What is making you happy right now

[Aimless]

She is adorable and skilled at picking berries!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

you might even say she's... berry good at it

[Hazir]

I've decided that after 16 years of life without a car of my own I'm going to buy a car again. Nothing extremely fancy, and certainly not a brand new one, but I have set my mind on a Volvo V40.

I can already see myself driving it from Amsterdam to Istanbul (not on a regular basis) just to avoid the hassle of modern air travel (especially with Bella).

[Aimless]

Twitter Link

I've decided that after 16 years of life without a car of my own I'm going to buy a car again. Nothing extremely fancy, and certainly not a brand new one, but I have set my mind on a Volvo V40.

It's a great choice for a used car

[GGT]

This is the first time, in my memory, that a tropical storm bears my name (Laura). It's such a lovely name. Most names that begin with L sound sweet and harmless, like Lawrence or Larry or Lily. La La La?

My dark side hopes that Laura will meet up with Marco and cause a huge mess in places that don't believe in Climate Science or Federal Disaster relief, like Texas. No deaths, of course, just a strong reminder that states can't go it alone, and that freee market capitalism is a type of Magical Thinking. Hi, Lewk!

https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/22/weath...day/index.html

[Hazir]

This is the first time, in my memory, that a tropical storm bears my name (Laura). It's such a lovely name. Most names that begin with L sound sweet and harmless, like Lawrence or Larry or Lily. La La La?

My dark side hopes that Laura will meet up with Marco and cause a huge mess in places that don't believe in Climate Science or Federal Disaster relief, like Texas. No deaths, of course, just a strong reminder that states can't go it alone, and that freee market capitalism is a type of Magical Thinking. Hi, Lewk!

https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/22/weath...day/index.html

Funny, something totally unrelated made me think of the name Laura earlier today. And I agree with you that it's a nice name.

[wiggin]

Haha this headline is awesome.

https://www.businessinsider.com/delt...mpression=true

[Aimless]

Our pregnant friend who fell ill and had to be admitted to hospital has fared much, much better than expected, and has been discharged today with no complications My back is all right, so I can keep up with the baby again. We got a spot at the daycare/kindergarten we wanted—30 seconds from our home—which feels great even though it'll cut my parental leave short by a couple of months. Still, I have almost four more months of leave to enjoy, so I'm not too bummed out. My mother's food business is taking off again after a pandemic lull, and she'll be visiting soon. I should be fasting in anticipation, but I've been treating myself to great food. Just a good day all 'round. Frantically knocking on wood every chance I get.

[Lewkowski]

Funny videos are a great relaxer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kW9YR5OyTa8

[Aimless]

Funny videos are a great relaxer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kW9YR5OyTa8

Wow, you really are a weird little fucker. There's no way nobody in your meatlife has picked up on what a fucking creep you are.

[Aimless]

Twitter Link

[Khendraja'aro]

We have a couple over here who built a "speed trap lookalike". Works just as well and the police says, as long as it is non-functional and on their own grounds, they're fine with it.

[Aimless]

We decided to tag along with my wife to her family's summer house, where she'll be hunting this week. The baby is beside herself with excitement because there's so much to explore. My feelings about going away to summer houses and the like have always been quite lukewarm... but I'm beginning to understand their appeal, despite being a city slicker to my core. Think it'll be a fun week

We have a couple over here who built a "speed trap lookalike". Works just as well and the police says, as long as it is non-functional and on their own grounds, they're fine with it.

Living their best lives

[wiggin]

Twitter Link

[Hazir]

Today Ronald went to a storage we have to check if a huge soup pan we were missing had wound up there after our last move. That turned out to be the case. Besides the pan he brought home a stack of small notebooklets. To see them was a huge surprise to me. We'd been using them over the years for jotting down all sorts of things and I thougth we'd certainly had run out of them long ago. I got them over 30 years ago when, during my first real job at the University of Utrecht, a couple of boxes were dumped on my desk with the instruction to get rid of them, since they had a logo printed on them of the sponsor of a medical conference. At the time I thought it a waste to simply throw them in the trash and I took them home. And now, all these years later, we're still using them.

