DISILLUSIONED

Once again, a totally irrelevant photo … but at least a cute one

We were lied to. Plain and simple. Lied to from Day 1 after the takeover from the new company. They welcomed us grandly with a huge welcome party, telling us how happy they were to join forces with us. One big family. And, as you know, I was quite happy to be part of the new company, optimistic, since they had subsidiaries in Austria and I had hoped they would find a way for me to remain working in my department, just from back home.

Well, as you already know, my hopes were crushed shortly before Christmas when they announced that there won’t be a solution for me. And now I know why. Because they just didn’t want to, were just not interested and already knew that my job would be a goner anyway … and little Austrian me being totally irrelevant. Like an annoying little bug asking again and again whether there would be any way to remain part of this company … but let me start at the beginning. The beginning of the end.

One month after the grand welcome party the new company shocked us with the announcement that they would shut down several locations, some of them in Germany, the one in Austria and others around the world because they wanted to discontinue the one or other product. Not even service and spare parts were continued, resulting in annoying customers left and right. This decision put the first chink in our trust to the new owners. But we were confident at our location – since we had the products and know how they were actually interested in, furthermore we had exceeded our planned numbers despite more difficult conditions due to the pandemic and inflation – that our jobs would be relatively safe. Which was also proclaimed one month ago at the staff meeting. Showing that employee numbers at my location would basically remain the same.

Last week they finally showed their true colours. 43% of employees would be laid off (two third at my department), positions moved to “best cost countries”. (Best cost my ass! More like lowest cost!) They proclaimed that they had looked at the numbers closely only recently and decided that this was a necessary step.

Yep, tell me again that this was a recent decision! Please tell me! I don’t believe it for a second! I don’t believe a single word they are saying anymore! I bet they had been planning this from the very beginning! And that pisses me off even more! Loudly pronouncing that their core values are “trust” and “honesty”. And employees being the most important. My ass! Pure mockery! And disrespect towards the new employees who trusted them to find a new professional home, giving their all. In my special case, it’s not much of an issue, my future plans don’t involve this company anymore anyway. But my colleagues … shocked, distraught, angry, worried. And I completely understand, having been in this situation myself a couple of times, being partly responsible for my depressive episodes.

Wanna know what’s going to happen to my location after the reduction to approximately half the staff? They will suck out all the knowledge and when they have what they want, the German location will be a thing of the past more quickly than you can say “Booo”. My estimation? 2025 or 2026, the latest. And they won’t care one bit. Just another competitor successfully destroyed.

I can’t tell you how disgusted I am. Disgusted and disillusioned. And I hope I will find some more “peace” at my new job, with a company which still values its employees and treats them decently.

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ALONE

My home companion

Home Office coffee break treat

Remember one of my past posts about solitude? How much I need it and enjoy it? Nothing much has changed in these regards. I still crave the peace and quiet I have at home. Appreciating the opportunity of working from home, where I’m much more productive and can concentrate on my work. Despite the frequent calls, also some of which are just a few minutes chatting to catch up on my closest colleagues’ lives. 

Am I lonely? At times I am. Not sad lonely. Not the desperation I felt in my depressive days, thinking of my dead parents and yearning for someone next to me, sharing my life and everything. But lonely nevertheless. Thinking about the fact that I am pretty alone here in Germany. Even with the one or other friend, my special friend, my cat. But with the feeling, nevertheless, that if anything happened to me, there wouldn’t be anyone to either take care of my cat or visit me in hospital. Maybe I’m wrong and they would, but it’s just the way I feel.

Why? Well, friends No 1 and 2 are hours away, friend No 3 is only half an hour away but always busy, friends No 4 and 5 probably would visit, being here in the same town … and my special friend … well, since it’s complicated, I couldn’t count on it. The others are acquaintances and colleagues and those I could probably count on the least. Or maybe not? I don’t know!

