A seabird bonanza here today!

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The sun lit up a swooping seagull that saw some food!

We could only pay a brief visit to the beach this morning, as we went to search for a birthday present for my youngest grandson.
It is also our 2 year birthday today over here today, as we left the big city on this day 2 years ago.
So it seems that the number 6 plays a big role in my life, as I was also born on the 6th.
Come and have a look at the seabirds!

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Here above we cormorants of all kinds!

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An elegant egret coming in to land!

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A cormorant stretching his wings in the sun to dry himself!

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The egret fluffing itself doesn't look so elegant now 😄

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A Kelp Gull surfing on the cold wind!

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Another one crossing over on his way.

And that's it for today folks!

I took many photos with some amazing shots, but will share them over time.
The temperatures are fast dropping here, as yet another huge storm will make it's precence felt during this week. July is our coldest winter winter month and as it is our winter rainy season, we will soon be under water agin.
Not that I am complaining, as the more water the better to fill the dams.

Hope that everyone had a good Monday!

Note: All photos are my own, unedited and cropped for uploading!
Camera used: Canon Powershot SX60HS

We hope that you have enjoyed the pictures and thank you for visiting a post by @papilloncharity.

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Wow! A double notice today.
Thank you kindly!
Hope that you guys have a great week!

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Love the pictures, reminds me of my time on the beach in Virginia. The entire shore seemed like a living, breathing thing, covered with tiny creatures that could really be seen if you paid close attention. Stay safe! :)

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Oh yes, you are correct in so far as the close attention is concerned.
It is when really scrutinised that one can pick up all of the little stories that plays itself out in the mass gatherings.
I even made a video of a tiny crab with a broken shell in a pool, fighting with another little crab to steal its shell.

Thanks for popping in and have a good week!

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Cool photos my friend, I like the first one most, where the sun shines through the wings of the seagull.
Congratulations to your 2nd anniversary and Happy Birthday to your grandson 😁

Cheers and !BEER
!invest_vote

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I almost didn't take that shot Sir Johann, mostly becuase I like an ocean or blue sky background for birds in flight.
But when I saw the beginning of the sun's effect on his wings, I waited for a few seconds until he was fully lit up, then I clicked. Glad that you liked it!

Thank you also for the kind wishes and I will tell little Noah that an Austrian mountain goat wished him happy birthday! Lol.

Blessings and thank you!

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I have a few photos of birds in flight, but none is good enough for posting. I should practice it more often, but I'm just too lazy and wait until they sit down, and even then I miss most shots ;) lol

Yes, tell him greetings from the Austrian mountain goat 😆 lol ... I even cannot remember how janton came on that name. I think we have been talking about hiking and climbing...

Cheers and !BEER

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Well let me make a suggestion that helped me greatly.
The next year after I started Papillon in 2001, I had to take some photos of our projects for funding grants and that's where my photography life started.

I started on one of the most difficult subjects. Dragonflies.
Now if you can snap a drag clearly in flight, you can easily get anything bigger.
Easy, no, defintely not but with much patience and perseverence doable.
That should solve your problem methinks!

Well at least the name has stuck with you and mountain goats are balanced and hardy critters.
I think that it is a great monniker hahaha.

Cheers and blessings!

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You are thinking right, and as I said, I need much more practice ... and time ... and patience 😉

Maybe I should change my profile image from the Kiwifruit to a mountain goat, but therefore I have to take a photo of one ;)

Cheers and !BEER

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Ah! Now there's a great idea.

Something like this, as it is free to use on Pixabay!

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Source

Looks like a strong enough bugger lol.

Cheers and thank you!

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Hahaha 😁😀
Thanks a lot my friend, but I never use images from others. If I need one I make one 😉
If I get the Chance to take a photo of a mountain goat I'll take it, but I don't think I'll change the 🥝 for a goat 😎

Cheers and !BEER

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Well, I thought that it would inspire the artist in you Sir Johann.
Imagine how surprised the family would be if you suddenly buy all of the artist materials and you start painting that mountain goat ?
You can even paint your face on his head.
I am sure that the villagers will start calling you "Mountain goat, Johann van Gogh"!

Maybe it's best that you keep the Kiwi Fruit hahaha.

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May I ask what you had to drink or smoke? 😎 Lol

If I'd start painting a mountain goat with my face, my family would call a doctor, the special one who would give me this special jacket and some pills which would make me smile ... yes, I should definitely keep the Kiwi 😁

Cheers and !BEER
!invest_vote

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Sacriledge! We have an Austrian mountain goat on Hive that accuses a man of the cloth of being a sinner lol.
He plies the gentleman with beers in the hopes of getting a free ticket to heaven and now this mountain goat has changed his tack and accuses the poor man of heineous sins.

By the way, how do you know that I smoke?
I don't drink, so that makes me only half of a sinner hahaha. And I don't smoke happy tobacco Lol.

We really laughed at your reply here and hope that the guy with the special jackets stay far away from you.
The Kiwi will save you!

Cheers and thanks!

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Oh well, I have known a few priests in my live and you may believe me some were no holy men, but even worse than "normal" men.
But they were only "managers of the church's accounts" and you are not at all like them.

So, my dear friend, would you please accept a !BEER from me as apology 😁
I'm going to bed now and think about my sins. Have a good night 😴

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Can I tell you that I had a very serious dislike of the church for 40 years Sir Johann.
As a child we used to see pastors arrive for an official "house visit" with a bottle of alcohol and they always tried to get "friendly" with my mom because she was single.

