Hour Rule

"Jobjoris" (Jobjoris) 07/01/2015 at 05:44 • Filed to: Hour Rule

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Jonee > Jobjoris 07/01/2015 at 14:08

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So pretty, those cars. Has Torch ever done one of his VW posts on it? Probably. They remind me ever so slightly of the Syrena.

Jobjoris > Jonee 07/01/2015 at 16:29

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Didn’t you do it? Or mention it in one of your microcar-stories?

Jonee > Jobjoris 07/02/2015 at 00:58

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I don’t remember mentioning Rometsch. It’s possible though. Or, maybe it came up during one of our brainstorming sessions.

I found a local car you should buy so I can drive it when I invade The Netherlands. Says it’s in France, but the listing was in Dutch.

http://veiling.catawiki.nl/kavels/1894941…

Jobjoris > Jonee 07/02/2015 at 03:40

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It certainly didn’t come round in our brain-storm sessions. I don’t think we’d use any of it’s feautures?

Catawiki is a Dutch site for art-collectors and connoisseurs. They have a weekly ‘classic-car’ auction. Mainly Dutch listings but a few from abroad. I get a lot of diecast from Catawiki actually. That Vélocar got a reasonable price though! I’ll get you a Daf YA66, no worries.

Jonee > Jobjoris 07/02/2015 at 10:00

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No, I don’t think it has any features for the Wanke r l. I do like the split windshield on that one in front. It may have come up in some other conversation.

That does seem very reasonable for that Mochet. It looked in great shape. Thanks. A YA66 will be just as good. And a little quicker.

Jobjoris > Jonee 07/02/2015 at 13:47

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A SPLIT WINDSHIELD! WE NEED THAT ON THE WANKE R L! Didn’t Rometsch also make that 4-door Beetle?

And way cheaper. And indeed: Capable of getting on the highway at all.

Jonee > Jobjoris 07/02/2015 at 14:32

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Totally need a split windshield. And those wipers that operate independently that never go at the same speed. I like that look.

Rometsch did make the 4-door Beetle that’s like a predecessor to the Troutman 911. I think that’s what we were talking about once because I remember finding a picture of it. Although, it may have been in response to a Torch piece.

Jobjoris > Jonee 07/03/2015 at 07:18

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I was thinking about wipers without one fixed position. More kind of ‘sliders’. We need more innovative features!

Haha, that 4-door beetle the ancestor of the T&B 911... It’s probably something like this. Or you could combine your future piece of the T&B 911 with Rometsch!

Jonee > Jobjoris 07/04/2015 at 14:05

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Hm, that sliding wiper is an interesting idea. How about if the the split windshield, instead of being two square panes of glass, was two circles and then in the rain the glass spins. So, the wipers stay stationary and it’s the glass that moves. Radical outside the box thinking, I know.

I would like to know more about Rometsch. They made some pretty designs. And that 4-door Beetle was meant to be a taxi, which is pretty cool. During the war, they made field kitchens, which is fairly unique for a coachbuilder.

Jobjoris > Jonee 07/04/2015 at 14:25

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I like the spinning glass theory. But I’m affraid it won’t be an aesthetic masterpiece if we do that. So better get in the box again. Quick.

Other out-of-the-box thinking: What about tear-offs?

Hahaha, fieldkitchens. The more you know...

Jonee > Jobjoris 07/05/2015 at 22:11

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Tear offs is a great idea. And a good moneymaker, too, as they’ll have to keep coming back to the dealership for new windshields.

Jobjoris > Jonee 07/06/2015 at 02:40

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That’s a side-effect I calculated in alright. We’ll have to get a bunch of lawyers in our staff as well to hunt all aftermarket reproducers as our tear-offs are protected by copyright and stuff.

Jonee > Jobjoris 07/07/2015 at 01:12

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Good idea. It’ll just dilute the brand, anyway, to have sub-par tear-offs out there.

Jobjoris > Jonee 07/07/2015 at 02:19

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‘Diversification’ is the word/businesscase we’re looking for! TAKE OVER THE WORLD!

