The Whine thread.

[Distracted]

Is it a German thing or just a big city thing that you can't find a place that takes pets? Around here there are plenty of apartment complexes that allow pets. Usually you've got to pay a hefty security deposit to cover cleaning and possible damage should your pet mess on the carpet or destroy the furniture, but it's usually only about the equivalent of an extra month's rent.

[Weeble]

My pet Labrador might be available the little bit of contact i had with my wifey implied that the mutt's life was in serious danger....Dog seems fine now though (just got home)

[putaro]

I thought Labradors were water dogs. Doesn't he help when you're fishing?

[Kotik]

Is it a German thing or just a big city thing that you can't find a place that takes pets? Around here there are plenty of apartment complexes that allow pets. Usually you've got to pay a hefty security deposit to cover cleaning and possible damage should your pet mess on the carpet or destroy the furniture, but it's usually only about the equivalent of an extra month's rent.

It's a German thing. If you have pets or small children, you won't find a place to live around here. Most landlords explicitely forbid pets and children. We are the country that brought you Hitler, so why should anybody be surprized. I swear, if it was legal or in any way morally acceptable, this country would still gas people. After all, a can of Cyclon B costs considerably less than 10 years of intensive care for someone in a coma...

[Distracted]

I suppose I can understand the pet restriction if you're a landlord and you don't want to replace carpets after every tenant, but forbidding children seems a bit counterproductive. They're pretty indispensable for the continuation of a functioning society.

So what you're basically saying is that young families that can't afford to buy a house either have to live with their parents, move out of the country, or be homeless? Is there such thing as subsidized housing for teen moms or minimum wage workers with children? There's something messed up about not being able to find an apartment if you've got kids.

[Weeble]

Da mutt is a great fishing dog. She points out the fish and then attempts retrieval; usually before I can get my line in the water.....

[Kotik]

I suppose I can understand the pet restriction if you're a landlord and you don't want to replace carpets after every tenant, but forbidding children seems a bit counterproductive. They're pretty indispensable for the continuation of a functioning society.

So what you're basically saying is that young families that can't afford to buy a house either have to live with their parents, move out of the country, or be homeless? Is there such thing as subsidized housing for teen moms or minimum wage workers with children? There's something messed up about not being able to find an apartment if you've got kids.

Let's start with the fact that there is no such thing as a minimum wage in Germany. You are free to screw over your employees any way you like, Hairderessers are paid 5 euros the hour and go home with less than what the international community defines as the 'poverty line'. Landlords are free to discriminate families with children, because they could cause noise, y'know?

Back in 2004 I had 3 employees and I received hate calls because rival companies said that by paying them 12 bucks the hour I was 'wrecking their chances to earn money and they employed gangs of bodily violence to 'prove' their point. I had to drop them all and work alone from then on. Welcome to capitalism. I want the Berlin wall back !!!

If we had known what shit we're heading to, we wouldn't have fucking protested in '89.

[Transwarp]

they employed gangs of bodily violence to 'prove' their point. I had to drop them all and work alone from then on. Welcome to capitalism.

That's not capitalism, that's hooliganism. Capitalism requires the rule of law to insure that the right to engage in commerce and to own or disburse your own property as you see fit is protected.

[Kotik]

they employed gangs of bodily violence to 'prove' their point. I had to drop them all and work alone from then on. Welcome to capitalism.

That's not capitalism, that's hooliganism. Capitalism requires the rule of law to insure that the right to engage in commerce and to own or disburse your own property as you see fit is protected.

Have you met the tooth fairy lately or what sort of la-la-land are you living in? Since when do governments give a shit about the law? Just pay them enough and everythings'll be fine. If that doesn't work, just do the Assad and murder your citizens.

[Cogito]

I've never been assaulted by anyone trying to put me out of business, but if I was then I'm confident that the police would make a reasonable effort to bring those responsible to justice. I can't imagine a few thugs being able to influence the police at all, and the government would have nothing to do with it. Expecting the police to do their job honestly and effectively is not 'living in la la land' - at least, here in the UK it isn't. It's a law abiding country where people are free to go about their lawful business. Perhaps things are different where you live, but don't assume that things are like that everywhere.

[Kotik]

I've never been assaulted by anyone trying to put me out of business, but if I was then I'm confident that the police would make a reasonable effort to bring those responsible to justice. I can't imagine a few thugs being able to influence the police at all, and the government would have nothing to do with it. Expecting the police to do their job honestly and effectively is not 'living in la la land' - at least, here in the UK it isn't. It's a law abiding country where people are free to go about their lawful business. Perhaps things are different where you live, but don't assume that things are like that everywhere.

