Absolutely Anything Else

It is ridiculous to ship from Ca. to HU.
We are not big fans of Tesco either.
We rarely buy produce there.
Mostly go once a week because it is easy to pick up heavy items such as 6 packs of water, laundry soap and other bulky items all in one stop.
We drive over and don't have to lug large things in our hands.
Otherwise we always walk to smaller farmers markets for produce and at least 3 times a month we check out the large market hall or some other large fresh market.
We seem to be always jumping into one shop or the other for some weekly special or just to see what they have that looks good.
I love walking but also enjoy having a purpose to my walks, don't want to go around in circles for nothing.
We went into Tesco perhaps 16 years ago to buy a new car battery for our BMW, forgot the engine size but it was a smaller 318I I think.
It was winter time and we took a train in Erd over to Tesco and brought along a luggage carrier to lug home the new battery.
Snow was all over the ground and everything was wet and slippery.
Made a day of it and just went with the flow.
Got home with the new battery and realized we should of bought a more expensive and slightly larger one.
Went back the next day with the train again, slippin' and sliding.
Went to their customer service desk and they refused to exchange the battery even with our purchase paperwork and the fact they we would be spending more money on a better battery.
We told them right then and there where to get off and that we never would shop there again.
We meant it too, never went in a Tesco again.
Until... we moved to Budapest and they opened up the Tesco not far from our flat in Arena Plaza.
There is no other large market near us other then Tesco, 2 of them in fact.
Still we never forgot how they gave us the screws and we try to not purchase allot of things there, we spread out our shopping with other shops just to not give it all to Tesco.
If they open up another large market close to us we are gone from Tesco for good.
Speaking of milk and Tesco, about 5 times we purchased milk from Tesco only to have it turn bad within a day or two.
No idea what they are doing with their milk there. Someone must be putting it out at room temp. and then placing it in the fridge.
I no longer buy milk from Tesco.

klsallee wrote:

fluffy2560 wrote:

Same here of course. 

Our local Tesco

Which is why I don't shop at Tesco. Tesco brought their international corporate trading system and contacts with it when it first came to Hungary.

Well, okay, I did a few times shop at Tesco, when I first moved here, many many years ago. Mainly because they were the only local store that had organic milk. Sometimes. Maybe. When they felt like it. It is a terrible corporation.

But when I went in once, and saw wrinkled old green peppers imported from California, in Hungary, which produces so many great fresh peppers, and yet no Hungarian peppers at all for sale (not even a space for them), I walked out and have never stepped in a Tesco since (over a decade now). Plenty of local produce producers in Hungary. No need to buy imported items unless they are "out of season". Then Italy or Spain, or Turkey can supply them and are close enough -- no need to ship from the USA.

I knew a guy who was "selling" to Tesco. In fact his wife and him had a cosmetics business importing from somewhere and he told me Tesco was really horrible. They actually rent shelf space to brands which then are sold for a substantial cut.  The shelves have to be stacked by the actual sellers. So in a way, it's like a market in microcosm with Tesco as the overlord.  I suppose the way of the world.  In the end he just gave up as it was too hard to deal with them.  Most shopping malls I see with Auchan or Tesco as anchor stores are full of empty units.  Retail looks dead.

I think Tesco must be a really slick operation.  If you want to hear how wide reaching it was or is, read about Dunnhumby, the forerunner of Facebook's analysis and sales arm in some ways.  Quite incredible.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

Hate to be too real but most people lately seem to be,"Mutants".
GMO's have done there damage as well as baby formulas,sugar, white flour and fast foods.
.....
See many young looking people using scooters to get around and no one walks much.
My grandfather was nearly 95 and never used a cane and stood up straight a tall last time i saw him at 93 years old.
He lived on a simple diet of rye bread sourkraut daily with one cigar and a pint of whiskey, same diet for his entire life.,,,,
It also isn't great for females as it can promote breast cancer.

You're grandpa wasn't using the same formula as this guy was he? 

12 cigars a day, whiskey and God sounds like utter BS.  Genetics! It's all down to genetics.

I'm quite willing to join the mutant overlords if I can be as military fit as I was at about 25 when I'm 325.  Those were the days.

Actually having been out USA way recently I realise the diet out there is simply appalling.  Most stuff had this high fructose corn syrup.  Far too much sugary rubbish, fat laden garbage and poisonous "sodas" that are verging on criminal.  Even the ordinary bread was sweet.  Unbelievable.  I saw people who could hardly get out their cars as they were wallowing like whales.  I could not believe the absolute trash I was served there. I began to feel ill there watching and trying to find fresh greens. Awful and part of a worldwide health epidemic.  Criminal.

I'd like to wish everyone a Happy New Year!
At least it can't be too much worst then last year!
Just kidding ...
Yes the US population is exposed to some very large amounts of low quality foods.
We usually cook at home and use coconut oil, olive oil, pure grapeseed oil or worst case if we fry which is rare, a combo of grapeseed with a lower quality mix , sold in liter bottles for about $7.00.
My DIL fires allot of my son's dinners which I do question, Japanese food is allot of fried items,
When I did Hairdressing in Hawaii I worked in a small posh area where many mainlanders lived, most sent their kids to a private school nearby and had jobs as pilots for airlines.
Just a small country style barber/beauty salon in the town.
I worked with 3 other stylists and 2 were local Hawaiian ladies.
One was "normal" size and the other my buddy of sorts was half Hawaiian and a large women of 6 feet tall and a good 200 lbs.
She and the other local lady often took me to lunch in the town to either a Chinese place or a German place to eat.
They later told me they were worried because I looked ,"anorexic" to them.Hardly was , I just didn't eat red meat back then and I worked out daily, just a slim body type like my German grandfather was.
I also heard from them that most of our local clients thought I was anorexic looking as well, No wonder I was given sushi platter's for tips and bottles of beer!
ATM my husband has way too many casino points so we have been going to a buffet with his comps about once a week.
I notice most people pile up on mac and cheese, all sorts of starches and deserts.
I love going on Sunday for brunch as it's sushi, lox and bagels with cream cheese and lots of shrimp dishes. Huge salad bar and Hawaiian poke( raw tuna with rice).
I skip the deserts but do enjoy the free flowing bubbly ... I don't drive home to be sure!
I wanted to link another post to this one, actually move it over but don't know how to.
About eyeglasses.
I went off about ID cards and big bro and being a donor.
My younger bro's wife was here a few weeks back dropping off a car for us to use while we are in town.
She mentioned how her father is still not able to eat and is using a feeding tube.
He is 84 years old or there about.
She then told me he is considered a "miracle" medically speaking as the  longest and oldest living heart transplant recipient in I believe she said the world, maybe it was just in the US but think she said world.
He had the surgery over 20 years ago.
He had a twin brother who didn't get the surgery and he died 20 years back.
Another odd thing with her is her youngest son, she has 3 sons was born with a bad kidney or liver(  I really should listen better) he has already had 2 organ transplants and he is only 20 years old.
I think her family is a bit, how can I say it, creepy?
Just me perhaps but I do not like the thought of organ transplants, it just seems too Frankenstein to me.

always wondered why they dont have a big New Years Eve fireworks display here like so many other countries. Its great to see it on August 20th but what about NYE?
Would be so nice to see the government giving the people a little "welcome" the new year like so many other countries

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

I'd like to wish everyone a Happy New Year!
....
Yes the US population is exposed to some very large amounts of low quality foods.
We usually cook at home and use coconut oil, olive oil, pure grapeseed oil or worst case if we fry which is rare, a combo of grapeseed with a lower quality mix , sold in liter bottles for about $7.00.
My DIL fires allot of my son's dinners which I do question, Japanese food is allot of fried items,
When I did Hairdressing in Hawaii I worked in a small posh area where many mainlanders lived, most sent their kids to a private school nearby and had jobs as pilots for airlines.
Just a small country style barber/beauty salon in the town.
I worked with 3 other stylists and 2 were local Hawaiian ladies.
One was "normal" size and the other my buddy of sorts was half Hawaiian and a large women of 6 feet tall and a good 200 lbs.
....
They later told me they were worried because I looked ,"anorexic" to them.Hardly was , I just didn't eat red meat back then and I worked out daily, just a slim body type like my German grandfather was.
I also heard from them that most of our local clients thought I was anorexic looking as well, No wonder I was given sushi platter's for tips and bottles of beer!
ATM my husband has way too many casino points so we have been going to a buffet with his comps about once a week.
I notice most people pile up on mac and cheese, all sorts of starches and desserts.
I love going on Sunday for brunch as it's sushi, lox and bagels with cream cheese and lots of shrimp dishes. Huge salad bar and Hawaiian poke( raw tuna with rice).
I skip the deserts but do enjoy the free flowing bubbly ... I don't drive home to be sure!
I wanted to link another post to this one, actually move it over but don't know how to.
About eyeglasses.
.....

