Weird? Pretty much.

[Dina]

Fcrate, great to see you!
Sorry about your trees. I agree, pulling down a tree it is very sad. It always upsets me.

Thanks for your wishes for the computer, I loved ir.
Well, there has been a development. Today I did not have to work, because...someone tried to kill our vicepresident. Therefore, the president declared a not-working day so people could manifest in defense of democracy.
The thing is difficult to explain, because our vice president is been accused for some corruption that happened a few years ago, when she was the president. So, for the last days, every time she arrived home at night there were many people waiting for her to show her support and love for her. It had been politically agitated days. But last night in the middle of the supporting people, someone pull the trigger of a gun, but the bullet did not exit the gun. I mean, there was no shot.
Of course, the man was arrested, but so far it is no clear why he did that.
So yes...weird things. But no work for us.

In case you are interested
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/sep/02/cristina-kirchner-argentina-vice-president-man-detained-gun

[Fcrate]

This is interesting. I'm wondering though, do you have a real democracy over there? And she was president, then what? Lost the election because of the corruption rumors and became vice president as some sort of deal?
Today the bulldozer knocked down a 25 year old tree in the next street. Was too far for me to see, but I got there and took a few pictures. I'll file another complaint in the city council. Not that it'll be much help...

[Dina]

We do have a real democracy, with some suspects of corruption over the judges that come from many years ago and is beyond the political party in power.
But no. She was the president twice in a row (2007-2015). Our laws say that you cannot be reelected twice in a row (that is, you cannot stay in power three mandates without interruption). When she finished her second tenure, there were elections and the party that was opposition at the time won. So we have another president. When that president finished his first mandate, he lost the elections to the current president/vice-president.
As is normal in my country, some people love her and others hate her, with very few greys. One side says she is corrupt and robber. The other thinks that the causes against her are bogus. She has a lot of supporters (more than the president, which is quite mild) and a lot of haters. But in all our history, there were very few cases of someone even hinting to kill a president (and none of someone trying to kill a vice president),
Incidentally, we had an assassination of a Senator, in the Parliament building. That was in 1935, democracy was quite weak at the time. That was a thing deserving a movie, and it was (a movie). A hired hitman entered the building in the middle of a debate and shot a senator (for his left ideas that were risking the right of the more powerful organizations of producers of crops and livestock) but another senator threw himself in the middle. He saved the life of his friend, at the cost of his own life.

[Fcrate]

This is fascinating... Someone gunning for the vice president does seem like a democracy thing. Lol. These things never happen here.
Edit: About the judges, it does always seem that there is a group above the law, doesn't it? But judges are workers, usually. Who do they work for?

[Dina]

The thing is...judges are for life. They do not need to be reelected or anything. So there are many very conservative ones, with connections to the most conservative, economically strong groups. I imagine they just want more power, influence and money.

Again, that never happened here before, and I only remember a couple of situation when someone tried to kill the president but it was stopped really fast. This time was terrible because custody had an epic fail.

I am trying to be as objective as I can about what happened, because real life politics as such are banned in the forum, but I am trying to just state facts.

[Regenbogen]

@Dina, your last post.
I think it's OK, because it is history you are telling us and you didn't tell us your own point of view.
I read the article, too.

@ Fcrate: the poor trees! And is it your trees they are destroying without recompensation? It takes a long time for a tree to grow and produce fruit. Do you think you have a chance of getting some money for your lost harvest? Or will it just be shrugs and shit happens?

@Dina
What? No apples yet? Weird. And no beer? At least they got the priorities straight with introducing coffee. LOL
It would be nice to befriend your hubby on Duolingo. I'll write you PM soon.
But I'm not sure about the chat function on Duolingo. I'm doing it on my cellphone with the app. There is no chat. Maybe on the computer or on the desktop website? I'll investigate.

Fun fact about the word cellphone: don't ask me why, but in Germany we call them "Handy" with English pronunciation.

@Fcrate:
About the redecoration.
LOL I remember my mother sometimes putting stuff elsewhere or putting down old curtains, replacing them with new ones. Moving the sofa to the other side or moving the dinner table. I never understood, but I thought, this seems to be something one needs to do once in a while. Now I understand, though I don't think I am too extreme. 
Once my father even removed one window, but replaced it with a new one on the other side of the room to have evening sun.

Edit:@ Dina
I have to look up the Spanish story book. It's on my kindle and there should be a translation included. Just in case. Tell you once I found it.

