Virus is great at organizing work events ;)

... and not so much about remembering having mentioned something like that... 😉 The bigger topic was to organise this family-together. How would you call the German "einen Sack Flöhe hüten" in English? That was exactly how it was. (My working group consists only of 5 persons. The *Surname* family could be at least around 20 people. See?) At last we were 9 out of 20.

Thanks a lot for the new shell! Dinner is simmering on the stove and so I've stolen some minutes for the forum.

Thanks a lot for the new shell, WIK, and the list of topics. I’m lookimg forward to reading more exciting news about journeys and meetings and personal highlights. I hope many more snails will be gathering around the camp fire to tell their stories.

It must be great, virus, to be part of a huge family, though arduous sometimes. From my family no one is left, and Mrs RenaRd has only one sister-in-law with four children and a (to me) unknown amount of grand children. We hardly ever meet, except for a nephew who visits us regularly.

Don't let me open that can of worms, RenaRd. My family has so many branches... Due to several divorces from my side (father's and mother's) and due to the nice and big family of my husband's. To speak only of my part: I have 5 "half"-siblings, none of them being a "full" sister or brother (two brothers, three sisters - and I never use "half"). I grew up with the only son of my father's. I use to say that I don't have a family tree but a family scrub. At least I have 4 nieces and 2 nephews... (if I count my husband's nieces and nephews it's 9 nieces and 7 nephews.)

When it comes to the famliy of my husband's: I was introduced to them at the wedding party of his younger brother, having all (he has three) siblings and their children there, and including aunts and uncles. Then a lot of friends - it was a big party. This was 24 years ago.

*keeping Wik a little company*

We are having a rainy day for the first time in weeks and weeks. 31 l per sqm since last night, and it still goes on. I can practically see the joy and relief of the trees and plants in the garden.

Otherwise, I had a few lovely days with my two oldest girlfriends - one of them recently moved to Metzingen, a small city nearby, so we spent most of the time there, exploring her new "hood". Metzingen is a very interesting city in two very different parts...one is a typical Swabian Kleinstadt, beschaulich, picturesque, with cosy little shops, inns and restaurants. We had two lovely dinners sitting on the square in the evening, one with Swabian and one with Italian food, happily doing people-watching.

The other part is the world famous "Outlet City", a huge shopping city with I think more than one hundred shops - high end fashion shops like Boss etc (Boss was the first factory outlet there several decades ago, from which it all developed), sports shops, shoe shops, perfumes, bags whatever, but nowadays also sweet shops (Lindt, Haribo, Bahlsen etc), houseware, toys, etc. etc. The customers from China and Japan are still largely missing after Corona, but all the same, it's very international, and the locals are clearly a minority in that part. We walked around window-shopping and enjoying the atmosphere....and then went back happily to the cosy old city centre. My friend lives very close to the center, 5 minutes walk from "everything" which fits really well for her (she's nearing her seventies) as a place to stay for the rest of her life - she says, she won't move anywhere else any more. She moved so many times in her life, she's had enough of that.

I do admire your patience and stamina with your project, RenaRd!

Okay-okay-okay. After reading the recent postings I guess I’m going to stay for a while and utter something as well. :o)

@ virus: I see. And of course I’ve heard about scuffle between siblings, and I warched lots heartwarming of road movies about quarreling brothers trying to find together again. Didn’t you have a family meeting last year? I recall your were looking for accommodation but not how the party ended. It wasn’t that crowded, was it?

How lucky you’ve been, WIK, to spend a real hot summer in Kerry. I’ve told you already that I love the area. I stopped at “Wedding Anniversary” and couldn’t detect a date. It obviously was one that ought to be celebtated.

As my wife told me shortly before midnight on our way to bed, I had forgotten our’s a week ago. I’m not to blame, I told her, for I can’t read dates anymore.

Goldammer, you’re one of the true ones. Thanks for that. As to Metzingen I’ve got to admit that I’ve never been in the old village. In the early eighties I had to commute between the Heidelberg area and Biberach, and crossing Metzingen was not only a short cut, it also afforded the opportunity to visit BOSS®: Glorious times, then! Often enough you could find a parking lot right in front of the entrance. I only had to go inside, grab a nice (and affordable) suit or coat, and pay. No trying on, the size 52 always fit. Every client knew that it was cheap because it was last year’s design, but who cared?

OMG, it took ne almost an hour to write and correct these few lines That’s it for today.

Well, I live in the neighborhood of Metzingen and haven't taken the time to spend a little time in Metzingen, either, RenaRd! I think I briefly was at a Christmas Market some years ago, but didn't get an impression of the flair then.

I didn't spend time at the Outlet City before, either, ever. I went there once or twice to get something specific (a suit for Mr Goldammer before our silver wedding anniversary which we celebrated with family and friends, and a pair of Adidas shoes for myself). So, taking time in Metzingen was a first for me, too.

Your way of buying a Boss suit reminds me of a comedy program I saw on stage a few years ago, since the comedian (Klaus Birk, just in case anyone has come across him) was a schoolmate of myself. He asked how many words a Swabian customer needed to buy a pair of trousers - exactly two. He goes into the shop and says "Hos!", and then goes to the cash desk and says "Zahla!" (short for "bezahlen" - pay)and that's it.

Didn’t you have a family meeting last year? I recall your were looking for accommodation but not how the party ended. It wasn’t that crowded, was it?

RenaRd, no, the meeting this year was actually in planning for a long time (last time before we met was in October 2019 when my last uncle was - err - interred (his urn was buried). There we decided to have a meeting again, trying to continue a "tradition" of family-togethers (there was no regular timing) which the brothers, in particular my father, had started. And then, with the pandemic, my very busy cousin (who was in charge) etc. etc. it only took place this year.

Between us siblings there is no scuffle at all, fortunately. And he next family meeting might take place in Sardinia... (my sister and her husband have a house there)

Well, I've been once to Sardinia but "only" by sailing boat so we didn't see a lot of the island except the bays and havens. We aslo sailed north to Korsika one day and climbed up to the old town of Bonifacio - very nice.

But since my weight loss program is on track, I hope to fit into my wedding suit (by B**s) again in about 6 weeks time, unless progress slows down.

I should run a program like this as well. Not to fit into my wedding dress (beware! I was pregnant, 9th month!) but into some of my favourite dresses / trousers (actually, I gave them away. The best treat after achieving a certain goal would be to by new clothes, no?).

The best treat after achieving a certain goal would be to by new clothes, no?

Au contraire, dear virus, au contraire...

I am one of these man who hate to go clothes-shopping. A major driver for losing weight for me is (other than the health aspect) that I can actually wear older things again, so that I don't need to go shopping...

But hey, I'm cutting out my snacks in between meals, and have drastically reduced my alcohol intake, and it's starting to show. Also, going for long walks with The Dog (TM) is positive. A belt I bought in 2019 needs to get new holes, cause it's too wide now, and some of the recently bought pants are getting a bit... roomy? Still, some way to go, but it's a good path to be trotting on :)

@Goldammer: RE RE I do admire your patience

No need to admire anything. I like challenges, but there are only little challengers left to be taken. More and more I feel time’s running away – the time my sight is good enough for PC-work and the time of my life itself. Hence I’m in a hurry, not willing to split my precious time. As soon as my review is done and the relevant parts (“Best of”) of my songs in store are copied on the mp2-players I may relax and look for another task. But there aren’t (I’m tempted to write “ain’t” but back off in memory of hm—hs’ scolding long ago) many tasks left I’d be able to fulfill. I’m no longer the man you got to know when you and Robert visited me in 2015. And when the times get worse and most probably disable me to leave my bed, I’ll hopefully still be able to listen to the music I loved my whole life.

On the other hand, who knows? I’ve already surpassed the lifespan the statistics had predicted for my kind of lung disease

@ WIK:RE I don't need to go shopping...                                                                                     

If I had had the choice I would have preferred a career as singer or writer. In fact I sang for a band a while and wrote short stories and poems, but I’ve been pushed towards a business career. So I had to wear suits practically from the first day on. Altogether I was a salesman, whether on my own or in a company. As such I had to wear a suit and a tie (tightly knot, of course). I still, like most men, hate shopping. But with the years I learned to love fine cloth and material. And silk neckties; I felt naked without a tie. Holding my weight (and size of clothes) for thirty years helped to go into a shop, look for size and colour, touch the fabric and come to a decision quickly. Well, more or less. :o)

Obviously, there is a clear distinction between men and women (where are they? Please come and support this hypothesis!) here when it comes to buying clothes. I am far away from being a shopping queen (actually, I hate shopping if I have to look for something special), I usually "find" something I like when I'm not looking for it. 😉

Well, I'm not particularly fond of clothes shopping. I didn't suffer a bit during Corona when I couldn't go for some time. In fact, I think it was some time in spring this year when I first bought something new to wear, since March 2020 when Corona began.

My mother was extremely practical about buying clothes. Her main preferences were: is it practical? Can it be washed easily? Easy to iron, i.e. not a "Bügelmonster"? Will it keep for a few years? Then...long time nothing, and then maybe: is it nice? Does it look well on me? (Well, maybe this is slightly exaggerated, if I think about it...of course she would try to buy nice things that looked well - but never ever when they didn't meet the above criteria, too)

It took me a long time to distance myself a bit from this approach and allow myself a bit more freedom and fun with buying clothes. Among other things, like virus, I allow myself nowadays to "find" somethingn when I don't look for it - recently I found a lovely linen dress and bought it spontaneously - althouth 100 Euro is above what I usually spend spontaneously. It was certainly the right decision: although I'm usually more a jeans/trousers wearing person, I practically lived in that dress during the recent heat period.

I have two close friends with whom I enjoy shopping - we meet about once or twice a year, they are the ones with whom I was in the Outlet Center in Metzingen recently - but then, as I said, we didn't find anything we liked enough to buy it.

I have some things I have been wearing for years and years and still like them. They aren't too "special" in their style, so, although they may not be the latest trend (which often enough I'm not up to date with, anyway), they are still wearable.

RenaRd, thanks for explaining the background of your project - it helped me to understand your dedication to it. I think this is a very essential "skill" with getting old: finding the things that one is still dedicated to, still able to do them - and then going ahead doing them. (And I can hardly believe that it should be seven years since my visit to Biberach with Robert--US....)

Vielen Dank für das neue Häusle, Wik. Das hast du sehr gut eingerichtet.

Für mich hat das neue Schuljahr schon angefangen. Ich wohne in einem anderen Schulbezirk, und in meiner Kleinstadt wurde der Anfang des Schuljahrs um gut zwei Wochen verschoben, denn eine Grundschule bekommt eine neue Anbau (die Hälfte der Schule, eigentlich die ursprüngliche Schule wurde zuerst abgerissen, nachdem Asbest entfernt wurde), und die Bauausführung hinkt etwas. Besagte Schule liegt fast direkt hinter unserem Haus, d.h. wir durften den ganzen Sommer hindurch den Lärm, Staub und Bauverkehr genießen. Im Juli wurde jeden Tag gearbeitet (auch sonntags!) und die Arbeit hat um 7 Uhr angefangen und im August durften wir sogar bis 21 Uhr alles miterleben. Am Abend bevor ich in die Schule musste, wurde um 20.40 das Haus durch das Stampfen der Erde noch gerüttelt.

Was gibt's noch zu erzählen? Das neue Schuljahr ist etwa 500% besser als im vorigen Jahr angefangen. Ich weiß, dass wir noch den sogenannten Honigmond genießen, aber letztes Jahr haben wir gar keinen gemerkt und das ganze Jahr war extrem chaotisch und stressig. Viele erfahrene Lehrkräfte haben mehrmals gesagt, das Jahr war das schwierigste der beruflichen Laufbahn, eine größere Herausforderung als das erste Jahr der Pandemie. Für mich als "neue" Lehrerin in der Schule war das Jahr vielleicht drei mal so schlimm.

Was gibt's neues im Garten? Die Blumen gedeihen. Die Sonnenblumen locken viele Bienen und Goldzeisige an. Das Gemüse ist nicht so toll, da ich die Beete spät bepflanzten. Der größte Erfolg hatte ich mit den Bohnen, bis ein böses Murmeltier das Gemüsebuffet entdeckte, und sich satt an die Bohnenblätter gefressen hat. Süßkartoffel- und Rote-Beteblätter mag es auch. Zum Glück aber weder Paprika noch Petersilie (!) noch Auberginen findet das Tier so lecker.

Bonnie hat das Murmeltier ein paar mal hinterhergejagt, aber sie ist so klein, dass ich sie einmal weg vom Murmeltierbau tragen musste. Sie weiß, dass sie den Garten vor Enten, Kaninchen und Murmeltieren schützen muss, also muss ich sie manchmal ablenken (d.h. mit ihr eine Spazierfahrt machen), sonst bellt sie zum Verzweifeln.

Tja, unsere Tochter macht Fortschritte, aber das Projekt verlangt viel Geduld und Ausdauer. Ich weiß, so ist es mit allen Kindern, aber wenn jemand siebzehnjahrelang so viele schlechte Erfahrungen gemacht hat, sind die Herausforderungen halt anders. Mit ihr haben wir zum ersten mal Blaubeeren gepflückt und anschließend beim Italiener gegessen. Das ist nur das zweite mal seit März 2020, dass wir im Restaurant gegessen haben. Das letzte mal war im Juli 2020. Wir hatten eigentlich vor, das Essen zu bestellen und dann mitnehmen, aber um 14.30 waren wir die einzigen Kunden, also haben wir es gewagt. Ich trage noch eine Maske in der Schule. Nur wenige Lehrer und Schüler machen das. Ich wollte eigentlich ohne Maske erscheinen, traue mich aber nicht dazu.

@virus: #3 einen Sack Flöhe hüten = herd cats (ein toles Bild, nicht wahr?) / #4: a family shrub (womöglich nur ein Tippfehler)

@RenaRd: #9 road movies about quarreling brothers trying to find together again klingt sehr nach Denglisch. Vielleicht sollte man eher trying to reconcile oder to make peace with one another nehmen. hm--us oder SD3 könnten bestimmt Besseres vorschlagen.

@virus: #13: The best treat after achieving a certain goal would be to buy new clothes, no? *Daumen hoch zeig*

@Wik: #14: I am one of these man who hate to go clothes-shopping. Im AE würden wir eher, "one of those men"..., aber keine Ahnung, was man in Irland oder England sagt.

RE "going for long walks with The Dog (TM) is positive" Herr MiMi nennt das "mutually beneficial", obwohl seine Spaziergänge sind eher kurz. Gestern sind sie aber ein Stück durch den Wald gelaufen, was mich überrascht hat.

@RenaRd: #15: (I’m tempted to write “ain’t” but back off in memory of hm—hs’ scolding long ago)  *gg*

@Jabonah: Das Tagebuch-Museum klingt sehr interessant.