Happy New Year!  BUEK!

Japanese people seem to live forever on Sushi and fish but they fry a lot of stuff which sounds bad yet their life expectancy is really high.  They must be doing something right.

Does anyone REALLY like Sushi?  It's hardly flavourful and wasabi isn't even nice.  Sushi is gelatinous rice rolled up with a bit of fish in the middle. As for tempura, it's unimaginative delivery of fried something.  I've always thought it tastes of nothing much. Where's that special oomph?   I could go for the bagels and lox or smoked salmon or even gravlax (yum) - but is it truly healthy?  I want some now but everything is closed - best place hereabouts for gravlax is probably Ikea. Or make your own. 

At 0300 the last of the fireworks were going off here and now the sun has risen the streets are deserted apart from the occasional dog walker.   There was a heavy frost.

Tomorrow normality should return. Kids will be back at school, offices will reopen and winter continues.

Happy New Year all.

Has anyone seen Simon?

Transferred from here: Prescription glasses...

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

.....
So very true but I can't fight the system on my own.
Events and votes have already been counted and it seems the "people" allowed this intruetion of privacy,
I remember perhaps 25 or so years back when our Ca. driving license  had those strips placed on the back of the card.
My husband freaked out, said they had learned very good from the old commie days of the the Little Black Book ( or was it red?).
He mentioned when he got his first US driving license for New York there wasn't even a photo on the card!
I worked in casinos so big bro already has my fingerprints on file and
perhaps allot more on me.....
Way off topic here, yes think I must look into getting glasses soon at least for night driving.
Have some of those yellow tinted night time Ray Bans somewhere, wonder if they really work or not.
The new LED headlights in cars are murder on the eyes at night.

Rather off topic but there's an interesting article in The Economist Xmas edition.  Basically it comes down to two things:

1) government owns your identity - they issue birth certificates and passports and now Real ID etc;

and

2) your identity is acknowledged and supported by people you know. 

If you don't know anyone, no-one knows you.    You can be separated from your identity in a coordinated way.  And the likes of FB or Google have moved into identity to commercial and government "confirmers" of your identity, i.e. you need to login to FB and/or Google to connect. 

Here's a true story mentioned in The Economist: Romanian Court declares alive Romanian still officially dead

How absurd!  But a perfect example how "the man" owns you.

SimCityAT wrote:

Happy New Year all.

Has anyone seen Simon?

Nope. I think he was p***ed off I called his poetry banal.

My first cousin in New Mexico ( finally back into the social media since his son passed away a couple months back) wrote that at midnight in the city there were guns firing instead of fireworks, auto-machine gun fire!! OK, best to not walk the sts. of NM at night!
Don't these people know what goes up must come down?

I passed out asleep at 10:30 pm, I never stay up till midnight....
Never enjoyed being up all night long even as a younger person I always went home to bed most times at a normal hour, not the party animal I think I am. ( Actually the bottle of bubbly was gone and I didn't wish to open up another bottle as no one really drinks around here)

Hope to take a walk in downtown Las Vegas, the old part of the city later today. I enjoy my New Year's Day walk about's.
In Ca. we would always take a walk after the Rose Parade and look at the floats up close and personal before they took them apart.
All that work for just one day ...
It would be lovely to have a parade of flowered floats in Budapest but the cost of importing so many fresh flowers would be even more then a useless stadium.

Noticed an article on Daily News Hungary about the murder suicide in the village near Vesprem.
Sad stuff.
Does make you rethink gun control laws since this Austrian man used a gun in Hungary.
If someone wants something bad enough, no laws on earth can stop them.
I can't take a side because there is always two sides to a story and since those who survived were also victims their side will of course be biased.
It must of taken allot though for this man to decide to take a life then kill himself.
Some people can't take rejection very well to say the least.
Guess he reached his emotional breaking point when his common law wife left him.

I teen sat all day on Monday with my great niece aged 13.
Dang, she can walk fast, about wore me out and I thought I was a fast walker.
Got up super early to keep my eyes on her, 7 am start time until after 9 pm when we finished the night with sake bombs... Her's was a Shirley Temple , I'm not that degenerate to give alcohol to a child.
My niece manages 3 offices for a IT co. in their facilities dept.
She had to fly into Vegas to meet up with her Vegas staff.
I was invited to stay for a few days at the Delano with them but I hate sleeping anywhere but my own bed.
In this case I may of made a mistake however... Those beds in the Delano suites were like sleeping on a cloud, very nice hotel.
We started off  with a light breakfast after my niece went off to work.We charged it to the room but when I saw the price I was awakened very fast.
Dang , nearly $60. for two open faced whole wheat sandwiches with a bit of avocado and egg and lox with literally 5 alfalfa sprouts on top, one orange juice and one espresso.Insane and I had to ask 3 times for some water on the side!
We then walked through the mall area and viewed a art gallery then off to the Titanic to see what was pulled up from the ocean.
Interesting but with the $35. plus tax a person they should of included at least one of their photos which they pushed hard for us to buy.
I spoke for a short time with the ticket agents as we were the first customers of the day and the first to enter, had the whole Titanic to ourselves.
I was able to lower the ticket prices by $20. by being my sweet self and telling them I was a local, got a local discount for my niece as well.
Pays to be nice sometimes, it really does.
Then a walk on the Vegas strip , bought my niece a ice cream cone for the cost of $10. 24 for one single scoop. I will NEVER complain about the ice cream vendors in Hungary again!
Then over to the Excalibur to play in the game room for kids.
My great niece is almost as tall as I am and looks older then she is, was sweet to see how excited she was to win a few tickets to pick out a cheap little prize after playing.
Reminded me that she is just a little girl even though every two mins in Vegas someone was trying to hand her tickets to night clubs, that's Vegas for you.
Then we rested a bit and had some girl time talking and laughing about events in our family.
Off to dinner when my niece got home from work.
Went to a new place in Vegas called, "Sake Roc" every 15 mins the wait staff breaks into song and dance, there was a drag-queen MC who went over to every table and talking on his microphone to every customer.
So many people seemed to have entered the wrong building because they wouldn't exchange silly comments or joke with the MC.
3 Japanese business men kept starring at the ground as if if they didn't look up it wasn't really real... That made me laugh.
My niece had a great time joking with the MC and the wait staff pulled all 3 of us gals up to dance with them, I was ok with that, guess that hot sake did the trick, made a fool of myself but it's all good.
I was lucky the lampshades were nailed down!( No I wasn't all that out of it!)
The MC treated us all to sake bombs, I never had one before, dang the next day...They made them with sugar water and soda for my great niece. Nice of them, she was the only kid in the place.
We had some sushi but really didn't have a huge dinner, they did have a dish called the Godzilla, cost was $200. a plate, was a foot high statue of a Godzilla with steam coming out of it's nostrils, a gimmick meal but several large parties of customers ordered it. Guess there was perhaps 30 to 40 pieces of hand rolled sushi on the plate.Looked good actually minus the monster.
My husband brought me home while my niece and great nice went to see the Michael Jackson show, ONE.
Those tickets were $130. each,
I honestly don't know how people can afford to visit Vegas with those prices, not even sure how much the hotel rooms cost but dang, I could live for a month in Hungary on what was spent in one day in Vegas and no one gambled.
Didn't cost me a penny though, my niece treats me so nice when I see her it freaks me out, was great to see my family again, just hope next visit isn't for my great-nieces wedding, want to see her again before she grows up.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

Noticed an article on Daily News Hungary about the murder suicide in the village near Vesprem.
Sad stuff.
Does make you rethink gun control laws since this Austrian man used a gun in Hungary.
If someone wants something bad enough, no laws on earth can stop them.
I can't take a side because there is always two sides to a story and since those who survived were also victims their side will of course be biased.
It must of taken allot though for this man to decide to take a life then kill himself.
Some people can't take rejection very well to say the least.
Guess he reached his emotional breaking point when his common law wife left him.

