Thanks a lot, Goldammer, for timbering our new home just in time. May it serve us as a shelter, a meeting point for story tellers, a concert hall and a place to recreate from the everyday (every day’s?) plight.

Thank you for the new thread, Goldammer, and kudoz to hm for the detailed recap!

eastworld, old cats deserve to have their stories told, too. Please give him a pat from me.

Re: feeling like reading a book when at the office: I once had a weird moment at work when i was sitting in front of my computer and the strong urge to go for a run came over me - which is something I have never actually done in my life, but had though about trying. So I made a plan to go home that day and, instead of doing laundry or whatelse you need to do after work, to just put on my running shoes and go for it, even if only for half an hour or a mile or whatever. Guess what happened, when I stepped through my door at home? Yeah. Nothing. Laundry probably, I don't remember. Never had that urge again. ;)

I get a lot of ideas like that at work, like "I could bake some muffins tonight" (I don't bake, ever) or "I want to learn how to meditate" (started reading a book about MBSR - never picked it up again after heaving read the introduction). It's an "I'drather be anywhere than here right now"-thing probably. Your brain yearning for a different kind of stimulation.

Wow, hm--us, thank you for the wonderful hochlichters! I know how much work it is to put them together!

And again and again I'm astonished about the range and variety of topics we discuss.

Fußball interessiert eigentlich kaum jemanden außer hm (oder doch?)

I'm very interested in soccer, but even so I seldom do have something worth to discuss it here. I don't watch Bundesliga or Champions League, I don't even watch the German men's national team in European/World Qualifiers anymore since RTL bought the broadcasting rights, and I don't think there is anybody around interested in German third league, the Ladies' national team or our local indoor cups.

Why do you miss Maroszán and Däbritz? Dzsenifer Maroszán is back after the injury she suffered during World Championship, and Sara Däbritz had her appearances in the last matches, too.

I found an newspaper article by the way that gives a look from an other angle of view: the life of a "Spielermann"

Another topic, that came up to me recently: E-Scooter. I first met them in a greater number at Berlin, but they seem to conquer the Region of the Ruhr, too. I think, the scooters aren't bad as they are, but as I see it, two problems are still unsolved: First, there are still many drivers causing accidents because they don't really know how to deal with the scooter and are underestimating the speed. Then the scooters are abandonned evereywhere, standing or lieing on pavements, in parks, just everywhere. I don't understand why the scooters aren't programmend in a way that allows the user to end the lending at specified places only; the technology is available.

Korrektürchen für Pottkieker: Tippfehler: interesting experiment, every Saturday

Since the German third league was invented some ten years ago, they show a match every Saturday, starting at 2 pm and normally involving one of the "Westvereine". Now they're trying to combine it with a match from women's first league, which is set to start at 1 pm. As the two matches overlap, they show the first half of the women's match and the second half of the men's match in full length, and between those the second half of the women's and the first half of the men's match are shown in conference mode.

Korrektürchen für Goldammer: Tippfehler commuter

for distances they might have covered on foot or by bike before

In den USA hätten Sie wohl dafür ein Auto verwendet, also es mag sein, dass die E-Scooter in dem Fall umweltfreundlicher sind. Aber es stimmt, oft könnte man gehen, wenn man Zeit und Lust hätte. Wenn Touristen kein Rad haben, sind E-Scooter bestimmt attraktiv, weil bekannt und schnell(er).

Wir haben einen mal verwendet. Wir hatten Besuch aus Texas, den wir im China-Restaurant getroffen haben. Nachdem wir gegessen hatten, wollten wir die Stadt ein bisschen erkunden, aber unsere Freundin hatte eine Knie-OP hinter sich und konnte nur kurze Strecken laufen. Das Wetter war super und wir wollten mehr Zeit miteinander verbringen, also hat sie einen E-Scooter ausgeliehen und ist damit gefahren, während wir drei gelaufen sind. Wir waren in Uni-Nähe und E-Scooter waren leicht zu finden. Damals habe ich sie zum ersten mal gesehen.

Danke fürs Baschteln, Goldammer, und die Hochlichter. hm--us.

Meinem Vater geht es gut. Er hatte eine kleine Verzögerung seiner Genesung erlebt, da er kurz nach der OP hingefallen ist und einen Fuß gestoßen hat. Zum Glück hatte er sich nicht ernsthaft verletzt, aber der Fuß war geschwollen und hatte blaue Flecken bekommen, dann hatte er eine kleine Wundinfektion geholt. Inzwischen geht es ihm besser.

Ich bin seit Anfang des Schuljahrs sehr beschäftigt. Natürlich arbeite ich regelmäßig Überstunden, dann kommen hinzu außerordentlich viele Termine. Hoffentlich habe ich die meisten davon bald hinter mir. Außerdem sind die Neuntklässler eine ungewöhnlich schwierige Klasse, und jeder Tag ist stressig.

Gestern hatten wir hier in Michigan einen tropischen Regensturm. Ich dachte, das sei übertrieben, aber nein, die Resten von Olga haben vorbeigeschaut und wir stellten fest, dass das Küchendach ein Leck hat, also müssen wir bald was unternehmen.

*in die Runde wink*

Amy-MiMi, I agree that the E-scooters are great for tourists, very nice and helpful to explore a city - with or without knee trouble. I'm not at all opposed to that. It's only that when their introduction and their approval for public traffic was discussed, one of the main arguments was the environmental benefit they would bring - and this just isn't happening so far. But maybe it takes a bit of time until more commuters (the n was a typo, btw) discover them, that may be possible.

I'm also glad to hear that your father is doing well! And glad to see you in here although you are so busy. I thought you were.

Considering that ninth-graders are notoriously difficult students anyway, I'm trying to imagine what "ungewöhnlich schwierige Klasse" might mean, and I wish you what we call "a guade Kuddl" *) for teaching them....

*) literally, it means "good guts", but the meaning is different from "having guts" in English, it's more about resilience, inner strength to cope with stress, this kind of thing.

I'm not sure that you can say "ein Leck haben" about a leaking roof (what do others say?) - I would probably have said that "das Küchendach ist undicht" - this sounds like something that needs looking into, certainly, with the autumn storms coming in...

hm--us, imo, both, viel Glück mit / bei den Neuntklässlern would work fine.

I'm sorry to hear about your mother's failing health - back pains are something of the worst! Can't you help her with pain killers? I think, in the case of an elderly person like her, the use of strong pain killers might be justified in order to improve the quality of life (but I do know how very sensitive this topic is in the States with the opiate crisis and all...)

...ich mache mir Sorgen (über) um sie.

