Absolutely Anything Else

klsallee wrote:

fluffy2560 wrote:

Aarrghhh...more on the Telekom saga...

I suspect you will never consistently get the same answer.

At least they know where the street is now.   They've got that right now. 

I suspect the only one who really knows what it's like is the actual install guy as he'll know where the cables go.

fluffy2560 wrote:

At least they know where the street is now.

The week isn't over yet. They may still loose it again by Friday. 

HARP!
No Hungary has always had this sort of odd weather , I love it.
Gets boring having the perfect 76F with trade winds....
Well , maybe it doesn't really get that boring, miss my Hawaii!

Could be due to Harp!
No, Hungary has always had this sort of odd weather , I love it.
Gets boring having the perfect 76F  - 80F with trade winds....
Well , maybe it doesn't really get that boring, miss my Hawaii!
We also put on our warm weather tires, all good, this too shall pass.
Was hoping for a real snow fall so we could use our sled...

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

No Hungary has always had this sort of odd weather , I love it.

No joy in Mudville here. Had to pull inside all my tomato starter plants last night. 

Everything else is already in the ground and will have to just tough it out tonight and tomorrow.

Guess city life has it's perks, no worry about a garden , sadly.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

Guess city life has it's perks

Of course.

Every place has its perks and annoyances.

In a city, noisy upstairs neighbors with big feet.

In the countryside, barking dogs as you walk by every house (with Doppler effect):

bark-bark-bark barK-BARK-BARK BARK-BARK-BARK BARK-BARK-Bark bark-bark-bark.

The scary thing about country dogs is that many are allowed to roam freely in packs at night.
Many of them have no visible ID on them so if they happen to bite you can't prove where they belong and if they had their shots or not.
Barking for no reason just shows how bored the poor dog is.
A good guard dog knows the difference between a real threat and a friendly , harmless human just passing by.
Problem is most pet owners/parents whatever one chooses to call themselves,don't take the extra time to teach the dog what the difference is.
My Doberman was our absolute "child" just under the status of our human boy.
I usually hate to follow through with difficult challenges unless they interest me allot.
Training our dog was a high priority to me. I had allot of free time and energy and spent months of training with him.
6 days per week, once a week in a formal training class and homework the other days of the week.
Went to novice and grand novice levels.
My cousin has two champion dogs that compete in training in the AKC Purina Dog obedience  trials. They are often on animal planet doing their thing.Going over obstacles,running into a pool of water to catch a object. Really rather exciting to watch a well trained dog doing something to see. All dogs love to learn and not just lay about all day long by themselves.
Must be a family thing, we loved a well trained pet that can be a real part of our lives, not just some poor creature reduced to begging for attention.
She spends every weekend traveling the country with her dogs, she and her husband have no human kids so they have the time and money for this expensive hobby.  Not for everyone but a bit of training should be part of being allowed to own a pet in my opinion.
Not everyone has 2 extra rooms in the home dedicated to ribbons and medals for their pets, she may of gone overboard with it but still it is amazing what they can do.
She has a entire AKC run build in her back yard for home practice.
If a pet gets enough attention they have no need to bark at random strangers out of boredom. They know who and what is a real threat.Of course everyday dogs don't need a practice run in their yard but they do need something to do with themselves.
I saw my Dobbie in action when there was a crazy man running loose in our neighborhood at midnight in his underwear, climbing trees and breaking into living rooms and fist fighting with a neighbor.
Actually when really under threat a good trained dog will not even bark or give away his location.
Our Max was quiet .crouched with his hackles up and his teeth bared, just waiting for the change to tear into that man if he happened to cross over our fence. Our Max didn't even bark at all until after the fact when the police already had the man in cuffs,he just wanted to let his buddies in the hood know it was all clear.
They just need more love and time just about any dog can be a good dog, issues is bad owners.
If the dog barks at strangers one should go out and see what they are barking at, give them some praise and make them stop barking with a verbal word. Really only a bored dog barks it's head off for no reason.
Sorry for the rant, very passionate subject, one reason I have not adopted another dog is that I no longer have it in me to work that hard at making a great pet.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

Many of them have no visible ID on them so if they happen to bite you can't prove where they belong and if they had their shots or not.