I teen sat all day on Monday with my great niece aged 13.
Dang, she can walk fast, about wore me out and I thought I was a fast walker.
Got up super early to keep my eyes on her, 7 am start time until after 9 pm when we finished the night with sake bombs... Her's was a Shirley Temple , I'm not that degenerate to give alcohol to a child.
My niece manages 3 offices for a IT co. in their facilities dept.
She had to fly into Vegas to meet up with her Vegas staff.
I was invited to stay for a few days at the Delano with them but I hate sleeping anywhere but my own bed.
In this case I may of made a mistake however... Those beds in the Delano suites were like sleeping on a cloud, very nice hotel.
We started off  with a light breakfast after my niece went off to work.We charged it to the room but when I saw the price I was awakened very fast.
Dang , nearly $60. for two open faced whole wheat sandwiches with a bit of avocado and egg and lox with literally 5 alfalfa sprouts on top, one orange juice and one espresso.Insane and I had to ask 3 times for some water on the side!
We then walked through the mall area and viewed a art gallery then off to the Titanic to see what was pulled up from the ocean.
Interesting but with the $35. plus tax a person they should of included at least one of their photos which they pushed hard for us to buy.
I spoke for a short time with the ticket agents as we were the first customers of the day and the first to enter, had the whole Titanic to ourselves.
I was able to lower the ticket prices by $20. by being my sweet self and telling them I was a local, got a local discount for my niece as well.
Pays to be nice sometimes, it really does.
Then a walk on the Vegas strip , bought my niece a ice cream cone for the cost of $10. 24 for one single scoop. I will NEVER complain about the ice cream vendors in Hungary again!
Then over to the Excalibur to play in the game room for kids.
My great niece is almost as tall as I am and looks older then she is, was sweet to see how excited she was to win a few tickets to pick out a cheap little prize after playing.
Reminded me that she is just a little girl even though every two mins in Vegas someone was trying to hand her tickets to night clubs, that's Vegas for you.
Then we rested a bit and had some girl time talking and laughing about events in our family.
Off to dinner when my niece got home from work.
Went to a new place in Vegas called, "Sake Roc" every 15 mins the wait staff breaks into song and dance, there was a drag-queen MC who went over to every table and talking on his microphone to every customer.
So many people seemed to have entered the wrong building because they wouldn't exchange silly comments or joke with the MC.
3 Japanese business men kept starring at the ground as if if they didn't look up it wasn't really real... That made me laugh.
My niece had a great time joking with the MC and the wait staff pulled all 3 of us gals up to dance with them, I was ok with that, guess that hot sake did the trick, made a fool of myself but it's all good.
I was lucky the lampshades were nailed down!( No I wasn't all that out of it!)
The MC treated us all to sake bombs, I never had one before, dang the next day...They made them with sugar water and soda for my great niece. Nice of them, she was the only kid in the place.
We had some sushi but really didn't have a huge dinner, they did have a dish called the Godzilla, cost was $200. a plate, was a foot high statue of a Godzilla with steam coming out of it's nostrils, a gimmick meal but several large parties of customers ordered it. Guess there was perhaps 30 to 40 pieces of hand rolled sushi on the plate.Looked good actually minus the monster.
My husband brought me home while my niece and great nice went to see the Michael Jackson show, ONE.
Those tickets were $130. each,
I honestly don't know how people can afford to visit Vegas with those prices, not even sure how much the hotel rooms cost but dang, I could live for a month in Hungary on what was spent in one day in Vegas and no one gambled.
Didn't cost me a penny though, my niece treats me so nice when I see her it freaks me out, was great to see my family again, just hope next visit isn't for my great-nieces wedding, want to see her again before she grows up.

Austria is considered to have the most relaxed laws in the European Union. From aged 18, Austrians can freely buy and own certain types of shotguns and semi-automatic rifles for sport and hunting. ... Austria is one of the few EU countries where self-defense is a valid reason for gun ownership.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

....I teen sat all day on Monday with my great niece aged 13.
Dang, she can walk fast, about wore me out and I thought I was a fast walker.
Got up super early to keep my eyes on her, 7 am start time until after 9 pm when we finished the night with sake bombs... Her's was a Shirley Temple , I'm not that degenerate to give alcohol to a child.
....was great to see my family again, just hope next visit isn't for my great-nieces wedding, want to see her again before she grows up.

Ah, well, I've got kids of about that age and younger and what I find incredible is that they have an almost bottomless pit of energy to draw upon and an almost invincible fresh-out-the packet body.  I'm thinking of my creaking back, aching muscles and they are thinking of dancing, gymnastics and sledging.  I remember at that age I could run up mountains!  These days (and this morning particularly) I can only look at them and wonder if I'd make it to the top - yes I would be probably 2 x the time of a 13 year old.  Coming down is easier....

They say that youth is wasted on the young.. 

Oh, and our teenager is already taller than Mrs Fluffy and only about 1" shorter than me!

fluffy2560 wrote:

They say that youth is wasted on the young..

Phft. Only if one was foolish and afraid to be young when young, and now looks back with "wish I had" nostalgia.....

I had a wonderful young age. Nearly died on more than one occasion. But did not die. So don't regret one damn moment of it.

Getting older is also great. Taking all the advantages of that as well.

For example, when someone says something really, really stupid they think I should hear, I get to now feign deafness.....

SimCityAT wrote:

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

Noticed an article on Daily News Hungary about the murder suicide in the village near Vesprem.
Sad stuff.
Does make you rethink gun control laws since this Austrian man used a gun in Hungary.
If someone wants something bad enough, no laws on earth can stop them.
I can't take a side because there is always two sides to a story and since those who survived were also victims their side will of course be biased.
It must of taken allot though for this man to decide to take a life then kill himself.
Some people can't take rejection very well to say the least.
Guess he reached his emotional breaking point when his common law wife left him.

I teen sat all day on Monday with my great niece aged 13.
Dang, she can walk fast, about wore me out and I thought I was a fast walker.
Got up super early to keep my eyes on her, 7 am start time until after 9 pm when we finished the night with sake bombs... Her's was a Shirley Temple , I'm not that degenerate to give alcohol to a child.
My niece manages 3 offices for a IT co. in their facilities dept.
She had to fly into Vegas to meet up with her Vegas staff.
I was invited to stay for a few days at the Delano with them but I hate sleeping anywhere but my own bed.
In this case I may of made a mistake however... Those beds in the Delano suites were like sleeping on a cloud, very nice hotel.
We started off  with a light breakfast after my niece went off to work.We charged it to the room but when I saw the price I was awakened very fast.
Dang , nearly $60. for two open faced whole wheat sandwiches with a bit of avocado and egg and lox with literally 5 alfalfa sprouts on top, one orange juice and one espresso.Insane and I had to ask 3 times for some water on the side!
We then walked through the mall area and viewed a art gallery then off to the Titanic to see what was pulled up from the ocean.
Interesting but with the $35. plus tax a person they should of included at least one of their photos which they pushed hard for us to buy.
I spoke for a short time with the ticket agents as we were the first customers of the day and the first to enter, had the whole Titanic to ourselves.
I was able to lower the ticket prices by $20. by being my sweet self and telling them I was a local, got a local discount for my niece as well.
Pays to be nice sometimes, it really does.
Then a walk on the Vegas strip , bought my niece a ice cream cone for the cost of $10. 24 for one single scoop. I will NEVER complain about the ice cream vendors in Hungary again!
Then over to the Excalibur to play in the game room for kids.
My great niece is almost as tall as I am and looks older then she is, was sweet to see how excited she was to win a few tickets to pick out a cheap little prize after playing.
Reminded me that she is just a little girl even though every two mins in Vegas someone was trying to hand her tickets to night clubs, that's Vegas for you.
Then we rested a bit and had some girl time talking and laughing about events in our family.
Off to dinner when my niece got home from work.
Went to a new place in Vegas called, "Sake Roc" every 15 mins the wait staff breaks into song and dance, there was a drag-queen MC who went over to every table and talking on his microphone to every customer.
So many people seemed to have entered the wrong building because they wouldn't exchange silly comments or joke with the MC.
3 Japanese business men kept starring at the ground as if if they didn't look up it wasn't really real... That made me laugh.
My niece had a great time joking with the MC and the wait staff pulled all 3 of us gals up to dance with them, I was ok with that, guess that hot sake did the trick, made a fool of myself but it's all good.
I was lucky the lampshades were nailed down!( No I wasn't all that out of it!)
The MC treated us all to sake bombs, I never had one before, dang the next day...They made them with sugar water and soda for my great niece. Nice of them, she was the only kid in the place.
We had some sushi but really didn't have a huge dinner, they did have a dish called the Godzilla, cost was $200. a plate, was a foot high statue of a Godzilla with steam coming out of it's nostrils, a gimmick meal but several large parties of customers ordered it. Guess there was perhaps 30 to 40 pieces of hand rolled sushi on the plate.Looked good actually minus the monster.
My husband brought me home while my niece and great nice went to see the Michael Jackson show, ONE.
Those tickets were $130. each,
I honestly don't know how people can afford to visit Vegas with those prices, not even sure how much the hotel rooms cost but dang, I could live for a month in Hungary on what was spent in one day in Vegas and no one gambled.
Didn't cost me a penny though, my niece treats me so nice when I see her it freaks me out, was great to see my family again, just hope next visit isn't for my great-nieces wedding, want to see her again before she grows up.

