Know it alls who don't actually know a thing at all

I'm the sort of person that generally isn't easily annoyed, but if there is one thing I do hate. It's people that make comments or remarks and claim they know what they're talking about, but actually they don't have a clue. Now I've known or worked with a small handful of these people and I'm sure a lot of people can relate to this. You get some of them who on a regular basis just come out with stuff that is blatant crap and you just think where do they get this stuff from. These are the sorts of people you suss out as idiots straight away and not after long, you just begin to filter out anything that comes out of their mouth. On the other hand you get some which will either challenge a statement you have made or better still will say something that to you doesn't sound completely right, so you question it and they then riddle off a who load of nonsense to back themselves up and basically say you're wrong. The funny thing with this though is the fact that they will come out with something in such a way that it makes you question your own factual knowledge and spend a while thinking 'hmmm maybe they're right'. But after 5 minutes of being put in this trance and a Google search for some facts just to be 100% sure, you laugh to yourself again thinking, where the hell have they got this crap from. It's as if they were the kind of children to always tell fibs and they have been doing it that long they actually believe their own bullshit to be factual. Now not meaning to sound arrogant or big headed, but I am a very intelligent person, I have a first class masters degree in electrical & electronic engineering from a prestigious University to back this comment up. I am also the sort of person that isn't happy until I understand something technical or the way something works 100%. I'm not the kind of sort to 'kind of know' how something works. I know the fundamental physics behind how most electrical components work and the ones I work with I know inside out.  So because of this, when I hear someone speak of testing something in a certain way and they are doing a lot more than necessary - I will make a comment saying you don't need to do that (to get the results you need) and explain why, yet they will still make a comment to back themselves up. Then when I prove my point with factual evidence they some how flip it round to say - 'oh yea that's what I was saying/meant'. Infuriating! Another annoying thing is when people make comments on something you're talking about. But they have just assumed it is a correct statement, because it sounds right... Again, turns out to be a load of bollocks again and I can never imagine where they have got it from.

One funny example I have of a complete bullshit story which many of my college class accepted and I personally thought nothing of it until I went to University goes like this:

...So one of my A-Level Physics teachers, Trev he was called, was teaching us about electrical properties of different materials. Now at school it is very dumbed down for you and you are lead to believe that metals conduct electricity and insulators such as wood and rubber do not. Now the topic in this Physics class at the age or 17 or 18 was about insulators being able to conduct electricity - which is true as the most common electrical equation V=IR states. Ok so conductors have a very low resistance which is why we see electricity flowing at any sort of voltage whereas insulators have a very high resistance, meaning that for a low voltage we will have a negligible amount of current flowing, that is why we say that they don't really conduct electricity. However every material has a finite amount of resistance and even materials such as wood and rubber with resistance values up in the millions and billions of Ohms will conduct large amounts of current granted that the applied voltage is extremely high. An example would be that of a tree touching an overhead power transmission line. Now the example Trev gave, going off the fact that insulators can conduct at large voltages, was that of spark plug cables for car engines. Now for those that don't know, to create a spark across a gap, you need a large voltage - and this is exactly how car sparkplugs work, a voltage in the thousands of volts is generated in the distributor and sent along cables to the spark plugs that sit within the engine head. Trev told us that because of this high voltage the cables actually conduct electricity and I kid you not he made this comment to us -'I made the mistake once of grabbing the cables when the engine was running. It was horrible, I had damaged my hands that I couldn't hold a pint for a week' Now at the time we thought this was true as we were young inexperienced adolescents and the whole subject was about typically know insulators being able to conduct electricity. Now the facts are that yes, typical cable insulators that you find in household products would probably conduct at these voltages. But insulators are created from different materials to be used for different voltage levels. So in spark plug cables the insulation is constructed of super high resistance material and therefore on basic terms doesn't conduct. But to realise this a year or so after leaving college and looking back on it just made me laugh and think, Jesus the people providing the youth of today with false knowledge, Ridiculous.