It is my understanding that the law in Hungary for a few years now is that all dogs are suppose to have chip implants to identify them and their owners.

But I suspect compliance with this law is spotty at best.

Heard about the chip thing as well. Problem is if they bite and run how can you prove that was the culprit.
I saw my friend get torn apart by a pit bull when I was 7 years old.
It was a neighbors dog who got out from the back yard. He had all his shots thankfully but still, over 100 stitches in my 6 year old friends hip and upper thigh.
No time I think to take a cell hone photo of the dog that bite you no time hardly to even defend yourself, they move fast and bite hard.
My sister was bitten while riding her bicycle as a child, he got away but thankfully it was a minor snip and no blood was drawn.She also got bit on the hand in France in the countryside when she was a tourist there in the late 60's, again, no blood but it was scary, the darn thing bit and ran.
I trained our dog to walk off lead but never, ever did it outside of our home. Cal. and most states to my knowledge have leash laws.
I never wanted any reason at all for my dog to be accused of any crimes. He only got to run free in Hawaii on the 40 acres we leased out, once or twice in Malibu on the beach and once in Diamond head beach park in Oahu, he had just done  4 months lock up in the state institution  called quarantine.  He used to love walking himself , he had his lead on but he carried it in his mouth, he was on lead but no one was leading him around. Such a good dog, miss him still.
I also had him docked and cropped, something you do not see here much in Europe. It is/was pretty much standard to do with Doberman's when I had him under my care.
I trained him, clipped him and did everything possible to make him a very desirable pet in case there ever came a time I had to give him away for whatever reasons.
Never could stand the thought of him being put down because many people do not understand large breed dogs, they are overflowing in animal shelters with Dobies, Shepard mixes, Rotties and Pit bulls. People are afraid of these breeds unless they are well trained and in perfect condition. My way of protecting him was by actually hurting him with  docking &cropping... sad that it came to that.
Don't think I would do that again to a pet but it did look beautiful when done, he got a long show cut on his ears.
It is a serious operation and very painful for these pets, silly me, thankfully I never had to give him up but I had him covered in any event.
I was pressured by many people and the vet to do his ears. Everyone said no one would ever want a Doberman with uncliped ears.
I actually never wanted to get a Doberman, my sister found him for me and my husband wanted a "real guard dog" for our family pet. When my sis and I found him we had looked everywhere in shelters. So heartbreaking to go into those places, I was crying so hard the workers thought I had lost my dog and couldn't find him. Not the case, I just felt terrible that none of these dogs were what my family wanted. Too old, too wild just not the fresh puppy we had in mind. I wanted to train my own pet not fix another person's mistake.Made me feel horrible though, guilt at not taking them all home with us. Was sent to a home where they had sent a 5 month old Doberman for special care. He was a beauty but so ill that one worker had taken him home to care for him. Mange and kennel cough almost killed him. I paid to adopt him and set off to the vets to fix him up with the best care possible for all his conditions. He turned out to be a very nice dog in the end.
Most people wouldn't of bothered back then, I paid allot for a sick dog that might not of lived long, took a gamble and won.He was "flawed" by AKC standards was his only crime, must of been the runt of the litter, his eyes were not the dark shade of brown a bit too light , tiny specs of gold in his eyes, flawed and rejected. Just crazy.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

Heard about the chip thing as well. Problem is if they bite and run how can you prove that was the culprit.

True.

But also true of the older collar and tags method.

Of course, If the dog is not a stray, most people around know who owns what dogs so post tracking can be done. Of course getting those in the know to talk is another issue.

