arsenal21

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Posts posted by arsenal21

  2. Posted

    22 hours ago, teevee said:

    Why would you even use those ticket-machines in 2022? 

    Just install the Deutsche Bahn app and then you can buy your ticket on the run, without all this stress.

     

    Some local train lines don't have tickets available on DB afaik, in which case you would have to use the machine.

     

    Personally, I find paper tickets as less stressful anyway, as I don't have to worrry about the battery running out on my paper ticket, or wifi being down, or not remembering the password to my paper ticket, or not having suitable ID etc.

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  4. Posted

    On 13/9/2022, 00:22:16, quizhead said:

    The salesmen is right.
    To play Chess you need 8GB because the PC might choke due to high level of CPU power.
    If you're play on Chess.com or Lichess and you analize your games using the engine, you will see that your PC is starting to choke with 4GB.

    As a Chess player and a professional IT engineer, do yourself a favor and invest 200 Euros more on a decent PC which will also serve you in your Chess life and also in years to come.
    I'll be happy to play with you Chess and also advice on some nice models if you want.

    You're welcomed to be in touch.

    Cheers.

     

    Lichess doesn't require much cpu.

     

    The analysis can also be done in the cloud.

     

    If you're playing bullet or hyperbullet and  you're worried about every microsecond it might make a difference, otherwise you'd probably be as well off with a Raspberry Pi.

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  5. Posted

    On 7/9/2022, 13:51:32, Krieg said:

     

    The main problem is that Tesla tells you, here you have your Autopilot, it will drive by itself and take you to your destination, but you have to be all the time there paying attention and ready to react when it makes a mistake.   So if there is an accident it is always the driver's fault.  

    If the Tesla senses the car is about to crash, it diconnects the autopilot so the driver is wholly liable 🤣

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  7. Posted

    I didn't feel I was robbed, though I was naturally annoyed.

     

    My questions on here were more to do with the consequences on having received the fine, rather than the rightness/wrongness of receiving the fine, which some people seem to focus on.

     

    I still have not received any post from DB.

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  8. Posted

    On 3/9/2022, 11:47:21, yesterday said:

     

     

    Did you show a UK passport or a EU one ?


    Its my experience that if you show a UK passport that they are a bit more understanding . My young nephew visited me in 2019, he could not be bothered to but a ticket traveling from Nuremburg to Munich, he got caught and the conductor let him off, I guess because he had a UK passport and the inspector tock pity on him. But my nephew, just could not be bothered and was quite happy about it. Right or wrong the inspector  gets to make the decision. Because you are a foreigner it just makes all foreigners look like cheaters i

     

     Personally I am prepared to give you the benefit of the doubt,  but if the inspector stopped you and your started talking German to him with a German passport and are a bit older, he probably would expect you to know the rules. Sorry impressions count with inspectors, and after all the inspector is just trying to do his job, I generally support the stopping of fare evaders. 

    May I ask, as you knew you were travelling from B to C, why did  you not buy an online ticket from B to C from the comfort of your own home the day before ?

    Why did you not buy an online ticket from B to C while you were on the train travelling between A to B ? using WIFI or your own mobile data ?

    Why did you not buy your ticket from B to C using your own mobile data, when you could not connect to the train WIFI ?

     

    As with many business these days many of them are trying to save costs so they try to close ticket machines or not fix the broken ones and expect you to  buy the tickets online before you start. Sorry buts going to more and more that way. As a result of them closing ticket machines, large ques can form at the ticket office, meaning you cannot buy your ticket in time for the train, but that does not mean you can just  get on the train and not pay because the train WIFI is not working. 

     

    I thought you could buy a ticket from the conductor ( maybe its changed, maybe not anymore to cut costs ), but you pay more for that ticket as its not a normal service, as you are supposed to have a ticket before you enter the train. 

     

    I would imagine they have a way to find your street address from your passport details otherwise why would take your passport details ???. 

     

    I am sorry, but even if you act  in what you think is the correct way of doing things, can always go wrong, and you just have to pay up. I have this happen to me - I would advise to pay up and put it down to experience.

     

    My starting point for the journey was not my home, in fact it was a neighboring country. I assumed that I could buy the ticket from the machine, like you can in Germany. 

