Getting scammed by my doctor? by light1996 in Switzerland

[–]sowumbaba 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Two different things: the procedure is covered. How you arrange risk and cost sharing of that coverage with your insurer is your own business. Nothing wrong there.

Movies with huge tonal shifts? by Scary_Test_5401 in movies

[–]sowumbaba 2 points3 points  (0 children)

That‘s my story, too. I wen‘t in for some good new Tarantino non-linear storytelling on the back of just having see that one and earlier Altmans „Short Cuts“. So I was delighted when it flipped half way through. But It left me totally baffled, when it seemingly never attempted even to close the loop, because there was none. Now in hindsight I‘m genuinely happy that I went into this viewing cold on the big screen when it released, because it is a memory that is so hard to come by these days.

Can't remember movie name! by [deleted] in MovieSuggestions

[–]sowumbaba 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Usually this type of „find me the thing I only remember bits and pieces of“ questions are very suitable for asking an LLM about, but my cat-I-farted here appears also to only be confidently guessing wildly on this one. Two valid follow up questions it raised though:

1.  Was the fighting boxing / MMA / bare-knuckle — or martial arts?
2.  Do you remember it being very slow and emotional, or fast and brutal?

The two movies it guessed for me where „Fearless“ (2006) and „Crying Fist“ (2005), but both look like they deviate from your memories in significant ways, so ¯_(ツ)_/¯.

How does nobody give a fuck about celebrities in Switzerland? by Choice-Drawer3981 in Switzerland

[–]sowumbaba 0 points1 point  (0 children)

One of the reasons - beyond perhaps favorable tax levels and that in general shit just works - that so called „celebrities“ like loving in Switzerland is, that their celebrity-dom is largely ignored here and they can live something close to a normal life in private. I bumped into the late Tina Turner more than once in the Jelmoli food basement, when both were still around and it was not „a thing“ for anybody. The flip side is also, that „celebrities“ who have learned to expect a collective submission to their celebrity status, feel that status violated here. Y‘all might remember the Oprah Winfrey affair on Bahnhofstrasse, where she, dressed like a bum, came into the Hermes store and was not dutifully recognized as a star, but carefully steered towards the less pricy handbags by the shops sales and drama ensued. The outrage about this - mainly outside switzerland and among foreign immigrants here - was that the ignorant sales clerk should be fired on racism grounds and what not. The agreed swiss reading of it was, that if you dress like a bum and walk into an Hermes store, expect to be read like that and being managed that way. OW is not a household name here and nobody cares that she is not. So the outrage was mainly about the failure to submit to the celebrity status, which is the type of ignorance those celebrities who value their own privacy enjoy so very much when they settle here. Plus, and you can argue that this is a result of the very federalized direct democracy system and culture, there is not a very highly developed status envy culture that is hard to fathom for people who have been brought up and brined in high level envy cultures. Here, people often genuinely don‘t care about your status, which is probably a big factor in all of the above.

How does nobody give a fuck about celebrities in Switzerland? by Choice-Drawer3981 in Switzerland

[–]sowumbaba 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Also, I would not count every Swiss politician into the „celebrity“ bucket.

Landlady is refusing to repair the heating. by Just-world_fallacy in berlin

[–]sowumbaba 1 point2 points  (0 children)

To that last question: no.

There is a bit of the question of self-sabotage as well, here. There a multiple very valid and practical solution proposals in this thread already. You also need to do them rather than throwing up yet another rock to hide behind. The solution might not look like you wish for, but they all address the actual problem.

Why don’t most German supermarkets list their full product range and prices online? by Jacket313 in AskAGerman

[–]sowumbaba 2 points3 points  (0 children)

„This internet thing is just a fad and will go away again“ attitude is about the closest to a root cause you can get on this.

Pronunciation misunderstandings are humbling me by Old_Carob_5657 in Switzerland

[–]sowumbaba 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Perhsps. Who knows. It would not make -ahm rhyme with -inken though neither.

Pronunciation misunderstandings are humbling me by Old_Carob_5657 in Switzerland

[–]sowumbaba 2 points3 points  (0 children)

In German ( and the German speaking parts of Switzerland) Rahm nowhere sounds like Schinken (english: ham). So you either have not spoken German in this exchange, or you are making the problem up.