At home? My aunts are there, my sister, my cousin, my friends – long-time and close friends. Knowing they would be there for me the same way I’d be there for them. The way they have always been there for me. And that’s one of the reasons it’s time for me to go home. To feel protected, safe and less lonely again, surrounded by warmth and love all around.

My greatest fear? That something unforeseeable happens and I’m stuck here indefinitely … I couldn’t bear that! But I have to trust that everything will work out the way it should! And that soon I will be back where I belong! Home!

NOT MY THING

Totally irrelevant photo …

Darn, I should have got up last night after all to write down what was on my mind. Now I just rememberthe title and an inkling of what I wanted to say. But the gist of it was and is: I don’t like kids. (And teenagers even less!) There are exceptions, of course, even though they are quite rare and usually come down to well-mannered kids of friends and acquaintances. But overall, I just don’t like them. You will never see me oohing and aahing into the pram of a stranger, telling the proud mother how cute her child is or ask silly questions. (I’m more inclined to ooh and aah when seeing a cute animal …) You will also never hear me deliberately move a conversation to children with non-friends. I really couldn’t care less. (Maybe I should get Melania Trump’s legendary parka after all …) The thought of becoming pregnant is a constant panic issue which leads to double protection and pregnancy tests every two to three months. Just to be on the safe side! Could you imagine the horror? ME becoming pregnant? Not an option! Pregnancy? Motherhood? Not my thing!

Shocking, I know! And very, very bad of me to even admit something like that. I can hear the indignant über-mothers complaining loudly and telling me what an awful person I am (while secretly some of them will sigh silently, wishing their before-kids-lives back). And you wonder … why? Why, oh why doesn’t she like kids? They are the apples of our earth, our future, bla bla bla blaaaa … sure, looking at today’s offspring and the one from my generation (which are in their twenties, teens or producing their own offspring already) … what brilliant future generation will we have before us? Spoiled rotten by parents who think anti-authoritarian education is de rigueur. Kids who don’t manage to follow the most basic rules of politeness like greeting and saying “Thank you”! (Which makes me despise the parents nearly as much for failing so badly. And I could kick their butts from here to the next solar system when observing their ignorance, leaving their brats on their own devices, letting them jump up and down chairs, screaming and crying, doing whatever they want, just watching stupidly and not saying anything to put them in their places!) With their ambitions and only aim to get ahead in life, no matter the costs, stopping at nothing, without any sense of camaraderie, friendship and care for others. With grandparents and other relatives just good enough for providing gifts and money. A telephone call? A visit? What for? Sooo boring …

I sensed the first shift in bad manners of the little ones in my last two years at school. (Yes, that early, and ages ago, being in my 40s. There, I said it!) I remember when I started my higher education at the age of 10, the 18-year-olds were like gods to us! We used to look up to them admiringly. When we came across them in the hallways we pressed ourselves close to the walls to not hinder their way and attract attention. When I was in my final year? WE basically had to press ourselves to the walls so as to not being run down by the little impudent pricks, who had no respect at all, talking back to you whenever they could.

The next shift I realized in the later years at university. When I started, even though I was the youngest and newest addition to our small community of ceramics students, I was included into their group immediately. Partying together, helping out with student papers and material, a close-knit group … I felt right at home, was one of them. Sadly, most of them finished a couple of years later … and what followed was more or less what I had experienced in my last years at school. Colleagues who only looked at their gain, refusing to help or lend transcripts. Well, not all were that bad, but I discovered that especially the female student body tended to act meanly and as if they were the brightestchicks on earth. And it’s getting worse … my ex-partner’s daughter and kids / teens in my own family are the best example. And I shudder in disgust just thinking about them …

To round this article up quite nicely … working as a tutor for too many years didn’t exactly improve my view of children (even though, as I have already disclosed in another post, there were some, I did like and care about). So, here I am! Saying those four little bad words! Which are not to be said publicly, because one just does not do that. But I do. Because I like to be bad!

