arunadasi

  Also, my accountant never sent me a bill for doing last year's tax calculation (2018). I sent her the docs for 2019 recently and reminded her about the overdue invoice. She said she'll do both together now. I'm not used to this kind of attitude.

  I honestly think  Barry wouldn't follow up, and his secretary -- whom I paid it to -- forgot the last time. Good thing I'm honest, right?

Frankly, not much has changed in this supposedly stricter lockdown. People wear masks in the shops and supermarkets, but that's about it. Lots of non-essential shops are still open, and the streets are not dead as they were in the first lockdown.  My daughter's about to deliver and after that I'll move in with her for child care. There are no border controls, no sign of any weirdness. She is still on the other side and will be there for the next two years. There are a few signs in Northern Ireland near the border saying No Hard Brexit and such, but people seem to be just waiting and seeing. I'm not aware of any panic; but then, I hardly see anyone except close family and supermarket cashiers. 

Bumping this thread because I have a result! First of all, I decided to let it go to court. The first court date I got was in April, and it was postponed twice due to Covid. So the date was this morning, 10.30. I'd decided to hire a lawyer. I know a lovely lawyer just five minutes walk from my home, whom I'd met earlier this year in another matter. I went to him just after lockdown opened so I was one of his first clients after lockdown and it was all a bit disorganised -- he really is lovely, which is not a work I've ever used on a German lawyer!!! He practically chatted to me for an hour; looked up Guyana on the computer screen, asked me about it, told me about his experiences in French Africa, gave me advice about where to live in the area, told me a bit about the Troubles, all in this cosy Irish accent. But lots of folk here are like this. Loads of time for chats. I'd asked him about the speeding charge back then and he said he didn't represent that kind of case. That the judge usually gives lenient sentences to murder cases and draconian sentences to minor traffic stuff, but he'd help. He is actually a prosecutor, but for murder stuff. He did a power of attorney for me and said it wasn't worth the paper it was written on because anybody could buy a stamp and attach a few ribbons to it. Anyway.  They did iin fact refer me to a different lawyer who gave me a spot of advice, but when it actually came to court Barry (that's his name) did represent me.   What a morning! They made us stand outside in the cold for half an hour before a locked door, only allowing lawyers and staff and Garda in, and then I sat outside the courtroom for a further hour. Barry kept rushing to and fro, told me when I go to the witness stand I should just say I'd moved home, that was all; that I never got the first speeding offence notice. Lots of people, mostly Garda, in face-masks milling about; it all seemed rather chaotic.   A bit disappointing as I had prepared a whole case with lots of evidence and arguments. I was finally called in. It was over in 2 seconds. I had to go to the witness box, sanitise my hands, pick up the Bible and swear on it to tell the truth. They established that I wasn't living at the old address the notice was sent to. A second later they were waving me to go away. They weren't interested in the fact that I wasn't the driver. Just that I'd moved home before the offence and didn't get the letter. I went outside and Barry came out and said I was being sent to prison for 14 years but he'd visit me there. And then he laughed and said the case was dismissed and I should drop the €50 into his office. Which I did. I didn't get a receipt; I didn't last time, either. So I basically saved myself €110. Nice! Sorry to ramble on a bit instead of just saying that last bit. I just find the way things are done over here so interesting! The other lawyer never charged me, btw.  

    Except even in a ten kilometre radius where I live there are at least ten border crossings, some little more than grass tracks. My daughter's cousin-in-law lives on a country road that IS a border road -- she lives in ROI, across the road, open fields that are NI. Apart from that, they couldn't close down completely. hundreds if not thousands of people live on one side of the border and work on the other, including my son in law. Most have double nationality and can't be kept out of either side.

Did I really write this two years ago?   Covid 19 has effectively closed the border. The border counties of Monaghan, Cavan, and Donegal are now at level 4 in Ireland and the rest of Ireland, with much lower infection rates as these counties, are still at Level 3. I expect there will be gardai on the prowl, stopping cars and asking what you're up to and where you're off to.

I loved those bits!   The accent I've heard is part of his appeal in the movie.

Has anyone posted Knives Out? I saw it in the cinema and it is fantastic -- a real whodunnit! Th einterview with Jamie Lee Curtis and Daniel Craig in the next video is also great. I think I'll watch it again.   It's now on Amazon Prime:  

Happy Birthday Fraufruit! Or am I late?