Jonee > Jobjoris 07/07/2015 at 14:58

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We could also have a whole array of Wanke r l branded products like Porsche and Ferrari do. Only we’d be more sophisticated. No sunglasses and leather jackets for us. We’d have caviar spoons, silk pajamas, walking sticks. Classy stuff.

Jobjoris > Jonee 07/07/2015 at 18:01

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Hahaha... Merchandising will indeed get us Bill-Gate-esque wealth! You had me with that sil pajamas, what about the silk scarf tied as an ascot?

Jonee > Jobjoris 07/07/2015 at 23:25

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With the logo on it. That would be nice. We’ll get Selleck to wear one in the commercial.

Jobjoris > Jonee 07/08/2015 at 02:04

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And that red smoking jacket Hugh Hefner always wears! Maybe Hugh could be in the commercial as well?

Jonee > Jobjoris 07/09/2015 at 02:01

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We actually might need Hugh now. Selleck just got in trouble for stealing water for his house here in L.A. We don’t need the bad publicity.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/08/ent…

Jobjoris > Jonee 07/09/2015 at 02:34

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There’s no thing like bad publicity. It just proves Selleck is a real Wanke r l-guy: The world owes us what we need!

Not so sure if the publicity of Hugh is any ‘better’ ;-)

Jonee > Jobjoris 07/09/2015 at 15:19

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True. Notoriety is what we’re after, so having a bit of a scoundrel as spokesperson is a good idea. We could even capitalize on the controversy by having him defiantly drink bottled water in the commercial.

Hefner is every man’s idol. He can do no wrong.

Jobjoris > Jonee 07/10/2015 at 04:28

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Any idea what the license-plate should state of the car in our commercial? LCK ME? Or wait a minute: maybe we could re-use Seinfeld’s Assman!

Jonee > Jobjoris 07/10/2015 at 13:43

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Haha. Or, “Wank It.”

Jobjoris > Jonee 07/10/2015 at 14:49

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Haha! Didn’t think of that one!!! Did we even discuss Seinfeld before?

Jonee > Jobjoris 07/10/2015 at 15:17

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We haven’t. I loved Seinfeld. It was a weekly tradition with my mom and I. We never missed it. My father always wondered what the fuss was about, so one day he watched with us and it was the masturbation episode after which he thought we were weird. It’s interesting that the humor translated to you because it seems so New York Jew to me being a Jew from near New York. But, I guess it was popular everywhere. I suppose Woody Allen plays big in Europe, so why not Seinfeld.

Jobjoris > Jonee 07/10/2015 at 16:37

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I so loved it. As Magnum meant/learned a lot to me in my pre-teens, Seinfeld really made my teen-years bearable. Haha, it was so epic. Frank, Kramer, George/Art, Lupe, the Soup-Nazi, there’s literally no episode I missed. It truly was a show about Nothing. But life.

Jonee > Jobjoris 07/12/2015 at 00:38

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That was truly the greatest cast of characters ever put on t.v. And, every single episode is classic. I love his parents, George’s parents, Newman, Putty, it just goes on and on.

Jobjoris > Jonee 07/12/2015 at 08:15

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That special bond Kramer has with Frank, the rivalry between Newman and Jerry, everything worked throughout the series. ‘Comedians in cars getting coffee’ is something I enjoy a lot as well by the way.

Jonee > Jobjoris 07/12/2015 at 21:06

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Frank, of course, was played by Jerry Stiller, Ben’s father. Back in the 70’s, my mother was in an EST class with him. EST was this nutty 1970’s self-help fad. Something Frank Costanza would have found disgusting.

Comedians in Cars is great. I need to watch more of them because I haven’t kept up. Jerry is a true Jalop.

Jobjoris > Jonee 07/13/2015 at 03:35

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I was waiting for some connection to either one of Seinfeld’s cast. Your mom drove that 308 to the EST-class? Some sort of new age self-help?

Jonee > Jobjoris 07/13/2015 at 17:18

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EST was a few years before the Ferrari. It wasn’t really new-agey. More 1970’s think happy, be happy, believe in yourself nonsense. Kind of post hippie baloney. There were no crystals, or space energy, or that kind of bullshit. I’m not sure how she got into it, but she eventually realized it was silly.

