Absolutely Anything Else

    I have the impression that Hawaii is a very difficult place for outsiders to understand.        -@zif

Yes and no.

You have to have a certain ,"vibe" to be excepted in Hawaii as a Howlie.

That being a decent sort who is willing to learn new things.

My husband was taken in on Maui by a large group of local guys. He wanted to learn to surf.

He bought a board and went out every day, several times per day and watched the surfers adn the waves.

They observed him for months learning to ride his board, learning to stand on it etc.

They just came over to him and gave him tips when they realized he wasn't messing around but was really wanting to surf.

He became part of the pack in short order. In fact we gave our son his middle name after the head of that gang.

They thought it was a trip to see my skinny ( at the time) husband walking around with a tiny red headed white baby on his shoulders while he was watching the waves.

They would do anything for my husband. they took him spear fishing and one time they all went to a very dangerous area to surf.

They thought he was god enough for it.

Turns out everyone wipped out and got beat up underwater.

My husband said it was like being in a washing machine being tossed underwater until your lungs almost burst.

I too had several local lady friends, both on Maui and on the Big Island. In fact I was making friends in Honolulu but we lived there just for a short time.

I was invited to join the local ladies on a  trip to Vegas but didn't go.

What Hawaiian dislike the most is an outsider with, "attitude" as they call it.

We had local friends in Hilo too but then again we knew far too amny Hungarians living there and spent too much time with them.

I could live there again just need to win the lotto or learn to live in a tent!

Thing is in Hawaii you can make friends within a short time while here in Hungary, well, we know how it is.

I had the strangest e-mail message the other day.

It was a legit job offer in Saudi Arabia!

Years ago I signed up in Las Vegas with 2 different talent agencies.

Got a job fresh out of gambing school to work for a few days at a gaming convention.

I worked a blackjack table for a Japanese card co,

They were promoting their gaming cards with me using them with passerbys who wanted to play a few hands of cards.

Nice cards, nice people. Angel Cards was the co. name.

A few years back both my husband and I worked a few days at a gun show.

We only signed up because we had taken my DIL to this agency to find her a part-time job.

While there we decided to sign up too.

Saudi Arabia, what a wild thing that would be to try.

I think( know) I'll pass on this one.

    I had the strangest e-mail message the other day.
It was a legit job offer in Saudi Arabia!
Years ago I signed up in Las Vegas with 2 different talent agencies.
Got a job fresh out of gambing school to work for a few days at a gaming convention.
I worked a blackjack table for a Japanese card co,
They were promoting their gaming cards with me using them with passerbys who wanted to play a few hands of cards.
Nice cards, nice people. Angel Cards was the co. name.
A few years back both my husband and I worked a few days at a gun show.
We only signed up because we had taken my DIL to this agency to find her a part-time job.
While there we decided to sign up too.
Saudi Arabia, what a wild thing that would be to try.
I think( know) I'll pass on this one.
   

    -@Marilyn Tassy

Gambling is illegal in Muslim countries and Saudi is No. 1 Muslim country.  It might be scammers pretending.  There's no way there will be  a casino in Saudi.   They will want fees to get you a non-existent job.

    ....Private medical insurance for NHS employees?  That's insane.  If the papers got wind of that, there would be a backlash.      -@fluffy2560

Must admit I had a WTF moment when I was first told; I guess it's aimed at getting staff back to work sooner than if they had to wait for their own GP services to sort out the strained back etc.
   

    -@Cynic

That's crazy stuff.

What about the non-NHS majority who need to get back to producing?

        ....Private medical insurance for NHS employees?  That's insane.  If the papers got wind of that, there would be a backlash.      -@fluffy2560Must admit I had a WTF moment when I was first told; I guess it's aimed at getting staff back to work sooner than if they had to wait for their own GP services to sort out the strained back etc.        -@CynicThat's crazy stuff.What about the non-NHS majority who need to get back to producing?         -@fluffy2560

To be honest, it's really no different to the BIK Healthcare package I got when I worked.  When I left the forces and first joined the Darkside, all the employees at Yorkshire Water (a former public utility, that's where fund membership came from) got the "Leeds Hospital Fund" (now rebranded as "Simply Health", but they supply a product which is very similar to what my wife gets).  With regard to the others, I guess they can negotiate their own healthcare package, they appear to be quite common these days.

