Absolutely Anything Else

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

That is an odd tale, guess your car was never recovered?
...

Yes it was recovered about 10 years later.    Mrs Fluffy had been to the police station with me so they had her details.  When they recovered it, it was fully documented in Hungary, complete with HU plates and all that.  It had had 7 owners in the meantime.   

Apparently the police  at that time had received special testing kits from the EU and were able to determine the VIN and engine numbers had been changed.   Sometime after that, the person who had acquired it from the insurance company's transport agents contacted us for the documents.  It was too late, we had previously  surrendered them to the same insurance company already years before. When they pay out, they own the vehicle so it was no longer anything to do with us.   They planned to recover the car to the UK. 

The most interesting thing is that we found out there was a stolen car ring working with the police HQ at Arpad Hid and our vehicle had been caught up in it.   The car ringing gang had people in the Police HQ who were authorising the cars without paperwork.  It was on the news even.

They only found out about our car through random testing on the numbers.  If they hadn't done that it would still be driving around.

WOW!! That is really something!
I've known 2 people here who brought in nice newer carts to HU and had their cars stolen in front of where they lived in Budapest.
One reason we drive a 29 year old car these days, don't want to have it stolen.
Had a nice bright red sweet little BMW years back and we always were afraid anytime some young dudes stopped to look it over.
Poor you though your car  must of been a wreck after all that time, sorry.
What really got me was when the van in Vegas we finally recovered we had impound fees to pay of over $400.plus I had to show the police ticket dept. parking dept or whatever it is called the paperwork to show it had been reported as stolen when it got tickets.
Sold the van for $800. and had to spend a whole day at the DMV ( where you register cars) with the new owners to make sure they didn't run into any hassles since it could of been slow with the Police knowing the car was no longer stolen but recovered.
Didn't need all that last min. hassle.
I seem to be a magnet for troubles though. Last trip to the US we bought a 5 on the floor little Chevy car, tried to sell it last min since our son really wasn't too great with the shifting.
The very day and less then 5 hours before we were to depart some old dude and his nephew from someplace in S. America decided to buy it off of us. They saw the car as we were doing some last min . shopping the same day we were flying out. What a darn hassle to shower, pack and sell a car and have a nice last min. Japanese dinner with my son and DIL.
At least we got rid of the car but even so, my nerves were shot as usual.
Who on earth does business like that before a long haul flight? Only me it seems.
I as you know am very connected to Hungary and it's people but honestly, they aren't all that honest in the long run.
I mean some, not all will think of some dirty tricks to get a buck out of anyone who is not watching their backs, very sad really.
Desperation is not a pretty thing.
We have experienced here that many people are willing to take a fee for services and in the end not deliver at all.
I find it very baffling since I know my husband would rather slit his own throat then cheat or steal... I'm really at a lose for words sometimes as how business is run here.
We know a HU couple who we have known forever, the guy even took his old GF to visit us on Maui in the 70's. My husband has known the couple since the 60's.
They ripped off several HU in Ca. for at least a good $20,000 ahead to the total of over $100,000 in the 80's.
They traveled all over Europe and finally came back to HU.
It was still communist then and after about one year they left for the uS again.
They went into hiding since their rip off and lived in a bad part of LA to hide out.
We helped them allot and i even had them over to my mum's for holidays, BBQ's etc. Even my siblings met them.
Now we are back in Hungary and they have a serious bad attitude like they are some sort of "stars" or something. Still they will not do much on social media because people are still looking to collect from them.
I mean WTF is up with some people? They however are one of the people who had their car stolen in Budapest. Karma  is for real.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

....
One reason we drive a 29 year old car these days, don't want to have it stolen.
Had a nice bright red sweet little BMW years back and we always were afraid anytime some young dudes stopped to look it over.....
Sold the van for $800. and had to spend a whole day at the DMV ( where you register cars) with the new owners to make sure they didn't run into any hassles since it could of been slow with the Police knowing the car was no longer stolen but recovered.
Didn't need all that last min. hassle.
....
I seem to be a magnet for troubles though. Last trip to the US we bought a 5 on the floor little Chevy car, tried to sell it last min since our son really wasn't too great with the shifting.
The very day and less then 5 hours before we were to depart some old dude and his nephew from someplace in S. America decided to buy it off of us. They saw the car as we were doing some last min . shopping the same day we were flying out. What a darn hassle to shower, pack and sell a car and have a nice last min. Japanese dinner with my son and DIL.....
We have experienced here that many people are willing to take a fee for services and in the end not deliver at all.
I find it very baffling since I know my husband would rather slit his own throat then cheat or steal... I'm really at a lose for words sometimes as how business is run here.
We know a HU couple who we have known forever, the guy even took his old GF to visit us on Maui in the 70's. My husband has known the couple since the 60's.
They ripped off several HU in Ca. for at least a good $20,000 ahead to the total of over $100,000 in the 80's.
... and they have a serious bad attitude like they are some sort of "stars" or something. Still they will not do much on social media because people are still looking to collect from them.
I mean WTF is up with some people? They however are one of the people who had their car stolen in Budapest. Karma  is for real.

