Dallman Ross

@spamless

Expat, ex-law left-coastian fan of Brownian motion trying to write his way out of a paper bag. From Oakland, CA; 30 years in 🇩🇪. If we don't know each other and I just followed you back, 🚫DMs, please! See also

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Dallman Ross@spamless· May 27

I decided to try Claude. After the (expected) initial gush from it, I had this exchange. Good, now we're getting somewhere. Sheesh!

I wrote to Claude: If I'm going to consider switching to you from ChatGPT (because of politics and humanity, not because of production), I will have to train you to my likes and preferences -- or better said, to my dislikes and annoyances. I am not one for chatty, over-bubbly conversations with AI agents. I appreciate the insight and the factual knowledge I don't have biological access to, but I don't want gushiness. I can't forget your interaction is a mock-up and that you have no actual emotions, so I don't want a long conversation pretending that you do.

The answer, also in the image, acknowledges that and instantly changes tone from what came before (not shown) that got me going.

Dallman Ross@spamless· Apr 28

I woke up in the middle of the night and had to get up to write down this #limerick that popped into my head. 🙂 I had, indeed, met a woman named Svenja and was enchanted by her.

Dallman Ross@spamless· Apr 12

I'm standing behind my Canyon Endurace in long-sleeve riding gear. Neighborhood tree is behind me.

Dallman Ross@spamless· Apr 4

Without pasting the long original content here, I will nonetheless paste in my second follow-up to it. I think it stands on its own. Here it is.

I want to come back to this post because it’s been smoldering at the back of my mind the last few hours. There’s plenty to agree with here. But I think the overall picture you paint goes too far the other way in an attempt to “save” us from our own emotional trauma at what is riving modern politics and society.
I agree that the small signs and touches of everyday living and interpersonal joy are not suddenly dead. I agree that a blunt force of negativity and doomsdayism has spread into most every public media utterance with a suffocating gravity. That is, indeed, what news reporting tends to do. That is the baked-in distortion. So, yes, we should not give in to despair about who we are or what strength is still to be found in the quiet pockets of our existence. We are still millions of unsung heroes and ordinary people living our lives as best we can, occasionally finding laughter and a smile. But –
But that does not mean that the present danger isn’t imminent, isn’t exigent, isn’t oppressive, or isn’t there. It is all those things. At 70, after having lived for decades in Europe and outside of the American bubble I grew up in, I think I do have the perspective to say: things are bad. A scrappy dream that took a quarter of a millennium to cultivate through countless injustices and reversals along the way is actively under siege in unprecedented ways. It’s very, very dangerous. It’s shatteringly disheartening. It’s real. We must fight back, and we will.
So, don’t discount the fix we are in, is all I’m saying. It’s grim. But we’re not dead yet.
Anti-disclaimer: No AI was used to formulate these thoughts. 🤔
Anti-anti-disclaimer: I asked AI after the fact. It told me (a) to lighten the semantic load of my language to keep a modern audience interested (I am ignoring that good advice); and (b) that I left out the summary. Here that is: “Distortion of proportion does not imply overstatement of severity.”

Dallman Ross@spamless· Apr 4

Increasingly, people gush over and forward to me text that is clearly spawned by AI. It does give me pause, but I try to keep in mind that 99% of people can't write cogently on their own, so maybe this really is giving them a voice. IOW, it's not outright illegitimate. I just answered one with this:

It's good and valid text, but I sniff AI as the author or co-author. That's not an outright disqualification. Not in the least. But it's a warning, a caveat that the weighers and philosophizers of meaning (you, me, and plenty of others) are also inescapably personae of the Machine, at least part of the time.

I use AI myself in my work to good effect, but I try not to lose sight of who is User and who is Agent. I hope that goes for you, too. When I write from the heart, as here, I try to insist that it's my own unadulterated voice that comes through. It's just my personal ethic, it's not a rule I expect others to follow.

Be well.

Dallman Ross@spamless· Mar 12

It's nice to live in a country that wants (some of) its immigrants. (Invitation to a personal appointment to learn about applying for citizenship.)

Page 1 of 2 of invite letter detailing benefits of becoming a German citizen.

LANDESHAUPTSTADT
E WIESBADEN
Landeshauptstadt Wlesbadon |Dozernat IV | Postfaoh 30 20 | 66020 Wleabadon
Der Magistrat

