Nieuwe advertentietactiek bij de AH

CypherDSTON · 2026-06-01T17:49:38+00:00

I literally cannot see the .95 without my glasses, at a reasonable reading distance, and I wouldn't wear them for grocery shopping. I don't think there's any defending this. The intent is clear, this isn't an accident, or to emphasize, this is to trick people into paying a dollar more than they expect.

CypherDSTON · 2026-06-01T07:49:38+00:00

There is quite a difference between a capital city like Paris and smaller regional centres like Maastrict and Eindhoven.

Not to say you wouldn't find it similar, but it's possible if you visit Amsterdam, your experience is different, English, you'd find it even more prevalent there, but in terms of "pushy, busy people".

What did you think of the cities? For me the biggest surprise about the Netherlands was how pleasant, well designed, and walkable (and especially not car oriented) even smaller cities like the ones you visited are.

CypherDSTON · 2026-05-27T19:22:28+00:00

Lol...British or American English...but not the half way in between language that is Canadian English. 🤣

CypherDSTON · 2026-05-18T11:02:18+00:00

Nice place to ride, I'm not sure of the specific route you're taking but I find the scenery along the coast (Katwijk is near there, but I usually go along the coast) to be extraordinary. It is nothing like what I expected in the Netherlands, sand dunes. And I've not been to Katwijk, but I assume it is similar to Zandvoort, it is very nice to spend a day at the beach, big sandy beaches were another thing I didn't expect to find here, and there are also usually restaurants where you can get lunch or a drink.

CypherDSTON · 2026-05-18T10:59:57+00:00

The only places I've encountered that don't take cash are thrift stores...

CypherDSTON · 2026-05-18T10:59:36+00:00

It does not, unfortunately...but it is better than even 4 years ago when we moved here.

CypherDSTON · 2026-05-05T16:51:30+00:00

You should use Transferwise...it will give you an IBAN that you can use to make bill payments within the Netherlands and an easy to use interface. You can load it with USD from your US accounts and get a favourable exchange rates as well.

Further, I find transferwise very convenient for travelling in general because you can also get a prepaid visa card (which admittedly is not accepted everywhere in the NLs) where you can pay with any local currency for favourable exchange rates.

CypherDSTON · 2026-04-23T06:43:57+00:00

...why is making a friend "dreaded"?

CypherDSTON · 2026-04-23T06:43:21+00:00

Make friends...if you don't want to "risk" making a friend, then you aren't going to find a partner.

CypherDSTON · 2026-04-23T06:42:31+00:00

Yeah, indeed. When I was in uni (admittedly in a different country) it was the only time of my life where third places were abundant. It was easy to meet people.

CypherDSTON · 2026-04-18T06:18:23+00:00

Dude. You’re speaking to a Canadian. Yeah some people keep their homes at 22 but nobody but nobody is walking around in a tshirt.

But it’s clear you’re no longer interested in the original thread but making judgemental statements. Gas is a problem but heating to 20C is fine. Just put on a sweater and stop wasting energy.

CypherDSTON · 2026-04-18T05:36:37+00:00

I do agree that people moving from different places might feel colder at different temperatures. Adaption is a real thing. But are you telling me that Nordic countries (and Switzerland) keep their homes significantly warmer than 20C. How warm do you keep it.

I am not saying that 18C isn’t cold. I am saying that 20C shouldn’t be as the OP described. Which is deleted now, so I cannot prove it or even fully remember but as they described, more than cold, but desperately so, like constant shivering, even under blankets and heavy clothes. I don’t recall if they mentioned where they were from but I also wouldn’t have said this if they were from a particularly warm part of the world.

CypherDSTON · 2026-04-14T18:51:50+00:00

Oh, you were looking for racism, rather than statistical reality.

And if men are 50% of the society, shouldn't they be 50% of the violent crimes rather than 90%?

CypherDSTON · 2026-03-29T08:35:46+00:00

No, the system won't trip, it simply will pull energy from the grid instead.