Wie Goldammer (#18) habe ich (eher eine hosetragende Frau) neulich ein neues Kleid gekauft. Jetzt brauche ich neue Sandalen oder Schule, da ich hauptsächlich Sportschuhe oder Schuhe, die ich als "good to run in" bezeichnen. Wir hatten diese Diskussion etwa 2008, glaube ich. bluesky *vermiss* war damals eine interessierte Teilnehmerin.

Da gibt es bestimmt mehr Korrekturen, die ich schreiben könnte, aber ich muss mich beeilen. In etwa 20 Minuten trifft sich Bonnie mit einer Freundin. Sie spielen jeden Sonntagmorgen im Park, und die zwei Hundebesitzerinnen schnacken ein bisschen.

The Pareto principle states that for many outcomes, roughly 80% of consequences come from 20% of causes (the "vital few" .. It is an adage of business management that "80% of sales come from 20% of clients".

(Wikipedia)

I’m so used to thinking in terms of this principle that I’d like to make clear that each time I seen to generalize (“women” e.g.) I don’t mean “all women” in the following, but “most women”, i.e. 75%-80%. Not necessarily YOU. 😛

In Germany (imo) “shopping” is a term that is used by women when it comes to looking for nice clothes, shoes, accessories, and buy things they like. Shopping is an event, , chiefly not celebrated alone but with friends. “Einkaufen”, in English oddly enough called “shopping” as well, makes no fun at all. One buys convenience goods to survive, women buys stylish things to be admired.

Men buy clothes or shoes when they are needed for a special occasion (a wedding ceremony e.g.), or when the old ones are rotten. There’s no fun at all in trying something on, it’s business.

While there seems to be a magic relation between shoes and women, as everybody knows. When a man and a woman are strolling through a city HE may stop at a building lot to watch the heavy machines, or at a toy store, to watch a Caerrera™ car racing track, while SHE spell bound stares at sandals in a shoe shop window. That’s magic. My daughter once said (in other words, though) that a attentive man, when his wife is sighing “Isn’t that shoe gorgeous?” should preferably answer “Yes, Darling. Shall we go inside?” instead of “Cone on, let’s go.”

I thought of such examples and more when virus was asking for support in #17. Men and women are different, no matter what the gender main stream profs in their ivory towers say. Though there seems to be a tendency that (some) men are getting more “womanly” and (some) girls are getting tougher and stronger. That’s fine for me. “I don’t need no gender discussion.”

And I hope someone smiled benignly about my (slightly) satiric contribution.

Hi, RenaRd: Ich lächele gar nicht freundlich, obwohl du natürlich denken darfst, wie du willst.

"..each time I seem to generalize (“women” e.g.) I don’t mean “all women” in the following, but “most women”, i.e. 75%-80%. Not necessarily YOU." Na ja, okay, aber ich finde es trotzdem nicht schön (vielleicht faul?), wenn man verallgemeinert so stark. Ich finde es einfach nicht gut, wenn Kinder und Jugendliche den Eindruck bekommen, dass sie anders sein sollten, um richtig, echt oder wertvoll zu werden. Beim Thema zu bleiben, sage ich nur, um ein

richtiger Mann oder eine echte Frau zu werden.

Als Mädchen wurde es mir explizit gesagt, dass ich vieles nicht machen durfte und anderes machen musste, nur weil ich weiblich bin. Dieses Spielzeug (diese Kleider, diese Sportart, dieses Instrument, dieses Fach, dieser Beruf) ist nichts für dich. Hinzu kommen die vielen Andeutungen. Und die Schilderungen von Frauen in den Medien und Politik. Als Mann hast du wohl keine Ahnung wie lästig und bedrückend das sein kann.

Selbstkorrekturen: nachdem Asbest entfernt worden war)...den Lärm, Staub und das Bauverkehr genießen... besser als das vorige Schuljahr...das Gemüsebüffet...Im AE würden wir eher, "one of those men" sagen...neue Sandalen oder Schuhe, da ich hauptsächlich Sportschuhe oder Schuhe trage, die ich als "good to run in" bezeichne.

So, und jetzt wird gearbeitet.

Hello Any--MiMi. It’s good to read you again. May I start with a Korrektürchen as well?:  eine Grundschule bekommt einen neue Anbau

-> wir durften den ganzen Sommer hindurch den Lärm, Staub und Bauverkehr genießen – I didn’t know you’re able to be so sarcastic. It remeinds me of my granddaughter, who likes to use it as kind of style. She visited us for 10 days and gave me the opportunity to speak English again (she speaks AE) and worked on her C2-Test.

She had the same impression about the last year being the worst.  To her knowledge didn’t really learn a thing because the drank too much (so they claim) and slept long, working on their laptops in their underwear. She’s going to enter the last class now and knows, this year’s courses will be even harder.

Oh, it’s 6pm, time for diner! See you tomorrow.

@ Any—MiMi: Follow-up of #22

-> Als Mädchen wurde es mir explizit gesagt, dass ich vieles nicht machen durfte und anderes machen musste, nur weil ich weiblich bin .. . Als Mann hast du wohl keine Ahnung wie lästig und bedrückend das sein kann.

Maybe I dom’t know exactly, but I recall to be exhorted “Boys don’t cry” or “Defend yourself, you’ve eaten bread as well”. I guess those antiquated educational methods are things of the past. My daughter grew up in the 70s, and we humoured her. She didn’t like skirts or playing with puppets. When the class was divided into a knitting course for the girls and a craftsmen course for the boys she decided to join the latter (she still handy with tools). We even gave her the possibility to decide which God to believe in by not baptizing he, though (influenced by our role model?) made up for it at the age of fourteen.

You see, I wasn’t talking about “wrong parental education”, I hate how the gender discussion influences the German language: Duplication of professions (Lehrer und Lehrerinnen). Gender-asterisk in order to include GLIQ (Lehrer*innen). Omitment of male-related prefixes (Mannshcaft is a Sportgruppe now).

As I write this: Did we discuss this before? ;o)

As an elderly person, RenaRd, you are entitled to bemoan normal changes in language use....Mr Goldammer does that a lot, too, if about different things....I also find some changes a bit strange, and when my sons and their partners speak about certain topics, I find it difficult to follow, among other reasons because I don't know some of the vocabulary they use...

But still I try to see it as a age-typical problem which all generations have with one another, ever. Today, the changes happen a bit quicker than in former times, that makes the process a bit more distinct...

And I do appreciate some things, like that it has become rather normal to use both genders when speaking about mixed groups of people.

And: I don't think that you are getting Amy-MiMi's point completely, RenaRd. It's about transporting generalizations and stereotypes - what WOMEN usually do - at least 80% of them - i.e. staring at sandals in shops. And yes, there are stereotypes about MEN as well, of course. As someone who may have suffered from messages like "boys don't cry", you could maybe think a bit about transporting stereotypes in what you communicate....I do appreciate that as a parent you worked on not making those old mistakes with your own daughter, please note that - but communicating in a thoughtful way, e.g. trying to not transport stereotypes, is another important area where we still have to do a lot in order to change our thinking and approach to the world.

(* patiently awaiting RenaRd's reaction about being hyper-sensitive and lacking humor....*)

Hi Amy-Mimi, how lovely to read you again! Good to hear that the new school year seems to go better....

@ Goldammer

RE you are entitled to bemoan normal changes in language use

Well, I accepted the “Rechtschreibreform” (Stange>Stängel, Muße vs. müssen, Schifffahrt, etc.) twenty years ago rather quickly,  because most of the rules were comprehensible. They followed proposals of linguists and other kindred professionals, to start at a certain time for a defined language area.                                                                                                                          

But gender speak is “the reign of a minority (those who feel repressed, unnoticed or relegated to the fringe) over a majority of the rest of the population by yelling “Take care of my sensitivities”. The discussion is often mixed with feminism and the me-too debate. Not to forget the term of “The Old White Man”. You see, I’m sensitive, too.

https://share-your-photo.com/3595d2204c

Bill Maher once said “Political correctness is the elevation of sensitivity over truth”.  Find an interview with Dr Peterson here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wLCmDtCDAM

Now I’ve covered much ground without having had the opportunity to talk about this issue. I understand everyone who feels oppressed or diminished, may they be gay or lesbian or queer, whatever. Fight for your rights.  But don’t rape a whole language.

RE not transport stereotypes, is another important area where we still have to do a lot in order to change our thinking and approach to the world

An interesting aspect. I’ve got to think about it and may ask for more input. The stereotypic “Old White Man” is obsolete, then? ;o)

It's about transporting generalizations and stereotypes - what WOMEN usually do - at least 80% of them - i.e. staring at sandals in shops. And yes, there are stereotypes about MEN as well, of course.(Goldammer, #25)

This immediately reminded me of this (terrible) advertisement about a woman who shows her friends her huge walk-in shoe closet while their husbands are getting crazy about the walk-in fridge filled with (the most disgusting) beer in contrary... (for those who can stand it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DOc17BtpI4)

I made a strange experience just now, which I feel the urge to share.

My parents used to have a weekend home in the "Welzheimer Wald" about 70km from Stuttgart. That was until 2009 when they sold it. Unfortunately, at that time they "verbummeled" to cancel the GEZ subscription (radio & TV fee). As I have taken over all administrative tasks for my mother (my father passed away in 2010) as of a year ago, I started to wonder why she pays twice the GEZ fee, which is usually €55 per quarter, but she paid €110.

It took me some time to realize that this was not due to some specific paiment scheme, but, as mentioned above, because they had failed to notify GEZ about giving up their second home. So, as a matter of fact, they paid doubly for as long as 13 years (!!).

A call to GEZ (not easy to get through to them) revealed that they needed a "Erweiterte Meldebescheinigung" (welcome to German bureaucracy) for my mother, which would show her current residence in Stuttgart to be the only one.

Now, I don't know about other cities, but whenever I pass by one of the "Bürgerbüros" in Stuttgart, usually the queue extends out onto the sidewalk. So I loaded a new podcast onto my phone, armed myself with all the patience I could muster and set out to the "Bürgerbüro" in my neighbourhood.

On arrival, there was no queue on the sidewalk. Fearing a trap, I cautiously walked inside - the hallways: empty. The waiting room: empty. However, the Bürgerbüro WAS open. So I took a number (which was indeed the next one), was called in 3-4 minutes later - and walked out with a beautiful "Erweiterte Meldebescheinigung" for my mother to the amount of €12.

I'm pretty sure I was awake when that happened.

So I submitted that document to GEZ (which, after all, was possible online). Only the year for leaving that residence could only be set until back to 2013..

Now let's see what happens.

In Reutlingen, you can book a number and time frame online for an appointment in the Bürgerbüro. This minimizes the waiting time. But even before that (it started during the Corona lockdown), I never had to wait very long there - it may happen that you have 10 or 20 or even 30 numbers before you when you walk in (I don't know, to be honest, if that is already possible again after the Corona regulations), but they have about 10 counters or more, so, the numbers are called in very quickly.

How are the chances that you get refunded at least some of the money?

No. 34: Even with a second residency in Germany, one can nowadays get an exemption from GEZ dues for the Zweitwohnsitz. This is not retroactive, though.

https://www.vzhh.de/themen/rundfunkbeitrag/ke...

@ WIK and virus and all the others

Thanks for sharing your adventures. They’ve been more detailed and interesting than most of the tales that the “girls” at my wife’s daily “Kaffeekränzchen”  are telling. Mrs RenaRd takes me with her at least once a week, chiefly to make me walk a bit. It’s not that I could contribute a lot. Women among other women tend to ignore a male voice. As if it were too deep, below female radar. (I’ve been asked not to generalize, but this phenomenon happened to often to be denied. I describe this without bitterness but with a tiny smile.)

I first recognized this phenomenon in 2007, standing at the train station opposite Friedrichshafen Airport with six women, my wife’s tennis group. We came back from Turkey, the flight was delayed, and the train to Biberach was gone. While the woman discussed whether to wait or take another route I spotted a big Taxi and said, pointing at it “Look, there’s a 7-seat Taxi. If we shared the costs it wouldn’t be too expensive.” No reply. Instead the group fetched their luggage and, like a flock of birds, went chatting back to the Airport entry. I followed and asked loudly “What about the Taxi?”, but they went on chatting. I walked to a bench nearby the taxi rank to have a cigarette-of frustration. Eventually E. saw me sitting all alone and came over. I told her about the taxi and she went “Why, that’s a good idea. Go and tell it to the others.” After objecting that they wouldn’t listen, she told them herself. A minute later everybody grabbed the luggage again, and when they were passing my bench someone said “Come on, we’re going to take a taxi that E.’s detected fortunately.”

😉

Ach, RenaRd, I don't think this is a gender related issue, but it's a group-dynamic phenomenon.

In both cases, it appears that you are, or were, not really part of the group, but somebody who was brought along by your wife. It's quite often the case that the group is polite and looks accepting initially, but in a stress situation (such as the missed bus), the usual group dynamic kicks in. In this situation, the outsider is easily overlooked/overheard. For the Kaffeekränzchen, you likely don't have interesting things to tell?

virus well, that sounds like a good party, and doing at least the bulk of the clean-up just after everybody left is my approach as well.

I have to admit, going through all those bureaucratic things in Germany is one of the points that make it unlikely that I'll ever move to Germany again.

Wikling has settled in well in school after the holidays, so I have a few hours in the morning to do some cleaning, shopping, organising etc.

My new employer is checking references at the moment, this always costs a bit of time, but it should be a formality. I won't start any more of the projects on my personal to-do-list before I start the new job, maybe wit the exception of doing up our home-office, once Mrs Wik decides on colours/curtains, and the usual gardening things.

#41 RenaRd, I had to laugh here, because:

At my wife’s get-together I leaned to change my tactic: I address my words to a single person, and often others join in.

is just the text book approach to break through the group dynamic I mentioned.

Now, I don't know the specific situation and dynamic you are describing, but a lot of this resonates with hypotheses and approaches I have rejected initially (these "communication workshops one is signed up in big companies), but did accept later, as I have noticed that a lot of the ideas behind them are actually very helpful.

Nevertheless, we might agree to disagree, in a friendly atmosphere.

We are expecting a lot of rain in the coming 48 hours, with flood warnings (not applicable to us, thankfully), and fairly miserable conditions forecast. The rain is welcome, it's been very dry, as longs as we get a bit more sunshine afterwards, since the majority of my precious tomato crop is still in the process of ripening.

I'm sorry for the festival fans, the iconic Electric Picnic festival in Ireland is on this weekend, after a long break due to Covid. It looks like most of it might in jeopardy due to the rain.

Mrs Wik bought some books a while ago, and I got to reading “The Twyford Code” by Janice Hallett. The writing style is very unusual, and a bit challenging in the beginning, but it’s a rather enjoyable read. If you have a spare few hours, this is a good brain teaser. Note: I’m not sure how well this translate into German, and one wants to be familiar with some British slang in the original version, but I found it rather captivating, after the first pages of ???

