Welja! Heel Nederland een politiestaat en meer dan half Nederland een boete opleggen. Dat tikt lekker aan, en je hoeft er niets voor te doen. Voor je het weet wordt het een industrie op zich!
Ik vraag me af wanneer deze moraalridders uiteindelijk achter de bibliotheken aan gaan... daar kan je tenslotte ook (audio)boeken gratis en voor niets lezen, CD's en films voor bijna nop luisteren en kijken. Schande toch, dat de producenten en vooral de brancheorganisaties hier niets van kunnen vangen. Toch??
De orde-en-regelmaat gilde slaan nu wel helemaal door.
Ik gebruik al geruime tijd mijn voordeel abonnement kaart als OV chipkaart. Vrolijk word ik er niet van - ik reis niet vaak met de trein en moet iedere keer weer goed opletten wat ik doe, onthouden om UIT te checken enz. Ik kijk niet altijd op de automaat om het bedrag te zien, maar laatst viel mij op dat ik de volle tarief betaalde terwijl ik in de voordeel uren was.
Meeltje gestuurd naar de NS.
Vandaag kreeg ik dit antwoord terug:
Geachte mevrouw XXX,
Graag beantwoord ik uw e-mail. U geeft aan dat het volle tarief in rekening is gebracht, terwijl u een geldig Voordeelurenabonnement heeft. Het spijt ons dit te vernemen en bieden onze excuses aan voor het ongemak. Graag lichten wij de oorzaak toe.
Op XX-XX-2010 jongstleden is uw Voordeelurenabonnement opnieuw verlengd. Wanneer u reeds reist op saldo met uw Voordeelurenabonnement dan is het belangrijk dat u met uw huidige kaart bij de kaartautomaat opnieuw uw reizen op saldo activeert wanneer het abonnement verlengd is. De reden voor dit verzoek is van technische aard: uw Voordeelurenabonnement is verlengd maar de koppeling met reizen op saldo moet nog gemaakt worden.
Wij adviseren u dan ook om naar de kaartautomaat te gaan en hier alsnog uw bestelling op te halen.
U wilt tevens het teveel betaalde terug ontvangen. Dit kunnen wij niet via de e-mail afhandelen, u kunt een brief sturen naar NS Klantenservice, Postbus 2372, 3500 GJ Utrecht.
Mocht u nog vragen hebben, dan beantwoorden wij deze graag.
Met vriendelijke groet,
Ja, daar sta je dan. Bijna een jaar lang dus, reis ik voor de volle tarief op mijn voordeeluren kaart. Geen idee meer welke datums ik waarheen ben gegaan. Ik had een forse saldo op mijn kaart gezet dus lette ik niet zo goed op.
Dat is dus weggegooide geld.
Waarom is mij dit nooit verteld??!! Ik vind het best ingewikkeld, dit OV chip systeem. En verdomd duur ook, blijkt nu!
Als ik de tijd en energie had, ging ik hier achter aan. Maar dat heb ik niet. Mooie winst voor de NS. De vorige keer dat ik probeerde om mijn kaart bij te werken bij zo een automaat, heeft dat mij drie bezoekjes gekost bij de klantenservice balie op station Den Haag. Eens maar nooit weer...
Ik ga maar mijn voordeel uren abonnement opzeggen, denk ik. Ben wel goed maar niet gek.
It's a given - it will happen some day. Some vital body part will stop functioning and I will cease to exist. It bums me out, yes. I feel vaguely wronged that I probably won't be around to see two suns in the sky. Or what happens to humankind, what happens to life in general on this planet and -if there still is life capable of planning and executing a planetary escape- what will happen when our sun dies and swallows up this beautiful planet of ours. And of course on a personal level, I wonder what will happen to my own line - what will be the end result of all my ancestors' brave survival and reproduction? Will it die out, or carry on?
(Selfishly, of course, I hope it will go on and produce wondrous human beings in an endless progression)
That does not worry me, aside from a hope that my end will be painless.
No, what worries me, is this: Europe's ageing population problem. I am supremely pissed that we are in this situation! After all, it's not a surprise: governments and financial people have known all along that this was coming. All these old people did not just fall out of the sky! As for "we are all getting older", I say nonsense. My forefathers often lived up to hundred and beyond (strong stock from Zeeland, Gouda and Rotterdam), as did many others from those days. So this is nothing new. No, this is a result of a world war skewing European demographics and everyone in politics knew about it, or should have - Sociology and Actuarial sciences are not new! We had many golden years where there was more money than people knew what to do with. Where were our prudent politicians, storing up for the lean years? They were enriching themselves and not planning further than the next election cycle!! Dammit, this is what politicians should be doing: planning for a continuous healthy and secure state! They fell down on the job, and they still are falling down on the job.
