The Frying Pan

8:12 AM

Morning all

user116848

9:06 AM

Morning.

user116848

I have a small sentence that came to my mind. I thought I'd ask a native speaker of English whether it is grammatical or not.

user116848

Can you tell me if “use” in my sentence sound natural to your native ear?:

user116848

“If you use your brain you wouldn't ask such a question.”

user116848

Because I tend to use “use” or “present tense” instead of “used” in sentences like this.

ElendilTheTall

used

user116848

9:19 AM

okay, thanks.

ElendilTheTall

by which I mean, used is correct

user116848

Yeah.

user116848

I see some sentences like that on Google but I'm not sure whether they were written by native speakers of English or not: google.com/…

ElendilTheTall

For 'use' you would have to modify the second clause: 'If you use your brain you won't have to ask such questions'

user116848

You are right. The sequences of tenses don't match there in my example.

ElendilTheTall

9:38 AM

@Cindy hey

@Arrowfar don't beat yourself up over it ;)

user116848

@ElendilTheTall Heh, thanks :)

user116848

It used to confuse me a lot. Now I think I'm getting better but still improving.

user116848

Hi @Cindy.

ElendilTheTall

English is a tangled language

user116848

But still I think I make a mistake every now and then.

user116848

9:48 AM

@ElendilTheTall Yes it is.

ElendilTheTall

As a native speaker you don't realise just how much until you try and teach it to someone

user116848

Heh.

ElendilTheTall

How do you explain to a 4 year old that c-o-u-l-d, CUH-OH-UH-LUH-DUH = 'cood'

user116848

Yes if I try to teach someone Urdu I'm sure it would be very difficult.

ElendilTheTall

basically it's all the inconsistencies that make English tricky. Are there lots of those in Urdu?

user116848

9:52 AM

Yes there are. But it is all relative, like if a person knows a bit of Arabic or Persian than it might be easier to learn.

user116848

But Urdu is not used anywhere except in a handful of places so no one learns it.

ElendilTheTall

my language knowledge is inversely proportional to the longitude the language is most commonly found in, with the exception of Japan

Faheem Mitha

@Arrowfar I thought people speak and write Urdu in Pakistan. And certainly some do in India.

user116848

Yes that is true.

Faheem Mitha

Take any English sentence of moderate complexity. A group of "experts" could easily spend some time arguing over its correctness.

ElendilTheTall

9:56 AM

Aren't Urdu and Hindi very similar?

IIRC they are both forms of Hindustani

user116848

@ElendilTheTall Yes they are but the script is different.

Faheem Mitha

@ElendilTheTall Hindi is essentially a superset of Urdu, but written in Devnagri. To a first approximation, at least.

ElendilTheTall

@Arrowfar I see. Urdu uses Arabic script?

Faheem Mitha

I'm unclear on the relationship between them. But certainly spoken Urdu, in my experience at least, is essentially Hindi. Though with a very Persian-influenced vocabulary.

user116848

@ElendilTheTall Yes it does. A mix of Arabic, Persian etc.

Faheem Mitha

9:58 AM

@ElendilTheTall It's a similar script to Arabic.

I don't know if the "alphabet" is exactly the same. I tried learning it once.

ElendilTheTall

is it read right to left?

user116848

Yes right to left exactly.

Faheem Mitha

According to the WP page on Hindi, it was an obscure language which hit the big time sort of by accident. But I may be misunderstanding the history.

@Arrowfar Do you know the relationship between Urdu and Hindi?

user116848

Urdu

Urdu (/ˈʊərduː/; Urdu: اُردُو‎ ALA-LC: Urdū; IPA: [ˈʊrd̪uː], or Modern Standard Urdu) is a standardised register of the Hindustani language. It is the national language and lingua franca of Pakistan, and an official language of six states of India. It is also one of the 22 official languages recognized in the Constitution of India. Urdu is historically associated with the Muslims of the region of Hindustan. Apart from specialized vocabulary, Urdu is mutually intelligible with Standard Hindi, which is associated with the Hindu community. The Urdu language received recognition and patronage under...

