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Postman Pup
Apr. 25th, 2021 05:58 pmEven amongst the routine, it's difficult to find time to do all the things I want to do. This week has been a case in point, which only makes the status regarding my job all the more frustrating. Since finishing the primary project for which I was hired back in March, things have entered something of a limbo, partly due to a new company being formed and partly because of other priorities in the business. While I understand the need for these priorities, I am meeting a lot of resistence regarding my own projects, which is resulting in me not firing on full capacity. There are some incredibly busy days - indeed Friday was one of them - but I do feel under-used and have a similar feeling to the final days at my last place. I am sure things won't go that way, but with payrise discussions promised in April and as yet nothing having been heard, I am starting to get very real doubts about things. Still, got to plough on I guess, considering I need the job to obtain all the residency permits and there are days where I am enjoying it. Late Friday, with the promise to push the US side of things this coming week, should hopefully release some of the deadlock at least.
Adding to my doubts is the new house, which has finally come through. It took an awful lot of effort, not least because the new landlord was initially wanting the residency permits for which we are currently waiting, but in the end we assuaged them with a message from the immigration authorities detailing the situation and the specific law under which we are covered. It has been quite a slog, but the hope is we'll be moving over to Spandau in mid-June. This is a good three months later than we thought it would be, but COVID has really slowed things down and fortunately our landlord in our short-term rental place in Charlottenburg has been incredibly understanding. The slight internet issues aside, we really fell on our feet here. However, a new place will see huge expense in things like beds, white goods and the like, meaning any paytise would be very greatfully received. I do have the money for this, but considering I am only just making money minus expenses right now, something does need to change. And with Wolfie unwilling to rent out our UK house right now, understandably I suppose, it looks like I need to try and increase income rather than reduce outgoings, having already pruned everything I can last week.
The rent will be a one-year lease, meaning we are commiting to Germany until the middle of next year at least. This seems fair, as I want to do the place justice, which means staying for a year once we are out of lockdown. With new curfew restrictions introduced this weekend, things will get more restrictive before they get better, but with the vaccine program still going well, I am confident we won't have too much longer with this. Astra Zeneca vaccine is now available to any adult in the Berlin area, but with such a small number available (50,000 for a city of four million), I don't think we'll push for this, not least because the J&J Jansen one shot vaccine may also be introduced in the very near future, meaning this could be over quicker if we qualify for that one. Furthermore, I don't think I am of greater priority than someone twenty years older than me, or who is a key worker, as I can comfortably work from home. Granted, Wolfie is going to Bremen the week after next with work so has a greater need too, but with the health minister here saying vaccinations will be offered to everyone by early June, there isn't too long to go now. I suspect bars and restaurants, outside at least, will open by late May and I hope they do as seeing people in the pubs outside in the UK is starting to form pangs of jealousy, although nowhere near as bad as I had expected.
Wolfie's driving license arrived on Monday, capping my first truly successful stint of negotiating in German. Blujay helped me initially but once we had gotten hold of the worker involved, we had to move quickly, meaning I had to email on Wolfie's behalf in real time. This worked out well though and we got what we needed, which was something.
I met up with K yesterday, one of the Dutch editors I used to manage at the last place I worked. He is currently living in Berlin too and, indeed, within walking distance of my house. We decided to meet at Schloss Charlottenburg, largely because we could walk around the grounds and chat, and partly because it was equidistant to the two of us. In the end, we walked for about two hours, chatting about a range of things. Much of this is professional as he's looking for a new job, something that I don't think I could offer him until next year at the earliest. However, there is opportunity there and we talked about a whole range of interesting stuff too. He also will help me pay for my residency card if I can only pay through Germany's EC banking system, while he will also give me some good recommendations for contents insurance, something we will need to get in our new place once we start going out and travelling more readily.
