: Mother-in-law’s 95th birthday today. Five of six grandchildren were there, and even the mayor …
: My double take this morning: people I went to high school with have grandkids going to prom. ⏳
: Looks like Trump did take over Canada, just not how he thought. “Canada election: Liberals projected …
: We normally love our work, but the past couple of weeks have been so that I’ve been eyeing the …
: I’m not saying this is me, but the Windsurf API is down this morning and I can’t get any …
: Baseball Home Opener for the Dohren Wild Farmers. Have to make sure our sign is hanging straight.
: Spent 2+ hours today moving a washing machine and getting the right parts to install it in an …
: Mini Easter fire at the nursing home (Eierlikör is being served)
: ICE in western Minnesota “Indonesian student detained by Ice after US secretly revokes his visa” …
: Easter Fire, the social highlight of the year in Lüllau! “Für das leibliche Wohl ist …
: Can we bring a baseball statistic to the 2. Bundesliga? Magic number for HSV promotion is 13 points …
: This is our town’s “Altes Rathaus” where I just applied for my German ID and passport. My data was …
: Inspiration from my hometown, and Kris has helped me see what a treasure my hometown is: Grief …
: We don’t know anything about Minecraft (our son was more into Flight Simulator), but the global …
: This is not my first stock market crash, so I’m not selling, but I did buy a “MSCI World ex US” EFT …
: Reciprocal tariffs sound to me like a bigger and better Brexit (and by better I mean kills more GDP)
: We don’t sell any goods to the US, but we do import the occasional grill or fryer #tariffs
: The point of no return #Einbürgerung
: The ZDF docudrama Rosenthal is worth watching. www.zdf.de/filme/ros… Rosenthal (Hans …
: We have an excellent manager whose parental leave ends this summer. She’d love to come back part …
: We not only have a published author in the family, but also a prize winner. Our niece Freya Petersen …
: Dawson-Boyd is the neighbor town, not my hometown, but we’re streaming their MN State Championship …
: Blog post: Application approved scotthanson.de/2025/03/2…
: After late arrival and short night at the airport hotel, breakfast at Hannover Airport
: I’ve just been notified that my application for German citizenship from last October has been …
: My wife together with this little crocheted pig are celebrating their first birthdays on Lanzarote. …
: We now have a wage agreement (after arbitration) for the German QSR industry. Starting wage 13.50€ …
: Blog post: This time last year I was thinking about Beautiful Things (the song) …
: Considering we are in the restaurant business, we’re really bad at planning meals for …
: A year ago we started renting apartments to sublet to employees, since affordable apartments are not …
: March is going to be a good month. It has 5 weekends! 👍
: That’s it. If you don’t act like a superpower, you are no longer a superpower. #Trump #Zelenskyy
: German coalition talks are not due to officially begin until 6 March, taking into account carnival …
: At the airport doom-reloading bundeswahlleiterin.de/bundestag… to see if the BSW is in the …
: Seriously, ZDF, do I really need a VPN to stream live election TV coverage on the ZDFheute app in …
: An appropriate headline for the election on Sunday: “Germany Is in Big Trouble, and Nobody Knows …
: We’re staying next to a body of water, but we’re not sure what it is called
: Our morning coffee view this week
: I could get pension with 63 starting today, but I won’t
: Current challenge: packing carry-on only for 1 week Florida (+20°C) and 1 week Minnesota (-20°C)
: Finished my 1000th Wordle today, 100% won (but I did hard cheat once)
: There are some weaknesses in the wahl-o-mat. For example, a lot of my positions might align with the …
: Two Azubis (apprentices) have arrived for the new semester, from Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. …
: I’m very concerned by the increasing popularity of the AfD in Germany. The strategy of the …
: For the German electoral campaign we’ve invented a new German word: “vermerzen” …
: Even I had my German citizenship, I probably wouldn’t be able to vote on Feb 23. I’m out …
: The local CDU Bundestag candidate visited our restaurant in Rade. We let her film for Instagram in …
: We had to replace the grill hood in a restaurant and instead of one afternoon it took 2-1/2 days …
: “Winter is complicated” Quote from our national business update today.
: There are times I’m glad the Vikings play at 2 am my time and I can’t stay up to watch
: New skill unlocked: paying an invoice in Kosovo with Revolut Business ✅
: The back office in one restaurant was down several days after a power outage. A virtual machine was …
: Updated my bio. Of course, it’s funny and it’s ironic that only I feel that way.
