What are five euros in real money? About eight Australian dollars - or four more second-hand books from Vinnies in my currency! That's how much more "Rente" I'll be receiving from the (c)old "Vaterland" from 1st July.
The German pension system is not like Australian welfare but a fairer repayment of the contributions one has made to the pension fund during one's working life. I only worked in Germany during my articled years when I earnt an absolute minimum salary and made only absolute minimum contributions to the fund, but through the power of compound interest it still amounts to one-hundred-and-nineteen euros payable each month until the day I die which, hopefully, will not be until I have read the great many stacks of unread books accumulated in my library.
Even I can't spend all my "Rente" on books although I made a valiant effort today while Padma did her grocery shopping and I checked Vinnies' book section for new treasures. I found a beautiful volume of 65 short stories by W. Somerset Maugham, the comprehensive biography "Oscar - a Life" (of Oscar Wilde, of course) by Matthew Sturgis, and "D.H. Lawrence at Thirroul" which is just up the road from here and where in the winter of 1922 he wrote his great Australian novel "Kangaroo".
Anyway, I schlepped myself off to the local court house to have my pulse felt and a certificate signed to say that I'm still alive, which I then mailed off to the (c)old country immediately, and the extra eight dollars should be as good as in the bank. We then called in at the local nbn (National Broadband Network) community centre about the set-up of our newly acquired smartphone where Padma impressed them so much with her public relations skills that she was immediately offered a job.
We're back at "Riverbend" and the fireplace is lit for a cosy night with almond croissants and "Glühwein". Life can't get much better than this! From a procrastination standpoint, today has been a raging success.