ElendilTheTall

> Urdu is mutually intelligible with Standard Hindi

is Devanagri script read right to left as well?

user116848

10:01 AM

@FaheemMitha Yes they are pretty same in the way we speak but the script is different. I'll write something in Roman Urdu tell me if you understand it. I think you will :)

Faheem Mitha

@Arrowfar No, I won't.

@ElendilTheTall No, left to right.

user116848

@FaheemMitha "Aap ko ye sentence samaj aa raha hai?" (Roman Urdu)

Faheem Mitha

Devnagri is phonetic. It's relatively easy to read. Arguably easier than the Roman alphabet, which is not phonetic.

@Arrowfar Yes, I understand that.

user116848

See, I knew it. heh.

Faheem Mitha

Sorry, I misunderstood what you meant by Roman Urdu.

Who knows, once upon a time the Roman alphabet might have been phonetic.

user116848

10:03 AM

Yes just like the language they use in Hindi films. I understand them perfectly :)

Faheem Mitha

@Arrowfar And "aap" is very polite. You could say "tum". I wouldn't be offended. :-)

user116848

Yeah I tried to "hedge" the sentence with "aap" heh.

Faheem Mitha

LOL

user116848

I use "tum" here though. "Aap" only with elders or mom/dad etc.

Faheem Mitha

@Arrowfar Right. I tend to use "aap" with everyone. And I occasionally get comments about that.

user116848

10:09 AM

Some people use "tu" which is rather rude. I never use that.

user116848

So that means we can talk here in code and no one would understand ;)

user116848

"Tu" etc. seems like a thug language to me.

ElendilTheTall

that's something where English is relatively simple, we don't have different words depending on who we're speaking to

Japanese is quite a simple, logical language, until you get into all that nonsense

user116848

@ElendilTheTall Yes exactly "you" in general for everything. It is simpler that way.

Faheem Mitha

English is simple in some ways. For example, inanimate objects don't have gender. Which always struck me as weird and unnecessary. Of course, it is a very wacky language in lots of other ways.

I've heard that Latin, for example, has all sorts of complexities, inflections and so forth, that English does not have.

ElendilTheTall

10:16 AM

Dearest creature in creation,
Study English pronunciation.
I will teach you in my verse
Sounds like corpse, corps, horse, and worse.
I will keep you, Suzy, busy,
Make your head with heat grow dizzy.
Tear in eye, your dress will tear.
So shall I! Oh hear my prayer.

Just compare heart, beard, and heard,
Dies and diet, lord and word,
Sword and sward, retain and Britain.
(Mind the latter, how it’s written.)
Now I surely will not plague you
With such words as plaque and ague.
But be careful how you speak:
Say break and steak, but bleak and streak;
Cloven, oven, how and low,
Script, receipt, show, poem, and toe.

Faheem Mitha

@Arrowfar True. Though my knowledge of Hindi/Urdu/whatever is rather limited.

ElendilTheTall

Hear me say, devoid of trickery,
Daughter, laughter, and Terpsichore,
Typhoid, measles, topsails, aisles,
Exiles, similes, and reviles;
Scholar, vicar, and cigar,
Solar, mica, war and far;
One, anemone, Balmoral,
Kitchen, lichen, laundry, laurel;
Gertrude, German, wind and mind,
Scene, Melpomene, mankind.

Faheem Mitha

@Arrowfar Actually, I think one could type Devnagri directly in here. Probably Urdu script too.

ElendilTheTall

(the names of the muses are a bit rich here, they're Greek!)

user116848

@FaheemMitha But I can't type Urdu here. I mean I have never written Urdu on keyboard, just on paper.

Faheem Mitha

10:19 AM

@Arrowfar Ok. But I'm just saying that I think it is possible. I'm sure Urdu is in Unicode.