Jobjoris > Jonee 07/14/2015 at 02:08

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The girl I “teamed-up” with prior to my wife was heavily into antroposophy. It all is some sort of, more or less fundamentalism, faith: no room for discussions whatsoever. And clearly some ancient rules to live by. Just live and let live! I truly hate when people tell me how to live. Although I tend to do that myself by stating “Live and let live” ;-)

Jonee > Jobjoris 07/14/2015 at 02:33

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Yeah, I’m the same way. Just let me be me. And, I never trust people that fall for that self-help crap. Of course, that doesn’t stop me from seeing a therapist once a week, so what do I know?

Jobjoris > Jonee 07/14/2015 at 02:44

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What on earth do you need therapy for? You got a cat! And a Fuldamobil!

I just go play hockey once a week. And get drunk afterwards with all my buddies. Best self-help ever.

Jonee > Jobjoris 07/14/2015 at 02:54

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That’s exactly why I do need therapy! Have you ever had a cat? Or a Fuldamobil? They’ll drive you nuts.

That sounds like good therapy. Watching hockey is a favorite pastime of mine.

Jobjoris > Jonee 07/14/2015 at 03:12

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Haha, should have saw those coming...

Not ice-hockey, field hockey. I sincerely doubt you watch fieldhockey. Maybe female fieldhockey ;-)

Jonee > Jobjoris 07/14/2015 at 13:46

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Oh, yeah. Men don’t play field hockey in America. I don’t know why it worked out that way. But, yes, I used to enjoy watching the girls play hockey in high school. Those skirts were great. I never understood why the sticks were shaped that way, though. I bet it’s good exercise.

Jobjoris > Jonee 07/14/2015 at 15:59

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Field hockey is great. Even in winter. The skirts are great, the parties reknown. The shape of the sticks are natural to me, how else would you want those?

Jonee > Jobjoris 07/14/2015 at 18:01

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Ha. Great picture. That looks like a hoot. Is that a typical winter day in the Netherlands? But, where are the skirts? I’m disappointed. Are you telling me men don’t wear skirts, too?

That’s a good question. I’m not sure if there’s a better shape. It’s just weird looking because I’m used to ice hockey sticks, but I guess a blade similar to ice hockey wouldn’t work in the grass. It just feels like you’d want more surface area to get a better whack on the ball, but I’ve never played so I have no idea what I’m talking about.

Jobjoris > Jonee 07/15/2015 at 02:29

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Typical indeed. It’s either raining. Or snowing. And temperature around 0 celsius (most of the time slightly above it). During the winter the competition is paused but you have a special ‘wintercompetition’ which the picture is of. And during the wintercompetition mixed teams are mandatory. So there are some girls, with skirts, on the picture. The two girls on the right wear skirts. It’s just the rain making it hard to see.

It’s a ball, not a puck! You can’t smash an ice-hockey stick like you can a field hockey ball!

Jonee > Jobjoris 07/15/2015 at 18:28

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Sounds lovely there in the winter. Like where I grew up in Connecticut. We would always play touch (American) football in the snow. It’s great fun.

The stick is like an Irish shillelagh. I get it. It just looks funny.

Jobjoris > Jonee 07/16/2015 at 02:08

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Shillelagh? What on earth is that... Only Irish things we have over here is cheap labour and pubs.

Jonee > Jobjoris 07/16/2015 at 03:28

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Haha. A shillelagh is a stick, basically. For walking or bashing people over the head like the Irish do.

Jobjoris > Jonee 07/16/2015 at 04:09

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Night in Irish pubs over here end up with fights all the time so combining your walking stick to be a weapon is well thought of. I’d hate the grip of the shillelagh though when using it on the hockey field.

Now you do know I sail and hockey (and cycling): what epic sport do you compete in?

Jonee > Jobjoris 07/17/2015 at 02:39

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I am a very good observer of sport. I can watch others exert themselves with the best of them. I do ski, as you know. As a youth, I was an equestrian.

Jobjoris > Jonee 07/17/2015 at 04:24

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Hahaha... Skiing, knew that. But that’s not really a sport, there’s no competition in that! I truly love teamsports, working together to a result. I’ve squashed a lot and that is a total body workout but it never satisfies me as much as defeating a competitor with the help of your teammates. And getting drunk afterwards.