I agree, better to have a car that's not too desirable.  The most desirable car here for stealing used to be the VW Golf.   They were all taken to places like Kosovo or Albania or Ukraine.  Even the government people in Albania were driving stolen cars including the police!   When I was in Tirana, I was amazed how many cars were right hand drive with British plates.  All stolen of course.  My own car was stolen from outside my home of course.  I stored it in a garage for some time with its wheels off. Eventually it would have been stolen so I let a relative use it in the UK for a while. 

There's a lot of dodgy business here in Hungary.  I think we're all insulated from it to a degree but of course that illegal money is  in the system and touching people in some way. 

Not a similar case but I met a guy from Colombia once and he told me that regardless of how far you appear to be away from drug money, it could be in things you wouldn't immediately suspect - supermarkets, transport companies, building/property development, car sales and fuel.  All of these things are probably in some way connected to dirty money even if somewhat peripherally.  So the cocaine trade is in everything  there.

Stolen money and goods here must be for sure sloshing around in Hungary.

fluffy2560 wrote:

The most interesting thing is that we found out there was a stolen car ring working with the police HQ at Arpad Hid and our vehicle had been caught up in it.   The car ringing gang had people in the Police HQ who were authorising the cars without paperwork.

Yep. Well.

What can I say..... Actually not that abnormal.

Welcome to Hungary......

What's wrong with you lot? 6 whole days and no ones posted on this thread

SimCityAT wrote:

What's wrong with you lot? 6 whole days and no ones posted on this thread

Don't know about others, but I have been harvesting my vineyards....

Took the day off. More to do the rest of the week.

Side note: If anyone wants to come and help harvest..... Let me know.

klsallee wrote:

SimCityAT wrote:

What's wrong with you lot? 6 whole days and no ones posted on this thread

Don't know about others, but I have been harvesting my vineyards....

Took the day off. More to do the rest of the week.

Side note: If anyone wants to come and help harvest..... Let me know.

If I told the misses, you wouldn't end up with many grapes left lol

SimCityAT wrote:

klsallee wrote:

SimCityAT wrote:

What's wrong with you lot? 6 whole days and no ones posted on this thread

Don't know about others, but I have been harvesting my vineyards....

Took the day off. More to do the rest of the week.

Side note: If anyone wants to come and help harvest..... Let me know.

If I told the misses, you wouldn't end up with many grapes left lol

6 days without posting....

Our neighbours grapes are growing through our fence.  We will be harvesting them when they aren't looking.

I've got an old 4WD car I fiddle with as a hobby and I've been replacing front and rear the brake calipers.  Despite my careful planning, I had to cannibalise various old and new parts to make it work.  Taken me some time but once I sorted it out and found a workable solution, it's going faster.  I still have to replace the exhaust pipe and the steering box so that'll be another day gone.  At some point, I need to rebuild the front and rear axles.  Not doing that in the winter.

I also made a welding bench 2 years ago, now I've added wheels and a tool shelf to it.   

I put some brackets on the wall of our shed to hold our bikes.

And Mrs Fluffy and the Fluffyettes bought a dog which I have to puppy-sit (?) Mon-Fri. 

I binge watched "Ozark".  What a great TV show!

It's always busy in Budakeszi.  I shall rename it Busykeszi.

Been watching "Bates Motel" on Netflix and also a ton of U tube vid's from the "Fullerton Informer" other "truthers" as well.
Cooking up a storm as usual although I've somehow dropped a few lbs without even trying... If I lose another 3 lbs. I will be worried...
I try daily to over feed my husband with vitamin rich foods, poor guy, he loves his sweets but I try to stuff him with so much salad that one more bite of anything won't do.
Been trying to console family after a recent death about 9 days ago in my family.
I thought it was a death in my cousin's wife family in SE Asia but realized it was my first cousin who lost his first born son.
He just turned 39 a month ago.
It seems he was your typical jovial heavy set friend that almost everyone has, Went to college, was on the US style football team, was heavily into drama classes in school and was the life of the party. Being the "life of the party" seems to run on both sides of the family tree. What can I say, we were born with, "personality".
I feel just horrid for my cousin to have lost his son at such  a young  age.
That side of the family is a bit ,"chubby" so his son seems to have passed at 39 from a heart attack. Just blows my mind sort of because I see so many chubby people who are so much older then that still walking around without a care.
Makes me a bit angry to know the Monsanto corp. and others are GMOing the death out of us  ( not the life out of us)and Nano tech is in the air.
My heart has been hurt for days thinking of what my cousin and his ex-wife must be gong through, Hell on earth for sure.
Otherwise, I'm good to go!
Really it isn't easy to be a Empath personality, everyone's pain is felt unless one tries hard to tune it out.

I binged watched "Call the Midwife" on Netflix and found it to be really good. The BBC does make some good programs when it wants to.

SimCityAT wrote:

I binged watched "Call the Midwife" on Netflix and found it to be really good. The BBC does make some good programs when it wants to.

Loved that series, I tend to binge watch shows too.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

SimCityAT wrote:

I binged watched "Call the Midwife" on Netflix and found it to be really good. The BBC does make some good programs when it wants to.

Loved that series, I tend to binge watch shows too.

