Christmas is upon us.

German Xmas things. Some of these are still a novelty for me.



Like fruit at the markets


There is gnome reason for this


Night watchmen




These almost got me. Electric lighted snow globes

Stairwell in my doctor's office building.

I am back with my first primary doctor after a year and a half. Had to stay with the old practice iven after she moved for 6 months and then was contracted to the old practice until this summer.

This is the stairwell in the building that she now works in.



Things are looking up.


Looking down

Some one is ready for the Holiday season

Security for web based health and finance system is driving me crazy.

I'm not going to survive this stuff.
I've been using, not programming, computers for 30 some odd years. This stuff is becoming nuts. I understand the need but the people writing the programs have no idea how they really work.

Had to change my address.
Logged in with the 2nd party check. Fine. Hello (my name)
Spent time trying to find personal data buried in settings.
Find my data. There is a pencil indicating 'edit'. Click.
Nothing. Search for change address. Says go here. click.
Can't edit. I need to get a special code. By mail. Okay.
I hit get code. Boot, and I have to log in again with 2nd party ID.
Says it will mail it out. But it is going to my old address. (Have an address change in place at P.O.)

Get the code in the mail. Fine. Log in, but have to finish setting up my phone for the 2 party security....
Okay, Some minor cursing, that is done.
Great. Now to find the address change. Again.
Have to do a search to find it. Puts me back on the page I had found with the edit sign. But now I can edit it.
Change the address field, enter.
Your address is not valid....
Dafuck, a German contraction word meaning 'there fuck.
Re enter, the form auto fills the correct postcode... Hm Okay
Hit enter.
Address not valid.
Now there is a check box asking if this is the address I want to use?
&%(%&^%*$((....... AAAhhh. OMMM, Yes.

Bingo. You have changed the address.

CAn't wait to see if it actually changed it. That might take a while since I also, in theory, set my account for electronic messaging..

Thanks for the vent place.

Data from Germany's required vehicle inspections

Tesla takes a hit.
Worst 2 places in the inspection failure rate. These are required inspections to keep your car on the road.

https://www.carscoops.com/2025/11/an-american-model-was-germanys-most-defective-vehicle-this-year/
.........
Germany’s car-check watchdog has crunched the reliability numbers and once again, Tesla finds itself parked at the very bottom of the heap. The 2026 TÜV-Report, covering annual roadworthiness inspections of approximately 9.5 million vehicles between July 2024 and June 2025, found that Tesla EVs occupied the two bottom spots in the league table.

The Model 3, which was the worst-ranked car for the two previous years was found to have a defect rate of 13.1 percent, meaning one in every 7.6 cars in the two-to-three-year-old ages group failed the Hauptuntersuchung safety check.

Why Is The Model Y So Troubled?

But the Model Y was even worse. It had a defect rate of 17.3 percent, versus 3.5 percent for a Mini Cooper SE, making it the worst TÜV has seen in this age group in a decade. The biggest defect culprits were the axle assembly, suspension, brakes and lighting.

The marathon has begun.....

I made stock for the gravy, Used the duck carcass from earlier and some bits of chicken carcass, with the usual veggies.
I have enough stock left over for the carrot, ginger, potato soup my wife wants to make. Bonus.

I made and canned the cranberry sauce. It will be enough to make it through Xmas, at least. Two 1 cup jars may become gifts.

My new 90 cm wide cooktop helped having stock, cranberry sauce cooking, and heating up the big pot to can the sauce. So much easier than the 60 cm units I've had for 10 years.

I'll be roasting a goose for Thanksgiving.

We do our meal on Saturday or Sunday since there is no day off on the thursday. Plus it gives me 2 more days to procrastinate.
We have my wife's old work mate and his child over. So instead of any traditional stuffing/dressing I'm going with Mac and cheese. Cheddar, gruyere, gorgonzola blend with a little spec. Probably roasted carrots and mashed potatoes. Might do biscuits. I have to keep it simple since my rent abdominal surgery doesn't allow me to push myself.
Of course there will be pumpkin pie.

If you had any doubt about Homeland Security being run by racist nazis

This should remove it.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2025/11/20/coast-guard-swastika-noose/

The U.S. Coast Guard will no longer classify the swastika — an emblem of fascism and white supremacy inextricably linked to the murder of millions of Jews and the deaths of more than 400,000 U.S. troops that died fighting in World War II — as a hate symbol, according to a new policy that takes effect next month.

Instead, the Coast Guard will classify the Nazi-era insignia as “potentially divisive” under its new guidelines. The new policy, set to take effect Dec. 15, similarly downgrades the definition of nooses and the Confederate flag, though display of the latter remains banned, according to documents reviewed by The Washington Post.

.....
Women will be the next general target, other than the leaders already relieved of command.

Life is good in a dictatorship

until you say or do something to gather attention.

The handy man who is helping do some installations in our new flat is from the former Yugoslavia. He was there when Marshal Tito was in charge. As a young man he said life was good. But never say anything political. Oder du warst weg. Or you were gone.
It echoes what a former coworker I had from Pakistan in the late 70's said. He and his wife were in a great place, good schools, money, hired help for the house keeping and, and.
But they gave that up to come to the US. Why? It was good to be with the "in" group. You didn't want to be in the "out" group. And you never knew when that could change.

I think some MAGA voters are beginning to realize this now. I didn't vote for this, they bleat.

Advent Calendars

I'm in Germany and we are awash with Advent Calendars. From cheap to expensive. From small to large couples ones.
Here is one I saw at my local home improvement center. Hagebaumarkt.
It is tempting....

The cover


List of contents.


Evidently this is a yearly thing....