The final know it alls that actually know nothing at all that I want to finish on, are the ones that you are explaining stuff to and they make out that they already know it. You will be explaining stuff in detail and they will butt in now and again with 'yea yea, I know'... No you don't know, it's why I'm bloody telling you. These people you will also find parroting what you say. As in you will tell them a fact and they will a few minutes later just repeat what you said but in slight different words, making them thinking they sound knowledgeable... Pain in the arse these people, but you seem to find them everywhere. Just another thing you have to get on with!

An Introduction to European Beer

So since the start of my work delegation in 2012, I have now lived in Erlangen, South Germany (Bavaria) and also currently Rotterdam, Holland. Now like any typical British man I have quite an acquired taste for beer. Now aside from Guinness I'm not really an ale-type drinker. When it comes to beer these days, in the UK I'm a premium lager drinker - The likes of Peroni and Kronnenburg. I tend to keep away from lager I consumed as a teenager, such as Carling and Fosters, unless I'm in a shitty pub with not much else on offer.

So now after 15 months of living in Europe, I could say I'm quite the expert in a wide variety of beers. So let's start where it all began... Germany.

German Beer

Now if you're travelling to Germany and are hoping to consume the sort of beer you are used to drinking back home, forget it. Germany is a country that seem to only want to live off their produce and that's it. They are a country very proud of what they produce. What they produce is the best and to them, only the best will do. This is evident when driving on any German road and noticing almost all of the car are German. Being either a VW, Audi, BMW or Mercedes-Benz, 80% of the cars sold in German are made by German manufacturers. The story is no different with the beer. Unless you are in a decent restaurant in a major city you are only going to be able to order a German made beer, however this isn't a bad thing. There is German legislation which states that Beer brewers can only use certain ingredients in their brew so the beer is a lot more natural than general British beer you will normally drink; which is pumped with chemicals. Also, especially in Bavaria, there are many local breweries in the towns and villages, meaning the beer you will buy in a pub or more commonly, at the brewery is generally no older than 48 hours old. The vast amount of breweries also gives the rise to a large choice of different beer.

Helles oder Weißbier

The two most popular types of beer in Germany are Helles Bier and Weißbier. Now I'm not a big fan of Weißbier and therefore haven't drank so much of that, so can only briefly go over this beer. Weißbier (translating to English as White-beer) is commonly known to Brits as wheat beer and this is a cloudy beer made from wheat in the brewing process rather than barley which is commonly used in beer production. It has an acquired taste and to me comes across a cross between a lager and an ale - somewhere in between the two. It generally has an alcohol percentage of 4.5% and costs around €3.50 in most German pubs and breweries. Erdinger is a popular type of Weißbier and can be purchased also in the UK - although it will have had a longer shelf life and therefore won't be as good as anything you buy over in Germany from the pubs.

Helles (translating to English as Light) is more of what I can describe as a lager, however it is a lot less gassy and has a much smoother taste - even the 8% festival beer versions. I can drink all types of helles however there are a few in Bavaria that are absolutely exquisite. To name a few of my favourite brewers, St. Geroges Brau, Zirndorfer and Tucher. These 3 brews of Helles are the best beer I've tasted in the whole world I'd say. Also at around €3 per half litre (a little under a pint) you could drink this beer all day and still have money in your pocket for when you go home. The alcohol content sits between 4.5-6.5%, but still you wouldn't expect this, as they don't give that strong after taste as from the likes of Stella.

Dutch Beer

The Dutch again are a fan of their own beer, however the names mentioned here will be already well known around the world. The Dutch have 3 main brewers - Heineken, Grolsch and Bavaria. Bavaria is the least popular manufacturer of beer, and to be frank it tastes like a very standard lager. The battle for the title of Dutch beers lies between Heineken and Grolsch. Now before moving to Rotterdam for my current spell with work, I would always turn down an offer of Heineken. It just never ever appealed to me. Out of a can in the UK it tasted bitter and for me, it was just a no go. However living in Rotterdam and occasionally going to Amsterdam, I didn't really have much choice. However for some strange reason, Heineken in Holland tastes a lot better than it does in the UK, whether it be my taste buds changing or the fact that there is some difference in what's sold in the UK, I don't know. But Heineken definitely has a good kick to it. At 5% you can taste the strength and it seems to blow my head off a lot more than the 5% beers I drank in Germany. However I have to agree now, it definitely belongs up there with world premium lagers. Grolsch on the other hand, my head can seem to handle. Again it has an exquisite taste for a lager and I find it hard to pick a true favourite between Grolsch and Heineken. I guess then the taste is in the tongue of the beholder. Half a litre of these beers in Holland will set you back around €5 which is normal for prices in Rotterdam and Amsterdam.