And Devnagri certainly is. I've seen people do it.

Yes, English pronunciation and spelling is a nightmare. That's something phonetic languages don't have to contend with.

ElendilTheTall

देवनागरी

user116848

This is Urdu: آپ کیسے ہیں؟

user116848

The font is very small for chat.

ElendilTheTall

# testing

Faheem Mitha

@ElendilTheTall Did you cut and paste that?

user116848

10:23 AM

Arabic font in chat is very small too. I saw that in Arabic SE site.

Faheem Mitha

@Arrowfar It's a bit small. Did you cut and paste? What does that say?

ElendilTheTall

@FaheemMitha yes, of course

Faheem Mitha

@ElendilTheTall Ok. It just says "Devnagri", as you probably know. Can you read Devnagri?

ElendilTheTall

It says 'Devanagari' according to Wikipedia...

user116848

So I can't read what Elendil wrote. Can you read what he pasted @FaheemMitha?

user116848

10:25 AM

@FaheemMitha Yes that is the Urdu script. It says "How are you?"

ElendilTheTall

ोवमा्िु

Faheem Mitha

@Arrowfar Yes, I just says "Devnagri" in Devnagri.

ElendilTheTall

I have just installed the hindi keyboard

Faheem Mitha

@ElendilTheTall That missed a bit at the beginning.

ElendilTheTall

I have no idea how it works

् <- this happens when I type 'D'

it's like a modifier

Faheem Mitha

10:26 AM

@ElendilTheTall Well, the fonts have to be available. And I don't really understand how fonts work, especially in a browser.

ElendilTheTall

अ <- this is capital D

Faheem Mitha

@ElendilTheTall Actually, that's pronounced "Er".

Probably the closest thing in Devnagri to an A.

ElendilTheTall

I'm sure... I'm just saying what keypress creates it

Faheem Mitha

@ElendilTheTall Oh, I see.

I've heard TeX people talking about fonts, but it's confusing.

ElendilTheTall

ubcsanskrit.ca/keyboards.html

user116848

10:30 AM

I don't know Devnagri. First time I'm seeing it I guess.

Faheem Mitha

Actually, there it says अ is "a", as I would expect.

D = ध

@Arrowfar Oh, really? Hmm. I thought Pakistanis would know some Hindi.

user116848

Isn't it great? One chat room with so many different languages from around the world :)

ElendilTheTall

@Arrowfar hai!

si

oui

ja

ie

user116848

@FaheemMitha We can totally understand an Indian film. Like completely, but we are not familiar with the Hindi script. Here we use our own Arabic/Persian type script but the way we speak the language is pretty same.

user116848

@ElendilTheTall :)

Faheem Mitha

10:33 AM

I think my Pakistani cousins know Urdu, for example. They certainly spoke it.

They were quite culturally-minded, far more than us.

@Arrowfar I see.

But one of them married an Irishman, another an American. So I don't know how much contact they have with Pakistan now.

I guess most people try to leave Pakistan if they can. Since conditions are not good there.

The lady who married the American complained of being harassed in Pakistan. She is a classsical dancer. And they objected to her dancing, or so I heard.

user116848

Yes true. It is an unstable country.

user116848

Also I never recommend anyone to visit Pakistan. I mean this place can be very unsafe sometimes.

Faheem Mitha

@Arrowfar Oh. That's too bad. I'm sure it is worth visiting.

user116848

Yeah um I dunno. I mean I'm kinda used to this place so I don't mind much.

Faheem Mitha

Parts of India are still very beautiful, even with all the abuse it has suffered. Not around here, of course.

user116848

10:45 AM

I mean here Talibans/terrorists etc. have made a mess.

user116848

I don't know what they get out of it.

Faheem Mitha

@Arrowfar Do you understand the historical background of that? It's hard to get the facts, because everyone has motivation to lie. Are they just religious thugs?

user116848

There objective seems to harass and scare people I guess.