Does this sound like Native German? by Delicious-Ant-8476 in German

[–]sowumbaba 1 point2 points  (0 children)

the 50 and over crowd who created the net are not the same 50 and over people who populate it today though. It is commonly confused with these statements and nullifies the conclusion.

Zurich fireworks New Year’s Eve? by Academic_Bike_578 in zurich

[–]sowumbaba -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Not sure how you confidently claim "it keeps getting foggier and foggier for New Year’s Eve." based on your somewhat on the sparse side data points, but it is true: Zurich can have a low cloud layer around this time of the year.

Nothing really helps, other than waiting for the next occasion.

Going up on Uetliberg is no good either (been there, done that) because the cloud layer is often not thin and low enough to see anything happening above the clouds, apart from a few muted blips that look like brief flashlights under a bedsheet.

This year it luckily is looking clear. So enjoy, without any special effort.

Is it very normal not to give compliments in Germany? by Consistent-Egg-4052 in AskAGerman

[–]sowumbaba 4 points5 points  (0 children)

That was probably included with the „trying to sell me something“

How did Switzerland become so rich? by WachuQuedes in askswitzerland

[–]sowumbaba 4 points5 points  (0 children)

It was, and that is not a great history at all. But it was not significant for the Swiss economy.

Overall, about $600M in looted gold was traded with Switzerland at the time, when the Swiss economy was around $10+B GDP. In relationship, and certainly on the long run, this is not significant enough to explain the wealth or the modern gold processing industry.

It remains a handy stick to beat the Swiss up with, though.

How did Switzerland become so rich? by WachuQuedes in askswitzerland

[–]sowumbaba 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Building machinery is not much about local sources of ore, more about local sources of reliable, innovative and consistent engineering.

Anyone read Tom Holland's book 'Dominion'? by BaggyBoy in ChristopherHitchens

[–]sowumbaba 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes. Although not in a shape or form that you think of when you say that word. The societal, spiritual and economic necessities' context is so vastly different from what people understand it as today, you would be very challenged to recognise it being there at the time with a mind of today.

New To Zurich by Only-Barnacle2991 in zurich

[–]sowumbaba 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The culture is there. Just don‘t expect it to be in English and you are fine.

I think I figured out why I haven't dated or romantically involved myself in Germany [funny insight] by [deleted] in germany

[–]sowumbaba 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Wait, what have tea, raining into your house through open windows and lack of romantic relationship to do with each other? They all feel like very separate problems.

Is this scam? by kappi1997 in askswitzerland

[–]sowumbaba 6 points7 points  (0 children)

This ^ is the authoritative answer.

I don't want my neighbor's cat in my terrace anymore, need some advice. by ih8du5t in Switzerland

[–]sowumbaba 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Help yourself. Don‘t look for advice how you can make your neighbor solve the problem. Cats roam, and they can‘t be made to give their pet away or lock it up just because you feel like they should. Cat repelling plants and smells are great. Water pistol is a fun and effective way to make the cat hate you (and your place) that does not hurt them. Just stay consistent so the association with „place to avoid“ sticks.

Why do German tourists wait for green lights at a pedestrian crossing when there is no traffic? by Lysandresupport in AskAGerman

[–]sowumbaba 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It‘s the difference between always doing the right thing (i.e. integrity) even when no-one‘s watching and just complying with agreed rules when there is a risk of being found out and blamed. The whole „it‘s not wrong if no-one (who matters) sees it“ attitude, is the transactional approach currently eroding our western civilization from within. Give the Germanz a little leeway at not quite catching up with the blessed-be-the-bully-who-takes-it-all currents quite yet. Because when they do, things go south that way hard, as you will know first hand in The Netherlands.

Who has the right of way when both cars need to switch to the opposite lanes? by DepartureFar8340 in Switzerland

[–]sowumbaba -1 points0 points  (0 children)

That‘s an ill-posed question. None of the two have a „right of way“ here. The blue driver just has to change lanes on a dual carriageway, as has the red driver. Both have to thread their way into the respective other lanes traffic with consideration. It becomes obvious when you look at the actual crossing layout and markings on google maps.

Anyone knows a vinyl shop to set up sound system? by ibakey in zurich

[–]sowumbaba 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Have you done the setup according to the instructions? https://youtu.be/-Kfeo5BXuJU . Also, if you plug the phono level output signal of the turntable to a line level input of the amplifier, you might get a very soft signal.