The 4th quarter of 2009 was extraordinary in terms of economic growth. More that 5% on a year basis. Will the US citizens feel the better conditions? I'm interested because some time ago I said that the situation for the ordinary man in the street won't get better as the economy show signs of recovery.
Is the economic growth a sign of recovery? The State has built up enormous debts while the supposedly -to big to fail- banks return to "normal" with bonuses for people who don't do their work very well.
I can point to Fidelity, BlackRock and others. The crisis, it ain't over yet. At least we haven't learned really from it.
Friday, January 29, 2010
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Friday, January 22, 2010
Do
Weekend, groceries. Much to do... and I'm so happy with my new internet setup. So much to see and to learn. Much to do.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
work
Some specific persons irritate me at work. They are not real, they play a role and irritate me because they interfere with my work. When such a person asks me a question about something concerning my work, I can react a bit annoyed.
It's time that my colleague and I go to another department. Tomorrow I might be informed with more details.
Tomorrow I can expect a report to the works council. It's about a reorganization which is past and about the coming reorg. of the 2 of us. As I am member my boss thinks I should know it first to answer questions about the report.
Of course my boss's goal is make me defending her resolution's. I cannot see how the counsil will allow her and the director to make a statement afterwards about the reorg. This is denial of the counsil and that counsil has to make steps to avoid minimizing it's role. Will be continued.
It's time that my colleague and I go to another department. Tomorrow I might be informed with more details.
Tomorrow I can expect a report to the works council. It's about a reorganization which is past and about the coming reorg. of the 2 of us. As I am member my boss thinks I should know it first to answer questions about the report.
Of course my boss's goal is make me defending her resolution's. I cannot see how the counsil will allow her and the director to make a statement afterwards about the reorg. This is denial of the counsil and that counsil has to make steps to avoid minimizing it's role. Will be continued.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Freedom
Today Geert Wilders faced court. It's a process about freedom of speech. Mr. Wilders is a Member of Parliament. It might be a political process. In my opinion he ought to say whatever he wants to support his opinion. That includes making statements that might be offensive to others.
Naming and blaming doesn't hurt as long it isn't physical. If it goes on and on and on, hopefully there is a majority in the community who can stop it.
Naming and blaming doesn't hurt as long it isn't physical. If it goes on and on and on, hopefully there is a majority in the community who can stop it.
Friday, January 15, 2010
change
The last weeks I didn't feel very comfortable. I am a bit worried about what's going to happen. In December I visited the dentist for an ordinary check. Everything was OK but an appointment was made with a orthodontist. As a consequence of that appointment I now have to make a digital scan of my head. After that the Orthodontist will discuss the options.
I didn't feel very comfortable. So I decided to buy me a laptop. After 6 years it's time to chance things. I hope this gives me more opportunities than with my old PC. I didn't even have DVD/rom on it anymore. Several years ago it stopped.
I also face a change at work. Management thinks that my colleague and I should integrate in the finance-department. It's time for it. Not really different work, but in a more professional setting.
I didn't feel very comfortable. So I decided to buy me a laptop. After 6 years it's time to chance things. I hope this gives me more opportunities than with my old PC. I didn't even have DVD/rom on it anymore. Several years ago it stopped.
I also face a change at work. Management thinks that my colleague and I should integrate in the finance-department. It's time for it. Not really different work, but in a more professional setting.
Sunday, January 03, 2010
carcheology
I heard about the combonym carcheology; digging out your car after a snowstorm. Thanks to Caren Lissner.
No problem for me having no car. But up north, I come from, loads of snow has been fallen the last days. It's icy now, temperatures of -15 C tonight. We are hoping for the Elfstedentocht. The last one was in 1997.
No problem for me having no car. But up north, I come from, loads of snow has been fallen the last days. It's icy now, temperatures of -15 C tonight. We are hoping for the Elfstedentocht. The last one was in 1997.
Thursday, December 31, 2009
New years eve
In my country it's usual to spend the evening with oliebollen and appelflappen. A picture says more than a few words.
So I wish you a happy New Year.
And keep your resolutions. I try too!
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Snowy
It's winter. The north of the country can't be visited by public transport. Trains are cancelled. Buses too. In fact The Netherlands has come to a halt.
Doesn't matter on a Sunday.
