h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

well that is how my wife described what she found in the garden this morning, and i thought that it best described what we are trying to do here.
please add me to your list whenever you can.
Lived in Deutschland from '78 to '83 in FfM and Braunfels before moving to Spanien where i was lucky enough to meet the above.
Sort of miss the place a bit but thats probably cos we live in bloody florida now.However, the offspring are zweisprachig, and we might get back to visit soon.
i have a funny story about leuchtmittelsteuerzusatzformularen if ever anyone wants.
cu
alec

Hi Alec! Of course you'll be counted in, as soon as TC (Trillian's Child) gets around to it! :-) She's sooo incredibly busy! How about a beer and chat at the BBBB (Bolle's Berliner BulettenBude)? http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/F36649?thread=95200&latest=1 http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/F36649?thread=119503&latest=1 Oh yes, and please tell us that story over there! Bossel

This post has been removed.

Hi TC!

Hope you've got a backup copy of that posting (I can see it, but for how long...) ?

hola chica!!!!!!???????
thanks TC, meinst du that we can confundir los moderatores un poco
by speaking in this mezcla...I have noticed a lot of postings on the Gpages have been removed recently but whenever I use the occasional word it seems to get through
encantado...alec.

esperamos. Pero es mejor escribir in Ingles

please tell me, before all the postings disappear like dreams do in the morning, who and where are the moderators? Bush house top floor?
Cheltenham?...not Fylingdales surely?
How many are there,(and when do they change shifts)
Do they ever come out for a?
alec.

They are a new race of android. They work from home, most of them, they have no sense of humour and they don't speak languages. They are against anything political and even take risque jokes out for quiet perusal. Once they have got the jokes (which can take a while) they then put them back for everyone else to laugh at.

There is 24 hour surveillance and sometimes (like prisoners) we try to provoke them. But as H2G2 was always a law-abiding peace-loving group of people, most of the time we can carry on with everyday life and just hope that they are not bored by our rantings and postulations.

Hi Alec,

Just stumbledacross your posting and the "leuchtmittelsteuerzusatzformularen" brought back some memories. I imported a car to Germany, from England. I had it appraised and valued and paid tax on it. Then I was asked how many headlights it had (some cars have twin headlights, so - four in total). I had to pay some tax from the middle ages for each headlamp. Is this the same "leuchtmittelsteuer" you are referring to?

Awu

Oh yes, I want the story too!

You're right, the tax was raised on lightbulbs (and neon lamps etc) of almost any kind, as long as their primary purpose was to illuminate a place. That is, except for signalling or advertising purposes. The tax was some 0.13DM to 0.18DM for household light bulbs. The Leuchtmittelsteuer was abolished on Jan 1, 1993.

ok...ok the leuchtmittelsteuerzusatzformularen was a tax placed on all imports to deutschland containing light bulbs...

Back in the late 70's i was working in braunfels for a certain well known record producer.
As his highly skilled and expensively trained multilingual electronics technician, it was my job to go down to the local bahnhof (which was about all i verstehed back then)and pick up the parcels of spare parts for the recording equipment that were destined for the studios that he had built into a little ferienwohnung.

1.I receive a call from the zolle (custard and excise)... there is a parcel with my name on it in WZ at the bahnhof.

2.I go to pick it up, it is a box of bits for a multitrack recorder, from danemark...I present the paperwork, (for lo...i have been expecting this parcel for some time)

3.The nice zollbeamter hands me the parcel and i open it to check the contents.

4.Listed in the inventory, amongst circuit cards, precision machined rollers and other highly expensive electronic test equipment,valued at many (many) kDm is one item : 4 x Gluhbirnen, 28V...
wert each :80pfennig.

5. The nice zollbeamter suddenly turns ugly...grabs the parcel from me and replaces it on the shelf, and with a shocked expression says:
"Sie haben hier uberhaupt keine LEUCHTMITTELSTEUERZUSATZFORMULAREN"

6. I have him write the word,(all one) and compare it to others such as 'Donaudampfschiffsfahrtsgesellschaftskapitan' u.a.

In order to protect germanys beleaguered light bulb manufacturing industry, a tax was placed on ALL lightbulbs imported into the country, and for want of NOT the 40pfg import tax, but the FORM on which you apply for permission to import lightbulbs, he was refusing to let me have my parcel.

7. I ask politely to see his boss.

8. The Hauptzollbeamter suggests that i be allowed to leave with the parcel...my boss being famous and all.

9. Zollbeamter refuses, me having long hair,wild expression etc.and representing the wave of the future,downfall of society etc.

10. His boss suggests that i go to kuehne &nagel nextdoor, ask for a leuchtmittelsteuerzusatzformular, and pay the dm60 for it to be filled out professionally.

11. I return with aforementioned customs form.

12. Aforementioned zollbeamter checks through ALL my paperwork again, like he has never seen me before EVER.

13. Finally has to admit that all is in order and reluctantly hands over the parcel.

14. Well... you had to be there really... funny was my boss refusing to believe that there was such a thing as a leuchtmittelsteuerzusatzformular, thinking instead that i had spent the afternoon chasing the girls from WZ, just like Goethe.


Alec.

...well, that was a bit of a non sequitur wasn't it.

alec.

Ooh! I sure read it then and replied too. Don't know what happened!?

I didn't think so.

Perhaps I *meant* to

Anyway - looks like *typical* German officers and regulations

I also bought two leather flying jackets (to go with the car that I imported). I remember paying import duty on the brown paper and cardboard they were shipped in.
I have lots of stories of German Beamtern.
Awu

*Smells an entry coming on*

If you told that story in "Ask the community", Ausnahmsweise, you'd get lots of similar stories - and not only from Germany. They're like that all over the world!

gosh yes...with stories of victory and defeat.

Tips for negotiating with the amt army, that sort of thing...

alec.

Oh, you wouldn't want to fight an Amt, not without a spy behind enemy lines!

The worst I ever experienced was at the border between India nd Pakistan. The Pakistani official wouldn't do or say anything. We sat opposite each other at a table for minutes. Then I realised that maybe I should open my passport at the picture page. That's all he was waiting for.
Awu.