Dezernat für Integration und Recht Gesundheit und Tierschutz
Milena Löbcke
März 2026
Deutsche Staatsangehörigkeit- Ihre Chance zur Mitgestaltunc
Liebe Mitbürgerinnen und Mitbürger
Menschen, die in Deutschland leben, können unter bestimmten Voraussetzungen die deut sche Staatsangehörigkeit erwerben. Eine wichtige Voraussetzung erfüllen Sie bereits Nach dem geltenden Gesetz ist eine Einbürgerung nach fünf Jahren Aufenthalt in Deutsch land möglich.
Die Einbürgerung erfolgt nicht automatisch, sondern auf Antrag bei der zuständigen Einbür- gerungsbehörde. Dort erhalten Sie auch eine persönliche Beratung zu allen weiteren Voraus- setzungen und zum Ablauf des Verfahrens. Auch wenn derzeit das Einbürgerungsverfahren änger dauert, überwiegen die Vorteile der Einbürgerung
Warum die deutsche Staatsangehörigkeit:
Wiesbaden ist eine vielfältige Stadt, in der Menschen mit und ohne Einwanderungsge- schichte zusammenleben. Die deutsche Staatsangehörigkeit bietet Ihnen viele Vorteile
eine sichere und langfristige Lebensplanung in Deutschland mehr Reisefreiheit die EU-Bürgerschaft
uneingeschränkten Zugang zu allen beruflichen Moglichkeiten •
Mitbestimmen und mitgestalten
Als deutsche Staatsbürgerin oder deutscher Staatsbürger können Sie ohne Einschränkungen wählen und aktiv an politischen Entscheidungen teilnehmen - auf kommunaler, Landes-, Bundes- und europãischer Ebene. Darüber hinaus haben Sie die Möglichkeit, selbst für ein politisches Amt zu kandidieren.
Am 15. März finden in Hessen Wahlen statt. Bereits jetzt können Sie sich beteiligen, indem Sie an den Wahlen zum Ausländerbeirat teilnehmen und lhre Stimme einbringen.
*Europaviertel- erreichbar von der Bushaltestelle Willyl-Brandt-Allee/Volkshochschule Linien 5, 8, 15, 18
/2
www.wiesbaden.de

Dallman Ross@spamless· Feb 24

Today's Word of the Day from the Free Dictionary has DJT written all over it.

Word of the Day
pertinacious

Definition: (adjective) Stubbornly unyielding.
Synonyms: dogged, dour, tenacious, persistent

Usage: When he made up his little mind to have or to do anything, all the king's horses and all the king's men could not change that pertinacious little mind.

Dallman Ross@spamless· Feb 10

February 13, 2012. Wiesbaden, I presume.

Silhouette, I think that's me, in front of dark skyline with swirling gray storm clouds. This might be Wiesbaden, where I live.

Dallman Ross@spamless· Feb 4

9 & 7 handstand push-ups in two sets. New p.b.! Age 70. #fitness #calisthenics #handstandpushups #fitsky

Dallman Ross@spamless· Jan 21

8 handstand push-ups, tying my record. 6 more in set two hit a two-set p.b. Age 70. #calisthenics #fitness #fitsky

Dallman Ross@spamless· Dec 28

„Wir brauchen Bücher, die auf uns wirken wie ein Unglück, das uns sehr schmerzt, wie der Tod eines, den wir lieber hätten als uns, wie wenn wir in die Wälder verstoßen würden, von allen Menschen weg, ein Buch muss die Axt sein für das gefrorene Meer in uns." — Franz Kafka #quote #books

Photo of snow-covered mountain peaks with the quote superimposed: „Ein Buch muss die Axt sein für das gefrorene Meer in uns."

Dallman Ross@spamless· Dec 24

70th-birthday brunch on the 24th. What a spread! Details are in the Alt-text. The nut-and-seed bread was fresh-baked by my wife, who also made the jam. That's wild-catch salmon. Delicious!

Smoked wild-catch salmon on home-baked Nordic stone-age bread (nuts and seeds, olive oil, and egg for binding; no flour); cream cheese, blueberries, dill, and more. 70th-birthday brunch.

I start brunch with a mix of full-fat Greek yogurt, kefir, skyr, and cottage cheese with unsweetened nut-and-seed muesli (gluten-free), blueberries, and more.

Dallman Ross@spamless· Dec 23

Wow. I majored in comp lit and I've been running a writers' group for 27 years. I don't know when I ever read 15 books in a year. I'm a slow reader! I could barely keep up with my lit-course assignments back in college. I just finished Kairos by Jenny Erpenbeck. (Sorry, I'm explaining.)

Title to German cover of Penguin softcover version of Kairos by Jenny Erpenbeck

Dallman Ross@spamless· Nov 19

Friday night I gave my first event speech (in German) for the Volksbildungswerk Nordenstadt-Erbenheim-Delkenheim's 40th-anniversary celebration. It went well. (I took over the reins as managing director last month.)

Me addressing the celebrants at the vbw 40th anniversary dinner on November 14th, 2025.

Dallman Ross@spamless· Nov 9

My wife made me Nordic stone-age bread once more. Fantastic taste and health in it. Here's the recipe: nordicfoodliving.com/stone-age-br... #nutrition #paleo #keto #recipe

Dallman Ross@spamless· Nov 8

I was featured in the local paper, the "Wiesbadener Kurier," on Wednesday. I put an English translation of the article in the Alt-Text area of the first screen capture.

