Marriage is about convenience?

[Shadow]

Re: Belgium Hospital Care;

I won't be attending...
(source: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,594422,00.html?test=latestnews )

Life must be really great in the EU if they already have Obama style death panels.

jb I thought of answering this, but in light of your background I will just note that it is. 

[Shadow]

I know Aloe isn't here asking for sympathy but I cant help but feel for her.  She's a young woman who is asking her young husband to go some places and see some things. I don't think she is demanding Bora Bora or New York City. I would think that a simple overnight train ride and a few days in another European will suffice from time to time. You Europeans have it lucky. Your train system opens up a world of inexpensive choices. Hopefully things will get better for Aloe.

I guess you never tried to buy train tickets here. 

However I agree that both inside Belgium and in the neighbouring countries it is very easy to get a short relaxation. Aloe, I can find a weekend trip with two nights in a hotel including one dinner for Eur 75.00 in locations nearby, so if money is that tight you can not afford such amount you should really check your household budget.
It does not have to be London or Paris (where he could be justified in fearing the shopping would cost more than the trip), just a small getaway.

[GregfromGa]

You're right, I've never bought many tickets in The Netherlands. I've traveled by train all over Ukraine and Poland. Is buying tickets a long drawn out process in Belgium and The Netherlands? I just assumed that buying a ticket by train there could be done at most train stations, some travel agencies or even the internet. Maybe I'm wrong.

[GQBlues]

However I agree that both inside Belgium and in the neighbouring countries it is very easy to get a short relaxation. Aloe, I can find a weekend trip with two nights in a hotel including one dinner for Eur 75.00 in locations nearby

Jeepers so there you go. Why can't folks like Shadow, SJ, BC, Sandro, etc...extend and welcome Aloe for a few days, a week or two even, in their domain? Take her around their city proper and put her itchy feet to rest? So when hubby gets back on his business trip, she won't be so stressed out and everyone is happy. Heck, if she still insist on London, there's always 'wiz'. I thought Europeans travel with an almost reckless abandon?

Whatever happened to European generosity and hospitality?

[Sculpto]

Billy, are you completely out of your mind?!

[Shadow]

You're right, I've never bought many tickets in The Netherlands. I've traveled by train all over Ukraine and Poland. Is buying tickets a long drawn out process in Belgium and The Netherlands? I just assumed that buying a ticket by train there could be done at most train stations, some travel agencies or even the internet. Maybe I'm wrong.

Buying the tickes is easy enough, however you will not refer to it as cheap once you tried.  Poland an Germany are relatively cheap, but when you start paying Eur 20 for a trip of 50Km (to the airport) it does not sound cheap at all...

[Shadow]

Jeepers so there you go. Why can't folks like Shadow, SJ, BC, Sandro, etc...extend and welcome Aloe for a few days, a week or two even, in their domain? Take her around their city proper and put her itchy feet to rest? So when hubby gets back on his business trip, she won't be so stressed out and everyone is happy. Heck, if she still insist on London, there's always 'wiz'. I thought Europeans travel with an almost reckless abandon?

Whatever happened to European generosity and hospitality?

Not exactly a problem, however I am located in a village not a lot larger, and about 50 minutes by bus (cost Eur 1,50). It would not really be much of an adventure. 

[Gylden]

LOL, it would be cheaper to take a weekend in Paris then to travel here.

Oh and to be on topic, I find it very convenient to be married! 

[Aloe]

We are going to germany tomorrow  He is going to work and i'm gonna look around the city. Too bad his a-hole boss doesnt let him stay longer than 1 day there. My husband has been working from home this week, all he needs is his laptop and internet to work, what's the difference from WHERE he's coming online, from home or from a hotel room? Ahoooooooooleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee boss. Hate him

[GregfromGa]

We are going to germany tomorrow  He is going to work and i'm gonna look around the city. Too bad his a-hole boss doesnt let him stay longer than 1 day there. My husband has been working from home this week, all he needs is his laptop and internet to work, what's the difference from WHERE he's coming online, from home or from a hotel room? Ahoooooooooleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee boss. Hate him

Well that's a good deal. Now don't spend too much money and get on your husbands last nerve by making big demands and he'll be happy to take you with him again hopefully. Which city in Germany?

[BillyB]

his a-hole boss  Ahoooooooooleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee boss. Hate him

That's an insult to all bosses of the World including me! Don't let your husband get too much of a bad attitude towards his boss. It'll show and it'll affect his work perfomance. Don't bite off the hand that feeds you.

