optimista

Rubbing noses innit gets you nowhere fast.

If nobody is near, I'd count it as fairly private... as long as you are al fresco, mind.   I remember that Swiss guy who dropped one and then screamed at us to stay away from him! I was completely floored.

Why would they come out of their holes? I guess they are not expecting much generosity from you "victors".

Can't be arsed to argue. The band is backing a trumpet trio... Magnificent. Thank you for this. Which one is you?

Hardly. There are no trumpets in an English brass band. Specially not Fodens. Were you on 3rd cornet Spider?

Learned behaviour.

Metall! You know that music is a bridge between enemies. And that life is short!   Fodens is a brass band, by the way. (He didn't make it into the Big Band... spot of name dropping there... but I'll forgive that if he reveals the secret of how he mis-spent his youth)

That was my experience with Germans

Dessa is a flautist if I remember correctly. Tor is a singer. I can feel a TT band coming on.   Come on Spider. Spill the beans. What did you play?

Maybe just get a lawyer on the job? Have you got Rechtschutz?

If you live in Germany you need medical insurance. Which does not come cheap. JohnG (insurance broker) will be along shortly no doubt. If you are here and register later rather than sooner, you may find yourself saddled with medical insurance payments backdated to your date of arrival when you join the public medical insurance system. Being non-EU you will have to apply for a third country residence permit if you want to stay long-term. I doubt you will gain anything by procrastinating. If you leave after a visit of longer than 90 days be prepared to tell them why you do not have a visa when you leave the country.   I am not a lawyer.

Today it is nice and snowy in North Eastern France. Very picturesque. Hopefully this will be our one week of Winter.   They  knew it was coming... but failed to grit the roads (vent)... even the main road to Colmar (vent). Had to be out the door at 8 a.m. (vent) armed with a mugshot. But it is not me... there is this weird distortion so I have a big jaw and mouth and small eyes and forehead... very flattering... (vent) to go and get FINGERPRINTED (vent) for my residence permit (vent). Residence permit note, not nationality. As I do not yet (vent) have French nationality I have to have a residence permit (vent). So, 9 o'clock appointment at Colmar through the snow on untreated roads. Vent. It says on my "invitation" that if I am 5 minutes late they will not process me. Vent. So, I am there well in advance. I did try to change the appointment on-line to later in the day, but their programme would not entertain me. VENT. Just an error code (VENT)... you cannot communicate with them any other way than online (VENT)... so bright and early it was.   At the door to the building, two uniformed heavies have not got my name on their list of people to let in... but let me in anyway... I go to the counter indicated on my "invitation"... but it has changed... I am told to wait until called by someone's invisible and distant colleague. I tell them I am a bit deaf. They look at me like I am from Mars. I sit down. A lady at the counter where I should have been calls a name - twice - from behind her mask and a thick pane of plexiglass. Nobody moves. Didn't get the name. Sounded like Mme Sing. There is an Asian-looking lady in the queue. Doubtless she is deaf too and they cannot pronounce her name. Nobody moves. I keep my face shut. So does the lady behind the counter. Time ticks on. 8.55 a.m. I get up and mooch around. A young man sticks his head over his pane of plexiglass as I am passing and shouts My Name. Recognisably. On time. My heart soars like a bird. Full of hope. He waves me through and we get down to procedure. I ask him what permit he will be issuing because I need a permanent one. Not one year or five years. He looks at me like I am from Mars. It is going to be be good for 10 years. That's as permanent as it gets. Not him who decides anyway. He just does the fingerprints. I hand over my distorted mugshot. He sticks it on a piece of card and I have to do a legible signature in a box. Nowhere does it say 10 years.  For the fingerprints I have to put my right hand on an electronic finger print reader. Click. Left hand. Oh dear. My stage 3 Dupuytren prevents me from laying my crooked little finger flat. Only three fingers come up on the screen. Computer is confused. No click. I laugh like a drain. The man looks at me like I am from Mars. Again. He fetches his colleague. Hushed exchange. Furrowed brows. She fetches her colleague. They don't know what to do to make the computer like me. I have to put both thumbs on the reader. Click. They are not sure if it has worked though. They will be in touch. I leave. Without residence permit. Can't wait. VENT  

Once had them in Scunthorpe! Which is pretty far south. My dad fetched us out to admire the night sky but we were too young to be impressed.

In theory...

Yes, we used to chant it. But we still didn't actually fart in public.