I have gone through Seasons 1,2 and 3. About to start 4 now. I really do like period dramas, I must be getting old

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

.....
Been trying to console family after a recent death about 9 days ago in my family.
I thought it was a death in my cousin's wife family in SE Asia but realized it was my first cousin who lost his first born son.
He just turned 39 a month ago.
It seems he was your typical jovial heavy set friend that almost everyone has, Went to college, was on the US style football team, was heavily into drama classes in school and was the life of the party. Being the "life of the party" seems to run on both sides of the family tree. What can I say, we were born with, "personality".
I feel just horrid for my cousin to have lost his son at such  a young  age.
That side of the family is a bit ,"chubby" so his son seems to have passed at 39 from a heart attack. Just blows my mind sort of because I see so many chubby people who are so much older then that still walking around without a care....

Sorry to hear about this.

39 is really young to die of a heart attack. 

How heavy was he and how tall was he?

Smoker?

SimCityAT wrote:

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

SimCityAT wrote:

I binged watched "Call the Midwife" on Netflix and found it to be really good. The BBC does make some good programs when it wants to.

Loved that series, I tend to binge watch shows too.

I have gone through Seasons 1,2 and 3. About to start 4 now. I really do like period dramas, I must be getting old

Call the Midwife?    This is a parallel universe.   I've purposely avoided it!

My viewing revolves around gangsters, drug dealers, spies and science fiction.  I also watch a lot of documentaries on all sorts of subjects (last one I saw was on street crime in South Africa) or I sometimes look at car restoration videos or flight instruction videos on YouTube.

Here's my current viewing list (if you don't know what they are, you need to research them!). I can hardly keep up with most of these.

Fear The Walking Dead
Get Shorty
Better Call Saul
Queen of the South
Berlin Station
The Last Ship
In The Flesh

And those queued up...

The Innocents
Godless
Money Heist
American Horror Story
Goliath
Gommorrah
Killing Eve
McMafia
Narcos
Ray Donovan
Money Heist
The Shadow Line
Star Trek Discovery

And awaiting the return of:

Counterpart
Vikings
Gold Rush
Bering Sea Gold
The Rain
Ozark

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

WOW!! That is really something!
I've known 2 people here who brought in nice newer carts to HU and had their cars stolen in front of where they lived in Budapest.
One reason we drive a 29 year old car these days, don't want to have it stolen.
Had a nice bright red sweet little BMW years back and we always were afraid anytime some young dudes stopped to look it over.
Poor you though your car  must of been a wreck after all that time, sorry.
What really got me was when the van in Vegas we finally recovered we had impound fees to pay of over $400.plus I had to show the police ticket dept. parking dept or whatever it is called the paperwork to show it had been reported as stolen when it got tickets.
Sold the van for $800. and had to spend a whole day at the DMV ( where you register cars) with the new owners to make sure they didn't run into any hassles since it could of been slow with the Police knowing the car was no longer stolen but recovered.
Didn't need all that last min. hassle.
I seem to be a magnet for troubles though. Last trip to the US we bought a 5 on the floor little Chevy car, tried to sell it last min since our son really wasn't too great with the shifting.
The very day and less then 5 hours before we were to depart some old dude and his nephew from someplace in S. America decided to buy it off of us. They saw the car as we were doing some last min . shopping the same day we were flying out. What a darn hassle to shower, pack and sell a car and have a nice last min. Japanese dinner with my son and DIL.
At least we got rid of the car but even so, my nerves were shot as usual.
Who on earth does business like that before a long haul flight? Only me it seems.
I as you know am very connected to Hungary and it's people but honestly, they aren't all that honest in the long run.
I mean some, not all will think of some dirty tricks to get a buck out of anyone who is not watching their backs, very sad really.
Desperation is not a pretty thing.
We have experienced here that many people are willing to take a fee for services and in the end not deliver at all.
I find it very baffling since I know my husband would rather slit his own throat then cheat or steal... I'm really at a lose for words sometimes as how business is run here.
We know a HU couple who we have known forever, the guy even took his old GF to visit us on Maui in the 70's. My husband has known the couple since the 60's.
They ripped off several HU in Ca. for at least a good $20,000 ahead to the total of over $100,000 in the 80's.
They traveled all over Europe and finally came back to HU.
It was still communist then and after about one year they left for the uS again.
They went into hiding since their rip off and lived in a bad part of LA to hide out.
We helped them allot and i even had them over to my mum's for holidays, BBQ's etc. Even my siblings met them.
Now we are back in Hungary and they have a serious bad attitude like they are some sort of "stars" or something. Still they will not do much on social media because people are still looking to collect from them.
I mean WTF is up with some people? They however are one of the people who had their car stolen in Budapest. Karma  is for real.

MArilyn bit statistics: last year 2017 : number of wehicle theft reported to the police: US:721K, UK:56k, Hungary 1500, so going by the statistics its not really worth to worry about car theft here tbh from that 1500 about 1000 will be in Budapest, and of course statistics wont help you if it happens to YOU

SimCityAT wrote:

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

SimCityAT wrote:

I binged watched "Call the Midwife" on Netflix and found it to be really good. The BBC does make some good programs when it wants to.

Loved that series, I tend to binge watch shows too.