But thankfully my mind was changed by an unnatural experience at the age of 40.

The thing is that we are all not without fault, be it at any title that we go through life.
There is no one that can accuse another of being a sinner.
Everything that we hate in another is in fact a part of ourselves that we detest.
All that we can do is to try our best to walk our own individual roads.

Now don't get me wrong here, but for me love and care are the important things in my life.
And of course their cousin called kindness.

Cheers and thank you for the bear!

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There are many children around who meet their father only on Sundays at church when he preaches in front of the altar 😉

It is as you say, and for me kindness plays a very big role in life.

Cheers and !BEER 🍺

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Oh yeah, and this is so wrong.

That is why we have become friends, as kindness to me have more value than any amount of riches methinks!

Cheers and thank you!

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My mama always told me to change my underwear daily, because you never know if you need to see a doctor, and to always be kind to other people, because you never know if you might need them.

I'm almost always kind and I change almost daily my underwear and I have lived a quite good life that way 😉

If someone stinks you can step back, but that doesn't help against unkindness 🙂

Cheers and !BEER
!invest_vote

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Funny how mammas across the world work together by saying similar things.
In our case we had to wear clean underpants every day in case we get into an accident.

Maybe it started in the old days when people liked to scandal. "You know, Gertrude's brother James was in an accident and the doctor almost fainted as there was 3 holes and brown stripes in his underpants" Lol.

But now if you want to see real embarrasment visit one of our local hospitals. They give you a gown that is solid at the front, but open at the back. Sort of to keep the patients humble I think, as nobody can get into a combatitive mood in a gown with their bums sticking out hahaha.

I have had to wear those stupid gowns a few times already and I call them my "Guzzi" suit!

My problem with kindness honestly is that I give too much. I have an old camera collection here 1930 stuff and this week a visitor adored the one camera, so I told him that he can have it. Thankfully he refused to to take it and just as well, as I also like that camera.
My mom used to tell me that I would give my bum away if it was not attached to me hahaha.

But yeah you are right, as I also have no truck for unkind people.

Blessings and thanks!

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The world is small and not only all Mamas are the same, but also these gowns in the hospitals. I have been wearing such a thing too after a surgery some years ago. It was really one of the most embarrassing experiences in my life and I was so glad that I had my own pyjama with me 😀

I would give my bum if someone wanted it, but never any of my cameras 🤣

Cheers and !BEER
!invest_vote

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Oh? So you know how it feels to dance around with one of the hospital's party gowns.
Dance in pain and when you bend over everyone can see your brown eye.
On the way back from the toilet a cute young nurse is bust at your bed and you hide behind a door until she is gone hahaha.

I notice that you call it a thing and indeed, I think the guy that designed that thing was not right in the head.
My problem is that every time when I come out of the aneathestic I fight. Pulling out pipes and trying my best to get up, in the process half naked in front of the world.
A severe embarrasment that party gown my friend.

Well, if you give your bum away, at least you don't have to worry about wearing one of the party gowns anymore hahaha

Cheers and thank you!

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Yes, I know exactly how it feels, and I was very glad that I could wear my pyjama instead of this thing. I think they are only using it to entertain the nurses, but I can imagine after one day I would have seen enough of these for the rest of my life 😆

I think the designer had special preferences which we just cannot understand 😉

I keep both, bum and cameras, and next time I'm be in a hospital I'll take care that no one asks me to wear such a gown 😀

Cheers and !BEER

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Enbarrasing indeed my friend.
But it is compulsary for the operating theaters and I don't think that the doctors want to struggle to get a guy's pyjama pants off on the operating table lol.

Over here we only take our own pyjamas with, but no valuables, such as watches and jewelry and especially not a camera. My wife keeps the mobile phone and I can only use it when she visits.

Such is hospital life!

Cheers and thanks!

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That's true of course, but immediately after the surgery I would change it for the Pyjama if possible. I think even going naked would look better than wearing this gown 😉

Here they have sometimes safes to lock your valuables.

Cheers and !BEER

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I do the same. I was in traction for a long time, meaning that they put a steel pin through my feft foot and hooked some cables with a weight at the bottom on to the pin.
The plaster cast on my leg was also strapped to the bed at my groin and I was forced to lay permanetly on my back. Well not permanently, for about a month.
So I could only have a short pants on, but no underpants, as they put a hosepipe into junior that led to a urine bottle.
Mind you, I was full of pipes and wires that led to machines all over place and it was quite an adventure.
So yeah, they know my feelings about that "Guzzi" suit lol.

We don't trust even the safes here. Best is to leave everything at home!

Cheers and thanks!

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I know such only from tv to be honest. My first and last surgery was a torn tendon on left ankle many years ago. In 2018 my son had an accident with his motorbike and had to lay in the hospital for a few days because both knees were injured.
But otherwise I have to knock on wood, like we say when we have luck in something.

Cheers and !BEER
!invest_vote

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Oh yeah and you have much to be grateful for.
Many of my spare parts are gone, but this old motorbike still runs.
Your son sounds like a good guy that's not scared to take risks.
So you just keep on knocking on wood my friend.

Cheers and thanks!

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As long as it runs take care of the engine and let it run, my friend.

Yes, he has no fear it seems, but I think we all have been like that in his age.

Cheers and !BEER

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Yeah, each morning when I get out if bed I have to fire it up first hahaha.
A stretch here and a bend there, fill the tank with a cup of coffee and hope that nothing misfires lol.

