Yes folks, it snowed the last few days in Holland as well. It’s cold and windy out here. Not a big problem as long as you do not need to drive to work or something. Last Thursday morning for instance, it was a drama on the road (as to be expected). But I guess things are not as bad as they are in other countries. Several US states are suffering from a mayor snow blizzard (dubbed “The shopper stopper”) that has killed some people.
So it’s not all fun and games. It makes you wonder about “global warming”. It proved also that being energy friendly isn’t always safe! In the US some traffic lights are now fitted out with LED bulbs because they save on energy. However, unlike the old fashioned traffic lights, these LED lights do not produce enough heat to melt the snow that catches on the traffic lights. As a result some people ended up in car accidents and it even caused one fatal accident. way to go tree-huggers!
Anyhow, people seem not prepared anymore for situations like this. We have all become so complacent and dependent on technology, that I wonder what would happen if disaster strikes here in Holland and people have to survive a while without electricity, water and heating. Even the Dutch government has started a campaign some time ago “Denk vooruit” (“Think ahead”), promoting the use of emergency survival kits. These kits contain enough materials for people to survive for a couple of days when you would be without the comfort of modern life.
I myself am a great advocate of being prepared and as such have a load of survival stuff in my kit that would help out in a “SHTF” situation. Note that depending on what the emergency is, you might also have to evacuate your home, which means you should make sure you’re ready to go.
For now I’m just turning up the heat, enjoying a nice hot bowl of home made chicken soup and surfing the web.
Update: at 10:45 the Dutch weather institute KNMI has issued an official “weather alert”. They advise people to stay home and do not travel unless it’s really necessary. Public transport has come to a virtual halt and the wind is making nice snow-dunes.
What a good blog you have here. I am a massive fan of the festive season and with a little more free time I love to browse the internet. I have bookmarked your site and plan on coming back again soon. In times past we would kill time and expand our knowledge by reading the daily newspapers, nowadays I would encourage everyone to read random blog posts each day and gain a personal insight into unique subjects and fascinating ramblings. Keep up your great blog posts.