THE LONG WAY HOME

Nearly empty

And already gone …

Cat on a hot pink pillow

We love banana boxes

It all started … but you already know that. You know that one year ago my plan started to take form to get back home as quickly as possible.

Well, the initial plan to move my current job to the subsidiary in Austria and comfortably work from my home office there has vanished into thin air. Resulting in my decision to look for a new job, as sad as I am that I will have to leave a job I immensely like and colleagues I immensely enjoy working with. But, as you might have realized by now – just like everyone else – my priority is to move back home. As soon as possible. (And yes, I fear the day I will have to say goodbye to HIM, my special friend! Something I cannot bear thinking about yet …)

My planning actually started many, many months ago. Collecting the first banana boxes to pack for my fall trip to Austria. And after my short September vacation the real planning started. The employees of my two favourite grocery stores within walking distance were either smiling or sighing occasionallywhen I hit them with an “Any empty banana boxes for me today?” at least twice a week. Well, what else was I supposed to do? I had estimated that I would need approximately 180-200 banana boxes for all the stuff distributed throughout my 100 sqm apartment. And one just can´t manage to collect this amount in a matter of a couple of weeks. Particularly, since I only managed to carry four boxes back home in one go. And, compared to my other moves, I had to discover, that the large stores would not keep back and reserve boxes, so you were either in luck when driving there or not … how annoying! Hence, I mostly just graced those two stores close-by and carried them home like a crazy cardboard box collecting person.

By the way, shortly before Christmas I had reached my goal, collecting 165 boxes, the amount I actually need! How I know? Gee, how to explain without sounding like a complete nutcase? Oh well, there it goes. Whenever I brought home empty boxes I started to pack them with items not needed for everyday life. Like my photo albums, read books, DVDs, decorating items, etc etc. I even trial packed some boxes for later packing, making notes what issupposed to go into – let’s say – box number 58 and in the course of time, I could reduce my initial box estimate by more than 30 boxes. Which will be quite some space saved in the moving truck. 

And yes, I do have a detailed list on paper (and in Excel form) to quickly find which item is in which numbered box in case I do need something from one of them. Did you expect anything less from organized list lover me?

Now, it’s the beginning of March, my first job applications have been sent out, I’ve had my first interviews and others lined up and my apartment looks like a big box storage area, with the first pieces of furniture either already sold or still available on ebay. Pieces I know I won’t take with me. A more detailed moving and furniture plan will only be possible when I have A) a new job and B) a new apartment. Trying to be prepared as well as possible.

Until then I’m living with emptied out shelves with only my unread books still displayed, empty glass cases, bare walls and the mere necessities in terms of dishes, mugs and cooking equipment. My plants are basically providing the only decoration at this point.(Having sold or given away some of them as well!Approximately 15, I think!) Weird, right?

And on top of that I only spent around 20 bucks for groceries this past month … trying to use up stored groceries and frozen food. Trying to empty out my freezer as well. Which is hard work, believe it or not! Not knowing how long I still have, it might be a few weeks or a few months. Being in some kind of limbo until everything is settled and my long way home will come to an end! Being back where I belong!

A STAR TREK LOVE AFFAIR

It all started as a kid … of course it did … well, I’m not THAT old to have seen the original series in the 60s when it first appeared on our screens … but in the 80s … which is very, very long ago too. And even though I have seen most episodes of the other TV series (The next Generation, Voyager, Enterprise,Discovery, …) I’m a hard-core fan of the original series. It’s so wonderfully tacky. But classic. And at those times ingeniously open-minded, current topics cushioned into an alien world. Nazis, the Cold War, interracial love … nothing was sacred. It was the first time a white man kissed a black woman on TV. Imagine that! The scandal!!!

Well, I guess, lots of thesis have been written about the psychology of Star Trek. Interpreting every single occurrence, relationship, evil rulers … what a fun project!