Dallman Ross is the new head of the Volksbildungswerk in Nordenstadt

Wiesbaden-Nordenstadt.
Since October 2025, Dallman Ross has been serving as interim managing director of the Volksbildungswerk Nordenstadt-Erbenheim-Delkenheim (VBW). For forty years, the VBW has stood for community-oriented adult education and aims to continue its proven work — with openness to many new, flexible ideas.

“Lifelong learning remains the heart of our work,” says Ross. “We want to create space where people can learn from one another and continue to grow.”

Ross has been active in the VBW for 25 years — as a course instructor, board member, and neighbor in Nordenstadt. He teaches English and American Studies in imaginatively designed courses, for example in “Learnin’ to the Hits,” where participants explore language nuances through well-known pop and rock songs. He also leads a German-language world-literature reading group and brings his IT background into the association’s work.

A native of Northern California, Ross studied literature and law in Berkeley and San Francisco, attended the University of Heidelberg as an exchange student — and returned to Wiesbaden to stay.

Dallman Ross@spamless· Oct 11

We were just in La Ciotat, France, for a couple of days. Fun getaway. We flew on Lufthansa. A friend of mine found out I was there and messaged me asking if I could bring back a kilogram of Robusta coffee for him. I couldn't comply, so by way of letting him know, I just sent him this: #humor #witz

A joke infographic in German I asked ChatGPT to make showing nine things one shouldn't have in hand luggage, all reasonably accurate except for the middle one depicting a package of Robusta coffee.

Dallman Ross@spamless· Sep 28

"Maiden voyage": Sunday walk in new shoes. 100% Merino wool! I like ' em.

I'm standing in front of our hedge on the sidewalk in front of our house. Wearing fall clothes, as it's 16℃. Shoes are khaki-colored. That's also a wool shirt and cap. But the black scarf is silk.

Dallman Ross@spamless· Sep 18

#EURUSD A post on the flip-the-bird site about the weakening dollar.

Graph shows a downward spike (looks like a cliff) in the dollar this past day.

Dallman Ross@spamless· Sep 5

Via @novosad.bsky.social, albeit over on the flip-the-bird site. He says: "How stupid is this? "Hyundai is building an $8 billion factory in Georgia, and ICE is imprisoning company staff who are on business trips from South Korea. "So much for investing in manufacturing!" Thank you, Paul!

Newspaper headline and photo describing the arrests of hundreds at the Georgia Hyundai factory location. Company workers were detained.

Dallman Ross@spamless· Sep 2

Training ride. First in a couple of weeks. I was tired, but it felt good. #seniorfitness #nogym #fitness #roadbike #bikesky

Dallman Ross@spamless· Aug 27

I think the word you seek is: Gleichschaltung.

Opening text of the Wikipedia page on "Gleichschaltung."

Dallman Ross@spamless· Aug 16

15th 2-minute-plus hang in a row (new p.b.). 75.6% in 2025 have beat two minutes. I've hung 127 times this year with a 2:03 average time. Video is 8x speed. #seniorfitness #nogym #calisthenics #fitness #deadhangs #fitsky

Dallman Ross@spamless· Jul 31

Oh, brother! (It says that in a story in my local paper about Anne Frank yesterday, the reporter called her a resistance fighter rather than a victim of the Nazis.)

Photo of correction in today's Wiesbadener Kurier. Text is in German.

Dallman Ross@spamless· Jul 30

Hello, Microsoft! #MSFT #stocks #earnings

Simple intraday line chart of Microsoft stock showing the 7%+ pop into earnings.

Dallman Ross@spamless· Jul 30

Today's 50th anniversary of Jimmy Hoffa's disappearance made it into my German page-a-day wisenheimer calendar. Quote from Hoffa as the quote of the day: "I do to others as they do to me, not worse." (My translation.)

snapshot of today's page from my Harenberg "Chronik" page-a-day calendar, featuring a b&w photo of Jimmy Hoffa from 1967. Caption in German describes the date and the photo. Quote from Hoffa as the quote of the day: "I do to others as they do to me, not worse." (My translation.)

Dallman Ross@spamless· Jul 30

German-English connections: "anecken" and "to egg on." These words don't mean exactly the same thing, but they are related. Etymologically, they seem closely related. English is a Germanic language. And phrasal verbs offer interesting connections. #language #linguistics #German #English #etymology

Dallman Ross@spamless· Jul 27

That's it! another 100 reps in the second set, for 208 on the day. That surpasses my goal set last September, when I ratcheted up to this level of difficulty: 29½-cm offset at the feet and parallettes for fuller range of motion. I'm on track for over 10,000 push-ups, all types, for the year.

Dallman Ross@spamless· Jul 25

I've just returned from a brisk training ride. It takes 45 minutes and is fairly flat. T-shirt says never to underestimate an old man with a bicycle. Bike is a 2023 Canyon Endurace. #roadbike #bikesky

Dallman Ross@spamless· Jul 24

I found this on the birdsite. Precious.