Friday, December 18, 2009
Socrates
Been very busy at work. Today I did everything what was on my list. So my year at the office has almost come to an end (6 day's work).
Today was the last day working with GWS4All, Centric-software for municipalities.
That means the last moment to make some payments with this system. It also means that I saw the birth, rise and fall of software used in an organization of 5,000 men/women.
Quiting GWS4All also means that all people from the Centric-organization leave our's. Less external-staff in our business, that's what we want. Next week on my department a few people have to leave. The necessity has been questioned by some people.
Sometimes I have a feeling that managers do things to favour others. With my manager I also feel that she tries to do what's best for herself.
I hear an inner-voice calling:
GWS4ALL will be replaced with SOCRATES, software for the 4 largest municipalities in the Netherlands and also developed by them.
Hopefully the name is wisely chosen, because Centric built software which couldn't completely satisfy user-demands. Socrates can? On January 4 the new system will be operational.
Next year will be an important year:
- my work and how will it be organized;
- works council and the restructuring of some departments;
- cycling Paris-Roubaix in June;
- vacation.
I really have no resolution for next year. I hope that I will pick up my cycling again to be able to ride Paris-Roubaix.
So hopefully Twenty Ten will conditionally be a better year.
Of course twenty-ten will give us all hope on a great future. (however the Copenhagen Climate conference makes me shiver (politicians talk, leaders act))
May 2010 bring the best for you and us.
Today was the last day working with GWS4All, Centric-software for municipalities.
That means the last moment to make some payments with this system. It also means that I saw the birth, rise and fall of software used in an organization of 5,000 men/women.
Quiting GWS4All also means that all people from the Centric-organization leave our's. Less external-staff in our business, that's what we want. Next week on my department a few people have to leave. The necessity has been questioned by some people.
Sometimes I have a feeling that managers do things to favour others. With my manager I also feel that she tries to do what's best for herself.
I hear an inner-voice calling:
examples, examples or you ought not to write this down.
Oops
GWS4ALL will be replaced with SOCRATES, software for the 4 largest municipalities in the Netherlands and also developed by them.
Hopefully the name is wisely chosen, because Centric built software which couldn't completely satisfy user-demands. Socrates can? On January 4 the new system will be operational.
Next year will be an important year:
- my work and how will it be organized;
- works council and the restructuring of some departments;
- cycling Paris-Roubaix in June;
- vacation.
I really have no resolution for next year. I hope that I will pick up my cycling again to be able to ride Paris-Roubaix.
So hopefully Twenty Ten will conditionally be a better year.
Of course twenty-ten will give us all hope on a great future. (however the Copenhagen Climate conference makes me shiver (politicians talk, leaders act))
May 2010 bring the best for you and us.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Die Mauer
In 1983 I visited Berlin on occasion of a school-trip. In fact we travelled by bus from the Dutch-German border, through the federal republic of Germany to the German Democratic Republic. In the GDR, I remember a long road paved with concrete. We, all children, didn't see any people in the gloomy and grey landscape we crossed. Arriving in West-Berlin was like arriving at an oasis after being in the desert for a while. I felt exited.
The most impressive thing was the memorial for a few people who tried to escape from East-Berlin but were shot in their attempt (`auf der flug erschossen'). It was situated on the left corner of the Reichtag facing the river Spree. When I was there I saw Vopo's (Volkspolizei) or guards in their watchtower looking over the mined and wired field to the Spree. (in fact it wasn't mined because of the noise it would make. How cynical!) And I looked at the memorial and watched the Vopo's.
Walking along the Spree to the Brandenburger Tor I had a first view of the concrete Berlin Wall. It was on the right corner behind the Reichtag facing the Spree. Some classmates touched the Wall. I didn't, reading the signs. Can you believe it; I stood there face to face with the monster called Berlin Wall and I didn't touch the Wall. I was to impressed and afraid of things what might happen when you wake up the monster. What I felt was the Cold War! But I missed a once in a life time opportunity.