Is the air clear? No beasties around? Then OK, it's safe for me to post!   Good News!!!   Last year, the incomparable PandaMunich sent me an article (not sure if it was this exact one) that reported a new development: someone in the same situation had initiated a judicial decision on the payment of Versorgungsausgleich after the death of the ex-partner, and won.   https://www.tz.de/muenchen/stadt/muenchen-renten-wahnsinn-muenchner-musste-viel-geld-fuer-verstorbene-ex-frau-zahlen-11607444.html     She suggested that I should do the same. So I did. I contacted the lawyer mentioned in that article, Mr Werling of Pforzheim, and he fought the case for me.   Early September 2020, the good news: I won! It's now rechtskraeftig. That means I get several hundred Euros more of my widow's pension, as well as back payment up to 1st October last year. Quite a windfall!   So I'm posting this for your information: if you, or someone you know, is in the same situation, let them know that they can fight it and win. At the moment there are two lawyers in Germany who are representing pensioners in this situation, as outlined in this summary:   https://www.freiburg-nachrichten.de/2017/10/21/neue-urteile-stirbt-die-ex-frau-bekommt-man-als-rentner-teile-des-versorgungsausgleichs-zurueck/   I do think, though, that I'm the first widow of a pensioner in Germany to have won such a case. 

OK, go for it! I have Netflix and Amazon Prime. Things I've watched recently and liked:   Last night, a remake of The Whole Wide World with Renee Zellwanger and Vincent D'Onofrio (whom I'd never heard of before); a love story based on the real-life story of Robert Howard. Both lead actors were brilliant; I really enjoyed it, but kept falling asleep and may have missed parts of it. Amazon Prime   Self Made: True story of a black woman who became the first female millionaire in the USA through marketing hair products. Excellent, even if you aren't into hair products! Netflix   Our Kind of Traitor: loved it. Based on a book by John LeCarre. I've loved all his books and all the movies made of them, except The Little Drummer Girl, which was a series last year and I couldn't get into it. (There was an earlier movie of Little Drummer Girl which was filmed partly in Freiburg when I was studying there, and there was a call for people to apply to act in the crowd scenes. I came for the audition, but the place was so crowded I left again. I actually think they might have picked me, for diversity!) Anyway -- I really liked this film. LeCarre's work always has a very human element to it; the spy stories are not just blood and violence and war. They are moving.   This might not be to everyone's taste, but I really enjoyed Greenleaf, a US series about a black mega-church with all the ingredients of a soap opera a la Dallas, money, intrigue, scandal etc.    I started binge watching a few series but gave up.  The first season of YOU was very good but I gave up on the second series. I started Ozark but couldn't really get into it. OK that's it for now. What are you people watching?  

As this isn't in Germany I'm posting it here. Last September, my son got a speeding ticket driving my car. But I never received it, because the car was still registered to  my old address, which was a b&b in the country. I guess they never forwarded it. So I had no idea.   Anyway. So the whole thing escalated and I got a summons two weeks ago, to appear at court. I could avoid this by paying a double fine of €160 at the post office. Paying the fine would get me 3 points; a conviction would get me 5 points. But I was not the driver so I put my son's details on the payment slip -- he was of course ok to pay the fine and take the points. But it was not accepted because  it needs to be in my name, as it's my car. So I wrote them a letter explaining.   Yesterday they called me and very nicely explained that the only choices I have  now is pay the fine and accept the 3 points on my own licence, or go to court, explain to the judge, and  hope he lets me off. because a ) I wasn't the driver and b ) I never got the first letter. If the judge convicts me I'd get the five points on my own licence -- the first points I've ever had in my life! and my insurance will go up.  Both daughter and son think I should risk it. Explain to judge that I am 68 and never had any points and if I'd got the letter it would have been paid immediately (of course by my son). What do you think? My tendency is to take the easy way out and just accept the 3 points.

Not trying to be morbid here, just thinking ahead and being realistic. My German husband is a good deal older than I am (I am 56) and since I am in excellent health and he suffers from a chronic illness, I am likely to outlive him. I am his second wife. He receives a pension, from which he pays his first wife a good chunk as "Versorgungsausgleich". If he should die before me I will get a "Witwenrente"; does anyone know if I will have to continue paying the Versorgungsausgleich to the first wife out of that?