Strangely there are no barking dogs near me in the countryside probably because I have quite distant neighbours. But on my walk up from the station through the village there are a number of snappy creatures. I'm always glad to be on the other side of the fence.
In budapest I love to see all the little handbag sized dogs. Unfortunately I will not be settle anywhere full time for a few years but  would love to have some. Or even one.

I know the frustration of wanting to keep animals but not being able to be always there to look after them. I do have the dog but he can go with me in the car. I had to take him to Scotland last time I was there fixing up my cottage between tenants. I had tried to get a house-sitter for him but the prospective volunteers fell by the wayside  when they realised how isolated they would be language-wise.

For many years I have wanted to keep a few goats and my place in Croatia would be ideal but I'm not always in Croatia......

Using a kennel can add up in costs.
We had no choice but to board our beloved Doberman in 1986 for 6 weeks time. I used the kennel that my trainer used and recommended . They actually did take them out and walk the dogs daily and had play times etc.
It cost a small fortune in 1986 for those 6 weeks. Over $500. which was real money back then.
He still acted out when we picked him up. He was overjoyed to see us for about 15 mins then he gave s the cold shoulder for a few days time. Poor baby... He still looked as if he lost weight and was hyper when he saw us. He actually looked really fit, no snacks before bedtime and all.
My mother said to us, why not just get rid of hm and buy another dog when you get home? Mommy, she never understood.
My friend in N. Cal. has a family farm which started out as a hobby but now they can not go anywhere, they have too many cows, goats and chickens.

klsallee wrote:

fluffy2560 wrote:

At least they know where the street is now.

The week isn't over yet. They may still loose it again by Friday. 

As an interim measure I used a Vodafone SIM for Internet today.   Our house is only 400m away from our apartment.  In the apartment there's a nice fat signal - Vodafone says "Excellent" as to quality.  In the house, it's described (by Vodafone) as only "Workable".  I can see the radio tower from both locations and it's about equidistant.     

It's Hungary obviously bending the rules of the universe again. I therefore cite two examples of HU witchcraft:

1) Radio waves don't penetrate quite so far into our street.  That's vaguely spooky and it's not even Halloween.   

2) HU weather - we just had Easter and now it's Christmas again (snowing).  (Mrs Fluffy reported that comment to me this morning).

QED

fluffy2560 wrote:

2) HU weather - we just had Easter and now it's Christmas again (snowing)

There is a German saying: April does what it wants.

It is suppose to warm up next week quite a bit. Contrast that to the last week of April in 2016, which brought two killing frosts. Had a lot of damage to fruit trees, flowers, vines, etc.

klsallee wrote:

It is suppose to warm up next week quite a bit. Contrast that to the last week of April in 2016, which brought two killing frosts.

We ended up having a repeat of last year last night. Which is why snowing is better than nights without snow (actually is warmer with a cloud cover).

Predicted temps were "only" suppose to go down to 0°C, but this morning it was actually -3°C. Most plants here can survive a few hours at night at 0°C without issues, but -3°C is a damaging temperature. And a quick walk through the vineyard already showed frost damage on some of our warmer climate varietals.

C'est la vie.

klsallee wrote:

klsallee wrote:

It is suppose to warm up next week quite a bit. Contrast that to the last week of April in 2016, which brought two killing frosts.

We ended up having a repeat of last year last night. Which is why snowing is better than nights without snow (actually is warmer with a cloud cover).

Predicted temps were "only" suppose to go down to 0°C, but this morning it was actually -3°C. Most plants here can survive a few hours at night at 0°C without issues, but -3°C is a damaging temperature. And a quick walk through the vineyard already showed frost damage on some of our warmer climate varietals.

C'est la vie.

Must be the last dregs of winter because I woke up to brilliant sunshine and now I'm walking about and working in a T-shirt and it's a reasonable 9 C here in the burbs of Budapest.   We're keeping the chicks (yes, chicks) inside for the moment.

klsallee wrote:

fluffy2560 wrote:

At least they know where the street is now.

The week isn't over yet. They may still loose it again by Friday. 

