Un-vital signs 22.05.2025

Sometimes, you just gotta ask yourself, what the hell? During a recent trip to more southerly German climes (Bonn), I noticed a lot of the following signs while taking a stroll one evening: Despite their different wordings, shapes, styles, and colours, the basic message in all the signs was identical: don’t block the driveway. MyContinue reading “Un-vital signs 22.05.2025”

The highway to oh-well

I’ve written previously about how the city of Not-Bielefeld is continuously trying to live up to its reputation as a bicycle-friendly city. Noteworthy efforts here, if only because they miss the mark completely, include the city testing out a gangrene wave for bikes and the University of Not-Bielefeld proudly installing the most expensive bike racksContinue reading “The highway to oh-well”

BCD 06.04.2025

Last year I wrote about how my private health-insurance company was holding out providing us, its customers, with any form of physical healthcare card, ostensibly with the motivation to save us money because of the cost of developing such a cutting-edge system. This all, of course, is a load of crap. First off, saving usContinue reading “BCD 06.04.2025”

Staying grounded

In its never-ending quest to be at the bleeding edge of self-promoting lip service, the University of Not-Bielefeld introduced its new environmentally-friendly travel policy at the start of this year. After what must have been countless collective person-hours in at least the high single-digit range, the following was foisted upon University members for all theirContinue reading “Staying grounded”

X marks the Spott

The University of Not-Bielefeld recently wrapped up its biennial exercise in democracy by holding elections for both the Senate as well as the Boards for each of its six faculties. (And, no, that isn’t a typo in the title but a bilingual play on words. Spot does exist in German and pretty much means theContinue reading “X marks the Spott”

Why do two rights mean someone’s wrong?

My dog and I pretty much have a 24/7 relationship. This includes bathroom breaks on both sides. Me for hers for bagging purposes and her for mine for whatever reason. (Ask her …) It also includes work where I blatantly smuggle her into the building and where she also attends all my classes. (But noneContinue reading “Why do two rights mean someone’s wrong?”

Eco-friendly bike theft

I have to admit that this little gem passed me by for the longest time, in part because I don’t read those mostly self-serving pieces of propaganda (AKA press releases) put out at far-too-frequent intervals by the University of Not-Bielefeld. All last summer there were some serious excavations going on in front of one ofContinue reading “Eco-friendly bike theft”