@cerberus perhaps. It's used more as a 'mini fact' in America. But why would you use that definition?

Hi @ElendilTheTall. I had the worst birthday I can remember.

@jolenealaska oh no. What happened? <hugs>

@Jolenealaska oh no :(

Hi. How is everybody? I did not have a good day. But fortunately, it's over. Well, the hours between 5.20 pm and 7.20 pm, specifically, were not good.

@Jolenealaska - oh dear!

@FaheemMitha What happened?

@Stephie Oh, just an unpleasant meeting. I think I might have enjoyed a dentist drilling session more.

Yes, it was that unpleasant.

So, how is everyone else doing?

Apparently hardly anyone here today... but Europe has incredible weather and presumably all were basking in the sun.

We went blackberry picking (and even found a few mushrooms, quite unexpected) and now I have four pounds waiting in my kitchen.

@Stephie Ah. The heat wave is still going?

It's been raining here a little bit.

We've been having a rather dry monsoon. Not good.

So any rain is welcome.

@Jolenealaska So, what happened?

@Stephie Isn't picking mushrooms risky? They could be poisonous.

Heatwave cont., but there was a short "lull" with a few drops of rain two weeks ago.

@FaheemMitha Not at all if you know what you are doing and stuck to the ones that you can clearly identify. Have been doing it for twenty years now and I feed them to my kids, too.

There are a few rules, e.g. I stay clear from most white ones because there are ones with "leathal twins", but otherwise, it's ok.

You are in Mumbai, right? Hubby was in Cennai this spring and everyone was looking forward to monsoon season - but I forgot to ask his Indian collegue (here on a visit) how it went when we were out for dinner the other night.

But I will spend the evening with my jars and my blackberry jam in the kitchen, so no romantic movie night at our house tonight. I'm just waiting for sunset and slightly cooler temperatures.

@Stephie Ok. What about the period before you know what you are doing? :-)

@Stephie Bombay, yes. And it's Chennai.

As regards the meeting, I was talking to a woman who seemed to be auditioning for the title of stupidest person in the world. Very stressful.

@FaheemMitha Chennai... sorry. Call me Queen of typos! Before "jam time" I have to get the minors to bed. Or at least make sure that they are headed in the general direction. Preferably in a reasonably clean state ;-)))

@Stephie Two kids, right? Kids are a handful. How old are they?

Six and nine. Finally at an age where they can do many things by themselves. But without supervision... <sigh> No, they really are good kids, to be honest.

@Stephie Well, that sounds good. As long as they are healthy.

With regard to the current temperature and as it's still summer holidays rules are less strict so I'll be content if they are calm and read in bed. And luckily, yes, as healthy as they can be.

@Stephie Well, that's good. Unhealthy kids are lots of extra work.

@Stephie are you one of those people who used to be in this room a while back, or are you new here?

@FaheemMitha Define new.. no, in fact I am new. I have been with SE fir months but only recently started chatting.

@Stephie Ah, Ok. I know @Jay, for example, used to be here before. Before my time.

@FaheemMitha I sometimes ask questions that have the others go "Duh!", but that can't be helped.

@Stephie Where, on Seasoned Advice?

@FaheemMitha Started in German (kind of obvious..) but quickly added Seasoned Advice, Parenting, ELL and Gardening. A few others, but not active. You?

@Stephie U&L, SO, TeX, Academia, and a few others to a lesser extent.

You can see people's activity in detail with a little clicking.

Most of my rep is on U&L.

The TeX site in particular is super-helpful. The others too, to a lesser extent.

@FaheemMitha I know, but was too lazy atm... I should be on SO, I guess, but... Mhm, complicated.

@Stephie SO is useful, but not too friendly.

Well, you've got more rep than I do...

@FaheemMitha I know... and as I'm neither a "guru" nor willing to be scolded I sort of hesitate.

@Stephie I wouldn't worry about it. I don't.

@FaheemMitha Hm. Good to hear... Probably when I need SO I'll give it a try. I'm better at answering than asking.

@Stephie What kinds of things would you ask about?

If you ask a question and get hostility from SO, you can just delete it. Nobody cares.

I have to get my programming somewhat up to date. Latest trends in OOP and finally getting a good grip on Java. Or not.

Java, ugh.

Have been to close to the hardware in the last years and being a mom and staying home didn't help either. I'm more of a thinker and less of a programmer. I can do my algorithms with oen and paper, the programming language is a "side effect".

Never did Java seriously but haven't decided yet what I'm going to do for and after my masters degree, so I might have to bite the bullet.

Ok, am off to my "jam session" - take care, bye!

@Stephie Do you program professionally, or as a hobby?

@FaheemMitha Professionally. At least I did.

@Stephie Oh. Not now, then?

@FaheemMitha No. I was on extended parental leave after child 2 and I am almost done with my masters degree.

@Stephie Ah. Well, one of the ways Germany is more civilized than some other places.

@FaheemMitha How so?

@Stephie Well, parental leave is frowned on in the Anglo-American world. And there are many other places that aren't good about that. I don't know how India is, but I wouldn't expect much.