Brief Goldammerson II bulletin: after having stayed with a couple near Houston, BC, for two weeks and helping them with forestry work (they bought the small farm with some forest around it as a place for their retirement), he moved now on to the west coast, spending a few days in Prince Rupert and then a week on Vancouver Island, before returning to Toronto and then doing a trip to the USA, visiting with a friend's mother who lives in Washington DC, for a week. After that, he'll return home by the end of November.

Staying with those farm people was a very interesting experience for Goldammerson, because on the one hand, they were really very nice and welcoming people and great hosts, and he enjoyed staying with them very much (this was an arrangement of a few hours work per day in exchange for food and lodgings), but on the other hand, they were strong believers in about every conspiracy theory on the world, and discussions with them could sometimes be quite tiresome....



Amy-MiMi, Goldammerson 1 was backpacking and working in New Zealand, and Goldammerson 2 is in Canada right now. But thank you very much all the same, very thoughtful of you!

Only 10? I had to laugh out loud yesterday on my arrival at home. My husband had the same idea like me and bought some sweets for just-in-case. And then? Nobody showed up... (No we can distribute the sweets among our colleagues. They eat everything. :-))

I had only little time in recent days for reading and no time for writing, because I had endless talkimgs with my daughter who stayed with me while Mrs ReNard was in Vienna for a short recreation holiday. The trip was a gift granted by my daughter, who took over my care meanwhile, and my granddaughter, who accompanied her grandma.

No ghost or monster knocked at our door, btw.

Nobody mentioned it, but before the excruciating (IMO) Halloween Night cones Reformation Day. I hope you had a fine day, Goldammer.

Thank you for the hint, hm – us. I agonized whether to uses “talking” or “conversations” and decided against the latter, because it sounded somehow formal in my ears, and we had rather a lot of fun. Apparently my impression was wrong.

As to “oral history”: A couple of years ago I wrote a “Story of my Life accompanied by music” and sent copies to all my friends. As the title says it described how music, particular Pop-Rock music, influenced my life. My life had its thrilling or funny or sad or breathtaking moments, but. As you know, I’m a talkative person, and all those stories are told already – and the rest is boring.

@ Norbert: I thought of you and Robert these days, watching the wildfires in your area. I hope you’re not affected.

Thank you very much for thinking of me at Reformationstag on 31st October, RenaRd!

hm--us, Reformationstag isn't a public holiday - I don't think people get a free day from work for it, usually. Church services are held in late afternoon or evening. It has become a bit of a tradition around here to hold "Church Nights" for teenagers, of course as an alternative to Halloween, but also as a way of reminding people of the Reformation in a way that is enjoyable for young people - they show movies e.g., have bands play, group activities, food, partying late into the night etc.

On Thu 31 Oct. around 10am, I called the tax office in Stade, Lower Saxony. A recorded tape told me that I was calling outside their office hours. Surprised, I had the inspiration to look up Reformationstag on Wikipedia. Lo and behold, it is a public holiday nowadays in some German Länder, which was not the case when I lived in Northern Germany.

Thank God you called Stade on Thursday, what a book title! (Vivat Harry Kemelman!)

He-le-na, the 500th Reformation anniversary was in 2017 already....time flies, doesn't it?

:-DDD

 Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana.

(SCNR)

My mother once told me that this "time" even accelerates with increasing age of the perceiving party. I'm afraid she was right there...

In two years this year will be last week!  :-D

(@RenaRd: Glad you could not resist! I'm smiling!)

What kind of election or poll is this, hm--us?

Thanks a lot, hk -- us, for the article "In the Age of AI". As an SF Reader I have tuned in to the development as close as it was possible for about thirtyyears. I have never believed that “robots” in whatever shape would take over the world some day and oppress human kind, I rather imagined a glorious future, when one comes home telling the house to open the door, boil a cup of coffee and to adjust the room temperature. And the house would answer “Welcome home”

Well, you know what I mean.

Now it became a horror scenario for blue collar workers in many industries I remember an expert saying that 1/3 of them will not be able to cope with the situation) and half of the white collar clerks, whose jobs can easier be done by computers.

And during the Cold War between US and China viruses will flood the internet to spy and steal and blackmail. No, future does not shine brightly anymore.

On the other hand the fear of the Climate Change will sooner or later hit us like a bullet and force everybody to change their habits – to eat less meat, to stop burning oil or coal and ban overpopulation. We might live in smaller houses and earn less salary, because we work for one big aim: saving mankind from drowning in tsunamis. Not the earth has to be saved – the earth has survived several climate changes already

Pardon me for misspelling your nick in my #55., hm – us. Blame it on my eyes.

.-(

As I wrote here, albeit in an entirely different context, Mallorcans are very relaxed folks. I had another lesson of that today, when I saw a lady stopping in a very narrow place in the aisle and getting on the phone. Now, I’m one of those, and so are many Germans, who gets angry at seeing that, and there’s a good chance of a sniding remark coming her way from me in that situation. The Mallorcans however... I saw two in the space of a minute who just squeezed through the very narrow gap left by that lady without saying anything and, as far as I could see, without any sign of annoyance.

I’ve got so much to learn still. But travelling helps.

RE literature, a topic somehow neglected recently.

I seem to remember that some snails like voluminous books, the doorstoppers, whilst I belong to those who love short stories as well. As luck would have it I’m reading two compilations of short stories momentarily, “Caught Between Cultures” (stories about colonialism by Aghebe, Maugham, Rushdie, Shairaz and a dozen others) in our VHS class, and at home “Good Home”, last year’s collection of T. C. Boyle- stories.

I’ve been a fan of his since his first novel “Water Music” in the late eighties. He’s got the power to rope the reader in the events, the fears and sufferings  and hopes of the protagonists. Boyle shows us the lives of California men in the street with their broken hopes, racist feelings, or weird hobbies. Again and again I’m bewildered about his inventiveness and humour.

I’ve bought his latest novel, “Das Licht” (“Outside Looking In”) just a few hours ago and might tell you more when I’m through with the above stories ..

Any further proposals?

@RenaRd: Wenn du Literatur besprichst, lockst du hm--us sicher rein. Ich kann leider nicht mitreden, da ich meistens Sachliteratur lese.

*seufz* Ich wollte über Rachael Denhollanders Buch What Is a Girl Worth schreiben, aber anscheinend bin ich nicht mehr in der Lage, vernünftig auf Deutsch zu schreiben.

Korrektürchen für Jesse: snide remark

OT: Go Clones!

Wenn du Literatur besprichst, lockst du hm--us sicher rein

I hope so. ;o) And probably Goldammer – by the way: Where’s she gone? And you, I had assumed. Wasn’t it you who read a book so thrilling you could hardly wait to go on reading? Must have been in 2013. You (if it was you) wrote “das spannendste, wo ich seit langem gelesen habe” or so, and I corrected the “wo”, which led to a dispute with Goldammer who opined that dialect is also correct German. Well, all I want to say is that I remember you as a passionate reader then. Or do I confuse you with Lara Chu?