Oh no, I was a very good youngster that behaved myself impeccably hahaha.

Cheers and thanks!

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Before the crisis my engine started within one second, but the weird life we have been living in the past months has changed a lot and I need a few minutes and without a strong coffee the engine won't start at all 😂

I think we all were like that, because I just need to think of the mountains and rocks where I climbed up. Today I am already scared when I look up 😉

Cheers and !BEER

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Yeah, this Covid thing is bringing about many changes all over the place.
Marian's sister has resigned as a school teacher and she is now home schooling her 2 children.
We are both working from home, as we sold the Papillon poperty before we moved down here and what a blessing not having to travel to the office anymore.

I used to fill our car up 3 to 4 times a month and now we can drive for two months not have to fill up.
The traffic was always hectic fender to fender stuff and now it's history.
But health, yeah, that's a problem!

Try skating in a canoe being towed by a speed boat my friend, or doing handstands on crutches hahaha.
Racing in the hospital wards in a wheelchair, being chased by the matron is another long story hahaha.
Yeah, I think that we were all a bit crazy in our younger days!

Blessings and thank you!

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Luckily no one of our family or friends has lost or quit the job. I know only a few colleagues who were tested Corona positive, but all are healthy again.

Because my son is using the car most times it makes more kilometers than before 😁

I think I have done some stupid things too, but yours let mine sound normal 😉

Cheers and !BEER
!invest_vote

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Just heard now that we are to be locked down again from tomorrow.
We have 500 new virus cases every hour.

Yeah, kids and cars always means extra expenses lol.

I told you that I was an innocent and very good youngster hahaha.

Cheers and thanks!

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I believe our restrictions will be back soon too, because the masks are already back. People just don't care and our infections increase also, not as much as yours though.

That's a new definition of innocent I think 😉

Cheers and !BEER

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We counted at least 30 people walking in the roads here without masks in one morning my friend.
No social distancing and it seems that they just don't care.
I think that we are in big trouble here.

Sad also to hear about you guys and please, please take care!

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A few days ago I wondered why some people still are wearing masks when they walk on the streets.
I think we are safe - we avoid crowds of people and keep distance fro others.

You should take more care, because 500 new infections each day are way more than we had on our worst days.
We thought it was over, but it has just begun.

Cheers and !BEER

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A bit of trouble here today, as just had a call from the boss of one of the child NPO's that we support.
The children that they look after all have cerebral palsy and one of the caregivers has gone for Covid testing.
The home is in lockdown and the caregivers stay in the home with the kids, but the one that's gone for testing is one of the external ones and we don't know if she visited the home during the lockdown period.

South Africa has now jumped from 16th position to 10th on the global country infection scale.
Not good news as here we are in the eye of a natural storm that rages through the province. Wet and very cold!
Let us hope and pray that she tests negative, else everyone in that home might be in trouble.

But life goes on my friend!

Cheers and glad that you guys are taking care!

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I hope she's negative, because the home would be in quarantine and all would be tested. This takes quite a while.
Here we had to shut down a few police stations for such a reason.

Cold weather helps the virus they say, so take care my friend.

Cheers and !BEER

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The home is already in quarantine Sir Johann, since the lockdown started about 112 days ago.
Same as you guys, many essential services places here are shut down because some of the staff tested positive.
Some school teachers have also tested positive, so you can imagine in what a state we are here.
Never before in our country's history has something like this hapenned!

Thank you for confirming our thoughts that the virus love the cold.
We are taking as much care as we can my friend, but there are many risks lying in wait.
Every time that a person goes to a shop is a danger.
Thank you for the care!

Cheers and thanks!

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They also said that the virus would die when it gets warmer. This might have been a reason to end most of the measures, but now the numbers increase... I thought I would never have to use the phrase "take care and stay healthy" again. Seems I was wrong 🙃

Cheers and !BEER

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The thing is that the virus is mutating and it continues to surprise everyone.
We can only hope and pray that a cure will soon become avilable.
In the meantime it wreaks havoc across the world.

Seems that we will have to continue to warn others to take care for a long time more my friend.

Cheers and thank you!

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We will have to live with it and get used of measures and social distancing.

I wouldn't mind working from home each second week though, like we did during the lockdown 😉

Cheers and !BEER

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Yes, many new things also taking place here Sir Johann, and people are saying that the traffic is a pleasure as there are not so many cars on the road.
This virus could be the answer to many problems, as sometimes people can sit in their cars for an hour in a traffic jam.

Maybe your second week working at home could be considered if you applied for it?

Cheers and thanks!

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I can tell you that the traffic was great during lockdown, because there was almost none 😆
In the evenings you could hardly see or hear any cars.

That's no option at the moment, because "all or none" and the order is "none". Half of us were at home and half in the office, just in case one gets ill, because then still half of the staff can work in the office 😉

Cheers and !BEER

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Same here with the traffic, but once they started relaxing the rules, the same old system started to gradually build up. Now they have returned to the covid rule of no cars after 9pm. Ghost town stuff that we love!

Well let's hope that they will offer it in the future, as one never knows my friend.

Cheers and thanks!

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I think it is or was the same everywhere. People forget so fast.

Would be cool, but that would mean the crisis is worse than before.

Cheers and !BEER

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What the talk is about over here, is that many companies and people are going to continue to work from home after the crisis is gone.
Several reasons are offered for the decision, such as cost savings and more quality time with their families, while their work output delivery has also increased.

