Happy things thread!

[Travis B.]

One of the things I need to become a Luxembourger is to either take a 24-hour civics class or pass the associated civics test. Because 24 hours seems like a pain to work into my schedule, I figured I'd take the civics test instead. Extra fun is that I chose to do it in French, primarily because there weren't spots available for tests in English, but also because I don't trust their translations of French into English and I speak the language well enough. However, a lot of people I know were complaining about the test and saying it was extremely difficult, so I was prepared for the worst... I studied a bit, brushing up on Luxembourgish history and the governmental structures, but wasn't sure if it was enough (and other things were getting in the way; however, booking test times is always a challenge and I just figured I would go for the test today and see what would be the worst that could happen).

I went to the test this afternoon. Forty multiple-choice questions in one hour; I was done in 10 minutes and very cleanly passed (35/40). Very happy that's out of the way. Now all that's left is the language test...

Congratulations! And good luck! I'm a bit surprised that there was an option of taking it in English, though.

Seconded!

[doctor shark]

Out of curiosity, how long is the rest of the process likely to take? (With the usual caveats about not jinxing it.)

The earliest I can apply is August, once I've completed the final uninterrupted year. Realistically, I would apply probably in September or October after I get the language test passed and secure all the police certificates I need*. From that point... if I complete the modules of the "integration agreement", I would apply for option and it'd take four months; if I can't, then I apply for naturalization and it takes up to eight.

*As part of the process, Luxembourg requires you to present police clearance certificates from your country of citizenship (the US for me) plus all countries in which you have resided in the fifteen years immediately preceding the application: for me, this would also include Germany, France, and the Netherlands, and they can't be older than six months old at the moment of application. The challenging one to get will be the US, primarily because of the fingerprinting requirement for the FBI check, though I think I should be fine for that...

[/nɒtɛndəduːd/]

One of the things I need to become a Luxembourger is to either take a 24-hour civics class or pass the associated civics test. Because 24 hours seems like a pain to work into my schedule, I figured I'd take the civics test instead. Extra fun is that I chose to do it in French, primarily because there weren't spots available for tests in English, but also because I don't trust their translations of French into English and I speak the language well enough. However, a lot of people I know were complaining about the test and saying it was extremely difficult, so I was prepared for the worst... I studied a bit, brushing up on Luxembourgish history and the governmental structures, but wasn't sure if it was enough (and other things were getting in the way; however, booking test times is always a challenge and I just figured I would go for the test today and see what would be the worst that could happen).

I went to the test this afternoon. Forty multiple-choice questions in one hour; I was done in 10 minutes and very cleanly passed (35/40). Very happy that's out of the way. Now all that's left is the language test...

Congratulations! And good luck! I'm a bit surprised that there was an option of taking it in English, though.

Seconded!

Thirded!

[Raphael]

Out of curiosity, how long is the rest of the process likely to take? (With the usual caveats about not jinxing it.)

The earliest I can apply is August, once I've completed the final uninterrupted year. Realistically, I would apply probably in September or October after I get the language test passed and secure all the police certificates I need*. From that point... if I complete the modules of the "integration agreement", I would apply for option and it'd take four months; if I can't, then I apply for naturalization and it takes up to eight.

Thank you.

*As part of the process, Luxembourg requires you to present police clearance certificates from your country of citizenship (the US for me) plus all countries in which you have resided in the fifteen years immediately preceding the application: for me, this would also include Germany, France, and the Netherlands, and they can't be older than six months old at the moment of application. The challenging one to get will be the US, primarily because of the fingerprinting requirement for the FBI check, though I think I should be fine for that...

Oh my.

[WeepingElf]

I have submitted my book on progressive rock, which will presumably appear on the market at the end of the month! Also, I have bought a lab coat that promises to be much fun to swim in.

Unfortunately, the submission attempt was a failure. The book is cancelled

[Ares Land]

That sucks! What happened?

[WeepingElf]

That sucks! What happened?

There were various technical problems with the platform on which I tried to publish it, which I could not overcome. Also, I have grown doubts about some passages in my text which apparently are badly researched, and a writer friend told me that the platform was a fraudulent vanity press. And it was the last straw, after all the publishing houses I had offered my text had rejected it. There simply is no market for a book like this.

[Travis B.]

That sucks! What happened?

There were various technical problems with the platform on which I tried to publish it, which I could not overcome. Also, I have grown doubts about some passages in my text which apparently are badly researched, and a writer friend told me that the platform was a fraudulent vanity press. And it was the last straw, after all the publishing houses I had offered my text had rejected it. There simply is no market for a book like this.

Sorry to hear!

[WeepingElf]

That sucks! What happened?

There were various technical problems with the platform on which I tried to publish it, which I could not overcome. Also, I have grown doubts about some passages in my text which apparently are badly researched, and a writer friend told me that the platform was a fraudulent vanity press. And it was the last straw, after all the publishing houses I had offered my text had rejected it. There simply is no market for a book like this.

Sorry to hear!

Well, it was worth trying, and the main objective of the project was not to earn money with it, just to share my thoughts on the matter and to get people interested in the music genre. It would be a pity if all the effort I have put in it was good for nothing. I have decided to put it aside for a while, then rework the problematic passages and put it on my web site, as a PDF downloadable for free. That won't earn me a cent, but that way, I won't lose money for nothing to a vanity press.

