The Off Topic Topic

[Tamas]

Decades ago when I was a young lad and our village was still a classic village and not the suburb of the nearby city which it is becoming, some (perhaps all) of the people moving down from Budapest, either to live or for holidays, redecorated their houses in 19th century peasant style, usually complete with nobody-used-such-shit-for-50-years style tools hanged around as decoration. It was a very in-your-face showing of their insanely obsolete and contemptuous mental image of rural life.

[Threviel]

I've been trying to get a planning permit for a thing. In Sweden every construction above a certain site needs a planning permission to be built, with increasingly complex demands depending on the thing to be built.

There are rules to this and one importan one is that the planning body has to give a response within ten weeks. It's a law and something that is very publicly stated with clear rules.

Before I sent in my papers I had a meeting with a handler in the planning office, so that I would send the correct papers and everything would be done correct from my side.

I sent in my papers in the middle of June, hoping to get a response well before winter. The ten week clock starts ticking. A week later I got a response requesting some further information. I tried to get in touch with the person that sent the request, she had gone on 5 week vacation and I was to send my response in 4 weeks. The request was unclear. I contacted the one I had had the meeting with and she explained some things but she could not, under any circumstances take over the issue.

I sent in my new information, the ten week clock is reset by that.

Four weeks go by, but I do not want to call immediately and make an enemy of the person handling my case. One week goes by and no news so I call. And get hold of the one handling my case, she'll look into it. Five weeks of my by law guaranteed maximum ten have gone by now.

She calls me the day after. Due to lack of time she cannot possibly get the case presented to the politicians actually deciding until September 23rd, well past my ten weeks limit. So she says: "Since I cannot make it in time I'll reset the time to today, that way I'll make it".

And I say, in a nice and friendly manner: "Thank you, most kind". I can do nothing else if I want success in my case.

I loathe the fuckwits working in public office. Loathe.

[The Brain]

gl

[HVC]

"we can't take longer then 10 weeks, so we'll just reset the clock" would be funny if it didn't effect you.

Also, a politician has to approve a permit? are you in a ecologically protected zone?

[Josquius]

Above average prices, for France that is. Cheaper than Paris or the Côte d'Azur though.  Summer can be pricier as well.

Above average for France which is basically on the low end of average for the UK or free for Switzerland :p

[Threviel]

"we can't take longer then 10 weeks, so we'll just reset the clock" would be funny if it didn't effect you.

Also, a politician has to approve a permit? are you in a ecologically protected zone?

The building board of the municipal council formally makes all building permit decisions in all Swedish municipalities, guided by their trusty competent efficient civil servants. I live in the countryside outside of all zoning laws, my matter is a very simple one.

My handler failing to file all the paper works in time for their August meeting is what is causing the delay. No matter how I would rave and rage she cannot file them in time and that's that. So I chose to be friendly and understanding seeing as she can choose to find any kind of objection to my thing and that would be an eternal delay.

[Admiral Yi]

I rather suspect the pressure doesn't come from tourists directly, but from the local owners of hotels that cater to them.

Tourists are very unlikely to complain to the church authorities (how would they even know who to complain to?). Instead, it is more likely local hotel owners will find themselves losing business, as tourists all communicate by word of mouth and social media - don't stay at X hotel because it it is too close to the church bells that ring all hours, stay at Y hotel instead, it is far enough away not to be too disturbing.

Hotel owners have the local contacts and clout to put pressure on church authorities - I'm losing business, change your bell-ringing ways or I won't donate to the church roof repair fund, that sort of thing.

It isn't really a "screw the tourists" issue, so much as a "screw the local businesses" one. The tourists may even like the bells, which add to the picturesque atmosphere of the place. Just not patronize the hotels right next to them.

I was thinking the same thing.

And it's a slightly different spin if the tourists tell the inn keeper they just can't sleep at night and will unfortunately have to move to another hotel, than if they are banging on the church door in their bathrobes.

[ulmont]

"we can't take longer then 10 weeks, so we'll just reset the clock" would be funny if it didn't effect you.

This sort of thing is pretty typical and the people processing tend to know all the ways to either reset with your consent or without it.

[Sheilbh]

The latest LRB has a dual review from Andrew O'Hagan of "The Bench" by Meghan, Duchess of Sussex and "Her Heart for a Compass" by Sarah, Duchess of York

[Syt]

[DGuller]

 

[garbon]

 

[Sheilbh]

Wonderful long read in the Guardian on Paul Gilroy:
https://www.theguardian.com/news/2021/aug/05/paul-gilroy-britain-scholar-race-humanism-vital-guide-age-of-crisis

[Tamas]

On the topic of people coming in town and shitting on the natives. We live literally 50 meters away from the Thames and there's a kayaking/rowing club around the corner. There's some kind of youth competition now and the various families and spectators have taken up all the parking spaces on our street. I went to pick up the weekly shopping and couldn't park. It was worsened by maintenance crew working on the rows of sheds Brits call garages next to our building - normally when it fills up on the street you can park there because nobody actually puts cars in garages (the cars are the size of battleships, the garages are size of sheds). But now the little space left by the maintenance guys (not blaming them, obvs) have already been taken.

I made 4 turns, had a stand off with an elderly cunt in her Land Cruiser who couldn't be bothered to use the empty space next to her to let me go, and ended up parking like 5 minutes walk away on the far end of the street, taking the spot of some family living in one of the flats there when they drove away.

[Threviel]

Why did you take the car in the first place? The result was presumably obvious before you went shopping?