Faheem Mitha

@Arrowfar To what end?

user116848

The type of attacks we saw in Paris (ISIS attack) we see that kind of thing here every so often sadly. A few months back some guys (probably IS) got on a bus full of people and sprayed them with bullets killing 40 on the spot.

user116848

10:47 AM

I mean in the city I live in.

user116848

List of terrorist incidents, 2015

This is a timeline of terrorist incidents which took place in 2015, including attacks by violent non-state actors for political or other unknown motives. By 13 November there have been 289 terrorist attacks. == List guidelines == Casualties figures in this list are the total casualties of the incident including immediate casualties and later casualties (such as people who succumbed to their wounds long after the attacks occurred). The casualties listed are the victims, perpetrator casualties are listed separately (e.g. (+1 perpetrator) indicate that along with the victims of the attack, o...

Faheem Mitha

@Arrowfar Sounds nasty. :-( And unsafe.

user116848

Yeah totally.

Faheem Mitha

@Arrowfar I guess you avoid public transport then?

user116848

@FaheemMitha I don't know. They say it is religion but I disagree. It is mixture of many things I guess. Like desperation, poverty, joblessness, some religious stuff too. I dunno.

user116848

10:51 AM

@FaheemMitha Yes sometimes. But many people use it.

Faheem Mitha

@Arrowfar Yes, desperation can take strange forms.

I hear that even in the UK, unemployment has caused lots of social problems.

user116848

I see.

Faheem Mitha

One version of the story is since that delightful Thatcher lady (and her friends) destroyed British manufacturing, there's a big segment of the population which no longer know what do do with themselves, so they are wandering around making trouble.

user116848

The whole world is becoming a tough place to live in :)

Faheem Mitha

I remember reading a big discussion on it online some years ago. In the Guardian, maybe.

@Arrowfar It always was...

ElendilTheTall

10:54 AM

@FaheemMitha and yet, no jobless oik has seen fit to spray a bus with bullets

Faheem Mitha

@ElendilTheTall Yet.

ElendilTheTall

for that kind of thing, you do need religion

@FaheemMitha it won't happen

Faheem Mitha

True, the UK does seem to be fresh out of religion these days. The Church of England certainly doesn't cut it any more.

ElendilTheTall

long may it continue

Faheem Mitha

@ElendilTheTall Amen.

I guess Henry the Eighth really did his country a service. Though he probably didn't mean to. He just wanted to bed whoever it was.

ElendilTheTall

10:56 AM

yes, the randy old git

Faheem Mitha

There's a portrait of him hanging above the Fellows Table in the Great Hall in Trinity College. It always stuck me as kind of weird. I mean, the guy was a mass murderer.

And some of his victims included his own wives.

ElendilTheTall

royalty gives one a lot of leeway

Faheem Mitha

@ElendilTheTall Apparently.

ElendilTheTall

you could argue that any British monarch is a mass murderer, they are all Commanders in Chief of the armed forces

Faheem Mitha

@ElendilTheTall But these days, it's a figurehead thing.

They don't get to actually make any decisions. At least, I hope not...

ElendilTheTall

11:00 AM

well, the 5th in line to the throne was until recently an active-duty Apache pilot in Afghanistan

Faheem Mitha

@ElendilTheTall Was that Edward?

ElendilTheTall

Harry

Faheem Mitha

OK

Diana's son?

ElendilTheTall

yes

Faheem Mitha

Ok

alexbeckett.co.uk Someone who makes his living as a wedding photographer, apparently. Though his web site avoids saying that outright. Wonder how one gets into this business.