.. anscheinend bin ich nicht mehr in der Lage, vernünftig auf Deutsch zu schreiben.

Definitely you are!

@ hm – us, New Yorker

My reader broke down (was it a sign?) so I used the audio file (I somehow detected the triangle). I read half of the story (the poem?) and still don’t have a clue what it’s all about. What about the number “89” e.g.? Does it mean “hi”?

English is changing rapidly, especially spoken English, veering away from my stiff book English. In addition sentences are getting shorter, often being reduced to one or two words only (it’s the same in German congested areas. You may have learned it day by day, but I’m surprised each time I’m confronted with it in modern, up to date stories or essays. And I wonder, whether I should adept those phrases and attitudes, because I find them thrilling and challenging, or forget about it, because I will never leave Germany again.

Anyway, would you please give a one-sentence summary or annotation?

Bücher und Filme nicht alle interessieren.

There were times when I was very interested in films ( hence I invite you to talk about films as well), but lost interest with losing my sight. Watching TV productions (which often are quite good) and films on SKY is the best I can do. The people in the cinemas didn’t like my frequent questions “Who’s that?”

;o)

The trailer about the E-Dickinson-film made me curious. Hopefully it’s among the films SKY is still going to broadcast.

@ Amy.MiMi; RE capacity for remembering

That’s what my daughter always admires, too. But I forget names fast than ever. L

Kochbericht: Heute war ich in der Küche motiviert: ich backte Spinaccoli Pizza (Pizza mit Spinat, Brokkoli, Zwiebeln und Knoblauch), kochte Cranberry Applesauce von selbstgepflückten Äpfeln, und bereitete ein Gericht mit einer Süßkartoffel aus dem Garten zu. (Wir haben zum Teil riesige Süßkartoffeln geerntet.)

Das Rezept mit Süßkartoffeln eignet sich zu dieser Jahreszeit. Falls jemand das auch kochen möchte:

Tasty Sweet Potatoes

Sauce:

1/4 C butter, 1/4 C water, 2 T apple cider, 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper, 1 T honey, 1 T mustard

+++

2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed (4 C)

3 tart apples, cored and cubed

1/3 C chopped pecans

Melt butter. Stir in remaining sauce ingredients. Add sweet potatoes & toss to coat. Bake in a covered casserole dish at 375 F for 35 minutes. Remove from oven. Stir in apples and pecans and bake 15 to 20 minutes until tender.

Heute hatte ich keine Pekannüsse, aber das Gericht ist trotzdem lecker. Wahrscheinlich könnte man Walnüsse oder Mandeln nehmen.

Ich wünsche euch Guten Appetit!

Hi everybody!

@Amy-MiMi: How nice to hear from you!

Etienne and Mathilda are fine, they are really very much at home with us meanwhile. However, Mathilda seems to stick with a certain amount of jumpiness - she sometimes still gets startled at the smallest thing like when you enter the room where she is or when you make a sudden movement. She then gets this frightened look in her eyes or even flees under the sofa or to the remotest corner of the room. But she can also be very sweet and cuddly, coming onto our laps and really enjoy being stroked. She must have had really bad experiences as a kitten....

Etienne trained us to no longer worry when he stays away for half days, sometimes also overnight. At the moment, he usually comes home around 3 am and then settles on the foot of one of our beds, or sometimes also next to my head, purring loudly. Very charming cat.

About your foster daughter: Do you know where she lives now? In a kind of institution, a living group for teenagers or something like that? I'm sorry to hear that she hasn't found her place yet, and I can understand that you miss her - after all you had a very intensive time together during the period she lived with you, albeit often not easy.

(Is "albeit" correct here? Is it still in use, or if not, how would one say now?)

I like your sweet potato recipe, too. I have a question: what kind of measurement is T? It's used for apple cider, honey and mustard in the recipe.

A few minor correcturitos for you:

Das mag sein, dass ich etwas Spannendes gelesen habe, aber inzwischen weiß ich es nicht mehr.

(I agree with you about RenaRd's memory! Absolutely amazing, isn't it? I also had forgotten that this was one - maybe even the first - of this whole row of lovely "quarrels" with RenaRd about the Swabian dialect!)

schmusiger / verschmust - both are fine imo. schmüsiger, however.

...hoffnungsvoll, dass sich unsere Pflegetochter einlebte einleben würde.

...hat sie sich in einem Restaurant in Illinois unweit der Autobahn zum ersten Mal sich mit uns ganz normal unterhalten.

...aber ich vermisse sie, wenn auch nicht die Gespanntheit Anspannung or maybe Angespanntheit, mit in der wir lebten, und mache mir Sorgen über  um sie.

Wahrscheinlich könnte man auch Walnüsse oder Mandeln nehmen.

@plidsi: I have a hot air fryer, too. I never tried to use it for bacon, good idea! I love sliced potatoes made in it - Mr Goldammer doesn't, and he deprecatingly calls the whole thing "Kartoffelfön"!

(#71) Any reason for asking that question?

Some years ago, I emailed with one of the writers at Mallorca Magazin regarding a specific historical topic. More recently, he published a book, "Mallorca unterm Hakenkreuz 1933-1945", a copy of which I acquired on a trip to Germany. I have never been to Mallorca and was wondering whether Mallorca Magazin is a reasonably well-known publication read by many German visitors to the island.

@ Goldammer, RE comes home around 3 am and then settles on the foot of one of our beds, or sometimes also next to my head, purring loudly.

Have I ever told here, in a community of cat lovers, that I don’t like cats much? It’s not I hate them (except for killing birds), I admire them for the lissome way they move and the tricky way to dominate humans by pretending love. But in springtime, when the squabs are trying to fly while five killers are crossing our back yard as if it were theirs I’m getting bad ideas . Kittens are nice to look at, but I wonder how many cat lovers would be left, if they had to pay a few hundred bucks plus yearly taxes and put a leash on them and/or to keep them inside in springtime ..

And: Aren’t you afraid of the dozens of ticks your cat is carrying in when it comes to rest near to your head? *shivering*

Nevertheless, I’n glad you’re back in the CC again. NOM

@ hm -- us: '89' ist übrigens eine Patienten- bzw. Insassennummer

Many thanks! Without this information I would have totally misinterpreted the story. One of my thoughts went into this direction: If “89” is a jersey number, and sometimes certain players are called according to their numbers, the story is about a moronic boy learning football rules or how to opprobriate the opponents,  respectively. Thus my last question in this regard is;

Is the story about football at all or about a lunatic asylum? What’s your assumption?

@ Amy-MiMi: I’m so sorry to readthat your foster child has left you; after all the hopes you had imvestd. Are you and Mr. MiMi too disappointed or are you willing to give another kid a chance someday?