One other thought to ponder; you'll be aware that in general, most doctors only put in 3/4 days a week to the NHS, the other days they spend doing what they like (private practice etc).  It's not unusual for junior doctors and nurses to moonlight in this kind of work; I was amazed at how much my daughter earns doing bank hours cover - that probably explains why she wasn't interested in striking.

One other thought to ponder; you'll be aware that in general, most doctors only put in 3/4 days a week to the NHS, the other days they spend doing what they like (private practice etc).  It's not unusual for junior doctors and nurses to moonlight in this kind of work; I was amazed at how much my daughter earns doing bank hours cover - that probably explains why she wasn't interested in striking.
   
    -@Cynic

I do appreciate the medics work on their private stuff and while not in their offices, they are doing other stuff. Not unlike some of us do. 

But I'd argue public servants should not have other jobs to avoid divided loyalties.

i do realise that the Docs etc are mostly acting as small independent businesses contracted to the NHS.

But we also hear the same arguments about MPs.

Are they in business on their own account or those of their constituents?   

It's the agency theory dilemma - do the CEOs of businesses act for themselves or the shareholders?

    One other thought to ponder; you'll be aware that in general, most doctors only put in 3/4 days a week to the NHS, the other days they spend doing what they like (private practice etc).  It's not unusual for junior doctors and nurses to moonlight in this kind of work; I was amazed at how much my daughter earns doing bank hours cover - that probably explains why she wasn't interested in striking.        -@CynicI do appreciate the medics work on their private stuff and while not in their offices, they are doing other stuff. Not unlike some of us do.  But I'd argue public servants should not have other jobs to avoid divided loyalties.i do realise that the Docs etc are mostly acting as small independent businesses contracted to the NHS.But we also hear the same arguments about MPs. Are they in business on their own account or those of their constituents?    It's the agency theory dilemma - do the CEOs of businesses act for themselves or the shareholders?        -@fluffy2560

MP's - isn't that what the "Register of Members' Financial Interests" is meant to cater for; It seems perfectly OK for them to work outside of Parliament and/or their constituency as long as they declare it.  Whether their constituency members like it can be reckoned every 5 years when they vote for him/her/it.  If their voters are really pissed off with their MP, they can recall them by holding a recall election ( link ) - you can't do that to your GP.

Where my wife works now, nobody on the medical side works a contracted full week, which means they are available to be called in when a colleague is poorly - which effectively happens every week,  That's like a local version of the NHS bank operated by the Acute sites.  The practice my wife joined 20 years ago has now evolved into a multi-practice partnership, she can and does provide cover over all of the sites they operate because they operate to a single policy published by the Group Partners - for example, today, she is working on her day off.

The fact is that in the UK, the only person who can legally replace a Doctor or Nurse is another Doctor or Nurse, The replacements have to be professionally current, or they need to be trained to requalify before they can be let loose on the public at large.  For example, my wife could walk into another nursing role in line with what she currently does, but the lady across the road who retired from Nursing (a Practioner, so very knowledgable) 3 years ago, can't - she would need to attend a refresher course which in the scheme of looking for a nurse to replace someone whose just gone home with a sore back, wouldn't really work - it's why the NHS created the Bank to start with.  It's why those Covid Nightingale hospitals didn't work - there was no qualified staff to work in them without taking them from current hospital positions.  It's the excuse they used to close all the military hospitals - staff currency (there is/was no bank for the military and it saved a whole load of money) - the UK military now have one ward in Selly Oak Hospital and a set-up in York that maintains a list of current NHS medics that can be used by the military in the event of a situation (like Afghanistan), but they will be taken from current, qualified medical professionals.  It's part of the reason why the current manning issues exist in the NHS, they have enough workers if everybody comes to work, if they don't come to work (5.6% didn't in 2022 - according to work done by the Nuffield Trust (link) what this actually meant was some 27 million days lost across 2022 – equates, on average, to around 74,500 full-time equivalent staff, including 20,400 nurses and 2,900 doctors), for every single one of those, the hospital/practice needs somebody to replace them now, the patients are sat outside in the corridor waiting for the doctor/nurse to call them in, not 7 days later after they have retrained.  If the Government had the power to snap their fingers to create a pool of 1 million extra healthcare workers, they couldn't use them because they can not remain current.  My wife and daughter spend a half-day every week doing NHS training.  This is on top of the sickness rate, so more people lost who could have been assessed/treated.