To me it’s just entertainment. I love the bad costumes, the rocks bouncing around when thrown, the “beaming”, the unmovable Spock with exactly two different facial expressions, the fake fighting and the Tribbles. Of course, that’s my absolutely favourite episode. Even though you could see Kirk moving his fingers in order to have the Tribble in his hand move too … it’s hilariously funny. Which is why I appreciate the “Enterprise” series from 2001 even more, explaining lots of things that happened in the original series – timed before “Star Trek” from the 60s. And the differences in make-up and costumes … just like the blue Andorians with their moving feelers. Lovely. (And the title song from “Enterprise” is my absolute favourite!)

Of course, the latest two series “Picard” and “Discovery” have crossed over my screen as well. And even though I did enjoy watching them, one can’t help feeling sorry for ancient Patrick “Picard” Stewart whose age you can clearly see. Nice to encounter his old crew and follow his new adventures. Unfortunately, I separated from my then-partner in the middle of the series and never got to sign up to Amazon Prime afterwards, never being able to watch the end of the series. Maybe one day I will. (Just like missing out on further episodes of “The Grand Tour” with Jeremy Clarkson). 

When it comes to Discovery, I managed to see the first three season and enjoyed the young Spock, Michael Burnham, her friends and crew exploring and having new exciting adventures. Waiting for season 4 to appear on Netflix. Just to realize … nope, won’t be on Netflix anymore. What a shame, but it didn’t really make much of an impact to me, since I’m more the original series junkie anyway.

Star Trek – to me it will always be the original series, which I love dearly!

HIGHLIGHT OF MY DAY?

Ha, and I thought I wouldn’t have anything to write about! Lucky me, something did happen … and I’m not quite sure yet whether to be totally annoyed or laugh out loud due to its ridiculousness.

Let me start at the beginning! I was informed a couple of days ago that I had used an inappropriate “tone” towards the department head from this other department. Because, let’s face it, I’m faaar beneath him and that’s a no go! 

The example he used? An email I had written recently, in which I had politely requested information regarding “internal clarification about who would be able to perform the tasks”. And yes, as is my inappropriate way, I did use the words “please”and “thank you”. Anyway, my boss was quite flabbergasted because he couldn’t see anything wrong with my email. Considering that the exact same guy actually had used an inappropriate tone recently by nicely telling me on Teams when I told him to ask another colleague since I didn’t have more information either, “I don’t think you have to explain my job to me” … This exact guy dares to complain about a perfectly polite and normal email? Seriously? 

By the way, this guy who joined the company and my previous department (later than me), WAS a regular colleague at the same professional level! And by the way, since he was not the most collegial guy, who hit a wrong chord on a regular basis towards other colleagues as well as the lady from the Currywurst truck (just to name one), it was suggested he move somewhere else professionally. Unfortunately, due to restructuring he actually moved up the professional ladder – what a disaster for his new “minions”, resulting in one of them quitting soon after! (Another advantage of home office! Imagine running into this guy on a daily basis … I shudder at the thought and probably would have had to take my happy pills again if I were part of his team!)

And by the way, everyone he gets into contact with, is in a constant eye-rolling situation just when his name is mentioned. Or his name pops up in a Teams call. Or another email arrives. (In atrocious mother-tongue German or even more atrocious English. Grammar, comma rules, capitalization, spelling … non-existent, which makes me cringe embarrassedly!Particularly when I have to read English emails being sent to customers.)

And I wonder! What’s wrong with this guy? How can someone with so little social competence be head of a department not to mention land a job at all where other people are involved? Alienating everyone he comes into contact with? God complex? For sure! He definitely thinks he is God’s greatest gift! Paranoid? No doubt! An awful human being who treats other human beings like crap? Yep!

Frankly, I cannot take someone like him seriously. And I certainly cannot respect such a person. Respect has to be earned and my respect for him has gone down the drain a loooong time ago.

