Post a random fact about yourself

[Somber Soul]

Heh, my civil service sucked balls as well How many months did you have to do? Mine was for 10 months.. well ok, it had an interesting side to it, but mostly, I was either bored out of my mind or doing the shitty things no one else wanted to do. Pfffffff

-I'll go on winter holidays with my mates in Switzerland!! Wooohooo! Ok, still 2.5 months to go but awesome news nonetheless

Civil service in Austria is 12 months. Little pay, mininum of 40 hours per week. My place is not so bad. I sit in an office at a computer with Internet connection (hence I can write messages here). But it is either boring as hell or stressfull as hell. And I also get to do all the crappy stuff the others don't want to do. If you have someone below you that can be ordered around, of course you do it. Hmpf. Okay, but as I said, only 19 more days.

 

[mousewings]

@Somber Soul: 19 more days. Good for you, just think that in a month it'll be over. Also you get iNet.


Facts about me: I am now legal in all countries.
-at the turning of above date, I was ill.
-if the thing in my sig happened, I'm leaving my job and moving to Sweden to start a family. Well, maybe no for the last one. It's so unglamourous.

 

[MagSec4]

I'll go on winter holidays with my mates in Switzerland!! Wooohooo! Ok, still 2.5 months to go but awesome news nonetheless

Take me, goddammit!

And Somber Soul gets out in less than a month. Invite him too, Taliesin, don't be like that >(

 

[hyena]

fact: in italy, smoking has recently been banned from all public places, and no restaurant in my area has the proper smoking rooms so it's effectively a no-smoking nation. i'm getting frustrated, but all in all it's not a bad idea. not really sure i agree about applying the law in pubs, tho.

 

[Siren]

@hyena: move in greece. the ban is here too, and cafeterias, restaurants etc are supposed to have separated areas for smokers and non-smokers, but it ends up being a whole area filled with smoke. but i think it's allowed in bars and the likes. we're trying to suicide.

 

[Child of Time]

I can't wait 'til smoking is prohibited on restaurants and bars here too. Sweet...Soon, soon...

 

[TheFourthHorseman]

I wish pubs were smokeless here as well...that'd mean that most of my friends would be going out every ten minutes, but I think I could live with that better than with the horrid smell on just about every piece of clothing that I wear.
Of course that's probably not going to happen in the near future.

 

[hyena]

well, i actually think that non-smokers have the right to stay in places where their clothes don't get smelly, their lungs don't get damaged by smoke etcetera. but i also think that until cigarettes are a legal object of trade then smokers should be given areas where it is possible to smoke.

 

[rahvin]

but i also think that until cigarettes are a legal object of trade then smokers should be given areas where it is possible to smoke.

well, certain weapons such as daggers are a legal object of trade whose purchase is not subjected to any restrictive measure, and yet you're not allowed to carry them with you in public. the usage of some tradable items can be restricted to private areas or specific situations without compromising the free commerce aspect of their nature.

regardless, i'm quite neutral/uninterested when it comes to this ban. sure, i don't like ending up with my clothes smelling like smoke or a sore throat every time i decide to go out to a bar, but:
- smokers' numbers are dwindling in europe, it's a decreasing phenomenon that an active ban is actually treating as some new craze;
- if somebody is smoking at a nearby table you're no more disturbed than if someone was smelling really bad, and i don't see any ban on personal lack of hygiene being passed; long-term effects of smoke on health fall into the category mentioned by hyena: as long as cigarettes are legally bought and sold without restrictions i don't wanna hear the "it's hazardous for your health" argument; lastly, if some of your peers are smoking at your table, you can ask them to go out (alone. not with you) or wait until later, possibly without needing a ban on bad manners;
- selfishly enough, i don't really spend enough time in bars anymore to be annoyed by anything happening there. at my place, all smokers are free to smoke in the bathroom or on the balcony.

 

[Hiljainen]

well, i actually think that non-smokers have the right to stay in places where their clothes don't get smelly, their lungs don't get damaged by smoke etcetera. but i also think that until cigarettes are a legal object of trade then smokers should be given areas where it is possible to smoke.

*builds a golden hyena statue*

 

[hyena]

well, certain weapons such as daggers are a legal object of trade whose purchase is not subjected to any restrictive measure, and yet you're not allowed to carry them with you in public.

and this is wrong, too. especially because light weapons can actually be good for my health, if i use them in the correct way.