[Aimless]

I feel like someone must've accidentally pressed fast-forward—but the adventure continues. What an exciting and weird first year of life, but I suspect the best—and weirdest—is yet to come my mother and sister came to visit for the munchkin's first birthday, and they've had a blast. Every morning, while I've slept in a little, my mother and my daughter have played, eaten, cuddled, babbled at each other and watched Bengali videos. I know my mother's been a little worried that my daughter would be afraid of her and/or not like spending time with her, but those concerns have vanished into thin air; all that remains is a little sadness over us not living in the same city so that they can hang out every day. She's leaving tomorrow, and it'll be several months—best case scenario—before they can hang out again, so they're squeezing out as much quality time as possible before then. That saree is ~30 years old; my mother dressed my sister in it for a series of beautiful and hilarious photos when she was a little under 2 years old. Through all that she's endured, she's held on to a number of these mementoes of love that she's now sharing with us, and it feels very, very nice.

[GGT]

Awww, so sweet!

Stupid question -- what does the forehead dot mean, and why is it a family tradition?

[Khendraja'aro]

I'm going to be a godfather! Now, thanks to the current epidemic the baptism will likely be next spring but still...

The way the little guy arrived will probably be one of those family stories for years to come - it's my friends' fourth and, considering what she went through with the other three, she was already joking with the midwife as to which fresh chaos would be expected of her this time.

It started with me being prophetic when I told her one hot summer's night that she likely would not get much sleep when I wished her a good night.. I meant the subtropic temperatures but the baby had other ideas. Roughly one hour after my message it was go time.

Now, considering that they're living a mere kilometer from their local hospital, it should not have been much of a problem. Well, in her words: "Okay, this time I got to see overwhelmed paramedics when I had to catch the baby myself so it did not hit the ground, 30 meters from the entrance." She was also told afterwards that the cord sported a perfect knot which would have posed a big problem if not for the speedy delivery.

[Kazuha Vinland]

I'm going to be a godfather! Now, thanks to the current epidemic the baptism will likely be next spring but still...

The way the little guy arrived will probably be one of those family stories for years to come - it's my friends' fourth and, considering what she went through with the other three, she was already joking with the midwife as to which fresh chaos would be expected of her this time.

It started with me being prophetic when I told her one hot summer's night that she likely would not get much sleep when I wished her a good night.. I meant the subtropic temperatures but the baby had other ideas. Roughly one hour after my message it was go time.

Now, considering that they're living a mere kilometer from their local hospital, it should not have been much of a problem. Well, in her words: "Okay, this time I got to see overwhelmed paramedics when I had to catch the baby myself so it did not hit the ground, 30 meters from the entrance." She was also told afterwards that the cord sported a perfect knot which would have posed a big problem if not for the speedy delivery.

That's great! Congratulations! Hopefully the world will improve till the time she gets more self awareness.

[GGT]

Babies make everything seem brighter and better. Congrats on being a godfather

I'm happy that my sons had a visit this past week, just the two of them. They're very close, and it had been almost a year (last Thanksgiving) since they've spent time together due to distance, and the pandemic! Made my heart swell to hear they had so much fun cooking, playing games, joking around, laughing, and just being brothers. I think this will be one of those "life moments" that they'll always remember and cherish.

[Wraith]

Schadenfreude.

[Timbuk2]

Schadenfreude.

Please, do expand.

[Wraith]

Please, do expand.

http://theworldforgotten.com/showthr...l=1#post219772

[wiggin]

Demonstration of the proper use of a face mask.

