It has indeed been a hectic few weeks. Moving in, looking for work. Berlin is not the most active city IT-work-wise (but it's end of year, and end of crisis), so I applied for the few jobs that matched my skills and interests, and also looked for any contract work that could keep me going.
One company didn't get back to me in any meaningful way for 3 months despite a prod in-between (and they kept re-advertising the position every 2 weeks), and as such I politely declined. Nokia's HR skills are somewhat lacking, and an interview for a "Solutions Architect" position (I wasn't the perfect fit, but my ISP-background got me in the door regardless) didn't pan out and left me with a bit of a sour taste in my mouth for the company (although I still want an N900), and their purely technical jobs seem a little underpaid (I suspect an influx of people from England are to blame, as Nokia is one of the few companies who require no English...).
A programming contract with the University of Vienna did work out, however. It's unfortunately a little longer than I wanted, but the project itself is interesting, will be open source and the rates are reasonable (although I will surely curse German taxes in the months to come).
Basically at the same time I had an interview with Red Hat.. I have to say, there is an appeal to working for Red Hat, probably the best known Linux company in the world, but the job was as a travelling consultant, and only 2 to 3 nights per week in my own bed was not really appealing to me nor Sophia. So Vienna won out there.
Another company, who I contacted a while ago, got back to me recently and we had an interview this last week. I figured it was too late because I'd already accepted the Vienna contract, but I wanted to meet with them anyway. It would also be as a consultant, but with a manageable amount of travel. It's a smaller company, and I got a good vibe from them. They got back to me the following day and wanted a second interview. At first I said yes to the interview, but today I called them and declined, citing the Vienna contract (it starts on Monday with our Meet-the-Team, and flights are booked). They made the proposal that we work together regardless, on a part-time basis for now. We will still have to discuss it in the coming weeks. But it sounds like an ideal solution for the moment. They can make use of my Linux skills, and I will have contacts and workmates in Berlin (which is the big disadvantage of remote work).
I think I'm happy that things are working out.
— by Robert Thomson, created 4th Dec, 2009, last modified 15th Dec, 2009 | Tags: Private
Tomorrow, I'm off for another week in Perugia. I'm looking forward to it, just like last time. The only downside is that I have to stay overnight in Florence, due to the timing of the flight and the last train, and the expense of a Saturday morning flight.. It's been getting progressively colder there, so I will take some warm clothes with me this time. I'm sure I'll be fine, since it's actually colder in Holland right now.
This round of packing is a little tough, though.. What's the largest set of clothes and other items that I can take with me that will still leave me with everything that I need here for my final 3 weeks here but that I can easily take with me next time. My final work day is on the 31st of October.
I also spent some money on things that I can't take with me, such as a washing machine, microwave, mattress, etc., and it would be nice if I could recoup some of the expense.. but I guess I'll be putting those things up for sale in my final week, unless the flatmates wish to purchase them from me (which would be ideal) for the next tenant, or the next tenant themselves.
— by Robert Thomson, created 2nd Oct, 2008, last modified 2nd Oct, 2008 | Tags: Private, World
It's reasonably priced, in a good location, sharing with nice people. I have my own kitchen and bathroom. It's 3 rooms on the first floor of a two story townhouse. We share the same entrance and stairwell, but that's about it. There's a fourth room which is currently being used for storage, but will become a kind of working room for the girl above. The other tenants are a young couple, and presumably her father owns the building (he lives next door, which is actually downstairs).
The room is 30m², currently unfurnished, but they're going to furnish most of the room, I'll buy a few things, and I already have a few things here. First priorities are a bed and a fridge. Everything else can come later. They have a spare couch that can go in there. I'll just need a bed, working desk, chair, a coffee table, and perhaps a small dining table. I'll probably visit the nearby Kringloop and see what they have. It's a bit like the Aussie garage sale by the look of it. :-)
— by RobertThomson, created 16th Nov, 2007, last modified 6th Jul, 2009 | Tags: Private
I’ve decided to stay in Den Haag past the new year, so I’m now looking for an room in a shared apartment. If you know of any, let me know. I wrote a [[RoomWanted webpage]] outlining what I’m looking for, and I’m hoping that I find something suitable with some interesting flatmates. I’m looking for something cheaper than I have now, because I plan to travel back to Passau often to see Sophia, which costs around €280 return for the flight plus trains. I’m also looking for a flatshare so that I have less initial costs and more flexibility in the future, in-case my contract isn’t extended next year (although at this stage everybody says it will be).
My eventual plan is to move back to Germany, and most likely to Munich because of the IT companies there, and its close proximity to Passau and Sophia. The job market is picking up, and I’ve already had expressions of interest from a couple of companies there. But they’ll have to wait for the time being. :-)
See: [[RoomWanted Room Wanted Advert]]
— by RobertThomson, created 28th Oct, 2007, last modified 18th Jun, 2009 | Tags: Private
Well... I decided that I really didn't want to stay in my current apartment over Winter, so I'm giving notice for the start of December. I think the 9th of December is a good time, as if I've found a new place for the start of December, I can move in then clean the old apartment leisurely. But if I haven't, then I can stay with friends for a couple of weeks then take Christmas and New Years off, and hopefully move into a new place in January.
I hope that I can find the flatshare that I wanted this time around. I'm less rushed now, and I know more people with whom I can stay until I do find a place.
I'll lose a little bit of money on the Internet connection, which I paid for the entire year, but I'll make that up in the first month I'm not paying exorbitant rent. :)
There's also the small chance that Shell won't extend my contract at the end of the year, but I should know that towards the end of the year.
