THE RANT THREAD!

[anunitu]

Re: THE RANT THREAD!

Reminds self,never buy a condo in Germany...

[DanieMarie]

Re: THE RANT THREAD!

Do you not have housing insurance for things like this over there?

My grandma lives in a condo, in hurricane country...her insurance paid for all her *stuff* (including redecoration) damaged, and the condo insurance (paid for by condo fees) paid for all the structural stuff, including mold damage.


I know things are different between one country and another...but mold is generally speaking a building issue because a building was poorly wrapped, improperly ventilated, etc during construction. Or because of roof/pipe problems and water intrusion. If mold is enough of a problem to cost that much money, then Germany either has horribly building standards, or the companies that constructed your building suck. Not that it helps you much...I'm just surprised that a European country has such cruddy liability laws.

Oh, Germany has insurance for everything. We have insurance for the building, but as far as I can tell, stuff like this isn't covered. If developers weren't so shady here, we could maybe sue the developer for doing such shoddy work in the first place, but unfortunately, they create a separate legal company for every building they work on, and ours went bankrupt. So we have no means of getting compensation that way.

Another thing that pisses me off about this is that I've been finding out that this has been happening quite a bit throughout the city over the past few years. Now, a similar thing happened in Vancouver and Victoria about 20 years ago. It was called the leaky condo scandal and it was a HUGE deal that led to changes in building code and all sorts of stuff. Here? NOTHING. Nothing is happening. Developers keep producing the cheapest, shoddiest work possible and selling them as "luxury" apartments (almost anything newly built or renovated is marketed as "luxury," even if it's not). Because of the way that they can set up their companies, it's really hard to go after them if there are problems, so they get to keep doing this.

I'm starting to feel more and more like Berlin is becoming a city for rich investors. If you're a renter, the laws cover you, but unfortunately, the rich investors who own your building or apartment can hire much better lawyers than you ever could, so it's hard to stand up for yourself when the law is on your side (my friend is going through this right now). If you're a homeowner who lives in your own home, you don't enjoy many legal protections and you will always be at the mercy of the other owners in your building, most of whom will be rich investors who don't live in Berlin and can afford to pay 30,000 Euros in 2 years for renovations.

I just feel like I'll never get ahead. I was finally starting to feel in control of my finances. I was making plans. I was going to rebuild my savings account for emergencies, start paying social security again (it's voluntary as a freelancer), start paying back my parents, and open a retirement account. Now I don't know what I'm going to do.

- - - Updated - - -

Reminds self,never buy a condo in Germany...

I would really not recommend it. Seriously, people who want to buy a home to live in should buy a house. You'd have to live outside of the city limits for it to be affordable, but you'd get lower property and transfer taxes and none of the BS.

[Gas Mask]

Re: THE RANT THREAD!

I found out something about my aunt today. Let's just say that she's not who I thought she was.

[LearningMan]

Re: THE RANT THREAD!

I found out something about my aunt today. Let's just say that she's not who I thought she was.

What happened?

[CrystalJackal]

Re: THE RANT THREAD!

I found out something about my aunt today. Let's just say that she's not who I thought she was.

You okay? What happened ;;

[kalynraye]

Re: THE RANT THREAD!

Why do you do something you hate? KP hates his job hes hated his job since I met him which is over 5 years. We have moved across the country TWICE and he has hated his job every time. Its also something he refuses to do anything about. His excuses are hes good at it and it pays well, and hes right but I don't understand going to school and getting a degree in something that you don't like only to spend the rest of your life hating your job!! Hes never tried to find another job. Hes been in a kitchen since he was 15 and never tried to look for something else. Hes also a bit of a snob and a little self conscious and I'm not sure if he could handle being "new" at something or the low man on the totem pole. But still if you hate it change it!!!

[Gleb]

Re: THE RANT THREAD!

I found out something about my aunt today. Let's just say that she's not who I thought she was.

Wanna talk about it?

[Gas Mask]

Re: THE RANT THREAD!

Wanna talk about it?

I found out that she's against certain aspects of women's rights. What kind of woman is against women's rights?

[Gleb]

Re: THE RANT THREAD!

I found out that she's against certain aspects of women's rights. What kind of woman is against women's rights?

I'm not saying she's right, perhaps you should ask WHY she's against those aspects?

[Gas Mask]

Re: THE RANT THREAD!

I'm not saying she's right, perhaps you should ask WHY she's against those aspects?

I think that it's because she can't have kids that she thinks that all women, no matter their circumstances, health, et cetera, should have babies. To relegate women to just baby making machines is wrong. I'm sorry. I just thought that she was more realistic, like me. Maybe her inability to have kids is making her irrational. I'm not trying to start a debate. I'm just ranting here. Call me a bad person or call me an idealist, whatever. Just don't call me against women being equal to men.

[Gleb]

Re: THE RANT THREAD!

I think that it's because she can't have kids that she thinks that all women, no matter their circumstances, health, et cetera, should have babies. To relegate women to just baby making machines is wrong. I'm sorry. I just thought that she was more realistic, like me. Maybe her inability to have kids is making her irrational. I'm not trying to start a debate. I'm just ranting here. Call me a bad person or call me an idealist, whatever. Just don't call me against women being equal to men.

Health issues can influence on the baby. You're right here. Don't let her ideals upset you, though.

[Hawkfeathers]

Re: THE RANT THREAD!

I'm 58 and have always been childfree. Never had a second thought. I hear that stuff all the time, not only about that, but about lots of things: "EVERYBODY wants....(fill in the blank)". It's a form of narcissism, IMO.

[CrystalJackal]

Re: THE RANT THREAD!

I have kids. They're rats and a gerbil. xD

And GasMask, no kids isn't a bad thing, not at all. There's a lot of pressure to procreate and it's ridiculous in my opinion, especially since they put that pressure on you since the time you're little.

I feel like parents all want their kids to grow up good in school, become a doctor, marry a mediocre guy, have 2.5 kids and drive a minivan into the sunset.

But say you want to be an artist and have dogs instead of kids and suddenly you're a disappointment.
It's a silly thing.

[LearningMan]

Re: THE RANT THREAD!

I feel like parents all want their kids to grow up good in school, become a doctor, marry a mediocre guy, have 2.5 kids and drive a minivan into the sunset.

Now son, I want you to have two normal kids, and then when you have a third kid, paralyze him from the waist down or hack his lower half off. As long as it's 2.5 kids, I don't care how you do it.

[CrystalJackal]

Re: THE RANT THREAD!

Now son, I want you to have two normal kids, and then when you have a third kid, paralyze him from the waist down or hack his lower half off. As long as it's 2.5 kids, I don't care how you do it.

Bu dum tssk.

Heheh.


The weird thing is I even get pressure from my friends. We were talking about kids, and when I said I didn't want any, they looked at me like I was nuts, and then gave me an hour long lecture on why I should have kids.
And I know I'm young, but that's the thing. I'm young. I've had way too much pressure already put on me to have kids considering my age. I feel like nowadays too many people have kids because from a young age they've been told they should.