The fact that it works at all amazes me, but it still gets kicked around like a political football or by the media trying to have a go at the current Government of whatever flavour that is unlucky enough to actually be held to account.  There is nothing unique about England, it's even worse in Scotland and Wales where devolved Government and consequential political interference have made it worse!

MP's - isn't that what the "Register of Members' Financial Interests" is meant to cater for; It seems perfectly OK for them to work outside of Parliament and/or their constituency as long as they declare it.  Whether their constituency members like it can be reckoned every 5 years when they vote for him/her/it.  If their voters are really pissed off with their MP, they can recall them by holding a recall election ( link ) - you can't do that to your GP.     -@Cynic

You can register  with a different GP so there is a choice of some sort.

Regardless of the Register, MPs vary between useless and committed.  I think they are paid only sufficiently to turn up sometimes and have to cover their costs by other means.  I favour making voting compulsory  like Australia so we don't get idiots (like Rees-Mogg) elected on the basis of low turnout/indifference. 

BTW, you're being very un-PC with "him/her/it".   One of my kids told me to use "they/them" when I met one of their  LGBT friends and misgendered them.  I was told in no uncertain terms to get it right.  it" would definitely not be allowed.

   
MP's - isn't that what the "Register of Members' Financial Interests" is meant to cater for; It seems perfectly OK for them to work outside of Parliament and/or their constituency as long as they declare it.  Whether their constituency members like it can be reckoned every 5 years when they vote for him/her/it.  If their voters are really pissed off with their MP, they can recall them by holding a recall election ( link ) - you can't do that to your GP.     -@Cynic
You can register  with a different GP so there is a choice of some sort.
Regardless of the Register, MPs vary between useless and committed.  I think they are paid only sufficiently to turn up sometimes and have to cover their costs by other means.  I favour making voting compulsory  like Australia so we don't get idiots (like Rees-Mogg) elected on the basis of low turnout/indifference. 
BTW, you're being very un-PC with "him/her/it".   One of my kids told me to use "they/them" when I met one of their  LGBT friends and misgendered them.  I was told in no uncertain terms to get it right.  it" would definitely not be allowed.
   

    -@fluffy2560

Change Doctor - Yes you can, I did it, I'm now a patient where my wife works, she can't be a patient there and will have to wait until she retires before she can jump.  But your notes (there is no clean sheet) and probably many of the medical staff will be there to greet you, especially if you happen to change to a practice in the same group.

There are 2 MP's I've had personal dealings with, one was Richard Burgon, the other was Nigel Adams; both were excellent as constituency MPs and got exactly what was asked of them.

As for him/her/it; I am probably as unPC as it is possible to be, in fact, if I was forced to think about it, I would go out of my way to be unPC; my kids have all got gay friends/colleagues; I treat them as people, I call them by their names, not labels, never had a problem.

Change Doctor - Yes you can, I did it, I'm now a patient where my wife works, she can't be a patient there and will have to wait until she retires before she can jump.  But your notes (there is no clean sheet) and probably many of the medical staff will be there to greet you, especially if you happen to change to a practice in the same group.
There are 2 MP's I've had personal dealings with, one was Richard Burgon, the other was Nigel Adams; both were excellent as constituency MPs and got exactly what was asked of them.

As for him/her/it; I am probably as unPC as it is possible to be, in fact, if I was forced to think about it, I would go out of my way to be unPC; my kids have all got gay friends/colleagues; I treat them as people, I call them by their names, not labels, never had a problem.
   
    -@Cynic

My brother had to ask his MP - John Redwood - for help on a Social Security issue. I forget what it was about. This was the time of Margaret Thatcher. He was very politically right wing and so tied up in his own dogma, he was as useful as a chocolate teapot.   He was also horribly rude.  My bro never got it sorted and moved out the area so it got left unresolved.  I've never forgotten the distress the arrogant Redwood caused.  Talk about sense of entitlement.