I have gone through Seasons 1,2 and 3. About to start 4 now. I really do like period dramas, I must be getting old

I've loved period dramas since i was a small child. Must be "an old soul".
Anything from the 16th century really gets me.
I've watched about half of the list Mr. Fluffy has posted.
Was into SOA but it did have to end, it was getting way too out of control.
Finished Bates Motel last night, silly me stayed up to midnight.
Enjoy Better Call Saul, lived in Albq. for a few years, there really are people like that living there.
What I like about the show is the no music added, just flat, basic semi-boring action.
Seems just like the real New Mexico, goes from "What on earth am I doing living here" to "Wow, this is a cool  but odd place, feels like I've gone back in time a few years but it's ok."
My husband and son however will never forget the "lost years" of NM,they both really disliked the place.They just didn't get it at all.
I got into the cowgirl thing there, everything from a western boot collection to silver earrings and even a vintage cowgirl style hat. If you can't bet them, then join them!
Still not sure I'll ever wear my" Red Ropers "again.

fluffy2560 wrote:

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

.....
Been trying to console family after a recent death about 9 days ago in my family.
I thought it was a death in my cousin's wife family in SE Asia but realized it was my first cousin who lost his first born son.
He just turned 39 a month ago.
It seems he was your typical jovial heavy set friend that almost everyone has, Went to college, was on the US style football team, was heavily into drama classes in school and was the life of the party. Being the "life of the party" seems to run on both sides of the family tree. What can I say, we were born with, "personality".
I feel just horrid for my cousin to have lost his son at such  a young  age.
That side of the family is a bit ,"chubby" so his son seems to have passed at 39 from a heart attack. Just blows my mind sort of because I see so many chubby people who are so much older then that still walking around without a care....

Sorry to hear about this.

39 is really young to die of a heart attack. 

How heavy was he and how tall was he?

Smoker?

My 2nd cousin was a very "chubby" guy judging by his photos, was a big child too.
Not sure if he smoked or not, must of been at least over 300lbs.
My cousin, his father is a huge guy too, had breast cancer, is bi-polar( that's why I'm a bit concerned about him with this happening)  was about 308 last time I saw him.
He is still kickin' it while his young son died, just so odd.
My uncle,not blood related was a big guy but not that big.
I feel sorry for the kids mom , she divorced my cousin a long time ago, he wasn't much help to his family with all his mental issues etc.
looks like the kid had allot of friends, good friends, normal sized girlfriends, well it's weird my cousin and his older bro are "fat" but always had normal sized pretty wives and girlfriends with good jobs.
The bi-polar ones' second wife was a Mexican nurse in NM that made good money , they have a girl together,( guess I have a second cuz that is half Mexican, so diverse) his 3rd wife had her own church in N Ca. with a flock ( of sheep, more like sheeple)...It's weird, they both have really good personalities, when they are acting normal that is.
Both highly intelligent and funny as all heck in person. Charming but without much behind them .

panzer25 wrote:

MArilyn bit statistics: last year 2017 : number of wehicle theft reported to the police: US:721K, UK:56k, Hungary 1500, so going by the statistics its not really worth to worry about car theft here tbh from that 1500 about 1000 will be in Budapest, and of course statistics wont help you if it happens to YOU

Absolute numbers don't mean anything. The correct statistic is percentage of cars stolen. That is, one must take the total number of cars in each country into consideration to arrive at a comparable, inter-country statistic.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

.....
My 2nd cousin was a very "chubby" guy judging by his photos, was a big child too.
Not sure if he smoked or not, must of been at least over 300lbs.
My cousin, his father is a huge guy too, had breast cancer, is bi-polar( that's why I'm a bit concerned about him with this happening)  was about 308 last time I saw him.
He is still kickin' it while his young son died, just so odd.
My uncle,not blood related was a big guy but not that big.
......

That's seriously seriously overweight.  That's like 135  kg.   Average height male person, say 5' 8", should be around 80kg.  Imagine that stress on the heart pumping for all that extra weight.  That and genetics.

I'm overweight myself and I know how difficult it is to get it off.  It's really hard work and will power.  I managed to stop smoking 20+ years ago and I found  that relatively difficult.  But smoking is optional, eating isn't!

SimCityAT wrote:

klsallee wrote:

SimCityAT wrote:

What's wrong with you lot? 6 whole days and no ones posted on this thread

Don't know about others, but I have been harvesting my vineyards....

Took the day off. More to do the rest of the week.

Side note: If anyone wants to come and help harvest..... Let me know.

If I told the misses, you wouldn't end up with many grapes left lol

If she picks all day, she can take as much as she likes away. Bring as many buckets as she wants. Fill up the car till the suspension sags. Trust me, it would not dent my capacity much.  I have about four metric tons.

But alas.... the harvest is about done this year. Shall I pencil her in for next September? 

klsallee wrote:

..... Trust me, it would not dent my capacity much.  I have about four metric tons.

But alas.... the harvest is about done this year. Shall I pencil her in for next September? 

How much wine do you get from 4 metric tonnes? How big is the land for 4 metric tonnes?   Bottles per hectare?

Mrs Fluffy's father told us he was producing (a tiny) 54 litres this year and he's got quite a lot of grapevines.

fluffy2560 wrote:

How much wine do you get from 4 metric tonnes?

