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Larry Honaker

@lwhonaker.bsky.social
17 followers 14 following 206 posts

Americo-Luxembourgish physicist. Works with pretty colors. Numismatist and stroopwafel enthusiast.

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Larry Honaker @lwhonaker.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Ah, inburgering: quite a few of my coworkers did that in the Netherlands (and I would've too had I stayed there!). Luxembourg only requires tests for nationality (not PR), but the language test is shorter (combined speaking/listening in one) and the civics/history test can be bypassed with a class.
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Larry Honaker @lwhonaker.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Apparently, I moved to France 15 years ago. Not sure how it's been that long...
Place de Jaude in Clermont-Ferrand, France (and not very far from where I used to live in Clermont-Ferrand, incidentally).
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Larry Honaker @lwhonaker.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
I vote Utrecht and the Hague are definitely worth visiting, if time allows.
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Larry Honaker @lwhonaker.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
A lot of people've been doing the Standard Language Quiz, so I jumped on the bandwagon... with interesting results. (The top matches to my accent apparently are California, Maine, and Hawai'i... funny, because I've never been to the first two and I left the third over three decades ago!)
A dialect "heat" map showing closeness of accents to my English, with notable "hot" spots being in the northeast United States (Maine); California; and Hawai'i.
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Larry Honaker @lwhonaker.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Nice buildings not far from Luxembourg.
The front of the Elector's Palace in Trier.
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Larry Honaker @lwhonaker.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
It's been mixed for me. I normally take 5-6 decks plus a big box o' cards on trips to the US: sometimes it triggers checks at security and customs; sometimes it doesn't. (I don't think it did last time, but they were more interested in my coins...)
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Larry Honaker @lwhonaker.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
Side note: I'm the brother being referred to. (Currently working in Luxembourg with a personal MSCA grant; previously was in the Netherlands.)
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Larry Honaker @lwhonaker.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
It's quite country-dependent. A lot of grants at the EU/International scale (e.g., Horizon Europe) can be larger in value and scope; Luxembourgish grants can be larger; but Dutch grants are usually smaller and it's highly competitive to get the bigger ones.
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Larry Honaker @lwhonaker.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
Also, travel tips: • buy all snacks from a proper supermarket (Albert Heijn, Jumbo, Dirk, Spar...) • drink bottles in the Netherlands do have deposits (€0.10-€0.25/bottle, which can add up), but you can return the bottles to said supermarkets • don't buy bottled water; Dutch tap water is very good
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Larry Honaker @lwhonaker.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
In my experience, as long as you don't have a domestic/intra-Schengen connection, you normally won't have to gate-check a bag on a Transatlantic flight. That said, I think my carry-on is somewhat of a no-name brand (but bought here in Europe.)
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Larry Honaker @lwhonaker.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
This was the case for one of my undergrad physics professors: we could bring an index card to each in-term exam and a letter sheet of paper to the final. (My handwriting was at least neat enough to make it work.)
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Larry Honaker @lwhonaker.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
As fun as that would be to see, there also wasn't anything between the two checkpoints (at least in Paris and Brussels), so a person stuck there wouldn't last very long. (At least in Brussels, there's nothing between the two!)
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Larry Honaker @lwhonaker.bsky.social · 12/07/2026
I believe that, as part of the agreement on juxtaposed controls, if the UK refuses entry, the Netherlands (or France... or Belgium) has to accept the person back; no choice in the matter. (But the same holds if France refuses admission at their checkpoints in the UK: the Brits are stuck with them.)
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Larry Honaker @lwhonaker.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
I'm definitely not built for temperatures like this anymore. (So looking forward to the heatwave breaking at last next week...)
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Larry Honaker @lwhonaker.bsky.social · 14/06/2026
Pain is temporary, but the Palácio da Pena is quite a work of art.