Him/Her/It - what you say doesn't work.  "it" was a loaded statement. But maybe we have a language problem in English.  We have to use Him/Her.   Like "Where's her (or his) house?"  It's difficult to structure a sentence on the fly sometimes without these pronouns as it sounds unnatural (to me).  Same with Dutch - hij/zij etc.  In Hungarian, there are no personal pronouns so it's intuitive to insert someone's name.  Maybe more advanced than English.  Anyway, I got an earful for getting it wrong.  Now I'm careful to get briefed beforehand.

    Change Doctor - Yes you can, I did it, I'm now a patient where my wife works, she can't be a patient there and will have to wait until she retires before she can jump.  But your notes (there is no clean sheet) and probably many of the medical staff will be there to greet you, especially if you happen to change to a practice in the same group.There are 2 MP's I've had personal dealings with, one was Richard Burgon, the other was Nigel Adams; both were excellent as constituency MPs and got exactly what was asked of them.As for him/her/it; I am probably as unPC as it is possible to be, in fact, if I was forced to think about it, I would go out of my way to be unPC; my kids have all got gay friends/colleagues; I treat them as people, I call them by their names, not labels, never had a problem.        -@Cynic

My brother had to ask his MP - John Redwood - for help on a Social Security issue. I forget what it was about. This was the time of Margaret Thatcher. He was very politically right wing and so tied up in his own dogma, he was as useful as a chocolate teapot.   He was also horribly rude.  My bro never got it sorted and moved out the area so it got left unresolved.  I've never forgotten the distress the arrogant Redwood caused.  Talk about sense of entitlement.

Him/Her/It - what you say doesn't work.  "it" was a loaded statement. But maybe we have a language problem in English.  We have to use Him/Her.   Like "Where's her (or his) house?"  It's difficult to structure a sentence on the fly sometimes without these pronouns as it sounds unnatural (to me).  Same with Dutch - hij/zij etc.  In Hungarian, there are no personal pronouns so it's intuitive to insert someone's name.  Maybe more advanced than English.  Anyway, I got an earful for getting it wrong.  Now I'm careful to get briefed beforehand.
   

    -@fluffy2560

Weird; your brother fell out with a Right-wing Capitalist, I have nothing but praise for a left-wing Socialist.

Him/Her/It; I may be right or wrong, but I honestly don't care, I only responded because you asked; What I'm probably not saying clearly enough is I'm not playing the stupid game; if people don't like it - tough.

Weird; your brother fell out with a Right-wing Capitalist, I have nothing but praise for a left-wing Socialist.
Him/Her/It; I may be right or wrong, but I honestly don't care, I only responded because you asked; What I'm probably not saying clearly enough is I'm not playing the stupid game; if people don't like it - tough.
   

    -@Cynic

Don't really get your point on the Socialist.  Redwood was all self-interest at the time as he was being hyped up as a potential star of the Conservatives.  But he was Just a nasty piece of  work.

Otherwise, maybe wrong side of bed this morning?  But whatever you want. You don't have to be here or reply.

    Weird; your brother fell out with a Right-wing Capitalist, I have nothing but praise for a left-wing Socialist.Him/Her/It; I may be right or wrong, but I honestly don't care, I only responded because you asked; What I'm probably not saying clearly enough is I'm not playing the stupid game; if people don't like it - tough.        -@CynicDon't really get your point on the Socialist.  Redwood was all self-interest at the time as he was being hyped up as a potential star of the Conservatives.  But he was Just a nasty piece of  work. Otherwise, maybe wrong side of bed this morning?  But whatever you want. You don't have to be here or reply.         -@fluffy2560

You raised the point about MP's having 2nd jobs.  My point was that I'd only ever met 2, and of those, it was weird that Burgon, who gets a lot of flack for being a hard-left, Corbynista, died-in-the-wool Socialist; is not that at all, he may have all those political aspirations, but they don't interfere with his job; he also has no Registered Interests (so 2nd job) and as an aside, he's also a very nice bloke who knows his political aspirations haven't got a chance of ever becoming reality, but as a constituency MP, he does exactly what he's paid for, he looks after his constituents. and you can't knock him for trying.  Adams got flack for supporting Johnston, he was, in fact, another outstanding constituency MP,  Whose outside interest appeared to be the Lords Taverner Cricket Club and the House of Commons Cricket Club and then his support for all things cricket.