Good question. Grapes at harvest are often bought and sold by weight, while wine is mostly measured by volume. Weight to volume ration depends on the type of wine (red is different from white), and the grape variety. But as a "generic" rule, and using weight as a common metric, reds will give about 55% of wine by weight, while whites will be less, often around 40% to 45%.

fluffy2560 wrote:

How big is the land for 4 metric tonnes?

It depends on the variety being grown. Some give smaller total yields than others. An "average" is maybe about 4 or 5 tons per hectare.

But a commonly grown variety in Hungary is Olaszriesling (AKA: Italian Riesling, or known as Welschriesling in German), which can produce up to 7 or more tons per hectare. So it can vary widely.

fluffy2560 wrote:

Bottles per hectare?

Well, again it varies (year, weather, variety, all contribute). But a very rough, back of envelope estimate if we start at about 2000 liters finished wine per hectare for good quality white wine (i.e. not Olaszriesling), 750 ml per bottle, so about 2,600 bottles. But mostly wine is listed in cases, 12 bottles to a case (9 liters per case). So it would be about 220 cases.

fluffy2560 wrote:

Mrs Fluffy's father told us he was producing (a tiny) 54 litres this year and he's got quite a lot of grapevines.

This was a terrible year for growing grapes. Too much rain. I also have a much smaller harvest than I should.

klsallee wrote:

fluffy2560 wrote:

How much wine do you get from 4 metric tonnes?

Good question. Grapes at harvest are often bought and sold by weight, while wine is mostly measured by volume. Weight to volume ration depends on the type of wine (red is different from white), and the grape variety. But as a "generic" rule, and using weight as a common metric, reds will give about 55% of wine by weight, while whites will be less, often around 40% to 45%.

fluffy2560 wrote:

How big is the land for 4 metric tonnes?

It depends on the variety being grown. Some give smaller total yields than others. An "average" is maybe about 4 or 5 tons per hectare.

But a commonly grown variety in Hungary is Olaszriesling (AKA: Italian Riesling, or known as Welschriesling in German), which can produce up to 7 or more tons per hectare. So it can vary widely.

fluffy2560 wrote:

Bottles per hectare?

Well, again it varies (year, weather, variety, all contribute). But a very rough, back of envelope estimate if we start at about 2000 liters finished wine per hectare for good quality white wine (i.e. not Olaszriesling), 750 ml per bottle, so about 2,600 bottles. But mostly wine is listed in cases, 12 bottles to a case (9 liters per case). So it would be about 220 cases.

fluffy2560 wrote:

Mrs Fluffy's father told us he was producing (a tiny) 54 litres this year and he's got quite a lot of grapevines.

This was a terrible year for growing grapes. Too much rain. I also have a much smaller harvest than I should.

Wow, it's like being at Wine University.  Excellent posting.

As a rule of thumb, does this work? 

We all (should) know water is 1kg per litre, so as wine is ~95% water, we can say 1L wine is 2kg grapes.   

So the 4 tonnes should yield about 2000 litres based upon the 50% usability figure.

My FIL then probably only has 110-120kg of grapes.  Very low productivity it seems.

Stop press:  European Parliament votes FOR Article 7 sanctions against Hungary:

448 in favour, 197 against, 48 abstentions.

Passes the 2/3 majority.

Interesting times.

fluffy2560 wrote:

Stop press:  European Parliament votes FOR Article 7 sanctions against Hungary:

448 in favour, 197 against, 48 abstentions.

Passes the 2/3 majority.

Interesting times.

So what does that mean for Hungary?

SimCityAT wrote:

fluffy2560 wrote:

Stop press:  European Parliament votes FOR Article 7 sanctions against Hungary:

448 in favour, 197 against, 48 abstentions.

Passes the 2/3 majority.

Interesting times.

So what does that mean for Hungary?

A gradual increasing pressure from the thumbscrews.

But in the short term, not much as the EU is a camel (i.e. a horse designed by a committee).  Whatever they do, it won't be pretty and probably won't have many teeth.  Article 7 was already started against Poland and even they haven't cleaned up their act.

In the end, worst case is suspension of voting rights and withdrawal of EU funding for projects. They cannot be kicked out.

The EU funding is quite important though. I think Hungary gets about 3 to 6 billion EUR a year from the EU funds so that's a big hole to fill in the budget.  He'd have to cut back, re-prioritise and/or raise taxes.  Some commentators think OV's behaviour is becoming more extremist so he might get ousted.  I don't see that happening anytime soon.   

But his speech to the EP was a bit rubbish and laughable - even simplistic. The message was "don't complaint to me" about what the people voted for.  It was clearly a speech for the home audience. I expect he'll be arguing for HU to leave the EU next and as he controls the media, he'll be able to set the agenda.

klsallee wrote:

panzer25 wrote:

MArilyn bit statistics: last year 2017 : number of wehicle theft reported to the police: US:721K, UK:56k, Hungary 1500, so going by the statistics its not really worth to worry about car theft here tbh from that 1500 about 1000 will be in Budapest, and of course statistics wont help you if it happens to YOU

Absolute numbers don't mean anything. The correct statistic is percentage of cars stolen. That is, one must take the total number of cars in each country into consideration to arrive at a comparable, inter-country statistic.

