pmd

  We watched the Street religiously every Monday and Wednesday. There's the (true) story of when Deirdre was having her affair with Mike in the late 70s. The night she went back to Ken coincided with a midweek match at Old Trafford - the tannoy announced the news at halftime and a big cheer went up lol

Gary Halpin, Irish international hammer thrower and rugby union player has died. He was only 55. RIP.   https://www.independent.ie/sport/rugby/former-ireland-rugby-international-gary-halpin-has-passed-away-aged-55-40126751.html

  That's a bit oxymoronic!

  I would certainly demand a good severance package. I don't have direct experience in Germany but in Ireland, I went through a redundancy and those affected also got access to an Employment Consultant and could go to job interviews during their notice period. I'm not sure what is the norm in Germany, perhaps others could advise.   As for leaving on good terms, I think you have to make a judgement on this by how big or small the sector you are working in is. 

There is a really dangerous 4 way intersection in my neighbourhood. The primary axis is the Haupstrasse. The problem is traffic (specifically LKWs) wanting to turn left (from the Hauptstrasse) through a break in the oncoming traffic at the intersection. There is a amber flashing left arrow for them while the pedestrian crossing at the top of the connecting street has a green. The major issue is pedestrians, scooters and bikes (I know the latter should be using the other side of the street) trying to cross 'late' from the same side as the LKW is coming from.   What causes the problem is that because the left-turning drivers can turn through a gap, they tend to make hasty decisions and accelerate when a gap presents itself, right into the pedestrian crossing.   Also, as the traffic moves forward from the stop line when the amber arrow appears - there is no way to make eye contact with the first driver. This can be done when they are stopped on red at the stop line and the pedestrian is already at the crossing.   Is there any point contacting the Stadt about this? Ask for a delay in the Amber Arrow appearing? Has anyone successfully changed traffic light timings like this? It's got to the stage were I won't cross even on green if  I come late to the junction and there is traffic waiting to turn. I have seen others though have near misses.   Thanks for any advice. I'm in NRW by the way.    

   Yes, it was really 'dumb' wasn't it!! Silly me. Thank you for pointing out the 'dumbness' of it. And you even created a lovely little picture. Thank you.  

  I'm afraid I only have Wikipedia as a source but it says no helmet restrictions in Germany:   https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicycle_helmet_laws_by_country   (Sorry, should have read the remainder of the thread)

Ah, Germans and cycling. I'm not sure when cycle lessons in Grundschule started but it seems to have had the opposite affect on a huge portion of those that took part. And it's not just younger cyclists - everyone age group seems to be affected.  Most of the things have already been mentioned. Others: The cyclist going down the one-way street; ditto but on the footpath, full pelt; the cyclist not looking behind and doing a proper hand signal when changing lanes etc.    Another thing that irritates me  - you see a whole family out for a cycle but it's only the kids wearing helmets. If the adults deem it necessary for the children to wear them, why do the adults insist on not wearing them? 

 

  Well, I think we all want to know if the boat he doesn't like rocking turns out in fact to be the love boat! Good luck   

  I think most people have enough cop on to know when they have to take a couple of days off - or at least it was the case when I worked in Ireland. Of course, there were a couple of co-workers who were notorious for pulling sickies..our IT company had a few rounds of redundancies in the 2000s, funnily enough they were let go early on. On the other hand, we had a guy that would come in sneezing and coughing,  it drove everyone crazy in meetings. It wasn't even the case he was indispensable to the team. 

  Sorry, she is the landlady, she doesn't get to pick and choose when she gets involved. If you have a valid concern, she has to intervene. That's the responsibility of property ownership.   In these types of disputes, you have to document everything. I would write a letter to her documenting the number of times you were forced to park on the street in a month because of your neighbours. Include photos. Make clear because of security, winter weather etc, parking on rhe street is *not* an option for you.   Now see how much the rent is for a garage in your home town. Calculate the price you would have to pay to rent the garage for this time. In my letter, I would say that unless a dividing wall is built, this is how much rent I will withdraw paying.   This will get your landlady involved.  

Phil Spector, legendary record producer and convicted murderer has died in prison    https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/phil-spector-death-age-cause-lana-clarkson-b1788588.html

I just read an article about Brexit charges and fees for British exporters. There is a 'disbursement charge' mentioned for parcels:   and third, a “disbursement charge” which is set at different levels in each EU country with a minimum of about €14 per parcel, or calculated as a percentage of the value of the goods, whichever is the higher, plus VAT in the destination country. This covers the costs of the tax authority in the recipient country inspecting and processing the parcels.   https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/jan/17/shock-brexit-charges-are-hurting-us-say-small-british-businesses?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other