Entry gate to Sintra's Pálacio da Pena, topped with a Portuguese flag.Interior of the Palácio da Pena.View showing how much of a cliff/mount the Palácio is atop.Lots of nice architecture, including a façade covered in azulejos.
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Larry Honaker @lwhonaker.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
Many foreigners also cannot comprehend that the Schengen Area (the single travel area), the eurozone, the EEA, and the EU are separate as well. And then there's Denmark.
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Larry Honaker @lwhonaker.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
Work travel coming up next week, and, with it, all the attendant pre-travel jitters. (Though I'll be going back to Portugal, so maybe fewer jitters.)
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Larry Honaker @lwhonaker.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
By contrast, the age gap between our grandmother and grandfather (maternal) was ~13 years, so...
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Larry Honaker @lwhonaker.bsky.social · 19/04/2026
Organizing conferences is always rewarding, but they leave you incredibly drained afterwards...
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Larry Honaker @lwhonaker.bsky.social · 12/04/2026
Crazy increases on this side of the Atlantic (Luxembourg) as well: from €1.45/liter at the beginning of March to €1.72/liter ($6.40/gal to $7.62/gal) now for standard unleaded, but diesel's gone from €1.40-ish to over €2/liter (~$9/gal).
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Larry Honaker @lwhonaker.bsky.social · 16/03/2026
Probably a mix, though the £5 note prominently features Churchill's Nobel Prize... in literature. And Churchill's only been on the fiver since 2016 (previous subjects included the Duke of Wellington; George Stephenson; Elizabeth Fry...).
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Larry Honaker @lwhonaker.bsky.social · 11/03/2026
Especially given that the federal gasoline tax is 18.4¢/gallon... that won't do much at all.
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Larry Honaker @lwhonaker.bsky.social · 09/03/2026
Go to metric ($/liter) and no need for the extra digit.
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Larry Honaker @lwhonaker.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
Just applied for my first Luxembourgish passport today. Feels like a lot of things (all positive).
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Larry Honaker @lwhonaker.bsky.social · 20/02/2026
I also have no issues with going the speed limit, either. (Though the large number of automatic controls on this side of the Atlantic encourage you to really stick to the limit...)
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Larry Honaker @lwhonaker.bsky.social · 15/02/2026
Sometimes, when going through your old data, you find cool images that definitely deserve to be shared.
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Larry Honaker @lwhonaker.bsky.social · 08/02/2026
There's the Passport Card.
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Larry Honaker @lwhonaker.bsky.social · 19/01/2026
These are reasons I always hide the mailing lists in BCC, even if it is a spam e-mail.
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Larry Honaker @lwhonaker.bsky.social · 19/01/2026
What, not this gem from FFX?
One of the cutscene intros for the Yunalesca fight in Final Fantasy X, with Yunalesca saying, "[There is nothing to fear. You will soon be freed of worry and pain.] For once you call forth the Final Aeon, your life will end. [Death is the ultimate and final liberation.]"
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Larry Honaker @lwhonaker.bsky.social · 17/01/2026
Ended up with my best MTG prerelease performance in a long time: 4-1, good enough for second place (lost out on first due to tiebreakers). Feels nice.
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Larry Honaker @lwhonaker.bsky.social · 13/01/2026
One immediately noticeable striking difference between NC and the Netherlands: sunrise. Went from about 7:30 in the morning in NC to about 8:30 here at Schiphol...
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Larry Honaker @lwhonaker.bsky.social · 25/12/2025
Seeing forecasts like this always validates my choices to pack for all seasons when coming back to NC for the holidays.
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Larry Honaker @lwhonaker.bsky.social · 24/12/2025
Funnily enough, the only class I remember with proper blue book exams was my second-semester calculus class. (Granted, many other exams were written, but I only used the blue books for that one in particular.) Still prefer written/free-response exams, especially pen-and-paper...