So I think we are going to see many changes in the future.

Cheers and thanks!

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Yes, work from home has increased here too, but I could do just sometimes and not all the time. There are security reasons and I need to actually be there most of the time. Maybe if I didn't have the job I have, it would be easier.

Cheers and !BEER

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It sounds like you will just have to persevere until retirement Sir Johann.
Another 10 years?

Good that you can at least sometimes work from home!

Cheers and thanks!

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I cannot moan about my working times, it's just sometimes a lot of work like at the moment.
And yes, I have to survive until retirement, but only 7 years 😉

Cheers and !BEER

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Shame man, I commiserate with your workload, but of course you are used to the flow of life.
Some days we sit and twiddle our thumbs with very little to do and at other days we have what I call "swim or sink" days.

Only 7 years? Surely you will not be 65 so soon?
Our official retirement age here is 65 years.

Cheers and thanks!

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That's true, there are also days when I search for work, or better said when I have enough time for the Hive 😂

65 is also our official retirement age, but I can go with 62 if they don't change the law. Of course, I will get a little less money until I'm 65, but we will have enough I think, and with the Hive at a high price, who needs real money then? 😉

Cheers and !BEER

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Hahaha, on my free time I run around with my camera my friend.

If you can save up the equivalent of 6 years of salary (to cover for increases?, then you will be in a good position in 7 years time, as your saving paid for the extra 3 years.
Just hope that they don't change the retirement law, as here they want to make the official retirement at the age of 70.

But like you say, if Hive moons then you can retire even sooner hahaha.

Cheers and thanks!

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Yes of course, in my free time photographing comes even before hiving, but I meant the work free time during work 🤣

It's only a little less money which I'll get during these three years and if everything goes right then my kids will not need my financial help anymore by then. Well, maybe if my daughter studies, she will, but we'll see then.
Maybe I'll even like to work longer when I could go 😉

Let's hope the Hive rises to the moon and gives us financial freedom 😁

Cheers and !BEER
!invest_vote

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Ah! During work time, I will say no more on this subject lol.

Maybe you can take out a study policy for your daughter?
I wish I did, as it costs a lot at the universities.
Or she can even apply for a bursary in certain fields of study, which normally leads to secure employment once the studies are completed?

Some guys here sign contracts with their companies after they retire. It is yearly contracts renewable every year and they earn more than they earned on a salary,
The companies are reluctant to let experienced guys leave, as it costs a lot to train up a new person.

My father in law, a qualified Geologist, refused a contract when he retired, but many of his colleagues accepted contracts.

You better hope that Hive doesn't rise, else you will see me there in Austria hahaha.
Oh, and you will not allowed entry in South Africa to escape hahaha.
Maybe they will allow you into the Sahara desert hahaha.

Cheers and thanks!

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I'm most productive in the early morning, but unfortunately I'm at work at 6am. So I have to Hive at work 😉

The universities are not that expensive here, but I haven't had a closer look yet. But there are also other costs if she needs an apartment and she has to travel to the uni. At first she has to finish her school and then decide where and what she wants to study. Then we see how we will manage the costs.

There are no such contracts here, and especially not when you work for the government, but from the moment on when I can go I can go at any time until I have to go with 65.

So you think I'll stay in Austria when the Hive rises high enough? There are so many places I want to visit and I don't think I'd be longer at home than for short visits 😉 And believe me or not, if I can't go to South Africa, the Sahara would be a dream to visit and photograph 😁

Cheers and !BEER

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Yeah 6 am is very early to leave and I remember the years that I had to work shifts.
But then again, after a while a person gets used to it.
All of us do other things at work my friend.

Yes, you still have a lot of time with your daughter for her to decide which way to go and I know that you guys will stand with her all of the way.

Amazingly it is our government that is issuing out the contracts.
Doesn't make sense, as the longer an old person stays, the longer a young guy sits without a job.
Our unemployment rate is one of the highest in the world and no jobs are created. Really worrying.
What's the use of earning a university degree and then sitting at home without a job?

Okay, okay, in that case we will look forward to your visit here hahaha.

Cheers and thanks!

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At 6am I am already in the office and it's the best time of the day 😊

That's not correct of your government - the older ones should make place for the young. If someone asked me today if i'd retire that a younger can have my job I would go at once ;) lol

Well, let's hope the Hive rises and I can climb the Table Mountain to have a look down on you 😉

Cheers and !BEER
!invest_vote

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Another problem that we face is that if the people have to sit at home for a year or two, lethargy sets in.
Eventually for self preservation they find other things to do and it is difficult for them to survive, and we have millions of them.
What we are praying for is that the old manufacturing factories will be revived, or started anew so that jobs can be created. At the moment we import most of the clothing and shoes from China. We used to make all of these things ourselves.

Then we also export raw materials from the mines instead of refining them here and we have to buy the refined materials back. Records are being set of the tonnages that are exported and one ton can provide refinery work for many people over here.
So, we provide work for people in other countries instead of our own.
Doesn't make sense does it?

Ah, I see that you know of Table Mounted.
One of my older posts have a video of our trip up and down in one of the cable cars.
A lovely view from up there and the mountain is about 45 kilometers away from us here!

Cheers and thank you!

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That's true and that's why they should prefer to let people retire and hire the young ones.

I have no idea, but there must have been reasons why they shut down the factories. China produces cheap and that way they make more money. It must be the same with your raw materials it's cheaper to export. But you can tell that I don't know anything about your economy.

