slay

I would be carefull at german borders right now. Especially to eastern european countries. I just heared on the news that there might be a few suicide bombers on their way from pakistan to germany and that they are paying 'more' attention now.

German customs officials (at the border) are a REAL b1tch, let me tell you that! They are real soup nazis. They make you feel like its 1945 again, I'm serious! They are probably the worst in the world. They dont care if you are foreign and didnt know some stupid law or rule. They are like rent-a-cops who enjoy their 'power'.

Dont want to frighten you thoug. These are just my and my friends' experiences.

Analsex is not a US thing or a 21st centry thingee. People did that stuff since for ever, guess why, because it cant get women pregnant and they didnt have condoms or birth control back in the days! Jesus Christ, do you really think that americans were the first ones who though "how about I just stick it up there?" it takes 3 braincells to do that! I bet even the cavemen did it.

I also dont know why this kind of topic ended up here. I mean, you guys know me, I'm not the kind of guy that starts wining about stuff that is 'inapropriate', but when I saw this thread, I was like 'what the ....?'

Thats what you get for letting the wife drive.....

wow, I think now I HAVE seen everything

Now look up how much his malpractice costs. Not to mention the amount of time he spent in residency to get there.

Yeah, and the top 5% of X makes a lot more money than the average as well.

Also, how many docs are heart surgeons compared with family practice, internal medicine, etc.? You are picking people at the top of the food chain for your example - this includes brain surgeons, plastic surgeons, anesthesiologists, interventional radiologists, etc.

It's not so easy to get into the US medical system afterwards. Not impossible, but you don't just waltz in and be like "Hey, I'm a doctor in Germany/UK/Sweden. Sign me up."

Good luck to your friend. He will need to write his boards and jump through a lot of hoops afterwards.

The army is an option. Most people don't take it. There's a reason for that. I do know people who have though. Moonlighting is a better one IMO.

By the way, the US army does not pay for non-US citizens to go to medical school although they offer a "loan forgiveness" program once you actually are a doc.

[edit]

I think I misread and you are actually talking about being paid while studying in Germany rather than in the US.

[/edit]

So? If you dont WANT be be a heart/brain/whatsoever surgeon, fine. But if you WANT to be one, you can most likely be one.

And its really really NOT hard to get into the US medical system. A Bunch of our friends are doctors (and some have worked in the US for some time), they know how hard it actually is to be a doc and how to work at a US hospital. You can probably not just fly over and start working the very first second you stepped into the hospital, but if you managed 7 years of medschool, you can adopt to the US medical system quite easy.

And yes, I was talking about becoming a Doc in the german army. Why the hell would ANYONE want to be in the US army? Unless they're suicidal. Operation human shield!

And I was also only figuratively speaking, I wont become a doc. I was never into biology. But who knows Getting paid while going to one of the best medschools doesnt sound too bad, now does it?

I don't understand why your friend cannot get his teeth fixed because he has no dental insurance? He can walk into any office and have the work done, and write a check at the end. Coverage IS available, for anything you're willing to pay for.

Well, I doubt he has 2k laying around to have his teeth fixed. I do not have to pay for that myself, I'm covered up to my [censored]. Even when staying in america.

Doctors don't charge crap. It's mostly all determined by the insurance companies unless you're in private practice with FFS (fee for service) and most people do not pay out of pocket which brings us back to insurance companies, HMOs, PPOs, etc.

I agree that the medical system in Europe (well I am only familiar with Sweden and Germany) is better than the US in a lot of ways but you also get taxed up the wazoo for it up front. When I was in Canada, taxes ranged from around 14-20%. Compare that with most places in the US where it's 7% or less.

@Nanug, I totally agree that frivolous lawsuits are a big part of it. Many doctors are avoiding or getting out of fields like obstetrics or surgery cause of huge malpractice insurance fees. Also, you can't pay out of pocket for everything. If you need any major procedures done, that's a crazy amount of money. But for small things, it's not really a problem.

Back on topic:

Yeah, great, you're making $200k+ but half of it is going towards insurance and student loans (okay, not half obviously but a lot of it). Of course, there are the successful ones who pull in a lot more than $200k/year but they are a small percentage. Think about how many people are in business/real estate and how many of them are Donald Trump. Same idea.

I love how people generalize how rich doctors are and how overpaid they are. From a financial perspective, it's a lot smarter to go into law, business, dentistry, etc. 4 years of college + 4 years of dentistry/law = $100k+ paycheck without a lot of the hassle. You're also in the work force a lot earlier which means more money to invest which means more money in the long run.

Generalizing? I'm NOT generalizing! The 200k per year is an amount that almost any heart surgeon makes. Just go to salary.com and look it up. The median income for a heart surgeon in LA is about 450k. If you are within the top 5 percent or so, you can go as high as 800k a year!

