bramble

  Exactly. I have no problem saying "Entschuldigung, ich war vor Ihnen dran". No arguments. Usually the person says sorry. And it's forgotten. 

  Same here. I have never used it. Because I have no hanging space I dry my laundry in a tumble dryer and towels etc. come out nice and soft. The same effect as when the washing blows in the wind on a washing line, which is what I used to do when the kids were small. A long time ago, when there was no fabric softener. I also don't like it, when the laundry smells perfumed. 

  Should be EU-wide, especially in Greece.

The forum experts haven't turned up yet, but I did some googling until they do and found this:  https://www.krankenversicherung-auslaender.de/krankenversicherung-fuer-auslaendische-rentner-in-deutschland.html It seems it's possible if you have previosly paid into the German social insurance system.     Translation: Securing livelihood for non-EU aliens in accordance with § 5 Para. 1 No. 1 of the Residence Act:  How can you, as a foreign pensioner, take out health insurance in Germany if you do not come from the countries of the European Union and need a residence permit with an obligation to secure your livelihood? Of course, you are also obliged to have health insurance in Germany if you do not come from the countries of the European Union. However, this is somewhat different in your case. If you want to travel to Germany to spend the evening of your life here, you will probably need a residence permit with an obligation to secure your livelihood in accordance with § 5 Para. 1 No. 1 of the Residence Act (§ 5 Para. 1 No. 1 AufenthG). In this case, a person resident in Germany must guarantee that their livelihood, including medical coverage, is guaranteed in Germany. With the obligation to secure your livelihood, you no longer fulfil the requirements for a statutory health insurance fund. Voluntary insurance in a statutory health insurance fund is also not possible. You only have the option of private health insurance. Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator      

From what I gather, If your son should return to Germany some time in the future he can rejoin the Krankenkasse he was with while he was here.    https://www.krankenkassen.de/ausland/rueckkehr-krankenversicherung-deutschland/     Translation:   Since the health reform in 2007 there is a compulsory insurance in Germany. Everyone must insure themselves against illness, even those who come to Germany from abroad. The principle applies that everyone must be insured in the health insurance policy in which they were last insured. This means in detail: Those who previously lived in Germany and were insured there in a statutory health insurance fund also return to the statutory health insurance fund. The choice of statutory health insurance is free. Here you can apply for a health insurance change before you return. If you have worked abroad and had social insurance there, you can join a German statutory health insurance when you return. Here you can apply for this health insurance online. Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator

It's probably an area deliberately left uncultivated for bees and butterflies and other insects. It's often encouraged these days. 

Thank God there was a happy ending to that story, John. A while back I saw a video about a dog that had been drenched in petrol and then set fire too. Also in Greece. He was saved and nursed back to life by the vet who treated him, who then kept him. It's amazing how these poor dogs can still learn to trust humans again. Monsters who torture animals like that usually end up serial killers. There must be a quite a few in Greece. 

  I saw a report on German TV a few years ago about this subject and apparently a number of women when they use public toilets seem to prefer to stand on the lavatory seat to pee instead of sitting down, which causes all the urine splashes on the seat and the floor. Weird. I hadn't realised until then that there is this problem. Here are some German articles on the subject, so it's not really so uncommon it seems:  https://www.google.com/search?q=damentoiletten+verschmutzt&rlz=1C1CHBH_deDE788DE788&oq=damentoiletten+verschmutzt&aqs=chrome..69i57.15677j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

  This doesn't work. My father was an alcoholic and he found every single hiding place. Unfortunately, he was also a violent man. 

  Your language is quite confusing. Isn't eating and consuming the same?  Eating (also known as consuming) is the ingestion of food,

  I know. It's nature's way of culling. 

  Yes, but nature doesn't care about that, does she? She's telling us enough is enough - or else. Elsewhere in nature there are checks when populations expand too much. 

  This pescetarion absolutely agrees with this.

  I've learned something new. Dear me, it's getting just as confusing as the gender definitations.

  The planet would probably be better off without us anyway. There are too many of us. I'm not joking. Looking at the long history of Earth since the beginning she has overcome many natural "catastrophic" events. We only think in terms of catastrophe if we fear our own extinction, which is going to happen at some point in the far future anyway. Of course, it's silly to sit back and wait for it to happen if we can do something to slow the process. But finally Earth will just shake it off and continue to exist without us and carry on producing other life forms until the final end.