RenaRd: no offence taken.

I would like to respond to some aspects of what you say about cats.

1.

I see the problem with the birds and I feel very torn about it. I have considered keeping the cats indoors during breeding season of birds in spring, but I confess I haven't done it so far. And our two cats are from the animal shelter (one was a stray kitten, one was handed in by his former owners after he had an accident with possible long term complications which might cause costs at some time in the future) - this means, if we hadn't taken them, someone else would have, so they would simply hunt somewhere else if not here. Or would you really support euthanasia for all stray cats who are taken in by animal shelters? Or for cats who are dumped there because their owners fear the possible coming vet costs?

2.

With your phrase "...the tricky way to dominate humans by pretending love..." you are imo feeding a stupid old anthropomorphizing cliché about cats who are "devious and cunning beasts" etc. pp.

If you don't want to call it love, call it something else - but there certainly is a kind of bond between a cat and her human, and it's not only coming from the human, and it's not just about getting food. Otherwise, a cat wouldn't come and sit on their lap, show signs of being pleased when they come home etc, just to name two of many behavior patterns that exist between cats and their humans.

3.

No, I'm not afraid of ticks. When a tick has settled on a cat, it won't move on to a human. And they have regular treatment agains fleas and worms.

Are you and Mr. MiMi too disappointed or are you willing to give another kid a chance someday?

Nein, so enttäuscht sind wir nicht. Wir suchen seit Monaten nach einem geeigneten Kind, und wir haben vielleicht eine Jugendliche gefunden. Mehr wissen wir wohl in ein paar Wochen. Diesmal informieren wir uns im Voraus gründlicher über das Mädchen, seine (ist wohl grammatisch richtig, klingt aber komisch) Interessen, Wünsche, Probleme in der Schule, sein Verhalten. Das letzte Mal war das nicht möglich, da eine Notlösung dringend gesucht wurde. Ich halte euch auf dem Laufenden.

@Wik: Das mit den Süßkartoffeln ist lustig. Wir haben Setzlinge von meiner Schwägerin. Sie hatte ganz viele eingepflanzt und hatte welche übrig. Wir bekamen etwa acht vertrocknete Setzlinge. Meine Schwägerin hat bloß fingerdicke kümmerliche Süßkartoffeln und war mächtig enttäuscht. Ich habe nicht soooo viele Süßkartoffeln geerntet, aber die waren zum Teil sehr groß, je 500 g. Und sie sind lecker. Das ist das vierte Mal, dass ich Süßkartoffeln angebaut habe. Zwei Mal hatte ich Glück. Das erste Mal bekam ich nur winzige Früchte, das dritte Mal hat das Murmeltier die Pflanzen aufgefressen und ich habe nichts ernten können. So ist das im Garten.

Ich weiß nichts von Kakis (?). Was baut Norbert an? LEO bietet Kaki, Dattelpflaume, Kakipflaume und Persimone als mögliche Übersetzung an.

Did you know that in the sixties, when everybody knew the Beatles and the Stones, , an 80%  correlation was found between these bands and pet lovers? Beatles fans owned/preferred dogs, Stones fans loved cats. Seemingly the dog owners were more “matched” and well behaved like the Beatles. and those owned by cats were the untamed and wild ones. – alike the Rolling Stones. I, e.g. grew up with dogs and was a Beatles fan. ;o)

Where was Goldammer’s “free will”-bait? Ah, there it is, in #88!

I don’t want to compete with dozens of philosophers and psychologists, but IMO there’s no free will but only decisions forced by external circumstances (fulfillment of basic needs = An I safe? Where do I find food and accommodation?). That’s what men and animals have in common. The ability to resist instincts rises with the amount of puckering of the brain. I resist to blame God for giving us a free will ..

Here we are talking about cats and dogs. Mbhgu is right saying that dogs follow a genetic program (May I call it habit?), he’s used to live in a pack and that’s what a human family gives him. In return he guards his pack. I don’t agree with the rest. Cats are programmed to be loners and (the following are not my words) to “find someone to feed them and to offer a place to rest”. That’s not love, it it? That’s utilizing someone, in my eyes. I return the kill mice around the house and purr, if they want to be fed or to be taken up- Cats are selfish.

On the other hand; A friend of mine had a cat that came when he colled her, jumped on his lap, when he tapped there, and when he said “kiss me” she stemmed her forelegs on his chest, stretched the body and – kissed him on the lips. Stunning, but is this love?

When I was in my teens I had a girlfriend being educated by catholic nuns, and she was taught that “to love is more important than to be loved”. So, cat lovers, love your cats.

;o)

I am a cat person and forever a Beatles fan. :-P

Well, I can only repeat that reducing the relationship of a cat and her human to "I purr when I want to be fed or taken up" doesn't nearly cover it all. Of course there are those behaviors, but there's a lot more. I have had cats for nearly 40 years, and you, RenaRd, haven't ever lived in a household with a cat. I simply think that I'm more of an expert. I say again, love is a very human kind of concept and I don't have a problem with not applying it here, but cats aren't more or less selfish than other animals, and they certainly are attached to the persons they live with, and not only in direct relation to food or a comfortable space to curl up into.

It is also not true that cats are exclusively "programmed to be loners". Cats relate to each other, they have "friends" they get on well with and enjoy spending time with (sometimes even cuddling up together) and other ones they keep a distance to. You can observe this when you have several cats, or when you watch the cats in a neighborhood when they meet.

How would you, RenaRd, explain a person's decision against their own interests, in the extreme, a decision to sacrifice oneself, with "Am I safe? Where do I find food and accomodation?"

Or a decision to destroy something just for the sake of destroying it - I'm thinking of vandalism, for example?

I’m afraid I didn’t get your point regarding “sacrificing oneself”, Goldammer. Let me put it this way: If persons are aiming for food and accommodation only they are at the bottom of the hierarchy of needs. The wish for coziness and steadiness comes next, I assume. That applies to (other) animals – especially mammals – as well.

And, if it’s still “cats” we are talking about: A decision is a part of the so called Free Will, hende when people destroy for the sake of destroying, I’d call it vandalism, even though the “will” might be born out of frustration or whatever. When a cat clawing blinds and sofas or the arms of their owners, when they play with mice and birds instead instantly killing them, if they are defecating in my flower bed and trample down my lilies I’d never presume a decision to do so – I’d call it instinct, they can’t help it.. In my eyes most cats can’t be tamed, and I’m thinking of Siegfried and Roy.

As I said above: I don’t hate cats, I just don’t trust them. And responsible owners should lock them in at least at breeding period. A bell, however, is rather a torture for the cat's ears.

"and the hedgehog being completely unimpressed by their antics" - just wondering how a hedgehog would show it if it were impressed.

