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Who could withstand those beautiful eyes?
Cool article! Thanks for sharing! Our German ones are tiny and comparatively boringly coloured - they have zebra stripes
I've never been to Germany before, and I'm worried about things like, will I have enough euros (from what I hear, credit cards aren't widely accepted in Germany), will my flights be on time, will my phone work, will the language issue be a problem (I haven't spoken German since high school and I have forgotten most of it), will I NOT look like a stupid tourist, etc.
I mean, if it was just me, then that would be one thing. But my dad is coming with me and I don't want to let him down.
I've never been to Germany before, and I'm worried about things like, will I have enough euros (from what I hear, credit cards aren't widely accepted in Germany), will my flights be on time, will my phone work, will the language issue be a problem (I haven't spoken German since high school and I have forgotten most of it), will I NOT look like a stupid tourist, etc.
I mean, if it was just me, then that would be one thing. But my dad is coming with me and I don't want to let him down.
Credit cards are indeed not commonly used nor accepted. We use what is called an EC card. It works like a credit card but it draws on your account at once, not a month later like the credit card does. Hotels and car rentals will accept credit cards, for everything else you have to pay cash.
For the latter, there are ATMs everywhere. Check with your bank before you come over: often, banks have alliances and that means that at the ATM of the German partner bank you'll get charged less (or perhaps even no) booking-fee.
Flights are usually on time (German punctuality is no rumour but a fact). Even if there's a delay at departure, the trip from the US is so long that the plane can make up an hour, particularly if the wind comes from the back. Do you fly in to Munich or Frankfurt? Munich is ok, but Frankfurt is a maze in which even natives occasionally get lost.
Do you have a triband phone? That one will work on our frequencies. If you can give me the brand and model, I can check on German websites if it'll work
The language is no prob at all. Everyone in Germans learns at least the basics of English at school. And with the many refugees we got these last 3 years, most people have lost their inhibitions to speak English
You'll only look like a stupid tourist if you get stone drunk. Remember that our beer has more alcohol than yours. Speaking of which: they charge you a fortune for a beer at the Oktoberfest, so take care they fill the stein properly. There's a line on the inside marking how far the beer (not the foam!) must reach. If it doesn't reach that mark, it's your right to have them fill it up properly. If they don't you can sue them.
Munich isn't that far from my place (a good hour by car). I'll PM you my phone number so that you can contact me in an emergency. Also, a cousin of mine works with the Munich police. Might come handy in emergencies
There seem to be a lot of strange coincidences in my life lately. Most of them center around my dad.
A couple of days ago I was installing my mom's Ring doorbell. I had no idea I'd become a temporary stonemason to do so, but that's unrelated.
Anyway, I went to screw the angled mounting plate onto her door frame and the screw that came with everything had too small of a head and went right through the mounting slot. I went down to her basement to search through all of the hardware my dad had collected through the years. I found the washers I was looking for, but in the process, I happen to notice a little variety kit of retaining rings. I don't know why, but I made a mental note of them
Yesterday I went to open my car's back hatch and it didn't open. Grrr...so I climb into the (tiny) cargo area over my folded back seats and take off the interior panel so I can access the mechanics. The latch mechanism's Bowden cable had become detached from the handle's lever. I take a look at the bent end of the Bowden cable and at the handle's lever and see that the cable inserts a hole in the lever with a little plastic clip holding it all together. Assemble it, test it, it works a couple of times, then it doesn't. The cable had become detached again. Take a closer look at the bent end and it has a little groove around it toward the inside of where it would be in the lever.
AHA!
It needed a retaining ring! I grabbed my dad's kit, found some rings that are about the size I thought I needed, and attempted to install one on the end of the cable. Well, it was a lot easier said than done. I had to do it blind as it was inside the hatch's body at the back of the lever. I swore and yelled a lot (one of the things I did inherit from my dad is his tendency to yell and swear a lot when fixing things), lost a few of the rings inside of the hatch's panel, but persisted until I had actually installed it!
So now I have a fixed hatch release because I had to dig through my dad's belongings to find a small washer to install my mom's Ring doorbell.
That was just one of the many coincidences related to my dad lately.
I was thinking (and suggesting) only the first name.
Alternatively, you could name the thread something like "South Jerseyans please read" and then explaining the problem without telling any name, asking the person to whom it applies to establish contact via PM. I think that'd be completely conform to all rules.
I love it when a plan comes together like that, finding a useful unrelated part that becomes a working substitute in a different application.
Back when I owned my first car (Volvo station wagon [estate car]), I had a peculiar thing happen -- while accelerating up an on-ramp to the highway, the accelerator cable snapped. The gas pedal fell to the floor and the engine idled... no power. I had enough momentum to glide off the road onto the shoulder. From there, I was able to discover that the cable snapped, a high tensile strength cable that couldn't be bent/twisted back together. If only I could pull it by some other means. That's when I remembered I had a length of thin rope that I'd put in the back for a completely unrelated purpose. I bent the cable coming from the throttle assembly into a loop, secured it with duct tape, then attached the rope to it. I threaded the rope through the firewall into the driver's side of the cabin and had enough to get a good grip with my hand to pull it. I could pull to accelerate and drive the car! Because it was an automatic transmission, it was much more feasible than had it been a manual transmission. I could drive home, then later order the replacement cable and install it.
Congratulations at the successful repairs, Scribble!
It's a very rare occurance in my experience that you find the spare parts you need. Usually they hide until you gave up, went to the DIY-shop, bought what you needed and finished the repairs. The day after, they'll come out of hiding.
I've often heard the buzzing drone of the cicadas, and I've always enjoyed the sound. It would bring to mind images of hot, hazy summer afternoons, and I found it rather peaceful. But I had never actually seen one, and hadn't really been motivated to research them in any way. I just assumed they were some tiny little insect that produced this noise. (Those of you who are more familiar with them can stop laughing now.)
So, it happened that I came across this huge dead insect in the parking lot at work this past week. Like I thought horseflies were big, but this thing was huge (in insect terms, anyway). I admit, it kinda freaked me out, because I had never seen anything like it before. Here is a picture with my foot in frame, so you can get a sense of the scale. (Sorry, I should have dropped a coin near it or something.)
And here's the insect in close-up. I'm going to spoiler-code this, so you don't have to see it if you don't want to. (Note that even if you don't mind large insects, this one appears to have suffered some bodily trauma.)
Like I said, this one was already dead, but if something like this had flown at me while still alive... I'd probably still be screaming.
So I had to find out what this eldritch insect was. A few Google searches later, and I discovered it was a cicada. I had no idea. So now instead of seeming soothing, their buzz sounds more like the angry cry of a winged demon, lurking just out of sight, taunting the innocent passers-by as they wait for their opportunity to strike... :shudder:
(I know, I know, in the grand scheme of things, there are much worse out there. I guess I'm just not a fan of large insects. Spiders are OK, though. )
Grrr, darned firewall at my office blocks all images. I can have a look at your monster only after work, at home.
Don't be afraid, though: most cicadas are tiny (around 1 cm, often sven smaller). You just happened to come across their version of Goliath. Maye he escaped from someone's terrarium?