I've never met Redwood and have no axe to grind either way, but I accept your brother had a bad experience with him as a constituency MP, that he was then "useful as a chocolate teapot.   He was also horribly rude."

You mentioned Rees Mogg, something about "so we don't get idiots (like Rees-Mogg) elected on the basis of low turnout/indifference".  At the last election, his constituency got 76.4% turnout (compared to a national figure of 69% and of those running against him, he got 50% of the vote, with Labour and the Lib Dems polling 24/22% respectively - perhaps you need another person for your finger of scorn,

As for he/she/it.  I suspect if I push forward on this it may upset some people and not be in line with the Forum T&Cs, so I shall stop talking about it.

Is there any of this dodgy "concrete" in Hungary? Or like Chorleywood Bread -- which the "concrete" apparently resembles -- is it primarily a British thing?

@zif

actually a Swedish invention; was used all over Europe post WW2 to rebuild damaged infrastructure; the Brits mistake was not planning to replace it 30 years on. Not sure what happened elsewhere.

Yes, that Chorleywood Bread was used in infrastructure projects all over.

But what about the "concrete"?

    Yes, that Chorleywood Bread was used in infrastructure projects all over.
But what about the "concrete"?
   

    -@zif

Must admit, I've never heard of that description for making concrete; however, I've since discovered that the world's largest Autoclaved aerated concrete production plant is in Hungary, so I suspect it was probably used there as well; This link will take you to their webpage which has contact details where you can ask your question.

    @zifactually a Swedish invention; was used all over Europe post WW2 to rebuild damaged infrastructure; the Brits mistake was not planning to replace it 30 years on. Not sure what happened elsewhere.        -@Cynic

If autoclaved aerated concrete is the same as YTong blocks I know exactly what they are.

Those YTong are very common in Hungarian construction but I've never seen anyone use them for structural work.   Usually lintels (other than window/door openings) and columns are cast in place with reinforcement (rebar).    Lintels for window/door openings are mostly just off the shelf reinforced items. 

I've only seen YTong blocks being used as internal walls/insulation type blocks and nothing exterior.    It's really easy to use and dead easy to cut.  Just cut with a special saw.   It's  like crumbly bread but quite good for putting up quick walls etc.

You mentioned Rees Mogg, something about "so we don't get idiots (like Rees-Mogg) elected on the basis of low turnout/indifference".  At the last election, his constituency got 76.4% turnout (compared to a national figure of 69% and of those running against him, he got 50% of the vote, with Labour and the Lib Dems polling 24/22% respectively - perhaps you need another person for your finger of scorn,As for he/she/it.  I suspect if I push forward on this it may upset some people and not be in line with the Forum T&Cs, so I shall stop talking about it.        -@Cynic

JRM: Yes, I'm aware of Rees-Mogg's bizarre popularity with some people down there. He's still a highly visible Bertie Wooster type clown and a danger to many.  His schtick doesn't work now - that's worn out. Don't get me started on his pharma company and his set up post-Brexit self-interest.  Maybe he'll be out next time and someone more normal will get in.

Anyhoo, I was more interested in compulsory voting or proportional representation.  Speaks more about the dangers of indifference/low turnout.   If it was compulsory voting then perhaps someone more representative of all the constituency would be elected.

LGBT etc: Yup.

        @zifactually a Swedish invention; was used all over Europe post WW2 to rebuild damaged infrastructure; the Brits mistake was not planning to replace it 30 years on. Not sure what happened elsewhere.        -@Cynic

If autoclaved aerated concrete is the same as YTong blocks I know exactly what they are.
Those YTong are very common in Hungarian construction but I've never seen anyone use them for structural work.   Usually lintels (other than window/door openings) and columns are cast in place with reinforcement (rebar).    Lintels for window/door openings are mostly just off the shelf reinforced items. 

I've only seen YTong blocks being used as internal walls/insulation type blocks and nothing exterior.    It's really easy to use and dead easy to cut.  Just cut with a special saw.   It's  like crumbly bread but quite good for putting up quick walls etc.
   

