arunadasi

  I read that a few days ago -- it is hilarious! Was going to post it here but forgot. What times we are living in! Somewhere there is a judge which would have let her win -- I've seen stranger things.

What actually surprises me is the LACK of people taking advantage of the 2km exercise thing. That field with car park I mentioned above? It's literally the only off-road place within walking distance of our compound. Yet I have never met another person walking there, never seen another person walking there; it's visible from my balcony and is always empty. I am the only person who goes there. When I walk along the road, yes, I pass a few people (we avoid each other; one person steps on to the road) but they are few.   The only other place to walk to is into town. There is a small lake in the centre of town but you can no longer walk around it, just walk up and down or sit on a bench. Few people are there, ever.   It basically means people aren't bothering to exercise at all -- or else they all have running or rowing machines in their homes. Or swimming pools in their basement... It's strange. They really do stay indoors all the time, except for the kids.

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I actually think I phoned somebody at HMRC once to say that I couldn't fill in the form as I had a foreign postcode.  I can't remember exactly what she said, but she told me to do something or other and I got in after that. But in the end they don't really care. My rental income is under the threshold and I don't pay any tax so maybe they really just ignore it.

    I did try once. I was sent from pillar to post and ended up at some office near the police station. The lady there was extremely suspicious. She said, I don't know you at all! I've never seen you! How can I sign this thing to verify your identity! I won't sign it! I have to consult with my superior!    The bank wouldn't go near it. They don't sign papers they are not familiar with, even though there is an English translation on the document. Trust me, I'd do this if I could! I ended up going back to Dublin.    

For the few interested in following Ireland's stats, this is a very good Twitter thread. I'm not a fan of twitter usually but here you do get updated info regularly. https://twitter.com/IrishDataViz   According to this, 500000 people less infected than would have been the case without social distancing.

There is a very beautiful and large park and forest nearby, but it is 3 km away so too far. And anyway, they have closed it now. But when last we went, there were a lot of people enjoying the fresh air and yet we were still able to keep a distance from everyone else. But -- I'll make do with my field. It makes walking a chore rather than a pleasure, but I can take it... this is not a complaint.

  Well, I guess it is envy on my part. We are allowed to go out for exercise within a 2 km radius and I don't have a bike so I'm very limited. The rules say nothing about driving there -- just about the radius, but there's nowhere nice to drive to, and there is nowhere even halfway scenic in  2 km walking distance from my home. I do live at the edge of town but I have to walk along a main road to get to a rather rough-looking field with a car park and an asphalt path around it. That's it. If  there was somewhere nice like in the photo in that radius I would certainly go, and it would be absolutely within my right to do so; and I would still practice social distancing. Caveat: I'm not sure what the rules are in D. So maybe I was overly appreciative. My bad. ETA: anyway, it's only on TT and I'm pretty sure there is nobody here who take J2's post as an open invitation to descend into the Bavarian mountains!  

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Yes, she had a standard contract, but she's long gone. Someone else took over as Hauptmieter. Since it was a really nice flat, and there was no end of students to choose from, and most students get their parents to underwrite their contract, she felt it was OK. Well, I should say I felt it was OK since I underwrote her contract, that is, I paid it directly to the landlady and daughter paid me back!

I gave one of those greens. I gave it not to encourage him but because it is beautiful. I assumed it is legal to mountain bike there, and if it is legal, then why not?  

  Off-topic, but that Lebensbescheinigung will be the death of me, no pun intended.  The various German pension services requires it every year. I have to go to the Embassy in Dublin to get it. The problem is I have three separate German pensions (Beamten, normal, public service) and they each require their own Bescheinigung every year! This year I got the Embassy to make copies of the original so I could use those, but no, each of these want their own document, meaning I have to go 3 times as they come at different times of the year. When the public service one refused to accept the Beamten one I wrote them to say I can't go to Dublin during lockdown and they agreed to wait. I know they say you can get it signed by other institutions such as bank, police etc. I tried this but nobody would do it.   As there is no such thing as an Anmeldung in Ireland, they take my word for it that I live at the given address. At least they can confirm that I am alive, which is the main thing!

@katheliz broken link?      

My daughter went through this in Freising a couple years ago. At first she was subletting from the main tenant, in a three-woman WG. But then the Hauptmieterin finished her studies and moved out, so my daughter became the main tenant, and she got to choose her flatmates. As long as you feel able to deal with the landlady yourself, no problem. Daughter had to pay the entire rent, which was something under 900, and collect rent from the others.

Lock them up!