We have been incredibly popular this weekend, which has seen us be on VR Chat on Friday beyond 6am, followed by my attending of the regular SE Asian furs VR Chat gathering on Saturday evening (with people asking where Wolfie was, such is the impression he has already made on them). We then had a delicious burger ahead of our semi-regular Furry Brew Crew beer tasting. This was a very good evening, and there were a few new Americans joining the party too. They were quite loud and often talked shop, but everyone got a chance to speak and the ten of us had a really good time. Evi, as usual, was there and was a good source of entertainment while it was also great to chat with Harlequeen and his partner too, with us not having spoken for such a long time. Despite the fun times, I do worry I am drinking too much, particularly on a weekend. I'm really good at avoiding alcohol Monday through Wednesday, but by Thursday I start to crave it. On Saturday, we only had about three pints each, but it is high strength and I am starting to feel a little groggy and heady the next day. I can overcome this, but I am not sure whether I want to spend my weekends feeling grotty, what with work not being particularly enjoyable. Wolfie says that alcohol is one of the few pleasures we have right now, but I fear that'll switch to going out as soon as the pubs reopen, while I do really want to shift this belly. My dysmorphia is manifest in surpressing my feminine side - I haven't worn fem gear all month because of my body shame. Wolfie's low-carb diet is aiming to improve this, focusing less on bread and more on things like museli, but I do fear it's the alcohol that's the problem.
After the beer tasting session, which lasted about four hours, we bounced straight into Stray's regular Jackbox game night, which has recently been enlivened by the introduction of a new Chinese whispers style game called Gitphone or something. This creates interesting photobook-style narratives as a person writes a phrase, then the next person draws it, then a third person writes a phrase based on that drawing. This goes down the chain of players (in our case eight) and then all of these are presented in a narrative form. It is quite hilarious. Indeed, it has been a weekend of happy memories as on Friday, we also got introduced to the delights of Dream Bunny, a 1980s amateur production involving a bloke dressed as a bunny which looked more like an otter with a stroke. This was introduced to us by a fur, Ed the Werewolf, who remembered it from the time. There were some weird face painted people and bright lurid colours, as well as poor singing from tone-deaf children and laughable choreography. Still, the songs were memorable and I have been singing them to Wolfie this evening.
One thing that was brought to light with online social networking, though, was younger furs entering the Fandom and how they interact with people who have been on the scene for years. Indeed, VR Chat has the same problem as unlike in a bar or at a convention, you don't actually know who you are talking to as you cannot physically see them (plus if someone is at a con or in a bar, it's fair to assume they're over 18). On Discord, it's often just a voice in a conversation, while in VR it's a person behind an avatar. On Twitter and Facebook, you can regulate the people who have access to adult accounts/content but the communal nature of VR Chat means that you end up talking to loads of people by default, particularly in the open worlds, and this can present issues as sometimes people under the age of 18 are present and you don't actually know it. This was highlighted to me on Friday as I ended up briefly talking to a 16-year-old about how they got into the Fandom. That was all there was to the conversation, but it's so easy to assume with anonymous social worlds inhabited by your peers that everyone is over 18, meaning adult topics are freely discussed. Furthermore, self-censorship is much easier when it comes to writing than speaking. It was reassuring to hear that other people have the same concerns as well though, including on our own Jackbox group where we had to discern that a newbie was 22 before we could have the liberty to talk about more adult topics. I don't know how you can get around this aside from having some form of age verification policy, which perhaps is something that should be looked at, although it is also why I avoid talking about all adult content unless it's with people I know.
The rest of this week has been largely the same as usual, with work dominating, although on Friday we did attend the end of a streamed live Electric Six gig. Stray is a huge fan and I do quite like them, but watching the same songs performed for the tenth time didn't initially appeal. However, such is their showmanship that we soon got into it, making me regret we weren't there from the start.