Also, I have found something that helped me overcome the frustration: "The Wall" performed by a student theatre troupe. Have fun!

[Linguoboy]

My father died in 2019, but with one thing (e.g. worldwide pandemic) and another, we just got around to distributing the last of his ashes this past Saturday. We'd wanted to do this a couple of years ago when my stepmom was still alive, but the weekend we chose turned out to be the weekend the state park was closed to all but deer hunters. We improvised, but my sister was unhappy with how that went, so I promised her my brother and I would come back and we could have a do-over.

So Friday afternoon my brother and I drove down from Chicago and Saturday morning the three of us headed out to Troy, Missouri, where we lived full-time from 1980 till 1986 and then part time for a few years longer after my parents split. Since those days, the town has grown six-fold. From the highway, it's so unrecognisable that my sister drove right past the turnoff and had to backtrack. When we got to the park, we saw a group of rangers in reflective jackets; our hearts sank when one of them came over and told us that portions of the park were closed for a controlled burn.

Fortunately, those portions didn't include the trail we planned to take, which follows Frenchman's Bluff, a scenic overlook above the Cuivre[*] River. It was a perfect day for hiking--sunny, cool, and mercifully low humidity for Missouri--which somewhat made up for the fact that there was very little green besides moss and nothing in bloom yet. We had the trail almost entirely to ourselves (save a few woodpeckers and turkey buzzards). We made it back to the trailhead around one and decided on a "family restaurant" in town for lunch. When we arrived, we were amused to find that it was the old Troy Family Restaurant where my father used to take clients under a different name. Same basic menu thought. (I had a pork tenderloin sandwich; my brother had the chicken-fried steak with mashed potatoes and gravy.)

Afterwards, we went to our old parish school and church, which has since been converted into a honky tonk(!) and drank a toast to dad, followed by a spin down Main Street to the site of our childhood home. I was very pleasantly surprised to see how much downtown is thriving. I didn't see a single empty storefront; it's all picturesque local businesses, including some (such as Hechel's Hardware) that we recall from living there. Our old house now has a grand new addition on the back but otherwise seems mostly as we remember it. (Were the windows really so small??) All in all, it was a the right balance of nostalgia, family time, and closure that we were all looking for.

[*] Pronounced "quiver"; i.e. the name is a perfect rhyme.

[Man in Space]

There is this rewards points program that my workplace uses (obligatory I-do-not-speak-officially-on-behalf-of-my-employer disclaimer). I had a little downtime last week and found I had accumulated enough points to actually get something. So, I got a laser pointer/pen/flashlight/stylus (I was in the market for a laser pointer to aid in my talk at the LCC) and a surround-sound home theater system, which latter just arrived today. It was remarkably painless to set up and it sounds glorious.

[Raphael]

Glad to hear it, Man in Space. However, without context, I would have guessed that the quote

There is this rewards points program that my workplace uses

would be from a post in the Venting Thread.

[Ares Land]

All in all, it was a the right balance of nostalgia, family time, and closure that we were all looking for.

That sounds quite nice. Glad to hear from you!

[Travis B.]

I figured out why I was not receiving IPv6 packets under zeptoIPv6 using the CYW43439 wireless chip ─ it turns out the CYW43439 has a feature known as a 'multicast filter', where it has built-in functionality for selecting multicast packets to receive, but the catch is that the microcontroller talking to it must tell it which multicast MAC addresses to listen to. While zeptoIPv6 doesn't work yet, it can now receive Neighbor Solicitation packets, which is a big step forward and which allows me to get on with getting the rest of zeptoIPv6 working.

[WeepingElf]

That sucks! What happened?

There were various technical problems with the platform on which I tried to publish it, which I could not overcome. Also, I have grown doubts about some passages in my text which apparently are badly researched, and a writer friend told me that the platform was a fraudulent vanity press. And it was the last straw, after all the publishing houses I had offered my text had rejected it. There simply is no market for a book like this.

The project has not failed yet! I did some more research on the platform, which seems to be OK, and definitely NOT a vanity press. I think the technical problems can be solved. So I will give it another try!

[Raphael]

The project has not failed yet! I did some more research on the platform, which seems to be OK, and definitely NOT a vanity press. I think the technical problems can be solved. So I will give it another try!

Well, good luck! Makes me wonder why someone though that that platform is a vanity press. Perhaps the person thinks all self-publishing platforms are vanity presses?

[Travis B.]

That sucks! What happened?

There were various technical problems with the platform on which I tried to publish it, which I could not overcome. Also, I have grown doubts about some passages in my text which apparently are badly researched, and a writer friend told me that the platform was a fraudulent vanity press. And it was the last straw, after all the publishing houses I had offered my text had rejected it. There simply is no market for a book like this.

The project has not failed yet! I did some more research on the platform, which seems to be OK, and definitely NOT a vanity press. I think the technical problems can be solved. So I will give it another try!

Good luck!

[WeepingElf]

The project has not failed yet! I did some more research on the platform, which seems to be OK, and definitely NOT a vanity press. I think the technical problems can be solved. So I will give it another try!

Well, good luck! Makes me wonder why someone though that that platform is a vanity press. Perhaps the person thinks all self-publishing platforms are vanity presses?

It was a combination of my general mistrust of business offers that seem too good to be true and my frustration about the technical problems I had encountered.