Just read this on LinkedIn: "Every time I have a programming question an I really need help, I post it on Reddit an d then log into another account and reply with an obscenely incorrect answer. People often don't care about helping others, but they LOVE correcting others. Works 100% of the time."

Maybe it's worth trying this for LEO, as well. Having said that, it needs to be pointed out that LEO users in general are very helpful without such strategies being used on them.

Obviously driving only with doctor's permission and with a different type of cast. But even if I had that, I wouldn't go for a longer trip at high speed. It's not worth the risk.

But it DID have to be the right foot, on top of everyhing else? You wouldn't settle for breaking the left one?

I'm known for doing things properly, no half-baked things. The timing is point on as well, Mrs Wik was supposed to be on-site for the whole week to deal with some important people, but obviously had to stay home to keep things going here with Wikling (and the dog).

SF, not a fan, but I might look into it. Thank you!

One of my all-time-favorite series are the Canadian crime stories by Louise Penny with inspector Gamache. You would have to read them in the right order, because besides the story in each one, there's a kind of background plot which develops over the whole series.

Love it! I've read nearly all of them, so far which have been translated into German. What puzzled me in the beginning was that there are two different titles in German for the same volume, it was one or two of the first ones. People are so nice, weird, individual etc. etc., most appreciated the always polite, charming and wise character* of Inspector Gamache.

*Do both meanings apply here? Character = German Charakter and character = German Romanfigur (can't think of another German word besides Protagonist...)

I just read about your misfortune, WIK, as I’m still distracted by my project. How could you break your ankle by walking the dog? I can’t imagine your dog plled so hard you stumbled and fell.  Unless it felt that you are about to leave him for something you love more (Do dogs know jealousy?). Well I understood that you’ve been offered to work on a home-office basis.  Besides the pain you’re handicapped in many ways momentarily, so I hope there’s someone to comfort you and care for you. I’ll keep my fingers crossed.

Well, Pottkieker, to be honest – I was joking.  If I remember it right the doggy is just a few months old, mot yet in his awkward age, and is too small, anyway, to pull a man down. 😛

Wow, einige Zeit war wenig los, und plötzlich halte ich nicht mehr mit.

Korrektürchen für virus (#45): maybe you should have ridden the dog instead... 😉

Bonnie hat mich ein paar mal vor einem Fall gerettet, indem ich rutschte aus, auf der Leine zog und sie genug Gewicht hatte, dass ich nicht hingefallen bin. Ja, aber leider geht es manchmal auch umgekehrt. Ich wünsche dir eine schnelle Genesung, Wik.

Gerade lese ich Radium Girls von Kate Moore. Ich hatte den Film schon gesehen, sah aber neulich das Buch in unserem kleinen nicht so dangerösen Buchhandlung und blätterte es durch. Nicht mitbekommen hatte ich, dass auch Mädchen und Frauen in Ottawa, Illinois durch Radium vergiftet worden sind. Ottawa kenne ich, da diese Kleinstadt auf dem Fahrtweg nach Iowa liegt, wusste aber nicht, dass diese Stadt eine Superfund Site ist https://cumulis.epa.gov/supercpad/cursites/cs... und viele Frauen der Stadt an einer Radiumvergiftung gestorben sind. Demnächst möchte ich den Dokumentarfilm Radium City sehen: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0284691/ Das nächste Mal, wenn ich in Ottawa eine Pause einlege, schaue ich mir das Radium Girls Denkmal an.

Hier ein interessanter Bericht, der die Geschichte von Radium Dial in Ottawa handelt. https://www.nprillinois.org/equity-justice/20... Ich wusste auch nicht, dass die Firma Westclox, deren Uhren die Fabrikarbeiterinnen bemalten, in Peru, Illinois ihren Sitz hatte.

Hier haben wir noch Sommertemperaturen: um 20 Uhr noch 26 Grad, Tageshöchsttemperatur 30 Grad, Tiefsttemperatur heute in der Nacht 19,5 Grad. Am Wochenende laufe noch in kurzen Hosen rum.

Tut mir leid, dass ich nicht alles gelesen habe.

RE deep winter: Im Prinzip geht das ja, aber ich weiß nicht ganz. Im Internet scheint das hauptsächlich irgendwas mit Farben zu tun zu haben. Keine Ahnung wie das heißt im Deutschen, es geht darum, dass Frauen Kleidung und Schminke in bestimmten Farben tragen sollen.

I will respond to some things in your post later, Amy-MiMi!

On my way to bed, I wanted to share a little thing I realized today: I'm re-reading "Watership Down" at the moment - after decades; I read it once in my twenties, I think. Besides the story itself, I really enjoy the botanical details (so many plants and flowers are described - I often have to look up their names so I know what they are) and the landscape descriptions a lot. And what I realized: the German title of the book "Unten am Fluss", is clearly a false-friend-type of literal translation - only that "down" in the book doesn't mean low, but on the contrary, a landscape of hills!

This was my Contribution of the Day. Sleep well, everybody, in your Bettgestell.

(First night indoors for us today, I transferred our beds because it's really getting chilly and Mr Goldammer has caught a cold)

It seems that all the well-wishing has worked. I had my appointment with the consultant yesterday, who threw the initial diagnosis out of the window, assured me there is nothing broken, and I'll be fully recovered middle of next week. I had my suspicions about the broken leg, but I had learned at home to not argue with medical doctors.

I read Watership Down ages ago. I don't remember much, it clearly didn't make a big impression.

All the other book recommendations are on hold. Mrs Wik went to a book shop and brought back some books she thought might be entertaining. Amongst them the third part of Richard Osman's The Thursday Murder Club. Jabonah, if you peek in here, I wouldn't really recommend it, the story is rather odd.

Amy-MiMi, I hope the new school year is going easier than the previous one?

I must say, Wik, I'm wondering a bit how it can happen with all the modern diagnostic tools to say a leg is broken (or an ankle, or what it was supposed to be) and then two weeks later find out that it isn't broken after all...I mean, I'm really happy for you, it makes things a lot easier in every respect, but come on! Seriously!!!

Amy-MiMi, maybe you should give Watership Down another try! I really enjoy it (despite the fact that it of course transports the old pattern that only the male characters are doing something to keep the story going....)

re#63:

Bonnie hat mich ein paar mal vor einem Fall gerettet, indem ich rutschte aus, auf der Leine zog und sie genug Gewicht hatte, dass ich nicht hingefallen bin. - is understandable but somehow twisted. I think I'd put the whole thing a bit differently:

Bonnie hat mich ein paarmal (written together, says "Duden - Richtiges und gutes Deutsch" - I had a feeling but couldn't tell you why) vor einem Sturz *) gerettet, als ich ausgerutscht bin, die Leine sich dabei straffte und Bonnie genug Gegengewicht hatte, dass ich nicht hingefallen bin. Something like that.

*) The noun is definitely Sturz although the verb is hinfallen - mean, I know.

Deep winter: what I wanted to express is "in the middle of winter when the temperatures are really low". How would you say that, then? "mid-winter-duvet"?

Goldammer, it's rather baffling, alright. Maybe the doctor seeing me first had a bad day, or just didn't want to make an effort after the x-rays. But I have already mentioned that the Irish health system (very different from the German one) leaves much to be desired, even if you have premium private health insurance.

Anyway, I'm getting things back in order now, and so far so good.

Korrektürchen für virus (#45): maybe you should have ridden the dog instead... 😉 (Amy.MiMi, #63)

My irregular verbs! I should know better... We had an English teacher who asked this kind of vocabulary list every Tuesday morning. This was the procedure: The week before he gave a new list to us to learn until next week (like 15-20 verbs). In the morning, before starting the "normal" lesson, he picked one pupil to be examined. The worst was: If ihe picked YOU last week you couldn't be sure to be spared this week... So, we all were quite good at it! (Loong ago....)

@ WIK: I’m glad to read that everything's moving along as usual, as far as your ankle is concerned. I’m still Curies regarding your new job. You mentioned above, that “the company building is about 2 hours away by car”, so I don’t assume you’re going to commute there day by day. Are you willing to talk about it, or am I too nosy?

You’re quarreling with irregular verbs, virus? Well, I’ve made a list, anExcel™ sheet, during the last fifteen years or so of each English word I read not being part of my active vocabulary. The list still contains over 500 words, (most of them verbs and adjectives) I still don’t use. Once in a while I open the file, but I hardly learned 10% of them.

I imagine our brain has a kind of spill-over – as we learn something new, something old has to make room-. :D

*having a brrak*

A few questions first, WIK, if you don’t mind: Are the terms “non--profit company” and “non-for-profit company” interchangeable? I assume so but haven’t heard of the latter before. Does working for a non-profit organization means that they won’t pay your salary but your clients? “Small scale food production” means „start-ups“ , or farmers changing from normal production to BIO, like that? 

Anyway, it sounds to be a thrilling and challenging job. Offering services might imply more travelling than you believe, bat that might by my old-fashioned impression, not taking into account the modern media. Good luck!

virus, your story about irregular verbs reminded me of the time when a schoolfriend and I practised them for our English teacher! And that brought home to me how much more confident I am writing English than German these days...always have been, really. My school marks in English were always much better than German. And now, having translated into English for – ahem – decades, I’m finding my current project (which is a translation into German, albeit of an admittedly badly, or probably not at all, edited book) rather trying. I may have said this before – but do these people (by which I mean academics of global renown, among others) not have partners, teenagers, friends, interns/Hiwis or someone they can give a chapter to before they hand it to a publishing house of global renown but straitened means?! I try to give my translations, or at least bits of them, to someone to read, just in case I’m being obscure, repetitive or downright unreadable...Ah well.

Louise Penny, I’m afraid, is not for me. (The only croissant I remember from the first instalment was simply flaky, btw.) I found her constant changing of perspective, sometimes mid-sentence, very irksome, and didn’t warm to any of the characters at all. I’ll have to find something else to read when I’ve finished London’s Oddities – which is a delightful book about lots of things to see in London that one wouldn’t usually know about or look out for. I haven’t started looking for them, but I think I will carry the book with me next time I go up with any amount of time.

Son2, btw, has now been delivered to uni. We had a nice trip up to the dreaming spires, a rambling museum visit and a pleasant meal, and then left him to it. Very quiet and strange here now, without my resident entertainer. I think even the cats miss him, although he was never particularly interested in them!

Wik, your new workplace sounds fascinating. Yes, I realise you may not have to do fascinating work all the time, but the enterprise itself sounds like a very forward-looking one, and I hope you’ll be able to tell us more about the projects you’re working on.

Edith just remembered that starlings come in murmurations, and that's the word usually applied to them flying 'in formation', too - I've seen some amazing images, and I'm quite envious that you can see them from your desk, virus!

#73 RenaRd Well, I don't think I have encountered the term non-profit-company, but on the other hand I had meant to write not-for-profit company/organisation. Basically, this means that the company doesn't want to make a profit for the investors, but aims to invest all efforts and money to a higher purpose (such as, e.g., secure jobs in this community; or increase the number of oak trees in this or that area; or provide assistance to sufferers from disease XYZ).

But still, they are set up and act as companies, need to take in some money in some way or the other, and pay the employees and operations.

I don't sell services per se, I work on creating strategies and setting up collaborations to make EU and government money available to help food producers in our area. And I will be responsible for proof that this (public) money is spent wisely, and that the positive aspects targeted are realized. There are other people who work with the "customers" (basically, people who ask for support) on a technical level. But small companies cannot afford market prices for experts, and that's where the money I'm supposed to get in will count.

There might be a farmer who has a little orchard, and wants to process the apples in some way or the other to make a little extra income. Or somebody who is amazing at making cookies at home and aims at making a business out of selling them. A small cheese producer who needs certificates to export to the UK. The sky is the limit.

But this demands a lot of background work, networking, knowledge of the funding sources and limitations... I'm only scraping at the surface of things, but I have so many ideas, caveats, enthusiasm, scepticism.... Super exciting!

#75 Jabonah I'll try to share good stories if I can, but a lot of it is tedious work and trying to convince high-up people to back something that will (long term) benefit somebody trying to establish a business (and hopefully some initiatives for healthier food and more sustainability) . But sure, If there is something interesting for the wider public I'll post it here.

@Wik (#66) Amy-MiMi, I hope the new school year is going easier than the previous one? Ja, etwa 500% besser. Wieder unterrichte einen neuen Kurs (3. Jahr, zwar habe ich das schon gemacht, aber nicht in der neuen Schule), d.h. wieder muss ich viel Zeit in die Unterrichtsplanung stecken. Etwa die Hälfte der SchülerInnen im dritten Jahr kenne ich aber schon, also macht das die ganze Sache etwas einfacher.

@Goldammer (re midwinter), für mich heißt midwinter, dass die Hälfte des Winters schon vorbei ist, z.B. midwinter break. Es heißt nicht, dass die Zeit besonders kalt ist. Tut mir leid, dass ich nicht besonders hilfreich bin.

Heute sind Bonnie und ich einkaufen gegangen. Wir haben ihr ein neues Brustgeschirr gekauft (sie kaut ganz schnell Löcher drin, denn sie beißt das Geschirr, während sie wie wild herum läuft und springt), zwei neue Pullover (siehe Sachen beißen oben, außerdem habe ich im Frühling einen noch guten Pullover gewaschen und ein Teil davon ist eingegangen), Zahnpasta (hoffentlich mag sie den neuen Geschmack, denn die Zahnpasta mit Erdnussbuttergeschmack, den sie lecker findet, war nicht erhältlich) und Leckerlis. Vorher hatte sie bei ihrem Freund gespielt, also konnte sie ein bisschen Zeit im Auto aushalten. In die Tierbedarfshandlung durfte sie allerdings mit, was eigentlich praktisch ist, denn das Brustgeschirr konnte sie anprobieren und sich über Spielzeuge selber entscheiden. Heute hatte sie sich für keine Spielzeuge interessiert, also habe ich ihr nichts gekauft. Vielleicht hatte es damit zu tun, dass ich schon ein Leckerli in der Hand hatte, und das war dann viel interessanter als irgendwelche Spielzeuge.

Mir habe ich ziemlich viele Blumenzwiebeln (Tulpen, Narzissen, Hyazinthen) gekauft. Ich freue mich auf einen sehr schönen Blumenfrühling.

@ Any-MiMi, RE RE #77 Schülerinnen

Are there only girls in the classe, or did you try “German gender-speak? N case of the latte you forgot the gender asterisk (Gender-Sternchen) in Schüler*innen, which is chiefly used by the respective proponents of gender-speak.

Some tiny corrections:

Sie kaut ganz schnell Löcher drin > rein/hinein

ein Teil davon ist eingegangen > eingelaufen

Zahnpasta mit Erdnussbuttergeschmack, [den] die sie lecker finde

Konnte sie sich [über] bezüglich ihrer Spielzeuge selber entscheiden > better: sie konnte sich ihr Spielzeig selbst aussuchen

RE: Ich freue mich auf einen sehr schönen Blumenfrühling.