    -@fluffy2560

I'd never heard of it, so I just Googled it, these YTong blocks look like what I would have called a Breeze Block, which seems similar to each other, but I don't think is RAAC; if you read the comment circulating about this RAAC stuff in the UK, using this stuff is not the issue, it's the total lack of any maintenance done by anybody and the typical response the schools got when they asked was "not me chief, I'm airframes", which is a typical Civil Service response when you ask anything that might impinge on their budget.  The criticism is in line with most of the things the Government gets involved with, they build stuff but fail to legislate for those using it to maintain it.  There's an old coal-board housing estate that was sold off when they closed our pit, which is attracting a lot of attention.

I'd never heard of it, so I just Googled it, these YTong blocks look like what I would have called a Breeze Block, which seems similar to each other, but I don't think is RAAC; if you read the comment circulating about this RAAC stuff in the UK, using this stuff is not the issue, it's the total lack of any maintenance done by anybody and the typical response the schools got when they asked was "not me chief, I'm airframes", which is a typical Civil Service response when you ask anything that might impinge on their budget.  The criticism is in line with most of the things the Government gets involved with, they build stuff but fail to legislate for those using it to maintain it.  There's an old coal-board housing estate that was sold off when they closed our pit, which is attracting a lot of attention      -@Cynic

YTong is like a kind of cement that resembles a kind of heavyweight polystyrene.   UK style breeze blocks we don't see here.  They are so much heavier than YTong blocks which are very accurately square.  You just cement them together.  And it's easy to cut shapes and wot not.  OK in compression for filling in walls and holes but I wouldn't want too rely on it to keep a house up.

The houses down in Port Talbot are made out of a kind of black slag and coke from the steelworks.  Must be full of nasty chemicals.  But I suppose if you plaster over it and don't create dust you'll be alright.  Probably.

In the U.S., chemical pits etc left over from old factories are a big problem; for example they're sometimes forgotten and schools or housing get built over them.

Given Hungary's industrial legacy, I would have thought there'd be a similar even bigger problem of this sort here. Is there?

    In the U.S., chemical pits etc left over from old factories are a big problem; for example they're sometimes forgotten and schools or housing get built over them.Given Hungary's industrial legacy, I would have thought there'd be a similar even bigger problem of this sort here. Is there?        -@zif

I don't know about Hungary so much but Romania has some terrible derelict industrial locations and towns.  I visited a few of them on the Danube.  Just across the border from Bulgaria.  These are really awful  brownfield sites.  Really dire places where they'd shoot dystopian or post-apocalypse Terminator movies.

I think they'd have to take off the first 30m and burn it or bury it deep.  Then maybe they could build if testing showed it was OK.

    In the U.S., chemical pits etc left over from old factories are a big problem; for example they're sometimes forgotten and schools or housing get built over them.
Given Hungary's industrial legacy, I would have thought there'd be a similar even bigger problem of this sort here. Is there?
   

    -@zif

That can be said of many countries, where landfill site waste capacity has diminished but the waste that went to them is still being produced; here in the UK they have looked at various ways of treating waste to minimise the environmental impact and diverting the wastes away from landfill.  Proper waste identification and segregation, then Pre-treatment has become almost essential with many household wastes now going to Energy from Waste (EfW) incinerator plants, while chemicals and other hazardous wastes are going to autoclaves and high-temperature incinerators for safe disposal.  Biodegradable waste is more problematic because ultimately it needs somewhere to go and the marketplace has pretty much reached saturation point, so in many areas, we're having to pay to dispose of this waste stream.

The problem with waste segregation is that it's very hard to automate and we still need people to check inbound waste streams to make sure that the correct identification, classification and segregation have happened; so manpower costs are a big issue.  You'll be amazed at the damage a box of aerosols can do to the liner of an incinerator plant.

I'm talking about the sites of old plants, maybe pre-WWII in the case of the US, well before any environmental regs were in place. Stuff was just dumped and forgotten.

    I'm talking about the sites of old plants, maybe pre-WWII in the case of the US, well before any environmental regs were in place. Stuff was just dumped and forgotten.
   

    -@zif

It's not unique to Hungary or the US; if it's like the UK, those sites became the landfill sites of today; mainly because they had to do something about it - there are over 2,000 such sites today in the USA all with a regulatory (EPA) oversight.  Hungary has over 80 sites, I don't know enough about it to say how effective the regulatory oversight is.