Belgian Beer

Another discovery from living in Rotterdam is that a vast variety of beer you can purchase in Holland is actually from Belgium. These beers are very different to any other beer I have drank before. It starts by being served at 0.25L and comes generally in something more of a chalice than a glass. When paying around €5 for a drink this small it comes as a shock at first. To then realise these Belgian beers are normally at least 7%. After a night on these bad boys you can more than expect a banging headache in the morning. Some of the Belgian beers that I have tried so far are from the likes of De Konick, La Chouffe and Duvel. The consistency of these beers are swaying more to be an ale-type beer. They are strong and they do have a lot of variation in taste between brews.

My Evaluation on European Beer

On a whole, the beer you can buy in Europe is definitely more superior to that that is on offer in the UK. Both Holland and Germany are a must if you want to spoil your beer loving taste buds to some truly amazing beers. Bavaria is known to have the most breweries per square km than in the rest of Germany and for amazing quality with lots of choice for as little as €3 a pint you cannot go wrong here. I would always recommend Germany for any beer lovers and even if the beer was priced at €5 like Holland I would still put German beer first. The fact that the beer is cheaper just means you can drink more... It never seems to give you a hangover either. A clear winner. Prost!

Internet Speeds and Wireless Router Settings

We live in world of hi-tech and almost everything we possess requires internet access with that connection being wireless. Now recently in my flat in Rotterdam I have been having a few issues with internet connection to my iPhone and iPad. The biggest issue is with getting a good connection in my bedroom. But not so much with signal strength, but more so with internet speed. Now many people think that your Internet Service Provider (ISP) provides you with an internet speed and that's it, that's what you get and it may slow down during peak times. Correct! What people don't realise is that performance is hindered a lot when connected via Wireless. Plugging my laptop into the router gave me a download speed of around 40Mbps (Pretty impressive eh? ;) ) However being sat right next to the router and connecting via wireless. This connection then went from 40 to around 30Mbps, still good I know... but slower! Now going to the bedroom (through 3 internal walls and in a flat built probably around the 1950s) this signal was dropping to around 3-4Mbps - bad isn't it. Now most people would just say, well hey that's life and just leave it at that. Luckily with my engineering background, I knew something could be done to improve connection and found out that changing the channel on which the router's wifi sends out signals can dramatically change your range and also your download speeds. Ok this is a slow, tedious process. But if you have range or download speed issues I would definitely recommend doing this before putting your hand in your pocket and upping your wifi equipment spec.

Now I live right in the centre of Rotterdam and my devices pick up around 15+ wireless network connections. These connections all work on the same sort of equipment and the biggest pain is that most of them will be running the same wireless channels. This causes interference and again will hinder your download speed. Take this morning for example... I was trying to watch a few videos on YouTube and I was left frustrated and cursing at the fact my video was buffering every 2 seconds. So I went into the living room by the router, same issue. I ran speed tests and was getting results of download speeds between 0-1Mbps. So I went into router settings and saw that the router was using channel 1 which it had assigned itself as the router was running in auto config. I changed the settings from Auto to channel 6 and running a speed test again, I was now getting download speeds of 24Mbps. So obviously something in the vicinity was also running channel 1 and causing interference to my network. Now so many 'not so tech savy' people will just put the blame on some unknown reason, or curse the ISP. But one thing I say is there is always a reason for everything. If you are getting speeds of a fraction of what you should be getting on your wireless device, ok there could be a fault on the line. But 9/10 times it is configuration problems. I always find that any technology issues you may have, and you have no clue about what you're doing... Google is your friend and a knowledgable friend that can make you an expert over night. Always remember that.

