March 3, 2018

Ever gotten on the wrong train/subway/bus?

I've done that a few times in Europe. Our esteemed DFW rescued me from my mistake near Dusseldorf, and in Berlin I've caught the wrong subway twice. I am such a newbie to all this but I'm learning rapidly. Florida sucks for public transport (my only excuse), with only a few exceptions in Miami and Orlando. Not sure what Tampa/St. Petersburg have.

March 2, 2018

42! nt

March 2, 2018

I have no idea when or if I'm getting back to Europe....

so, what the hell, I'm not getting any younger or healthier (yet), so I decided to hop over to Oslo, Norway.

When I come home on March 18th, I'll have memories of Deutschland, Danmark, Sverige, Norge, Nederland, and Czechia in my brain. I love to travel, so 29 years of no European travel just exploded this time.

March 2, 2018

Going to Malmo Sweden, freezing arse off, AMA!

AMA=Ask Me Anything

At - 5C Copenhagen train station waiting for my train

February 28, 2018

Sitting in Berlin Schonefeld Airport, ask me anything

https://g.co/kgs/5vYHzb

http://www.berlin-airport.de/de/reisende-sxf/index.php

I go to Copenhagen in 2.5 hours

eta: it's Schönefeld but DU software doesn't care for the umlauted "o".

February 27, 2018

Tassle ball on ski caps, reason for it?

Decoration only or a really practical reason? Just curious

https://linguaphiles.livejournal.com/3673770.html

https://goo.gl/images/stMzWf

It is called a pom-pom, learn something new every day!

February 25, 2018

I hope all are well and warm

I'm in Germany with my DU host friend, who shall remain nameless. Germany and Berlin have been fun and a huge learning experience.

February 19, 2018

Chinese Security Allegedly Wrestled With Secret Service, John Kelly Over Trump's Nuclear Football

https://gizmodo.com/chinese-security-allegedly-wrestled-with-secret-service-1823138012

Chinese security personnel physically “skirmished” with a Secret Service agent as well as White House Chief of Staff John Kelly last year at Beijing’s Great Hall of the People over the goddamn nuclear football, according to a report in Axios on Sunday.

Per Axios, five sources confirmed that Donald Trump’s delegation was entering the Great Hall during a state visit on November 9th, 2017 before the Chinese personnel in question attempted to stop the aide-de-camp carrying the football, a metal briefcase containing US nuclear launch codes which is supposed to be near the president at all times. From there, a US official rushed into another room to advise Kelly of the situation; Kelly allegedly rushed over and told all US personnel to continue moving onward. That sparked a confrontation in which a Chinese guard grabbed Kelly, who shoved him off before a Secret Service agent “tackled him to the ground.”

Crucially, no one from the Chinese side of the alleged scuffle made physical contact with the football. Instead the incident “was over in a flash,” Axios reported, and the head of the Chinese security detail “apologized to the Americans afterwards for the misunderstanding.” But it’s not clear why the incident occurred in the first place, or whether the Chinese guards were deliberately screwing with the US delegation.

Per the Guardian, Chinese security personnel have a reputation for swagger during diplomatic visits, though never quite this serious, and the US delegation apparently erred on the side of keeping the matter quiet rather than risk undermining the trip.

February 18, 2018

Prominent Republican Donor Issues Ultimatum on Assault Weapons

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/17/us/prominent-republican-donor-issues-ultimatum-on-assault-weapons.html

A prominent Republican political donor demanded on Saturday that the party pass legislation to restrict access to guns, and vowed not to contribute to any candidates or electioneering groups that did not support a ban on the sale of military-style firearms to civilians.

Al Hoffman Jr., a Florida-based real estate developer who was a leading fund-raiser for George W. Bush’s campaigns, said he would seek to marshal support among other Republican political donors for a renewed assault weapons ban.

“For how many years now have we been doing this — having these experiences of terrorism, mass killings — and how many years has it been that nothing’s been done?” Mr. Hoffman said in an interview. “It’s the end of the road for me.”

Mr. Hoffman announced his ultimatum in an email to half a dozen Republican leaders, including Jeb Bush and Gov. Rick Scott of Florida. He wrote in the email that he would not give money to Mr. Scott, who is considering a campaign for the Senate in 2018, or other Florida Republicans he has backed in the past, including Representative Brian Mast, if they did not support new gun legislation.

February 16, 2018

people are basically good, but we in general are basically selfish

THIS IS THE MENTAL HEALTH SUPPORT GROUP. Abrasive and nasty comments not welcome here.

That's how I view humanity. I include myself in the selfish category at times, but we can overcome it at times of course. Or most of the time, or almost all the time, or...not at all. The sociopaths/psychopaths are selfish like 99.99% of the time and only appear to be unselfish when trying to gain their objectives.

People are basically good. Call me naive, but that's how I see us. Case in point: During my trip to Germany, a DUer here (who I will not name because I don't have his/her permission) is allowing me to stay overnight with him/her. Very generous IMHO.

Another lady on another forum is offering to meet me for coffee in Hamburg. She doesn't know me and I damn sure don't know her, but hey, she sees I will need a bit of company in Germany and we might have fun talking about Germany etc. I think she's an ok human and we're both harmless I think. Just humans being nice humans.

ETA: Another case in point, I was in Chicago last year and met up with mopinko. Great lady and GREAT DOG bif!

I could go on, but yes, I was inspired to write this today. Please don't let the horrible news obscure this, to me, basic fact. We humans get swayed in bad directions but ultimately I think we are good. I cannot see us as "bad", that would ruin my life.

At any rate...have a wonderful day!

Steve