I love the optimistic touch of the above sentence because my foresight is rather pessimistic when I think about the forthcoming “winter of discontent” (not to mention the war in our neighbourhood).

@ Jesse_Pinkman, RE have friends who like gardening a lot

Oh, how lucky you are! Mrs RenaRd likes gardening a lot, and prior to my heart attack in 2004 I used to help her with mowing the lawn and the “harder things”, like cutting a hedge, 2.5 meters high. As my wife got older we had to hire helping hands for more and more work summing up to €500 to €750 twice a year. But we love our garden and, as my wife likes to say “we won’t leave our home, unless they carry us out feet ahead”.

😋

MHO, "eingelaufen" is more common, but I wouldn't have objected to "eingegangen".

denn die Zahnpasta mit Erdnussbuttergeschmack, den/die sie lecker findet I think Amy-MiMi's version was grammatically correct, albeit unusual. Certainly, it's the peanut butter flavour Bonnie loves, but in a German mind the toothpaste probably is the more likely "Bezugswort". It would be different, if a "dem" was added before "Erdnussbuttergeschmack", then "den" would be the more likely choice.

Another correct, but rather unusual expression is "Tierberdarfshandlung". I would just simply say "Tierhandlung", with the implicit understanding that they might not sell pets, but pet food, toys. In Ireland, I go to the pet shop, but there isn't a pet for sale. Is there a different expression in AE?

Jesse, thank you for popping in!

Hopefully, you can sort out things with the house sale soon. The market here in Ireland is still driven by a lack of supply and high building costs, and a lot of "hobby landlords" (basically, people who owned and rented out a second house) are now selling at peak prizes, which contracts the rental market.

My grandmother lived on her own with minimal interference in her administration (although help was offered much earlier) until she was 97, so there was a bit of a mess of paperwork to be cleared up and things to be straightened out when she finally handed over control to my mother and my aunt. In a way, it would have been much easier, if things would be handed over earlier, but on the other hand, I can understand the reluctance. But hey, I'd be happy if I had a lot of her genes, she survived a covid infection aged 102, and we are bracing ourselves for her 103rd birthday early next year.

I love gardening! Whenever I win the lotto, I aim at buying a place with a big garden, and to spend much of my time planting, weeding, pruning, mixed with a bit of fishing, and walking the pack of Irish wolfhounds... or something along that line.

Our main oven is broken... seeing that it is seven years old, and it has served a lot, we are not considering a repair job, but getting a replacement. We still have a small oven/microwave combination, and we can work with this for the coming weeks, although my usual bread baking or the Sunday roast will be seriously restricted.

My new job is shaping up "nicely". A lot of the funding applications recently were unsuccessful, so any quick gains will be valuable (and noticed by the board of directors).

I'm currently looking at an idea to add value to wild foods (I leave this up to your imagination) in the North Atlantic region.

Next week I will be attending a conference on bioeconomy, with an introduction given by the minister of agriculture, food and whatever..

Keep well, all of you, as the next wave seems to go through the population (more so in Germany than in Ireland, I havent seen any data about the US recently).

"eingehen von textilem Gewebe" in the sense of shrinking may be used more frequently in Southern Germany, but is not marked as specifically regional in Duden (as for example the meaning "festhalten" of the Verb "heben")

And yes, in my subjective feeling, almost everybody in my family and circle of friends who hasn't had Corona so far is now catching it, along with so and so many who have it for the second or third time, despite vaccinations. Except us, for the time being. I don't mean to say that vaccinations don't help, to make that clear, just for the record. I don't know a single case of a severe course of a covid infection with vaccinated people in my surroundings. I heard today that the reported incidence (760) may be only a quarter of the true figures, due to the fact that very many people won't have a PCR done because they want to avoid isolation, or because they simply don't care.

I remember, WIK, that music is none of your topics.

Just yesterday I talked to a friend about a special tune (“Blue Tango”); I had thought he would love music, because he’s a semiprofessional dancer. He said, he may have danced to it but never remembers the title or words of a song. His wife is listening to a radio while ironing once in a while, that’s it I tried to convince him (half-heartedly) to get an access to music by using earphones to get caught by the power of a wall of sound. He answered “My earphones are collecting dust in a drawer somewhere; I didn’t like the pressure on my head”.

There are reasons for everything. :o)

Congrats for snatching a bargain – as long as it rated is AA+ .🙂

@ WIK; RE the dog started barking and running around

I hope I don’t make you envious but I need to tell you about my experience with our dog, the second one, to be correct. We had two of the same kind during our marriage, both called Bella. Belly II lived with us from 1994 to 2007.

Dackel are not known for being easy to train but for individualism, and ours was clever enough to show her will. We took her home at the age of 12 weeks, I seem to remember, so we placed her dog basket in our bedroom, next to my wife’s bedside. I carried Bella out regularly every four hours, during night tine too. After four or five nights she was “stubenrein and began to wake me up in case of need by tapping against my mattress near to my head with her fore-paws, watching me. When she saw me opening my eyes she turned around, ran to the door, and sat down there, still watching me. It was like saying “Come on, let me out. Now!”.

I used to carry her downstairs (a dachshund must not run stairs because of their long spine) somnolently and out to the back yard, where I put her down on the lawn, waiting. Afterwards I deposited her in her basket again.

At the age of one or so she was big enough to place her head upon the mattress just breathing towards me. That was her “asking” for a lift. When I helped her up, she walked carefully around my head to my back, crept under the blanket and - inch by inch - down my back to my upper leg. There she rolled around and pressed her body against it amd placed her head in the hollow of my knee. With a “so-far-so-good”-snort she went on sleeping.

When she was grown up she just jumped on my bed and – unless I put her down again – granted a warm leg in winter times. When she got older I couldn’t allow the jump anymore, so we placed her basket on the floor below; near the stairs (that she still didn’t dare to climb. For the rest of her days her eyes followed us with the famous “DackelblicK” each night when we went to bed. For several years thereafter I stopped at the middle of the stairs from time to times to turn around whispering “Good Night”  towards the place where the basket stood.

PS: I

As to me, Jesse, your friend might go to bed, whenever he feels tired – as long as he’s not driving any vehicle, leading a conference, or a goal keeper waiting for the penalty kick. In fact going to bed is the best of all options when you’re tired, imo. 😛

macht sie unten leise unzufriedene Geräusche

I love this expression, very well done, Amy-MiMi. And I can imagine the little noise she does.

To get along a story about animals at our place: I have my Mondays off, so I was sitting on "my" couch this morning again reading a book. Outside we have a lot of birds, started feeding them again for winter at least with fat balls (Meisenknödel). They are always very busy and we have no curtains at our three-window-terrace windows. Which means that they are invisible to the birds. Which ends in the "bump-into-a-window" of many of those birds... because they see a mirror bush they could fly into? I have no clue. Most of the time, it ends luckiliy. But somtetimes, the birds end with a broken neck. Which pities me a lot. I can't glue prey bird silhouettes to my windows and I won't hang curtains. So what sohuld I do?

• "Sich verfangen" legt die Betonung meiner Meinung nach etwas mehr darauf, wie das Tier ins Netz hineinschwimmt oder von der Strömung hineingetrieben wird.
• "festhängen" beschreibt mehr den Zustand, dass das Tier im Netz gefangen ist.

"To get caught" würde ich deshalb eher mit "sich verfangen" übersetzen. Was den zweiten Vorschlag von Dir betrifft, würde ich "am" durch "im" ersetzen, das ist meines Erachtens idiomatischer.

I beg your pardon for not sharing anything lately. “I was too busy” is always an acceptable excuse, isn’t it? :o)

@ virus, RE bumping birds

Either you love to watch your garden life or you love to save a bird’s life; you obviously can’t have it all. You might try adhesive black silhouettes of birds of prey attached to your window panes. Some say it helps, other deny. What about a compromise, a solution we’ve found by chance:

We’ve got curtains at all windows, ceiling-to-bottom long, broken-white (gebrochen weiß) and so thin, that the fabric protects our furniture etc from UV but spreads the sunlight all the same. The main activity of a flock of sparrows hurrying from a tree near the dining room window to our neighbour’s hedge is in the morning, usually breakfast time. Looking out of the window we see the bird’s tree and the sunrise behind it in the east. That’s the time to close the curtains and nevertheless enjoy the shadows of the birds dancing to and fro. No sun means no curtains, of course. :o)

#104 The effect in the first floor - slate tiles on the floor - is rather noisy in terms of "echoes" as you can imagine.

Have you thought about cork tiles?

@ WIK; RE 101 posts in 82 days... so we might have to endure this shell

Maybe the young folks on both sides of the pond learn enough of a foreign language in school and don’t feel the need to be corrected in a forum. My granddaughter, e.g., is very good in English (certified C1, aiming C2) and uses LEO regularly, but dislikes grubbing in a forum.

If only we could find a gimmick to gain more interest. A hint on LEO’s front page or something like that. More participants yield more topics, we know. Additionally we might try to reactivate some “sleepers” like Goldammer. *gg*

You’re welcome. Karla13. The German participants (if they don’t mind me speaking for them) are glad about each ENS, a fresh breeze in our snailish community.

Prior to getting enrolled please quote your shoe size and credit card number.

:o)

I must come to an end now, it’s dining time for me. I hope to see you tomorrow and explore more.

I think RenaRd misunderstood you there, Karla. I understand that you are a German native speaker - but honestly, if we discouraged anybody from joining us here because the person was a German native speaker, we would betray our motto:

This is not just another chat room. We are here to improve our language skills, German or English, and to encourage a spirit of community. All who share those aims are welcome.

However, this doesn't relieve you of your duty to share your shoe size and credit card number, you know that, don't you?

Shoe size etc. - yes, karla, we take that very seriously, as Goldammer stated. 😉 (Btw, karla is not only GNS but rather BNS - Berlin native speaker! 😀)

Have you thought about cork tiles?

Pottkieker! Don't dare!

No, we did never think of cork tiles! Actually, when we've planned the house (in the frame of the given outline, both from the construction / dimensions and financial) we were very happy to have this big open space with big windows around. That was why we thought (having seen this at a colleague's house) that there will be enough light to have a black floor. And we still love it. (Btw, I think cork tiles at (on?) the garden level would have been outworn quickly.)

On the second floor we have parquet floor which is very nice as well. Back to the black floor: In summer we have to half-close the shutters / blinds (don't know which is the better description here) to avoid too high temperatures >> which saves the birds! In winter, we profit from the nice warm floor on sunny days.

Oops! Yes, I literally misunderstood GNS for ENS. I just had my reading programme read it again, and it still sounded like ENS. My 3x magnifying glass finally proved a G, then. Nevertheless, I still like to welcome Karla13 especially after she learned to know each of the “old” snails and I’m curious to know more about her

Thanks a lot, everybody, for your warm welcome – I will gladly submit my shoe size and, more importantly for all of you, my credit card details within a sec.

But first of all, I would like to apologize to Wik for treading on his toes again (aka into a big hole of grease *Fettnäpfchen*) – even though he had already hinted as much at the first occasion.

Wik, I do not only admire your proficiency in English, but also your utter politeness and friendliness in expressing your wish for a „little favour“. Could I „try not to comment on things shared/discussed in one thread in another one?“ – Yes, of course, I certainly could – and you should have scolded me, and rightfully so, with far stronger words. I am really, really sorry; and I can promise you that I will not only „try“ to keep my chatty mouth shut, but will also succeed in doing so. No offense meant.

As a general rule, I do appreciate a clear (and well-spoken) word/ statement, because I sometimes get a little bit high-spirited/ rollicking/ coltish (??) [übermütig], and people might get offended when they don't know me personally. So please, everybody, do not hesitate to tell me candidly whenever I have overstepped a border (limit ?) – which hopefully will never again occur in the CC anyway.

By leaving this embarrassing topic behind, I'll now come back to your two most ardent questions: my shoe size and cc [sic!] number. Both of them are, as I can say with a certain relief, easy information to share with you all.

As I am sort of obsessed with the number thirteen (my birth date; and therefore a lucky number for my parents and myself), I only buy shoes sized 39 (which are actually a little too big for me, but I don't mind). My cc number, consequently, is Visa 1326 3952 6578 9113. For further information concerning my check digit etc, please send me a PM.

Also, a quick introduction of yourself would be nice (no specifics required), such as what are you doing for a living, where are you living, what are your interests, what do you hate... be as vague as you like.

Being vague is one of my special features, hehe, but I will try my best to counteract against my own personality and supply as much information as possible about myself. As Goldammer already assumed correctly, I am German – born and bred in West Berlin, as virus knew from another thread. So I am a 1965 Berlin native speaker (BNS, correct), and am proud of it.

(Even though I've to admit that actively participating in LEO for the past two months has already broadened my mind in so far as richness of German dialects is concerned: I have the strong feeling that South Germany has a far wider range of dialectic words to offer, words which I quite like, which are completely unknown to my Berlin ears and are really fascinating to me. IMO, I can already confirm the well-known rule: LEO does in fact educate you.)

As I've mentioned before at other places, I've already been silently lurking on LEO for nearly two and a half years now, more or less starting with the pandemic. Therefore, I „know“ all of you better than you know me. I might also be aware of some details and facts that you have told about yourselves on LEO at some point (I tend to remember things like these – and that's because I'm interested in people and their lives in general.)

I think that sums it up nicely for the time being. Next time I will REALLY tell you more about myself (and why my life is like it is now) and will certainly ask some questions to some of you. Please feel free to do the same if and when you feel like it. See and read you soon.

RenaRd, I will remember the reading programme assisting your eyes and therefore try to write as unambigiously as possible -- how does it handle emojis?

Please don't altogether keep your chatty mouth, karla! That would be sort of counterproductive in here, wouldn't it?

If you are fascintated by the Southern dialects, have you ever tried reading the Schwòbafädale?

Might be a bit of a challenge for a BNS.... 😀

#114 Goldammer, I am understanding your posting as a sort of motivation for me to keep on writing. Thanks for that.

Might be a bit of a challenge for a BNS.... ?

'challenge' is a nice paraphrase for 'total failure', hehe. No way to grasp what the Svabians are talking about... Nope, certainly not the right thread for me – no offense meant. I think I'll stick to good old "Hochdeutsch" threads where I am also learning a lot.

And Wik #115, no worries, I didn't feel any obligation, it's just so understandable what you are wishing for that I can't resist to (hehe) obey. Your explanation seeems to cover every aspect of a sensible statement, so it's easy for me to follow.

As it was my day off today, I took the opportunity to practise my English, so I started my introductory letter to the CC. Here it comes:

After having lived for almost 47 years in Berlin (and additionally altogether 7 years abroad), I decided seven years ago to take a sabbatical year, staying and travelling around Portugal. I didn't have a plan where to go and what to do – I just knew that I wanted to experience life in Portugal as a whole. I had come to Madeira for the first time around 2005, spending a two-week holiday alone on the island. I instantly fell in love with the people, their mentality, way of living, the wonderful nature with the multitude of hiking trails, etc. From then on, I kept returning to Madeira. I got to know some inhabitants of the island and started to learn Portuguese.

