14 december 2016: Midi Ocre

Tomorrow, December 15, the removal van will arrive with our stuff. So, if we want to get rid of that dirty horrible distasteful snotty duck poo light-green mint in the living room, then today is the day. At the very last moment the tubs with white monodeck were put back onto the shelf, and exchanged for midi-ocre, a soft orange yellow.

Very handy: you can buy a roll of plastic here with a sticky edge, so you can easily protect the floor.

And so it happened.


No, those lamps were already there.

Sunday December 11th - flying

4 AM, and we're wide awake. On to Rotterdam, flying. Breakfast with krentenbollen. Skip shower. M&M did put on the alarm clock, even though we stressed they needed to stay in bed.

If your one hand luggage is below max weight and your other is a bit above you still need to pay. Another 15 euro poorer. Security checks with dog are more fun. Everyone loves her, and with reason. Car keys? Um, they need to be handed in still! Just in time..

Everything is on time, which is nice.

Flying. The lady next to me grumbles the coffee is thin and cold. She's right. That is why I have hot chocolate. Which is thin too, but not cold, as the water was reheated after my neighbour's complaints.

Alicante is still there. Luggage and dog arrive quickly, and we're on our way with the second rental car that day.

Two hours and a bit, and we're... eh.. yes, home!

 Leaving your house behind 4 months does not always work well, as there are attempted burglary traces on our terrace door. Which is a nice old thick wooden door with three big latches and a lock. The door bravely withstood the attempts, no entry. The lock is bent, but we were able to buy exactly the same again.

The bastards also cut our internet cable, as they feared we had remote security cameras, as many people here have. We'll have one too, soon, with an SD card and rechargeable battery. We'll get you next time...

Next Comunicaciones were so kind as to fix the internet cable the next day, and at a nominal fee. Very good service. Thanks guys!

And we'll install grills in front of the front- and terrace doors, as all other windows have.

Our efforts to keep the workshop/garage dry have not worked well. The new wooden doors are bent because of the damp, and does not close currently. Worse is that the ceiling was completely soaked, and there was an atmosphere as in a tropical greenhouse. Which is not great for the car. The leather chairs were completely mouldy. No worries, it was washed off quickly with a bit of soap. But it was a shock. We better not have stayed away another few months.

Cause is that the walls are porous, and rain water from the roof and the terrace canopy fall right on top of the garage walls. I took care to redirect that water already, and we have asked for a quote to plaster the garage walls properly.

But a beloved car as wet as this was not great I can tell you. Even though the sun was shining, and the temperature was 20º.

Moving house, Friday, December 9-10 2016

Moving house. Like it, or not.

Are you enjoying yourselves?

/Very well done, gentlemen of Kuiper [www.kuiperbv.nl] from Weesp: great work. Nothing broken, well planned, and very little stress for us. Next time the coffee will be stowed last.

/Saturday December 10 2016: cleaning. Around 12:30 the new owners will pay us a visit, so we have to crack on. Of course we're very clean, but there are a few things to do. By seven the house is cleaner than ever before, and we have to say goodbye. Bye sweet house, our home since May 6th, 2005.

 Forgot one thing, as it was in the cellar behind a white sheet of something. The jack of my dad, het used to lift the boat. One of a pair. Too heavy for hand luggage, but I am devising a cunning plan to get it here after all. It's a great tool.

Dinner at M&M's. Lovely sauerkraut, and, as a proper old fashioned farewell dessert: Saroma! We're so grateful to you guys for dinner and staying the last two nights, including a Zoomba. We were planning an air bed and sleeping bag, but staying over in an empty house is no fun. Where do you sit? The stair are the only place you can sit. But not the whole evening.