It tokk 60 sec to calculate it  it would mean 0, 27% of the cars in the U.S. and 0,04% of cars in Hungary , and about 0,16% in Budapest being stolen every year it used to be way more higher everywhere in the nineties  or in 00's

Maybe dealing with stolen cars is too much hassle, these criminal types have moved on.
Most are really a business, they have their low level people who are the heavies and "own" other professionals from IT people to police.
I'm not going to get into it too much but districts in Budapest have their own groups, not sure how they put pressure on people, maybe threaten them with getting hurt etc. but they have eyes everywhere.
The nosey old lady who peeks out her window every 5 mins could be giving info on who goes in and out of the building at what time, who they know in the house and if they've been inside your place will tell what you have of any value inside.
It's weird, no one really messes too much with us "foreigners" because we could cause trouble by contacting our embassies or just not keep quiet.
Don't ask how I know this but I do.
It's not a stretch to have nosey neighbors, that was how things were done in the past. People would tell the authorities about everyone in the house, every house had their informant who worked for the gov.the communist gov., that is. Every place of work had their gov. agents working there as well. Most everyone knew who they were because they had a badge on but I would guess the real informants worked along side other people. Sounds like a movie script but it happened for real.
People who are used to such conditioning  are easy to scare and control by gangs.
Now they tell the "boss" or his henchmen, not sure if these targeted people pay a monthly amount to be safe or not, perhaps them giving info on others is enough to keep them from getting abused by the neighborhood gangs. Hard to believe but it's true. Once your targeted they tell you where to shop to support their "businesses" and the businesses of those they have forced into their protection gang.
Not trying to make anyone paranoid, really doubt we outsiders are worth the trouble to control.

My husband and his friends as teenagers were always under pressure to keep the volume of their illegal listening to Radio Free Europe from the neighbors, listening to the Kinks was dangerous!
Things haven't changed all that much.In fact it's more serious now at least for those targeted.
I have heard tales of old people in villages being held in their own homes against their will by gangs who collect their pensions, just giving the old folks enough food to keep the monthly payments coming in.
This is also international, even in Vegas. Not saying more but we know a few shops there to avoid at all costs.One coffee shop sticks to my mind.
Over 20 years back in Vegas  a HU guy there had to come to HU to save his sister from just a gang. He was targeted in Vegas after that. He went to court in Hu at his own expense to help his sister who was being abused by such a group in the village where she lived. It went on for a long time before she even dared let her bro know, he had been sending funds to support his sister in HU and the gang was taking it all.
We had our big old Audi 500 broken into on King St. mid day about 18 years ago.
At that time cars with big petrol tanks were needed to transport petrol from outside of HU where it was cheaper to buy and resell here in Hungary for higher prices. Nickle and dime sort of crimes but some people will do just about anything for a few cents.
They broke into the car , messed up the steering wheel  but couldn't break or didn't have enough time to break the steering lock.
Used to be a big market for cig's here too. Blackmarket cig's that didn't pay the VAT tax.
In the US these would seem like petty crimes but here they support people who don't want to do a 9 to 5er. That's the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
Maybe I've said too much, don't want a knock on my door...

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

.....People would tell the authorities about everyone in the house, every house had their informant who worked for the gov.the communist gov., that is. Every place of work had their gov. agents working there as well. Most everyone knew who they were because they had a badge on but I would guess the real informants worked along side other people. Sounds like a movie script but it happened for real.....That's the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
Maybe I've said too much, don't want a knock on my door...

Actually that bothers me now. 

In these forums I often criticise OV and Mrs Fluffy is quite verbal  in her views and her circle of contacts and she's on speaking terms with some of the opposition politicians and even some of OV's MPs.  Because of that I suspect "they" know who we are.

I really do wonder sometimes if someone unfriendly is going to pick up on what I say and then we'll get a knock on the door and I'll get a free trip back to the UK. 

Younger people don't know about this kind of thing but Mrs Fluffy knows first hand - one of her relatives were taken by government agents in the 1980s, kept for a couple of days, then dumped back out on the street.  No-one really knows why they were targeted.

fluffy2560 wrote:

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

.....People would tell the authorities about everyone in the house, every house had their informant who worked for the gov.the communist gov., that is. Every place of work had their gov. agents working there as well. Most everyone knew who they were because they had a badge on but I would guess the real informants worked along side other people. Sounds like a movie script but it happened for real.....That's the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
Maybe I've said too much, don't want a knock on my door...

Actually that bothers me now. 

In these forums I often criticise OV and Mrs Fluffy is quite verbal  in her views and her circle of contacts and she's on speaking terms with some of the opposition politicians and even some of OV's MPs.  Because of that I suspect "they" know who we are.

I really do wonder sometimes if someone unfriendly is going to pick up on what I say and then we'll get a knock on the door and I'll get a free trip back to the UK. 

Younger people don't know about this kind of thing but Mrs Fluffy knows first hand - one of her relatives were taken by government agents in the 1980s, kept for a couple of days, then dumped back out on the street.  No-one really knows why they were targeted.