And yes, taxes are very high over here. Sales tax is as high as 19% and gas costs about 7$ a gallon (reason for that is probably environmental taxes and not our medical system - we do care about the environment )

I could be a doctor for free and move to the US, they take german surgeons with hand kisses. I could even get PAID while studying if I agree to work 5 years for the army after I graduate. That means free college+medschool and about 2k each month while I'm studying. Does that sound good or what? When I told people in america that, they were amazed. One of them even moved to germany and is going to medschool over there because of what I told him.

so let's start picking a date. Please PM me with your availability from 7/10 to 7/15. We'll try to accomodate everyone.

i'm available all day, except for the 10th and the 15th (obviously). I leave sometime around 8 on the 15th, so I'd rather do it on one of the other days! The trip to NY is for pleasure only, which means I will only be going to museums, clubs and bars. If you guys find a date=time that suits all of you good (assuming you all have a job and work during the week) I will arrange all my other plans accordingly.

As for recognizing each other, when I meet with Thor, we both told us what we were going to wear that day and it worked out pretty good. Other than that, if we make a reservation for a table, I'm sure the waitress will direct us all to the same table! We just need to know the name the reservation was made in, right? I'm also sure there wont be too many guys around wearing Hublots and Pams

Or we could just exchange pictures of ourselves. I already posted one of myself somewhere in the forums.

yeah, its really cool, havnt had stinky feet ever since. got a good doc, you know... private practise

I dont like rep clothing (except for fery few exceptions) at all. They are inferior quality and suck most of the time. There are high end rep clothes out there that are almost indistinguishable from the real deal, but they are very hard to find and also very expensive.

I wouldnt buy anything in turkey (clothes wise) for more than 10$. They are simply not worth more! They will start at 60$ or so, but eventueally settle for 10.

let me just say, my medical insurance kicks butt, I have the same dentist as russian president putin (funny, huh, putin and the other russian ministers have a german dentist flying in all the time to do their teeth). I even get botox shots for free every 6 months for my feet, because I dont want to have stinky feet all the time. These shots alone costs a hell of a lot more than I pay, but what the hell

Now I'm here back in america again and my friend tells me he cant get his teeth fixed because he doesnt have dental... crazy world! I cant see (on the other hand) why american doctors earn SO MUCH more money than german doctors? In germany you get 50k tops a year if you work at a hospital. And you work at least 12 hours a day (sometimes even 24h shifts) and you have to do night shifts all the time and you have to be a good doc, too. In america I know surgeons that get payed more than 200k a year. How is that possible if insurance doesnt pay for most things??

If you paid by PP, was it via a CC?

If so, I would start talking to your card provider.

I seriously don't think you will get much joy from PP......'cos PP sucks!

Offshore

PS, I deal regularly via PP, and ALWAYS do it via my CC account.

Even if I have money sitting in my PP account.. I transfer this out, and ultimately back to my CC.

Would NEVER depend on PP to take any action. NEVER

If he calls his CC provider, he will never be able to use paypal again. If he files a paypal complaint, that guys account will be frozen for a while (that should REALLY [censored] him off, as he cant do anymore buisiness with his paypal acc for that time)

Sorry to say this, but that guy is a F'IN C*c*su**ing a**hole!!! I bought stuff from him once for A LOT of money and what I got was the CHEAPEST junk. He wouldnt take it back and said he would give me a revenge-negative if I give him a negative. I payed via Bank Wire so I couldnt get my money back, but some day I will set up 10 fake eBay accounts and bash that a**hole with negatives for sure!

The guy said stuff like I dont care, you can go to hell and such.

I'm fine with whatever you guys work out. as long as its not fish

I can get online at the place where i am right now, so I can check every once in a while if you guys have any updates.

@slay, what's funny about your tirade is that i don't disagree with your theory about why other collectors don't have access to these watches. it's a pretty likely argument.

my whole point was that i think luisik is full of sh!t in saying that he's seen the hublot big bang and breitling chronomat evolution reps for sale in the markets at the same prices as our other reps. if this were the case, some new collector would realize that they could make a nice profit by selling them to us at a price lower than the inflated prices of our existing collectors.

and your point that what's going on with the prices on super reps is the same as idealwatches or bestswiss is an apples and oranges comparison -- those sites sell watches that can be freely bought on the markets for $100 or less for $1,000 or more. my point is that you can't buy these watches in the markets at deeply discounted prices -- they just aren't available. the factory that is making these watches probably finally realized -- hey, i'm the only source for these popular, well repped watches -- i can charge higher prices.

the whole point of pugwash's thread that i linked to earlier is just that -- they CAN charge higher prices, and people will continue buy the watches.

deltatahoe

How do you know that? Have you ever actually bought a piece from them?

HA HA HA, got you there

Oh yes, I have to add, I do not eat fish or anything else out of the ocean except for fish sticks!