When in 2015 my employer offered the opportunity to take a sabbatical, it was only logical for me to apply – and that was only after one single day. I never regretted my decision but had to wait for another one and a half years before I could start travelling.

I found the combination of my very German mentality (conscientious, earnest, reserved, law-abiding, etc.) with the Portuguese way of existence very refreshing. Portuguese people seem to share some characteristics with German people, they are similar in some ways, but much more relaxed. That in combination with the Portuguese saudade was very inspiring to me and my well-being.

During this year of absence from my home town, friends and family as well as my job, I felt free for the first time in my life. After raising three kids (successfully, I hope), working full-time nearly all my life, and additionally doing some voluntary work, I decided that from then on I would only do what I wanted and also live where I wanted.

I came back from this year which I spent mainly in the south (Algarve) and up to Porto with the clear vision of changing my place of residence from Berlin to somewhere in Portugal. That was in 2017. But I didn't know how to manage and where exactly to live.

My first step therefore was to think about my job which I love and couldn't live without. But how to convince my employer that from now on I would work from 3,000 km away? As I can easily work online, that part was acquired without many complications. In the end, and after some good negotiating, my employer consented to a job model with 30 hours per week including a day off. Fine with me, I don't need that much money.

(tbc, I am too tired now to keep on being chatty.)

Wik, I hope that Wikling is still feeling allright after being bitten by the pony.

Virus: the mind boggles, people in Zuerich have too much expandable money. But then, I heard on the radio the other day that tickets for an Adele concert in Las Vegas (apparently, she is doing a residency there, who would have known) are being offered at something like 47,000 (in words: forty-seven thousand) $. That is per ticket, and not with meet-and-greet or any bonus features.

Jesse: I love moules frites, and a nice little Trappist has never been rejected by me. Enjoy your stay at the coast!

The update you are talking about is in connecting with your move to Cologne, I suppose?

karla: Now that you mention it, I think you mentioned Portugal elsewhere, but I couldn't say on which occasion. Maybe the missed-food thread? Sounds like an interesting journey you talk, and fair play to you for looking for an opportunity and taking it to fulfill your dream! I find it still amazing, how flexible German employers seem to be with number of working hours. Of course, there are laws and regulations helping with this, but it still baffles me a bit.

Portugal is on my list of countries in the coming years.

Goldammer: I admit that I looked into the Feindfaden you referenced in #114, and I found it rather awkward to follow. But since I was born and grew up with yellow feet in the Fan City by the Rhine, I decided to leave you trans-montane people speaking in strange tongues alone in your conversation. No offense meant!

So many postings, and I have only little time. It’s a pity but I’ve got to make it short. I was wrong when I wrote lately that my main project (assessing 50 years of music from the 50s to the 90s) was done. Unfortunately in more than 1,00 cases it wasn’t enough to adjust the ID-tags of the respective music file but the characteristics have to be changed as well. And that turns out to be quite tortuous.

Best wishes for Wikling, WIK. I’ll keep my fingers crossed. There’s a saying like this: “If you fall off from a horse get back on it quickly”- What das one say about getting bitten, btw? .

It’s a pity, Karly12, that you are Berlin-born.  I’ve heard that speaking the Swabian dialect facilitates learning Portuguese extraordinarily because of the nasal. *g*

Did you know that, Goldammer? 😋

I’m sorry to say, Jesse, that liking Belgian beer doesn’t make you a connoisseur. Raised in Dortmund (die Bierstadt überhaupt), I’d rather drink a Trollinger (which I don’t like at all) than a Belgian beer.  No “Deuches Reinheitsgebot”. You know.

Now you are (all) talking... I like that. But where are our correcting NESs hiding? Anybody?

Just a "short"* message from me this time (yes, I know, everything is relative, hehe). Even though I do live in an earlier time zone than you all do (presumably), a German-spoken pink panther is already staring at me and starting to sing: "Wer hat an der Uhr gedreht, ist es wirklich schon so spät? Lalala, I suppose I just broke one of the holy CC rules... tztz, please forgive me once and for all. (Wonder how the lyrics would be in English.)

Jesse: Enjoy your moules frites in a few hours! I haven't tried any yet. But I can imagine them being delicious. I love mussels (in white wine or tomato sauce, yummie).

I think the saying „Was ein Mann schöner ist als ein Aff‘ ist Luxus.“ is hilarious. Thanks for sharing.

penguin: "Best frites in De Haan." Would everybody know that you are talking about 'moules frites' and not 'pommes frites'? Because I didn't... and I am always more than curious (to learn), as you might have noticed already. (Just joking 😉)

Wik: Yes, it was the missed food thread where I mentioned Portugal. But please, don''t praise the day before sunset, because that's not where the whole story ended... *Sings* "Love is in the air..."

I find it still amazing, how flexible German employers seem to be with number of working hours.

That wasn't flexibility on their side but pure greed and blackmail, haha. Actually, I have to manage the same work load in 30 hours like before in 39, but on the other hand have total freedom in deciding when to deliver my weekly amount of work. It must be ready every Monday morning at 7 am German time. The rest is my personal decision. That's why I can spend hours and hours procrastinating on LEO... And as I prefer to work until late at night, that's all fine with me. I also need less money here, so the wage loss doesn't bother me at all.

And -- another advantage: I don't have to spend my precious time in endless, rather fruitless (?) meetings. One online team meeting per week is compulsory for me -- the rest is history. Yippie!

Of course, there are laws and regulations helping with this, but it still baffles me a bit.

Fortunately, it's all law-abiding, and I am still paying part of my taxes in Germany, which is fair enough.

Portugal is on my list of countries in the coming years.

It's certainly worth a visit. I'm sure your family and you'll love it.

RenaRd: I don't envy you for the task you've set for yourself, but only for the result you'll be getting in the long run. What's the estimated time frame you've set for yourself?

By the way, thanks for giving me a slightly changed name. I don't mind being called Karly -- in fact, I quite like it, but I have to insist on the right number which is 13. I would't like to be born on a 12th, I prefer a Primzahl as my birth date (I will look that up tomorrow (aka later on), too sleepy now.

You're right, the Portuguese pronunciation is quite hard for me, as I started to learn the language at the age of nearly fifty. The soft Svabian dialect would indeed help -- but what can I do about that? No Svabians around here...

One thing's for sure, RenaRd: You would certainly prefer Belgian to Portuguese beer. Which I like from time to time, but I'm by no means a connaisseure (?) -- I prefer a good, Portuguese wine. Their beer tends to be weak, rather sweet and the contrary of strong. Mild? Yes, indeed mild.

*See what I mean with relatively short for me? I think in this respect penguin and I are the extremest representatives of our respective species. penguin: Needs two words only. karla13: Needs at least thirteen words, if not more, for the same content.

Good night. (Two words)

Oh, I see, Jesse... Thanks for explaining before penguin could react to my embarrassing question... 😇

But now you've got my dish inventing mind working -- 'moules frites' sounded to me like shortly cooked mussels (until opening up their shells) put into batter and then deep fried. Like fish&chips.

Your description sounds mouth-watering. Enjoy!

[And now I know that a Primzahl is a prime number (at least that's what LEO says). Should've known that life can be easy sometimes... 🙃]

'À bientot' -- ou do people speak Flemish in De Haan? (The name has the flair of it.)

Thank you for the warm welcome in #125, Jabonah.

If I've concluded correctly, your whereabouts are situated somewhere in the UK, and I am guessing this place shouldn't be too far away from London, considering the fact that you can easily go there for "only" a visit to the museum. Talking of which I haven't heard of before. I've just looked up the Brunei Gallery on the internet – it really looks impressive from an architect's point of view (which I have, but not am).

Concerning the exhibition you saw: I would (also) be hesitant to expose myself to such kind of a gruesome subject; and frankly, I wouldn't have expected that those things were still happening until today – unbelievable: "self-appointed “superiors” (usually for racial or religious reasons) decide that they’re much better suited to look after children and simply remove them from their families."

+++

Your statement "Somehow I don’t think careers guidance was taken very seriously at my school, or indeed by my parents…" made me think of my own choice of study subject, which wasn't by far guided by anyone in particular. For sure, at the beginning of the eighties we Berliners had the "Berufsberatung für Abiturienten" (a subdivision of the then "Arbeitsamt"), but the lady who did a pre-fabricated test with me and asked some further questions about my hobbies, pastime and fortes was as clueless as I was (and my parents, too) about what I was supposed to do or study. That's when my father had the good idea (which in those days and times wasn't as common as today) that after the 'Abitur' I should spend a year in England as an au-pair instead of immediately going to uni or starting a vocational training.

Ironically (in a positive sense) I ended up with a (very nice) English middle/upper class family with four (fairly spoilt) girls aged six to thirteen; and that all happened in Reading, which I found a good sign because reading was one of my favourite pastimes in those days – and still is until today.

Returning from England I wasn't the least smarter than before – but certainly more experienced as a house-keeper and organizer of children's lives. Which in return sort of prepared me for the upbringing of my own three children some years later.

Back in Berlin I then applied for a university place in law, even got it, but shortly afterwards decided for something more universal and less paragraph-related.

Which brings me back to my actual place of living – and Jabonah's and PI Wik's speculations about it.

Both of you started of perfectly (country-wise) as well as logically, and actually, after my story mentioned Madeira so often, that was the place I chose for my living. The only disadvantages I saw at the time were the difficulty of finding appropiate and affordable accomodation, the extremely hilly nature of the island (perfect for hiking, but less so for cycling), the amount of (predominantly German) tourists (the nice ones, not the 'Ballermann' type ones), and the rate of unemployment (10.7 percent as of February 2021 – which shouldn't have affected me with my Germany-based job, but the atmosphere amongst inhabitants and workers who came there for jobs in the highly developped tourism industry.

These were the topics I was prepared to handle/ to overcome. I arranged my relocation from Berlin to Funchal (Madeira's capital – 112,000 inhabitants), at first staying at a Portuguese friend's modern and sufficiently equipped holiday apartment.

May I remind you that we're now talking about October 2019, when clearly nobody could have predicted what should start shortly afterwards. The island of Madeira sort of collapsed due to anti-Covid restrictions, the income source for workers within the tourism sector literally vanished, and everyday social life came to a total standstill. Which would have been a major setback for me in the long run with the position of a stranger being extremely dependant on building up social contacts (via choir singing, sports, language learning and other courses, voluntary work etc.) and getting to know people (better) and thereby constructing a personal network of natives and expatriates – a challenge I had already managed when living in Bangkok for four years at the end of the last century.

Whereas the possibility to find suitable and long-term accomodation improved considerably at the beginning of 2020, at this point I started to feel really lonely, isolated and godforsaken without a yet built-up net of sufficient aquaintances and friends.

Fortunately I had my work which kept me busy and occupied (and the internet as a whole, appreciating for the first time in my life a streaming service like Nettflicks), I could talk endlessly and frequently with my children, the rest of my German family, friends, colleagues – but only over the phone etc., which wasn't the same as them visiting me shortly after the removal, as we had planned.

I had to restrict my everyday outdoor life to a strict regime of long walks and the occasional stay at the beach – but then Funchal beaches aren't famous for anything but rocks and smallness. So that ended up in the daily morning swim, the afterwards coffee (or two or three) in my favourite outside café (which also temporarily had to shut down from April until June) and extensive food shopping.

And that was the somehow sad status quo in May 2020 when the aforementioned god(ess) showed me – not for the first time in my life, for sure– that you should never ever complain or think that things should go better...

To cut it short: One fine May morning I nearly ran over an extremely nice looking young man when cycling back home from my morning swim and jog, not paying much attention to traffic or pedestrians – only enjoying the aftertaste of the refreshing sea on my skin and the sensation when running along the seashore.

As we both had to laugh really hard – it was quite a bizarre scene because while nearly being hit by my bicycle he kept on *hüstel* kind of staring at me – it was only consequent that we started to talk (me, as usual with foreigners, at first pretending to be Portuguese and not understanding any English at all) and him (he?) answering in even worse Portuguese – but not pretending to be anything else than Dutch.

So my stay on Madeira happened to be a rather short one, all in all not more than nine months. One story ended, another one started from fresh. Turned out HE was a sailor being stuck in Funchal harbour because of Covid-lockdown. As he had already seen much more of the world than I had (not only sailing around the whole globe for pleasure [and practically permanently living on his sailing boat] but also earning the necessary amount of money for his next trip by working as a captain on really big vessels) he showed me a place not that far away from Madeira where he had already bought a piece of land with a nearly-ruin – to be renovated one day from scratch.

But that is really just one more story to be continued – for the moment I don't want to bore you any further, and I am also curious to hear any news or stories from all of you.

Last but not least I would like to tell RenaRd that the wrong-spelling of my name didn't bother me at all. I was only joking around commenting on this in #123, like I nearly always do.

So RenaRd, if you feel like it, please feel free to call me Karly13. Sounds cute to my ears. Do as you please.

@Jesse: Well, I met him once, as you certainly remember (I had to work out what TV meant in your context ..), and to me, he looked sort of, well, frail...so I think it's understandable that he likes being carried around, don't you?

@karla: your are really apt at the art of producing a good cliffhanger...I am not bored at all but dying to hear...ehm, read how things went on with the Dutch sailor and his ruin....

@karla: Thanks for your input on Madeira. My son is a professional streamer and Youtube content provider. He thought about moving there once because taxes seem to be spectacularly low there, so there are many people in his profession who relocated to Madeira. In the end, he preferred to be near his friends (which makes me quite proud of him) and stayed in Germany despite the high taxes.

@Goldammer: Sure I do remember the occasion when you met Travel Vulture. But don’t let yourself be deceived by his innocent, fluffy looks. He’s got things (and me) pretty much under control.

"fluffy looks"...

My son loves ferrets. At least watching You** films on them. (Anyway, he won't have one - first, they are not supposed to be pets; second, he is allergic against animal fur like me; third, I don't know IF you have one it wouldn't be much better to have two...) Did you know how they are sometimes called? Floof noodles... 😉

karla13

Your life is like a novel! PI Wik has given up his job, as there are too many twists and turns, and a lot of deliberately (?) misleading bits. I mean, ...not that far away from Madeira ...? Maybe you should write a murder mystery (if you are not doing so already), the way you present things would make it very interesting.

virus: ferrets seem to be rather popular pets these days. I wanted to encourage a friend of mine to get, because he had issues with squirrels, but he didn't think it was such a good idea.

Jesse: I'm of the opinion that small fluffy animals/things are the most dangerous ones. Certainly, this cute little creature couldn't do any harm? #famouslastwords

Storm and rain again, in spite of what the weather forecast said. Ah well, I got outside for a few hours yesterday to look after the much-neglected garden. I'm glad I stacked up a lot of firewood, even if temperatures aren't very low, the wind and the dampness make it a bit uncomfortable.

