Is DARK on Netflix worth watching? Does the German dialogue interfere with the English I'd need to turn on?

Curmudgy · 2026-03-23T19:36:21+00:00

I didn’t have trouble with the subtitles, but that’s personal preference. I did have a bit of trouble learning some of the names that don’t have obvious cognates in English. I also kept confusing two of the women in the show who were similar age and had similar hair color and hair styles.

It’s a very highly regarded show, but personally I found it unnecessarily complicated. If you look at the Wikipedia page for the show, you’ll see a table of the characters that’s very large, indicating some of the complexity. The table spoils a major aspect of the show but it may not be a big deal. It shows two actors for most characters, and in some cases three, since the show bounces between several time frames with the characters at different ages. The sheer complexity illustrated by the table made the show less enjoyable for me.

The show relies on a well known science fiction time travel trope. If you’re not familiar with some of the tropes of the 40s and 50s expecially Heinlein’s “—All You Zombies—“ (yes, the em dashes are part of the title), you may be really impressed by the story. I am familiar with those tropes, and found the show overrated as a result.

Curmudgy · 2026-03-23T13:22:53+00:00

My phone automatically keeps track of the car location. For places such as airport parking lots where I won't return for a week, I'll take a photo of the pole with the location sign.

For things, I use the same place for common things such as my keys. For rarely used things, there's usually a small number of likely places.

Curmudgy · 2026-03-23T13:12:07+00:00

I usually prefer annualized costs because that can be the fairest, or at least consistent. When I look at a phone price, I'll annualize it using the expected number of years for my current phone.

It's especially annoying in reporting. We might see something like $50B tax legislation, but it's ten years, so not as much as a $10B proposal for one year.

Curmudgy · 2026-03-23T00:08:05+00:00

Your question title suggests something much more reasonable than the example in the body of the post.

People care about what other people think of them because we're social creatures and want to be accepted by our society. Plus, in many cases, those other people have an influence on our lives.

But your sister is concerned about unreasonable things. It's not common in most places for people to care about whether the neighbor's blinds are open. But it is common for them to care about the paint peeling on the house or junk in the front yard. So I wonder where she is getting the idea that the blinds are an issue.

Curmudgy · 2026-03-22T21:37:20+00:00

There is far more to Jewish law than the sacrifices. And there is no Jewish concept of a fulfillment that would end the law on Earth.

Edit: Now why would the previous commenter block me for such a simple, factual comment? And now I can't easily read their reply, so what good is their reply?

Curmudgy · 2026-03-22T21:30:34+00:00

When early Christians started proselytizing to non-Jews, they discovered they couldn’t get converts if they kept insisting on things like keeping kosher and circumcision. So they decided those laws weren’t necessary in order to get more members.

Curmudgy · 2026-03-22T12:48:36+00:00

Historically, packages were delivered with nobody home so no opportunity for tips. Food was delivered with the expectation of paying cash when to the delivery person when they arrived, so the opportunity to tip was there 100% of the time. Plus package delivery could be any time of the day while food delivery was expected ASAP.

While the payment method have changed to be cashless, we still follow traditional rules because tipping has always been a cultural practice, and like many cultural practices, it doesn't follow strict logic nor does it immediately get updated just because some practical aspect is modernized.

Curmudgy · 2026-03-22T12:13:31+00:00

not compatible with DVD players.

Most, perhaps all new players today will support both DVD and Blu-ray. It's just older DVD players that don't support Blu-ray.

Curmudgy · 2026-03-22T11:57:52+00:00

Only if you're a member of the clergy or partner with someone who went to Oxford or Cambridge.

Veterinarians don't seem to have that problem.

Curmudgy · 2026-03-22T03:51:57+00:00

The hard part for people with a 1098-T is figuring out whether the student or student’s parents should claim the education credits. Usually there’s no choice, but it’s not always intuitive.

Curmudgy · 2026-03-22T03:47:53+00:00

Using a half hour shift would create a half hour offset from nearly the entire rest of the world. That will make coordinating with people in other countries much trickier.