I'm also up for a Canal St. excursion (as a matter of fact I was going to mention this, but somehow I forgot).

so you're saying that you've been to china in the last six months and found both the hublot big bang and breitling chronomat evolution reps? and you're saying that these particular reps were selling in the markets for the same prices as the other reps?

many of our trusted collectors have said that even they cannot get access to some of these reps. and yet you're saying you have been in the market and have seen them selling these reps for the same prices as all of our other reps?

i'm calling bullsh!t.

deltatahoe

i'm calling bullsh!te! You know WHY other dealers cannot get access? Because certain dealers probably made a deal with the factory, so they can overcharge A LOT. 700$ for a HBB is CRAZY! With a cheap asian movement. I can get a gen watch with 7750 for less than 500$. A GENUINE Tag Heuer Carrera with GENUINE ETA7750 can be had for about 1200$. You know how much the new IWC rep costs with swiss eta? Yes, almost 1100$. Add 100$ and you can buy a real Tag Heuer.

You know what one of the cartell dealers charges for the SFSO with ETA movement? 330$ plus shipping. You know what the SAME piece costs with an asian movement? about 130$ incoluding shipping (which already includes a markup by the dealer). So we have a 200$ difference here. As it was already mentioned, you can get an ETA movement like that installed including EUROPEAN (!!!) labor for as little as 100$. Its not like the SFSO houses a very rare ultra high end eta movement.

Paul used to sell subs with ETA movements for 109$. I doubt the movement alone cost him 100$. In fact I know that those reps sell for about 25-40$ on the market in China. 100$ is a fair price for a watch that sells in china for 25-40$.

700$ is a rip off! No matther how "good" you think the metal feels. CNC is always CNC. Its probably much more difficutlt to replicate a Breitling case than the HBB case (which is a very simple case).

Idealwatches and Bestswiss are proscribed over here, because they overcharge IN THE SAME F'IN MANNER. Get a grip dude

I'm always up for steak As for pricing... as long as a simple steak wont cost 50$, i'm ok with it (Tajima cattle/Kobe beef is of course a lot more expensive ). I'm fine with a fancy place or a cheap dark-alley bar with stinky restrooms. I leave the choice up to you NY guys

Have you guys ever heared of Gallagher

Since noone made a suggestion for a place yet...

I just spoke to a friend who lives in NYC (but is out of town). He reccomended a few places (bars).

Plunge (Hotel Gansevoort Rooftop) he said the view is terrific! He also told me to go on mondays or tuesdays when its not so crowded (unless you guys want to party your socks off, which I doubt?).

Hudson Bar - sure looks nice from the pics I saw on their website!

Bull & Bear Bar - they are supposed to have very good steaks over there, in case anyone wants to eat.

White Horse Tavern - I think I have been there once, not 100% sure though. Supposed to be one of the oldest bars in New York?

Bar 89 - has probably the worlds most famous rest rooms

230 FIFTH - very nice view from the rooftop

Pravada - russian? bar i think

Broadway Lounge - nice view on the time square

These are just suggestions I got from a friend. I have never been to any of these places (except the tavern maybe). Maybe any of you New York guys are familiar with those places?!

No way these pics were taken with a v3 razr! The v3 camera is a piece of crap, period!

What about the location? I'm not very familiar with NYC.

Anyone that wants to attend should post the dates/times when he/she can make it. As Eddhead already said, I can make it from the 10th to the 15th. Maybe even a day or 2 before the 10th. I'm available all day (I'll arrange my other trips in&around NYC accordingly) except for the 10th and the 15th. On the 10th I can probably not make it till after 5pm.

I'm not saying you shouldt complain here. I'm saying you shouldnt complain here if you dont bother to b1tch at the dealer because of the problems.

There are dozens of dealers, I dont think anyone would refuse to deal with you in the future, becase you sent back an obviously faulty watch. And if he does, he's not worth the turd in the toilet! Just pick another dealer next time, they all carry the same stock!

I dont understand why you guys are complaining? Most of you seem to "live" with the flaws or have it corrected themselves. What you ALL need to do is talk to your dealer and [censored] about it. Demand a replacement or repair or whatsoever. Only then the dealers/manufacturers will start to make QC.

eat this: THEY WONT DO ANY QC IF YOU ALL JUST LIVE WITH IT AND HAVE IT CORRECTED AT YOUR _OWN_ COST

I wonder why case ceramics are so much more difficult or expensive versus the bezel?

In any case it reinforces my satisfaction with the Mellow Yellow. I will be revealing mine with a nice surprise in a couple of weeks when I am back in country and can snap a few pics.

It would be cool if you could sport that HBB when we meet! I already know which watch I'm going to wear

Abercrombie = 14-17 year olds...

I was once told that abercrombie used to NOT allow non-blondes/black people to work in their stores, because they didnt fit the "profile"? is that true?

I bet there's a bunch of people who want to see my assface! Together with 2 of my friends from the Marine Corps (very very old picture)

My Girlfriend: