Humor Random Comments Thread

[jedidia]

Well, we have very low rent, and a very uncomplicated and good-natured landlord, who is also the only in-house neighbour, so living in an appartment is both easier and cheaper for us right now...

 

[Urwumpe]

Well, we have very low rent, and a very uncomplicated and good-natured landlord, who is also the only in-house neighbour, so living in an appartment is both easier and cheaper for us right now...

Also, its a difference between the different cultures there - in Germany, its rather normal to rent an apartment vs buying it, because the laws are pretty customer friendly in general and you have a great deal of security there.

On the other hand... we would have much less to fear economically, would we own more instead of keeping our money in circulation...

 

[Linguofreak]

Also, its a difference between the different cultures there - in Germany, its rather normal to rent an apartment vs buying it, because the laws are pretty customer friendly in general and you have a great deal of security there.

On the other hand... we would have much less to fear economically, would we own more instead of keeping our money in circulation...

It's not just how consumer friendly the laws are, it's also that land is cheap in the US, so that the middle class tends to prefer buying their own house on their own land to renting.

 

[jedidia]

It's not just how consumer friendly the laws are, it's also that land is cheap in the US

Heh yeah, cheap building land... That's thouroughly a thing from the past in Switzerland :rofl:

 

[Urwumpe]

Heh yeah, cheap building land... That's thouroughly a thing from the past in Switzerland :rofl:

And this could get suddenly more expensive in Germany today. The supreme court is deciding if the current property tax system is constitutional. One issue is that the most important number in the calculation was last updated in 1965 in west Germany and 1935 in east Germany.

One quick fix is using the market prices of the building land as reference (This reference number can already be read online for most towns)... this would be a huge tax increase. But even the more sophisticated alternatives would make real estate more expensive in Germany. Some model would make real estate without buildings more expensive, other models would include the buildings in the calculation.

 

[n122vu]

I think when you go looking for a plane that's sub 50k, you should probably buddy up with the nearest A&P and start forwarding cases of beer 6 months in advance

Ha, right
I'm going to be his favorite/most-hated customer for sure by the looks of some of these

If I'd only known how true this conversation would end up being...

 

[Urwumpe]

A 60 year old German died today during a ground accident with a German Army helicopter. The helicopter was refueled on the ground with running rotor and had the rotor collide with the tower during taxing. The man was hit by debris, the airport buildings had been damaged. The accident is getting investigated right now.

 

[MaverickSawyer]

If I'd only known how true this conversation would end up being...

Good booze and steaks are always acceptable payments, right?

 

[Linguofreak]

One word.

Eichhörnchenwurst.

This concludes your randomness for the day.

 

[Andy44]

Season 3 of The Expanse has begun!

Just watched Episode 1. God I love this show. It's almost like they got Orbitnauts to help write it sometimes.

 

[Notebook]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/techno...er-ending-vr-escalator-journey-and-other-news

1:18 in, or the last item. Dosen't really explain it well.
Was there a sci-fi short story about a crew that docks with an alien vessel, starts exploring the "Arrival Lounge" and finds it goes on forever...
Or was that reality?

N.

 

[Andy44]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/techno...er-ending-vr-escalator-journey-and-other-news

1:18 in, or the last item. Dosen't really explain it well.
Was there a sci-fi short story about a crew that docks with an alien vessel, starts exploring the "Arrival Lounge" and finds it goes on forever...
Or was that reality?

N.

Not familiar with that story, although it reminds me of sitting in a government office waiting to get my driver's license renewed...

But there was a short story I read years ago about a guy who had squandered all his money, ripped off his creditors and family, and was now loading up his credit cards with no intention of paying anybody back.

With a bag of groceries and other stuff he goes to leave the shopping center via the down escalator leading to a subway station. He gets to a landing, and starts down another flight; lost in his thoughts he repeats this several times before he senses something is wrong. He has gone down way deeper than he remembered the station being, and hasn't seen another soul in several minutes. After going down a few more flights, he panics and tries to go back up, but the effort is too tiring and so he descends again, hoping to find the bottom soon along with the way out, but of course he just keeps going and going.

The story ends a couple of days later. His groceries expended and the rest of his ill-gotten goods abandoned somewhere along the way as he ran down the escalators in a panic, he is doomed to forever ride down lighted escalator shafts for all eternity, hungry and alone.

I wish I could remember the name of the story or its author, fantastic Rod Serling-style "get what they deserved" writing.

 

[birdmanmike]

"Descending" - by Thomas M. Disch - do a search for more

you're welcome - as are donations to stave off my creditors -

 

[jedidia]

There's a similar short story from a Swiss author (though its focus is on political analogy), where commuters suddenly find their regular morning train plunging down an ever steeper endless tunnel, and the conductor is completely unaware that anything whatsoever is out of the ordinary.

 

[Notebook]

Interesting, those stories involve going down(Hell?) .
The sci-fi one was horizontal, by the time the crew figured out is was bigger on the inside than the outside, too late.
Its the banality and the description of a familiar setting, then it goes odd. Wish I culd remember the author.

N.

 

[Notebook]

Rod Serling, haven't heard that name for ages.
I remember the Twilght Zone, import to here, was allowed to watch it. Parents thought it too scary, so did I.

Don't remember this one, but might have watched it.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dar2HKImK-0"]Shatner v The Gremlin -- Two Minute Twilight Zone Project -- Nightmare at 20,000 feet - YouTube[/ame]

 

[Andy44]

Rod Serling, haven't heard that name for ages.
I remember the Twilght Zone, import to here, was allowed to watch it. Parents thought it too scary, so did I.

Don't remember this one, but might have watched it.

Shatner v The Gremlin -- Two Minute Twilight Zone Project -- Nightmare at 20,000 feet - YouTube

The Twilight Zone still runs in reruns in the US. Sci Fi channel still does a marathon every year I think. Serling's other TV show, Night Gallery was the horror version to Twilight Zone's sci fi.

You should look up "The Obsolete Man", I think it's my favorite TZ episode.

Sadly, Serling died fairly young in the 70s and never got the chance to make a really good feature film. His writing was superb.

BTW, after searching on Urwumpe's post I found the full text of that story I mentioned:

http://web.archive.org/web/20070213...n/classics/classics_archive/disch/disch1.html

 

[jedidia]

Apparently my boss got asked by a customer if a solar panel requires sunlight. Seriously! :dry:

 

[Evil_Onyx]

Well they do not need sunlight, but it makes things a lot more efficient.

 

[Urwumpe]

Apparently my boss got asked by a customer if a solar panel requires sunlight. Seriously! :dry:

"No, any ISO compliant light is suitable...you did order multilight panels instead of the EU norm daylight panels, right?"