I'd murder for a nice steak frites now... Somehow the idea was in my head all weekend long, thank you penguin! As we have thrown out the deep fat fryer, this was not possible. However, Mrs Wik has ordered a fancy air fryer, so I'm planning for some Schnitzel Wiener Art with fries next weekend. It's one of Wiklings favourites, and hence suitable as a treat after being back to school again this week. I just heard that her Thursday afternoon art class won't take place this term, due to lack of demand. I guess a lot of people have to mind their money, and cutting some extracurricular activities is probably an easy way to save a few coins. It will be hard, though, for the people who offer these activities.

Inspired by this thread I have a growing desire to go to a Besenwirtschaft and to "schlotz a Viertele". As opposed to many other people, a good Trollinger is absolutely more than drinkable for me. But as we know from RenaRd's comments on my penchant towards Belgian beers, my taste is doubtful at best. So don't take my word on that topic.

So, Thursday it'll be Besenwirtschaft again - because: no alcohol Mon thru Wed, except when on holiday, which we are not anymore. We're back from De Haan.

@penguin: We found Le Genico, but ultimately didn't make it to try the fries there. That's on the list for our next visit.

Jesse, funny that you should've mentioned Madeira as a possible place of residence for your son back then. Funny because when I first came to the island I discovered a language school in Funchal where I attended Portuguese classes from my second stay onwards. Amongst the international bunch of students I happened to get acquainted with, there was also a young (thirty-something) French guy who lived near my place. By accident (chance?), we met in the neighbourhood quite often, and one day he told me about a bar-discothèque which was frequented quite often by him and his colleagues.

He sort of invited me to also come and meet his friends for a drink one day. I went there three times altogether, I think. Happened that this group of predominantly male expats all worked as freelance internet entrepreneurs, spending all their evening and nightly hours heavily drinking and consuming drugs like cocaine and similar stuff. Apart from being too loud for me anyway, and in addition of not being my age group (who wants to sit with her/his mother in a bar?), I realized that, in my perception, some of these men lead very strange and not especially healthy lives.

I can imagine that your son decided rightly to stay in Germany near his friends. I didn't even know about taxes being comparatively low on Madeira, as I am still paying mine in Germany. Prices definitely weren't low then, apart from booze and meat. But who wants to live exclusively on these?

Wik, I certainly do enjoy a good murder mystery, just right now together with some other leonids in the „LEO liest“ thread. „The high window“ it is, and I'm really enjoying reading Chandler's highly „sophisticated“ kind of arty language. (I hope I expressed myself understandably.) Trying to write one? No way. I know my limitations with language.

But the goddess of life has already written some really nice stories for me – next to quite nasty ones –, and some of them I'll definitely share with you.

Since you wrote about steak frites yesterday, Wik, I also started to crave for a good, bloody steak. So for tomorrow, I've already pre-ordered four thick steaks (my favourite butcher has a secret meat supply hidden somewhere not too far away from Madeira) ready to be thrown on the charcoal grill tomorrow, together with some self-made fries coming from my oven. I always just peel and cut some fresh potatoes from the garden, add chunks of sweet potatoes – sometimes even carrots – and put them on a baking tray; together with black olives, lots of garlic, onions and rosemary (plus a generous amount of olive oil) and let that mixture stay in the oven for about an hour or so. Delicious!

Not to forget a nice lettuce or mixed salad as a side dish. All that accompanied by a glass of rosé wine, as it is still quite warm at the place I'm hiding at (from nosey PIs – SCNR). A good old German Trollinger would also be highly appreciated, Jesse. Which could be in your wine glass from tonight onwards, I guess. Are you really that strict with your alcohol consuming rules and habits?

What a shame that Wikling's art classes won't take place this term, and that so many people worldwide have to suffer and cut back on things heavily needed. I always think that it must be the hardest for children and young adults right now, having to miss on so many important things, together with such a long span of life ahead of them.

++++++++

But now, I wouldn't want to let Goldammer wait any longer for the story with the flying… ehm … sailing Dutchman to be continued. As I already alluded, I followed this captain head over heels, leaving a not-to-much loved place of living behind me. Actually, it wasn't done without thouroughly thinking things through – but what could've happened anyway? I could've easily returned to Madeira or any other reachable place (within Covid limits), as my furniture and things were still put into storage anyway.

Starting in July 2020, we sailed around the Atlantic ocean for quite a while, not wanting to return to the secret ruin that quickly.

It turned out that I, though completely enjoying life aboard, and in an approx. 30 square metres boat cabin, was and still am prone to sea-sickness. So being young and romantically in love did not only mean that I had to share things with a new lover that I wasn't yet prepared to share, but also to realistically decide where I wanted to live permanently without a constantly green face, nor wanting to live in a ruin. I can assure you that my pink glasses were fairly pink, but I wasn't a hopeless case altogether.

The aforementioned Dutchman had been clever enough to show me the beautiful, wild garden around his ruin (and I'm not exaggerating about the last word),so I decided to be spontaneous for the first time in my whole life and to also fall in love with the quaint village he had discovered for himself.

As fortune was favourable to me, I also found a nice place (definitively not in shambles) for me to live in, only five minutes away (by bike) from his place.

And so we'd been living happily ever after. Everything had developpd so perfectly that I can only incessantly thank the almighty goddess. That's where this story is ending -- a new one will start next time I'm around in the CC.

Let the record show: "Trying to sell a house these days is an emotional rollercoaster!"

The potential buyers' banks request documents that nobody even knew existed back when we financed this house 21 years ago. So far I haven't been requested to sign over my first-born son's soul, but there's a good chance that's what I'll find in my inbox when I wake up tomorrow.

Next story, please, karla! You did turn up in the CC next time, didn't you?

I can relate to your complaint, Jesse. When we bought our house 7 years ago, there was a huge amount of paperwork and declarations to go through. Thankfully, our solicitor was very good, but there were a few additional checks and documents required by the bank, which delayed things for a few months.

I'm committed to only sell this house and buy another one, when we are able to do this without getting a mortgage... But whom am I kidding, it would mean a substantial lotto win.

On this note, there are some news here. Mrs Wik was offered a new position. Another step up the career ladder, and I'm delighted for her. This time it doesn't mean moving to a different country (I still have dreams and nightmares about California) but leaving the company she's been with for the last 12 years. Still waiting for a few formalities, but it would mean that her commute is the same distance-wise, but much more predictable in terms of traffic, and the position is high enough up the food chain to accommodate me being away on business travel here and there. Quod licet Jovi, and so on...

I'm tired after my second trip cross country to the office this week. I was leading an internal workshop on making my job easier (well, officially, it was a session to create new project ideas), and then had a meeting with a major contractor, and both were rather positive. I will have to put in a good bit of work in the coming weeks to set us up for deadlines in March next year, but it's an exciting part of the job. Roll on the weekend, and some downtime.

Are there Blackfriday sales on in Germany? I need a new laptop (annoying to type on the phone) sooner rather than later, but with all the advertisement on special offers etc, there doesn't seem anything on that would provide better value for money than what has been out there for the last months.

karla13, the latest installment of the story was a bit too much "and they lived happily ever after" (even with the sea sickness) to be a novel, so it must be real life. Good on you!

I'm a bit jealous reading that you just go to the garden to get some fresh potatoes, since everything I can pick at the moment is limited to some cabbagy things and some wintery greenery. A grilled steak doesn't sound right for me at the moment, either; it's just too dark and autumnal. But I'll light the fire later, more for comfort and coziness than heat, and discard the wooly jumper at least for a few hours.

At least, the dog is adjusting to winter time, so he doesn't make a racket at 4 am, it's more shifting towards 5.30, which is great for workdays. An hour walk before breakfast really clears the mind.

I hope Amy-MiMi is keeping well, with Thanksgiving coming up, she might be very busy!

Oh, and happy St.Martin's day. I usually roast a goose around this time of year, but it appears my favourite discounter is not selling frozen geese this year, and I'm not going to pay 90€ or so for an undersized fresh one...

Wik, just a short information and a question out of curiousity, if you don't mind:

Es ist das Shopping-Event des Jahres – der Black Friday. Der Aktionstag findet immer am letzten Freitag im November statt und fällt diesmal auf den 25. November 2022.

Is Wikling bilingual?

Jesse, don't keep us in the dark any more, please: My fingers are flat as flunders by now...

Goldammer, please be patient -- I can't invent all those stories without a little bit of research and verification of plausibility. 😀

What about some stories coming from you in the meantime? I would be delighted to hear about some romantic autumn nights spent under the stars or awe-inspiring walks throughout Swabia.

@ll: How could we allure some more NES to the CC?

Amy, where are you? We all have kind of a 'Bärenhunger" for hearing some news from you and possibly getting some corrections!

but have forgotten all my brilliant ideas

Jabonah, you are speaking from my heart! 😉 I have so many brilliant ideas but a very hard time to remember them if ever... 😂😂

Ach, Jabonah, this depends on your definition of "bilingual". ;)

As usual I now have a feeling I meant to respond to or comment on other snails’ contributions as well, but have forgotten all my brilliant ideas (for the moment at least)…

That's a rather lame excuse, and the same goes for virus.... ;)

Dixie, the Forty-foot featured in the TV series "Bad Sisters" a few times. We watched it recently, and for an Irish production, it's very well done. Very dark comedy! Unfortunately, it's on Apple TV, so it might not be easily accessible.

I'm having a bit of a challenging weekend, suffering from a very annoying sinusitis. Little sleep, as I was just too stuffed up, a bit of high temperature, and just feeling rather off. Hence, a bit more time on the couch, hot tea with lemon, and a bit more daytime internet use than normal.

Before keeping Wik a little company later on (Gute Besserung!) I have a question for him and another short and repeated one for the CC community (cf. #142):

@ll: How could we allure (or lure -- what's the difference anyway?) some more NES to the CC?

Could we kind of promote the CC in the "Betrifft LEO" section? Or personally contact some NES who we think could have an interest in participating (I have at least two in mind)? Any ideas?

It's by no means very nice chatting with you all, but my level of English could certainly do with some corrections made by native speakers. OK, jabonah's, dixie's and obviously Wik's English is definitely nearly (no offense!) as proficient as a native speaker's, but mine clearly isn't.

+++++++++++++++++

karla13, the latest installment of the story was a bit too much "and they lived happily ever after" (even with the sea sickness) to be a novel, so it must be real life. Good on you!

Wik, by now I think you "know" well enough 😀 that your statement above might be a very welcome "Steilvorlage" for me. So, I would be willing to share with all of you some details of "and they lived happily ever after" -- which of course was an ironical euphemism for the things that happened after the longish boat trip, i.e., the process of settling down.

On the other hand, if you (AND the others) feel that this would be TMI, I'd certainly refrain from telling more. Yours is the choice -- no offense intended, none taken. Pls advise.

#150: It's by no means very nice chatting with you all,

Then don't. :-) I'm pretty sure you wrote the contrary of what you meant here. "By no means" means "Not at all".

As for luring (not "alluring") other participants here, I'm not sure that will work. Most if not all are aware of the existence of this thread. If this just isn't somebody's cup of tea, then it isn't. And if somebody has different priorities, as we all do from time to time, then luring won't help. It's just a matter of accepting things as they are. At times there are eight or nine people writing at the same time; other times it's nobody for a few days. These are the tides of our little ocean. :-)

Grass won't grow faster if you keep pulling it.

#150: It's by no means very nice chatting with you all,

Then don't. :-) I'm pretty sure you wrote the contrary of what you meant here. "By no means" means "Not at all".

Jesse, that's exactly what I meant -- I've been thinking for a moment: aren't you saying exactly the opposite of what you intend to say?... Yes, of course.

Thanks for your opinion concerning the promotion of the CC.

What? You meant "it's not nice chatting with you all"? Because that's what your sentence says. If so, I repeat: If you don't like chatting with us, then just don't.

But I'm still sure you just got something mixed up here.

But I'm still sure you just got something mixed up here.

Exactly.

Hehe, let's complete my sentence from #152:

Jesse, that's exactly what I meant when I wrote that I'm in need of corrections.

Of course I thoroughly enjoy talking to all of of you, but if nobody corrects me, I'll keep on making silly mistakes, involuntarily insulting somebody -- which I'd like to avoid.

I had to smile a little bit while reading the last few posts.

karla13: my English writing here most certainly is not even close to what an educated ENS would deem acceptable. I might use some words or phrases that you are not familiar with, but there is no lack of mistakes and bad style in my contributions. Sometimes Amy-MiMi gave me the benefit of doubt, as some phrases and constructions might be differing from Ireland to the USA. But most of the times she should have insisted she was correct...

Certainly, dixie and Jabonah are much better than I am. Jesse is mighty at dishing out corrections, when he is asked to do so.

In my experience, silly mistakes are more often than not a result of trying to improve sentences, or of rushed writing, or of lack of sleep in the previous night.

Jesse, I most certainly do not envy you – that rollercoaster state your wife and you (including Reisegeyer) must be in has to be exhausting and somehow frustrating. I am still keeping my fingers crossed for you, hoping that in the end things will work out like both of you are expecting them to do.

I remember my parents selling their rather old-fashioned house in Berlin – and that was back in the late eighties of the last century, at the same time trying to find a more modern house in the same area. Whereas the selling part proceeded relatively easy, the finding-a-new-place part evolved into a two-year period of sellers deciding not to be willing to sell anymore or asking all of a sudden for a much higher price than before...

My parents ended up having to rent an apartment for an interim period, putting most of their furmiture into storage, and then finally buying the house my father died in after only a few years of having lived there. And furthermore he was still constantly missing their old house.

So after a relatively short period of time, my mother as the surviving part in the end decided to sell that house again, for it was too big for her alone, and bought a nice Eigentumswohnung with a shared garden for herself. (I didn't find an appropiate word for this on LEO – condo(minium) didn't sound right, and all the other options seemed to be much too complicated.)

But I am sure that for you, Jesse, everything will work out perfectly in the end – which brings me to the question if you've already found a new place in Cologne (if I remember correctly), or will that be part two of the search process (still lurking around the corner)?

virus, if out of curiosity one expat with birth roots in Berlin may ask another one of (nearly) the same species a question: How come your sister also ended up living in Switzerland and obviously having left her home country? Just asking because my sister with hubby and three kids has never left Berlin and won't do so for the rest of her life – even though these days her children are spread over half the globe.

Wik, like Jabonah, I consider Wikling to be bilingual, speaking both English and Irish fluently. But you're right, I was referring to German, as I totally forgot about Irish Gaelic. I am sure that after some deeper and more intense contact with the German language Wikling would considerably improve her spoken German and overcome her possible shyness speaking her father's mother tongue.

I didn't know that you had moved from nearer to Cork to nearer to Dublin in the „meantime“.