And, we're very grateful for our neighbours of nr. 6, for allowing us to fill their rubbish container with all the stuff that did not fit in ours any more. And, for being great neighbours. We're sure we'll see you in Spain! :-)

/Someone else moved on this day, only a little bit more definite: Peter van Straaten. Sadly missed already, but thank you for all the laughs and smiles. (Portrait ©Siegfried Woldhek)

Short news flash

Arrived safely +++ House relatively okay +++ Garage all wet and humid +++ Car too +++ Which is not nice +++ Mould on leather upholstery +++ Washes off easily +++ Attempted break-in door terrace +++ Dents and a damaged doorpost +++ Cable to internet antenna cut, for fear if internet camera +++ No entry +++ Lock is bent +++ Was able to buy exact same lock again +++ Now clearing house, Thursday arrival of furniture +++ Living room now light mint green +++ (Puke) +++ Will be light ocre +++ Washing walls with amoníaco perfumado(!) +++ Monodek ocre

Christmas tree peak XL

Anyone interested in a ridiculously large christmas tree peak? (64 cm, glass, silver)

And yes, sorry, but size does matter.

Gespot!

Well, look here! We've been spotted by Google Earth!

This must have been June of this year, when we had just put up those shade sails, and the driveway to the garage hadn't been finished yet. If you look carefully, you can just spot a bit of a red car peeping out from under the right shade sail.

Bigger pic (click for larger). The area within the red lines is ours. OURS!

PH-LAW en order in Amersfoort

Amersfoort is een mooie stad, maar hoe langer hoe meer ook een erg lawaaiige stad.

Wij zijn in 2005 uit Amsterdam West vertrokken omdat Schiphol te veel over ons hoofd vloog, en wij dit niet beter zagen worden. Zeker niet gezien het groteske gelieg van Annemarie Jorritsma in de toenmalige verkiezingscampagne, als aankomend minister V&W, "dat de regels rond overlast van vliegverkeer ècht zouden worden gevolgd, hoor, meneer Duyvendak". Dat ze daarna vrolijk diezelfde regels zou oprekken zagen wij dus toen al wel gebeuren, en zijn op tijd vertrokken.

Maar, waarheen kan je gaan? In Drente hadden we Eelde over ons vakantiehuisje, en zijn een paar dagen eerder naar huis gegaan. In Limburg heb je Volkel en andere militairen. Doei. Ons oog viel op Amersfoort, niet in het minst omdat er een aardig vrijstaand huis stond (en staat).

We zijn een paar avonden naar Amersfoort getrokken om te luisteren naar de vliegtuigen: nul. En hoe is het nu? Zie hiernaast. En hoe komt dat, behalve door het groteske gelieg van Jorritsma? Het komt omdat in 2005 vliegbasis Soesterberg nog open was, en het luchtruim hier militair was, en dus gesloten voor de burgerluchtvaart. Af en toe kwam er wel een twee-wiekige helikopter overgedonderd met iets onduidelijks eronder hangend in een groot net, en dergelijke, maar verder was het redelijk rustig. Echter, Soesterberg is nu dicht, en dat gat wordt met liefde gevuld door Schiphol, zoals u naast kunt ervaren. Elke 2-5 minuten een KLM of Transavia.

Onze ervaringen met de effectiviteit van klagen bij Schiphol zijn niet om op te schrijven (héé!), dus dan de gemeente er maar eens mee lastig vallen. Een gemeente, dat zegt het woord al, is sterker dan het individu. Ik kreeg bericht van mevrouw Leloux van de gemeente Amersfoort dat de "vertrekroute over de noordkant van Amersfoort alléén gebruikt wordt bij krachtige oostenwind". Maar, héé, er was op die dag helemaal geen oostenwind. Mevrouw Leloux van de gemeente Amersfoort had verder geen zin in antwoorden, en na (stevig) aandringen was de gemeente er na een jaar uit: Amersfoort is niet verantwoordelijk voor de vliegroutes, maar alleen voor de veiligheid. Je kon de opluchting voelen.

Het is inderdaad lastig greep te krijgen op irritant vliegverkeer. De vliegerij is een arrogante en gesloten club. Herinner u de neergestorte Boeing van ElAl? Dat er een motor afgevallen was kon maar beter "onder de pet worden gehouden", en de verklaring van de deskundige Wolleswinkel (lees meer op www.groene.nl/artikel/gewoon-liegen) dat "ach, mevrouwtje, zo'n vliegtuig volgt niet zo precies een voorgeschreven pad" herinner ik mij nog goed. Het aardige is dat je tegenwoordig vliegtuigen redelijk goed kan volgen met de online flightradar24.com. En, Wolleswinkel loog dus ook daarover. Die vliegtuigen volgen namelijk hun route binnen een paar honderd meter. En allemaal over Amersfoort Noord.

