karin_brenig

when you say "...arranged with my boss..." I assume this arrangement with the boss has been written down somewhere? If so, you don't need to accomodate a colleague who wants to change it.   Even if you don't have it in writing, something that you arranged with your boss is not subject to change by whatever a colleague wants to do.   And, just a side note - in case you are struggling with scheduling - right now hotels anywhere/everywhere are desperately seeking help. If you walked in somewhere saying: "I can work these specific hours/days..." you'd have yourself a new job.

when you say "...arranged with my boss..." I assume this arrangement with the boss has been written down somewhere? If so, you don't need to accomodate a colleague who wants to change it.   Even if you don't have it in writing, something that you arranged with your boss is not subject to change by whatever a colleague wants to do.   And, just a side note - in case you are struggling with scheduling - right now hotels anywhere/everywhere are desperately seeking help. If you walked in somewhere saying: "I can work these specific hours/days..." you'd have yourself a new job.

short answer: no taxes to pay here.   For longer answer, read this https://tagesgeld.info/ratgeber/schenkung-von-geld/

without knowing you, or your situation, I would recommend you see your Hausarzt (family/general practitioner) first.   They can recommend a suitable specialist, refer you to one, and the consultation would be covered by GKV.

oh.... Commerzbank... the annual (or more frequent) information letters come to my house too - if Commerzbank actually uses the most current, accurate address.   They are notorious for data mess-ups like this.   And their customer "service" phone is a joke! That stupid computer has one purpose only: prevent customers from actually getting to speak to a person.   A while ago, when I struggled with them over the aftermath of my move from the US to Germany, I called around for hours - until I had this brilliant idea: I made an appointment (online) for a  "Beratungsgespräch" (in person at my branch). Pretending to need financial advice after moving back from abroad.   Poor guy... he had to fill out so many different screens (mailing address, residence address, CC billing address, contact address for my box in their vault, mailing address of my husband who has power of attorney).  All those 5 addresses had to be individually changed from the same old US address to the same new German address.   A month later, though, my new CC was sent to the old US address.... because apparantly they produce the cards way ahead of the expiration date.

  First of all - I didn't have to sort through 3000 people (those just viewed the ad). I had to sort out 300 emails. That wasn't so bad - a lot of people just write "I want to rent, let me have it".   Out of the roughly 40 decent emails, I picked the ones that explained themselves in terms of what they had to offer: 1. motivation (why do they want to rent my apartment) 2. source of income (how much do they make) 3. number of people moving in   I eliminated the ones that mentioned pets, noisy hobbies, or other potential for conflict.    

  all of that can be helpful - or not. When I last had a vacancy to fill, I posted an ad on ImmoScout.   There where over 3000 views, over 300 emails to sort through, within 10 days. Out of those 300 interested people, I invited 6 to a showing. Not all 6 at once, but individually in the order of my personal "preference". The third candidate is still renting my apartment now.   Upon my request he gave me SCHUFA and his last three paystubs. If they present a foreign ID, I'd ask to see their residence permit too. I wouldn't ask for a Führungszeugnis, or Hausratversicherung. I don't need fotos of the person, I can see for myself when we meet.

for me, being a landlord, it's irrelevant what a profile says on Immoscout. I need to get "the feel" for a potential tenant in person.   If they present themselves well in their initial email, with enough basic detail to answer my most important (obvious) questions - like why do they want to rent my apartment, what is their source of income, how many people will be moving in - I'll ask for all other documentation after we've met at the apartment and both want to sign a contract.   Sadly enough many candidates write a message like "hi, I want to rent your place. When can I have the keys?" That's not gonna fly, not even with SCHUFA or Gehaltsnachweis.

  my carry-on is a small backpack. Life's essentials go in there - and it's easier for me to carry than a purse. I always worry about losing checked bags - so the backpack serves as emergency luggage (for a potential 2 days without my suitcase).

well - freight forwarding is actually possible - but you're right "shady" describes it well. They are quite expensive and it takes a long time to get your stuff.   If the item you are buying is really "special" to you, you might want to try and find a decent forwarding service. Last time I had an "urgent" need for a very special T-Shirt, I used secure.comgateway.com It took about 2 months to get the most expensive (after shipping) $16.95 T-shirt I ever bought. I probably should have waited until my next trip to the US and bought it there.

this is probably up to code - but I wouldn't like the color in my bathroom. https://www.amazon.de/Brennenstuhl-Super-Solid-Steckdosenverteiler-Steckdosenleiste-Baustelleneinsatz/dp/B074JG69CC   this one looks a little better, but it only has the GFI switch, not the additional flaps. https://www.amazon.de/Ehmann-0221x00042301-Steckdosenleiste-Schalter-Schutzkontakt/dp/B006GC1V5E

ok, I see your point. The distance from faucet to outlet in our bathroom is 65 cm straight line. The outlet is at 45 cm above the sink and over to the right. To be splashing/spraying water onto that, you'd have to be able to aim upwards at the right angle. I haven't been able to get the outlet wet yet.   But if you have children in the house - or splash around a lot when you wash your face - you can certainly use an IP44 outlet (with a flap over it) or use one with a GFI fuse. There are even "belt and suspender" solutions available - look for IP44 Steckerleiste mit FI-Schalter

well - our bathroom already had the mirror cabinet with lights (and internal power outlet) hanging on the wall when we bought the house. We didn't like the fact, that the power outlet was inside the cabinet. You had to open the mirror door to be able to plug something in. So we added a triple outlet Had to drill a small hole into the bottom of the cabinet to feed the cable through. The triple outlet has a nice triangular shape, fits perfectly under the cabinet. All materials where available at our local Baumarkt  

well - not real sure, but I believe once you move outside of Germany, your records will be transferred from where your offices were before (Hessen) to Rentenversicherung Bund (Berlin).   The easiest way to get your Rentenauskunft, or even the full Kontenklärung, from them is online: https://www.eservice-drv.de/SelfServiceWeb/   You might have to bring a little bit of patience.... the website is down frequently, and not very user-friendly in general. Persistence is key here.   Good luck!

you're not getting my point.   Computer assisted driving/flying/working... is fine by me. Just solely computer operated - without a human pilot able to intervene - is not.