I really like Dublin, being the city where I spent my 10-days-honeymoon at the end of the eighties – unfortunately in a year with an extremely cold January as well as horrible rainy weather. With the little money my husband and I were able to spend, we had to find a cheapish B&B for those 10 days, ending up in a gloomy and ice-cold tiny room with a built-in plastic shower cabin and a gas heating device, where you had to put some coins in in order to have at least some kind of warmth in the damp room.

Needless to say that in that January my then newly-wed husband didn't care to bring his winter coat to freezing-cold Dublin, so that during our stay he ended up catching a strong cold from day two onwards.

Nevertheless, I enjoyed the city very much, visiting many museums and pubs (in exactly that order) for our daily routine as tourists. The only setback I remember was my gasping horror – excuse me – when coming down to the Irish breakfast room on the first morning – so far me only being used to English cereal breakfast in the house of my au-pair family.

We "had" to start the day in a brownish-dark, gloomy, windowless and rather cold room in the basement of the B&B in front of a glaringly loud TV set. I had already known baked beans from England, could enjoy and accept them as a British delicacy, but in combination with strange greasy sausages, concrete-like bacon, mashed (sic) eggs as well as cold and half-burnt slices of toast accompanied by jam and butter, I really have to say that I was a little disappointed by every morning's beginnings. It didn't help that we had a sour-faced, rather grumpy landlady, and furthermore, I had a constantly sneezing, feverish husband at my side.

I whole-heartedly hope I didn't offend anybody by telling my Dublin culinary breakfast impressions – those were always quickly forgotten during day and nighttime eating-outs at other places, often accompanied by a cup of strong Tetley's tea bag tea or an even stronger glass of Guinness beer. In terms of decent British food and drinks I'm easy to please – you only have to show me a good fish&chips shop and offer me half-a-pint of lager, and I'll be happy for the whole day.

All in all my honeymoon wasn't the most romanic one, but it was very entertaining and definitely sort of charming.

As a matter of fact, 15 years later I should return to Dublin – my then-boyfriend's daughter stayed there with her family for a period of two years, and we visited them quite often – even celebrating their Irish-German-American wedding somewhere at the Irish East coast. I love Ireland, like the Irish very much and would like to visit it again; with the opportunity of seeing even more of this beautiful country.

I would also be interested in getting to know Northern Ireland and Belfast one day... not to talk about Scotland which I also don't know – still so much to be seen around the world. Sláinte!

Wik, talking about your grade of proficiency in English is certainly not a judgement I whould make – especially not comparing you to other Leonids having lived in the UK for quite a longer period of time than you probably have done so far.

Dixie, if I'm not mistaken we haven't met in the CC so far – hi there! You are based in England, right?

Jabonah, guessing from your little riddle (?), you might live somewhere near Basingstoke, which should put Paris about ten times as far away from your home town as London. (I remenber Basingstoke from having lived in Reading as an au-pair in the eighties – I quite liked that town.) But that's only an uneducated guess and shouldn't be taken too seriously.

And thanks for removing my German 'pink glasses' and replacing them by proper English 'rose-tinted' ones – that sounds like a much nicer picture in the English speaking world...

Amy-MiMi, I really liked your aka Bonnie's story, even though it involved the killing/ death of a vole (?). And took place in snowy surroundings – right now unbelievable for me.

Please allow me to offer you some small corrections – overall your text is nearly flawless and told very vividly.

...ihr Stirnrunzeln und ihren wedelnden Schwanz zu sehen.

Endlich habe ich sie vergewissert – more idiomatic: Nach einiger/ längerer Zeit hatte ich ihr versichert/ hatte ich sie davon überzeugt,...

… und sie hat das arme Tier liegen lassen (or: liegengelassen), …

Sie wurde erst ruhig, wenn als ich ihr sagte:

Amy-MiMi, a good story, albeit not for the vole. Your German is perfect, with, from my point of view, exactly the corrections given by karla. I'm sure the "wenn/als" mistake was just an oversight on your part, because you know that. I mulled for at least five minutes over whether "Ich habe sie vergewissert" is correct German and just, as karla wrote, not very idiomatic, but the more I thought about it the more confused I got, so I dropped it.

Karla, thanks for your empathy. Yes, you remember correctly, it's Cologne. And no, we haven't found a flat there yet, so as you write: "...will that be part two of the search process (still lurking around the corner)".

In the worst case, we'll be homeless for a while. We have our eyes on a particular flat, but the old lady who owns it, while in principle willing to sell to us, has certain problems that may make the deal a bit difficult. I won't go into details here. But, as said before, first we have to sell our house in Stuttgart, which may become difficult if that current deals falls through, what with the development of interests.

As for Reisegeyer, he's cool as a cat. he knows that wherever we go he'll be able to keep travelling with us, and there will always be a window from which he can watch the full moon (another one of his hobbies).

Jesse, a very rare one for you:

with the development of interests... interest rates.

Hopefully, the sale will proceed now as you hope. The property market is difficult at the moment, to say the least, but whatever is supposed to happen, will happen, if you believe in it.

Amy-MiMi, how nice of you to pop in and report about Bonnie's adventure!

karla13, oh were to start my comments...

Funnily enough, in Ireland the word "Gaelic" is commonly used (e.g., in Gaelic Games), but never for the Irish language. It's either "Irish" or "Gaelige", while "Gaelic" is exclusively used for Scottish Gaelic.

I should take offense to some things you write, e.g.:

In terms of decent British food and drinks I'm easy to please ... why are you expecting British food and drinks in Ireland???

...Leonids having lived in the UK for quite a longer period of time than you probably have done so far. But I have never lived in the UK!

But hey, since I'm enjoying a nice brew at the moment (Barry's tea, obviously, not beer ;)) I'll let you off the hook for now.

Regarding your Dublin breakfast rant... I'm surprised you didn't mention black pudding ;).

Irish food is difficult. Many products are rather underwhelming in every aspect, and nutrition habits are terrible in large parts of the population. I think Ireland now has the highest incidence of obesity in Europe.

On the other hand, there is delicious produce, and great pride in good food in some areas, and healthy nutrition and exercise is very present in the media.

I enjoy a full Irish breakfast when we are staying in a hotel, and once or twice a year a secret breakfast roll (basically, a sausage, blackpudding, a rasher and a fried egg in a roll/bap) when I'm on the run and don't have time for a proper meal. But this then means "no lunch".

Wik, thanks for the correction! Please keep them coming!

I think Ireland now has the highest incidence of obesity in Europe.

Maybe that's because of your relative geographical proximity to the US?

Wik, thanks for the correction! Please keep them coming!

If I see something that assumably is not a typo or Fluechtigkeitsfehler, I will.

I think Ireland now has the highest incidence of obesity in Europe.

Maybe that's because of your relative geographical proximity to the US?

And cultural attachment, both ways. A considerable percentage of US Citizens claim Irish heritage, and many Irish families have close enough relatives in the USA.

Unfortunately, obesity seems to be "inherited" in two ways, and in another way is "contagious", according to my hypothesis.

"Inherited" (1): There is plenty of scientific evidence, that there are genetic factors which influence weight gain

"Inherited" (2): food culture and eating habits are certainly passed on from generation to generation, and seem to be more difficult to change than working/exercise habits

"Contagious" in a way that human beings seem to be more ready to take the "comfortable" option. I see it at the school bus stop every morning. Even a year ago, the majority of children walked to the bus stop. Now, even in perfect condition, most of the children are driven by their parents to the bus stop, because one family started it. Exchange 15 minutes of walking every school day with 10 minutes of procrastination and 5 min in the car... And that's just the tip of the iceberg.

I know I contradict myself a bit (about healthy eating...), but I'm very excited that I have after all sourced a goose for a St Martin's dinner. So, Sunday is the day, with leftovers Monday and Tuesday.

But, fair is fair, we all need occasional treats, as long as we understand them to be treats. I've lost quite a bit of weight in the last half year (about 5% of my initial weight), and I managed to get up my exercise level. A bit of indulgence hopefully won't do any long-lasting harm).

I mulled for at least five minutes over whether "Ich habe sie vergewissert" is correct German and just, as karla wrote, not very idiomatic, but the more I thought about it the more confused I got, so I dropped it.

Jesse, in my opinion it was a good decision you just dropped the topic. On the other hand, I don't want your subconciousness to be still confused (and even less so to let Amy-MiMi wonder what we are talking about).

The explanation for my statement is: I sometimes don't want my rather blunt way of expressing things getting the best of me, so I decided not to say: "Ich habe sie vergewissert" is not idiomatic.

karla13, oh w(h)ere to start my comments..

Gosh, Wik – reading this, I instantly felt guilty... What on earth had I (unvoluntarily) done?

In order not to misname the Irish language, I specifically looked up what 'Gaelic' exactly does mean. After learning that it referred to Gaelic Scottish only, I nevertheless decided to add a little Gaelic flair to the Irish language because I had read that „Gaelic is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". As a noun it refers to the group of languages spoken by the Gaels, or to any one of the languages individually. Gaelic languages are spoken in Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man, and Canada.“

But now I know for sure that in future times I should refrain from using words I am not 100 percent sure about...

[So as a consequence, my English vocabulary will be reduced to around 50 percent, thank you very much... ]

I should take offense to some things you write, e.g.:

You shouldn't. Life would be easier for you if you just told yourself:

• karla3 doesn't voluntarily intend to offend anybody.
• She is not as educated and learned as you might think/ she sometimes pretends to be.
• Don't scold her. Her soul might get hurt. 😇

In terms of decent British food and drinks I'm easy to please ... why are you expecting British food and drinks in Ireland???

To tell you the truth: Because when I wrote this last night I believed Ireland belonged to the UK. Don't ask me why. Shit happens, as they say...

...Leonids having lived in the UK for quite a longer period of time than you probably have done so far. But I have never lived in the UK!

Same here.

But hey, since I'm enjoying a nice brew at the moment (Barry's tea, obviously, not beer ;)) I'll let you off the hook for now.

*Wriggle, wriggle* … didn't feel very comfortable on the hook... prefer to stand in the corner of the classroom writing „Most of Ireland gained independence from Great Britain following the Anglo-Irish War. Initially formed as a Dominion called the Irish Free State in 1922, the Republic of Ireland became a fully independent republic following the passage of the Republic of Ireland Act in 1949. Northern Ireland remains part of the United Kingdom as a constituent country.“ in my exercise book.

So maybe I'll sin again. Not to make your life more difficult, but because I am (flawed) as I am. No offense.

I'm surprised you didn't mention black pudding ;).

Indeed, the utmost delicacy black pudding wasn't on the breakfast menu, as it wasn't a luxury B&B. I'm actually glad it wasn't -- in this respect ...

Irish food is difficult. Many products are rather underwhelming in every aspect, and nutrition habits are terrible in large parts of the population. I think Ireland now has the highest incidence of obesity in Europe.

When I first came to Dublin in the eighties, I only had my English experience (nearly one year as an au-pair) as a reference. The food in my English family was subpar even in comparison to the food in my own German family, and the food I had in Dublin at that time didn't differ much from the dishes I experienced in England.

Having said that: all tasted British to me, HAHA.

Returning around the year 2005 to Ireland, I found things had changed considerably for the better. Not only were there many cafés for younger people serving decent, well-priced Irish and „international“ food, but also the produce at fresh markets seemed to be of a comparatively good quality – that of course being a layperson's judgment .

I know I contradict myself a bit (about healthy eating...), but I'm very excited that I have after all sourced a goose for a St Martin's dinner.

I don't think you are contradicting yourself at all – on the contrary, shouldn't the food you're enjoyingbe be healthy for you? Talking about soul food for an example...

So, Sunday is the day, with leftovers Monday and Tuesday.

Mmmh, enjoy.

I've lost quite a bit of weight in the last half year (about 5% of my initial weight), and I managed to get up my exercise level.

Congrats! [So it's 95 kg now.] And thanks to your dog as well!

A bit of indulgence hopefully won't do any long-lasting harm).

Supported. Hau rein!

But would like to add to your explanation: Irish is used not only for Gaelige, but also for the English language.

Is it? Not in my circles, definitely not. ... Irish is Gaelige, English is English (or Bearla...).

I've never heard or read "Irish" referring to the English language spoken in Ireland.

I've never heard or read "Irish" referring to the English language spoken in Ireland.

Interesting. I can very well remember how someone reacted to me saying English and yes, I heard it referred to as Irish. (I always thought it was confusing considering it is normally used for Gaelige)

Maybe it changed in the next generation :)

Maybe it changed in the next generation :)

Quite possible.

I remember a certain pub in Cork where the "locals" (average age probably 70 years) would stop talking when an unknown person entered the premises. They would relax a bit when they heard foreign accents, and the landlord would ask a few questions, but one felt very much like an intruder. Myself, I was kind of cleared, as a German cannot be friend with an Englishman, and, "boy, your crowd really showed it to the f***g English back in the 40ies, like!".... (You might guess where this is going).

At 11.15, the door was locked, (last order 11.30) and a collection jar for the IRA passed around. Rather scary!

But this pub closed many years ago, and I hope the sentiment has died with the customers.

It's a beautiful day here, bright and sunny, albeit cold. I had an early start (walking the dog, and then join a 7.30 meeting set up by my friends in Finland, who are 2 hours ahead...). But it means that I can log off a bit early today. There's a big pot of chicken curry bubbling along for tonight's dinner, and I guess I'll have to make pizza tomorrow, and for Sunday, I got my greedy hands on a goose.

Hm, Goldammer, this sounds delicious. But I just searched this chat - I cannot find the recipe. Could you, pretty please, link it, so the people getting hungry (well, not me, I just made lunch) can refer to it and start the shopping list?

Curious note - as I had been wondering about it for a while - do you think parsley root (Petersilienwurzeln, as I know them) are the same as parsnip? Or am I on a very wooden <6g>woodway? :)

Parsley roots and parsnips are similar, but not identical, as I found out some time ago. Parsnips are on the market here as Pastinaken - often side by side with parsley roots in the supermarket. I had some parsley roots to use up and no parsnips, so I exchanged them. Wik has parsnips in his original recipe.

I think wik shared the recipe some time ago, maybe one or two years. I will send you the recipe (which I wrote down in German for my recipe folder) via PM - and of course to everybody else who wants it.

Ich habe nicht alles gelesen, sehe aber, dass die Rede von Pastinaken ist. Ich mag sie. Ich habe sie erst bei meinen Schwiegereltern gegessen. Leider kaufe ich sie selten.

Hier ist ziemlich viel passiert. Am Donnerstag...habe ich das schon erzählt? Plötzlich kam mir vor, als ob ich das schon gemacht hatte. Na ja. Am Donnerstag ist...wow, irre. Ich habe total das Gefühl, dass ich diese Geschichte schon auf Deutsch erzählt habe. Hmm, womöglich habe ich sie einer Kollegin erzählt. Am Donnerstag ist Herr MiMi gestürzt, hat sich das Nasenbein gebrochen, musste ins Krankenhaus transportiert werden, wurde geröntgt (warum nicht geröntget?) und untersucht. Nächste Woche müssen die Knochenbrüche nochmal untersucht werden, zum Glück hat er so gut wie keine Schmerzen.

