http://retinal.dehy.de/docs/ 2026-05-09T23:19:17+02:00 http://retinal.dehy.de/docs/ http://retinal.dehy.de/docs/lib/tpl/minimal/images/favicon.ico text/html 2020-12-25T11:34:43+02:00 http://retinal.dehy.de/docs/doku.php?id=miscellaneous:adventbeer&rev=1608892483&do=diff In 2020 I was given a beer advent calendar, so I thought I might as well keep some daily notes on what I thought of the various beers contained within it. Each evening, starting on the 30th November, I open the following day's window in the calendar, take the bottle out, and put it in the fridge (these are mostly German beers, so recommended for drinking at fridge-temperature). Then, the following evening, I take that day's beer out of the fridge and drink it, take the next one from the calend… text/html 2021-11-16T19:32:49+02:00 http://retinal.dehy.de/docs/doku.php?id=miscellaneous:brexitcovid&rev=1637087569&do=diff I am British. I don't think I've ever been "proud" of that as such, but these days I regard it as more of a challenge to be dealt with than something to be pleased about. I would very happily associate myself with being Irish, German, Swedish, New Zealand or Canadian (and, to a lesser extent, South African), but being British is not something I can feel good about any more. text/html 2024-05-29T17:25:56+02:00 http://retinal.dehy.de/docs/doku.php?id=miscellaneous:germany&rev=1716996356&do=diff There is, as far as I'm aware, a common stereotype of Germans and Germany that: * people follow the rules * there are rules for everything * trains etc are punctual * things are done efficiently * bureaucracy exists everywhere, but at least it's efficient text/html 2020-12-06T17:59:57+02:00 http://retinal.dehy.de/docs/doku.php?id=miscellaneous:lists&rev=1607273997&do=diff If you're going to get helpful answers from people, you have to give them enough information to understand where you're starting from and what you're trying to achieve. Here are some examples of badly worded questions: * "I ran that command and got an error message." (without quoting what the error message was) * "I edited the config file and it still doesn't work." (without saying what you edited, or what tells you that it didn't work) * "I followed the instructions and it's not working… text/html 2021-03-26T23:35:43+02:00 http://retinal.dehy.de/docs/doku.php?id=miscellaneous:locke&rev=1616798143&do=diff Locke is (as I start writing this) a beautiful black poodle, who has worked for the past 12 years as a guide dog for my girlfriend, who has been blind all her life. His name means "curly" in German, which is quite fitting for a poodle with curly fur who was born near to Essen and has lived most of his life in Cologne. text/html 2022-12-06T12:11:25+02:00 http://retinal.dehy.de/docs/doku.php?id=miscellaneous:mtd&rev=1670325085&do=diff VAT (Making Tax Difficult) I run a business which is registered for VAT in the UK. Once upon a time this was simple - the tax office (HMRC) sent you an A4 piece of paper once every three months, you filled it in with 9 numbers (one of which was the sum of two others, one of which was the difference between two others, and three of which were for most people zero) and sent it back to them. text/html 2021-03-26T00:24:44+02:00 http://retinal.dehy.de/docs/doku.php?id=miscellaneous:multiples&rev=1616714684&do=diff Is this just me, or are many/most people like this? I seem unable to be happy with just one of something. If I like it, I get more (and I don't just mean that when the bottle of wine is finished, I buy another one - I buy wine 6 bottles at a time, and beer in crates of 20 (or 24, for some of the Belgian ones). I regard this as simply efficient shopping, though, just as I buy teabags in boxes of 240 at once). text/html 2021-03-15T22:04:01+02:00 http://retinal.dehy.de/docs/doku.php?id=miscellaneous:ocp&rev=1615842241&do=diff My version of OCD (which I prefer to think of as part of my personality, rather than an outright disorder, so I call it OCP) manifests itself primarily in terms of symmetry. I detest things which are asymmetrical, but could clearly be symmetrical, if someone only put them the right way round, arranged them properly, or designed them slightly differently. text/html 2021-08-20T15:24:14+02:00 http://retinal.dehy.de/docs/doku.php?id=miscellaneous:words&rev=1629465854&do=diff "I've found a problem with the English language; I need an entomologist." "I think you mean an etymologist." "No, it's a bug, not a feature." Some words do not exist There are quite a number of words in the English language (and no doubt others too, but I haven't explored those in so much detail) which are clearly opposites, but of words which don't themselves exist (or at least, not with the meaning which would result in the original word).