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At least you weren't taking this train to Bremen 😃   https://youtu.be/6t45omSXncE

  I generally stay away from any company  or garage that starts with a capital A and only has a couple of letters or numbers in their name. Generally, not an established company when the name is chosen merely to appear near the top of an alphabetical list. 

I had one of the nicest meals in ages in a Turkish restaurant in Porz, Cologne, a couple of weeks ago. Big plate of Falafel, mixed salad and proper, thick cut chips for 7,50€.

You were lucky that they've shown how reputable they really are. Leave an online review.

  Small point but the document doesn't have a correct start date, it just says 'von Dezember' without a year. I would ask her to send a updated bill with the correct start date so it is crystal clear the time period she is billing you for.

There are optimal sizes of screens for how far away you will be seated away from it:   https://www.apartmentguide.com/blog/pick-proper-tv-sizes/    

  Sorry, yes, obviously it is really tough if you can't see family easily, especially if they are elderly. I meant more for journeys that friends and family assume you can make easily when it's not often the case. Apologies again.

I know it's not great for the people in the aviation industry but I'm actually happy not to feel like I have to be flying here and there for the last couple of years. We were lucky to be able to go on holidays staying in Germany and we went to areas that in all likelihood we would never have gone to without Covid international flight restrictions. 

  The Zoll couldn't give an answer why the first parcel had been impounded. The second was hit with an import fee of 2.23€ and the handling fee 6€. The shop keeper in our affiliated PO couldn't / wouldn't give me a straight answer either. I just paid. He and I have a bit of a history - a few years ago he accused me of trying to send a CD in a letter - it was actually a birthday card. So I knew he would feign ignorance even if he really did know the reason. Just an unpleasant character.   This was all earlier in the year. Maybe things have become clearer and Deutsche Post / the Zoll know the correct procedures now. I somehow doubt it.  

After firstly having to collect a present from the Zoll in Bonn and then secondly having to pay fees in our local Post Office, I've asked my sister (who lives in Northern Ireland)  not to send any presents by post - it's just not worth the hassle.

  That's very sad news..I didn't know Keith Chegwin was her brother.

There were two excellent films in the 2000s that featured Alaska: the documentary Grizzly Man and Into The Wild. Both had a similar main theme of casting off the past or the modern world and retreating into the Alaskan wilderness. (OP, not suitable for 8th graders but maybe when they are older).

  Yes, it's just to get the property noticed, get several bidders interested and hope a bidding war develops. Apparently, in Scotland, you have a closed bidding system - I always thought this is the fairest way to bid for a house and is a bit of a protection for people that they don't get caught up in a bidding war and overextend themselves financially.

Ok, just re-read your mail and it's more the 400€. I would still just contact them. 

Why don't you just email them, say it was an complete oversight on your behalf and ask them how you can transfer the money back to them? At the end of the day, 400€ is not a huge amount but you refunding it is the right thing to do.

  I always used to have a giggle when I first came to Germany seeing entire families decked out in Jack Wolfskins..cue a couple of cold winters where I was wearing normal dept store winter jackets but really feeling the cold..so I turned native and joined the club - best winter coat I've had without spending silly money. And practical in that you can wear the outer layer in spring / autumn and the inner layer as a body warmer, 3 coats in one.   We buy our children Jack Wolfskins because they are practically indestructible and they can be resold for an ok amount used.

Not sure if it's still applies but there was a joke that FIAT stood for Fix It Again Tony. Reliability? Again, industry has caught up with the Japanese but I remember watching an old Top Gear (Tiff Needell era) were they made the point of which manufacturer do you see in the Australian Outback? 9 times out of ten, a Toyota.

  So your budget is 200-250€ now 😉.   Astronomy can be a bit of a money pit as you can see. Unfortunately prices really went up in the last year as demand was up and supply down thanks to the impact of Covid. The majority of equipment gets manufactured in China now. People used to be sniffy about quality but modern manufacturing techniques has really improved the quality of Chinese optics.    That's a nice scope for a beginner (even better would be an 80mm). The good thing is it is an alt-azimuth mount. This means you don't have to point the mount northwards / set your latitude like you would with an Equatorial Mount. The disadvantage is you have to keep moving both axes to keep the target in view ( the EQ mount's advantage is you just need to move one axis to keep the target in view). The first Skylux is on an EQ mount which is not so user friendly.   Another poster suggested a Newtonian reflector on a Dobsonian mount. These are great for visual. It's a lot easier and cheaper to grind a mirror than a glass lens so you get *a lot* more aperture for your money when you buy a reflector (apperature is king for visual astronomy). Plus your mount is not made from metal but wood so more of the overall cost is spent on optics. The one caveat with Newtonian Reflectors is collimation - you will need to adjust the primary and secondary mirror's alignment periodically.    Final point: If you look after your gear, new equipment can usually be sold for 60-70% of the new price. If you buy used, you can usually just resell the equipment or eyepiece at around what you paid for it. Just make sure you buy it from a reputable seller (ie they have other optical or photographic things for sale, good reputation etc). 

  Hi, Nope, it's what's called a hobby killer on the astro forums. It's got a wobbly tripod, no finderscope, it will suffer from Chromatic Abberation (purple fringing) on the Moon and bright planets, stars because of its short focal ratio ( focal length / apperature).   This telescope is under 100€ and will show nice views of the Moon, rings of Saturn, Galilean moons and cloud bands on Jupiter, double stars, Orion Nebula (depending on how bad your light pollution is), Cresent of Venus etc.    https://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/info/p13893_Skywatcher-60-mm-Refractor-Telescope-Mercury-607-with-alt-azimuth-Mount.html   If you are ok about getting a used scope, a Skylux 70mm refractor on eBay is a good option. They were sold in Lidl around 15 years ago and are actually good scopes for their price (50€ used). Apperature of 70mm so more detail. The earlier version uses an Equatorial Mount which needs to be set up correctly. Again though, it will 'only' be Moon, planets, double stars and the brighter Deep Sky Objects (which will be a little underwhelming if you have bad light pollution).   I would also recommend a good pair of binoculars. These can be brought easily to a dark site and used to sweep the Milky Way and see Deep Sky Objects like the Andromeda Gakaxy . Something like a 8x40. Even in areas that have light pollution, the Pleiades still look lovely in binoculars.    Finally, it goes without saying but never look at the Sun with any optical device or use any type of cheap solar filter. If one comes with your scope (perhaps a used one) throw it away.    HTH  

OP, small point but I don't understand why you think your neighbour is making it up about your dog allegedly barking. If the dog has been in your yard, obviously the the tenants have seen it or at least have been aware of the dog's presence before the complaint. Unless the lady was completely oblivious to your pooch, she would have shopped you straight away if she was a nuisance neighbour. 

You've also got a new Government coming that could reduce things like tax relief for married couples.    I know a couple who bought a house and are seriously financially stretched now. They seem to rely on their parents quite a bit for financial support for unexpected expenses.

  If you combine rock bands and bacon...   https://www.facebook.com/TheCureTributeBand/

I'm pretty sure Angela Merkel's drivers will also be her bodyguards - I certainly wouldn't begrudge her this security after her time in office.

What about somewhere in Mecklenburg Vorpommern? I really liked Stralsund as a city. I have yet to go there but Schwerin is supposed to be a very nice city also. I'm sure there are more language schools there. You don't want to move somewhere too small and not have an option of a different language school if you don't get on with your original teacher/school.

ONS? Outside Netto Slurping