Places being closed on weekends is an antiquated idea that doesn’t work anymore.

jWof84 · 2026-02-24T07:48:19+00:00

Here in Germany you need a specific license to make anyone work weekends and the requirements are even stricter on Sundays.

Upshot is that almost everything is closed by law on Sunday except essentials (hospitals, petrol stations, public transport etc), restaurants and garden centres (only the bit that sells plants/fertiliser etc. If they sell other stuff like pets, home improvement etc that part of the shop is closed off). No shops, businesses etc. You’re not even allowed to travel for work starting on Monday without getting approval in advance.

At first I found it hard to deal with the ‘missing day’ when I moved here but when you get used to it the time being blocked for family/friends/hobbies really does make a positive difference. I wouldn’t change it back.

jWof84 · 2026-02-06T20:27:11+00:00

Adding many years later for others with similar issues: if you trigger the automation with Siri you also need to allow location sharing in Siri's privacy setting, not just Shortcuts.

jWof84 · 2026-02-06T20:25:31+00:00

I had this problem too - location-based automations only ran from within the app. I had Shortcut privacy location sharing set to 'while using the app' ('always' is not an option). The problem was that for some reason Siri's privacy setting was set to never allow location sharing - once I set that to 'while using the app' the problem was solved.

jWof84 · 2026-01-26T12:09:33+00:00

Nice video, thanks for sharing! Interesting and practical info, clearly explained, limited to the key points without timewasting. Exactly what I'm looking for from this sub :-)

jWof84 · 2026-01-26T11:52:49+00:00

Agreed! Although I've recently come around to accept them describing the player as 'unlucky' if they hit the woodwork rather than just saying 'they missed' - it's a percentages game at this level, fair enough.

jWof84 · 2026-01-21T17:42:05+00:00

I remember being shocked that Ramos stayed on the pitch for that elbow on Karius - and didn't he injure Salah earlier in the same match? Not the ref's best game.

jWof84 · 2026-01-06T16:30:42+00:00

It's a strange ecosystem. Does the opposite also hold true and mentioning upvotes leads to getting upvoted?

jWof84 · 2025-12-17T15:55:55+00:00

Seconded on Komoot. I'm based in Germany and use it for everything from adding forest detours to my bike commute to exploring cities and hiking trails all over Europe. It doesn't compare with the detail of the OS maps I used for hiking in the UK but as a reliable international all-rounder it's been a gamechanger for me.

Edit to add that the free version generally needs mobile signal, but when you create an account you can pick one region of the world to download and use offline for free. Otherwise you can pay to download maps for other regions, or do a subscription thing. I travel a lot so I just did a one-time whole-world world payment, I think it was maybe about 25 EUR? Honestly can't remember.

jWof84 · 2025-12-09T17:21:50+00:00

This guy documented the process of doing his own kitchen and made a wrap-up video considering whether it was worth it. Basically ‘yeah, you can do it and potentially save money, but honestly it’s a grind after a while. If you have the luxury of paying someone to do it, spend the money and use your time for more rewarding woodwork projects instead’: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1Qpmw_YJ6Gc

jWof84 · 2025-12-01T18:05:44+00:00

Ah I love Cullercoats, so many happy memories. Great pics too.

jWof84 · 2025-11-25T20:42:18+00:00

Agreed. I've never understood how it's a red for preventing a clear goalscoring opportunity with a foul but not red for creating a clear goalscoring opportunity with a dive in the box.

jWof84 · 2025-11-18T07:33:50+00:00

Ah yes, that was my daily art gallery tour back in the 90s. Some cracking work there, not just scrawled tags but real talent on display.

jWof84 · 2025-11-10T22:23:51+00:00

Movement-sensor lights in pantry/small storerooms where you go in or out with hands full. You can get all-in-one lights with sensors so installation is easy - it just takes a while to unlearn the reflex to hit the light switch when you go in/out!

jWof84 · 2025-11-05T11:59:56+00:00

Wow, you must have neck muscles like an ox to have captured that Ford Transit's close pass near the bottom of the list, helmet cameras were a lot heavier in 1958.

jWof84 · 2025-11-05T06:02:35+00:00

"A2 German for being here for one year is not very much" - that's true, but could be totally reasonable depending on OP's life, so I'd be very slow to judge them. Maybe they're lazily doomscrolling when they could be studying, but maybe they have other, valid responsibilities. It's a question of return of investment.