The Telekom saga continues.

You were right. But they were slower.  They lost the street again today. 

A Dear Mrs Fluffy letter arrived - sorry but there's no services in your street. 

Despite this Mrs Fluffy has not given up.

fluffy2560 wrote:

You were right.

Only because my comment was born painfully from experience. I have been there, had it done to me. 

klsallee wrote:

fluffy2560 wrote:

You were right.

Only because my comment was born painfully from experience. I have been there, had it done to me. 

Mrs Fluffy got a reason out of them - "there's no capacity for YOU" in the street.

Someone has to have their phone disconnected so we can have their slot. We don't even want their phone service.  We only want the Internet.

So much for Magyar Telekom's, technological capability,  customer service and responsiveness.

In town our Upc connection wire dangles outside the building. Good thing I noticed because when the Upc guy came to connect me he said he couldn't. I pointed out the dangling wires and stood over him till he finished the job. I find that company employees too readily give up on completing any work should there be anything slightly unusual.

Oh I've given up on ever getting the  Internet out in the countryside. I have limited service via my Upc mobile phone contract... Limited ha ha

Mrs Fluffy is taking it personally and is gearing up for a fight. 

I might ask my neighbours if we can piggy back on their connection.

We're talking 50m to the end of the street.

This reminds me of when we moved to a rural location in Warwickshire in 1967. It was a row of houses on a country lane which is now near M6 Corley services (as a kid I watched them building the motorway). There were not enough phone lines for every house so we were on a party line with the house next door. We could only make or receive calls when the people next door were not using their phone.

fidobsa wrote:

This reminds me of when we moved to a rural location in Warwickshire in 1967. It was a row of houses on a country lane which is now near M6 Corley services (as a kid I watched them building the motorway). There were not enough phone lines for every house so we were on a party line with the house next door. We could only make or receive calls when the people next door were not using their phone.

We had one of those as well if I remember correctly.  We could listen in if we wanted but those were the days of being polite about such things.  I would say, those were the days as though there was some nostalgia to it but to be honest, it was totally crap.  The only good thing was the groovy and fab music.

We had a party line growing up in the 60's in Cal. Our town was still rural and isolated.
One women loved to gossip every single day all day long on the phone. My mom often had to break in and ask her to get off so other people could make important calls like to the doctors or just be able to receive a call.
Can you imagine a party-line these days when everyone is addicted to talking on the phone? The thought of it is enough to make one scream.
Just a side note, I am taking a bit of a break from here for now. Going in for some surgery in Budapest on my shoulder and will be a one armed bandit for a bit.
Take care everyone, talk to you soon...

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

....
Just a side note, I am taking a bit of a break from here for now. Going in for some surgery in Budapest on my shoulder and will be a one armed bandit for a bit.
Take care everyone, talk to you soon...

Good luck with the operation Marilyn.

fluffy2560 wrote:

Mrs Fluffy is taking it personally and is gearing up for a fight. 

I might ask my neighbours if we can piggy back on their connection.

We're talking 50m to the end of the street.

Continuing the frontal assault, while finding a way around/over/under the wall.

Good plan. 

Thanks, hopefully it will be a non event and work out well.
After a bit of a 2 month long run around with one trip to a private doctor and 4 trips to the NH clinic, I have finally been heard and seen by a very good surgeon who specialty is orthopedics.
Took some time since we don't exactly understand the HU medical system fully.
Have national health but with the doctor shortages and no one really opening up about how long the wait times were I was getting a bit paranoid that my issue was not important.
I was wrong, my doctor also speaks PERFECT English, he must of worked in the west before. I know many of the very best doctors from Hungary are now working in the UK,  my second cousin and her HU husband are both doctors who have been working in the UK for over 24 years, both are from Hungary.

klsallee wrote:

fluffy2560 wrote:

Mrs Fluffy is taking it personally and is gearing up for a fight. 

I might ask my neighbours if we can piggy back on their connection.

