Above a label from one of four bottles of "Lisini" 1998 that I have rotting in my kitchen. That's right. They are rotting. Once they were magical bottles of wondrous wine. Then the reality set in. To remind me of what Italian stuck-up wine makers have done to something as simple as wine, these bottles … Continue reading Wine Mis Advice
Tag: Expat
Highest Hoard
Comparisons. Compare on a daily basis living between countries. What a bore. What a drag. But sometimes a comparison or three is worth it. Especially when I'm visiting "home". Like. Reading the articles below, for example. Couldn't help but think about all the times I've walked around Germaninland in the middle of night only to … Continue reading Highest Hoard
Bank Real Concern
Yes. It's true. Banks are really concerned about your welfare. They care about you. They care about you as much as any corporate institution can care. Most importantly bank institutions care about you so much they will go to great lengths to make sure you and their money is ok. And for that we should be … Continue reading Bank Real Concern
Brake Driving
There are two (more) things today to say about driving on the Autobahn. Well, actually, there are a lot more things to be said but I don't feel like typing so much this morn. For example. If you ever want to know how Germany works, you know, as a way to figure out why such … Continue reading Brake Driving
Better Left Unsaid?
There are two things about the Borg... Sorry. There are two things about the Germanins that scares the beejeezus out of me. The first thing is the bureaucracy (of this my adopted home). The second is the politics that feeds that bureaucracy. Worst-writer learned quickly upon moving abroad how nations act not unlike individuals. That is, nations reflect … Continue reading Better Left Unsaid?
Collective Fraud = New Worldcup Flatscreens
Read an article this morn that set me off, dear worst-reader. Good luck with this one. The worldcup is coming and so too the NEED for a new TV. Indeed. But there's one problem. No one can afford a new TV. Germania is broke. What? You don't believe worst-writer that Germania is broke? Why? Because … Continue reading Collective Fraud = New Worldcup Flatscreens
Taxation Equals Everybody
Subtitle: Taxation Makes Everybody Equal. Yeah, right! Sub-Subtitle: No Seriously. Germans can do nothing else with their success but tax. Result is blotted pseudo socialist anti-market-driven economy but the wurst is great. Links read for this post: DW Hoeness Euronews on Eurowasteland tax evasion Couldn't help but dabble in the Hoeness affair while recently visiting … Continue reading Taxation Equals Everybody
Miss Protest
The first protest I ever experienced in Eurowasteland goes back to circa 1986. Was visiting Germanian and happened across a demonstration. Not sure what they were demonstrating against but it really doesn't matter. After that I found myself seeking out these protests more and more. Reason? What a great way to pick up armpit hairy … Continue reading Miss Protest
Anglo vs Germanin
Note 1: Post is incomplete, not very cohesive and w/out narrative. It's worst than normal-worst. You've been warned. Good luck. New & Improved Clans I've been obsessing for a few years over of the idear that there's a growing, alive & kicking chasm in the western world. This chasm is, in part, due to Das Volk's … Continue reading Anglo vs Germanin
Schadenfreude 2
Part 2/2 The more time you spend as an expat without any direction the more destabilizing effect it will have. The reason? Well. Things tend to not remain hunky-dory - in the cerebral cortex. Add to that the joys of life, i.e. divorce, bleeding bank accounts, being stuck in a place that has almost perfected … Continue reading Schadenfreude 2
Price of Nothingness
Funny how so much gets lost in translation. Like reality. Every time I think that something can no longer happen to make me shake my head at Eurowasteland, something happens. Recent electoral event in France should be making the whole world shake it's head, especially the Eurowastelanders. Of course, I'm not talking about head-shaking at … Continue reading Price of Nothingness
Losing Touch Inner National Socialist
Potential Subtitle: Will MILFs save Eurowasteland? Disclaimer: I never quite finished this post. Part 2 was an attempt to finish it. Part 1 is where it all started. Sometimes, as hard as I fight to maintain them, idears just don't cut it and I have to let them go. This post is the result of … Continue reading Losing Touch Inner National Socialist
Flatroof Expatriates
Ich Will Kein Flachdach Sein by Yassin Nasri As much as I’d like to, there is no way to dramatize my expatriation. Should I try anyway? Ok. The short theatrics to my experience has been simple. Move abroad. Experience lots of bullshit. The end. That’s it. For the past twenty years that’s how I’ve seen … Continue reading Flatroof Expatriates
Real Issue About Unions
Subtitle: Competing forces in the arena of air safety, union busting, (dys)functioning pseudo-capitalistic societies and the/a continuing fight among inbred cousins. Two news stories (see external links) from dueling national-cultural perspectives, namely the Germanic and the Anglo, caused me a thought or two on the subject of air safety and union busting. After reading both … Continue reading Real Issue About Unions
Expat Creative Nonsense
Nonsense is nonsense, right? Maybe not. But can nonsense be creative? Many years have passed and I’ve wasted a lot of time thinking about two things: being an expat, being creative. And so I ask: will this foreign living ever end? And. It can’t end because it helps me maintain some level of creativity. Seriously. … Continue reading Expat Creative Nonsense
Analogy For The Future (Part 2)
June 18, 2008 Part 1 is here but I haven't linked it yet. This is yet another attempt to explain my continuing expat saga of living among z'Germans. Please forgive me in advance for any misleading soliloquies and I appreciate every effort on your part, dear worst-reader, to try and find humor where there is … Continue reading Analogy For The Future (Part 2)
Schumi vs Humility
Subtitle: Or Luck vs. Opportunity? Today’s middle-aged bitter rant with a few self-indulgent anti- and autobiographical tangents meant to challenge the mind's-eye of the visually impaired has to do with... Michael Schumacher is finally finished with F1. Gee, (turn on the sarcasm now) … this makes me ask: Why does such an honest, hard working, … Continue reading Schumi vs Humility
Analogy For The Future (Part 1)
June 7, 2006 Part 2 is in the near future. Seriously. Yet another instalment of Tommi’s ex-pat experience? Probably not. But this will be good enough to fill a blog post. Subtitle to this post: A possible solution to western societies problems can be found in Germany. It's hidden deeply in an analogy. Come along … Continue reading Analogy For The Future (Part 1)
Job Krapp
Subtitle: Why does it have to be a career? It's difficult recalling the amount of correspondence I've written and forwarded in the past twenty years regarding employment. I am probably the best living example of a ”job jumper” anyone will ever find. Because of that, at forty-three I am unable to acquire a job where … Continue reading Job Krapp
Waiting Room
What is the difference between invention and creation? Scratch that. Have something "better" to do. I have once again returned to the Ausländerbehörde. Waiting. What to do about things summarized in a word but only explainable by demonstration? Example? Get examples of words for happiness. -Need to get three month Gehaltsabrechnung for the civil servants … Continue reading Waiting Room
Schadenfreude 1
Part 1/2 As a kid I watched too much television. And why not? It was the sixties and seventies and television had graduated a bit from the prudery of where it all started. That meant there were shows about martians and talking horses and hillbillies graduating via sheer luck to Beverly Hills. And don’t get … Continue reading Schadenfreude 1