I know, my husband gets upset with me for saying "crazy stuff" most all I know is second hand knowledge but still...
People do not even know that in the past no one had keys to their own front doors in the big apt. houses.
There was always a doorman who would open the front door.
They had a small room in the lobby to keep warm and take a nap etc.Maybe they had a radio or read books all day and night long, a few people shared the job of being doorman.
If you didn't live in the house they would ask you you were about to visit and make a note of it.
That I did experience in 1978 when we visited here.

Well let's just pray they find us too old, too silly and too unimportant to target!

I have wanted to visit the House of Torture Museum but my husband refuses to go in there.
He says, he lived it, why see it as some sort of abstract joke for the public?
He is sensitive about some issues, can't really blame people who may have a bit of PTSD from life.
In 56 his older cousin was a 17 year old college student. He happened to be walking alone minding his own business in the wrong place at the wrong time on Oct.23rd.
Got a sucker shot from ground level into his knee. Was on one of the first transports to Switzerland for surgery fby the Red Cross.
He never returned or visited HU after that. He was adopted by a wealthy Swiss family who had taken him into their home in the second WW.Guess in WW11 his family home wa shit and he was sent out of HU to Switzerland. This older couple had no children of their own and they just loved him. When they found out he had been hurt the found him in Switzerland and took him home with them.
He had a younger bro who we met a few years back. He has since passed on.
We talked with him and his wife and he told us that after his older bro was out of HUngary the police took the entire family to the station for a grilling. He was only  8 years old but still he said they beat him to find out if they were hiding info on his older bro, what his bro's connection to the revolution was etc. He had no thing to do with it, just one victim on the st. He said his parents were beat up pretty good to, held for a few days and then all were sent home to lick their wounds.
Wow, seems he was mad at his brother because of the beat down although his bro had no control of anything. His bro lost a few inches on one leg, had to wear those ortho shoes after that.
Dang , he must be in his early 80's now.Still lives in Switzerland is a artist there or was an artist, rather a good one too.
My MIL was also called into the police station when my husband left HU. They didn't touch her, thank God she knew nothing.Of course it was in the early 1970's so their beat downs weren't as rough I suppose, During the revolution they must of been very over aggressive with people to get info.
My husband made sure he didn't tell his family a peep about his plans to leave. Must of been hard on him to keep it secret from them.

I suppose the real name of the Museum is the House of Terror not torture but the latter is more accurate!
Years back about 13  years ago,some people from Vegas came to Budapest and we showed them around a bit.
They were staying at the then called, "Meridian" Hotel a 5 star hotel in the 5th.
It's changed names since.
My husband didn't even want to go into the lobby to pick them up.
He told them it had been a main police station in the old days and God only knows what went on underground in their cellars.
They didn't look too happy with learning that info, spoiled Americans who had no real clue what he was talking about. He told them the place must be haunted.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

I suppose the real name of the Museum is the House of Terror not torture but the latter is more accurate!
Years back about 13  years ago,some people from Vegas came to Budapest and we showed them around a bit.
They were staying at the then called, "Meridian" Hotel a 5 star hotel in the 5th.
It's changed names since.
My husband didn't even want to go into the lobby to pick them up.
He told them it had been a main police station in the old days and God only knows what went on underground in their cellars.
They didn't look too happy with learning that info, spoiled Americans who had no real clue what he was talking about. He told them the place must be haunted.

Oh, I know that place.  Le Meridian*.  My sister stayed there.   Years ago I used to visit offices near there when it was the police station. I used to go in the post office which was on the ground floor.  I don't know what else was in there or what they did in the cellar.  I wonder if they preserved any of that in the basement as a museum. I bet they didn't.

I don't know if you remember that "Communist" restaurant near Moscow Ter?   It used to have Commie symbols like red stars and hammer and sickles as adornment. I think it was a pizza place.  I have a feeling it's gone now, some years ago.  I remember the controversy over that "nostalgia".   I haven't been to Szentendre art market recently but I remember Lenin and Russian dolls being popular.  I expect they aren't now.  Does anyone go to the Szobapark?

It hasn't taken people that long to forget about that kind of thing.  Obviously no-one wants to remember but imagine if people forgot about the Holocaust or  Pol Pot or Rwanda.   All to easy to fall into that trap.

*btw, the former British Embassy is very near there a stones throw from the Kempinski.  I expect that'll turn into an upmarket boutique hotel soon. I don't know what they did in the basement there!

panzer25 wrote:

It tokk 60 sec to calculate it  it would mean 0, 27% of the cars in the U.S. and 0,04% of cars in Hungary , and about 0,16% in Budapest being stolen every year it used to be way more higher everywhere in the nineties  or in 00's

Very good. Excellent you took the time to do this. I appreciate this. So 0.16% actually pretty high in Budapest, and not that much different than the "generic" USA.

But wait, there is more....

Now break it down to per capita. Americans are multi-car owners. Usually at least 2 per family. Are Hungarians? My parents alone have four cars (and lets not even get started with Jay Leno's collection.....). And I would expect, a per capita rate would show that the odds are of any family being a victim of auto theft, which is probably the most "human" based statistic, is probably pretty similar between countries -- especially in cities.

fluffy2560 wrote:

In these forums I often criticise OV and Mrs Fluffy is quite verbal  in her views and her circle of contacts and she's on speaking terms with some of the opposition politicians and even some of OV's MPs.  Because of that I suspect "they" know who we are.

