Care and how NOT to manage change (part2) ...

I had a 2 1/2 hour meeting yesterday with Tracy Wright (from the council), Vicky Jack (from Avenue Care Services) and George Lang (from EliteCare at Home).

A lovely leaflet to explain my options ...

I listened to their presentation about the Options available to my parents and was given a lovely, brightly coloured leaflet for my troubles...

Care and how NOT to manage change ...

How to write this effectively without being overly aggressive and borish ... this is a problem for me at the moment since I am really quite angry!

A little background ... 

The thing is this ... my parent's are quite now quite elderly ... my dad is 80 years old and my mum is 78 in a couple of months, and they live at home. They have their health issues, as I'm sure a lot of people do as they get older, and my dad is now almost completely wheelchair bound.

They do quite well at home, and they have carers that come in regularly to look after them.

So who are these carers then? ..: 

The care is provided by a team from EliteCare (Scotland) at Home and quite honestly the team they have in place have been fantastic! ... really! They're coming in every day, they've built great rapport, friendship and trust! and the care they are providing is, really, very good!

... so! ... What could possible have got me so riled?

The fact is that, as of this coming Sunday, the entire team is being pulled out ... relocated to different areas (although one of the carers is unsure whether she'll have any work at all from next week) and a different company is being brought in to provide the care.

No consultation ... No notice ... that's it ... Next week it all changes!

Einverstandniskeitserklärung .. What's That?!?!?!

My wife is Thai, and she moved to live with me in July 2014. For various reasons, her son has lived with his Grandparents most of his life so far, and is still in Thailand now, but with the hope he'll join us once my wife has found her feet in Europe.

We decided a while ago that it would be best for her to come to Europe and see how she settles before uprooting her son ... leaving her with the option of returning to Thailand if the life here really didn't suit her. That also meant that her son could visit Europe during some of his school holidays, to see how he felt about moving here.

And so, with dates set (last week of October) for his first visit to Germany, it came time to apply for his visa (you can't just apply for an open visa, AFAIK, you have to have specific dates, and it's not possible to apply more than 3 months ahead of time for the visa). Once you've been through it a few times, it's not as daunting a process as it initially seems ... but of course, for a minor to apply, there are a few extra things to do! ... :O)

All the information on the Visa Application process is in a useful website (http:\\bangkok.diplo.de) with is available in 2 languages (German and Thai ... there's a rant for another day! :O) ). The section about visa applications is here: www.bangkok.diplo.de/.../08/0-Visabestimmungen.html. With this page (.../08/Touristenvisum.html) all about applying for a tourist visa, including to visit family and friends. There are links to online applications, lists of the documents you need ... really useful stuff!

And then, there is the following:

Sind Sie thailändischer Staatsangehörigkeit unter 18 Jahren müssen Ihre Sorgeberechtigten (in der Regel die Eltern) zur Antragstellung mitkommen und den Antrag unterschreiben. Sollten die Sorgeberechtigten verhindert sein, kann der von den Eltern unterschriebene Antrag mit einer Einverständniskeitserklärung gestellt werden. Die Unterschrift auf der Einverständniskeitserklärung muss jedoch vom thailändischen Bezirksamt oder wenn die Eltern sich in Deutschland aufhalten, von einer deutschen Behörde beglaubigt sein. Stimmt nur ein Elternteil zu, so muss nachgewiesen werden, dass dieser alleine sorgeberechtigt ist.

(the highlighting is straight from the website)

translated it means:

If you are a Thai National under 18 years old, the adult who has custody (normally the parents) must accompany you to the application centre, and must sign the Application. If the people with custody are unable to attend a representative of the parents can sign the Application providing they produce an "Einverstandniskeitserklärung". However, the signature on the "Einverstandniskeiterklärung" must be certified by the Thai district office or, if the parents reside in Germany, by a German authority. Where only a single parent signs, it must be demonstrated that the parent has sole custody.

