This Week in Wijnjewoude 2022

Gas Prices "Every mild week in winter is a God given," an EU official quipped when speaking to EUobserver on condition of anonymity. On Friday, it was 20 C - we haven't had the central heating on at all yet. Our gas company keeps putting up the monthly pre-payments - we can only hope that we at least break even when the yearly calculation is made. I mowed the grass yesterday - unthinkable this far into October - and expecting 20 C again today. My walk this morning... More or less at peace with the world on my 72nd Birthday! My Sunday Roast Lamb and lemon cheesecake are not going to be spoilt by the war or energy prices! The gerrymandering in the USA, however is even more of a worry. They'll probably take the rest of the world down with them, unfortunately. This week discussing the book Laboratories of Autocracy by David Pepper https://alfranken.com/the-al-franken-podcast Water Tales Over the last couple of weeks there have been some terrible incidents involving the w...

Subsidies (on what!!??) An extra 62 million euros will be made available this year for those who want to make their home more sustainable. This concerns an extension of the so-called ISDE scheme, whereby money is available if you want to purchase a heat pump or solar boiler, for example . There is also money for insulating houses or a connection to the heat network. 228 million euros had already been made available for this scheme. But the subsidy is so popular that Minister for Climate and Energy Rob Jetten is now making an extra 62 million euros available. The extra money will be available from Tuesday. On Monday night Janny and I went to a meeting of WEN (Wijnjewoude Energie Neutraal). Subsidies weren't mentioned, but the 12 month waiting times on just about everything - was discussed. So, I'm curious as to just how the subsidy money can be utilised. Bright Ideas It's usually me that comes up with the "bright ideas" and then I have to get Janny on board, knowin...

  Waiting times Waiting times, indeed. (read Trying Times) It occurred to me that we would need at least one other quote for any heating solutions we might come up with - so I rang the company that did our first major installation back in 1997. It was in the Guldens time - ie before Euros and it cost well over 100,000 of them! But it has stood the test of time, so no worries there. So, it was no surprise that they said we'd like to help you but the delivery time on heat pumps is at least 1 year and anything else related to the current situation - solar panels, insulation, airconditioners, is also not going to happen anytime soon. The telephone person said she'd put my request on the stack...  This reminded me of early days of funding in our field (of Care). In "Oh God What Now" this week (British Politics) there was mention of the British Government proposal for Nursery/Child Care funding to be given directly to the parents instead of the facilities... When we first ...