So back to the bueraucracy. We still haven't got our tax issues sorted out yet, largely because we arrange a time and then one of our directors doesn't turn up, but I am hoping an evening meet-up one night this week will get us to where we want to be. I have been reading a lot of Michael Palin's Travelling To Work diary, detailing the period from 1988 to 1998, which has given me a few key pointers on the book I still keep meaning to right (such as anonymising people's names by just using the first letter of their name as I have done above). I really need to get cracking with the travel book as I don't want the opportunity to slip, but with everything somewhat monochrome right now due to a lack of interaction with anyone, it is quite tough. I'm also incredibly fraught and tired, plus some of my friends still haven't sent me the feedback I have requested from them. I don't want to pester too much, and I am paranoid of pissing people off, but I feel I am just going to have to shit or get off the pot on this one soon. I'm procrastinating too much.
Adding to my doubts is the new house, which has finally come through. It took an awful lot of effort, not least because the new landlord was initially wanting the residency permits for which we are currently waiting, but in the end we assuaged them with a message from the immigration authorities detailing the situation and the specific law under which we are covered. It has been quite a slog, but the hope is we'll be moving over to Spandau in mid-June. This is a good three months later than we thought it would be, but COVID has really slowed things down and fortunately our landlord in our short-term rental place in Charlottenburg has been incredibly understanding. The slight internet issues aside, we really fell on our feet here. However, a new place will see huge expense in things like beds, white goods and the like, meaning any paytise would be very greatfully received. I do have the money for this, but considering I am only just making money minus expenses right now, something does need to change. And with Wolfie unwilling to rent out our UK house right now, understandably I suppose, it looks like I need to try and increase income rather than reduce outgoings, having already pruned everything I can last week.
The rent will be a one-year lease, meaning we are commiting to Germany until the middle of next year at least. This seems fair, as I want to do the place justice, which means staying for a year once we are out of lockdown. With new curfew restrictions introduced this weekend, things will get more restrictive before they get better, but with the vaccine program still going well, I am confident we won't have too much longer with this. Astra Zeneca vaccine is now available to any adult in the Berlin area, but with such a small number available (50,000 for a city of four million), I don't think we'll push for this, not least because the J&J Jansen one shot vaccine may also be introduced in the very near future, meaning this could be over quicker if we qualify for that one. Furthermore, I don't think I am of greater priority than someone twenty years older than me, or who is a key worker, as I can comfortably work from home. Granted, Wolfie is going to Bremen the week after next with work so has a greater need too, but with the health minister here saying vaccinations will be offered to everyone by early June, there isn't too long to go now. I suspect bars and restaurants, outside at least, will open by late May and I hope they do as seeing people in the pubs outside in the UK is starting to form pangs of jealousy, although nowhere near as bad as I had expected.
Wolfie's driving license arrived on Monday, capping my first truly successful stint of negotiating in German. Blujay helped me initially but once we had gotten hold of the worker involved, we had to move quickly, meaning I had to email on Wolfie's behalf in real time. This worked out well though and we got what we needed, which was something.
I met up with K yesterday, one of the Dutch editors I used to manage at the last place I worked. He is currently living in Berlin too and, indeed, within walking distance of my house. We decided to meet at Schloss Charlottenburg, largely because we could walk around the grounds and chat, and partly because it was equidistant to the two of us. In the end, we walked for about two hours, chatting about a range of things. Much of this is professional as he's looking for a new job, something that I don't think I could offer him until next year at the earliest. However, there is opportunity there and we talked about a whole range of interesting stuff too. He also will help me pay for my residency card if I can only pay through Germany's EC banking system, while he will also give me some good recommendations for contents insurance, something we will need to get in our new place once we start going out and travelling more readily.