Quite frankly, I would not worry.

My wife ran for Parliament on the LMP (Green) party ticket in our region some years ago. There are even TV shows you can still probably find online interviewing her.

I doubt she, or I by association, can get more "outed" than you.

fluffy2560 wrote:

Wow, it's like being at Wine University.  Excellent posting.

As a rule of thumb, does this work?

As a "rule of thumb", yes it works. For my vineyards at least (based on many years of measurement)

But there is so much variation between grape varieties and between years on the quality and types of grapes and clusters that can come in, and between sites and regions, one can expect a lot of variation from year to year and between place to place.

klsallee wrote:

fluffy2560 wrote:

In these forums I often criticise OV and Mrs Fluffy is quite verbal  in her views and her circle of contacts and she's on speaking terms with some of the opposition politicians and even some of OV's MPs.  Because of that I suspect "they" know who we are.

Quite frankly, I would not worry.

My wife ran for Parliament on the LMP (Green) party ticket in our region some years ago. There are even TV shows you can still probably find online interviewing her.

I doubt she, or I by association, can get more "outed" than you.

You are probably right.  I'm hardly a big fish.

klsallee wrote:

fluffy2560 wrote:

Wow, it's like being at Wine University.  Excellent posting.

As a rule of thumb, does this work?

As a "rule of thumb", yes it works. For my vineyards at least (based on many years of measurement)

But there is so much variation between grape varieties and between years on the quality and types of grapes and clusters that can come in, and between sites and regions, one can expect a lot of variation from year to year and between place to place.

I got it wrong with the FIL, he had 54 litres overproduction.   

But what do you do with your grapes? 

Do they go into a communal/regional production or do you actually bottle and sell the wine yourself?

klsallee wrote:

panzer25 wrote:

It tokk 60 sec to calculate it  it would mean 0, 27% of the cars in the U.S. and 0,04% of cars in Hungary , and about 0,16% in Budapest being stolen every year it used to be way more higher everywhere in the nineties  or in 00's

Very good. Excellent you took the time to do this. I appreciate this. So 0.16% actually pretty high in Budapest, and not that much different than the "generic" USA.

But wait, there is more....

Now break it down to per capita. Americans are multi-car owners. Usually at least 2 per family. Are Hungarians? My parents alone have four cars (and lets not even get started with Jay Leno's collection.....). And I would expect, a per capita rate would show that the odds are of any family being a victim of auto theft, which is probably the most "human" based statistic, is probably pretty similar between countries -- especially in cities.

I think these statistics are misleading.   How many of those cars stolen are high value?

Obviously ripping off a Lada isn't going to be as good as ripping off a  Lamborghini Aventador.   In that article on the Lamborghini, the car was going to Ukraine or Russia.   

So basically  it's proximity to a ready market which should make Hungary a far more vulnerable place for high value car theft.

Yes, Americans usually have allot of cars.
At one time before our son drove we had 4 cars in S. Ca. all insured and ready to go.
2 Saabs, one was older and one was 2 years old, 1 -2 year old Ford Mustang  and one 5 year old nice top of the line Audi 500.
Out house had a 2 car garage but still it always looked like we had co. at the house.
I loved me a Saab. Not for everyone, sort of a "Nerdy" style car but I loved my Saab.
Drove it till it hit 275,000 miles and the tranny went out.
took it to NM then shipped it to Honolulu, then over to Hilo then back to Ca then back to NM and it died in Vegas, like so many other dreams...
Sold it to a guy from Washington state who was going to overhaul it, made me happy to know it would have a second life.
Next year our Toyota will turn 30, engine is fantastic still, it runs great, doubt anyone would wish to steal it.I suppose I'll never have a new off the showroom car this lifetime, could really care less, still want that 67 MG of my dreams.
Just today we were doing some business at city hall and it made me think of the US DMV.
My first step-dad's uncle was the head of the office in Van Nuys Ca. at the DMV.
We would be given the VIP treatment whenever my parents had any DMV business to do. His uncle took us into his office and had someone take care of the paperwork while we relaxed and the "grown up's "chatted.
Guess that was a very well paying and easy job.
When my mother passed on that old uncle of my step dad showed up with his wife and his sitser in his new Rolls. So out of place at my mom's funeral, she was down to earth and a simple person and he shows up in a Rolls.
Never liked that uncle of his and that was it, really disliked him after that day.Not so much because he had "money" but he showed how low class some people are who love to show off.
Fancy car without having any style or class in reality. He had the dang nerve to pick up my mother's box of cremated remains and shake the box in front of us children of hers! WTF??
I almost got up and said something but I was lost for words, it was so surreal and odd.
For once I was lost for words, a beat down was in order, words wouldn't cover it.
I know both my brother's wanted to punch him out but that was enough of a circus to have him to that.He said "wow, doesn't weigh much, less then 4 lbs." Classy move on his part...  Needless to say they were not invited back for food and drinks.I dislike anyone who thinks they can buy class or style, can't be bought no matter how much they try their low class shows through.



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