: This has annoyed me for months, requires terminal to fix: “Excel for Mac (Office 365) refuses …
: Hamburg among NYT’s top 52 places to go (I guess we’ll have to visit that green bunker sometime) …
: Now the political candidates are calling us to ask about immigration policy for workers from outside …
: Woke up to learn who’s top dog in the NFC #Lions
: Minnesota Vikings buy 1900 tickets at $2 million for tonight’s game in Detroit, sell them …
: Autobahn in northern Germany closed for hours by 7000 live fish on the asphalt …
: Our new neighbor wishes Happy New Year and please don’t shoot fireworks at me
: For a German New Year’s Eve TV tradition that’s not Dinner for One, 3sat shows pop …
: The Musk opinion piece in the Welt says a lot more about Welt and Springer than it does about Musk …
: Our niece called this artwork “Slightly Witchy Stuff”, but I’d say they’re secret tools of the IT …
: Seit der Herz-OP meiner Frau in diesem Jahr, heisst es “Yippie-Ya-Yay, Schweineklappe!” …
: Christmas cheer in our drive-thru last night. Drunk driver refused to wait for order, shoved and …
: Holding a mini Christmas market in our carport with the neighbors
: Merry Christmas from your Finanzamt. Here’s your audit notice. 🎄
: Met the US Consul General at a reception and got his business card. That’s like a …
: Chancellor Scholz loses confidence vote in German Bundestag, as planned …
: Three people my age who I know professionally or privately are retiring in the next few weeks.
: Going to a Christmas market with the treasurer takes the fun out of it. “See the security …
: Will Giorgia Meloni turn out to be Europe’s Trump card? www.economist.com/europe/20… from The …
: As an American in Germany, I made sure our family put out stockings on Nikolaustag #tradition
: Now that both Germany and France will be without functioning governments for the next few months, …
: Strikes in the German QSR industry in December? “Streik vor Weihnachten - Tarifkonflikt in der …
: We’ve got German (one candle for each Sunday) and Danish (burn a little each day for 24 days) Advent …
: Berlin Hauptbahnhof, wife’s favorite McDonald’s sandwich. McRib with extra chili-cheese sauce
: Our gala dinner had a 1920s theme, which was fun, but it was still disconcerting to hear Mein Herr …
: We seem to have a high failure rate with trains to Berlin. Cancellations without explanation, bombed …
: All express trains between Hamburg and Berlin cancelled today due to a lightning strike. Guess we’ll …
: I’m not at all interested in Angela Merkel’s book, but at least it’s pushing the …
: The new TV commercial for McDonald’s Germany was filmed at our restaurant in Rade …
: Eight-hour seminar on German employee tax law was certainly refreshing 😛
: The Luxembourgish crime series Capitani (2 seasons on Netflix) is very good and well worth watching.
: My wife’s family has problems setting times for family events. We are invited to a birthday …
: Bavarians: They Are Who They Are - by Katja Hoyer
: For 8 years I’ve had a US Netflix account.At the time it was cheaper than a German account, …
: In case you’re wondering why Arizona is still counting ballots, our son‘s ballot (voting from …
: Typical Iowa, trying to steal attention in a Presidential race 😃 Des Moines Register Iowa Poll: …
: Appointment to submit my German citizenship application was anti-climatic. They checked that the …
: One of our restaurants was closed yesterday for filming. We can’t say what or why, but there …
: A reminder that this week in Germany, depending on where you live, either Thursday is a holiday, …
: Blogged: Documents for German citizenship application (Scott’s Version) …
: So if we were normal and well-adjusted, we would never have left our home countries, right?
: I had dental work (2 implants and a crown) finished up yesterday afternoon, the bill is already in …
: That intern who worked a day at a restaurant in Pennsylvania is sure getting us a lot of free …
: Italy made the headlines in both Germany and the US yesterday. In Germany it was Italy’s first …
: A week later, I got hold of my rep at the Einbürgerungs office. My appointment to submit my German …
: So I called the Einbürgerung office to make an appointment to submit my citizenship application, but …
: Got the German citizenship application in the mail. I already have all the data and documents I …
: Just called the county office to ask about German citizenship. With name and birthdate they pulled …
: Can I universally mute #oktoberfest content across all social media platforms? kthxbye
: “Thank you SCOTT HANSON for submitting your ballot electronically! You have submitted 2 …
: Absentee ballot from Arizona in my mail this morning 👍
: There are worse places to lose your wallet than the Champs-Élysées when it is full of police for …
: We’re suffering from jet lag, even though we only took a 90 minute flight to the same time zone …
: Wir sind dann mal weg #hochzeitstag
: September 1 in Germany, and you know what anniversary it is. That’s right, 34, years ago we arrived …
: Lake Itasca, headwaters of the Mississippi
: It’s 8am in Minnesota, 3pm in Germany, and 7pm in Kyrgyzstan. #OnlineJobInterview
: Having trouble adapting to Germany? “These Strange German Ways” from Atlantik-Brücke can help!