ElendilTheTall

11:23 AM

1. Buy a camera 2. Call yourself a wedding photographer

@rumtscho hello stranger

rumtscho

hello weirdly long person

ElendilTheTall

ha, I've been called that before ;)

how are you anyhoo?

rumtscho

as always, trying to work items off the list quicker than they come onto it and failing :(

Last week, I learned for sure that my contract won't be renewed

ElendilTheTall

gah

rumtscho

so I'm writing job applications

ElendilTheTall

11:31 AM

i'm sure a lady of your experience and intelligence will have no problem finding another

rumtscho

The places I could work (if everything goes well) are very exciting. But the process is not only time consuming, it's also draining. Anxiously running to the phone at every "new mail" ding, that sort of thing.

ElendilTheTall

yes

well, remain calm. equanimity is the name of the game.

I SAID REMAIN CALM!

rumtscho

hehe

sadly, my inner critic seems to be deaf

Hmm, I'm writing an unsolicited application now. Whom should I address?

ElendilTheTall

'To Whom It May Concern'

or 'Dear Sir/Madam'

the latter is more common these days

not sure of the German equivalents of course

rumtscho

yes, that's probably the safe course

hello @Cindy!

ElendilTheTall

11:43 AM

hmmm, is that the real Cindy or phantom-Cindy

pseudo-Cindy

pseudo-Psindy, even

or just Psindy

rumtscho

what, we have an impostor here? Where is our Cindy?

ElendilTheTall

Psindy is just Cindy when she's not actually in the room

Sindy is Cindy when she's had a couple of sherries ;D

rumtscho

And how are you @ElendilTheTall?

Any nice photo trips lately?

ElendilTheTall

I am much the same as always, thank you

No, no nice photo trips... I think you saw my last few... autumnal trees?

rumtscho

on a river? I haven't been much in the room lately.

ElendilTheTall

11:52 AM

yes, a waterfall

rumtscho

Yes, it was beautiful.

Leaf season is almost over here :(

ElendilTheTall

yes. ours are all on the ground now blocking drains

my shutter finger is getting itchy, but the weather has been miserable of late

I will be keeping an eye out for the first frost

rumtscho

Oh, hoary frost pictures!

ElendilTheTall

that's the hope

i'm also toying with getting an adaptor for my telescope which I have dug out of storage

though I am missing the counterweight

rumtscho

I've never handled a telescope. They have a counterweight? Can one be easily rigged with stuff laying around, or is it precision tech?

ElendilTheTall

11:58 AM

reflecting telescopes do, yes

not particularly precise, no

the counterweight is the cylinder next to the left leg

Faheem Mitha

@ElendilTheTall I was talking about the actually making money part.

I suppose one could kidnap prospective wedding couples and force them to let you take their picture...

Hi @rumtscho

rumtscho

Hi @FaheemMitha

Faheem Mitha

@rumtscho What's happening?

rumtscho

job seeking

ElendilTheTall

@FaheemMitha you just need to have a fairly good portfolio to start with

that involves doing friends' weddings, getting work as a 'second shooter', and so on

Faheem Mitha

12:09 PM

@ElendilTheTall Oh. Not a line of work that appeals to you, then?

ElendilTheTall

it is very competitive - every tom, dick or harry with a camera seems to call themselves a wedding photographer

Faheem Mitha

@ElendilTheTall Oh. Well, this guy seems to get some work. I wonder what his secret is.

@rumtscho Job hunting sucks.

ElendilTheTall

@FaheemMitha his photos are exceptional

Faheem Mitha

@ElendilTheTall Oh, really? But yours are exceptional too, right?

ElendilTheTall

@FaheemMitha not particularly

of course, exceptional is in the eye of the beholder

this guy has talent and probably a certain amount of luck. He probably started out doing standard issue weddings in standard issue churches followed by standard issue receptions

then he got a couple of lucky bookings in better locations which meant the shots were naturally more spectacular

Faheem Mitha

12:17 PM

Is being based in Cambridge helpful?

It's certainly very scenic. And all those chapels.

ElendilTheTall

that brought him more business so he could invest in more equipment - his shots make use of some advanced artificial lighting

Faheem Mitha

I see. I wouldn't know.