MY LITTLE EVERYDAY PLEASURES

With home office and my constant saving for my move back home … there’s not much going on right now. Nothing interesting enough to write about. Well, I could write about some of those annoying people grazing the news and rags. Like those Z VIPs in the “I’m a star, get me out of here” jungle or all those other trash shows. Or the government not managing to punish those climate terrorists more severely – with our tax money being wasted on those worthless human beings just like those (and yes, mostly young male aggressive) immigrants who stab and kill people and should have been thrown out of the country long ago. And then … no, I won’t go there. It’s just too annoying and I’d rather write a nice article. About those little everyday pleasures that make me happy. (Most of which make me happy on weekends! After all, weekend is a happy occasion!)

1.) The free Saturday newspaper (usually arriving around 10 a.m.) with ad inlays from my favourite stores to browse through. Usually enjoyed while sitting in one of my comfy reading chairs, accompanied by a cup of Tassimo Latte Macchiato or Cappuccino and my cat sleeping on my thighs. When done with the paper and ads – having made notes which groceries to buy the following week – I continue my pleasurable Saturday morning with one of my mysteries.

2.) Watching an Austrian show. Even though not everything can be watched from Germany, at least there are documentaries and cabaret shows I can watch. At least once or twice a week. My absolute favourite? “Was gibt es Neues?” (What’s new?) A show where cabaretists have to guess what very weird words or expressions might mean. Or “the thing of the week”. Even weirder items for everyday life and their use the guests have to find out. Incredibly funny because those famous Austrian entertainers are just awesome. (Luckily, I also have some of their Best of DVDs to get through the week …)

3.) Taking a bath. Which I might have mentioned once or twice in one of my previous posts. It’s still something I enjoy immensely and due to rising energy prices, I have reduced this pleasure as well. A bath tub will definitely be on my must-have-list for my next apartment. There’s nearly nothing more pleasurable than sinking into a hot bath after a long day to relax and warm up. Especially in winter. Especially when one tends to reside at a piping hot 18-19°C.

4.) Afternoon tea on rainy days with cookies or cake. Nothing new there, either. And especially rainy fall and winter days are perfect for cuddling up in one of my comfy chairs with tea or hot chocolate, cookies and a good book. Small pleasures …

5.) Homemade lunch. Yes, I consider homemade lunch one of my everyday pleasures. To be able to quickly put together something for home office lunch, in my own kitchen, freshly cooked or freshly defrosted from my darling freezer (home-cooked as well), is pure luxury and something I treasure as long as I can. Since close to 100% home office surely won’t be an option in my future job.

6.) My cat! Yes, definitely on my everyday pleasure list. He makes me happy, calms me down and makes me smile on a daily basis. It’s very rare that I have to scold him, mostly he makes me laugh and cuddling him – poor darling, he doesn’t quite like it that much – instantly makes me feel better when I’m in a bad mood.

7.) My books! Well, what did you expect? Of course, they are part of my everyday pleasures – and even more so on weekends. But on a daily basis? Every day I’m looking forward to my big comfy box spring bed and the three or four bookswaiting for me that I’m reading in parallel. At the moment, it’s another “Murder, she wrote” mystery, “A shot in the dark” by Lynne Truss (very funny 50s Brighton mystery), an Austrian mystery (for the homesickness) and a historical book about Vienna’s inner districts. Thrown in with some French to brush up my language skills.

Alright now, it’s Saturday, 8 a.m.! Time to upload today’s post, get some household chores done and THEN my books, Latte Macchiato and my Saturday paper are waiting for me! Have a great weekend, you all!