Austria is considered to have the most relaxed laws in the European Union. From aged 18, Austrians can freely buy and own certain types of shotguns and semi-automatic rifles for sport and hunting. ... Austria is one of the few EU countries where self-defense is a valid reason for gun ownership.

I didn't know that about Austria, interesting.
I think people should be allowed to own a gun for personal protection but then again I also think they need to have a mental exam first.
I grew up with guns in the house and at times I thought my parents might just do us all in when they had a bad mood. Scary stuff, think they wouldn't pass the exam I am thinking of.
We owned a nice semi-auto 45 MM years ago but   it scared the heck out of us to have it in the home.
Anyone who owns a gun has to sit down and think about if they have it in them to use it or not.
I believe I could use it under the right conditions but even so not sure if I could live with myself in the morning.
It's really a personal matter , not everyone can use a gun in even self defence, I know most times there is no time to think when in danger so one has to know themselves well because even a second of pause can mean life or death .
I'd much rather just hit someone hard and shake hands later then shoot to kill.
I had a maniac hold a gun to my head once when I was walking home from dropping my son off at school in Ca.
I do not think I could do that to him although I wish I could of punched his light s out and then asked what they heck was wrong with him.

fluffy2560 wrote:

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

....I teen sat all day on Monday with my great niece aged 13.
Dang, she can walk fast, about wore me out and I thought I was a fast walker.
Got up super early to keep my eyes on her, 7 am start time until after 9 pm when we finished the night with sake bombs... Her's was a Shirley Temple , I'm not that degenerate to give alcohol to a child.
....was great to see my family again, just hope next visit isn't for my great-nieces wedding, want to see her again before she grows up.

Ah, well, I've got kids of about that age and younger and what I find incredible is that they have an almost bottomless pit of energy to draw upon and an almost invincible fresh-out-the packet body.  I'm thinking of my creaking back, aching muscles and they are thinking of dancing, gymnastics and sledging.  I remember at that age I could run up mountains!  These days (and this morning particularly) I can only look at them and wonder if I'd make it to the top - yes I would be probably 2 x the time of a 13 year old.  Coming down is easier....

They say that youth is wasted on the young.. 

Oh, and our teenager is already taller Mrs Fluffy and only about 1" shorter than me!

I did tell my niece that her secret was safe with me but I hardly doubt anyone on ex-pat will ever meet her so I'll spill the beans.
My niece had breast reduction surgery ( she had quiet the May West figure for a bit) and at 5'11" tall lost 30 lbs. and looks rather young for her 48 years.
Full of life and energy,  but when she and her girl returned after the Michael Jackson show she told me she broke her foot at the doorway!
I was thinking the sake bombs, the Gunniess beer, the 2 whiskey on the rocks and the plain old sake did her in, then I mentioned to her maybe it was all the moonwalking she did at the show.
She told me , yes, she was showing her daughter how to moonwalk and her foot went out.
Had to take a wheelchair in the airport and go directly to the ER in SF.
Turns out it was only a flare up of "gout"! She was mortified to have a "old person's" condition!
Poor thing....Getting old is not for the weak !

klsallee wrote:

....

I had a wonderful young age. Nearly died on more than one occasion. But did not die. So don't regret one damn moment of it.

Getting older is also great. Taking all the advantages of that as well.

For example, when someone says something really, really stupid they think I should hear, I get to now feign deafness.....

You were lucky then.  Not all of us had that experience.

Older age isn't such a great thing either - dodgy hips, knees, aches and pains, wonky teeth....I won't go on.   If that's an advantage, what are disadvantages?

There are some advantages to being older - people think you're wiser in some things.  But I wonder when one crosses the rubicon of being an old fogey and an irritation to the younger generation.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

.....
I didn't know that about Austria, interesting.
I think people should be allowed to own a gun for personal protection but then again I also think they need to have a mental exam first.
I grew up with guns in the house and at times I thought my parents might just do us all in when they had a bad mood. Scary stuff, think they wouldn't pass the exam I am thinking of.
We owned a nice semi-auto 45 MM years ago but   it scared the heck out of us to have it in the home.
Anyone who owns a gun has to sit down and think about if they have it in them to use it or not.
I believe I could use it under the right conditions but even so not sure if I could live with myself in the morning.
It's really a personal matter , not everyone can use a gun in even self defence, I know most times there is no time to think when in danger so one has to know themselves well because even a second of pause can mean life or death .
I'd much rather just hit someone hard and shake hands later then shoot to kill.
I had a maniac hold a gun to my head once when I was walking home from dropping my son off at school in Ca.
I do not think I could do that to him although I wish I could of punched his light s out and then asked what they heck was wrong with him.

Having been in the military, one is taught to point guns at people when the need arises.  They do that be desensitising you to the idea that shooting someone has ethical consequences.  They don't want you to overthink it, they want you to shoot. It's really quite a difficult thing to know if you would shoot or not at any particular time. 

Even though I fired all sorts of weapons and threw grenades all that stuff, I still would have trouble shooting someone. I never actually fired my weapon in anger but I carried it around a lot and I even slept with it.  I try to convince myself I'd fire if I or the family were in danger. 

All things considered, I probably would in the heat of the moment.  Grabbing the gun that is just in the house to solve a dispute is something we hear about from other countries.  If there's no gun, there is less lethal force available and time for the heat to go out of the argument.   No way I'd ever have that kind of weapon in my house here.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

SimCityAT wrote:

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

Noticed an article on Daily News Hungary about the murder suicide in the village near Vesprem.
Sad stuff.
Does make you rethink gun control laws since this Austrian man used a gun in Hungary.
If someone wants something bad enough, no laws on earth can stop them.
I can't take a side because there is always two sides to a story and since those who survived were also victims their side will of course be biased.
It must of taken allot though for this man to decide to take a life then kill himself.
Some people can't take rejection very well to say the least.
Guess he reached his emotional breaking point when his common law wife left him.