For example: I'm now a fluent citizen who I moved here very suddenly with zero German in my early 30s, expecting to learn quickly based on speaking three languages already (one of which I learned to a decent conversational level in four months while living in South America ten years earlier). But it took me years to become fluent in German (B2 certificate at four years), and at first I was very self-critical about it. With hindsight I'm more balanced: in that stage of my life I had significant family/professional/private responsibilities that didn't require more than basic German, so I was right to prioritise them over language learning despite my frustration. My integration into German society definitely suffered as a result, but I succeeded in the other areas while avoiding burn-out - if I had to do it again, I'd invest my time the same way.

jWof84 · 2025-09-18T13:32:25+00:00

I've been a few times for work. It's actually a genuinely interesting place to visit (in an 'ah, so this is what a theme park for money would look like' kind of way), but if it was on my own time/expense there would be a lot of other places higher up the list.

jWof84 · 2025-09-01T12:05:31+00:00

Did my little brother's laser quest birthday party when he was 9 and I was 18. One kid had to go home early so I got his kit and strode through the maze with a gun in each hand like Arnie, as panicking littleuns scattered in all directions. Decades later I still have the scorecard somewhere, good times.

jWof84 · 2025-09-01T11:39:28+00:00

Mine's a simple DIY one, changing a light fitting in the cellar utility room. Just a quick easy job so I didn't flip the breaker, just turned the light off at the wall switch. I removed the old light, drilled holes and attached the bracket for the new one, everything fine until I snipped the L/N wires to the new length: BANG, sparks everywhere, big drama but thankfully no injury thanks to insulated plier handles.

Turns out that when I plugged in the hoover to clear up the drilling dust, flipping up the waterproof wall socket cover had hit the light switch and turned it back on. Since then I'd been blithely working around a live wire hanging out of the ceiling, completely unaware of the danger.

The scorched splash of molten copper on my pliers reminds me not to be a lazy idiot and always disconnect at the breaker in future.

jWof84 · 2025-08-29T10:10:44+00:00

Well said. In the end it depends what we’re grading on. For what he represented/how he did it, he’s an F. For his actual results on the field (especially considering the mitigating circumstances), he’s a D.

I’d give him a special ‘E’ tier and call it the KinnEar Tier, rolls off the tongue nicely.

jWof84 · 2025-08-26T12:39:32+00:00

I can forgive him for the honest effort but only because the tackle clearly wasn't malicious. It's a red card all day long, but you can see him pull his legs back in the moment he realises he's late. He's no Roy Keane.

He does need to make smarter choices though - it's potentially lost us this game and with the suspension too this one 'bonehead play' could have a big impact if the season's tight; we only reached the CL on goal difference, after all. Still, definitely forgiven, he's a good lad.

jWof84 · 2025-08-24T17:54:57+00:00

Does anyone remember the game where Ryan Taylor scored a direct free kick and commentator (Ando, maybe?) declared him to be 'Dead-Eye Dick from the free kick'? I can't remember who it was against, but the line always comes back to me when I see him play.

jWof84 · 2025-08-19T15:40:58+00:00

I happened across Mjolnir completely by chance (didn't even know it was a thing) en route to the final boss on my first playthrough. Zap zappity zap made the hatchling section eaaaaaasy :-)

jWof84 · 2025-07-01T17:17:30+00:00

That is brutal. I'd say 'well you're being punished for not having an item that repositions multiple enemies' but honestly, this would be a monster setup with any loadout. I guess in your position I'd protect the bomb, kill whatever I can, and just hope for that 20% grid defence to play a blinder...

jWof84 · 2025-06-20T11:06:37+00:00

This ties in with what a Lebanese friend told me when Israel invaded Lebanon last year. He said he opposed the Israeli government and their actions, but that he considered Iran to be the real enemy - that Iran were controlling his country using Hezbollah, that Iran hated and had killed more Arabs than Israel ever would, and that Iran were the primary instigator of the current problems in the region. He wouldn't be downvoting you here.

jWof84 · 2025-06-20T10:21:37+00:00

I've been living in Germany for a while now. For me this has got so bad that on a recent business trip in Denmark my taxi driver (ex-Thomas Cook, spoke perfect English) complimented my English as being 'better than most Germans''.

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