The Table Mountain is an impressive mountain and I can imagine the view up there. I think I'd hike up and use the cable car back down 😉

Cheers and !BEER
!invest_vote

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The idea was to take on young replacements for a year or two before a person retires, the have the retiree mentor the new replacement and my father in law had one for a couple of months, but then it stopped.
I think that there were not enough funds to see it through.

Yeah, China's stuff is much cheaper than what we can manufacture here, but it won't keep our people employed. One has to make wise choices here and for instance find ways to match China's prices.
Our economy is in dire straits my friend.

There are a lot of hikers on Table Mountain, but I don,t think one can hikec all the way up, unless you know about absailing, as the top parts have huge and sheer cliff faces. I stood right on the edge of one and the drop is very far down.

Cheers and thank you!

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Yes, this idea is good. My brother in law had quite some months time to teach his successor before he retired.

That's the thing, to produce much better or cheaper than China and/or don't mind getting less profit.

Here we have steel ropes on such steep paths or rock faces. The hiking path changes to a via ferrata and I like such 😉 but every mountain is different.

Cheers and !BEER
!invest_vote

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Sad that they didn't continue the mentorship over here my friend.

Profit will always be the issue and if one can buy a shirt for $1, why spend $10 for one locally manufactured?

I saw some guys with very long ropes absailing there on the mountain at dizzying heights. They have walking and climbing trails, but not to the very top as it is too steep.

Cheers and thanks!

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It's the same here, most of the local goods are too expensive, but especially this crisis made the people to buy more local to help the economy and the workers.

OK, I climb up anywhere, as long as I don't need my own rope. So, I think I'll take the cable car 😉

Cheers and !BEER

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Our problem is that we have very little local goods Hannes.

Sorry for the long reply, but have a coffee on me as you read this.

Most of the clothing factories were shut down.

I remember that in about 2004, Papillon started a sewing skills training project and I needed sewing machines.
A friend introduced me to a guy that owned a huge clothing manufaturing business that was shut down and the guy invited me to come and have a look at his machines in a big building at an industrial area.

As we walked into the factory I got a very strange feeling that someone was watching us. Not cameras, or ghosts, but rather a cloud of factory workers.
There were rows and lines of sewing machines stretching from the one side of the building to the far side.
All of the machines were set up in production lines. He explained the lines to me. One line was the pattern cutting line for the shirts, the next line was the pattern assembly sewing line, the the third line was the shirt collar sewing line, then the next was the sleeve cuffs sewing line, from there it went to the button hole sewing line and lastly to the button sewing line.
They could make 1 shirt in minutes.

But here's the catch, on the last day the staff left everyithing as it was. under the dust you could see magazines, paper cups, hair clips, gloves and other signs of a human prescence. It was just like everyone went out to lunch and that they would be back. All of the machines were even threaded with cotton that dangled down from large overhead cotton rolls. Left as is and everyone just walked out!

But the factory was already closed for 3 years.
The second and third floors of the building look exactly the same and it was a massive operation.

Now what do you think happenned to all of the people that worked there?
Lifelong sewers and machinists. Un-employed.

Are we in trouble? Yes indeed as this country has a massive un-em-ployment problem
It is not irreversable, but cut the imports and put the people at work.

Easy? No! For several reasons that I will not go into here, as now my typing finger is tired hahaha.

Greetings, salutations and thanks!

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Long story, sad story, but who could bring back the old times and let the machines run again? I wonder why your government doesn't start thinking the less people work the less money they get?

Cheers and !BEER

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All was lost at that place my friend and in the meantime the man that owned it also died. I think maybe all of those machines were either exported or I hope placed elsewhere in our country.
The goverment is trying to keep everyone alive by supplying them with a grant, but the grant is too small.One can understand their dilemma, as every child also receive a grant and the pensioners receive a small grant.
So it is grant, grant, grant, but no work, work, work!

Cheers and thanks!

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With "grant" you mean money?

Well, here we also get money for each child until it's 18, and the pensioners get money too, but all in all it's our own money, because we pay a lot of tax for the money we earn by working.

When so many people have no work but the government pays them I can completely understand that they have a problem.

Cheers and !BEER
!invest_vote

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Yeah, I think and hope that every coubtry have a welfare system.

The problem here is that the taxpayer base is small and rapidly shrinking.
So, the money dwindles and there is not enough to help all of the unemployed millions.

As we work together to build Hive, just so should all in this country work together to create employment.
But that will not happen as long as the divisions here continue.
So the problems will continue to grow.

Cheers and thank you!

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That's what I meant, how can a state afford welfare when it has less and less income?

Cheers and !BEER

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Well, if the top are kept in luxury, all should be well isn't it?
Until thec expensive rugs all pulled out from under them by the creditors, then only will we see some action.
Maybe too late methinks lol.

Cheers and thanks!

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Yes, that's it, there's so much luxury right beside the poorness in these countries.
You see them in their big cars and villas with pool and think everything is good.

Cheers and !BEER

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And they plow recklessly in their convoys through the poor areas my friend. Hurrying from one place to another.
This morning 2 teenagers were killed by a convoy traveling at speed.
You are right, as money is never a problem for them whilst thousands of little children go to bed hungry!
A sad, sad, world for so many!

Cheers and thanks!

