.
1 hour mowing in between showers
And then to the boat and at 1700hrs away - almost 3 hours motoring to just past Grou - nicely relaxing. No electricity at the mooring - so I'm noticing that the house batteries are failing - 5 years old - and Robin tells me they were only cheapies 😞 at 200 euros each!
We left on Friday morning at 0630hrs - without troubling anyone - most other people seem to hang around much longer than we do. We needed to get to Dokkum in time for Janny to get a lift back home so she could pick up our car. The boat is in Dokkum for a month - as our "holiday house on the water's edge". We might like to move one boat further so that nobody walks past - Boeke gets a bit "protective". He has a loud bark for such a little dog! The Havenmeester made a special price for the month, but grumbled a bit about making sure they get the turnover so people spend their money in Dokkum - I wasn't there, but I would have grumbled myself that there are no doubts that we'll spend our fair share!
It's only a 30 minute drive, so we can get there easily enough after work. I probably have to go a few times on my own - just to keep an eye on it
😁. (and I have to sort out the batteries - and think about Robin's suggestion to finally do the full inverter installation and upgrade the solar panels - they are at least 16 years old). This all brings to mind the useage and just how much longer I can keep going - I did see a bloke with an electric wheelchair contraption getting around and then climbing on to his sailing boat - not sure if I would go that far...
Early morning walks have already started - Boeke doing a lot of exploring...
Friday was Market Day in Dokkum...a bit too busy for Boeke.
On Saturday, we had a thunderstorm and lots of rain - but it is always cosy on the boat - unless Boeke needs to go out in the middle of it - he did...but not far!
Before the rain...
From the news...
Last year we had our cavity walls insulated - this year there has just been an announcement that "Bat Inspectors" (yep) have to first give their approval - an extra cost, of course. Just another one of those shake your head moments...
Black Saturday (yesterday) from the ANWB (RACV)
The weekends in August are traditionally busy for holidaymakers on European motorways. Low point is the upcoming Black Saturday (yesterday). As a holidaymaker, what can you do to get through this day (except not go)?
(Mostly people driving to the south of France, (including all the Frenchies)).
The ANWB said that many Dutchies try leaving at 0400hrs, but in reality, this doesn't help - they come in behind the Frenchies own traffic jams. They suggest leaving a day or two later but the bookings are usually from Saturday to Saturday - and "not many Dutchies will take that loss willingly",
There were traffic jams of nearly 1000kms in total on Saturday - and also some in Austria.
Lots of German boats here in Dokkum - but no traffic jams :)
(I did make the observation to Janny that "we are sure at the lower end of the boat market" - "so what?" came her reply... just sayin 😉)
The night view from our wheelhouse...
Google "enhanced" photo...
Just muckin' around...(Boeke photos)
Started the battery investigation...the rest has to wait until next week. I'll probably need my helper to even lift them out... Of course it might be something else altogether, so I have to test them first. My first and easiest step is to simply replace them - and investigate all the other things for a major investment next year - inverter, replacement solar panels, new fridge, dedicated batteries (24V) for the sternthruster...ah, there's no end - just as well we (still) love what we do.
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