Some days later we went on a trip to East-Berlin. In the Pergamonmuseum a doorman, who was in fact a woman, told that she has never been in the west, but she told that she knew a lot about Holland. When I remember the sadness in her eyes I feel the pain in my heart back in 1983, because she was prisoned in that system without being guilty. Of course they will have laughed. For me it didn't feel good. At the Fernsehturm in East Berlin we stopped also to have a view from the television and radio tower. Walking in the December cold on the Alexanderplatz I stopped to buy a warm sausage. It was so cheap and I felt such a pity for the boy who sold the food that I gave him much more than the actual price.
On our way back to West-Berlin we visited checkpoint Charlie. There I bought a poster of Solidarnosc, the Labour Rights Movement of Lech Walenza in Poland. In fact the fall of the communist dictatorship started with that movement of Lech Walenza and others in the early ninetheen eighties.
In 1992, only 9 years later, I went back to the places I went before. The memorial site for the man and woman `auf der flug erschossen' behind the Reichstag had disappeared but the Watchtower of the Vopo´s was still there. I walked to the other side of the river to the field where the watchtower was and I climbed on it. I had the same view of the Vopo´s in 1983 but I saw a complete different world. The world can really change in nine years.
Now, 20 years and one day have past since the Berlin Wall fell. Step by step this Cold War disappears, but we got to be alert for new wars like these.
The German movie "Das Leben der Anderen" is an example of life in East-Berlin.
The extreme control of the East-Germans is made clear in the plot of Das Leben der Anderen
The most impressive thing was the memorial for a few people who tried to escape from East-Berlin but were shot in their attempt (`auf der flug erschossen'). It was situated on the left corner of the Reichtag facing the river Spree. When I was there I saw Vopo's (Volkspolizei) or guards in their watchtower looking over the mined and wired field to the Spree. (in fact it wasn't mined because of the noise it would make. How cynical!) And I looked at the memorial and watched the Vopo's.
Walking along the Spree to the Brandenburger Tor I had a first view of the concrete Berlin Wall. It was on the right corner behind the Reichtag facing the Spree. Some classmates touched the Wall. I didn't, reading the signs. Can you believe it; I stood there face to face with the monster called Berlin Wall and I didn't touch the Wall. I was to impressed and afraid of things what might happen when you wake up the monster. What I felt was the Cold War! But I missed a once in a life time opportunity.
Some days later we went on a trip to East-Berlin. In the Pergamonmuseum a doorman, who was in fact a woman, told that she has never been in the west, but she told that she knew a lot about Holland. When I remember the sadness in her eyes I feel the pain in my heart back in 1983, because she was prisoned in that system without being guilty. Of course they will have laughed. For me it didn't feel good. At the Fernsehturm in East Berlin we stopped also to have a view from the television and radio tower. Walking in the December cold on the Alexanderplatz I stopped to buy a warm sausage. It was so cheap and I felt such a pity for the boy who sold the food that I gave him much more than the actual price.
On our way back to West-Berlin we visited checkpoint Charlie. There I bought a poster of Solidarnosc, the Labour Rights Movement of Lech Walenza in Poland. In fact the fall of the communist dictatorship started with that movement of Lech Walenza and others in the early ninetheen eighties.
In 1992, only 9 years later, I went back to the places I went before. The memorial site for the man and woman `auf der flug erschossen' behind the Reichstag had disappeared but the Watchtower of the Vopo´s was still there. I walked to the other side of the river to the field where the watchtower was and I climbed on it. I had the same view of the Vopo´s in 1983 but I saw a complete different world. The world can really change in nine years.
Now, 20 years and one day have past since the Berlin Wall fell. Step by step this Cold War disappears, but we got to be alert for new wars like these.
The German movie "Das Leben der Anderen" is an example of life in East-Berlin.
The extreme control of the East-Germans is made clear in the plot of Das Leben der Anderen
Sunday, November 01, 2009
Thoughts
A week ago I had a meeting with the Works Council. We talked about matters I can't remember immediately. That means how important it is. In fact the decisions are already made by management. Management of a Municipality controlled by politics. The Works Council can only slowdown the process. In fact that is what we did.
The Council has to agree with a proposal of management to reform some departments. Management gave us a 50 pages report which doesn't give a clear view of what the management wants. That's why the Councils chairman decided that a new brief report of 2 pages has to be sent to us. Not a 50 pages bookwork.
After one month of being part of the Works Council I can say that it's a lot of paperwork, a lot of invested hours, even time outside office hours and not much effort. The only advantage till now is that I see more the organisation as a whole.