Zum Thanksgiving hatten wir vor, meine Schwägerin und meinen Schwager auf dem Milchhof zu besuchen. Ein paar Tage übernachten, das Festessen zusammen zubereiten und genießen, die Zeit mit vielen Gesellschaftsspielen verbringen, Bonnie auf dem Hof toben lassen...aber die Schwägerin und der Schwager wurden letzte Woche krank. Corona-Tests hatten sie keine, also werden wir es nie wissen. Inzwischen geht es ihnen viel besser. Die Pläne mussten geändert werden. Ich muss alles hier bei uns zubereiten, d.h. noch mal einkaufen, und Hs Freund sollte am Donnerstag zu uns kommen. Aber nein, gestern hatte H Halsschmerzen. Heute geht es ihr nicht gut. Ich holte Corona-Tests ab und ja, sie ist heute Mittag positiv aufs Coronavirus getestet worden. Ich bin noch negativ aufs Virus getestet worden. Hoffentlich werden Herr MiMi und ich nicht krank. Aber, na ja, bis jetzt sind die Ferien nicht ganz so toll.

Wenigstens scheint die Sonne. Und Bonnie ist fit und munter.

Falls jemand den Dokumentarfilm Bad Axe sehen kann, schlage ich ihn vor.

2020 im "Daumen" von Michigan. Corona. Lockdown. Black Lives Matter. Rassismus. Familienstress. Das Beste und das Schlimmste an Amerika hautnah miterlebt.

Making discomfiting statements about American political willpower and race relations, Bad Axe offers a close-up perspective on societal turmoil during the COVID-19 pandemic.

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/bad_axe/revi...

Nov 18, 2022

Cody Dericks 

Next Best Picture

“Bad Axe” may be the best time capsule of the worst year that most of us have lived through, painting a portrait of resiliency and family bonds that’s uniquely American, for better and for worse.

Ich weiß nicht, was nicht Amerikaner vom Film halten werden, aber ich fand den Film super. Wäre die Fahrt nicht ganz so lang, wären Herr MiMi und ich an meinem Geburtstag hingefahren, und hätten bei Rachel's gegessen. https://www.rachelsofbadaxe.com/

Das einzige Haar in der Suppe ist, dass die Familie scheint die Universität Michigan anzufeuern. Na ja, es gibt solche und solche.

warum nicht geröntget?

An excellent question that leaves me without a good answer for the time being.

All the best for Mr. Mimi!

warum nicht geröntget?

Kann ich nicht mit Sicherheit beantworten, aber "hören - gehört" "röntgen - geröntgt"....

As the verb is derived from a name, and a rather (well in broader terms) recent addition to the dictionary, it might just be one of the cases of "Weil: iss so".

All the best wishes to Mr MiMi, H and yourself. Must be cruel, first an injury, then Covid, and all the plans for Thanksgiving are cancelled? I wish you all the best! It's likely that Mr MiMi or yourself will catch Covid, seeing that H is tested positive, but if so, since you are vaccinated, you hopefully will get away with a very mild dose of it. My prayers are with you all!

May I ask, which university (I guess you are talking about college sports?) is supported by the house of Amy-MiMi?

Parsnips are great! I first came across them when I moved to Ireland, but they are a firm staple these days during the winter months. Great as roasted vegetables, in a stew, or as a soup. Boiled and mashed, less so, but still ok in my books. I have a lovely recipe for a parsnip gratin as well.

Dixie, it was a foggy Tuesday here, would have appreciated some wind, as the drive to work was very exhausting. Today is bright and calm. With the usual delay, you might be in for good enough weather tomorrow.

carla13, I'm still hoping to read a sceil (Irish for story, often with a bit of space for creativity) about your settling down in a (so far) unidentified location "not too far" from Madeira :)

Oh well, Amy-MiMi! Quite awful news....

Best wishes to the entire MiMi family. I hope you can still enjoy Thanksgiving somehow. Even if you should not go out at 3 am on Friday morning to catch some bargains. :)

[I've seen a Walmart ad earlier and I need to pull out some Mac'n'Cheese recipes]

Wik: I don't think our wind would have helped, it was from SEE, so it would have followed you around.

Whoever approved that one (don’t ask me, I refuse any knowledge who might have done it, it was a year before I even knew about this company) was… not in the same reality as I am.

Well, I feel with you, I know what you are talking about. Be strong. Don't turn German, stay Irish. :)

We had rain in the morning, sunshine in the afternoon.

Little Alexa anecdote: I chatted with someone in the gym this morning (about the glum weather) and we commented on the weather not matching the forecast. She told me that she had asked this morning "Alexa, will there be rain today in hometown" and Alexa said "it will be sunny and dry".

It was pelting down outside :)

Hello dearest snails! Back from Berlin where I've spent eight days. We had a family gathering for a kind of memorial "party" for my mother; my brother, his children and his ex-wife (who still is one of my best friends, and, as my brother is badly disabled, helping her children with the sorting of things and cleaning up in my mother's house). The meeting was thought to have kind of a ceremony together as there was no funeral (I think I've told the story), my brother had no possibility to say good-bye at the hospital etc. etc.

It was a very nice meetng. We had collected pictures and stories from our mother's live, telling them, and my sister-in-law and her children even had found a folder with old letters in my mother's house - the first letters between my mother and her later husband, who passed away last December. She had kept them! Reading some lines from those letters was just hilarious. (They had met on a trip to Israel 1987.) She wrote to him: "I don't know what impression you gathered (?) from me, but I don't hope hope you think...." "ich würde reihenweise Männerherzen knicken." How would you translate this sentence? Both were so sweet in their letters, waiting desperately for the next opportunity to meet (my mother was in the process of getting divorced from her present husband*). In the end they moved together, first into an apartment, then they bought the house and got married, and lived together the longest time of all her marriages. (*My mother was married three times, my father beeing the first one. Complicated family as already mentioned on another opportunity.)

Besides that, it was my first time in 23 years that I didn't stay at my mother's house. Instead I've rented an apartment and enjoyed myself (first day nice and sunny, and then came the snow... so shopping for some warmer clothes was necessary). We chose this time of the year because on Sunday it was our mother's 80th birthday. But for the future I decided to pick "nicer" seasons for visitng Berlin (although Christmas Market at Charlottenburg Castle was nice - and I was close, spending some time there on my last evening, having a "Glühwein" and bying a beautiful big and colourful paper star for our window). Beeing back in Switzerland it is warmer here!

Whoops, it’s getting dark already, and I must not forget to say “Happy Thanksgiving to Amy-MiMi and all the other left pondians that may read the CC secretly. 🤩

C U asap. *g*

Dixie: funny, I would be interested to know how many of the CC snails are actually using Alexa. We don't.

But the issue there is obviously not Alexa, but the data fed in. I used to rely on a weather app provided by MetEireann which used to be very reliable for the forecasts over the coming 48 hours. Not anymore, things seem to shift hourly. I'm pretty sure it's not the methodology or the people.

Amy-MiMi, hm--us (if you are still occasionally have a look in here), and all other leftpondians: Happy Thanksgiving!

RenaRd: any update on your Magnum opus?

virus: I know, I'm (not incorrectly) known here as a rather emotion-deprived person. But I have to admit, your story moved my heart. She wrote to him: "I don't know what impression you gathered (?) from me, but I don't hope hope you think...." "ich würde reihenweise Männerherzen knicken." How would you translate this sentence?

Some things shouldn't be translated. Full stop, Point, End-of-it!!!

(I might propose, under serious distress): "But I hope you don't think I am a woman who has created a trail of heartbroken suitors". But then this is my first thought, and a much better worded version is easily available. ) But hey, I have tears in my eyes, and I will listen to H. Groenemeyer's song: "Ich hab gerade zaertlich, an dich gedacht, wie du, behutsam und ganz sacht, mich total verrueckt gemacht." Nobody can translate this and evoke the same emotions, at least for me.

RenaRD, nice to see you again here, it's been a while!

virus, a heartwarming story, indeed.

Omg, how verpeilt can one be????????

I just spent quite some time bashteling a new snailhouse (i.e. listing the participants and writing highlights), only then realized that we are only nearing the 200, not 300.....

Well, I saved the document on my desktop, maybe it will come in handy whenever we need it....

Welcome to the best of us, Goldammer!

Dixie, thanks for the explanation re „Eigentumswohnung“. Did you "speak" from an AE or a BE perspective?

I still haven't figured out your whereabouts – yes, I know, for somebody who'd rather keep her mouth shut even about her country of residence this question really sounds nosy and a little insolent. But: no offense, you don't „have“ to answer anyway – and if you do, it would only be for my better understanding of your background when referring to places you're obviously „sharing“ with Wik – maybe on the same island?

OMG, I hope there isn't a huge Fettnäpfchen just waiting around the corner for me now – can you also apologize in advance like thanking in advance? If so, I'd please opt for this option.

Wik, I've got the impression that you're not only a passionate cook but that you also love to vary your family's diet (I hope that expresses correctly what I intend to say) – it's chicken curry for dinner one evening, then next day home-made pizza and on the third day goose, followed by next week's lasagna, chili con carne etc. – those dishes to me all seem to be rather time-consuming and elaborate to prepare. Are you really – apart from all your other manifold duties, chores and hobbies including gardening – capable of serving (including food-shopping) your family a delicious, healthy and varied meal (dinner) every day?

I am asking from the perspective of a mother of three, full-time worker with also some hobbies and pastimes. In this time, I always felt like running after my children, job, married life, cooking, shopping, cleaning, meeting friends and family AND one or two pleasures. Well, things have changed considerably by now, and I'm neither complaining about the past nor about the present. Let's see what the future will bring.

As always, my posting is already getting longer than planned – but please let me ask why, preparing the goose, you „at some stage must have put some washing up liquid into the gravy,“? Nobody has dared to ask so far, so I'll be the first one. What made you do so? Pure accident aka inattentiveness? Just curious...

As for the sceil you asked for in #177 (and I'm glad somebody finally did, hehe), I'll promise to tell one or two about my settling down „in a (so far) unidentified location“ in the not so far future.

Goldammer, the description of your wintry stew (inspired by Wik's recipe) was really mouth-watering. Would you mind sending me the recipe as well? Thanks in advance.

[As for already preparing the successor of our thread: Don't worry, IMO that makes you a real woman of the future, a forsightful trendsetter – I would nearly go as far as calling you an influencer... (only pulling your leg – no offense intended). Thanks anyway – could have happened to me as well.]

Amy-MiMi, I was really sorry to read about the misfortunes within your family's life, and I hope by now everything has worked out in so far that your husband is on his way to recovery after his fall, and that H. has only caught a mild form of Covid. And you both hopefully didn't catch it at all. Keeping my fingers crossed.

RenaRd, thanks for your short visit, and please do come back soon! Hope your music project advances quickly.

virus, first of all I'd like to express my deep condolences for the loss of your mother. I too found the story you told about her (and for example her third husband), and your family reunion as a whole very touching – thanks for sharing.

I got emotional, too, by your mentioning of my home town Berlin – not that I don't love the place I've moved to from there three years ago – on the contrary. And not that I especially like Berlin in the winter months from November to February/March onwards, but anyway, it brings back any kind of memories of half a life-time there.

As for Alexa (or Siri or whosoever): even though I've heard about those potentially nosy ladies, they haven't permanently entered my house yet – and they won't in the future, if I've still the saying. Some of my international friends and guests have already tried (few of them successfully) to secretly let them in (acting as spies in my own house) – but just being my usual self made them flee the scene quite quickly.

Wik, now we're talking... I should've mentioned that my cooking life as a mother consisted of (often) cleverly planned or spontaneously combined or supplemented dishes. Cooking dinner one day usually meant having food prepared for at least two, if not three days. I also did preparational works like chopping and stirring in the evenings or even at night -- or at some point of teenagers' lives I managed to delegate the chopping part. That was "only" a question of mild motherly influencing and motivating... 😇

But IF for example my sons would decide (out of the blue) to eat half a chicken each for lunch instead of just a quarter -- like they "normally" did -- then of course my optimistic plans would pathetically collide like a card house. Planning gets more implannable with three karla13-offsprings than with one Wikling, I suppose.

Bad luck about the gravy-washing up liquid incident -- I won't mention the worn-out saying about men not being able to do several tasks at a time -- no, I definitely won't 😀 because I myself am not able to do so either.

So, please enjoy your morning coffee (or whatever) -- and don't try to read your Sunday newspaper at the same time -- could then turn out to be the Bible, hehe...

WOW! That’s what I call a rat race: Sixty postings in the three weeks I was absent. About a fortnights ago I wrote the following comments, but didn’ sent them, waiting for a better opportunity.

I apologize for having mistyped your nickname, Karla13. Please blame it on my eye disease that often leads my finger to a key right beside the correct one. I type my postings with Word™ already in order to avoid too many mistakes, but the programme doesn’t know personal names.

@ WIK. My remark regarding beer was rather meant tongue-in-cheek (which I didn’t state by adding a smiley) and influenced by local patriotism. When I “learned” drinking beer Dortmund was well known for at least eight big breweries among smaller ones. For decades Dortmund was the ultimate German Beer Metropolis when it came to draught beer. Unfortunately the bosses missed the chance to go international like Becks® did (as far as I remember) and were either closed or bought out (by Radeberger, I guess).

https://share-your-photo.com/042d5db7eb

My Magnum Opus is rapidly coming to an end, btw. Or else I still woulldn’t have the time to sit down for hours reading and writing at LEO’s.

I can’t decide which of the many topics I should respond to, so I better concentrate on last week’s events.

I’ve been missing you, Dixie. It’s nice to have you here again, hungry or not. :D

#s 171 – 173: I find it unfair to talk about a recipe and sending it secretly by PM. May I ask you , WIK, to present it here by uploading the picture?

All the best to your husband, Amy-MiMi, By the time I write this he’s most probably safe and sound again, I assume. As to your question regarding “gerönzgt” is my guess that the verb “röntgen” is (Despite the fact that the X-rays have been invented by Prof. Röntgen) conjugated like any other verb ending –gen, like legen/gelegt, hegen/gehegt, etc..

Why should someone nut support the University of Michigan. What’s wrong with it? What is it about anyway, donating a new library or cheering on a football team?

@ Goldammer: No corrections for Amy? It seems you neglect your duty. _o)

No covid for me and my wife so far, too. But we know many who had covid two or three times. I myself haven’t left the house for months, as you can imagine but Mrs RenaRd goes shopping every day – masked, of course.

@ virus; What an interesting and heartwarming story. I often fell in love when I was young, but got married just once (54 years ago). Probably my other affairs haven’t been serious enough. Or am I not impulsive enough? There must have been funny discussions at the meeting in spite of the sad occasion.