I teen sat all day on Monday with my great niece aged 13.
Dang, she can walk fast, about wore me out and I thought I was a fast walker.
Got up super early to keep my eyes on her, 7 am start time until after 9 pm when we finished the night with sake bombs... Her's was a Shirley Temple , I'm not that degenerate to give alcohol to a child.
My niece manages 3 offices for a IT co. in their facilities dept.
She had to fly into Vegas to meet up with her Vegas staff.
I was invited to stay for a few days at the Delano with them but I hate sleeping anywhere but my own bed.
In this case I may of made a mistake however... Those beds in the Delano suites were like sleeping on a cloud, very nice hotel.
We started off  with a light breakfast after my niece went off to work.We charged it to the room but when I saw the price I was awakened very fast.
Dang , nearly $60. for two open faced whole wheat sandwiches with a bit of avocado and egg and lox with literally 5 alfalfa sprouts on top, one orange juice and one espresso.Insane and I had to ask 3 times for some water on the side!
We then walked through the mall area and viewed a art gallery then off to the Titanic to see what was pulled up from the ocean.
Interesting but with the $35. plus tax a person they should of included at least one of their photos which they pushed hard for us to buy.
I spoke for a short time with the ticket agents as we were the first customers of the day and the first to enter, had the whole Titanic to ourselves.
I was able to lower the ticket prices by $20. by being my sweet self and telling them I was a local, got a local discount for my niece as well.
Pays to be nice sometimes, it really does.
Then a walk on the Vegas strip , bought my niece a ice cream cone for the cost of $10. 24 for one single scoop. I will NEVER complain about the ice cream vendors in Hungary again!
Then over to the Excalibur to play in the game room for kids.
My great niece is almost as tall as I am and looks older then she is, was sweet to see how excited she was to win a few tickets to pick out a cheap little prize after playing.
Reminded me that she is just a little girl even though every two mins in Vegas someone was trying to hand her tickets to night clubs, that's Vegas for you.
Then we rested a bit and had some girl time talking and laughing about events in our family.
Off to dinner when my niece got home from work.
Went to a new place in Vegas called, "Sake Roc" every 15 mins the wait staff breaks into song and dance, there was a drag-queen MC who went over to every table and talking on his microphone to every customer.
So many people seemed to have entered the wrong building because they wouldn't exchange silly comments or joke with the MC.
3 Japanese business men kept starring at the ground as if if they didn't look up it wasn't really real... That made me laugh.
My niece had a great time joking with the MC and the wait staff pulled all 3 of us gals up to dance with them, I was ok with that, guess that hot sake did the trick, made a fool of myself but it's all good.
I was lucky the lampshades were nailed down!( No I wasn't all that out of it!)
The MC treated us all to sake bombs, I never had one before, dang the next day...They made them with sugar water and soda for my great niece. Nice of them, she was the only kid in the place.
We had some sushi but really didn't have a huge dinner, they did have a dish called the Godzilla, cost was $200. a plate, was a foot high statue of a Godzilla with steam coming out of it's nostrils, a gimmick meal but several large parties of customers ordered it. Guess there was perhaps 30 to 40 pieces of hand rolled sushi on the plate.Looked good actually minus the monster.
My husband brought me home while my niece and great nice went to see the Michael Jackson show, ONE.
Those tickets were $130. each,
I honestly don't know how people can afford to visit Vegas with those prices, not even sure how much the hotel rooms cost but dang, I could live for a month in Hungary on what was spent in one day in Vegas and no one gambled.
Didn't cost me a penny though, my niece treats me so nice when I see her it freaks me out, was great to see my family again, just hope next visit isn't for my great-nieces wedding, want to see her again before she grows up.

Austria is considered to have the most relaxed laws in the European Union. From aged 18, Austrians can freely buy and own certain types of shotguns and semi-automatic rifles for sport and hunting. ... Austria is one of the few EU countries where self-defense is a valid reason for gun ownership.

I didn't know that about Austria, interesting.
I think people should be allowed to own a gun for personal protection but then again I also think they need to have a mental exam first.
I grew up with guns in the house and at times I thought my parents might just do us all in when they had a bad mood. Scary stuff, think they wouldn't pass the exam I am thinking of.
We owned a nice semi-auto 45 MM years ago but   it scared the heck out of us to have it in the home.
Anyone who owns a gun has to sit down and think about if they have it in them to use it or not.
I believe I could use it under the right conditions but even so not sure if I could live with myself in the morning.
It's really a personal matter , not everyone can use a gun in even self defence, I know most times there is no time to think when in danger so one has to know themselves well because even a second of pause can mean life or death .
I'd much rather just hit someone hard and shake hands later then shoot to kill.
I had a maniac hold a gun to my head once when I was walking home from dropping my son off at school in Ca.
I do not think I could do that to him although I wish I could of punched his light s out and then asked what they heck was wrong with him.

They do have tests etc... so its not as relayed as some in the States.

fluffy2560 wrote:

klsallee wrote:

....

I had a wonderful young age. Nearly died on more than one occasion. But did not die. So don't regret one damn moment of it.

Getting older is also great. Taking all the advantages of that as well.

For example, when someone says something really, really stupid they think I should hear, I get to now feign deafness.....

You were lucky then.  Not all of us had that experience.

Not luck. Not at all.

Lots of planning. And jumping on any and most options when they came along without fear. Lacking fear is far more important than "luck".

fluffy2560 wrote:

Older age isn't such a great thing either - dodgy hips, knees, aches and pains, wonky teeth....I won't go on.   If that's an advantage, what are disadvantages?

I have always had a gimpy right hip. And had Osgood–Schlatter disease. So I have experienced all that hip and knee issues early in my life. So in some ways my body was "old" before I was. Which is why I early on decided, **** that, I am going for it now.

So, again, not luck. A purpose made decision. For most people, that decision they made too late or not at all. Calling it luck is just cognitive dissonance because they missed out on making different decisions early in their life. Oh well. C'est la vie for them.

klsallee wrote:

fluffy2560 wrote:

klsallee wrote:

....

I had a wonderful young age. Nearly died on more than one occasion. But did not die. So don't regret one damn moment of it.

Getting older is also great. Taking all the advantages of that as well.

For example, when someone says something really, really stupid they think I should hear, I get to now feign deafness.....

You were lucky then.  Not all of us had that experience.

Not luck. Not at all.

Lots of planning. And jumping on any and most options when they came along without fear. Lacking fear is far more important than "luck".

fluffy2560 wrote:

Older age isn't such a great thing either - dodgy hips, knees, aches and pains, wonky teeth....I won't go on.   If that's an advantage, what are disadvantages?

I have always had a gimpy right hip. And had Osgood–Schlatter disease. So I have experienced all that hip and knee issues early in my life. So in some ways my body was "old" before I was. Which is why I early on decided, **** that, I am going for it now.

So, again, not luck. A purpose made decision. For most people, that decision they made too late or not at all. Calling it luck is just cognitive dissonance because they missed out on making different decisions early in their life. Oh well. C'est la vie for them.

Being lucky is an expression.  You could have thrown in people make their own luck.  I think it's just random anyway.

I was utterly healthy physically in my younger years. But now I'm almost 60, things have gone a bit wrong here and there. But surprisingly (to me anyway),  I've never actually been in hospital to stay - been x-rayed, prodded and poked with needles by doctors but I've never actually had any illness that needed me to stay there.  Not even one night! 

But apart from physically there's also one's mind that needs to be healthy too.   That's harder to control than with just determination or a "**** that" attitude.   

Everyone comes across forks in the road but what one does at that point is down to circumstances at the time.  So I would qualify that "missed out" term. How would one know which is the right decision? 

I've got issues with myself (some I might say are severe) on decisions I've made previously but overall and on average and with a following wind minus the change in pocket etc., it hasn't worked out that  bad so far.  I don't know what the outcome would have been in other circumstances. 

That's not really cognitive dissonance, more like regret.

fluffy2560 wrote:

Everyone comes across forks in the road but what one does at that point is down to circumstances at the time.  So I would qualify that "missed out" term. How would one know which is the right decision?

Perhaps Robert Frost said it best:

The Road Not Taken

TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,   
And sorry I could not travel both   
And be one traveler, long I stood   
And looked down one as far as I could   
To where it bent in the undergrowth;            

Then took the other, as just as fair,   
And having perhaps the better claim,   
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;   
Though as for that the passing there   
Had worn them really about the same,            

And both that morning equally lay   
In leaves no step had trodden black.   
Oh, I kept the first for another day!   
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,   
I doubted if I should ever come back.            

I shall be telling this with a sigh   
Somewhere ages and ages hence:   
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—   
I took the one less traveled by,   
And that has made all the difference.

fluffy2560 wrote:

That's not really cognitive dissonance, more like regret.

And I, despite a lot of misery from some of my decisions, have no regrets*. That makes all the difference of a well lived life, IMHO.

*Often, because I could learn from my mistakes. And I believe in the value of leveraging one's education to one's benefit.

It's not helping anyone to have regrets in life.
We all have made choices in life that at the time seemed the best in any situation.
It's easy to look back and say, what if...
Seriously we made choices in life that lead us to Hungary when actually  our hearts are in Maui.
Can always go there but past mistakes have made that picture a bit fuzzy. Maui on the beach sounds fantastic but working at Walmart as a greeter to afford to live there puts a huge damper on that move.