[Fcrate]

Not exactly my trees. These 4 trees were technically mine, but not part of my garden. I planted them in the street, 1.5m away from my wall, which is in our law the area called "Service area belonging to Fcrate's land". I don't know the English equivalent, or if there's any. We line the streets with trees here so that we can sit in shade in the evenings, but personally I prefer something productive to something purely aesthetic, so I planted these trees and everybody benefits from them. Mostly it's the neighbours who take the harvest, and I don't mind that. I have my own trees in m garden. But if someone is cooking and needs lemons, they can pick some up from my tree.
The contractors are digging quite deep, and they bulldoze any tree that blocks their way, or even makes their job a little more difficult. Legally, they aren't allowed to do that, but nobody cares, and if you complain, they just claim it was an accident while digging.
Edit @Regen: I've been recruited to move furniture around the house pointlessly every couple of years or so. Me and my 3 brothers. This year: move the sofa to the other wall, move the library where the sofa was, and we now we have much more space! Yay! Next year: Library back to the side, coffee table to the other, see how much better it looks? And how much more space we have now?
2 years later, everything back to the same place it was 4 years ago annnnd: look how much more space we have now! Isn't that better?! *eye roll*
We just went with it and said: "Yes mum, much better." like the little mules we were at least there was 4 of us. Made things easier. But it doesn't happen often anymore since my sister married and moved to America. My sisters in law started having some "Ideas" but I blackmailed them into shutting up

[Dina]

LOL about the blackmailing! Well, moving furniture when you can is a need  . I don't do it often because my place is very little so no many configurations are suitable, but when I was a young girl leaving with my parents in a large house, redecorations happened.

And I am so sorry about the trees and about mean people harming them.

We call handy the things like walkie talkie, not cellphones.

[Regenbogen]

LOL if I had 4 sons, I would totally make them carry stuff, too.
I usually do it alone, except for some really big stuff or something you need more than two hands. Or something that can break, if you are not careful.

@Dina: that's funny too. I mean that you have handys too. 

[Dina]

Hubby says there was beer, but it not appeared in the first lesson. Also, according to duolingo, German favorite drink is sparkling water, no, it is not beer or coffee.

[Regenbogen]

Hubby says there was beer, but it not appeared in the first lesson. Also, according to duolingo, German favorite drink is sparkling water, no, it is not beer or coffee.

Beer is sparkling, too. I thought it would be beer. Yes, about the water. Be careful when you order a glass of water in Germany. You'll get bottled mineral water which contains carbonic acid and therefore sparkles.
If you want water without sparkles, you have to order telling the waiter you want it without.
So if you say "Wasser", you get sparkling water.
If you say "stilles Wasser" (meaning silent water) you get water without carbonic acid.

Makes you burp better, lol.

[Dina]

Sounds good. I think many places here will ask you what water do you want. But for example with the coffe, most places will give you a glass of water...and that is up to the place if it is sparkling water or not-carbonated one.

[Regenbogen]

Hi!
I just had vanilla ice cream with apple juice. Nice. Because my husband complained that everybody eats tons of chocolate ice cream and nobody eats the vanilla. OK, give me the vanilla, lol. I think it's because he put himself in charge of the family's ice cream management this summer. He had to buy a lot of chocolate ice. LOL

I completed the elementary school's supply list today. At least the little one now has everything she needs for the start of school on September 13th. Only 4 books are still missing, but I already ordered them at the local book store.
MicroRegenbogen is very happy about the teacher. She mailed Saturday to introduce herself and send the shopping list. It is cool, when they do it in advance, so one can get the stuff in one's own time and not everybody in the first two school days in full stores. But this in advance stuff only seems to work in elementary schools. MiniRegenbogen will have to go shopping in full stores after her school starts.

[Dina]

OMG! MicroRegenbogen and MiniRegenbogen! I loved it 

Congratulations for having most of your shopping already done anyways.

Ok, I admit that if there is chocolate, I wouldn't choose the vanilla, but per se, vanilla ice cream is fine. Nothing to write home about, but it is icecream.

[Fcrate]

Ok, I admit that if there is chocolate, I wouldn't choose the vanilla, but per se, vanilla ice cream is fine. Nothing to write home about, but it is icecream.

My thoughts exactly. Personally I rarely seek out icecream, even though I love it, but when I do it's chocolate, chocolate, chocolate. Maybe a dash of vanilla mixed in. I don't think I have had any icecream this year though. I'm trying to lose weight.
Huh... MiniRegenbogen, MiniRogen for short, is in for a treat. I always loved book shopping.