Jonee > Jobjoris 07/17/2015 at 10:38

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You’ve never seen me ski. The competition is with or against the mountain. I also play tennis now and again.

I used to play basketball in junior high school. That was a lot of fun when they decided to pass me the ball. My friends today aren’t organized enough to get them to play a team sport. We do have a softball game every year, but it’s more an excuse to have a barbecue and drink as you say.

Jobjoris > Jonee 07/17/2015 at 12:13

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You don’t need existing friends to play a teamsport ;-) Basketball, that’s a pretty tough sport...

What’s the difference between soft and baseball any way? Just that ball?

Jonee > Jobjoris 07/18/2015 at 02:48

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Basketball is exhausting. I tried to play a couple years ago again and almost had a heart attack.

Yeah, the ball is bigger in softball and usually you pitch it really slow. The big ball is, like it says, softer, so it doesn’t go as far. It’s a way for out of shape people to play baseball. In women’s softball, they pitch it really fast. It’s actually pretty amazing. It used to be in the Olympics, but the Americans would win all the time, so they dropped it.

Jobjoris > Jonee 07/18/2015 at 05:41

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The last night of my first USA trip I ended up watching the Houston Astros against some Miami Baseball team, truly amazing experience such a game. Every pause between innings some stuff to keep entertaining the viewers I couldn’t stop smiling. We had brilliant seats, just behind the catcher, due to the fact we run into a guy with season tickets for him and his three sons but only one was willing to come along so he took us with him. Epic evening. I truly love visiting America.

Jonee > Jobjoris 07/19/2015 at 21:07

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That does sound like fun. Were you in Miami or Houston? They have a crazy new stadium in Miami with fish tanks and all sorts of nonsense. They really do maximize the entertainment experience these days. Did they do the race with people in ridiculous costumes? I get a kick out of those. I haven’t been to a baseball game in a few years. Dodger stadium here in L.A. is a really lovely place to see a game. The stadium is relatively old, but they’ve done a nice job refurbishing it. It must be fun to visit America from another country. You can come 100 times and not have the same experience twice.

Jobjoris > Jonee 07/20/2015 at 03:31

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I’ve visited it twice, always a blast. First time was a trip in the south while I was visiting an airforce pilot-friend in training in Wichita Falls. We did Louisiana and Texas (so to answer your question: Houston it was). Awesome trip, did this one with my accountant (who was a college-buddy back then). We just took a map, looked at what cities could be fun and ended up in towns like ‘New Holland’ and ‘Zwolle’. Places no tourist ever comes, but the American friendly spirit never made me feel unwanted, everyone is so nice. And often a bit shallow but I’d rather talk to a friendly shallow person than not talk at all ;-)

Second time was California, Utah and Arizona. Liked LA, loved SF. That one was with a former girlfriend of mine. She had an Aunt with a beachhouse in Santa Cruz we could stay in for a while, epic trip. And visited a friend (or rather, the sister of a friend) working in Sea World San Diego as well.

Jonee > Jobjoris 07/21/2015 at 00:21

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Wow, those sound like fun adventures. Good areas to tour. I’ve always found Louisiana interesting. A lot of history and different cultures down there. I had no idea there was such a Dutch presence. You always think French. I’ve been to New Orleans twice, but I haven’t been too far outside that city. That describes Southern Hospitality. They can be really friendly, but they really don’t give a shit about you. Did you drive up (or down) the Pacific coast?

Jobjoris > Jonee 07/21/2015 at 02:32

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These were true adventures, especially that Louisiana/Texas trip. So much epic things happened, spend some days on an airforce facility, ended up in Dallas in some obscure clubs, loved French Quarters in New Orleans, saw quite some poverty, saw quite some things only rich people were able to buy/build.

We didn’t do the entire pacific coast. We went from LA to San Diego. From there we went to Las Vegas. From Las Vegas we went to the Grand Canyon (chopper flight, you Americans really know how to make a show of things). After that Bryce Canyon/Red Canyon and some days in a small town in Utah (did a small horse-trek from there). Then to Rachel (along the extra-terrestrial highway). And from there to Yosemite. And finaly to Santa Cruz, from where we did all kinds of trips to SF, Pebble Beach, stuff like that. We flew back home from SF.