RenaRd:

With my examples, I left the cat topic and talked about humans. After all, you also denied humans a free will:

"there’s no free will but only decisions forced by external circumstances (fulfillment of basic needs = An I safe? Where do I find food and accommodation?). That’s what men and animals have in common."

I was thinking about humans who decided to sacrifice themselves, like going into the concentration camp as a substitute for others. With the negative example, I was also referring to human vandalism, not to cats who destroy things in the course of playing or sharpening their claws.

What external circumstances would force a human being to make such decisions?

A few years ago I read an amazing book, When Fraser met Billy by Louise Booth. It describes the friendship between a small boy on the autism spectrum and his cat Billy. Needless to say I am also a cat person, even though we never had pets as children and don't now either.

RE #100: I’m sorry, Goldammer, that I got you wrong. When it comes to human beings and “extraordinary” decisions I’d like to add Dr Schweitzer, Mother Theresa and Gandhi.

I just deleted my detailed essay about ”people are too busy balancing their own needs and wishes and requirements of the job to be free”. And “that only few people are in the position (ranking in a company) to follow their own ambitions”. Then there are those “whose (financial) requirements are lower and, if there are no family bindings, they find their freedom in living in the woods or work for NOGs for small money.”

(You see. I’ve saved some of my reasonings)

As to your question: I can only assume that there are “good” people on earth not only imagining a better world but feeling a driving force to help, disregarding their own health or safety. The people mentioned above have been spiritual persons, maybe that’s a motivation. Your trap is wide open, but I won’t step in. Yes, there is a free will in human nature, but normally someone (parents, boss, partner) or somewhat (hormones and related fears) get in the way. Some are lionhearted; others just possess an adventurer gene.

My personal favorite for speaking jokingly about the after-life is "die Radieschen von unten begucken"

You’re a lucky guy, WIK. I’ve heard bad things about Irish plumbers regarding quickness and quality. It’s only hear-say, so it might be a rumor only. In Bad-Wü a “house insurance” (fire, water, liability) is obligate. As with every insurance, one might get back less than the overall costs, but sometimes it’s worth it. For a period of several months regular drops of water behind the sink in the kitchen had soaked the wall to the hallway and the floor screed below the tiles – slowly, steadily, unnoticed. A specialized company needed five weeks for the exsiccation and billed about 6.000 € to the insurance directly. I had no trouble at all – at night they lowered the noise of the drying machines.

@ mbshu; RE hedgehogs are cute

I was frightened to death when I heard a pair of them making love one night – It sounded like a big dog or a horse was snorting in agony. I guess, It’s a painful procedure. :o)

Many thanks, patman2, for the corrections. As to gerund: In case of doubt I chiefly prefer the gerund to the infinitive, like in “”Suddenly it started raining”, though “Suddenly it started to rain” also sounds good to me. I didn’t find a rule yet.

RenaRd, the frightening sounds hedgehogs make are not during the actual act, but part of the preceding mating ritual.....and what also comes to my mind is the nice saying in German: Wie machen es die Igel? - Seeehr seeehr vorsichtig!

@ WIK, As long as you are seen as a nice customer a

During my apprenticeship I and a colleague had to deliver more or less heavy goods to our customers for some months. Often enough we had to carry washing troughs or a cooker weighing two centners down in a dark cellar or up to the fourth floor. Often we went down the stairs exhausted and sweating and without a tip. And we said, loud enough that the person concerned might hear it, “He must have a hedgehog in his pocket”.

You’ve got the picture? I don’t know whether the expression “einen Igel in der Tasche haben” is still common. Since then no plumber or gardener has ever left our home without a tip and, if there was spare time, without a cup of coffee or a bottle of water.

Nice story, RenaRd!

I never heard the saying "einen Igel in der Tasche haben", I must confess.

Hedgehogs make up for their loud mating noises by their sheer cuteness, imo. A small hedgehog has picked the ivy in the corner of our first-floor neighbors' patio to spend the winter. It's possible it has started hibernating already (after having fattened up on the cat food left by the neighbors' fussy tomcat) because I haven't heard it cough for a few days now. The poor thing has lung worms, which is apparently common in hedgehogs.

I never heard the saying "einen Igel in der Tasche haben", I must confess. Me neither. (I'm drawing a blank right now. What do you call expressions like that in either German or English? They're not proverbs, right? Metaphors? That's not it, either. I'm obviously in need of some caffeine.)

Yarith, I'd say it's a Redensart.

I'd say they are idioms. Sayings are Sprichwörter, and collocations are feste Wendungen.

We had a visit from a hedgehog last year, on just one evening, and he never came back. I have no idea how he got into the garden or, for that matter, how he managed to leave again, unless hedgehogs can climb steps.

And last summer I saw a hedgehog cross the street v e e r r y slowly late at night, as there was no car behind me I stopped until he had reached the other side.

book title about the little autistic boy - I want to say The curious incident of the dog in the night-time or When I was five I killed myself. But there's no cat in either story if I remember correctly. I'd be interested in the book title.

Last year, I read Buntschatten und Feldermäuse by Axel Brauns, who is on the autism spectrum. It was an interesting read, if a bit lengthy at times. It really gives you a glimpse into the world as perceived by a neurodiverse person. The book had a oddly calming effect on me.

as there was no car behind me I stopped until he had reached the other side - You're a good person, penguin.

Yarith, take a look in #103, the title is right there: When Fraser met Billy by Louise Booth.

Yes, the little hedgehog (come to think of it he wasn't that small) also had enough light from my headlights to cross safely :-)

Thank you very much, RenaRd. I'm following the liveticker on the church elections in my region - we haven't only been electing the local parish councils, but also the "Landessynode", the "parliament" of our greater region Württemberg (the Protestant Church of our federal state is divided into the Badische Landeskirche and the Landeskirche Württemberg). This is unique within the Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland - we are the only Landeskirche where the members elect the synod directly.

@ Goldammer: Are you involved in the procedure of the elections or even one of the candidates? I’m not familiar with this matter, as you know, but was surprised recently that even the Catholic Church is following a “synodalen Weeg” now, which sounds to me like revolution.  But probably I’m just an ignorant non-believer.

@ Jesse: I’ve heard several times within the past weeks about the bad and severe weather conditions in the south of France (Cotr d’Azur) , which is not that far away from Mallorca. I’ve got the impression that the Mediterranean Sea is more and more affected by (negative aftereffects of the climate change. Am I wrong?

RenaRd: I myself was nothing but a simple voter. But my niece got elected into her church council, and my nephew, who is a vicar, was a candidate for the synod in his district (this means I couldn't vote for him, since I live in a different district) and missed being elected by less than 100 votes....

The synodale Weg in the Catholic church isn't as revolutionary as it looks at first sight because although there are lay people in the synods, afaik, they still don't have the right to vote in the important issues and decisions - they are just involved in the discussion process and are being heard more than before.

