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Usually heavy work, but in between always time for a chat and a newspaper …

People who perform heavy work know it … you have to know exactly what is your weakest link and ensure that it does not break. So it is important to eat and drink on time and take a pause. Only in this way will you be able to “survive” until your retirement. What we did…
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A typically tough and hard-working laborer

Jaap Bosman was always called “Lange Jaap” (tall Jaap) by colleagues at the Hoechst-site in Vlissingen, because in our shift there were 3 operators with the same Christian name … and Jaap was indeed as tall and strong as a bear, always wore the largest size overalls and shoes and his helmet always seemed too…
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Night shift Hoechst Vlissingen, 1983.

Back then it was strictly forbidden to take pictures … (it was the time when it was not even allowed to use a transistor radio in the control room) … so I took pictures illegally, to capture the atmosphere in the control room where colleagues also came for a cup of coffee and a short…
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https://drenthinspectieservices.nl/

Caspar asked me for some photos he can use for his new site : https://drenthinspectieservices.nl/ It had to have a few tubes, barrels and other inspectable stuff on it … So I dived into my archive. and found a few examples … . . old school tools much more can be found in my Thermphos…
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Just visited my former workplace.

It was storming, it was raining and it was cold. But the dog had to get out and I thought: Let’s go to the monument and let everything blow in the wind … I think it’s fantastic that apparently it was possible to put an old “slakkenpan” next to the monument. Ton Witte could have…
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torn apart skeletons of Thermphos.

I took these photos in January 2020. Torn apart “skeletons” of Thermphos. They were located on the square, which was temporarily used as a kind of cemetery. All the RA-contaminated “meat” was taken off and sprayed off. Not long after, the entire building was toppled with explosives … I’ve taken tons of photos and because…
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Expressions of the fight against the Covid-19 virus

In this Corona era, a farewell reception for someone retiring looks like this … Everyone outside at a safe distance from each other, no shaking hands, no pat on the back, etc. Fortunately a lot of humor and nice speeches. Roel: I hope you can enjoy your well-deserved retirement for a long time in good…
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my velomobile history …

For years I’ve used a velomobile for my commute. I had a good condition although I was a heavy smoker and used to smoke even while cycling.In November 2013 I quit my job at the Thermphos-site and had to use a car, for my employers were not accessible by bicycle or the distance was way…
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It is done!

My work at Petrogas is over … The project has been successfully completed. Fortunately, everything has been carried out without major accidents … Of course, much remains to be cleaned up and residual material to be removed, but our task to process all free phosphorus into phosphoric acid has been completed. Because of the COVID-19…
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melancholy

Full of melancholy I cycled home yesterday after the last night shift … it could be the last … The “phosphoric acid plant” is now blowing the last vapor from its chimney … maybe a few more days … then the factory will die. What a differance compared to the situation on Juli 2010 ……
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commuting with Quest 552

My colleagues Harm and Bram saw me arriving at work in my velomobile and made a video with their mobile phone. Nicely done guys! If I’d known they were recording … I would’ve gone much faster 😉
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dismantling is almost done

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Wim

He had the same first name as me: Wim.I have worked with him for about 7 months and since this weekend he will leave the team to go back to his old familiar workplace in Eindhoven.At the last minute, I was able to take a few photos in which he is in a position that…
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headshot

“Lex de Meester will take a portrait of you on a dyke close to the factory“, said Frank Balkenende.At first, I was not enthusiastic about the idea of seeing my old head on the front page of the newspaper, because I just got out of bed after the night shift.But when I heard that Lex…
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Finished

Het is gedaan met het Ovenhuis … overduidelijk en definitief. De reus is geveld en ligt klaar om uit elkaar getrokken te worden. Cokessilo 2A ging een paar uur later ook tegen de vlakte.