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I can't understand that such things actually happen. These are scenes from bad movies - really sad indeed ☹️

Cheers and !BEER

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Many bad movies occur here, but also many good movies my friend.
As in life the good and the bad walks hand in hand and it is our choice who we follow.
I can tell you some in government do good work for the poor, but then there are those that walk on the bad side and of course businesses are not excluded.

For instance there are those that see this coved virus as a money making opprtunity and they double the prices on essential goods such as face masks and santisers.
Smoking is banned and thousands stand to lose their jobs at the legal cigarette companies, but illegal cigarettes have flooded the country making billions for the smugglers!
Does that make sense?

Cheers and thanks!

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Of course, we have been talking about that before, the good things and the bad belong together. Bad politicians, good politicians - many have a private business too and whatever decision they make, they will try to help their business, and the good ones who really care are too less.

Yes, it's the same here, we have bought the cheapest masks for extreme prices and to get sanitisers was not easy. So many want to make money from this crisis, the legal as well as the illegal businesses.

Cheers and !BEER
!invest_vote

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Oh yeah, you are right here.

We have a commission here that can receive public complaints.
So members of the publice have listed complaints about the mask and sanitiser prices.
The commission investigated the complaints and fined the company's millions.
Can you believe that one of the guilty price escalators is a big Pharmaceutical company?
They are supposed to care for sick people.

Cheers and thanks!

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They all need to make money for their investors. That's no excuse and they do care for the people, but they want to get paid for it and they try to make as much money as possible.
As long as the stupid people are scared enough they will pay almost any amount. Well in that case they wanted too much, but I believe they made a good profit anyway, although they got fined.

Cheers and !BEER
!invest_vote

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I for one do not believe that it is ethical to make huge profits from peoples illnesses my friend.
Yes, we need doctors and specialists, but when one stops at his practice in a brand new Porche that costs millions, then you know that there's something wrong.

Fear is a natural response when anyone's health is threatened and this is what is bargained upon when they set the prices for treatments.
I read somewhere that the cost to manufacture one pill is 7 cents. They sell that same pill for more than 400% of its value. So now think of the value it they make 1 million pills?
The manufacturer has to make a profit, the advertisers have to make a profit, the middlemen have to make a profit, the chemist has to make a profit, the doctor has to make a profit, the shareholders have to make a profit.

So, it is to their benefit when people gets sick and in their interest to keep the people sick.
There is a saying; A good doctor does not give you a pill.
I haven't found one yet lol.

Cheers and thanks.

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Even the vets drive Porsche here, at least most do 😉

Yes, I have heard of the prices that pills cost to make, and I have seen even higher percentages.

Yes, doctors who don't sell you pills are seldom, but the one my wife was consulting was one who didn't like to give pills. Unfortuatelly, she has retired some months ago and now my wife searches for a trustworthy new doctor.

Cheers and !BEER

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I can understand this as you are purported to live in a developed country.
What we call the icing on the cake county. but we we live in a dry bread slices country, where it is vulgar to flout riches in front of so many that have nothing.

Your wife was so lucky to find that doctor Hannes.
We hope that she can find a good new one, but they are scarce. Here you go and see a doctor, you pay for the appointment, he discusses your issue with you and may take your blood pressure and then you leave with a script for pills. We call it a sausage machine because the line of patients are fed in and popped out like a machine hahaha.

But in saying this, medicines have improved drastically in the new century and some pills can certainly relieve the issues, but it cannot cure it. Then again, many pills have side effects and I am very susceptible to side effects.
I remember once taking a pill that zonked me out for two days hahaha.

Cheers and thanks!

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What's the name of this pill and where can I get it?😆 lol

That's right, it's very different here and to see a Porsche is nothing special.

Here you usually have a doctor whom you trust and to whom you always go. He knows you and takes his time to help you or sends you to another doctor who can help you better. Of course not all are the same and some might also be such sausage machines, but these would see me only once.

Cheers and !BEER

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We, you and I are both not pill people Hannes.
Can you believe that I have hated pills for most of my life?

Don't get me wrong, we see many Porsces, Lamborginins, Aston Martins, enen the odd Rolls Royces and Daimlers here, but they belong to the elite. There are many millionaires here.

We have one like that, but the pain comes when he sends me to one or another specialist.
We are not the richest of people and to see those guys costs a fortune.
In fact I have an outstanding operation on my back that I keep putting off and I don't know for how much longer.
We experienced a miracle, as the specialist for my back refused to charge us consultation fees beacause of the charity work that we do. Now that's what I call a "Mensch" (hope that I spelt this correctly) lol.

But you are right of course, if you find a good doctor that understands you it makes things so much easier.

Cheers and thanks!

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Yes, I can believe that you have hated pills for most of your life, because I do too. Once I had terrible toothache and I took a pill my wife gave me. It nearly knocked me out and I felt like being on drugs, although I don't know how that feels 😉

"Mensch" is completely correct and doctors who know that they are a "Mensch" are good doctors, but many think they are gods 😉

Cheers and !BEER

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You know what? I think that I have a sudden toothache lol.
Please ask your wife to send me a packet of those pills hahaha.

"Davids" and true "Mensch's" are very scarce my friend, but you and I know that they do exist.
To find them though is a story of a different color.

Cheers and thanks!

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They are only simple painkillers which you can get at the pharmacy, but when you don't take any for years they are more effective I think 🤣

I prefer to search for letters, because even the X-words will be easier to find I believe 😉

Cheers and !BEER

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Hahaha, just shows how rarely you take a pill my friend.
When I started drinking as a youngster, the guys used to say that if I walk over the label of a beer bottle I would get drunk lol.

