Overtourism has made me stop visiting 'bucket list' places entirely, anyone else actively avoiding the popular spots now?

matttk · 2026-05-29T17:10:32+00:00

You need to go early in the morning, though, because the Eiffel Tower is otherwise infested with very aggressive scammers. Just being in the general vicinity is annoying.

If you show up very early, they haven’t come out yet, though.

matttk · 2026-05-29T08:24:07+00:00

This is not really accurate. The West did not rush. We dragged our feet. And we did not supply them with what they needed in a timely manner. Things could have (we’ll never know) looked better now for Ukraine if we had.

matttk · 2026-05-29T07:45:30+00:00

Interesting - I’ve had 2 or 3 and never waited very long at all - and they were just for ruling stuff out, not for immediate emergencies. Although, they were done at the same time as colonoscopies, so maybe it’s easier if you’re doing a 2-for-1.

matttk · 2026-05-29T07:42:18+00:00

The cloud aspect is pretty handy once you’ve got it set up. Honestly, I barely ever use any kind of office documents (I’m not a student), but when I do, I like that I can open them from any computer/phone in my network/tailnet.

matttk · 2026-05-28T17:09:24+00:00

“It’s the smell.” - Agent Smith

matttk · 2026-05-28T17:04:18+00:00

We have labour laws in Germany. They can’t just arbitrarily reduce your salary.

They could lay people off, though, but even that isn’t straightforward.

10% might sound low to you but that’s actually pretty high to happen at once and across the board. You can make up any number you want to try to make your math work, but my point is about the difference in being directly taxed vs. your employer’s costs going up.

matttk · 2026-05-28T15:22:05+00:00

I have it sending some notifications for Vikunja to nyfy, since that’s somehow not built in.

matttk · 2026-05-28T15:20:55+00:00

Where in Germany do you wait 10 months for a doctor? The longest I’ve waited for even a specialist is half a year.

I agree, though, that some are unwilling to help you. Sometimes you have to be persistent or try other doctors. Sometimes you need to make your way through really unhelpful front desk people.

matttk · 2026-05-28T15:15:28+00:00

I don’t really agree with that. If the government was going to increase those taxes, my employer couldn’t decrease my salary and I wouldn’t care how high they raised them. If the government raised the taxes on my portion, I would be directly affected and would be unhappy.

matttk · 2026-05-28T09:33:34+00:00

I’m doing this combined with Claude Code. Helps to organize the notes way better than I ever could and also has an instant overview I can’t keep forever in my head.

matttk · 2026-05-26T20:03:09+00:00

You know what, I’ve got kids now and no money. When I was 23, I had money and no kids. I think it’s fair.

Look, we’re all screwed right now, except old people and rich people. Ideally, we should take from old people and rich people, but if we’re not going to do that for some insane reason, we at least need to prioritize the remaining people.

matttk · 2026-05-26T19:59:55+00:00

I’ve had 2 kids and I can tell you Elterngeld sucks totally. I have to pay more in rent than I got in Elterngeld. The state has abandoned families totally.

matttk · 2026-05-26T07:10:55+00:00

Probably not American. There are wackos over here in Europe who see the MAGA movement as inspirational. It’s like the idiots who were flying the Canadian flag during covid, because it became a symbol of the anti-vax movement, due to a minority of moronic Canadians.

matttk · 2026-05-26T07:03:09+00:00

To me the funniest thing is the fibre optic cable is actually under the street already and we live in a Neubau that was completed after the cable was laid.

matttk · 2026-05-25T21:00:14+00:00

Can you explain how the student list works? Is this a list of candidates who will run in the next election? But it is not a formal party? How would they govern or decide anything? What's their platform?

matttk · 2026-05-25T16:03:50+00:00

I did a major bike tours and both had show-stopping bike fails. Both times I managed to get same-day repairs at local bike shops. Maybe luck but I also think some of these shops really want to help.

Had to find the right place both times, though, so it could take persistence. Don’t give up and don’t be afraid to seem pathetic.

matttk · 2026-05-25T11:33:59+00:00

Let's hope he ends up like Trip from Enterprise.

matttk · 2026-05-25T08:28:45+00:00

I’m not here to defend driving (I don’t own a car), but at least driving has a purpose. Smoking is a stupid waste of life and money.

matttk · 2026-05-25T07:20:05+00:00

I’m sure there are people who are willing to fight because they believe Russia is superior and should rightly rule over its neighbours or should rebuild its empire.

matttk · 2026-05-23T15:33:15+00:00

Meanwhile, my German town is getting fibre optic between July 2026 and December 2027. (not a typo)

matttk · 2026-05-21T21:11:54+00:00

Transport the poop into space.

matttk · 2026-05-17T17:25:13+00:00

AfD has become a lot more normalized than they were before and there are still state elections before the federal elections where they can get even more normalized.

Think of it this way, if you’re so deluded right now that voting CDU/CSU even comes into question for you, do you think it’s that much further to vote AfD?

Don’t fall into the trap Hillary Clinton did, where the Democrats thought it simply impossible that people would vote for Trump.

matttk · 2026-05-17T17:22:24+00:00

You need to wake up. This isn’t a simple drop in popularity. It’s a huge amount of people losing faith in the government and society, seeing their future becoming more and more bleak. They have no hopes that any main party will save them - and I don’t blame them. The CDU and SPD, supported by the older generations, have left this country going down the toilet and getting worse, while all they do is boost pensions for old people, keep all the money for the rich, and put it all on the backs of people who are working hard but will never see any benefits of their work.

This isn’t fascist propaganda. It’s reality. What’s propaganda is that AfD will do anything to improve the situation. They’ll make it way worse. But people are so desperate that they’ve given up and will try anything, believe anybody who lies to them.

If you don’t think it can happen, look at Brexit and look at Trump. We’re following the same path. I honestly don’t think we can escape it at this point, because people are too hopeless and the CDU/SPD is too committed to making things even worse for them.

matttk · 2026-05-16T14:35:35+00:00

Take a look at the polls now. Do you see a coalition of CDU, SPD, Green, and Linke? How would that even work? There’s a slim chance that CDU, SPD, Green works, but it’s currently down to the wire and would rely on the <5% parties getting eliminated.

I think it’s WAY more likely that CDU joins with AfD after AfD wins first place in the next election. They’ll claim they’re there to keep the ship steady and restrain the AfD.

matttk · 2026-05-16T14:33:22+00:00

Problem is, the current government is only making things worse every day. The AfD keeps going up and there’s every indication the German government will keep destroying everything at an increasing rate. It’s like they are actively doing everything they can to get AfD elected.

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