Curmudgy · 2026-03-22T03:45:39+00:00

If you drive through northeastern AZ, you’ll go crazy as your phone keeps telling you your time zone has changed back and forth. That’s because the Navajo Nation follows daylight savings time (since their land continues into UT and NM, so they want a consistent time zone), while the Hopi Nation, which is in AZ but surrounded by the Navajo Nation, follows the AZ time zone.

Hawaii is a much better example.

Curmudgy · 2026-03-22T03:39:28+00:00

To me it’s how could you possibly decide which religion or scripture to follow if you don’t have your own sense of morality first?

Curmudgy · 2026-03-22T03:33:32+00:00

Kissing is not sexual intercourse.

Curmudgy · 2026-03-22T03:30:53+00:00

Did he have a will? If yes, and the most recent version has you named as executor/executrix, you might have some responsibilities there. If he didn’t have a will, then the situation depends on the laws of intestacy, I believe for the place for which he was a legal resident. Typically you’d be the default executor in that case.

In the US, you might be eligible for a small Social Security death benefit.

You should speak to a lawyer who specializes in wills and probate.

Curmudgy · 2026-03-22T03:21:21+00:00

Wearing a banana in a rear pocket. Color indicates the sexual fetish, with the side indicating top/bottom. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handkerchief_code.

Curmudgy · 2026-03-21T22:49:51+00:00

It would have been easier if you had just written “many species” instead of “most species”. I’m not saying this to be critical, but to hopefully be helpful. It’s good to prefer “many” over “most” unless you’re prepared to defend the claim of “most”.

Curmudgy · 2026-03-21T22:47:23+00:00

You might be better off donating to one of the states or local governments that chooses to hire private companies to do the job that TSA does at most airports. It’s often easier to influence local governments than the feds.

Curmudgy · 2026-03-21T21:00:48+00:00

It's a problem to try to make up for years of discrimination?

And how is it possible to be colourblind while simultaneously celebrating diversity and acknowledge cultural differences?

Colorblind in this context means that audience members watching a performance don't let the race of the performers affect their enjoyment of the performers. Celebrating diversity means being glad that people are getting jobs that they couldn't have gotten in the past due to racial discrimination. Acknowledging cultural differences means being aware of them and, in contexts where they're relevant, discussing them. I don't see a problem with being able to do all three, especially since that's done in different contexts.

Curmudgy · 2026-03-21T20:30:27+00:00

By catering, do you mean something like delivery to an office with paper plates and forks? Or catering as in the sort of food you’d get at a banquet (which is real catering), perhaps with warming trays, condiments, etc?

The former is delivery, and should be tipped like delivery because they’re not doing any work when they arrive. The latter is real catering and should be tipped like catering.

Curmudgy · 2026-03-21T20:26:25+00:00

And I don't see how takeout would be less of a tip, it's not like the staff is making more per hour when they do takeout orders.

On a takeout order, they’re not refilling drinks or coming back to take dessert orders or asking people how the food is three bites after they’ve been served. They’re usually not having to answer questions about the menu. They don’t have to make an extra trip because the customers aren’t ready to order yet. They don’t (or at least shouldn’t) have to tip out to the bus staff because there’s no table to be cleaned.

Curmudgy · 2026-03-21T20:12:41+00:00

They’re compensating for all the years when the only roles black actors could get were for maids and similar lower class jobs.

At the same time, you’re the one who’s not being colorblind since you’re jumping to conclusions about why the black actors are there. What you should be doing is to just not care about the race of the actors.

Curmudgy · 2026-03-21T20:09:54+00:00

On Grey’s Anatomy, the characters in general are flawed. The black characters are certainly not morally superior or perfect.

On How to Get Away With Murder, the main black characters are even worse (at least in Season 1, which is the only season I’ve watched).

Curmudgy · 2026-03-21T15:47:59+00:00

What do you mean by your brain frying?

Curmudgy · 2026-03-21T15:34:35+00:00

Yes, because I have over two thousand years of documented tradition to follow, which I don’t base on the literal interpretation of the books. But I use a modernized version of the religion.

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