@hiljainen: thanks, thanks. i want to see the statue once it's finished.

fact: i am hungover even if i didn't really drink last night. the wine was probably total shit, adding insult to injury (inconclusive date) to injury (not smoking) to injury (very cold weather resulting in aching neck today) to injury (i'm sure i'm forgetting something).

 

[Child of Time]

well, i actually think that non-smokers have the right to stay in places where their clothes don't get smelly, their lungs don't get damaged by smoke etcetera. but i also think that until cigarettes are a legal object of trade then smokers should be given areas where it is possible to smoke.

Isn't this like saying: "If you don't want to get shot, don't be around me because I'm going to fire some rounds with my assault rifle." When one nutty minority is pestering the environment for the majority, it's perfectly fine for the majority to opress the minority and make them follow their will. Thus, smokers will soon have to sit in tiny disgusting rooms at bars were no serving is allowed while my friends and I sit outside laughing at them. That's the lovely way it works in a democracy; the many opress the few and it's just as it should be. Smokers have made the choice to smoke and then they have to accept the responsibilities which comes in the package too.

- smokers' numbers are dwindling in europe, it's a decreasing phenomenon that an active ban is actually treating as some new craze;

For me it's more like society have matured a tiny bit more and finally can take this (eagerly awaited) decision without causing an uprising.

 

[hyena]

@CoT: in a way, you're right. if you feel that a smoking room is as harmful as a shooting range, you're welcome to stay out of it, but i still don't think that shooting ranges should be illegal. i'm repeating myself: i am indeed in favor of this law. if a referendum occurs in order to repeal it, i will vote against. this said, the law explicitly states that bars, restaurants and the like can have smoking rooms, provided they are entirely separate from the other rooms and special ventilation systems are provided. i think that this makes sense, too, because so far smoking is a legal activity, and there's no plausible argument in favor of smokers having to abstain in the company of other smokers. unfortunately, these systems are expensive, and most businesses won't buy them in the short run; not to mention the fact that most pubs don't even have a second room, therefore they won't be able to cater for a part of their current customers. i am complaining about this last part: isolating smokers is fine by me, but the law so far is turning into a full ban on smoking to every effect. this is inconsistent with the fact that i can still buy cigarettes without having to go on the black market.

note that i'm not recurring to popular arguments such as "the state profits from the tobacco trade anyway" or "the ban is going to kill business in pubs and clubs" because, as i said, i deem sensible that the state should try to stop people from unhealthy practices. but i don't like the prohibition part of the equation, a direct consequence of the non-existence of smoking rooms. i live in a city where people sit outside to drink and eat for about three quarters of the year so it's not really a problem - still, i don't like discrimination. hell, if it were for me people could smoke cannabis in public places, eventhough i don't smoke it.

 

[Siren]

fact: i love caramel flavoured tea.
fact 2: now i love lemon flavoured tea even more.

 

[Child of Time]

hyena: Ok. It just sounded like you thought that it was the non-smokers rights that should be limited.

I can also guess from the arguments you're mentioning that smoking is much more common in Italy than here. The local newspaper asked a bunch of bar owners what they thought about this coming law a while ago, and the big majority of them were positive; so were most of their customers according to them. So I haven't heard the argument that "the ban is going to kill business in pubs and clubs" at all. Instead, the focus is on the improvement in working environment for waitresses and bartenders.
I do also wonder if the state really profits on the trade, since the health care costs for those who have got cancer and other diseases because of smoking are paid by the government (at least here).

 

[Somber Soul]

@Somber Soul: 19 more days. Good for you, just think that in a month it'll be over. Also you get iNet.

Yeah, true. I acknowledge my privilege. But I'm already planning on a big celebration once the year is over. :hotjump: Well, maybe not that big but I'll definitely try and hang out with my friends in a pub to drink to freedom.

 

[Hiljainen]

@hiljainen: thanks, thanks. i want to see the statue once it's finished.

well, not exactly what i meant, but look what i found on the internet

 

[hyena]

@hilj:

fact: someone just wrote to me 'if society were organized differently, we would have made love long ago'. talk about being a victim of the system.

 

[TheFourthHorseman]

So if Italy was communist, everyone would get some of the sex?

 

[hyena]

@tfh: yeah, i believe that it was the general idea.