En zo kreeg ik de PH-LAW in het oor. Ja, het oor. flightradar24.com was mijn oog.
← En wat ik zag staat daar: PH-LAW

← en een weekend later: PH-RVS

Als je dan Gemeente Amersfoort vraagt of zij er iets mee van doen hebben, dit ziet er immers uit als een of andere observatie, is het antwoord: "nee hoor!". BAS maar es gevraagd (Bewoners Aanspreekpunt Schiphol), die meenden dat dit een toestel was opgestegen van een of andere Schiphol baan. Op het kaartje kan je zelf ook wel zien dat dat niet zo is, aan BAS heb je dus ook niks. Teuge is het vliegveld. Die wisten te vertellen dat het toestel van Slagboom & Peeters is, een vliegtuigfotobedrijf. Al wist ik dat natuurlijk ook al, Google is my friend. Zowel PH-LAW als PH-RVS zijn van Slagboom & Peeters. Van Slagboom & Peeters kreeg ik te horen dat Gemeente Amersfoort wel degelijk opdrachtgever was.

Terug naar deze gluipige lieg-gemeente kwam na aandringen (in Amersfoort gaan dit soort dingen niet zonder slag of stoot) de mededeling dat het gaat om fotovluchten, een aantal keren per jaar, om in de gaten te houden of Amersfoorters niet stiekem schuurtjes bijbouwen, en zo, qua bouwvergunningen, en dat ik wel zou begrijpen dat de gemeente behoefte had aan zulke gegevens. Inderdaad begrijp ik die behoefte wel, maar dat daarvoor een irritant vliegtuigje uren boven mijn hoofd moet cirkelen een heel stuk minder.

Ik heb niet teruggehoord van de gemeente dat men ermee ophoudt, integendeel. De gemeente Amersfoort heb ik dus aangemeld bij de Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens voor het uitwerpen van een sleepnet zonder aanziens des persoons.

En Slagboom & Peeters? Dat zijn linkmiggels. Gisteren en vandaag waren ze er weer (ja, ik heb uitstekende oren, ik herken hun geluid), en wat doen ze? Zodra ze Amersfoort naderen gaat de transponder uit, en kan flightradar24.com ze niet meer volgen.

Over twee weken ben ik weg, en dan hebben gemeente, Slagboom & Peeters en ik rust.

Volgens gemeente Amersfoort klaagt er maar twee à drie keer per jaar iemand, en is er "dus" geen probleem.

Ik wens Amersfoort veel rust, maar ook waakzaamheid vanwege de komst van Lelystad Airport, waarvan de uitvliegroute... maar dat bewaren we voor een andere keer.

Lees ook over transport en duurzame energie: www.olino.org, en over vliegen in het bijzonder: https://www.olino.org/articles/2017/01/11/vliegen/.

Ignorance Or Understanding

How about a song with a life motto?



Time passes by
The sum of time makes up a life
We're here today but gone tomorrow

What the human mind can think of
It can come true
Nothing's stopping you
Except your fears and inhibitions

Will you live your life in ignorance or understanding?
Will you live your life a slave or commanding?

Ignorance? Or understanding?
Ignorance? Or understanding?

You have a dream so why won't you live it?
Have you already given up and quit it?
Without ever really trying?

Will you live your life in ignorance or understanding?
Will you live your life a slave or commanding?

Ignorance? Or understanding?
Ignorance? Or understanding?

You're just passing through
So why not pursue your dreams?

Will you live your life in ignorance or understanding?
Will you live your life a slave or commanding?

Ignorance? Or understanding?
Ignorance or understanding?

Ignorance, Ignorance
Ignorance, Ignorance

Ignorance, Ignorance
Ignorance, I..

© 2013 Bobby Orlando / Bobby O

windytv.com

Let me advertise our favourite weather website: www.windytv.com

Rain, wind, temperature, very well done!