I am glad that I made peace with all my family members before they passed away, no regrets in that dept.
Have one cousin who doesn't want to hear sorry from me but that's her choice not mine. She can live in her fantasy world if she wants to, not my problem.Some people need to be right even if they are wrong,

Guns in the house, well I know myself, I would way too easily shoot to kill if I was defending someone else.
As far as defending myself, I'd probably be slow on the trigger and miss my mark.
I love firing weapons at objects, never had to fire on a living thing and hope I never have to.
My step- dad was shot 3 times during the wars, lucky he was able to pull the bullets out himself as he was a medic. Said it feels like you're on fire burns allot.( One time his buddy pulled out his bullets and he pulled out the bullets from his medic buddy!  Guess that's what friends are for?)
The thing I've heard over and over again is one must shoot to kill or don't even bother with it... Dead men tell no tales.
My older sister shot a deer with her bow and arrows, skinned it and stored it for food.
Not sure I could do that but then again under the right conditions we all can do things we never thought we could do.
I've been in fist fights as a child and teenager.
I dislike violence and it turns my stomach but when one as to do something then they must just get on with it and do it.
Makes me think of the young freedom fighters in Hungary in 1956.
None of them thought they would ever be totting a gun let alone using one.
Self- defense makes all arguments go out the window, anti- gun people would probably be the first to shoot if under real attack.
My Ex- friend ( long story) in Vegas is a hypocrite, she and her husband act all Hippie Dippy. love and peace protest for wildlife etc. but she has serious security cameras all over her property and they have guns in the house. She swears they hate having guns in the house so why are they even in their home?
I can respect my female friend who has a permit to carry a gun and practices how to use it all the time. At least she is open and honest about self protection.
Most all of my male cousins were in Vietnam and still have weapons in their home. At least they know how to use them and have seen what damage they can do. My brother would rather drive all the way across the USA so he can bring his weapons where ever he is then fly for free with his airline job and have to hassle with the TSA.
I personally would rather not live in a world where people need to carry guns on them just in case something goes down.
I don't believe anyone who says they would never defend their life or that of their loved ones.
I think it's natural to defend yourself.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

Guns in the house,

I grew up with guns in the house. My father was even a self loader (loaded his own ammo). I owned many firearms both long and hand guns by the time I was 20. So had them. Knew them.

Yet..... was always wary of them.

But, IMHO, guns alone are not the problem. It is the culture. The local culture or the gun culture.

For example. when I first moved to Switzerland I was one day in a tram with my (to be) wife. And a person entered the tram with an automatic rifle. I literally started to panic. You know .... even then USA mass shootings did occur. My wife was totally calm. Said he was just going to do his military weeks of service and taking his gun with him. No big deal. Still, for me, it was the most uncomfortable tram ride I have ever had to date. Did not even believe my wife, who spent the time enjoying the scenery outside the tram window while I kept my nervous eyes on the guy with the gun.....

Of course nothing happened. My wife was correct.

Later, after we were married, and I moved to Switzerland, I learned about the rifle practice range that was over the local football (soccer to Americans) field where we lived. I watched from our apartment kids playing football (i.e. soccer) while bullets were flying above their heads to targets on the hill from the military training.

Different culture. Same planet. But different world (culturally).

Which is why, today, I would trust a random Swiss with a gun,  but probably not trust a random one of my fellow Americans with a gun. Weird? Not really. Because every Swiss has been instructed about guns because of compulsory military service. In the USA, anyone, even the most ignorant about guns, can buy a gun..... Education. Training. It matters. Especially when it is lacking.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

It's not helping anyone to have regrets in life.
We all have made choices in life that at the time seemed the best in any situation.
It's easy to look back and say, what if...
Seriously we made choices in life that lead us to Hungary when actually  our hearts are in Maui.
Can always go there but past mistakes have made that picture a bit fuzzy. Maui on the beach sounds fantastic but working at Walmart as a greeter to afford to live there puts a huge damper on that move.
...

I dunno, I'm ok having regrets in life - none of us are perfect although some people might think they are.  As was said, it's all learning experience - good and bad.    Obviously, only if those regrets turn into some kind of psychosis that it's a problem. 

humans are very good at rationalising.  That's a survival instinct. So it's pretty normal to think "what-if" and to think of some of the positives.  If we didn't do that, we'd all be heading for the cliffs like lemmings. 

Walmart greeter has upsides and downsides.....

Upside: easy work, meet nice people, team work,  money (some)

Downside: boring work, meet horrible people, annoying colleagues,  money (not enough)

I think can safely say that one upside might be observing the customers - People of Walmart.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

...
My Ex- friend ( long story) in Vegas is a hypocrite, she and her husband act all Hippie Dippy. love and peace protest for wildlife etc. but she has serious security cameras all over her property and they have guns in the house. She swears they hate having guns in the house so why are they even in their home?
I can respect my female friend who has a permit to carry a gun and practices how to use it all the time. At least she is open and honest about self protection.
Most all of my male cousins were in Vietnam and still have weapons in their home. At least they know how to use them and have seen what damage they can do. My brother would rather drive all the way across the USA so he can bring his weapons where ever he is then fly for free with his airline job and have to hassle with the TSA.
I personally would rather not live in a world where people need to carry guns on them just in case something goes down.
I don't believe anyone who says they would never defend their life or that of their loved ones.
I think it's natural to defend yourself.

I think it's sad anyone feels the need to have a weapon at home.   It's easier to shoot first and ask questions afterwards.  And arming the citizen to protect themselves against the criminal is just an arms race (literally).  What's next? Living in a bunker and going out in a tank?

fluffy2560 wrote:

I dunno, I'm ok having regrets in life - none of us are perfect although some people might think they are.

Hm.

Maybe the individual definition of regret is a stumbling block here.

Do I have moments in my life, for example, which I look back on and say "Good grief, what was I thinking?". Absolutely. I have those. Everyone does.

But do I "regret" them (to me "regret" is mostly a brooding concept). No. I don't. I learned from them. They made me stronger. So, I don't "regret" anything that made me strong.

To me "regret" is often simply an emotional method to prevent someone from repeating a mistake. I use my intellect to do the same. So no need to "feel" regret. Same result. Different path. Or, as to simply to given one example for "perspective" (I don't want to discuss the merits of psychological theories), with Jung theory, I would be the "thinking" type. While "regretful" people might be more the feeling type. That is different people respond differently to the same types of events. There is not necessarily a singular "correct" way.

So, and thus, yes, I am at times shocked and relieved that I survived some of my really, really bad and stupid decisions.... I learn to not do them again. But still don't feel sorrow, loss, remorse, disappointment or dissatisfaction (i.e. regret).

While on the subject of Walmart, just read an article about a women who was banned for life from Walmart for riding an  electric scooter at 6:30 am dressed to the 9's while drinking wine out of a Pringles can!!!
Classy for sure!! Sounds like a prank my friends and I may of pulled in High School.
Once while under the influence of a "product" we walked around a huge grocery store with a cart and pulled items off the shelves and fixed ourselves sandwichs. Customers had a look of horror on their faces, so nice to be under age and free to act the fool without fear of getting into any legal issues.
Guess we were, "brats". Our town was pretty laid back in the early 70's, we never got into any serious trouble although these days we probably would be in juvie.
This Walmart event happened I believe in Kansas... figures, one state I never wish to visit again!

Guns, they scare me to be honest, one mistake and it's curtains.
My first cousin shot himself in my aunt living room and my husband's uncle who was a policeman in Budapest pre WW11 shot himself in the head as well.
He fell in love with a women of ill repute and borrowed tons of money to keep her happy.
He was too proud to tell his mother and family that he owned money so he took his life to escape the embarrassment.
Sad stuff.
His mother found out about his debt after he died and would of paid any price to help him out.
The black-widow came to his funeral but the family chased her away.

I'm sure they have regrets from the "other side".
One horrible black-widow we knew was not only my ex Hu DIL but her mother.
Guess she learned her "craft" of evil from her mother.
My DIL's father died of brain cancer , we never met him but my son said he was a pretty nice laid back sort of guy, he'd have to be to put up with those 2 witches.
OK, so my DIL's mom met some HU guy who was a construction worker who did some jobs around their huge 3 story home in Buda.
We met him once, a nice simple sort of person.
Her mom used and abused this man's affections towards her to the point where he killed himself.
They also had a large property and antique shop in Balaton.
This poor guy was invited over for his birthday to her lake side villa.
One more rejection from the old bag while he was under the influence of alcohol.
She turned him crazy and in the middle of the night he jumped to his death from the top floor down into their garden.
My ex DIL found his body in the morning.
Horrible enough but to put the icing on the cake her mother sent her around to his families house right that same week to collect a pair of shoes she had left in the flat.
He had lived with his brother and sister.
My insane ex DIL went over as her equality insane mother had asked her to do and knocked on the door and told them she wanted her mother's shoes.
Well they threw the shoes at her while calling her mother every name in the book as she well deserved.
Thing is my ex DIL thought they were being ,"rude"!!
Black-widow spiders worst of the worst.