: Gloomy day in Minnesota with threatening rain, so of course we go watch Twisters at the movie …
: Biggest sales day of the year today! End of the Wacken festival and end of school vacation in Lower …
: This morning, my wife said “I’ve been hearing about Tim Walz, but what does he look …
: We’ve learned to use registered mail for letters of even minimal importance. With prepaid labels you …
: Looks like we’re all uncommitted now
: Just uploaded my ballot for the July 30 Arizona primary. You no longer need to print or scan …
: “Bohemian Like You” came out nearly 25 years ago, but to me it’s still the …
: A heron crashed into our house and fell onto our patio as we were eating outside. It walked through …
: Spending this wonderful summer day inside at the airport hotel in Hannover for a midyear McD …
: Our town in the Tagesschau, but nothing good. Fire apparently set by a resident. “One dead in fire …
: 18°C, breezy and overcast was not quite the weather we wanted for an outdoor July birthday gathering …
: Cool thing about #Euro2024 is there were two home teams, Germany and Turkey 😃 Now they’re both …
: At the 10-day German gliding championships (club class) at Burg Feuerstein in Bavaria, our son …
: But if I wanted the good guys to always win, I’d watch opera instead of football #euro2024
: Well that changed in a hurry #ENGSVK #euro2024
: B1 German language test result arrived. 293 out of 300 points. Who knows how well I would have done …
: I am not a member of any organized political party… www.willrogerstoday.com/quotes/wi…
: This is a thousand times more fun than last night #czetur #euro2024
: It’s happened. Last night I called the German team “we” instead of …
: Got two implants today, now following my dentist‘s advice to keep them cool while watching the …
: We had neighbors over last night so we didn’t watch the football, but from the noise in town …
: Our franchisor scheduled a management course for Munich next week, in the middle of the Euro …
: I can’t vote yet in the European elections, but I filled out the German …
: Wrote my German citizenship test today. Except for one question (who wrote the lyrics of the …
: Summer flight to US booked, followed our usual rules: no Lufthansa no Heathrow one stop, not in …
: It seems the lesson from this Sylt thing is that racist chants are only really bad when made by …
: The basis of German democracy, the Basic Law from 1949, is 75 years old today. Article 1: Human …
: UK election not such big news in Germany. 12th minute of “Heute” TV news, 3 sentences, still photo, …
: Happy Pfingsten! Hope you have candy and money ready for the Pfingst singers this morning!
: Moving to new web host and spent a day figuring out why database connections weren’t working. …
: 6 months with Sonoma, and Excel still has the bug with system language US English and region …
: Wife back to work 8-1/2 weeks after surgery. If she were an employee, she’d have had full sick …
: Just got all 33 questions on a practice German citizenship test correct, including a vital question …
: After nearly 3 weeks my wife was discharged from heart rehab today and is now back home 🥰
: After almost 3 weeks my wife was discharged from heart rehab and is now back home 🥰
: Stubborn Germans in Texas hold competing “Germanfests” in dispute over beer (NYT gift …
: Taking my B1 German test (required for German citizenship) this morning. I could have attended a …
: I’ve never really followed the NBA. There was no team in Minnesota when I grew up, and now …
: Service post: if you get admitted to German stationary PT rehab on a Friday, you likely will not get …
: Breakfast relaunch at $mcd Germany today. Standard opening hours (7:00 - 10:30 am), a few new …
: Had to find a new German “Notar” as ours has retired and now sells her own art
: Three episodes in, Ripley on Netflix is very, very good
: Most German households buy fresh hard rolls in the morning for breakfast. I get sent out to buy …
: I’m helping my wife recover from her heart operation 3 weeks ago. She’s supposed to get …
: The new German citizenship bill has now been signed into law, so I just signed up for both the B1 …
: Our lobby in Rade has been closed for remodelling just one day and it’s already pretty much …
: In response to German recession, higher wages, higher VAT for restaurants, flat sales, and general …
: Voted “None of the Above” in the Democratic Global Presidential Primary 🤷♂️
: Luckily my Delta flight from Amsterdam on Tuesday was to Minneapolis, not Detroit “Delta flight …
: Set to fly tomorrow at 8:30am via Amsterdam to the US. Except KLM announced at 4:00pm that it was …
: Birthday dinner. #GermanSoulFood #Grünkohl
: All I got for my birthday is the knowledge I now need blood pressure medicine 🙄
: A highlight of my weekend was meeting a 14-year-old who, when they heard I was from Minnesota, said …
: Twenty-one hours Hauptstadt coming to an end
: German Taylor envy: “Taylor Swift: Isn’t Helene Fischer much better?” …
: Peet’s Hoff is full #DefendDemocracy
: Demonstration: “Defend Democracy - Together against right-wing Extremism”, today at 1:00 …
: This Saturday Buchholz is holding a demonstration “For Democracy and Human Rights”, much …
: The ads for silly gadgets on X etc. feel like Ronco 2.0. Remember the Bass-O-Matic?