If your office burns in the middle of the night with the one having thrown the match long gone, the police can stand on their heads whistling 'La Paloma'. How is that going to help?`I caught one of them, but unfortunately he was too dead to be of any help after I bashed his skull in with a steel rod. Four thugs burned my office and in the end it was I who had to stand trial for killing one of them idiots. I was acquitted on the grounds of vim vi repellere licet - self defense, but the others were never caught. Forget the police. They aint helping ye. Unless you have oil, in which case the Americans will send an aircraft carrier, you're on your own.

[Distracted]

Sounds like you're in a bad neighborhood, Kotik. Where I live we have alarm systems. That way if my office gets vandalized I'm at home in bed. I'd just as soon let the professionals handle the actual capturing of the perpetrators. Same for my house. We've got plenty of weapons, but they're locked up. (Well, all except the sword my husband keeps under the mattress in our bedroom... and the crossbow in the living room and the knives in the kitchen and the throwing axes in the tool room... and a few more pointy things here and there.) If my home alarm sounds it automatically dials 911 and I'm locking myself in my bedroom, thank you very much. I can't guarantee that my husband would do the same, though. He's very territorial. One of these days he's gonna scare the s*** out of some burglar. Nothing like a man running around naked with a sword in his hands to ruin your whole day, y'know?

[Kotik]

My office was in a small village and quite frankly, the police didn't and doesn't give a shit about the place. In fact when I was 18 they apprehended me and my brother for burglary 50 miles away!! They just couldn't be arsed to do their jobs and apprehended the first people, who'se house the sniffing dog took a crap at, Needless to say they couldn't prove that me bro and me had broken into a house and carried furniture 50 miles on foot - what an effing surprise, but the mugshot is still in my files, so whenever I get stopped in my car for a routine inspectiojn I have to follow them to the police station, because there is a faux mugshot from 21 years ago and I'm still listed as dangerous despite never having comitted a crime.
My office had an alarm and it made a hell of a racket in additon to dialling 110 (German coubnterpart to 911). That's how I arrived in time to off at least one of them scumbags, but the other three were gone, I only saw them running and the one I had beaten the shit out of couldn't answer any questions anymore. The police arrived a friggin 15 minutes after the fact and all they did was to collect the dead meat and handcuff me, so they weren't exactly helpful.
If it wasn't as sad,I'd laugh my arse off. I killed an arsonist and it doesn't matter, but a frigging Alsacian that took a shit in front of our house is to blame that I'm listed as dangerous. In Germany you're obviously dangerous if you pilfer a cupboard and carry it 50 miles through the woods on foot, but sending an arsonist through the pearly gates is perfectly fine. Hooray for Germanyland... It's ridiculous. I was acquitted for expiring the arsonist, so once the trial was over everything had to be deleted from the files, but since there never was a case to argue for the "burglary" it's still in me files. Seriously, you're better off iwith the KGB or the friggin' Mossad than our police...

[Transwarp]

When seconds count, the police are minutes away (yet another reason why I am a fan of an armed citizenry).

Kotik, I am saddened by your story. Yes, I know that corrupt officials exist everywhere that humans are in charge, and I also believe that large-scale official corruption is the PRIMARY reason that so much of the developing world is still so backward despite the billions and billions of dollars of aid provided over the past few decades.

I have always wanted to believe that official corruption was the exception rather than the rule in western democracies. Everyone I know who works in government or serves in the military is ethical and honest to a fault, but then I only know a tiny cross-section of that universe. I believe the best solution to government corruption is to limit the size and scope of government to the barest essentials. A corrupt government official cannot misuse the power he does not have. (The bigger the government, the smaller the citizen. -- Dennis Prager)

We've got plenty of weapons, but they're locked up. (Well, all except the sword my husband keeps under the mattress in our bedroom... and the crossbow in the living room and the knives in the kitchen and the throwing axes in the tool room... and a few more pointy things here and there.)

Any lirpas or bat'leths?

[Distracted]

No lirpas or batleths. Hubby is into historical weapons and big game hunting weapons. Mostly swords of the first type and firearms of the second, but we've got a assorted bows (long, recurve, and cross), throwing knives and axes, a couple of battle axes and a glaive, plus machetes, rapiers, longswords, cutlasses, and a katana or two. Also a muzzleloader, a few rifles including a double barrel rifle of large enough caliber for elephant and buffalo, 3 or 4 shotguns and a couple of handguns in the gun safes. (Yes. Plural.) When the zombie apocalypse happens, we're good.

Boys and their toys. Sigh.