IN EXTREME SAVINGS MODE

Been there, done that! And now I’m at it again! It’s so frustrating. Sometimes it’s so frustrating! Prices are rising everywhere and sometimes I don’t know where else I can save a few Euros. Remember the time when my car court suit was hanging above my head like a sword as I didn’t know how much everything would cost just to receive my right and punish the evil car dealer? Now I’m kind of feeling similar. Just without the depressive episodes, thankfully. But knowing how much the move back to Austria will cost me (the move itself, security deposit for the new apartment, importing my car and paying an extra tax that only exists in Austria, some new furniture and all the other small stuff piling up …) it’s especially frustrating with costs climbing higher and higher for everyday life. Not knowing whether the worst is still to come in the winter months.

How do I do it? Well, I can’t change the fixed costs, of course. But I try to live cheaply when it comes to everything else. Like barely going grocery shopping, checking offers, barely going out – once a month dinner with a friend, once a month getting take-out – and trying to reduce my Amazon book orders. But well, this really is my biggest vice and considering that others have kids with monthly expenses of sports training, musical lessons and whatever costs there are with kids around … I’m getting off cheaply with my picky cat and my book (especially used book) orders. 

Which doesn’t change the fact, that saving money is always on my mind and top priority. Sometimes it seems as if the past ten years were nothing but me in extreme savings mode. Trying to build up an emergency fund, the car issue, vacations, the move-in together move, the move back to where I started move (which cost me a big bundle of what I had saved on costs by living together with someone), recouping my losses and now my even bigger venture just to get back to Austria. It’s a dilemma, really. Sell most of my furniture and buy new in Austria? Bite the bullet by taking as much as possible and paying the additional transport costs? After all, even though Ikea furniture can be sold quite well, I’m lucky to receive half of what I paid for it. I’m trying to find a compromise by selling some and keeping the rest. For now. Until I know the layout of my new apartment and what I can actually take. And until everything is settled in ways of a new job and new apartment, I’ll keep putting away as much as possible into my savings account so that I won’t have to use up all of my emergency funds or take out a loan just to get back home.

Happy savings and better economic times for all of you!

I WANT TO …

I want to be close to my family – the little I have left

I want to order Kaiser rolls with whichever deli I want

I want to be close to Italy and my favourite city Venice

I want to visit my great-uncle’s theatre plays in Graz

I want to buy yellow and purple toilet paper to go with my yellow and purple towels

I want to buy raclette cheese all year round

I want to buy Kipferl, Zuckerreingerl and Punschkrapfen

I want to eat Schnitzel – a good one – or Cordon bleu or a Schnitzel roll at least once a week

I want to rediscover Vienna, following Inspector Nechyba’s footsteps

I want to breathe good, fresh air … not the weird, sulphuric one or whatever smell drafts into my apartment when the wind is blowing in the wrong direction

I want to live in a city without crazy people wandering the pedestrian streets in the middle of the night yelling unintelligible things

I want to live in a clean city again where people actually know how to use trash cans

I want to live in apartments without those horrid wallpapers everywhere

I want to have snow in winter

I want to go skiing

I want to speak in my dialect without having to adapt to “High German”

I want to use the words I’m used to and not have to think of the German expressions, some of which hardly coming over my lips without shuddering

I want to be close to the last remains of my parents and dead loved ones

I want to enjoy delicious cakes and pastries without the constant addition of heavy cream

I want to swim in real lakes in summer

I want to buy my favourite groceries whenever I want to

I want to go to the furniture store XXXLutz with my aunt and have lunch there, just like we used to in the old days occasionally

I want to go to the movies and not have to endure sweet popcorn, but have the choice of sweet or salty popcorn (salty is the only way to go …)

I want to celebrate Austrian Easter without having tofreeze the meat and sausages for a couple of years, just in case. And buy fresh Easter yeast bread instead of looking for a substitute

I want to be surrounded by my friends, my real social circle

I want to feel safe, knowing that if I need help, I won’t be alone

I want to buy tissue hankies in 100er bulk not just packed in 10 piece packages

I want to know when the traffic light will change from green to orange thanks to the green light blinking a few times

