Week 40
A quiet week, as I spent 3 full days trying to get the hang of our new Client Management System.
It all seemed so easy when we first started this - the clients would come, we'd write it all down and I would send out the bills (by maill!) at the end of the month.
Now that it has been taken over by Local Government, there seem(s) to be so many complications.
Every client need (ie the reason that they are a client) has a different code. There are literally hundreds to choose from.
Privacy Laws are having an impact - and I'm sure that I am seeing only the minor things - like the fact that we are not allowed to keep paper copies at our place (duh!). Everything has to be on a secure site (our Client Management System). We can't refer to clients names when we send an email - initials have to be used. Some emails have to be "secure" - ie for one set of payments I have to "request" a secure email - they send me a code to reply - and then I can attach the bills.
From my low-level view, there seems to be a huge number of intermediary companies/organisations set up in between the provider of the money and the provider of the service. ( That''s us!! )
Some of the intermediaries get the money in bulk and I often get the feeling that we have to claw it out of them. ie "if only they didn't have to give it to us", they would get to keep it.
We are the ones providing the service to the clients, after all. The rest is just administrative BS!
(end of rant)
On a lighter note, I have officially "retired" a pair of Blundies...
I usually keep an extra pair polished up for casual wear during the winter. They will now become my next work boots! (They are not really Blundstones, but an Italian lookalike).
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| With Face mask! |
And because I've been doing office work, my fitness level has been dropping off - I noticed it when working with the kids yesterday! So, I took Boeke for a long walk this morning, just to see if he could handle it! (Better than me, of course!)
Covid-19 news
(Every time I write Covid-19, I can't help but think of the Fox News person who complained that "they should know all about it by now now, as they are up to the 19th version of it".
Oh, my...
On Monday the Prime Minister and the Health Minister gave another Press Conference, announcing the reintroduction of tougher measures...
A total of 3,831 new coronavirus cases were reported to the Dutch public health institute RIVM in the 24 hours to 10am on Friday morning, up almost 600 on Thursday.
The number of hospital patients has also risen by 42 to 733, including 160 in intensive care, the national patient coordination platform said. The death toll rose by nine – the RIVM has recorded an average of 14 deaths a day over the past seven days, compared with eight in the week earlier period.
Prime minister Mark Rutte said on Monday that he expected the number of positive cases to reach 5,000 on a daily basis in the next few days, before the impact of new restrictions was felt. The new restrictions include a 10pm closing time for cafes and bars, restrictions on group sizes and an ‘urgent recommendation’ that people wear face masks in public buildings, including shops, museums and government offices. Most positive cases in the past 24 hours – 352 – were again recorded in Amsterdam.
Meanwhile, campaign group Coronavirus Waarheid (Truth), which opposes government restrictions and gets funding from far-right party FVD, has said it will start legal action against schools which introduce a face mask requirement. The measure, currently in the form of a government recommendation, would be ‘illegal’ and ‘abuse’, the group’s founder Willem Engel said. Universities Higher education minister Ingrid van Engelshoven has said she does not see the need to recommend the use of masks in colleges and universities. However, a number of students demonstrated on Museumplein in Amsterdam on Friday, calling on the government and universities to do more to ensure students can attend physical lectures. ‘Some students are sitting at home for weeks in a row, staring at screens,’ Maarten van Dorp, chairman of student union LSVB told the AD. ‘It is not good for mental health, it is demotivating and everyone is longing for social contact.’
Ben has to work from home, so he may come back here - where he can have a bit more freedom than in Amsterdam.
We're happy to wear facemasks - and do anything else that might help, for that matter.
A look at the Netherlands (changing) views on facemasks can be read here... (it was too long to cut and paste)
Some things are priceless.
and finally, I copied this quote from a European site (which was reflecting on the turmoil in USA).
It made me think that, yes, there could be worse places to be living in this strangest of years...
The ultra-rich should also think hard about the benefits of living in a democracy and under a competent government, rather than being ruled by corrupt, bumbling autocrats. Some things in life are priceless.
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