Because:
Intersecting this wrinkly nightmare, comes the down slope of peak oil. Energy is about to become very expensive. We could have been okay, had there been prudent planning (sound familiar?). Again, our gas reserves were squandered in the times of plenty as if they would never run out, instead of following a sensible, conservative (NO not the political party!!) policy that would have had us all living good lives while at the same time investing in future energy security. Well, our gas reserves are running out now. We are in for dark, difficult times because of this. Our past and current politicians did not live up to their responsibilities (and won't face the consequences either).
Then, as if the above is not enough, there is climate change. In this, politics of denial are useless - the laws of physics will trump them any time. Especially in this low-lying country, this water sodden piece of earth, living close to the lowest point of the Netherlands and next to Europe's biggest port, I'm vulnerable.
Finally, world demographics, and food production. This is where a rock meets a hard place with no room in between. Especially when increasing energy needs will continue to usurp food production.
The intersection of these four issues is what creates a true survival bomb. Pity the small children of today, they will inherit it all. I think if a person is young and healthy and relatively financially well off, they should be okay. But when you are old(er) like me and perhaps with health issues, and not financially well off...??? No, we won't be okay, not even close. I certainly won't be okay in my old days. My only option will be to become a burden on my son, without any means of making things better for myself. What a bitter pill after a lifetime of hard work!
The combination of all this scares me. For myself, for the the world.
I have been thinking on this a lot, lately. When I tell people how bad the situation is and how imperative it is to act now, and fast, they clearly feel overwhelmed when they realise the enormous scope of this issue:
You may feel like walking away from it ("let someone else figure it out, this is too big for me"). This is entirely understandable. Climate change IS too big for people, as individuals. And yet, the only way of fixing this is by starting on the individual level and building out from there.
So:
It's important on a personal level to watch what you eat: where is it from, how many miles did it travel to get here, how was it produced.
It's important to isolate your home well so you need less cooling/warming.
It's important to reduce your use of electricity by buying equipment that are not energy hogs, and yes, also by changing your lightbulbs.
It's important to think about your use of fossil fuels and try to find ways of reducing use of this energy source. Examples: drive a more economical car, change your driving style, think about combining trips, work from home whenever possible, etc.
It's important to recycle whenever you can and choose durable products.
It's important to consume less, to contract your world.
...and so on.
All the above is not only sensible for the climate but will pad your wallet too!
I think it's vitally important to know what actually is going on in the world of science, especially in the meeting place between science and government. That means you have to broadly understand the science and more importantly, recognise the disinformation on climate change that's being spread thick and wide.
I recommend subscribing to this youtube channel: not only is he really good at explaining and debunking, he's funny as hell too.
Whatever you personally do, won't make a dent in the problem. This is true. In fact, even if your entire town/village/city starts being as green as broccoli tomorrow, it won't change global CO2 levels in any way you'd notice.
BUT
It is so very important that you look past that and get involved in your local community anyhow. If enough people do this (believe me, it's contagious), you can help create a movement countrywide, that will have the clout to change things.
ASK the candidates at the local elections what their stand is on global warming, and what measures they will be taking to ensure lower carbon emissions in your community. Ask visibly, publicly, often.
Get involved in various local activities, groups, and bring up carbon emissions, climate change whenever appropriate.
Make sure people understand the issue, and also understand the urgency and importance.
Help this spread, from one group to the next, one community to the next. Who knows, public service and politics may even become cool again!
I would suggest you also take this attitude right up the political food chain. Yes: the more local, the more you will have direct influence. Going higher up, the influence of an individual is lessened considerably but is not gone!! Emails, phone calls, letters, these all help influence opinion of politicians that represent you. If you don't bother, almost the only voices they will hear are from industry leaders and lobbyists whose interests are not your own. You can get other constituents to act too, to call, write letters, speak out (especially if you already are active, locally). Write to your president, ask him to act. All this costs you very little in time or money - so why not just do it?
(Oh, and by the way, whatever you can do to get rid of fools such as thisman and his ilk, would be good too. The tea party caucus has 52 members: that's insane!! These should be outer fringes people, they seem to be becoming mainstream!)
Join an organisation that works to get CO2 down, such as 350.org.
Make a BIG voice, together. It's not even necessary to do anything other than add your weight to the numbers already joined up. Simply give them the clout to lean on countries and their leaders, to tackle this issue effectively. Stop the lip service and demand action.
Oh yes. And every chance you get, plant a tree!
(I've written this for the USA situation but it really translates perfectly well everywhere else)
Dutch marine biologist, now doing completely different work for a large international company. Love to mess with computers, photography, creative stuff... still learning new things every day. Funny how life works out...
