I have to call a bit of B.S. on this one. If you happen to already have a relationship with a good doctor who will accept the state insurance, then you're fine, but it can be very tough to get an speedy appointment with a competent doctor otherwise. And what percentage of your salary does that universal health care cost? Around 14% IIRC, which means that if you're pulling in €40000 / year (a good but not extravagant salary by German standards) then you're paying about €460 per month for that awesome universal health care. Without taking exchange rates into account, $460/month would get you some really nice health insurance in the U.S. - the kind that would let you go to any doctor whenever you want, and not worry about being able to pay the bills. Admittedly, when you're a relatively young factory worker with a stay-at-home wife and two kids, that insurance is a pretty good deal. For those of us who are single or with a working spouse (don't even get me started on the tax rates that a dual-income married couple has to pay), it's a poor value.

We've got that, too, except for the state protection from getting fired. Not to go off on too much of a tangent, but I really think that the Germans take employee protection and job security too far, while the Americans don't take it seriously enough. Somewhere in the middle would be nice.

We cut jobs, you implement Kurzarbeit - I think you could make a good argument for either measure, but that's for another thread.

You've got me there.

Believe me, lots of us here on the new continent can't figure it out, either.

First off, kudos to these guys for trying to fill this void. That having been said, I think it's only a (short) matter of time before Google Nav has this, if it doesn't already. Specifically, what I (and many others would like) is to be able to create a route in Google Maps, export / save it, and then have the turn-by-turn Android GPS thigamabob give me turn-by-turn directions. Particularly in a lot of European cities, the best route from point A to point B via bike is completely different from the best route by car. Anyway, myself (and quite a few others) have been clamoring for this feature for a little while, and Google's response is "this is one of the most requested features", so I'm guessing it can't be too far away (assuming it's not here already, haven't checked in a while). Still, for off-road stuff, this might be handy, although if you're going off-road I don't know why you even need a map in the first place, and therefore see no reason to limit it to the UK.

I can't believe I had to go this far down the thread for someone to make that point - that was the first thing I thought: besides being a terrible idea in principle, it sounds near-impossible to properly build and implement. I mean, I'm sure that with enough manpower and money thrown at it, you can get it done, but seriously - couldn't that manpower and money be put to some better use? On the subject of moving to a patronage model, I think everyone's to an extent forgetting the massive revenues that concerts and (to a lesser extent) merchandise can bring in for a popular band or artist. From a two-second Google search I found this article (http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2009/feb/13/madonna-biggest-earning-musician-2008) which says that most of Madonna's substantial 2008 earnings were from her Sticky & Sweet tour. Artist becomes popular --> sold-out concerts --> profit! Just my 2c...

Which bar? Do you happen to have a URL or other reference that the OP could check for his/her state (or show to clients)? On another point, a LOT of small practices (think sole practitioner or firm / practice with less than 5 people) use all-in-one domain services like GoDaddy or Yahoo! Domains for everything, including their email (I have absolutely no data to back up this claim, it's just based on the folks I've met who have small businesses). Given this, how is their email data any more private / protected than data hosted on Google Apps (let's leave the calendar out of it for now, since I think we can all agree that email is the item more likely to contain privileged info)? The provider can still be subpoenaed, and it's still susceptible to the same potential hacks. Since we're all geeks here, we all know what it would take to do it _right_ - physically secured personal mail server, everything encrypted, yada yada, but the cost of hiring someone to do all that may be prohibitive to a small firm, and it probably unnecessary besides; in my experience, the law (and IANAL) generally says that you need to take reasonable measures to protect your client's secrets. I, personally, think that Google Apps is fine for this, as long as your user base is educated in the obvious security concepts (i.e. use a separate, unique password for your Google corporate account) and potential risks (i.e. Google doesn't offer any guarantees AFAIK).

Lots of people will offer anecdotes about how they were in a similar situation and did something totally bad-ass and made the bastards pay. Just ignore all that - if it works out then it'll make a great story, but more likely it's just going to hurt you. Making the following assumptions: 1) You're in the U.S. 2) Your story is true and not just an invitation for trolling. Do the following things: 1) Stay calm. If you're the type who gets riled up then make sure to keep yourself under control. Practice what you're going to say beforehand - this helps. 2) If you haven't already done so, get your boss to flat-out voice the threat in no uncertain terms. A lot of managers have perfected the art of implying, insinuating, but never actually brandishing the carrot or the stick. If he/she keeps beating around the bush, just ask "look, maybe I'm totally misunderstanding this, but are you saying that I'll get some kind of black mark for leaving in three weeks?" Hopefully, before you get to the point of asking that question, you'll find out it was just a misunderstanding. Most folks hate their bosses because they're incompetent. Very few bosses are true rat bastards - maybe you've got one of these, but probably not. 3) If you get past step 2 and you still think that the threat's there, then write a follow-up email to your boss saying the exact same thing. Something like "Hey boss, I'm a little shaken up, and I just want to make sure there's absolutely no confusion. If I leave in three weeks, am I going to receive a mark of leaving the company 'on bad terms'? If so, how much longer do I need to stay in order to ensure that I don't get that black mark? Have I done something to create these 'bad terms' other than hand in my resignation? I've really enjoyed working for you and for company X, and I would like to leave on good terms. KTHXBYE." 4) Immediately make a copy of all those emails and your performance reviews (that's obvious, right?). 5) If your boss doesn't reply or refuses to say anything clearly (I'm assuming that he won't be dumb enough to actually say "yeah, that's what I meant!"), have a quick chat with HR. Tell them your concerns. Some (OK, most) HR folks are useless, but they very rarely see direct threats, and they'll definitely take an interest. If your boss writes back "no, of course not! You've been great! You must have misunderstood...", then skip this step. 6) Leave no later than at the end of those original three weeks. 7) Fuggedaboutit. Nobody's ever going to talk to your boss. If you're really concerned about it, wait a couple of months and call up your old company, or ask a friend to call for you and ask for employment verification. Even better, talk to a recruiter, and ask him/her to get the skinny for you, since they've got experience getting those kinds of details anyway. If your recruiter does, in fact, get some info like "left on bad terms", then call a lawyer. I really, really, really doubt that'll happen tho. Believe me, life's too complicated to worry about that kind of crap. Just be honest and clear, and this will all work out.