@FaheemMitha is it?

In America maybe, but in Britain it's par for the course

@ElendilTheTall What is?

Parental leavs

Leave

@ElendilTheTall I know it exists, but how generous is it?

@FaheemMitha Define generous..?

52 weeks, can be shared between either parent

And unlike America, you won't be let go just for taking it

@ElendilTheTall I don't follow. Between either parent? Isn't this based on your employment?

@Stephie The terms of the parental leave.

@FaheemMitha well, yes, both have to be employed, otherwise they wouldn't need leave...

@ElendilTheTall No, I meant, how can the terms of the leave be shared between the two partners, given that they probably have separate employment?

@FaheemMitha thought so. But just for the sake of completeness: Germany: 12/14 months with 2/3 of your previous paycheck (capped of course, not unlimited), up to 3 years absence from your job (unpaid) with a return guarantee to a similar position, one year can be shifted until the child is seven or eight years old.

"12/14 months with 2/3 of your previous paycheck (capped of course, not unlimited". Is your job held in that case?

And capped how?

Yes because that falls into the three years time frame and is a legal right that concerns the company and you. You can get governmental assistance for the first year (or 14 months if the father takes at least two months paternal leave).

If you earn 1,000€, you get around 666€. But there is an uper limit (would have to look it up), so you can't get 6,666€ if you made 10,000€ a month beforeyour pregnancy. Ok, ridiculous example, but you get the idea.

@Stephie Yes, I see. And this money is paid to you by who?

And why is 10,000€ a month ridiculous?

@FaheemMitha It's paid by the state. We do have a low birth rate, after all. Was an attempt to raise it. And very, very few Germans would make 10,000€ a minth after taxes.

@Stephie Wow, that's really generous then.

Is Germany's birth rate not at replacement then. I wish we had that problem.

@FaheemMitha parental leave is legally protected. It can't be refused by your employer.

@ElendilTheTall ok...

So, it's uniform across all employment? Interesting.

@FaheemMitha Germany has a birth rate of 1.38 (or so, the last digit depends on the statistics). If you calculate births per 1000 citizens we even have the lowest rate in the world.

@Stephie I'm not sure how that works. What number would replacement be? Steady-state population?

@FaheemMitha Slightly above 2 would mean a constant population. Slightly above because of deaths before reaching reproductive age or so.

@Stephie Ok. I've not really thought about it. So a shrinking population, then.

@FaheemMitha Correct. Currently worse than Japan...

@Stephie Ah. Again, I wish this was a problem we had here.

But speaking of (re-)production:

My batch of blackberry jam!

Not propperly canned yet etc., but still... :-)))

@Stephie Yummy!

Do you do a lot of canning?

@FaheemMitha Not too much. I have all the equipment etc., but I usually make only what I can't buy or when something won't fit in the freezer or if I get some extra fruit from friends and can't use all of it right away. Or if the whole family went berry picking, like today :-)

Ok. I hope you have enough people to eat it. :-)

Hello? That's jam! If I wouldn't stop him, my son would be eating it right out of the jars and forget about the bread...!

@Stephie Oh. Well, I guess some have more of a sweet tooth than others...

My math: That's ten jars, so probably six weeks of breakfast in total. I'll pretend that jam has to "ripen" and if I'm lucky I will have a jar left by Christmas.

Is it healthy to eat?

@FaheemMitha You more of a salty/spicy person, food-wise?

@Stephie No, I like sweet things too, but specific kinds of sweet things. For example, I can't control myself around chocolate. I also like fruit juice.

If there is chocolate within my reach, and I know about it, I'm going to eat it. Anti-social, perhaps, but there it is.

Define healthy... It's 3/4 fruit, 1/4 sugar, and a bit if pectin, then boiled and canned for extended shelf life. Better than Nutella by far.

If you like fruit juice, you would probably like my jam, I guess.

@Stephie I'm no expert on healthy.

@Stephie I like stuff you can drink.

As with all things, moderation is the key. But not too unhealthy, I guess. Definetively "organic" and free of pesticides.

True.

Fruit is generally good for you.

@FaheemMitha Do you have you cook buy stuff like this or does he/she make things from scratch?

@Stephie Buy stuff like what?

Foods that can be either home-made or bought. Like my jam. I can (and do) buy it, but when I have time, I make it. Same with bread, and stock/soup is something I almost always make from scratch. I'm not sure what would be the equivalent in Indian cuisine.

@Stephie Mostly our cook makes stuff from scratch. An exception is bread. He does have someone who helps him part time. One of his daughters.

I guess there are other things he buys rather than makes. Nobody makes everything from scratch.

The bread here is really terrible. I've toyed with having him make bread, but I'd have to organize it. And I've got other things to do.

One can buy a bread maker, but they are rather expensive here.

Also, I've no idea how well it would make bread. Plus our cook would have to be able to work it, and not break it. So it's a little bit of a risk.

Food from scratch as default is on the decline here. But there is a counter-movement, too. Would take me too long tonexplain, I'm really tired. Good night!

@Stephie Good night.