Geieraufpäppelungsstation, what a beautiful word! I used it in the Assoziationsfaden.

I didn’t know you live in my neighbourhood, patman2. It’s the same “Tristesse” (bleakness?) around here with a max. temperature of 1°C. Before I get overwhelmed by the winter blues I’d better fetch my warmest jacket and go to town to get my hair cut .and meet some friends. So bye for now!

Oberschwaben is roughly the area between the Danube and Lake Constance, the eastern "border" is the river Lech; there's a Wikipedia article on the region, btw.

As with Franken, the "opposite" is the Unterland which could be vaguely located around the lower Neckar valley (beyond Stuttgart).

Thank you, Goldammer. Who would have known off the cuff if not you? You made me improve my barely existing knowledge about the “Unterland” by combing the Internet. I had assumed, according to what I have heard before that it’s just the lower (compared to Upper Swabia) region north of the Alp, situated (roughly) between Tubingen, Stuttgart und Backnang.

(„Man wird alt wie ‘ne Kuh und lernt immer noch dazu”)

Coming to think about it, I really don't know how one would call the area you described (triangle Tübingen-Stuttgart-Backnang) - north of Oberschwaben comes the Schwäbische Alb, but what would one call the region between the Alb and the Unterland? The region where I was born and still live? Albvorland is something I have heard before, but it is definitely not as familiar for a kind of "defined" area such as Oberschwaben and Unterland.

OK, my triangle was a very rough estimate. When you look at the map “Stuttgart” has to be replaced by Göppingen.  There’s a reason for that Image: Whenever I leave Upper Swabia towards Stuttgart I descend the Alp either in Honau or at Göppingen/Kirchheim – my southern and eastern  corners of the triangle. It’s always an awesome view rolling down the last slope of the A8  into the wide-spreading plain (lowlands) to Esslingen, Stuttgart etc.

Backnang is just an exit of the A81 from Stuttgart to Helbronn, which in fact is the northern corner. You see, I wasn’t that bad. ;o)

Not at all, not at all, RenaRd!! :-DDD

The Franconians are Beutebayern. Historically, culturally and dialect-wise they are a different sort of people. Major parts of Franconia are Lutherans and vote SPD which is both far from a mainstream Bavarian.

I'm already bracing myself for another viewing of The Muppets A Christmas Carol. It seems to be an annual event, but as a person who has never gotten into Dickens, and not having had much exposure to the muppets in my childhood, I don't really get it.

@patman2 "inexistent" wouldn't be part of my German vocabulary. Maybe it's used in philosophy or fancy literature, but not in everyday language.

On a side note, I find it highly amusing how the German "Kleinstaaterei" still is so evident. As if it was not difficult enough to have the different Bundeslaender and their "obvious" subdivisions (i.e, Baden vs Wuerttemberg; Schleswig vs Holstein), there is always a further breakdown into smaller and smaller units that historically and linguistically are very distinct.

@ Goldammer: "A Ceremony of Carols" which is held in our Marienkirche

English Christmas Carols in a “crowded” church in Germany? Who Invented it? Is there a huge English speaking community in your neck of the woods? Must have been nice in any case.

@patman2 + WIK: "inexistent"

https://www.duden.de/rechtschreibung/inexistent

Talking/chatting colloquial I’d prefer the (IMO) more expressive phrase “dass gibt es nicht” or even “das gibt’s doch gar nicht”, but I’m very used to “inexistent” in formal speeches – or if my intention is to be formal and serious.

Thanks, hm--us, for your corrections!

I had funny feelings about exactly those things that you corrected....that's good for a start to learn something, isn't it?

And thanks for the correct name for the carol event: it was the Service of Lessons and Carols;

for RenaRd: a special form of a Christmas service which originates from (I think) Kings College in Cambridge where it was first practised about 100 years ago. It's a liturgy with biblical texts ( a selection of basic and important texts from the Old and New Testament, starting with texts from Genesis and ending with a text from Revelation), read by various people, and carols between the texts, some of them performed by a choir, some being sung by everybody.

Obviously, it is a very popular service in the English speaking world, and so, many people with roots or with an affinity to Britain or the US love it, it belongs to their Christmas "rituals" very much. So, obviously people from a greater area are coming to Reutlingen to attend. But since it's really very appealing as a concept, it's developing kind of local "fan base", too.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000cx12

A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols.

This is on at 2 p.m. British time / 3 p.m. European time, live from King's College.

BBC Radio 3 is available on the internet or using an internet radio.

Carols - that reminds me of our time in Seattle from 2003 to 2004. Around Christmas we couldn't resist to buy a pair of snowmen (one was the woman) which were singing "We wish you a Merry Christmas" in a canon-like way (the sound was terrible, but it was kind of cute - or kitschy, if you want). They were moving a little bit and our son, 2 1/2 years, was fascinated. He learned the song quickly and always ended it with an expressive "and a Happy New Yeah!" - the h instead of r is intended as this was exactly what he was singing. :-)

@hm -- us: Thank you for the corrction and the suggestion. I will try plan A today and then, if it doesn't work, think of plan B.

I don’t know what it’s all about with virus’ cucumber and hope to be illuminated soon. :o)

But it reminds me of a Christmas Eve long ago.

When I was eight, I’m talking about the year 1950, I liked pickled gherkins a lot (Gewürzgurken mit Dill und Senfkörnnern). There was no money for expensive Christmas gifts then, hence I was used to get a handmade toy or a pyjamas – the trousers at my birthday shortly before Christmas and the jacket for Christmas (as I often joked without remembering the truth). Anyway, this special Christmas I stormed the living room upon thr sound of the bell.. My mother stood besides the Christmas tree at an open window. I saw a white something flashing outside in the dark (it was my father, off course, waving shortly with a pillow case). My mother closed the window and asked me with excitement in her voice“Have you seen the “Christkind” flying away? It just brought a gift for you”. I opened the box she showed me and found the joy of every boy at that time: An electric railway containing a loco, a transformer and enough HO rails to build an oval. I was happy! Meanwhile my father had returned and said proudly “I hope you like it, but that’s not the only present for you”. I looked around without a clue.

Our Christmas tree wasn’t a big one, so it was placed on a stool covered by a white blanket reaching to the ground. I raised it and below to my biggest surprise there was a giant jar with my beloved Gewürzgurken. It must have been more than 50 of them but it is said that I had eaten them before New Year’s Eve. .

What a wonderful Christmas story, RenaRd!

Here's aunt Wiki's enlightenment about the cucumber story!

(hope to be illuminated - I saw you decorated with LEDs...was I right, ENS, that to illuminate isn't used in the figurative sense?)