        I'm talking about the sites of old plants, maybe pre-WWII in the case of the US, well before any environmental regs were in place. Stuff was just dumped and forgotten.        -@zifIt's not unique to Hungary or the US; if it's like the UK, those sites became the landfill sites of today; mainly because they had to do something about it - there are over 2,000 such sites today in the USA all with a regulatory (EPA) oversight.  Hungary has over 80 sites, I don't know enough about it to say how effective the regulatory oversight is.        -@Cynic

I'd be worried about post-WW2 when the Soviets were here.   

They had absolutely no cares about any pollution at all.   

Just look at the Trabant car (ok, not HU but DDR but still Comecon). 

Duroplast - horribly made and almost completely impossible to separate out all the nasty materials.    Now used for aggregate in road surfaces.

Of course post-WWII industrialization in Hungary. I suspect pollution hotspots are everywhere but everyone keeps their eyes closed to them.

The clean-up costs are beyond comprehension. America has barely started.

Just to not get too off topic on the personal loan page...

In reguards to funeral insurnace in Hungary.

I know my MIL like many Hungarians who grew up in the cold war years put away funds to pay for their funerals.

I hope no one needs this info but I know for a fact that as of 3 years ago , one could be creamated in Hungary for a ball park figure of 100,000.

Urns started around 15,000 -17,000 forints on up.

About 1/4th the cost of a creamtion in the US.

I really don't know how it wuld go down for an ex-pat if they should pass away in Hungary.

If they are from a 3rd country and not an EU country it might get tricky.

I'm a resident and married to a HU citizen so if I should kick it it shouldn't be a big issue.

I know someone from a 3rd country who passed in HU when covid was going on.

It was a mess, the body was never claimed because they never realeased it.

Shocking really.

It almost was released but the relation told the hospital that they didn't want to get a religious service.

Makes no logical sense to me but that's how it happened.

I have no idea what happened to my friends dearly departed after that.

She was even charged months later for freezer fees.

It would be interesting to know exactly what happens if an ex-pat passes away overseas .

My funeral is already paid for

    My funeral is already paid for         -@SimCityAT

Well, I hope you live so long that the funeral home is in default on your funeral costs. Lock in the price!

My family in the US just held a one year memorial in New Mexico for my beloved brother.

He just wanted a simple affair . Wanted his ashes released on our cousins property.

He could of had a fully paid furneral with the US military but he wanted just the most basic service.

They all stayed a few days in a lodge near the land and my SIL flew in several people at her expense.

I was considering going but my husband wasn't into it and I didn't feel right leaving him alone here in HU.

It's all OK, though. They took photos and a video, I would of fallen apart if I was there.

I was very close to my brother as children. Like his little mama. Made sure he said his prayers at night and made sure he brushed his teeth etc. before going to bed. He was just 4 years younger then I .

I've  learned we can never tell anyone how important they are to us. We just don't know the words.

Every life has meaning and we in our western world just never speak of death and when it happens we don't know how to deal with it.

BTW, immigration news:

Hungary calls for foreign nationals to bridge labour gap despite hardline immigration policies

We had some discussions about this in these forums.  Now it seems it's come to pass and more visibly.   

I laughed at some of the locals thoughts about their new Asian neighbours. 

I remember that when I was a kid in the U.S., funerals were a big deal.

Now, people seem to want to shuffle off as quietly as possible. As if dying were something of an embarrassment.

    I remember that when I was a kid in the U.S., funerals were a big deal.Now, people seem to want to shuffle off as quietly as possible. As if dying were something of an embarrassment.        -@zif

Could be the cost.

Paying in advance or taking out insurance policies seems to have become very fashionable. 

I know in the UK, there's nothing to stop you organising your own funeral for your loved one. 

Back in the 70s or 80s, I remember seeing a guy on the TV news who made a coffin, put his dearly departed Dad in it and took on top of his car to a government run crematorium.   

It was considerably cheaper than paying a funeral director/home to do it. 

A family friend of my mothers spent a good $30,000 just on the protective outter metal container for her husbands funeral. ( This was in the late 1980's so today it would be a small fortune) It didn't cover the cost of the coffin, service, using the viewing room etc. just the metal container to slow down the process of decay.