Seeing people carrying weapons on public transportation is a bit creepy.
In 1978 we flew to Frankfurt from Ca.
My first overseas trip.
My son was 2 1/2 years old, I was 23 and my husband 30.
Family visit.
Took a train from Germany overnight to Vienna then got off and re boarded a train going into communist Hungary.
Got in a rattly old funky train car with our luggage and for most of the long train ride we were the only passengers in the car, except for the 2 military men with machine guns at the enterance of the car.
It was un nerving to say the least.Took many many hours to get to Keliti station and those guys were there the entire trip.
Had 72 hours or so to report to city hall in the district where we were registered with our visitors visa.
My son was holding my hand as we walked down a long dim hallway with military guards with machine guns strapped over their shoulder.
Went to a desk at the end of the long hallway where a over weight man in uniform took our info.
I did get a tiny smile out of him which was something.
I'm sure skinny little me and my baby boy didn't really come off as a national threat.
I was almost shaking in my boots it was so weird of an experience.
Immigration these days is a breeze compaired to that!

klsallee wrote:

....

So, and thus, yes, I am at times shocked and relieved that I survived some of my really, really bad and stupid decisions.... I learn to not do them again. But still don't feel sorrow, loss, remorse, disappointment or dissatisfaction (i.e. regret).

Yes, I tend to agree.  I can see convergence on the horizon.

Regret is in the eye of the regretee (sorry, made that  word up maybe) and regret is something on a scale.   

Not going to the cinema to see a great movie because of other commitments is a disappointment.  Not taking that trainee Eskimo job in Nunavut is dissatisfaction.  Pushing your annoying brother off the top bunk is likely to be remorse.  Broken love affair is loss and sorrow rolled up into one.

I think though it's too easy to just say it's a learning experience as it's more complex - the process of regret changes the person perhaps in subtle and hidden ways. I have a relative who repeatedly made the same apparent mistakes with partners. Eventually managed to find one suitable who wasn't abusive. 

Some people are slow to learn and need to go through it twice or more, changing each time.

I've always found the Kübler-Ross model  to be very instructive when faced with analysis and regret in decisions.   But how far one can use it, I don't know.  When my brother was dying from his brain tumor I asked him about his feelings and Kübler-Ross (he knew about it anyway) and he was rather critical of it.  Surprised me but by the time we could have another conversation he had basically lost his intellect.  Now that's a conversation I regret not having.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

While on the subject of Walmart, just read an article about a women who was banned for life from Walmart for riding an  electric scooter at 6:30 am dressed to the 9's while drinking wine out of a Pringles can!!!
Classy for sure!! Sounds like a prank my friends and I may of pulled in High School.
Once while under the influence of a "product" we walked around a huge grocery store with a cart and pulled items off the shelves and fixed ourselves sandwichs. Customers had a look of horror on their faces, so nice to be under age and free to act the fool without fear of getting into any legal issues.
....

I believe one of the wheezes in Tesco/Auchan etc is to take something off the shelf and eat it there and then.  Just leave the wrapper.  And that means not trying to steal it by smuggling it out the store.  Pretty smart really - booze it up there and then!

Maybe the people of Walmart are just exercising their constitution freedoms.  In 2010, they were banning people in UK Tesco for going shopping in their pyjamas. and yet in 2017, times had moved on and they were happy to see people there and it was no issue.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

Seeing people carrying weapons on public transportation is a bit creepy.
In 1978 we flew to Frankfurt from Ca.
My first overseas trip.
My son was 2 1/2 years old, I was 23 and my husband 30.
Family visit.
Took a train from Germany overnight to Vienna then got off and re boarded a train going into communist Hungary.
Got in a rattly old funky train car with our luggage and for most of the long train ride we were the only passengers in the car, except for the 2 military men with machine guns at the enterance of the car.
It was un nerving to say the least.Took many many hours to get to Keliti station and those guys were there the entire trip.
Had 72 hours or so to report to city hall in the district where we were registered with our visitors visa.
My son was holding my hand as we walked down a long dim hallway with military guards with machine guns strapped over their shoulder.
Went to a desk at the end of the long hallway where a over weight man in uniform took our info.
I did get a tiny smile out of him which was something.
I'm sure skinny little me and my baby boy didn't really come off as a national threat.
I was almost shaking in my boots it was so weird of an experience.
Immigration these days is a breeze compaired to that!

Years ago, my ex- and I went to West Berlin on the transit route through East Germany.  It was all guards with AK47s and intimidation at the border.  I am sure it was Colonel Klebb who stamped our passports:



More sour faced than a bag of lemons.  And in charge of a useless country and system soon to be rightly consigned to the failures dustbin of history.

fluffy2560 wrote:

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

Seeing people carrying weapons on public transportation is a bit creepy.
In 1978 we flew to Frankfurt from Ca.
My first overseas trip.
My son was 2 1/2 years old, I was 23 and my husband 30.
Family visit.
Took a train from Germany overnight to Vienna then got off and re boarded a train going into communist Hungary.
Got in a rattly old funky train car with our luggage and for most of the long train ride we were the only passengers in the car, except for the 2 military men with machine guns at the enterance of the car.
It was un nerving to say the least.Took many many hours to get to Keliti station and those guys were there the entire trip.
Had 72 hours or so to report to city hall in the district where we were registered with our visitors visa.
My son was holding my hand as we walked down a long dim hallway with military guards with machine guns strapped over their shoulder.
Went to a desk at the end of the long hallway where a over weight man in uniform took our info.
I did get a tiny smile out of him which was something.
I'm sure skinny little me and my baby boy didn't really come off as a national threat.
I was almost shaking in my boots it was so weird of an experience.
Immigration these days is a breeze compaired to that!

Years ago, my ex- and I went to West Berlin on the transit route through East Germany.  It was all guards with AK47s and intimidation at the border.  I am sure it was Colonel Klebb who stamped our passports:

[img align=Colonel Klebb]https://www.007james.com/i/actresses/frwl/lotte_lenya/lotte_main.jpg[/url]

More sour faced than a bag of lemons.  And in charge of a useless country and system soon to be rightly consigned to the failures dustbin of history.

Not many people these days can relate to these boarder crossing nightmares.
Not afraid of guns more like afraid of the idiot with the gun.
My cousin was in the military for less then 2 months  in fact it might of been only 2 weeks time before he was let go...
Gotta be either super smart or way below even the 70 points of I. Q, to get tossed out of the military.
He is actually a super smart guy who somehow managed to have 3 "normal" wives although he is over 300lbs and never really ever held down a job in his life.( He was slimmer when the military took him in)
He is by-polar and can go to the VA for his medical treatments, got a new apt. for himself and pretty much lives off the tax payers.
He also has a few larger then life weapons and knowing his sometimes crazy mental state it's scary to think what could happen if he ever ran out of meds...
He shouldn't be allowed to own any weapons in my opinion.
He lived for a short time with his sister and her husband in their house.
He threatened their lives once or twice before they called the mental ambulance to remove him.
I think it was a set up on his part to qualify as mental and get gov. aid. After a month in lock up he was set free among the public.
Smart but not exactly all there mentally.
He also had attended  seminary school then went to India and changed his name and became a Muslim for a few years.
Then he went back to being a Christian and even married a women with her own congragtion .
Religion may of drove him over the edge, not sure but I seriously think anyone with weapons needs to be examined for mental issues before they walk around with machine guns.
I do hope his mental issues come from his father's side since that isn't in my blood line.
Yikes, the US has allot of people running around with access to guns who really shouldn't be allowed anywhere near them.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

Not many people these days can relate to these border crossing nightmares.

My ex- spent a week in Moscow and told me there was a guard on each floor of the hotel.  But outside what people wanted were Levi jeans and copies of the latest Wishbone Ash LPs.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

Not afraid of guns more like afraid of the idiot with the gun.
My cousin was in the military for less then 2 months  in fact it might of been only 2 weeks time before he was let go...
Gotta be either super smart or way below even the 70 points of I. Q, to get tossed out of the military.
He is actually a super smart guy who somehow managed to have 3 "normal" wives although he is over 300lbs and never really ever held down a job in his life.( He was slimmer when the military took him in)
He is by-polar and can go to the VA for his medical treatments, got a new apt. for himself and pretty much lives off the tax payers.
He also has a few larger then life weapons and knowing his sometimes crazy mental state it's scary to think what could happen if he ever ran out of meds...
He shouldn't be allowed to own any weapons in my opinion.

Well that's it.   NRA says things like guns don't kill people, people kill people. Blah-blah, thank you Charlton Heston.

