Some things never change :((

[wiseheart]

It was raining for days with little breaks in-between during the recent days, and yesterday the dratted balcony started leaking again. *sigh* It wasn't very bad, since we had slow, mild rain, but at one point it just hit the "right" angle to get inside. *double sigh* I'm so fed up with the fact that we can't get the problem fixed!

Today was only moderately successful. I nearly finished a full page of the doll house quiet book, safe for a few decorative elements. Then I translated a couple of very tedious paragraphs for the current picowrimo project, but still haven't managed to finish the chapter. In the afternoon I had my single private student (autumn break is over, unfortunately), and afterwards I wasn't really good for much.

I'm hoping to get the most recent round of bureaucracy concerning my German pension dealt with by Friday. Granted, I could have done so days ago, but the mere sight of all those completely useless documents makes me depressed. *triple sigh*

Comments

[artemis10002000]

Gaaaaah not again. And it's only the beginning of the rainy balcony woes season, too... :( I'm so sorry, it's frustrating even just hearing about this unfixable problem, I can only imagine how bad it must be to actually suffer from it yourself.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

It is really nerve-wrecking! From the costs it's already caused us I could have married - twice, and in grand style! Not to mention the fear every time it rains. We are almost afraid to go to holidays because who knows what could happen in a week when we aren't here.

[artemis10002000]

Yeah, for sure! I would be worried, too.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Not that we could do anything if we are here, of course - save for emptying the bin that I keep under the worst leaking place. Nothing to do against the water that comes in through the wall.

[artemis10002000]

That's true. It's more of a thing of being there to know the damage, I guess, instead of worrying about that.

[meathiel]

Bureaucracy can be so tedious.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm still not sure I've got the right documents together, but I don't know what else to do.

The Deutsche Rentenversicherung sent me a 26-page form to fill, 99 per cent of which had nothing to do with my situation, IMO. I sent them an e-mail, asking if they really, really needed to know where I studied and all that rot, since I only ever lived in Germany for two and a half years, and I was only versichert (sorry, don't know the English word) in two of them, 1986 and 1987.

As an answer, they sent me the same 26-page insantiy (complete with the 27-page guide how to fill out the form) a second time. I consulted my cousin's wife, who's actually German, and we were equally gobsmacked about the whole shit. We tried to call their hotline, but the automated message told us that we can't do that from another country.

At that point, we decided to call the administrator directly (I avoided it before because phone calls to another country are frigging expensive in Hungary), and she'd talk to them because I might not understand someone with an accent I'm not used to. We just haven't found the chance to do so now.

And then last week I got a second reminder from them, this time with a form of only 8 pages, still in horrible Amtsdeutsch. H (my cousin's wife) tried to make some sense of it and decided that I'll simply send the documents we think they want (and might need) and see what happens. Of course, Einschreibebriefe to another country are also insanely expensive, but I have to do something if I ever want to get my minimal pension for those two years.

There were times when I was truly tempted to give up and let them keep their money. But I worked in those years, and the Beiträge were paid diligently, so I'll give it another try.

[meathiel]

Good luck with that ... I wonder if the person there cannot read or whatever ... duh!

[akane42me.livejournal.com]

That balcony. What is going on that it defies repair? Of course if the answer were known, the balcony wouldn't keep leaking;(

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

The current theory is that there's a leak somewhere above us, on one of the upper levels of the building (we've got eight more level above us), and we're just unfortunate enough that if the rain hits the house in a certain angle, that leak fills and the water finds its way through the hair-fine breaks of the concrete. So, unless the entire ten-storey monstrosity gets isolated (it is actually done in several places near ours), we'll have this lovely problem until we die.

[spikesgirl58.livejournal.com]

I hope that there will soon be sunny skies and no paperwork for you to deal with. Get some rest!

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Your words in God's ear, sister.

[spikesgirl58.livejournal.com]

We can only hope.

[wanderingmogwai.livejournal.com]

*hugs*

[adafrog.livejournal.com]

Dang. :(

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

That about describes it, yeah.

[mirasaui.livejournal.com]

How frustrating all around, the retirement business and that dratted balcony leak! Can you ask for some type of compensation re: the balcony? How awful you two must live with that situation for years.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Nothing we can do about it. These balconies were build as half-open ones, and since we decided to have ours turned into a closed one (many others did), it is our business and ours alone.