: In Germany, right-wing party supports mass deportations, even for naturalized citizens. Over 1 …
: So for this new dual citizenship thing in Germany, we just have to declare our allegiance to Rio I. …
: Out in the clear, cold weather last week
: My wife is suffering from “vaccine fatigue”. She got a vaccine yesterday, and today …
: The past few days I’ve been using an ChatGPT client (Typing Mind) for web searches instead of …
: Although we did see 4 tractors in front of our Finanzamt this morning #miniprotest
: The nice thing about living in the country is that when German farmers drive their tractors to the …
: Not that long ago we‘d two full pages of coupons in our mailing. Now there are just 8 paper coupons. …
: The year is beginning well. While biking slowly on a muddy path on Sunday I fell into a wooden …
: Raclette for two, part 4 (or 5). This will stop once we start dry (and lean) January.
: This first work day after the (German) Christmas holiday(s) was such that we’re really glad we saved …
: “I think we’ll have Minnesota white wine with the duck.“ The glass doesn’t match the bottle, but …
: In the first line of our Christmas letter, my wife mentions that the “VUCA world” …
: This will be a quiet holiday. Dementia has made large gatherings on my wife’s side infeasible, the …
: Minnesota unveils new state flag after decades of criticism of previous design …
: This standing clock adopted us this year. It’s nearly 100 years old, originally bought in Berlin. We …
: Why get a KitchenAid when our Krups 3Mix (wedding present from 40 years ago) with detachable hand …
: Heading our 2nd of 4 Christmas Market events this week (the 4th is self-hosted, but it still counts) …
: So now that Threads is in the EU, is that where we all are now?
: Danish Rail sent back (at my expense) the wallet I had left on the train 2 weeks ago. Cash and …
: November was a month of losing things I left my PC glasses at a hotel I left my wallet with IDs and …
: McDonald’s unveils Google deal to use AI to produce better burgers …
: One does not simply defy Scandinavian unions …
: In high school I joined Mensa based on my SAT scores, but after a couple of meetings I realized I …
: Our meeting was embargoed on social media, but it’s done now and we’re taking the train from …
: Taking the train to a neighboring country tomorrow, return on Friday. If the German train drivers go …
: Now that the German government has “lost” 60 billion Euros and the 3 coalition partners …
: This is MSP so yes there’s a Prince shop
: NYT: At McDonald’s, a Growing Appetite for Fashion (gift article) …
: Transit area Schiphol airport
: I’ve never been so pessimistic about the state of the world as now. October 7 has polarized the …
: Kevin Drum: Donald Trump and the “threat from within” jabberwocking.com/donald-tr…
: Back from our quick Bielefeld/Lemgo trip, but I left my computer glasses at the hotel. The hotel …
: Today’s stop: annual financial and tax meeting with our accountant in Lemgo
: Greetings from Teutoburg Forest, Bielefeld. Free day between meetings, so we brought our e-bikes. …
: New concept McDonald’s in Dissen, near Osnabrück. Germany can start getting used to double-lane …
: Being 60 is like leading 3-0 in the 75th minute so you don’t have to run full speed for a goal …
: Reminder to my future self: to install the removable trailer hitch, you have to pull the knob out …
: AI fake nudes are booming. It’s ruining real teens’ lives www.washingtonpost.com/technolog…
: Our son hung a glider cover to dry in our stairwell and I swear our house is now haunted!
: ‘Hostage situation’ at Hamburg airport as gunman drives on to runway …
: The Future of RSS. RSS is exactly how this post appears on 4 services at once, and the sky is the …
: Dieter Rams pointing at things he doesn’t like www.youtube.com/watch (via Daring Fireball)
: Churchill “knew all about war and nothing about peace”. When Mark Twain met Winston Churchill 1900 …
: Harburg is developing its own Halloween traditions. About 300 youths gathered and threw fireworks …
: Post Once, Share Everywhere with micro.blog These past few days I’ve been trying out micro.blog to manage my social media posts. I write …
: We’re excited for Reformation Day! We’ve nailed some theses to our front door and can’t wait for the …
: Truth doesn’t matter anymore. People believe what they want to believe.
: <– insert obligatory end-of-daylight-savings-time post here –>
: In November we’ve got two business trips (one inland, one Copenhagen) and a personal trip for me …
: I’m usually pretty good at German bureaucracy, but it took me 20 minutes to cancel our …
: Having had my teeth bleached yesterday, I can only eat white food today. That’s not white …
: A Full House of Passports I renewed my passport this June. The old one didn’t expire for another year, but living abroad …
: So it took me nearly a year for my second post. 😛 But I’m back to try it out again!