We have been incredibly popular this weekend, which has seen us be on VR Chat on Friday beyond 6am, followed by my attending of the regular SE Asian furs VR Chat gathering on Saturday evening (with people asking where Wolfie was, such is the impression he has already made on them). We then had a delicious burger ahead of our semi-regular Furry Brew Crew beer tasting. This was a very good evening, and there were a few new Americans joining the party too. They were quite loud and often talked shop, but everyone got a chance to speak and the ten of us had a really good time. Evi, as usual, was there and was a good source of entertainment while it was also great to chat with Harlequeen and his partner too, with us not having spoken for such a long time. Despite the fun times, I do worry I am drinking too much, particularly on a weekend. I'm really good at avoiding alcohol Monday through Wednesday, but by Thursday I start to crave it. On Saturday, we only had about three pints each, but it is high strength and I am starting to feel a little groggy and heady the next day. I can overcome this, but I am not sure whether I want to spend my weekends feeling grotty, what with work not being particularly enjoyable. Wolfie says that alcohol is one of the few pleasures we have right now, but I fear that'll switch to going out as soon as the pubs reopen, while I do really want to shift this belly. My dysmorphia is manifest in surpressing my feminine side - I haven't worn fem gear all month because of my body shame. Wolfie's low-carb diet is aiming to improve this, focusing less on bread and more on things like museli, but I do fear it's the alcohol that's the problem.
After the beer tasting session, which lasted about four hours, we bounced straight into Stray's regular Jackbox game night, which has recently been enlivened by the introduction of a new Chinese whispers style game called Gitphone or something. This creates interesting photobook-style narratives as a person writes a phrase, then the next person draws it, then a third person writes a phrase based on that drawing. This goes down the chain of players (in our case eight) and then all of these are presented in a narrative form. It is quite hilarious. Indeed, it has been a weekend of happy memories as on Friday, we also got introduced to the delights of Dream Bunny, a 1980s amateur production involving a bloke dressed as a bunny which looked more like an otter with a stroke. This was introduced to us by a fur, Ed the Werewolf, who remembered it from the time. There were some weird face painted people and bright lurid colours, as well as poor singing from tone-deaf children and laughable choreography. Still, the songs were memorable and I have been singing them to Wolfie this evening.
One thing that was brought to light with online social networking, though, was younger furs entering the Fandom and how they interact with people who have been on the scene for years. Indeed, VR Chat has the same problem as unlike in a bar or at a convention, you don't actually know who you are talking to as you cannot physically see them (plus if someone is at a con or in a bar, it's fair to assume they're over 18). On Discord, it's often just a voice in a conversation, while in VR it's a person behind an avatar. On Twitter and Facebook, you can regulate the people who have access to adult accounts/content but the communal nature of VR Chat means that you end up talking to loads of people by default, particularly in the open worlds, and this can present issues as sometimes people under the age of 18 are present and you don't actually know it. This was highlighted to me on Friday as I ended up briefly talking to a 16-year-old about how they got into the Fandom. That was all there was to the conversation, but it's so easy to assume with anonymous social worlds inhabited by your peers that everyone is over 18, meaning adult topics are freely discussed. Furthermore, self-censorship is much easier when it comes to writing than speaking. It was reassuring to hear that other people have the same concerns as well though, including on our own Jackbox group where we had to discern that a newbie was 22 before we could have the liberty to talk about more adult topics. I don't know how you can get around this aside from having some form of age verification policy, which perhaps is something that should be looked at, although it is also why I avoid talking about all adult content unless it's with people I know.
The rest of this week has been largely the same as usual, with work dominating, although on Friday we did attend the end of a streamed live Electric Six gig. Stray is a huge fan and I do quite like them, but watching the same songs performed for the tenth time didn't initially appeal. However, such is their showmanship that we soon got into it, making me regret we weren't there from the start.
So back to the bueraucracy. We still haven't got our tax issues sorted out yet, largely because we arrange a time and then one of our directors doesn't turn up, but I am hoping an evening meet-up one night this week will get us to where we want to be. I have been reading a lot of Michael Palin's Travelling To Work diary, detailing the period from 1988 to 1998, which has given me a few key pointers on the book I still keep meaning to right (such as anonymising people's names by just using the first letter of their name as I have done above). I really need to get cracking with the travel book as I don't want the opportunity to slip, but with everything somewhat monochrome right now due to a lack of interaction with anyone, it is quite tough. I'm also incredibly fraught and tired, plus some of my friends still haven't sent me the feedback I have requested from them. I don't want to pester too much, and I am paranoid of pissing people off, but I feel I am just going to have to shit or get off the pot on this one soon. I'm procrastinating too much.
