General Discussion Thread

[Piney]

Arghhh I was just approached on the street by a Greenpeace activist and pressured into making a monthly donation; someone help me with my terrible inability to say no 

[Aki]

... because it's even harder to obtain outside of Switzerland than Swiss chocolate (seriously, they have to mail it with dry ice packs)?

But it's just so... o_e Have you ever tasted that?
No, Schabziger is a punishment imo.
I can get you plenty of stuff (cheese as well) that you can only find in Switzerland but Schabziger is just... no.

[Fimbulvarg]

Arghhh I was just approached on the street by a Greenpeace activist and pressured into making a monthly donation; someone help me with my terrible inability to say no 

I'm usually approached at least two or three times whenever I'm in Bergen city, especially if I'm near the campus. Thing is, I once donated a huge amount of money to Doctors without Borders because I forgot I had a monthly thing going. The good thing about that is I can say I'm supporting another NGO without feeling like I'm lying. I just paid it all in advance. The best way of course is to be 'on a mission', they can't forcibly stop you on the street if you have somewhere you need to be.

Also, you can cancel your monthly donation scheme at any time, so it doesn't have to be more than a one time donation. No need to feel guilty about it either, I care for environmental causes but GreenPeace.... they don't always spend your money wisely. Doctors without Borders, Save the Children, Amnesty and UNICEF are better causes IMO.

[starfallz]

This sounds both interesting and fun, but what exactly is tech editing knitting patterns?

It is getting a pattern ready for publishing, basically. You make sure it has all the info (needles, yarn, gauge, etc.) and has consistent formatting, and check the math for increases and decreases. Stuff like that so there aren't any errors in the pattern that would infuriate knitters.

[Piney]

I'm usually approached at least two or three times whenever I'm in Bergen city, especially if I'm near the campus. Thing is, I once donated a huge amount of money to Doctors without Borders because I forgot I had a monthly thing going. The good thing about that is I can say I'm supporting another NGO without feeling like I'm lying. I just paid it all in advance. The best way of course is to be 'on a mission', they can't forcibly stop you on the street if you have somewhere you need to be.

Also, you can cancel your monthly donation scheme at any time, so it doesn't have to be more than a one time donation. No need to feel guilty about it either, I care for environmental causes but GreenPeace.... they don't always spend your money wisely. Doctors without Borders, Save the Children, Amnesty and UNICEF are better causes IMO.

Yeeeah, I felt iffy about Greenpeace specifically. I also had earbuds in and was actually listening to music, and isn't that supposed to be universal language for "don't talk to me"? I almost said I had to go to class, but that would've been a lie since I was actually just going to lunch and class wasn't for another 45 minutes My plan is to cancel as soon as possible, and cross the street if I see activists there again...

[Haiz]

welp, I'm back from adventuring through the alps today, what did I miss? chocolate talk? how did nobody mention freia. swiss chocolate is great and all but freia

also i already mentioned in Moments of Happiness thread but Haiz is my real name now! that's kinda cool.

edit: ALSO IM ACTUALLY IN SWITZERLAND NOW. after beeing in both france and briefly italy, heh. turns out my grand aunt and uncle DO have good wifi.

[starfallz]

also i already mentioned in Moments of Happiness thread but Haiz is my real name now! that's kinda cool.

CONGRATULATIONS!!

[Fenris]

Also, you can cancel your monthly donation scheme at any time, so it doesn't have to be more than a one time donation.

That depends. It was a bloody hassle and took me ages to cancel my Red Cross monthly payments (that is with a number of phone calls, letters, emails and getting my bank to stop any payments to them, which caused them to send the bill in the mail). It could be easy, or it could be difficult, depending on who you are dealing with.

[Fimbulvarg]

That depends. It was a bloody hassle and took me ages to cancel my Red Cross monthly payments (that is with a number of phone calls, letters, emails and getting my bank to stop any payments to them, which caused them to send the bill in the mail). It could be easy, or it could be difficult, depending on who you are dealing with.

In this age of online banking these things are usually set up through direct debit. I don't know what bank you have but you're usually able to manage your own end of those 'agreements' yourself. Obviously it will not be that easy if you opted out of direct debit transactions.

Also you could simply not pay the bill and tell them you'll get the media involved if they cause any fuzz. 'twould be interesting to see how they would react to that.

[Fenris]

In this age of online banking these things are usually set up through direct debit. I don't know what bank you have but you're usually able to manage your own end of those 'agreements' yourself. Obviously it will not be that easy if you opted out of direct debit transactions.

Also you could simply not pay the bill and tell them you'll get the media involved if they cause any fuzz. 'twould be interesting to see how they would react to that.

Yeah, I did stop the transaction through the bank, but I kept getting bills from them (of course, they couldn't actually demand the payment, but it was annoying).

[Fimbulvarg]

Yeah, I did stop the transaction through the bank, but I kept getting bills from them (of course, they couldn't actually demand the payment, but it was annoying).

I for one think that extra fodder for the fireplace is a grand thing.

I've donated to two charitable organisations by the way, DWB and GreenPeace (ugh...), neither gave me any trouble when I cancelled. Maybe Red Cross is just a bit more dedicated to their finances.

[Mélusine]

Arghhh I was just approached on the street by a Greenpeace activist and pressured into making a monthly donation; someone help me with my terrible inability to say no 

"I'm sorry, I'm a student and I'm poor/I don't have enough money." * was my answer, with a sorry smile, while continuing walking if possible. (* "But you can do something, even a little thing !" - "Yes, I'm already giving my blood, that's the little thing I choose.")

[Yuuago]

Arghhh I was just approached on the street by a Greenpeace activist and pressured into making a monthly donation; someone help me with my terrible inability to say no 

Generally in those situations, I pretend I'm a snobby aristocrat: stick nose in air, ignore their existence. ... Which is really rude, of course, but it works for me. Um. ;p

But of course it's best if you can avoid them speaking to you at all... walking quickly and with purpose helps. And of course, nobody is entitled to even one second of your time.

[starfallz]

"I'm sorry, I'm a student and I'm poor/I don't have enough money." * was my answer, with a sorry smile, while continuing walking if possible. (* "But you can do something, even a little thing !" - "Yes, I'm already giving my blood, that's the little thing I choose.")

I usually plead something like that as well.

[Rabbit]

Generally in those situations, I pretend I'm a snobby aristocrat: stick nose in air, ignore their existence. ... Which is really rude, of course, but it works for me. Um. ;p

But of course it's best if you can avoid them speaking to you at all... walking quickly and with purpose helps. And of course, nobody is entitled to even one second of your time.

This is 50% of the reason I carry big no-nonsense headphones everywhere I go, it's the clearest "DON'T TALK TO ME" signal and even if sometimes it still doesn't work you can always pretend you didn't hear them

(The other 50% being, of course, the possibility to genuinely drown out annoying Outside World noises.)