RenaRd, that's a really sweet story. :) And the word you and Goldammer are looking for is enlightened, I believe.

hm -- us, your #155 made me look for the NYT crossword again, which I'd though was only accessible thorugh subscription. But I was delighted to find that you can do it for free on the Seattle Times webpage. :) I even managed to solve the one of today, with a little help from LEO. I looove crossword puzzles that require lateral thinking. My weekend routine is coming home from work on Friday, making a cup of coffee and sitting on the balcony to solve the ZEIT crossword puzzle. And on saturdays I reward myself for doing my chores by again having a cup on the balcony and doing the crossword from the Süddeutsche. Makes me feel smart. ;)

It's been snowing on and off here since the day before last, but it's a little too warm for the snow to stay (liegenbleiben?). I hope that will last until tonight at least, because we'll be driving up to Berlin to visit my mother-in-law and driving conditions could get tricky.

virus, I think I'll steal "Happy new YEAH" from your son and use it from now on. ;)

My thanks go to Goldammer for the hint and the link, and to Yarith for the suggestion. May I give a hint in return, Yarith? I don’t feel my story is “sweet”. I don’t know whether a story, novel or poem can be called “sweet” at all. :o()

My concept of sweet in connection with a story is not as kitschy as yours, RenaRd. For me, your story could be well described as sweet because of the childlike charm, the wonderful way in which you made this Christmas atmosphere come alive through the eyes of an eight-year-old who almost met the Christkind and got the two most wonderful presents he could think of. But, as I said, not at all with a sugary, kitschy touch in it.

In fact I just didn’t want to write a sweet story. But, as communication guru Paul Watzlawick used to say,: “Es ist nicht wichtig was du gemeint hast, sondern was der andere verstanden hat“. (From memory; Egon or harambbee might remember the correct words)

Many thanks for your friendly review, nevertheless.

Knowing you, I'm sure you didn't want to write a sweet story.... :-D

But, knowing you, I'm also not surprised that your wrote one.... :-D

(Keepig Watzlawick in mind, one that I perceived to be sweet, and that made me feel very nice inside)

RenaRd, here is another link for the Christmas pickle: https://www.meinetanne.de/blog/weihnachtsgurk...

I love your Christmas story! And it's not sweet as you were talking about pickles... ;-P

Yarith, go ahead with "happy new YEAH" - there's no copyright on it. :-)

We are about to leave for our local "Adventsfenster" tonight which is again "Fondue im Freien". I'm sure I mentioned this last year or one of the years before - there is a couple in our village who run a B&B and always offer this very special "Adventsfenster". Having cheese fondue over an open fire is clearly something special.

Time is running - next week we will leave for our Christmas holidays, my husband and I. We will be on the flight to Singapore on his 60th birthday, so I will try to get some special "treatment" by the flight attendants. We will stay two days and then proceed to West Papua for scuba diving. We just sent our annual family newsletter to friends, family and colleagues...

And then, it is only a few weeks until our son will return from Japan. I am already in contact with his school here and try to motivate him to get things organised...

@ virus, RE Singapore and West Papua

I envy you. Have you ever been to Singapore before? There are more sights worth being visited than you are able to visit in two days. When I was there 25 years ago I promised to come back for just one reason: A Singapore Sling at Raffles Hotel at Tea Time; the quietness is soothing.. From there it’s just a few minutes by foot to the Marina Bay Sands, btw – so you can kill two birds with one stone.

News letter? Log file? I’d be very interested in any further information. Come back safe and sound.

RenaRd, I do hope your H0 train set was a Märklin? BTW, H0 (pronounced Ha-Null), not HO, because it is half the size of Spur 0.

Singapore: You can go up to the rooftop promenade of the Marina Sands Bay and enjoy the stunning view at a fee but it is worthwhile to stay at the hotel there because then you can swim in the rooftop pool!

Do take a boat on Singapore river, and a long walk on its banks. There is a busy area with lots of bars and excellent restaurants but also a quiet part further up.

Ouch, my favourite museum there is closed for revamp: https://www.peranakanmuseum.org.sg/

My 2nd favourite: https://www.visitsingapore.com/see-do-singapo...

My 2nd favourite Singapore anecdote: I was at a shop and the shop assistant asked me when I would come again. I said, "Maybe in spring." She mused for a while, then asked: "Spring, when is that?"

My favourite: On our first visit to Singapore A.D. 1997, my wife and I went to the Botanical Garden. We had to change buses at the intersection of two major streets. I looked in all four directions and asked: "Why do we go to the Botanical Garden?" For both streets were abundantly adorned with various kind of trees and plants that by our standards were exotic.

Here’s another „sweet“ story, if you like.

For the young among you (born in the 80s or later): Sweet alcoholic drinks are not an invention of the 90s (Alcopops) but of the 12th century (says Wiki). Industrial production started in the late 19th century. Chiefly made of methyl alcohol, fruits (“Eckes Edelkirscg” eg.) or herbs (“Jägermeister” eg.) or eggs (“Verpoorten” Eierlikör eg) plus a lot of sugar or honey. The extreme sweetness and softness made liqueur a favoured drink for those who didn’t like the taste of Schnapps (hard liqueur) like young people or nost women. (NOM)

Wilhelm Busch once wrote: “Es ist ein Brauch von alters her: Wer Sorgen hat, hat auch Likör“. (Die fromme Helene)

In the 70s a new mixture became cult for some years under different brand names: “Saurer Fritz”, Saurer Paul” etc, It consisted of lemon, Soda water, white Rum and (of course) sugar.

I lived in Hannover at that time finishing my studies, so I invited some fellow students and their wives to my birthday party in 1974. We sat in the living room, had some snacks (incl. “Käseigel”!) while drinking beer or Cuba Libre, and talked, to get more acquainted, about our former experiences. I found out, that two of them, F and P, had been close friends since Kindergarden days and their wives, H and S, had been longtime BFFs as well. As time went on my wife asked whether anyone wanted a “Saurer Fritz”, I and three guys raised their hands. The bottle was in the fridge in the kitchen and my wife asked us to stay there because any drop of it would ruin the parquet floor or the Flokati. We stayed in the kitchen until the bottle was empty, i.e. for an hour, and could hardly leave because the drops of the liqueur that spilled over with every touch of the glasses stuck like glue.

Our wives had ended the talks about children, recipes and jobs, so we started to dance – slowly and quiet because it was after midnight and our landlord was sleeping on the upper floor. We were a little bit tipsy and dancing quite closely, but I was shocked, nevertheless, when S whispered in my ear, whether I wanted to be alone with her. I stuttered something like “Are you crazy? We are both married” and left her. She went on dancing. As if nothing had happened.