     

    I assumed then I could buy the ticket from a machine at the second train station, but as explained the two ticket machines I tried only had local tickets.

     

    There was no problem with the wifi, the problem was my account was locked with no way to unlock it. If the wifi was not working, then the conductor could have sold me a ticket.

     

    But in general, you can't get a ticket from the conductor since 1st Jan 2022, according to the piece of paper they gave me.

     

    They took my passport because that is standard procedure. Germans would usually show their id card with their address.

     

    I had my anmelde bestaetigung with me and would have shown it if asked. I did not realize the conductor had no specific right to be shown it, as slammer points out above.

     

    Here is a summary of current rules, as you seem to be unaware of them.

     

    https://www.thelocal.de/20220106/explained-deutsche-bahns-new-ticket-rules-for-2022/

     

    Edit - above is for long distance DB travel. Local train companies can have different rules, and these can even vary city to city or between different zones in the same network e.g. buying a ticket on the train may be allowed in one zone but not in the next.

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  9. Posted

    11 hours ago, yesterday said:

    Did you enjoy your trip to B and C, hope you had nice weather

     

    I would pay it straight away, they caught you 

     

    I did not enjoy the trip because of the ticket problems.

     

    Weather is pretty irrelevant in an air-conditioned train, but please accept my insincere thanks for your phony good wishes. ;-)

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  10. Posted

    15 hours ago, snowingagain said:

    I would defintely not ignore it.  Pay online as you suggested,  and do a Widerspruch?  Does that work?   It is a shame the App did not work on the train as you are allowed to do this within the first 10 minutes of getting on Fernverkehr (different rules for local transport has to be before you get on).  

     

    I think there is an option like this, to pay it under Vorbehalt, this might be the safest option.

     

    I'm in MDV Mitteldeutschlandverkehr area and local trains here often have machines on board so you can buy a ticket. Is it different in other parts of Germany?

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  11. Posted

    17 hours ago, sluzup said:

    Did you give them your correct address or not?  If you did not give them your address, how can you wait for a letter?  If they took the details of your passport, including passport number, then I assume they will use that to get your address, assuming you are registered in Germany.

     

    You can of course, try and appeal but I have no idea if you will be successful.  As they probably have your address already, it seems worth a try.

     

     

    They did not ask for address. I gave them my passport and they took at least my name and date of birth.

     

    If they took my passport number, I'm not sure how they could link that to my address. The Auslander Register probably has my passport number from like 2 passports ago, but they could probably just match on my name anyway. 

     

    But as I mentioned above, it's not clear whether they have the right to use that database.

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  12. Posted

    13 hours ago, Dembo said:

    Did you only try to buy a ticket after the conductor had caught you without one?
     

    I think you won't lose anything by trying to appeal. It's certainly understandable that you jump on a train whilst it's there and buy the ticket afterwards.

     

    I tried to buy a ticket from my original point of departure, then at the changeover station from 2 machines on the platform, I asked the conductor as I was getting on if he could sell me a ticket and I made several attempts on the app on two devices while on the train.

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  13. Posted

    15 hours ago, Janx Spirit said:

    There is no wriggle room, this is Germany, you are not allowed to board a train without a valid ticket, you do the crime, you pay the fine :( 

     

    Are you registered in Germany? If so I think they do a "Nachforschung beim Einwohnermeldeamt" (inquiry at the Residents' Registration Office) to find you

     

    Yes, I'm registered in Germany. But the Einwohneranmeldeamt data is stored only locally, as far as I know there is no centralized database with the information so I would be surprised if they can find it that way.

     

    There is also a Foreigner Register

     

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Register_of_Foreign_Nationals_(Germany)#/languages

     

    where my data was entered many years ago, even though they should not have been collecting EU citizens' data. So it would be interesting for me from a data protection point of view to see if they can go that route.

     

    I don't think what you say about not being allowed to board a train without a ticket is right, though. I've been on S-Bahns where there is a ticket machine on the train, so it is surely legal in that case.

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  14. Posted

    11 hours ago, snowingagain said:

    YYYou have 10 minutes.  If it does not work you  have to pay the surcharge.  It is risky.  The reasons you were unable to buy one are really difficult to prove.  Otherwise every Schwarzfahrer would say "Oooh, the DB App was not working".

