Week 5
Janny's Bithday on Tuesday
(and we went to our local restaurant last night - facemasks, distancing and having to show our QR codes)
She offered the clients "cake or patat" for her birthday. Quick as a flash, two of them said "why not both" - so we did! (patat is the word for the chips that come with the typical take-away food).
Including Janny's Mum as a visitor...
The clients had set up the flags the day before...
Always thoughtful, Ben arranged for some dried flowers to be delivered, even though he is in Capetown.Around the farm...
I can't imagine how I would be managing all the work if I didn't have my helper, Tjeerd. He is going from strength to strength with his own issues/development - Janny keeps telling me that he just loves it here. I think we get asked from time to time - how is it going with him?. Maybe he has just found his "spot" and we won't be rocking the boat anytime soon.
For example, we had to put in a new double switch and Tjeerd was as keen as anything to learn how it all goes together - one of our other clients is a jack-of-all-trades and actually learnt the electrical trade - but couldn't pass the theory exams. He is practical in most things but can't hold down a normal job - so we'll gladly keep him as well!
Tjeerd is also very practical and is learning a lot. The best thing is that he will find things to do on his own if I am busy with something else.
Last week, I mentioned that Janny had to say "no" to a new client. It left a sour feeling with me because the woman is still in need of somewhere where she can get the right sort of help.
She has someone whose role it is to find somewhere that meets her needs - it's probably not a Care Farm like ours. (ours was the third or fourth, in a short period of time).
So, Janny and I discussed it and Janny ended up calling the chap who has the responsibilty, to give him our reasons and tell him what we think is needed. Hopefully something more constructive will be done.
One of our other recent clients is confined to a wheelchair. We have our own wheelchair now, so we don't have to bring hers in the car when we pick her up. She lives in a 2 storey house, but has to sit on the stairway and raise herself one step at a time to get up to her bedroom.
She tried to "write herself in" for an apartment in an elderly housing centre in her village, but she didn't qualify because she is not old enough yet. The website for making an application automatically stops the process based on the age of the applicant.
Janny tried to do it for our client, but came up against the same (uncaring?) brick wall.
Janny rang up the Housing Corporation to explain the situation and whoever it was agreed that our client should be put on the list!
So, this should have a good ending fairly soon. The new house will be an apartment with no stairs.
The boat
After sanding the mast last week, I had another look at one of the boat doors and decided to tackle it again - after all, I'm hardly likely to sand it so much that I'll need a new door...
We ordered our new Marrekrite flag - this time opting to become a "contributor" i.e. paying a premium on top of the cost of the flag. It will be automatically paid each year from now on - and the flag will be sent without us having to re-order it.
They maintain our moorings in Friesland and also walking and cycling routes...
That's on the 20th Feb and the boat goes into the workshed on the 1st of March. I've already started gathering all the sanding, filling and painting materials.
I've also booked to get some new cushions - finally!. (we once booked someone to come and have a look and give us a quote - about 10 years ago! - he never showed up).
I've been picking Lucas up from his new adress for a few years now - it finally dawned on me that right next door is a place that does that work - I walked in when the Covid restrictions were off - and arranged it - just like that!!
One of my podcasts this week...
... was about Peter Mark Roget - very interesting - so much so that I went looking for my Macquarie version - given to me by a very dear friend in 1987!!. I also found my English/Dutch dictionary from 1993!
Whilst looking though the old stuff, Janny also found an old plaque from the Northern Territory
I cleaned it up a bit and it too found a place on the wall with the others.
Somehow, I never forget that the Fire Service made this second life possible...in more ways than one...
Purely anecdotal evidence...(of Global Warming)
It hasn't looked like snowing (yet) and all the outdoor skating rinks are waiting patiently...February is usually the coldest month, so there is still time.
4th of February, 2012
Sometimes I save quotes or ideas into Google Keep...
this one struck a nerve, the other day...
Or that as people, we’ve simply lost the ability to perceive bullshit in any of its terrestrial forms?
And on another note altogether...
There was a story on the news the other night about a "flasher"...
The Dutch saying for that is "potloodventer" - literally a "pencil salesman"....
Gas, et al
We've booked someone to come and get us started on insulation and heat pumps.
Our gas bill is calculated on a yearly basis - and divided by 12 - so we pay the same every month - and paying extra at the end of the year or getting some back. We had to pay more for last year even though our usage was less - purely because of the end of year price hike.
It has all been calculated for this year - it comes out at €23.356,32 for the year - home, apartments and business and the total bill includes the electricity for everything. It is more than double what was calculated for 2021.
At that price, we think it is worth the investment to at least tackle it in some way.
First will be a quote for insulating the cavity walls. I'll probably have to pull out the floor in our living room and then we'll see about the heat pumps - they work best if the insulation is good, so we obviously have to do the underfloor area.
There are subsidies available - but at least two things have to be done - so we'll probably look at getting higher rated double glazing as well. The subsidy can be claimed only on materials if we do the work ourselves - but a fair bit of it will be specialised work in regard to the heat pumps - and the windows.
More news from nu.nl
A bit of relief from the gas prices (but not much)
European natural gas prices fell sharply on Tuesday. The decline followed the recovery of Russian gas supplies to Europe via a major route through Ukraine.
The price of 1 megawatt hour of gas on the Dutch futures market, which is leading for European gas prices, fell by almost 11 percent to 75.50 euros. In December, the gas price peaked at more than 180 euros per megawatt hour.
Traders responded to data from grid operator Eustream showing that Russian gas supplies to Slovakia via the Vel'ké Kapusany interconnection point on the border with Ukraine have returned to normal levels.
This extra Russian supply is putting downward pressure on gas prices. The mild winter weather also slows down the demand for gas. The arrival of several ships with cargoes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in European ports is also depressing the price.
Another pipeline was opened for only 8 hours...(apparently they auction use of the pipeline??!!).
Yamal Pipeline accounts for one sixth of supply to Europe and Turkey
Gazprom had booked capacity on the pipeline between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. Dutch time and did indeed send gas to Germany. In the meantime, the supply has again been stopped and the company has not yet booked any capacity for the rest of February. These bookings are made through daily auctions.
The Yamal-Europe pipeline accounts for one sixth of Russia's gas supplies to Europe and Turkey in normal times. Russian gas is also flowing our way through the Nord Stream pipeline, among others, although that is not enough at the moment to depress prices in the short term.
In addition, there has been a discussion between Russia and Germany for a long time about the Nord Stream 2. It should send more gas from Russia to Europe, but Germany does not want to issue a permit until there are guarantees that Russia will not suddenly turn off the gas.
According to the European benchmark, one megawatt hour of gas currently costs about 77 euros.
m3 To kWh Conversion Formula
Different qualities of natural gas have different energy densities. That’s why we use a bit more complex equation to convert m3 to kWh precisely:
m3 × Calorific Value × 1.02264 ÷ 3.6 = kWh
The caloric value of natural gas is the parameter that changes. It’s usually around 40.0; depending on the quality of natural gas it can deviate +/-5%. 1.02264 is a correction factor, and 3.6 is the conversion factor for kWh.
For extremely precise calculations, we would you the upper equation. However, without more than a 5% loss in accuracy, we can simplify it quite a bit.
If you want to convert m3 to kWh, you just need to use this simple formula:
1 m3 = 10.55 kWh
Time to get walking...only about 10 days to go to make it one year!
Happy birthday Janny!!!!
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