I want to withdraw money from any ATM, not just from the bank conglomerate my bank belongs to

I want to …

I WANT TO GO HOME

BEST TV SERIES SEEN IN 2022

Well, you should be used to my “Best of” posts by now. And rest assured, there will be other “Best ofs”as well. And since I’m a little short on other, more interesting / more personal scribblings, you will have to suffer through my yearly best and worst of anything I can think of articles. To make it even more boring, my awesome “Best of” list is limited to Netflix. Since A) I don’t have regular TV and B) I also don’t have anything else like Amazon Prime, Sky, Disney, Apple and whatever else is out there … So, here it goes!

1 Gotham: Oh boy, I loved this series. Even though I was sceptical at first because I knew it would be a dark series. Maybe too dark. But I started to enjoy it and its characters very much. Even some of the villains. Penguin is just adorable, no matter what he does. I didn’t like the Joker, though. Too psychotic. Bruce Wayne’s developing nicely and Mr. Pennyworth is just marvellous. Probably my favourite character of all with his British accent, style and awesome (fighting) skills. Jim Gordon is quite complex, trying to do the right thing with buddy Harvey Bullock in contrast. A truly great series.

2 The Arrow / The Flash / Supergirl – Universe: While having watched the Arrow in 2021, I enjoyed the spin-offs very much. Especially since they are “lighter”, funnier, tying in beautifully with each other. I love the crossover episodes most, of course and would have liked to really watch them in a row, jumping from one series to the other.

3 The Lincoln Lawyer: Having read the book ages ago it all came back while watching the series and I enjoyed it very much. What’s more to say about Michael Connelly’s creation? Lawyer Mickey Haller, finally back at work, a thrilling case, LA at its best and hopefully Netflix will adapt the other Haller books as well.

4 The good cop: Sadly, just one season available on Netflix. What’s not to love about Italian crookTony and his stuck-up police son? We all remember Tony Danza on “Who’s the boss?” What fun to watch him walking the tight rope between being a crook and remaining honest.

5 Wednesday: Awesome. Awesome, awesome, awesome. A brilliant young actress portraying the barely moving a face muscle “Addams family” teenage daughter, being shipped off to a new school of others with powers. Twists and turns wherever you look and I would have never guessed who the “monster” was until the very end. For once, a teenage series that didn’t annoy me thanks to annoying – well – teenagers.

6 Bridgerton: Of course, the Bridgertons are on my “Best” list as well. Again. I was a little disappointed at first that the handsome Duke wouldn’t be part of season 2. But since it revolved around the oldest Bridgerton brother, the other characters were only side charactersanyway. Wonderful settings, wardrobe, style and stories. But, and here is the big BUT, Kate was a bit annoying at times.

7 The Crown: well … what can I say. Well-madeagain, but I preferred the early seasons better. Maybe because the Diana drama is still fresh inmy mind and I suffered with them all when their marriage broke up. Thankfully, not everything evolved around the then Prince and Princess of Wales. The Margaret episode was quite lovely, as tragic as it was when one considers that she was not allowed to marry the love of her life. And the Al Fayed background was quite fascinating. Anyway, I dread the coming season with Diana’s tragic accident …

8 The Green Glove Gang: what a refreshing series from our neighbouring country Poland. Three elderly lady burglars hiding out at a retirement home. Being quite reluctant at first, they start to really care about the other residents, which is being reciprocated manifolds. A truly entertaining series!

9 The IT Crowd: I know, I know! Anything but new! But since I never watched it I took the plunge 16 years later and had quite fun with its British sitcom quirkiness.

10 Of course I also followed up on the new and partly final seasons of The Umbrella Academy, The Witcher, Virgin River, Locke & Key, etc.

 

Oh, by the way? Not on Netflix but old-fashioned DVDs, I immensely enjoyed Rowan Atkinson as “Black Adder”. Brilliantly hilarious! Have a great TV year 2023!