Now, now, x words are out of bounds Hannes.
Better that you like to search for words hahaha.

Cheers and thanks!

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Your comparison is good, because when I began drinking it was the same for me, but that changed quickly and I became a Pro 🤣🍺

I think I'll make a photo of one X and one of two X ... one of six X 😉

Cheers and !BEER

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I stopped drinking a long time ago Hannes, as you can believe that I also progressed to the Pro stage.
In fact I started drinking too much, almost every day and fortunately I decided that enough is enough.
Finito, no more lol.

Oh my goodness we will have to pray one prayer, two prayers...and six prayers hahaha.

Cheers and thanks!

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Well, so you, JJ and I have one more thing in common: we don't drink alcohol anymore 😁

But that's only virtual !BEER cheers 🍻

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Ah, so you too?
Great and now there are 3 of us.
Btw, Have you heard anything from JJ?
I only see his auto-votes still coming in every day, but the guy is as quiet as a mouse lol.

Cheers and thanks!

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Yes, a few years ago I said I have enough for a while and since then I'm dry. Maybe one day I'll drink a !BEER again, but I'm not sure, because I like it as it is 😉

But now I wish you a good night and a wonderful weekend 🌞

PS: I'm working tomorrow till Sunday morning 🙃

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Good afternoon Hannes.
Hope your Saturday is good my friend.

I also stopped about 20 years ago and decided to turn my life around. Started the charity, got a new wife and haven't looked back since.
When something starts to annoy one in life, you have also stepped away from it. Many can't do this and they become helpless in the grip of alcohol.

Hope that you had a good night to suit the strange hours that you work.

Cheers and thanks!

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Good evening Zac,

Haha, I only quit alcohol and later smoking too, but I kept my family and work 😉

Actually I didn't get much sleep, because our two little devils decided at 3am that they could play and fight on my bed on me. So I didn't get much sleep for a while and then they woke up at five again ;) lol

I hope you had a good day and that tomorrow will be a great Sunday too 😃

Cheers and !BEER
!invest_vote

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Hi Hannes,

Hahaha, you kept your family. a good one, but at least I still have my children lol.
Smoking I still struggle with, but maybe one day lol.

I don't know what it with us and pets. You have two little devils waking you up and we have one little dog that thinks he is the master of the house. At least your little ones don't bark in your ear hahaha.

So, as I understand it, you are at work and will be tomorrow too?
If so, not much of a weekend that you are having my friend.

Oh, I just read a post that Detlev is organizing a Hive meetup in Aachen, are you going as it should be not too far from you?

Cheers and thanks!

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Quitting to smoke was a lot easier than alcohol, because I was used of my !BEER in the afternoon 😉
But the morning cigarette hasn't been easy to forget though.

My little devils bite in the toes if they see one - maybe I'd prefer barking ;) lol

I'll go home tomorrow morning, take a shower, have breakfast and if the weather is nice I'll go for a ride until my family wakes up ... or I go to bed, depends on the sleep I get here.

Aachen is 1,000 kilometers away, that's too far and such meetings are not my world. I prefer to make a nice trip on my bike next weekend in the weather is nice, but maybe I will watch the live stream if the weather is bad 🙂

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For some reason I started after I left school and just cannot get myself to dump the stuff.
Addiction to nicotene and the other stuff that they put in there is difficult to shake off.

Oh no, biting the toes I would never be able to endure. An earplug in my ear is better hahaha.

Sounds like a good plan. but I think that the going to bed part sounds so much better.

Agreed, that's way too far just for a meetup, but I saw that there isc also some other guy from Austria on Hive.
Maybe you guys can arrange a meetup in Austria if there are others?

Cheers and thanks!

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My whole family was smoking, parents and siblings, but I began to smoke when I was 29, because I had the stupid idea that I try it and then stop it whenever I want. I've been smoking for 8 years until my wife got pregnant. At this time we both quit for about 6 1/2 years and then we began again to smoke until I have quit one more time 2 years ago, but this time for good 🙂 My wife still smokes :(

I'll see in the morning whether I'm too tired or not, but I don't want to sleep on my only free day this week.

Oh, there are many Austrian Hive members and they have also meetups in Austria from time to time, but as said, such meetings are not my world, I prefer to stay behind the curtain in the dark ;)

!invest_vote
Cheers and !BEER and now I wish you a good night Zac 🙂

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Same here, my immediate family was smoking, but not my gran.
As far as the gransfathers are concerned, I don't think any of them smoked.
I have never stopped, but am thinking about it!
My wife doesn't smoke.

Well, only you can make the decision to rest or to ride. Luckily you are still young lol.

Strangely, I also don't think that I will attend one, as we are not party people.
Never have been and never will be.
I should have known that you are the same hahaha.

Good night my friend and thank you for all of the chats and the gifts.

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Smoking is a bad habbit and it stinks, doesn't your wife tell you that? Since I stopped I always say this to my wife, but she don't care 😉

Yes, I'll decide at home, but right now I feel like 100 years old 👴

Small parties with a few people I know are ok, but I hate such big official things where I don't know anybody personally.

Cheers and !BEER

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She compained at the beginning, but over the years she got used to it.
Now she even tells me which brand I must smoke as it smells better hahaha.

Hope that you were restored to your current age my friend lol.

I don't even like small parties hahaha. People are always comparing themselves to others and most times we make them feel guilty, as they are not doing what we do lol.

