Quick bits
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I’m literally as unreliable as it gets this week. It’s the relocation, you know. Unfortunately, it’s also performance evaluation season at work.
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I set up runit on my Mac because launchd is so damn complicated. Runit is simple, and I love that.
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Some Berliners have their minds so set on cycling on the sidewalk, that they’ll cycle on the sidewalk even when there is a bicycle lane right next to it. Somebody please explain me the reasoning here, because it eludes me.
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The car and motorbike racing up and down my street has gotten bad enough over the last few weeks that it’s severely interrupting my sleep. At least I’m moving away.
Moving progress
This is my last full week in Berlin.
I’m already settling in to the city I am not living in full-time yet; I’ve got a bank account and a phone number. The representative of my moving company even said over the phone “so you’re moving back to the UK .” I’m blending in! Nobody say anything!
The spring cleaning is coming to an end. I’ve finally emptied out the basement (still needs a sweep); what was left in there is stuff that I had forgotten about. That’s what basements do. That’s what storage space does.
“Emptied out” is also a bit how I’m feeling, coincidentally.
I’ve been making good use of Tiptapp. It’s a great way to get last-minute help to dispose of stuff.
Also, for the first time ever, I accidentally locked myself out of the basement. The heavy basement entrance door slammed shut quickly and with quite some force, with my key still stuck on the inside. Fortunately I found a friendly neighbour who was able to help me out.
Where do I want to live?
There’s still the question of where I want to live. In all likelihood, for the first few months in London (up to half a year maybe) I’ll just need a good-enough home base, and then look for where I want to live longer-term.
What area of London do I want to live in? I don’t know yet! As long as it’s well-connected, I’m happy; especially early on, I want to make sure I can savour every bit of London.
But I already know that I don’t want to live in one of these built-to-rent apartments. I’ve gotten roped into virtual viewings of quite a few of those, and these places fill me with dread. The amenities (yoga studio, free gym for residents, coworking space with meeting rooms) might be nice, but it’s like living in a hotel 24/7. It’s all furnished, too, which might be nice for a start, but these apartments lack any personality whatsoever.
I saw a few places that have a garden. They’re further out, and the gardens are not large, but wow, I think I really want a garden. I haven’t got the greenest fingers, but I can see myself getting into a garden sharing scheme.
Entertainment
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Diablo III1 is a bit dull. I rushed through the campaign (I think I played it before but don’t remember it — shows how not-memorable it is), then figured that seasons are where the meat of the game is, so started a seasonal adventure, and now… I’m sort of done? The game got a bit boring. It’s an easy game, too; even on hard or expert, I only died a few times.
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Spoorloos2 is one tense film. I read the book that it’s based on, The Vanishing,3 about two decades ago and quite liked how unsettling it was. The film, too, is deeply unsettling; Stanley Kubrick called it the most terrifying film he had seen.
Links
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Kurzgesagt is Wrong About Germany (Three Arrows): I’m not fond of Kurzgesagt. I think their viewpoints are consistently conservative.
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The Reverse Culture Shock is Real – My Berlin experience (Christiane Link)
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Germany’s most wanted woman jailed after three decades evading police: Your friendly neighbourhood terrorist!
Entertainment links:
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Yaoi, Slash, and Homosocial Bonding (Zero Woolfe)
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Tiny Witcher 3 Tilt Shift (Flurdeh): Well, now I want to replay The Witcher 3. What a perpetually wonderful game.
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Figuring Out Where Kingdom Come 2's Fountain Gets Its Water (Any Austin)
Tech links: