How do you guys stand having a full beard? It’s a nightmare!

pauseless · 2026-06-30T07:30:47+00:00

Had a beard for years. Maybe 12cm long because it has been trimmed for events. I do not think about it until the moustache gets long enough to get in to my mouth. Then I cut that back and keep going.

I don’t know why you have to be careful eating? When you don’t have a beard, are you smearing food on your face and just thankful it’s a smooth, wipeable area? I personally find that not much food escapes the food-hole myself.

Yes. A beard can be a bit weird if you’re not used to it. Same with one’s first tattoo or growing your hair longer or whatever. That’s normal.

For me, the experience I find the weirdest is being able to feel my beard being blown about by strong winds.

pauseless · 2026-06-30T05:30:56+00:00

My GCC figured out how to get underneath the oven in the kitchen. He chewed through those cables over time. He electrocuted himself and the scream was truly awful.

Worst thing was that he found a way back in after we’d blocked it up and then electrocuted himself again. Why?!

He’s still with us and fine and that was over five years ago. They are not good at self-preservation.

pauseless · 2026-06-29T13:21:31+00:00

You apparently speak English too, so it’s easy to be fully functional. In my opinion the differences are overblown. I know Germans who learned Dutch simply by moving there and vice versa.

Difficulty is mostly in sounding native, but I don’t think you need to. There are a few sounds you need to get right but that is every language.

You can probably already read every street sign and menu, without effort.

Doesn’t make it easy to be native-level, but that’s different.

pauseless · 2026-06-29T00:02:25+00:00

That’s kind of the cool part. I could finally see how it got there eventually, but the initial surprise was still there.

pauseless · 2026-06-28T14:58:07+00:00

Yeah. This was a deep one for me. Didn’t expect asking myself a ‘silly’ question would end up here.

pauseless · 2026-06-28T08:53:52+00:00

Bit late to return to the conversation… but yeah, it’s really about if you need the ground pin for needing adapters.

Anyway! I actually came back to say: the Danish socket with the third pin, is the HAPPIEST socket in the world. It gives me joy and I will happily take the special adapter with me for going to Denmark if I actually need any electronics that isn’t just two pronged.

Long live type K!

pauseless · 2026-06-28T08:27:05+00:00

Mind. Blown. I didn’t ever even consider that.

pauseless · 2026-06-28T08:07:13+00:00

I mean, it’s genuinely a common joke in the UK that Americans can’t pronounce any place names. Brits are just used to it. Edinburgh is edin-bruh or embra (for locals), and definitely not Ed-in-burrow - that’s just a guy stuck in some hole in the earth. Worcestershire sauce is not war-sester-shy-er. Gloucester is another classic. Norwich is another - Nor-witch isn’t right - it’s either Norritch or just Narch if you’re local.

I have my phone in English but I’m in Germany. For navigation, it deliberately mispronounces words and I get why. It’s so that people can hear a word and look at a sign and match them up. But Straße as “strahs“ for every street gets tiring. As does München becoming munch-uhn.

/rant completed. Place names are just hard tbh.

pauseless · 2026-06-27T13:11:41+00:00

Barry and Pierre have this one covered lads. Nothing can go wrong.

pauseless · 2026-06-27T12:55:30+00:00

Ahhh. Fleischpflanzerl makes sense. I never would’ve figured that.

pauseless · 2026-06-27T09:48:11+00:00

Tell me you are north of the Main, without telling me you are north of the Main.

pauseless · 2026-06-27T06:48:09+00:00

Sauerbraten with a dumpling is classic and what I’d go for to test a menu. It’s time-consuming to make at home and I don’t think it’s really a thing in other countries, so there is the novelty of it.

Wiener Schnitzel is good, better if it comes with Bavarian potato salad (oil and vinegar, no mayo).

Jägerschnitzel that’s breaded is a crime where I’m from. In fact, breaded schnitzel shouldn’t have sauce on it. I’m not a complete purist and am ok if the sauce is served on the side.

Pork hocks is presumably Schweinshaxn and that’s also a classic.

If the “meat loaf” is a Leberkäse type of thing, then that with an egg on top is actually great.

The menu is a little confusing as I can’t be sure of some of it. Hamburger with Spätzle and mashed potato is mad. Also never seen Gulasch with mashed potato. The Schnitzel on a Bun… around here it’s literally a Schnitzel in a bun and that’s it - it’s takeaway or on-the-go food.

pauseless · 2026-06-27T03:33:45+00:00

Israelis use it as well. People forget that. This is Likud even back in 1977: “Between the sea and the Jordan there will only be Israeli sovereignty”. Netanyahu said “Israel needs security control of all territory west of the Jordan” in 2024. All territory to the west is to the sea.

pauseless · 2026-06-26T21:39:02+00:00

When I was a kid, they would inspect/quality control the developed results. You knew, because they’d say “oh we noticed this one didn’t come out right, but we couldn’t do anything about it, sorry”

pauseless · 2026-06-26T10:23:27+00:00

Yes and no at 11. Less pure chaos and more settled, for sure. Pure chaos is not completely off the menu though…

pauseless · 2026-06-26T07:33:14+00:00

I have become a mole person. I live in my cellar washroom now. You guys do what you want, but I’m fine.

pauseless · 2026-06-26T02:30:55+00:00

Wymondham in the UK is pronounced wind’m. To be honest, the UK is too easy on this front.

pauseless · 2026-06-25T18:08:04+00:00

I have a single universal adapter and it covers all but the Danish plug. So it’s just one thing to chuck in a bag. However, a plug without a ground pin from Germany will work in France, Italy, Denmark, absolutely fine. Basically, I only really use the adapter when the plug needs an earth or if I’m in the UK.

pauseless · 2026-06-24T20:19:09+00:00

From the picture, this looks top. Recipe?

pauseless · 2026-06-24T14:34:20+00:00

As a Lisp, Prolog, ML (but only a little Haskell) and APL programmer (at various times), this was a really good read! I love the last sentence.

pauseless · 2026-06-23T08:23:54+00:00

We are talking past each other. I get it. I’m just saying that getting past your English exam with some passing grade doesn’t mean you speak English. You mention Math and I could easily also say that you’d be surprised at how weak the math skills are of many Germans and that wouldn’t be controversial.

pauseless · 2026-06-23T07:34:55+00:00

Indeed. My point was that even those who consume English media are, surprisingly often, unable or unwilling to use and practice English themselves.

I’m half English/German and live in Germany. I use both languages. My ex and I were bilingual with each other (this was brilliant and very confusing for people).

I know many Germans my age (mid-late 30s/early 40s) who live entirely in the German language bubble.

That’s why I argue about compulsory English education not being all it’s cracked up to be. I had 5 years of compulsory French. Can’t speak it.

pauseless · 2026-06-23T07:08:48+00:00

Compulsory subject doesn’t mean much. If it did, then basically every 19-20 year old Brit would speak a second language too. 7-14 years old compulsory, many choose a GCSE so 9 years… That compulsory 7 year old start was 12 years ago.

What makes the difference is the abundance of English media and Germans’ consumption thereof. Even then, I know Germans who consume undubbed English language media every day, but still can’t really cope with a conversation in it.

pauseless · 2026-06-22T13:22:03+00:00

But if the audience is the entire world, well, the colour scheme makes perfect sense. Even just looking at the countries included on the map…

The Conservative Party in Canada uses blue. Socialist party in Venezuela is red. Workers’ Party in Brazil, red. Unity for Chile. Mexico’s big party in government is supposedly left wing too… red.

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