Cheers and thanks!

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She shouldn't have given up.
I think she tells you only which brand smells the least bad 😉

Yes, I am the old goat again, had a nice ride in the afternoon and now I'm longing for my bed 😴

People always compare themselves with others or what they have. That's one big problem I see every day.

Cheers and !BEER

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Well, I have brainwashed her to smell lavender instead of smoke hahaha.

Great that you had a good ride and don't again ignore the bed's call lol.

Yeah, consumerism ad fashion are eating people up these days. They will go out and continue to make loans so that they can match the high life of others. But then all of a sudden for some reason their income stops and they can't pay their debts, because they have no savings.
I have seen this so many times.

Cheers and thanks!

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Haha, very good idea, I just wonder what she smells when she smells real lavender 😉

A few months ago my son asked me if I can order new sunglasses for him. They were some old fashioned looking sunglasses which we had in the seventies I think. The problem was that the only shop where you can get these was in the United States and shipping plus taxes would have cost more than the sunglasses. So I told him that he should search for something else to look cool 😎 and he understood, I believe 😉

Yes, I have been on y nice ride and searched for a spot to watch the comet. Maybe I have found one, but I'm not sure and I hope the sky is clear tonight :)

Cheers and !BEER

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She stocks up on her lavender smells here in the garden hahaha

A good way to teach your son about additional hidden costs. So often the advertisers put the extra costs into the fine print when they boldy advertise a great new look. The sad thing is that so many fall for it.
In the 70s we saw this, so we would gather 10 guys to split the import costs and we would order 50.
Then we would take 10 for ourselves and sell the rest to cover the costs and to make a profit lol.

Clever to do the physical research and you are right, as let us hope that mother nature will play the game tonight!

Cheers and thanks!

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That would have been possible in the 70s I think, but nowadays when you order more things than a private person would usually need it would be considered as a business, what would make the whole thing only complicated. Our customs and ministry of finance are very strict.

In about 10 hours I know if I'm lucky or not ☄️

Cheers and !BEER

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Almost 10 hours as this reply is 9 hours old!

Oh, so the laws have changed. Over here they simply smuggle the containers in.

Cheers and thanks!

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It's hard to order something abroad and the smuggle it in - I'd need an accomplice in the states 😉

Cheers and !BEER

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Nah, better not chance it my friend.
Fortunately I know you as an honest man and I know that you won't.

Cheers and thanks!

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Oh, you don't know me well enough 😉 when I was much younger we smuggled cigarettes from Slovenia and leather jackets from Italy to Austria 😁

Cheers and !BEER

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Hahaha, I would call you a smuggler, but thankfully you got older and came to your senses.
I bet in those days you didn't even dream that you will one day do the work that you do today lol.
We all have skeletons in our cupboards my friend.

Cheers and thanks!

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Well, I was already working for my company (I joined with 20) and if they caught me it would have been embarrassing, but they never did 🤣

Cheers and !BEER

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Oh! You are so lucky Hannes.
Had they caught you then your career would have been over even before it started.
We did silly things when we were younger hahaha
But I think that we have learned many lessons from it lol.

Cheers and thanks!

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Yes, I have been very lucky when I was young, and just because we all have been so stupid when we were young, I can understand my son so well when he comes up with ideas which I could have had as well.

So I'm not angry nor do I argue with him, but I tell him similar things I have done and why it was wrong.
If it helps it's good, if not he will learn from his own mistakes.

I don't tell him everything I have done though 😉 lol

Cheers and !BEER
!bro

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I told you before that you are a good father and your son is lucky to have one like you. But yeah, even if we tell them many things, it is the listening that matters and often my one would just listen with half an ear!

So, if he came crying to me about a mishap, I would laugh at him and this made him so angry that he never repeated the mistake hahaha.
You are correct, as they have to learn from their own mistakes.

I don't think any father would be a completely open book to his son 🤣

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Yeah, I know we have been talking about the same before and I still hope you're right 😁

But I have never tried laughing at my children when they made mistakes.

Maybe I should try that once too, but I feel always so sorry when I see them sad, so I don't think I could laugh 😉

Cheers and !BEER
!invest_vote
!ENGAGE 30

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And again 😆
No, I haven't heard anything from JJ. He seems to be busy and enjoys his new home 😉

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Okay again hahaha

Well as long as he is happy, who are we to comlain my friend.
I just miss the old bugger hahaha

Cheers and thanks!

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Excellent photos! Even in winter you have so many beautiful birds nearby. You are right, that fluffed up egret is not so elegant, but it made me laugh!
Thanks for posting to the #featheredfriends Community
!tip

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The birds on the second photo are called Sea Crows around here. But they seem to be a more seasonal species. I love them. I always look forward to getting a glimpse of them.

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Amazing news. So you guys call Cormorants, Sea Crows?
We have them all year round in South Africa.
Whereabouts do you live?

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Portugal

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We actually have like two subspecies of sea crow that I know of. One can be found year round, and another during a couple of months. Phalacrocorax carbo and Phalacrocorax aristotelis

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Ah! Potugal, one of my good friends here family live in Portugal, butv deon't ask me where.
We have 5 species of Cormorants (Sea Crows) in South Africa.
Phalacrocorax africanus, Phalacrocorax coronatus, Phalacrocorax lucidus, Phalacrocorax neglectus and Phalacrocorax capensis.

They are all in South Africa all year round!

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