Jonee > Jobjoris 07/21/2015 at 13:51

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Wow, that are great trips. It sounds like you did it the right way and saw some real shit and not just tourist stuff. I think you’ve seen more of the American southwest than I have and I live here. I’ve driven across the country a few times. That’s an amazing experience. But, if you’re on a schedule, you don’t actually see all that much. I’d like to do it again and take my time.

I love the Grand Canyon. I’ll have to do that helicopter flight one of these days.

Jobjoris > Jonee 07/21/2015 at 16:56

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That Grand Canyon trip by Heli was great, music on your headset, all just “aligned” to the moments and views hahaha, epic!

I didn’t expect to enjoy Las Vegas the way I did. I actually thought ‘well I can’t let this pass’ but Las Vegas is awesome. That moment you close your hotel door is the first moment you’re not hearing all bells ringing. All the lights. And a freaking 51 degrees celsius flashing on the dash, hottest temperatur I ever felt...

Jonee > Jobjoris 07/22/2015 at 00:33

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Yeah, I love Vegas, too. And, I never gamble. There’s so much to do and it’s all such a spectacle. You’re not supposed to go out during the day. Everything happens at night in Nevada.

Jobjoris > Jonee 07/22/2015 at 03:13

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Haha, me neither, I don’t think I did any gambling. I did the rollercoaster through hotel New York New York! At night.

The 51 degrees was when we were driving to Las Vegas. The dashboard seemed to be melting.

Jonee > Jobjoris 07/23/2015 at 01:02

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I love that roller coaster. I’ve only done it at night as well. I’ve only been out there twice, but the roller coaster was my first stop. And they have some great video arcades with all the old games I played as a kid. It’s an amazing drive when you go. Desert and then this gigantic amusement park/city.

Jobjoris > Jonee 07/23/2015 at 07:28

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Maybe we should take the staff of the Wanke r l there if we finally make some profit?

I really need to visit the US again... Just that damn dollar!

Jonee > Jobjoris 07/23/2015 at 16:48

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Good idea. Free roller coaster rides for everyone!

Well, you always have a free couch to sleep on in L.A. You may have to share it with the cat, but she won’t mind.

Jobjoris > Jonee 07/24/2015 at 02:39

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That’s good to know. Especially since your living next to a BMW dealership, I can take the 2002 without any stress! My daughter will take care of that cat, she won’t mind a bit ;-)

Jonee > Jobjoris 07/24/2015 at 02:53

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I’ll need a few months notice to clean up, though. It’s a little cluttered in here. But, the cat will enjoy meeting your daughter. All she has to know how to do is wiggle the mouse toy. There are a lot of 2002’s running around L.A., actually. We could probably find you a whole gathering of them.

Jobjoris > Jonee 07/24/2015 at 04:47

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Believe me: With my current schedule it won’t be for the next few months anyway... I need to instruct our sales to not promise impossible deadlines to customers any more. During my holiday I still need to work at least 2 afternoons I’m afraid.

Jonee > Jobjoris 07/24/2015 at 23:30

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Only 2 afternoons? That’s not so bad since it pays for the vacation. My father works the entire time he’s on holiday. He breaks to ski or golf for a few hours depending on the season.

Jobjoris > Jonee 08/08/2015 at 16:39

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2 afternoons: I wish. Turned out to be somewhat more. I seem to have trust-issues with employees.

Jonee > Jobjoris 08/10/2015 at 00:30

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If I had employees, I wouldn’t trust them either. I mean, I wouldn’t trust myself, so why trust anybody else.

Jobjoris > Jonee 08/10/2015 at 10:00

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Because if you won’t trust anybody, your mind will overflow, you won’t be able to sleep and you’ll be limited to do/create things that are good but could be great. Not entirely true about that sleep though, had some sleep-issues last week because of this ;-)

Jonee > Jobjoris 08/11/2015 at 03:52

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Well, was everything still functioning when you got back, or had they burned the place to the ground?

Jobjoris > Jonee 08/11/2015 at 06:44

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Still functioning, even a new deal. But still was called for during my Italian trip to secure that deal at all...

And our contractor started with PhaseII of course!