Shop Open times in Germany

If anyone has been to Germany for longer than a week on holiday, or has had any experiencing of living and working there. They will more than likely be completely with me on how much of a joke Germany's Retail hours are. I cannot believe in this day and age - an age where we are a world eager to shop and spend and have access to what we want, when we want - that Germany still continues to have shop opening times of 8am-8pm Monday til Saturday. With Sunday a national day of everywhere being shut. 

I mean come on, it is bad enough in the UK the super market closing at 5pm on a Sunday, but even then I can pop down to a petrol station if I fancy a little nibble. 

Germany has got it all wrong when it comes to this, even Monday til Saturday I have to do my shopping before 8pm. I finish work, do my shop, get home cook my tea, then realise, oh I forgot to buy such and such. But oh no, by this time its 7.45pm and I can't get to the shop on time to pick up anything else I need. Surely Germany updating their retail operating hours to that of most of the rest of Europe will have nothing but positive effects on their economy. I just don't get it me, and even after over a year of living there. It still frustrates me and there is no getting used to it.

German Women - Eradicating the British Perception

So, December 2012 I got the opportunity with work to move to Germany on a three year delegation to set my career in a new direction. I never had any preconceptions of Germany and didn't know really what to expect. All I knew was that this was a very career-wise move for me. After a few weeks here the general questions I got from friends and family back home were "How are the German women there?". The key topic always coming up was if they were hairy or not, and generally the British perception of German women was that they were very masculine - being butch, hairy and generally not very attractive at all. I'm not sure where this preconception us Brits have of German women being this way arose from. However upon discussions with German women about this topic in Bavarian bars and pubs, they believe that this idea of German women being hairy may have come from the pop singer Nena, famous in the 1980's for her song 99 luftballons (in which she released an English version in 1984 called 99 red balloons), as she had hairy armpits on top of the pops back then. Now the person I am, I absolutely love women. The female anatomy and general natural female beauty astounds me, and I can tell you that on an average level German women are absolutely incredible. They are very naturally beautiful and don't require any of this fake crap such as caked on makeup, fake tan, fake eyelashes, hair extensions etc. that British women seem to have a need for these days. In fact, on an average Friday/Saturday night in my current town of Erlangen you will find most girls in a pair of jeans, a plain top, wearing flat shoes and wearing not much more than a bit of mascara and they look amazing. In the UK you wouldn't catch a single girl going out looking this way. Figure hugging short, bum length dresses and stilettos with a minimum of a 6 inch heel is the norm in the UK, along with a face that is that much altered with cosmetics that men are waking up the next day with a completely different woman to the one they took home.

Now I'm not saying German women don't like to doll up every once in a while, and yes quite a lot of them will wear heels. However it is very minimalistic and they can always walk in the shoes they wear (Germans are very practical people). The typical German woman will have blonde hair and striking blue eyes, she will be slim and healthy looking and best of all she drinks beer. 9/10 women in Germany are in good shape, you hardly ever see an overweight woman. In fact German people in general are in good shape, however the only down side is that also 9/10 of them smoke - which doesn't quite tickle my fancy on a personal level. The rest of Europe hasn't quite had the cultural change on the view of smoking yet it seems.

Now looks aside, German women are much more easy to understand than British women. There is much less game playing and German women will always be straight with you all of the time. It may seem quite blunt but if a German girl is not into you, they will tell you how it is. No beating around the bush, no working you to their advantage for free drinks and best of all, no mind games. This makes them even more so, easy to get along with and you feel there's no having to prove yourself to them, or going out of your way to impress them. It's just easy and straight forward with German women.

I hope Britain can put aside these false preconceptions of German Women, because I believe them to be some of the most amazing women in Europe, both in beauty and in personality. Furthermore I don't think German women get the status they deserve in the world. When you ask Brits about the beauties of Europe, they will mention the Italians and Spanish, however once Britain has its eyes opened to what Germany has to offer with its female nationals, I think they will be pleasantly surprised