S was still dancing, the rest of us were sitting at the table with Coke or coffee, when all of a sudden F turned to his friend and said: “I’ve got to confess something. I’ve got a love affair with your wife”. I felt sober within a second, His wife starred at him, appalled. I tried to intervene and said “Bullshit. You’re talking nonsense. You’re drunk!” My wife turned out the music. Then P asked scarcely audible, looking from one to the other “How long?” whereupon F answered “One year”. P turns to his wife “Is that true?” and she answered easily “Yes. If he says so.”

F and H divorced a couple of years later, P and S are still married (I guess). He has forgiven her – “I will never find a girl as beautiful as S again.”

---

Thank you, patman2.  „Incipient” fits much better.

You’re right; it’s rather a story about the dangerousness of sweetness, sweet drinks and sweet girls.

:o)

(to myself: RenaRd knows that I love to have the last word....so I add:)

I think the "girl" you spoke about was anything but sweet.....

Chiefly made of methyl alcohol

I very much doubt that, unless this was an early version of "drinking the Kool-Aid." I assume you meant ethanol a.k.a. grain alcohol.

Who doesn’t remember that famous scene from „Die Feuerzangenbowle“ smilingly? “Da stelle mehr uns janz dumm” became part of the German DNA and went viral when I served in the army in the sixties after the film was shown on TV again and again. Glorious! Thanks for providing a written version, mbshu,

For those who can’t recall the scene at all I’m going to add the respective YouTu clip here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QWosNm5xV8

(flyster: RenaRd, that's the scene with the Dampfmaschin, not the one with the alkoholische Gärunng mbshu was referring to "Jeder nur einen wenzigen Schlock!")

The film is one of my all-time-favorites, too, btw. How could it not be? Goldammerson recently opened an own Netflix account for us (his girlfriend's subscription obviously includes several accounts, and one of them was still free), and when he will have explained to us (nice occasion to use future II, innit?) how to use it, I'll have a look whether they do the Feuerzangenbowle, and we might watch it over Christmas.

Learned meanwhile that Netflix doesn't do such old German crap as Heinz-Rühman movies....

:-(

Thank you, WIK, for the additional input. I’m no food chemist; in fact I’m no good in chemistry at all. Nevertheless I tried to argue with my Doc, that I don’t consider his proposal as helpful, to drink wine instead of Coke. Wine has double as much kcal as Coke. And the liver converts calories chiefly to …fat, the energy depot.

It obviously seems to be the sugar that affects the pancreas – and I just can’t stand bitter drinks – I literally spit coffee out when I forgot to stir the sugar. ;o)

Unfortunately, artificial sweeteners are not a solution. For more than twenty years I consumed a significant amount of diet soda, until I became aware of multiple studies that basically found that artificial sweeteners in soft drinks are just as deleterious to health as sugar (as long as you take care of your teeth). This article links to a few:

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/diet-sod...

Several observational studies have found that using artificial sweeteners and drinking high amounts of diet soda is associated with an increased risk of obesity and metabolic syndrome (7, 8, 9, 10).

Note that "metabolic syndrome" includes diabetes. The mechanisms underlying the harmful effects of artificial sweeteners are still being researched. As far as I understand my doctor's advice, diet and exercise are the chief approaches in staving off metabolic syndrome.

Etwas Besseres, das leichter machbar ist, ist vielleicht immerhin besser als das Beste überhaupt, das man aber wohl nie wirklich macht.

My point is that (best I know) sodas sweetened with artificial sweeteners are not better than those sweetened with sugar, contrary to what the beverage industry might want us to believe. Physicians are highly-paid advisers. That does not mean that we have to follow their advice. We are free to ignore it as long as we are willing to live with the consequences. However, stating that openly in a conversation will make doctors upset.

Läufst du / Lauft ihr denn immer noch regelmäßig, und wenn ja, spürst du schon, dass du dich besser fühlst?

Yes, I still do a brisk walk of 3+ miles every day, just as I have done for the past decade. I don't really enjoy it on most days, but I do notice that I feel worse when I don't do it. Research shows that about 5 hours of exercise per week are optimal for health, and that is pretty much what I am getting. My problem is diet: too high in carbs, too many dairy products.

No. 200: Ein Schritt in die richtige Richtung (Wohin? - nicht: Wo?). No 6g.

@ hm – us: Thanks a lot for your tips regarding sugar alternatives. I remember we used Stevia for a while a few years ago; I can’t recall why we returmed to using sugar, maybe the price, maybe the disposability. …

Drinking (To drink??) water would be an alternative, and I already add water to each glass of Coke. I’m addicted to it. I rarely drink alcohol but approx 1 liter of Coke per day – starting 60 years ago. But that’s another story.

@ eastworld;  I’m sorry, your #191 was too cryptic for me, so I may have decided to neglect it. NOM. As to bitter drinks: There’s a wide range of bitter drinks, from Angostura/Campari to beer with a high content of hops.  

@ Norbert Juffa: According to the article you linked in #199  I would, changing to an artificial sweetener,  replace one evil with another.  I’ve heard similar rumors (weight gains, bladder cancer) about Aspergam (or so) before. I’m afraid I’ve got to dig deeper. :-(

As to diet and exercises: That’s the hardest things to do. But you’re right, of course: In the late 40s nobody in Germany suffered from diabetes

RenaRd, have you tried CocaCola Zero? It does taste OK, unlike Diet Coke or whatever the other sugar-free variety is called (I am not a Coke drinker).

I take it you don't like other lemonade drinks? I usually drink tap water or mineral water with a few drops of lemon which I add myself.

Artificial sweeteners aren't evil in themselves, only large quantities are. And the other thing is, if you drink sweetened drinks, even calorie-free varieties, it only makes you start to crave sugar even more.

As to Coke it’s not the sweetness alone, penguin. After decades of drinking different sorts in different countries (and living in a clique of Coke drinkers – among other drinks) I’m a kind of an expert in different tastes. But taste bulbs sometimes lie (as we know from tomato juice which is chiefly drunk in the thin air of an air plane): When in the US I change from Coke to Pepsi which seems to be less sweet to me. In Germany Coke is my favourite because (ice cold) it tastes best of any other caffeine containing pops to me  – less sweet and more tangy. In fact it’s the high content of carbonic acid, the titillation at the pallet that thrills me most. When in Spain (eg.) I liked to switch to KAS, quite sour lemonade. I haven’t seen it in Germany yet. And one of my faourite mixtures to halve the content of sugar is Coke with Coke Zero.

Well, that’s enough product placements for one day. ;o)

*waving around*

*leaving several slices of gooseberry torte for the sweet snails and a bowl with whipped cream!

Ah, RenaRd....I do have a feeling it's your birthday today? Indicated by gooseberry tart?

If so, my heartfelt gratulations, and have a nice day with nice guests!

Männer sind halt schwieriger, was Geschenke kaufen betrifft

I see nothing wrong here, the German sounds fine to me. There may be issues with factual correctness :-) Oh, where are my manners?