Justice of the Peace

Justice of the Peace? And trouble with the judiciary again? As I was accused of weeks ago when I posted a picture of the entrance to the Federal Office of Justice in Bonn. No, not here either, but thank you for your trust, so please refrain from such requests, no matter how suspicious you find me. Yes, dear former fellow students, I lived in the infamous shared flat in Echterdingen back then. Yes, the house with the garden and the huge party and the suckling pig. Yes, I could write a lot now, but let's put it this way, everything that became a teacher. It's always amazing. I, on the other hand, have a snow-white vest, not even a parking ticket to my name. What do you think? Tsss. A few weeks ago I just needed a police clearance certificate and that's actually the quickest way to get one (within 5 minutes) on the spot, and not an expungement of my criminal record (? Really? Me? Mr Innocent? Tssss) as I was told. And here in Australia? A justice of the peace? Getting married again? Not at all! That's a peculiarity here, when documents are to be notarized, documents that confirm the identity, which are submitted to then, for example, get his Radiation Safty License, so that you can work with radioactivity. It's as simple as that. This also included a written exam, well, actually a 3-day course and then a written exam. But they trusted me and sent me straight to the exam. With the experience I have and the position I hold. Then you sit there, in a foreign country, in a foreign system, in front of a pile of papers and answer the questions. What can I say, I was sweating profusely, despite the air conditioning. The clue? 100%! No error rate, and what can I say, I passed and it wasn't easy. Anyone who knows me knows that when it comes to reading, I should read the questions several times, because my brain switches off in the middle of a sentence and stops working and makes up the rest of the sentence. Yes I read too slowly for my brain, unbelievable right? My ex-wife's favorite phrase: “Read it again”. That can lead to problems with tests like this, English forces me to slow down anyway. But the answers are also quite complex. The maximum annual radiation dose that can be received is 20 mSv, so what happens to a person who suddenly receives 10 mSv? The answer: “Panic attack, if at all”, was bold, but what can I say, it is correct. And before the next indignant person comes along who thinks he knows better: shut your fucking uneducated face! Spare me your text, you have no idea you uneducated honk. I don't know any fun anymore. The answer is correct. Period. I can't take talking about facts like you can negotiate them anymore. This ideology-driven crap everywhere, as a (former) scientist it sometimes brings tears (of anger or sadness) to your eyes when Uncle Jürgen thinks he can discuss the effect of low-energy radiation on the cerebrum with his degree from 35 years ago and be the world's leading expert in it. To be honest, I'm always working on things where I never know with 100% certainty whether everything is as true as I think it is. This has nothing to do with the fact that I don't read or am stupid, it has something to do with the fact that I know that I know nothing and can tell causality and correlation apart, but don't know when which case occurs. Simple. Causality is, for example, that now that I'm here, I'm also looking at the area, especially Brisbane this weekend or this Saturday. But first I had to have documents notarized and so I went to the District Court on Friday, unfortunately the JP there was not present. I didn't want to believe the sign on the door but the police officers in the building were only too happy to confirm this with the words: “Can't you read?” Sometimes they are very friendly, friendly but firm and sarcastic and I like that. In the office, they always tell me that my sarcasm will get me far here. Of course, I always ask myself which sarcasm? Me? They must have me confused? So there I was on Friday afternoon in the blazing sun without sunscreen. Everyone always goes out of their way to remind me to apply sunscreen and what can I say? Yes, you're right, I always forget. By now my skin has that bronze tone again, when I look at the locals, they are all snow white (like my vest, innocent alabaster white), I think I should really put a bit more emphasis on it, the sun is different here. It really is aggressive here, not that Italian high summer aggressive, no, much more aggressive! In any case, I was now standing in the sun, I didn't have the right sun protection for a bike ride, so I went to the gym and lifted a few weights comfortably in the air-conditioned room. It's the same here as almost everywhere else in the world. There are those who do it right, there are the posers, those who want to lose weight, the monkeys, the leaches, the asparagus and the influencers (really, why the hell does a woman have video equipment in the gym?) and those who just enjoy it. At the moment, I'm one of those who only do the bare minimum so that my biceps don't shrink. To train fully, do I need a structured daily routine with a nutrition plan? And I won't have that daily routine until I have my own apartment and kitchen. And I'll start looking for one when I know my way around a bit better and know where I want to move to. Without a car and a driver's license, it's difficult in a country where distances are measured by time and not kilometres. Nevertheless, I look around, and the public transportation system is cheap here. Really 50 cents for a ride, no matter where. Get in, punch in and off you go. Incidentally, this also applies to the city ferries! More about that below :D

