I finished my second of three jigsaw puzzles this morning. This one was pretty hard to do with all the flowers. But I plugged away at it. 
Archive for March, 2007
Jigsaw Puzzle #2
WAO Resources
I had these listed on a previous page that is being deleted and put them here as they may be of help to someone.
The WAO Plein. – For those interested in support, information and just sharing with others (in Dutch).
Stichting GAOS - een organisatie van, voor en door arbeidsongeschikten.
Landelijke Vereniging van Arbeidsongeschikten (LVA).
L.A.M. de Groot Heupner - expertise op het door het huidige UWV gehanteerde claimbeoordelingsproces.
WAOtrefpunt- gemaakt door lotgenoten en voor lotgenoten.
Stop de Herkeuringen
Stop the Evaluations.
The action committee ‘Stop the Re-evaluations’ held a demonstration in Den Hague on March 21st.
It appears that under the new House of Representatives the disability evaluations are going to continue as they have under the last government. For those on disability that are 45 or older as of July 1st 2004 there is some relief as they are not to be called on the carpet. For those younger than 45 the nightmare continues. People are miraculously healed while attending the screening. They walk in disabled and walk out being told they are able to work. There is no hope of them ever getting a job as companies are not looking to waste their time and energy on people who really cannot work, even with the bribe (subsidies) offered by the government. Not only will the the ‘healed’ not get a job but they also lose their disability premiums.
Apparently just over 100 persons showed up for the demonstration. Not too bad considering it was a work day and that the persons who are disabled would have a hard time making the trip to Den Hague. What also surprises me is that it was not covered in the news. I read a short article in one of the online papers and other than that I did not see it anywhere. I find this questionable and wonder what that is all about. Could be because the Socialistic Party plays a big role in helping the hundreds of thousands of people that have been affected by this new criteria and evaluation system for the disabled.
This problem is not going to go away here in Holland and the SP is also not going to go away. It is time to take a serious look at the criteria that is being used to evaluate the disabled. Changing a persons status from disabled to abled in a one hour session is creating a whole set of problems to which there are no solutions. (SP)
Eight Day Clock
I bought a new (used) clock today. It is called an ‘eight day clock’ and is from the late 1960’s early 1970’s. It chimes on the half hour and on the hour.
The clock has to be wound up about every eight days.
Jigsaw Puzzles
I have gotten into doing jigsaw puzzles as of late. I finished my first one.
I am enjoying doing them but it is cutting into my time for doing Sudokus. Only so many hours in a day… 
Skipping School
In ten years there are ten times more students skipping school.
This is the day and age where going to school is mandatory. This means that teachers have to control the students attendance. This is really needed here in the Netherlands because more students are skipping school each year.
Parents are given fines of 50 euros a day, (maximum 375. a week or 500. for two weeks) if a family goes on holidays when a child should be in school. For a child who skips school the parent pays 125. euros. Kids who are older than 12 also get a ‘task sentence’. (Rtl)
Here are some figures of a study done here in Holland.
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Year —– total ——- ‘of age’ kids ——- under aged kids
2006: —- 5980 ——- 3060 (51%) ——– 2920 (49%)
2005: —- 5380 ——- 2820 (52%)——– 2560 (48%)
2004: —- 4930 ——- 2650 (54%) ——– 2280 (46%)
2003: —- 3830 ——- 2030 (53%) ——– 1800 (47%)
2002: —- 3880 ——- 2400 (62%) ——– 1480 (38%)
2001: —- 2610 ——- 1590 (61%) ——– 1020 (39%)
2000: —- 2400 ——- 1529 (63%) ——– 880 (37%)
1999: —- 1170 ——- 1200 (68%) ——– 570 (32%)
1998: —- 1580 ——- 1240 (78%) ——– 350 (22%)
Sperm Donors Estate
The bitter dispute that lasted five years over a sperm donors estate has been settled in the Australian courts.
Three children who where conceived with the sperm of a donor of a Dutch immigrant laid claim to a portion of the 200,000.00 euro estate left behind by Willem Wijma, the donor.
The family of Mr. Wijma, who live in Groningen, Holland claim he was never more than a donor and had absolutely nothing to do with the Australian children.
The children have won the case and will inherit part of the estate. (Rtl)
Hackergotchi
I took a picture of our dog Bowie this morning and Johan made a hackergotchi of it.
I like the results.
Sunny Days
I have been able to sit outside the last two days. It has been so beautiful! I love sitting in the sun and reading or doing Sudoku puzzles. Bowie lays out with me and we enjoy the birds singing for us.
The weather experts say that the weather we are having now is what normally comes at the end of April. Wonder what the spring/summer will bring this year after such a mild winter.
Health Premium Subsidies 2006
4.9 million Netherlanders received health premium subsidies last year, totaling 2,5 billion euros.
According the the bureau of statistics 1 out of every 3 persons over 18 yrs of age was entitles to premium subsidies. The average was 480 euros per year.
The subsidies are handed out according to a persons income. The less the income the more you are subsidies. The maximum one (a family) can receive is 1155 euros.
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Again, to have a look at how a family situation of two adults is affected by the Dutch health insurance premiums have a look at an earlier post of mine.