Of course I know the organogram, but now I can fill it with real people. And they all got the same problems, like the vertical and horizontal mobility of people to other functions. Management is supposed to know that the quality of an organisation depends also the learning possibilities of the employees.
My employer uses people for it's short term benefit. The benefit should be mutual on the long term. So there should be development programs for every person and not for a few.
So there must be more possibilities to grow. One of the goals of management is that young people should take the municipality into consideration as a employer. The way it works now isn't one to think about my employer.
If management only think in short term benefits they are like the banking system and their management. Greedy people, only thinking about their own sake. But the Dutch and the British Government know what to do with their banks.
The Council has to agree with a proposal of management to reform some departments. Management gave us a 50 pages report which doesn't give a clear view of what the management wants. That's why the Councils chairman decided that a new brief report of 2 pages has to be sent to us. Not a 50 pages bookwork.
After one month of being part of the Works Council I can say that it's a lot of paperwork, a lot of invested hours, even time outside office hours and not much effort. The only advantage till now is that I see more the organisation as a whole.
Of course I know the organogram, but now I can fill it with real people. And they all got the same problems, like the vertical and horizontal mobility of people to other functions. Management is supposed to know that the quality of an organisation depends also the learning possibilities of the employees.
My employer uses people for it's short term benefit. The benefit should be mutual on the long term. So there should be development programs for every person and not for a few.
So there must be more possibilities to grow. One of the goals of management is that young people should take the municipality into consideration as a employer. The way it works now isn't one to think about my employer.
If management only think in short term benefits they are like the banking system and their management. Greedy people, only thinking about their own sake. But the Dutch and the British Government know what to do with their banks.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
bankrun
Maybe you heard the news about a bank run in the Netherlands.
I always thought it would only happen abroad, till last year, when the Northern Rock received support of the Bank of England and a real bank run emerged. That was the moment when the American credit crisis came to Europe.
That was September 14 2008, now it's October 25 2009 and stability has not come back.
In the Netherlands another bank collapsed this month. It happened very quickly. The Dutch bank authorities had problems with DSB-bank of billionaire Dirk Scheringa. There where some reforms in DSB and there was a press statement made in a breakfast TV-programme by one of the stakeholders in DSB. He called for a ordinary bank run asking all bank account holders to withdraw their money. A week later the bank was bankrupt. Now 4,000 people with more than Euro 100,000 on their account lose all above that number. Hundred of thousands of people can't get their money for some time. 2,000 people lose their job. They should tell on their curriculum that they worked for a known crook, Dirk Scheringa.
I always thought it would only happen abroad, till last year, when the Northern Rock received support of the Bank of England and a real bank run emerged. That was the moment when the American credit crisis came to Europe.
That was September 14 2008, now it's October 25 2009 and stability has not come back.
In the Netherlands another bank collapsed this month. It happened very quickly. The Dutch bank authorities had problems with DSB-bank of billionaire Dirk Scheringa. There where some reforms in DSB and there was a press statement made in a breakfast TV-programme by one of the stakeholders in DSB. He called for a ordinary bank run asking all bank account holders to withdraw their money. A week later the bank was bankrupt. Now 4,000 people with more than Euro 100,000 on their account lose all above that number. Hundred of thousands of people can't get their money for some time. 2,000 people lose their job. They should tell on their curriculum that they worked for a known crook, Dirk Scheringa.
Sunday, October 04, 2009
Autumn
The leaves are falling. The wind blows around the house. Temperatures sank below 10 degrees Celsius. The stove is working again after 5 months. The nights will be cosy again. Yes it's autumn.
In the previous month many things happened. Of course I made my trainings hours on my race-bicycle. Every week a little bit more. The last 2 weeks I rode on Wednesday with the club. Only 70 kilometer because at 8 pm it was to dark to ride.
September 24, the day when I had a severe accident in the past, will always be my day of reflection. This year was a special one. At work we had a day out for the employees, our team. In the afternoon there was a visit arranged to an institute for handicapped people. They were mentally handicapped.
The people who work with the handicapped people welcomed us with the words "welcome in our world" We were supposed to work with the mentally handicapped who were also fysically handicapped.
My task was to make a walk with the people who live in the institute.