[Kazuha Vinland]

Perhaps a bit incoherent, but work life throwing me challenges. The simple task is to make our computer sales department soar, but doing so is a super complex balance task of developing the right parametres, at the right time - and all the time considering the fact that those determining the development of said parametres, are all humans! Managing is insanely challenging, but also super rewarding. To lay down the pure analytics, the strategy, the pitching exercises, to keep moral high, while also dealing with customer disputes, logistics, cleanliness.. It feels like I'm having 10 000 different considerations and decision makings every day, and somehow managing to navigate it all, gives me a great sense of empowerment. Downside being lousy pay compared to the effort that goes into it, occasionally 12 hour work days, and work every other weekend. The work-life balance is heavily skewed towards work right now, and I cannot even being to imagine being able to balance it with having a kid, no less two kids. Something which I have also been dreaming of. But alas, at the current period of time, I enjoy the thrill of it massively, and children can wait maybe a year or two more.

[Khendraja'aro]

I've decided that after 16 years of life without a car of my own I'm going to buy a car again. Nothing extremely fancy, and certainly not a brand new one, but I have set my mind on a Volvo V40.

I can already see myself driving it from Amsterdam to Istanbul (not on a regular basis) just to avoid the hassle of modern air travel (especially with Bella).

Yesterday I signed the contract for a new VW ID.3, to be delivered in March (there were varying reasons why March, but the current delivery delay would have probably made it January anyway). Already did a test drive with a similar variant which definitely convinced me. The turn radius was so small I had to take care not to bump into things on the side I was turning into when doing a u-turn.

I also liked the Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) - it does not only adapt to the cars in front of you but also to signage (both from map info as well as road signs through a camera). You can override the speed limit at any time, though, and there's no annoying "Bling!" or similar if you're doing 80 where the car thinks you should do 70. I'll also get a head-up display even though the "far field projection" (i.e. turn indicators directly on the road) does not work yet.

My car dealer will do an appraisal of my old car in January (at the biyearly inspection) and then guarantuee a price for that car. I can then drive the old car up until the point where I receive the new one - but if I get a better offer for the old one in the meantime, I'm free to pursue it without repercussions.

Only snag is that I have to get a new insurance policy (in Germany they're coupled to the cars - get a new car, get a new policy). My current one I got via my brother who's an insurance broker (as he's not making too much money I'm supporting him a bit that way). I already made some comparisons - the cheapest but still totally sufficient insurance would be ~35€. Insurance through my health insurer would be 50€. My brother offered me 69€. I may have to talk to him again...

[Timbuk2]

Man, car insurance is cheap in Deutschland.

I pay north of €600 pa for mine. And I am the lowest risk and therefore lowest cost category too, at my middle age and with no prior claims nor penalties. Though I am not in the lowest risk area (London), and the car is high risk / high value too (V8 AMG C63), €600 is still far from expensive in UK terms.

Young kids particularly can face annual premiums between €2000 and €3000 to insure their first car, often in excess of the vehicle value itself.

[Aimless]

Man, car insurance is cheap in Deutschland.

I pay north of €600 pa for mine. And I am the lowest risk and therefore lowest cost category too, at my middle age and with no prior claims nor penalties. Though I am not in the lowest risk area (London), and the car is high risk / high value too (V8 AMG C63), €600 is still far from expensive in UK terms.

Young kids particularly can face annual premiums between €2000 and €3000 to insure their first car, often in excess of the vehicle value itself.

Average auto insurance premiums are about 750 EUR/year here, I think. But I'm guessing that's only because half of the population consists of cautious senior citizens

[Hazir]

Seems like my youngest sister and her husband have made it through covid-19.

I pay €110 a month in car insurance, but that's very much because I haven't driven a car in 16 years (besides the odd rental). So the premiums I see makes my mouth water.

[Aimless]

Seems like my youngest sister and her husband have made it through covid-19.

Glad to hear it, hope their recovery is swift and complete. Unfortunately, my cousin is still ill, months after being discharged from the hospital.

[Loki]

Seems like my youngest sister and her husband have made it through covid-19.

I pay €110 a month in car insurance, but that's very much because I haven't driven a car in 16 years (besides the odd rental). So the premiums I see makes my mouth water.

I got a 10% discount for not having any car accidents in 10 years...mostly because I didn't have a car for those 10 years.