I could maybe understand that if a child had passed and the thought of decay was too much for the parnets but this man was in his late 80's.

I don't think even he wanted to see himself from the afterlife laying for decades inside that old skin suit.

He was a nice man that I used to donate blood to so I attened his serivce. All the other mourners could talk about was the cost.

Same women dragged my mother to the wake and funeral service of one of her dogs.

That dog had a better send off them most people do.

    A family friend of my mothers spent a good $30,000 just on the protective outter metal container for her husbands funeral. ( This was in the late 1980's so today it would be a small fortune) It didn't cover the cost of the coffin, service, using the viewing room etc. just the metal container to slow down the process of decay.
I could maybe understand that if a child had passed and the thought of decay was too much for the parnets but this man was in his late 80's.
I don't think even he wanted to see himself from the afterlife laying for decades inside that old skin suit.
He was a nice man that I used to donate blood to so I attened his serivce. All the other mourners could talk about was the cost.
Same women dragged my mother to the wake and funeral service of one of her dogs.
That dog had a better send off them most people do.

    -@Marilyn Tassy

Why didn't they just embalm him? 

Be preserved for some time then without anything special other than refrigeration.

Mrs F tells me no-one gets embalmed here in HU - hence the quick burial process.

I'm sure he was embalmed as well. I mean she went way crazy with his funeral.

They never had any children and all her energy went to her husband and their many dogs.

My father lived with this older couple for a few years as a boarder.

He told us she'd feed her dogs steak and serve her husband hamburgers.

She had been a sex-slave in the south in her youth. Grew up in Kentucky and her job as a girl was watching for the cops coming up the road while her father messed with making whitelighting.

She had been a beauty in her yuth and some man just tok her and locked her in a hotel room.

She couldn't take it so she jumped out the second stry windown, broke bth her legs but was free.

She was like a grand dame- would put on an accent and called herself, "Maryon" like some special way of saying Marian. My mother's name was also Marian and it tripped us out hw this lady dragged out the word to make it seem so special.

Her husband I though as a child was also putting on airs. He went by  name ,The Duke! Later silly me, I found out his last name was Duke.

The lady was a trip. One of those people with nice furniture which is always covered in plastic.

My mom had a funny story about the time the 2 of them went to a restaurant /bar /dance place together.

Maryon, went to the ladies room, came back to the bar walking like she owned the place, had flaming red hair and was flashy in her 70's.

My mother noticed as she entered the room that the roll of TP had stuck to Maryons shoes and it was like a wedding  train  unrolling after her!

My mom, being a good friend and all, jumped up and started to reroll the paper as Maryone kept on going.

Too bad there were no cell phones back then, what a trip, would of gone viral!

Her husband I though as a child was also putting on airs. He went by  name ,The Duke! Later silly me, I found out his last name was Duke.The lady was a trip. One of those people with nice furniture which is always covered in plastic.My mom had a funny story about the time the 2 of them went to a restaurant /bar /dance place together. Maryon, went to the ladies room, came back to the bar walking like she owned the place, had flaming red hair and was flashy in her 70's.My mother noticed as she entered the room that the roll of TP had stuck to Maryons shoes and it was like a wedding  train  unrolling after her!My mom, being a good friend and all, jumped up and started to reroll the paper as Maryone kept on going.Too bad there were no cell phones back then, what a trip, would of gone viral!        -@Marilyn Tassy

I always thought The Duke was John Wayne.  Also known as Marion Morrison.   He wasn't a bad actor and made a lot of money playing the same person every time.  He was good in True Grit which if I'm not mistaken was his last film.

Your TP story reminded me of people being at some function and a woman in a white skirt came  back from the ladies room with the back of her skirt tucked in her panties.  I don't know if I saw it in real life, in a movie or dreamt it.  Ye gods, reality is becoming blurred these days at Fluffy Towers.

I've actually seen that TP on the foot thing in a movie way back in the 90s.  It was a Finnish sci-fi movie which was parodying Star Trek.  I think it was called Star Wreck.  Wasn't bad. It took the mickey out of the Finnish, Vikings (presumably Swedes/Danish/Norwegians) and the Russians.   Dangerous occupation to laugh at The Bear.

Wayne's last film was The Shootist.