Oh, that’s where a lot of stuff is now, but unfortunately it needs to go elsewhere so other stuff can go on the floor.
4 Likes
It’s a fractal problem. In order to have somewhere to put things, you need furniture. In order to have somewhere to put your furniture, you need a floor.
Step 1: assemble the universe
Step 2: assemble the galaxy
…
Step 24336327: assemble the floor
Step 24336328: assemble the furniture
Step 24336329: unpack box
(I skipped a few steps for the sake of brevity)
7 Likes
“I could go on.”
“… do.”
3 Likes
I am trying to return some things (six pairs of baseball cleats, because no one locally stocks them in sizes suitable for my daughter, and we had to order a bunch to figure out what would actually work, which is an entirely different rant.
I tried to print the return label, and the page that’s generating it has no barcode. (There appears to be a call out to UPS’s webpile that’s not getting a response, but that’s their problem to work out, not mine.) I called customer service, talked to a friendly person who told me what I was describing (minus ups not responding, because dont’ confuse them…) was “most unlikely”. I asked if we could change the return to one where they send a barcode that I show the UPS store, and they print a label for it. Except I could not come up with the word “barcode” or “QR code”, and was left saying a “thingee”. sigh.
5 Likes
Just got home after Monday night darts. Our team won our league last week, albeit rather phoning it in that night. Tonight was the cup final against tough opposition. We won a close match on the final game - and I got my first competitive 180 of the year at the business end of the deciding leg of my match. ‘Kin’ chuffed!
19 Likes
So you’ve done the double!
Which I suppose is how you’re supposed to finish a darts season?
5 Likes
Depends what you’re drinking. Sadly I was/am getting over food poisoning and a throat infection so was on orange juice and water all night.
5 Likes
This means that after 2.5 years I finally have 12 hours a week of my life back 
If anyone hears me considering doing more postgraduate study again they should probably remove my access to computers until I come to my senses 
26 Likes
“Wouldn’t you rather play [infamously long and satisfying campaign game] instead?”
7 Likes
On our way home from our game retreat with our friends… our car got effectively totaled–meaning the damage to it is probably higher than what it was still worth before the accident. So while we’re fine, the car most definitely isn’t. We got very lucky still.
Details
We were 100m before our exit on the Autobahn when the car in front of us came to a sudden stop. My partner didn’t realize immediately because the break lights didn’t turn on (some kind of damage to the clutch(?) apparently caused this). We came to a stop about 2cm behind and slightly to the left of the other car as my partner swerved to avoid hitting them. He is a good driver and his reaction was as good as could be I think. We have a much heavier car than the guy behind us who should have seen our break lights (freshly repaired even the 3rd one) and … hit us from behind. He had lost some speed luckily so we aren’t injured but our car is. No wiplash, we’re certain. No symptoms at all.
Overall we got lucky because Autobahn accidents don’t usually come without anyone getting hurt especially not when 3 cars are involved. Although the car in front of us didn’t even get a scratch.
Of course from then it took a long time. The police had to come from the opposite direction and turn around to reach us… then waiting for 3 Abschleppwagen to transport the broken cars… luckily we were already close to home and the place where they took our car was even closer to home.
It was determined by the police that the guy who hit us was the only one at fault. So this will not even need to be discussed with our insurance. Small yay.
Still we weren’t planning on buying or leasing a (new-ish) car right now and no matter what we do this will put another hole into our already stretched finances from the still-not-finished renovations.
On the other hand, we are lucky that it is only about money and nothing else. We can share my dad’s car for a while. We don’t use our car all that much. We had no immediate plans for the future that need a car. I can go for groceries by bike and we work from home. We may have a few logistical troubles… and those didn’t need to be. But we can deal and I am glad that it we didn’t even need to call an ambulance to the scene.
24 Likes
… is now my favourite word.
In all seriousness - just glad to hear you are OK.
8 Likes
Yeah, so it’s official. The repairs of the Karosserie (body?) alone would be 20.000€ because the car is apparently much more kaputt than it looks. We bought it 15 years ago for around 30k. So it’s basically Schrott (junk) now. But it did it’s job protecting us. I guess we got what we paid for. And we bought our continued health.
This also shows how expensive owning a car is. That’s 2k per year just for owning it. Add gasoline, a place to put it, insurance, taxes… I am reasonably sure the total cost per year for that particular car was around 4.5k. That is a lot of money.
I think I’ll need a while to process this.
Yes, we got lucky.
But I was already very afraid of driving on the Autobahn. A friend of ours died in an accident on the Autobahn in 2007 and that never went away in my mind. 2007 still manages to beat the 2020s candidates as my all-time worst year
I am not sure how that will work out for me from now on. I already got tension head-aches just from having to be on the Autobahn. I keep writing the German word because it’s specific to German roads. Having no Tempolimit is the WORST in my personal opinion and experience of driving in other countries. Not that it would have helped in this case, the cars were all slowing down to exit… but still… my fear is mostly rooted in the huge differences in speed you see on German freeways.
It is a good one. I had not realized just thought it would be clear from context what I meant and I just didn’t remember the English.
8 Likes
the much less interesting “tow truck”, but english being english, there are lots of alternatives, most being for specific varieties of wreckers, but not all.
5 Likes
‘tow truck’ is quite American English.
‘Breakdown lorry’ is what I grew up with.
Does ‘Abschlepp’ translate literally into English in any way?
5 Likes
Towing = Abschleppen.
Schleppen = the most literal translation is probably “to drag”
Schlepper = is also used for a ship using drag nets for fishing or for someone engaging in human trafficking.
Also abschleppen means to “pick up someone” as in “pick up artist”
6 Likes
schleppen is to tow, to haul, to drag, or to carry (which I first met from Yiddish terms becoming slang in English), and abschleppen is to carry away. See also abschleppen - Wiktionary, the free dictionary
6 Likes
Have definitely heard “to schlep” in English meaning to drag or haul something heavy, or hike up a hill with a heavy backpack in the rain.
5 Likes
For a long time the US had a national speed limit of 55mpg (just below 100kmph). When I was a kid in the 80s that got lifted and most everywhere adjusted to 65 (maybe 110 kmph?). A few places like Montana and Texas with a lot of space and few drivers went much higher. IIRC, even no speed limit after sunset or something (and in Texas you are allowed one alcoholic beverage in the car? Or is that just internet apocrypha?)
Here in DC they kept the beltway (the freeway circle that goes around the city) at 55, and so we get what you are describing. A few people driving 50, a few people driving 55 to follow the limit, a lot of people driving 65-70 because it is what everyone is accustomed to, and then of course people driving 75-80 because people be people. The lower speed limit is supposed to reduce accidents but I’m pretty sure it’s actually the cause of the mountain of accidents we get on our beltway - just what you are describing - the “huge differences in speed that you see” of cars on the same road. Fortunately here, it’s just that road. Most freeways, most people are driving between 65-75 and we’re generally aligned.
In California we had highway 280, which was designed to be a no-limit-autobahn like the German roadways. Of course, the national speed limit was then implemented, and now it has the standard 65 that you see across California. Driving on that thing was a dream, though - wide, banked turns, lots of lanes. And with the speed limit you didn’t see the speed discrepancies.
4 Likes
That particular German word is well-known to English-speakers,
4 Likes