[Misha]

We are going to germany tomorrow  He is going to work and i'm gonna look around the city. Too bad his a-hole boss doesnt let him stay longer than 1 day there. My husband has been working from home this week, all he needs is his laptop and internet to work, what's the difference from WHERE he's coming online, from home or from a hotel room? Ahoooooooooleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee boss. Hate him

Better to hate your husband's boss than your husband  I am glad that you two were able to find a compromise! That is certainly promising 

[kievstar]

Aloe, should be thankful boss lets him work at home.

The reason he does not stay in Germany longer as it costs the company money for hotel and maybe meals if he is reimbursed.  Boss decided 1 day gets the job done and he is really there to work.

Working at home does not cost the company money.

[groovlstk]

Aloe, should be thankful boss lets him work at home.

The reason he does not stay in Germany longer as it costs the company money for hotel and maybe meals if he is reimbursed.  Boss decided 1 day gets the job done and he is really there to work.

Working at home does not cost the company money.

Kievstar is right, this is something not to expect as normal but something to be grateful for.

[Aloe]

to be grateful for what? It was 12 hour drive (6 hr each way), we spent 21 hours outside the house, he was either driving or working the entire time, and he gets paid for htis as a normal (8 hr) work day, company didnt pay even for his meals, all his company gave is the car to get there, and then again, 21 hrs being gone for work at the price of 8 hrs staying home? What is there to be grateful for? We came home at 3 am, and he still had to get up and work next day at 8 am. Frankly we almost spent the night in the car on a parking along the highway, cuz he was absolutely freaking exhausted, but i was whining for him to call someone so they can pick us up, cuz i dont wanna sleep in the car. I did have a nice day tho (until the drive home - trying to stay awake myself and trying to not let him fall asleep while your going 160 km/hr is a hell of a job). The fact that the previous night we had to go pick up his mom at the airport, so we only had 5 hr sleep before going on this epic journey to Germany, didnt help either.
And of course if we stayed in Germany, we'd pay for hotel ourselves

[Aloe]

On a side note, Germany seems to have no lights whatsoever on any highway. Not a good place to use highways at night.

[Aloe]

And we ran into one really evil highway crossing between Titz and Holz (not far from Bedburg, nice city names eh)? Really crazy hard to figure out, and its newly built apparently, so GPS doesn't help either.

[Aloe]

Before somebody says something, the fact that i was whining to not spend the night in the car made him angry and wide awake, so i should be thanked for my whining! 

[Ade]

Before somebody says something, the fact that i was whining to not spend the night in the car made him angry and wide awake, so i should be thanked for my whining! 

It's unusual in my experience not to get reimbursed for travelling time and for not to have the option of a paid hotel and meals for such a long journey.

[kievstar]

Sounds like his boss is a cheap son of a . 

An earlier post you mentioned he would be staying in 5 star hotels when he went to other countries.  I found this odd as being an executive myself in large companies we do not go 5 star as to expensive.

But most business trips are not fun.  They tend to be long hours and you need several days to recover when you get back home.

[Misha]

Was it not possible to take an overnight train of some sort?

[Voyager36]

It's unusual in my experience not to get reimbursed for travelling time and for not to have the option of a paid hotel and meals for such a long journey.

That's the new reality, especially as many employees are reclassified as "temporary contractors", so are not entitled to full benefits. When the economic crisis hit we lost some of our benefits too, per diem was reduced, travel times for call-ins eliminated etc.

Was it not possible to take an overnight train of some sort?

Probably not on their budget. Can't get an EU train for what you'd pay in the FSU. 

[Shadow]

Aloe welcome to the world of business trips. Next time you imagine your husband javing a lot of fun you might reconsider.
It was good that you went with him, as otherwise there might have been a real chance of him falling asleep at the wheel.

As for the lights on the highway, you are correct, Germany has too much roads to keep all of them with lights. There for it is usual for Germans to set their headlights to maximum, switching back to normal if any other traffic is seen.

As for traffic crossings, the exits are at times very short, and you need to know which roads to follow. GPS is not always the way to go, I would advise printing a roadmap before leaving home.

A good tip for the future in case you need to know where you are going.
In Germany highways with even numbers all go West-East (or East-West), while the odd numbers are the North-South (or South-North) conections.

[Misha]

Probably not on their budget. Can't get an EU train for what you'd pay in the FSU. 

I have no idea what their budget is, but from what I remember traveling in Germany a few years ago, the cheap train tickets weren't at all expensive,

[Boethius]

Aloe, perhaps now you will appreciate how hard your husband works, and that travelling is not glamourous. 

When I worked for a public company, I did stay at 5 star hotels.  The company negotiated corporate rates for all employees, not only for hotels, but also for cars.  I didn't get paid for travel time.  I've never heard of a company that didn't pay for an employee's meals while on the road.