harlekins spirit

Herr Czaja,

Translator’s note to readers less acquainted with German politics:
Harlequin RGE’s open letter is addressed to the current Secretary General of the Christian Democratic Party (CDU), in opposition since last year for the first time in 17 years. The CSU is the Bavarian sister party of the CDU. (Why Bavaria, one of some 16 federal states, should need its own separate “Christian” party is an issue that while fascinating could fill volumes and probably stretch your reading patience.) Our Harlequin’s observations may nevertheless seem familiar to some of you abroad…

The fairy tale of predictability

Once upon a time there was a great king who had ruled his country for many years. He also had a beautiful daughter, who grew up with frogs and dwarves, but that is completely irrelevant to this story.

The king had learned to protect his kingdom successfully against invaders and raids and had fought many a battle. He had a big, strong army, so nobody dared to attack; there was peace in his country for a long time.

The whistle

A friend called me recently. I was just coming from the hospital from a check-up (don’t worry, nothing bad) and he caught me on the way to the parking lot. Now my car isn’t brand new, but it’s not old either, so it has a Bluetooth interface, which allows phone calls while I’m driving – especially since the whole thing works with voice control. When the ignition is turned on, the phone automatically connects to the hands-free system and the call can continue.

Risk management for urinals

After my first article for the Harlequin was about a rather neglected topic, i.e. toilet seats, it is time to look again at something somewhat neglected by the public: the urinal. Although not all readers can boast of personal experience in this context, the topic seems at least comprehensible to inexperienced third parties.

Drugs party

According to a status report on drugs 2021 (national REITOX (Réseau Européen d’Information sur les Drogues et les Toxicomanies) node to EMCDDA (European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction), in 2018, 8.3% of 12-64 year-olds had used drugs (especially cannabis) within the previous 12 months, of those more men than women. Bavaria in particular is well above the average, especially noticeable among 14-17 year olds.

The Reading

This post is by our guest author Susanne Bröer. Susanne lives in Berlin, is a graduate in business management, has been passionately sewing quilts for 30 years and writes short stories, so-called five-liners.

Thursday, 8 pm! There aren’t many people sitting in the auditorium, maybe a dozen – mostly of the older generation, literature lovers, so to speak. Some are armed with writing material to take notes, others wait in curiosity for the literary spectacle that is about to follow. A woman enters the stage, dressed in black, accompanied by an almost ash-blond small boy, presumably her son. A large book with a red cloth cover lies open on the table in front of her.

Why do I actually do this?

What keeps me sitting down and writing articles? What’s the point? I could play golf, take the dog out, cook or take a spin on my motorbike instead. I deliberately chose only activities that I enjoy for the comparison. Not things like cleaning windows, chasing clients on the phone or arguing with insurance companies. So why? Okay, there’s a bunch of nice people I’ve known for ages that it’s fun to “work”with. You also develop your personal writing style, your own way of expressing yourself, your precision and so on (we’re talking about the punchlines here, not the approach shots). Is that all? Hey – the alternatives are mentioned above and they are really good ones. So why? Probably it has been obvious to everyone except me. I can already hear the chorus of heartfelt compassion at the next Harlequin meeting.

Detours, aberrations and remedies

To mark the the release of the second edition of “The Crazy PMPprep” (a novel about preparing for PMP and CAPM certification), we are publishing an excerpt from the book this week. This concerns Change Control. You witness a discussion between the (reluctant) project manager Henri and his patient and coach Peter Pomosch. The “Riemann” mentioned in passing is the director of the psychiatric clinic and initiator of the project “Concert performance with patients as musicians”.

Dear Mr Söder,

on 22.06.2022 you said on Deutschlandfunk radio on the topic of extending the operating lives of nuclear power plants that the situation was very serious and that one should not “retreat to ideological corners” in this situation. Oh, Mr Söder, you speak from my heart! By the way, as far as the issue itself is concerned, the head of the energy company RWE, Markus Krebber, has an interesting objection. He said that the fuel rods could not simply be bought from anywhere, because they would have to “match the reactor type exactly”. And unfortunately, most of the uranium comes from Russia, which is why the “question of safety architecture or safety checks” should not be underestimated. When questioned about this, you pointed to expert appraisals by the Bavarian Ministry of the Environment and TÜV Süd, which came to completely different conclusions.

My favourite recipe

Because it’s quick and delicious. And it’s easy too.

Lemon spaghetti (serves 3-4)
1 onion
1 lemon (untreated)
Lemon thyme (if available)
Lemon balm (if available)
2 cups crême fraiche
500g spaghetti
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper

Put the water for the spaghetti on to boil and salt it, of course, and as soon as it boils, cook the spaghetti until al dente. At the same time, chop the onions and grate the zest of the lemon. Chop the herbs if you have them. Fry everything together in a pan with olive oil until the onions are glazed. Add the crême fraiche and stir. Squeeze half of the lemon and add the juice to the pan. Season with salt and pepper. Keep warm until the spaghetti is ready and serve together.