ElendilTheTall

then you have a snowball effect where you get increasingly more expensive weddings in increasingly spectacular locations, until you are taking elaborate shots in front of Tower Bridge or at Hindu temples in the middle of the jungle

Faheem Mitha

@ElendilTheTall I don't think there are many Hindu temples in Cambridge. Or in the UK, for that matter. And none located in jungles.

ElendilTheTall

well, there's a photo of one in his slideshow...

Faheem Mitha

12:19 PM

@ElendilTheTall Oh! I must have missed that.

ElendilTheTall

you know, it's possible for people to travel away from their present location

Faheem Mitha

I must say, that web site might as well have been subtitled "White Privilege".

@ElendilTheTall Yes, I know.

user116848

Hello @rumtscho.

user116848

@ElendilTheTall Nice!

rumtscho

hi @Arrowfar

Faheem Mitha

12:23 PM

@ElendilTheTall How does photographic talent manifest itself? An eye for the good shot? A good understanding of light? A sense of location?

Faheem Mitha

12:51 PM

For German speakers, what is the etymology of "Heinzelmännchen"?

Meaning something like "little helpers", I think.

ElendilTheTall

1:05 PM

@FaheemMitha yes

That is regarding your photo question btw

Cindy

@ElendilTheTall Hey there!

@Arrowfar @rumtscho Got your pings also. Good morning!

rumtscho

@Cindy good morning

ElendilTheTall

hey there

how you doing?

Cindy

@ElendilTheTall Tired and only have a few minutes as I have to get ready to leave shortly. I'd rather go back to sleep :)

ElendilTheTall

@Cindy we're used to your fleeting visits :(

Cindy

1:21 PM

Good news about my kitty. She had been waffling, seeming a tiny bit better, then a tiny bit worse. And yesterday hubby said she seemed to be getting a little worse. But this morning she got up, used her litter box, went to one of her favorite windows and ate solid food. First solid food in a week. And she has a very tiny bit of pink color back in her nose. (Last week it was dead pale white.) Then back to sleep.

ElendilTheTall

sounds promising. tough kitty!

rumtscho

Sweet!

(maybe not the most appropriate response, but it's my usual reaction when I think about kitties)

Cindy

@ElendilTheTall I know. I will be so glad to get home and get back to something more normal, such as it is.

@ElendilTheTall She's definitely a trouper! :)

ElendilTheTall

and a trooper

Cindy

@rumtscho Aww. Always appropriate for kitties.

@ElendilTheTall That too, lol. >.<

rumtscho

1:24 PM

I just noticed a second place which recommends that one ends a cover letter with "thanks that you read the letter". Is this really normal and expected? Seems over the top to me.

Especially since I don't write to the kind of company who gets 8000 applications a day.

ElendilTheTall

@rumtscho 'Thank you for your consideration' is fairly standard

Cindy

@ElendilTheTall Not up on the who conversation, but in cover letters I always use "In advance, thank you for your time and consideration".

rumtscho

@Cindy The whole conversation in a nutshell: I need a new job.

my direct supervisor would have liked to keep me, but the project was underfinanced. This is not so rare in research, sadly.

It's not tragic, although it's a bit too early. Now I need a place which will have me part-time until I finish the dissertation in 4-5 months, then will switch me to full time.

ElendilTheTall

Aldi pays very well ;)

Cindy

Another line I use before that is something like "I am very interested to learn more about this opportunity with <insert company> and look forward to hearing from you". It may vary slightly depending on the company and position. The two lines together set a subliminal (if you will) expectation of their consideration and a response while showing that you are not afraid to set those expectations.

rumtscho

1:34 PM

Did you pick them at random, or were you aware that they are a terrible workplace even when compared to others of their industry?

Cindy

@rumtscho Is that for Tall?