After pumping on Friday, I went shopping and then went home to sleep early, I was exhausted. On Saturday morning I woke up ultra-early again, which I didn't mind as I still had a lot to do. Deregister from GEZ? When you register at the residents' registration office, you automatically get mail from them, data protection or not. If you deregister and go abroad or are homeless, of course you won't be notified. That's one point, I don't really want to talk about the employment office right now because I'm really pissed off. No, I only wanted to calculate the AGL for the 2 days of unemployment or have the entitlement determined, not receive it. It's one of those things that I knew from my sabbatical, once the entitlement has been established, it can't be calculated at a lower rate for the next 3 years, of course the last 12 months are used as a basis. And what can I say, my social security number is already assigned in the online portal but my old account cannot be accessed. They wanted to merge it (after I tried to get through on the phone for 3 hours) and didn't do it? Well and now? Why do I want to keep a back door open? Eyes closed and through. Why annoy me? They probably have too much to do at the office right now. I say that without gloating, I don't know sarcasm. In front of me was someone who took a little longer, there was a whole pile of documents that had to be processed, behind me the queue got longer and longer. JPs, everyone tells me, are something that everyone in Australia needs more often. That's why they are everywhere, in libraries, at the courthouse, some dentists or teachers, our Safty Officer is also doing the training (?). When it was my turn it went very quickly, he apologized that I had to wait so long, no problem I replied. When he realized that I understood him perfectly, he quickly signed the documents, chatted with me on the side and wished me a nice weekend, that was it. In and out, 2 minutes. I also cleverly discovered a dry cleaner directly opposite the JP, as I had actually wanted to go into town for this. In, dropped off, got a shock at the price, twice as expensive as in Germany, but they are few and far between here. I should probably learn how to iron shirts myself...... or just shit on the few pennies? Then I was there and no longer had any time pressure as I had already done the cleaning and didn't have to rush into town. So back to the apartment, after shopping and stowing them there and then off to Brisbane. The trains were running this weekend and 50 cents and 30 minutes later I got off at the main station and wobbled down to the Brisbane River. My colleagues had given me a few tips on what I could do. I got on the next best ferry and it took me directly to the opposite side for 50 cents. But I didn't actually want to go there. Typical me, once again. I just went for it and didn't look left and right. So I took the same ferry back for 50 cents and waited for the shuttle ferry, which arrived straight away, heading for the South Banks (every 15 minutes), 50 cents. The ferry was full, at least the decks that were under the open sun (this time I had cream with me) at least 3 stops to the South Banks and suddenly everyone got off and no one got on. At first I wanted to get off here too, but thought I'd finish the round trip first and get off on the way back. No sooner said than done, I was able to enjoy the ride on the bow, my nose in the wind, in the element so to speak. Wonderful. The ferry also turned again. A city tour for 50 cents if you like and I got off again at the South Banks. This is the entertainment district, with a swimming pool (free entry), theater, concert hall and cinema. There was something, Captain America Part 4 and how cleverly the next show started in 10 minutes. So in, free choice of seats and sweets and what can I say, it costs half as much as in Germany. Cinema is a bit different, but cinema. And the movie? I thought it was very good, more like a sequel to the Norten Hulk movie, but it's a good way to tie up loose ends and I kept wondering what would happen to the leader. And lo and behold, tada. Then out again and the sun was already setting, my time, off on the ferry (50 cents) and to the other end of the city, where there is an Eat-street. During the trip I took spectacular pictures of the sunset, skyscrapers, water, clouds, lightning, what more could you want? Brisbane is photogenic. Eat-street itself, not mine, because oh people, grabbed a pizza and was already on my way back. Right 50 cents. This time through the whole city again, Saturday night is busy, but no alcohol on board and everyone sticks to it. Every now and then I thought I had to get up and take photos, because I'd already had a lot of good ones today and I should save some, I'm not here on vacation, I've come to stay. My decision to look for accommodation near the river has now been made. Somewhere between the river and the company. A short ferry ride through this city in the evening, for 50 cents, just because? What more could you want? Then disembarked at the other end of the ferry route, and walked 5 minutes to the nearest train station, got on the train, 50 cents and home, fell asleep tired and happy, woke up Sunday morning, primetime on German TV (8 pm for you is 5 am for us), dozed off a bit and then off to the Mount Ommaney mall on my bike. I'm now sitting here in the air-conditioned café typing these lines and I'm not the only one sitting here on a Sunday lunchtime. It's off to the pump in a moment, that was my humble week, on that note!