     

    Yes, this is right. The conductor was standing beside me after 9 minutes while I was trying to log in to the app. It was throwing up Captchas and then showing a error code 429.

     

    I went on the app later and tried to get a password reset but it does not send so it seems that account is completely locked up and I can't get a new one with the same email address so I created a new account with a different address since then.

     

    But all that is neither here nor there, like you said, everyone has a sob story, but if you can't show a ticket, the conductor doesn't really have any discretion.

     

    Btw, thanks to everybody who replied.

    2

  15. Posted

    I was travelling from A via B to C with the train. I had the ticket from A to B and was intending to get a ticket at B to get to C. (I actually wanted to buy the direct ticket to C from A, but A was outside Germany and the machine only allowed as far as B).

     

    The train from A to B was late and the train from B to C was already on the platform. The train was IC (Intercity).

     

    I tried the machines on the platform but they only had local tickets. So I jumped on the train and told the conductor I would buy a ticket on the app.

     

    I tried to log onto the app on two devices with the train wifi but it did not connect so the conductor took my passport and gave me a 'Fahrpreisnacherhebung' with 'Preis Weiterfahrt' ca. 65 euro (this corresponds with the price of a ticket afaik) and 'erhoehter Fahrpreis' 60 euro (which I think is a fine or admin fee). The ticket says DB will write to me.

     

    Now my passport has my name and date of birth but it does not have my address, and so the piece of paper I got from DB on the train says 'ohne feste Wohnsitz'.

     

    So I have a number of questions.

     

    1. If I appeal on the basis that I tried to buy a ticket but had connection problems is there a chance that it could be reduced that I just pay the ticket price? Or is the fine/administration fee (erhoeter Fahrpreis) always due? I checked the appeal process online, and it is necessary to give an address, which brings me to the next question.

     

    2. If I do nothing and they don't find my address, what happens next? I know that this is technically a straftat, so there could be legal consequences. Could they pass my info to the police? Also, is there a time limit after which the straftat expires i.e. statute of limitations? Also, If all they have is my name and date of birth, how can they be sure that they get the right person, and not someone else with the same name and date of birth?

     

    3. If I do nothing and they don't find my address and they pass my info to a debt collection agency, what are the consequences then? Could it end up costing more in that case?

     

    I actually went to the DB Info desk and asked if I could pay there and they said they did not have access to the status and they could not process it, I should wait for the letter. But if I wait for the letter and it does not arrive, what do you think is the most likely outcome?

     

    I don't mind paying the fare on principle, but I feel the fine is somewhat unjust as I made every effort to get a ticket within the few minutes I had.

     

    https://www.db-fahrpreisnacherhebung.de/

    I could just pay the full amount at this link, but I would like to avoid paying more than necessary.

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  16. Posted

    22 hours ago, yesterday said:

     

    Sure Ireland would be a very good place to put a factory for many of the same reasons, but it does not reallly have that history of making cars behind.

    The first Ford factory outside America was in Cork as far as I know. But you are right in general, there has been little or no auto manufacturing in Ireland in the last 40 years. 

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  17. Posted

    12 minutes ago, Fietsrad said:

    I remember Schlecker as a good no-nonsense retailer, not fancy like the two that dominate the market now.

     

    But I did notice Schlecker stores in places with no food store, that did not seem right.

    Also to maximise usage of space, they made their aisles the bare minimum width, which was awkward for people with buggies.

    I think they underinvested for a long time to maximise cash flow and it eventually caught up with them.

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  19. Posted

    4 hours ago, jeba said:

    I don't see a contradiction. As I said, it depends on the risk/benefit ratio. And that is very unfavourable for Ukraine. If I was Ukrainian, I'd want Selensky to surrender, even if it meant losing the Donbas and Luhansk provinces. I wouldn't want my country to be turned to rubble as Germany was in 1945 and the suffering and loss of life.

     

    Nobody wants their country to be turned to rubble, but some things are worth fighting for. Nazi ideology is not one, so your comparison is worthless.

     

    Nobody is going to argue that Nazi Germany should have kept fighting.