That will be the new entrance for our relocated kitchen...

Jonee > Jobjoris 08/12/2015 at 01:35

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At least there was some destruction while you were gone even if it was planned. Are you closing off the other door, or are you adding another one? A lot of doors back there.

Jobjoris > Jonee 08/12/2015 at 02:01

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The one on the left will be closed. The one completely right is a double door leading to the living room so that one stays. Only to be opened from within so the door in the middle will be our main entrance (we use back doors a lot over here).

Jonee > Jobjoris 08/12/2015 at 02:10

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Oh, we do the same thing. No one uses the front door. Always the back or side, or through the garage. Front doors are for show and VIP’s.

Jobjoris > Jonee 08/12/2015 at 02:22

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Aha! Here in the Netherlands always using the back-door (even friends/family visiting you) is a typical “southern” thing. I remember our backdoor even not being locked, even at night, in my youth!

Jonee > Jobjoris 08/13/2015 at 01:22

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Don’t the criminals know to go straight to the back door? I remember we would even leave the garage door open when I was a kid. Today that would be an invitation to just take anything.

Jobjoris > Jonee 08/13/2015 at 02:10

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There has been a break-in in my life twice (once even took my Mercedes-Benz C220 CDI!), both times through the back-door indeed.

That Benz is probably driving somewhere in Romania or Africa (where most stolen vehicles end up) now.

Jonee > Jobjoris 08/14/2015 at 03:04

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Too bad, that was a nice car. That’s what you get for keeping it in the house. Here stolen cars go to Mexico, or China. Or, so they say. Most of them end up as parts, most likely.

Jobjoris > Jonee 08/14/2015 at 04:39

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The C220CDI was one of the best cars I ever drove. That actually was a funny story. I was waiting for my Polo GTI to be delivered. Already sold the F150. So I rented this C220 from a friend. Who bought it in Germany, a low mileage 2 year old, fully loaded car. But when imported to the Netherlands it get’s a different licenseplate, from which you can tell when the car was first registered in the Netherlands. So the thieve probably thought to get a NEW car while it was actually two years old.

And the day before I tanked fuel in stead of diesel. I found out in time so it was de-fueled but some of the fuel was spilled in the trunk. So the car was still smelling like hell to fuel. That was my revenge ;-)

Jonee > Jobjoris 08/15/2015 at 23:54

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Ha. They were probably not too disappointed, though, but I bet they thought something was wrong with it with the smell. How did they get it? Did they put it on a truck, or could they get it started?

Jobjoris > Jonee 08/16/2015 at 04:02

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They broke into the house and snapped away the key. While I was sleeping on the 2nd floor.

Don’t ruin my laughter. They must have been disappointed about the fact they thought they would get a few months old car and ended up with a 50k kms 2-year old car that smelled like it belonged to an salesman of Exxon Mobil.

Jonee > Jobjoris 08/16/2015 at 14:25

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Wow, that was bold. And you didn’t hear that big diesel motor starting up and driving away? I’m surprised they didn’t abandon their plan after they got in and smelled it and saw the odometer, but I guess they had already gone to enough trouble.

Jobjoris > Jonee 08/16/2015 at 16:41

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I didn’t hear anything as it was Friday night. And back then I was wasted most of my Friday nights anyway. The Tuesday before that Friday I actually went down because I thought I’d heard stuff. Police suspected me to have been “monitored” a while by these “guys”. That’s probably why they choose the Friday night in the first place ;-)

Jonee > Jobjoris 08/17/2015 at 01:45

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Ah, yeah. They staked you out. Creepy. At least they only took the car. I hope you lock your doors on Fridays now.

Jobjoris > Jonee 08/17/2015 at 02:59

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Oh, they took more. Those kind of criminals take everything they see that they think is something worth and can be grabbed in a few seconds. So a laptop as well. And an e-reader. That e-reader must have been worth at least 10 euros. Things really worth something, like my Spinlock deckvest (250 euros?) they passed on. These aren’t the most intelligent species on earth I suppose.

The door was locked. They used the ‘Bulgarian Method’ to enter. There’s probably a wiki entry on that. This was the Benz:

SilberPfeil!