US constitution says right to bear arms, not "right to bear arms if you are competent".  One size fits all.  From here, it all looks like it needs some reform.     It's access to guns that's the problem. 

Why does anyone need a gun anyway unless they live on a farm, are a cop, live surrounded by terrorists or similar?  Why teachers need guns is just weird!

We have loons with guns here in Europe too but there a less probably per square km than in the USA.  That's the impression anyway - see the statistics:

25 x higher gun killings in the USA.   As it says, "More people are typically killed with guns in the U.S. in a day (about 85) than in the U.K. in a year, if suicides are included".  Population of the UK is 1/5 of the USA.

Even if you scale it up for population, it's not the same level of violence where guns are freely available.

We've lived in a few places in the US where having a gun might of not been a bad idea.
Lived in some remote areas but thankfully we never had any issues with break-in's or people bothering us.Not dangerous areas but remote which can play with your head in the middle of the night.
I freaked out when we moved to New Mexico straight from the burbs of S. Ca.
Just about everyone who owned a truck which was every other person, had a gun rack in their trucks with rifles, I would bet they were loaded too. Doubt they were off the charts in the brains dept. as I also noticed people driving backwards on highway on ramps there.
I think if you have a gun you may be bringing in some negative energy into your small world.
Of course I've never really lived in a so called,"bad area" where it is usual for robberies or attacks at least not in the US.
In fact, the so called, "bad area" that I have been in is right there in Budapest.
I mentioned several times I had to hit back when I was attacked while on crutches in the city and when some nutter grabbed my wrist and pulled me down the stairs of the tram.
Even had a half wit fat young man kick my cane from under my feet while looking me in the eye?!
My husband was right there but it was crowded with other walkers and by the time it happened the idiot got lost in the crowd. Things happen fast so being on your toes in public is important. I wonder how many cell phone users have had been victims of robberies etc. just because they were too busy on their phones to notice events around them.
Never had anyone in the US put their hands on me like that.
Good thing there are laws in Hungary about using guns because I may of used one on those idiots at least to back them off.
Was reduced to hitting with my crutch and using my umbrella up the old freaks bum.
I'm not sure why in Hungary it seems common for men to touch women they do not know, very odd behavior.
In broad daylight too.
I find Hungarian men to be very rough trade except of course for my husband who was raised to be a gent.
Makes one wonder how they interact at home and with family, seem abusive to me if they can act that way on the st. with a stranger.

Oh , just remembered I did once have a lunatic grab my wrist in the US.
It was in 1999, funny I can remember the year as it was a first and hopefully last time that ever happens.
Was dealing blackjack in a Vegas casino with a table of 5 players.
This oddball man who was talking to himself sat down in the 3 rd spot to make it a game for 6 players.
Everything and everyone was cool and laid back until that weirdo sat down.
His vibes were really crazy and people looked uncomfortable.
I dealt a round of cards and his lost, others lost as well.
He was grumbling to himself and just being loud.
About the 3rd or 4th round of cards as I went around the table picking up the losing chips he grabbed my wrist because he couldn't believe he lost again.
I admit it scared me some as any maniac could  of pulled me by the wrist then give me a face punch.
As soon as he grabbed me several players jumped up from the game and stepped back, they just about made me more mad then this insane man did, chickens...
I was known as being rather cool headed at work, got along with everyone and always was "ladylike," in fact people thought me a bit of a priss. Not that I am but I was older then most of my co workers and from a different generation where I learned to be cool in public and not get down and dirty with language or actions. ( All that training went out the window when in danger )
Well when this idiot grabbed me I yelled at the top of my lings for him to F in let go of me!
The entire pit of say 12 tables in my area came to a full stop as everyone turned to look at me, not suppose to turn while dealing but it was just a reaction they couldn't help.
My boss ran over told the guy to let go of me while security pulled him out of the casino.
People told me they thought I was too sweet to use such language, guess they don't know me well after all!
I was really more mad at the players who jumped ship on me then that mental case who over reacted over being a LOSER!
I also wished the mob had been running Vegas when that happened because he would of been sent to the back room before getting tossed out in the desert.
Not much satisfaction knowing he was just escorted out the door.
My bosses gave me a long break time but did say they hoped I wouldn't use such language at work again... like they never heard that in a casino before!
Several years back in downtown Vegas a dealer was shot while dealing craps by her boyfriend.
He came to her job and murdered her right there in front of everyone. She knew him though, difficult to think a stranger would do such a thing to you.

So Andrew Varna has left the building. RIP.
Interesting enough 5 or so years back I was sent to physical therapy for my knee in Budapest.
My very nice therapist told me that he had gone to college with her parents and were still great friends of his.
He even brought them to Ca. when she was a teenager for a visit on his dime and took them everywhere.
She told me her husband and she wanted to one day open their own clinic as he was also a PT worker.
I told her with Mr. Varna as a connection why not move to Ca. and open up a clinic, perhaps he could help them start it up if he was so close to her parents etc.
She said he was very generous with his friends but he also held to the belief that people must make their own way in life as he did in Hollywood. He started there on the bottom and worked hard to get where he did.
She mentioned that when ever he visited Hungary before he moved back, he would always visit her parents.
Happy to say she and her husband did it on their own.
I ran into her just about 18 months ago when I was seeing the ortho doc for my shoulder ( so many joint issues) she had a baby in her arm and was pregnant with her second child, we spoke before i was called in to see the doc.
She moved out of the 8th district with her husband and child, they opened their own PT clinic in Budapest and bought a house in a decent area away from crime and what she called dangerous people on the streets.
Guess doing it themselves was the best thing in the end. Sometimes when one gets help in life they do not appreciate it as much as doing it on their own.
It did make me feel happy inside to see her with her children and doing well.
Only regret was I had no time to ask her for her info on her clinic, hope to never need PT again but who knows...
With all of my B ing and moaning about things in Hungary I sometimes forget I've met some really nice and interesting people here as well as a bunch of A-H****.
I truly wish she and her husband and children the best, she was honestly a caring therapist and I'm kicking myself for not getting her contact info.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

So Andrew Vajna has left the building. RIP.
......
With all of my B ing and moaning about things in Hungary I sometimes forget I've met some really nice and interesting people here as well as a bunch of A-H****.

I truly wish she and her husband and children the best, she was honestly a caring therapist and I'm kicking myself for not getting her contact info.

Maybe he was nice with some people, but Andrew Vajna was an OV fan and instrumental in helping OV get control of the media.   Despite all his successful movies and so on,  Mrs Fluffy called him an a-h*** and was saying that quite a lot of people won't be lamenting his passing.

If you remember the physio's details, please PM me!  I need one!

fluffy2560 wrote:

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

So Andrew Vajna has left the building. RIP.
......
With all of my B ing and moaning about things in Hungary I sometimes forget I've met some really nice and interesting people here as well as a bunch of A-H****.

I truly wish she and her husband and children the best, she was honestly a caring therapist and I'm kicking myself for not getting her contact info.

Maybe he was nice with some people, but Andrew Vajna was an OV fan and instrumental in helping OV get control of the media.   Despite all his successful movies and so on,  Mrs Fluffy called him an a-h*** and was saying that quite a lot of people won't be lamenting his passing.

If you remember the physio's details, please PM me!  I need one!

I'll look into it, I suppose if we ring up my old doctor , the women in charge at the ortho hospital clinic in the 8th.. She may know where my old PT went. She surprised me by being there but perhaps she gets referals from the clinic, she was not a patient she just came out of the doctor's office when I arrived for my appointment. Her first name was Victoria.

Yes, My husband said the same things about Varna as your wife did.
Money and power corrupt just about everyone.
Doesn't matter if they came from humble roots, money changes people, add some power in the mix and it makes a monster.
My husband's old childhood friend in Hu for one.
Was a nice guy , they camped all over as teens, even went to Romania and Poland and other places on fun adventures as teenagers in Hungary.
Now the guy has changed and is too good for everyone. Don't even bother to stop and say hi when we are in his area these days. Sad, he once mentioned to my husband trying to joke but we could tell he was for real, he said," So far I haven't made any money off of you" What? What sort of friend sees others as a money tree?

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

.....
Doesn't matter if they came from humble roots, money changes people, add some power in the mix and it makes a monster..... Sad, he once mentioned to my husband trying to joke but we could tell he was for real, he said," So far I haven't made any money off of you" What? What sort of friend sees others as a money tree?

One of the reasons I won't do business with friends any more.   Once money comes into it, then the whole relationship is on a different footing.   People lose perspective over what's important.