No problem! We thought ... so where's this form to sign? ... and so it began...

Swissvoice Eurit 758 - ISDN DECT Phone - "No System" Issue resolved!

A while ago, because I needed more than 1 line at home (teenager in the house and working from a home office - enough said!) I switched from an Analogue line to ISDN with 3 telephone numbers.

I then discovered that most ISDN phones are wired and the number of DECT offerings are very limited, and the systems with 2 or more handsets even more so ... the one at the time that best suited my needs (price) was the Swissvoice Eurit 758 Duo (with 2 handsets) and for a long time I was very happy with it.

The cashier down the road can speak English .. but the immigration office official can't!

I have come to a sad realisation ... and one that I am going to whole-heartedly embrace! ... This blog is a place for me to RANT! ... I mean, it doesn't look like anyone is following anyway ... so what's the harm? :O)
 ... just call me Victor! (Meldrew) :O)

Today's target is the immigration office in Nürnberg, Germany ...

... as I mentioned in my previous post, I live in Germany,  but being British means that for the most part I do not have to deal with the Vogons in the "Ausländerbehörde" (Immigration Office) in Nürnberg.

However, things are changing. You see, Dear Reader(s) (I'm not sure I have even 1 reader, so assuming there is more than one may be a step to far), I am engaged to a wonderful Thai lady, we are getting married in a few months, and so, for the second time this year, I have to talk to these officious people. And it's enough to make me want to move away from Nürnberg, and out into one of the surrounding villages, where I will deal with a different office.

The Vogons here are quite frankly the most unhelpful people I have ever met ... if you cannot speak or understand German, it does not matter, they will happily continue to give you instructions in German, and if you can't understand, well that's your problem isn't it .. "Deutsch ist die Stadtsprache" is probably their favourite admonition ("German is the Official Language") .. now, the hard part here is that, to some extent I agree ... if you're going to live in a country, you should indeed learn the language, and be able to get by effectively in that language ... but whenever I walk in there and greet the person behind the desk in German  with a "Schön Guten Tag ... " that seems to be a challenge for them!

Do they give me any credit for being able to converse in a general manner?
Do they make allowances for the fact that I can take part effectively in a technical discussion, at work, in German?

... HA!!! Not a Chance ... you see, I have unwittingly challenged the Vogon ... it is now his/her ambition to prove that I am not half as clever as I thought I was ... they now will speak complex, legalese, German at a hefty clip just to ensure that I can't understand ... and then, when I look baffled, and confused ... normally after the 3rd or 4th attempt, and after asking them to explain it to me in German a 4 year old might understand, they triumphantly send me away telling me to come back with someone who speaks German!

What happened to customer service? ... What happen to being helpful? ... "Don't be so stupid!!! Nick", I can hear you crying from out the ether ... these are Government Officials ... it's their job to make your life a misery and they're good at it!

... of course, go into the bakery round the corner for a sandwich and a cup of coffee and the people serving are more than happy to patiently decipher my German with English grammar ... or even to try and speak a little English ... just to be helpful.

Life in Germany is wonderful, and for the most part the people here are warm, friendly, and helpful ... shame about the calibre of people who choose jobs in local Government!

... for further viewing enjoyment ... this very subject was covered by the German Television channel "BR Bayerisches Fernsehen" the program can be watched on-line here : Link

Why I'm becoming disillusioned with my Android Tablet!

... or Why Google Play Store is messing things up!

Ok ... for a long time I vacillated between Android and iPad. I have both iPhone and Android phone .... I'm a techSlut ... I'll go with anyone ... at least where gadgets are concerned .. but a tablet is a hefty piece of investment and so I've been slow to jump ...

Anyway! recently I did .. I opted for the Sony Xperia Tablet Z and I love it ... I have it with me all the time ... I use it constantly, and I'm happy with it! I'm sure now that I'd be just as happy with an iPad, but hey I made the choice to go Android ...

