"The post office has a great charm at one point of our lives.
When you have lived to my age, you will begin to think letters
are never worth going through the rain for."
Jane Austen (16. December 1775 – 18. July 1817)
26,000 employees of the "Deutsche Post" are on strike. Unpleasant, sure, but nothing too dramatic, claims the "Deutsche Post" in its newsletter "Post aktuell" from 24. June. Though the newsletter admits that the strike had "negative consequences" for its customers, it also tries to encourage its readers: "A lot of measures have been taken which ensure that throughout Germany on average about 80% of all letters and parcels are delivered on time."
Some letters and parcels, however, do not seem to belong that 80% majority. But strange that bills, invoices, and requests for payment by the IRS still regularly seem to find their way to the letterbox. With parcels its similar: some arrive, some don't. One book ordered by mail arrives, the other not. And what happened to the ChessBase DVD about the Sicilian with which one wanted to prepare leisurely for a nice open during the summer holidays?
Out of service? (Photo: Wikimedia)
But there is a good line to avoid the complications of the strike: the download function in the ChessBase shop. It is faster and simpler than mail delivery. More modern anyway. You order a DVD and minutes later you can work with it and browse through the games of your favorite opening. Or you can get an idea why 1...b6 is a good weapon for practial players, what typical mistakes players with an Elo between 1600 and 1900 are prone to make or find out which trends in modern opening theory the top players follow. Or enjoy another look on the games of Bobby Fischer .
Downloading the DVDs has other advantages, too: the DVD cannot get lost because all your downloads are saved in the ChessBase shop. A shop account is a fine back-up. Switching to another computer is no longer a problem - and neither is the strike. At least not if you download a ChessBase DVD. It might not help with the taxman, however.