ElendilTheTall

@Cindy you, I think

rumtscho

@Cindy for Tall's suggestion of Aldi

Cindy

@ElendilTheTall ??? I thought she was talking about the Aldi comment.

ElendilTheTall

oh

sorry, I need more coffee

I am aware that it would not be the most edifying of jobs

Jolenealaska

1:42 PM

hi all

Cindy

@Jolenealaska Hey there!

rumtscho

@ElendilTheTall I've heard from two separate people who've worked for them (in the management positions, not as cashiers or such) that they have a terrible company culture. Lots of backstabbing, and that's encouraged by top management.

hi @Jolenealaska

Jolenealaska

I'm not entirely sure that I'm up yet,but I thought it was worth a shot.

rumtscho

@Jolenealaska you don't have to be up to use a computer

Cindy

@rumtscho We have Aldi in the US and most recently they have come into my area. I haven't really heard anything good about them.

rumtscho

1:45 PM

I've shopped at them for years, as a student.

Cindy

Over the years, I've heard they're pretty tough.

rumtscho

OK, cover letter for dream job #2 complete!

Cindy

Yay!

@rumtscho Have you looked at remote jobs?

rumtscho

@Cindy Yes, dreamjob #1 happens to be a remote job: Stack Exchange itself!

Cindy

@Jolenealaska Read up for the latest on my kitty. BIG :).

rumtscho

1:52 PM

stackexchange.com/work-here/84379/…

Jolenealaska

ooh!

Cindy

@rumtscho Awesome. I noticed when I searched for remote positions that most were in the tech fields. Unfortunately, I'm not. But I am field based and therefore remote.

rumtscho

I know Stack Exchange is a great employer, and I'm already invested in the product. And remote will be great because of the opportunities to travel and work at the same time. This will solve the problem of seeing my parents too seldom.

On the other hand, dreamjob #2 is about curing cancer.

Jolenealaska

@Cindy great about your Kitty. :)

ElendilTheTall

Ah, but dream job 1 is about fixing that one fucking bug that just won't fucking work

rumtscho

1:55 PM

It's not just that it can't be beat in meaningfulness, it's that I've always been fascinated by biology. I've learned quite a bit about it in the last few years, and the more I learn, the more I want to be part of it.

Cindy

Sounds like a wonderful opportunity. I had looked at the Stack openings and wished that I had a background to go for one. Won't happen but it would be a dream job!

rumtscho

@ElendilTheTall It's a product manager job, not a dev job.

Cindy

@Jolenealaska Yes. Gives us a lot of hope. :)

rumtscho

so it's exactly my specialization.

I wrote to SE jobs a few days ago to ask about the legal matters of working in Germany but having a US employer. When they answer, out goes the full application.

ElendilTheTall

@rumtscho yes, but it's product managing Stack Overflow...

Faheem Mitha

1:57 PM

@Cindy Sounds good. Fingers crossed. Is the vet visiting her?

@rumtscho You speak German. What's the etymology of "Heinzelmännchen"?

Jolenealaska

@rumtscho it sucks that you are looking, but I love that you are looking at Stack Overflow. Shall we write a combined effort reference?

rumtscho

@FaheemMitha I speak it, I don't research it. I have no idea about etymologies.

Faheem Mitha

@rumtscho Ok

Cindy

Hey guys. Must run as the manager I'm working with will be picking me up soon. Last day in Chicago and then home tomorrow. Just hope the airports are not a mess with all that's going on. I leave from O'Hare and layover in LaGuardia.

Faheem Mitha

@Cindy What's going on? Airports? Mess?

rumtscho

1:59 PM

@Cindy OK, then I wish you a calm, eventless flight. Greet the kitty from me when you get home!

Cindy

@FaheemMitha No. All home care. Hubby has stayed home this week while I'm gone. We'll have to take her in for him to check her.

Faheem Mitha

@Cindy Ah, Ok. Well, best wishes to your kitty.

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