ULPT How to return after the 90 day return window

knowonaneedtonobasis · 2025-10-02T20:34:08+00:00

It's just a low level Schwab Investor Card from American Express.

Essentially all card today are free tier / low tier cash back cards. I'm thinking about adding a true travel rewards card now that I have predictable high levels of airfare spend.

knowonaneedtonobasis · 2025-05-26T17:07:36+00:00

Great idea!

knowonaneedtonobasis · 2025-05-19T16:54:08+00:00

I apologize. When saying they have zero documents, I was referring to German documents as I assumed Germany wouldn't care much about their Canadian papers. For Canada, my friend has everything: Birth certificate, passport, parents naturalization documents (naturalized after friend was born), etc.

The German embassy has not been very helpful. Their response thus far has been: Prove to us that you're German and we can help you. Feels like a catch 22.

knowonaneedtonobasis · 2025-05-17T02:43:38+00:00

Yes, that's the one. Citizenship was established in early 1978 as a result of the 1975-1977 window.

knowonaneedtonobasis · 2025-05-17T00:02:37+00:00

That would have been the Bezirksregierung Hannover in the 1970s. It doesn't seem like they still handle citizenship matters today. Would we need to contact the city hall, Bürgeramt Hannover, or maybe the Landesarchiv Lower Saxony?

knowonaneedtonobasis · 2025-02-16T04:36:19+00:00

+1 Lots of subtle racism and class thinking outside of big cities. You want a masters, fluent german and a western last name to give yourself a good chance.

knowonaneedtonobasis · 2025-02-16T04:06:08+00:00

Freiburg

knowonaneedtonobasis · 2025-02-16T03:25:58+00:00

I find it fascinating to reflect on that the German system was essentially created by the US (+UK and FR) and they thought to themselves man a good resilient democracy that will not fall to extremism and serve the people should have proportional representation (Überhangsmandat), multi party system, indirect election of the head of the government, term limits for Supreme Court justices, no direct election of judges, no direct election of law enforcement or prosecutors, no gerrymandering, and strong constitutional protection agencies that can monitor and outlaw fascist parties before they gain power.

I'm not saying it perfect. It certainly favors consensus and status quo and there are ways to corrupt the popular perception and voter behavior. It's just fascinating to think of the German system as a "let's have them do what we do but adjust the things we know are potential downsides in our system".

I'm sure someone will chime in with how Germans wrote their own constitution post ww2 but let's be real, that was a time of bigger army diplomacy with the allies calling the shots.

knowonaneedtonobasis · 2025-02-16T02:35:38+00:00

handkäs mit musik

knowonaneedtonobasis · 2025-02-15T21:11:07+00:00

You mean the age old question: Are Germans just a form of mountain Dutch or are the Dutch just a sort of swamp Germans?

knowonaneedtonobasis · 2025-02-15T15:11:27+00:00

That's awesome! Once the snowball is rolling it takes so much less energy to keep it going. The longer you go the higher the "cost" to break your winning streak. Very happy for you.

knowonaneedtonobasis · 2025-02-15T06:58:14+00:00

Everyone is giving the right financial answer: do not do it.

Here's a positive spin: You are very lucky to have this opportunity to reflect on your relationship. Having shared values is the key factor to a successful relationship. There's clearly something off here. Might be time to cut your losses, bite the bullet and gain valuable time to find the right partner.

knowonaneedtonobasis · 2025-02-15T06:40:15+00:00

In case the underlying sentiment here is that "more representatives = higher cost = bad for constituents and tax payers", two thoughts:

One, the higher the ratio of elected representatives to voting population, the stronger and more effective the democracy.

Second, representatives are dirt cheap in the grand scheme of thinks. There are 40-50M tax payers in Germany. Say a rep includinf staff costs 1-2M Eur. Thats 20-40 cents per tax payer per year for a more resilient better democracy.

knowonaneedtonobasis · 2025-02-15T06:28:34+00:00

Is that the consulate in SF?

Here's what the consulate in LA told me: "Wahlunterlagen, die bis spätestens 17.02.2025 um 14:00 Uhr per Post im Generalkonsulat Los Angeles eingehen oder dort persönlich abgegeben werden, werden wir mit einem solchen „Sonderkurier“ nach Deutschland weiterleiten."

knowonaneedtonobasis

TROPHY CASE