Jonee > Jobjoris 08/18/2015 at 04:27

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That is a sharp looking car. I had my apartment broken into once and they stole my computer and all my car keys to all my weird cars. I think I had 5 at the time. They didn’t take any of the cars, so it was just extremely annoying since I had to get new locks and keys for them all. And even if they had managed to get my Subaru 360, or Honda 600z, or Pacer, everyone in town knew they were mine. They also took a pair of prescription sunglasses. It was a complete waste of time.

Jobjoris > Jonee 08/18/2015 at 05:05

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Hahaha, epic. That’s the main pain: all the mess and work they give you. A year later there was another burglary but these were true amateurs. With lots of damage as a result. Took the TV, took an X-Box. And all that is insured. And as TV’s improve over the year and only get cheaper you actually benefit from that. But removing all the glass, replacing the locks, putting all energy in preventing a next attempt...

After that my house was like Fort Knox.

Jonee > Jobjoris 08/19/2015 at 04:11

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Yeah, if they had asked, I would have given them the computer to avoid all the other hassle.

Jobjoris > Jonee 08/19/2015 at 06:19

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And here again I’m not supposed to generalize. But those thefts come in waves over here. In a few weeks one entire part of town is being “taken care off” and then it just stops. Most of the time it’s Romanian or Bulgarian gangs moving on to another part of town, even another part of the country. Really.

Jonee > Jobjoris 08/20/2015 at 01:27

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Huh, that’s interesting. Not a bad plan, I guess, as they can quickly be in a different country. It’s much harder to do that in America and even if you’re near a border, it’s a pain in the ass to cross.

Jobjoris > Jonee 08/20/2015 at 02:52

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Our ‘open’ society and the ‘open’ borders have been a magnet to all kinds of east-European gangs. Over here you can get all kinds of subventions for having kids and paying rent if you have low income. And the latest system was to just request it, get your money and somewhere afterwards there’s a check. So there were lots of Bulgarian trips to Rotterdam, requesting all these subventions (as all EU-citizens living in the Netherlands have these rights), getting the money and getting back to Bulgaria. Never to be heard of again of course. It’s laughable. And makes one truly think about leaving this country...

Jonee > Jobjoris 08/20/2015 at 03:10

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Damn Bulgarians ruin everything for everybody once again. There’s always people taking advantage of others’ good intentions.

Jobjoris > Jonee 08/20/2015 at 04:31

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Well, good intentions are... Good. But implementing these subventions without a proper plan and decent pre-checks (one of those Bulgarian trips requested subentions for over 100 people living on one address!): I might have done the same in Bulgaria if it’s that easy to do and that hard to prosecute! FREE MONEY!!!!

Jonee > Jobjoris 08/20/2015 at 13:04

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Yeah, you can’t just go around giving free money to anyone. Who wouldn’t take free money? We have similar issues here with stuff like that and it drives people crazy. Some folks really need help and people who take advantage ruin it for everyone.

Jobjoris > Jonee 08/20/2015 at 13:45

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You have social back up in the States? I always thought every one had to take care for themselves. Or is California a bit left-winged?

Jonee > Jobjoris 08/21/2015 at 00:37

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Yeah, it does depend a bit on the state, but America has plenty of public assistance programs. It’s always been pretty controversial and they get bigger and smaller depending on what party controls things. And over the years, most of those programs have had a lot of cuts. Compared to how much we spend on the military, it’s a tiny part of the budget. California is pretty liberal, yeah. Between Los Angeles and San Francisco, the state always votes Democrat, but the interior of the state which has a lot of farmers, is quite conservative. They just don’t outnumber the urban voters.

Jobjoris > Jonee 08/21/2015 at 04:46

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“Liberal”, that’s almost our most right-winged movement over here. Not sure if it’s the same definition though...

Jonee > Jobjoris 08/21/2015 at 14:58

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Here “liberal” is left wing. I don’t know why that definition varies. We also say, “progressive” versus “conservative.”

Jobjoris > Jonee 08/21/2015 at 16:30

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The progressive/conservative part is over here as well. Only is the oldest Socialist party “PvdA” kind of calling it self no longer progressive but conservative. At least, some of their politicians do. It’s a good thing it’s not my kind of business...