Rohan & Inga want to go travelling in Winter, and will then leave at the start of December also.
I think I'm happy about it. I won't chase Mila up for the overpaid money back, so long as she doesn't give me any grief about the apartment. If she does, then I will. But she shouldn't have any reason to except spite. :-)
— by Robert Thomson, created 18th Sep, 2007, last modified 22nd Oct, 2007 | Tags: Private
I have just sent a letter to my landlady demanding a reduction in rent. Some of you are probably thinking, "You can't do that!" But in the Netherlands I can! Here they have strong rental laws and they have a "point system" in order to keep rent under control. More deluxe properties are excluded from the point system, but mine is not deluxe. The landlady was charging me significantly more than the previous tenant and my immediate neighbors.
You should understand that in the Netherlands there's also a split between "rent" and "service costs". Service costs include anything that the landlord pays on your behalf, heating equipment rental, as well as the VVE (common area costs), and has to correspond to real costs. They can also pay gas/water/electricity for you, but in my case, I pay that.
So.. I wrote to my landlady and asked her to justify my €190/month service costs.. she came back very defensively and with total rubbish. I told her to get her act together and come back with real figures. She did - sort of. She justified most of her expenses, but not to the legal requirements of rental law. When she told me that she was actually wrong about one of the expenses, and it was €16/month cheaper than she originally said, I asked her whether I should make the adjustment next (this) month. She said absolutely not and to please not bother her again. This is flagrantly against dutch rental law, so I decided not to bother her directly again, but rather take the official channel.
I had somebody from the local government come around to look at the apartment and they came up with a base rental price that was €60 less than she was charging. I just sent her the letter that they provided me. I've also sent a request to the rental commission to reduce my service expenses. I think it's probably my obligation to only pay what I'm meant to, but since she's being disagreeable and I'm not 100% sure of the law, I thought I'd take the official route. I also sent them a copy of the rent reduction letter.
In total, my monthly rent and service costs should become €685 instead of €775. This is probably still above what the former tenant was paying because she was a bit desperate, but I'm certainly not complaining.
I find it funny, because if she had taken the €16 option, I would have felt a moral victory, and not proceeded further. Now, she's faced with a significant reduction (unfortunately not all backdated) and she can't do anything about it, except raise the rent by a small (legally limited) percentage next year.
I may still look for another apartment, as it's still above what I would really like to pay (considering my regular travel back to Germany).. but I'll let her stew for a while.
I'm now somewhat of an expert in dutch rental law - it's somewhat satisfying.
— by RobertThomson, created 22nd Aug, 2007, last modified 22nd Oct, 2007 | Tags: Private, World
Let me clarify the title. All Telcos are bastards, but E-Plus is the bastard of the moment in my life. I found the choice of mobile plans in Germany particularly limited. I feel that the german government is not encouraging enough competition and looking after its people, in the hope that the German monopoly (Deutsche Telekom) will have enough capital to invest in other EU countries - and one of the trickle down effects of their lax approach to competition is that the price of telco services in Germany is one of the highest in the EU, despite having the single largest population.
But that's not my primary rant. Before signing up for a mobile plan, I did a lot of research and calculations. It worked out that if I were in Germany for 6 months over a 2 year period, it would be cheaper to sign up to a plan and get a mobile than use pre-paid and purchase a mobile. Unfortunately, 3 months after that, I got this contract in Holland. So - I lived with the loss, but still used my German mobile for SMS' back to Germany as I don't want to carry around a dutch phone in addition to my German and work phones. I've been paying €0.39 for every SMS I send, which is quite phenomenal, but I accept the cost every time I send one. But last month I decided to phone home.. There were some problems with some of the calls - I don't know why - but there was no connection, so I tried a few times, and either succeeded, or gave up trying. I also rang once or twice, but hung up before anyone (or voicemail) picked up. I was very surprised to see that these calls appeared on my phone bill at €0.79/call, because that's not normally what happens. I assumed it was a problem in the way that calls are billed between countries - so I complained, and told them that they were in error. Sure, billing errors happen - but the reason *why E-Plus is a bastard of a telco* is their off-hand response to my complaint. They came back simply saying, "We have reviewed your bill and it was correctly billed." (in German, of course). I have complained again, telling them that it is not correct, and that charging for services that weren't provided is actually illegal, and I await their response. I dislike that I have to bring the law into complaints - I would hope they would be already aware of it.
It also appears that Germany does not have a telecommunications ombudsman like Australia (or the Netherlands or in fact most civilised countries) so the consumer's only option is legal action. I wonder how many other telcos are similarly charging for non-service. Hopefully this will be resolved, and they will fix their billing issue - I intend to test it again.
If they give me a hard time (or fail to point me to a section of their contract which states they can bill me for uncompleted calls, which I'm fairly confident doesn't exist and would be illegal if it did) then I think my next step is to accuse them of breaching the terms of the contract and instruct them not to direct debit any more money from my account, and ask for the address to which I should ship the phone and SIM card. If they then withdraw money, I will have an additional basis for a legal case. I can also complain to the EU regarding deceptive billing practices.
Update: E-Plus, while not admitting any billing errors, has given me credit for the phone calls. I think I'll contact the EU anyway. I realise it's most likely the Dutch telcos' fault for charging for the uncompleted calls, but I'm not a customer of the Dutch Telco, so it's up to E-Plus to keep them honest.
— by Robert Thomson, created 6th May, 2007, last modified 8th May, 2007 | Tags: Private