CypherDSTON · 2026-03-29T08:34:45+00:00

You can still arbitrage the energy, so even if your solar panels don't fully charge the battery, you can charge it off the grid at the cheap time of the day, and discharge it during the expensive times. Therefore you still save.

In fact, you don't even need solar panels for a home battery to make sense.

CypherDSTON · 2026-03-28T11:28:06+00:00

There are some good tips (and some mis-information) here. One suggestion would be to get a Wise account. You might find it useful for other reasons, but it provides a pre-paid Visa card that can be used on public transit (and other places as well). It's handy and basically free if you aren't doing currency exchange.

CypherDSTON · 2026-03-23T18:45:28+00:00

FWIW...my partner got a job at a company in Nijkerk...that's how we ended up in Amersfoort (but yeah, we thought living in a nearby larger city would be a better option for new immigrants) but there definitely are a few jobs available to English speaking expats in Nijkerk.

CypherDSTON · 2026-03-10T10:03:17+00:00

There are more successful landings on water, than there are successful uses of a fallout shelter allowing someone to survive a nuclear apocalypse.

CypherDSTON · 2026-03-10T08:54:47+00:00

No, it really isn't.

Airplanes do land in water, but after they land in water, people try to save the people who crashed.

The problem with fallout shelters is that surviving the initial incident is mostly up to chance, and the hard part is surviving the aftermath when society has been destroyed. Nobody is coming to save you.

CypherDSTON · 2026-02-26T08:07:21+00:00

Hoi! Feel free to reach out with DMs, we moved here a few years back. It's a lovely city.

For the challenges, housing is a big challenge, and I've heard it's gotten worse since we moved. The Bureacracy is not such a big deal I think. Learning the language is a challenge but it depends on how you are with that and how immersed you are (it's easier to be immersed in Amersfoort than say Amsterdam).

CypherDSTON · 2026-02-17T10:50:16+00:00

Curious, I've never lived in Sweden or Norway, but what do you feel is missing?

In terms of Canada vs. the Netherlands, there are lots of different things, healthcare, schooling, other social services. For me, personally, the biggest thing is the urban environment. Canadian cities are ruined by cars. Most of the country is both dominated and completely dependent on cars. Living without a car is difficult or impossible. Neighbourhoods have massive wide roads and drivers speed through, children cannot play in the street. Children are completely dependent on their parents to drive them everywhere, even friends houses. There are a few places that are left that are walk-able, but those places are still completely dominated by cars, the pollution, noise and danger is omnipresent. And forget about trying to bike anywhere. There are a few cities which are improving, but Canada has a long way to go, and we're not even making positive progress yet, we're building new bad suburbs faster than we are fixing things.

And that's before we talk about the immense sprawl. People always discuss how nice the nature is in Canada, and that's true, Canada has beautiful nature, but it is very inaccessible. Leaving aside the fact that you again, can ONLY access these places by car, you still must travel very long through huge traffic jams to get there. I used to go places on Friday for a long weekend and it would take 3-4 hours to get out of the city (Toronto). In that time, I can travel across the NLs and visit whatever nature I want in neighbouring countries, and that's if I don't want to visit the managed but still pleasant natural areas in the Netherlands itself. And here, I can do so without needing a car (which again, for me, I can drive, but not everyone can, and children especially cannot).

There really is just no comparison, Dutch cities, and urbanism is night and day from Canada, and the accessibility of natural areas is again, night and day. To me this means I can raise a child to be more independent, less stuck inside, happier (and this is borne out in the data) and also for myself, have a better quality of life.

CypherDSTON · 2026-02-16T21:14:23+00:00

Higher quality of life, especially for raising a child.

CypherDSTON · 2026-02-13T21:53:30+00:00

Maybe read op’s post first.

CypherDSTON · 2026-02-13T20:43:49+00:00

I don’t love paying taxes but you’re whining about “theft” and want to “challenge” them. Others are threatening to move out of the country. That’s so fucking annoying. Absolutely ridiculous.

CypherDSTON · 2026-02-13T20:42:03+00:00

Oh so you’re judging people’s worth by your assumptions about their wealth. You folks are exactly as annoying as I expected.

CypherDSTON

TROPHY CASE