A wheelchair and 2 other persons were appointed to me. My colleague had 2 persons and there were employees of the institute. Some people could have epileptic attacks, so instructed personal had to be present.
It made me go back to November, December 1982 when I was "locked up" in an institute for fysically handicapped children (under 18). In that institute was a boy of my age who had a brain-injury. He could almost be one of the visited institute. What "welcome in our world"? It's our world. At least it could have been a part of my world.
This short trip was good for ourselves because it made us think. Also it was good for inhabitants of the institute, they cheered up. It was no team building or a sociable day to a leisure park.
Many things happened I said. Also I will be member of the Works Council of the department I work for. It will start on Monday October 5. Many things to learn, a lot to see. I'm looking forward to it. It's a lot about the organization and the place of the employees in it. The time ahead of us will be one of change and turmoil.
At work we have fixed work places. Again the whole organisation of the place has been altered. My colleague and I had an option on 2 places between we could choose. We have lots of space now. Far above the minimum.
In the previous month many things happened. Of course I made my trainings hours on my race-bicycle. Every week a little bit more. The last 2 weeks I rode on Wednesday with the club. Only 70 kilometer because at 8 pm it was to dark to ride.
September 24, the day when I had a severe accident in the past, will always be my day of reflection. This year was a special one. At work we had a day out for the employees, our team. In the afternoon there was a visit arranged to an institute for handicapped people. They were mentally handicapped.
The people who work with the handicapped people welcomed us with the words "welcome in our world" We were supposed to work with the mentally handicapped who were also fysically handicapped.
My task was to make a walk with the people who live in the institute.
A wheelchair and 2 other persons were appointed to me. My colleague had 2 persons and there were employees of the institute. Some people could have epileptic attacks, so instructed personal had to be present.
It made me go back to November, December 1982 when I was "locked up" in an institute for fysically handicapped children (under 18). In that institute was a boy of my age who had a brain-injury. He could almost be one of the visited institute. What "welcome in our world"? It's our world. At least it could have been a part of my world.
This short trip was good for ourselves because it made us think. Also it was good for inhabitants of the institute, they cheered up. It was no team building or a sociable day to a leisure park.
Many things happened I said. Also I will be member of the Works Council of the department I work for. It will start on Monday October 5. Many things to learn, a lot to see. I'm looking forward to it. It's a lot about the organization and the place of the employees in it. The time ahead of us will be one of change and turmoil.
At work we have fixed work places. Again the whole organisation of the place has been altered. My colleague and I had an option on 2 places between we could choose. We have lots of space now. Far above the minimum.
Saturday, September 05, 2009
Vuelta
Last weekend I was the town I grew up partly. The cycling race tour (Vuelta Ciclista a España) started there. Friday I saw the team presentation. For the first time in years I had a dinner with my mother and her friend in a restaurant. Saturday I took my bicycle and cycled 75 k through the province. More times I had to shelter for rain showers. One of those sheltering moments I was in front of the house in Westerbork where I lived in my youth. From that place I cycled over the route the Vuelta would take the next day. I cycled from Westerbork to Tynaarlo, a 35 k or so. It never crossed my mind to do that. Along the route I visited the burial site of my dog. It's a piece of land close to a stream where nature can be nature. It overwhelmed me that that site has actually become a nature reservoir and it was so mature. Years ago there where meadows originally meant for cows. The land was given back to the wild animals, deer, badgers, rabbits, foxes, birds, insects and plants. On Sunday the Vuelta passed my mothers house. It was a spectacular scenery of 198riders passing by.
Look at this video:
Between last weekend and the present weekend I had a week off. I had to think about joining the Works Counsil. This counsil has every 2 weeks a meeting to talk about subject which are important for the employees. Every month the counsil has a meeting with the head of the department we´re working for. I haven't seen an agenda with things talked about. That's what I have to do Monday morning as soon as I started the computer. Hopefully the network is working.
Look at this video:
Between last weekend and the present weekend I had a week off. I had to think about joining the Works Counsil. This counsil has every 2 weeks a meeting to talk about subject which are important for the employees. Every month the counsil has a meeting with the head of the department we´re working for. I haven't seen an agenda with things talked about. That's what I have to do Monday morning as soon as I started the computer. Hopefully the network is working.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)