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Larry Honaker @lwhonaker.bsky.social · 22/12/2025
No, but (a) didn't have one in the US that really worked and (b) do you really need one? (sarcasm detected)
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Larry Honaker @lwhonaker.bsky.social · 22/12/2025
I got a pay increase when I moved to Europe for my Ph.D., not to mention all the other benefits.
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Larry Honaker @lwhonaker.bsky.social · 10/12/2025
I just rebuilt a super-fun implement of torment, so maybe we can go together. (Though I'm not sure yet which of mine is worse...)
Nekusar, the Mindrazer, a zombie wizard from the Magic: The Gathering Commander 2013 set.Tuvasa the Sunlit, a Merfolk Shaman from the Magic: The Gathering Commander 2018 set.
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Larry Honaker @lwhonaker.bsky.social · 05/12/2025
Another option that interests me is the option of story branching and nonlinear storytelling, where actions can mean something and have an effect on the final outcome.
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Larry Honaker @lwhonaker.bsky.social · 03/12/2025
Same here. Some of it was also live.
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Larry Honaker @lwhonaker.bsky.social · 01/12/2025
Advantages to living in the Netherlands when that happened.
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Larry Honaker @lwhonaker.bsky.social · 28/11/2025
One thing I especially appreciate about living in Luxembourg is the opportunity to attend lots of concerts. (And these two last week made the fifth and sixth concerts I've attended in Luxembourg this year!)
Confetti and pretty lights at an Electric Callboy concert in Luxembourg.Lacuna Coil performing in Luxembourg, with lots of purple lights.
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Larry Honaker @lwhonaker.bsky.social · 29/10/2025
What's also crazy to me is how some people live in a place without picking up (or attempting to pick up) the language. I saw a lot of that in Germany when I was a kid; a lot of it in the Netherlands (okay, English is almost everywhere); a lot in Luxembourg (though with 4+ languages in common use...)
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Larry Honaker @lwhonaker.bsky.social · 19/10/2025
This past week marked the tenth anniversary of my move to Luxembourg. Crazy to think it's been that long already... and also crazier to think I took the final step for this project I've wanted to do for just about as long (if not longer).
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Larry Honaker @lwhonaker.bsky.social · 15/10/2025
Like this? www.bbc.com/news/world-a...
bbc.com
Why do some Chinese funerals involve strippers?
Chinese authorities are once again cracking down on the practice which have existed for years.
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Larry Honaker @lwhonaker.bsky.social · 03/10/2025
I was planning to send some gifts to family in the US, but the post office here has suspended accepting all possibly dutiable mailings to the US, even if they fall under the (still existent) gift exemption, unless you pay for a very expensive courier service. "Fun" times.
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Larry Honaker @lwhonaker.bsky.social · 29/09/2025
Any time Deutsche Bahn is involved for a trip, it's always a bit of a game of "how much of a refund after the trip will I get".
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Larry Honaker @lwhonaker.bsky.social · 29/09/2025
A visa is not the same as a permission to stay (the I-94): one can stay in the US with an expired visa as long as the I-94 remains valid. And Ph.D. programs in particular can take MUCH more than five years in the US. (The proposal is for limiting the I-94 period.)
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Larry Honaker @lwhonaker.bsky.social · 27/09/2025
That's part of how you made the physics department at Kent very "happy" with you when you graded the massive Astronomy class, right?
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Larry Honaker @lwhonaker.bsky.social · 16/09/2025
Now for the long wait for language test results. (Well, no idea how long it'll be, but it'll feel quite long... especially since I'm not super-confident with how I did on the one section.)
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Larry Honaker @lwhonaker.bsky.social · 07/09/2025
They already do, to an extent. (Foreign workers considered "nonresident" can't get the standard deduction.)
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Larry Honaker @lwhonaker.bsky.social · 28/08/2025
Add this into the mix and watch heads explode?
Ouroboroid, an exceptionally long Plant Wurm, from the recent Magic: the Gathering set "Edge of Eternities".
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