... but Google Play Store is really messing me up ... you see I'm British , I speak English, I read English .. I LIKE English .. get the picture? .. well I'm registered on the UK Google Play Store, so where's the problem? you may ask! and this is it .. I live in Germany ... and Google are very clever people! they know better! So, when I try to access the Google Play Store, they KNOW that I really want German Books, German Apps and that German is my language, despite the fact I think otherwise! You see, my IP Address is German .. so NO! I can't get access to the UK store.... because these Google Boffins know better!

When I access the Books in Google Play, I get shown the German Books, I get shown the German Movies ... while the top level menus are in English, the content is German, I have to read the German Language to understand "New Releases" ... "Neuerscheinungen" in case you're wondering ... 

With Apple, I have no such issues .. I can access my UK Account, see my UK Books, read UK Magazines .. listen to my UK music (actually, I can do that last part with Google too) ... of course! Please, No-one give me a German iTunes gift voucher because it can only be used with the German iTunes Store, but that's a rant for another day!

Please Google! Please! Please! Please! ... stop being so bloody clever! ... sometimes we Brits abroad (and I'm sure it's just as applicable to Germans abroad, French abroad, Americans abroad, etc, etc, etc) we just want to relax with our own things, read and listen to our own language ... If we register with the UK Store ... we want to buy from the UK store ... even when we're abroad!

This is the internet after all, isn't it meant to be a land without borders? I can buy a physical DVD on-line and have it shipped anywhere in the world. I can buy a book (for the most part) in the US or Canada and have it shipped to Germany ... but digital content, it seems, cannot be so easily handled (why?). If I go to Amazon UK Store ... they show me UK items ... if I go to Amazon DE store .. they show me German items ... simple really ... but for Google, who still for the most part control the Android platform and the Android Marketplace this is too complex and it is detracting from my enjoyment of my tablet

one more thing ... I found this quite amusing ... here I am using "Blogger", owned and run by Google I believe ... this page is in English, the editor is in English, my profile is set to English ... so I hit the Preview button, and what banner is displayed across the top? ... Yes! "Vorshau", and there's a message to the right which begins "Es tut uns lied..." ("We are sorry...") but I suppose I can use Google Translate to read it ... or maybe not! ...

Coffee ... such a simple thing ...

Today is turning into one of "those" days ...

• I got to bad late lst night ... VERY late ... which meant I was up late this morning
• .. which meant I was late into the office
• ... which means I'll be leaving late this evening

... you can see how this cycle gets going ... can't you :)

... at least, once I'm in the office I'll get my first cup of coffee ... and everything will be right with the world again ... ha! WRONG!

First off, there's no coffee (the nice, shiny, expensive, expresso machine is broken AGAIN!, so we're back to Good Ole filter coffee) ... that's okay, I'll just brew some more, it'll only take 5 mins or so... so I emptied the  old coffee filter, put a new one in .. and found to my horror, there's virtually no coffee left.

... phew! .. Just enough!

10 mins later, I go back to get my coffee ... and realise something's wrong ... but I haven't quite figured out what yet ...

... then it dawns on me ... I've forgotten to put the filter holder back after cleaning it, and the paper filter is pushing through the bottom ... coffee, and coffee grounds, are leaking everywhere ... I grab a bowl, and try in vain to catch the sludge while trying to figure out how to get the boiling filter out, and into the sink!

... 10 secs later, and the problem is solved for me ... the paper filter burst, and hot coffee sludge empties all over the work top, down the front of the cupboards, down the front of the dishwasher and all over the floor.

... another 10 mins clearing up the mess ...and then the horror really strikes! ... no coffee! ... there's none in the cupboards either ... so it's off to the supermarket to buy some more ... (I NEED COFFEE!!!!!) :)

... anyway ... I've finally got the coffee brewing again ... so I'm off to get my first cup of the day ... at last!

Hope your day is going better :)

Cheers,

Nick