Holland is currently suffering from a heatwave. With temperatures getting perilously close to 40 C people are frantically looking for ways to cool down.
But this is not as easy as it seems. Of course you can take your car for a spin, when it has air conditioning, until you run out of fuel. In hindsight, this may not be such a clever thing to do in view of future heatwaves. Scientist say that it will add to global warming and consequently to heatwaves occurring more frequently. Mind you, around the 1900's a heat wave occurred every 30 years. Nowadays people should be prepared for heatwaves happening every 3 years. Nope, that is no typo. So, driving an air conditioned car would be a matter of shooting one selves in the foot, so to speak. I have got a far better idea. Make use of public means. Water features are favorite these days.
But this is not as easy as it seems. Of course you can take your car for a spin, when it has air conditioning, until you run out of fuel. In hindsight, this may not be such a clever thing to do in view of future heatwaves. Scientist say that it will add to global warming and consequently to heatwaves occurring more frequently. Mind you, around the 1900's a heat wave occurred every 30 years. Nowadays people should be prepared for heatwaves happening every 3 years. Nope, that is no typo. So, driving an air conditioned car would be a matter of shooting one selves in the foot, so to speak. I have got a far better idea. Make use of public means. Water features are favorite these days. 
Unfortunately we are not as blessed as Rome is with the Trevi fountain. Anita Ekberg, in the film 'La dolce vita', has shown the public that it can be put to good use to cool down when temperatures are rising. Nope, Dutch fountains are not much bigger than a fish tank and can only be used to take your goldfish for a swim. So, Dutchies have no other option than to seek refuge in fountains caused by sprinkler systems. And there are quite a few of them too, thanks to eager civil servants who wanted to be remembered by the public. Normally they would fall back on building a new town hall, or a base ball field to American standards like in Hoofddorp. But what to do when those ideas are already taken? Yep, create a water feature. Not only outside but also inside office buildings. All that is needed for the latter is a match and a chair to reach the sensor of the fire alarm to be welcomed by a few refreshing drops. A word
to the ladies though: it is advised to wear waterproof mascara on that day. You may otherwise be mistaken for a zombi, or Alice Cooper. You do not want that to happen, although being a rock star is not that bad at all. A zombie is.
Although people in general tend to overreact and go after the most complicated solution to solve a minor problem, this is not always wise to do. It is not a coincidence that there are sayings like:' patient is a virtue' and 'Rome was not built in one day'. Although the latter could have something to do with the Italian quality of building. Or more the lack of. When the way Italians put there cars together is anything to go by, solutions in Italy most likely never get delivered as repairing bits and pieces will be an ongoing business.
Things are different in the Netherlands though. I must confess that we also have building projects that go on forever, like for example traffic control systems in tunnels. But the weather is a different thing. Should we have lived in France, then the weather would have been a female noun. 'La temps'. Or in Germany, 'die Wetter'. Why? Because it changes very quickly without prior notice and
into something you would never have thought of. And thus after 'huffing and puffing' in temperatures close to 40 C, a couple of thunderstorms took care of it and we are back to normal temperatures once again. What was thought to become a major heatwave of catastrophic proportions, turned out to be nothing more than a micro wave.
Mother nature always wins...
to the ladies though: it is advised to wear waterproof mascara on that day. You may otherwise be mistaken for a zombi, or Alice Cooper. You do not want that to happen, although being a rock star is not that bad at all. A zombie is. Although people in general tend to overreact and go after the most complicated solution to solve a minor problem, this is not always wise to do. It is not a coincidence that there are sayings like:' patient is a virtue' and 'Rome was not built in one day'. Although the latter could have something to do with the Italian quality of building. Or more the lack of. When the way Italians put there cars together is anything to go by, solutions in Italy most likely never get delivered as repairing bits and pieces will be an ongoing business.
Things are different in the Netherlands though. I must confess that we also have building projects that go on forever, like for example traffic control systems in tunnels. But the weather is a different thing. Should we have lived in France, then the weather would have been a female noun. 'La temps'. Or in Germany, 'die Wetter'. Why? Because it changes very quickly without prior notice and
into something you would never have thought of. And thus after 'huffing and puffing' in temperatures close to 40 C, a couple of thunderstorms took care of it and we are back to normal temperatures once again. What was thought to become a major heatwave of catastrophic proportions, turned out to be nothing more than a micro wave. Mother nature always wins...
No comments:
Post a Comment