We're talking 50m to the end of the street.

Continuing the frontal assault, while finding a way around/over/under the wall.

Good plan. 

We always have a Plan B.

And sometimes (preferably) we have a Plan C, D and E as well.

Plan B looks more promising. I inspected the cabling in the street hanging off the poles. There's a cable TV distribution point there and I can see quite a few unused connections.  Could be hopeful.

Latest news from my alert system:

Hungary: Opposition group reportedly calls for 1 May protest march in Budapest
   
       
1 May 17
On 1 May 2017 protesters affiliated with the Momentum Movement opposition group are reportedly planning a large protest march in central Budapest. The march, which is scheduled to occur from approximately 18:00 – 22:00 local time (09:00-13:00 GMT), will travel from Szabadsag Square to Hosok Square. Upward of 10,000 protesters are expected to participate in the protest against legislation on nongovernmental organizations. Individuals are advised to avoid the march route due to potential clashes between protesters and security forces.

I dislike huge crowds so thanks for the warning I was considering a gentle ramble around hosok square very soon but I think I will stay riverside now

anns wrote:

I dislike huge crowds so thanks for the warning I was considering a gentle ramble around hosok square very soon but I think I will stay riverside now

These protests are likely to continue for a long time.  OV has said he will comply with the EU requests/demands but what that means in reality is unknown. See here:  Hungary education law: Orban 'to meet EU demands'

Hungary: U.S. Embassy issues Security Message regarding planned demonstrations
   
       
    17 May 17
The U.S. Embassy in Budapest issued a Security Message advising individuals of demonstrations planned from 20 – 21 May 2017. Approximately 5,000 protesters are expected to attend the 20 May demonstration against a reconstruction project of the City Park in District 14. The demonstration is scheduled to begin at 13:30 local time (15:30 GMT). Officials expect 10,000 people to attend the 21 May demonstration against a bill proposed by the government to limit non-governmental organization (NGO) activities. The demonstration is expected to begin at 17:00 local time (19:00 GMT). The embassy advises individuals to avoid areas of demonstrations.

Hungary: Budapest: Avoid anti-government protest on 21 May to minimise localised travel delays

Location:     Budapest - Hungary;    

Category:     Protest   

Event Date:    21 May 2017   
   Last Updated: 18 May 2017 01:36 (GMT)
Members in the capital Budapest on 21 May should avoid a planned anti-government protest as a routine precaution and to minimise localised travel delays. Participants plan to gather at 17.00 (local time) at Muegyetem rakpart, before marching to the parliament building on Kossuth ter, where a demonstration will be held. The police estimate that around 10,000 people will participate in the protest, which is being held against the closure of the Central European University and a controversial bill for NGOs operating in the country.

fluffy2560 wrote:

Members in the capital Budapest on 21 May should avoid a planned anti-government protest

Hm. What is someone wants to join the protest? 

klsallee wrote:

fluffy2560 wrote:

Members in the capital Budapest on 21 May should avoid a planned anti-government protest

Hm. What is someone wants to join the protest? 

Apply to join the FIG PC Police (Fidesz Interest Group, Putin Cadre):

Another notice published today combining the two:
   

Hungary: U.S. Embassy in Budapest issues security message ahead of 20-21 May demonstrations
   
       
    18 May 17
The U.S. Embassy in the capital Budapest has issued a security message ahead of demonstrations set to occur in the city from 20-21 May 2017. A private group plans to demonstrate on 20 May against a government project to reconstruct the City Park in the city's 14th District. Approximately 5,000 protesters are expected to participate in the demonstration. Another private group plans to demonstrate on 21 May in support of Central European University and against a proposed government bill regarding non-government organizations (NGOs). 10,000 protesters are expected to participate in the demonstration. The Embassy advises individuals to avoid all protest actions as a precaution.

fluffy2560 wrote:

a proposed government bill regarding non-government organizations (NGOs)

And as usual: NGO Bill Would Put Hungary in Violation of EU Law