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  20. Posted

    On 6/3/2022, 14:09:55, klingklang77 said:

     

    I like quiet places, but not too quiet. I did not like Delitzsch. It was too quiet. A quiet suburb in a city, so I am not too isolated is what I want. I live in a quiet area in Munich and I could never live in the center of the city. Hopefully that clarifies things. 

     

    I am hearing good things about Gohlis is Leipzig.

    Gohlis and Eutritzsch are both fairly quiet.

    1

  21. Posted

    1 hour ago, yourkeau said:

    Not only in Germany, it is everywhere in the capitalist world. 

    Grundsicherung is not only for those who lived off Hartz IV. 

     

    Single mothers, divorced women who work part-time on crappy jobs, some low-paid blue-collar workers, etc, do not earn enough to get a pension which is enough for living. Or they do earn, but their pension is exactly as Grundsicherung+rent. 

     

    A single mother gets 800 euro pension, 400 for the Wohnung, 400 for food. 

    A Hartz 4 punk gets 0 pension, Grundsicherung pays for his Wohnung, and gives 400 for food. 

    Fair? 

     

    Now let's put unconditional basic income. The idea behind it is that we can fire the whole Arbeitsamt which checks if the pensioner does not get a gift. We pay hefty Beamte salaries to these people. Instead, we pay everyone, say 800 euro per month. Without any conditions attached, every citizen and permanent resident gets it.

     

    Now, a Hartz 4 punk gets only these 800 euro and continues punking. 

     

    A single mom has a choice: work and get a 800 euro pension on top of basic income, or raise a child and get no pension, just unconditional basic income. 

     

    Fairer? 

     

     

     

    It makes sense to an extent but if applied across the board, I think it would drive up wages and prices.

     

    If the bakery worker now has to work 10 hours a week to get 1000 euro, then he or she might do that; reduced supply of labour means cost of labour goes up so the price of bread goes up.

     

    And because everybody has a guaranteed basic income, they can buy more bread or nice cakes anyway ‐ meaning demand goes up, so price also goes up.

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  22. Posted

    35 minutes ago, Catastrophe said:

    Well,
    the german name for Oncorhynchus keta is 'Hundslachs' - therefore I guess it's theoretically okay to sell it as 'Wildlachs'. But it's not Salmo salar. It's up to you wether you want to call it salmon or not.

     

    This is the right answer. Salmo salar is the nice sort of Atlantic salmon. The Oncorhyncho-whatever is Pacific salmon and not as nice at all.

    1

  23. Posted

    I usually go for lunch in restaurants in the city centre in former East Germany and I usually pay between 5.50 e.g. for a chickpea and potato curry and 9 euro e.g. for Bun Bo Nam Bo or a falafel plate.

     

    I'm not sure how you define restaurants though; maybe these are bistros rather than restaurants i.e. usually I order at the counter and they don't have tablecloths.

     

    I have noticed that prices in quite a few places have gone up in the New Year e.g. a nice Thai-style vegetable curry that was 5.50 last year is now 6.50.

    1

  24. Posted

    On 30/12/2021, 17:42:57, Fietsrad said:

    Apparently there are some changes to Vertragsrecht, Contract Law, from January 1, 2022, said to favor and improve the situation of consumers/customers.

     

    A bit complicated, not sure I understand them. Besides, I do not belong to a gym.

     

    https://www.tagesschau.de/wirtschaft/das-aendert-sich-2022-fuer-verbraucher-101.html

     

    According to the linked info contracts signed from 1st of March will have a 1 month rather than 3 month notice period and they will automatically roll over for 1 month at a time, not one year, if I understand it correctly. Insurance contracts are excluded. I am not a lawyer, and I detest working out and jogging, though I do both intermittently, but not at a gym.

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  25. Posted

    11 minutes ago, john g. said:

    Is it legal to ask for ID as an adult going to a restaurant? 

     

    Yes, as they weren't sure whether Murph was a customer or a delivery of spuds 😉

     

    I was also asked for ID this week at 5 guys at Alexanderplatz and the doorman was also walking around and reminding teenagers to put on their masks when they go ... while they were still eating! Obviously a petty bureaucrat who missed his calling as a ticket inspector on the S‐Bahn...

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