Fortunately, the weather has got colder, we've even had a frost. Why am I saying this? Because I want to show you that everything is related. By the way, if I had written this column in the summer, I would probably have said: "Fortunately the weather has got warmer, it looks like we might be having a heat wave." Both statements are nonsense of course, because cold is probably not something to celebrate, and neither is a heat wave.
Opinions are divided on this. When I listen to my colleagues in production, they think it is very cold in the warehouse and they like to warm up during their coffee break or lunch. When I speak to the manager of the outdoor food stall, the cold weather spell never lasts long enough in his mind. It depends on how you look at it. During a warm summer, a campsite owner will welcome the weather, while my 85-year-old mother can't stand that kind of heat. It depends on how you look at it.
Still I say: fortunately, the weather has got a little colder, we've even had a frost. As a major collector of old lead, frost is a good thing. You know how it goes, you get to your car early in the morning and already you're not looking forward to scraping the car. Of course, you won’t start your car first, because you worry about the environment and global warming. Not easy in this cold, but still. You start scraping, left hand, right hand until finally the windows are clear, and you get in. You're already a bit late, because scraping always takes longer than you think. You start the car, or you want to start the car, but unfortunately, the battery is flat. I say thankfully, you probably say something else at that point.
Why do I say thankfully? Because of the following. When the battery no longer functions properly in the cold, it could just be dead. This means you need a new battery and the old one must go. As a collector of old lead, I collect old batteries. See what I'm getting at? But there's more. You probably don't have a new battery lying around somewhere, so it must be ordered. When it's delivered it has to be fitted and only then will you be on the road again.
This may all take far too long and you call your work to take the day off, because you know that today is already lost. A day wasted. At least so you thought. When scraping your car, you already thought about climate change, because you waited before starting your car. Due to the flat battery and the resulting day off you did not use your car all day, emitted little CO2, did not use any fuel and did not touch a computer at work, so did not use any energy, all benefits. And because of your flat battery you have even helped a fellow human keep his job. After all, I'm a collector. That's what I mean: everything is related.
So, what's the moral of this story: “Always start your car first, then scrape it. It would have saved you cold hands." Nonsense, of course.
Kind regards,
Paul Verhagen