Of course we keep an eye on our new home, just to be sure the temperature there is above 20º. Up until now it was, although the coming week: 11º and 15º ? And rain. 5mm in one hour.. What is "life jacket" in Spanish?

Box box box

In four weeks' time, we will have landed, at the time of writing this, and we'll probably be busy packing a rental car with a dog and all. That same dog is still innocently relaxing now. For now. Quite unlike ourselves.

Pensionadobikes 3

We've now received assurances that the bikes will actually be produced next week and shipped to us the following week, if necessary by courier. They also promised to arrange a service in Spain after three months. 

Apparently, the frames haven't been good enough lately. So you can't make any bikes for a month? Yeah, no, the frames are also coming from the Far East. Sigh. So that means absolutely nothing about these bikes is being made here in Europe? I thought we'd chosen decent German bikes, but everything is coming from (probably) China, Korea, etc.

Normally, the frames arrive in containers, but now they're being flown in. Pie in the sky!

We'll see. Grmbl. Well, the alternative was canceling the order, and that doesn't make anyone happy either.

PS: Saturday, November 19th: one of the bikes has arrived at the shop and is ready to ride. The other is... still on its way.

PPS: Thursday evening, November 24th, 2016: they've arrived. Home delivery. Because cycling to the bike shop to pick up two bikes is... complicated.

Pensionadofietsen 2

Hmm. If you have to order a bike and the delivery time is 3 to 4 weeks, and then you get a message that it will take another month after a month, delivery, say, a week before you're due to leave, you're grumpy. I am grumpy. 

Look, Mr. Riese and Mr. Müller, this can't be right.

Without a down payment, we would have simply canceled the order, now we have to negotiate. Not nice. 

Coniferen en de aardige buurman

Kijk nou, de coniferen aan onze kant van de tuingrens zijn zomaar getopt door de buurman van nummer 10, laten we hem Bert-Jan Hemmen noemen, zonder ons daarover ook maar lastig te vallen. Toch maar even een bedankbriefje sturen. Of zullen we eerst aan de wijkagent laten zien hoe fraai hij dit heeft gedaan?

← kijk, dat is 'm! De Coniferenknipper van Kattenbroek!

Pensionadofietsen

As a pensioner of course you ride your bike. An electric one, so you don't get too tired, and have enough energy for tapas and rosé on the terraces along the way.

You have a choice between a regular version (25 km/h) and a high-speed version (45 km/h). We quite liked to ride faster than 25 km/h actually, while we thought at first we'd like the "regular" 25 km/h version with "CX" motor, which is especially suited for steep hills and mountains, so you don't get too tired, and still reach the top, at our age.

The disadvantage of the high-speed versions is that you need a license plate, and that means difficult import, as you need a "certificate of conformity", officially translated to Spanish. And that is not yet available, just German and English. So, we'll have "just" the 25 km/h version.

Which is not so bad, as you can only really go 45 km/h on very smooth asphalt bike lanes. There are not many of those in southern Spain.

We'll have extra fat tires, because many roads are not great, and you can also go mountain biking with these.

Pity they don't have electric tandems, with a basket at the front for Zoomba.

We'll have to be a bit patient still, as these bikes are made to order.

B&O

With a move to a faraway, warm country looming, I'm looking at a few last-minute things. This one's been lying around for a while. My lovely old speakers are due for a makeover. 

I once bought one of my own for a few hundred guilders, one of my most beloved pieces of equipment, the Beomaster 8000 , complete. Well, after 30 years, it needs some work.

Unscrewing the back, the speaker in question appears to be sitting right inside the sealed compartment. Even the wires are sealed! So I can't reach it from the back. So I'll have to do it from the front. It's tricky, though, because the wires are taut. That means I'll have to extend them a bit when putting them back.

Anyway. Individual speakers whose rubber surrounds have worn out can be easily repaired at www.audiolab.nl , or www.speakerreparatie.nl, for a few tens of euros per speaker, in my case. Thanks to www.beoworld.org , where many people still cherish their old B&Os. And rightly so.

Curious!